Jezebel 
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New York, 9:25 PM
Wed Dec 2
71 posts in the last 24 hours
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08/04/09
The people howling the loudest for the blood of Madoff and his devoted yet inscrutable wife would generate more empathy from me if they also acknowledged their collusion in their downfall.... through willful ignorance and greed. I'm not talking about the little old lady in Dubuque who lost her house, but Madoff didn't take her type in the first place. And of course he should be in jail, along with many others who, however, managed to keep their CEO jobs due to the munificent support of american taxpayers. THAT howl you hear is moi.
08/04/09
Hindsight is always 20/20. Madoff's victims thought they were getting accurate financial statements and made decisions accordingly. You no doubt do the same, but on a smaller level. Do you believe that your bank will always be able to produce your checking and savings account balances on demand? Then you're no smarter than the people who invested with Madoff--the federal government certified both him and your bank.
08/04/09
You are correct, they were suspiciously consistent, but I fail to understand the qualification as far as investors are concerned. Whether they were suspiciously high or consistent, they were suspicious.
Yes, my bank produces my checking and savings on demand. I wouldn't have it any other way.
I don't know what you mean by "certification." Investments with Madoff were not federally insured, obviously. My money is. Any money you invest that is not federally insured is money YOU MUST BE PREPARED TO LOSE. The fact that they lost it in a scam is the reason Madoff is in jail, and the reason emotions are so high, understandably.
If you invest non-FDIC assets you better damn well be alert to anything suspicious.
08/04/09
08/04/09
Again, strangely consistent not high (they were both) is the point.
Yes, I feel sorry for the people who listened to trusted financial advisors. Trusted financial advisors should be an oxymoron. But these people will be victimized again if they only focus on the demonizing of Madoff in place of recognizing that they can not count on uninsured investments being there tomorrow. You can only wager what you can afford to lose.
08/05/09
08/05/09
I get what you are saying, of course. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the way finance works should know that consistent returns of eight to ten percent is not realistic. So in that way, I imagine the people were so blinded by the possibilities that they failed to look at this with a critical eye. So I get what you are saying. I do.
08/05/09
Well, as you may know, there was at least one financial expert in Boston who attempted to talk to the SEC. He was ignored.
08/04/09
I say take everything from her and let her write a book about how clueless she is. She'll surely get millions on such a deal, for her to keep any proceeds at this point is vile.
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
Speak for yourself, VF. I could give two shits about this woman or her husband. They are bad people, and I have no interest in trying to figure out why bad people do what they do. Unless they are serial killers, because they, on the other hand, are actually interesting.
Do I care that she's struggling in her "new" life as outcast? Not really, we're all adults and we all have to live with our decisions. Lucky her, she gets to live with her horrible decisions comfortably, not in jail, and with food on the table.
Poor thing.
08/04/09
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08/04/09
If it is just an innocuous descriptor, like hair color, I can think of a few synonyms off the top of my head: "Small," "slight," even "thin."
07/06/09
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07/06/09
When Mark Sanford wares a black suit, it represents the darkness of his soul, and also how remarkably boring he is.
When he wears a red tie, it represented the PASSION he felt for his lady of the exotic tan lines. When he wares a blue tie, it represents the COLDNESS he felt in his marriage. When he wears a striped tie, it represents his CONFUSION over his love life. And when he wears polka dots, it represents his stupidity.
07/06/09
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07/06/09
Also I like to run as many errands as possible while attired this way, so there's no public speculation or confusion about how I'm doing: poorly.
07/06/09
07/06/09
And yeah, it's 'cause they're women. No one is speculating about what Gov Sanford is thinking based on his suit, and it isn't just because his TMI-OFF button was broken.
07/06/09
07/06/09
Except her pants are just screaming "sexting with Brad," so fuck, I don't know what to think anymore, and I no longer believe in love.
07/06/09
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07/06/09
Maybe she just returned from filming her spot in a commercial for yeast infection cream.