[Joya] Williams was sentenced to eight years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution. Dimson was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and also ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution. Dimson pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge on Oct. 23, 2006. After a seven-day jury trial, Williams was convicted of these charges on Feb. 2, 2007. Another co-defendant in the case, Edmund Duhaney, 43, of Decatur, Ga., will be sentenced at a later date.

Virginia sent me a snippit from a letter she received from Randall. Here is what her e-mail said:

Letter written 11/05 from Randy Raar included the following:

I finished my speach to the Judge where I will dismiss my paid lawyer and obtain a free
one - I'm broke.
Where is what concensus is: State blew case and lawyer made deal to get conviction to
save grace.
Think of it. Zilch on raid. Too many issues I doubt lawyers truth. Can't tell all.
They took chance because customs, FBI and Interpol
indicate I was involved with distribution of child porn. A lie. All they found was mag
called "Moppits' of 1970 - Ex Post Facto. So what did they find? Rfiles. Con in
possession. Found n 2nd search. All fuzzy. Plus lawyer has denied me access to search
warrants. ODD.

Please by lawyer to Judge Prison 2 years plus probation - will fire him before Judge
decides 11/8.
I'm alone. So afraid. Oye afraid - Lawyer wants five thousand dollars more. Oye wants
to pay - No have. Scared!
Oye doesn't see the lawyer scam,

End

In another e-mail on November 13, 2006

That is my disclaimer so you all know I am trying to be as up front as possible. If any of the information that I post is inaccurate or proves to be false, I will immediately remove it upon notification. Nothing I post that has been provided to me by Virginia Lee should be considered as my thoughts, beliefs or opinions and could for all intents and purposes be considered heresay.

I do not support Randall Raar in his plight to prove his supposed innocence; however, this case does interest me from the standpoint that there is always some truth to every story. While I have my own beliefs about the subject, I am not attempting to prove or disprove his innocence as it is not up to me to judge whether Randall Raar is guilty or not as that has been done by a jury of his peers in a court of law.

It is also not my goal to prove or disprove any of his claims and I am not saying that any of the claims that may come up in my posts are true or false. My goal here is to simply pass on what I am being told by what I deem as a fairly reliable source to provide possible insight into this case from Randall Raar's point of view and that of his ex-sister-in-law.

I have not been able to verify that the person I have been in correspondence with, Virginia Lee, is actually Randall Raar's ex-sister-in-law. The information provided and other facts seem to add up that she is who she claims, but I want to be clear that the information I am posting regarding letters from Randall Raar to Virginia and my correspondence with her is based on the premise that her identity is true. Please use this information to form your own opinions and ask your own questions, but be informed that I have not been able to clearly substantiate her identity yet.

In one of the first e-mails between his ex-sister-in-law and me about Randall Raar, she stated the following:

I personally think that Randy is innocent of the charges against him. He rales against
the system in a loud manner and has associated with the wrong people and everything points to his
guilt. I know that. Yes, he is obsessed with sex, but again, he has a very young Thai wife that satisfied
those cravings.

He is a mad person and is consumed with his wish to expose the system. WHY was he
targeted for arrest? Who made a charge? What was he supposed to have done to warrant the arrest? He
wrote to the MDOC and was a huge nuisance to them and decided to shut him up. That is
all I can figure. He is out of money. His wife barely talks English, and she is lost and
afraid.

Anyway, I will try to keep up a bit more on posts and will start off with a post regarding the items I said I would post a couple months back about Randall Raar from his ex-sister-in-law. In case anyone missed it, he was found guilty of all counts of child porn as well as a rape that occurred back in the '80's. Even his ex-sister-in-law feels he made his own bed per her recent comment on my post called "Randall Raar Found Guilty On 21 Counts Related To Child Pornography". Posts to follow shortly.......please stay tuned!

Attorney General Mike Cox today announced today that a Wayne County jury has convicted Randall Raar, 59, of Lincoln Park on all 21 felony counts brought against him in a case dealing mainly with child pornography.

