Powered By Blogger

INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to BobKat's Lair ®™

***

A lair is a home; A castle; A burrow; A haven; a place where one should feel safe. To ensure our safety especially in one's lair, we have laws. And some laws cause more harm than good!

This is a good place. There's lots to see and do. It's apolitical while providing non-partisan news about politics, which we can't escape.

Regarding compliance with EU standards, I use no cookies, tracking devices or programs or other personal devices that may be banned in other countries. I will note however that my blog is hosted by Google and I am not responsible for any of that.

My goal is here... to present topics which highlight the plight of people. Why, 2000 years after Caesar Augustus, are we still a people being hurt? With all our advancements in technology, medicine, communications, why are we a people still being hurt? Human nature hasn't changed much, but that doesn't mean it isn't time now for that to happen, and it is undoubtedly happening - hard to see however. This blog is part of that change and a witness to it.

***

My blog is dedicated to my family, friends, mentors, and all others whom I am grateful to, and love(d).

***

Please view my Blog using the latest version of your browser. Some features may not be active if Java or Flash is disabled or not installed, or your browser is not compatible with Google Blog.

***

NOTE: Nothing included in my Blog is intended to advocate behavior illicit in nature, or in violation of man-made laws where harm to a living person, animal or the environment is involved. Person's under 17 probably shouldn't be here, though there is far worse out there. Just saying.


***

NOTE: Adding a comment to my Posts is easy and also encouraged, no matter what your point of view is.

Here's How:

If no comments have been posted you simply click on "No Comments" which is high-lighted. If comment(s) have been left it will indicate how many, click on that link. Enter comment.

Please do not include links to other websites or blogs in your comments without prior approval from the site administrator, me. The comment will be deleted.

Thank-you!

Bobkat's Lair ©®™ 2009-2023

Please Note: This Blog, with the Trademark "BobKat's Lair"
is legally registered and under US law cannot be used without my express permission. In addition, all material produced by within this blog-site is copyrighted and cannot be reproduced without my express permission. It may be used for your own purposes as long as there are no monetary gains of which I am not notified and not entitled to benefits. You are welcome to post links of my content, with the disclosure that this material is trademarked and copyrighted by "BobKat's Lair".

*****

Petitions by Change.org| Start a Petition »


*****

October 29, 2022

"WHY PAY FOR THE MILK WHEN IT CAN BE GOT FOR FREE?"

Maybe more precisely, my father would have said, "why pay for it when you can get it for free?"

This quote is in reference to the so-called loose mores back in the 1970's; and I rather doubt that even today, 2022, that has changed overall. This quote in reference, directed at the woman a bit more than the man, although, since there are far more derogatory things to say to a woman,  this one was actually directed towards 20-something me. It was for the benefit of my mother, who within hearing range when said, was meant to spur me on towards getting married. So for my father to say it was rather, tongue and cheek, as it's said, meaning, he had to pretend he was waving me on. 

All for what? To define acceptable, moral behavior being consenting adults? I will also admit that within reason my father was cheering me on... his reality of what was expected was pretty much in line with my mother. Accepted behavior, proper behavior, our code of behavior, rules of behavior and rules of conduct between women and men? What is morality? How does our morality today differ from that from a hundred years ago?

The title of this post is derived from actual experiences circa the 1970's. Lessons in proper etiquette between women and men. Sexual stereotypes. Morality.

There is no easy or good way, from my perspective, to begin any such discussion... many persons already know what they firmly believe. And if the idea of "women's liberation" or "equal rights" is part of the discussion, where are we, truthfully, in regards to that kind of discussion?

The year is 2022 and our society likely believes that we as a civilization are living a modernistic lifestyle. But even if this is true it is, in my opinion, a tenuous grasp towards a wise, fair and enlightened kind of civilization.

The title of this post comes from an experience my sister experienced/suffered back in 1985. I suppose it's easy to imagine but harder to practice, a sense of liberation and freedom, to choose how we wish or want to live our lives. I also think in large part that we as a society believe, not just that we are now civilized,  but that we have also overcome much  prejudice and discrimination between the sexes. 

All one has to do is turn on our TV to experience what we think of today as our modernized society. But before we do that... let's look back to the "way things were", so that we can figure out, maybe, exactly how far we think we have come.

