Please Put the 401k and the Shotgun Down

[Lemur]

This seems like the basis for a really bad M. Night Shyamalan movie ...

Financial crisis can lead to violence

An out-of-work money manager in California loses a fortune and wipes out his family in a murder-suicide. A 90-year-old Ohio widow shoots herself in the chest as authorities arrive to evict her from the modest house she called home for 38 years.

In Massachusetts, a housewife who had hidden her family's mounting financial crisis from her husband sends a note to the mortgage company warning: "By the time you foreclose on my house, I'll be dead."

Then Carlene Balderrama shot herself to death, leaving an insurance policy and a suicide note on a table.

... more under the tag ...

—In Los Angeles last week, a former money manager fatally shot his wife, three sons and his mother-in-law before killing himself.

Karthik Rajaram, 45, left a suicide note saying he was in financial trouble and contemplated killing just himself. But he said he decided to kill his entire family because that was more honorable, police said.

Rajaram once worked for a major accounting firm and for Sony Pictures, and he had been part-owner of a financial holding company. But he had been out of work for several months, police said.

After the murder-suicide, police and mental-health officials in Los Angeles took the unusual step of urging people to seek help for themselves or loved ones if they feel overwhelmed by grim financial news. They said they were specifically afraid of the "copycat phenomenon."

"This is a perfect American family behind me that has absolutely been destroyed, apparently because of a man who just got stuck in a rabbit hole, if you will, of absolute despair," Deputy Police Chief Michel Moore said. "It is critical to step up and recognize we are in some pretty troubled times."

—In Tennessee, a woman fatally shot herself last week as sheriff's deputies went to evict her from her foreclosed home.

Pamela Ross, 57, and her husband were fighting foreclosure on their home when sheriff's deputies in Sevierville came to serve an eviction notice. They were across the street when they heard a gunshot and found Ross dead from a wound to the chest. The case was even more tragic because the couple had recently been granted an extra 10 days to appeal.

—In Akron, Ohio, the 90-year-old widow who shot herself on Oct. 1 is recovering. A congressman told Addie Polk's story on the House floor before lawmakers voted to approve a $700 billion financial rescue package. Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae dropped the foreclosure, forgave her mortgage and said she could remain in the home.

—In Ocala, Fla., Roland Gore shot his wife and dog in March and then set fire to the couple's home, which had been in foreclosure, before killing himself. His case was one of several in which people killed spouses or pets, destroyed property or attacked police before taking their own lives.

This all seems a bit Hollis Brown to me. If you are an Orgah who is in financial distress, I'd like to point out that it's very bad manners to take others with you when you commit suicide.

[Reverend Joe]

Karthik Rajaram, 45, left a suicide note saying he was in financial trouble and contemplated killing just himself. But he said he decided to kill his entire family because that was more honorable, police said.

WHAT?!

Otherwise, I'm not surprised. Massive personal financial crises do not make people happy. I'm sure the same thing happened 'round the Great Depression.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Tens of millions of Americans have lived under financial duress for years. Their violence, their alcoholism, their social problems, their weight problems, their health problems - I thought this was all owing to their being stupid, or not working hard enough?

And now that the middle class is under duress, people blame socio-economical factors?

I say this is distinctly un-American. America needs deregulation and tax breaks for companies and millionaires.

[drone]

This seems like the basis for a really bad M. Night Shyamalan movie ...

Redundancy ftw!


Whatever happened to the stereotypical story of a stockbroker taking a header off a tall building on Wall Street? Have they locked down the stairwells and windows?

[Strike For The South]

This is what happens when money is everything.

[Koga No Goshi]

I heard about this yesterday, since it's not terribly far away from me. I haven't read the formal article but the son was a Rhodes or Fullbright Scholar, wasn't he?

[Rhyfelwyr]

Bye bye Willie Loman...

[Don Corleone]

In most states, don't you get to keep your primary residence if you declare bankruptcy?

Anyway, two quick points. First, due to some clever repositioning of a couple of money market accounts that didn't go kaplooie, the Corleones are now 100% solvent again (new pellet stove & pellets all paid off). If BankOfAmerica starts calling notes, they won't be calling us.

Second, and this is the shameful part... 700 billion for the banks, 850 total, still no help with mortgages. If we're going to be socialists, can't we at least start from the bottom up?

Louis, your sarcasm would really anger me if it wasn't so spot on.

[Xiahou]

Whatever happened to the stereotypical story of a stockbroker taking a header off a tall building on Wall Street? Have they locked down the stairwells and windows?

Urban legend.

I saw this headline earlier today, rolled my eyes, and promptly moved on. The story is a textbook case of crap journalism.....

[Lemur]

NM.

[Koga No Goshi]

In most states, don't you get to keep your primary residence if you declare bankruptcy?

Anyway, two quick points. First, due to some clever repositioning of a couple of money market accounts that didn't go kaplooie, the Corleones are now 100% solvent again (new pellet stove & pellets all paid off). If BankOfAmerica starts calling notes, they won't be calling us.

Second, and this is the shameful part... 700 billion for the banks, 850 total, still no help with mortgages. If we're going to be socialists, can't we at least start from the bottom up?

Louis, your sarcasm would really anger me if it wasn't so spot on.

This is what happens when you have socialism selectively applied by capitalists, sadly. No working man's rhetoric with them. ;)

[Lemur]

Arson seems marginally less horrible than killing your own family.

Saddled With Debt, Some Decide to Torch Vehicles

Burdened by debt and driving home from a night of gambling in West Virginia, Sergio Lopez launched a scheme that at the time must have seemed like a good idea.

He pulled his Volkswagen Jetta up to a random corner in Silver Spring, doused the interior with gasoline, set it on fire and walked away. He later made a claim to Nationwide Insurance. The car was missing, he said -- someone must have stolen it.

Add Lopez, who pleaded guilty in the case this year, to the band of Washington area residents who have torched their cars hoping for a quick insurance check. A Baltimore police officer did it. So did a Baltimore firefighter. A Prince William County resident burned a minivan for a friend.

Investigators estimate that hundreds of such crimes occurred in the Washington area in the past two years, although the exact number is unclear, and experts predict the number will increase because of the worsening economy. Many offenders have fallen behind on payments to car dealerships. This year, more people are behind on such loans than in nearly two decades.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Louis, your sarcasm would really anger me if it wasn't so spot on.

Hey, thanks. It's my new posting style: stubborn single-sidedness, biting sarcasm, and inflammatory qualifications.

It is a lot of hard work.

All in effort to get people to angrily disagree with me. Looks like I managed the 'angry' bit. So now to find us a topic where I can get you to violently disagree with everything I write as well.