"I will bring the full power of the law to bear upon those who engage in the possession of child pornography," Cox said. "The child porn industry exists only to serve the perverted appetite of those who crave this despicable material."

]]> http://www.survent.com/2007/03/randall_raar_found_guilty_on_2.html http://www.survent.com/2007/03/randall_raar_found_guilty_on_2.html In The News Thu, 01 Mar 2007 09:49:55 -0500 I see there have been a number of people checking out my post about Orin Andrew Kennedy, the school teacher from Ypsilanti, Michigan who was recently busted for solicitation of a minor via the internet. Do any of you happen to know this man personally? Perhaps a friend, colleague or student of Kennedy's may be visiting my site. If so, please leave a comment, or drop me an e-mail, about your take on the situation and your reaction. Also interested in what those he knows think about him. Was this a shock to everyone as these cases usually are? What was he like to work with or interact with? Hope to hear from some of you. Thank you to everyone for stopping by and reading my blog!

]]> http://www.survent.com/2007/02/orin_andrew_kennedy_from_ypsil.html http://www.survent.com/2007/02/orin_andrew_kennedy_from_ypsil.html In The News Sun, 25 Feb 2007 15:45:56 -0500 Maybe we will have a remake of Footloose due to the upholding of an 80-year-old cabaret law banning dancing by patrons in ordinary bars and restaurants in New York. Here is a link to CNN for more on this. This ruling does surprise me coming from New York.

Other bloggers on this topic:

NowPublic.com: I see everyone is thinking the same thing. Six degrees of Kevin Bacon anyone?

ProfessorBainbridge.com: Interesting....

Moronic Ramblings

]]> http://www.survent.com/2007/02/footloose_of_2007.html http://www.survent.com/2007/02/footloose_of_2007.html Sat, 24 Feb 2007 03:22:18 -0500 Orin Andrew Kennedy was busted this week for some supposed inappropriate online communications with what he thought was a teenage girl. I was looking for some information on another alleged sexual predator named Randall Raar and came across this story on the website of Michigan's Attorney General, Mike Cox - here is a link to that site. Per the article:

Attorney General investigators arrested Kennedy, 27, this morning. The defendant is alleged to have been chatting online with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl that he met in a chatroom. Kennedy allegedly engaged in graphic sexual conversation with an undercover agent and propositioned the agent, who was posing as the 14-year-old girl. The defendant also asked the agent to watch a sexually explicit act. Kennedy was arrested at his home in Ypsilanti where he is alleged to live. Attorney General investigators also seized a laptop computer and webcam from his home.

Randall Raar was living in Ypsilanti when he allegedly committed crimes against a young woman years ago and was charged with those crimes back in June 2006. Seems strange to me that there are two cases of this type of crime coming out of Ypsi so close together and having happened so many years apart. Ypsilanti is a small town and it is creepy to me to know that this type of individual has been living there in one for or another for years. I wonder if Orin Kennedy and Raar knew each other? I was going to offer a possible speculation but will not.

How many more pedophiles are there in Ypsilanti that we do not know about? In a past post I did, there is a link to the Sex Offender Registry where you can see how many live in Ypsilanti that are registered offenders with the State. I can save you the time and tell you the service shows 232 offenders found - see the map below. You can also use this to check out who is living in or around your neighborhood. It is something good to be informed about.

View image

Also, there is also a short article on 7 Action News out of Plymouth, MI about this recent arrest. They also have a copy of the article from the Attorney General posted. I usually check out this news site for information related to things I hear going on over in the Detroit area as they are usually pretty much in the know, so check them out.

In the article posted on the Attorney General's website is this quote:

"Predators continue to lurk on the Internet, trying to approach minors," said Cox. "My office will not let up in its pursuit to track down and prosecute these predators who seek to harm Michigan's children." Kudos to Mr. Cox and the efforts of he and his staff. This is a serious issue that it is nice to see someone taking the task to address. Thank you and keep up the good work folks!

