As mentioned in the previous post, a quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson is being bandied about now that the bank bailout is in the news. The quote is:

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” – Thomas Jefferson to Albert Gallatin, 1802

I thought the quote was fishy-sounding, so I did some Googling tonight to find where it came from. The first step was to search on a unique snippet of the quote. Out of 220 Google results on “continent their fathers conquered” I found a slew of results from this year (and especially last month), but many without listed dates. How far back could I trace it?
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I found this quote supposedly by Thomas Jefferson floating around the Internet:

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” – Thomas Jefferson to Albert Gallatin, 1802

While a bit poetic, I think the quote is fabricated. The folks at Snopes think its bogus. It also doesn’t appear on UVa’s Thomas Jefferson Quotation Page.

Just like the Einstein Bee quote, someone used Jefferson’s stature to prop up their modern-day argument. Continue reading →

Looking for other things on the Internets brought me news that a secret AT&T communications bunker in Chatham county has closed. The site, known locally as “Big Hole,” sits near Fearrington Village and has generated wild rumors in the 46 years its existed.
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After my friend Mike B. sent me a scary story of oil prices, I took a moment to shop for hybrid cars on Craigslist. Lo and behold I found ads for two different cars that are written surprisingly similarly (emphasis mine):
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Somsak Saeku, the defendant in my jury duty case, was convicted last week of wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen goods.

I can’t say I’m surprised: he was acting as his own attorney and while I didn’t hear the evidence, from what I read in the news there was a lot of it. Had I been on the jury I think I would’ve found it very easy to render a verdict.

Got a mystery call to my mobile phone from a number which does not exist: 760-204-8438. I get so pissed off when I pay for Great Atlantic Warranty to spam my mobile phone.

In related news, many unhappy customers are flocking to my website, looking to vent about this untrustworthy company. If you’ve been called by them please weigh in!

Update 22 Oct 2008: Word on the street is that Great Atlantic Warranty is now North American Warranty Solutions.

When will they ever learn?

We got another call tonight from the warranty scam artists, this time using the phone number 702-520-9150 as their fake Caller ID. Once the nice gentleman got on the line I bum-rushed him.

“Can I have the make and model of your vehicle?” asked “Mike.”

“How can you live with yourself?” I interrupted.

“Excuse me?”

“How can you live with yourself, working for such a sleazy company?”

Click! The next thing I heard was hold music, which turned to silence a moment later. I realized I was keeping a trunk busy on the company’s phone system, so I left my phone on hold for another 30 minutes, padding their long distance bill just for fun.

I might get even nastier the next time they call. Or better yet, I’ll try out some digits when I’m alone on the trunk. Maybe I can figure out how to make outgoing calls, or find my way to their voicemail system.