Looting Free for All .- Victims You Are On Your Own!

post by Ray Fernandez

The culture of entitlement is in full swing and picking up steam the looting of assets is the word de jour , it doesn't matter how you loot or who you loot the important thing is that you loot!

Perhaps it doesn't bother you that Goldman Sachs, which is getting $10 billion from the bailout plan, is paying out $6.85 billion in bonuses, according to media reports. That's $210,000 per employee. And that's despite a 47% drop in its profit and 53% drop in its share price.

or that Morgan Stanley, which is also getting $10 billion from our government, is doling out $6.44 billion in bonuses or $138,700 per employee, even though its profits tumbled 41% and its shares are off by 69%. And even the failures at Lehman Brothers are collectively getting over $1 billion in bonuses.

How about the fact that fat cats and public figures , if they DO get caught with their hand in the cookie jar all they have to do is resign to avoid criminal prosecution! Case in point todays headlines "No charges for Spitzer" the public servantwho spent thousands of tax payers money and an investigation by the FBI and the IRS’ Criminal Investigation Division determined that Spitzer made payments to bank accounts, one named QAT Consulting, that had been used to launder more than $1 million worth of criminal proceeds derived from the Emperors Club VIP’s prostitution business, according to U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia. Spitzer got off scot free.

And from the city St. Petersburg , Florida If you are unfortunately enough to be caught in a scam the word from the authorities is YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN

— Few things anger homeowners more than contractors who take them for thousands of dollars and mess up the work. And don't ask the small-business owners about the scams that cost them their companies.Fraud victims expect that if they alert law enforcement to the bum that took them, he'll be arrested. Often, it doesn't happen.

The disputes usually involve too much he-said, she-said for law enforcement to wade through, and victims are told the dreaded, "It's a civil matter."

This declaration is the end of the line for most fraud victims. Pursuing a case in civil court is time-consuming, expensive, a hassle. Most people would rather just get on with their lives. Debbie Rowe and Scott Plantz are not most people.

They don't know each other; their cases are unrelated. But they share a kindred spirit that no matter what it takes, they are not giving up until the person they say wronged them gets his.
Rowe says a contractor ruined her home addition and cost her a fortune. Plantz says a con man took his business for $59,000 with the promise to build a Web site for his company.

Rowe and Plantz refused to accept, "It's a civil matter." They mined public documents to find other victims, so they could show authorities a pattern of fraud.

"I'll fight to the death if I know I'm right," said Rowe,55, who has had various jobs including painting and trying to start her own bakery business. "I think God put me on this earth to help people."Added Plantz, an emergency medicine physician: "You don't want this to happen to someone else. It's the simple reality of civic duty."
Rowe's tale began almost four years ago, when she wanted an addition to her St. Petersburg home for her elderly mother.

She hired contractor Jack B. Quick. And like the nursery rhyme character, the contractor may have burned himself playing with fire.

Rowe gave Quick about $30,000 for a project the contractor said would cost $95,000. After repeated delays that left her home open to the elements,she could not get satisfaction. She hired other contractors to repair and finish parts of the job, until she ran out of money to finish the work or to sue Quick. Rowe complained to county and state licensing agencies. But rather than investigate, the county challenged her accusations. The state contracting licensing board found no cause for action against Quick.

She took matters into her own hands. To find other potential victims, she researched building permits under Quick's name. She found other complaints with consumerprotection agencies. She amassed ..a file on Quick that filled large notebook binders.

"We don't have any protection," Rowe said.

That's how other homeowners feel after suffering an unscrupulous contractor. But by pressing such agencies as the Pinellas Department of Justice and Consumer Services as well as the Fourth Estate, Rowe finally earned herself the pleasure of Quick being arrested on grand theft charges.

It took two years from the time Rowe launched her campaign until Quick was picked up and accused of taking money without intending to complete contracted work.

A conviction won't help Rowe's pocketbook. But she said that's beside the point. "We're not going to get any money. It's about putting a stop to at least one (problem) contractor."

Plantz does not expect any money, either. His business lost $59,000 on a Web site development contract.

