September 2014 Ponzi Scheme Roundup

Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps

    Below is a summary of the activity reported for September 2014. The reported stories reflect: 4 guilty pleas or convictions in pending cases; over 239 years of newly imposed sentences for people involved in Ponzi schemes; at least 11 newly discovered schemes involving over 135,000 victims and more than $328 million; and an average age of approximately 51 for the alleged Ponzi schemers in the stories reported. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed. And please remember that I am just relaying what’s in the news, not writing or verifying it.

    Eric Aronson, 46, pleaded guilty to defrauding investors of $30 million in a Ponzi scheme that he ran through Permapave Industries and Permapave USA Corp. The scheme defrauded more than 200 investors by promising returns as high as 400% for financing the importation of ecologically friendly paving stones from Australia.

    David Boden, 52, and Richard L. Pearson, 57, were both charged in connection with the Scott Rothstein Ponzi scheme. Boden was the general counsel for the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm and was charged relating to his failure to disclose a second sales commission in several transactions. Pearson was a broker who worked in the same building and who sold legal settlements to investors. It is believed that both Boden and Pearson intend to plead guilty.

    John R. Bullar, 52, pleaded guilty to running an $8.7 million foreign exchange Ponzi scheme that defrauded 46 investors. The CFTC also charged Bullar with violations of commodities laws. Bullar ran his scheme through Executive Management Advisors and convinced investors that he had a computerized algorithm system that monitored the market for patterns and alerted him to potential losses. Bullar created an investment log for his clients to follow and put several computer monitors in his home office to give his business the appearance of legitimacy. He misappropriated approximately $6 million for his own use.

    Robin Kyo Cho, 50, was sentenced to 105 years in prison without the possibility of parole in connection with a triple homicide that was discovered because of his prior conviction in connection with a $2 million Ponzi scheme. Cho had pleaded guilty to a Ponzi scheme in 2008 and was required to submit a DNA sample as part of his sentence. His DNA was linked to the murder of a Korean woman, her 2 year old son, and a live-in nanny in 2003. Cho had admitted to defrauding at least 11 investors by promising them returns of 4% to 6% per year and that their principal was guaranteed. Cho had faced 60 years in prison in connection with the scheme but had negotiated just 5 years of probation as part of his plea agreement.

    Fred Davis Clark Jr., 56, and Cristal R. Clark aka Cristal R Coleman, 41, were the subject of a new indictment in connection with the investment scheme run through Cay Club Resorts and Marinas. It is alleged that they used Cay Club to sell vacation rentals with the promise of an upfront “leaseback” payment of 15% to 29% of the purchase price. Cay Club had raised more than $300 million from about 1,400 investors. An earlier civil enforcement action by the SEC was dismissed on statute of limitations grounds.

    John Williams Cranney, 73, was indicted on charges related to an alleged Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 15 investors out of more than $6 million. Cranney solicited money from investors through his companies Cranney Capital I and Cranney Capital II.

    Tim Durham, 52, Jim Cochran, 58, and Rick Snow, 50, had all almost all of their 25 felony convictions upheld on appeal in connection with their $200 million Ponzi scheme run through Fair Finance Co. that defrauded 5,000 victims. U.S. v. Durham, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 17267 (7th Cir. Sept. 4, 2014). The three defendants are serving sentences of 50 years, 25 years, and 10 years, respectively, and will now be resentenced. All of the challenges to the conviction but one were rejected by the appellate court. As for the one, the court stated, “The government failed to enter into the trial record key documentary evidence supporting two counts of wire fraud against Durham. It was clearly an oversight, but the mistake leaves a crucial gap in the evidence on those counts.”

    eAdGear was the subject of an SEC action in which the SEC alleged that the eAdGear program is a $129 million Ponzi and pyramid scheme. The SEC identified the operators of the scheme as Charles S. Wang, 52, and Qian Cathy Zhang, 52, and Francis Y. Yuen, 53. eAdGear held itself out as a profitable Internet marketing company and targeted investors in Chinese communities. The program involved 66,000 accounts held by tens of thousands of investors. The company supposedly used search engine optimization to help clients increase their website rankings on search engines and then claimed to share 70% of the revenue generated with investors. Investors were also promised 5% to 15% commissions for the recruitment of new investors.

    Derek Elliot, 43, pleaded guilty to charges that he had masterminded a $91.3 million Ponzi scheme along with James Catledge. The two defrauded hundreds of investors in connection with a scheme to renovate a luxury hotel in the Dominican Republic. Catledge has denied wrongdoing and a trial is pending.

    Glen Galemmo, 48, is the subject of a new complaint brought by the CFTC alleging that Galemmo’s Ponzi scheme involved about $116 million. Galemmo previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in prison. The complaint alleges that Galemmo falsely promised investors returns ranging from 17% to 40% and that his firm, QFC LLC, suffered trading losses of $1.2 million.

    Jennifer E. Hoffman, 37, John C. Boschert, 43, and Brian Zuzga, 37, were charged with running a $25 million Ponzi scheme. The scheme allegedly defrauded 100 investors by promising them returns of up to 50% per week through their company, Assured Capital Consultants. Zuzga was charged with impersonating a lawyer and assuring investors that their money was safe in an escrow account.

    Christopher Jackson, 46, Michael Bolden, 60, and Victor Alvarado, 53, were sentenced to 30 years, 20 years, and 10 years, respectively, in prison in connection with a Ponzi scheme involving more than $20 million and as many as 250 investors. The scheme was run through Diversified Management Consultants, which ran investment clubs in which people purportedly invested in the purchase and development of land. Bolden and Alvardo pleaded guilty, and Jackson went to trial and was found guilty.

    James Jackson Jr., 48, was sentenced to 90 years in prison in connection with a $2.7 million Ponzi scheme in which Jackson held investment seminars to lure investors into his company, AFG. Jackson was sentenced to three consecutive 30 year terms, which is believed to be the third longest prison sentence in a Ponzi scheme case, coming after only Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford. Jackson used his companies, American Senior Advisory Group and Covenant Planning Group, to solicit elderly investors to invest in AFG. About 33 victims were defrauded.

