"Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
- George Santayana
In this issue:
* Welcome To Freedumbville USSA!
* Bend Over!
* Food for thought
* The District of Criminals
* Police State
* Red Hot Product!
* Advisory
* Belarus's Lukashenko Slams Global Elites, Says They've Made 'Trillions' as Economy Burns to Pandemic
* Shamrock's Missive
* Letters To The Editor
* Quote of the month!
*** Welcome To Freedumbville USSA!
30,000 college football fans unknowingly captured by facial-recognition test at Rose Bowl
- Nick Givas
Over 30,000 fans who attended the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., this past January were being watched before they even got to their seats because their features were captured by facial-recognition software from a company called VSBLTY.
As fans showed up to see the Oregon Ducks take on the Wisconsin Badgers, there were four hidden cameras underneath digital signs near the FanFest activity area that were secretly scooping up data on those who passed by, according to OneZero.
Cameras reportedly analyzed their age, gender, if they were carrying a weapon or not, and if they were on any government watch lists. One of the fans who was surveilled spoke with OneZero and said he was not given any advanced notice that he was being filmed.
"I actually had no idea they were using that type of tech at the game, nor was I informed that I would be recorded or analyzed by such tech, Benjamin Mercke of California told OneZero. "Actually, that's incredibly concerning to me.
VSBLTY, based in Philadelphia, issued a statement calling the exercise "an audience study," which helped obtain data that would be used to enhance the consumer experience.
Microsoft joins Amazon, IBM in vow to not sell facial recognition software to copsVideo
"Traffic count and other venue data collected, when combined with machine learning, can help improve operational efficiencies and venue logistics. Facts about fans, their habits and actions—in addition to demographic and psychographic information—will help plan audience activities as well as serve as a tool to validate the value of on-site advertising impressions to sponsors," the statement read.
"High tech video cameras combined with video display signage were strategically placed in front of the stadium where pre-bowl game fan activities were staged to collect key audience information through signage analytics," the message continued. "Along the pathway to the stadium, four cameras were deployed at different locations among "Fan Fest activities that included two FESCO units displaying archived videos of Rose Bowl legendary players and advertising messaging."
The statement concluded by championing the combination of personal habits and data with artificial intelligence, to interact with consumer audiences on a more direct level.
"The strategic use of digital signage paired with machine learning and artificial intelligence to understand how audiences act and react is proving to be one of the most important and effective audience analytics tools for sports and entertainment venues as well as transportation hubs and other public places," the company wrote.
This news comes just one day after Microsoft President Brad Smith said they'd be following in Amazon's footsteps and not sell facial-recognition tools to U.S. police departments until Congress passes a law clarifying the matter.
Smith was speaking with "The Washington Post Live" and expressed concerns about such technology being unleashed upon the public, especially given the current chaos in major cities.
"We have been focused on this issue for two years," he explained. "We've decided that we will not sell facial-recognition technology to police departments in the United States, until we have a national law in place, grounded in human rights, that will govern this technology."
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*** Bend Over!
You might want to change your password after this shocking study
- Brooke Crothers
After big security breaches, users rarely change their password, which is a big mistake, a new study says.
The research from Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab said only one in three people who had accounts on breached websites changed their passwords. And only 13 percent of people with accounts on these websites changed their password within three months of the breach announcement.
That's surprising, says the study, especially in the wake of a steady stream of news of major businesses and websites getting hacked and sensitive user information getting pilfered.
"Many may find these findings alarming, given the ubiquity and growing number of corporate data breaches in recent years," wrote Carnegie Mellon's Daniel Tkacik in a blog post about the study.
Major breaches include the "Collection #1" data breach in January of 2019 that impacted more than 770 million unique email addresses and more than 22 million unique passwords.
In April 2019, third-party Facebook app datasets were exposed. One database had more than 540 million records with account names, Facebook IDs and other personal data.
A few months later, in July 2019, a data leak at First American Financial, the largest real estate title insurance company in the U.S., exposed transaction records of 885 million individuals.
This and many other data breaches that don't make it into the news means the chances that your personal data has been stolen are very high, Tkacik said.
So what should consumers do?
