Do we like them?

Would we support them? Type any of these:

A famous person, like Martha Stewart
A character from a film, show, book or game, like Ellen Ripley
A company, like Netgear
A film or TV show, to see who's in it and who made it, like Firefly

You get the goss with a verdict, a score out of 10, and the sources to check us.

Do we like Bernie Madoff?

Our score: 0 out of 10. He pleaded guilty to defrauding investors of billions and got the maximum sentence, and no real good turned up to weigh against it.

At sentencing on 29 June 2009, prosecutors asked for 150 years. The probation department recommended 50 years, and his own lawyer asked for 12. Judge Denny Chin gave him the maximum of 150 years, which for a 71-year-old was a life sentence. Reports say applause broke out in the courtroom.

Honest gap: our page-opening tool was blocked while we researched this card, so we couldn't read fuller accounts of the later years. Search results suggest he died in federal prison in April 2021, and that his estate's victim-compensation fund has kept paying out. We haven't verified those details, so we've kept them out of the evidence boxes. We also found no charity or kind acts to credit him with.

So the answer is easy. He admitted the crime, took the maximum penalty, and left a trail of ruined savings. Support for him would mean forgetting the people he took from.

Queue a list of names

One name per line (or split with commas), up to 100 at a time. They're checked a few at a time in the background and land on the scoreboard as they finish. Names already on the board are skipped.

Suggest names

Add names here for the team to review: famous people, characters or companies, one per line (up to 20). We check the ones we pick, and they land on the scoreboard.

Suggested names

Loading…

See what's in line

Loading…

The scoreboard

Everyone checked so far, by score, 10 at the top. Typing a name up top filters the board too. Tap a score to see who's there, and a name for the whole card.

Loading…

Our take, from what the sources we read say on the day we checked. It can miss things; tap a source to read it.