Exact Sciences Corporation recently filed its Annual Report on Form 10-K with the SEC. Here are some of the highlights for new and old investors alike:
COLOGUARD: Our flagship screening product, the Cologuard test, is a patient-friendly, non-invasive, stool-based DNA (“sDNA”) screening test that utilizes a multi-target approach to detect DNA and hemoglobin biomarkers associated with colorectal cancer and pre-cancer. We believe the large underserved population of unscreened and inadequately screened patients represents a significant opportunity for our Cologuard test. It is widely accepted that colorectal cancer is among the most preventable, yet least prevented cancers. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States (“U.S.”) and the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. among nonsmokers. Each year in the U.S. there are approximately 153,000 new cases of colorectal cancer and approximately 53,000 deaths. Our peer-reviewed study, “Multi-target Stool DNA Testing for Colorectal-Cancer Screening,” published in the New England Journal of Medicine in April 2014, highlighted the performance of the Cologuard test in its 10,000 patient Deep-C clinical trial: • Cancer Sensitivity: 92% • Stage I and II Cancer Sensitivity: 94% • High-Grade Dysplasia Sensitivity: 69% • Specificity: 87%. We believe the competitive advantages of sDNA screening provide a significant market opportunity. There are nearly 110 million Americans between the ages of 45 and 85 who are at average risk for colorectal cancer. At a three-year screening interval and an average revenue per test of approximately $500, this represents a potential $18 billion market for our Cologuard test. More than 55% of Americans between the ages of 45 and 85 who are at average risk for colorectal cancer are not up-todate with screening according to the American Cancer Society’s (“ACS”) colorectal cancer screening guidelines.
Oncotype DX Breast: Among women, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death. In 2023, nearly 298,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the U.S. according to ACS, and nearly 56,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer. Worldwide, it is estimated that there are approximately 2.3 million newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer each year.The Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score test examines the activity of 21 genes in a patient’s breast tumor tissue to provide personalized information for tailoring treatment based on the biology of the patient's individual disease. The test is supported by multiple rigorous clinical validation studies, including the landmark TAILORx and RxPONDER studies, confirming the test’s ability to predict the likelihood of chemotherapy benefit as well as the chance of cancer recurrence in certain common types of early-stage breast cancer. As the only test proven to predict chemotherapy benefit, the Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score test is included in all major cancer guidelines worldwide, and on this basis can be considered a standard of care for most women with early-stage breast cancer.
Pipeline R&D: We are focusing our research and development efforts on three main areas
• Colorectal Cancer Screening. We are seeking to improve our Cologuard test’s performance characteristics, focusing on reducing the false positive rate of the test. In January 2022, we and Mayo presented data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium showing overall sensitivity of 95% for colorectal cancer at specificity of 92%. In December of 2022, we finished enrollment of our multi-center, prospective BLUE-C study, which we expect to support FDA approval of our enhanced Cologuard test. We are also working to develop a bloodbased screening test for colorectal cancer as a second-line option for people who haven't been screened with more accurate methods.
• MCED Test Development. We are currently seeking to develop a MCED test to help detect many different types of cancer from a single blood draw. In September 2022, we presented data at the European Society for Medical Oncology (“ESMO”) Congress from a biomarker validation study, which demonstrated the ability to detect cancer signals from 15 organ sites with a mean sensitivity of 61% and mean specificity of 98.2%. The multi-biomarker approach detected stage I and stage II cancers with a combined sensitivity of 38.7%. A larger case-control study is underway to further validate the results shared at ESMO and to determine the final design of the MCED test. We will then begin recruiting patients for the FDA registrational Study of All comeRs (“SOAR”) trial, which we expect to be the largest prospective, interventional MCED trial ever conducted in the United States.
• MRD Test Development. We plan to offer both a tumor-informed and tumor-naive MRD test to help detect small amounts of tumor DNA that may remain in patients’ blood after they have undergone initial cancer treatment. These tests will help patients and oncologists understand the success of initial treatment and monitor for cancer recurrence. Our goal is to support all patients in MRD and recurrence monitoring, whether there is access to tumor tissue to inform patient-specific biomarker targets or no access to tissue and a predefined biomarker panel is used. We are currently evaluating different technological approaches for both test types, and have presented promising proof of concept data.
2023 Priorities: Our top priorities for 2023 are to (1) provide outstanding experiences for patients and teams, (2) deliver on the future of cancer diagnostics, and (3) live our mission.
Provide Outstanding Experiences for Patients and Teams: We want to continue to provide an exceptional experience for our patients and team members. We plan to improve customer relations by delivering simple and smooth workflows, providing communication that is clear and easy to understand, and providing results that are fast and accurate. We're working to deliver a common technology platform for our cancer tests and improve our digital tools for providers and patients. We will also strive to ensure that Exact Sciences remains a great place to work by taking care of our people.
Deliver on the Future of Cancer Diagnostics: In 2023, we will focus on advancing new tests in our highest priority programs including colorectal cancer screening, multi-cancer early detection, and molecular residual disease and recurrence testing. We plan to continue investing in ongoing and additional clinical trials to enhance existing products and bring new products to patients and providers.
Live our Mission: We are committed to improving lives through testing more people with our laboratory testing services in 2023. By testing more people, we will continue to expand our business in a cost-efficient manner allowing us to generate sustainable profits and increase shareholder value. Generating sustained profits will put the company in a better position to continue investing in lifechanging cancer diagnostics to help achieve our mission.
Impacts of COVID-19: Our Screening and Precision Oncology businesses have been negatively impacted by the pandemic but have in large part recovered.
Impacts of Inflation: The inflationary environment has resulted in higher prices, which have impacted costs incurred to generate revenue from our laboratory testing services, costs to attract and retain personnel, and other operating costs.
Revenue. Our revenue is primarily generated by our laboratory testing services from our Cologuard, Oncotype, and COVID-19 tests. Total revenue increased 18% YOY.
Amounts in millions 2022 2021 Change
Screening $1,424.7 $1,062.3 $362.4
Precision Oncology 601.5 561.7 39.8
COVID-19 Testing 58.1 143.1 (85.0)
Total $2,084.3 $1,767.1 $ 317.2
The increase in Screening revenue, which primarily includes laboratory service revenue from our Cologuard test, was mainly due to an increase in the number of completed Cologuard tests and revenue generated from new products as a result of our acquisition of PreventionGenetics in the fourth quarter of 2021. The increase in completed Cologuard tests for the year ended December 31, 2022 was due to improved sales team productivity, more patients rescreening with our Cologuard test, and first-time users in the 45 to 49 age group. Relative recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic including increased access to healthcare provider offices contributed to sales team productivity for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in Precision Oncology revenue, which primarily includes laboratory service revenue from our global Oncotype products, was mainly due to an increase in the number of completed Oncotype DX breast cancer tests, both domestically and internationally, and revenue generated from new products and reference lab agreements as a result of our acquisition of Ashion in the second quarter of 2021. Continued adoption by providers and payers for node-positive breast cancer patients following the RxPONDER publication in the New England Journal of Medicine also contributed to the increase in completed Oncotype tests for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in completed Oncotype tests was partially offset by a decrease in revenues from our GPS test, which was divested on August 2, 2022.
2022 Costs
Cost of Sales $574.4 Million
R&D $393.4 Million
Sales & Marketing $846 Million
G&A $737.3 Million
Total $2,551.1 Million
2021 Costs
Cost of Sales $458.8 Million
R&D $385.6 Million
Sales & Marketing $861.9 Million
G&A $801.3 Million
Total $2,507.6 Million
Cost of sales increased by $115.6 million YOY, from $458.8 million to $574.4 million, an increase of approximately 25%. Includes costs related to inventory production and usage, shipment of collection kits and tissue samples, royalties, and the cost of services to process tests and provide results to healthcare providers. The increase in cost of sales is primarily due to an increase in production costs and personnel expenses to support the growth in completed Cologuard and Oncotype tests. In addition, our production costs and personnel expenses have risen as a result of the inflationary environment discussed above.
Research and development expenses. Total R&D expenses increased slightly YOY from $385.6 million in 2021 to $393.4 million in 2022. However, research and development expenses for 2021 included $85.3 million for the acquisitions of the exclusive license to the Targeted Digital Sequencing (“TARDIS”) technology in January 2021 and PFS Genomics, which was completed in June 2021. When excluding the impact of these asset acquisitions, research and development expenses increased by $93.1 million primarily due to an increase in our BLUE-C clinical trial and MCED related expenses. As examples, direct R&D expenses increased by $47 million YOY and personnel expenses increased $44.5 million YOY. Total R&D expenses in 2022 were $393.4 million compared to $385.6 million in 2021 (that number includes the 2021 TARDIS and PFS Genomics acquisitions).
Sales and marketing expenses. Total sales and marketing expenses decreased YOY from $861.9 million in 2021 to $846 million in 2022. The decrease was primarily due to reduced professional and legal fees incurred related to our promotion agreement with Pfizer, Inc. (“Pfizer”), which was amended in the fourth quarter of 2021 and resulted in a $35.9 million termination fee recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021. This was partially offset by an increase in direct marketing spend to support the future growth of our products (from $193.9 million to $237.5 million) and increased personnel expenses (from $381.1 million to $444.9 million) and stock-based compensation as a result of an increase in average headcount throughout 2022. In addition, facility and support services decreased (from $74.4 million to $48.6 million) primarily due to fewer costs incurred on commercial related IT projects. We expect sales and marketing expenses to decrease in 2023 due to improved efficiency from our commercial organization. We expect sales and marketing expenses to continue decreasing as a percentage of revenue over time as our Cologuard and Oncotype testing services grow and we make new tests available.
General and administrative expenses. Total G&A expenses decreased YOY from $801.3 million in 2021 to $737.3 million in 2022. General and administrative expenses for 2021 included $140.6 million in acquisition and integration related costs as part of our acquisitions completed during the year. This primarily consisted of integration related stock-based compensation and professional and legal fees incurred. Acquisition and integration costs were not significant in 2022. When excluding the impact of acquisition and integration related costs, personnel expenses increased (to $390.8 million from $316 million) due to an increase in average headcount to support growth in our operations and from our recent acquisitions. Facility and support services increased (to $136.7 million from $86.3 million) to support our increased headcount.
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Securities: As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately $242.5 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents and approximately $389.6 million in marketable securities, for a total of $632.1 million. Cash and marketable securities as of December 31, 2021 were $1,030.5 million. Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at the end of 2022 - $ 242,790; 2021 - $ 315,768. Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash ($72.978 million)
Net Operating Loss Carryforwards. As of December 31, 2022, we had federal, state, and foreign NOL carryforwards of approximately $475.2 million, $70.9 million, and $7.2 million, respectively. We also had federal and state research tax credit carryforwards of approximately $59.2 million and $27.8 million, respectively. The net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards will expire at various dates through 2040, if not utilized.
Total Indebtedness: As of December 31, 2022, we had total indebtedness of $2.26 billion, including $2.21 billion in aggregate principal and interest due under our 1.0%, 0.375%, and 0.375% convertible senior notes due in 2025, 2027, and 2028 and $50.0 million in borrowings under our Securitization Facility. We also had $2.9 million of letters of credit issued under our Revolver.
Outstanding Stock. As of February 20, 2023, there were 178,217,142 shares of our common stock outstanding held by approximately 182 holders of record.
Number of employees: In connection with the commercialization of our tests, we have added, and expect to continue to add personnel to certain areas of our business including laboratory operations, quality assurance, and compliance. Our number of full-time employees has increased from 4,833, as of December 31, 2020, to 6,278, as of December 31, 2021 and to 6,300, as of December 31, 2022.
Losses from Operations. 2020 - $767.7 Million; 2021 - $855.7 Million; 2022 - $593.5 Million.