One of the most effective ways to keep your accounts safe is to never reuse passwords, Lujo Bauer, CyLab faculty member and professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Carnegie Mellon and an author on the study, told Fox News.
"Reusing the same or a slightly changed password across accounts is a huge source of risk," Bauer said via email.
"If -- really, when -- one site gets breached and the passwords used on that site are stolen, attackers can -- and do -- try using the stolen passwords to log on to other sites as well. Supposedly this is how Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter and Pinterest accounts were hacked," he added.
The upshot is, always create uniquely different passwords for different accounts.
"Of course, it's next to impossible to remember as many different passwords as we have accounts, so many of us use password managers, which make it easy to ‘remember' a different password for each account," Bauer said. "On top of that, password managers typically offer to create strong passwords for you, so you don't even have to worry about whether your password might be easily guessed by an attacker."
Gerald Beuchelt, Chief Information Security Officer, LogMeIn, a remote connectivity software company, agrees.
"Some of the most common ways people are leaving themselves vulnerable online is by using weak, easy to crack passwords, and then re-using those same passwords on their other online accounts," Beuchelt told Fox News.
"Taking just a few simple steps to improve your password behavior can lead to a significant increase in your online security," he said.
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Food for thought
My retirement income is just $16,600 a year, but I want to retire in a beach town 'where the sky is blue and the water warm' — where should I go?
- Catey Hill
Dear Catey,
I read your story from the couple who had $95,000 in retirement income and wanted a beach town to retire in. Well, my retirement income is $16,600 per year. Is there a place I can go where the sky is blue and the water warm? Where can an average person like me retire?
R.S.R.
Dear R.S.R.,
I hear you — it's frustrating to read about people who get to live large in retirement when your reality (and frankly, most Americans' reality) is very different. The average Social Security retirement benefit in 2019 was $1,470 a month or $17,640 a year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Even with benefits of that size, though, there are options for a beachy retirement. Here are affordable spots at the beach for you to consider.
If you'd like to stay in the U.S.: Gulfport, Miss. (with some part-time work)
I'm not going to sugarcoat this: It's tough to live in the U.S. on $16,600 a year, especially in a beach town. That said, if you can supplement your life with some part-time work, it's doable.
One town for you to consider: Gulfport, Miss., which is one of the most affordable beach towns in the country.
The cost of living is nearly 19% lower than the U.S. average, according to Sperling's Best Places, and you can find small apartments to rent for under $600 a month. Plus, Mississippi is tax friendly to retirees, with SmartAsset noting that "Mississippi exempts all forms of retirement income from taxation, including Social Security benefits, income from an IRA, income from a 401(k) and any pension income.
Gulfport offers warm weather and nice beaches — and other perks, too. "This city is having a serious comeback moment … and there's a bounty of cool, hip new businesses," Vogue writes of Gulfport. "One gem in particular is Fishbone Alley: a funky destination that backs up to a handful of restaurants and bars, boasting original local art along the buildings." The downsides include muggy, hot summers and the risk of hurricanes.
If you want to stay close to the U.S.: Mazatlán, Mexico
Heading south of the border can help you stretch your funds more effectively than is generally possible in the U.S. — and you'd be far from the only American there. Indeed, as I reported last year, plenty of people receive their U.S. Social Security checks in Mexico (behind only two countries, Canada and Japan). Of course, certain parts of Mexico have downsides including hot summers and high crime.
But, as I wrote in this recent column for a woman looking to retire near the ocean on between $800 and $1,000 a month, there are some places that fit within your budget. I suggested she consider Mazatlán — a Pacific coastal resort town with "cobblestone streets, neoclassical and French Baroque architecture and cultural amenities like theater and art galleries." (We also talked to a woman who retired to Mazatlán on $1,000 a month, and she doesn't feel she's pinching pennies too much.) Note that Mazatlán itself is in the state of Sinaloa, which the U.S. government advises Americans against traveling to, though this exempts parts of Mazatlán, as we have reported.
One hiccup: There are monetary requirements for Mexican residency that you may not currently meet, as they stipulate a certain monthly pension income or a minimum value held in investments (these numbers change with the exchange rate and other factors, but you can read up on that here.) Thus, if all your $16,600 will come from Social Security and you have no savings and investments, retirement there might be a problem; if, however, you have a larger investment account to draw from, it can work.
