New Phone Number for the Car Warranty Scammers

This week the car warranty scam artists are using phone number (509) 935-0671 to sucker people. Due to working down in the basement I get the first half of the call, the recording telling me my car's warranty is about to expire, but I lose the signal when I press "1" to speak with someone. Regardless, they are calling my work cell phone, which is illegal and they have been asked numerous times to stop.

The best I can do is maintain a record of their contact and post the new numbers so people can be aware of who is trying to call them. The Federal Trade Commission has not been much help. I have never been contacted about the complaint I filed last week.

It's kind of odd how these calls begin in the afternoon around 1:00 pm. I'm starting to think the people making them are based out of the country.

New Designs for the Kids Up At Rustbelt Pop

There are some new designs for the little kids at Rust Belt Pop. Infant bodysuits, bibs and T-shirts feature the designs below. Have fun shopping!

Specter Sees the Light, Republicans Wonder Where it all Went Wrong

GOP Senator Arlen Specter has switched parties and will now caucus with the Senate Democrats. This turn of events moves the Democrats closer to the 60 vote majority necessary to block a Republican filibuster. According to the New York Times:

In a statement issued about noon as the Capitol was digesting the stunning turn
of events, Mr. Specter said he had concluded that his party had moved too far to
the right, a fact demonstrated by the migration of 200,000 Pennsylvania
Republicans to the Democratic Party.
“I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans,” Mr. Specter said, acknowledging that his decision was certain to disappoint colleagues and supporters.

Senator Specter has a long history of defying the party line with his moderate views. He helped broker an agreement on President Obama's economic stimulus bill, has supported a woman's right to choose and supports funding stem cell research. There is also the issue of the 2010 election. Republican moderates in Pennsylvania have switched party affiliation in large numbers so it was unlikely Specter could win the Republican primary. As a moderate Democrat he stands a much better chance of winning the general election.

Senate Democrats will now cast their eyes to Minnesota, where Al Franken has won a court case calling him the winner of that state's contested senate seat over incumbent Norm Coleman. I imagine Governor Tim Pawlenty's telephone must be filled with the anguished cries of Hannity fans and Limbaugh ditto heads begging him not to certify Mr. Franken as the winner. My guess is he will continue to wuss out as he has since November and leave it up to another round of court appeals to decide for him. Whatever the case, Minnesota will need senate representation at some point and he will have to do his duty.

This, of course, is driving hard core, right wing conservatives crazy. A quick look at the Fox News message boards show those denizens of nutbaggery clinging tightly to their shrinking power base with bad spelling, name calling and pseudo-death threats:

Good riddens Benedict Arlan. Glad to see you go.-demsrliars

A dirty rotten snake in the grass, this one. I hope he loses all around. He
doesn't need another term - he'll be dead before the end of it. -smallergov

Quite frankly I'm overjoyed to see him switch sides. As Democrats gain power they will need moderate voices within the party. Any group in this situation, no matter how noble their goals, will eventually become so drunk with power that their heads will disappear right up their you-know-what's. They need those within the ranks who do not agree with everything the president, speaker or majority leader says.

Of course this also means the moderate voices within the Republican party, or RINO's as they are derisively called (Republicans in Name Only), are being marginalized. The hard liners who still think Saddam attacked New York are going to be left festering at the rotted core of their party, adopting a "just wait until Obama destroys the country" attitude rather than turning an introspective eye inward to see why voters and candidates are abandoning them.

The Democrats will have no one to blame if their policies fail so they had better be on top of their game. Thank God Cynthia McKinney's gone.

Flint Michigan Joins the List of Cities Embracing Planned Downsizing

From the New York Times today:

Instead of waiting for houses to become abandoned and then pulling them down,
local leaders are talking about demolishing entire blocks and even whole neighborhoods.
The population would be condensed into a few viable areas. So would stores and services. A city built to manufacture cars would be returned in large measure to the forest primeval.

Like Youngstown, Flint is a rust belt city with a manufacturing past experiencing a reduction in population. Also like Youngstown, the city leaders have decided to grab the bull by the horns and plan the reduction of their city.

Flint government plans to encourage people to leave streets and neighborhoods so structures can be leveled, pavement torn up and the areas returned to nature. This will allow them to concentrate population near commercial entities and concentrate their services on a smaller area. They seem to be fully prepared for the heartache this will cause but I wonder if they have counted on the sheer inertia some people have regarding their home. After all, even in Youngstown some residents refuse to leave no matter how deplorable the conditions are surrounding their home.

