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© Copyright 2002, Jim Loy
I just saw an ad for World Trade Center removeable tatoos. Hm? There are American flags all over the place, on cars, on windows. There are picture books and magazines. Are people making a lot of money here? Is that wrong?
Some of them donate a percentage of the profits to charity, mostly to the recovery of New York. Some donate all of the profit to these charities. I got email asking for money. These people would then pass the money on to Mayor Giuliani and his charities, minus a 10% processing fee. 10%? Assume that these people collect a million dollars (it could be much more). Certainly it costs money to handle a million dollars, mostly in small donations. But does it cost $100,000? I suspect that somebody got rich.
I'm not saying that all of this is a con. Charities have expenses. The people who work for them have to eat. But, I'm sure that some of it is dishonest. Where do we draw the line? When there is a tragedy, there are often con artists who are low enough to exploit it. They have even been known to cheat the victims and their families. I have certainly become cynical. It is hard to tell what is honest, and what is a con.