Occasionally I’ll get an email from “a recruiter” and I’m pretty sure it comes from Craigslist and Monster and it seems pretty legit, for a while. I’ll paste the example in a bit but before I get to it, realize that this comes from you responding to a job posting (usually sales) on Craigslist or just having your resume on Monster.com. It’s not unsolicited.. you’ve made the effort to reach out to these scammers and they’re just responding to your inquiry and will feed off your desire for a job.

SIGNS THAT THIS JOB POSTING IS A SCAM

The emails they send will be fairly nicely formatted, salary range, job requirements, education, etc. The few things you’ll notice that are somewhat sketchy are the following

THEIR WEBSITE ISN’T FUNCTIONAL

the domain name is usually forwarded to google apps, you’ll try to reach their website and see a 404: error and a google logo. It’s because they’ve just recently registered their domain and pointed it towards google apps (free) so they can have email addresses for free (which is how they contact you).

THEY CAN’T SPELL AND USE GRAMMAR PROPERLY

there will be spelling mistakes fairly spread throughout the email. It will seem a tad “unprofessional”.. because it is… You’ll notice that they are really really really excited to have you on their payroll.

THEY ASK TO USE YOU AS A MIDDLE-MAN FOR MONEY

this is a big reason you should not even think twice about deleting this email.. they ask you to cash their checks or be a payment gateway for them. They will say how they are not established in the USA yet and therefore can not make a US bank account to accept money from all their clients in the US (which is not true). They say they don’t want to accept wire transfers because it takes 14 days (another not true statement) and would rather have you accept payments, keep a percentage, and send the rest to them.This usually turns out to be a bad idea since the money coming TO YOU are bogus wire transfers or non-existent. You’ll send them 10% and then they’ll say they’re wiring you cash and it never arrives, and you’ve lost some money. Even worse, you’ll receive these fake wires, send them their cut, and then the bank asks you to compensate them for the entire 100% that you received.. big big loss.

THEY WILL ASK YOU TO FORWARD YOUR APPLICATION TO A DIFFERENT EMAIL ADDRESS

The one email I received recently from a scam company gave the real company’s website as where you should apply for a job, but also suggested you forward it to another address,.. an email address that was very similar to the original, legit company.. but would of course go to a third party scammer.

I’ll post the email I receive now, and please make sure to spread this to your friends to ensure that everyone is well aware of what is going on here. You’ll notice that most of the warning signs I’ve listed above are present here. The spelling mistakes, bad domain, forwarding email to a 3rd party email address, etc.

Dear Applicant,

Would you like to work online from Home/Temporarily and get paid weekly?

We are glad to offer you for a job position at our company, THE PURE GREEK WATER COMPANY. We need someone to work for the company as a Payments Coordinator Representative in the US. This is in view of our not having an office presently in the US. You don’t need to have an Office and this certainly wont disturb any form of work you have going at the moment.

Pure Greek Water is a professional Greek enterprise integrated with production and marketing of water dispenser, water purifier, and RO machine, garment steamer. It owns a high quality team of quality & technology management and quality assurance as well as vast marketing network and one strong marketing team; possesses advanced testing equipments, production equipments and production lines.

* The average monthly income is about 4000.00 USD.

* No form of investments from you.

* This job takes only 1-3 hours per day

About the job:

We have sales representatives all over the world to distribute our products. You know, that it’s not easy to start a business in a new market (being the US). There are hundreds of competitors, close direct contacts between suppliers and customers and other difficulties, which impede our sales promotion. We have decided to deliver the products upfront, it’s very risky but it should push up sales on with an average

25 percent. Thus we need to get payments for our products as soon as it possible. Unfortunately we are unable to open Bank Accounts in the United States without first registering the company name. Presently with the amount of Orders we have, we cannot put them on hold and risk loosing the customers out rightly.

Secondly, we cannot cash these payments from the US soon enough, as international bank transfers take about 14 working days for cash to be made Available. We lose about 75,000 USD of net income each month because we Have money Transfer delays.

Your task is to coordinate payments from our customers and Help us with the payment process. You are not involved in any sales. Our Sales Representatives make direct contact for sales of products. Once orders are received and sorted we deliver the products (usually through FEDEX).

After the order is delivered, you will receive the payment from our customer. Exclusively, our customers are guided to Bank Wire Transfer the payment. Pure Greek Water does not accept checks as payment method.

We have decided to open this new job position for solving this problem.

YOUR TASKS WOULD BE:

1. Receive payments from Customers

2. withdraw the Received Amounts at your Bank 3. Deduct 10% which will be your percentage/pay on Payment processed 4. Forward the remaining amount after deduction of percentage/pay to any of the offices you will be contacted to send payment to.(Payment is to be forwarded by Western Union Money Transfer).

Local Money transfers take barely hours, so it will give us a possibility to get customer’s payment almost immediately.

For example you’ve got 3000.00 USD

You take your income: 300.00 USD

Send to us: 2700.00 USD

First month you will have 15-20 transactions on 3000.00-4000.00 USD so you may calculate your income.

