Today, a janitor at a local elementary school was arrested for soliticing sex on-line. His intended partner? A 14-year-old. At some point during the communications, the police became aware of the internet intercourse and monitored it.
My husband's question; "How can these idiots continue to keep trying this? Almost every week, there is a story in the news of one of them being arrested."
My response; "IF the police are only catching one out of ten, then what is the risk"
How many cases are reported and caught, and how many are literally consumated?
It is one of those crime statistics that very likely is highly under-reported. I'm not talking about the 18-year-old with the 17 or 16 year-old. I'm talking about the person 25 or older with a minor.
The internet is so vast, and so annonymous. You may pretend to be any age -- older or younger than you actually are. You can pretend to be interested in actions that you would never actually engage in.
Was there a time when people met as "pen pals" and poured out their souls (or pretende to) to strangers they intended to take advantage of? Of course, the local police could not monitor the Federal mail. Nor could the Feds monitor the contents of communications without Court orders.
Is the explosion in this type of arrest due to the accessability of the internet? Apparently, local police do not need a search warrent or a wire-tap authorization to monitor communications.
I could set up a "sex chat" with any reader of this blog in which we established different e-mail accounts, different ages, genders, likes, identies, and pretend we were persons (at least one of whom was unable to consent) who were plotting to meet and engage in illicit activity.
Would we be caught? Unless one of us tipped off a police agency, we would likely not be caught. If one of us were to tip off a local police agency we might be charged with filing a false report or otherwise wasting their time.
But if I were a 14-year old girl, and if you were a 35-year old man, and if my parents did not monitor my internet usage, what could/would we be able to say and possible accomplish.
Are police actually making a dent in internet child-sex crimes? Or are they merely publishing their occasional successes?
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Mom
I lost my "Mom" this week.
Who was she?
Rochelle Kantor was my Jewish Mother. Note that both word are capitalized.
I was a somewhat struggleing tax auditor when Rochelle asked me to come to review and be a stat notice writer. Part of it was out of affection for my husband. Part of it was because she felt that if my husband believed that I was not an incompetent idiot, I wasn't. She knew him. And because she knew him, she believed in me.
I went up on a 90-day detail. I was supervised. I was reviewing "short-90's" Cases that were no-shows, where the notice was based on the initial report. I was quick to pick up the errors. The disallowance of Schedule C expenses without an adjustment to the SE tax. The changes to AGI while ignoring the NOL carryover. My coaches were impressed.
I was put into a position of seeing how many "short-90's" could be issued (signed
and mailed) before the true push of the April 15th statute of limitations would hit.
I reviewed, I signed, I issued some 1,000 or more cases before the statute ran.
Then I was promoted to "long form letters" These were the letters on the cases where the proposed deficiency exceeded the amount that could be petitioned to "S" Court (the Tax Court equlivency to small-claims cout).
This was in the early '80's. There were no computer programs (at least in the IRS) that saved paragraphs of language for disallowance of deductions, credits, expenses or any thing else. EVERYTHING had to be written out in long-hand.
Rochelle (by that time she had become 'MOM') put together a task force to write standard paragraphs of disallowance for the 90% of most common items we encountered.
When we weren't working cases, we were writing "standard paragraphs".
Mom would attend the monthly staff meetings of the managers on her level and above.
She would come back from the meeting and call us into her office. She would explain what upper-level management wanted, and she would ask, "How can we do this?"
She absolutely understood that if EVERYONE, from bottom to top was not involved in the process, there could be no success.
When I was called for Jury duty, and was empanneled on a jury on a murder/kiddnapping trial that was scheduled to last for 6 or more months, she created a job that I could fulfill on the one or less days a week I was in the office. She made me the 'problem slover' (actually, my describtion of it was the 'garbage handler') She woud put aside the things that took more than 30 minutes to resolve, the items that required communication amoungst units, and when I was in the office, I dealt with them.
Mom believed in me. Because she believed I could do things, I could. I owe much of my success in my carrer to her.
She told me I could do things, and because of her words, I could.
