THREE SHADES OF FRAUD

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. The Shadow knows.

There is unquestionably a streak of evil in many. Evil manifests itself in degrees. Some evil being more serious than others.

One example is fraud. Fraud has many definitions. Generally, fraud can be defined as deceit perpetuated for profit or gain or to damage another. Deceit.....for profit or gain.

This article concerns itself with three examples.

In recent days, Subway has been in the news. Subway and its footlong sandwiches. Subway refers to them as the "Subway Footlong."

Subway's problem was discovered when an Australian teenager measured a Subway sandwich. It was only 11 inches long. He told people. The international news soon picked it up. People all over the world started measuring Subway sandwiches. All came up with the same result. Eleven inches, not 12.

An inch can be worth millions of dollars to a company such as Subway.

Instead of owning up and saying sorry, Subway appears to be stonewalling. A Subway representative issued a statement that the term footlong was was merely descriptive and not intended to describe length.

Tell me another story! How stupid!

Again, Subway should have immediately stepped up, said sorry and most importantly that the problem was being corrected. Then it should have followed up the mea culpa announcement with a further one offering some sort of bargain to its customers for a period of time.

It would not surprise me if this breach of trust costs Subway a reduction in sales for a while.

Lets move on to prisoners. Persons in jail. People like murders, thieves, child abusers, molesters and the like. Ingenuity recently evidenced itself within the jail population.

It was recently reported that persons in jail have been filing tax returns seeking refunds. Fraudulent returns. In some instances, false names were used. In others, another person's Social Security number. Initially, some inmates were successful in receiving refund checks.

For the taxable year 2011, 173,000 fraudulent tax returns were filed by those in jail. That was twice as many as had been filed in 2010. The word was spreading.

If any federal agency is diligent, it is the IRS. They caught on to the scheme. The IRS saved $2.5 billion in refunds by discovering the false returns filed in 2011.

The ingenuity of the bad guys who originally thought up the scheme is to be complimented. I would also make the observation that it is too bad their genius before and during jail was not exercised in a legitimate fashion. Honest men have been known to make money.

This article would be remiss if banks were not mentioned.

Montepaschi Bank is Italy's oldest bank. Strong in assets and character. Till recently.

Montepaschi is becoming the Lehman Brothers of Italy. Scandal has befallen the Bank.

The situation is different from Lehman Brothers and at the same time similar.

Three top level managers were involved with hedge funds and the like. They were investing Montepaschi monies in complex and complicated business dealings. To the detriment of the Bank, the Bank's shareholders, and soon perhaps its depositors.

The deals entered into lost the Bank $300 million in 2012 alone. Last week the Bank's shares dropped to $ .31 a share.

Montepaschi needs a bailout. It is seeking one from the Italian government. To the tune of $667 million. Apparently there is more involved than the $300 million 2012 loss.

The joke in all this is that the Italian government is broke. They are right behind Greece with a teetering economy. Germany is on Italy's ass to repay Eurobank loans. Thus far Italy has not been able to do so.

The cry is that Montepaschi is too old and too big to fail. Giants fell in the United States. Again, remember Lehman Brothers.

Deceit perpetrated for profit or gain. Seems to apply to Subway, the inmates, and Montepaschi.

Since the preparation of this article, the Bank's bailout request
has risen to $5.2 billion. The Bank's losses are now projected at $1
billion. A knowledgeable person said the problem has arisen because of
"...risky deals hidden from regulators."

It never ends.

TOO MANY GUNS

A woman's vagina is more regulated than assault weapons!

 

Food for thought. Think about it.

 

The line has been drawn in the sand. Both sides are prepared for the war of words to follow.

 

Lets look at some statistical items.

 

More guns were sold in November and December last year in the United States than all the guns in the Chinese and Indian armies combined.

 

You say I do not believe it. Believe it. What follows makes the statement very believable. It is all in the numbers.

 

Since Obama's election in 2008, 67 million guns have been sold in the United States. A very big number. Makes it easy to understand how last year's November and December sales could exceed the total number of guns in the two armies mentioned.

 

Which brings me to the salient points of this article. The first already mentioned is that too many guns are sold in the United States. The second has to do with who actually is behind the NRA and all the noise about Second Amendment rights, the need for guns to protect the home from governmental invasion, etc. 

 

The NRA unquestionably has many members. Since New Town, it is claimed 100,000 persons have become new members of the NRA. Members pay nominal dues. The NRA has an appropriate cash flow. However, more and bigger dollars support the NRA. The source of these dollars is the question.

 

With 67 million guns being sold in one year, the answer is obvious. The gun manufacturers and retailers. There has to be a great deal of profit in making and selling guns. 67 million in and of itself is an astronomical number.

 

I do not blame the manufacturers and retailers for waging this behind the scenes war. Each is in business to make money. It is the American way.

 

The problem I have is that the manufacturers and retailers are blinded to the damage being done by guns. Especially assault weapons. It is an intentional blindness born of greed.