This is my collection of what I term "Dirty Little Rules" - Basically, when you come across one of those weird-ass MBE questions with some random-ass rule buried in a commercial outline, that you get wrong because no normal person remembers that from an outline.
Disclaimer: this is not an outline, just an incomplete collection of the "holdings" from weird MBE questions.
There are some normal-ass concepts in there that I put on the list in the beginning when I was an MBE greenhorn, don't really qualify as DLR's but they are quirky.
PLEASE feel free to add on more in the comments that I may have forgotten!!! I have like between 600-800 unanswered questions between adaptibar and UWorld, so any help would be nice. TIA, and good luck this week!
**ALSO, I use a lot of acronyms, so if you don't understand something, comment and I'll try to clarify.
\********Con Law*
***Gov can regulate fighting words, but not if they target only certain groups (content based)**\*
No right to picket in front of a particular private residence (time-place-manner)
Congressional delegation to Executive
the policy Congress seeks to advance
the agency to carry out that policy
and the scope of that agency's authority.
***Lean towards it being ok, as long as they’re not basically absent
​
1A public right to attend trials
-Public and press generally have a right to attend all stages of a trial except when the closure satisfies strict scrutiny
= Least restrictive means to serve a compelling gov interest
​
Taxpayer standing based on est. clause - Must be challenging the LEGISLATION
-Taxpayer challenges executive office/agency that gives money to churches/whatever, monies come from congressional appropriation
-Taxpayer does not have standing to sue the unconstitutionality of the OFFICE
-MUST sue based on the unconstitutional legislation
​
Presidential pardon power
-Can only pardon offenses that have occurred, not future offenses (need not be charged/convicted)
-Cannot pardon impeachable offenses
​
Right to gov employment
****NOT A PART OF THE TAKINGS CLAUSE
5A Procedural Due process when depriving someone of life, liberty or property
-Only have a prop interest if:

1. Employment contract
   
2. Not At-will (only fired for cause)
   
3. Received assurances of continued employment
   

-If prop interest, entitled to:

1. Notice of charges
   
2. Pre-termination opp to respond
   
3. Post-term evidentiary hearing
   

​
***Public EDUCATION
Dismissed for academic reasons = NO RIGHTS (not adversarial)
-Dismissed for conduct reasons =

1. Adequate notice of the charges or proceedings
   
2. Meaningful app to be heard (hearing)
   

Public employee free speech: “Efficiency”
Protected = speak as private citizens about matters of public concern
-government can regulate the content of that speech if its interest in efficient government function outweighs the employee's free-speech right
Equal protection =
-A statute is discriminatorily applied against one person/group and not others
-Plaintiff would need to prove that others did the same conduct and were not punished
Ex post facto law = prohibit government from enacting laws which have a retroactive punitive effect
Usually relates to criminal laws, however civil standard below
-Rationally related to its non punitive purpose?
Discriminatory law against Non-Citizens - Fed OK
State law = Strict, UNLESS public function exception (becoming a cop)
Federal = OK, because fed gov has plenary authority over immigration
Judges immune from civil liability for official decisions
-UNLESS, court CLEARLY lacked SMJ
Gag order restricting freedom of press = Strict scrutiny
Closing trial to the public and the press = Strict scrutiny
Civil law, retroactively impairs fundamental right = Strict
Ordinary right = RB (Increasing SOL, to be used as a defense in CIVIL)
****Retroactive CRIMINAL laws = Ex post facto =
Abstention doctrine - Fed ct will not hear a case where they have SMJ, because it is state vs. fed interests, need state to resolve state interests first.
ministerial exception - protects religious organizations from civil liability for employment discrimination when they hire or fire employees who serve in ministerial roles.
-Religious orgs may hire/fire whoever they want, for whatever reason, if they are in a ministerial role (their function is to advance the orgs religious mission)
President can recognize foreign governments - not congress
-Israel passport case
Freedom of press - Publishing illegally obtained info
-OK IF:

1. True information
   
2. Matter of public concern
   
3. Publisher did not steal, AND does not know who did
   

State law about federal voting
-State can make laws about federal voting means
-But congress can override them by making federal law
Fundamental right to parent - homeschooling standards -Due process right to homeschool, but REASONABLE STATE STANDARDS are ok
-number of hours of school, instructor competency standards, specifying subjects that must be taught
Origination clause = any federal legislation that raises revenue (taxes) must originate in the house
Legislative veto - ANY legislative vote/action that overturns an executive decision
-Pursuant to bicameralism/presentment - congress must go through proper channels to enact/ enforce law
Non-delegation doctrine = Congress can only delegate incidental legislative power (rule making, carrying out legislation, enforcing regulations) and if they are delegating a delectable thing, need intelligible principles
Congress revoking us citizenship - only if citizenship was obtained in bad faith or through fraud
-Under 14A
Firearm sales:
SCOTUS has stated that certain government restrictions on firearms are permissible, including:
​

• banning unusually dangerous firearms (e.g., grenades)
• imposing conditions and qualifications on commercial sales of firearms
• forbidding the possession of firearms by felons and mentally ill individuals and
• prohibiting the open carry of firearms in certain areas (e.g., schools) or concealed carry of firearms in public.