For example 10 transactions on 3500.00 USD gives you 3500.00 USD Plus your basis monthly salary is 1000.00 USD

Total: 4500.00 USD per month

After establishing a close co-operation with us you’ll be able to operate with larger orders and you’ll be able to earn more. Our payments will be issued out in your name and you can withdraw them at your bank.

Deduct your Percent and forward the remaining amount to the company via western union money transfer. We understand it is an unusual and incredible job position, taking only 3-7 hours per week. You’ll have a lot of free time doing another job, you’ll get good income and regular job.

IS THIS LEGAL?

Yes it is. As a matter of fact, our legal department checked all legal provisions to ensure if there is any domestic or international law against businesses or deals in this manner and also money laundry acts, also it complies with USA Patriot Act Section 314(b)

But this job is very challenging and you should understand it. We are looking only for the worker who satisfies our requirements, a diligent worker, very consistent and will be an earnest assistant. We are glad to Offer this job position to you. If you feel that you are a serious and earnest worker and you want to work for Pure Greek Water, please visit the link below and complete our online interview for further evaluation.

puregreekwater.com/job.php

A swift acknowledgment of the receipt of this email will be appreciated.

Thanks For Your Total Understanding.

—————————-

Kosta Panos,

Staffing and Recruiting Dept,

Regional Manager,

Pure Greek Water

Email: humanresources@pure-greekwater.com

NOTE******* Interested applicants should ensure response is forwarded to the email below: humanresources@pure-greekwater.com

How often do you see the FANS of any team say that a player deserves a lot of money. It’s unheard of unless its an all-star on your team… wait.. Matt Forte is an all-star on the Bears.. He’s been here since 2008 and has broken all sorts of records. He beat GALE SAYER’S rushing record for the Bears.. pretty impressive, right? He has lost 8 fumbles in 5 years. Outside of 2009 (played with a bad hamstring all year, played every game) and 2011 ( was injured in a game late in the season ) he rushed for over 1000 yards. He’s single-handedly given the Bears a chance to have a passing game with his maniacal desire to play at all costs, catch the ball out of the backfield, run through one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL at times (although I’d like to say Mike Tice has greatly improved it). His friends, like Greg Olsen, a former Bear, have come to his aid.. stating he should at least get taken care of .. Even Michael Bush, the newly signed running back of the Bears has stated that he should be taken care of.

Why, do you ask, is Forte not getting a long term contract? Perhaps it’s his demeanor.. perhaps it’s the fact that he’s rarely spoken out about his contract.. perhaps it’s because he’e never held out for a new contract? It’s loyalty, folks. The man is a loyal person. He has worked hard for a team that he was drafted by. He has worked through a rookie contract with very little injury and has played significantly better than most running backs in the league, especially running backs on the Chicago Bears. He didn’t pull a Chris Johnson, a Cedric Benson, a Lance Briggs,.. no, he didn’t hold out for more money. He put the faith of his future in the team that drafted him and has had him as the starter since he’s been drafted.

And what have the Chicago Bears done to compensate Matt Forte? $7million. Wow, you say, that’s a ridiculous amount of money. It is.. it definitely is. I’m not arguing with the money, I don’t think anyone really is. It’s the fact that they’ve paid him $3.87m in the last 4 years on a 4yr rookie contract, have squeezed out a lot of production and instead of giving him a 3+ year contract and giving him some stability for the rest of his life, they’ve given him the “franchise tag” which essentially gives you the average of the top 5 salaries of that position for that year. $7 million is quite a bit of money but it guarantees Matt Forte 2 things.. 1) he’s doubling what he’s made in the past 4 years  and 2) he has no security with the Chicago Bears.

I can’t in all honesty blame the Chicago Bears for any of this. I don’t blame them for giving him the franchise tag nor do I blame them for not giving him a long term contract. It really makes no sense from a business standpoint. A 5th year running back is the equivalent of a 55 year old, 25 years in the business, employee. He’s getting old, you don’t really know how much longer he has left, and you don’t want to give him a lot more money for just a few more years when you can get someone younger to fill his position for a lot cheaper. It’s a horrible way of looking at it, and I hate myself for even giving that analogy, but it’s true.

The problem really lies with the fact that Matt Forte is a good guy. He’s what you want out of a running back. A hard-working, come to practice all the time, play through injuries, do whatever it takes to win, kind of guy. You love these guys. You want these guys on your team. You relish the opportunity to play with a guy like this. You want to have these kinds of guys stay on your team for a long time, if not for the remainder of his career. He’s a game-changer. He’ll make sure your team has a good, clean vibe. He doesn’t speak loudly with words, but with actions. You give him a contract that might not be ridiculous in money, but rather in tenure. Let him retire a Chicago Bear. Give him the confidence that he won’t be playing anywhere else.

Why be loyal to a team when they aren’t loyal to you? And that is why you rarely see loyalty in the NFL. You don’t see players sticking around for less money simply because they want to play there. You don’t see players working on negotiations for long term contracts when there’s another team willing to pay more for short term contracts. It’s about the bottom $ for most NFL teams and unfortunately I have a feeling that Matt Forte may not retire a Chicago Bear.

