Courtesy of MODE, a young lady gets dolled up in the fashions of 100 years’ time. The images of 1955 and 1965 seem frightfully familiar – I have visions of my mother in clothes like this, and I can imagine her in clothing of the previous decades as she set out from sleepy Salt Lake for the jungle of New York to pursue a career as an actress. She seems to have missed the signature looks of subsequent decades, having become by that time a woman “of a certain age.”
No, your bank will not text you fraud alerts in this way. If you have any questions, call your financial institution directly – NEVER use the link included in a text like this.
Bad actors are always looking for new ways to reach into your private life and rob you blind. Don’t give them the opportunity.
Please us with this email again! Right, folks – the Bureau of Consular Affairs is going to use a foxmail address. For the love of all that’s holy, never respond to an email like this. If you do, you’re handing your hard-earned money to fleabitten African scammers. YES, THIS IS A SCAM. Yes, I’m SHOUTING!
From: Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson <Anderson@gamma.ocn.ne.jp>
Subject: Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson,
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520
Greeting from USA Embassy,
Attn Dear Citizens! Please us with this email again ( homelandsecurity20@foxmail.com )
This is to notify you that your consignment has been in our custody we are waiting for you to comply with our instructions before your package delivery will be effected to your delivery address. We have been waiting for you to contact us regarding your consignment box which Courier Company suppose to deliver to you which is on hold by USA Home Land Security Department Bureau and requesting for clearance certificate which will be obtain from the origination of the consignment box before it will be released. As a result of you not comply within duration given by Benin Government that is the reason the consignment box was diverted to treasury but the government of American have decide to make the world happy by been willing to release the package consisting of a Bank Draft Total sum of $ 3.5millions usd written with your name as the beneficiary within 4 hours immediately you secure the clearance certificate today.
After the Meeting Held by Our board of Director Which WAS Concluded That the Delivery of your Consignment to your address MUST BE Complete within 4hrs upon your Comply to Our requirement Which IS by sending the sum of $ 155.00Usd to enable the origin Obtain the needed certificate and your consignment for onward delivery to your house immediately without any further delay we decide to contact you because we confirm some offices are trying to deceive you.
Note that your consignment box has been arrived in US embassy and waiting to receive clearance certificate before the gate pass is given. Mean while you are advice to reconfirm the below information upon contacting us to avoid delivery to wrong person.
Once you notify us with the Above Information include with the $ 55 payment we Will release your Consignment to you. Note That you Are expected to pay only $ 155.00Usd for Clearance certificate and you Are to pay it to Benin Republic as the origination of the Consignment box in favor of: Ofor Eze as Our accountant officer in Benin Republic Send the $ 155.00Usd through Western Union or Money gram once you receive this mail with the Information Below for IMMEDIATE release of your Consignment box,
Receiver name: Ofor Eze
Country .. Benin Republic
city .. Cotonou
question: Yes
Answer: Yes.
Amount necessary. $ 155.00usd
Once you send the money, try to notify us with the MTCN for easy pick up and for immediate action on the release of your consignment.
Please treat this as matter of urgency .Note that any uncliam consignment will be return to the Courier Company after 3 days for final divertion as a result of failure to comply with our instruction and claim your consignment which arrived from Africa to our local airport here in USA.
So you are urgently advise to comply with our demand so that we will release your consignment we are working for the best of America citizen.
Treat with dispatch,
Yours Faithfully,
Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson,
FROM UNITED STATE OF AMERICA
Call +19189363447
Email: homelandsecurity20@foxmail.com
The Lads from Benin are still busy. They may be from Lagos, too – one can never tell where these drones are operating from.
Here’s my response to this one:
All I can hope is that emails like this raise their blood pressure enough to precipitate a massive stroke…
Catacomb saints are ancient Roman corpses that were exhumed from the catacombs of Rome, given fictitious names and sent abroad as relics of saints from the 16th century to the 19th century.They were typically lavishly decorated with gold and precious stones.
There’s no question the subject is of some interest to scholars and historians – I’ve seen a few of these in my peregrinations around the world.
“Though selling the relics would have been considered simony, enterprising church officials still managed to raise funds while countering the iconoclasm by charging for transportation, decoration, induction and blessing.”
And keeping in mind that fundraising was foremost among church leaders then as now, it’s not surprising that so much effort was put into the preservation and illumination of these relics. Some of the bodies may have been of early Christian martyrs, but none were of any particular religious significance. Dressing them up and giving them the name of a saint, however, was the 16th-century equivalent of The National Enquirer or Buzzfeed.
