Joaquin Del Mundo

Shinjuku: Another Scary Place

Shinjuku and Roppongi are two places that Japanese police have told me to avoid.  In Shinjuku you'll find a smattering of Nigerian that try to aggressively get foreigners to go to some small bar, where they charge a cover charge like some extravagant night club, except there place has no people in there.  You'll also find a lot of Japanese and Chinese street hustlers that try to convince you to go to some bar.  Whatever you do, don't go!

The Japanese there in the streets for the least part are nice and helpful, and the Chinese seem rather passive.  However, if you go to their bar, even to just have a look, they right away charge you money like $100 even though you have not had a drink.  I've heard stories from my Japanese friends, that they have been known to beat people up for not paying up.  Just avoid Shinjuku is my advice. 

But undoubtedly, I'm sure you'll go anyways, many guys (and maybe even women) look for attractive Japanese model-like prostitutes that operate in that region.  There'll be pictures on some door where you can order the girl by picture.  That's the only think I know about this thing; I have seen packs of foreigners and Japanese going for that thing.  I am not into this sort of thing, so I cannot offer any advice, but I can say, stay away from the clubs there in general, as they'll scam you, or worse.

Bart Police Shooting Follow-up

The BART officer that killed the father during New Years day has been arrested on murder charges without bail.  I have mentioned before in conversation that we shouldn't stop here, and we need to further demilitarize parts of our policing force in California, and make sure notorious cops do not get back into the system. 

The whole system in California needs to be reformed before companies profiting off the criminal system bankrupt the state (Prisons are owned by public companies whose interests are to keep and retain more prisoners, and unionized guards have bilked the state out of untold millions).  There should also be programs that actually rehabilitate criminals, like some of the successful programs in England.

Reported Karlis Baisden to FBI

I went ahead and reported the incident with Karlis Baisden to United States Federal Bureau of Investigations: Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Now, I will go visit some temples, and later report back with some photos, as the sites around here are far more interesting than this stuff.

Detainee Shot in Back by BART Police (SF Bay Area)

I wanted to get away from it all in USA, and the San Francisco Bay Area, but this incident strikes a nerve.

First I want to say, I have a deep respect for police officers.  They have to put their lives on the line, and I think it is hard to imagine the amount of pressure on themselves and their families. 

However, this incident is rather disturbing.  I don't want to say anything more, but let you watch this and check out other news from KTVU.

Karlis Baisden's Business Philosphy?

I wanted to diversify more to other topics, because well, my friends are not too interested in Karlis Baisden.  One commented that "he's a thief, who cares".  I told him that Karlis Baisden seemed bothered and keeps making threats that he'll sue me for libel.  I mentioned that Karlis is the gift that keeps on giving, with all sorts of colorful stories and personal philosphy.

For instance, a few days ago, Karlis explained the logic in how I'm guessing he operates his businesses:

You also forgot to consider there is no legal grounds at all, we had no legally binding agreement.  In-fact you could have sent me money, received nothing, and there still wouldn't be anything you could do about it considering it's just your word vs. mine and a Judge would most likely not be able to prosecute me on speculation. - Karlis Baisden, Dec 31, 2008

Now, I may not know everything, but if I understand this logic correctly, one can defraud others of money, and there's nothing anyone can do becuase it is defrauder's word vs. the victim's word.  Whoah, this this sort of logic, if it works, this is the green light to commit all kinds of crimes, why stop at just here?

Karlis Baisden Seems Aggitated

Karlis seemed rather disturbed that I posted my interaction with him and the police about his online activities.  These online activities, where one can see angry postings, such as this:

I'm here to attest that Karlis Baisden also scammed me out of $425.00 through Western Union method on 10/28/2008. That SOB acted so smooth and knowledgeable on the phone. We were supposed to exchange account info once he received the transaction ID from Western Union, but instead he hung up and never answered his phone. I have all the proof anyone wants me to provide. This guy knows that it is difficult to prove digital transactions, so that's how he succeeds in this scam. Please, let's get this scum bag. - EONC on October 30th, 2008

This account was frightfully similar to the ordeal that I went through back in August.  At the time he used a false name of David Banks, and asked me to wire money to a friend he said was Karlis Baisden.  He made up some elaborate story as to why he had to use a friend's account.  After I wired Karlis Baisden the money, he disappeared completely.  Only through contacting the authorities at that time was I able to get in contact this person again.

Karlis contacted recently and stated: "I really don't want to have to be pushed and messup the good things you have going for you however I'm going to need monetary incentive considering I am a legal business owner with reputable income and that is jeopradized with my name falsely posted."  I am not sure if this is his form of customer service, but I think it does speak for his character.

Talked with Blizzard about the Karlis Baisden

There's nothing much I can do without the original account information (master key per say) to the account, but I was able to remove my account subscription.  But that doesn't help out the hours and money I spent developing the characters and upgrading the account. 

One character was moved off the server already, as I guess Warlock is well liked; maybe money can be made off the Inscription skill I leveled up on the toon.  I spent four days of my life on that, and consumed resources of other characters that would amount to more than 8 days of work.

I'm not going to sit pretty and let this guy get away with stealing my money and time, but there's really right now not much I can do during the holidays.  :'(

Contacted Police about Karlis Baisden

Well.  I called the Vermilion PD today and left a message.  I doubt that they will call back, as they didn't see eager to get into the specifics actually.  I filed a complaint with them on August 18th when this incident with Karlis Baisden occurred initially.

I found a photo of him.  He probably purchased all that beer with the money he stole from me.  I would laugh at the situation, but well...

Scammed by Karlis Baisden?

I know it will seem absurd to spend real hard currency to buy an account, and something that is blasphemous to game players, but considering it takes hours upon untold hours to get a character that is enjoyable to play amongst peers, it seemed worth it at the time.

This guy Karlis Baisden from Vermillion, South Dakota I think is a total con-artist.  He sounded so sincere and authentic, and he is very charismatic, which he uses this skill to gain confidence and scam me and probably others out of their hard earn cash.   He said he only wanted to sell the account to someone that will take care of the account, he offered advice and such, and showed his knowledge in the game.  After dialog, the guy sounded for real and very believable.  However, later after giving him the money, he disappeared.  He wouldn't respond to e-mails or phone calls. 

I eventually found out his identity rather than the false one he gives me, and called the Vermillion police in his area as well as the SJPD.  Apparently, there were other complaints against him in Vermillion.  Through help with the local police detective and I eventually got the log-on information (but account info. he sent was false; the account info. is needed to re-acquire an account should it get compromised) and used it for about a 6 months, until I could not longer log into the account.

I think this guy couldn't wait, and used the account information in his possession to somehow reset the password.   Right now I am trying to calm down, but I am at the verge calling blizzard and let them know this account was sold online.  I might lose all of my accounts, but I don't care at this point.  If I walked away, and lost it all, it would be a better investment in my life.  I can focus on real computer things, and real life things.