FacePalm Friday
Welcome to this week’s edition of FacePalm Friday.
This is where your hosts will list their top picks for this week’s FacePalm moment—something they learned or read about this week that caused the FacePalm to happen (you know, the expression of embarrassment, frustration, disbelief, shock, disgust or mixed humor as depicted in our Rally FacePalm smiley).
We invite you to add your FacePalm of the week to our comments. Go ahead and add a link, tell a personal story, or share something that triggered the FacePalm on the subject of child welfare or adoption.
Your Host’s Selections:
(1)All I Want for Christmas is You
More AllAbout Me adoption merchandise just in time for Christmas. Look what Santa brought us this year, dear!
http://lafleurfamilyadoption.blogspot.com/2012/11/now-taking-orders-for-ethiopia-adoption.html
(2)Ukrainian Adoption “Saga” book
Besides the FacePalmtastic lying sign in the photo in the article http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/11/new_book_describes_holland_wom.html, this story is an all about me-style account that seems to never ask why they have to be running around in the middle of the night . They label it a corruption that the adoption was blocked in court which is a bit of a stretch. The real question is did they have an illegal referral and might that be why there were “hurdles” in their way.
Let’s talk some 
here.These love fest stories love to turn all the issues upside down.
(3)Adoptive Families accounting of adoption costs and commentary
Hat tip to a reader for sending this on
http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles.php?aid=2161
Check out the comments like this one “Our process was slow because the birth family received the full amount of reunification services before termination of parental rights, and they contested most of the recommendations.”
Oh how awful that the biological family received the FULL AMOUNT of services!
(4)Magical Fundraiser for Congo
“On Friday, a magic show fundraiser, “The Magic of Adoption,” will be held …” “There will be a display board to show guests the cost breakdown of an adoption. For example, said Amy, a Visa for the child will cost $400. The couple also has to foot the bill for the plane ride to and from Africa, and so forth.” [Actually they are not footing the bill since they are begging the community to do so.The article says they are using America World Adoption and of course they have a blog http://godsplanaformikeandamy.blogspot.com/]
(5) “You Just May Be” song sponsored by CCAI and Holt for National Adoption Day (Tomorrow)
See http://karynwilliams.com/adoption/. Our country is going off the fiscal cliff, but hey, those elected officials have time to sponsor adoption songs…and we know that Holt loves paying for adoption music (see here in which they paid a Christian sheet music company over $1 Million in 2009 for adoption music)
Rock star wannabes 
(6)CCI gets puff piece on Guatemala adoption
Of course the adoptee was adopted by someone that is on the Board of Directors of CCI.
Oh, pardon me…
This is the most horrifically over-entitled PAP I’ve ever come across – merrily blogging about a plan to adopt a not-legally-adoptable Ukrainian boy.
The PAP no doubt has good intentions (he adopted the boy’s half-sisters last year), but really, truly believes it is acceptable to fly to Ukraine in order to locate the boy’s Biodad (who is in jail and thus cannot be stripped of his parental rights) to convince him to relinquish his parental rights. And that it OK to do so because a deity is cool with it.
** head hits wall **
The PAP brags that he’s working with an unscrupulous facilitator that has previously done whatever it took to allow another AMerican famiky to adopt a non-available Ukrainian kid in similar circumstances. Really.
*** head hits wall harder****
“(PAP)thinks that’s about it, but I’m sure there will be more along the way. We are virtually treading new ground here. To our knowledge, something similar has only successfully occurred once. Our translator talked to the man who helped to facilitate that process, who informed him that what we are setting out to do is impossible and if it does happen, we need to be prepared to spend anywhere from $30,000-$50,000 to make it happen.”
Illegal. Unethical. Wrong.
PAP continues “On Monday, I’ll be boarding a plane (by myself) and flying back to Ukraine where I’ll get to see Olivia and Sveta’s brother again. In addition, we are going to start doing what we can to see about getting this boy grafted into our family.
Permanently.
