WHOA THAT IS HARSH: Famous George Washington lookalike and Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for defrauding Kyra Sedgwick and other elderly Jews. “Applause broke out in the crowded Manhattan courtroom after the maximum sentence was announced.” [My Fox NY]

• THIS WAS WHY PAUL KRUGMAN DID NOT WIN THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE: “Now, as we survey the wreckage and try to understand how things can have gone so wrong, so fast, the answer is actually quite simple: What we’re looking at now are the consequences of a world gone Madoff.” [NYT]