    Walter P. Lambert, 73, pleaded guilty to charges that he ran a $10 million Ponzi scheme through Blue Mountain Consumer Discount Company. Lambert promised returns around 9% or 10% and he told investors that he would use their funds to issue high-interest loans to consumers at rates of 23% to 26%.

    Joseph Laurer aka Dr. Josef V. Laurer, now deceased, is the subject of a civil complaint in which his widow, Brenda M. Davis, is named as a relief defendant. The complaint alleges that Laurer ran a $4.6 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded 50 investors through his company, Abatement Corp. Holding Co. Laurer told investors he would put their money into AAA-rated corporate and government bonds with guaranteed returns and no risk to the principal balance.

    Andrew Madoff, the son of Bernard Madoff, died after a battle with cancer. Andrew Madoff’s brother, Mark Madoff, had committed suicide in 2008. The two brothers had turned their father in to criminal authorities in 2008. Both have been sued by the trustee of the Madoff scheme who is seeking the return of tens of millions of dollars that was transferred to them. Neither was charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

    Bernie Madoff’s penthouse sold for $14.5 million to Lawrence Benenson who runs a real estate investment and development firm.

    Erik Laszlo Mathe and Ashif Jiwa were indicted in connection with alleged securities fraud relating to their start up television company, Vision Broadcast Network. The SEC also filed a civil lawsuit alleging that they raised $5.7 million from approximately 100 investors but spent most of the money themselves. The SEC complaint alleges that Mathe and Jiwa misled investors into believes that Vision Broadcast owned TV stations and 70 broadcast licenses. The SEC complaint also names a company affiliated with Jiwa, Bluemark Asset Management LLC, as a relief defendant.

    William Charlton Mays IV was sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with a $225,000 Ponzi scheme. Mays promised investors 6% to 18% per year from gold, silver and commodities investments.

    Sean Michael Meadows, 41, was charged with a new count for scheming a landlord and a renter. Meanwhile, charges remaining pending against Meadows for running a $10 million Ponzi scheme through Meadows Financial Group that defrauded 50 investors. In the latest charges, Meadows sought to have a renter circumvent the owner of a property and pay rents directly to Meadows even after Meadows had failed to fulfill a contract to purchase the property.

    James Ashby Moncure, 41, was charged with an alleged Ponzi scheme in which he promised investors returns of 10% to 25% in a program to acquire and develop the Quantico Corporate Center in Virginia. The scheme allegedly involved at least $35 million in investor deposits.

    James Nicholson, 48, was unsuccessful in his attempt to shorten his 40 year prison sentence for running a $140 million Ponzi scheme through his hedge fund firm, Westgate Capital Management LLC. The court rejected Nicholson’s claims of ineffective counsel. Nicholson v. U.S., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 132695 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 22, 2014).

    Gina Palasini, 52, was charged with running a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauded seniors by promising them assistance in obtaining Medicaid or veterans benefits.

    Lananh Thi Phan, 54, and Diane H. Do Bui, 49, were charged with running an $8 million Ponzi scheme that targeted the Vietnamese-American community. At least 18 victims were involved, but there may be more. Phan, a licensed realtor, worked with Bui, who was a notary public, to persuade investors to invest in different investments, including a “secret” venture. The scheme effectively promised investors returns of 70% per year and that their money was safe.

    Marlon M. Quan and his companies, Acorn Capital Group LLC, Stewardship Investment Advisors LLC and ACG II LLC, were the subject of an $80 million sanction award and permanent injunctions for their role in the Tom Petters Ponzi scheme. SEC v. Quan, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131618 (D. Minn. Sept. 19, 2014). The SEC had alleged that Quan helped facilitate the Petters fraud by funneling several hundred million dollars of investor money into the scheme and assuring investors that their money was protected by various safeguards.

    Stuart Rosenfeldt, 59, pleaded for mercy in connection with his sentencing on charges relating to the Scott Rothstein, 52, Ponzi scheme. Rosenfeldt, one of Rothstein’s former law partners in their firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, had pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the Ponzi scheme. Rosenfeldt contends that his drug-addicted son would suffer “irreparable damage” if his father is sent to prison. Rothstein is serving a 50 year sentence, and Russell Adler, 52, surrendered this month to serve his 2½ year sentence for illegally funneling campaign donations on Rothstein’s behalf.

    Trenton T. Shavers, 31, the founder of Bitcoin Savings and Trust, was found liable for securities violations and ordered to pay a $40.7 million fine in an action commenced by the SEC. Bitcoin Savings and Trust was accused of running a Ponzi scheme that promised investors returns of 7% interest weekly based on the purported Bitcoin market arbitrage activity.

    T. LeMont Silver, one of the promoters of the ZeekRewards scheme, is now promoting a new program called “BitClub Network.” Silver has also been linked to a program called Gold Crowdfunding. Silver has been sued by the receiver of ZeekRewards for gains received in the scheme. BitClub Network purportedly pays out a daily dividend for 1,000 days and has three “mining pools” with tiered buy-in rates: $500, $1,000 and $2,000. Early birds — described as “Leaders” — are being encouraged to send in $3,599 to qualify for a “Founder’s” position.

    Jason Snelling, 50, had his 11 year prison sentence vacated when the court found that the loss amount used in calculating sentence guidelines had not accounted for money returned to victims in the form of fictitious interest payments. See U.S. v. Snelling, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 19857 (6th Cir. Sept. 22, 2014 ). Snelling still must deal with two other prison sentences however, including a 40 year prison sentence, relating to his Ponzi scheme run through Dunhill Investment Advisers and CityFund Advisory. Snelling operated out of Cincinnati and promised rates of return of 10% to 15%.

    Joel Steinger, 64, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for masterminding an $800 million Ponzi scheme through Mutual Benefits Corp. that defrauded more than 30,000 investors. The company bought life insurance policies from people with AIDS, cancer and other chronic illnesses and sold them to investors. Safe and high returns were promised to investors. The company was shut down by the SEC in 2004.