After contractor John P Heintz failed to meet Plantz's vision for a Web site that would provide online training for nurses, the doctor filed a fraud complaint with St. Pete Beach police.

But the pace of the investigation and what he viewed as a lack of interest only angered the doctor. He hired an investigator, researched court records and searched the Internet.
After spending thousands of dollars, Plantz discovered Heintz had left a trail of criminal charges, bankruptcies and lawsuits from Illinois to Michigan to Florida. Other clients told Plantz how they were taken by Heintz.

Finally, Plantz questioned investigators for the State Attorney's Office why Heintz was on the street and not in prison. "It takes perseverance to build a company," Plantz said. "It can be destroyed in a second.

You take away the American dream. That's what this guy does."

Plantz's persistence has prompted investigations into Heintz's activities.
Pinellas State Attorney Bernie McCabe said it isn't always clear if a case is civil or criminal. "Bad business, that's a civil matter. Did they take the advance with no intent to complete the job? That's a criminal matter. Were there a string of victims all in the same lurch?".


Reference: Bailout Failure and Investing in America's Future

Mice Revived from Cells Frozen after 16 years

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Japanese scientists have produced clones of mice that have been dead and frozen for 16 years -- a feat that could lead researchers to one day resurrect long-extinct species, such as the mammoth. Or perhaps a step closer to resurrecting Ted Williams now in deep cryogenics suspension in Arizona. When Ted Williams died last July 5, John Henry arranged to have his father's body frozen and moved to Alcor.

Cryonics is the practice of using very cold temperatures to stop the dying process when ordinary medicine can no longer sustain life. This is done with the intention of saving a patient's life until a cure for their illness can be found, and means developed to reverse the cryonics process.

Until now, scientists have only been able to produce clones using cells from live animals. This is how researchers created Dolly the Sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult animal.
Researchers had thought that frozen cells were unusable because ice crystals would have damaged the DNA. That belief would rule out the possibility of resurrecting extinct animals from their frozen remains.

But the latest research -- published in the journal, Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences -- shows that scientists may have overcome the obstacle.

Researchers at the Riken Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, used cells from mice that had been frozen for 16 years at -20 Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit).
They extracted the nucleus and injected it into eggs whose DNA had been removed. Several steps later, the scientists were able to clone the mice.

The US and the Reign of Fear

by Janet Phelan as published in the Venice Beachead 11-5-2008

A message of hope in the midst of the darkness.

The story ran on the front page of a major metropolitan newspaper in the states. On the streets of Baghdad, hit teams had become a matter of normal course. A car would pull up and shots would ring out. A man, a pedestrian making his way down a busy midday street, would fall to the ground, dead or deeply wounded.

And the passersby would keep on walking, as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. No one would stop for the wounded or dying, no one would call out for help.

Beyond the depiction of the violence that has become an everyday event in Baghdad, this article revealed the impact of a reign of terror, the blow to humanity when normal, everyday people fear to even take notice of a fallen countryman.

Every reign of terror has its human cost, far beyond the cost of the fallen. Every reign of terror victimizes also those who know that their countrymen are being attacked and even killed, but who fear to speak up or reach out a hand, thinking that they may be next.

And this is how evil accomplishes its aims. This is how a reign of terror succeeds in imprisoning the spirit of a once free people.

Those who think that the people of the U.S. live now under a similar reign of fear need only surf the web. At elderabusehelp.org, you may read stories of the elderly and disabled, who are being robbed and denied lifesaving medical care, through the guardianship and conservatorship programs, run through our courts. Astute observers have likened this to the T-4 programs in Hitler’s Germany, wherein the “useless eaters,” the elderly and disabled, were sent off to their deaths, after their assets were secured by the Nazi state.

Both journalists and lawyers attempting to address this issue are under attack. Mary Garofalo was abruptly exited from her twenty year tenure at Fox 5 news in New York, the day after the second in her investigative series on guardianship ran on that network. Attorney Margie Mikals has been threatened with revocation of her bar license, after coming up against the conservatorship machine in Southern California.

