October 23, 2003
Dear Everyone:
Still not on my way to
In other news…
Ever since
email became more
prevalent, I’ve been reading warnings about “The
Nigerian Email Scam”.
This is a con game via email.
The “mark” receives an email from someone claiming to be the son
of a Great Native Chief in
But all is not lost because the poor soul’s father (or mother) put aside a great deal of money which will help the him escape the forces of evil, only there’s a slight catch: He can’t get the money out of the country (or the Ghana bank, or the Swiss bank) because of some technicality. But you, the mark, can help!
You see, you and the great chief’s son can become partners and transfer the funds through your bank account. For your kindness, you will be allowed to keep 25% of the funds. Just reply to the email and, by the way, include your home phone number and fax number. Once contact is made, all you have to provide is your bank account number. Shortly after which, of course, you find out your account has been cleaned out.
Like I said, I’ve read many warnings about this little scheme. In fact, there was some question whether the Nigerian Email Scam was really a scam or an excuse to send email chain letters. Like all those emails warning about this virus or that, and ending with “send this to everyone you know”. That’s the hallmark of a chain letter.
But this week, I actually received a Nigerian Email Scam at work. Not at home, at work. Of course, the Spam Filter caught it and flagged it before forwarding it to my Inbox. Nevertheless, I got the Scam. I feel so honored. And it’s not a myth after all.
The Spam Filter is just that, a filter that tries to catch and keep spam from getting through the firewall. Sometimes it works. A lot of porn was getting in through the firewall for a while and that’s more or less stopped now. Sometimes the filter thinks ARMA International, or Continental Airlines is spam. There’s no accounting for taste. But every little bit helps.
Ok, enough of that. Movies!
Last Sunday, “Jeannie” and I went to see
Runaway Jury.
This is based on a
John Grisham
novel, so
naturally it all takes place somewhere in the deep
South, in this
case
A man was killed by a maniac with assault weapons. The widow is suing the gun manufacturer. The consortium of gun makers has formed a pool of money to defeat the lawsuit at any cost. The question is: What, exactly, is “any cost”?
Having read the book, I had a pretty good idea what was going on. But there were enough changes to keep it interesting. Plus you get Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman squaring off against each other. (I understand in that their salad days, these two were roommates.) Hoffman plays the idealistic lawyer representing the widow. Hackman plays the very expensive jury consultant hired by the consortium. Both want very much to win.
John Cusack, who can play a wide range of ages, but can’t seem to let go of the eyeliner, and Rachel Wiesz (Chain Reaction; The Mummy) play the two people who have figured out a way to manipulate the jury and control the outcome, for a price. What the audience doesn’t know is what their motivation is. It turns out to be devastating. Particularly for one person. Sometimes the “cost” can’t be measured in dollars.
All in all, a job well done and worth the price of admission. No pun intended.
Love, as always,
Pete
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