My inbox: A portal into a criminal world

Ever since I increased my online presence through blogging, putting my resume in job-searching databases and joining social and professional networking sites, the amount of scam and spam e-mails that I receive on a daily basis has skyrocketed.

I get e-mails from "insurance companies" that offer me jobs. These bums try to capitalize on the vulnerability of unemployed folks and often hit them up for training fees and other expenses that don't lead to an income-producing job. I get e-mails that try to trick me into joining "free" job sites, only to find out after I am done filling out the forms that there is a fee to activate my account. It gets annoying. Just more technology-driven irritants in the course of a typical day. This sort of Internet lawlessness needs to be cleaned up.

I got the following e-mail this morning. It's a typical scam, and it's hard to believe that people would fall for this. The poor grammar and spelling alone should be huge red flags. I have not altered a single letter. I am amused by the pronouncements of affection for me and my family, like that's going to get me to turn over my bank account information. But this is no laughing matter. If it didn't occasionally work, and tragically wipe people out financially, this e-mail scam would not exist.

Dearest Beloved Friend,

How are you and your family? Hope Fine. I am Mrs. Cynthia bergLee from United states of America. And I am a deaf and Blood cancer patient. l Got your information in internet site through God direction after my prayers. I was married to Late Mr.Steve berg Lee who was a contractor with the government of Canada before he died after few months now in the hospital over injuries sustained from a bandictory attack suspected to be masterminded by his family for the acts of jealousy of his wealth.

When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $2,850,000.00 (Two Million,eight hundred and fifty thousand United States Dollars) with a bank which I will like you to contact them and ask for the fund to be transfered into your bank account for you to use it to help the the less privilaged people. I am earger to have you respond back to me imme diately due to my health condition hence medical examination results never give any positive empression. Therefore my Doctor told me that it is very likely I will die within the next 6 months due to A Blood cancer {LEUKAMIA}.

I have decided to donate the money for charity since I do not have a child to inherit it and it is better I do not die leaving the money here without it reaching the poor and the less privilaged ones in the society.

Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated here in. Hoping to receive your response immediately.(cynthia_berg.cantv.net)

Thanks and Remain blessed.
Mrs. Cynthia berg Lee.

The South rises again

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has proclaimed April as Confederate History Month. Boy, talk about an emotionally charged act at a time when the country is divided over a whole range of issues. But before anyone gets too bent out of shape, read the proclamation for yourself. It seems more about education than tribute.

Still, one has to wonder about the timing of this proclamation and whether the new governor would serve the state better by focusing on the future. There are plenty of memorials and Civil War battlefields all over the state. I am not sure I see a compelling need to open up this can of worms, which by the way has been resisted by previous governors. Instead, it would be nice if the man who campaigned as the "jobs candidate" would make news about getting people back to work.

UPDATE: McDonnell has now issued an apology to go along with his proclamation. Read more.

Much pain in a neighboring state

West Virginia is a neighboring state. Yet, it might as well be on another planet. The lifestyle in West Virginia is almost entirely rural. There are no major cities -- not even any medium cities. Unlike Virginia, education has never been a priority in West Virginia. Most people work with their hands. And a lot of people work in coal mines. It's a brutal way to make a living. A trip through a mining town is a journey back into a different era. It's hard to believe men still do this type of dangerous, back-breaking labor.

Yesterday, the worst U.S. coal-mining accident in 25 years occurred in our neighboring state. Events like this have a way of putting things in perspective. As I look out at another spectacular day in Sterling, Va., I know there is a lot of pain one state over. There is pain and fear everywhere lately, but there is nothing uncertain or abstract about what happened in that mine. Read more.

McNabb tops the news in D.C. today

The talk in Washington today isn't about health care, unemployment, opening day at Nationals Park or the NCAA championship game. Nor is it about Tiger Woods or the Masters.

D.C. is abuzz about the trade for quarterback Donovan McNabb. With this one transaction it appears the Washington Redskins have gone from NFC East doormat to contender. Yes, the Redskins have also added a coaching staff, two Pro Bowl running running backs and a true general manager in this off-season. But the NFL is about quarterbacking. The Redskins now have a good, experienced one.

However, don't make Super Bowl travel plans quite yet. Other NFL stars have come to Washington late in their careers and fizzled out. Among the future Hall of Fame players who didn't get it done as Redskins: Jason Taylor, Deion Sanders and Bruce Smith. Even a coaching legend, Joe Gibbs, couldn't turn around this franchise on his second tour of duty.

The Redskins still lack an offensive line and have a sketchy secondary. McNabb will not have the caliber receivers to throw to here that he had in Philadelphia. He will, however, provide some leadership. That is something that has been missing for years at Redskins Park. If he stays healthy, McNabb could be embraced in D.C. like he never was in Philly.

E-media slow to react to California quake

I got an early report of the earthquake near the Mexico-California border today via an e-mail from a friend who lives in San Diego. When I turned on the television to check the cable news stations, there was virtually no information about the quake except on CNN where the downsized B-team was evidently working the Easter holiday shift. Not exactly stuff that would make Walter Cronkite proud.

The latest trend in the media is to let average citizens do the journalistic legwork while allowing most journalists to have the weekend off. That strategy, however, is no substitute for getting images from professional photographers and eye-witness accounts from trained observers/journalists. I saw none of that in the first few hours after today's quake. What I did see was amateur video taken by housewives and children that failed to accurately depict the event and a CNN anchorman who didn't seem to have a grasp of basic geography. It was frustrating to watch a newscast that lacked the most basic information.

As the aftershocks were mounting, FOX News continued to ignore the story entirely, leaving me to think that newscast was prerecorded. When the smiling anchor on FOX finally acknowledged the quake, she didn't seem to comprehend the potential newsworthiness of it and quickly returned to other news that was nothing more than scripted fluff and rehashed stories from the previous week. She didn't appear nimble enough to switch gears. But she had a great smile. And through the aftershocks, the mainstream Web sites weren't on top of the story anymore than TV talking heads.

You would think that after some catastrophic earthquakes lately, a quake near a major U.S. city would draw a greater sense of urgency from the electronic media. This should be when e-media is at its best. I've heard a lot about newsrooms allegedly being 24/7 operations in this new technology age -- about media companies being more competitive than ever. Yet, I saw little evidence of that today. The news out of Southern California trickled to the East Coast today like back in the days of old teletype wire machines. Where was the immediacy and journalistic credibility in the early hours? Tomorrow's traditional newspapers will probably have it covered, particularly in places like San Diego and Los Angeles, but the electronic media was slow to react today, leading me to wonder about the staffing and leadership at these news outlets.

This wasn't a Haiti-type earthquake. Maybe there was no need to call in Brian Williams to man the desk at NBC or get the webmaster out of bed to redesign the home page. But it was another indication that while the storytelling tools of journalism improve, the actual timeliness, professionalism and accuracy of electronic media leaves much to be desired.