More scam email

Just so you can see the variety, or lack thereof...a friend told me yesterday that these scammers feel they are justified in stealing money from people. Odd, but in truth, a lot of people who steal are able to tell themselves they're justified. A justification is just a marshaling of certain concepts as necessary facts and placing them in contrast to any given situation. So of course, you can justify anything as long as you start with certain things that justify what you believe, i.e., employ circular logic. Oh, how I know people who do that...

Here writes Madam Susana Kadrlik Cole, suffering from cancerous ailment. When my late husband was alive he the sum of 5Million (Five Million Pound Sterling) which were derived from his vast estates and investment in capital market with International Finance Corporation(IFC) here in UK. Presently, the investment potfolio is still on till 2013. Recently, my Doctor told me that I have limited days to live due to the cancerous problems I am suffering from, So, I decided to contact you due to time limit. Though what bothers me most is the stroke that I have in addition to the cancer. With this hard reality that has befallen my family, and me I have decided to donate this fund to you and want you to use this gift which comes from my husbands effort to fund the upkeep of widows, widowers, orphans, destitute, the down-trodden, physically challenged children, barren-women and persons who prove to be genuinely handicapped financially. It is often said that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I do not have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are bourgeois and very wealthy persons and I do not want my husband hard earned money to be misused or invested into ill perceived ventures. I do not want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly manner, hence the reason for taking this bold decision. I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going. I know that I am going to be with the Almighty when I eventually pass on. The Almighty will fight my case and I shall hold my peace. I do not need any telephone communication in this regard due to my deteriorating health and because of the presence of my husband relatives around me. I do not want them to know about this development. With God all things are possible. I want you to stand as the new beneficiary to the funds. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) where the portfolio investment. I will also send you a Change of Custodian and Premature Investment Portfolio Liduidation Form that will empower you as the new the custodian and beneficiary of this fund. My happiness is that I lived a life worthy of emulation. Please always be prayerful all through your life. Please assure me that you will act just as I have stated herein. Hope to hear from you soon and God bless you and members of your family. Endeavor to send me your names, address, telephone and fax number to enable contact you with more details/ all the relevant documents by email/ fax. Yours sincerely Madam Susana Kadrlik Cole. Reply email: su.cole@hotmail.com

And another...

Dear Friend,

This letter may come to you as a surprise due to the fact that we have
not yet met.
After searching through your country's Chamber of Commerce and industry
here in Dubai I am contacting you to assist me, I have to say that I
have no intentions of causing you any pains as you read this.

I don't want you to feel sorry for me, because, I believe everyone will
die someday.
My name is Mr. Thomas Grey, a merchant in London, but presently taking
treatment in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. now. I have been
diagnosed with Prostate and Esophageala cancer that was discovered very
late due to my uncaring attitude for my health. It has defiled all form of
medicine and right now, I have only about a few months to live
according to medical experts. I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I
never really cared for anyone not even myself but my business. Though I
am very rich, I was never generous, I was always hostile to people and
only focus on my business as that was the only thing I cared for. But
now I regret all this as I now know that there is more to life than
just wanting to have or make all the money in the world. I believe when God
gives me a second chance to come to this world I would live my life a
different way from how I have lived it. Now that I know my time is
near, I have willed and given most of my properties and assets to my
immediate and extended family members and as well as a few close
friends. I have decided to give alms to charity organizations, as I want this to
be one of the last good deeds I did on earth.

So far, I have distributed money to some charity organizations in the
United Arab Emirates, London and Ireland. Now that my health has
deteriorated so badly, I cannot do this my self any more. I once asked
members of my family to close one of my accounts and donate the money which I
have there to charity organization in Bulgaria, they refused and kept
the money to themselves. Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as they
seem not to be contended with what I have left for them.

The last of my money which is the huge cash deposit that l have with
security firm abroad. I will want you to help me collect this deposit
and
dispatched it to charity organizations and let them know that it is I
Thomas Grey that is making this generous donation. I am writing this
from my laptop computer in my hospital bed where I wait for my time to
come.

You can reply me through my private email address:
thomas_grey7@yahoo.co.uk

As soon as l received your sincere response l shall hence disclose all vital details to you.
I pray for you to support and assist me with good heart.

Be blessed my beloved,

Thomas Grey.

