Sees scams in a new light
Editor,
This week's Editor's Note on Nigerian scams ("One man's scam is another man's treasure") was brilliant. Your deconstruction of the solicitations really spoke to me during a really rough week.
I had never really considered viewing those emails as a genre before, but you managed to very tightly break them down and really reveal a new side of them to me. Typically, if I receive one, I simply ignore it lest it appeal to me emotionally in any way. However, you have inspired me to look at them as persuasive gems that must follow a specific template to be at all effective. I wonder if there are any statistics on how many people have actually fallen for them.
I am a banker, and I frequently see similar scam letters, although they are typically US- or Canada-based these days, and often come through the mail with a check already attached. They never contain the literary genius of the old-school Nigerian types.
What typically surprises me about these domestic scams is that they usually promise pay for work not yet completed (such as mystery shopping), yet my clients feel entitled to these funds. Many of my clients continue to believe that they will receive this "free money" even after I explain that I have found evidence of the scam online - as you state, their "innate greed" is stoked at a much higher level than any type of personal honor.
I thank you for writing this piece, especially this particular week, when I really needed some quality writing in my life. I always look forward to reading Connect, and have since I moved to Savannah two years ago. If I get any scam letters or emails, I will be sure to forward them along to you!
Carlie Arnold
Keep fighting for tumor cures
Editor,
On September 4 The Savannah Folk Music Society generously hosted a fundraiser for the National Brain Tumor Society in memory of my husband Doug Wyatt.
Doug died on February 9th of this year, only 11 days after being diagnosed with Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) .With an equal rate of incidence and mortality-the number of those who get it, and the number of those who die from it—GBM is a brain cancer death sentence.
Of the approximately 12,000 people who are diagnosed with GBM annually in the U.S., half will die within a year, and the rest within three years. Currently, the only treatments that stretch survival limits are exceptionally invasive surgeries to remove the tumor and radiation treatment with the maximum tolerated dose - all of which leads to a painfully low quality of life. Because of this, researchers are racing to find better therapies to stop or slow GBM. The National Brain Tumor Society funds such research in addition to providing help to families whose members are diagnosed with GBM.
I’d like to thank Hank Wiesman, president, Chris Desa, vice president, and the entire membership of the Folk Music Society for hosting the fundraiser. I’d also like to thank Barka Barkstar dog grooming, Marigold Beauty Concepts, and Vincenzo’s Restaurant & Catering for their support of the event by providing items for a drawing. Thanks too go to the media outlets in this community that were all generous in their coverage of the event, to Doug’s many friends who pulled it all together, and to the members of our community who supported this effort.
Between the event and the on-line donation page, which is still open, $2,506 was raised for the National Brain Tumor Society. I hope to be able to hold some kind of fund and awareness raising every each September in memory of Doug. If you’d like to help, please contact me.
Gail Krueger
912/927-6901
Dance with who brung ya
Editor,
I have enjoyed reading Connect (when I'm in Savannah) for many years now.
About your recent article about local sex shops....there is a fine line between news and free advertising. Be careful what you promote and celebrate.
There are many more interesting subjects than porno shops. Please get back to basics: Music, art, food, entertainment, local history and culture.
Dr. J. Carl Bleichner
Strange days indeed
Editor,
I was born and lived in the communist totalitarian Romania and I risked my life to escape that regime during the 1980's. I am a woman in my 40's, I have been an entrepreneur in the mortgage industry for many years, and today I am frightened to see the symptoms to this deadly disease that is turning our republic into a police state. Following are symptoms and the evidence...
1. INDOCTRINATION OF THE POPULATION with the egalitarian and socialist propaganda. Evidence: I have seen this not only in our education system but also in our Arts & Entertainment industry. Just about everything we watch on TV, including Hollywood movies and even some commercials, carry a subliminal message of their egalitarian and socialist DOGMA. This Indoctrination process has been ongoing for many decades in our country.
2. CREATING GOVERNMENT DEPENDENCY by ruining the economy, monopolizing the industry, and destroying medium and small private enterprise. Evidence:
A. It is a FACT that the Federal Reserve (which controls the Banking system in our country) artificially lowered the prime rate thus creating a false sense of prosperity. It happened within the past 10 years and it's been championed by Alan Greenspan and his brainstorming group.
B. Organizations like ACORN which, with the government's blessing, put tremendous pressure on the financial institutions to lower their lending standards and lend money to sub-par consumers.
When a free economy is destroyed businesses fail and people are being laid off. That's good news for the gov. because:
A. Eliminates competition for the government and gov. does not like competition and,
B. It creates high unemployment, and it now gives the gov. the opportunity to rise as the savior to people's unemployment problems either through gov. programs (unemployment, welfare, low-income gov. subsidized housing) or gov. employment (the recruitment for numerous Civilian Army positions available on the Military website and other gov. agencies.)
And let's make it clear, the gov. has not proven to us that it encourages people to be self-sufficient or independent thinkers.
3. SILENCING THE OPPOSITION including those like you. Evidence:
A. The effort of the newly appointed Diversity Czar, Mark Lloyd to revive the Fairness Doctrine act.
B. The former Green Jobs Czar, Van Jones, is also the founder of ColorofChange.org. This organization had contacted many companies and influenced them to pull out their advertising during the Glenn Beck show, Glenn Beck being one of the most listened to and outspoken talk show hosts. (You know what happens when advertisers pull their ads, right?)
4. CENSORSHIP OF ALL AVENUES OF COMMUNICATION, whether it's mail, phone, books, or Internet.
Evidence: The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 introduced by Sen. John Jay Rockefeller which, if it's passed, it would give this administration control of the Internet. How much better can it get?
5. GOVERNMENT OPPRESSION.
Evidence: They are now forming the American version of the KGB (called Civilian Army), - in Romania it was called Securitate - which will protect the powerful elite from the masses. People will fear the government and to speak anything against it. That will be the time when I or any of your callers won't be allowed to call in anymore to voice our opinions. That's when we know that our Freedom has been stolen from us.
The times to complain and do nothing are gone. These are dangerous times and we must be proactive and united, we must get out of our comfort zone! I encourage everyone to not be afraid to speak, voice their opinion in Town Hall meetings, get involved, unite with people that have similar views, call and e-mail their representatives because next year, 2010, election year, will be a vital year for our country and our freedom. We'll either get them back or completely loose them!
Carmen Alexe
