Can Greece Be Saved?

The National Post is featuring TVO's ‘The Greek Collapse’, calling it "a must-see special". The show is hosted by the incomparable Steve Paikin. Experts bat around what to do about insolvent Greece.

The elephant in the room is corruption. The Greeks are dishonest. Tax evasion and bribery are the rule rather than the exception. Steve Paikin raises the issue at about the 29 minute mark and it is discussed for all of about 90 seconds. The guy's answer is incomprehensible.

There's a lot of discussion in the show about the rich EU countries stepping up to the plate and supporting the poor. Here's my question to the participants: Why would successful taxpaying societies spend their tax dollars propping up a dishonest, tax-evading one? 

What is needed in Greece is a deep-rooted cultural repentance -- the kind of fundamental reordering of society that in the past has been associated with the leavening effects of evangelical Christianity. The kind of self-regulating reordering that characterized Great Britain, spread to North America, Australia, New Zealand and beyond, and unleashed the greatest prosperity the world has ever seen.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Related articles

• 'The Greek Collapse': a must-see special (opinion.financialpost.com)

"I Have And Have Not Committed A Felony"

         Image via Wikipedia

Americans love the word felon. We Canadians don't use it. "Convicted felon". Has an American ring to it. But, hey, how bad can being a felon be? I mean, look at how close the word felon is to fellow.

Anyway, let's take a closer look at this jolly good felon:

Four months after her name was the first to surface as just one of Mr. Gray’s questionable political hires, Ms. Whiting appeared at an oversight hearing before the Government Operations Committee on Monday and claimed she denied her felony conviction on a March 18, 2010, application for the Mendelson job because she thought a 10-year grace period for disclosing prior felonies had expired.

She entered a guilty plea to federal wire-fraud charges on July 3, 2001, according to a federal court transcript - less than nine years before signing and completing the form, which clearly states: “I understand that a false statement on any part of my application may be grounds for not hiring me, or for firing me after I begin work. I understand that the making of a false statement on this form is punishable by criminal penalties.”

Accompanied by her attorney, A. Scott Bolden, Ms. Whiting testified under oath that she disclosed her conviction on a Jan. 13 job application. A document submitted by the Gray administration to the oversight committee indicates a prior felony along with a typed entry that reads: “Will explain in person.”

However, that application is unsigned and undated, despite a bolded section that reads “YOU MUST SIGN THIS APPLICATION.” Mr. Bolden claimed that his client instead signed and dated a residency form attached to the Jan. 13 job application thinking it was sufficient.

Council member David A. Catania noted that Ms. Whiting signed the correct page of her 2010 application for Mr. Mendelson’s office - though she also made a false statement at that time. He shot down her explanation that she “felt both statements were accurate” because she was approaching the 10-year mark from the date of her conviction. He pointed out that the more recent form purports to provide the truthful answer while the older form clearly provided a false statement.

So, I have, and have not committed a felony.

It all depends on what the meaning of "have" is. Sounds like a Democrat to me.

Before her federal conviction in 2001, for which she was sentenced to 22 months in prison, Ms. Whiting was charged multiple times with fraud, forgery, passing bad checks and theft, according to Maryland court records. In 1994, she pleaded guilty to theft and was placed on home detention and probation. In all, courts have ordered her to pay back more than $150,000 in diverted funds over the years, state and federal records show.

I'm betting the mayor who gave this gal a $65K/year political hire gig is also a Democrat.

h/t Drudge.

Related articles

• What's the best way to reveal you're a felon? (ask.metafilter.com)
• What can a convicted felon not do (wiki.answers.com)
• Can an ex-felon in california ever own a firearm (wiki.answers.com)
• What happens if a convicted felon gets caught carrying a gun (wiki.answers.com)
• A nonpartisan look at felon voting rights in the USA (allthingsreform.org)
• Len Dykstra Charged With 23 Felonies, Two Misdemeanors For Good Measure (thehollywoodgossip.com)

Bono's Global Health Fund: More Money Wasted

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

GENEVA -- A $21.7 billion development fund backed by celebrities and hailed as an alternative to the bureaucracy of the United Nations sees as much as two-thirds of some grants eaten up by corruption, The Associated Press has learned.

Much of the money is accounted for with forged documents or improper bookkeeping, indicating it was pocketed, investigators for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria say. Donated prescription drugs wind up being sold on the black market.

Ah, yes. Doing good by throwing money at problems. Too often the West doesn't donate money to do good, it donates money to feel good. IOW, even when it's about them, it's about us.

And countries rife with fraud and corruption and lying and graft wonder why they are poor.

I've just returned from Africa. Every dollar I donated I put directly into the hands of needy and worthy recipients.

And, even though I am a Christian, I favour the death penalty for persons convicted of egregious corruption in third world countries. An example needs to be made. The evil in human hearts needs to be quelled. The lawlessness of a corrupt, lawless society needs to be snuffed out before a nation can become prosperous and afford to be generous towards its evil-doers.

Throwing money at disfunctional third-world countries, often corrupt, is like putting money into a bag with holes in it. It doesn't end poverty; it perpetuates it by creating a culture of entitlement and dependency.

My friends, the facts of life are conservative -- and that includes a realistic assessment of the human heart and sin.

Read more:

Related articles

• AP Enterprise: Fraud Plagues Global Health Fund (abcnews.go.com)
• Fraud plagues global health fund backed by celebrities (msnbc.msn.com)
• Fraud plagues global fund to fight AIDs (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Fraud Plagues Celebrity-Backed Global Health Fund (huffingtonpost.com)
• AP Enterprise: Fraud plagues global health fund (foxnews.com)
• AP Enterprise: Fraud plagues global health fund (seattletimes.nwsource.com)