The Barrage of Illegal Calls Continues

For years now, we've heard how illegal and annoying telephone calls were going to be stopped. However, the amount of calls became so overwhelming, the Federal Communications Commission (the FCC, for short) held a competition for the private sector to submit ways to end the deluge of calls onto a beleaguered public. This was just issued today, July 26, 2017: (directly quoted from the FCC website)
"This Forfeiture Order imposes a penalty of $2,880,000 against Dialing Services for making robocalls to wireless phones using artificial or prerecorded voice messages without the prior express consent of the called parties, in violation of the TCPA." (TCPA=Telephone Consumer Protection Act)

How much, if ANY, effect this will have on calls will be seen in the coming months, but the call business is about MONEY, and thus far any fines have failed to instill fear in the moneygrubbers behind all of the calls. Technology is behind the curve, as the bad guys counter the tech used against them shortly after we hear how great the newest way to stop illegal calls is. These calls are so well orchestrated, it almost has to be mobsters from both the U.S. and abroad doing it. They will always go where the money is. Valiant efforts have failed. They now mask their true phone number with a number that will show on caller IDs as being from your area code, and also likely, with your same exchange, as they've learned people are far more likely to answer a local call. Still, this shows the "bad guys and girls" literally have access to the use of ALL phone numbers to disguise their own numbers. Blocking the phony number doesn't really help, because that's not the true number directing the call to you. The "Do Not Call List" was a government attempt to stop annoying calls by regulating who could call you and who could not. It worked to some extent, but only in the sense that it did stop legitimate and law abiding businesses from calling you, but since that time, the floodgates have opened with illegal entities making calls, and since they aren't legitimate businesses in the first place, they don't give a damn about the "Do Not Call List." 

"Hang 'em high" is now my slogan. They will have to be afraid, and at this time, they are NOT afraid. Let's not be a nation, or a world, of "making the world safe for telephone and cyber criminals, or ANY criminals." The only true way to stay safe is to stop answering your phone. That's how bad the situation has become. If you call a number back, they now know your number is active. NEVER call back. One trick they use is to have computer dialed numbers that allow a call to only ring once or twice. Some people's curiosity gets the best of them and they call the number to see who called. That's what they are counting on. There are all kinds of ruses to get you to answer your phone or to try to get information from you.

WORD HISTORY:
Block-This word, related to "balk" (English word) and to "balcony" (borrowed from Italian, but Italian got the base from Lombardic, a Germanic language which died out), goes back to Indo European "bhelg/bhalg," which meant, "strong or thick beam;" thus also, "support beam," and the figurative, "pile or heap." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "blukah," meaning, "tree stump, log, tree trunk." This gave Dutch "blok," meaning, "log, tree trunk." French borrowed the word as "bloc," with essentially the same meanings, but with the extension, "large piece of word, or large amount or mass/lump;" thus also, "something capable of hindering or of causing a hesitation in advance." This was borrowed into English circa 1300, at first as "blok." Before borrowing the word from French, English had, "bolca," from the same Germanic source, and it meant, "a ship's gangway (thick plank) for boarding or disembarking;" and further, "balca," meaning, "ridge of earth between furrows" (from the notion, "a plank of earth that blocks one furrow from another"). German has "Block," the noun, directly from the Germanic source, meaning, "square or rectangular materials bound together, a number of allies bound together as a unit (former "Eastern Block/Bloc," of communist countries, for example, or, "The mayor has a large block/bloc of voters committed to his reelection"), and it is also used in compounds like, "Stenoblock" (stenographer's notepad) and "Wohnblock" (apartment complex). The verb form in German, "blockieren," was borrowed in the early 1600s from French "bloquer." Like the English verb, it means, "to block, to obstruct, to barricade."      

Just How Safe Are We? The Demise of the Web? Part Two

First published November 2016


Just November 1 news broke that Microsoft Windows has "vulnerabilities" that are being "exploited," Microsoft claims, by the Russians. Folks, the Russians, the Chinese, Santa's reindeer, the Man in the Moon, IT DOESN'T MATTER! It shows they cannot protect these systems! They can't do it! They don't know what to do. There have always been hackers and scammers on the Internet, but in the last few years there has been an explosion of events, as the "bad guys" have done what bank robbers do, they go where the money is. It all started out as the technology that would lead to all sorts of new things, and they convinced many people, but not all, that the Internet was safe; you could do banking, you could do shopping, you could have medical records available and shared with healthcare providers, you could share personal info and photos, and on and on, AND it would be safe. All of those transactions and info sharing have happened, and businesses have invested enormous amounts of money in websites and advertising to take advantage of this new gold mine. I'm sure some people saw the potential downside, there's ALWAYS a downside, but obviously the big money people did not see that the "bad guys" were sitting out there saying, "Hmm, we want in on all of this money. Let's do it!" So identity theft is up, medical prescription fraud is up, draining of individual's gift cards is up, people being threatened to cough up money is up, people being duped into giving bank account numbers or credit card numbers is up, on and on. Computers are being used to launch mass email sendings and to make mass phone call dialings. So, while technology made our lives easier on some things, it also made it easier for criminals.