If you're up for an adventure: Pedasi, Panama
This chilled-out town on the Pacific Ocean, roughly 4½ hours from Panama City, is "unpretentious and laid-back," writes Lonely Planet, adding: "Pedasi has streets lined with tiled colonials and leafy spaces. For years this sleepy retreat came to life only at festival times. But outsiders are discovering the big appeal of small-town life and relatively unspoiled beaches."
To be sure, this town is small, with fewer than 5,000 residents, and rural, but as International Living puts it, "Pedasi is rural living at its best." It's surrounded by green pastures and grazing cattle yet lies within a 10-minute drive of the ocean, according to International Living, which adds that "miles of unspoiled beach and little development" are found locally.
You can also live here on your budget, though it may, as International Living notes, require "boots-on-the-ground investigating with the locals" or moving a bit farther from the ocean to get a better deal on rent. (Though, they point out, paying $500 a month for an apartment is doable.) Even if you pay a bit more in rent, you'll benefit from Panama's pensionado program for retirees (which has income requirements of roughly $1,000 a month) as it offers tons of discounts for older people on everything from entertainment to prescriptions.
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*** The District of Criminals
TSA to take mug shots of domestic air travelers
- Edward Hasbrouck
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has officially although quietly announced that, as it has planned for years, its deployment of mug-shot machines at airport checkpoints will move from pilot projects to the new normal for domestic air travelers.
According to a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) released last week, the TSA plans to integrate facial recognition into the Secure Flight profiling, scoring, and control system used by the TSA and other linked agencies to decide who is, and who is not, "allowed" to pass through TSA checkpoints to exercise their right to travel by airline common carrier.
Cameras to photograph would-be travelers' faces will be added to each of the stations at airport checkpoints where TSA employees and contractors currently scan would-be passengers' travel documents (boarding passes and, if they present ID, ID documents).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in collaboration with airlines and airport operators, already collects photos of many international travelers. CBP has been moving in fits and starts toward making mug shots mandatory even for U.S. citizens traveling internationally. As of now, mug shots are still officially "voluntary" for U.S. citizen international travelers, although many U.S. citizens have reported not being allowed to opt out. But last month, as we noted in an earlier blog post, the CBP official in charge of deployment of facial recognition said CBP plans to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for mandatory facial recognition of international travelers before the end of this year.
We expect that, consistent with the TSA's "biometrics vision for all commercial aviation travelers", deployment of facial recognition at TSA checkpoints for domestic air travelers will follow the same steps as have been followed by CBP in rolling out facial recognition for international air travelers: first pilot projects, then universal deployment of "optional" mug-shot cameras at airports (on an allegedly "opt-out" basis), then increasingly adverse treatment (delay, more intrusuive and in time of pandemic dangerous groping, etc.) of those who opt out, and eventually — if most travelers "voluntarily" submit to mug shots — denial of travel to those who don't. The PIA doesn't say how soon any of this will happen.
The time to say "no" is now, while you still can. Don't consent to being photographed at TSA checkpoints or airline check-in counters or kiosks. For your own safety as well the protection of your civil liberties, don't remove your mask! TSA checkpoints, check-in counters, and all kinds of kiosks are among the places at airports where transmission of contagious diseases is most likely. We are very interested in hearing from any traveler who is ordered to remove a face mask.
The TSA claims that domestic air travelers will be allowed to "opt out" of facial imaging, but it will be up to you to spot the cameras and stay out of their field of view. Notably, the TSA's Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) doesn't say what, if any, notices will be posted for travelers to see before they come into range of the mug-shot cameras.
The required notices are dictated by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and the Privacy Act, but the TSA has ignored both of these Federal laws in its facial recognition plans.
Even if a "collection of information" (including biometric information) by a Federal agency such as the TSA is voluntary, the PRA requires that it be approved in advance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and assigned an OMB control number. That OMB control number and other notices specified by the PRA must be provided to all individuals from whom information is to be collected.
Pursuant to the PRA, no penalties may be imposed for failure or refusal to provide information unless these approval and notice requirements are complied with.
