thecrimeshop

2022-09-20

Social Media Challenges Are Heading off the Rails

TikTok and Sleepy Chicken

Cristal M Clark

It would seem that every time I turn around I am hearing about a new TikTok Challenge only this one is not so new, it first appeared back in 2017 on a 4chan board and it’s been on TikTok since around 2020 only recently just taking off.

In what was supposed to be a funny joke, users were cooking chicken in NyQuil and now it has become a challenge which in turn has caused the FDA to issue a warning about the dangers of cooking food in medications.

On the 15th the FDA issued the following warning: “Boiling a medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways. Even if you don’t eat the chicken, inhaling the medication’s vapours while cooking could cause high levels of the drugs to enter your body. It could also hurt your lungs.”

Whilst on Twitter the NyQuil account was urging common sense in response to tweets about the Sleepy Chicken challenge.

Really, who the fuck would want to try this nonsense? The bigger question would be why even ask after The Tide Pod Challenge, The Milk Crate Challenge, The Throw it in the Air Challenge, The Fire Mirror Challenge, The Orbeez Shooting Challenge, The Blackout Challenge, The Penny Challenge, one of the most dangerous would be The Benadryl Challenge, not to mention The Angel of Death Challenge a while ago.

To be quite honest whilst some of the videos for all of the TikTok Challenges can be amusing, they are for the most part extremely ill thought out and quite dangerous. The reality comes down to common sense here, these challenges are not meant for anyone’s safety.

As for TikTok well, incidentally, it now directs people who search “NyQuil chicken” to a page talking about how to assess any social-media challenge. And that, well that is too little too late.

Cristal M Clark

2022-09-18

Colorado Closed

No More Transplants Wanted

Cristal M Clark

In an unusual turn, it’s been reported that the citizens of Colorado would prefer that no more transplants move here.

Normally, Colorado has welcomed transplants with open arms however, that sentiment has drastically changed this past year, now Coloradans are becoming increasingly frustrated with transplants moving here. A large chunk, the one’s responsible for driving up home values are wealthy Californians and those nasty east coasters.

I do not believe you would find many natives of Colorado here any longer, transplants out number them over 10-1, in fact Colorado added nearly 745,000 new residents between 2010 and 2020. The state’s housing has bloomed and became one of the nation’s most unaffordable. Our unhoused homeless population tripled, trails and parks have become more crowded than ever before, literally shoulder to shoulder on some trails, and those mountain bicyclists are ruining the trails as well as making their own bloody trails therefore ruining entire areas.

Thinking of moving here? Well, here are a few little tidbits that might make you rethink that:

Our traffic has become the nation’s 15th most congested, the metro violent crime rates have risen to epic proportions. Colorado has become the nation’s car theft capital, the nation’s catalytic converter theft capitol, the nation’s cocaine use capital, our fentanyl use has skyrocketed, along with pot, heroine, meth, everything is being spiked with it, and we just so happen to be one of the states with the highest rise in overdose deaths, not to mention we are seeing an increase in suicide rates that we have never seen before.

Ouch.

A joint Rasmussen Reports/NumbersUSA Education and Research Foundation survey shows that Colorado residents believe that the state grew too much too fast, and that leaders should discourage more, whilst our leaders want to do very little to discourage more growth. Demographers are projecting that Colorado will add another 1.8 million people by the year 2050.

Coloradans do not want that and they have several ideas on what they’d like leaders to do to so as to curb more growth and, most support any and all means of stopping more people from moving here. 63% percent say they would like state and local leaders to restrict development to make it harder for people to move to Colorado. Another 53% say they would like federal leaders to reduce annual immigration to the state (currently 1/4^th of newcomers happen to be immigrants themselves).

Most Coloradans, though, want to keep their own areas free of the kind of crowding that would actually lower housing prices. Only 48% want to change zoning laws to allow more multi-family housing such as apartments and condominiums. Which is strange in and of itself because it is those very individuals complaining about the unaffordable housing costs, so it is clear that they are misunderstanding how things tie together so as to lower the cost of housing here in Colorado.

The main point is, Coloradoans want to shut our state off from further growth for a bit and our leaders want to keep allowing massive growth which is unsustainable in the long term. It will eventually all come crashing down fairly hard.

For now it’s a waiting game to see what if anything will be done so as to curb the growth here in Colorado.

Cristal M Clark

2022-09-12

Worldwide Beer Shortage on the Horizon

A Shortage of Carbon Dioxide Has Brewers Worried

Cristal M Clark

This will make all of those prohibition lovers happy.

Of all the things to worry about, we have seen supply chain shortage after shortage, now the world may be facing a shortage of beer all due to a shortage of Carbon Dioxide. That’s right, a carbon dioxide production hub in Jackson, Mississippi, became contaminated by an extinct volcano, which in turn has cut down on an already limited supply of the gas.