 The GET OUT OF MY WAY driver is an interesting breed. It doesn’t really matter how fast YOU are going, he has to go faster. There is no speed limit in his mind.. he is in a hurry to get to wherever he is going.. it’s not about you.. it’s about getting past you. He will creep.. he will honk and flash his lights.. it is an extreme emergency for him to pass you.. very important. Usually a few miles down the street you’ll see him pulled over by a cop or in an extreme accident.. either or is the life of the fast and furious GET OUT OF MY WAY driver.

The PLEASE JUST PASS ME UP I’M NOT SURE WHAT I’M DOING driver is fairly annoying. They don’t really go the speed limit because they’re unaware of the speed limit. They might be in the left turn only lane but need to get back into forward traffic.. they’ll hold up the left turn lane, signal to get into your lane, and pretty much cause a problem for everyone. They’ll be the person going 50 in a 65 and not notice they’re in the passing lane.. and not MOVE when you creep up a little… even after you pass them up they are clueless. They also tend to drive VW Jettas.

The I’M ON THE PHONE AND AM VERY IMPORTANT AND CAN’T GET OFF TO DRIVE PROPERLY driver is dangerous and careless. It’s also something most people do.. don’t lie.. you’ve done it.. and you’re probably doing it right now as you read this.. jerk.. but it’s ok.. I don’t hate you or dislike you even.. it’s a part of life.. you’re actually kind of a dinosaur since everyone texts nowadays anyways.. get with the program. Anyways… this driver will switch into auto-pilot mode and not even know it.. you ever notice that? You’re driving, having a great conversation with your friend.. talking about the old days when you could still play “ball” and in the meantime you’ve traveled 150 miles. It’s amazing.. meanwhile.. on the road behind you, you’ve cut off 27 people and caused 4 9car pileups. It’s ok, though, because you shared a moment with your bro.

The OMG LOL I’M TEXTING AND JUST HIT SOMEONE ON THE ROAD driver is awesome. They really don’t pay attention to the road for more than 20-30 seconds at a time..They are very busy texting their friends about their latest dates and meals.. it’s pretty important .. I know.. the best is when you look over and you see someone looking down at their phone, texting, and they’re in a fairly heavy traffic area.. it just doesn’t make much sense.. This type of driver is not gender-specific..

The I’M VERY OLD AND I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU OR ANYONE ELSE ON THE ROAD driver is probably the most dangerous. You’ll notice things like older drivers driving into convenient stores or just really anything on the road. The really cool part of this type of driver is that they actually DO NOT care what is going on around them. They might drive slow. they might drive fast, they might even drive on the wrong side of the road.. it’s just a matter of them driving.. that is good enough for them. They’ve driven for 50 years, paying attention to all the rules.. letting jerks cut them off, being the jerk that cut people off.. now they just don’t have the mental capacity to really be aware of what the consequences of their actions are.. It’s not a good thing to drive near them.. as they are known to cause accidents indirectly.
By far the most intriguing driver of them all must be the I’M A YOUNG ASIAN WOMEN DRIVING A JAPANESE SEDAN OR COUPE WHILE USING MY CELL PHONE TO DO VARIOUS TECH THINGS. It’s not well-known why this type of drive is the worst driver on the road but all signs point towards the lack of coordination along with the genetic inability to drive effectively coupled with the desire to multitask .. ALL while driving. This molotov cocktail of a situation reminds me of when I was real young and thought about driving a car, well before I was of legal driving age. I remember getting into one of our cars and just pulling random knobs and tried driving.. well, I remember bumping the car into neutral and slowly sliding into the main part of our driveway.. I quickly hit the brakes and pushed the car back to where it was supposed to be.. Now, .. I was more responsible THEN than any of the drivers in this category ever will be in their entire lives. They drive with reckless abandon.. watch out for the Civic with a chip on it’s shoulder..

I love driving.. and I love watching people drive. It’s awesome to see what different people will do on the road. It’s cool to see the reckless young Asian woman on a cell phone cut off the get out of my way driver and to see what ensues.. usually very comical. It’s great to see the older driver go 30 on the highway and not give a shit about it at all.. driving 30.. in a Lincoln Towncar.. on I-355… and having no idea that there are people literally missing their car by inches to avoid a disaster.

You’re all probably in one of these categories.. or a mixture of them.. The goal really is to understand what you are, and to enjoy it.. and to enjoy this blog.. feel free to add-on driver types that I didn’t mention.. I’m sure everyone has an opinion..

This is a post on Facebook from various people. The claim is “For a limited time you can receive 2 FREE Southwest Airline Tickets good for any travel within the USA! Don’t wait, this is a one time free gift offered just in time for the Holidays!” . You click the URL, it redirects you to a page where you input information like email address, etc. Of course, the url you’re going to is some third party garbage url. In this case, it was a redirect on http://t.co.

