The SoapBoxers

When LeBron James left the Cavaliers for the Heat as a free agent, I was disappointed, along with much of the country.  I would have loved to see him win a title with his hometown Cavs.

However, I have been surprised at the amount of backlash against not only LeBron, but the NBA’s new Holy Trinity as a whole.  If you listen to some radio shows, it sounds like LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosch coming together is a great sin against humanity.  We simply can’t have all of the NBA’s stars gravitating to a handful of teams, can we?

This strikes me as very odd.  The ultimate goal in team sport is to win a title.  These three players put themselves in prime position to win a title.  If there are no other teams that can challenge them (at least in the East), is this their fault?

In an era where players (and agents) seem to enjoy squeezing every last dollar out of their teams, it’s worth noting that the three players did not sign the “max contracts” they could have signed under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.  They sign for a bit less (albeit still for stunning amounts) to allow the Heat a bit of flexibility to sign a few more players and still stay under the NBA’s salary cap.  It’s not as if the Heat could throw unlimited money at the three players – they still had to creatively work them under the cap.  Among the deals they made was jettisoning 2008 #2 overall pick Michael Beasley for a relative pittance to free up cap space.

Remember a generation ago when Michael Jordan was playing for signficantly below his market value so that the Bulls could sign and retain players who could help them win a title – such as the ever-colorful Dennis Rodman?  Of course, the much-loved Jordan was glorified in the press for doing this – another sacrifice by the ultimate team player.  If baseball’s Albert Pujols signs an extension with the St. Louis Cardinals for less than his stratospheric market value, he too will be portrayed as a team player who is doing his part to help the Cardinals get back to the World Series.  Even in the NBA, we see aging stars sign cheap deals toward the end of their careers in an attempt to chase a ring.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying that LeBron handled his departure gracefully.  The ESPN special was a bit much, even if it did raise money for charity.  Can you imagine Albert Pujols or Peyton Manning doing this?  Of course not.

Cavaliers owner  Dan Gilbert could have chosen to take the high road, but decided to get his hands dirty with an open letter than was extremely critical of James, including allegations that he gave up during the playoffs.  Other observers were equally appalled that Gilbert dared to use the Comic San Serif font for his letter (yes, I’m serious).  In any case, Gilbert’s letter served to further stoke the fires.  Gilbert may not have liked LeBron’s exit, but the fact of the matter is that LeBron was within his rights to leave – that’s the essence of the concept of free agency.

You can choose to dislike James for his decision – but don’t dislike him for working with his friends to form a super team.  They are simply trying to achieve the ultimate team goal.  It’s not impossible for another team to challenge the Heat with a similar super trio – they simply need to find a few stars hungry enough for a title that they can sacrifice a few bucks along the way.

From time to time, when reading the advice columns, I read articles about parents who are concerned that they are spending too freely in retirement and will have little money to leave to their children when they die.  Sometimes, there are even letters from grown children who are concerned that their inheritance is being spent.

My personal thought on this is that children are not entitled to an inheritance.  I’ll make an exception for young children left under the guardianship of others when you die.  In this case, it would definitely be good if you were able to leave some money (such as life insurance proceeds) to cover the cost of raising the children.  But if your children are grown, married, and established in their careers, should they really be leaning on you for financial support?  Probably not.  They should really be flying under their own power at that point.

Some people seem to be under the impression that financial assets are the most important thing parents can leave to children.  I sincerely hope that I am remembered for more than a financial bequest after I die.  I’m hoping my children will be able to look back at life skills they have learned from me and memories of times we spent together.  If money overshadows the non-financial gifts, I’d consider that a colossal failure.

For those of you who are worried about spending yours kids’ inheritance – don’t worry about it.  It’s your money, earned by decades of hard work.  You’re certainly entitled to spend it to enjoy your retirement years.  Take that trip to Europe you’ve always dreamed of (or whatever it is you’ve always dreamed of).  You may be pleasantly surprised to find out that your children actually prefer that you spend the money on yourself.

If you’re one of the kids who worry that your parents are spending money that is “rightfully yours” – I’d recommend spending 99 cents to buy the song The Will by Mark Chestnut.  Listen to it a few times and maybe your perspective will change.

