Tuesday, August 10, 2010

General Musings, Part 5 & How to Spot a Scam Artist

Here we go again. Got all these stories & now it's time to share some thoughts:

Call me a prick or whatever you want but I do happen to be in support of this. It's this kind of thing that has been making the US a safe haven for illegals & having seen my family's former neighbors pop out baby after baby that they then allow to roam freely in busy streets without a care in the world or Social Services coming after them, I'm all for cutting that kind of nonsense. I don't blame Social Services since they've overworked, underpaid & have enough to deal with but I think curbing that whole thing might help everyone's caseloads.

If you disagree, talk to me about it when you see the mother of these children doing zero child rearing or even speaking English. The men will at least parent if you tell them their children are messing in your yard or standing in the middle of the street waiting to be a human speed bump. I really don't have regard or sympathy for women who do this. That also ties into my rant against breeders, who come in all nationalities, religions, economic classes, etc. & are equally hated by me.

As a lawyer & somewhat liberal minded person, you can guess what side I take on this. Videotaping the police should absolutely not be a crime. Guess how many regimes in history violated basic civil rights; a lot. If you ask me, this is a check against police corruption that we sorely need in society as a while.

I can think of worse, don't worry. But, let's get serious: you'd better MENTION weekend work unless it's standard practice in the job. You'll not get ME to do it unless it's for my own business or some enterprise where I will receive ample compensation & recognition for doing so. That's sorely lacking in your typical job.

I did my weekend time & paid my dues there, thank you. Now, I'm a married woman with a Master's level degree & deserve to have quality time with my spouse. I simply avoid jobs demanding me to do that since I am a freelancer & get the luxury to create my own schedule.

Some truly bad questions:

1. What's your policy on personal hygiene? (I'm not kidding; my husband could tell you stories about this.)
2. Are you solvent? Financially, that is.
3. May I bring my dog/cat/snake/other household pet to work? (and you aren't handicapped)
4. When will the soul sucking begin?
5. Would you like to go out with me? (That would creep me out.)
6. When will your company join us in the modern age?

What's the use of life if you can't laugh once in a while? It would also make me lash out even more at the corporate world, where personality isn't allowed, if I didn't do stuff like this.

I can relate to this one since I also found college & law school textbooks to be too damn high. I'm surprised the law school scam bloggers haven't talked about that yet. My own law school once openly told us they weren't e-mailing us the ISBNs for the books as they had in prior semesters b/c "the bookstore won't let us & wants to make money."

Well, I want my own gold mine. We want lots of things in life but that doesn't mean we'll get them. I just walked to the bookstore myself, found my books, wrote down the ISBNs, then went home & looked them up online. Unless you store yours in the back & make employees fetch them for students, I guess you're out of luck aren't you, evil campus bookstore??? Saved 1/2 the money buying from non-bookstore sources.

Ed Koch, you rock!!! Good luck to New York Uprising. Stuff like this makes me hopeful for the American spirit & people getting together to say "Enough is enough!" I didn't even live in NYC when he was Mayor but anyone who gets things done & doesn't crumble in the face of controversy to the PC crowd is someone I admire.

All I can say is "Cut the shit!!" Where have you dinosaurs been living since the rise of You Tube, the Internet, cable television, etc.? Is this 1988? I find it ridiculous that they even have a cable show entitled "Dance Your A** Off"; what the hell??? Why can we not spell the word "Ass"; it is in the Bible, after all. Furthermore, since when do the Christians govern this nation??? One religion does not have the right to dictate what everyone else does, especially when others don't follow that religion. You don't see the Amish or the Mormons doing this stuff. Take a lesson from them.

You know you're just going to end up like Terry Rakolta & give the show even better ratings + press. People will speak out against the Parents Television Council and deem them out of touch with modern society's mores. Furthermore, some of you people need to be looking at yourselves & what you are teaching your kids instead of blaming popular culture, television shows and the media in general for your children's spiritual corruption. Let me tell you right now, we have a little thing called a TV remote & I bet your children have seen more Internet porn in 2 months than I've seen in my entire life.

