To me, the story of Bernie Madoff is analogous to the story of Darth Vader. Vader started off as young Anakin Skywalker who was a good kid with a bad temper and personal demons. Madoff started off a promising businessman, whose decision making and savvy caused others to trust him with large sums of money. At some point, Skywalker's personal demons were too much for him to suppress, and he succumbed to the dark side of the Force(this may be too inside baseball for you, but I don't care) and eventually became Darth Vader. Madoff combined his smarts with the new found trust he had from others, and he methodically (and eventually recklessly) jilted numerous folks from all walks of life out of trust funds, savings, retirement, etc. When he sat in court yesterday, he may as well have been removing his mask.
At one point in Star Wars, Darth Vader's son, Luke, pleads for him to return to his good side, and eventually he does just that, and by doing so he eventually saved Luke's life. Why do I mention this??? I think Madoff still has some good in him, and even if he doesn't, he should made to tap into that good side, instead of just sitting in jail 10-15 years (falling just short of the 150 he was sentenced).
The man is clearly brilliant, even if he used that talent in a diabolical way. Why not tap into this man's head, get him on the economy recovery team, and use his powers for good, not evil. I mean sure it'll look bad on the PR side of things, but to quell that, you can send him back to jail after a hard day's work at the office. And he'd be re-paying his debt to society, by figuring out ways to inject to some human growth hormones into this never ending quagmire of an economy we seem to be stuck with right now. I think that would be a grand idea.
Plus the cold reality is that Madoff is 71, not 51. He's lived a good life at the expense of f**king people over, and I'm sure it was all worth it in his mind. The victims who are out of money, savings, retirement, and more will not get fair justice, they won't get their money back, they won't see Madoff fry in the electric chair, they'll get nothing but the satisfaction of knowing he was stopped, convicted and jailed....at age 71. So why not take a bit of solace in knowing he was being made to be part of a solution? That's just my take. I'd love to spend a week (out of jail, not in it) with Madoff to pick his brain, because I don't think he was sorry about a damn thing. He's sorry he got caught, but in his mind, when he started this Ponzi scheme, he was thinking..when and if I can get caught, I'll be old anyway so who cares. People like that make for fascinating feature writing....ok I'm rambling
Falling - Jamiroquai
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Hi all at rashadiscrazy.blogspot.com. What you thinking about chicken recipes? rnexample: rnApple brandy chicken, made with chicken breast halves, apple brandy, cream, onions, and butter, along with mushrooms. rn 4 chicken breast halves rn rn salt and pepper rn 8 ounces sliced mushrooms rn 2 teaspoons olive oil rn 2 teaspoons butter rn 1/3 cup apple brandy, such as Apple Jack or Calvados rn 4 green onions, chopped rn 1/2 cup whipping cream or heavy cream rn 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried leaf thyme rn rnPreparation: rnFlatten chicken; place chicken breast halves between pieces of plastic wrap and gently pound until thinned out and uniform in size. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a large heavy skillet, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add chicken breasts. Cook for about 5 minutes, until browned, then turn. Add mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes longer. Add green onions and apple brandy and cook for another minute, until chicken is cooked through and mushrooms are tender. Add cream and thyme; simmer until thickened. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. rnHave you else any ideas? [url=http://freerecipesforchicken.info/]recipes for chicken[/url]
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