Flint too has its blogs and they are reporting on the Mayor's plans. This one, Come Heller High Water, has some insightful comments from readers. From those comments it's clear that some people are ready to face reality while others have a wait and see attitude. It's almost comical how relevant their comments are to what our area has faced. Should the surrounding county support mass transit and the libraries? Lay off cops and firefighters? Closing popular schools because of low attendance? We've been there and done that.

Hopefully cities like Youngstown, Flint and Buffalo can write the book on how to manage shrinkage and maintain a vibrant, relevant community. If nothing else it's good to see we're not in this alone.

The Car Warranty Scam People Have Switched Numbers

The car warranty scam people have a new number: (605) 393-9811. They called my cell phone and this time it was the woman's recorded voice telling me this was my last call and if I didn't respond my file would be closed.

Oh, if only it were true!

I was fully prepared to string them along and get some info but no one picked up when I pressed one as instructed.

Anyway, beware. They've got themselves a new number to bother you from. I sure would like to know how they are getting away with calling cell phones.

ETA: I have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission regarding these calls. They have a complaint wizard which makes it very easy to do. I'll keep everyone updated if I hear anything.

Skollapalooza- Help the University Scholar Program at YSU

I received this request to help the Univeristy Scholar program at YSU. Being a good Penguin alumni I never turn down a chance to help the school that provided me with so many opportunities. Supporting their events allows me to help others follow in my footsteps of skipping classes while playing Eucher in the Chestnut Room and eating Pub Pizza.

I have no idea if the bands are any good because I'm an old fart who never gets out of the house but if they're playing in front of people odds are they're not terrible. Attend if you can. Here's the details:

The University Scholar program at YSU is hosting an outdoor music festival called Skollapalooza on Saturday April 25th at the B&O Station in Youngstown. All members of the community are invited and welcome to attend. Bands playing are: Nick Funyak and the Resonance, PhoenixRising, The Kellys, Winslow (from Kent), and Jahman Brahman (fromColumbus). Tickets are on sale now, they're $10 presale and $15 at thedoor. Drinks will be on sale at the concert (by both Superior Beverage and inside the B&O). Everything starts at 7:00 pm.
If you are able to mention this at all in your blog sometime this week,we would really appreciate it. We've been trying our hardest to get as many YSU students to come as possible, but again, this is open to all members of the public. We figure the people most likely to attend fromthe community are those who are the most active and involved - the very same people who read your blogs.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you (or anyone else) wants to purchase tickets before hand, let me know and we'll do all we can to get them in your hands. All proceeds from this are going back to the program, specifically to hold this very event again next year. With your help, we hope this could end up becoming another great Youngstown tradition.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel to let me know. Thanks again for your cooperation. We hope to see you all on Saturday at Skollapalooza!
Jared Ruiz

In Defense of Denim- Refuting George Will

George Will went all class warfare crazy on us last week in a column where he villified denim jeans and the immature adult culture that wears them. Apparently George can no longer accept that adults are dressing in denim and partaking in activities like playing video games or watching Batman movies.

Which means George would have totally hated my weekend.

Denim is the clerical vestment for the priesthood of all believers in democracy's catechism of leveling -- thou shalt not dress better than society's most slovenly. To do so would be to commit the sin of lookism -- of believing that appearance matters. That heresy leads to denying the universal appropriateness of everything, and then to the elitist assertion that there is good and bad taste.

Mr. Will may be overthinking the issue. Of course appearances matter but so does comfort. I own lots of jeans. Even though I have a white collar job I have jeans for working in the yard and around the house. I have "good" jeans for wearing out when I don't want the stifling conformity of khakis. I even have denim shorts, which, if I am to believe some internet posters, is a sin akin to wearing a mullet.

I feel sorry for George and his lone pair of jeans. It means he lives in a place where people probably don't work in their yards, clean out their attics or go for walks in the woods. He certainly never passes a John Deere tractor on the road like I did this morning. If you share a road with farm equipment you are living in an area where denim jeans are de rigueur.

Finally, I am somewhat suspicious that Mr. Will's column harkens back to a conversation Herb Tarlek had with Les Nessman during an episode of WKRP. First up, George Will:

A 10-year-old boy is walking with his father, whose development was evidently arrested when he was that age, judging by his clothes. Father and son are dressed identically -- running shoes, T-shirts. And jeans, always jeans. If Mother is there, she, too, is draped in denim.