    Jeffrey M. Toft, 51, Chad A. Sloat, 36, and Michael J. Murphy, 54, were sentenced to 66 months, 70 months, and 48 months in prison, respectively, in North Carolina in connection with the Black Diamond Capital Solutions Ponzi scheme. The three defendants had operated a $40 million hedge fund Ponzi scheme that defrauded hundreds of elderly victims by promising returns of up to 137% from a foreign currency trading program. The mastermind of the scheme, Keith Simmons, was sentenced in 2012 to 50 years in prison and ordered to pay $35 million in restitution. Simmons promised investors that no more than 20% of their funds would be at risk at any time, and he quoted Bible verses to convince about 240 investors to invest. Another defendant, Jonathan Davey, 50, is awaiting sentencing.

    Gary Richard Vibbard, 59, was sentenced to 63 months in prison in connection with a $3 million Ponzi-like scheme that defrauded dozens of investors. Vibbard had told investors that he was a proven financial manager, but he had actually filed bankruptcy in 2000, owed more than $1.5 million in back taxes, and had lost more than $1 million in investor funds in a prior failed company. Vibbard used investor funds to pay personal expenses such as his gym membership and an internet dating service, and he had instructed his bookkeeper to purchase cashier’s checks with the funds in the corporate bank accounts so as to prevent creditors from seizing his accounts.

    Oscar Villarreal, 27, was indicted in connection with a $9.6 million Ponzi-like scheme that is believed to have defrauded about 46 investors. Villareal was selling limited partnership interests and promising returns of as much as 45%.

    Eliyahu Weinstein, 39, pleaded guilty to charges that he defrauded investors out of $8 million by promising them high returns because he supposedly had the inside track on Facebook shares in advance of the company’s public offering. Weinstein is already serving 22 years in prison for masterminding a $200 million Ponzi scheme in New Jersey.

    Zhunrize was the subject of an SEC action filed to shut down a fraudulent program that was allegedly operating across state and national borders. It is alleged that the Zhunrize program, run by Jeff Pan, 52, involved $105 million and defrauded 77,000 investors.

INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS

Canada

    The trial of Gary Sorenson and Milowe Brost began in Calgary. The two defendants face charges in what is being called the largest Ponzi-type scheme in Canadian history. At least 2,000 investors around the world allegedly lost about $400 million. The scheme involved the companies Syndicated Gold Depository SA, Base Metals Corporation LLC, Bahama Resource Alliance Ltd., Merendon Mining Corporation Ltd., and Strategic Metals Corp. 

    Garth Bailey, 61, sat through his sentencing hearing where prosecutors argued that Bailey’s role in a multi-million Ponzi scheme warranted between 8 and 9 years. Bailey was convicted in May on charges for his role in the HMS Financial Ponzi scheme that collected about $37 million from investors. Bailey was the lawyer for HMS Financial, which was established by Harold Murray Stark and Robert (Colonel) Fyn. The scheme offered investors 8% to 12% returns per month and claimed that their money was protected by a $30 million bond that could cover any losses. Stark was previously sentenced to 6 years and Fyn was sentenced to 8 years after they had pleaded guilty. Bailey’s services added a “veneer” of credibility to the company as its lawyer.

England

    Eleven women were convicted for their roles in a cash-gifting pyramid scheme known as “Give and Take” and “Key to a Fortune.” The scheme targeted brides and young couples, encouraging them to get a great start to wedded life by putting their cash in a gifting scheme that would supposedly turn £3,000 into more than £20,000. The scheme involved £21 million.

    Geoffrey Langdale, 63, was sentenced to 6 years in prison for running a £2.3 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded 28 victims. Langdale ran his scheme through Langdale Accountants.

    David Gerald Dixon, 49, was arraigned on charges that he ran a multi-million Ponzi scheme through Arboretum Sports (U.K.) Ltd., which was a sports betting company.

Hungary

    A fine of Ft 1.25 billion was levied against Zsolt Szabo-Forrai and his companies, Fortress Holding, Flow Money and Flow Money Int. The companies promised 9% returns to investors.

India

    Bikash Swain, the proprietor of Suryaprava, and Ranjan Das, former chief of Swastik India Multi-Purpose Credit Cooperative Society, were arrested.

    Debasis Mohanta, the director of Happy Life Realty India, was sentenced to 5 years in jail. Two other agents, Pranab Behera and Jiban Das, were sentenced to 4 years each.

    Sadananda Gogoi was arrested in connection with the Saradha Ponzi scheme.

    Half-burnt documents were recovered from the riverbank in connection with the Ponzi scheme of SLB Invest India Ltd. Local fisherman observed two people setting papers on fire near the riverbank. The men fled after they were spotted, and the documents reflect records of SLB’s business and the names and addresses of investors.

    The Calcutta high court admitted a petition seeking investigations into the activities of Progress Cultivation Ltd. It is alleged that Progress Cultivation was a Ponzi scheme in which funds from investors were used to purchase property.

    Cases were filed against MPS Greenery Developers Ltd. and Akash Deep Projects Ltd.  Pramatha Nth Manna, the founder and managing director of MPS Greenery, and another director, PK Chanda, were also arrested.

NEWSWORTHY LEGAL ISSUES IN PENDING PONZI SCHEME CASES

    The liquidator of Fairfield Sentry Ltd., an offshore Bernard L. Madoff feeder fund, was permitted by the Second Circuit to try to undo an imprudent sale of its $230 million claim against Madoff’s firm. Krys v. Farnum Place LLC (In re Fairfield Sentry Ltd.), 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 18427 (2d Cir. Sept. 26, 2014).

    Investor Brad Markowitz filed an appeal asking to revive his lawsuit against LPL Financial LLC relating to an $8 million Ponzi scheme run by Michael E. McCready, 46. McCready had worked at LPL while running his scheme that targeted entertainment industry professionals. Markowitz alleges that LPL should have detected suspicious activity.

    Cal Poly San Luis Obispo filed a motion in the bankruptcy case of Al Moriarty, 81, seeking to cover up Moriarty’s name from its stadium scoreboard. Moriarty was convicted last month in connection with a $22 million Ponzi scheme. Moriarty had paid $625,000 in 2009 for naming rights to the video scoreboard.

