This past Monday Bernie Madoff was sentenced for his $50 billion ponzi scheme but he wasn't the first greedy figure to enter the pages of history.

Victims felt some vindication when Madoff received the maximum sentence of 150 years behind bars. Judge Denny Chin said despite Madoff's guilty plea it's important for the sentence to serve as a deterrent to future offenders. And so with the swing of the gaval, Madoff joined the nefarious group of the greediest people in history.  read more »

A chance to get something for nothing can appear out of thin air.

To celebrate its fifth anniversary, the Hungarian airline Wizz Air was set to release 1,000 balloons at a recent celebration. But the attempt popped too soon after the public saw what freebie was attached.

Before the balloons could be released in the air over Budapest, people spied free coupons for the airline valued at $49 U-S dollars attached to the strings, and started a free for all pop and grab.  read more »

As you may know from reading my blog below, our furry friend Mikey passed late last week. In the hope that writing about his life would ease the pain of his death, I posted a memorial on my web site.

The response has been overwhelming. I never knew so many people shared the passion and pain of caring for animals. So I’ve decided to post some of the responses, in part to keep his memory alive, but more important, to share the message that caring for animals can highlight the best of our humanity.

These are samples from family, friends and comments on my web site:

“I'm like you, never understood what it could mean. With me, Sophie
is the first pet I really have loved and just the thought of losing her hurts.
So my heart goes out to you and Jennifer.” (Ronn)  read more »

While in cash strapped California hundreds of teachers are receiving pink slips, hundreds of teachers in New York are being paid for doing nothing.

Seven hundred New York City public school teachers accused of offenses ranging from insubordination to sexual misconduct are being paid their full salaries to sit around for eight hours a day, and do whatever they want to pass the time.

Because union contracts make it hard to fire them the teachers have been banished to so-called “rubber rooms”, off-campus office spaces where they sit for months and sometimes years waiting for their disciplinary hearings. Because the teachers are still collecting their full salaries of about seventy thousand dollars this ends up costing taxpayers sixty five million dollars a year.  read more »