Yes, you read that correctly.  The Casual Observer will cease to exist in the near future.

In the beginning, the site was a lone Casual Observer (kosmo) expounding on topics that interested him.  Over the past 18 months, the staff has grown, and we have people jumping up on their soap boxes to talk about all sorts of topics.  That’s not exactly what I had in mind when I started the site.

What was I to do?  I had no choice.  The Casual Observer is dead.

However …

In its place, rising like a phoenix from the ashes, is The Soap Boxers.  All of the existing content from The Casual Observer has been carried forward to The Soap Boxers and the site’s design is remaining largely unchanged.  If you notice any problems with the site, let me know.  Please update your bookmarks.  We will be re-directingt traffic for a little while, to

RSS subscribers and email subscribers should not be affected.  I use a 3rd party (Feedburner) and handle the underlying RSS feeds, and I should just be able to redirect content from The Soap Boxers to be delivered to the subscribers.  However, if you noticed that you don’t receive anything new for a few days, this may indicate a problem.  In this case check the web site for a status. I don’t expect any problems, though.

How will the content change?

It won’t.  We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing now.  If you loved The Casual Observer, you should love The Soap Boxers.

Why The Soap Boxers?

One of the things I disliked about the old site was that the formal name of the site differed from the URL, due to my inability to get the corresponding .com address.  Because many of us are often on our virtual soap box, I kicked around a few related terms before settling on TheSoapBoxers.com.

You may notice that I’m using the term “soap box” instead of “soapbox”.  Why?  Because our writers don’t pull punches – they are Soap Boxers!  Using the two word variation of the term allows us to use both meanings 🙂

We will be back to the regular schedule on Monday.  Remember – update your bookmarks and tell all your friends.

We’re going into a short quiet period here at The Casual Observer.  Changes are afoot in the near future.  What sort of changes?  Well, if I told you, that would ruin the surprise!

We get a LOT of spam comments at The Casual Observer.  What is the point?  When people leave a comment, they can include a link to their own site as a “thank you” for commenting.  Spammers are trying to boost the number of links to their sites in order to boost the search engine rankings.

Thanks to our spam filter (Akismet), you rarely have to see any of them.  Some of them are pretty funny and/or weird – so todayI’ll share some with you.  The spam comments are in italics, my editorials are in bold.

Hello,
I am Lincoln and I am a Summer party Planning coordinator.
I realize, alot of people encounter quite a difficulty, finding the suitable Inspiration for their next Gathering!
Well, how about Bungee Basketball to make it a real success?

Take a look at Casino Party Pennsylvania! You be able to lease Bungee Basketball for nice prices!

Have fun at your upcoming Summer party, Lincoln

Bungee basketball? That sounds like fun.

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, we think strongly this and love learning much more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, can you mind updating your weblog along with an increase of information? It is very useful for me.

Uh, but the article was 10 Things About Jamie Moyer.  I have no idea what they “learned” from a tongue-in-cheek article.

Percocet 93-490….

Percocet addiction recovery. Percocet. Percocet vs vicodon. Percocet extract how to shoot….

OK, the title of the article was Sick and Tired – but not that sort of sick.

Ihr habt eine schoene Webseite hier, und vielciht schaut Ihr euch auchmal meine an, ok Sex im Internet ist nicht jedermans Sache, aber eben meine erste Homepage. Danke und macht weiter so!

OK, it’s  been a few years since I took German in high school, but I can muddle through enough of this to figure out that it’s a very odd comment to leave on an article about baseball

Howdy, just a short note to say that i am new to your site however I am definitely the latest fan. Oh also to CHEER ON BRAZIL FOR WORLD CUP 2010!! GO BRAZIL!!

Swell, but this is relevant how?  Not only have we given the World Cup very little coverage (sorry) but this was left in response to an article that chronicled a day in the life of a chef.

These are the best of the comments, unfortunately.  The vast majority are simply lists of URLs to sites that sell prescription drugs.

Well, that’s a very simple question question.  Here’s your answer, according to rule 2.00 of the Major League Baseball rule book.