There's a practice called abstinence; it's not just for sex. Grown ups do live in this country & when you infringe on my rights to watch a program or those of my fellow creatives to express themselves, that's when you're asking for trouble.

Finally, some tips on spotting a scam artist:

I saw this Craig's List ad for a job. In case they actually pull this one, here's what it says.

Executive Business Assistant for Modeling Agency (New York)
Date: 2010-08-06, 10:52PM EDT
Reply to: gigs-2hbup-1885186759@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

Good Evening Everyone-
An up and coming modeling agency is looking for an Executive Business Assistant for the New York City area.
THIS POSITION IS NOT FOR THE WEAK AT HEART..DIVAS NEED NOT APPLY EITHER!
The company is presently looking to work with eye candy models, so if you have experience there then please include related experience in your response email.
The people selected for this particular position would be responsible for building a team of personnel for the following core management positions in the New York City area: (a) Director of Operations, (b) Director of Marketing, (c) Director of Model Development and (d) Business Assistant
The duties of each of the listed personnel will be discussed with the individuals who surpass the initial screening for the Executive Business Assistant Position
The Executive Business Assistant would also be responsible for finding 10 strong modeling candidates to upstart the market in the New York City area
What the agency is looking for:
(a) A Female who is at least 28 years of age
(b) Someone who is aggressive, detail oriented, organized, and not easily persuaded/influenced (AGAIN THIS POSITION IS NOT DESIGNED FOR WEAK INDIVIDUALS)
(c) Someone with a positive attitude and can share various ideas to move the New York market as well as other markets forward
(d) Must be able to communicate effectively
(e) Must be able to make herself accessible
If you are interested in this position, then please forward your resume and/or bio, 2-3 photos, statement of why you would be the best fit for this position, contact email and contact phone number. Someone affiliated with the agency will be in touch with all candidates who possess the strongest capabilities within 24-72 hours

* Location: New York
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
* Compensation: will be discussed with individuals who surpass initial screening process

PostingID: 1885186759


Freaking demanding of total strangers, eh? I sent in information & corresponded w/a lovely person who completely agreed with my basic points. Apparently, the guy was a clone of the scammer at the fake BMG Network referenced much earlier in this blog.

So, how to spot a scammer? I've noticed a few things:

1. Job ads asking for pictures when the job isn't for an acting, modeling or some creative project. Personal or Executive Assistant to the CEO does NOT count.

If they're asking for pics, chances are the person's seeking a future sexual harassment victim. It actually happened to someone I know. They're also setting themselves up for a serious employment discrimination lawsuit with evidence right there for the world to see.

2. The business owner is evasive. The scammer I dealt with wouldn't even give financial information to potential investors, despite the fact that it's par for the course in this business.

3. The business owner might as well be a 7th grade girl since (s)he talks behind people's backs. I loathe that shit with a passion & it corrodes a business when you don't have honest communication. This kind of drama is juvenile + a waste of time.

4. The business owner never gets back to you on things. The scammer was the worst person in the company I worked in. Everyone else was on the ball, ready to go but that guy always dragged his feet. I loathe this as well.

5. The business owner doesn't want to work with a lawyer or is scared of one. The one concerning this ad apparently claimed to have one but I think that's BS since no attorney I know would have someone post an ad that so obviously violates labor laws. Nor would any sane business person turn down the opportunity to even speak to an attorney, especially in the entertainment game. Remember, attorneys actually get respect in this business. Even if they have one, any sane person would still talk to other lawyers since you never know who might be a resource in the future.

This probably doesn't cover everything (one obvious thing is never giving money on the condition of a job or reimbursement if you've not dealt with the person in the past) but when I see things like this, it's a huge red flag screaming "Lying crook. Get away!"

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