"Hi! Would you mind watching my bag for me while I run to the bathroom?"

On Monday (4/15/13) I watched a show on the Science Channel called Scam City.  The gist of the show is that the host travels to some of the most scam-ridden cities and shows you, a potential tourist, how not to get taken by being taken himself.  This episode focused on Rio de Janeiro.   In one of the scams, a local comes up to a tourist on the beach and asks them to watch his stuff while he goes for a swim. 

Unbeknownst to the tourist, while they are focused on this guy's stuff (that he's now entrusted them to watch) his partner is looting their wallets, camera, bags, etc.

This morning, I awoke from an awful dream that mixed this show with a bit of the horror from Boston.  What if, instead of dropping a bag with explosives, the bomber(s) simply asked a stranger to watch their bag for them?  I've had this happen myself more than once and have seen it happen several times to others:  A stranger, who doesn't want to take their stuff somewhere (frequently the bathroom) turns and asks you "Hey, can you watch my stuff for me while I run to the ...?"   Almost always, people say "Sure".    It's an odd interaction.  You have suddenly been entrusted with someone's belongings.  Someone that doesn't know you but somehow trusts you.   When will they return?  What if I have to leave before they get back?
Most people being honest, almost feel a sense of loyalty to this persons' belongings, which is why the Rio scam works so well.  You're focused on their stuff, more than your own. 

This well known phenomenon is also behind this well known Aly Bank Commercial

My point is this: someone dropping off a bag and walking away is very suspicious as is an unattended bag in a public place.  Someone asking a stranger to watch their bag and walking away, isn't.  And to other people around the bag(s), nothing appears odd because there is no 'unattended' bag.  While I have no evidence this happened, my sleeping brain seems to think this is what happened in Boston. 

So the next time a stranger asks you to watch their bag(s), you're going to have to ask them to open the bags and show you what's inside. 

Or maybe just tackle them and scream for the police.

Mainstream Media HALL OF DOOM!

Nothing gets people interested in watching TV or reading newspapers & magazines quite the way that impending doom does. Just like clockwork, whenever the mainstream media runs out of legitimate stories (or when the current legit story get stale like, say, an ongoing debacle of a war in Iraq) they will trot out the latest "_This_ will scare the sh*t out of You!!" Story.

So today I inaugurate my new Mainstream Media Hall of Doom (MMHOD). This will be an ongoing collection of current and past "this is really going to ruin your life" themes the media harped on and then promptly forgot as the next juicy story overtook it. You may have forgotten about these yourself, so I will archive them here.

Mainstream Media Hall of Doom (MMHOD)

• Swine Flu Outbreak (2009) Attack of the Sick Pigs!
• Cell Phones and Cancer (2004- current) Boy, *that* was an expensive call
  
• Water Shortage (2003 - Current - Does this mean Water World won't happen??)
• Global Fish Shortage (Current 2008 - Suddenly, food=fear)
• Worldwide Food Shortage (Rice Famine? 2008 "At the end of the day, you will pay the price for being a fussy eater.")
• Colony Collapse disorder (2007 So Long, And Thanks For all The Pollen!!)
  
• Bird Flu (2006-2007)
• Rogue Asteroid Strike (2004)
• SARS (2003)
  
• Terrorism (current)
  
• Global Warming (current)
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (1990s -2000's Angry cows on the warpath)
  
• Y2K Glitch (1999)
• Deformed Frogs (1995)
• West Nile Virus (2002-2005 Invasion of the Infected Vampires)
• Satanic Day Care (1980-1990)
• Hole In The Ozone Layer (1985)
• Acid Rain (Late 1980's)
• Global Cooling (1975)
• Population Explosion (late 1960's)
• Commies Are Going To Get Us! (1950s-1980s)
  
• Nuclear Annihilation (1950-1980)

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I have color coded these in the following way:

Green - While it might have been real to some extent, if you never fretted about it, you'd be no worse off
Orange - Maybe you should (or should have) worried a little about this one.
Red - OMG, the Media was right! We're all DOOMED!
Black - An ongoing event (too early to tell...so you'd better worry yourself into an ulcer just to be on the safe side).

Of course, an item's color code will change if the situation warrants.

Originally Posted: 4/24/2008
Last updated: 11/15/2009
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D.C. Ends Vehicle Inspections - But Is The Joke On You?

D.C. has announced that starting October 1, 2009, they will no longer require vehicle owners to get an annual inspection. This was announced as a budget reduction , allegedly saving the district some $400,000 per year.

Of course, the paranoid in me immediately questions how the People's Republic of D.C. could ever give up this control and revenue stream. Why wouldn't they just increase the inspection sticker price? Seems a bit out of place, doesn't it?? Unless....

Unless it gives them more control. Is it possible, that after October 1, 2009, a D.C. Police officer can pull you over for no obvious violation but instead do it under the cloak of a 'roadside inspection'? Am I really that paranoid? Yes.

Before you judge, consider that this surprise inspection cancellation announcement comes just 65 days after D.C.'s plan of setting up roadside checkpoints in certain high crime neighborhoods was ruled unconstitutional by a federal court. So D.C. can no longer roadblock whole neighborhoods, but perhaps they will now just set up vehicle inspection programs? Perhaps setting up shop in certain neighborhoods? Yes, that makes it all fit together nicely.

We'll see...

Water Is Added To The MMHOD

Or actually, the lack of water.

MMHOD

Peon Pulpit Paranoia #2

Clear Channel Communications, the largest owner of radio stations in the United States (1,200 stations according to Wikipedia) is also a major investor in XM Satellite Radio. Maybe that explains why radio sucks so bad. Could it be that Clear Channel programs crappy 'terrestrial' radio stations so that you will think to yourself, "Man, this radio station sucks! I really should just get that XM" ?

Thus, Clear Channel could convert non-paying customers (like you) into paying subscribers. Think about it.

Peon Pulpit Paranoia #1

If the government wanted to spy on your computer, wouldn't your anti-virus software make a really good cover for it? It watches everything that happens on your computer then 'phones home' at least once a day. If you wanted to motivate people to buy and install the software, you would just periodically write a couple of nasty viruses that would wreck any system without anti-virus software. Think about it....