TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: North Carolina

  • Charlotte Wordcamp

    charlotte-wordcamp-2

    I had the opportunity and pleasure yesterday to attend Charlotte WordCamp. Basically, it was a meeting of bloggers to discuss ideas and network. You can read an article about it here.

    If you’re a blogger and you have a chance to attend a WordCamp do it. If you do go I strongly urge you to take at least two things, a notebook (like an actual notebook that you write on), and business cards. If you don’t have business cards get them printed up before you go. I lost count how many people asked me for a card and I felt like a total dweeb not having them.

    It was great to meet a lot of area bloggers and connect with them. I wish I could have remembered everyone’s name. Unfortunately, I have a mind like a wiffle ball. My Asus EEE PC, aka The Stealth Computer, was a real conversation starter too. It was weird having people ask me questions about my blogs only because I’m not used to wearing my blogger pants in public.

    The highlight of WordCamp for me was Mark Jaquith. Not only did he give us an in-depth preview of WordPress 2.7 but the best part was that he knew who I was. Granted we both do work for b5media but still, it was immensely cool.

    There was an afterparty at Ri-Ra but of about 120 participants at WordCamp, only 6 went to the afterparty.

  • NC man arrested for sending nude photos

    Man accused of sending obscene photos to underage girl:

    24-year-old Adam Jaron Wilkinson of Shelby, North Carolina has been arrested for sending nude pictures of himself to a 13-year-old Michigan girl. He communicated with the girl through the social site MyYearbook. Which is extra creepy because MyYearbook is geared toward high school-aged users. There’s really no reason a 24-year-old should be on that site.

    The girl’s father found the pictures and he contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children who in turn contacted North Carolina’s SBI.

  • NC prostitute killed affter meeting man on craigslist

    prostitute

    Warrants: Victim met suspected killer online:

    51-year-old Bernard George Lamp of Troutman, North Carolina is accused of killing alleged prostitute Bonnie Lou Irvine of Cornelius, North Carolina. The two met over craigslist where Irvine had placed an ad.

    She also directed him to pictures of herself posted on a different Web site that authorities say is popular with men seeking prostitutes, the search warrants said.

    And here’s where it gets weird…

    Lamp was arrested after sheriff’s deputies stopped him driving Irvine’s 2001 Volvo on March 14, said Iredell sheriff’s Capt. Darren Campbell. Authorities then found Irvine’s body buried at Lamp’s girlfriend’s home in Troutman.

    According to search warrants, Lamp also met the girlfriend on Craigslist.

    And it doesn’t end there. Lamp was on probation for the attempted rape of another prostitute that happened at a truck stop on I-77 in Troutman.

    Is the money so great in prostitution that these women are willing to risk their lives each time they meet with a john? I doubt it is at a truck stop.

    UPDATE: I guess the money is that great. Check out the video from a local news station and see some of the houses these local call girls lived in.

    UPDATE 2/22/2014: Lamp was sentenced to death for Ms. Irvine’s murder.

    The last person to be executed in North Carolina was Samuel Russell Flippen. He was executed in 2006 for the blunt force trauma death of his 2-year-old stepdaughter in 1994.

    UPDATE 5/30/2016: Lamp died earlier today of natural causes. He probably died more peacefully than he deserved or afforded his victim.

  • Give it up already Roy

    Give it up already Roy

    Cooper still pushing for parental consent to use MySpace:

    Seriously, Roy, it’s time to hang it up.

    Even after being crushed in the North Carolina House, Attorney General Roy Cooper is still touting his master plan for MySpace.

    Attorney General Roy Cooper vowed Monday to keep pressuring lawmakers to approve legislation that will require minors to get parental permission before using MySpace.com and other social networking Web sites.

    North Carolina legislators failed to pass a bill this year targeting such sites, as some House members and Internet commerce groups said a broad restriction would be unworkable and unconstitutional.