    Some claims in the class action lawsuit relating to the $800 million Ponzi scheme of MRI International were dismissed and some were allowed to proceed. The complaint alleged that MRI misrepresented that its business was legitimate and that the company purchased and collected medical accounts receivable. The lawsuit named MRI, along with Edwin J. Fujinaga, 67, Junzo Suzuki and Paul Musashi Suzuki as defendants. Fujinaga owned and operated the company in Las Vegas, and Junzo Suzuki handled the marketing and investment solicitations in Japan. The lawsuit also named LVT aka Sterling Escrow, which handled MRI’s bookkeeping.

    Palm Beach Finance Partners and Palm Beach Finance II sued BMO Harris Bank for $23.6 billion for the alleged actions of M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank which BMO acquired. The lawsuit alleges that M&I was complicit in the Thomas Petters scheme, that they knew no retailers were making payments into the Petters’ accounts, and that they knew Petters’ accounts only had a few million dollars at a time, rather than the billions of dollars in collateral that lenders granted him. M&I never filed a suspicious activity report with regulators.

    The court in the Scott Rothstein Ponzi scheme case approved a settlement between the victims of the Ponzi scheme and the creditors of Rothstein’s law firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler. The settlement resolves competing claims to about $50 million of assets that will be divided between the government seeking forfeiture of those assets and the trustee of the law firm.

    Investors in the Martin Sigillito Ponzi scheme have filed a new lawsuit against the former chief executive of Enterprise Trust Co., Paul Vogel, and Argos Partners LLC. The plaintiffs allege that they lost more than $4.8 million in the scheme in which investments were sought for loans to Distinctive Properties of London, England, known as The British Loan Program. The lawsuit accuses Vogel of participating in the scheme and referring investors to it in exchange for a $150,000 finder’s fee. A previous lawsuit against Vogel was settled for a confidential sum. The lawsuit alleges that Vogel created two companies, Brad-Green Development LLC and Cranmer Associates LLC, to divert investor money to himself.

    The SEC decided not to appeal the recent decision by the appeals court in Washington that held that the Stanford Financial victims are not “customers” under the terms of SIPA. The appellate court agreed with the lower court that an estimated 7,800 former customers of Stanford Group Co. did not qualify for reimbursement from SIPC because they did not fit the statutory definition of a “customer.”

    The Fifth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s ruling in favor of the Stanford Financial receiver against net winners in the Ponzi scheme. The court agreed with the lower court that investors had provided reasonably equivalent value to the extent they received back their principal investments, but that the receiver could recover amounts paid back in excess of their principal investment. See Janvey v. Brown, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 17580 (5th Cir. Sept. 11, 2014).

    The Department of Justice sought a stay of civil discovery in the SEC’s action against Telexfree. The government argued that the administration of its parallel criminal case might be impaired by the defendants’ use of the civil discovery process in the SEC case.

    The lawyers and turnaround advisors for TelexFree who were involved in TelexFree’s bankruptcy case before the trustee was appointed have agreed to cut their fee requests significantly. The company’s lawyers, Greenberg Traurig, agreed to cut its fee request from $969,999 to $320,000. The turnaround advisers, Alvarez & Marsal, agreed to reduce their fees from $876,000 to $435,000.

    The Massachusetts Securities Division has reached a settlement with Fidelity Co-operative Bank for $3.5 million to resolve claims in the TelexFree Ponzi scheme. The president of Fidelity is John Merrill, the brother of alleged Ponzi schemer James Merrill. The bank will establish a $35 million relief fund for individuals defrauded in the $1.1 billion TelexFree Ponzi scheme. TelexFree made three deposits into the bank totaling $10.1 million. James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler each also had personal accounts at the bank, and Wanzeler moved $3.5 million from his personal account to an overseas bank account in Singapore.

    Morgan Stanley was fined $280,000 for ignoring “numerous red flags” in connection with the $35 million Ponzi scheme run by Benjamin Wilson through his company, SureInvestment. Morgan Stanley ignored warning signs such as documents that showed that SureInvestment had returns of 2,850% and 45 consecutive profitable months. The CFTC had alleged that the firm failed to supervise its officers and employees in the handling of the company’s accounts.

    The ZeekRewards receiver requested authority to sue at least 23 Canadian residents to recover a total of about $2.91 million.

CFPB Sues Corinthian College On Predatory Student Loan Practices

In case there were any doubts, the federal government is still in the business of Truth-In-Lending.  Corinthian College is the target of an action of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “(CFPB”) for predatory student loan practices. This is not too surprising given the Massachusetts Attorney General action filed back in April against Corinthian.  Corinthian has a host of troubles now, including financial problems that have it seeking a buyer for the distressed educational institution.  (See, The For Profit College that's Too Big to Fail and Corinthian Victimized Students)   The CFPB's complaint alleges that Corinthian encouraged students to take out private loans, in addition to federal loans, too expensive to pay back. The CFPB points to inflated, misleading and sometimes false employment figures. Its a bit of a mystery as to whether the college was just encouraging students to take out these private loans or if the practices actually amounted to inducing students to take out these loans.

The cost of tuition for one of Corinthian Colleges degrees was at least five times higher for any degree that could be earned at a public or community college. The CFPB alleges that Corinthian raised the cost of tuition so that the federal loans would not cover the cost, and students would then take out "Genesis" loans, which Corinthian had an interest in and which require students to pay while attending classes. Many of the students defaulted and Corinthian employees would called students out of class numerous times to discuss the non-payment of the loan in order to get students to make good on their loans.

So, how might an aggrieved student with some education, but not fantastic job opportunities benefit from this action? The CFPB's complaint seeks relief from the court going as far as ordering the complete recision of all Genesis and Education Plus loans starting from as early as 2011. This is big, as the students would not have to repay these loans.  About 130,000 students took out a “Genesis” loan since July 2011. Apparently most of the students attending Corinthian Colleges which include Everest Institute and Everest College, are students that come from homes earning less than 45k per year. The College is however, still enrolling students with the same practices despite the suit although the CFPB is seeking to enjoin the colleges from performing the same tactics for new or prospective students.  In August, Corinthian sold over $500 million of these student loans to a third party for $19 million, surely reflecting collectability on several fronts.