So in the last few years, after big business sold us a gazillion smartphones, a half a gazillion tablets, and a gazillion laptops and desktop computers, we've heard, "BREAKING NEWS! Target was hacked and information for over a hundred million customers was breached." This was not all, as we've also heard about Chick-fil-A, Neiman Marcus, P.F. Chang's, United Parcel Service, aka, UPS, Yahoo (a company that works hard to earn that name, which it has) and many more. Not only these, but also none other than the Pentagon, THE headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, was hacked. The list goes on and on, and these are the ones where there has been acknowledgement of being hacked. Folks, you have to believe, if the Pentagon can be hacked, no one person, no entity anywhere in the world is safe. But just to add to the list showing how serious all of this is, recently Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States, had her passport photo show up online, after being released by hackers. Not only that, they had information about Vice President Biden and Secret Service deployment.

So we hear about these things happening all the time, but what they won't tell you is, there is NO fix to any of this; at least no long term fix, OR, if there is a fix, why isn't it being implemented? Got to be powerful entities and individuals stopping it. We're all as vulnerable as a Microsoft Windows system. Ah, by the way, most of you probably recognize the name "Adobe," but what you may not know, not that it has been hidden, is that their "Flash Player" has had very serious vulnerabilities; so serious, in fact, that some companies dropped the use of the Adobe product. Let me tell you what I know about tech stuff, well ..... you could fit it all on the head of a pin. But folks, you don't have to know ANYTHING about technology to see what's happening. News stories appear ever more frequently about hackers and about how hackers can take over your camera and microphone on your device, and then spy on you! It wasn't too long ago that I saw where none other than Mark Zuckerberg covers his camera lens and microphone because of this possibly. Zuckerberg is a billionaire from the Internet, if he's scared, you should be TERRIFIED!     

Now too that business interests have us so tied to the Internet, we find that our very democracy can be tampered with. The Democratic National Committee was hacked, and there has been fear that voter registration might be affected, as many states now have online registration. Even voting machines or at least voting data that might be stored online will also be vulnerable. And what name so often appears in association with the 2016 election and tampering? RUSSIA!

More in Part Three...

WORD HISTORY:
For-This highly common word goes back to Indo European "per," which had the notion, "forward, in the front;" thus, "before, to the front, ahead, head toward." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "furi," meaning, "forward, before," as the Indo European "p" became Old Germanic "f." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "for," meaning, "for this reason, before, ahead of." It has remained such for all of these many centuries. The other Germanic languages have: German "für," Low German Saxon and Swedish "för," Dutch "voor," West Frisian "foar," Danish and Norwegian "for," Icelandic "fyrir." 

Just How Safe Are We? The Demise of the Web? Part One

UPDATE: This article was written before all of the recent information came out about Facebook, and before Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, made appearances before committees of the United States Congress in April 2018. The disclosures about Facebook, Google and others only confirms what many people already believed, or knew, to be true; that is, that many Internet tech/media companies have compiled extensive "dossiers" on many people on the planet, even with full knowledge of content from messages between users, and even calls from such service between users. Congress basically served up a lot of softball questions to Zuckerberg, who then hit them out of the park, much to the delight of the big money on Wall Street, where technology stocks soared with every pitch lobbed up to Zuckerberg. Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah was so typical of GOP "you're on your own" nonsense, when he asked Zuckerberg how Facebook exists. Zuckerberg softly answered, "Senator, we run ads." The idea that the public doesn't know that is more nonsense. The question isn't about any Internet company running ads, but rather the information they take from users and then sell or provide to advertisers, who then target those users with ads. Zuckerberg's comment to the effect that, "users want relevant ads," is more nonsense. Americans of all existing generations have grown up with ads. They are on television (not "targeted"), on radio (not targeted"), in newspapers and magazines (not "targeted"), on the sides of building (not "targeted"), on billboards along streets and highways (not "targeted"), and the fact that they are not "targeted" has not made companies stop using these forums to pitch their products or services. Senator Durbin of Illinois came closest to laying a glove on Zuckerberg and his, and other tech companies', nefarious, and thus far, successful, scheme to literally steal user information, with political complicity to make it legal, and then to monetize that info for their own benefit to the tune of BILLIONS of dollars. The political complicity has been bipartisan.