]]> http://www.survent.com/2007/02/what_is_it_with_ypsilanti_mich.html http://www.survent.com/2007/02/what_is_it_with_ypsilanti_mich.html In The News Sat, 24 Feb 2007 02:14:39 -0500 For the last few months I have been in contact with a woman who claims to be the ex-sister-in-law of Randall Raar. Mrs. X (so I will call her in my posts) seems very nice and level-headed. I have not been able to verify her identity, but the information she has provided seems legit and would correlate with someone who knew Randall Raar in such a capacity. Anything I quote or comment on based on her information may be considered accurate and true, yet it should be understood by all readers that it is unvalidated information. From what I can tell so far based on our correspondence and her stance on Raar's feelings about his case, Mrs. X is the real deal. If I can confirm her identity for fact I will inform the readership but I want to be clear about my source of information regarding Randall Raar and her opinions of him.

Basically, it sounds like Mr. Raar is completely obsessed with proving the corruption of the justice system and that they (the entire justice system) are out to get him because they do not want him to expose the issues with the system. I will try and post some information later this weekend based on what I have been told by Mrs. X and some snipits of letters she has sent me that she has received from Randall Raar. He is an interesting individual based on what I have read and what Mrs. X has told me. I cannot say I believe he is innocent of the charges that have been brought forth against him, yet I am also not really sure that there is not some validity to his claim that there has been some added effort to convict him based on the media coverage this case has received.

I have been told that his trial will begin this coming Monday related to all the charges that the State of Michigan has brought forth against him. I do not know what time or where, so if anyone knows and can enlighten me, please do so.

]]> http://www.survent.com/2007/02/randall_raar_update_1.html http://www.survent.com/2007/02/randall_raar_update_1.html Protect Our Children Sat, 24 Feb 2007 00:57:42 -0500 There is an interesting article on Time.com that I came across. The article is about mobile social networking. Oddly, a majority of the article appears to be more of a plug for some of the companies who offer the software or devices that enable users to network rather than non-biased information about mobile social networking. Check it out and decide for yourself.

What is mobile social networking, you ask? Basically, mobile social networking is using your cell phone to track your every movement in real time and then making your position available to anyone who uses the same software as you. Not just anyone can get your physical position as you have to grant access to those people you wish to be able to locate you. The idea is that your friends would always be able to see where you are and then catch up with you if they were in the same vicinity. The article starts out:

Your cell phone is spying on you, but don't be afraid. Thanks to better mapping technology and hyperlocal services tailored to the small screen, the latest wireless gadgets can automatically pinpoint your location and then direct you to everything from the nearest Chinese restaurant to where your friends are hanging out. And while it may seem creepy to have your phone keeping tabs on you even when you're sleeping, this isn't some Homeland Security nightmare. It's just an easier way to find people and places nearby.

This seems like a pretty cool idea, but do you really want your friends to always be able to find you? I do not know that I would. Social networking is cool and a good thing - I like to do it. But to always be located by people to the point that your friends just show up and say, "Hey, I was just in the area and saw you were here too so I thought I would drop by," just seems a little much to me. If I want to meet up with a friend, I just call them and see if they are available and where there are. It seems a little excessive to me to go so far that people can track you down, literally.

While this does seem to be something that is catchy and hip to do, I could see where the government could get the desire to begin to tap into the service and track anyone at any time. If the government really wanted to locate someone via cell phone, they can do that now without the software by simply triangulating the signal. This new service, however, could allow the govenment to easily track a group of people that may be "of interest," especially given that the group decides who is part of it. Do I think this will happen? Probably not, but it could. This mobile social networking will probably take off and be big business in the near future simply because it is something new and adds to the ease of keeping in touch with friends. I predict that there will be those awkward situations that arise where someone drops in on a friend at an inopertune time. Or you will find significant others tracking another when they suspect cheating and then a violent crime may arise. Who knows, maybe these issues will not arise as people using the services will be smart about who they allow access to their positioning and will turn off the signal from their phones whenever they do not want to be trackable. Any thoughts?

As the article states:

If cyberstalking your friends isn't your bag, you can still use your phone's GPS genius to find businesses or get driving directions on the fly. Sure, this option was already available on some phones without GPS, but it worked so poorly that hardly anyone ever used it.

Happy mobile social networking!