With the federal government unable to tackle the issue of student loans on a broad basis, the CFPB at least seems to be carrying out there promise to crack down on predatory lending.  Earlier this year, it was ITT Tech that was in the spot light for these deceptive practices. (See, CFPB Takes on Predatory Student Loan Practices).   Student loan defaults on the whole, at least, are down. (See, Defaults on Student Loans Decline).  It should be interesting to keep an eye on who is next on the student loan front.  Those lenders and schools whose loans have a disparate impact on their students are next in line.  Not surprisingly, the ABA's Business Law Section's Annual Meeting included a well attended session on "All I Need to Know I Learned From the Government: A Look at the Regulatory and Enforcement Landscape for Student Lending."

- JSM (with Devon Locay, St. Thomas University J.D. expected 2016)

Can a Seller Collect More than Expectation Damages? Yes, Says the Oregon Supreme Court

Law students learn early in their study of Contracts that an aggrieved party is entitled to collect its expectation interest.  But, is that always true?  Well, the Supreme Court of Oregon recently held that an aggrieved seller under Article 2 might be able to claim more than its expectation interest.

 

The breadth of the remedies available to a seller who has resold goods after a buyer’s breach was at issue in the case of Peace River Seed Co-Operative, Limited v. Proseeds Marketing, Incorporated.  Proseeds Marketing (“Proseeds”) was to purchase seeds from Peace River Seed Co-Operative (“Peace River”) at a fixed price over a period of two years.  During the contract period, the price of grass seeds fell dramatically and Proseeds refused to provide shipping and delivery confirmation to Peace River for the shipment of the seeds.  Therefore, Peace River cancelled the contracts and brought suit, claiming market price damages even though it had resold some of the seed.

Ultimately at issue was whether an aggrieved seller who resold goods (section 2-706) can recover the difference between the unpaid contract price and the market price, even where the market price damages would exceed resale damages actually suffered by the seller.   If Peace River could collect market price damages even where it resold the goods at a profit, it would arguably receive a windfall on the transaction.  Conversely, the court could restrict Peace River to recovery of an amount of damages no greater than it recovered in its resale.   Somewhat surprisingly, the Supreme Court of Oregon held that owing to the lack of clarity in the Code itself, “the text, context, and legislative history of the sellers’ remedies provisions support a seller’s right to recover either market price damages or resale price damages, even if market price damages lead to a larger recovery.”    The court reasoned that the index of remedies provided by section 2-703, coupled with the comments rejecting election of remedies, indicated that a seller could resell at a higher price and still collect a larger market-based remedy where available. 

 
Despite the decision in Peace River, a seller who attempts to claim the higher remedy under 2-708 after resale should expect a challenge from the buyer.  While the decision in Peace River is based on the Code’s rejection of an election of remedies and the “liberal” administration of remedies,  it does not necessarily follow that an aggrieved seller should be able to collect more than its expectation interest.   In such a case, it seems the seller should not have been able to obtain more than the benefit of the bargain.   One must also question whether the Court might have concluded that the resale price and market were equivalent.  But this may not be the case in a rapidly changing market.  Moreover, while the Code rejects election of remedies, it also provides that “[w]hether the pursuit of one remedy bars another depends entirely on the facts of the individual case.”   It might be argued that the pursuit of the market-based remedy when it exceeds the benefit-of-the-bargain, would entirely be the appropriate circumstance in which to bar the election of the higher remedy.

 

- JSM

Nebraska Court Reminds that 9-625 Applies to Grant Remedies Against Secured Parties

I am at the ABA Business Law Section's first stand-alone meetings in Chicago, Illinois and attended the filing office task force this morning.  Among other news about states encouraging electronic filings of financing statements, the case of Fjellin v. Penning was on the agenda.  In this case, a trust was a perfected secured party relative to assets of several Dairy Queen stores that were later sold to a buyer.  After the closing, the debtors' attorney, Kaplan, filed a termination statement relative to the assets sold to the buyer (who had bought the assets free and clear of the liens).  Penning, a secured creditor of the Trust himself, as well as a director and shareholder of the debtor, allegedly retained most of the closing funds and only paid part of them over to the Trust.  In the action against Kaplan, the court concluded that there was no claim under section 9-625, which only creates a cause of against secured parties.  Kaplan, being the attorney of the debtor, was not a secured party.  Moreover, the court declined to find in favor of the Trust on a claim of negligence against Kaplan, finding: (i) causation lacking where Penning's action in taking the funds caused the problem, (ii) that the termination statement did not extinguish the security interest in the assets under 9-315; and the Trust had an interest in proceeds under section 9-203.

Hmmm, next time make sure the funds are paid on the loan at closing.

- JSM

Voters Without Knowledge: The Modern State Of America

Further scrutiny of the lack of knowledge of the citizens of the United States about their own government can be seen like clockwork every 4 years in yet more ceremony and ritual designed to fool the common people and divert their knowledge.

For in election time, the masses of people go through the useless motion of registering (obtaining legal residence in Washington D.C.) and standing in line to vote for a U.S. President that is, apparently unbeknownst to the vast majority of that population, actually indirectly elected by 538 congressional appointed electors every four years (not by the people). This seems to reveal that a great and purposeful culling of reason, logic, and especially knowledge has taken place within the population center of this nation of America – a people contractually enslaved by a corporation called United States, seemingly without their comprehension. It is this knowledge that must find its way into the hearts and minds of the indentured subjects of this corporate State, if for no other reason than to make them unfit to be slaves to a president they do not even elect. Only by exposing the true history of this central corporation we mistakenly call a country will the people ever be free to rid themselves of its tyranny.

For tyranny is freedom – the more laws to obey the more freedom to obey those laws we have. Freedom is a privilege granted by government, if you haven’t guessed, and is the exact opposite of being free…

–=–

“In reality, when the voters of North Carolina voted this past November,

they were actually voting to pick this slate of electors

instead of voting directly for the president and the vice-president.”