 An INFIELD FLY is a fair fly ball (not including a line drive nor an attempted bunt) which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, when first and second, or first, second and third bases are occupied, before two are out. The pitcher, catcher and any outfielder who stations himself in the infield on the play shall be considered infielders for the purpose of this rule.

When it seems apparent that a batted ball will be an Infield Fly, the umpire shall immediately declare “Infield Fly” for the benefit of the runners.  If the ball is near the baselines, the umpire shall declare “Infield Fly, if Fair.”

The ball is alive and runners may advance at the risk of the ball being caught, or retouch and advance after the ball is touched, the same as on any fly ball. If the hit becomes a foul ball, it is treated the same as any foul.

If a declared Infield Fly is allowed to fall untouched to the ground, and bounces foul before passing first or third base, it is a foul ball. If a declared Infield Fly falls untouched to the ground outside the baseline, and bounces fair before passing first or third base, it is an Infield Fly.

Rule 2.00 (Infield Fly) Comment: On the infield fly rule the umpire is to rule whether the ball could ordinarily have been handled by an infielder—not by some arbitrary limitation such as the grass, or the base lines. The umpire must rule also that a ball is an infield fly, even if handled by an outfielder, if, in the umpire’s judgment, the ball could have been as easily handled by an infielder. The infield fly is in no sense to be considered an appeal play. The umpire’s judgment must govern, and the decision should be made immediately.

When an infield fly rule is called, runners may advance at their own risk. If on an infield fly rule, the infielder intentionally drops a fair ball, the ball remains in play despite the provisions of Rule 6.05(l).  The infield fly rule takes precedence.

Got it?  No?

The basic gist of the rule is that an infielder cannot allow a ball to drop in order to gain an advantage.  If an infield fly is called, the batter is automatically out, and the runners can advance at their own risk (but normally just return to their base).

So then , why does the rule exist?  Imagine if the bases were loaded with nobody out and there was a lazy pop fly to the third baseman.  If the ball is caught, the runners must return to their base.  If the ball is not caught, the runners must run to the next base.  Generally, the runners are going to stay near their base.  If the third baseman were to let the ball drop, he could step on third base for a force out, throw to second base for another, and have the second baseman throw to first base for the final out.  If the runners suspect that he’s going to do this, they could cheat toward the next base … but then they would have time to get back to their base if the fielder catches the ball.  It’s a real catch-22, and the infield fly rule attempts to level the playing field.

A few things to note about the rule:

• The fly ball does not have to be on the infield, but rather is a fly ball “which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort“.  This means that balls that are a few steps onto the outfield grass are included.  Even if the outfielder actually makes the play, the ball may be considered an infield fly if an infielder could have caught the ball with ordinary effort.  Foul pop flies that are caught are also governed by the infield fly rule.
• It’s also important to note the phrase “ordinary effort“.  If the infielder would have to race halfway across the diamond and dive to make a spectacular catch, this is not an infield fly.
• The ball is still live after an infield fly is declared.  If an infield fly is declared and the infielder accidentally kicks the ball into the outfield, the runners can run the bases at their own risk.

I’m a fan of the rule – without it, anarchy would exist.  Remember the play near the end of the All Star game where David Ortiz was thrown out at second base because he didn’t know if Marlon Byrd was going to make the catch?  Without the infield fly rule, infielders can create this sorts of situations on a regular basis (the Byrd/Ortiz play itself would not have been an infield fly, for a variety of reasons).  Truly, the infield fly rule is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Want to learn more about the rules of Major League Baseball?  Grab a copy of the official rule book.

Major League Baseball Official Rules

The final part of the three part story.

Murray and Smythe spent the morning analyzing the financial records of Wallaby, as well as the records of the foreign suppliers Wallaby was interested in taking over. The offer Murray had on the table would give Smythe a sizable ownership interest in Wallaby. Based on the past performance of the company, it looked like a solid bargain.

During post-lunch cocktails, Murray made a final pitch.

“In most case, I would never dream of taking on an outside investor. Unfortunately, my silent partners and I are stretched thin at the moment, and the banks think my plan is a bit on the risky side, given the financial state of the suppliers.”

Leonard Smythe nodded, not totally disagreeing with the opinion of the banks.

