On Jan 1, 2:25*pm, Bret_E_Cah...@yahoo.com wrote:
> Does anyone here know of anyone on newsgroups charging money for an
> unaccredited "electronics training course?"
>
> Sham "training courses" flourish during recessions. *Desperate people
> out of work make easy prey for an organized fraud scheme.
>
> It's either a first or 2nd degree felony even in Florida.
>
> One key giveaway of a training scam is their unsubstantiated claims of
> "happy customers."
>
> First contact the authorities to help prosecute to the full extent of
> the law if you know of such a scam.
>
> If you don't want to do that Email me at bretcah...@aol.com if you
> have any documentation of payments for "training" that isn't
> accredited.
>
> Scan the documents and include them in a pdf or tiff file.
>
> Back during the GHW Bush recession I forced a "training" scam into
> filing under Chapt. 7.
>
> I just invoked my right to free speech to expose the scam.
>
> The Scammer was Terry Ottinger. *He also touted many "happy
> customers."
>
> Bret Cahill
NPR Morning Edition, September 26, 2008 ·
During the Great Depression, Americans flocked to the movies to escape
the harsh realities of their daily lives. As the stock market tumbled
and loved ones went off to war, Americans disappeared into dark
theaters, where Shirley Temple sang and tap danced her way into their
heavy hearts.
Now, as the nation faces arguably the worst financial crisis since the
Depression, video games may be playing the role movies once filled in
hard economic times.
During the 1930s, Americans could get their minds off their troubles
for just a nickel a night. Gary Handman, director of the Media
Resources Center at the University of California at Berkeley, says
Americans came to the theaters to see everything from melodramas, to
romances, to films bursting with song and dance.
"You got two features," Handman says. "Sometimes you got two features
and a news reel. And in the Depression, sometimes you got two features
and a news reel and a raffle for Depression-ware china."
More 'Bang For Your Buck'
Now, nearly 80 years later, Americans looking for a cheap way to
distract themselves from tough times aren't turning to theaters.
Though movie revenues are up slightly, the number of movie tickets
sold has remained fairly constant for the past decade.
By comparison, overall video game sales are up 43 percent from this
time in 2007. Since its release on Aug. 12, fans have purchased more
than 2 million copies of the football game Madden NFL 09, according to
the National Purchase Diary (NPD) Group.
David Riley of the NPD Group says part of the reason video game sales
are rising and movie ticket sales aren't is that a movie only lasts a
couple of hours — it gives you less "bang for your buck."
"The difference, obviously, between a movie and a video game is the
amount of time that you get," he says.
Gaming fans shopping recently at a Best Buy in San Francisco echoed
Riley's words; Malou Taylor says she's more likely to play a game than
go to a movie.
"I might as well use the money on a game that I can have for a longer
time," she says.
Another Night In
Though video games initially earned a bad rap for being something of a
loner activity, gaming has become an increasingly sociable event. Some
couples, like Benjamin Gerald and Char Williams, say they stay home
together and play.
"Last night, we spent, like, six hours," Gerald says. "Char was
playing the game, and I'm sitting on the couch next to her ... I'm
totally involved, even though I'm not even playing the thing."
Gerald says they do see movies, but they often rent DVDs to watch at
home rather than go out to the theater. Still, Handman remains
skeptical that games truly fill the same role that movies did during
the Depression.
"I don't think video games will ever be as demographically diverse as
the movies are or [as] movies were," he says.
There is no video game equivalent of Shirley Temple. With so many
varied options, it may be that there simply is no longer one
entertainment escape.
But if gas prices continue to rise, and more Americans are forced to
scrimp and pinch, nights at home with your family and the game console
will start looking better and better.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=94884967
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