The PIA for facial imaging at TSA checkpoints doesn't cite an OMB control number, and so far as we can tell, there is none. If TSA checkpoint staff ask you to take off your face mask so that they can take your mug shot, ask for the OMB control number for this information collection and a copy of the applicable Paperwork Reduction Act Notice.
The TSA says that facial images collected by the TSA "will be retained for no longer than 24 hours after the flight departure time ". But regardless of how long this data is retained, any retention of personal identified information such as mug shots is prohibited by the Privacy Act unless the agency has previously published an applicable System Of Records Notice (SORN) in the Federal Register. Operation of a system of records without proper notice is a crime on the part of the responsible agency officials.
The new PIA for the TSA's facial recognition scheme for air travelers claims that the data collected would be covered by the Secure Flight SORN promulgated in 2015. But facial images collected at checkpoints are not among the categories of information listed in the SORN as included in that system of records.
The bottom line is that the TSA facial recognition scheme described in the latest PIA would violate both the PRA and the Privacy Act. To the extent that it would require or induce travelers to remove their face masks, it would exacerbate the pandemic hazards of travel to the health of travelers and airline, airport, and TSA staff and contractors.
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*** Police State
This Is Exactly What Is Going To Happen If Police Departments Are "Disbanded" Or "Defunded" All Across America…
- Michael Snyder
By now, you have probably heard that the Minneapolis City Council plans to completely disband the Minneapolis Police Department, and other major cities are considering significant cuts to the funding that their police departments receive. Needless to say, such moves will only make our streets even more unsafe, but a lot of people out there are so upset about police brutality that they are ready to support such drastic measures. In the aftermath of 9/11, police departments all over the country were heavily militarized, and thousands of troops returning from our wars overseas were hired as officers. This shift in policing culture caused enormous problems, and complaints about police brutality soared. But instead of reforming law enforcement, many have now decided that the best approach would be to get rid of the police altogether.
Those that advocate for such an approach seem to believe that most people are inherently good, and that if the police are removed from the equation that we could build a police-free utopia where we all learn to get along with one another just fine.
But there is just one huge problem.
People are not inherently good. That has been true all throughout human history, and it is most definitely true today.
Given the opportunity, there are a lot of people that will burn, loot, riot and harm others without even feeling bad about the pain that they are causing to others. By nature, humanity is deeply selfish, and it has not been easy to organize us into civilized societies. In order for a society to be governed by the rule of law, a relatively high level of morality is required, and for much of American history that has been the case.
But now we have raised a new generation of Americans in an environment where we have rejected the core values that once governed our society, and we are beginning to reap the consequences. If you doubt this, just look at what has happened to the city of Minneapolis. Large areas of the city have been utterly destroyed, and the Minneapolis City Council has decided that the way to fix things is to "end policing as we know it"…
A veto-proof majority of Minneapolis City Council members announced Sunday during a rally at Powderhorn that they are planning to disband the police department.
City Council members said they will invest in community-led safety initiatives instead of the police department.
"Our commitment is to end our city's toxic relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department, to end policing as we know it, and to re-create systems of public safety that actually keep us safe," Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender said at Sunday's community meeting.
So without any police, who is going to stop criminals from raping, looting, stealing and killing?
If you are reading this, perhaps you are thinking that you will just gun them down if they show up at your home.
But what if the criminals greatly outnumber your family and they have even bigger guns than you do?
During the looting that just happened in southern California, a Los Angeles Times reporter asked a few of the looters why they were looting. In response, one of the looters truthfully admitted that "we're doing it because we can"…
The young man flanked the shattered entry of a ransacked CVS in Santa Monica, where people had swept the shelves clean of everything from diapers to detergent. The man, who did not cover his face, admitted he was a looter. He did not apologize.
"We've got no other way of showing people how angry we are," he said.
Out of the store ran another young man, this one holding a carton of eggs. He grabbed a friend and started scanning the street for targets: police cars. "We're doing it because we can," he said.
If heavily armed police officers had been stationed on every street corner, the looting would not have happened because there would not have been an opportunity to loot.
But given an opportunity to indulge the selfish human nature, these looters gleefully grabbed it.
Down in Houston, rioters were actually filmed attacking a children's hospital. What an incredibly evil thing to do, and this is more evidence of how much our society has decayed.