“If we can get the infusion of cash to take control of these suppliers, we’re going to have a very strong year. Our revenue has been on a steep upward curve for the last few years. But if we’re forced to renege on the deals we’ve made with the computer manufacturers, we not only lose that revenue, but the trust of those companies.”

“I’ve heard good things about you, Mr, Smythe, so I wanted to give you a crack at this. I’m confident that you would be a fair partner and would not put your own interest in front of those of the company. Unfortunately, though, time is of the essence. I have a meeting with another venture capitalist on Monday, so I’m going to need an answer by tomorrow.”

Smythe gulped the rest of his scotch and sat silently for a moment. “Silas, my boy, I’m seriously considering investing in Wallaby. However, we’re talking about a serious amount of money. I’ll have to sleep on it and give you an answer in the morning.”

Smythe headed back to hotel in the early afternoon, saying that he needed to make some calls about some other deals he was working on. He arranged to meet Andrea in the hotel bar once again.

The next morning, Andrea told Silas she was very confident that Smythe was going to come through with the money.

“I think our Mr. Smythe is a bit smitten with me,” Andrea told Silas over breakfast in the morning. “He tried to convince me to run away with him for the weekend”

“Did you agree?”

“Actually, I did. I thought it would give you some time to shut down operations and leave town. By the time Smythe smells a rat, all traces of Wallaby Industries will be long gone.”

Silas Murray smiled. “By the time he realizes that he’s being conned by a beautiful woman, his money would be sitting safely in the Cayman Islands.”

As Andrea had predicted, Leonard Smythe had his checkbook out when he met with Silas. He quickly signed the contract and handed a check to Silas.

“A million now, and the rest in ten days, as we agreed.”

Silas smiled and took the check, amused at receiving an old school form of payment. “I look forward to having you as a partner, Mr. Smythe.”

“Please, now that we’re partners, call me Leonard,” replied Smythe. “Oh, and if it isn’t a terrible inconvenience, I’d like to borrow your VP of Sales for a few days.”

“You kids have a good time. I think the company can survive for one day without Ms. Noonan.”

An hour after Smythe left the office with Andrea, Silas was at the bank. He deposited the check and left instructions to wire the funds to his Cayman account after the deposit had been verified.

Silas spent the rest of the day removing any trace of their presence from the location they had used as the headquarters for Wallaby Industries, including wiping for fingerprints. They had had upfront cash for the rent to avoid a paper trail. Silas Murray jumped on a plane and headed back home.

When Silas didn’t hear from Andrea on Monday morning, he got a little worried. When the funds hadn’t been verified by Tuesday, he got more worried. On Wednesday, he received a letter in the mail from Leonard Smythe.

My name is not really Leonard Smythe, of course, just as yours is not Silas Murray. I simply assumed the identity of Smythe for a few days, in order to use his credibility to gain your trust.

You conned a friend of mine several years ago. I doubt you remember it – it was just one of many victims you have conned over the years.

I took it upon myself to get revenge for my friend. You thought you were conning me out of my money, but I was actually conning you out of your wife. I made my sales pitch to her the first night I was in town. She’s tired of life on the run, Silas. I can give her a comfortable life without the need to constantly look over her shoulder.

Making our escape over the weekend bought us some time. Andrea knew that you wouldn’t get truly worried until the check bounced. She’s an amazing woman, Silas. You don’t know what you’ve been missing all these years as you focused all of your energy on the almighty dollar.

This is the second part of a three part story.

“I’m sure you and Andrea would talk business, so it’s a deductible expense for me,” Murray said with a conspiratorial wink.

Murray took a sip of coffee and turned the topic of the conversation back to business.

“As you know, Mr. Smythe, Wallaby is a privately held company. We develop computer components. We sell the components to the big manufacturers, who use the components in their computers.”

Smythe nodded as Murray continued. “We have strong relationships with a couple of foreign companies who do the actual manufacturing. Unfortunately, those companies are experiencing some major financial trouble right now.”

Murray continued his tale of woe. “If we can’t get the companies to deliver, we could find ourselves unable to meet the deadlines for the computer companies. That could put us in a world of hurt. In fact, it could threaten the viability of the company.”

