Headlines: Homeless and Hedge Funds

I know Anthony Hall, the homeless man who was arrested at Riverfront Park at 5:30 this morning by Springfield police and charged with rape, assault and battery, aggravated rape, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery. Nice going, Springfield police!

I met Anthony in 2005 when he was "dating" the 14 year old daughter of a family I knew. He always creeped me out.

Later that year, he went on a bus trip with Arise to an anti-war rally in New York City, where hestole our video camera (the only one we've ever owned!) and probably sold it for crack. Of course he was banned from Arise after that. I was so furious that for several months, whenever I was driving around and saw him with a group of people, I'd yell, "Thief!" out the window at him. Didn't do much good, but it made me feel better.

No, I personally and other members of Arise don't think every homeless person is automatically a victim or a saint..
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Yesterday, wanted fugitive and hedge funds manager Samuel Israel III, who faked (not very successfully) his suicide last month just before he was supposed to turn himself to federal authorities to serve a 20 year sentence, turned himself into Southwick police. The NYT has an article here.

Southwick? Southwick? Well, it could have been Granville, population under 1,600, but when Mr. Israel went to turn himself in, the police department, only open part-time, was closed! So he moved on to Southwick. Apparently Mr. Israel had been staying at the Prospect Mountain Campground RV Park in an RV with his girlfriend.

What an idiot! I can think of several different lives that Mr. Israel could have lived as a fugitive, but my guess is that life without money was so inconceivable that, in the end, prison felt like the only logical choice. too bad, also, thjat federal judges are locked in to meting out a particular kind of punishment. I'd have preferred to see Mr. Israel sentenced to cleaning the toilets of the investors he ripped off.