–Elaine Marshall, Secretary of State of North Carolina,

speaking at the 2012 Electoral College ceremony

–=–

It boggles the mind that anyone can really still believe that the appointment of the Commander In Chief of the United States military (U.S. President) would be left up to a “popular” vote of the common people! But apparently this illusion is a powerful one, as the millions upon millions of subjects are still voting in droves, urged on by the billions upon billions of dollars spent on maintaining the illusion with media enter-tain-ment; some standing in line for hours upon hours while suffering mental and physical abuses even as the actual election is held in college by congressional and political party appointed “electors”. So continues the illusion of choice by an indentured society that has no idea it is chained.

Article 2 of the constitution states:

Clause 1: Executive Power

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows…

Clause 2: Method of choosing electors

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

Clause 3: Electors

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons… and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed… But in choosing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall choose from them by Ballot the Vice President.

Notice there is no mention of the “the people” in this election for president, because the people do not elect the president. The people only hold the legal status of mere voters, fooled into empowering the appointed Electors with their votes (granting consent to the Electoral College), literally giving away their rights and individual power as a powerless body politic (many men with only one voice = E-Pluribus Unum = “Out of Many, One.”). The people vote for representatives, never realizing that the representatives then indirectly appoint the electors that elect the president. Of course, the people also don’t comprehend that the President is their virtual king under military rule, as established by the War Powers Act and Emergency Declarations, as we will discuss herein.

The Electors are the true electors of the president, not the voters (the people), no different than any other corporation and its board of directors (legislature) – for customers of Walmart do not elect its board or its president any more than U.S. voters do. But the illusion is maintained every four years through media and print at the cost of many billions of dollars – all based on the ridiculous and heavily media-promoted fallacy that the people vote and elect the president.

And the people believe…

And the knowledge stays hidden behind the belief, pomp, and circumstance…

And the people are thus quite fit to be slaves.

As written above, the “Representation from each State has one Vote”, not the people. Furthermore, this election process does not even require all States to participate, stating that the election process is done with at least a “quorum”, with members of the Electoral College from only “two thirds of the States”.

So what is a quorum?

From Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, 1856:

QUORUM. Used substantively, quorum signifies the number of persons belonging to a legislative assembly, a corporation, society, or other body, required to transact business…”

And from Black’s Law 4rth:

QUORUM. A majority of the entire body; e. g., a quorum of a state supreme court… Such a number of the members of a body as is competent to transact business in the absence of the other members. The idea of a quorum is that, when that required number of persons goes into a session as a body, such as directors of a corporation, the votes of a majority thereof are sufficient for binding action. When a committee, board of directors, meeting of shareholders, legislature or other body of persons cannot act unless a certain number at least of them are present, that number 1s called a “quorum.” Sweet. In the absence of any law or rule fixing the quorum, it consists of a majority of those entitled to act.

The establishment and perceived legitimacy of a de facto (illegitimate) quorum is of utmost importance in the most corrupt of legislative processes called “democracy”. If anything, this process of quorum majority rule should tell you that the United States is in no way a republic, for the representation of a minority of one or even 1/3 of the population is certainly not being heard in a quorum (more on this later). It means that as long as enough seats are filled with like-minded (or like-blooded) legislators, generally more than 50%, it is likely that this quorum of combined votes ensures the will of the group.

If two out of the three judges at a chili cook-off are blood-cousins of one of the cooks, it matters not what the 1/3 vote of the non-blood-cousin is. The quorum of 2/3 blood will decide what good chili is, even if its the worst chili in the world.

And if a State and its representatives decide that they don’t like the choices for president, the fact that it does not participate in the election still forces that State to have that president elected by the other representative Electors of other States. In essence, this of all things means that States absolutely do not have rights and are absolutely not sovereign. It also destroys the myth of the United States being a republic. Obviously, in order to elect or legislate by majority rule or by quorum, the United States government by default cannot be a republic and represent all people, all states, or all minorities, and the minority of one. There is no federal republic.

This process of democracy also gives the illusion that outsiders and non-bloodline and non-Freemason men and women – of any race and any creed or religion – can not only obtain legislative seats but actually have a voice for minorities or even the majority. Of course, the quorum will always win, and the Masonic bloodline is always the quorum.

This knowledge is needed, not just for the purposes of exposing the fraud and making good men unfit to be slaves, but also to show just how important the “Election” of this political position as head of the United States Incorporated and Commander In Chief of an entire military actually is. For the implementation of law requires one thing above all others – violent enforcement.

This knowledge is at the forefront of the understanding of law and the true force behind it. Each President of the United States acts outside of Congress with declared “Emergency Powers”, giving Him the authority of the representatives of the people (congress) to issue Executive Orders and Presidential Directives. The declaration of a “National Emergency”, be it for perceived war, terrorism, famine, drought, weather, pandemic, Swine Flu, international sanctions, or for countless other reasons, ensures the virtually unlimited “War Powers” of the President of the United States – powers of war in peacetime without the actual declaration of war. Of this fact and the actions taken by that Commander in Chief of the military, Congress is powerless by its own choice. Congress does not reveal this fact to the people who call Congress their “Representatives”, and yet it is fully aware of the disposition of this political office of President and the emergency powers it holds. And remember that Congress’s power to be powerless rests in the sacrament of “Deity“. This is why control of the Election process is vital as shown above, and why it is not left up to the popular vote of American slaves. The election must be by men and women of the same blood and of the Temple (the Electors).

Perhaps most important here is to state clearly that the United States Executive Branch of government is not bound by the constitution while under a declaration of emergency, for the president is specifically granted powers that trump that constitution. For instance, the “privilege” of Habeas Corpus is and has been suspended by the Executive indefinitely due to national emergency status. In the end, the illusion that this U.S. government is or ever was operating in any way “constitutional” must certainly die here, today, if the people of America are ever to be free.

Of course, I will prove this claim now…

–=–

A National Emergency

–=–

Before we further examine the past, let’s look at the present state of the constitution of the United States…

The constitution has one fatal and purposeful flaw – it is changeable. It can be amended. It can be suspended. And all of its previous amendments can and have been altered or repealed by later amendments or by legislation. This, in effect, means that the United States has no foundation in law, for the law is ever changing to suit the powers desired by the leaders of the nation. More important is the realization that the constitution was purposefully written to include these certain future changes, just as every Bill and Act of congress is also written first and amended so as to be unrecognizable later on. As with Acts of Congress, all they cared about is that the people accept it and then re-accept the constitution as it is amended years later.

