The Sting Man: Inside Abscam by Robert W. Greene

The Sting Man: Inside Abscam by Robert W. Greene

Publisher:  Penguin

Pages: 324

Rating: 4/5

     In February 1980, the nation learned that the FBI had been conducting a sophisticated sting operation called Abscam in an effort to combat white-collar crimes such as art-theft, securities forgery, and counterfeiting.  Led by Mel Weinberg, international con man par excellence, the investigation soon revealed that there was a bigger game afoot.  Abscam eventually led to the convictions of a US Senator, several members of the House of Representatives, a gaggle of state and city officials, and a small army of lawyers and influence brokers who specialized in government favors.
     In The Sting Man, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Robert W. Greene presents not only an expose of the operation itself, but also a thrilling account of Weinberg's genesis as a small-time street hustler in the Bronx and his rise as the FBI's international con mastermind.  A rogue's story, as well as an unsettling lesson in civics, The Sting Man offers a vivid and fascinating look at the underbelly of the American Dream and poses the question: Can you really con an honest man?

In The Sting Man, Greene provides an all-inclusive account of Abscam.  In 1978, Amoroso and other FBI agents created a con to catch white-collar criminals.  They enlist the help of Melvin (Mel) Weinberg, a life-long confidence man, to structure their sting.  Mel had been coning people since the age of six in 1931 when he would steal gold stars from the teacher's desk to hide his failure from his mother.  He soon graduated into front-end scams building himself a large fortune.  With Mel's help, the FBI formulate a scam in which two agents pose as the American representatives of an imaginary Arab sheikh who wishes to invest billions and find permanent asylum in America.  Greene utilizes 237 interviews with Weinberg, FBI tapes and official court transcripts to trace how this con attracted elected public officials as well as the white-collar criminals it was originally designed to capture.

I picked up The Sting Man as it is the true story behind the upcoming film American Hustle.  Before I found this novel in Barnes and Noble, I thought that American Hustle was a fictional movie and had never heard of Abscam before.  Having finished the novel, I am amazed by the amount of corruption the FBI found. Numerous congressmen were named as possible targets and quite a few were actually convicted for trading money for pushing bills.  The power of greed is examined deeply in this story. Weinberg's philosophy of man emphasizes that all men are powered by greed. The idea of obtaining large amounts of money causes men to push aside all rational and moral judgement. Weinberg also talks about how hope helps a con man. People would rather hope that the money will eventually come rather than entertain the notion that they are being conned. I found these two insights extremely interesting and knowing them makes me hope I'll be harder to con! All in all, The Sting Man, while at times dry due to it's journalist author, outlines one of the few events in which the FBI fought against the government directly and was engaging, making me truly interested in the subject, and chock full of facts, making me confident in my knowledge of this historical event.

18 Goals for 18 Years

My adorable 18 year old selfie

Last year, on A Beautiful Mess,  I stumbled across the idea of yearly assigning goals in accordance with age. I quickly formulated 17 goals and now, a year later, I'm back with my new 18 resolutions. I'm really excited and scared for the new challenges I'm going to face and happy to set such reachable yet engaging goals!

1. Develop Better Relations With My Parents

I am moving away Fall 2014 for college and I'm worried that I without seeing my parents everyday, I will not stay in contact with them.  To remedy this, I want to create a better relationship with my parents so they will become people I want to talk to rather than people I have to talk to.

2. Be More Enthusiastic and Supportive Towards My Friends

I have a bad habit of not caring about what my friends are doing. Oh, you're in a play? Good luck with that.... NOT ANYMORE! I will be supportive and encouraging toward my friends.

3. Learn to Cook? Develop a Specialty

With college just around the corner, I don't want to be stuck only being able to make packaged pasta and premade pizza.

4. Utilize a dictionary

Recently my English teacher mentioned that he had a personal dictionary in which he would mark every time he looked up a word. I was intrigued by this mini time-capsule and I want to start my own.  Plus a better vocabulary is never bad.

5. Read more non-fiction and classic literature

I find more fulfillment from these types of books than my usual YA novels or best-sellers so why not read more of them?

6. Throw Shit Away

I want to be able to take everything I want to college and as I'll be flying to school, that will be difficult. I'm hoping that by thinning out my items even more, I can take all I want to college next fall.

7. Do more volunteer work

Right now I volunteer at the public library once a week but I'd love to do more to help my community.

8. Cut down on internet and television

I don't feel good after scrolling though tumblr or watching TV for hours.  I always feel that I lost the opportunity to learn or do something that will lower my stress levels. Ultimately, I want to cut down to maybe 3 TV shows and almost no wasted time on social network.

9. Utilize the Opportunities Presented To Me In College

I will not allow myself to sit in my dorm studying. Grades are important and will always come first but I also want to be involved in volunteer organizations, clubs, and other things presented at my college.  Get off your butt and go to everything!

10. Actively Blog

Looking back through my blog this winter, I discovered that I am really proud of what I've done here.  I'd like to continue and get better at updating so there are no longer weeks of major activity and then weeks of nothing.