This isn’t going to be easy though. As difficult as it was to adopt Olivia and Sveta, getting their brother is going to be exponentially harder. As a matter of fact, we’ve been told that what we are trying to do is impossible. Here’s why:
Our girls have a different biological father than their brother. The mothers’ parental rights were revoked but the boy’s father still retains his parental rights. Here’s the kicker: the father is in prison right now and according to Ukrainian law, the rights of a parent can’t be revoked if they are serving time in prison. That means that the boy is stuck. What we are trying to do is find some creative ways to work through all of this. So here’s a quick run-down of what we have to do and what we’re up against:
– First, we have some key figures that we have to work with that really aren’t too fond of us. I don’t want to get into the specifics as to why, but suffice it to say that since day 1, we’ve not been well liked. That puts up a major barrier right from the get-go. The fact that I’m even traveling to Ukraine has been a Herculean feat in and of itself. I can’t even imagine what trying to adopt the brother is going to be like.
– Next, we have to meet with the regional inspector, tell her what we’re trying to do and see if she’ll help us. The silver lining here is that I think this lady likes us. She helped us out a lot with the girls, so we’re praying that she will be willing to help out with their brother also.
– The father. We need to find out what prison he is in, convince the prison officials to let us see him, and then try to convince him to sign over his parental rights to us. We’ll see how that goes.
– We also have to find the regional inspector from the village that all 3 of the kids were born in and convince them to go along with all of this too. That could be a wild card.
– Next, we need a judge who will sign off on all of this craziness. Again, this is a wild card. Some judges are friendly towards adoptions and some aren’t. We need one who is not only friendly towards adoptions, but is also open to our creative approach to all of this.
– If and when this all goes through and the boy becomes available for adoption, by Ukrainian law, he has to be available to Ukrainian citizens for one year. After that one year is up, he will be available for adoption by foreigners, so…….
– During that time, we have to convince him to not agree to be adopted by anyone until we get back. In addition, we’ll need some help from the key figures that hate us to protect him, lie about him, or do whatever they can to ensure that no one gets to him.
I think that’s about it, but I’m sure there will be more along the way. We are virtually treading new ground here. To our knowledge, something similar has only successfully occurred once. Our translator talked to the man who helped to facilitate that process, who informed him that what we are setting out to do is impossible and if it does happen, we need to be prepared to spend anywhere from $30,000-$50,000 to make it happen.
Ouch.
But here’s the two things that I know. First, we serve a God who specializes in making impossible things possible. If He can part the Red Sea and feed 5000 people with some kid’s Lunchable, then He can make this happen too. Second, it’s costly, but far less costly than it was for God to adopt me into His family. For that, it cost Him the life of Christ. God didn’t look at me and say that the cost of my adoption was too much and we aren’t going to look at the life of this boy and say the same thing either. Granted, I don’t know how in the world we’re going to do it, but faith wouldn’t be faith if we had all the answers before stepping into the ring.
So on Monday, we start a new adventure that builds on the one that we’ve been on for the past few years. I don’t know where it’s going to lead just yet. All I know is that it’s going to be tough, it’s going to hurt, and it’s going to be good”
http://huittshub.tumblr.com/post/35903975369/chapter-3
(I find it ironic that the folks most likely to believe a supernatural being commands them to “rescue” one of the 147 million orphans seem to feel it is okay to do whatever it takes to adopt a non-orphan like this boy).
Oh my giddy aunt, that is absolutely sickening. This AP is talking about screwing with actual people’s actual lives like he’s directing a movie with himself as the conquering hero. I can’t even begin to fathom the immense, delusional entitlement at work here. Is there any way this blog entry could be sent to adoption officials in America or Ukraine? After all, he’s talking (with infuriating blithe self-righteousness) about breaking the law. Not kosher. At all.
My Bible is missing the passages where it says that God specializes in lying and bribery to fulfill the wants of a so-called follower. Must be some new (per)version.
Short of emailing it to the Ukrainian Ambassador to the US and hoping he/she takes an interest, I’ve no earthly idea who to report this horror to.
The fact that this PAP really, truly seem to believe that Jesus wants folks to bribe prison officials, regional inspectors, local judges and anybody else standing in the way of revoking parental rights of a father (incarcerated or not) who does not want to lose his parental rights.
The consular office at the US Embassy Ukraine and possibly askci state department address. Not sure that they will take an interest but if people keep reporting case after case, I hope that will force some scrutiny…maybe not for these current children but for those of the future.
I didn’t think this PAP could do anything more awful and unethical, but he’s proved me wrong. Again. This is the latest from the unethical PAP who is paying an unethical Ukrainian facilitator US$30-50k to help him adopt a not legally adoptable boy (who is the half-brother to 2 Ukrainian girls he adopted last year.