Overall, it’ll say for you to add it to your page and to make a comment for your free tickets. It’ll bring you back to Facebook, you’ll have a post on your personal page with the image I showed above along with the comments you made. Great, right? WRONG

What happens in reality is when you click that URL in the first place, it saves your password/login information to Facebook, redirects you to that third party site where you enter your information which it also logs, and then sends you back to Facebook… you’re feeling great, as if you’ve won something.. and in reality, they’ve won your information. Your personal Facebook information.

With this information they’ll spam your friends, make a few dollars off unsuspecting people clicking on links, etc. So, long story short, if this pops up on your news feed, don’t click it.. if you’ve clicked it, change your Facebook password and most likely other accounts you’ve linked to it (you know, like gmail, hotmail, yahoo, twitter, etc).
I’ll keep posting these as I see them.. just keep an eye out for yourself as well.. if it’s too good to be true, it probably is… especially on Facebook.

That was then, and this is now. The economic times in this country are definitely progressing, albeit very slowly. The state of the welfare system in the United States is abysmal… It’s definitely a system that needs some work and I think I may have a few ideas for how to help make everyone happy.. some more than others.

Welfare in it’s basic concept is a great idea. It allows the government to provide financial assistance to those below the poverty threshold. In the USA, that level is around $22,500 for a family of 4. Around $10,500 for a single person. So, in essence, you can go apply for financial aid from the government if you are below these financial levels. Easy enough to fill out an online application and receive a card, such as the LINK card, that essentially is a debit card allowing you to purchase goods such as milk, eggs, bread.. The welfare program is a great way for people down on their finances to gain some momentum and recover so that they can flourish in the future. OR, it can be a great way for someone to leech off the system, indefinitely.

We’ve all seen someone use a welfare debit card at a grocery store only to put their groceries in a Range Rover or Escalade. We’ve seen the ridiculous abuse of the system over and over again. We’ve seen the single mothers get their check for “baby formula” only to be wearing thousands of dollars of jewelry and in essence, showing off a financial level completely unimaginable for someone that would need welfare assistance. The welfare system was intended to be a band-aid… not stitches. It was meant to help people in their time of need, not to be a supplemental source if income for several years while you get paid cash under the table. It was not meant to be abused and unfortunately the people abusing it have found the way to do so and the people in charge are helpless to repair it.

Now, I’m not generalizing anything.. I’m not saying that everyone is leeching off the welfare system… I’m not saying that it DOESN’T happen, either. All I’m saying is.. instead of offering anyone at these levels just a refillable debit card, perhaps we should try to improve the economy alongside the welfare program. Perhaps.. we could offer a few NEW NEW DEALS and allow our country to prosper from the current state of affairs? Here’s what I’m thinking.

Now, let’s say you’re Joe Schmo and you lose your job. You were making $50k a year and now you’re getting around $2k a month from unemployment. That will eventually run out and you may or may not find a job. The common trend for people is they’ll lose a job ( or something more tragic like losing a spouse who was the wage earner ), file for unemployment (a temporary band-aid, right?), and ultimately if all else fails, file for welfare. What if the government took your previous job experience, tossed it into a database for government jobs, found you something temp to potential hire, and gave you an actual secure job while you earned a wage that wasn’t necessarily what you had previous but made you feel useful and allowed you to get back on your feet. Hell, it might even open doors for potential advancement in the temp job that the govt. gives you, right?

It seems like a simple concept, really. I mean, sure, there are those who are not capable of working because of health or mental issues. Those people could also be put to some betterment for the country by offering basic skills training? Maybe if someone is elderly, offer them crafts and hobbies they like to produce products that could be sold or auctioned or donated to charities for kids, etc. In exchange, they get financial assistance. Overall, I’m saying to quasi-enslave the people under welfare.. and it seems like a pretty ridiculous comment, but I think it would do a few things for our country that aren’t currently happening..

If we were able to give a time limit to welfare and unemployment ALONG with an actual PROACTIVE and AGGRESSIVE mentality towards getting these recipients back on their feet, it may change things. Currently, you just answer some questions and supposedly fill out a sheet of places you’ve applied to for work. Do people actually do this, I seriously doubt it. Why bother? They don’t really check.. and if they do ask you for your sheet, you just make up some BS and submit it. It’s a flawed system, and I think a great way to help out the entire community would be to have the government help in finding jobs for people. If you don’t want the jobs they offer you, your time-frame of financial assistance gets shortened. It’ll essentially force Americans to not leech off the system indefinitely.

What I’ve said is pretty easy to say, but hard to do. You’d have to create a job placement department under the welfare system.. or wait, we could just use the internal job listing of the actual government.. and cross match people with good experience to those jobs. You pay them possibly a little less than you would someone who actually applied for the job, since it’s a temp position at first. So, you’d be giving jobs to people out of work, they’d work for the government in jobs that need to be done (yes, I know.. this is a topic for another post.. useless jobs at the government)… and overall give people a sense of accomplishment in what they’re doing. They can work at a temp job until they find a full time job,… this also looks better on resumes that they worked for the government and were gainfully employed throughout their down time.