I think we've all heard about the term, "a shotgun marriage". When we do so we likely think of hillbillies... an illicit affair between a man and a woman that results in a pregnancy or even perhaps the simple discovery that a woman is found to be involved in having premarital sex or in being an adulteress. 

Is it a sin to have sex before marriage?

To engage in premarital or extramarital sex, before or outside of marriage, is to sin in God's sight. That is precisely the point of Hebrews 13:4, a verse often referred to in this kind of discussion.

Fornication - Wikipedia

 

edited 10/22

March 19, 2021

Brianna Maitland - Missing 17 Years - Important Updates

It's been 17 years today from when Brianna Maitland disappeared under very strange circumstances. Evidence in the case indicates that she was seen leaving work that evening at approx. 11:35 PM. She had been working at a restaurant/tavern named "the Black Lantern". Her car was discovered the morning of March 20th 2004 backed into the stone foundation of an old farmhouse - an abandoned farmhouse called "the Dutchburn Place". 



Photos of the car's odd accident recorded that morning are courtesy of a group that went by the name, "The World Travelers". They were an out of state group of three persons, in Vermont that winter to ski. Early that morning they were driving by the Dutchburn Place and thought "how odd it was, with that car backed into that house". 

Several months later, sometime in November of 2004, I was at work reading up on the news. I fell upon this story, of Brianna missing... and two things emerged in my mind, from reading the article.

1) That the police were considering her a runaway at the time, of "questionable character", a suspected drug abuser and drug dealer. The police at the time speculated that she had gotten herself into a bind with the local area drug distributors and had either run away or was the victim of foul play because of it. The former theory was the favorite at the time and the website the family had put together was full of speculations and accusations regarding the drug dealer angle; and 2) that her car keys were missing. 

Briefly, I'm one of those people interested in mysteries and missing persons. At the time I was around 50 years old and I felt like I was in my prime. I found the phone number for the family, called, spoke to her father and volunteered my time, using a metal detector to try and fine her car-keys, maybe at "the scene of the crime". The keys it was finally revealed several years later were not found. 

It was a cold day in November with a cold drizzly rain when I drove the more than 3 hours to get to that part of Vermont. Afterwards I sat with her father at a local tavern and discussed the disappearance. Her father asked for my help speaking with friends and the private investigator on the case at the time.

I have written previously about this case multiple times and one of the things I have tried to make clear is that my enthusiasm and excitement was short-lived... it is one thing to read mysteries and true crime stories of missing persons, but it's a whole different experience when actually being involved. The seriousness of the case combined with the despair and fear her family and friends felt was striking and when a case such as this is not solved, it is extremely heart-breaking and becomes very discouraging.  

Whether I liked it or had wanted it,  I became "an expert" on the case... beginning with posting on the website established by the family, steering the discussion away from Brianna the "drug lord" to something more realistic, that being that she is most likely a victim of foul play. For at least a year or more I drove up weekends to help the family search. Private Investigators changed and I changed with them. I became a guest writer on a blog called "Slamdunks" around 2008-09 writing some 13 posts and bringing out at least a few leads. I also began my own blog, this blog here around 2009.  

The focus of this post, 17 years after the fact, is is to inform my readers that whatever timeline we thought we had completed and mapped over the years is incorrect. Many of the rumors seem to have built up over these many years. Many rumors. In fact so many rumors that this case takes on a whole life of it's own on top of what may have happened. 

I would suggest that this post is not a minor post... again, whatever was believed to be the timeline at the time is now ruled to be incorrect... and I'm going to provide the "correct timeline"... as to who I am and how do I know this stuff, like I said, I got involved in this whether I liked it or not and I guess you'll just have to have faith that I have my sources.

Most notable 17 years later are the destructive sum totals of all the local rumors that have suffocated efforts to find out what happened. Even today we can't really discount or wave away any of the many rumors. Primarily that either one of two things occurred. That there existed a hateful lover's triangle at the time or that she owed drug money and was kidnapped and murdered. 

Although both rumors have potential merit, neither one is actually considered all that likely or viable... Then again, hatred between "friends" over a love triangle has gained some additional traction. 