Of course, much of the concern about the Internet also has had to do with nations, especially Russia, using the Web to spread disinformation worldwide and to confuse people as to what is "true." Information is the very heart of democracy. Without reliable information, democracy will wither and die. Putin knows this very well. Putin is not an unrepentant communist, he's an unapologetic fascist,  who wants to control the Internet, and thus, the world. Defining "reliable information" is not always easily done, as many, if not most, issues, have varying points of view, but now, issues that once had great clarity with the overwhelming number of people are being made to sound as if there are hard choices involved; "good people on both sides," in the case of people protesting AGAINST Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, two evil groups, plain and simple.            

If government and private business can't stop spammers and scammers from sending gazillions of emails to us, or can't stop illegal phone calls by the gazillion, how safe are we from everything else, like terrorists, homegrown or from elsewhere? So what, there's no technology available to combat these things? Nope, or at least apparently not. If there is such technology, it's not being implemented, which tells you right off that big moneyed interests are stopping it. Some well meaning groups, like "Nomorobo," and others, have tried, but let me tell you, they're OVERWHELMED! They block a hundred million call numbers, there are far more than that already out there, and the thing is, no one seems to really know how many, as likely many more are added each day. The problem has become unstoppable, as caller numbers can be disguised to appear to come from another number, perhaps even YOUR OWN telephone number, and this displayed number hides the real number of the call. It's the same with emails, as another email address, perhaps even your own, hides the originating email address.

Some people, real or made up, "befriend" folks on social media hoping to get email addresses, or telephone numbers, to then send spam/scam emails, or to put your number onto computer lists to make that number a target for just this side of a gazillion calls. If they don't soon stop this crap, people will have no choice, but to move away from using the Internet and limit their phone use. I already keep my landline telephone ringer shut off, so effectively they have knocked me out of using a service I pay for. People with pay-as-you-go cellphone service or with limited calls, are being deprived of that service by the scammers, that's criminal. If they were ever turned over to the public, they would be literally torn to pieces, and I want to be there for it. If you are part of a legitimate charity, you'd better hope they get this phone crap (and email crap) under control, or your proceeds will shrink tremendously, although I'm sure they already have. See, you can't beat them, they can spoof your number or your email address, then people will never take your calls or open your emails, because they won't know if it's really legit.

 Here's the issue folks, the very systems used for telephone and internet service are the problem. The "bad guys" have figured out how to use these very systems to target the public, business and governments. Of course, it all likely comes down to that root of all evil ...MONEY! Hey, they aren't doing this for the fun of it. Everyone from terrorists to pornographers to thieves, etc, etc, are given access to use these systems. Let me tell you something, some folks are making a handsome buck off of all of this too; that is, granting access, then the crooks and scammers are making their own buck by having been given, and keeping, access. Of course, some may be doing both and really reaping a harvest of bucks.

Much more to come, in Part Two ....

WORD HISTORY:
Metal-The ultimate origins of "metal" is unknown, but it goes back to Greek "metalleuein," which meant, "to mine for something, to search in the earth for something." This then gave Greek "metallon," which meant "metal ore." This was borrowed by Latin as "metallum," meaning, "metal ore, metal." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "metal," which was then borrowed by English in the 1200s.

Stop Illegal & Unwanted Calls

Updated and clarified 7-15-2016

I don't often plug for specific products, but if you are bothered with illegal telephone calls (who isn't?), I think I have a solution for some of you; * at least for the present, AND .... IT'S FREE!!! I heard about this a few months ago, and I was skeptical, but I have to tell you, the number of calls has dropped DRAMATICALLY! Now, the bad guys will always work to find ways around attempts to block them, and since I'm no tech guru, I have no idea how long this will continue to work, but it's been great so far, and you can provide them with numbers to block, after they check them out, so it's an ongoing process keeping telemarketers and scammers from accessing you. Here is the link, and everything can be done online, plus, you've got to love the name, "NOMOROBO" (NO MO ROBO):  http://www.nomorobo.com/