I guess I’m just sick of seeing people abuse the system and really upset at the government for letting it slide. I’m sick of seeing good hard-working people work to provide for their family only to see undeserving people abuse the system of welfare. Of course not everyone does this but enough do for me to notice it, so it’s noticeable. Let’s make those who are unemployed contribute for the money they receive and keep them employed performing tasks and jobs that help out the economy. In turn, the country could have a better employment rate BY DEFAULT, give people some peace of mind that they’re employed, give less financial assistance to those who don’t deserve it or are unwilling to work, and overall create a better USA.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a small person. I’m rather large. I’ve been large my entire life. Can I fit into a regulation airplane seat? .. yes. Did I ever ooze over or extend my reach past my seat?.. no. Have I sat next to people who have been larger than me and have definitely made me feel uncomfortable? Absolutely. It’s nothing that just started happening… it’s been going on for quite some time and I don’t sit there thinking this person is an A-hole.. I just think.. this person is larger than their seat can handle.. and.. well, that’s unfortunate and that something should be done about it on both sides.

Some airline companies won’t allow you on the plane if you’re rather large. They’ll FORCE you to buy an extra ticket before boarding. Some companies have larger seats to accompany larger passengers. Some companies just don’t give a shit and will let an obese person sit in a regular seat, probably fairly uncomfortably, while someone sits next to them.. probably as uncomfortable. Do you think that the large person is comfortable shoving themselves into a seat like that? Of course they know its inconvenient but what can they do.. they want to fly.. they don’t want to be a distraction or a disturbance but they don’t really have much of an option outside of spending 2x their normal cost to fly. It’s not really fair.. what could possibly be done to avoid these types of situations?

ADDRESS YOURSELF AS BEING OBESE AND NOT ABLE TO FIT INTO A REGULAR AIRPLANE SEAT.

Yes, I said it.. people need to address this issue INTERNALLY. Understand that if you are 400lbs and it’s been an issue in the past for you to sit in ONE seat on an airplane, you should make special accommodations or choose an airplane company that has larger seats. It’s partially your fault. You’re large.. and you should know this. Don’t pretend the issue doesn’t exist, folks. If you can’t afford to buy two seats, well.. then don’t fly. Find a deal where 2 seats are fairly cheap. Lose some weight, work out, eat better.. stop being fat. Find medical help, work on it…. it’s not everyone else’s fault always.. it’s a combination of people being ignorant to the cause and ignorant of the cause… we’re all to blame..

AIRPLANE COMPANIES SHOULD ASK YOU A BASIC QUESTION OF YOUR HEIGHT/WEIGHT AND USE IT AS A TOOL TO SUGGEST BIGGER SEATS, MORE SEATS, ETC.

Ya I know, it’s like this huge invasion of your personal privacy. How dare a company ask you this question.. what right do they have? I dunno.. maybe it’s that we’re hearing people having to stand during flights because someone large was next to them.. maybe it’s because people are uncomfortable in small seats.. maybe it’s just because it makes a whole lot of sense. I know, it’s a big deal.. I know.. I get it.. we don’t want to have to admit things like this to a company we’re buying a ticket from.. but don’t you think that this would definitely alleviate some problems?

If you used EXPEDIA or HOTWIRE and just saved your body type to the preferences (let’s assume you’re 5’4″, 310lbs.. pretty round).. and when you try to book a flight on Air Alaska and they have pretty small seats.. they “suggest” that you may want to buy an additional seat out of convenience for you and for others.. possibly even discount it knowing you’re large and won’t really occupy that extra seat. Perhaps they don’t show you companies that have smaller seats? Wouldn’t that be nice? It would eliminate a lot of your homework and make for a safer/more comfortable ride for everyone. You’d also not get sticker shocked at the gate when an ignorant receptionist tells you that you need to purchase 2 tickets because you’re fat… embarassment/inconvenience eliminated.

INCREASE DISCRETION AND TOLERANCE 

I keep reading about how an attendant will pull someone aside during check-in and tell them they can’t board the flight due to being obese.. or force them to purchase an extra ticket because they’re fat. We need to become a little more “tolerant” of the situation and be more discrete… bring them aside, be kind.. be courteous.. offer discounts, vouchers, etc..  Regardless of what people think, the airplane industry is a service oriented business… we can easily go to another company in the industry over yours. People cost-compare shop for better deals. It’s highly competitive. Don’t you think a company would win some points with the obese if they were nicer to them? Word would spread light wildfire.

STOP BLAMING OTHERS FOR YOUR SHORTCOMINGS

As much as I’d like to say that it’s not your fault.. it is. People in America are getting fatter, lazier, and ignorant. It’s not McDonald’s fault that you’re fat. It’s the concept of you lacking discipline on your diet and not wanting to be physically active and fit. If you’re legitimately overweight due to some obscure medical condition or medication, then go the medical route and work to make yourself better. If you’re obese and do not want to address the situation to make yourself better, don’t expect anyone else to address it for you. People shouldn’t coddle you and give you bigger chairs on airplanes. People should be courteous and discrete with you, but they don’t owe you anything.