Procedural due process - seizing of private property
-Persona property may be seized without notice and a hearing WHEN:

1. Significant gov interest (preventing crime)
   
2. Interest would be frustrated by advance notice of the seizure; AND
   
3. Seizure performed by the gov
   

Redistricting voting districts:
-may not be based on race. If questions asks best reasoning for the redistricting to be valid (if issue implicates a protected class namely race) look to one that is NOT based on the suspect classification
-want to avoid an argument that implicates strict scrutiny at all costs
21A and restrictions on alcohol ******\*
-States can regulate, or outright ban alcohol in the state
-Can prohibit transportation or importation of alcohol into the state, for delivery or use within the state
-Subject to DCC and 1A/14A
Taking - destruction of property (partial destruction)
-Likely, not a taking
-Unless it completely destroys property/completely removes economic value or use
\*******Crim pro*
NO MANDATORRY PRESUMPTIONS
-Compel fact finder to reach a conclusion
-CANNOT be used against a criminal D, to establish an element, because it relieves prosecution of burden of proof
Arrest without a warrant - cop and public
Misdemeanor in presence - Either
Misdemeanor outside of presence - Neither, even if cop has PC a misd. was committed
Felony in presence - Either
Felony outside of presence - Cop, with PC. Civilian, if reasonably believes a felony has been committed, and done ACTUALLY has been committed.
Arresting someone at a 3p house:
-May enter a 3- house to execute arrest warrant if they have:

1. Search warrant of THAT home
   
2. Exigent circumstances
   
3. 3p Consent to enter
   

****Absent the above 3, cops enter and arrest, OK - Illegal arrest does NOT prevent subsequent prosecution
-DOES exclude any subsequent evidence found
Illegal arrest remedy = Suppression of any evidence obtained as a result of the illegal arrest
Anticipatory Search Warrant - Probable cause requirements
-Search warrant that is only effective on the occurrence of a triggering condition
-Satisfied PC, IF:

1. At time of issuance, PC to believe triggering condition will occur
   
2. If condition does occur, Fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in place to be searched
   

Search warrant - cop seizes other evidence, not named in the warrant (Shirt worn by the robber)
-Cop can seize item if it is in plain view, and cop knows that it is evidence of the crime/a crime
-Officer must be
lawfully present, (valid warrant)
recognize the incriminating nature (immediately apparent) lawful access to the item (not illegally extending the search)
School admin Needs Reasonable Suspicion to search a student
***When acting independent of LE***
-When acting at the direction of LE, need PC
methods used to conduct the search must be
(1) reasonably related to the objective of the search and
(2) not excessively intrusive considering the student's age, sex, and the nature of the infraction.
Search warrant - Searching people in the building, not named in warrant
-May not search a person (homeowner is usually the named person) on the premises that is NOT NAMED in the warrant;
UNLESS: (have independent justification)

1. RS person is armed, allowing a pat frisk
   
2. PC of committed/committing a crime
   

Witness in courtroom - victim of abuse can testify form another room to avoid trauma of facing defendant
To not violate the contstituion, D must be able to:

1. Cross the witness
   
2. Observe witness’ demeanor (via CC television, perhaps)
   

***No RIGHT to have wit in the courtroom, and face to face confrontation
6A right to speedy trial - right vests when charged/arrested whichever is first
-D need not know about charges
Right co counsel - Misdemeanors
-6A right to counsel attaches, on a misdemeanor, when a suspended jail sentence is imposed, or imprisonment is actually imposed
Jail strip search
-OK, even for Misdemeanors, if D going into gen pop
-Only a VISUAL/no-touch strip search
Use of testimony given under use immunity at a grand jury - Impeachment
cannot be used for any purpose besides a perjury investigation later
-Test given under use immunity is considered “coerced”
5A self-incrimination
-ONLY testimonial evidence may be suppressed (not voice exemplars or blood samples, neither are testimonial)
DNA evidence collected at booking (blood/saliva) = reasonable search as part of a routine booking procedure
\****Crim Law*
WHEN A STATUTE DOE NOT SPECIFY A MENTAL STATE, THE STANDARD MINIMUM REQUIRED IS RECKLESSNESS - UNDER MPC
MPC Mental states - Vol intox is a defense where a material element requires a mental state of knowingly or willingly
False pretenses - Victim must RELY on the false misrepresentation
-If they have their own expert check out the goods and sign off on it, no false representation by the wrongdoer
Attempted robbery - casing a bank = substantial step
-Cl = dangerous proximity test indispensable to crime’s success?
MPC = substantial step test (exceeds mere preparation)
Wharton rule******* WHARTON SCHOOL OF ADULTERY CONSPIRACY
-If a crime requires two or more participants (adultery) – NO CONSPIRACY
-CAN still be charged with the substantive offense, obviously
Pinkerton Doctrine - PINK DAUCHSANDS
-a conspirator can be convicted of both the offense of conspiracy and all substantive crimes committed by any other co-conspirators acting in furtherance of the conspiracy.
-Under the MPC, the minority view, a member of the conspiracy is not criminally liable for such crimes unless that member aids and abets in the commission of the crimes.
Attempt = Specific intent!!!!!
-Negligence will NOT suffice!
**Cannot have attempted stat rape, need to have SI to commit the Stat rape, if man didn’t know she was underage and stopped when she said No
MPC Inchoate crimes - Cannot be CONVICTED of more than one, related to the commission of the same crime \*CAN BE CHARGED, BUT NOT CONVICTED**\**
-I.e. cannot be charged with solicitation (even though it failed) and then attempt, when you fail to complete it yourself
***Look out for “…can the defendant be CONVICTED of”
Kidnapping - movement requirement coupled with another crime (robbery)
-Movement MUST be MORE than is required to complete the other crime
-Ex: In a robbery, telling cashier to walk over to the safe is not a kidnapping, as it is incidental to the robbery
factors:
-Duration and significance
-inherent part, or independent of the other offense
-Movement made offense easier to commit?
Mistake of law - atty gives bad advice
-Mistake of law generally NO DEFENSE, and this is true for an atty giving bad advice EXCEPT:
***When it negates the required mental state for a crime****
-Look for a statute with a **KNOWINGLY** requirement, or attempt
Poisoning murder (1D)
-No poisoning, if poisoned person had an extra-sensitive reaction to something ordinarily not poisonous
-D gives victim sleeping pills, and vic has a weird reaction to them, no intent to kill either
-No GRC because not extremely reckless and outrageous (apparently) to give someone sleeping pills too debilitate them
Accomplice liability - Only for crimes they INTENDED to help with
A gives B a lock pick set, because B says he wants to steal goods from home, while owner is away
-A gives B lock pick set, but B really intends to go beat up homeowner. B does so
-A not liable, because assault is NOT a natural and probable consequence of burglary and larceny
D liable for murders by co-felons/bystanders?
Agency theory (majority) = only by co-felons
Proximate cause theory (minority) = liable for deaths caused by ANY person during felony
*****Look for facts to state agency v. Proximate cause theory, and agency = majority - only co-felons
Co-D does not testify at a joint trial, CANNOT use that co-D’s confession against the D
-violates confrontation
Statutory increase of punishment beyond max (from 5 to 10 years if a deadly weapon was used)
-treated like an element of the crime, must be proven BARD and decided by the jury
-judge CANNOT make decision
Cannot execute someone with a mental disability
-no conclusive threshold, but IQ of 70 or below is close
Priv against self-incrim
DOES NOT apply to info that would impose civil liability, only criminal liability
Attempted Murder - ONLY Intent to kill will suffice as a mental state
-Not GRC, or intent to do SBI
Embezzlement - intent and seeking to return the $$
-IN order for intent to be absent, because D intend to return the $, the D must have the intent and ABILITY to return the funds at the time the intent is formed
-If the D lacks the personal funds to return them at the time the intent is formed, liable for embezzlement
Conspiracy - Can be one person convicted if separate trials
-At CL, if all conspirators are tried together, and 2/3 are acquitted, last cannot be convicted
-But if separate trials, then 1/3 can be convicted
Rape - fraudulently gaining consent
-Fraud in the fact = No consent
-Fraud pertains to nature of the act, as in victim is unaware that they are having sex (doctor says that sex act is part of medical exam)
Fraud in the inducement = Consent not negated
-victim is aware they are having sex
-Sex in exchange for promise to marry, or promise that sex will cure an illness
**Cannot have attempted stat rape, need to have SI to commit the Stat rape, if man didn’t know she was underage and stopped when she said No = No attempted stat rape
Death Penalty and felony murder:
-Accomplice convicted of felony murder cannot be given DP EXCEPT when:: Accomplice killed, attempted to kill or intended to kill the victim, UNLESS accomplice “significantly participated” In the felony; and, acted with “reckless indifference” to human life
Robbery - Intimidation or fear must be of serious bodily injury or death to you or a close relative, or other person present
-CANNOT be slight damage to personal property
-Threat to damage/destroy someone’s home might suffice
Accessory after the fact:
-Do NOT need to KNOW the person has been charged
-Only need to aid in preventing someone from being convicted or punished
(Child abuse question, man convinces woman to “move” to another state with him)
Voluntary Intoxication defense:
****NOT A DEFENSE TO MALICE CRIMES**** (2nd murder) only 1st degree
-Only SI crimes
\*******Contracts:*
Firm offers - Condition that the item is in stock is still a valid firm offer
-Merchant makes a firm offer but adds “if the item is in stock”
-Still a valid firm offer, especially if the item is still in stock, the merchant cannot refuse or raise the price
***What if merchant has sold the item? Does that breach the firm offer rule?
Assignment - Prohibited by K
-A K that prohibits assignment doesn’t matter, because it just makes the assignor in breach, assignee takes on all the rights of the assignor, and can sue the obligor if the obligor refuses to pay anyone
Implied Warranty of M waived - Having chance to inspect, and refusing
-When An inspection WOULD have revealed defects to a good, and buyer refuses to inspect, or inspects to their liking and misses the defect (that a reasonable inspection would have found) IWM is waived
Assignment - upon death, gratuitous assignment is revoked
-If assignor makes a gratuitous assignment, and then dies, it is revoked
-Hypo: Man assigns his rights to payment to a corporation, then he dies, the assignment is revoked and his payment rights revert to his estate, and whoever (of his kids) gets his personal property gets the money
Consequential damages: MUST be reasonably foreseeable to the BREACHING party at the time of K formation
Option K, but consideration not paid yet:
-forms a uni K. Paying consideration makes it Bilat
-unpaid consid means it’s just a normal open offer until the offer expires, or is revoked
-thus, mailbox rule applies and offeree may accept before receiving revocation
Option K, but option is inside of an existing K
-NO CONSID REQUIRED
-Normally, an option is considered a SEPARATE K
Sof suretyship exceptions: no writing required when…
-promise made to debtor
-surety is financially benefitted
-surety is primarily liable
Illusory promise becomes enforceable:
-unilateral option to cancel comes and goes, valid K
Accommodation:
-sender sends non confirming goods, but sends with it notice that they’re non confirming, buyer can accept, or reject and return but CANNOT SUE FOR BREACH
***only applicable when seller accepts offer by sending goods. If seller sends written acceptance, then sends Non-conforming goods, it is a breach no matter whether there is an accommodation letter
RE K’s “time is of the essence” is implied:
-unless otherwise stated, time is not of the essence and a minor delay in closing is a minor breach
-if a patty refuses to close, specific performance
TPB K, can deduct damages before paying beneficiary:
-promisee can deduct damages before paying what is owed to the TPB
-need not pay full ammt and then sue promisor
Conversion damages = fair mkt value
-if a buyer wrongfully keeps goods, committing a conversion, seller is entitled to the fair mkt value at the time of the conversion
-look for buyer later selling the goods, and that sale price will be the fair mkt value, all proceeds going to the wronged seller
Accord and satisfaction
-Amount due MUST be in dispute (usually by the one owing payment/client) - modern law
-payor sends check with notation that this is “in full satisfaction”/“payment in full” of claim, and payee cashes without objection, can still sue for rest unless amount was genuinely in dispute
-at CL tho, above facts payor is discharged, no need for dispute
-If person owed money agrees to accept a lesser amount, orally, when the payor genuinely disputes the amount, then there is an accord, even though the payee knows what the services were truly worth - cannot later sue for the full amount
***Parties can also agree to a substitute TYPE of payment (A owes B $50K, but instead offers a $45K sports car, and B agrees. Accord even though it is worth less)
SOF - Can be satisfied by a writing OR FULL PERFORMANCE
-A contracts to build a house in exchange for 3 years of piano lessons from B, A builds the house, B claims SOF no writing
-WRONG!, A fully performed, so no writing required
***Partial performance (A built 1/2 the house, does not satisfy)
SOF - UCC - modification
-if there is a modification to a UCC contract, and the contract falls within the SOF, the mod must be in writing if it changes the subject matter, or the quantity of goods
-remember also that if a mod brings a K that is not SOFU into SOFU then it must be in writing (ex K for sale of $309, after mod it’s $600 then mod must be in writing)
Preexisting duty exception - antecedent debt
-lack of consideration will be disregarded if the debtor has a valid defense (SOL or bankruptcy) and agree to repay in a WRITING or by partial performance
Equal dignities rule = If an agent is preparing a document that is the subject of the SOF, the agency’s authority (agent agreement) must be in writing
***EXCEPTION = not needed when the agent is only acting as a scribe (signing something for the principal)

