2008/12/22 New York
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Balzac and Dickens

Foundation

A friend said to me over dinner: “I fear that this Madoff affair will trigger an outburst of anti-Semitism.” I might be checking the wrong websites and reading the wrong newspaper but till now I haven’t encountered any anti-Semitism in response to Madoff.
In today’s Times Frank Rich writes: ‘Just when we thought that reality couldn’t hit a new bottom it did with Bernie Madoff, a smiling shark as sleazy as the TV host in “Slumdog.” A pillar of both the Wall Street and Jewish communities — a former Nasdaq chairman, a trustee at Yeshiva University — he even victimized Elie Wiesel’s Foundation for Humanity with his Ponzi scheme. A Jewish financier rips off millions of dollars devoted to memorializing the Holocaust — who could make this stuff up? Dickens, Balzac, Trollope and, for that matter, even Mel Brooks might be appalled.’

I’m not sure if Balzac and Dickens would be appalled but Mr. Rich is right, it’s good material. I’m afraid I’m not going to use it though.


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24 comments Last_comment
The poor bloke only wanted to feed the hungry little sharks amongst us.
said Bernard f 22/12/2008 10:56 • x
Bernard
You should always make the first comment.
Merry christmas.
said Mieke Dutoit 22/12/2008 11:13 • x
That his two sons gave him directly to the FBI, when he told one of his sons he lost all the money, that’s something that surprises me. Everybody who is the ‘victim’ of a Ponzi scheme is a little naive, you always know where your at.

I will make a movie next month, it’s called: Ponzi Scream, or ‘The financer’ and has a role for Mr. Madoff, also many other famous financers, and a small one for Michel Douglas off course.

You can buy stocks now, and tell your friends to buy stocks, you are a fool if you don’t buy them. You can’t loose nothing.
said David Manos Pefko 22/12/2008 11:34 • x
@Mieke
No need for that, but thanks anyway.
Merry Christmas to you too!
said Bernard f 22/12/2008 12:43 • x
money is probably the most boring subject to write a story about.
said Jurriaan R 22/12/2008 13:53 • x
Searching for Arnon?
One of the nice things of the HTML version of this site is that we can measure what people typed into Google or Yahoo before they found it. Here are some remarkable examples.
I wonder what it was that these people were looking for:

- adolescent shirtless
- vingeren
- "my husband behaves like a child"
- happy holidays
- 'cor vos' slechtste debuut
- autogids knack
- azt mi döntjük el, hogy ki zsidó
- condoms minibars
- gay web austria
- hitler was een romanticus
- how can i remove plastic smell from a matress
- how do you hold a yarmulke on
- israel idf
- kaas 2008
- kinds of idealism
- le grand père de adolf hitler est juif
- living the celebrity life
- no one moulds us out of earth and clay
- small women suitcase
- taking subway is convenient than driving
- unclothed women
- what skills do i have to have to become a train conductor
- wienerinnen schrei nach liebe
said Sander Voerman 22/12/2008 18:33 • x
Sander
My favorite is

how can i remove plastic smell from a matress

Do you believe this site answers that question?
If not, what can we do to answer the question?
said Arnon Grunberg 22/12/2008 18:48 • x
@Mighty Sander
Please, keep our little secrets safe. Merry XXX-mas to you!
said Bernard f 22/12/2008 19:07 • x
Bernard
Let me guess: were you googling "small women suitcase"?
said Arnon Grunberg 22/12/2008 19:32 • x
I would like to meet the person who searched for "wienerinnen schrei nach liebe".
said Oscar Wilde 22/12/2008 19:38 • x
Arnon
If you search the plastic smell keyword in Google, the site is on page 7, linking to:
http://www.arnongrunberg.com/blog/869-burned-plastic

Apparently Google is smart, because it translated matress to mattress in the search. Other search results explain how to remove urine and smoke from mattrasses, and most disturbing: blood. Maybe you can write a special story for this site, an edutainment, that is not only amusing but also explains how to deal with smelly beds.
said Sander Voerman 22/12/2008 19:54 • x
@ Bernard
No worries, I can't see who searched for what.
Is the slightly pornographic XXX-mas on purpose?

Bonnes fêtes to all of you!
said Sander Voerman 22/12/2008 19:58 • x
@Arnon
No, I was the “how do you hold a yarmulke on” !?#...

@Sander
Please, do not blame me for that stupid joke (I know Arnon loves jokes of all kind).
Thanks!
said Bernard f 22/12/2008 20:08 • x
@ sander, i think you made that list up to get attention
said Jurriaan R 23/12/2008 02:08 • x
Sander
Did anybody type:
Toni Leeflang on trumpet
said Coen van Dam 23/12/2008 03:41 • x
@Jurriaan: I wish I was that creative but thanks for the attention, I need it.
@Coen: No and who is Toni Leeflang? He does not live in Google. Are you lost?
said Sander Voerman 23/12/2008 05:29 • x
Arnon
What puzzles me a little, do you realy think one swindler might cause an outburst of anti Semitism? After all he didn't dicriminate. his own community was his mayor victim. If of the current financial crisis, the Jews would considered the cause, then I would talk of anti Semitism.
said Mieke Dutoit 23/12/2008 10:44 • x
Sander
I did and I was on this site.
said Coen van Dam 23/12/2008 13:39 • x
Mieke
Well, read this post again, it's something that was on my mind, but yes Mr. Madoff's religious affiliation might play in a role in how people will respond to this scandal. As the NY Times wrote this morning: "...fear of the revival of ugly, old stereotypes..."
Why is this so surprising to you?
said Arnon Grunberg 23/12/2008 15:21 • x
Mieke
I meant to write: "it isn't something that was on my mind..." Freudian.
said Arnon Grunberg 23/12/2008 15:27 • x
Arnon
In my opinion the most virulent anti Semitism, except maybe in the Middle East, has ceased to exist. To me it sounds almost like paranoia if one believes that a man like Madoff will alter this again.
said Mieke Dutoit 23/12/2008 15:32 • x
Mieke
Some people worry only about virulent anti-Semitism. Others worry also about less virulent anti-Semitism.
As to your question. Mr. Madoff seems to me a capable man. He can change a lot.
said Arnon Grunberg 23/12/2008 15:53 • x
madoff
raises a question of a totally different kind with me: do all names with off at the end stem from a Jewish origin, like Hasselhoff, Weezenhoff, Vreedenhoff etc. There are quite a few around in the Netherlands and the States.
Otherwise: small people, small crimes, big people, big crimes???
said Joanne Hartmann 24/12/2008 17:16 • x
Joanne
Why such strange, far from your bed questions? Why don't you post a comment when you have something to say?
said David Manos Pefko 25/12/2008 02:40 • x
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