 

There is no argument made which convinces me that a person needs a military type assault weapon to protect him self. Nor that a hunter requires an assault weapon to kill game.

 

Such are some of my thoughts and observations regarding the gun problem. I hope for some a bit of an eye opener. There is food for consideration here. 

BRAZILIAN PROSTITUTES

Prostitution in Brazil is an odd bag. It is neither legal nor illegal. Therefore, prostitution is considered legal for all intents and purposes.

There are 1 million prostitutes in Brazil. Two hundred fifty thousand are children. This article is limited to adult prostitutes.

The 2014 World Football Cup is being held in Brazil. The world series of soccer.

One of the sites where World Football Cup activities will be conducted is Belo Horizonte.

Classes are being conducted in Belo Horizonte to prepare Brazilian workers for the influx of foreigners. Taxi drivers, bell hops, quick food workers, hotel workers and the like are attending these classes. The course runs six to eight months. English, Spanish, and correct Portuguese is being taught. Portuguese is Brazil's official language. Correct Portuguese is being taught because a large number of attendees are immigrants.

Prostitutes are also permitted to attend. In fact, they are encouraged.

The ladies are organized. They have a union/association. It is quite effective. The President recently said regarding the classes that they contribute to the dignity of the work performed. She was also of the opinion that the members would be better able to negotiate a fair price with foreigners after completing the course.

Prostitution is oddly viewed in Brazil. The government is generally helpful and at the same time disinterested.

Prostitution has official status. The Brazilian Ministry of Labor Official List of Occupations contains "sex worker."

Prostitutes can earn a federal pension. They are permitted to contribute to the official government pension fund. This makes the ladies eligible for federal pensions when they retire.

Brazil maintains a Labor and Ministry Primer for the Sexual Professional. A short how to do book. Tips and advice as to how to be a prostitute. Instructions such to be appealing, affectionate, use perfume, and offer the customer specialties.

The negative aspect of the government's support has to do with medical regulations. The health of the ladies is given no consideration. Such things as regular medical checkups are not required.

Although this article does not touch on the 250,000 child prostitutes, it should be recognized that Brazil has the largest number after Thailand. Not something to be proud of.

Why did I write regarding this subject? No particular reason. I did think the way Brazil handles its ladies of the night was interesting and informative. Especially when contrasted to the United States where prostitution is illegal and no benefits are available to the ladies.

TERM LIMITS

I am writing this week's column on December 28, 2012 two hours before the White House meeting between the President and Congressional leaders. The issue they will be considering: How to avoid the fiscal cliff.

I expect nothing good to come out of the meeting. A proper resolution is no longer in the cards. A partial one is as good as none at all.

Our leaders continue to fail us. I say a plague on both their houses. These Washingtonians are out of touch with the American public. Or maybe they are not out of touch. They just do not care.

They speak for themselves or each other. Not for you and me.

Some of the elected beauties have political careers set in concrete. They have Congressional careers running thirty to fifty plus years. For the populace, life long jobs with an employer are a thing of the past.

Salaries are interesting also. Presently, most Senators and Congressmen receive $174,000 per year. With guaranteed increases that they voted for themselves some twenty years ago. And no union. How many earn that much and have the guarantee of salary increments? Few in our society.

The simple solution bandied about is term limits. A legislator is elected for a specific number of years or terms. Maybe two terms at best. Then good bye. They go home to farm or run their businesses as the Constitutional framers intended.

In the latter 1900s, some States were becoming concerned with the number of years Senators and Congressman were remaining in Washington. These states established term limits for their federally elected representatives.

You don't screw with Congress! The Senators and Congressmen went to Court. Their case ended up in the United States Supreme Court.

In 1995, a conservative Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that term limits were not available for implementation without a Constitutional amendment. The bad guys won! In present times, a Constitutional amendment takes years.

The people screwed again. This time by the highest Court of the land.

The framers of the Constitution and those living back then envisioned a citizen legislature. Men would travel to Washington a few weeks a year, do the people's work, and then return home to their farms and businesses. It was that way once. No more. Now they go to Washington and do whatever is necessary to stay as long as they can. What about the farm back home? What about the business back home? They do not exist.

The framers of the Constitution initially intended that term limits be a part of the Constitution  However, there was a space problem. The framers wanted the Constitution to be as short as possible. Since the framers were farmers and business persons themselves, they could not envision how any one could or would want to serve twenty or more years.

Another consideration was the life span as it existed at the time. Life expectancy was 35 years.

Term limits were left out of the Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson is considered to be the Father of the Constitution. He drafted the document. Jefferson saw the problem with professional legislators. He said at the time: "The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the.....version of the first."

James Fenimore Cooper of Leatherstocking Tales fame saw the evil of long term government representatives also: "Contact with affairs of state is one of the corrupting influences to which men are exposed."

We have a problem! One with no simple solution. We better find a solution before these career Washington politicians screw up our lives even more.