* Some telephone service providers do not yet accept this service, or they may use another similar service (I believe there are such, but I'm not certain). You will be able to find out online if "Nomorobo" works with your specific service provider. Remember, the U.S. national "Do Not Call List" is NOT a call blocking service, and just because you signed up for the list does not mean you won't get calls, because, for one thing, there are exceptions to the "list." The law seriously needs to be updated, as when it was passed, George W. Bush was in his FIRST TERM as president. Just think how technology has changed since then! For more info, here is the link to another article I did about illegal calls, and it contains some links to help you about charity giving and about illegal calls.

 http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2015/02/caller-id-and-spoofing.html

Word History:

Sick-The ultimate origins of this word are uncertain, although a pretty good case can be made tying it to some Indo European form like "seug/seuk," with a notion of "troubled in mind, depressed." Old Germanic had "seukaz," seemingly with the notion, "become weak, become feeble, feel unwell, be troubled in body or mind." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "seoc," with those same meanings. The word later became "sik," before the modern version. The other Germanic languages have: German "siech" (meaning, "extremely ill, wasting away"), Dutch "ziek" (sick), Danish "syg" (sick), Norwegian "syk" (sick), Swedish "sjuk" (sick). Frisian and Low German once had forms, but no longer.

Caller ID and Spoofing

Below is the link to comments and recommendations at the FCC website about many of those telephone calls you get, even if you are on the "Do Not Call List," which was created by a law passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush in 2003, and implemented in 2004. You have to remember, the law exempts some callers from being prohibited from calling you: charities, political calls, pollsters, companies you do business with, or companies you have recently done business with. The thing is, unscrupulous and criminal elements have figured out how to circumvent the law, and/or how to fool you into answering your phone because of the number or name that shows up on your caller ID. There are lots of things going on with some of these calls, as the caller may not necessarily being trying to sell you something, but rather they may be trying to get information about you, which then can be sold, or used for identity theft. Some of these bastards use computers to dial telephone numbers in sequence, so the fact that you may have an unlisted number means nothing, as sooner or later the computer is going to call you. If you answer the call, there is often a lag time of a couple of seconds or so before someone answers you, if you get an answer at all, as there may not be a person available at that moment to talk with you. Understand, just because you get these calls doesn't mean the caller is illegal, as it may be a legitimate charity, for instance. To check on charities, here are two links:   http://www.charitynavigator.org/    or http://www.give.org/ 

It's important to remember, many charities do GREAT work and provide valuable help to people, animals and the environment, so please don't dismiss all calls as scams, but it might be better to mail a contribution to them, as many do have promotions on television which provide a mailing address, and some send solicitations in the mail, complete with an envelope, often postage paid.

Another thing about these calls is, if you answer a scam call, they now know that the number is an active number with a live person who answers the phone, and even if you ask to be put on their no call list, which they likely will agree to do, whomever it is they actually work for may have all sorts of numbers, and you may end up getting more calls; plus, they may also sell the information to others seeking telephone lists with active numbers, so asking them to put you on their no call list is not likely to end these calls; after all, if you were on the government "Do Not Call List," these scumbags were already violating the law and your privacy in the first place, and if you think by nicely asking them not to bother you will stop their calls, you're being naive. They're criminals!  

Getting people's personal information for sale or for identity theft is big business. As you'll see in the link below, technology has moved so quickly, it has been impossible to keep up with the tricks of the telemarketing and personal information business. They now can route calls from outside the country, making it far more difficult to trace the calls, or they may actually be set up and operating out of foreign countries. They also have figured out how to represent themselves as "pollsters," so as to claim they aren't in violation of the law. Further still, they can now "disguise" their number, which will show up on your caller ID as some other number, with the intent of getting you to answer the call. Believe it or not, I've been called BY MY OWN TELEPHONE NUMBER!!!

At this time, I have no idea what the answer to this problem is. Likely government needs more funding to specifically help advance technology to deal with the scam calls and telemarketing violations, but it may take more than that. You can't "un-invent" the technology the scam artists use, but likely inventions can combat it, but those inventions will have to be refined and updated to keep up with the scammers. You can go buy the latest locks for your home or vehicle, and they may be highly effective, FOR NOW, but the criminals are always working on how to breach any security device that has been invented. Look at all of the security breeches in several big stores' accounts in the last year or two, and even in the U.S. military! It's a never ending battle, but it's a battle that must be fought. Then there are those private drones buzzing overhead of all of us.  How long before one brings down an airliner? That's another subject though. Here's the link to the government site: 

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/unwanted-telephone-marketing-calls

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/spoofing-and-caller-id

WORD HISTORY:
Call-This word goes back to the Indo European root, "gal," which had the meaning "to shout, to call out." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "kall," with the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "ceallian," likewise with the same meaning. This was then altered and reinforced by the related Old Norse form "kalla," which also had the same meaning.^ This then became "callen," before the modern version. The noun was derived from the verb circa 1300. The other Germanic languages have: Low German "kallen" (to speak), Icelandic "kalla" (to call, to name), Swedish "kalla" (to call out to), Norwegian "kalle" (to call, to name), Danish "kalde" (to call). Dutch has the archaic "kallen" (to talk), and German and Frisian once had similar words, now no longer used.

