I’ve had to pay for my mistakes.
And I’ve had to pay for mistakes made by others.
And I’ve been greatly cheered when good people understood what I’ve endured, tossed some bucks my way and helped out a few times.

Introducing a stranger to “confirm” a return on investment, without checking the story for legitimacy, Jeff’s “confession” that his good buddy Ken had been pocketing the money, PayPal “shutting them down”, and the disappearing contract. But then she turns around and helps this guy buy another truckload of electronics to “recoup her losses”, after she had already been ripped off for over 40 grand????

She’s a kind-hearted person and her intentions were good, but there are limits to how much “trust” should be tolerated. The approach used by the two con artists are similar to the e-mail scams originating from Ethiopia:
“I have money that’s owed me, but I need some money to get it, and I’ll give you a cut…” All those warning signs and no alarm bells went off? Unfortunately, Jeff and Ken saw an easy mark and she’s poorer by 50 thou. I do hope they caught the slugs.

We have to give to everyone via taxes, or we have to be callous and give to no one? I guess people don’t have the intelligence to disburse their own money as they see fit…the government needs to step in and moderate, or someone likes sausage needs to point the finger at where our money is truly deserved and should go. All hail the arbiter of charitable giving.

I’ve never heard anyone bitch about a private fundraiser for someone in need, let alone a widow. There’s that liberal empathy we hear about so much…guess you have to be in their camp to be cared for. Lockstep group think gets you compassion…think differently, your sacrifices and decisions are ridiculed.

On a personal note, me thinks that sausage is just upset because he seems to be afflicted with liberalism that has left him sausageless. And yes! That is a personal attack on you! Your (lack of) character and any misguided (ill)logic you believe that you possess.

On January 21st, 2008 at 10:49 am, sausage said:

What happened to the asinine Suck. It. Up touted on this very site for people making equally stupid decisions when it comes to their mortgages?

This just tells me that you, Sausage, do not understand.

There is a MASSIVE DIFFERENCE between being charitable directly, as in this case of asking us to directly support a widow with a serious problem, and being forced to be charitable by an inefficent and corrupt government structure.

In this case, I know what the cause is, I know where the money is going, and I make the choice to support or not support this individual. This is true Christian/Muslim/Jewish charity. No where in any of those guiding priciples does it state to give your support through a faceless and corrupt system in the hopes that maybe someone who really needs the help might get it, while thousands of fraudulent claims and corrupt politicians line their pockets in the process.

What you encourage is the problem. Government is not, nor has it ever been, the answer. Even our founding fathers knew this:

“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”

Thomas Paine

Why is it, that a people who “claim” to be so afraid of the abuse of government to our rights and freedoms, are so willing to freely transfer their moral and civic individual duties to that same government, thereby giving that government the exact power they so fear?

“Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government.”

Daniel Webster

Congratulations sausage aka wiener. At least on this count you’ve scored a perfect 100%.