    “One thing we pride ourselves in doing is being ahead of the curve with ideas,” Cooper said during a news conference. “Sometimes it just takes the slow-moving Legislature a period of time to see the light.”

    Or how about a slow Attorney General who doesn’t realize the technology doesn’t exist yet?

    Cooper said age verification technology is already being used on adult oriented sites that advertise tobacco and alcohol. He said social networking sites just don’t want to lose the revenue generated from advertising to young people, an accusation MySpace denies.

    What? You mean, that stupid drop-down menu that asks you your age? Yeah, nobody lies about that. The other form of verification is called a credit card. While a parent’s credit card may be helpful with parental consent, it doesn’t prevent kids from just lifting the numbers and using it themselves. Plus, it opens a whole other issue of identity theft.

    And my favorite part…

    Officials in two states have said MySpace recently identified more than 29,000 registered sex offenders with profiles. The company will not confirm the reports but said it is working to locate and remove profiles posted by sexual offenders.

    Cooper threatened Monday to take action against MySpace if it fails to require parental consent voluntarily, but he declined to discuss specifics.

    That’s Roy Cooper for you. He hasn’t been specific since he started this whole ordeal. From now on, I’m going to refer to him as Mr. Vague.

  • NC MySpace bill fails

    NC MySpace bill fails

    Energy bill advances; MySpace rules fail:

    North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper’s proposed legislation to make teens get parental permission before signing up for MySpace has failed in the State House.

    But the second bill lost its headlining clause, a requirement that parents give permission for their younger teenagers to sign up for online social-networking sites. Rep. Jennifer Weiss, D-Wake, said that legal and technical experts raised too many unanswered questions about whether the proposal was feasible and constitutional.

    It is expected that the Senate will reject the changes and the bill will end up in a conference committee.

    So there are still some sensible politicians left in the world.

  • AG Cooper strikes again

    AG Cooper strikes again

    Cooper cracks down on predators:

    The North Carolina Attorney General is up to his old tricks again. Putting unreal expectations on MySpace and allowing parents to continue to shirk their responsibility.

    The rules on how children use social networking sites like MySpace.com could soon be changing.

    State lawmakers are working on a bill that would require parents to give permission before their children use those type of Web sites. North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper will testify before a House committee Tuesday about the need for tougher laws.

    Cooper says online sites are a playground for predators, citing that as of this July, more than 29,000 registered sex offenders have been found using MySpace.com and that’s jut those who are using their real names.

    I think he got that number from the Department of Pulling Things out of Your Ass. That’s the first I’ve heard the 29K figure. According to this article, 29,000 is what Cooper is claiming that MySpace has told him. MySpace has yet to confirm.

    MySpace.com is currently open only to users age 14 or older, but the company doesn’t perform any kind of verification. Cooper wants social networking sites to require parents’ permission before children can join, including procedures to verify the parents’ identity and age.

    Again, he doesn’t tell us how he expects MySpace to do that.

    “It wont’ be a perfect system. Just like any other kind of age verification system, you’ve got kids who fake driver’s licenses, you’ve got kids who fake their age to get into an R-rated movie,” Cooper said. “Those kinds of things are going to happen on the Internet as well, but the key is to put a barrier up to better protect kids on the Internet and we think this will be important.”

    Except it’s not against the law to sneak into an R rated movie. And isn’t that up to the parents to make sure their underage kids don’t see R rated movies?

    If passed, Senate Bill 132 would also ban North Carolina sex offenders from social networking sites, enhance the criminal penalty for soliciting minors for sex over the Internet and expand the law regarding child pornography to include indecent exposure.

    I’d like to see how they’re going to keep SOs off sites like MySpace. Enhancing the penalty for child solicitation isn’t going to stop predators from approaching kids. It may even put kids more at danger.

    On the next election day, Attorney General Cooper’s slogan should be “Long on ideas. Short on solutions.”

