Your Bond is No Good

[Judge Roy Bean]

The disturbing thing for Van Pelt and his ilk should be that, while still at large, he is just one delusional person attempting to function among hundreds of normal people; when and if he is incarcerated, he will join a population that is roughly 1/3 mentally ill.

[soapbox on]

In today's prison environment, meaningful treatment of prisoners with mental problems is extremely rare and as part of the population deemed mentally ill, the experience of incarceration can be even more frightening - even debilitating to the degree that release means putting an incapacitated person out on the street without appropriate pharmacological supervision.

[soapbox off]

[wserra]

Looking for something? Perhaps you'll find it here.

[Famspear]

Boy, I have an excuse to add to an old thread tonight.

This weekend, a friend (who knows I am a tax lawyer and CPA, but does not know how deeply I am into the study of scams) came to me with information that he had gotten from someone to the effect that he could supposedly use the bond maturity value calculator at treasurydirect dot gov slash BC slash SBCPrice to show that he has a bond waiting for him at the U.S. Treasury - based on a serial number found on the BACK of his Social Security card. He wanted my input.

I explained to him that this is a variation on an old, old scam. The Roger Elvick version of this scam goes back to the 1980s, I believe.

[Burnaby49]

In Canada it's a birth bond tied to your birth certificate. Bernie Yankson, the first court case I attended invoved this. Bernie wanted to "cash in" his newborn daughter's birth certificate for her bond. Instead of getting all that wealth he thought just a few magic documents away he got a vexatious litigant order.

[bmxninja357]

"Who are you?"

"I'm bond. Birth bond."


Sorry.
Ninj

[The Observer]

In Canada it's a birth bond tied to your birth certificate. Bernie Yankson, the first court case I attended invoved this. Bernie wanted to "cash in" his newborn daughter's birth certificate for her bond. Instead of getting all that wealth he thought just a few magic documents away he got a vexatious litigant order.

Well, at least he got something for his efforts.

Now if only bmxninja could be dragged before JRB for sentencing because of that last post.

[Famspear]

In Canada it's a birth bond tied to your birth certificate. Bernie Yankson, the first court case I attended invoved this. Bernie wanted to "cash in" his newborn daughter's birth certificate for her bond. Instead of getting all that wealth he thought just a few magic documents away he got a vexatious litigant order.

Well, at least he got something for his efforts.

Now if only bmxninja could be dragged before JRB for sentencing because of that last post.

Last year for my birthday, my wife gave me the DVD box set containing 23 James Bond films (the Eon Productions set), which of course starts with the ones with Sean Connery as 007, back in the early 1960s. We've made it about half way through the set, but we haven't watched any in several months now. I think we have temporarily stopped in the Roger Moore era somewhere.

It's good to know that our humor here at Quatloos is on a par with the best of the Bond films.



EDIT: PS: As is often the case with movies made from books, I have always found that the Ian Fleming books are MUCH better than the movie versions. I read every last one of the Fleming books when I was a kid.

[The Observer]

As is often the case with movies made from books, I have always found that the Ian Fleming books are MUCH better than the movie versions.

My experience was different. I read "Casino Royale" and "You Only Live Twice" and I found them to be a pain to get through, and decided to not read anymore of the series. I think Broccoli (the producer of the 007 films, not the vegetable) must have had the same experience since the plot of YOLT had almost nothing in common with the novel other than it being in Japan and Blofeld involved.

[NYGman]

Just watched Dr. No with this weekend with my almost 7yr old boys. It was their (and the franchise) first Bond movie, and they enjoyed it. Not quite the same as a Birth Bond though...

From Russia with Love is next, just waiting for it to record. I have Goldfinger, and it looks like BBC America is airing them, just odd that it is out of order. Perhaps, it's just my TiVo being busy the other times.

[Burnaby49]

In Canada it's a birth bond tied to your birth certificate. Bernie Yankson, the first court case I attended invoved this. Bernie wanted to "cash in" his newborn daughter's birth certificate for her bond. Instead of getting all that wealth he thought just a few magic documents away he got a vexatious litigant order.

Well, at least he got something for his efforts.

Now if only bmxninja could be dragged before JRB for sentencing because of that last post.

Since Wes won't allow me to ban ninja for such flagrantly obvious violations of our rules against offensive comments I refrained from responding. Being a moderator is just a farce if we allow ninja's continued participation after that.

[Burnaby49]

As is often the case with movies made from books, I have always found that the Ian Fleming books are MUCH better than the movie versions.

My experience was different. I read "Casino Royale" and "You Only Live Twice" and I found them to be a pain to get through, and decided to not read anymore of the series. I think Broccoli (the producer of the 007 films, not the vegetable) must have had the same experience since the plot of YOLT had almost nothing in common with the novel other than it being in Japan and Blofeld involved.

No kidding. When I read the part where Blofeld strapped Bond down on a volcanic toilet I thought that I'd hit bottom in terrible writing. Then I read The Man With The Golden Gun.

Not that the Roger Moore movies are any better. I gave up on them when I saw Roger Moore hopscotch across a pond of alligators.

[.]

Huh.

The back of my SS card doesn't have any serial number on it. Just "Form OA-702" and "Rev. (9-61)" and a bunch of argle-bargle from the geniuses at the Dept. of HEW (now HHS) like ""show this to your employer" and "let us know if you die."

My name is manually TYPED on the front by one of those new-fangled things called a typewriter. Them were the good old days, eh?

But, nothing on the front either in the way of any serial number, just the SS number. Very disappointing. Even totally crushing.

How will I ever collect my special SS "bond"? Darn it all. No serial number. How can that be? I subjected myself to income taxes all of these years merely by virtue of having a SS number according to, who was it? Chapman or some other miscellaneous TP dope full of nonsense?