If those young people had been raised in an environment of faith and morality, perhaps they would have turned out much differently. Unfortunately, we have been teaching our kids that good is evil and evil is good for decades, and so what is happening now shouldn't be any sort of a surprise.
Taking the police off the streets will not solve anything. Instead, it will just give criminals a lot more opportunities to commit crimes.
Unfortunately, radicals are running many of our major cities now, and it looks like police budgets are about to be slashed all over the United States…
In New York City, lawmakers and policing reform advocates have called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to slash millions in police funding as the state budget faces what one official called "economic devastation not seen since the Great Depression." In Los Angeles, four City Council members have introduced a proposal to reverse the mayor's planned 7 percent police funding increase. In Durham, North Carolina, protestors gathered at a local theater this week for a "Defund the Police" protest. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the African American Roundtable—backed by more than 65 organizations—called on the city to divest $75 million from the police department and to reinvest $50 million into public health, with the rest going to housing cooperatives. In Philadelphia, where the mayor has proposed a $14 million increase in police funds, activists have been signing up in droves to testify virtually at a city budget hearing next week in protest.
If we want lots of civil unrest, rioting, looting, death, destruction and chaos, this is the right path.
In the end, the truth is that we need the police. Yes, police brutality is a major problem in this country and I have been writing about that for many years. Police culture in the U.S. must change, because that is the only way that public faith in the police will ever be restored.
But abandoning our communities to the criminals is not any sort of a solution at all. Instead, it will just unleash a torrent of evil on our streets.
As things stand, approximately four out of every five Americans already feel as though "things in the country are out of control"…
Four in five registered voters in a new poll feel "things in the country are out of control" as the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic approaches 110,000, unemployment remains at a level not seen since the Great Depression and protests continue across the U.S.
According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday, just 15% of voters think matters in the USA are under control and perceptions of the economy are at their worst since the end of President Barack Obama's first term, when the country was still recovering from a recession.
Sadly, this is just the beginning.
More civil unrest, rioting and looting are coming, and it is going to be a very dark chapter in our history.
If the rioters come to your neighborhood, the first thing many of you will do will be to pick up the phone and call the police.
But if you live in one of the communities where the police will be disbanded, they soon won't be on the other end of the phone to answer you.
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Red Hot Product!
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*** Advisory
Private email - Privacy is a right, not a feature.
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*** Belarus's Lukashenko Slams Global Elites, Says They've Made 'Trillions' as Economy Burns to Pandemic
- Ilya Tsukanov, Sputnik
One of the only countries in Europe not to institute strict lockdown measures amid the coronavirus crisis, Belarus has so far managed to keep virus-related fatalities impressively low.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has taken a shot at the world's elites, accusing them of taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to put "trillions of dollars in their pockets while the global economy burns.
"The coronavirus has put the whole planet into a state of psychosis...I call it a psychosis because someone clearly needs this. And you've probably noticed yourself who. It's the same as always: after the swine flu, the bird flu, SARS…today we're facing another pandemic, another pneumonia, only in a new form. And you remember who took advantage of these situations in the past, who put billions in their pockets," Lukashenko said, speaking to officials in Mogilev region on Saturday.
"The whole world today has stopped; the global economy has not just stalled, but been demolished. But leading companies, leading billionaires and states have put trillions of dollars in their pockets," the president added, referring to the current crisis.
"That's why I have always asked the question, going back three months ago, as you may remember: Who needs this? Is this a man-made event – this health pandemic? So far I do not have an answer to this question, and hope that you don't either," Lukashenko noted.
Belarus's President Warns Global Elites Using COVID-19 Crisis to Try to Reshape World Order
The Belarusian president also went after his critics, recalling how media and the internet joked about his 'advice' to treat coronavirus with vodka, sauna, tractors and work in the field. "I said this as a joke, and it became a kind of a 'Lukashenko brand', used to say 'see, he's crazy, he doesn't know how to treat people,' even though behind these comments were very serious ideas," Lukashenko said, recommending that people take up sports and engage in outdoor exercise to build up their immune systems and prepare for any possible 'second wave' of infections. "I emphasize again: everything that people say criticizing me is a bluff: nobody knows what's going to happen tomorrow," the president concluded.
