Studying for the Bar

I cannot wait for this journey to be complete. Decompression awaits in t-minus 8 days.

The “Sandra Wilson” Scam

I’d say this is one of the more enticing scams I’ve encountered in my Craigslist experience primarily because it was carried out over weeks time by a sympathetic (and, consequently, credible) fraud.

Here’s how it hits you: You need a roommate (or, in my case, you’re looking to sublet). You advertise the room on Craigslist. You receive an email from sandrawilson010@aol.com. The fraud calls herself Sandra and claims to be living elsewhere in the country. My fraud claimed to be from Greece. (The fraud has terrible grammar; part of you is red-flagged, but another part of you attributes this to the alleged foreign origin.) The fraud claims to be interested in moving to your area, noting that “her uncle” told her it would be full of opportunities.

So where’s the scam? Continue: The fraud has to leave the country to care for her uncle, who allegedly is sick. The fraud maintains correspondence during the alleged trip. (The fraud does not message you for a number of days while “traveling.”) The fraud claims to be sending you a money order for the rental amount. (You are satisfied with a money order as it is like cash.) At some point, the fraud sends you a picture, which you assume to be the interested entity, although the image borders on “too good to be true” land. The fraud then tells you that the fraud’s personal items (e.g., a bed, suitcases of clothing, a computer desk, a car) will be shipped before the fraud arrives back stateside and that additional funds will be included in the money order to cover the shipping expenses. (The average cost to ship a car is $1,000.00.)

You are wary. Finally, you have been asked to pay something. The fact that the scam had not asked for payment until now (two weeks into correspondence) has made the scam appear credible up to this point. As you had not been asked to pay anything, you had no need to worry. Now, however, red flags should blind you. The fraud then self-inflicts a TKO (against the reasonably prudent person, that is) by telling you that instead of paying the shippers in person, you will need to mail them a check for the amount of the shipping; only once the shippers receive your payment will they ship the fraud’s items.

At this point, the disconnected person sees the scam. I fear that many people, though, have been won over by the endearing grammatical mistakes and attractive picture and have been suckered into sending money to the alleged shippers.

Once asked to send money, I Googled the email address from which I was receiving messages and found the following blog entry: http://in-myhumbleopinion.blogspot.com/2007/08/sandra-jones-i-can-smell-kind-of-person.html. That blog elaborates more of the story than I have. As you will read on that person’s blog, the fraud eventually asks that you wire the shipping money to Nigeria.

If nothing else up to this point has caused you angst, at long last, mention of Nigeria, the capital of scams, should set off every bell and whistle in even the most gullible person’s universe.

I hope anyone else whom this fraud attempts to scam will be enlightened by this blog entry.

Update: Other accounts that employ the name “Sandra Wilson” include: sandarwilson_5751@yahoo.com; jsandrajones01@aol.com; sanjones102@aol.com; sanjones100@aol.com; sanjones103@aol.com; sanjones400@aol.com; sanjones14814@gmail.com.

Other frauds of the same variety use the names Tina Jones (tinajones008@idioemail.com; tinajones008@live.com), Katherine Williams (willicomps072@aol.com; Katewille13@aol.com; katewille02@aol.com), Kate Wayne (waynecare12@gmail.com), Kristina James (kristybabao011@aol.com), Jennifer Matthews (jennifermatthe1@aol.com), Jenni Francis (jenifrancis005@aol.com), Natali Adams (mchllmcmii8@aol.com), Kaci (kacigl@aol.com), and Sarah (Serascoty07@aol.com).

The Truth Is Out There

The world is full of disinformation. Consequently, truth is extraordinarily rare.

At the moment, I’m thinking microcosmically. I’m thinking about those hurling accusations at the AZ legislature for its immigration bill. I’m thinking about those dismissing the reality of ecoterrorism and its possible connection to the recent oil spill. As my thoughts generalize, they encompass the different world religions that claim the truth about the soul, the different exercise routines that claim the truth about the body, and the different IQ tests that claim the truth about the mind.