Another rant - facial hair

One word - gross. Really scuzzy looking. No one should even have to look at that. Yuck. As context, again, public transport is killing me. There are all these people who are really unattractive, and I know, they can't do anything about that, but they can do something about their gross facial hair that is covering up for insecurities about masculinity. And yeah, it's kind of obvious that's what's going on when you look like these people do. Sure, that's offensive. But I've been studying too long and my brain has turned in on itself. And it turns my stomach to have to look at some of these people - particularly when they stare at me - yuck! so gross!

Standing on the train

On the subway, there is this class of people who insist on standing up before their stops. The logic, as far as I understand it, goes something like, well I am getting off at this stop so I'll go stand closer to the door. Note the prominence of "I" in that logic and the failure to recognize the "public" in "public transportation."
Why do I care? If you've ever been on a semi-crowded train and you have a brain, you should know. These people struggle to stand up, typically right as the train accelerates and it is hardest to maintain balance. Or if already standing, they take this opportunity to press their way forward. These moves force those around them to adjust their balance and move, again, at a most inopportune time. So, for example, as a passenger in the way of these folk, you're forced to stand up for absolutely no reason and maintain your balance, or you're forced to let go of whatever your hand is gripping to prevent you from flying to the other end of the train. Then there is the way these actions increase the clumping of people around the door.
The really galling part about this is that there is no reason whatsoever for this. On a really really crowded train, like I used to take to work in London, you actually do have to move towards the door if you're in the middle or you'll miss your stop. First off, I've never even seen a train that required that kind of maneuvering in Chicago. Ever. Second, if you're going to do that, you have to do the moving either when the train is stopped or, alternatively, if it's a rather advanced sort of train, when it is at a comfortable cruising speed. But that's it, basta.

Getting stuff with my photography on it

I've opened up a cafe press shop where you can buy stuff with certain of my photos, including framed prints (not sure on the quality...I plan to offer framed photos independently soon) - right now, it's just the Galapagos seal photo on this blog page, but I plan to expand with some of my other travel photography. Visit and enjoy!

Food pellets

I've frequently been disappointed by the lack of progress we've made towards a Tomorrowland-type reality - the lack of everyday jet packs is a particular pet peeve of mine but even more critical is the lack of a food pellet, or a meal pill, that could simply be taken as a substitute for meals. I enjoy food to a certain extent, but I would definitely prefer to not have to make the effort to think about what to eat, preparing, shopping for food, determining appropriate portions etc. Think of the time that could be saved if instead of sitting down for meals we popped a few pills with a glass of water and went on our merry ways? Also, this way we could assure that we would be getting all the appropriate nutrients - it could end world hunger as we know it. So again, I ask the scientific community, why haven't we figured out the mechanism for the meal pill? It seemed like Wonka was getting pretty close with his meal gum (see the demise of Violet Beauregarde in the original charlie and the chocolate factory).

Another argument for my ADD-ness

The anecdotal evidence that coffee is calming in kiddies with ADD. I am currently drinking coffee as I started having an anxiety attack over an administrative issue that cannot even be addressed until a workday (e.g., tomorrow, but in any case, not today).
The book I use to explain most of my odd reactions to things tells me that in mice lacking certain adenosine receptors (A2a), caffeine had only a depressant effect and caffeine leads to a release of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex. If this is my problem, however (according to the mice at least) I should have improved spatial recognition abilities, which is not the case. However, the mice also indicate that I should be more anxious and aggressive than other similarly-placed mice, which is clearly the case.
Furthermore, a lot of adenosine building up in the basal forebrain causes sleepiness and makes it last longer (I've always slept ridiculous amounts).
I'll have to return to this on-line self-diagnosis later.

India v. Australia

The main battle appear to be disease versus boredom. In that order. A number of people I met for the first time today assured me that should I travel to India, I would become ill, and that nevertheless I should definitely go. I am kind of certain that Australia would bore me a bit. However, perhaps I could do a lot of yoga and become one with myself and zen and such. The idea of becoming violently ill is extremely unappealing. Also, having spent the day in the sun, I really don't want to be in the sun at all ever again and so that sort of makes both options less palatable. I burned in an odd square on my arm. It is ridiculous.

