LIFE IN NEW YORK. The New York Times reported here on how two men in New York tried to cash a man’s social security check and presented the man’s corpse as identification evidence. What is notable is that the Times covered the incident. I can remember when The Post, The Daily News, and the Village Voice reported on this kind of story, but the Times did not.
Categories
Archives
Recent Comments
- ARE PEOPLE LESS VIOLENT? (COMMENT). (2)
- Dick Weisfelder: My prior comment was just in the context of sports. Whether or not from Pinker, I have seen the...
- erik: It seems doubtful that human nature has changed. The most likely explanation would be that modern culture gives...
- HOW BANKS PREPARED FOR A U.S. DEFAULT. (2)
- GREECE’S ADVANTAGE IN THE CHICKEN GAME. (2)
- Nick: That makes sense. It reminds me of the stories Pater Familias would tell me about how in Boston the person with...
- Dick Weisfelder: Greece seems to me to be playing a game that Karl Deutsch called “underdog.” While one...
- FOOTBALL PLAYERS DELIBERATELY CAUSING CONCUSSIONS? (3)
- Nick: It was my understanding that boxing gloves were to protect the puncher’s hands and not the...
- Dick Weisfelder: Remember the Roman arenas? Bare knuckled boxing? Such injuries were taken as natural and accepted in...
- Mary Jane Schaefer: This isn’t about football. Or even sportsmanship. Well, it is about sportsmanship. But what...
- A 25 % CHANCE OF A EURO DEFAULT? (1)
- Nick: The fact that this has gone on for so long is pretty perplexing. The Economist is referring back to articles it...
- DECIDING WHAT KIND OF PATIENT YOU ARE. (1)
- Dick Weisfelder: One can be very open to new technology, but also risk averse. The recent debates about how to...
- THE EUROZONE—A CHICKEN GAME WHERE EVERY MEMBER CAN BLOW IT UP? (1)
- Mary Jane Schaefer: This is not a matter of chicken. These are all turkeys.
- ARE PEOPLE LESS VIOLENT? (COMMENT). (2)
Meta
I remember a few years ago there was a spate of stories about dumb criminals that you greatly enjoyed, Dad. My favorite story was about the man who committed a robbery, then ran into the dark woods to hide… while wearing light-up sneakers.
Not that this story is a robbery, per se, but I have a feeling the deceased didn’t intend for his friends to receive his social security benefits.
Well, neither did the U.S. Government intend it. Once the person’s dead, the money stops.
(I don’t mean if there’s a widow; but then she gets her own, I think.) Why oh why does this story sound like an urban legend to me rather than a real news item?