  • No gag order in cop killing trial

    No gag order in cop killing trial

    Gag order denied in police slayings:

    Superior Court Judge Robert Johnston has denied the request from the defense to instill a gag order on the trial of Demeatrius Montgomery. Montgomery is accused of the shooting deaths of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers Jeff Shelton and Sean Clark.

    However, Judge Montgomery said that the defense could renew their request if they feel the media is hurting Montgomery’s right to a fair trial.

    I, for one, hope the media does not step out of line. I don’t want there to be any complications with this trial, whether Montgomery is convicted or not.

  • NC legislation on parental consent passes committee

    NC legislation on parental consent passes committee

    Bill on parental consent for MySpace advances:

    North Carolina is slowly starting to turn into New Jersey as far as over-regulation is concerned.

    RALEIGH – Children under 18 would have to get parental consent to join MySpace.com and other social networking Web sites under a bill approved today by a state Senate appropriations committee.

    N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper has been pushing for the legislation, saying it would protect children from sexual predators who target victims online. Cooper is co-chairman of a group of 50 state attorneys general trying to negotiate with MySpace.com on the issue.

    I have yet to hear not only how they plan on implementing this, but also how they plan on enforcing it. What do they propose happens to a child who gets on without parental permission? Will the child be prosecuted, or the parent? Will it result in jail time or fines? Will there be a special task force that will be in charge of making sure that all NC kids on MySpace have parental permission? Will this law discourage predators from trolling MySpace?

    Again, I say this is nothing more than feel-good legislation preying on the fears of those that are not tech-savvy in order to gain re-election. None of it actually keeps our kids any safer.

  • NC Attorney General brings the MySpace hate

    NC Attorney General brings the MySpace hate

    Attorney General Pushes For Internet Safeguards:

    I thought that my state of residence would have a little more sense, but that’s what I get for thinking. Add North Carolina to the list of states who are jumping on the blame MySpace Boogeyman bandwagon. Attorney General Roy Cooper has called on sites like MySpace to install age verification or parental notification systems.

    “They lure children onto the site with ads, lull parents into thinking its safe when in reality these children are a mouse click away from porn and predators,” Cooper said.

    That may just be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard come out of a politician’s mouth since “It depends on your definition of ‘is’.”

    He makes it sound like MySpace goes around in a virtual van from computer to computer, offering kids candy. And how do they lull parents into thinking it’s safe? Maybe they lulled you, Mr. Cooper, but not me. Parents shouldn’t be letting their kids have unfettered access to the internet anyway.

    Cooper admits it’s not a perfect system.

    “We know ways kids can get around system, but you can protect most of the kids,” Cooper said.

    You know how you can protect all the kids, Mr. Cooper? By having responsible parents. As usual, I don’t hear you suggesting any laws for that.

  • Williams or Wisham

    Williams or Wisham

    Girl’s affidavit says ex-publicist claimed sexual encounters with 50 kids:

    This story is actually back from the beginning of this year, but I’ll tell you later why I’m talking about it…

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A teenage girl who allegedly had a lengthy sexual relationship with a former NASCAR publicist told authorities the man claimed to have victimized more than 50 children across the country, court documents say.

    Richard “Chip” Williams, 48, was charged last week with raping a child — a 14-year-old girl whom he met on the Internet when she was 11 — and soliciting a minor for sex over the Internet. He is being held in lieu of $2 million bail.

    An affidavit says the 14-year-old girl said she knew the man who had sex with her as “John Wisham,” which police say is the identity Williams used online.

    She said Wisham claimed “to have been with over 50 children in various forms of sexual exploitation.”

    In the affidavit, Detective George Moore says he read a sexually explicit online conversation between the girl and “Wisham,” then watched as she engaged the man in another explicit online conversation.

    During another online chat, the girl introduced “Wisham” to an undercover officer, who posed as a 15-year-old girl, the affidavit said. It said “Wisham” discussed sex in the online chat.

    According to an anonymous tip I received, this is the MySpace used by Williams as “Wisham” but there isn’t a whole lot to see there.