Next, Herb Tarlek:

Herb: The whole world is in revolution, and not just here, but everywhere. And you know who’s at war?
Les: No.
Herb: It’s the dungarees versus the suits, Les. The whole world is in two armed camps - over here, we have the dungarees, and over here the suits. Remember the riots from the sixties? It was the dungarees versus the suits. And then Watergate. Those guys arrested were wearing dungarees, and who suffered for it?
Les: The suits!
Herb: Exactly!
Les: But there were issues, Herb.
Herb: The issues, issues, were a smokescreen. Now listen. When a son disobeys his father, what’s he wearing?
Les: The son? Uh… dungarees!
Herb: And what’s the father got on?
Les: Probably a suit!
Herb: D’ya see what I mean, Les?
Les: Yeah!
Herb: And do you know what’s worse?
Les: What?
Herb: The fathers are beginning to wear dungarees too!
Les: That’s right!
Herb: And so are the mothers!
Les: It’s just like “The Bodysnatchers”!

Mothers draped in denim! What is the world coming to?

No Car Warranty Calls Yet

The car warranty people, who have been trying to scam me and thousands of others for the last couple of weeks, have not yet called today. I'm not sure if I can get through a Monday without hearing the mock horror of their recorded message hammering home the fact that my car warranty is about to expire. Between this oversight and the crappy weather, Monday is turning into a real bummer.

Warren Ellis Has A New Column In Wired UK

One of my favorite writers has a new column in Wired UK. In his first column he touches on print media, such as newspapers and magazines and why they are still relevant, which was the subject of yesterday's post on this blog.

Go read it here.

Newspapers Are Dying. Should We Let Them?

Columnist Rosa Brooks and others are lamenting the seeming impending doom of newspapers. The issue is that internet and cable TV news are proving to be stiff competition for the dailies. The business model of supporting newspapers through advertising and slave delivery labor is failing because the economy is down in general and because internet services and cable TV can more accurately target consumers with ads. Moreover, newspapers give away much of their content through websites designed to support their print editions. In recent years large papers such as the Rocky Mountain News have folded, others, such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer have gone to online versions only or made severe cutbacks, like the Detroit Free Press.

So what happens if newspapers go the way of dinosaurs and American manufacturing jobs? Well, investigative journalism will decrease and politicians will get away with more. Not to prop up a dying beast with false drama but some stories deserve pages of study or even a series. You cannot get that watching the 6 o'clock news when ten minutes goes to sports and another 12 minutes is spent telling the old folks what the weather will be like over the next 7 days.

Ah, you say, but I can get that on the web! Well that's true. The internet is packed with information and some of it is even true. The problem is that you need to seek out a reputable site that recognizes what journalism is and understands an editor's role. Infotainment sites and blogs will never replace a reporter sitting at a city council meeting when electrical rates are being debated. Hell, if I had an editor you wouldn't wander in here and see me ranting about the Iraq War one day and lamenting the demise of Battlestar Galactica the next.

There is a feeling of confidence one gets when holding a newspaper in their hands. It means a reporter asked questions, wrote the story and an editor approved it. That simple paper record contains information that can never be deleted or rewritten once it is in your hands. There is a sense of accountability when you slip that rolled up paper from the box.

Rosa Brooks is wrong though when she says the newspaper industry should be bailed out ala GM and AIG. Newspapers must be financially independent to function as the overseer of government. Government funding of the very industry that exists to question politicians would never work. Republicans constantly attack PBS so if they don't like the content of Sesame Street you know they will howl over a story questioning earmarks in the budget. No, it's up to us to determine whether newspapers should continue to exist. We have to subscribe, read and act on the information contained in the paper. If we decide we want to base our votes on the information Inside Edition provides then we're going to get the government we deserve.

Scam Alert- More Numbers From The Car Warranty Sleazebags

I've dug a little further and it appears that I'm not the only one who has been receiving calls from these snake oil salesmen. The car warranty sleazebags have been bothering people all over and from a variety of numbers. Yesterday's post contained two numbers used by the scamsters so I looked back through the histiry of my phone to see if there were others.

I found two additional numbers on my cell phone, (770) 921-4651 & (508) 993-6098. According to WhoCallsMe.com it's they are both bogus car warranty numbers. WhoCallsMe.com, by the way, is an invaluable resource for determining if you are suffering alone or are part of a bigger con game.