Its second major flaw is that the constitution is interpretable.

For instance, would you say that the opinion (interpretation) of Supreme Court Justice, Editor of the American Law Review, professor at Harvard Law School, and bloodline cousin of all presidents including the president who appointed him, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. was at all “constitutional”?

“…It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough  to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes. Three generations of imbeciles are enough.”

This was from the Buck vs. Bell, 1927, 8-1 decision upholding forced sterilization of women with bellow average intelligence in order to support a pure gene pool, for which the good of the state outweighed the rights and good of the individual.

So, in this one paragraph, it was declared constitutional to force surgical sterilization, force vaccination, force an I.Q. test, and to execute “degenerates” of lower than average intelligence.

In other words, the word “constitutional” is defined as whatever the court decides it is. The word is meaningless without honorable men making those decisions and giving meaning to the word. But the fact that this word “constitutional” is changeable and interpretable again shows that the foundation of law does not exist except as a changeable and lawless concept and tool of tyranny used to benefit the elite bloodline class.

Again we see with devious purpose that this document called the constitution was set up to be defeated. For each right it protects, it grants exceptions to that rule. And it allows government itself – the very entity that the constitution is designed to restrain – through the judicial branch of that government, to interpret the constitution as it sees fit. Thus, government legislates, polices, and prosecutes itself. In other words, if it chooses, the government is lawless – for the government is exempt from its own laws and constitution any time it chooses to be. This is the nature of a “sovereign” entity – for the sovereign lawmaker is always and by definition above its own law.

And this is exactly what government did… It rose above the constitution to grant itself literally unlimited power and authority, while still continuing the charade of the legislative and judicial process for the benefit of the knowledgeable, entertained, and governed people under it.

But the most important fact still remains generally unrealized by the people. And that is that the Executive Branch, as the enforcement arm of government, is the law. It controls the “Marshals of Law”. For Congress and the judicial have no power to back their laws or decisions if they have no military or police force under the Executive power to enforce them. Without military and police force, law is meaningless. And without honorable men in the military and police, whom themselves have knowledge, there can be no honor in law.

A declaration of national emergency by the Executive is very much the same as a declaration of War. It differs only in the fact that an actual war against another internationally recognized body politic (nation or country) does not exist. But this declaration is in effect a declaration of war against whatever is defined as the “emergency”. An emergency war against pandemic flu, for example, creates ample opportunity for tyranny and oppression, forced vaccination, quarantine and imprisonment, and even the killing of American Citizens as protection against the Emergency. These powers are not derived from the constitution, but from the extraordinary powers attained by that declaration outside of and above the constitution and congress and through the sacred oath as the rites of the City.

All you need to know is that the President is now and has for over 80 years been acting without constitutional limitations – despite what scripted and televised screenplays are shown to you on television and the news.

Perhaps the worst of these is the Declaration of Emergency against “Terrorism”. This esoteric and undefined “enemy” of the United States gives the President of the United States free reign to send His Executive military via Executive Privilege to any nation He chooses, including within the borders of His United States. It is a literal declaration of war on the emergency, which in this case is whatever the President or Congress defines as a “terrorist”, either foreign or domestic.

Note here that the word domestic means any and all Americans (citizens) can be designated as “terrorists” or “enemy of the State” at the president’s whim, and at varying levels of implementation and profiling. Surveillance, data collection, no-fly lists, terrorist watch lists, revocation of passport or other legal status, incarceration, rendition, and assassination are all tools declared legal and necessary under the Executive’s  emergency powers. The constitution or other protections of law do not apply under the rules of war, because there is no declared lawful war. This makes the new Utah NSA data center, for example, a legal business enterprise because it is being utilized to fight the declared “national emergency” of terrorism. To argue its invalidity under the constitution is pointless, because the Executive Branch and its Cabinets and Departments (including the NSA) are not operating under the bounds of the constitution – the NSA is operating under emergency powers, because the NSA is an Executive Branch agency. There is only one Executive Officer (Corporation Sole) who is elected by the Electors. All others are appointed (hired) as employees of that elected president. Thus, they all act under his authority, and his authority is not of the people but of the Congressional approved declared emergency. You must know that all of these extraordinary war and emergency powers only exist in times of declared emergency, and so this should be the center stage topic of your next president in any debate – demanding an end to all emergency powers and declarations. Congress will never do it for you, for they benefit greatly from this state of emergency and many if not most are blood cousins of all successive (and the current) president – the Roman line of rulers and councilmen within the Holy Rite to rule.

Importantly, without this emergency status in government, legislation like the Patriot Act would be otherwise unlawful or against the constitution. But emergency status creates legal (BAR) justification for those Acts, according to government. In this way the complacency and cooperation of congress can be understood, for congress creates the Executive Offices that the President utilizes in these emergencies.

–=–

In 1973, the Senate was charged with compiling a report of which it was to decide upon the efficacy and necessity of the continuance of these Emergency War Powers of the Executive Branch. This report was named Senate Report 93-549, and was commissioned by the “Special Committee on the Termination of the National Emergency”.

The report’s introduction opens as such:

“Since March the 9th, 1933, the United States has been in a state of declared national emergency… A majority of the people of the United States have lived all their lives under emergency rule… For 40 years, freedoms and governmental procedures guaranteed by the Constitution have, in varying degrees, been abridged by laws brought into force by states of national emergency… And, in the United States, actions taken by the government in times of great crisis have ­ from, at least, the Civil War ­ in important ways shaped the present phenomenon of a permanent state of national emergency.”

–=–

40 years before 1973…?

That’s right! For this abomination of legal tyranny was created when then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, along with a zealous Congress, created the legal threshold that allowed for the Office of the President of the Untied States to usurp supreme power over His subjects (14th amendment Citizens) outside of and without Congressional approval. Once declared by congress, the constitution and congress were left virtually powerless against the actions of the president.

