Fats, Vitamins and Minerals

Spam today, spam yesterday, spam tomorrow. Spam is now an inevitable part of our email life. My spamtrap captures over 50 spam messages a day. Trevor’s email system filters out probably even more. Sometimes a few manage to pass through, and provide some entertaining reading.

A more recent one in circulation is an offer from a fellow called George.

Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:41:51 +0100
From:
To: unlisted-recipients:; (no To-header on input)
Subject: Hello

Dear,

My name is Mr.George Manda. Please kindly allow me to inform you about this deal which I have been wrapping up for years now, and which I will love to do with you as it is the reason why I have contacted you. Although this proposal may come to you as a suprise, but I would want you to understand that this deal is 100% legal and risk free, though it requires confidentiality. What I need from you is trust and your honest coperation for us to execute this project for our benefit only. If you really believe in deal, get back to me or give me a call on my private telephone number for details. I await your urgent response.

Have my best regards.
Mr.George Manda
+22508900599

Not only is this spam, it is also a scam, and many of us are already familiar with such proposals. Recent events however, revealed to me how scams such as these take place around us everyday in less obvious ways. In retrospect, I see now how a project that we signed into just a month ago has transformed itself into its own version of a Nigerian scam.

Thus ends the well-meaning and ambitious project Websining Process/yon (but surely not the spirit of Process/yon which will live on elsewhere). Perhaps this was what the ominous old man and the ominous crying woman was all about - the signs were there, and my own intuition was telling me not to get anywhere near potentially dirty politicking in the neo-colonial art scene. But I re-interpreted the signs and pushed on, out of naive idealism.
The ordeal brought the project team closer through a re-affirmation of our values and principles. At a meeting the other day we refuted calmly all malice and deliberate mis-contextualizations thrown at us by the new head. No fit of victim rage, despite the injustices, harassment and threats - I still believe in karma.

And as Al told us, “But let us not talk of valedictories…there is much work to do and much to change in this country (or world) of our sorrows…”

And next time, especially when the signs of danger are not so obvious, I will heed my intuitions.

EMail This Post This entry was posted by Fats on Thursday, February 14th, 2008 at 6:11 pm and is filed under Fats, Vitamins & Minerals > Wika at Hirap. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.