How to recognize and recover from everyday sociopaths - narcissists

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A powerful sociopath taken down, and why we need to understand him

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It's been awhile since I wrote about Vince Fumo, former Pennsylvania State Senator, representing Philadelphia, and now a resident of the federal prison camp in Ashland, Kentucky. In 2009, he was convicted of 137 counts of fraud, conspiracy, tax offenses and obstruction of justice. His crimes cost taxpayers and nonprofit organizations $4 million. Yet he received a sentence of only 55 months, which many, including me, considered to be a mere slap on the wrist. Federal prosecutors were so outraged at the leniency of Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter's sentence that they actually appealed it. The feds won. The appellate court found that Buckwalter had erred, and on Wednesday, Fumo will be in court …

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The pastor and the Ponzi scheme

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Pastor Michael Wilkerson of the New Millennium Life Restoration Fellowship in Spring City, Pennsylvania, preached the “prosperity gospel.” The basic idea is this: God wants his followers to be prosperous, and they can find the road to wealth in faith, positive thinking and contributions to the church. This is what Wilkerson preached, and he followed up by inviting congregants to invest in his company, which was acquiring suburban mortgages. Last month, however, federal prosecutors accused Wilkerson and two others of conspiring in a $6.3 million mortgage fraud. The congregants have lost everything. The whole story appeared in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer. What I found really int …

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Instead of protecting children, abusing them

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Lovefraud readers have forwarded a rash of sordid stories about adults in positions of trust over children who turned out to be molesters and child porn addicts. They should all be prosecuted, along with those who covered up their actions. Records show Boy Scouts failed to report abuser, on USAToday.com. Stacy Schuler, Ex-Ohio teacher, convicted of having sex with 5 students, on HuffingtonPost.com. How child-porn case led to Hershey School, on Philly.com. Roman Catholic church's paedophile investigator jailed for possessing thousands of child porn images, on DailyMail.co.uk. And then there is a child  beater and a serial killer: Judge so furious at abusive mother who left …

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Spotting sociopaths by intuition

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Russell Williams was a colonel in the Canadian Forces, a pilot who flew dignitaries including Queen Elizabeth II, and commander of the largest airbase in Canada. That is, until he was arrested for breaking into women's homes and stealing their underwear, sexual assault and murdering two young women. Lovefraud has written about Williams before: For Halloween: A real monster who liked to dress up. The question, of course, is how did such a predator achieve the rank of colonel? Should he have been flagged along the way? How was it that Williams received nothing but stellar reviews, and turned out to be a murderer? The Canadian Forces, stunned by what happened, launched an inquiry into …

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Sociopaths in classic dramatic arts

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Last week my husband and I went to the opera to see Carmen. We saw the opera at the beautiful Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Before the performance, an opera expert gave the background of the story and the characters. Carmen was written by Georges Bizet, and premiered in Paris in 1875. Here's the basic story, as described by Wikipedia: The story is set in Seville, Spain, around 1820, and concerns the eponymous Carmen, a beautiful gypsy with a fiery temper. Free with her love, she woos the corporal Don José, an inexperienced soldier. Their relationship leads to his rejection of his former love, mutiny against his superior, and joining a gang of smugglers. His jealousy when she turns f …

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