June 25, 2007

CONTACT INFORMATION NEEDED

FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION.
COULD YOU PLEASE CONSIDER TO HELP ME TO RELOCATE THIS SUM OF FIVEMILLION,THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS(US$5.3m) TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR ESTABLISHING A MEDIUM SIZE INDUSTRY IN YOUR COUNTRY.

THE SAID 5.3 MILLION DOLLARS WAS DEPOSITED IN OUR BANK BY MR MORRIS LAKE AN AMERICA CITIZEN WHO DIED IN A PLANE CRASH IN 2000.WE HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY TO COME FORWARD FOR CLAIMS BUT COULD NOTSUCCEED.
WE DISCORVERED THAT THE LATE AMERICAN DIED ALONG SIDE WITH
HER HUSBAND AND CHILDREN WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HER NEXT OF KIN.

CLICKHERE(http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/).

I WILL GIVE YOU ALL VITAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THE AMERICAN AND THE 5.3MILLION DOLLARS IN OUR CUSTODY SO THAT YOU WILL CONTACT OUR BANK FOR THEM TO RELEASE THE MONEY TO YOU.

YOU CAN COME HERE IN PERSON OR YOU CAN REQUEST THE BANK TO SHIP THE FUNDS TO YOU IN YOUR COUNTRY DIPLOMATICALY.

I AM A MANAGER IN THIS BANK,I WILL PLAY A ROLE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE 5.3 MILLION DOLLARS IS RELEASED TO YOU.

AS SOON AS I RECIEVE YOUR REPLY,I WILL GIVE YOU A DRAFT APPLICATION WHICH YOU WILL FORWARD TO OUR BANK.

REPLY AND LET ME KNOW YOUR
FULLNAME,AGE,ADDRESS,OCCUPATION,YOUR AND FAX NUMBERS IFAVALIABLE.

I AWAIT YOUR URGENT REPLY.

MR MOUSA HAJI.


Hi Mousa,

Your kind email in my inbox this morning was quite a surprise. Perhaps it was the FULL CAPITALS used to convey a sense of urgency but instead made me feel like I was being screamed at, that bothered me? Or was it instead the confusion over the deceased person's gender: is the person a "Mr. Morris" or a female as implied in the "late American and her husband?"

So let me get this straight. Mr./Mrs. Morris died in 2000, depositing a lot of money in my bank account, and you are contacting me seven (7) years later? Bastard! I thank Mr./Mrs. Morris for the large sum of money bestowed upon me, but really he/she shouldn't have. No, I mean it, he/she really shouldn't have, seeing as I don't know him/her.

Also, I am a little confused with your request. On the one hand, you need my personal, intimate information to release this money from the bank to me, right? But you also want me to lend you the money to establish a medium-sized industry in my country (which happens to be the United States incidentally)? And what if I don't want to help you, Mousa, to build a medium-sized industry here? Do I still get the money? Do all bank managers say "hey, can I personally borrow that money you are depositing in my bank? I need to repaint my kitchen?". No! It's my money, you don't get any of it!

And please, if you are going to be writing such an important letter, do spell-check. The word "discovered" is spelled as such, not discorvered". Same goes for the word " diplomaticaly". Check it the dishionarie. That's not how you spell it.

Please excuse the ironic tone of this email, I'm just trying to make you better at your job.

Best Regards,
007 in Africa


Ah, scammers. A little lazy. A little amateurish. But thank God for them. OK, back to work, I need to send my name, social secuirty number, maiden name of my mother to Mousa before the day is over.

June 18, 2007

Smile!

I witnessed a really weird scene in the metro on Friday morning. A 40-something woman -weary from the day’s work- sat on an empty seat with a book, behind a quiet looking 50-year old. As she settled into the cushion, he turned around with his cell in his hand, positioning it just so. Caught in the moment, and realizing that he was about to snap a picture, she stood up straight, and gave him her little, polite picture smile. Snap!

Then he turned back around to fiddle with the cardboard box that just held his new phone. She turned to me, gave me a slightly quizzical, bemused eyebrow-raise, and continued to read her book.

I mean it’s not Guiness-Book-of-World-Records weird, but it was a little disconcerting to watch. Isn’t picture-taking a somewhat intimate action between two people who know each other? And yet, it was refreshing that the moment wasn’t more complicated than that.

June 07, 2007

Gangs of New York

Well, not exactly New York but the new Columbia Heights. On my way to the metro, I see a tree, completely obscured by electric pink , white, green and multi-colored stuffed animals tied around its trunk. A candle is slowly burning in the cool of the morning and sitting on a picture of a smiling kid with thick braids.

In have my haha moment, when I read this:

Columbia Heights Shootings Cause Alarm
By Elissa Silverman and Clarence Williams
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, June 4, 2007; B04

A 13-year-old youth was fatally shot and a man was wounded Saturday night in Columbia Heights, less than a day after a teenage girl was shot and wounded on the same block, authorities said last night.