Here are some other links related to the topic of Mobile Social Networking:

Wikipedia definition of mobile social network.
Intercasting Corp's company blog has a

href="http://mt.intercastingcorp.com/company/blog/archives/anthem/#000124">post on this.

Fred Stutzman at Unit Structures says that he does not think that social networking will go mobile in 2007, but says it will happen.

YPulse

techscape.tv

Katie at GigaOM has a post about mobile social networking and says the U.S. is not ready for networking like they have in Japan - check it out.

Adotas.com has a post titled "Report: Mobile Social Networking to Reach 174 Million"

]]> http://www.survent.com/2007/02/mobile_social_networking_your.html http://www.survent.com/2007/02/mobile_social_networking_your.html Personal Tue, 20 Feb 2007 23:06:17 -0500 I would put this post in the "What's the World Coming To?" category, but this is pretty straight forward that the guy who killed his wife, sister-in-law and mother-in-law with a hammer is a complete nut case. Who the heck tries to kill themselves with a hammer to their own head? This guy did. And when one strike did not work, he hit himself a few more - to no avail, obviously. Check this out:

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- An Iranian immigrant accused of using a three-pound hammer to beat his wife, sister-in-law and mother-in-law to death and then repeatedly stabbing them told police that the women had "disrespected" him, authorities said Monday.

After the attack, Daryoush Ebrahimi, 55, struck himself several times on the head with the same hammer in an apparent attempt to kill himself, said Police Cmdr. Thomas Byrne. Police also found a 12-inch knife investigators believe was used in the attacks.

"It was a very difficult scene, and that would be indicative of that type of anger," Byrne said of the two apartments where the bodies were found Saturday on the city's far North Side.

Ebrahimi told investigators after the attacks that "the women had disrespected him and told him he was not a man," Assistant State's Attorney Sanju Oommen said.

Police found cell phone video messages and a letter that Ebrahimi left at one of the apartments, Byrne said. The FBI was helping translate the messages and letter, which are in Farsi.

"Right now I wouldn't say it's a suicide note ... but it's more about, again, how he feels disrespected, and that's pretty much a (recurring) theme in the note," Byrne said.

Ebrahimi told police at the scene and hospital officials that he had killed the women, authorities said.

A phone call to the public defender's office Monday afternoon went unanswered.

Ebrahimi was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Karmin Koshabeh, 44; his sister-in-law, Karolin Khooshabeh, 40; and his 60-year-old mother-in-law, Ileshvah Eyvazimooshabad. He appeared in court Monday afternoon and a judge denied a request for bail.

Koshabeh and Khooshabeh were found in an apartment in the city's West Rogers Park neighborhood, and Eyvazimooshabad was found in an apartment around the corner.

Detectives believe Ebrahimi killed his wife around 2 a.m. Saturday, then called and "lured" his sister-in-law to the same apartment around 6 a.m., Byrne said. He then went to his mother-in-law's apartment and attacked her, returning to the bodies of his wife and sister-in-law to call 911, Byrne said.

Ebrahimi also called another family member, who notified police, Byrne said.

Ebrahimi and his wife and daughter arrived in the United States on November 29, 2006 from Iran and are refugees of Assyrian descent, said Chicago Police Cmdr. David Sobczyk. [CNN]

]]> http://www.survent.com/2007/02/man_who_hammered_his_wife_and.html http://www.survent.com/2007/02/man_who_hammered_his_wife_and.html Idiots of the World Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:35:51 -0500 This is a tragic story from India. The article on CNN is short, so I am quoting the whole thing below:

COCHIN, India (AP) -- A river boat carrying children on a school trip capsized in southern India on Tuesday, and at least 18 children and four teachers drowned, a local official said. Sixteen children were missing as night fell.

Three boats were carrying more than 100 students and staff down the Periyar River in the Thattekkad bird sanctuary when one boat capsized, said Mohammad Haneesh, a top official of the district. All the children were younger than 11.

As darkness fell, 16 children were still missing, and 10 had been admitted to a local hospital, he said.

It was not clear how many children were in the boat that capsized.