I’m not one to throw out stats because they’re really as accurate as the people who record them.. but some really awkwardly accurate stats from around the horn… like how Americans only make up 4.6% of the world’s population but consume over 80% of the world’s opiods and 99% of the world’s hydrocodone (ingredient in Vicodin). I didn’t make that up, it’s stated here. To me, that seems pretty alarming. What is going on in the USA that would cause us to be that doped up? Are people just emo? Are people really suffering more in the USA than any other country in the world? Are medications just that much easier to get in the US than other countries.. lots of questions that boggle my mind.

Another saddening over-medication scenario involves ADHD, or essentially someone being too unfocused, for lack of a better description on my own behalf. I know what it is.. I know how people are diagnosed with ADHD,.. but I think we’ve gone a bit too far with over-diagnosing or even worse, mis-diagnosing ADHD. With misdiagnoses we get mis-medicated individuals which really just worsens the problem of these people not really understanding what is truly wrong with them, or not wrong with them. Consider the situation where your son is in kindergarten and is just the most immature in his class… does it mean he lacks focus or is ADHD? No, it means he’s in kindergarten.. and kids are immature by nature. Or how about the parents who don’t really give a shit about their kids and don’t have the time nor the ever-shortening patience to deal with their issues? Easier to medicate them with some Ritalin than to actually address the problem at hand.. perhaps a lack of “upbringing”. Don’t believe me that we’re misdiagnosing this disease? Read here

One of my bigger pet peeves is the medicating of viral infections with antibiotics. Or just over-prescribing antibiotics in general. Guess what, that cold you have.. it’s a virus. What the hell will antibiotics do to fix it? Nothing. Now granted, if you have a mixture of a bacterial infection and flu/cold .. then sure, they can help. But as respiratory infections go, most are comprised of viruses for which your run of the mill antibiotics will do absolutely nothing. All that prescribing antibiotics for non-bacterial infections does is give people the false sense of security and increase the chances of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains (awesome!).

As much as I can bitch about the over-drugging of Americans, it doesn’t change. People would rather take high blood pressure medications or water pills than lose a few pounds or heat less salt. They’d rather numb themselves with pain-killers as opposed to treating the problem at hand. It’s easy to give children Ritalin vs. actually raising them… much easier..  People pressure their doctors into giving them medication and doctors have succumbed to this pressure by prescribing anything/everything they possibly can to shut up their complaining patients. Give them some antibiotics for a viral infection so that they feel better mentally.. because that good old placebo effect works wonders.

Americans are doped up and medicated more than any other country in the world, by a LOT. We’ve established our dominance on the reliance of medications and because of this, pharmaceutical companies flourish here. People import medications from various border-countries and overseas to save not just a few bucks, but in some cases thousands of dollars. It’s a cyclical process that can only be slowed down by an actual “address the problem, not the symptoms” mentality where doctors and other medical professionals look at the overall problem and how to help fix the problem as opposed to what can make the patient feel good, temporarily. This would ultimately drive down costs of medications since the need would be lessened and overall cause our society to not be so reliant on medicine but instead, rely on physical treatments and diagnostics.

According to Google, if your Android phone is on Gingerbread (2.3.x) and you have a front facing camera, you’re able to video chat on your cell phone. Unfortunately it’s not really that easy to INITIATE on your phone. Anyways, you can see how this presents a problem if you want to Hangout with some of your friends via cell phones… someone has to initiate this Hangout on a PC/MAC.

The solution to this is simple enough, but a tad tedious… I’ll go through the method step-by-step. If you can’t figure this out, then you probably shouldn’t be using Google+ in the first place.. sorry.. it’s true.

STEP 1: Go to your PC/MAC, login to your Google+ account (http://plus.google.com) and start a HANGOUT (link is usually on the bottom right of the feeds page).

STEP 2: Once the Hangout has opened, invite whomever you’d like.. friends, circles, etc. Then continue on with the Hangout (you’ll notice your camera is on now, and you’ll see a live feed of yourself and any friends who have joined)… I tend to just turn my camera towards the wall and let it look blank/black.

STEP 3: Go to your phone’s Google+ app and go to stream. You’ll notice that your Hangout is posted as a clickable option. You can “JOIN THE HANGOUT” as can anyone you invited. This is where you can click JOIN THE HANGOUT and also tell your friends to check their streams and join as well.

STEP 4: Enjoy the Hangout!!! There are a few things you should probably keep in mind… you’re logged in from your PC as well as your phone. SO, if you’re wanting to keep this Hangout a live feed all the time, leave the Hangout open on your PC. That way, you can leave/join the Hangout on your phone as you wish, and your other friends can join/leave as they wish as well. If you don’t want to use your PC as the media hub for a Hangout, I’m guessing you could leave the Hangout going on your phone but you’d be using a lot of data throughout the day and also you’d have to mute your audio so that when you leave the app you don’t hear the other Hangout user(s) audio. I’d say just let the Hangout go on a PC at home and enjoy the chat on your phone for now

If any of this doesn’t make sense or I said something incorrect, please feel free to correct me. Otherwise, feel free to invite me to a hangout

My father was never really overweight, maybe 20-30 pounds for his frame in his early married years. He was a pretty skinny guy going into his 40′s and I never thought of him as having any sickness even with the understanding that he had diabetes. I’m not sure why I never really took it seriously… probably because my dad never took it seriously. He’d go about his business in the normal way, working hard, being strong, staying fairly quiet with his internal pain. I’m not sure if he really ever felt pain to be honest… he was that kind of person. I’m almost certain I never heard him complain about his physical ailments outside of his back being sore from working an overnight shift.