These tactics have a chilling effect on those who might speak out about the covert, genteel violence being done in our courts, against the most vulnerable of our fellow countrymen. And it has gotten worse. We have journalists and whistleblowers now being imprisoned in our country. Look at the fate of author Fritz Springmeier. Look at what has happened to former reporters and CIA whistleblowers Susan Lindauer and Barbara Hartwell.

And it has gotten worse. Journalist Gary Webb took two bullets in the head in 2004 and his demise was dutifully reported as suicide by his fellow reporters. Over eighty scientists have met suspicious deaths since 2001. Steve Quayle has compiled the following list, which has not been recently updated: www.stevequayle.com/index1.html

And it has gotten worse. Those in a position to realize the ramifications for possessing certain types of information, those with their fingers on the pulse of the nation–this would include journalists, broadcasters, lawyers, medical doctors and others in the scientific field–have certain choices to make. One may skirt around the increasingly obvious fact that people are being killed in this country, murdered by the state. One may maintain a safe distance from people who are being targeted, and, like those unhappy people on the street in Baghdad, to shut one’s eyes to what is daily becoming more apparent.

This choice will ensure the continued and escalating oppression we are now seeing in the states.
The other choice is to continue to speak out, in the face of possible persecution and retaliation. The other choice is to take notice, as loudly as possible, of every person under mortal attack by our government. The other choice is to help those in trouble, not ignore their plight. While this choice may appear more risky in the short term, it is, in fact, the only choice that will give us any leverage to change the future.

This is the choice that I made, back in 2002, when my own mother came under deadly attack. http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/12/190681.php

Those who know me know that I have paid dearly for my choice. And those who know me also know I have no regrets.

We have an incredible opportunity, right now, to make our voices heard, to stand up and speak out, without fear and with righteousness. We have a window of possibility, before the iron hand comes down, as we have never yet seen in this country. The choices we make today determine the future of our planet.

A Florida Bar committee is proposing a rule that would eliminate access to recordings of court proceedings.

Florida considers blocking access to recordings of court proceedings

A Florida Bar committee is proposing a rule that would eliminate access to recordings of court proceedings.

For decades, many Florida courts have provided recordings of court proceedings to the public. The recordings are available more quickly than a written transcript, and typically cost a few dollars rather than hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a transcript.

Now, the Commission on Trial Court Performance and Accountability is asking the Florida Supreme Court to approve a new rule under which recordings could only be released with explicit judicial approval, and only after editing.

Those proposing the rule say allowing public access to the recordings risks the accidental disclosure of personal information, such as Social Security numbers and off-the-record conversations.

“Saying ‘Hey Joe, how’s that affair you’re having?’ is now part of the record,” Palm Beach County Chief Judge Kathleen Kroll, a member of the commission proposing the rule, told The Palm Beach Post.

But others see the rule as an attempt by Florida judges to prevent behavior they later regret from ending up on television or the Internet.
“They don’t want their public behavior memorialized,” public defender Tony Natale told The Post. “It’s precisely to protect them.”

Final comments on the proposed rule are due Monday, November 3. The Florida Association of Public Defenders says it plans to file comments criticizing the rule change, saying that public defenders rely on the recordings and cannot afford pricey transcripts.

First Amendment advocates also plan to file comments opposing the change. Carol J. LoCicero, a media lawyer and partner at Thomas & LoCicero PL in Tampa, said the new rule violates Florida’s constitution and undermines the ability of citizens “to know what’s going on in their own court system.”

"Financial Crisis" perpetrated on The American People.

Listen to our two hour live show tomorrow, (Saturday, November 1), 6-8 PM Central or 5-7 PM ET with expert on U.S. monetary system, Andrew Gause.It is "The Real World of Money" and a special Saturday Live Edition, call in!

