Where is the Justice?- The Fallout from Bernie Madoff

Unless you have lived in a remote village in Tibet, been in a coma, or like "Dancing with the Stars" et.al., you know the name Bernie Madoff. He was convicted of running the largest Ponzi Scheme not sponsored by a government ever. He was turned in by his two sons, who worked for him, but claim they had no involvement. Now, one of Bernie's sons, two years after Bernie's arrest, was found dead, an apparent suicide.

The whole Madoff story is a spectacular example of pyrrhic justice. Bernie began his scheme many years ago. Those early investors received regular dividend payments as they hoped they would. Everything was going fine until the two sons turned Bernie in. Once the government shut down the operation, all of Bernie's investors lost their money. Ironically, they were better off being scammed by Bernie than being protected by the government. Of course, at some point, the scheme would have to collapse, as all Ponzi schemes do, but for now all was well and good.

Another story in the news this week centered on the "justice" of the government, as they went after Carl and Ruth Shapiro, early investors with Bernie Madoff. The Shapiros first invested in 1961, and the government estimates that they earned $1 BILLION dollars with Bernie's company. In a strange perversion of justice, the government sued the Shapiros for the $1 Billion they had collected as dividends from their investments. In other words, the government sued a victim of the crime to repay other victims of the same crime. Oh, you don't think the Shapiros were victims? This article will show otherwise. What makes this even worse is that the Shapiros are HUGE philanthropists in the Boston area. You cannot find a hospital, museum, or other humanitarian building or organization that doesn't count the Shapiros among its benefactors. Upon the arrest of Mr. Madoff, the Shapiros reluctantly notified the community that no new philanthropic efforts could be made. It is a massive blow to the community, and there are many people whose lives will have less quality because of the losses incurred by the shutdown of Madoff's operation.

Bernie Madoff committed a crime. That's indisputable. The abrupt shutdown of that operation cost many people money. Many others lost the philanthropic efforts of the Shapiros. And Mark Madoff, one of the people who turned in his own father, has lost his life. Is the acquisition of all that money really worth the human costs? The Shapiros used their gains for the benefit of others...Bernie Madoff was just plain greedy. But I do have to wonder about something...was it really necessary to for all these people to lose everything?

I feel that something could have been done differently, I'm just not sure what. I have ideas, but thinking through the execution of them points out numerous flaws. And the more I think about all those people whose lives have been detrimentally affected, the worse I feel. Maybe that's why Mark Madoff committed suicide...just imagine the emotional strain he has lived with for two years, and all because he tried to do something right. And that, in itself, is a whole new level of tragic.

Maybe my poverty is a blessing after all.

Take care, my friends.

Opinion-What balloon boy tells us about America

A few days ago, enthralled Americans watched the sight of a shiny, mushroom-shaped balloon flying through the air on national TV. By now, everyone knows the story was that a six-year-old boy was allegedly in the balloon. We all saw the video image of the balloon landing in a wheat field, volunteers frantically struggling through the uncooperative earth, finally reaching the balloon to find it empty. It was empty because the boy was safe at home, right where daddy had hidden him away.

As the facts came out one by one, the portrayal of the dad is somewhat less than flattering. The more we learned about this man (I will not use his name because that is what he wants us to do) the more we realized he is nothing more than a self-centered media whore. The facts speak for themselves.

He met his wife during acting classes. Both were unsuccessful actors, and so he chose to market his other hobby-science. I have found radio shows of his dating back to 2006. He was also a tornado chaser. When I read this quote, I got chills: “The {edit} take their sons on most of their missions. “I think they really are having fun," {edit}{edit}said. "They get so much more that they can't get from any other entertainment."The {edit} had a close call July 12 when they found themselves in the midst of a tornado in Buckeye."I think I have odd kids. They start screaming with excitement," {edit} {edit} said”. Hmm. I took my kids on a whale watch once. I do not think that a whale has ever sucked a car up off the road and hurtled it, and its occupants, to their deaths, as a tornado is more than capable of doing. Yet both of these parents saw nothing wrong with this potentially fatal behavior.

We all know that the couple appeared twice on the show “Wife swap”. We all know the couple both feel they are descended from aliens. Now we find the that the dad has been shopping a reality show based on his “The science detectives” radio show, featuring footage of him and his wife endangering their children by chasing tornadoes with them in the car. The first network, TLC, turned them down. What was the dad’s reaction? He planned the stunt that captured the nation’s attention. That will surely land them a reality show, right?

I fear it just may. I was listening to a radio show today. They had a guest from Ireland. He is a radio talk show host over there. When asked about balloon boy he stated that they do not have kooks like that in Europe, because the press humiliates them rather than publicizes them. You see, in America, we reward incompetence. It starts in tee-ball. They call them participation trophies. You get one just for taking part, even if you do not hit the ball all year. Incompetence rewarded. Our government gave billions of dollars in bailout money to banks that had screwed things up in the first place. Incompetence rewarded. Automakers too stubborn to notice market trends and found themselves in bankruptcy received bailout help. Incompetence rewarded. A man who figuratively bombed the moon and sent 14,000 troops to Afghanistan gets a peace prize. I do not know if that is incompetence, but it is definitely a participation trophy.

The family of balloon boy will undoubtedly end up with a TV show. Regrettably, America will watch. You see, that is what America does best; it rewards incompetence. What a shame.