That mentality of never really speaking of or worrying about his sickness transferred over to me at some point. I don’t complain much about my physical ailments, if any. Up til the last few years, I never really worried about the fact that I was diagnosed with type II diabetes when I was 20 years old. My sugars were always fairly low but I didn’t really check them for years on end. I lived a lifestyle that would make any type II diabetic cringe. Beer, excessive eating, lack of exercise, simply just not giving a shit. I felt invincible and invulnerable.

I’ve never really understood the concept of diabetes until the past few years. I realized that I needed to make some pretty ridiculously drastic changes in how I go about my life, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. I came to the conclusion that some of the things that I’ve enjoyed for so much of my life needed to be curtailed or eliminated. It was hard to come to this conclusion… but I had to do it so that I could have a future past my 40′s. It’s not easy to realize what your life consists of is pretty much not the right stuff… it’s humbling and mind-blowing,.. I’m still grasping this concept.

There’s too much money in the world going to research to not find cures for the various diseases and disorders that ail us. We’re too smart and strong to let simple deficiencies in hormones or chemical imbalances or defects to cause us to die earlier or not enjoy our lives as much. I personally won’t tolerate it anymore. I also don’t believe that diabetes is holding me back from doing anything… but that I have to do MORE to make diabetes go away. I can control my diabetes through medicines currently, but soon, I will control it by just living a very healthy lifestyle.

My father once told me that if you believe you are getting better and you think you are getting better, you will get better. This concept made no sense to me at the time… but he gave me the example of people who always complain about their aches and pains and malaise but do absolutely nothing to remedy it. It’s this incessant complaint process that exacerbates the issues. I’ve believed this anti-psychosomatic concept since my early years and I still believe it to this day. If you work hard, fight hard, and BELIEVE hard, you can fight off your troubles and live a normal and healthy life.

I’m walking in a 3.2 mile walk on October 22nd, 2011 primarily because I feel like I need to do SOMETHING to make it apparent to my friends and family that I’m putting forth an effort to vocalize my feelings and experiences with diabetes. I want people to donate money towards the cause, sure, but I want everyone to know that.. this is effecting Ravi Rooprai, everyday. I don’t need pity or remorse, but I want people to be aware that these types of things.. “diseases”, do affect your close friends and perhaps we need to open a few eyes and push the envelope in spreading the word for support.

I’m already blessed with great friends who have joined in to walk with me to simply show support for me, for their loved ones who are affected, or just to walk. Regardless of their reasons, they’ve demonstrated to me that they’re willing to walk for a cause, and I appreciate that. If you’re interested in walking, you can feel free to join our team, the Finger Prickin’ Good team, by clicking here. If you’re wanting to donate a few dollars to our team, feel free to click here and be as charitable as you feel. Click on whomever you’d like to donate on behalf of, and rock it out.

My dad commanded respect and attention, even at his 5’4″ frame. He offered advice and suggestions for anything I had questions on. He taught me some of the most important lessons in my life without even knowing it. He passed away in 1996 of complications due to diabetes and it changed my life. I don’t want to make the same mistakes and not take care of my diabetes and hopefully with the money that is raised in this event and others like it across the world, we are one STEP closer to finding a cure.

The other day I was browsing on craigslist looking for Chicago Bears season tickets, as any die-hard fan would do. I came across a pretty crazy listing for 100 section 3rd row 50 yard line seats for essentially $150/seat per game. Now, realistically speaking these tickets retail for quite a bit more than that, let alone the market value. It was quite interesting to see and I pretty much assumed it was a scam but thought I’d take a shot at it. I emailed asking how much for the entire season and got a very quick response..

seller, ravinajenn@yahoo.com : ”$4,000 for all 4 tickets for the entire year”

Wow! $4,000 for 4 tickets to 10 games in the 100 section at that prime location? Checking stubhub would show you that these tickets are $12-15k a piece, market value. It made no sense, so I thought I’d just agree with it and see how we’d proceed.

seller, ravinajenn@yahoo.com:

“We have a deal. Where are you located?Chicago?I’m in England but we can use StubHub Fan Protect Program to complete the transaction.You must send them the money through your Bank Account.More details about the payment and delivery of tickets, you will find in the sales contract that you’ll receive from StubHub. I look forward your reply, if everything is OK with what I wrote above, so we can move to the next step. All I want now from you is to tell me what name will receive the tickets, so i can inform StubHub”

Sounds decent so far, right. Not really. FLAG 1: she’s not even in the country. FLAG 2: she’s asking to use a third party to sell the tickets. FLAG 3: she wants a non-regulated payment.. bank transfer. It could also be wire transfer, western union, etc… same request. So of course at this point it’s a total scam right, but that’s because I’m aware of these scams through those flags above… how about a normal user unknowingly continuing with this fraud sale? To see how far we could go, I continued with the scam. I said “ok”

seller, ravinajenn@yahoo.com:

“Thanks for your cooperation and i’m waiting to hear from you when you’ll receive the payment invoice, instructions how you’ll make the payment. If you don’t receive the payment invoice in one hour, please send email back and let me know that you don’t receive it.If that is not in your inbox then check your Bulk or Spam folder, maybe it’s there. Thanks and let me know when you’re done deal“

Sure enough within a minute or two I received an email. This part is a bit long, but I’m posting it IN the article to make sure that it gets publicized for future reference to anyone wanting to make sure this is a scam or not.