"The Real World of Money" Featuring Currency Historian Andrew Gause withPatrick Timpone - Saturday, November 1st. 6-8 PM Central , 5-7 ET Live Call in Show! 888.663.6386

This special Saturday edition, broadcasting from our flagship, 590 KLBJ Radio, Austin and on oneradionetwork.com will be a blast!Andrew and Patrick will lay out for many new listeners in Central Texas this amazing story of who is truly benefiting who is loosing from the "Financial Crisis" perpetrated on The American People.What is unprecedented here is the breadth and ostensibly brazen actions being taken by The Powers That Be with little regard for The U.S. Constitution and simply doing the right thing for Americans.Mark your calendar to join us on 590 AM KLBJ Radio, Austin 6-8 PM Saturday, November 1st. and also on oneradionetwork.com

Family Violence in the U.S. Reaching Epidemic Proportions

The National Conference on Family Violence: Health and Justice convened in March 1994. This was 10 years after the first Attorney General’s Task Force on Family Violence. The 1994 conference noted that the problem of family violence in the United States is epidemic and estimated that the annual incidence of family members is at 2 to 4 million for children, nearly 4 million for women, and 1 to 2 million for elder adults....

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Probate judge convicted, sentencing key to justice served

by Estate of Denial.Com

Former Covington County (AL) Probate Judge Sherrie Reid Phillips was found guilty of felony ethics and theft charges. Phillips took a $1.8 million check from an estate and put the funds into her personal account. First-degree felony theft evidently isn’t quite the deal in Alabama as it is in Texas. Besides the potential of a fine, Texas felony theft ($200,000+) can result in five years to life in prison.

That Phillips was found guilty is not a surprise. Next step, though, is to see if this becomes another case of the legal industry protecting its own or if a meaningful (non-probationary) sentence might be imposed.

Phillips’ defense attorney is quoted as saying “if she’s treated like every other citizen, she will get probation” and further adds that his client has not previously been charged with any crime. That may be true, but unlike every other citizen, she was a judge!

The American judiciary enjoys great power and, whether deserving or not, expects citizens to treat them with an elevated level of respect. When a judge uses their position to commit a crime and subsequently betrays the public trust as well as this position from which they demand deference, they remove themselves from being ”like every other citizen” and we hope that point is not lost in the sentencing.

Related: Former probate judge Sherrie Phillips convicted

Guardianship for life? Britney Spears

Britney Spears’ conservatorship (guardianship) has been extended indefinitely. News reports indicate the permanent conservatorship recently granted constitutes a lifetime arrangement. While this status was likely needed at a point in the past and may currently continue to benefit Britney, EstateofDenial.com believes this arrangement is likely sowing the seeds of unhealthy business/personal “dependencies” and predicts the indefinite nature of this arrangement to ultimately become problematic.

Cynicism is a common by-product of experiencing and/or following Involuntary Redistribution of Assets (IRA) cases in which probate instruments such as wills, trusts and guardianships are used to hijack property belonging to others. All involved today may be well-intentioned with regard to Britney’s affairs. We hope it stays that way. When the sanitized position of how Britney can later petition the court to have the guardianship removed is brought forward, our study of this issue indicates that such removal is sometimes easier said than done.

Britney’s conservatorship to continue

Unsuspecting Elders No Match for Unscrupulous Insurance Salespeople

HARRISBURG - PA. US

Attorney General Tom Corbett has announced that agents from the Attorney General's Elder Abuse Unit and Insurance Fraud Section have filed criminal charges against a Lebanon County insurance agent accused of stealing more than $80,000 from older consumers across Central Pennsylvania by selling them fictitious investments. Corbett identified the defendant as Scott Michael Powell, 49, 36 North Grant St., Palmyra.

Powell allegedly conducted business as SMP financial Services, of Palmyra. Corbett said that Powell allegedly targeted older consumers, including seniors that he contacted while presenting an insurance and investment program at a retirement community in Lancaster County. Powell allegedly sold bogus "Certificates of Deposit" (CD's) and non-existent mutual fund investments to at least 11 different victims from Lancaster, Lebanon, Hershey, Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg and other Central Pennsylvania communities - including a 97-year old woman from Lancaster who believed she has "invested" $24,000 with Powell.

