Katrina Commission

This weekend, I've been blogging for Katrina. Since this blog is primarily about fraud, I've tried to cover issues relevant to the subject matter I write about. Since most of the fraud is yet to come, I'm stepping outside my normal subject matter for the time being.

Please note until the people are safe, we should be focused on that task. There is nothing more important than people. Even before we are very far in this crisis (which took a large public outcry to speed up government resources) when history is written, many opportunities will be revealed.

As a former Marine, I kept expecting to see the Marines from Camp Lejeune, as well as, the 82nd Airborne from Fort Bragg dispatched to deal with this crisis. Having been stationed at Camp Lejeune and having done joint exercises with the 82nd Airborne, I am acutely aware that they probably could have had their lead elements in place within hours.

Several days into it, after a lot of public outcry, our Commander in Chief dispatched these elements (along with sister elements from Kentucky and California) and guess what? Their lead elements were in place within a few hours. If we were having problems mobilizing the National Guard, which isn't intended to be a "force in readiness", other options should have been considered.

Perhaps fewer would have been murdered and raped if they knew they were going to face an armed Soldier, or Marine? After all, the individuals, who took advantage of the confusion and mayhem, were not the heroes and in fact, I would deem them low-life cowards. There is no doubt that the people in certain areas in the aftermath of Katrina faced situations that parallel any combat situation, we have faced in recent history.

This isn't meant to downplay the brave men and women in the thick of the crisis, who tried to do their best in spite of the overwhelming odds. They performed in an admirable manner and deserve the respect and thanks of the nation for their efforts. I would vote to recognize the Coast Guard, who are some of the real heroes who came out of this. They set all time records, worked without rest and saved a lot of people in spite of odds that were against them. There are other people that need recognition also. This includes the doctors, nurses, fire fighters, police, private citizens and other emergency personnel that didn't evacuate to save human lives.

There were a lot of good people on the ground and they had to been wondering when their relief would arrive.

We cannot change history and we must remain focused on dealing with the human perspective of this crisis, but at a later date, we will need to learn from our mistakes. Perhaps, the politically correct society, where every job is segmented and restricted is to blame? There are many saying that there were too many chiefs, with differing views of their responsibility and no one wanted to step on each other's toes? This is a sad commentary on our society today and at some point, we must deal with it. In any crisis, the keywords must be improvisation and adaptation if we are to emerge in a good light.

Some are also saying that our lack of response was due to racism. While possible, I would offer a opinion that it in the end, it probably had more to do with their financial status, or that they were poor. Sadly, money talks in our society and it can do wonders for those who have it, no matter what race they are. Whether it was racisim, money or a combination of the two, this is sonething that most Americans do not tolerate and isn't in the nature of our collective being.

About four hours ago, Senator Hillary Clinton called for a Katrina Commission. I would call for all our politicians to join her in a bipartisan effort to examine and evaluate what went wrong in this crisis. In the world that we live in today, our very survival might depend on it. Now is the time to forget our differences and focus on our similarities, which is that we are all Americans and part of what many consider the greatest society today.

After all, might the established protocols (based on bickering and pettiness) have caused the failures exposed in the Katrina crisis? Bashing each other (depending on which end of the political area we are on) will solve nothing and will only lead to further breakdowns, which will prevent us from learning from our mistakes.

2Search Promotes Spy/Adware via Deception

Webroot (which is a well respected computer security company) has discovered that "2Search" misdirects users to site that download spy/adware on your system. Apparently, they are able to produce fake "Google" results, which normally lead to "e-Bay" listings (often found on Google results). Quite often, these results if "clicked" upon lead to more spy/adware being downloaded on your computer.

According to Webroot, the reason they are doing this is that it conceals the fact that you are downloading spy/adware. Spy software is becoming big business, generating about $2.4 billion in annual revenue, per a report issued last week by Webroot.

Here is a link describing the difference between spyware and adware from Webopedia.

The Difference Between Adware & Spyware

The differences are minimal and we need to examine this problem from a social perspective. The line between the so-called legitimate uses for business and criminal enterprises is relatively small. Both are invading our privacy and shouldn't be considered legitimate in any form!

Here is a link to a site from the Center for Democracy and Technology listing the current legislation against spy/adware:

http://www.cdt.org/privacy/spyware/

I also recommend for those of us, who want changes in the laws to call your representative. Installing spy devices in personal domains is a fundamental violation of our right to privacy.

For those, who might not have protection, Spybot is free and can be downloaded at:

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

If you wish to purchase products from Webroot, click on the title of this post.