And none dare call it treason…

This first national emergency, declared in 1933, was presented to overcome the economic throws of the Great Depression and to instill a central banking structure to replace lawful money with legal tender (fiat). But in reality, it represented the indefinite suspension of the constitution of the United States in the scope of powers granted to the Executive Branch of government. In short, this temporary emergency power granted by Congress became a permanent fixture in the United States, and in 2013 this country is still suffering its creation.

Then newly elected president Franklin D. Roosevelt in his inaugural address on March 4rth, 1933 stated :

“I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption. But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meat the crisis ­ broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.”

Notice that the president asked congress for this extraordinary power, he did not demand it. Also note that congress gave the Executive Branch this power by choice, and more importantly within its constitutional authority to do so!

It was the next day, March 5th of 1933, that President Roosevelt requested a special and extraordinary session of Congress (Proclamation 2038), which stated:

–=–

Proclamation 2038 – Calling Congress into Extraordinary Session, March 5, 1933

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Whereas public interests require that the Congress of the United States should be convened in extra session at twelve o’clock, noon, on the Ninth day of March, 1933, to receive such communication as may be made by the Executive;

Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim and declare that an extraordinary occasion requires the Congress of the United States to convene in extra session at the Capitol in the City of Washington on the Ninth day of March, 1933, at twelve o’clock, noon, of which all persons who shall at that time be entitled to act as members thereof are hereby required to take notice.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the great seal of the United States.

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

(Source: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=14584)

–=–

Indeed, Congress was so assembled on March 9th, 1933, and the spawn of that assemblage gave to the office of president powers not only outside of and above the Constitution of the United States, but the Executive power to ignore congress and its processes altogether. There, president Roosevelt presented an Act enabling a declared national emergency in banking and for other purposes, stating:

“Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the Congress hereby declares that a serious emergency exists and that it is imperatively necessary speedily to put into effect remedies of uniform national application.”

This became the “Act of March 9, 1933″, as written into Congressional law.

And this uniform national emergency power has been with us and over us ever since, as we will see… The only difference is that congress now allows the president to declare His own emergencies with no oversight or vote from congress as to its legitimacy or lawfulness. The congress acts as a “rubber stamp” for the presidential declaration of emergency without deliberation.

This “uniform” national application  mentioned here made way for the private enactment of what are called the “Uniform Acts”, including Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which was first published in 1952.

Of the many states, one government…

In the United States, uniform laws are created through what are called “Uniform Acts“, which are bills proposed as state law by a private association. These Acts are drafted of course by the BAR association (part of the Executive Branch), mostly through their United States Uniform Law Commission (ULC), which is then approved by another private association: The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL). The NCCUSL is a body of BAR Association lawyers, private and government attorneys, state and federal judges (attorneys in black robes), and university law professors (attorneys perverting young minds), typically appointed by the governor of each state. They draft laws with the goal of uniform enactment by each state, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. But the NCCUSL does not have any direct legislative power in and of itself as an appointed private association. Its drafted uniform acts become law only to the extent that they are enacted into law by state legislators (those Masonic blood-right representatives of the people) – not the actual vote of the masses of people of each state.

This is the horror of “representative democracy” – the mob rule of millions controlled (governed) by a few bloodline men.

And here we see again the importance of taking the power away from the masses of people (E-Pluribus Unum) and handing it over to these “representatives”. For the people would never vote to enact such uniform laws of debt and enslavement upon themselves to take away state’s rights. The people must be made impotent by the legal system and its quorum. Our 100′s of millions of voices must be squelched by “representative democracy”. Their BAR lawmakers must be appointed so that their congressmen can thus approve those laws as supposed representatives of the people. In the end, the people do not make law; the BAR and private corporations draft law and the Congress approves it!

Over 100 uniform laws and acts have been created by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL), which have since been approved and adopted for the people (not by the people) under this Executive national emergency status. Chances are at least one of these effects your life in “interstate commerce”, including the Child Protection Services (CPS) agency that has kidnapped, harmed, and murdered so many of our children as “property” of government. 

Save the Date International Conference on Contracts 2015

The Tenth International Conference on Contracts will be held February 27-28th, 2015 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  The Chair is Professor Keith Rowley.  More will be coming soon on this, but going to Vegas for the Conference has been a big hit in the past (UNLV has hosted before).

- JSM

America is not in a moral crisis. America is in an Intelligence crisis. 12-30-15

America is not in a moral crisis. America is in an Intelligence crisis. Over 50 percent of American's have an I.Q. between 90 and 110. This allows them to eat, sleep, labor and breed but not much more. It is an impossibility for most American's to understand even the simplest of abstract concepts or to follow the simplest of instructions. Logic, analytical and quantum reasoning are completely

out of the question. Most American's are functionally illiterate. THIS IS NOT THEIR FAULT! It is because of the food supply being deficient in nutrition. American's lack of intelligence is also caused by vaccines, pharmaceuticals,fluorides, detergents, industrial cleaners commonly called shampoo etc.
Americans have been poisoned.

whats in your flu vaccine

Less than 0.5 percent of American's have an I.Q. of 140 or over. Most of these people rule over the others. Take lawyers for example. You just don't decide to be a lawyer. After four years of schooling you have to take the LSAT. The LSAT is a test based mostly on analytical reasoning. The LSAT plays a major role in what Magic Law School one may be accepted into. Not all Magic Law School's are created equal. Yale University only accepts 3 percent of the applicants. Now a buffoon would not even apply to such a prestigious School so, we are talking the best of the best and out of them only three percent are accepted. So after four years of schooling in a pre law program you have to attend Magic Law School for three years in order to become a lawyer. Even after all of that you still must pass the BAR exam. To be a 'Magic Law Man' (Lawyer) it takes a lot of study,discipline and intelligence. I don't like lawyers but, I do like watching them work their magic. I really enjoy reading their magic papers such as motions and briefs. To me, watching a lawyer at work is by far the most enjoyable activity one can engage in. Even after all of the horrible things that lawyers have done to me, I still enjoy them. All lawyers lie. They have to in order to keep the people hallucinating. Lawyers will never tell the truth. No one would believe them anyway.