“Can’t you simply shift the manufacturing to a different company?” asked Smythe.

“Not at this stage in the game, unfortunately. We wouldn’t have the time to find another supplier, sign contracts, and have them get ready for production. Time is simply too short.

“Then why do you need me?” asked the venture capitalist.

“One option that we have come up with is to simply buy those companies. This would give us complete control and allow us to meet our deadlines.”

“And you want my money.”

“Well, yes,” admitted Murray.

“How much?”

“We could acquire the companies for about three million in cash, in addition to assuming about a million and a half in debt.”

Murray spent the rest of the morning talking about the history of the company and sharing details about the products that the company produced. The company had started in Murray’s garage and slowly become a presence in the industry.

After a long lunch, they returned to the office and Murray placed a call to one of the suppliers. Although the man on the other end assured Murray that everything was going fine, Smythe could tell by the strain in his voice that this was not the case.

After the call, Murray brought up some news articles about the supplier’s parent company. The company was indeed teetering on the brink of collapse.

“We wouldn’t be buying the entire company, of course,” explained Murray, “but just the one subsidiary.”

“You’ve definitely given me a lot to think about, Murray,” responded Smythe. “I’d like to knock off early and head back to the hotel. We can continue this tomorrow.”

“Certainly.”

On the way out, Smythe made plans to meet Andrea Noonan at the hotel bar before dinner.

The next morning, Andrea was filling her husband’s ears with complaints.

“He was flirting with me all night. He even gave me a goodnight kiss.”

“I hope you flirted back,” replied Silas Murray.

“I most certainly did not. I’m tired of these cons, Silas. I don’t like being the bait in a honey trap.”

“This is a big one, babe. We could score a million bucks from this Smythe guy. He’s a rube – buying the bullshit hook, line, and sinker. That kind of money should buy at least some mild flirting.”

Andrea was stunned at what her husband was telling her to do.

“And what if he wants to carry it further than flirting?”

“Just remember how big of a score this is. We definitely don’t want a goodnight kiss to be a deal breaker! This could be the deal that sends us to retirement in Costa Rica.”

Andrea was angered at Silas’ suggestion that she use her body to further their financial goals – but did look forward to the prospect of retiring to a warm climate in the near future. One big score and they could leave the con games in the past.

It seemed that Leonard Smythe had enjoyed his evening, in spite of the cool reception from Andrea.

“I think Ms. Noonan likes me,” he confided in Silas.

Silas Murray breathed a sigh of relief – Smythe was still under Andrea’s spell, oblivious to the fact that she disliked him.

“Andrea was just telling me how much she enjoyed spending the evening with you. She is looking forward to another night on the town tonight.”

The first part of a three part story.  Stay tuned for the rest of the story over the weekend.

Leonard Smythe was greeted by a receptionist as he walked into the corporate offices of Wallaby Industries.

“I’m here to see Silas Murray. He is expecting me – Leonard Smythe.”

“Oh, yes, Mr. Smythe. Just one moment.” The receptionist grabbed the phone and made a couple of quick phone calls.

“I’m afraid that Mr. Murray is still in conference,” explained the apologetic woman. “I’m going to have our VP of Sales take you back to his office.”

A moment later, a perky redhead poked her head through the door of the reception area.

“Mr. Smythe? Hello, I’m Andrea Noonan, head of sales. Silas should be finished with his teleconference shortly. Please come with me back to his office.”

Smythe couldn’t help thinking what a great choice Wallaby had made for their VP of Sales. Ms. Noonan was quite the looker. She was tall, had an athletic build, and carried herself with an air of confidence.

“The place doesn’t usually look this dead,” explained Noonan. “There’s a big industry conference in Vegas this week, and almost everyone is there. We’re operating with a skeleton crew.”

Smythe looked around and counted exactly five employees at their desks. The rest of the desks lay in disarray. Framed photos, soda cans, and printers dotted the landscape. Wallaby wasn’t the biggest company in the world, but it was indeed running a skeleton crew. Taking Murray, Noonan, and the receptionist into account, there were eight Wallaby employees in the building.

“Must be a very important conference,” he remarked.

