Looter? I Barely Even...Ah...

I haven't had a chance to talk about this Madoff dude, even though some people I know are actually directly affected by it. One of my co-workers luckily didn't have that much with him and by "that much" I mean "only a few millions". But let's get back to this Madoff guy.

How can a man steal from his family, charities and friends? Easy- he's a pathological sociopath.

Now when you hear the words "pathological sociopath" you imagine some foaming at the mouth, straight jacket wearing kook with rolly eyes and a crazy laugh. Not always so. They actually walk among us and live with us as if they were normal. The reason they pass as normal is because they are so convincing in their lies, people think they are harmless until they get caught, and then the fit really hits the shan.

When someone is able to lie to me with a straight face and in great detail, I actually feel a writhing pain in my stomach. My shrink likes to tell me that it is because I am authentic in my response to people which may or may not be a compliment per-se, but really is juat a marker of definition which means I have a low tolerance for bullshit. Some can overlook the insane, me, my skin actually crawls.

Harmless as these people may be on the outside it is what they are capable of that frightens me the most and that's where Madoff comes in again. He lied to his own family and closest friends. Because of his smooth talking sense of cool, thousands of people's lives are ruined. So you can go on and on about "how can someone do this?!?" but the truth is, these people exist and they have a very keen ability to assuage fears, bs and gain trust.

So who can you trust? I dunno- I generally go by gut and experience. Because to me even the smallest of odd lies a person is capable of telling points to an underlying ability to do much worse, and still sleep at night.

$10 says Madoff is taking a nap right now.

Speaking of naps, have I mentioned how comfortable my new mattress/bed is?