"This scheme targeted seniors across central Pennsylvania, selling thousands of dollars worth of fictitious investments to a list of unsuspecting victims in their seventies, eighties and nineties," Corbett said. "These victims trusted Mr. Powell with their money and their financial futures, only to learn that these 'investments' were allegedly part of an elaborate plot to steal clients' money for personal use."

Corbett noted that cases of elder financial abuse, of other forms of fraud targeted at senior citizens, can be reported by calling the Attorney General's toll-free Elder Abuse Hotline at 1-866-623-2137.

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Florida Bar Association

Professional Ethics/Board Review Elizabeth Tarbert

Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Terry Hill

Elder Law Arlee Colman

Rules of (Court) Procedure: Probate: Craig Shaw

If you are not a member of The Florida Bar and wish to file a complaint against your attorney, you may download a consumer pamphlet "Complaint Against A Florida Lawyer" which contains the complaint form.

Discipline records of members of the bar are not available online. This information may be obtained by calling 1-800-342-8060 at extension 5839.

"Negligence" is the failure of a lawyer to heed a substantial risk that circumstances exist or that a result will follow, which failure is a deviation from the standard care that a reasonable lawyer would exercise in the situation.

Lawyer Conduct: Processing and investigation of inquiries and complaints are a basic responsibility of the Bar as mandated by the Florida Supreme Court. The Bar's serves to protect the public from unethical lawyers.

Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions

Inquiry/Complaint Form

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Inquiries and complaints about a lawyer's conduct, even if dismissed will be reflected in BAR records for 12 months after the files are closed. Inquiries and complaints are seerious matters and should be undertaken only after other available ways to resolve the problem have been unsuccessful.

What God has Joined Let No Man Separate

Clara's 92 yrs old.- Property is Auctioned on the Courthouse Steps

by Ray Fernandez

My parents property was auctioned off on October 21st 2008 on the courthouse steps in Charlotte County,Florida.

When Clara's forced court appointed Guardian was installed on July 8th 2007 the responsibility of paying bills was taken away from me and I have never ever made a late payment on utilities or the mortgage looking to safeguard my mother's here to A-1 credit, now late fees of $74.00 would become the norm as payments were routinely made late causing utilities and water to be cut off for several days at a time and late fees and penalties to rack up considerably .

Attorney Donald E. Yates was given the mandate by the court of marshaling the "Ward" assets and paying her bills ,caring for her. Unfortunately for Clara in my opinion he was derelict in fulfilling his duties and failed to pay her real estate taxes on her homestead or on any other property.

The responsible parties neglected to pay the Real Estate Taxes on her property, this triggered the tax deed sale on the courthouse steps, and the sale of a tax certificate on her homestead in Key West,Florida.

The Guardianship did manage to marshall $62, 357.00 with over 90% converted over to attorney fees and less than 7% went directly through third parties for the direct benefit of the "Ward" for medicine and food.





This is the winning bid of $3,310. What stroke us as particularly tragic was the huge number of people that are losing their property because of not being able to pay their property taxes.

There were quite a number of investors, and because of the current financial crisis America is truly "ON SALE" this presents quite a opportunity for domestic and foreign investors.

I explained to the other bidders that this was my mothers property that was being lost because the person in charge failed to pay taxes, and because of the sentimental value , I would like to buy it back and they abstained from bidding allowing me to place the winning bid for cents on the dollar of the true worth of the property.



The irony of this is that my father and mother bought this lot as an investment in America back in June of 1983 and spent the next 15 years making payment on this property. I remenber more than once when my father would pack us in the car and drive that long drive across Alligator Alley to the West coast of Florida to look at the property.

I remember that proud look in his eye of having bought a piece of America, the same America that would betray him in his later years, and hold a fire sale with everything that was ever dear to him.

click on any document to enlarge

This is the Original Warranty Deed when my parents made the investment in 1983. It is ironic that I was able to puchase the property for fraction of what he paid for it 24 years ago and after having made payments on it for 15 years!

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When did this Become Acceptable Behavior in the United States of America?

Your Town, USA – a Great Place to Live, Launch and Loot?

Estate Of Denial.Com