PAP straight up asked the UNADOPTABLE (because his biodad has NOT relinquished his parental rights) the boy if he wants to be adopted:
” Alyosha (half-brother) if he thought that he’d like to come back to America to live with me (PAP) and Hannah (PAP’s wife) and his (half) sisters. A shy smile spread across his face as he said, “Da (yes)”.
So. Very. Wrong. Unethical. Horrible. You don’t do this to a kid!!!!
“Then the serious part of the conversation started. We (PAP) explained to him that we were trying our best to get him back to America, but that the process was going to be long and difficult, so he’d have to be patient. We also emphasized that under no circumstances was he to leave the orphanage with any other family.”
So very wrong! So wrong!!! Even if this kid becomes eligible for adoption at a later date, Ukrainians have the right to adopt the kid for a year (after which point an unadopted kid becomes eligible for international adoption).
International adoption is a last resort! If this boy cannot stay with his biofamily, it is WAY preferable he stay with his language and culture in Ukraine!!
So. Wrong. Unethical. Particularly since this kid might not even be adoptable ever!!!!
” If that happens, this is all done. ”
Read: the selfish PAP doesn’t get the kid he’s paying an unethical facilitator big bucks to acquire!!
“(PAP)I asked him if he remembers what I told him on the day that we left the orphanage with his sisters. He said, “Da” and proceeded to say that he remembered me saying that I’d be back to see him. I said, “And now look. Here I am. So you know that I keep my promises and I’m promising you that we are going to do whatever we can to get you back to America to live with us and your sisters forever.”
Gaaaaaaahhhhh! This is a promise he MAY NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP!!!
“He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. The big smile that spread across his face said enough.”
Someone, somewhere stop this overentitled cretin!!
http://huittshub.tumblr.com/post/36451334523/moving-forward
This PAPs step-by-step How To Adopt a Not Adoptable Kid Guide:
http://huittshub.tumblr.com/post/35903975369/chapter-3
Ugh. So to make sure they get the kid they want, they will deprive him of his biological family and then work to cockblock any family that shares a common culture with the boy and hope that a whole bunch of officials are corrupt enough to go along with it. I get that they want to help these siblings stay a family, but there has to be an ethical way of doing it.
This PAP updated his blog – he visited the boy at his orphanage, gave him photos of his half-sisters and a few early Christmas gifts and told him he:
“had hopped on a plane and traveled halfway around the world just to see him and bring him presents and greetings from his [half] sisters”
Why is the AP allowed a private audience with the unadoptable boy that he has no claim to? Is the AP not aware of how this visit will get the boy’s hopes up or does he just not care??
My heart breaks for that little boy. **sigh**
http://huittshub.tumblr.com/post/36239716123/lost
I went to the PAP’s site to see if there was anything on WHY BioDad was in jail (if it was for child abuse, that puts a different spin on the situation) or if there had been any previous contact between father and son (also something that would give greater context to the situation).
I got distracted by comments about how the two sisters rapidly lost the ability to speak their native language. By which I mean, just a few months later they were unable to express themselves in Russian.
PAP seemed to feel that this was a compliment to what awesome parents he and his wife were, but through a little Googling discovered this is much more common than not. I found this link explaining why–
http://www.bgcenter.com/interview1.htm
“… A second language is usually acquired based on two models. “additive” and “subtractive”. When the second language is added to the child’s skills with no substantial detraction from the native language, it is called the “additive” model of bilingualism. When and if, in the process of second language acquisition, the first language diminishes in use and is “replaced” by the second language, we have the so-called “subtractive” model of second language learning. The “subtractive” model is usually typical for the so-called “circumstantial” bilinguals: those individuals who, because of their circumstances, must learn another language in order to survive. They are forced by circumstances to acquire English, and they do so in a context in which their own first language has no use at all. Internationally adopted children are, by definition, circumstantial bilinguals…”
The words “…must learn another language in order to survive…” strike a chill into my heart. The adoption community seems to take this info in stride, perhaps relieved to be absolved of the inconvenience of arranging opportunities for their kids to speak their native language. But to me such a strong reaction suggests that the linguistic change is trauma-inducing in and of itself.
Even if you explain this reaction away by claiming the children are rejecting their mother tongue because of its association with their horrible pre-adoption lives, the research seems to indicate that this knocks children back to the linguistic starting line, drastically impairing their ability to verbalize their emotional experience.