When investors do due diligence on companies one of the primary things they research is the company's CEO. Who's guiding the ship, and what, if anything, might be worthy of knowing about?
There's billions of dollars (market cap) invested in MSOs and there has been no lack of due dilly performed on every MSO CEO. Wisely so. But what about the actively managed ETF CEOs? AdvisorShares has a tremendous amount of retail investors' money under their control, but has anyone done due diligence on them?
The above thought occurred after witnessing Noah Hamman's (and Dan Ahrens for that matter) behaviour and mannerisms while interacting on social media over the last year and a half. One common thing that's always been prevalent has been the way in which they interact with investors who wish to discuss anything that is less than positive in relation to the ETFs or the companies they invest in. And by that I don't mean the people who are just being jerks, but rather investors with something intelligent and worthy of discussion.
Inevitably whenever someone brings up a truly intelligent valid concern that's hard to defend, that person is most often ignored entirely or otherwise addressed with a snarky response and ultimately blocked from any further interaction. If you are on Twitter you no doubt have witnessed scores of intelligent investors that have had that exact scenario happen to them.
We all understand MSOs and ETFs desire to sell shares, and not the opposite. Sometimes overcoming objections is a part of that job. The manner in which AdvisorShares goes about that task inspired a bit of due dilly Googling. What I found took me by surprise, yet at the same time, not really.
Do note: Sometimes documents are not publicly available online or they're hard to find. The following is what I have been able to find fairly easily. Some of it would benefit from further insight and/or documentation, so if you feel the urge to dig further and fill in blanks, please be kind enough to share citations with everyone.
Excepts from January 2009 letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Re: Request for Hearing on Application of AdvisorShares Investments, LLC and AdvisorShares Trust, Investment Company Act Release No. 28568; 812-13488 (December 23,2008)
Hamman served as Arrow's President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer, as well as an Arrow Manager, from approximately February 16, 2006 through November 29, 2007. During that time, Hamman shared responsibility for formulating a business plan for Arrow regarding the creation of specialized mutual funds and, utilizing the infrastructure created to support the mutual fund business, the development of an ETF business line like the business line described in the Application.
Following Arrow's finalization of its business plan, rather than working to implement that business plan at Arrow and on Arrow's behalf, Hamman established a separate company, AdvisorShares, without the knowledge of Arrow and in violation of his fiduciary duty to Arrow. Hamman then systematically diverted to the benefit of himself and AdvisorShares opportunities, assets, and contracts that rightfully belonged to Arrow.
Among other things, Hamman sought to implement Arrow's business plan for the benefit of AdvisorShares rather than for Arrow. When Arrow began to learn of Hamman's competing activities and confronted him regarding those activities, Hamman engaged in further deceptive misconduct by affirmatively misrepresenting the nature and scope of his endeavors on behalf of AdvisorShares.
When Arrow discovered further information regarding the nature and extent of Hamman's activities, the Management Committee of Arrow removed Hamman as an officer of the company, terminated his employment, and ultimately (after a series of delaying tactics on Hamman's part and an unsuccessful mediation) initiated the Arbitration.

Excepts from February 2009 Court of Chancery State of Delaware

Before me is a motion to dismiss a petition for dissolution (the “Petition”) of a limited liability company, respondent Arrow Investment Advisors, LLC. The Petition is brought by Noah Hamman, who is one of the three co-founders of Arrow, and who was removed from management of the company by the other two co-founders nearly a year and a half ago. The Petition alleges that the current managers have failed to fulfill Arrow’s original business plan and, in a conclusory manner, that the managers breached their fiduciary duties in a variety of ways. Hamman argues that these circumstances support a dissolution order because they have caused it to be no longer reasonably practicable to carry out Arrow’s business.
In this opinion, I grant Arrow’s motion to dismiss the Petition. [..] Here, Hamman has failed to allege that Arrow is not operating in accordance with the broad purposes set forth in its LLC agreement (the “Arrow LLC Agreement”). [..] Moreover, I will not entertain a claim for dissolution premised on unproven breaches of fiduciary duty.
The mismanagement that Hamman cursorily alleges in his minimalist, five-page Petition includes violating various securities laws, using company funds for personal expenditures at the expense of paying employees on time, and failing to provide an annual operating plan for 2008 as required by the Arrow LLC Agreement.

I've left out a lot of content from the document, but it's quite the read to say the least. Check it out when you have time. It ends like this...

IV. Conclusion For the foregoing reasons, respondent Arrow Investment Advisors, LLC’s motion to dismiss the Petition is granted, and the Petition is dismissed with prejudice, except that Arrow may seek dissolution at the end of the arbitration process if it has proven breaches of fiduciary duty and can make a good faith argument that, notwithstanding the remedies granted by the arbitrator, those breaches support an order of dissolution. IT IS SO ORDERED.