Documentation recently surfaced suggesting that a fight 3 weeks before Brianna disappeared may have been more relevant than originally thought. However the documentations origin is unknown and it uses information which plagiarizes my own "Profile of Brianna" without giving me credit (it's not so much the fact that my documentation was used without my permission but the way in which the writer combined my info with his making it difficult to distinguish who the source of the information is). Basically it is my timeline expanded to include "information" from this other source. 

This other (unidentified) source states that the fight Brianna was in three weeks prior was not a simple assault.  The author claims to know that the girl Keallie (the name of this person is well documented and so is not slandering anyone)... was not solely responsible for the bruising Brianna suffered... that multiple persons were involved and rather than suffer a punch or two through a truck window, as she sat there, that instead she never made it to the truck, but rather, she was seized by the group, thrown to the ground and assaulted by many persons. 


 

Alleged charges she filed with the VSP a week or so after the event were originally considered to be Brianna's own decision but it has now been suggested that her parents were instrumental in this decision. These charges as filed were witnessed by a friend who is said to have accompanied her, are significant as they became unenforceable when Brianna disappeared, providing motive to whoever was named in the report. As to who were the parties were, motivated to file the charges, it would make a difference in my opinion, between if Brianna decided to file charges on her own or she was of encouraged to do so. As there's no proof either way, my only thought is why would conspirators hold it against a teen-aged girl if she filed charges with the police based on the demands of her parents?  Well, I guess they could if they didn't know the reason behind the charges, and for God's sake, look at the picture of Brianna's face again and tell me she didn't have every right to file charges? 

The above describes one potential motive for Brianna's disappearance and again the theory has been widely disseminated and hashed about. 

 What follows however may change everything.

 It is unlikely that many of those people Brianna were acquainted with even knew she was working at the Black Lantern that night. The possibility that Brianna's disappearance was the result of people she knew becomes more remote. Here again, from whatever source the rumors have evolved, whether it be the truth or simply small town hysteria, it complicates finding out what did happen to her.

Originally and for all these years I had been led to believe that Brianna had been working at the Black Lantern when the assault took place at what's called the "pallet factory". I had reported a rather simple setting... That Brianna had not been living in the Montgomery area until a short time prior to her disappearance. That from wherever she had been living that sometime in February of 2004 she "moved back into the area". That she had gotten her job at the Black Lantern and that there were actually two party's of significance that took place. 

March 05, 2004 was the date at which Brianna got her job at the Black Lantern. The fight at the pallet factory, where it's now said she was held down and beaten up, was the week before - Saturday, February 28th, 2004. As you see above, her picture with her bruises, this is likely pretty much how she looked on the first Friday night she worked at the Black Lantern. 

These dates create a major problem with the timeline as I have believed it all these years. For example, I had believed, that early on, the week before the pallet factory party, that she had been discovered by a childhood friend to be at a party held at the "Crossing" in Richford VT., a "wild, drug-fueled" party and that she had gone to her friend's house later and stayed the night. In the morning I had believed she had been picked up and brought to work at her job at the Black Lantern. 

This is important as it would have been the way that her friends learned of her new job. Problem is, it would be another two weeks before her first night. She also didn't work days, so this information becomes inaccurate pretty quickly. 

Brianna was beaten up at the pallet party a week before she started at the Black Lantern.

Two paychecks were found in Brianna's car - these were for work done March 05 and March 12. She had worked two Friday nights and on the third Friday she vanished. 

The problem raised with this new timeline becomes the limited time by which her friends (and those whom she had angered) would know she worked Friday nights. Whoever these people are they would have had to know what time she started work and even more problematic what time she finished working. 

Assuming she was targeted by a jealous person, that person, would have had to have had quite a commitment to causing Brianna harm, to have known she was working, to the waited untold time before Brianna left work. Then, if we are to believe that a jealous party followed her, caused her to backup off the road where she got hung-up that night, we have to consider the formidable effort and odds of such a coordinated effort to succeed.

What we know:

1) The widespread rumors, friends crying or claiming they saw her die, that she had been kidnapped, that she owned a major debt in drug money makes whatever happened to Brianna nearly impossible to figure out... that there are those friends who know things about the case and they are not telling, if for no other reason than they are afraid... small town hysteria could be the cause of many of the rumors. One rumor for example is one where after work that night she goes to a party house and overdoses... her friends see her die, panic and dispose of her. 