Not to mention that the pandemic drove up prices of carbon dioxide due to the amount of dry ice, which is the frozen carbon dioxide that has been needed to transport COVID-19 vaccines.

Beer consumption (much like most alcohol consumption), has increased by at least 53% this year, according to Top Data, and let us not forget that beer sales have seen a 25% increase since the start of the pandemic.

Some beer manufacturers have switched to using nitrogen where they can, which required new hardware and training and can alter the taste and feel of the beer. Whilst other smaller brewers are looking into CO2 capture systems, sadly, the lead times are 5 to 6 months and that is not really going to line up with getting beer drinkers through the US football season or the holidays for that matter.

Most large brewers do have their own CO2 capture systems, so it is looking like this might hit those smaller brewers, the guys that make some of the newest and better IPA’s hard unless they can find ways to work with the larger brewers to weather this beer shortage storm. Cristal M Clark

2022-09-11

Facebook Experiencing More Pain

Websites Breaking Up With Facebook

Cristal M Clark

When you think about social media, what is your first thought? For many it is a source of entertainment, for some it is annoying, whilst others find it makes them depressed. It is a great source of disinformation and of useful information.

As more and more consumers are demanding better online privacy Facebook is facing more backlash in the form of one giant conundrum, websites are dropping the Facebook button.

Big brands, Best Buy, Dell, Ford Motor, Pottery Barn, Nike, Patagonia, Matchand Amazon’svideo-streaming service Twitch have removed the ability to sign on with Facebook. For a time users liked that so that they were not forced to create new accounts, now not so much.

This move comes on the heels of Facebooks inability to keep user information private, the want to sell user information without properly informing users, data sharing at a whim and having no accountability whatsoever.

Instead, last year, Facebook changed its name to Meta, in an effort to move the company away from social media and toward a futuristic metaverse, where people work, play and learn in a virtual world. Which is somewhat absurd, even more absurd, you can purchase clothing, land and homes in the metaverse, you actually have to pay for those things with your hard earned monies.

Companies and consumers are becoming more and more distrustful of social media at every level simply because social media is not careful with user data.

Apple felt so strongly that Facebook did not bother to care about consumer privacy and tracking that last year IOS was updated to make it more difficult to track and share user data therefor it made it more difficult to target ads.

But let’s not blame only Facebook, marketers and advertisers are applying pressure to social media to target ads, which means the social media giants will need to track and share user data even without your permission.

While social media lacks the ability to protect user data, and social media is somewhat careless with user data they are not the only ones to blame if advertisers were not asking for it, social media never would have given it to them.

Cristal M Clark

2022-09-07

First Person in 25 Years to Make The FBI 10 Most Wanted List

Michael James Pratt Delightfully Absconds Justice

Cristal M Clark

Allow for me to introduce you to 39-year-old New Zealand native, Michael James Pratt who just so happens to be the first individual in 25 years to make the FBI’s 10 most wanted list. A feat that few would view as coveted.

Michael moved to San Diego back in 2012 where he and a group of friends some also from New Zealand decided to start forcing women to engage in pornography.

Michael is accused of using, fraud and coercion to recruit hundreds of young adult women, most in their late teens, and at least one minor victim by getting them drunk and high then forcing them to sign contracts that they were not allowed to read and filming them doing porn. Some of the young women were threatened as well.

According to federal prosecutors and actual real evidence presented in the civil case, the victims were recruited for modeling jobs, then coerced into having sex on camera through promises that the videos would not be made public, but would go to private DVD collections overseas. Instead, the videos were widely disseminated on the GirlsDoPorn network of sites and beyond.

Well, doesn’t Michael sound like a lovely little cunt?

A judge ruled in favor of the 22 women who had sued Michael and his GirlsDoPorn partners, handing down a $12.7 million civil judgment.

Naturally Michael decided to run away in 2019 when he was being sued, in civil court which is not the same as criminal court, either way it’s a wonder why the FBI did not manage at that time to have better eyes on the man.

At any rate, in November of 2019 a federal warrant was issued for Michael’s arrest, naturally he has no intention of coming back to answer for his crimes.

Michael joins a rather illustrious crew on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List, 6 murder suspects, one of which is wanted in a murder-for-hire attempt, the alleged top leader of the MS-13 gang in Honduras and a Bulgarian woman who is suspected of running a $4 billion cryptocurrency fraud.

According to the FBI, Michael has the means so as to travel anywhere in the world and hide, which makes this all the more painful for his victims. This is a slap in the face of all of his victims for they sought to get justice and justice not did bother themselves with things like freezing assets, they let the bad guy abscond delightfully away where no one can seem to locate him.

Cristal M Clark

2022-09-06

In a Rather Unusual Twist, Donald Trump Offers to Help the Enemy

Will CNN Take Trump’s Outstretched Hand?

Cristal M Clark

It is official that Donald Trump has been bit upset with FoxNews, he is now accusing them of pushing the Democrat agenda. According to Trump: “Wow! Fox News is really pushing the Democrats and the Democrat agenda. Gets worse every single day. So many Dems interviewed with only softball questions, then Republican counterparts get creamed.”