Sender: stubhub@fanprotectorders.com

Subject:  StubHub: FanProtect Guarantee – Order Confirmation #37584736

Dear Herman Mellapalackas,
Your tickets are on their way!
Remember your order is fully covered by StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee.

—————————————-

Thank you for placing your order. We have instructed the seller to confirm your order within next 48 hours. This Payment Invoice is a contract between you and seller and applies to your use of Bank Account Services. You must read, agree with and accept all of the terms and conditions contained in the StubHub payment invoice.

———————————————–
ORDER INFORMATION
———————————————–
Event: 2011 Chicago Bears Season – Season Package (Includes for all Regular Season Home Games)

Venue: Soldier Field Chicago, IL

Date: 2011/2012

Quantity sold: 40
Section: Lower Level 136

Row: 3

Seats: 11,12,13,14
———————————————–
BILLING INFORMATION
———————————————–
Price per ticket: $110.00

Quantity: 40

Subtotal: $4,400.00
Delivery services: $0.00
———————————————–

Total sale: $4,400.00

———————————————–
STUBHUB AGENT BANK ACCOUNT

———————————————–
First Name: Steven
Last Name: Byrd
Sort Code: 209263
Account#: 73273830
IBAN: GB02BARC20926373273830
Swift: BARCGB22
Bank Name: Barclays Bank

———————————————–

How to make payment?

1. Locate the nearest Bank Office.

2. Make the payment using the above StubHub agent Name & Bank Account.

3. E-mail us ( stubhub@fanprotectorders.com ) the scanned payment receipt

———————————————–

How can you assure me the tickets are legit?
When a seller use our website (FanProtect Program) we require that they provide a valid credit card, so that in the event they do not provide tickets or the tickets they provide are not genuine, we will charge them for either the cost of replacement tickets or we will charge them the ticket cost (that you have paid) plus a 50% penalty which you as a protected customer would receive in credit towards a future purchase.As the seller has provided this information it is not economically viable for them to defraud our system. Please be advised that we have a dedicated full time Fulfilment team who take care of any ticketing issues should they occur. 
Once we receive the payment confirmation, we will instruct the seller to start the shipping process. We will hold the payment details until you send us your confirmation that you are satisfied with the product you received. As soon as we receive your confirmation we will release the payment details to the seller.

———————————————–
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact us. Thanks again for using StubHub!

StubHub Customer Service

Weekdays: 5:00AM – 8:00PM (PST)
Weekends: 6:00AM – 7:00PM (PST)
http://www.StubHub.com

StubHub! Where Fans Buy and Sell Tickets ™

Seems pretty legit overall, an email from stubhub@fanprotectorders.com sent to my “name” and details of the seats, etc, pricing. It has a ‘email the scan of your wire tranfer to stubhub@fanprotectorders.com’ near the bottom so once you do wire transfer the money, you can verify it was indeed completed so that stubhub can take care of this transaction. So far it seems ok, especially the fact that if you go to www.fanprotectorders.com it’ll forward to stubhub.com, as to make it seem that fanprotectorders.com is owned by stubhub. This is definitely not true and I verified this by doing a whois on the domain fanprotectorders.com vs stubhub.com and essentially getting an individual vs a corporation, respectively, for the registrants.

Let’s look at why this is an actual scam

1) the stubhub email is not sent from @stubhub.com. That’s a huge flag

2) the payment info is some yahoo in the UK, not actually STUBHUB or an affiliate

3) Stubhub doesn’t accept payments through bank transfers and western union

4) there’s no listing on stubhub.com for the tickets in question (this is probably your major reason to not fall for this)

I even decided to “email” fanprotectorders.com email address listed in the stubhub email to ensure that this was legitimate and the scammer sent responses from the fanprotectorders.com, acting as if she was stubhub, guaranteeing me that my money was safe and would be returned. Of course, 3 emails later of talking with “stubhub”, I received an email from the seller asking me why I was telling stubhub that she was a scammer, since she got a notice from them saying I was complaining. Funny, really, since all these emails are going to her directly.

All in all, you can see that this is somewhat elaborate. The person pretends to use a reliable third party to broker the tickets but unfortunately the emails are all fake and the money you’d be sending would go overseas to a scammer’s bank account only to never be seen again. It’s a more refined Nigerian scam and it’s taken a few people’s money already. This could have been a $4,400 payday for the scammer and fortunately I encountered it and now want to make sure that other people are aware of it.