The biggest problem with this rumor is that any friends alleged to have been involved at the time or especially today, with an overdose, are not criminally liable for her death. Even considering that they panicked and then buried her, the statute of limitations for illegal body disposal are expired. There is absolutely no consequences now in 2021 for any friend or person to come forwards and disclose any truth. If there was an accident, which is what the primary theme here is, that whatever happened was an accident. If this is true, please come forwards because there is no liability now to disclosing the truth.

Under the circumstances, given the updated timeline,  a crime of opportunity, a stranger abduction becomes a more likely possibility. There are leads, for many possibilities. A jealous rival for example, not off the table but if so, why such a strange abduction... ? ... why run her off the road at the Dutchburn Place? Why not abduct her where she was living at the time? 

We are burdened by all the rumors... burdened by confessions... by lies... her friends these days sounding so sympathetic and committed to the task, yet these friends seem to still embrace a lot of the misinformation that has been spewed forth since the beginning.

Brianna's disappearance likely, in my opinion, should have been solved soon after it happened... we now have a new timeline so the next step is getting those "in the know" to talk. And unless you're talking about 1st or 2nd degree murder, most any crime committed at the time is well beyond any statute of limitations.

Please let's stop the hurt and let's bring Brianna home. We need all her friends to come forwards and explain away all the lies and rumors. Do people really want to live out their lives knowing what they know about Brianna, leaving the family in pain, when those in the know don't even have a need for fear to come forwards. It's been 17 years.

February 05, 2021

Amazon.com Hidden Agenda

 Whether it's E-Bay or Amazon, the two largest online retailers, they have problems with providing for their clients.

E-Bay... my last post was the story of how a perfectly good coin was rejected. It was determined by E-Bay that the coin was a copy or counterfeit and not listed as such. Considering it's a legitimate coin listing it as a copy or counterfeit is not an option. Their suggestion is to get it professionally grade. However, from the client/consumer POV doing so is not cost effective. It's not! 

It's expensive to get a coin graded - a membership fee is required. Depending on the value of the coin this may be prohibitive. So what if, E-Bay accuses a person of posting a "bogus something"? Well, no criminal charges - gee thanks... but that's it for the item... find someplace else to sell it. 

That someplace else is not a simple option within our society of monopolies. Whether it's Walmart, Amazon or E-bay, we are at their mercy.

My newest issue or concern... this time with Amazon.

Please understand... about me... I'm 66 with cancer that is in remission. Having cancer is a lifesaver but that's beside the point. The point is the change a person goes through finding out they have cancer and what they have to endure to be in remission. It changes a person.

I need to sell stuff I own like books. Old comics. Graphic novels. All collected over the past 45 years. Why? Having cancer is a good indicator one will die... even if in remission, one knows the end will come.

Apparently several years ago I had a seller account on Amazon. Apparently the account expired. Well, it did expire. Now I want to start it up again. I get an error about my account when I try to do that. "Account already exists - setup a new one."

Setting up a new one requires a change of address! There are three things, okay, maybe four, that define legally who one is. They are address, phone #, e-mail address and of course social security number. Recently I needed to update my phone # with my bank. They consider that a threat to a persons identity and as such the process to change it is pretty involved.

Amazon is now telling me that because my seller account has expired, I will need to setup a new seller account under a different e-mail address. I explained to them that my e-mail address is me, part of my identity. Too bad they said... you'll need to provide a new e-mail address. I refused. Which screws ME! But I will not submit to validation as a human being by changing any of the four primary criteria about myself. 

They are: 1) physical address 2) phone # 3) e-mail address 4) social security number

January 08, 2021

How to identify a replica or copy of a coin - in this case a San Diego Pacific Exibition commemorative coin; or how to avoid listing an authentic coin on E-Bay that E-Bay incorrectly determines is a copy or replica.

In this post I am going to share an experience I had when listing a commemorative coin for sale on E-Bay. The coin was de-listed/removed when E-Bay determined it was a replica or a copy of a coin.  They don't prohibit the sale of a replica or copy of a coin but when listed it must be described as such. And technically, selling a coin that is a copy or replica without disclosing it as such is fraud, something which is against the law.