Terry Cutchin was standing on the street when shots were fired from a passing vehicle, hitting him and a 23-year-old man nearby, police said. Police said they were searching for a dark sport-utility vehicle in connection with the attack, which took place about 10 p.m. in the 1400 block of Girard Street NW.

The youth, who lived in the 1300 block of Columbia Road NW, was pronounced dead a short time later. Police said the injured man was driven in a car to Washington Hospital Center, where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the right arm. His name was not released because he is a witness.

The violence, coming on the heels of another shooting, provoked alarm among authorities and residents.

"Here you have two shootings two nights in a row," said D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), noting that a 16-year-old girl was shot in the ankle on the same block shortly after midnight Saturday morning.

The two shootings were part of a particularly violent weekend in the city. Two people were shot and killed in separate incidents in Northeast Washington on Saturday, according to police. Early yesterday, police fatally shot a man in Northeast Washington after he allegedly pointed a gun at an officer.

[...]

Columbia Heights, a rapidly gentrifying part of the District, has been the scene of several bursts of gun violence that have wounded and killed teenagers in recent months.

Police have a surveillance camera mounted in the 1400 block of Girard Street, and they said they would review images looking for leads.

Terry Cutchin was a straight-A student at Lincoln Middle School and lived with his grandmother, Geraldine Cutchin, said Nancy Jenkins, his aunt.

He had returned home from a visit with his mother Saturday afternoon and was excited to download music on an iPod he had just gotten, Jenkins said.

He left his grandmother's apartment about 8:30 p.m. and met several friends who planned to hang out at one of their homes, she said.

Later that night, Terry's grandmother heard gunfire and left her apartment to search for her grandson. All of the youths except Terry were accounted for .

Jenkins questioned why there wasn't a more visible police presence on the block. "Someone just got shot there the day before," she said.

[...]

"There shouldn't have been that kind of desperate need to pull that car away."

Graham said he returned to the block yesterday afternoon and did not see any police.

A police cruiser was parked on the block later in the evening.

In an interview, Lanier said police have been well positioned across the city. "I feel the officers are in the right places at the right times," because they respond quickly when violence occurs, she said.

Neighbors said violence has gotten worse in Columbia Heights over the past year. In late April, 18-year-old Edwin Ventura of the 1400 block of Harvard Street NW was fatally shot while with friends on Sherman Avenue NW, a few blocks from his home.

"I've been living around here since I was in diapers," said Chinata Nesbit, 21, who lived in an apartment across the hall from Terry. "It's never been this bad."


I guess I'll take the long way home from now on.

June 06, 2007

XDR-TB: And the plot thickens

So I guess I should have been more cautious in my previous post on XDR-TB (Extremely Drug Resistant TB). I was initially very angry at Mr. Speaker who alledgedly knew about his TB, but chose to travel to several countries in Europe, Canada and the U.S. anyways.

He defended himself today and swears no medical officials told him he was a risk to anyone. In addition, he made everyone including his doctors well-aware that he was planning to travel for his honeymoon.

You can hear his testimony here.

Where did the public health system fail? And the plot thickens.

June 04, 2007

Getting ready for an Exhibit

I have been searching the internet for tips on how to prepare for an art exhibit. There is surprisingly little information out there. These are the steps I think are essential to preparing a photography expo:


(1) Find venue in which to expose pictures (status: done)
(2) Take pictures (status: done)
(3) Think of a theme and a title for the expo (status: done)
(4) Buy 20 simple frames with matting (status: I bought 15, I am planning on buying five more this week)
(5) Create press announcement that can be circulated to interested parties (status: done, and submitted to the Alliance Francaise)
(6) Create informational pamphlet, print and place in venue (status: pamphlet created)
(7) Invite friends and family. Don't mess up the time and the location (status: done through evite.com)
(8) Choose 20 pictures and correct color if too dark (status: I only chose 12 pictures)
(9) Write captions and a blurb about the context and author of the expo. Print on cardboard paper (status: 1/2 of the captions are done)
(10) Translate captions into French, and print also (status: not even started, yikes!)
(11) Set realistic prices for pictures (status: kind of done)
(12) Create a small binder with pictures-buying sign-up sheet. This will allow interested parties to order pictures when you are not around (status: not done)
(13) Choose enhancing materials such as Kuba cloths and masks (status: kind of done but I need to mount the cloths on firm structures such as wooden beams)
(14) Print out all pictures and frame (status: not done)
(15) Hang on nails (status: not done)
(16) Attend the opening, try not to bite nails, and try not to pretend you are not the author of the expo (status: uncertain)

Yikes! I'm getting so nervous! There's so much left to do!

Questions to readers
Question 1: Can you think of anything else I need to do to prepare?
Question 2: If you were at an art show and wanted to buy a picture from a no-name photographer, what would you be willing to pay for a framed picture? for an unframed picture?