Not only would this impede their ability to process the loss at the heart of every adoption relationship, it leaves them chillingly vulnerable to child abuse, since they have less ability to make use of any opportunities they DO get to “tell someone”. This is especially true of the more subtle types of abuse; i.e., sexual and psychological abuse.
I totally agree with your assessment.
As far as I’m concerned it is ALWAYS unethical to have a potential adopter (i.e. PAP) involved in the process of determinng **IF** a child is eligible for adoption. ALWAYS.
Out of interest: I know you emphasize “always”, but would you make an exception for foster parents who are trusted, experienced, and have been involved in a child’s care for a good length of time? Should their feedback be taken into account when discussing TPR? Obviously foster parents should never have the final say in such cases, but it seems that they, along with the social worker, would be the most knowledgeable people involved when it comes to judging the readiness of both first parent(s) and foster child(ren) to be reunited. And of course many foster parents end up adopting their foster children. Ethical? I’m inclined to say yes, but I’m interested to hear your take.
Leah – What an interesting question. In the case of foster parents, I guess I’m not completely opposed to them providing input on whether their foster kid should be made available for adoption. Which would presumably be considered along with the input from everyone else, eg caseworker, judge, biofamily, doctor, etc.
My hesitation has to do with horrifically overentitled folks who hopefully make up only a teeny-tiny minority foster parents, the ones who feel they should get to keep the kid:
– even though a member of the extended biofamily has agreed to care for the kid:
http://morebonkiesplease.blogspot.ca/2012/03/update-lil-punkin.html?m=0
-because Biomom is an illegal immigrant (even though she’s made it clear she does NOT want the kid adopted
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/18/us/missouri-immigrant-child/index.html
“My hesitation has to do with horrifically overentitled folks who hopefully make up only a teeny-tiny minority foster parents, the ones who feel they should get to keep the kid”
When I was writing my comment that caveat was at the back of my mind, because of exactly the kinds of cases you listed. I’ve also seen stories of First Nations children whose white foster parents fight tooth and nail to keep them, which is in many places not even legal. At the same time, all the foster families I know (and I know quite a few, I think) are all extremely sane and understand that reunification is always, always, always priority in foster care, then kinship placement, and then (and only then) placement with a non-family member. There’s no perfect system, and the foster system is definitely more imperfect than it should be; still, I can’t see the logic in excluding all foster parents from having a voice in their foster child’s placement.
I’m saying this as someone who’s a prospective foster parent myself, so my opinion isn’t exactly objective…but then again, whose is?
I think there is a safe middle ground, by having foster parents give input on reunification, but not on what should happen if the child does not go back to their original home. As always, go back or be adopted by the foster parents are not the only options.
Amazing how PAPs (this one is a lawyer) are outraged when their adoption agency will not continue to process their adoption because they’ve failed to pay the fees agreed to in a signed contract.
“Yes, I (pap) did count on paying part of the large amount of my still outstanding fees after my pick-up trip” and regularly blogs about how she is relying on a supernatural being for nearly ALL of her adoption costs.
http://themiracleiwitnessed.blogspot.ca/2012/11/maximilian-and-philip-wont-spend-this.html?m=0
Wow Name, I went to the website you posted. The boys in Bulgaria, judging by the photos taken at the first visit, don’t look like they are being abused or mistreated. The one boy was close with his caregiver.
I feel the PAP’s pain – having adopted from Bulgaria myself, but you are right. If you signed the contract and don’t have the $$$, that’s on you. I realize that is harsh, but that’s reality.
Yet another family in the same very sad position — being unable to pay the agency fees they are contracted to pay to complete their Bulgarian adoption.
While my heart goes out to the Davis family, it is truly irresponsible not to have the funds to complete your adoption in hand. (Or an emergency fund – what if there’s an in-country paperwork delay? Or if the new kids who have Cystic Fibrosis get sick once home? Denise Davis blogged about about having maxed out their insurance coverage and relying on charity care from Shriners and St Jude’s to meet the needs of their *existing* kids):
“Please I am asking for everyone’s help!
I know this is probably the worse time of the year
to ask for donations with Christmas coming.
But we need help now during this part of our adoption.
So please help both Braska and Zack.
