[Crime] Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

When I went in to renew my car insurance the other day, I discovered that I had been confused about when the grace period expired, and that for almost a week I had been driving without insurance. "Wow! If I had known that, I wouldn't have gotten drunk last night!" (A bit of an exaggeration; incredibly relaxed is probably closer to the truth.) Anyway, the insurance person glared at me as if I had murdered a family of four in cold blood, right there in the office. Then, last night, I was buying citrus on Sutherland, and the clerk there was checking five dollar bills for counterfeits. "Hardly seems worth it, counterfeiting five dollar bills." Again, I got a glare, and she told me there had been a spate of forgeries recently. That reminded me of an anecdote I had heard in New York, some guy on West 96 Street I think, near where I lived, I think this was the early part of the last century, had forged one dollar bills. He only printed a few at a time, to buy only what he needed, and always spent them within a radius of a few blocks. When he was finally discovered, as I recall, he was already in his 90s, and hardly worth incarcerating. He had a single great talent which he could have exploited, and didn't, and he certainly cost society far less than many businessmen, legitimate or not. It was a story, and a life, that makes the world brighter on a cold winter's day. When I told the clerk about the guy, she scrunched her face even more. Bad man. Very bad man.

Yesterday I read yet another detailed account of how Americans are torturing prisoners taken in the so-called war on terrorism, which is fast becoming a war of terrorism. I ran into Philippe's office and started screaming, how was it Americans are not marching in the streets when confronted with these stories, knowing that they are responsible for these actions, that their family members participate in the abuse, and that their tax dollars make it all possible? Why no scrunchy faces?