Belarus faced the wrath of media and medical experts around the world after refusing to institute mandatory lockdown measures, with the country's factories, farms, schools, shops, restaurants and other amenities remaining open throughout the past several months even as its neighbours closed down. However, recently published data have shown that while the country's per capita infection rates are comparable to other European nations and the US, its mortality rates have been among the lowest in the world, ranking 45th among 49 countries with 10,000 or more cases where sufficient data is available.
This week, the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington-based think tank, concluded that in the US alone, billionaires have added $565 billion to their fortunes since mid-March, with their total wealth up by 19 percent since the pandemic began. The figures were published amid reports that close to 39 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits amid the crisis. Similar trends have been observed in countries across the world, from Europe to Asia.
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Shamrock's Missive:
Mr. & Mrs. Blahsheblu
[Reprinted by request from our September 2016 Newsletter.]
Once upon a time there was a hardworking couple named Mr. & Mrs. Blahsheblu, pronounced "blah-she-blu."
Mr. & Mrs. Blahsheblu were happily married for 17 years with three young children, owned and operated a successful business employing 52 persons for more than 15 years. They also had an upper class home, fully paid off mortgage of recent date and everything was just hunky-dory for them!
One day out of the blue, a squad of government alphabet agents showed up with guns drawn at their business, unannounced and without warning. The head alphabet honcho flashed his badge/ID card and boldly announced that they (the alphabet agents) had a criminal search warrant and were there to inspect the business, building and question all the employees. Naturally Mr. Blahsheblu was shocked, surprised and quite unset by this occurrence, but complied with all the agents' demands.
Mr. Blahsheblu was bodily searched (for guns?) and not allowed to make any calls to anyone, including his attorney until the alphabets departed.
The inspection of the business and the grilling of the employees lasted all day. In fact, the alphabet agents ordered pizza for lunch and left pizza boxes, soda cans, paper coffee cups and cigarette butts all over the establishment when they finally departed late that evening. Mr. Blahsheblu was forced to keep the business opened for three hours after the normal closure time, whilst having to pay overtime to his employees. At the end of this very stressful 'inspection' and interviews of all 52 employees, the head alphabet agent and alphabet agents finally departed.
Mr. Blahsheblu was so upset by this invasion by the alphabet agents that he couldn't sleep for three nights. He then immediately called his attorney. The attorney said he would try to find out what was going on, but as it was after hours, nothing could happen until Monday, as this happened on a Friday payday at Blahsheblu's business. All the attorney got Monday from that particular alphabet agency was they could not comment on an ongoing criminal investigation.
After a few days all appeared to return to normal and Mr. Blahsheblu got back into the swing of things with the business once again running smoothly and efficiently, or so he thought.
The next inkling of trouble occurred about two and a half weeks after the 'inspection' by the alphabet agents. Mr. & Mrs. Blahsheblu's payroll check's to their 52 employees bounced. After frantically calling the bank to find out what the problem was, Blahsheblu learnt that not only was his business account frozen and all business funds having been sequestered, but Mr. & Mrs. Blahsheblu's personal checking, savings and brokerage accounts also faced the same fate, i.e., frozen and sequestered.
Later that same morning Blahsheblu received a registered letter from the alphabet agency stating what Blahsheblu already knew, his funds were frozen and sequestered plus he was being investigated for criminal activities and employee abuse and discrimination. What alleged criminal activities were not disclosed!
Once again Blahsheblu called his attorney and faxed him a copy of the alphabet order or letter. The attorney said he'd get back to Blahsheblu and did so about an hour later. Blahsheblu's attorney said this matter was way over his head and recommended a criminal attorney associate of his and then arranged a meeting the following Wednesday, two days away.
At the meeting with the criminal attorney, who was a former employee with the same alphabet agency that raided Blahsheblu's business, the criminal attorney said this was a serious matter and would take a good while to sort out. He then requested a US$50,000 retainer if Blahsheblu wanted to retain his services and informed Blahsheblu that his services were US$500 per hour plus expenses. Ouch!
As Blahsheblu had difficulty raising the 50,000 USD due to the seizure and sequestering of all his funds, it took him a few days to borrow the money from friends and relatives. However by the end of the week he obtained the $50,000 for the criminal attorney's retainer and the soon to be long drawn out matter started its slow snail like bureaucrat process.