WE HAVE RUN OUT OF TIME TO RAISE THE FEES WE NEED FOR OUR AGENCY :o(((
AND I am at the point of begging everyone for help. We are due for a court date IN A MATTER OF DAYS and WE need to pay on our agency fees NOW.
Like most families this last 2 weeks all agency fees are due prior to court and there are no exceptions.
I HONESTLY THOUGHT WE HAD MORE TIME AND WE ARE WHERE WE NEED HELP.
There is little time to try and raise these funds with my daughter in the hospital.
IF We do not come up with these funds:O(((((we will not be assigned our court date this next month.
THIS MEANS ALL THE MONEY WE HAVE SPENT ON PAPERWORK AND TRIP ONE WILL BE LOST.
I know a lot of you read my posts and think, oh my..
But honestly I would not post if I did not love our children Braska and Zack.
I promised them with my heart we would come back for them.
And now our children will have to wait once again for the medical care they need to survive if we do not raise these funds in a matter of days.
Both Braska and Zack have lung issues that require additional medical care and need to come home quickly.
This pass month both children have been having breathing issues and need this extra medical attention.
OUR FAMILY’S FSP account needs to read at least $6500. At the moment there is only $148 available to use.
Much of the prior funds were used for my airline ticket to travel on trip one.
ALL funds donated after today will be given directly to our agency to help secure a court date.
And I can show a receipt for these funds given to view.
If we do not have help we may lose our children and little Zack will be transfer even if he is sick.
And both kids will be separated, so this is these kids only chance to stay together.
PLEASE if your church or organization wants to help a family during Christmas please consider our family.
Gary and I are hard workers and love our children with all our hearts.
My husband and I had carefully planned and save towards this adoption but we had some major medical problems with our children.
Again this is nothing we chose to happen during our adoption.
With two of our children Makayla & Samantha in the hospital this pass month much of our savings is gone for their medical.
And their illnesses were not minor ones. Our Makayla is now being treated for over 30 brain tumors and being able to meet little Braska and Zack.
We adopted Makayla at age 3 years and have been caring for her major medical care for years without any additional help.
So this means a lot for our daughter Makayla and the rest of our family.
Again I am praying and now begging for some help with donations.
All donations are tax deductible through Reece’s Rainbow
Or you can immediately donate to our PAYPAL CHIP IN.
If we do not send in all fees within the next few weeks we will have to update much of our paperwork.
And this may also cause further delays.
I have cried over and over and again and I have saved every nickle we have to complete our adoption travels but this is now going towards remaining agency fees.
Please again I ask or your prayers and support.
I truly love these children and pray for them nightly that they do not suffer with any additional illnesses till we bring them home.
God bless and help us save our children.PLEASE SHARE THIS POST WITH ALL..
Gary and Denise
http://reecesrainbow.org/27579/sponsordavis-2”
http://threelittlebirdsplusonemore.blogspot.ca/2012/11/please-help-davis-family.html?m=0
These folks too – are currently in Ukraine adopting 2 unrelated girls with SN simultaneously WITHOUT the funds needed to complete their adoption. The PAPs expect a supernatural being to provide the $3K they need:
“just want to mention that we are not fully funded for our trip yet. We have the funds we will need for now but we are still short about $2,000 for the later part of this trip. We have been offered a matching grant of $300! We need donations badly!!!! Please don’t leave us now. We are here and doing all of everything we promised to do to get these girls home. We have sacrificed alot and shed many tears. We’ve lost alot of sleep, fundraised our hearts out and we are sacrificing Christmas with our daughter (although she will still have a good Christmas) it is very hard. we just need the last bit of help. No amount is too small and with the tremendous amount of followers on our blog and private facebook these should be easy peasy for us 🙂 If we get the $300 in donations, the donor will match it which will double it to $600!!!! Please considering donating by clicking the donate button on the right upper side of our blog!”
http://journeytoreunitetwoangels.blogspot.ca/2012/11/were-here.html
In order to stop this irressponsible Cr*p from happening (again and again and again), I’m thinking it might not be a bad idea to require PAPs to have their say, agency fees held in escrow in order to receive their orphan visa from USCIS. It wouldn’t stop PAPs who have paid agency fees yet don’t have the $$ to travel to bring their kids home, but it’d at least hinder the no $$ for agency fees OR travel to bring kids home PAPs.