Mom once said, "The difference between a child and an adult is that an adult understands AND ACCEPTS the consequences of their actions." Those words have become a template for my life.
MOM, MOM, you're gone!!!!!!! Who will I lean on NOw????!!!!
Who was she?
Rochelle Kantor was my Jewish Mother. Note that both word are capitalized.
I was a somewhat struggleing tax auditor when Rochelle asked me to come to review and be a stat notice writer. Part of it was out of affection for my husband. Part of it was because she felt that if my husband believed that I was not an incompetent idiot, I wasn't. She knew him. And because she knew him, she believed in me.
I went up on a 90-day detail. I was supervised. I was reviewing "short-90's" Cases that were no-shows, where the notice was based on the initial report. I was quick to pick up the errors. The disallowance of Schedule C expenses without an adjustment to the SE tax. The changes to AGI while ignoring the NOL carryover. My coaches were impressed.
I was put into a position of seeing how many "short-90's" could be issued (signed
and mailed) before the true push of the April 15th statute of limitations would hit.
I reviewed, I signed, I issued some 1,000 or more cases before the statute ran.
Then I was promoted to "long form letters" These were the letters on the cases where the proposed deficiency exceeded the amount that could be petitioned to "S" Court (the Tax Court equlivency to small-claims cout).
This was in the early '80's. There were no computer programs (at least in the IRS) that saved paragraphs of language for disallowance of deductions, credits, expenses or any thing else. EVERYTHING had to be written out in long-hand.
Rochelle (by that time she had become 'MOM') put together a task force to write standard paragraphs of disallowance for the 90% of most common items we encountered.
When we weren't working cases, we were writing "standard paragraphs".
Mom would attend the monthly staff meetings of the managers on her level and above.
She would come back from the meeting and call us into her office. She would explain what upper-level management wanted, and she would ask, "How can we do this?"
She absolutely understood that if EVERYONE, from bottom to top was not involved in the process, there could be no success.
When I was called for Jury duty, and was empanneled on a jury on a murder/kiddnapping trial that was scheduled to last for 6 or more months, she created a job that I could fulfill on the one or less days a week I was in the office. She made me the 'problem slover' (actually, my describtion of it was the 'garbage handler') She woud put aside the things that took more than 30 minutes to resolve, the items that required communication amoungst units, and when I was in the office, I dealt with them.
Mom believed in me. Because she believed I could do things, I could. I owe much of my success in my carrer to her.
She told me I could do things, and because of her words, I could.
Mom once said, "The difference between a child and an adult is that an adult understands AND ACCEPTS the consequences of their actions." Those words have become a template for my life.
MOM, MOM, you're gone!!!!!!! Who will I lean on NOw????!!!!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Remembering Jean
Jean Mitchell, age 92, died today.
Who was Jean? Why should I care? Why should you care?
Jean was a very special lady. Her son, Mike was one of George's best friends in college and after. But Jean (and her surviving husband, Frank) were not "parents" to the group of friends who first met at Fullerton JC. Jean and Frank were part of the group. They were friends, not "Mike's parents" They were our peers, if not in age, in attitude, in mind, in willingness to explore, discuss, examine life and everything around it.
Being around Jean never felt like being around my mother or my mother's friends. Being with Jean was like being with any of my girlfriends.
Jean lived 92 years, but Jean was never old. Jean was always the age of the people she was with.
There is a hole in my heart and in my life tonight.
Jean, I miss you.
Who was Jean? Why should I care? Why should you care?
Jean was a very special lady. Her son, Mike was one of George's best friends in college and after. But Jean (and her surviving husband, Frank) were not "parents" to the group of friends who first met at Fullerton JC. Jean and Frank were part of the group. They were friends, not "Mike's parents" They were our peers, if not in age, in attitude, in mind, in willingness to explore, discuss, examine life and everything around it.
Being around Jean never felt like being around my mother or my mother's friends. Being with Jean was like being with any of my girlfriends.
Jean lived 92 years, but Jean was never old. Jean was always the age of the people she was with.
There is a hole in my heart and in my life tonight.
Jean, I miss you.
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