Gouging at the Pump

For quite some time, gas prices have gotten higher for the consumer. Within the same time frame, oil companies have been making record profits. In the wake of Katrina, fuel prices rose before any new (more expensive) shipments arrived. This lead to speculation that some were taking advantage of the situation (gouging).

I read an interesting article from Karen Pierog of Reuters that some of our elected representatives are taking action.

Here are a list of recent actions in some states cited by the article:

"California launched a probe of gas price hikes and state Attorney General Bill Lockyer said he will subpoena refiners' records and threatened to prosecute profiteers.

The federal government responded by releasing 900,000 barrels a day of stockpiled crude, temporarily relaxed fuel standards and asked for emergency international supplies -- moves aimed at mitigating price run-ups and potential fuel shortages.

Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro put the state's petroleum council, gasoline marketers and convenience stores on notice, asking them to justify price hikes.

Hawaii on Thursday became the first state to impose limits on gas prices since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The state will set weekly caps on wholesale gasoline prices for different regions of the islands.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue on Friday signed an executive order suspending the state's 7.5 cent-per-gallon motor fuel tax through the end of September. The move must be ratified by the legislature.

New York City, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and others asked Friday for state authority to set a flat, per gallon tax rate to ease gas prices that have jumped over $3.50 per gallon.

Democrats in the Oklahoma legislature proposed suspending the state's gas tax for the rest of the year, saving drivers 17 cents per gallon, or $1 million a day.

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell has raised the possibility of a temporary suspension of the gross receipts tax on gasoline.

In Ohio, House Speaker Jon Husted said he will push legislation for more widespread use of alternative fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle called on the legislature to pass a bill ensuring gas sold in his state will contain 10 percent ethanol."

We've known since the 70s that it might be a good idea to develop alternative energy sources. The time to do so is now and stop allowing our destiny to be controlled by foreign entities and large corporations that seem to be making more money than ever.

As concerned citizens, we can also reduce our personal consumption of oil products. There are many ways to do this. Here is a link to an article on ways to reduce your consumption of gas:

http://www.healthrecipes.com/save_gas.htm

So far as the gougers, I recommend contacting your attorney general with any business you suspect of gouging. Now might be a opportune time to send a message to those who decide to take advantage of other's misfortunes.

For the article by Karen Pierog, click on the title of this post.

Being Prudent in Donating Money (Katrina)

Here is information on how to give directly to organizations involved in the Katrina Relief Effort. Going through a third party can lead to fraud, or at the very least all of your money may not reach it's intended purpose. Third party fund raising organizations often pay people to solicit and take a cut of the proceeds.

The FBI is warning about fraudulent spoofing, phishing and pharming activity already associated with Katrina. For more information, here is a previous post, I did:

http://fraudwar.blogspot.com/2005/09/fbi-reports-fraudulent-activity-on.html

If you give on line, which is a great way, please ensure that the URL (http://) is correct. A common ploy in fraud is to alter the URL and impersonate a recognized and trusted name.

Also, please note, I have a donation box on my blog. This is to support the site and is sometimes used to help victims, who solicit my assistance. Please do not donate any money for Katrina here.

Here is a list, along with proper URL's and some telephone numbers, of organizations that are directly involved in the Katrina Relief Effort.

The United Way, http://national.unitedway.org/, 800 272-4630.

American Red Cross, http://www.redcross.org/, 800-HELP-NOW

Salvation Army, www.salvationarmyusa.org, 800-SAL-ARMY

Network for Good, www.networkforgood.org.

Habitat for Humanity, http://www.habitat.org/, 800-HABITAT.

Samaritan’s Purse, http://www.samaritanspurse.org/, 800 665-2843.

Save the Children, http://www.savethechildren.org/, 800 728-3843.

Humane Society of America, http://www.hsus.org/, 888 259-5431.

Feed the Children, http://www.feedthechildren.org/, 800-525-7575.

America’s Second Harvest, http://www.secondharvest.org/, 800 771-2303.

Craig's List is also doing an outstanding job in getting the information out to help the victims. Here is a link with more resources and recognized charities:

http://neworleans.craigslist.org/about/help/katrina_aid.html

Here are three resources, one can use to check the validity of any organization soliciting donations for Katrina.

Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance, http://www.charitynavigator.org/.

Charity Navigator, http://www.charitywatch.org/.

American Institute for Philanthropy, http://www.guidestar.org/.

Also, here is another post I did with information from the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) on how to give wisely and ensure the money get's to the right place.

http://fraudwar.blogspot.com/2005/09/ensuring-katrina-victims-receive-your.html

As always, if you suspect fraud, please report it. Here is a site linked to the FBI, where you can do so: http://www.ic3.gov/.