Sympathy

So on my daily hour-long walks I've been noticing that there is a certain percentage of the female population that lacks an ass. The person in the picture has a larger ass than the person I saw today. I walk very quickly and usually end up directly behind people who are swervers (most people swerve slightly when they walk but certain people are like drunkards) and then notice oddities, like a flat ass. And wow, is that an unattractive look. I don't think I have any friends with this particular affliction so I'm not familiar with it. But honestly, it kind of freaks me out, the way someone with an extreme physical deformity might make you nervous. I think I may be out and out biased against these people, thinking they have odd personalities and may even be a subset of the aliens that have invaded the planet (another topic for another time, but you can tell the aliens by their unusually bright blue eyes, see, e.g., Justice Roberts). But seriously, what's up with the flat ass thing? It tends to correspond to a rather boxy body, so I don't know if it's just a boy-ish thing or some sort of darwinian evolution thing I don't get (another topic for another time is my inability to fully apply darwinian theories of evolution to the existence of all things in the world, something that has on occasion kept me up at night. oh, the confusion). But in conclusion, I feel quite bad for these people because it kind of looks like a random part of the body has become concave.

More on beez

I've been rather fascinated with this thing about bee colonies dying off. Reading the nyt article caused me to realize that my knowledge of bees was limited to what they told us on a class trip to the zoo in like 2nd grade. And I certainly never knew it could be a business to rent out bees to pollinate agriculture.
Since I'm skewing back into an increased energy period (positive thoughts on that) finding a detailed publication on bees has really distracted me from other critical work.
Initially this seemed like an excellent pastime for me, being as one is supposed to begin in late spring/early summer (prime time for my random projects)but as the detailed publication properly points out, bee keeping is not an appropriate activity for people who are allergic to bee stings. Fair enough. It also would be difficult to keep a bee colony in my one-bedroom apartment. If I had a yard it appears that by properly providing a source of water and choosing bees bred for calmness, I might be able to raise bees in an urban-ish environment. Regardless, this is clearly ripe for a sitcom plot.
However, as I indicated in an earlier post, I briefly feared that bees were living in my walls, and it is good that this was not the case as it evidently would normally require removing all the siding. I don't actually know what siding is, but I'm betting this would be an involved project. Not to mention all the other political concerns, e.g., "Solutions to the complex bee/bear conflict are highly political, expensive, and have not been totally effective." Indeed.

Important News Update

Disneyland's submarine ride is back. Not that I managed to notice it was gone, but this was really one of the classics, up there with the people mover, which evidently has also closed. What made both of these rides delightful was that they were absolutely ridiculous kitsch, almost painfully so.

Also, love the accidental and personal reply-alls to 40 strangers. Seriously, this late in the e-mail game? How is it even possible? Inquiring minds want to know.

An urgent message from the year 2038!

I have a lot of trouble understanding why my yahoo mail system even delivers mail that is dated as coming from 2038. About half my spam on any given day comes from 2038, and it is generally the most egregious, the kind of stuff that if you didn't know terribly much about internet scams, might think was legitimate. What would be far more entertaining would be if these 2038 spammers actually claimed to be from the future - such that the offer of a "Free t-mobile sidekick" would make sense, as the market value for such an item in 2038 would have to be essentially nonexistant. So someone in 2038 finds a time capsule full of these goods from 2007 and decides to make an honest buck off it through time travel email. The shipping might be an issue, though. Even if they offered tracking, we plebs of 2007 likely couldn't use their tracking system. We would be very easy to scam. Imagine the nightline exposes of the latest internet scam, free commercial goods from the future!

In other news, they mean it when they say don't use alcohol to take your medications. Wow, do they mean it.

Microlending...

is awesome. Finally found the link I've been looking for: Kiva. You have hands on real live microlending. And you embrace the modern internet marketplace.

Decision-making

I'm not much of a decision-maker. It's not that I'm indecisive, it's just that I don't get to the point where you actually make the decision. I tend to make decisions spontaneously, based on gut instinct or irrelevant factors. The stuff I really have to think through, weigh the possibilities and all that, the hard ones, cause me great distress because it matters and I need to figure out a way to choose between two options, a way to get to that fork in the road where I make the decision. I'm very good at helping other people through this process but refuse to listen to my own advice when it is my life that is concerned. I pretty consistently refuse to take my own, extremely well-thought out, rational, emotionally-balanced, advice. I suppose it's hard to balance emotions when you're trying to balance yourself.