I wonder if the people making these calls related to those Nigerian princes who email me?

It looks like they switch numbers on a weekly basis. Below is a record of the calls I've received over the last two weeks:

(541) 784-2120- 04/06/09 2:50 pm
(508) 993-6098- 04/06/09 3:48 pm
(770) 921-4651- 04/13/09 12:07 pm
(404) 537-0417- 04/13/09 2:16 pm

I wonder if they've removed me from their list as requested (fat chance) or if I'll get two more calls Monday. I think it's time to send a complaint to the FTC.

Scam Alert- Your Car Warranty Is About To Expire

Have you received these official looking postcard notices that say your car warranty is about to expire? If you haven't, you may have received an annoying automated phone call on your cell phone touting the same message. I have received both.

I know it's a scam because I don't have a warranty that is going to expire. In fact, both vehicles have warranties that are years from expiring. After receiving several of these calls on my cell phone and hanging up I decided to speak with someone so I pressed "1" at the conclusion of the message. The person I spoke with started off the conversation by asking me to give her my name and car make and model. What? They know my warranty is going to expire but they don't know who I am?

After I refused to provide her with the information and told her I did not want further calls she hung up on me. I had the same experience last week with a different gentleman. In both cases the automated recording initiating the call told me it was my last chance to take advantage of this service and that I would receive no further offers. I can only pray it's true.

Here's an article on the scam from 2008. It looks like these folks do business in a fairly sleazy fashion so you may want to stay away from them. The article says the calls were orginating from St. Louis, MO but my call came from Atlanta, GA; (404) 537-0417 to be exact. Another odd thing, when I call that number I get a recording telling me the call cannot be completed. Another number to watch out for is (541) 784-2120. It sounds like they call a lot of people who don't have expiring warranties.

Elkhart Indiana Finds Common Ground with the Mahoning Valley

In case you have never seen it printed on the spare tire cover of a van or recreational vehicle, Elkhart Indiana is the RV capital of the world. This city of 51,000 people is about 300 miles from Youngstown if you drive west on I-80. Like the Mahoning Valley, they were a one industry town, building recreational vehicles instead of making steel. Also like the Mahoning Valley they are taking an enormous hit as the market for large, expensive RV's dries up. When folks don't know if they will have a job a few months from now they scale back on luxury items like RV's, no matter how well they are built or how good the deals are.

The area is reeling with high unemployment as RV manufacturers and the businesses that support them close their doors. In fact, Elkhart's unemployment rate of 20% exceeds the Mahoning Valley's rate of 14%. MSNBC has been doing a series of articles on the city and how the recession is affecting them. While reading the story I was struck by the similarities to recent articles appearing in our local press:

“Here I am, 41 years old, and my husband is getting ready to turn 40, and we are
back at square one,” said Gambill, who worked 20 years in the RV industry. Now
she is scraping by on partial unemployment benefits and a minimum-wage,
part-time job and taking classes to learn insurance coding. She and her husband
have given up on buying a three-bedroom home through a lease-to-own agreement.
“The money is gone … Now the assets we have go to renting a one-bedroom
apartment and a storage unit.”

Elkhart is taking steps similar to those our area has taken to get people back to work. They are appealing to corporations to relocate, they are seeking stimulus funds for infrastructure improvements and they are looking to diversify their economy. One idea that was surprising to me was fish farming. There have been proposals to raise Tilapia in the factories that once built RV's. Elkhart's economic development director alludes to the shenannigans some will try when a city is down on its luck and looking for any way out of the dark:

"You’ll find people who are trying to prey upon the community,” Gildea said. “Or
some others are trying to start a small business with multilevel marketing. That
may work, but I’m not the guy to be your advocate and cheerleader.”

I wonder if they've heard of blimps or indoor NASCAR tracks yet?

While examining this situation I was struck by how much work the Valley has already accomplished and how far Elkhart's road back to prosperity could be. YSU is expanding and the Youngstown Business Incubator has already had some success. Youngstown has decided to manage its shrinkning population with the Youngstown 2010 plan. With any kind of luck Elkhart and our area will be able to diversify and succeed in attracting new opportunities.

Why are Mass Killings so Often Seen as a Solution?

I don't know what to say about the killing of three Pittsburgh police officers yesterday, except to offer my condolences to their families and friends. The mass killings so frighteningly common in March appear to be continuing in April. Each incident is different, with each perpetrator committing the act for their own individual reason. The only commonality between them is the method with which they chose to resolve their situation.