11. See More Live Music

Though I have been to many cons with musical performances, I have been to very few concerts.  I'm hoping to rectify this and already have some events lined up!

12. Moisturize

Though the word just reminds me of Cassandra from Doctor Who, I think my skin would benefit from being moisturized.

13. Learn How to Shoot in Manual

I really want to learn how a camera actually works.  Plus I'm excited to get pictures that look the way I want them to look rather than how my camera wants them to look!

14. Stay in Touch

When I moved and left middle school, I lost many of my good friends.  With graduation in 6 months, I don't want the same thing to happen to my high school friends. I want to make a conscious effort to stay in touch.

15. Eat Well and Exercise

I feel so much better when I take the time to eat something besides pasta and head over to the gym.  I need to work it into my normal routine.

16. Buy Less Shit

I hate feeling that I'm a cost to my parents.  I want to find away to cut back on the little things I buy almost weekly.  For example, sandwiches from the local grocery store for lunch.

17.Thrive to be Tidy and Organized

Wow, so many of these are about college.  Anyway, I want to be more on top of my chores and mess.  A nice desk, vacuumed carpet, and clean bedding please!

18. Have A Good Year

With the IB tests and freshman year of college this next year, I'm stressed out just thinking about it.  Therefore, I want my last goal to simply be to have a good time.

The cake my parents got me to celebrate.  Apparently I'm still 8 to them!

Final Review: 17 Goals for 17 Years

Back in January of this year, almost a month after my birthday, I set myself 17 goals I wanted to accomplish during my 17th year (link).  I checked in on my goals back in July (link) but with my 18th birthday only 10 days away, I want to look back on the goals I set myself and reflect on how I did.

1. Decorate my room so I love it

SUCCESS I am actually very proud of this one.  In the past year I have finally finished painting (link), decorating (link), and rearranging my room into one I love to spend time in.

2. Grow out my hair

SUCCESS Granted this one required little work but I am happy to report that my hair has officially bounced back from the short bob I hated.

3. Bake from scratch

SUCCESS Okay, I only truly baked from scratch once but for me it counts.  This year for Halloween instead of carving my pumpkin, I cut it in half and threw it in the oven.  A couple of hours later I had a pumpkin pie, a pumpkin cheesecake, and a great feeling.

4. Take Ceramics all year

SUCCESS I can't actually remember how many ceramics classes I've taken but I definitely took one this fall, plus I never missed a session so I'm calling this one good.

5. Declutter and buy less

SUCCESS I definitely own less things that I don't use.  But even better than that, everything I own has a specific place in my room and that is a miracle.

6. Spend spare time on test prep books

FAILURE I have not picked up any of my many test prep books except specifically to study for an upcoming SAT or ACT.  I just need to give the others away cause I'm never going to use them.

7. Read a fatty cold war book

FAILURE Same as the test prep books above, I have not picked up any of my cold war books except to work on my EE and I haven't even done that enough.

8. Take a picture everyday

FAILURE hahahahahahahaha I started this project with good intentions but have failed epicly.  I can't even remember the last time I took photos daily. Hopefully with a new phone on the way I will get better at this goal. Here was my attempt: link

9. Go camping

SUCCESS I went camping twice this year.  Once with 3 of my close friends and once with my father (link).

10. Eat more salad

SUCCESS I know this is true because I've begun to order salads at restaurants and crave salads at lunch time.

11. Spend less time on the internet

SUCCESS I wish there was a way to track my time spent on the internet but as I have yet to find a program which does that I'm going to go with my gut instinct which tells me I have in fact spent less time on the internet this year.

12. Make Christmas Cards

FAILURE Yeah, this takes way more effort than I  have when all my college apps are due.

13. Swim 

FAILURE I have swam quite a bit this year but not enough for me to call this a success.  I have yet to find a gym routine that works for me.

14. Stay Hydrated

SUCCESS I have definitely noticed an increase in hydration.  I used to experience blurry vision upon standing at least once a week but now I go entire weeks without it!

15. Write in a Journal

FAILURE While I have finished my journal which I've used for the past 2 years, I can recall many events which did not make it onto the pages of a journal.

16. Make Sushi

FAILURE I think I made sushi about twice this year and both times it did not turn out well.  I just don't have the patience to roll them tight enough!

17. Use reusable bags

SUCCESS I have stopped bagging my food when I go to grocery stores.  When I spent time with my friends in Boston this summer (link) they thought I was really weird for carrying my groceries out in my arms instead of sticking them in a bag.  

With 7 failures and 10 success, I think I did pretty well. Oddly enough, when I wrote this list I knew that making sushi, daily pictures, and my other failures were unlikely to be accomplished.  I want to be pushed into doing these more difficult goals but I can't view them as unlikely.  In that mindset, I have little drive to work toward those goals.  I'm going to keep that in mind while writing my list this year.  I need to create goals which I will need to work on but I still think I can accomplish. 

I also feel the need to say that I have really loved my life this year.  I just looked through all my blog posts from the last year and am really happy with all the things I got to experience and all the fun I've had.  It's easy to forget everything in the day to day shuffle of homework but I am incredible blessed.  Here's to another year of new experiences!