So just what is a bitter, hateful old man to do when he is angry at his favourite news source? Well, what any sane individual would do, he is offering to help his biggest enemy, CNN.

On Truth Social, Trumps failing social network, he posted the following: “If ‘low ratings’ CNN ever went Conservative, they would be an absolute gold mine, and I would help them to do so.”

I know that you are all shaking your heads, Trump has long accused CNN of reporting “fake news.” Truth be told, FoxNews pushed every single one of Trump’s idiotic thoughts and idea’s as if they were the greatest things ever and actually news worthy.

CNN however, is in real trouble with low ratings, a new CEO and that new CEO has suggested changes are afoot over at CNN and has expressed a strong desire to move the network in a conservative direction.

According to the Washington Post, “A number of current and former CNN employees are saying that they fear CNN’s new CEO may be carrying out a “purge” of individuals who have been critical of Trump in the past.”

Over this past weekend CNN actually did something that left people quite shocked, on Sunday, the network’s website published an article highlighting criticism of Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings series for using non-white actors with the headline “When ‘wokeness’ comes to Middle-earth.”

Trump has been on a warpath with Fox in recent months however as they started moving away from Trump and actually showing support for the truth rather than Trump’s fairy tales and fantasies.

It is a little delightfully wicked to see CNN cracking however, they have long pushed the idea that they actually report news, they do not. They will give half a headline, and bring in every expert under the sun and present you with so many idea’s, opinons and possibilities that by the end of the segment no one can even remember what they were actually reporting.

Perhaps CNN will realise that hell for them has frozen over and finally take Trump’s outstretched hand.

Cristal M Clark

2022-09-03

Large Ominous Pool of Blood Found in Parking Lot

Silver Spring Township, Pennsylvania

Cristal M Clark

As Labor Day weekend signals the end of summer and the beginning of fall it tends to usher in spooky season which is a welcome treat for many.

Today’s news in Silver Spring Township, Pennsylvania certainly has ushered in spooky season with quite a bang.

According to police in Silver Spring Township, an ominous pool of blood was found in the parking lot of a nursing home along with a pair of glasses nearby. The pool of blood in fact was so large that police fear someone has sustained a very serious injury, the kind that would cause death. Police also found more blood in a nearby grassy area, but so far no body has been recovered.

After testing the blood the police discovered their worst fear, it is human.

Police did check with the nursing home for missing persons and found none, they also do not have a missing person report in the area at all.

Now officials have been careful to say that they do not know what has actually happened here, it may not be a crime at all, someone could have gotten into a rather nasty bar fight, fallen somehow, it is important to note that the Cumberland Valley School District main campus, said that there had been a football game and police found blood on the campus. Police are saying they simply do not know where this large pool of blood came from and are asking the public for assistance in resolving the matter.

This is certainly quite the mystery and what a way to end summer and announce the arrival of spooky season.

Happy Holiday Weekend Everyone!

Cristal M Clark

2022-08-30

New TikTok Car Theft Challenge

Poor Oversight of Social Media Leads to Increase in Car Thefts Nationwide

Cristal M Clark

When we talk about holding social media companies accountable, this is one example of why we need to that. Over on TikTok, they have a new social media challenge and it is one that is becoming so problematic that police nationwide are scratching their heads.

TikTok users are posting videos under the hashtag “Kia Boyz,” where they are teaching individuals how to start Kia or Hyundai vehicles without keys, using the tip of a phone charger or USB cable, which in turn is now prompting juveniles as well as adults across the country to try and steal those vehicles.

In Chicago alone they have experienced a 767% increase in car thefts. Here in Colorado police are seeing an uptick in car thefts of these particular vehicles, and the same can be said across the whole of the United States.

767% increase says out of hand to me.

Some are quick to blame the manufacturers here but, the truth is simply that the fault lies with social media platforms who allow the spread of this type of information.

This is where social media crosses the fine line of freedom of speech to encouraging criminal activity and as you all know this is where someone will eventually end up hurt or killed, is that when we hold social media accountable?

It is not just TikTok, it is all of social media, FaceBook, Instagram, Snap, Twitter, all social media platforms are guilty of this.

Look if I were to post some type of vulnerability so as to encourage people to try to break into the white house I’d have every government agency pitching a fork tent up my arse wanting answers as to why I would do that because through doing that I put lives at risk.

You know what else puts someone’s life at risk, educating and encouraging a nation to steal cars through a TikTok challenge.

Enough with the double standards, this is out of hand with social media sites and it is time that they be held accountable period and end of story. This type of challenge should have been removed the second it was first posted which goes to show how little social media truly cares or actually watches for.

They will utilise any and all excuses as to how and why this was missed, which they should not be allowed to do.

So, is it going to take someone getting killed over a TikTok Challenge? Is that what it is gong to take?Cristal M Clark