2012 ALL FILES: Fund.com Inc. - v. - AdvisorShares Investments, LLC et al
This one has a ton of files that went on for years if you are so inclined to go thought them all. They are far from being a complementary reflection on AdvisorShares and Hamman, that's for sure. So here's just a sampling of the contents as an overview.
Excepts from Summons February 12, 2012 FUND.COM INC. (Plaintiff) -against- ADVISORSHARES INVESTMENTS, LLC, NOAH HAMMAN, WILSON LANE GROUP, LLC, and DAVID NICHOLS JR. (Defendants)

This action arises out of an attempt by Hamman, the minority but controlling member in a limited liability company, AdvisorShares, to use his position of control to improperly seize for his own benefit a substantial portion of the ownership interest rightfully purchased and held by FUND, the sole seed investor in the Company and its 60% majority member since October 2008.
In December of 2010, enabled by the direct equity investments of $1,275,000 in the Company made by FUND over the prior two years in the Company (compared to investments of just $10,000 in the Company by Hamman, less his salary distributions), AdvisorShares was poised for success, and in just the ensuing year after December 10, 2010 has nearly tripled assets under management to over $425,000,000 and since inception has completed over a dozen initial public offerings all traded on the NYSE Arca, dramatically increasing cash flow from asset management fees.
The only other member of AdvisorShares is, and was, Wilson Lane, which is wholly owned by Hamman. Thus, any reduction of FUND’s interest in the Company would effect a proportionate increase in Hamman’s interest in the Company. Furthermore, Hamman is, and was, in control of AdvisorShares, acting as its Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and a member of its Board of Directors
In order to protect itself from the risk that this combination of interests and positions held by Hamman in the Company potentially created for it, FUND negotiated into the Purchase and Contribution Agreement certain protections...
[..] Remarkably and unfortunately, however, these protections and the fiduciary duties that both Hamman and Nichols owed FUND, as the majority and silent member of the Company, were not enough. Hamman brazenly exploited his position of control over the Company to manufacture a false and artificial default by FUND of its contribution obligations in order to illegally increase his proportionate interest in the Company and receive the benefits that flowed there-from.

That's just excerpts from the overview. The 36-page filing is loaded with accusations of unscrupulous actions by Hamman. Seriously, go scan the document, it's truly unreal. There are 13 Causes of Action against Hamman.
As best I can tell it appears the parties settled privately on October 26, 2015
October 26, 2015 Stipulation and Proposed Order of Dismissal With Prejudice and Bar Order
But wait, then this happened...
September 8, 2017 Judgement - Fund.com v. AdvisorShares

[..] AdvisorShares defaulted on its obligation to make certain payments due July 31, 2017 under the settlement.
[..] Now therefore it is hereby adjudged that Fund.com shall have judgement and recover against AdvisorShares the sum of $2,100,000 plus interest of $107,945.

Anyhow, after sifting through endless documents this is as far as I got. Likewise, it's as far as I care to dig. It is the publicly displayed demeanor of AdvisorShares (Hamman and Ahrens) over the last 1.5 years that encouraged me to do some due diligence in the first place.
Like with any company we entrust our investment dollars with, we do some research. Generally speaking we are on the lookout for any positives and/or negative red flags that may guide our confidence. In the case of AdvisorShares I'm not aware of anyone sharing due diligence. Now we have a bit of a peek into their past, and it appears to support the type of behaviour we witness from them to this very day.

I just had this problem with Ziply Fiber. The answer boils down to the Fair Credit Billing Act. I'll update this post when I know if it works for sure but the math checks out.
UPDATE: The answer is read the fine print in your general users agreement and see where it talks about term of service and termination of service. The rep told me the genereal terms and conditions said they kept the final bill without prorate but if you read it, it says the opposite in very clear language.
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Possible Solution:
My advice to all of you whose monthly bills are at least $50 is to do what I am doing. Pay the bill in full with your credit card and then do the math and prorate the bill for yourself and see how much you were overcharged. Then dispute that portion of the credit card charge with your credit card company and they will give you the money back and in accordance with the Fair Credit Billing Act. The FCBA says that charges must be over $50 to be eligible for dispute. They may be unauthorized, display an incorrect date or amount, or contain calculation errors. If a good or service was not delivered, that charge can be disputed."
Check out the "Info source" at the bottom for a link to a sample dispute letter you have to MAIL to the credit card company to make your dispute official.
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Possible Pitfalls:
If a consumer has a dispute with a merchant, they can ask the card issuer to withhold payment and request that the issuer helps resolve the dispute; the issuer is not required to settle the disagreement, however. Consumers must meet certain requirements to take advantage of this right: they must approach the vendor first; and unless the vendor is also the card issuer, the purchase must exceed $50 and have been made within 100 miles of the card holder's mailing address.
This means you have to dispute this with the company first and record your call. Do not worry about any recording laws because a message at the beginning of the call states the call may be recorded before a real person speaks with you.
I wouldn't worry about the disputed portion of the charge not being the full bill. It shouldn't matter as long as the whole charge was over $50.
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Extra Thoughts:
As for the logic behind this, how is it that one or two cable companies can bill like this but the rest don't? That's a big part of what makes this not a "monthly" service but rather a billing scam. If all the cable companies already did it then it would be, but that's not the case.
Say a person cancels on the second day of the billing cycle, they loose a whole $70 (or whatever the monthly bill is) for almost nothing. Also, this opens up the gate for them to double bill. If that person cancelling on the second day lived in an apartment, that apartment can be rented out again immediately and they can start charging the new tenant for internet at the same time. This is criminal and I'm sure if there was some class action started it would cause a lot of financial woes for said company.
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UPDATE: I was told their billing policy was in their general terms and conditions by a billing specialist. However, when I went and looked at the Ziply general terms and conditions, under item 9.c, I found this

If you are moving or wish to terminate all or any portion of your Service for any reason you must notify Ziply Fiber as described at the Ziply Website. All applicable fees and charges will accrue until the date of termination, but Ziply Fiber will refund all prepaid monthly fees charged for Services after the date of termination, less any amounts due to Ziply Fiber.

So, their policy is to lie to you about their policy to get you to just leave them the money.
I called them back, pointed out this paragraph, the very clear wording, and that the previous billing specialist must have been wrong. I got a little bit of push back about it "not being their policy to refund that for the internet" and raised it to manager level issue and the manager said the same thing but when the phone rep sent them this exact sentence ...

