Cursor over convicts to see their crimes!

He smiles because he gets to keep his status! Nothing will change in prison. In a den of thieves, scoundrels, rapists, murders and embezzlers, he will be the head honcho — much like he was when he held court in the financial world. He has top billing in the history of scam artists.
     Inmates and prison guards will shower him with privileges — those extra pieces of pie and the best seat in the exercise yard — to get his inside dope on how to get rich. While few of them will profit from his advice, they will at least be able to brag that they daily rub shoulders with the infamous Bernie Madoff.
    The safest place in the world for Bernie will be in prison. He doesn't have too many friends on the outside.
    Bernie should enjoy his "stardom" for the rest of his life. For many of his victims, that life should be plagued with ill health, pain and suffering but their prayers for his discomfort likely will go unanswered, just like their prayers for return of their money.
    The bottom line is that Bernie will be comfortable in prison.
    The other inmates pictured above will not be so fortunate.
    Their sentences will be up in a few years and they will have to return to society.
    Our computer hacker will spend the rest of his life with every movement monitored to make certain he doesn't recommit his crimes. He won't enjoy many job opportunities in the legitimate computer world because he will have fallen so far behind in the rapidly changing world of computers that he will never catch up. Oh yes, his sentence includes a provision where he isn't allowed a computer in prison. He'll have to learn a new trade so he can get a job at the bakery or the laundromatte when he gets out.
    The priest, on the other hand, will be doing hard time in prison. Inmates do not like child molestors! Many of the inmates will take out their anger on the priest, especially if they were abused alter boys. He looks forward to the day when he gets out and the church will help him relocate. That won't be for a long, long time!.
    Bernie was able to get away with his Ponzi scheme because his investors had been conditioned to believe. They needed to believe. And, because they needed to believe they were vulnerable — just like millions of victims before them.
    In the last 100 years our world witnessed millions of believers becoming victims of unscrupulous or misdirected leaders. Throughout history, religious groups have allowed despots, like Hitler and Lenin, to gain power. Granted, when these guys got control, the people learned that they weren't good guys. By then, unfortunately, it was too late.
    Even George Bush, certainly not a despot but still dangerous because he let the likes of Cheney et al run the show, got his backing from religious extremists who had been conditioned to believe. In his case, belief trumped intelligence and now our world has to deal with a devasting economic fallout! Worse still, the believers have become experts in criticizing those who are trying to get us out of this economic mess. It is like a mass murderer complaining about blood getting on his white rugs!
    Bernie was just one of those leaders. I am certain you can create your own list. I have mine. I know that a lot of us won't be victims because we live . . . without gods!

Postscript Question: What kind of justice sytem is operating in US America? It required Canadian Jack Banks (LaserFriendly, Print Three, etc.) to pay US$32 million bail when his "crime" involved $35 million; ex-Canadian, now British subject, Conrad Black paid US$22 million when his "crime" involved $100 million; and finally, there is Bernie, who paid only US$10 million bail when his crime involved $65 billion. Lets see . . . Banks put up slightly more than 90 cents on the dollar; Black put up 22 cents on the dollar; and Bernie, the biggest scam artist in history only put up .00015 cents on the dollar. It would suggest that criminal types pay less bail in US America if they are American and manage to swindle more than those pesky foreigners!