Carlee, one thing to keep in mind about your suggestion of keeping money in escrow: Many agencies thrive on the failed adoption in which upfront money is paid to a program that cannot reasonably complete and in some cases the failures are more than the completions, so the agency couldn’t care less. The agency also knows that they have a roster of PAPs waiting that they could tap into if the money doesn’t come through, so from their point of view, the money is flowing in from somebody.
Oh my. I was envisioning an escrow account in which neither the PAP nor the agency could accesss the funds until a mutually agreed upon “something” happened. Ideally it would protect both PAP and adoption agency.
For example, if the schedule of fees says the PAPs must pay $2000 to secure a court date, the $2000 sits in escrow until a court date is secured, i.e. NEITHER agency NOR PAP can access that money. (The agency can’t spend it until is provides the promised service, so the PAP knows they’ll get the $$ back if the agency is not providing the service it is supposed to; it would also stop PAPs from starting adoptions they do not have the resources to complete, like the unfortunte ones listed here).
I don’t think any agency would ever agree to that. I really don’t think their itemized lists are really how the money is spread around.
Then what’s up with the itemized lists of expenses that fundraising PAPs often include on their blogs?
Fees like
$300 application fee (Homestudy agency)
$2000 Homestudy fee
$2000 Russia program fee
$600 Homestudy review
Etc
http://jenniferloveslobsters.blogspot.ca/p/what-does-it-cost.html?m=0
Or for the Bulgarian PAPs who are short agency fees which several mention as being due “one week after the Adoption Trip #1”?
Homestudy fee usually is spot on. Application fees are subject to spreading around. An example is when Dillon collected 800 application fees for postearthquake Haiti. Their blog post said that this helped their cash flow. It had nothing to do with the actual cost of processing the application. Program fees have many names and sometimes are called international fees-these can be 10 to 30 K and where that money goes is not defined. Sometimes there is an agency fee. Usually those are padded. Travel and visa fees , gas money etc are usually spot on, but the big fees are what I was referring to. There was a time that the visa fee was a padded fee from the US government that covered the costs of implementing the Patriot Act facial recognition program.
It also strikes me that putting the money in an escrow account makes it far too obvious to everyone concerned that the adoption is a financial transaction. You pay the money, and you get the kid.
Are for-profit adoption agencies compatible with child-centered placement? Isn’t there an intrinsic conflict of interest between “generating the most profit for our shareholders” and “finding the best family for the child”?
Adoption IS a tranaction. Sad, but true.
In the cases of the PAPs adopting from Bulgaria listed above, the adoption agencies issued a schedule of fees and the PAPs signed contracts to pay $X amount at Y time.
How is the Bulgarian orphan who has met the PAPs, been told they’ll soon be adopted well served by their adoption being on indefinite hold because said PAP is irresponsible enough to start an adoption they do not have the means to complete?
The Bulgarian orphan is stuck – not on a database (since the non-paying PAP has “secured” the referral) and stuck in the orphanage. What happens if it takes the PAP a year to raise the $$$ needed to pay the last of the agency fees? Or two years?? Does the orphan just sit there????
Maybe…or another scenario we have seen is the child will suddenly become ‘unavailable’ or some other excuse and given to a paying client. The original PAP will be hard pressed to to get any fees they’ve already paid back. Corruption causes a great number of outcomes none of which seem to harm those in the placement business one bit.
Sadly, it seems to be SOP in the Reese’s Rainbow/Evangelical Adoption Crusade to fund the adoption by panhandling. That’s a crude way of putting it, but it’s accurate.
It seems to work very well, also. Post an illegal picture of a cute kid with special needs on your blog and tell about how you need money to prevent this child’s imminent transfer to an adult mental institute and “bring him home”. Who wouldn’t want to donate to save a child from such an awful fate?
It’s so effective, that unethical adoption agencies can keep upping the fees charged, knowing that the PAPs will just beg for more on their blog, and likely get it. They can also hit parents with surprise fees, whereupon they’ll tug at their readers heartstrings some more, and come up with the dough.
And should their donors wise up and say, “Wait a minute. Why do I keep giving money to someone I only know from a website?”… well as Rally points out, fees can be made non-refundable. Another sucker will come along, and start the process again… 😛
It’s quite an ingenious scheme when you think about it. Corrupt and unethical, but a brilliant way of inducing the soft-hearted to donate money to boost a private business’s profit margin.