“Oh, yes,” replied Noonan with a smile. “This conference will probably drive about half our annual sales.”

“I’m surprised that the CEO isn’t there.”

“Well, Mr. Murray knows that you are a very busy man and tried to work around your schedule. I suspect that he’ll be taking a flight to Sin City later in the week.”

Smythe nodded. Indeed, he was an important man for Wallaby Industries. As a venture capitalist, he was accustomed to have people bend over backwards to accommodate his schedule.

Andrea Noonan was observing Smythe carefully to try to determine if the man was seeing past the charade. So far, so good. The desks had been professionally staged by Silas, and he had hired some out of work actors to fill a few of the seats.

Silas Murray popped out of his office as they approached. Murray was a well dressed man in his mid thirties and gave Leonard Smythe’s hand a hearty shake.

“I’ve been looking forward to meeting with you, Mr, Smythe. Did you have a good flight?”

“It’s always a good flight when you’re in first class, Mr. Murray.”

Murray laughed at the witty remark. “Very true. Please, call me Silas.”

Smythe nodded to acknowledge the request, but did not make a reciprocal offer.

“Andrea, could you get us some coffee?” asked Murray as he ushered Smythe into his office.

“Normally, she’d bite my head off for a request like that. The VP of Sales does not fetch coffee – even for the CEO.” Murray laughed. “But we’re really short staffed this week, so everyone is wearing a few hats.”

Andrea Noonan returned with two steaming mugs of coffee and set them down on the table. Four sets of eyes watched her leave the room.

“I hope you don’t mind,” said Murray, breaking Smythe from his trance, “but I planned your evening for you. Ms. Noonan will be showing you around town.”

The other man smiled broadly before responding.

“I think I would be agreeable to that.”

To be continued.

“And we’ll start the auction with this little box of treasures,” shouted the auctioneer.  He showed off the contents of the box – two small paintings and an assortment of door knobs. 

“Good lord,” muttered James Black.  “Leave it to Ronald Hamilton to squeeze out every last dollar.  Even after he’s dead, the old miser is trying to make a buck by selling his trash.”

“Oh, James, don’t be so critical.  That painting of the mountains looks very pretty.”

Brown snorted.  “You can get the same thing at a garage sale for a few dollars.  The only thing of value in this whole auction is the Shaker furniture.”

“What’ll’ya gimme for this,” asked the auctioneer.  “Do I hear a bid for twenty dollars?”  The auctioneer tried to work his magic on the crowd to elicit a bid, but the crowd remained silent.  The bid dropped to ten dollars, and then to seven.

Meredith Black poked her husband in the ribs.  “Bid on it, James.”

“Seven bucks for that junk?  No way.”

“Do it, James,” she said with a glare.

Black reluctantly bid, to the amusement of his friends and acquaintances in the crowd.  A moment later, he was the winning bidder.  It was the only of the junk lots to get a bid.  The auctioneer gave his best effort, but the bidders were all waiting for the Shaker furniture.

When the furniture went on the block, a buzz went through the crowd.  The items in Hamilton’s collection of furniture were in exceptionally good condition and were expected to fetch top dollar.  The bids came fast and furious, and soon shot above the level James Black was willing to pay.  Black was in a foul mood as they walked back to the truck.

“Hey, Black, you got the bargain of the auction.”  Black turned as saw the laughing figure of Charles Davis.  Davis had picked up a beautiful grandfather clock that James had coveted.

“I happen to like the painting,” retorted Meredith.  “It’s pretty.”

“Pretty,” replied David with a laugh.  “Pretty?  Yeah, that will help its resale value.”

An hour after they arrived home, Meredith Black had found the perfect location for her painting.   “James, could you hang the painting right here,” she asked, pointing to a spot near the window in her office.”

James Black quickly hung the painting and straightened it using his miniature level.

“What about the other painting,” he asked, holding up the paining of some boats.

“That one’s not very cheery at all.  Throw it out.”

“I know,” replied James with a grin.  “I’ll hang it above the toilet.  Hanging crap above the crapper –  get it?”

Meredith rolled her eyes but made no comment.  If letting him hang the dumb painting above the toilet would pull him out of his grumpy mood, it was OK with her.

