Speaking of frauds ...

While I was picking up my new glasses at Costco, received a call from a man who sounded a little Nigerian from Bank of America informing someone was trying to take $1,000 and $2,000 from my account in a Houston location. After I asked him to repeat it many times, so I could understand what he was saying, I told him I did not know that person, and to refuse payment. Then he said, If you can just open you banking app on your phone for some security questions, at which time I told him I had no banking app on my phone and I was going to go home, call the bank from there. He said, we will not be able to cancel the transaction without these security questions and I hung up on him. Of course, I immediately called 800 for bank but could not get through. While trying to check out, my card was declined because I had made that phone call. But I got a text asking if that was me, making this charge at Costco, type YES to have payment approved. 

Got home, checked my account online while I dialed the Bank 800, I saw no withdrawals. The rep said it was fraud. Which is what I thought. I know we would all like to see it in person, alas, I won't be there.  People are so sick. And spend so much energy just trying to steal money. 

And speaking of frauds ...

CPAC Was a Janky Half-Empty Trump Convention

  

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was once a marquee event on the political calendar where Republicans seeking the favor of the party’s conservative base would attempt to woo a crowd of right-wing activists and diehards. In 2015, the last time there was a competitive Republican presidential primary, a dozen candidates showed up, representing all wings of the party from Chris Christie to Ted Cruz. And they weren’t the only ones there, it was a marquee event for the entire right-wing ecosystem with seemingly every group represented. Eight years later, the vibe was entirely different. The 2023 CPAC felt like a mall after all but one of its big department stores has shut down — an emptier, jankier, lower-rent version of conferences past. The rooms were more deserted, the vendors more downmarket, and speakers a little less important. 

 In the exhibit hall, where Facebook once had a booth with virtual reality games, there was now a booth where attendees could stand on a vibrating board promoted as effort-free exercise which could also boost sexual function. Many of the vendors simply sold Trump merchandise and nothing else. Upstairs, in the main ballroom, the list of speakers was considerably less A-list than in years past. Most potential presidential candidates didn’t show. Aside from Donald Trump, those who did attend had either served in the Trump administration or were political neophytes. And in the halls, it was far less crowded, save for a bottlenecked corner where, at one point, Steve Bannon held court and attendees flocked to see him. 

I would love to have a room I could wall paper!