I got it sometime in '62 when I was 10, I remember the day it showed up in the mail. So, it's now about 55 years old and in perfect condition, but I get squat for my "bond."

Maybe the card itself has become collectible. The thing is perfect by baseball card standards -- no bent corners, no creases, not faded, no stains, no marks, why it's even autographed by me, the original owner. Loyal tax slave that I am, I signed it right away, just as my masters at HEW told me to do.

But, where is the justice? Which court would be the best to file an action in, so that I may rack up the highest possible total of sanctions for frivolous pleadings and filings through all possible appellate levels?

We holders of SS cards with no serial numbers will not be denied!

[The Observer]

We holders of SS cards with no serial numbers will not be denied!

Uh...the fact that you don't have a serial number on your card is because that is how membership in the Illuminati is denoted, your bond automatically redeemed; thus the reason why you own a home or two, several autos, take nice vacations, have sufficient wealth, and eat steak whenever you want to. For all I know, you have probably made a killing in the financial market as well. Being in the Illuminati means that the sky is the limit.

If you had a serial number, then you would have been tossed in the with the hoi polloi and probably already had filed a number of vexatious lawsuits trying to recover your bond.

[TheNewSaint]

The back of my SS card doesn't have any serial number on it.

Mine does, in the form of one letter and eight digits. I'm guessing this number had some internal purpose at the time the card was issued, around 1985 in my case. It's possible this could coincide with a bond number, but: the above URL also asks you to specify an issue date, bond type, and denomination. They'd really have to fish around for a working, unique combination.

And if they find one, it wouldn't turn up any massive amount of money. The oldest, highest-denomination bond I could find values at $69,352.00. Most of them seem to be small denominations.

I can only dream that someone who took this advice seriously was told their life is worth $73.42.

[Pottapaug1938]

I'm like "." -- my SS card has no serial number on the back. Neither does that of my late mother.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Maybe Mom forgot to tell me a few things about her background; and maybe that's why I was taken for a ride to an undisclosed location, when I got my SS card in the early 60s, along with several male and female contemporaries. If you're an Illuminatus, you know what happened next.

[Judge Roy Bean]

"Who are you?"

"I'm bond. Birth bond."


Sorry.
Ninj

Ninj, you're hereby fined two bottles of good tequila (Patron or better), an ounce of gold and two pounds of flour. Pay the clerk on the way out. [sound of gavel].

[The Observer]

...[A]n ounce of gold....

Boy, you know how to hit an off-gridder right where it hurts.

[.]

So, I think Famspear is dead-on as to dating the beginning of the scam to the early '80s.

Pottapaug and I, being of similar age (along with Wes and Dan and perhaps others also unheard from -- yeah, we're all older than dirt) have no "serial" numbers on our cards. The woman I've lived with for 20-odd years (and they have been odd) has a card issued in '74 with no "serial" number on it.

TheNewSaint's card issued around 1985 does have a "serial" number on it.

That would peg the beginning of "serial numbers" on SS cards to somewhere between '74 and '85. Good estimate, Famspear.

Perhaps others here have cards issued between '74 and '85 that might nail the date of the potential beginning of the scam down further.

Of absolutely no consequence, I note that my signature from 55 years ago differs little from my signature today, while my cohabitant's signature has deteriorated from the neat handwriting (I saw her signature on her card) of one of those girls in high school whose handwriting was always absolutely perfect and legible (yeah, you know the ones I'm talking about) to a totally unreadable scrawl in a mere 43 years.

Unfortunately, being able to come up with some bunch of entries that have a result on Treasury's bond value web page entitles one to nothing, absent an actual paper bond or an electronic credit with your broker or Treasury because one actually paid for the bond, but it sounds like a sure-fire thing, right?

But, by golly, I'll never give up my quest for my SS "bond," serial numbers be damned. There's just got to be a class action in there somewhere. I'll be a lead plaintiff, the lawyers will collect a gazillion dollars for their thousands of hours and class members will all get a 50 cent coupon for the fast food restaurant of their choice. Win - win. Let's go for it.

[AndyK]

In Canada it's a birth bond tied to your birth certificate. Bernie Yankson, the first court case I attended invoved this. Bernie wanted to "cash in" his newborn daughter's birth certificate for her bond. Instead of getting all that wealth he thought just a few magic documents away he got a vexatious litigant order.

Well, at least he got something for his efforts.

Now if only bmxninja could be dragged before JRB for sentencing because of that last post.

Since Wes won't allow me to ban ninja for such flagrantly obvious violations of our rules against offensive comments I refrained from responding. Being a moderator is just a farce if we allow ninja's continued participation after that.

But it was funny. That overrides all those stinkin' rules -- unless lWebhick invokes the Goddess rule.

[The Observer]

Perhaps others here have cards issued between '74 and '85 that might nail the date of the potential beginning of the scam down further.

I can be of no help since I got my card just prior to '74 (had hopes of landing a summer job and the Illuminati required that you had to have a SSN card to apply.) Flimsy cardstock and nothing on the back.

ot that the Roger Moore movies are any better. I gave up on them when I saw Roger Moore hopscotch across a pond of alligators.

Most of the Roger Moore movies were cheesy, except for Octopussy (co-written by my favorite screenwriter George McDonald Fraser of Flashman fame) which had some dramatic dark moments and compelled Moore to deliver a bit more than his usual devil-may-care scenes in the other films. Strangely, the public voted Moore as their favorite portrayer of James Bond rather than Sean Connery or Pierce Brosnan; I suspect that they were under the influence of his acting in The Saint. The current Bond, as by Daniel Craig, has come across more of a vicious thug without the suaveness and debonair that most people have been accustomed to.