Ninety Days by Bill Clegg

Ninety Days by Bill Clegg

Publisher:  Little, Brown and Company

Pages: 191

Rating: 3/5

     Ninety Days is a powerful account of an addict's journey to recovery, by a writer "as intoxicated by language as he was by crack".  The goal is ninety-just ninety-clean and sober days to loosen the hold of the addiction that caused Bill Clegg to lose everything.  With six weeks of his most recent rehab behind him, he returns to New York and attends two or three meetings each day, avoiding the people and places of his drinking and using life.  It is in these refuges that he befriends essential allies, including Polly, who struggles daily with her own cycle of recovery and relapse, and the seemingly unshakable sober Asa.

     At first, the support is not enough; Clegg relapses with only three days left.  Written with compromised immediacy, Ninety Days begins where Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man ends - and tells the wrenching story of Clegg's battle to reclaim his life.  As any recovering addict knows hitting rock bottom is just the beginning.

The complete opposite of the last book I read about addiction (The Wolf Of Wall Street), Clegg paints a very relate-able view of addiction and recovery.  Moving back to the city after a 6 week stay in rehab, Clegg has to discover how to avoid relapse with no outside force  requiring his sobriety.  Living in his brother's office with no money, Clegg focuses all his efforts on attending multiple addicts meetings each day where he finds the community and support system he needs to reach ninety days.

Lately I've been craving non-fiction.  Weirdly, I've grown sick of plots with beginnings, middles, and ends.  Life isn't organized like this.  Therefore, I've been drawn to memoirs where there is a sense that this is only a snapshot of someone's life, not the entire thing.  In Ninety Days, Bill Clegg does a great job of relaying this sense of reality which I've been craving.  He takes the reader though his battle with coke and alcohol.  From what I gather, his experience with addicts meetings and relapses is very similar to the experience of others.  Thankfully, I have never had an experience with addiction myself or with people I know, but Ninety Days has made me more understanding to people in those positions and provided insight into the recovery experience.

The Wolf Of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort

The Wolf Of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort

Publisher:  Bantam

Pages: 520

Rating: 5/5

     By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could, on drugs, sex, and international globe-trotting. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids waiting at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in his own inimitable words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called . . 

                   THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
     From the stormy relationship Belfort shared with his model-wife as they ran a madcap household that included two young children, a full-time staff of twenty-two, a pair of bodyguards, and hidden cameras everywhere—even as the SEC and FBI zeroed in on them—to the unbridled hedonism of his office life, here is the extraordinary story of an ordinary guy who went from hustling Italian ices at sixteen to making hundreds of millions. Until it all came crashing down . . .

In The Wolf Of Wall Street, Belfort reflects on his life as the owner of Stratton Oakmont, marketing penny-stocks and manipulating the stock market.  However, his time at the investment firm was only a small part of his life as a multimillionaire.  During this time he was also addicted to Quaaludes, cocaine, and sex.  On the cover, Belfort writes "I partied like a Rock Star, lived like a King" and this book most definitely proves that claim true.  The book starts with Belfort almost crashing his helicopter from which he walks away completely indifferent.  This is only the beginning of the crazy tale that was his life.

I loved this book so much I needed to share it.  I haven't posted a book review since The Brothers Karamazov back in June!  The Wolf of Wall Street pulled me out of this lull because I need to tell you to read this book.  I decided to pick up this book after seeing the movie trailer.  I wasn't incredibly interested in the story to begin with but as soon as I began to read it, I was completely enthralled.  This memoir is incredibly engaging.  I was reminded of an over-the-top dramatization of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying but these events actually happened.  However, Belfort's writing style was even more appealing than his slightly disturbing life.  He writes with is balls out, unashamed to admit what he's done and relay his, sometimes flawed, thinking.  It was reminiscent of a best friend telling you their drunken misadventures.  I would really recommend this book to anyone who wants insight into a fascinating world of billionaire investors.  Just beware; you're entering a world of sex, drugs, and bad decisions.

Odd Covers

I've recently discovered the magic that happens over at BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.  Somehow in this amazing world, they convince bands to cover songs from entirely different genera of music and it results in some pretty awesome combinations!  

The 1975 - What Makes You Beautiful

Bastille - We Won't Stop

Marina and the Diamonds - Startstrukk

Lazy Sunday

After almost 4 weeks of nonstop social weekends, it's really nice to sit at home with a cup of iced chai and try to knock out some homework. With college essays, my TOK essay, and my EE all breathing down my neck, I need all the time I can get.  Unfortunately, having all this time makes me spend time procrastinating in the strangest ways.  Most people scroll through tumblr or watch a show on netflix.  Not me.  I clean my room, wash my bedding and read a novel about wall street corruption.  I call it healthy procrastination.  I have also convinced myself that sitting down to do homework is unhealthy so I've taken to passing my room while reading my English books and standing and typing papers. My legs hurt a little after two day so it must be working.  It's really nice to get away from people and spend some quality time with my family.  However, I'm sure that by the end of this weekend, my parents will be annoying me and I'll crave my friends again.