Bernard L. Madoff - Giant Ponzi Scheme

From the Wall Street Journal:

"Bernard L. Madoff, the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities and a fixture of the Wall Street trading world for decades, was arrested Thursday morning by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and charged with criminal securities fraud by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

The criminal complaint filed against Mr. Madoff alleges that he told senior employees Wednesday that his business was "a giant Ponzi scheme," according to a person familiar with the matter.

The alleged scheme involved tens of billions of dollars, but the extent of investor losses wasn't immediately clear.

The disclosure came after Mr. Madoff tried to distribute early bonuses to employees of his firm, prompting questions by senior employees, a person familiar with the situation said.

Mr. Madoff, 70 years old, allegedly told employees he had a couple of hundred million dollars left and wanted to distribute it before turning himself in to authorities, this person said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to file parallel civil charges against Mr. Madoff."

Here we go again. This fraud has been said to total over TWENTY BILLION DOLLARS!

Where will it end? Sure has been a big week for crime and corruption.

Image via WikipediaSeems like when I was young the rich people were Doctors. They had a nice house and maybe a couple of cars. And their kids had the best toys. Most everyone, so I thought, worked hard, paid their bills and had some fun. Really didn't know any better. There were some that were better off than others, but mostly the same.

Now there are some definite dividing lines. Doctors wish that they were rich. They are not much better off than regular people. There is a new class. The Super Rich. Their poop doesn't stink and they don't have the same set of values and rules that we do. They have a lot of time and money on their hands.

And then at the other end there is a thick line as well for the other new class. The Super Choose To Be Poor. They have realized that there is a world where you do not have to work. You only need to educate yourself in the best way to get a free ride. Work the system and never have to worry about a thing. They have a lot of time and money on their hands.

Wait a minute! I am starting to see a pattern. Some people have way too much time on their hands. Time to think up and commit crimes.

Maybe everyone should have to work if they want to eat. And I am talking real work. Not that work for for 5 minutes and have enough money to eat for the rest of your life.

Maybe they should all be like the unchanged middle class. They get up, go to work, eat dinner, go to bed, and then start it all over again. They do not even have the time to think this stuff up, let alone do it!

So Bernard Madoff has put together what may be one of the largest "ponzi" schemes ever. Seems to me that it is just a little too casual to him? The man is 70 years old. He should be sitting home sipping red wine and waiting for the grand kids to come over and visit. Instead he is at the office riding the "Power Trip Express". We will let that one be a story for another day!

Call in Gay Day

photo courtesy of the Miami Herald

WHAT? OK, the dumb ole country boy is coming out of me.

This is ridiculous.

Tomorrow the gays are getting together and calling in sick to their jobs and donating time to different service oriented charities or other "love" causes.

I guess that the world I came from is different. Everyday I was handed a piece of paper with yesterdays performance numbers on it. A list of the employees names and what kind of job they did. And the same paper was in my bosses hand over in the big city. And when he called to thrash me, he never asked if the poor performers were black, gay, female, fat or whatever else you can come up with. They all looked the same on that paper! He just wanted to know how I was going to fix it.

All of my life I have worked with a variety of people. And what I have found is that sexual preference, color, sex, or anything else had absolutely nothing to do with work ethics, job performance, or even likability!

So who is going to suffer and pay for this idiotic move. The hard working business owners for one.

Imagine being a small store owner right here at the busiest time of the year. Maybe you have a few gays working for you. Next thing you know, they all call in sick. You are scrambling trying to cover everything. Customers are getting impatient and leaving the store. Profits are down the tubes for the day. In this economic time this is not good!

Now I have always had a live and let live type of attitude. I really don't care what the person next to me does as long as it does not affect me. I have had some gay friends and they are no different than anyone else.

And I am a God fearing man, but I can't get into Christians saying that a gay lifestyle is wrong. The world changes. People change. People like different things. That is why there is more than one flavor of ice cream!

I do believe that gays should be allowed to get married and have the same benefits as a "regular" couple. Who in the world has the right to say what is normal?

So to have a "Call in Gay Day" is just plain stupid. It may show how many gay people there are and how they affect the work place, but it may also prove how stupid they are. Is this the best way to get this message across? I don't think so!

Merrill Lynch's CEO John Thain Looking For Huge Bonus

Image via WikipediaMerrill Lynch's CEO John Thain is looking for a 10 million dollar bonus package. Merrill Lynch has lost over 11 billion dollars this year.

If you remember John took over Merrill Lynch at the end of 2007. He received a signing bonus of $15 million. And his salary was set at $750,000 per year. And the Merrill Lynch stock was trading at about $50 a share.

During the course of the year John tried a few things that didn't quite pan out for him. So to keep from going under they were sold to the Bank of America. And of course John helped with that project and set himself up with a nice position.

Today the stock price is around $15. And many jobs will be lost. The stockholders have taken a HUGE loss.

Just what is a bonus? In my eyes a bonus is extra compensation for a job well done? I guess that I am wrong.

Here is how I think it should work. A CEO should be paid based on performance. If he takes over a company and increases the profits, the board should give him a portion of those profits. However, if the company loses money, he should get no bonus, and present a plan to the board as to why it happened and what HE is going to do to change it. The plan should also have a timeline attached to insure that it happens. If he can't do the job he should be let go and replaced by someone who can!

I think about all of the people who are struggling, looking for jobs, and losing sleep at nights worrying about how they are going to pay their bills, and then you have people who actually think that it is acceptable to lose 11 BILLION dollars and then ask for a 10 million dollar bonus.

Does this rank right up there with flying in a private jet to beg for bailout money, or is it even worse? I can't wait to see what the board of Merrill Lynch decides!

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Today marks the anniversary of one of the most defining moments in history. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked Peal Harbor with a carefully planned and executed plan. This act brought the United States into the Second World War as a full combatant. The United States was totally unprepared and surprised.

The Japanese sent one of the largest aerial striking power forces that has ever been seen. Just before 8 am the attack started. Just imagine being a young serviceman with the day off getting ready for a picnic. Or maybe a young mother making a big breakfast and thinking about knocking out a load of laundry before it gets too late. Suddenly all hell breaks loose! I can not even imagine how they must have felt. We are The United States. No one would have enough nerve to attack us! So what in God's name is that noise. At first they may have thought that there had been a huge accident. I am sure that it did not take long to figure out what had happened. It had to be fast. In just a short time 4 US battleships had sunken. And 4 more had damage.

188 aircraft were lost. Buildings everywhere were destroyed. But the worst of all was that over 2400 Americans that were servicemen and servicewomen, fathers and mothers, children, bothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and friends, lost their lives that day. This was the most tragic day that we had ever seen.

I know that a lot of time has past. But we can not afford to forget. We can not forget to honor those young men, women and children who lost their lives that day. We must remember that no matter how big we think we are, there is still someone willing to take us on.

Please hold a place in your hearts for the members of the military that have given up everything to serve. Hold a very special place in your hearts for the ones who gave everything and never returned. And hold a place in your hearts for those who are serving right now, for they know not what tomorrow brings!

PR: wait... I: wait... L: wait... LD: wait... I: wait... wait... C: wait... SD: wait...

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