When Elizabeth Black came to visit her parents over the weekend, Meredith proudly showed off her new mountain scene.

“Dad’s right, of course,” replied Liz, the art appraiser.  “Garage sale quality.”

“But it’s so pretty,” replied her mother.

“If it makes you happy, you should definitely hang it,” agreed Liz.  “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  I’m quite partial to Norman Rockwell myself, in spite of the snide remarks of my colleagues.”

During supper that night, Elizabeth excused herself from the table to use the bathroom.  When she returned, she had a question for her parents.

“Have you contacted the MH de Young Museum about their missing painting?”

“Huh?” came the reply from her father.  “That worthless mountain thing?”

“No, that $200,000 masterpiece you have hanging so beautifully above the toilet.  It’s Van de Velde’s Harbor Scene – stolen from the museum in 1978.”

Note: Willem van De Velde’s Harbor Scene actually was stolen from the MH de Young Museum in San Francisco in 1978. If you happen to stumble across it at an auction, give them a call!

Note: this article was written in July of 2010. As such, if does not contain any information on Jaycee’s story after that point.

The state of California recently agree to pay Jaycee Dugard $20 million.  This raised some eyebrows in a state suffering from staggering budget deficit.

If you’re not familiar with Dugard, I’ll give you a short recap.  Dugard was abducted from a bus stop outside her home in 1991 – in sight of her stepfather and classmates.  The stepfather gave chase on a bike, but couldn’t keep up with the car.  For the next 18 years, Dugard lived with abductors Phillip and Nancy Garrido.  She worked in their print shop and even interacted with customers. 

In 2009, authorities became suspicious of Garrido and eventually determined that the young woman living with him was Dugard and the 12 and 15 year old girls were her daughters (fathered by Garrido).

Some people feel that Dugard deserves no compensation, suggesting that she had multiple opportunities to escape over the years.  After all, she was interacting with customers in Garrido’s business – not being locked in a dungeon.  When authorities finally closed in on Garrido, Dugard maintained that she was “Alyssa” and didn’t reveal her true identity during initial questioning.  These observers wonder if Dugard stayed because she wanted to stay.

There is, however, a perfectly rational explanation for this.  Stockholm Syndrome refers to a situation where a victim begins to have positive feelings toward the captor.  The victims sometimes perceive lack of abuse (or a temporary break from abuse) as kindness.  The victim forms a strong bond with the captor and perceives the captive in a positive manner.  Many experts feel that Stockholm Syndrome results from the powerless victim adopting an attachment to the most powerful adult in their environment – similar to the attachment a baby feels for its mother. This isn’t some sort of pyschobabble – the FBI suggests that 27% of kidnapping victims suffer from Stockholm Syndrome.

If Dugard was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, she would not have been capable of simply walking away.  Physically, the opportunity would have been there, but psychologically, she would not have been able to break free.

OK, at this point hopefully you see that Dugard probably wasn’t at fault for failing to escape.  But why give her $20 million?  Most kidnapping victims don’t get $20 million as a sympathy gift from the government.

Nor is this the case with Dugard.  The settlement was reached to resolved claims that the state failed to properly supervise Phillip Garrido, who was on parole.  Authorities had made several visits to the Garrido home, but failed to question the presence of Dugard.  What was Garrido on probation for?  Kidnapping and sexual abuse – crimes that probably should have heightened the awareness of authorities.

Is the settlement too much money?  It’s definitely a lot of money, but will be whittled down by attorney fees and possible taxes.  Still, what’s left should allow Dugard to invest conservatively and provide sufficient funds for her as she works to build a new life with her daughters and the rest of her family.  Hopefully she’ll be able to take the money and live a quiet life out of the spotlight of the media.

And in other crime news …

The voting for World’s Worst Mother is over … and the winner is Aimee Louise Sword.  The Michigan woman tracked down the son that she had given up for adoption and began a sexual relationship with him.  The son was 14 at the time.  On Monday, Sword was given a sentence of nine to thirty years in prison.  I’m not sure there are words to describe how sick and twisted this is.  No only did she have a sexual relationship with the son (which, by itself, is very twisted) but she essentially stalked him to do it.