These relics have been around for a long time, but when the Internet discovers something, it’s often presented as a “stunning new find” or some other silliness – anything to get eyeballs on ads, as you can see below.
Let’s look at the kinds of headlines one sees with a simple search for “Rome jeweled skeletons:”
These Skeletons Were Found In Roman Catacombs And You’ll Never Believe What They’re Wearing
Unbelievable Skeletons Unearthed From the Catacombs Of Rome
Meet the Fantastically Bejeweled Skeletons of Catholicism’s Forgotten Martyrs
Beauty from the crypt: Europe’s jeweled skeletons
19 Bejeweled Skeletons That’ll Blow Your Mind
Incredible skeletal remains of Catholic saints still dripping in gems and jewellery discovered by ‘Indiana Bones’ explorer
Beauty Beyond the Grave: The Story Behind Europe’s Bejeweled Skeletons
Secrets of the Catholic Church: Unbelievable Jeweled Skeletons Discovered in the Catacombs of Rome
The ghastly glory of Europe’s jewel-encrusted relics
THE JEWEL-ENCRUSTED SKELETONS OF ROMAN MARTYRS
The Catacomb Saints – So-Called Saint Skeletons Dressed in Jewel-Encrusted Gold and Silver
Skeletons Unearthed From The Catacombs Of Rome Have Jeweled Beards
Bones with Bling: The Amazing Jewelled Skeletons of Europe
As mentioned above, many of the referenced articles try to make it appear as though these relics were just recently discovered.
This is the 21st century equivalent of blinking text. It’s annoying, no soul in their right mind would ever incorporate it into a cross-post, and it’s a waste of everyone’s time.
Here’s John Oliver, one of my favorite mockers-of-social-folly, taking the wind out of the Bail Bond system in the USA:
He mentioned that Oregon has a different landscape to play on, and redditor /u/ThisDerpForSale elaborated on that a bit – I thought it was worth sharing.
John Oliver makes a reference to Oregon doing things differently. I’ll expand on that a little bit.
Oregon is one of only four states that has no commercial bail bondsmen. We did away with them in the 70’s, and a 1978 Oregon Supreme Court decision actually held that bounty hunting is considered kidnapping under Oregon law. So, we’re now a lawless wasteland of fugitives running amok, right? Hardly.
In fact, very few people are held in custody pending trial. The vast majority – charged with minor misdemeanors (shoplifting, graffiti, public drunkenness, etc) or low-level felonies (drug possession, theft). are release on their own recognizance. Most jurisdictions have a pretrial services program as described in Oliver’s piece. These offices, usually part of the county sheriff’s office, assess the risk of the defendant, and, again, in the vast majority of cases, release the defendant on their own recognizance.
If the defendant is being held on a more serious crime, or if they have a history of failing to appear, or for other reasons, then the defendant is held on as statutory bail amount. Because we don’t have commercial bail bondsmen, a defendant can pay 10% of the statutory bail amount directly to the court to be released. So, if your statutory bail amount is $5000, you pay $500, and get out. The court will take 15% for costs, and if you are assessed an indigent defense cost (for a court appointed attorney), that is paid out of bail too. If you have any fines or fees when the case is concluded, that’s also paid out of the money posted. If you jump bail – if you fail to appear in court – or if you violate any of the terms of your release agreement, you may forfeit the full amount of the bail, meaning you will now owe the court the full $5000. That’s fairly rare, though.
But what if you aren’t released on recog, or if you can’t afford your bail, either because you are indigent, or because you’re charged with a crime with a high amount of statutory bail? Well then you can ask for a release hearing before a judge. And because of another Oregon Supreme Court case, the judge must assess whether the statutory bail is unconstitutional as applied to you – which means, basically, whether it is too high for you to ever have any reasonable expectation of paying it. By law, bail in Oregon cannot be set at a level calculated to keep someone in custody – they must have the ability to pay it. If you are charged with a crime or crimes that set $150,000 bail, and you couldn’t possibly put down $15,000, then the judge can reduce the bail to, say , $10,000, as you have a much more reasonable chance of scrimping, begging, and borrowing $1,000.
Bottom line is this – very few people are in jail in Oregon because they can’t pay bail. There are some. But it’s rare. And thank goodness for that.
Redditor /u/RamsesThePigeon cleverly took the contents of his spam box and turned it into tabloid covers. The irony is that the real thing looks just about like this.
Playing in the World Game 