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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday February 13 2018, @07:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the celebrity-has-its-shortcomings dept.

Late last month, a YouTube celebrity couple hid in their closet and called police while an armed, deranged fan ransacked their home.

Christopher Giles, who police described as "single, lonely and disturbed," had made the 11-hour drive from Albuquerque, according to documents filed in the 2nd Judicial District Court. And his phone was full of notes suggesting he had "developed a fondness" for the woman, Megan Turney, and a dislike of her boyfriend, Gavin Free.

Turney, 30, was made famous through her video blogs on anime, relationship advice and her life. Free, 29, is the co-host of a YouTube video series of slow-motion videos.

[...] According to that search warrant affidavit, around 3:40 a.m. on Jan. 26, Turney and Free awoke to the sound of breaking glass and a gunshot. They hid in their bedroom closet and called 911 while Giles searched their home for them.

When he couldn't find the couple, Giles left, encountering Austin Police Department officers on his way out.

The officers found Giles backing out of the driveway in his Lincoln sedan with a New Mexico license plate and ordered him to stop.

Instead, they heard a single gunshot coming from the car. An officer returned fire.

Giles was pronounced dead on the scene, a .45 caliber handgun near his hand, according to the affidavit. Turney and Free were not harmed.

[...] "Based on the footage seen it was apparent that Giles' sole intent was to cause harm to someone who resides there," the detective wrote in the complaint.

[...] Albuquerque Police Department detectives who executed a search warrant on his home in Albuquerque said Giles lived alone and was "an avid player of video games and was known for watching YouTube videos that were centered on his hobby."


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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 13 2018, @10:47PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 13 2018, @10:47PM (#637315)

    One thing about U.S. unemployment benefits, they are so pitifully small that it's hardly worth scamming the system. Some days when I was collecting unemployment I wondered if it was really worth the distraction from actual job searching - all the reporting requirements and other BS just to get a check that doesn't even cover an average mortgage payment.

    When on unemployment (after a RIF [urbandictionary.com]) in the US, I was required to attend an "orientation" with a bunch (20 or so) of other poor suckers.

    I noted to the fellow running the meeting that the money being doled out was insufficient to cover rent (I was receiving the maximum possible amount, a percentage of what your weekly compensation had been, up to a maximum of a few hundred dollars). He stated that unemployment benefits weren't there as a replacement for income, rather it was available so you didn't starve. Well, at least for the 26 weeks that unemployment covered.

    There are also a host of restrictions on who is allowed to collect unemployment [thebalance.com], even though in most states there's an involuntary payroll deduction (check your pay stub, it's usually something like SUI/DIS or the like) to cover the costs of the program.

    Note that I was receiving the maximum amount. I don't remember exactly, but even the maximum was just a few hundred dollars a week. The calculation (IIRC) was something like 50% of your weekly compensation, up to a maximum of $300 or so.

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  • (Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 13 2018, @10:59PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 13 2018, @10:59PM (#637319)

    Few hundred dollars a week? If your total rent, food, and bus fare costs more than $1,000 a month, you need to move or get a job.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by insanumingenium on Tuesday February 13 2018, @11:07PM

      by insanumingenium (4824) on Tuesday February 13 2018, @11:07PM (#637325) Journal

      Fun fact about people on unemployment. They HAD a job, and by the letter of the law are usually required to have lost it through no fault of their own, and are usually required to be looking for a new one. Moving when you can't make ends meet anymore is quite difficult. Since they don't cap my contribution to unemployment insurance, I am not sure how they get off capping my benefits from it.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by ants_in_pants on Tuesday February 13 2018, @11:42PM

      by ants_in_pants (6665) on Tuesday February 13 2018, @11:42PM (#637336)

      the places where living is cheap are generally also low on available jobs.

      --
      -Love, ants_in_pants
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14 2018, @12:43AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14 2018, @12:43AM (#637373)

      Few hundred dollars a week? If your total rent, food, and bus fare costs more than $1,000 a month, you need to move or get a job.

      Original AC here.

      I realize you're trying to be humorous. So we'll add to the joke with some statistics [deptofnumbers.com]:

      Median monthly gross residential rent in the United States was $959 in 2015 according to the Census ACS survey.1 Average gross rent was $1,021 in 2015. Median rent more accurately depicts rental rates in the middle of the distribution of rents than average rent and is thus preferred in the analysis below. 2016 US median and average rent data will be released in September of 2017.

      Also note that when one was (and had been for more than a decade) earning a six-figure annual salary and that's then cut to about 10%, bad things can happen unless one has significant savings (fortunately for me, I had such savings and chose to start my own business rather than go back to work for someone else).

    • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:30AM

      by Reziac (2489) on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:30AM (#637485) Homepage

      Problem is, no one wants to rent to the unemployed. (At least, if they're not eligible for Section 8.)

      --
      And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday February 14 2018, @09:49AM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday February 14 2018, @09:49AM (#637535) Journal

    The funniest part about unemployment, is that the government taxes even that pitiful amount, such that you are left with an even more pitiful amount. It's Kafka-esque.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday February 15 2018, @02:10PM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 15 2018, @02:10PM (#638237)

    Note that I was receiving the maximum amount. I don't remember exactly, but even the maximum was just a few hundred dollars a week.

    I thought for sure this was a "starve the beast" policy where they used to pay $300 in the olden days and they're eliminating the program by freezing the rates since 1970. Which may be true. However I was surprised when I googled and the Federal Dept of Labor has a 75th anniversary celebration PR flyer explaining the first dude to get a check was in august 1936 for $15 in Wisconsin, so I go to the BLS.gov inflation calculator and that $15 in 36 is worth $265.57 today but everyone knows the numbers are fake so its probably closer to three hundred something, then google wisconsin unemployment and the max payment today is $370 per week, how about that? Rate today is the same adjusted for inflation as the rate in 1936... Its never paid very much.

    I suspect a lot of fraud where its kinda a subsidy for non-W2 cash-only jobs. So if you're a bartender with a liberal arts degree you get some help.