You Make That Deal? I'd Make That Deal!

A Somali has culturally enriched Minnesota by stealing at least $11 million dollars from the state's Medicaid program and was caught doing so.

He was given a choice at his arraignment:  

1. Pay $50k in bail money and surrender his passport; or

2.  Pay $150k and keep his passport.

Being a criminal but not a complete idiot, Abdirashid Ismail Said chose option #2, and promptly took his passport and fled with the country with the stolen $11 million dollars.

American Wire: $11M Medicaid fraud suspect flees US after judge lets him post bail, keep passport

I'd make that deal, how about you, you make that deal? I don't blame ya! Damn good deal!

That he was given such a deal is a sad commentary on the state of the justice system and judges in Minessota.   I mean, they clearly cannot do math, and have never heard of game theory at all.

A New Flight School in Minneapolis

Apparently a new flight school has been opened in Minneapolis:

 

While a normal Airline Transport Pilot needs 1,500 hours to get their ticket, since this flight school isn't going to be training their students how to land, they may just get it done in eight weeks. 

It Is Not Just That Politicians Can Be Bought

But how cheaply they can be bought.

The extensive Somali fraud that is now estimated at over $9 Billion dollars, while remarkable for the amount of the funds misappropriated, is unremarkable for the number  of kickbacks and donations the perpetrators were making to Democrat politicians.

Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz apparently received all of $10,000 in donations from Somali fraudsters: Washington Examiner: Walz received $10,000 from donors tied to Somali-run day care centers.

$10k in return for billions stolen with the state being remarkably, if not deliberately, incurious of the ongoing thefts and operations. 

The Feeding our Future scandal that bilked the state and feds of $250 million alone donated $50,000 to Minnesota Democrats.

A $50k payoff to the Dems in return for pocketing $250 million is not a bad investment at all for the fraudsters. 

The Sopranos Must Be Regretting Their Life Choices

All the drama, all the deaths, and all the hardship involved in racketeering, theft and garbage schemes -- and for what? A pretty mid take and most of their crew ending up in prison or in the ground.

Instead, they could have just opened some daycare centers and did some medicaid fraud in Minneapolis and stole billions the easy way.

MSN:  Somali scammers allegedly stole almost as much in Minnesota as entire Somalia GDP

Merchantmen Unveil New Anti-Piracy Measure

Yes, the best anti-piracy measure they can come up with is this, via the Global Times:

Britney Spears’ most thought to be ‘hated’ songs are blasted out to scare off pirates in Somalia

It's a sad state of affairs that merchant ships these days unable to carry firearms for protection are now forced to rely on spears.

Pirates Of The Situational Irony

Somali pirates hijack ship, 28 North Korean crew

Talk about a corrundrum. The crew from North Korea, the arguably most moserable place on earth being captured by pirates from Somalia, another country that while high on the sucky locale list keeps vying for the top spot but doesn't quite achieve such a dubious distinction. Is their capture a step up for the crew?

So once the matter is resolved do the North Korean crew press for asylum in Somalia or elsewhere? Did the pirates just unwittingly and unintentionally free a bunch of North Koreans from having to return to a life of misery under a super-totalitarian regime? How much can the North Koreans offer the Somalis to not be released back to North Korea? Time will tell, and hopefully they'll be released unharmed and not returned to North Korea.