Naturally this was all over the news and TV and even class mates of their children said that their father (Mr. Blahsheblu) was a crook and were told by theirs parents not to play with Blahsheblu's children. Nice people eh?
Matters went from bad to worse during the next ten months. The banks called in their loans to Blahsheblu, which he couldn't repay on such short or no notice. Long time employees left by the droves and replacement employees had to be trained, all placing an incredible amount of stress and financial burden on Bladsheblu.
Suppliers wanted cash on delivery for anything ordered. Vendors drastically cut back ordering from Blahsheblu and financial matters finally came to a head ten month after the raid... The Blahsheblu's had to file for bankruptcy protection in order to salvage what was left of their life, finances and in hopes of saving their home.
The coup de grace came when Mr. Blahsheblu was served with divorce papers after returning home from work one day to find an empty house. Mrs. Blahsheblu had taken the children and went to live with her parents' on the other side of the country without the decency of telling him face to face.
To make a very long and sad story short, after spending $350,000 on legal fees of one sort or another, filing for bankruptcy, having a nasty divorce with unfair alimony and child support (based on what he was earning BEFORE this debacle started,) losing his home, business, life savings and family, plus his health as well, Blahsheblu learnt that a disgruntled former employee had filed numerous complaints with 3 or 4 alphabet agencies until one agency took notice and acted on their complaint. Apparently the disgruntled employee claimed racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and claimed that Blahsheblu personally instructed employees to operate machinery in an illegal manner, all of which was a total falsehood.
Although the criminal case was eventually dropped, a consent agreement was mandatory if Blahsheblu wanted to put this matter behind him. In the order, which he signed to get rid of this once and for all, he was to pay a $500,000 fine and penalty, which couldn't be discharged in bankruptcy because he had filed for bankruptcy recently to try and save his business and home as well as agreeing not to discriminate, harass and otherwise instruct employees to do anything illegal. At this point, he didn't matter, because Blahsheblu had already lost everything, including his business which was sold off at auction for pennies on the dollar after 15 years of hard work and starting from scratch, and worse of all, his family!
Now if you don't believe something like the above with Blahsheblu could ever happen to you, fine and very well. You can delete this missive and get on with your life. Good luck to you and we will wish you well.
However be advised within the united States (correct spelling,) there is a 99% probability that during sometime in their life before one reaches the age of 60, they will be sued civility or criminally (or both,) divorced and or attached by some alphabet governmental agency, especially the IRS!
If you are in dispute with a Federal Regulatory Agency, it is very easy for a low grade bureaucrat to press a button on his PC. He enters your social security number, and is able to quickly identify your bank accounts, securities, and real estate. Another few buttons are pressed ... and just like Blahsheblu, your property is "frozen," and your personal, business bank and brokerage accounts are transferred to the government. Bye bye ass and assets!
Hope springs eternal - A bullet proof offshore trust
With your assets held abroad in a bullet proof offshore trust it is not possible for a creditor to locate them with any precision. In fact it is virtually impossible to confiscate trust assets. Why? The lawyers of bureaucrats and plaintiffs don't like difficult investigations and long, drawn out court procedures. Especially if lawsuits must be filed and pursued abroad. As a result, in most foreign jurisdictions (unless the local governments are collaborating), not even Big Brother can get at your assets.... even if they know where they are!
While Americans cannot expect any protection in Canada or vice-versa, co-operation in seizing the assets of Americans in most countries only comes into play when the issue is involved with serious crime, such as drug dealers, child porno rings, or bank robbers. Conversely, with our recommended bullet proof offshore trust it becomes possible for you to personally access your funds, instantly, in cash, twenty-four hours a day, anywhere in the world.
It is also likely that if your offshore trust assets are earning excellent returns, you won't simply pull funds out for consumer spending. It is more likely that when you need cash you will borrow against these offshore assets. In view of this probability a credit line can be arranged in advance.
Shark Repellent
It is well known that ambulance-chasing lawyers are constantly sniffing out potential defendants by identifying high net worth individuals. By keeping some of your assets in an offshore trust you can lower your visible level of wealth. This makes you a far less attractive victim.