^ Old Norse was a Germanic language that was the forerunner of the modern North Germanic languages, the most prominent of which are: Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. There are two other branches of Germanic, East Germanic (now extinct, but which included Burgundian and Gothic) and West Germanic. English is West Germanic, as are Dutch, German, Low German and Frisian.

Mining For More Of Our Information

Websites and other businesses never rest in their quest to mine for more information on all of us. The information is then often sold to other businesses,* although some stores "claim" they only use the information to be able to tailor deals to us. In these cases, stores have their own discount cards issued to patrons, of course, AFTER the patrons fill out a form with lots of personal information. Shoppers must then present the card at checkout to receive any discounts on purchased items. Facebook, Google and other web businesses seem to always be asking for some tidbit from us; "Add your cell phone number to our records so we can send you info, or if you forget your password." Call to buy or inquire about an advertised item, what is the first thing they want? Your phone number, so they can then drive your crazy with calls about other "deals."** It never ends. With online sites, the next thing you find out is that there was a security breach and your personal info might be in the hands of criminals. These companies don't need all of this info! Now there have been recent scams of companies using telemarketers or robots to dial numbers in sequence to see which numbers are active; that is, where they get ringing and no message saying the number is not in service, or they get an answering machines or voice mail, or naturally a live person. Often these calls come from outside the United States as a way to circumvent the law. They also are often, but not always, recorded messages and another violation of the law. Perhaps we're fighting a losing battle, but it's OUR information and OUR privacy, protect it and use it wisely.

* I'm sure you've seen a "Privacy Policy" from many businesses. The thing is, who the hell takes the time to read the damned thing? They naturally want to keep things complicated so they can then say, "Well we gave you our policy and you didn't object." These policies often have clauses about sharing information with "affiliated" companies, which is another way to get around the intent of the law, especially for large corporations with many diverse companies under a corporate umbrella. In other words, if Randy sold you a fishing rod, does that mean Randy can now contact you to sell you a box of donuts from his "affiliated" doughnut shop? Or how about some auto insurance from his insurance agency? Or perhaps you'd like a book from his publishing company? And then, of course, I'm sure you'd enjoy a pizza from his pizza shop! (I AM joking about this stuff. I DON'T have a pizza shop! Ah OK, or an insurance company or a publishing company or....)

** Remember folks, once you buy or inquire and you give them your number, they are NOT bound by the "Do Not Call" laws, unless you eventually tell them to stop harassing, I mean, calling you. They then still have thirty days to remove your name from their call lists. Violations can be reported, even online, to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) or to many state governments, but to be quite honest, they are overwhelmed, and as I mentioned above, advances in technology have given the bad guys ways to disguise their identities, or to call from places outside the U.S., making it difficult to trace the calls. Not every organization is covered by the Do Not Call law, as political organizations and candidates can contact you, as can charitable organizations. Debt collectors may also call you, but there are restrictions.

WORD HISTORY:
Mine-This is the noun, as in "coal mine." The origins of this word are uncertain, but it apparently goes back to Old Celtic "meini," which seems to have meant "ore," but also "location to dig for ore." Gaulish,^ a Celtic dialect, had "mena," with the same meanings, and this was borrowed into Latin as "mina." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "mine," which was then borrowed by English circa 1300. The later additional meaning, "explosives usually planted in excavated ground," came from the idea of military engineers digging "mines;" that is, "tunnels, excavations," under enemy positions and then filling them with explosives to destroy them. The word then transferred to the explosive device itself, a "mine." This term then was even used for such explosive devices used at sea, and the ships used for distributing these sea mines were called "mine layers." The verb form "mine," meaning "to dig an (ore) mine," comes from the noun. Once the "explosive device" meaning emerged for the noun, so did the additional meaning for the verb; that is, "to dig and lay (explosive) mines in an area."

^ The Gauls were a Celtic tribal confederation who lived in what is now much of modern France, and indeed, the area was known as "Gaul," even after it was conquered by the Romans. The term "France" came later after the Germanic speaking Franks conquered much of the same area.