The creation of factcheck.org was brilliant. It not only claims to possess truth but also makes it easily accessible to everyone. Everyone already has an opinion. Now people can simply reach their hands into the cookie jar of truths and make their opinions appear more veritable.

Historians, the traditional truth-gatherers, are a dying breed. Their cause of death is part-homicide, part-suicide. With regard to homicide, most people don’t read. Of those who do, most read only headlines, short articles, and inflammatory tabloids. This is why short articles are a dime a dozen. Very few read substantial articles. Even fewer read books. Only a sliver ever make it through a historical non-fiction.

With regard to suicide, most historians are bad writers. Perhaps it is their own collective fault, then, that they are disfavored. History need not be as dry and dusty as the pages on which it is written. From my experience, however, those who study historical research and writing rarely also study other brands of writing: creative, expository, novel, and legal. As a consequence, minutiae sprawl across hundreds of pages that will never be enjoyed by the proles. Should not history be accessible?

The truth is indisputable. The truth will set you free. As a result, he who presents the truth of the past with engaging dialogue will be a rich man.

The Moderate: Part II

Just as there is no inherently legitimate rationale for choosing the middle, there is no inherently legitimate basis for choosing the left or the right. Every day, thousands of Americans are born to red and blue families. Some stay the same color until the day they die. Is that good or bad? The answer is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter how long someone has been red or blue, because these labels are relative and misunderstood. What matters is what a person believes and why.

Limbaugh’s Lynch Mob

The story.

I get it. It’s okay to be left-wing and loud, but not right-wing and loud. Makes perfect sense. People: Does Ted Turner ring a bell? Politics are a lousy excuse for denying anyone anything. In fact, it’s blatant, invidious discrimination. Could a McDonald’s franchise owner deny someone a Happy Meal because of his political affiliation? If he tried, would you defend him? Hell no. Liberals are all about equality, but only equality for some. It’s pathetic.

The Moderate: Part I

A few weeks ago, I forwarded a WSJ editorial entitled “The Empathy Paradox” to a few friends from law school. One of these friends is a self-proclaimed “moderate,” while the other two are self-proclaimed liberals. The editorial related a question and answer between Senator Kyl and Judge Sotomayor at the judge’s Senate confirmation hearings. One of the back and forths proceeded as follows:

Transparency: BS

Transparency

It’s simply unbelievable how comprehensively the Obama administration continues to screw up.

A Legal Ethic

Although I’m not studying to become a professor, I wouldn’t consider myself the black sheep of the family.  My mom, dad, and sister—all undergraduate English majors—now teach some brand of literature, writing, or philosophy.  I, on the other hand, teach nothing, and my prospects in that direction don’t look too promising.  Of course, that’s only natural, because I don’t feel called to teach.  At least, not yet.  Instead, for the time being, I feel called to litigate.  In fact, I’m so confident that the law is where God wants me that, if I knew how genes worked, I might say it’s in my DNA.

What I cannot say so assertively is that the solutions to all of life’s ethical dilemmas are etched into my heart.  Let me be clear:  I almost always know the ethical course of action.  It’s the acting that doesn’t come easy.  I’ve probably said that going on a hundred times, and it’s becoming cliché, but I feel convicted every time I think about it.  Well, at least, I want to feel convicted.  I never want variety to supplant cliché when the cliché is actually worth remembering.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

I just finished watching the movie, and like Ebert, I’m finding it impossible to write a substantive review without giving away the ending.

I’ll tell you my immediate reaction: I feel sick. I feel like throwing up.

The Dew on the Roses

A relative newcomer to the adult world where consequences really matter, I nevertheless feel justifiably frustrated with the current state of politics.

It’s hardly partisan to describe our president as fearless, even reckless. Although the latter quality carries with it a negative connotation — and, thus, many liberals will reject it outright as a fit description of their leader — it’s a natural consequence of humanity let loose. At times, it’s an apt description of each of us.