Before a contingent fee lawyer will file suit, he always gets a full report on his target's assets. Since funds and properties held in an offshore trust are invisible (or at least less discover-able) much litigation can be avoided or favorably settled.
The same reasoning, reducing your visible net worth, goes for repelling other blood sucking pests and predators who seek an unwarranted share of your wealth. The list includes burglars, kidnappers, extortionists, ex-spouses, tax-collectors, disgruntled business associates, disgruntled employees, crooked cops, insurance sales people, and bent bureaucrats seeking bribes.
You're Word
Particularly where your heirs are likely to squabble over their inheritance, it is likely that most of your estate could be eaten up in legal fees. Also, in some jurisdictions, the "forced heir-ship" law provides that you must leave all or a certain percentage of your property to a forgotten separated spouse, or to a child who detests you (and vice versa).
Assets in an offshore trust can, upon your demise, be given to any person or be used for any purpose you designate. Once again you have the right to choose who gets the benefit of your estate. You don't have to let the State make those choices for you.
Mobility
Many countries have controls on foreign remittances that make it impossible to move money to where it is needed. Many Chinese-Americans were criminally charged years ago for simply sending subsistence money to aged parents on the mainland. Expat Cubans faced similar risks recently.
Wealth taxes and other taxes eat away at your savings and profits. An offshore trust can help you save on taxes, and allow you to spend or invest your own money as you please. Certain "roll-up" investment funds convert taxable income into non-taxable, unrealized capital gains.
Don't be like poor Mr. Blahsheblu, a should of, could type of person who didn't act when he had the time to… before any attacks against him started.
Don't be obtuse. Act now to protect your assets for your family, heirs and yourself.
Email for full particulars about our "Cook Islands bullet proof offshore trust" by emailing and placing "Cook Islands offshore trust" in your subject heading.
See you next issue
Shamrock
"The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion."
- Edmund Burke, 1784
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*** Letters to the Editor:
Keep them postcards and letters coming' folks, 'cause we
done mailed the rosebushes!
Dear Shamrock,
I'm between a rock and a hard place and am contacting you for your advice please.
Because of this Covid-19 lockdown business we've all been going throw, many of my friends and associates, including myself, have been hard hit financially from this debacle. I have therefore vowed never to allow this to happen to myself and family again. Hence my contacting you.
I've read previously in your past newsletters and recall some opportunities that made money working anywhere with an internet connection. I don't have much money but am willing to invest it along with my time and best efforts to build something secure over the next years. Do you think you could advise me regarding similar opportunities today? If so I would be most grateful.
Thanks in advance and your kindest is much appreciated.
G. C.
Dear G. C.,
Thanks for your kind words.
Hope springs eternal! Perhaps you should become a fortune teller because an old longtime associate is just now retiring and selling his online business, which is similar to PT Shamrock's web site. The best news is that he is selling it for what I believe to be at a rock bottom, very affordable cost, i.e., just one Bitcoin or the US$ equivalent via a bank wire.
You can email for details by return email and place "Online Business" in your subject heading and we'll send you the full details.
Trust this helps and we wish you and yours a safe, healthy and prosperous future.
Kindest regards
PT Shamrock
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Quote of the month!
"There's no art which government sooner learns than that of draining money from the pockets of the people."
- Adam Smith
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Dear Friend:
If you like our newsletter please tell your friends and associates about us. They can subscribe *FREE* by sending an e-mail to: ptshamrock@ptshamrock.com
Our pledge!
We never spam our subscribers, never rent or give our subscribers list to anyone, and unlike other newsletters do not accept paid advertisements; And of course, our PT Buzz Newsletter is absolutely free, just packed full of interesting privacy news and information with a tad of humor thrown in for good measure.
We're probably the oldest privacy newsletter on the Internet!
Thank you for your patronage and help in spreading the word.
Shamrock
"The right to privacy is a part of our basic freedoms. Privacy is fundamental to close family ties, competitive free enterprise, the ownership of property, and the exchange of ideas."
PT Shamrock - issue one; 1994
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See you next issue!
"Mehr sein, als scheinen" (German Proverb)
Be more, seem less!
PT Shamrock Limited
Suite #79, 184 Lower Rathmines Road, Rathmines, Dublin D6, Ireland
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