In this case the coin was authentic. So what went wrong? Could I call them to clear up any misunderstanding and to allow me to re-list the coin?

I received an e-mail shortly after the listing went live informing me of their decision and with the following information:

"We had to remove your listing because it didn’t follow our Replica coins and currency policy. Replica currency that follows our rules can be listed on eBay, but replica coins and counterfeit currency are not allowed."

 What is their policy?

- Only one-sided replica paper currency that follows these rules can be listed:
-- Size is less than 75% or greater than 150% of the genuine currency
-- The listing includes a photo of the actual replica paper currency being sold
-- The listing includes the word “replica” in the title and description
- Replica coins are not allowed
- Counterfeit or altered coins and currency aren't not allowed, nor is equipment designed to make them

 What happens next?

 "You can't relist items we've ended. Please ensure your current and future listings follow this policy."

What did happen next?

I called customer service and I was told, "no you cannot re-list the coin. In order to re-list the coin you must have it professionally graded."

*****

Not good news. The coin in question wasn't that valuable. In MS65 it would be worth about $140.To get the coin professionally graded by PCGS or NGC would be costing more than I could earn selling it. Part of the cost is an annual membership before I could submit the coin. After that is a cost per coin. In my case that's not particularly a bad thing as I have plenty of other coins that I could submit. Getting a coin graded is a good way to validate the authenticity of the coins. However, my goal was not to go to all that trouble. My goal was to simply sell off what coins I have, as is.

It should be noted that I have been a member of E-Bay since November 2003 without any negative feedback.

What went wrong? Why did E-Bay determine that my listing was fraudulent

I consider myself to be very knowledgeable when it comes to identifying coins and knowing whether they are authentic. So of course I was upset when they determined I had posted a fraudulent listing. I argued with the customer service rep. I told them to arrest me then, if they were going to accuse me of  of committing fraud. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was wrong and I assured them, to no avail, that the coin was authentic and that they were wrong.

After I hung up the phone, got over being angry and offended, I calmed down and proceeded to figure out what went wrong. I first considered my listing, the words I used to describe the coin. I found nothing wrong there. The coin is in exceptionally good condition and though not a professional grader I would consider it to be MS 65 or better. It is actually quite flawless and that is what really confused me. Did it look so great that it was too hard to believe it was authentic? I mulled that idea over a bit and then decided that was a ridiculous thought. So what then?

When taking photos of things to sell I have several options. I will use a scanner - a flat screen scanner which will give me a resolution of 1200 dpi or higher and I generally will use 600 dpi which, if the coin isn't slabbed (encased in plastic) and lays flat, will render the coin in exceptionally good detail. Or I will use a digital camera - my being 20 megapixels; or I use a USB digital microscope. 

Here are the images of the coin I listed taken with my USB digital microscope:



They look pretty good, don't they? Too good to be true?

Here are two images of similar coins, one stamped as a copy and one that is listed as a "restrike". Technically a coin that is a restrike is a coin that was restruck by a government mint for whatever reason it happened; it is a tricky way to describe a coin as having been created as a copy or replica after the fact, as a restrike of a legally minted coin.

STAMPED "COPY"
 
 
 
RESTRIKE

I was confused. To make things even more difficult to understand, I didn't simply post the two images of my coin; I posted the following close-up images, again using my USB digital microscope.




CLOSE-UP PHOTOS of AUTHENTIC COIN

The more I compared the images the more dumbfounded and annoyed I became with E-Bay. I was even more annoyed as E-Bay flat-out offered no other options with regards to validating my claim. It wasn't until I decided to use my flat-screen scanner at 600 dpi that I realized what the problem was. Compare the following images to the ones I took with my microscope and you will see, I believe, that to E-Bay my previous images looked fake. Again, the images are not fake, but simply put, unexpected as most images of coins posted are done using a flat-screen scanner or camera, though when considering that older digital cameras may have been rendered at less than 10 megapixels, or even less than 5 megapixels, how fake could the ones using the microscope really appear?

You can be the judge of that I suppose. The images are of the same coin I was trying to sell and personally although they do appear to be strikingly different, I do believe E-Bay is on drugs! I think the problem is that those taken with the digital microscope look, well, too shiny. Too good.