The Thattekkad sanctuary is about 25 miles east of Cochin, the commercial hub of the southern state of Kerala.

The United States has laws about all children on boats being required to wear life jackets for just this reason. If there had been life jackets on these kids, and I am assuming there were not due to the number of drown kids, perhaps many of them would still be alive. Children rely on adults to take the necessary actions to protect them and it seem like to many times in society lately, adults are failing the children. Accidents happen and safety devices are made for a reason. Please make sure if you are on a boat with children that they have the proper safety equipment on just in case. Sad, simply sad.

]]> http://www.survent.com/2007/02/india_does_not_have_life_jacke.html http://www.survent.com/2007/02/india_does_not_have_life_jacke.html Idiots of the World Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:29:23 -0500 It appears that there is a bug in software programmed prior to 2005 that is used to automatically advance the time in the program, i.e. calendar programs.

For three weeks this March and April, Microsoft Corp. warns that users of its calendar programs "should view any appointments ... as suspect until they communicate with all meeting invitees."

...it's a potential problem in any software that was programmed before a 2005 law decreed that daylight-saving time would start three weeks earlier and end one week later, beginning this year. Congress decided that more early evening daylight would translate into energy savings.

Software created earlier is set to automatically advance its timekeeping by one hour on the first Sunday in April, not the second Sunday in March (that's March 11 this year). [CNN]

It sounds like many things could get messed up if the IT folks at companies are not prepared for this. The issue should mainly be inconvenience to the average consumre, but it could cost companies a lot of money.

"We've been aware of the DST changes since late last year. But the tools and patches keep changing, or weren't available, which made it difficult to create a solid plan," said Warren Byle, a systems engineer at an insurance company. "This change might go smoothly for those who are prepared, but I think it will be the 'Y2K that wasn't' for the rest."

The move could impact time-sensitive applications other than calendaring, such as those that process sales orders or keep track of time cards. Gartner, for example, says the bug could lead to incorrect arrival and departure times in the travel industry and result in errors in bank transactions, causing late payments. In addition, trading applications might execute purchases and sales at the wrong time, and cell phone-billing software could charge peak rates at off-peak hours. [CNet News]

A little further down the article on CNet News:

Microsoft and other software makers have created patches to make their products ready for the switch and have filled Web pages with tips for customers. IT pros and consumers alike have to apply those updates. Otherwise, they will have to deal with electronic clocks that may be off by an hour, for three weeks starting March 11 and again for a week in the fall, when they go back on November 4 instead of October 28.

Dealing with the patches should be straightforward for most consumers. Microsoft released a daylight-saving fix for Windows XP Service Pack 2 on Tuesday, and it is pushing the patch out through the Automatic Updates feature in the operating system. An update is also available for Windows-based cell phones. However, the recently launched Windows Vista doesn't need a patch.

For businesses, getting ready is a different story. It isn't as straightforward to apply updates to Windows PCs and phones in a corporate environment, because of potential compatibility woes. Moreover, there are many other fixes that need to be applied, not just from Microsoft, but also from Oracle, IBM, Red Hat, Hewlett-Packard and other software suppliers.

Companies using Microsoft's Exchange for e-mail, for example, face a real patch challenge. Microsoft has updates for the Outlook and Entourage mail clients, and for Windows Server and Exchange Server--all of which need to be applied in a specific order and in rapid succession. [CNet News]

Just beware that there may be some confusion coming up with regard to meetings, billings and other things that may be affected by this issue. I suggest everyone follows the links in this post that have to do with a system you are operating and get the patch installed. If there is no link of relevance to your system needs, do a search on the net and you will find lots of information.

Here are some links to other posting about this issue by bloggers:

Techie Diva has some links to other software upgrades you may find useful.

BLOG by zaiss Sam Zaiss posts about a first-hand experience with the issue (I found this post via a link from Markus Weickenmeier's blog).

Firehouse has a post with the full AP story included if interested.

]]> http://www.survent.com/2007/02/be_prepared_for_the_daylightsa.html http://www.survent.com/2007/02/be_prepared_for_the_daylightsa.html In The News Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:51:12 -0500