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A few days after Barack Obama, (still sounds good doesn’t it?) was elected to the presidency, Oprah Winfrey had Will Smith on her show to hype his then new movie, “Seven Pounds.” She asked him how he felt about the elections. Smith said that he had all of his children around him and began to cry when the final numbers were tallied. At that point Oprah made a comment something to the affect “what does this mean for African America children.” And Will said “no more excuses.” At that point both Ms. Winfrey and Mr. Smith showed just how far from reality they both reside. Because one, the elections, certainly have NOTHING to do with the other, Black people’s success or lack there of! President Obama can’t stop law abiding citizens from being harassed by law enforcement and his election certainly doesn’t mean that it will end!
I have been harassed my the law enforcement agencies in San Diego, ca, more times than I care to remember. From being followed in El Cajon and La Mesa, ca, to almost having my car flip over after a tire blew out and having the Highway Patrol threaten to tow my car away because “your car is in the way.” (On the shoulder of an off ramp). None of these situations bring back fond memories, nor do they endear me to any members of law enforcement, straight or GAY! But hearing about a slick little trap in the small town of Tenaha, Texas, brought it all back for me.
Continue reading “DWB taken to a Whole New Level!” »
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Somewhat lost among the Wallstreet meltdown is the fact that one man, Bernard Madoff, created and ran one of the biggest Ponzi schemes EVER! His victims are not only everyday people who worked their whole lives to save money for children’s college fund and for their own retirements, but they also include people like movie director Steven Spielberg, Hall of Fame Baseball player, Sandy Koufax, talkshow host Larry King, and actor Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick. Zsa Zsa Gabor is also included on this “victim’s list” and is said to have lost between 7-10 million dollars! Also included on the list of victims is his wife, his sons, brother and other relatives! Talk about an equal opportunity criminal. Stealing from your own family. His actions have cost hundreds, if not thousands, of people their live savings and at least two fellow billionaires took their lives in response to becoming insolvent. Translation? They killed themselves because they lost all of their money! One would think that a man that ran a 50 BILLION dollar pyramid scheme would be up under the jail. But that is not the case. Mr. Madoff is under “house arrest” in his penthouse apartment in Manhattan, New York! He went from the penthouse to the penthouse!
I guess this could almost be called the chicken watching the hen house because Madoff was at one time the chairman if the NASDAQ stock exchange. Wouldn’t you know exactly how to find the loopholes if you were once the person who was supposed to close them?
The most galling part of this whole mess is that this man is not sitting in a jail cell. We jail poor people who steal $20.00 video games for months on end before they even get to court. Yet this man who has caused people to committ suicide, is free. And before anyone says he isn’t really “free”, his penthouse is said to be 2 stories high and is worth 7 million dollars. The average jail cell is 8 feet wide, 8 feet high, and 12 feet long. Compared to other criminals who have allegedly committed crimes, Madoff is free. Make no mistake about it!
The failout from the Madoff affair is far reaching. People who recommended Madoff to their friends and family are now being made to feel unwelcome. The people who promoted Madoff and probably lost money also, are being held accountable for what has occurred. For a scheme to have gone on that long, it had to have been well hidden. While it might be unfair to hold the people who gave “street cred” to Madoff, that comes with the territory when you “have someone’s back!”
Continue reading “From the Penthouse to the Penthouse!” »