From Morning Edition, October 18, 2004 –

An Oregon purchased a new Toshiba flat-screen television with a built-in DVD player. For reasons that mystify the manufacturer, the set was also apparently transmitting signals on the International Distress Frequency. Chris Van Rossman had no idea until rescuers from the U.S. Air Force showed up at his door. They told him to shut of the television or face a $10,000 fine. Toshiba has promised him a new set.

A few months ago, an email arrived with a photo of President Bush consoling a young girl who had lost her mother in the South Tower of the World Trade Centers. The photo was an impromptu snapshot taken by her father at a rally in Ohio in May, 2004. The story, as told in The Washington Dispatch, is a true glimpse at the heart of the president:

“As the president passed the group, Mr. Faulkner got an autograph, and the president continued on until [Faulkner’s friend] Linda Prince spoke up, “This girl lost her mother on 9/11,” Prince told the president. 

Then everything changed.

“The president’s entire expression transformed,” Mr. Faulkner told me on Sunday.  “He turned and came back against the flow and his eyes locked on Ashley’s.  His face showed a man who was no longer the president, he was a father and a husband.”  President Bush made his way back to Ashley and he embraced the 15-yeal old young woman.  “She snuggled in with the president just like she did when she was a little girl with her dad,” Mr. Faulkner said.  “I know it’s hard,” Mr. Faulkner heard the president tell his daughter.  “I’m okay,” Ashley told the president.  The embrace continued.” (Read the complete story.)

Now this moment, which was reluctantly captured by her father, has become the basis for a unique campaign ad to run in at least nine states for the next few weeks. The Progress for America Voter Fund, the 527 that created the ad, has announced they will spend more than $14 million airing it. Taking a turn away from negative attack ads, this tells the tragic story about a young girls loss and the compassion of the President, says the group’s president, Brian McCabe. “Most political messages in October are harsh and negative,” McCabe said. “We’re going in the opposite direction to … highlight what everyone knows and likes about President Bush.”

Other links:

• Read about Ashley’s mother, Wendy Faulkner, and the Memorial Children’s Foundation.
• See the USA Today article about the ad.
• See the “Ashley’s Story” Ad and Website

From FactCheck.org:

It’s not Bush’s plan, and it wouldn’t cut benefits.

Summary

A Kerry ad claims “Bush has a plan to cut Social Security benefits by 30 to 45 percent.” That’s false. Bush has proposed no such plan, and the proposal Kerry refers to would only slow down the growth of benefits, and only for future retirees. It was one of three possible “reform models” detailed by a bipartisan commission in 2001.

The ad also says nothing about what Kerry would do to address the troubled state of Social Security finances. Unless taxes are increased, the system’s trustees say currently scheduled benefits would have to be cut 32%

Read the full article.

We’ve talked about this before, but a recent rash of phishing attempts that I’ve received have prompted me to bring it up again. “Phishing” is an attempt by some unauthorized person to get you to voluntarily surrender sensitive information. While phishing cons have been around forever, the attacks have taken a new electronic form using email. Here’s how it works:

You’ll get an official-looking email from your bank (or eBay, or some other company with which you might do business. As one of the largest US banks, Citibank has been a popular target.) When you open the email, it directs you to an online form under the pretenses of preventing loss of your personal information, or updating their records, or verifying your PIN, etc. The point is, everything looks official — even after you click the link and go to an address that looks correct, too. (It might be something like http://citibank.bankrecords.com/account_update.html). The problem is, the message you received and the form that you fill out aren’t owned by Citibank (or any other legitimate entity.) And when you fill out the form, you essentially surrender all the information necessary for someone to steal your identity, a problem that could cost you thousands of dollars and years to correct.

Here’s the bottomline: No company that you do business with will contact you (unsolicited) via email to ask for things like your SSN, pin number, or even your Internet login information; they already have it. If you receive a request like this that you haven’t initiated, pick up the phone and call them.