Has there been a change in the way Americans view each other? Are we more fragmented by our politics than in past eras? The young man who killed the officers in Pittsburgh, 22 year old Richard Poplawski, reportedly believed that a gun ban by the Obama administration was imminent, that the United States was ruled by a secret cabal and other conspiracy theories. Obviously Mr. Poplawski was an extreme example of this pont of view but it is hardly an uncommon one. There have been many articles since the November election describing people buying guns in preparation for a firearms ban that has never been discussed by the Obama administration.

There are believers, though, that put on their blinders and see the world only from the point of view of their own political ideology. Those ideologies have become less about what is best for America and more about standing fast in concrete beliefs. After examining the comments of several message boards (Vindy, Fox, LA Times) it quickly becomes clear that objectively reviewing an issue and formulating a well thought out response is beyond the capacity of many people. We have our liberal/ conservative lens and everything is viewed through it.

Of course, not every mass killing that has occurred recently contains a political bent. The economy is pushing people beyond their capacity to feel secure. Companies are failing, homes are foreclosed in record numbers and jobs are scarce. The security found in a paycheck cannot be emphasized enough.

Engineers have a saying, "When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail". There are many men who drift though life feeling inadequate, because they are unemployed, underemployed or realize that they are not going to reach the hazy, poorly thought out goals they thought time would allow them to reach. It is easy for these individuals to latch onto a political ideology, empower themselves with firearms and suddenly lash out when a girlfriend leaves or they become unemployed. Suddenly they only have one way to maintain control of their lives and gain revenge on those they feel have wronged them. Violence becomes their tool. The rest of us can only look on in confusion and horror as these people take out their frustration in the most deadly way possible.

In the last month there have been mass killings in Oakland, Binghamton, Pittsburgh, Carthage, Santa Clara, Alabama, Germany and just this morning, Tacoma. The debate for why and how to prevent it cannot be limited to gun control, religion in American life or bank bailouts. We need to have a very detailed debate about how we live, how we treat each other and how we can help people before they get to the point where violence looks like a rational solution to their problem.

American Guns and Mexican Dead

America's slavish devotion to absurd gun laws has finally impacted our neighbors. Not content with simply selling guns to people who shouldn't have them in the United States, we have now begun to sell them to people who proceed to take them across the southern border so the Mexican drug cartels can be armed with the finest firearms in the world.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recently reported that 90% of the firearms recovered in drug related crimes in Mexico orginated in the United States. They send us people willing to work cheap and we send them AK-47's and Bushmaster rifles. There are 6,700 guns dealers on the southern border, three for every mile of the border. How can anyone think that volume of business is for legitimate owners?

Mexico has extremely tight gun control laws so their criminals buy them here. "But how could that be" you ask? Ah...Let me explain it to you.

Regular readers of this blog know that it has been proven by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns organization that areas of the United States with strict laws regulating the sale of firearms are the victim of areas that do not have strict laws. That is why criminals in New York get their guns in West Virgina. It's easier to buy them there and take them to New York for resale. The people who do this are known as "strawman buyers". They also work the southern border states. They legally purchase weapons and then ship them over the border for sale to criminals.

We need a common sense solution to this problem. Gun owners who obtain their firearms legally have a right to enjoy them. We know that not every gun owner is a nutjob waiting to go on a rampage. On the other hand, gun owners should realize that owning a firearm carries some responsibility. I firmly believe that every single transaction involving a firearm should require a background check that shows the intended buyer is not mentally incompetent and not a felon. A record of that sale should also be kept so that firearms used in crimes can be traced. That way the person who broke the law and sold a weapon to Loopy Joe can be identified when he shoots up a fast food joint because they were out of barbecue sauce.

I say these things with the conviction of being a gun owner. I like guns. I enjoy shooting them. I don't hunt but I really like testing my aim by blowing holes in paper targets and anything else I can set up on the range. I absolutely mean to practice what I preach.

There are tens of thousands of gun related deaths each year in the United States and now our particular brand of crazy is spreading to our southern neighbor. It's time to tighten up how firearms are sold and how we keep track of them. After all, if you can fill out a dozen pieces of paperwork to buy a car you can handle recording a gun sale. It's time to face the fact that responsibility and accountability aren't too much to ask for when it comes to owning something that can do so much damage in the wrong hands.