I’m just lost for words:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/02/27/washington.faked.retardation.ap/index.html
Yeah, that happened here in the East Bay area too. I remember reading about it at least a decade ago.
Seems to me that the mother was just passing on her own condition - acute cerebral/anal inversion. It’s quite common, actually. Most cases go un-treated until someone gets caught.
Where does this leave those of us who’ve been faking INTELLIGENCE all these years? (Some, even being PAID for same!!!)
That makes retarded people look bad.
No, it just illustrates that some people will put more effort into cheating than they will into earning a living. It’s a sad and sick thing, and it needs to be stopped, but it does not need for us to suddenly distrust all who appear to be differently abled. Caution, however, is definitely indicated.
I was just learning to spell in ASL when DH and I were ‘dining’ at a local fast food joint, when a car drove up, seeveral folks got out and headed off in different directions (a couple of fast food places in close proximity… they proceeded to start at opposite ends of the dining area, working their way from table to table (moving back toward the doors, i remembered after), passing out dot-matrix printed cards saying that they would appreciate any donations to help their ‘community’ of deaf and mute folk to ‘make a living’… Well.. DH suggested that I ‘talk to them’, thinking I could practice my fledgeling skills at signing … the guy at our table got an odd look in his eyes, and when I signed ‘hello’, and made to go on, he gathered up his card signalled his cohort, and they vanished in a big hurry… so much for their legitimacy.
They’ve shown up one other time while I was around, and I just said something about it (out loud) and they suddenly decided they wanted to ‘eat’ elsewhere.
(unfortunately, I’ve never made much more progress with my ASL)
Which is a good example as to why you should donate money to established charities that are known to be legitimate.
And even then you should research any organization first before giving anything to them to make sure your money is reaching the people whom you intend to help.
It’s a shame that it’s so hard to trust anyone these days, there’s just too many bad apples spoiling the rest of the barrel.
Not just more energy than they put into earning a living; more than they would need to put in to earn the same result. As a university lecturer, I’ve heard extraordinary stories about the lengths some students will go to to hoax their way through university. With some, the more effort they put into it, the prouder they were of their exploits. In some pathetic cases, the effort is much greater than what would be required to earn the same or even better grades honestly.
I don’t know what conclusion to draw. I’m tempted to say that people like that are just plain stupid. But, since some of them carry off their hoaxes successfully, that seems wrong, even though all the frauds seem to wildly overestimate how much time and effort university lecturers put into detecting hoaxers. Actually, it’s pretty low on our list of priorities. I just think that some people only get pleasure out of deceit; satisfaction only comes with tricking people into giving you something you don’t deserve. Perhaps psychologists have a term for the condition, perhaps these people are deeply insecure about their abilities to win an honest contest. I simply don’t get it; at least I don’t see how clever people regard this kind of behaviour as rational.
This whole topic just gets me so upset. To think of all the years I’ve played the retard only to find out now that I could have been getting payed for it! Sh!t! 
djm
It is a shame. What boggles the mind is that top beggars earn as much or more as top professionals. A person with the right look, the right story might make over $200 an hour during prime time.
Proves that one can be clever and stupid at the same time. Rational, though, is another thing all-together… the norm now is to ‘rationalize’ rather than to rationally consider the big picture. Cheating is considered so ‘normal’ today that it is not just expected, it is celebrated. Nothing like stacking the odds for Armaggeddon. (insert rueful smiley thingie here)
Coffee just came out my nose… 
Boy, I know that one. When I was teaching there were a couple of guys who complained about every single grade I gave them. Finally I just had to say, “You’ve spent more time trying to job another point or two out of me than you spent preparing for the damn quiz.”
When I was in college people marvelled at how little time I spent studying. Thing is, I didn’t work in the library, which is where 90% of the people I knew worked. So when I was working, I really was working, while when they were “working” they were either complaining about how much work they had or just downright socializing. To put an exclamation point on this, during my last year of college, a guy brought a keg into the library. 
What some people wouldn’t do for money? well…
In a time, long ago, and in lands, far away…there were tyrannical “kings” of nation-states who would actually send their young off to arranged battles, and make great wealth off the boisterous enterprise.
Thankfully, in our own enlightened age, an informed populace makes this out-of-date money-making practice all but impossible. We are moderns! And we’ll keep an eye on the cause of our sorrows. The “cheating scoundrels amongst the poor!” They’ll not trick us into taking our hard earned…
http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2004/05/22/story737734271.asp
Mother who sold baby on internet jailed for two years
By Alistair Keely and Amy Caulfield
A MOTHER who sold her unborn baby over the internet to two childless couples was yesterday jailed for two years.Moira Greenslade, 33, from west Yorkshire, England, dishonestly made £2,500 (€3,700) from two couples she contacted through a surrogacy website after she offered to give up her child.
Sentencing Greenslade at Leeds Crown Court, Mr Justice Henriques described it as a “cynical and callous fraud”.
He added: “It is the duty of the court to protect vulnerable sectors of the community from dishonest predators.
And as if that weren’t bad enough:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/11128434/detail.html
Mom Sells Baby For Down Payment On Car, Police Say
Pueblo Police Recover Baby Sold By Mother For Cash
DENVER – Three people were arrested on charges of swapping a 5-month-old boy for a down payment on a used Dodge Intrepid and cash, police said Tuesday.
Nicole Uribe, 23, is accused of trading the baby to Jose-Juan Lerma, 47, and his wife, Irene, 27, in exchange for the down payment and an unspecified amount of cash. The alleged baby swap happened in Pueblo, police said.