All applicable fees and charges will accrue until the date of termination, but Ziply Fiber will refund all prepaid monthly fees charged for Services after the date of termination

... they rolled right over and prorated the bill and even refunded an extra $9.99 for the residential fee.
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See kids... learning to read can help you change the world!
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Info source - link

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You will likely never read anything like this. Not exaggerating. Read on.
This is a solid company that came out of stanford with biggest shareholders Bill gates foundation, baker brothers wellington management and they have been funding them for almost 10 years now.
THE DATA READOUT CAN HAPPEN ANYDAY NOW IN JULY- as communicated by atreca management. they have never announced any human data before and you will find no match to their stellar preclinical data
shorts are already covering. This short squeeze is different where organically this company is likely to 10x even without a reddit buy.
Even if you don't participate I would recommend you read this article it is extremely informative.
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Table of contents

• What is Atreca and did it drop ~50 % in the recent months with a 30-50% short interest
• Are they trying to steal shares for cheap?

1. Current state of affairs and CEO’s comments during Jefferies interview on June 2nd
2. The History of departures of executives a few months before an acquisition in Biotech
3. Suspicious departure of Chief Business Officer
4. Suspicious departure of Chief Scientific Office

• Why is Atreca an immediate Acquisition Target

1. Merck’s acquisition target - Part 1 - Merck’s likely angling for Atreca since 2016 and now they have the cash
2. Merck’s acquisition target - Part 2 - President of Research, Dr Dean Li specific remarks
3. Seagen acquisition target
4. Significant derisking factors as an acquisition

• Closing Summary
• Further reading
• Powerpoint link to this presentation - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p7m-9SCfeADi4YXHZE-4VUKh8GLCgHtb/view
• same post on another reddit thread - https://www.reddit.com/Stock_Picks/comments/oiashf/bcel_43_reasons_why_atreca_q3_2021_acquisition_is/

Float 18.55m
Tutes 92.02%
Insiders 3.63%
Short interest 6/15 30%
Short Ratio 6/15 19.91
Total cash $211.67m
Cash per share $5.74
Book value per share $7.33
July anyday Data drop catalyst

• This presentation is not to fully vet the science behind Atreca’s technology and science. That would require a >100 page presentation in itself. I will be adding some further readings at the end of the presentation for company background
• However I will be introducing some broad concepts so you understand the critical events around data readout that are screaming towards an acquisition
• This data readout could happen any day in July as communicated by Atreca’s management for their lead program ATRC101
• This is not financial advice do your own DD

Who is Atreca

• Atreca was formed in 2010 by Stanford researchers. Their focus is to reproduce antibodies produced in responding cancer patients that bind preferentially to numerous tumor types.
• It’s done with differentiated and proprietary bar code technology that can pair and recreate both heavy and light chains to recreate a native antibody expressed by a B cell with greater than 99.998% accuracy. The technology was developed originally and later exclusively licensed from Stanford by Atreca.
• Forty Seven Inc’s platform was also licensed from Stanford and with their “foundational drug”(CD47) like atreca. Forty seven was acquired for 5B by Gilead. The concept of foundational drugs is described later in this presentation.
• Their lead drug ATRC101 binds to a RNP complex acting as a flagpost initiating an innate and adaptive immune response. Its a very abundant protein but tumors seem to produce their own version of this RNP complex. ATRC reacted 50% of the time in ~1000’s of different tumor type samples. That means a 50 % chance of a response as monotherapy(more on combo later).
• This specific tumor RNP happens in autoimmune disease but was unbeknownst to science in cancer prior to Atreca’s discovery and unlikely to be discovered without Atreca’s platform and approach. Hence when validated this is a huge breakthrough “foundational drug” like PD1 and CD47.
• PD1 drugs like keytruda form 1/3 of Merck’s entire revenue at 14B even though it works for only 25% of patients. Its the highest revenue generating cancer and drug top 5 drugs by revenue on the planet. ATRC101 is looking to enhance PD1 response, work synergistically or in many cases replace PD1 entirely

Now how did Atreca drop ~50 % in the recent months with a 30-50% short interest

• The Chief business officer left March 15 2021 followed by The Chief Science Officer on March 31 2021 right before data readout
• The CEO said originally that the monotherapy data readout will be in the First half of 2021 in the Q3 2020 update. A few months ago he said it would be July
• That bred a “guaranteed” period of uncertainty. When it was first half of 2021 originally, the data could have dropped anytime
• As you all probably know the stock market doesn’t price uncertainty well. Here is a clip on uncertainty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LKpC_opSg0
• There was a note in the Q1 readout that said “2 of the 3 patients at the 10 mg per kg dose Atreca and its investigators decided, out of an abundance of caution, to enroll three additional patients in the fourth dose cohort (10 mg/kg), after the first two patients enrolled experienced rapid deterioration associated with disease progression, assessed as unrelated to ATRC-101”
• All of the above points created a perfect storm of uncertainty creating a very high short interest (30-50%)

Surely I would have heard about this company before?

• Well 93.5 % of the company is owned by institutional investors and it IPO’d in 2019. There is only a handful of biotechs with this much institutional ownership and 3 that are micro cap. The other two’s institutional ownership is not nearly the same caliber. To that effect the real float is super tiny > 2 million shares.
• Here are select pre-IPO e top tier biotech funds investors

1. Bill Gates foundation
2. Baker Brothers (https://biotechforfire.tech/?p=278) 2nd largest Atreca Shareholder
3. Redmile group
4. Ecor1 capital
5. Wellington management

Publicly disclosed Partnerships with Merck, Xencor, GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK), Johnson & Johnson’s ($JNJ) Janssen, Sanofi ($SNY) and Novartis ($NVS). Private parterships at least 2.They have a library of ~2000 antibodies that bind preferentially to numerous tumor types in various weaponization formats.
Current state of affairs and CEO’s comments during Jefferies interview on June 2nd - Part 1

• One thing you should know about Atreca’s management like a lot of high value IP biotech’s they have been EXTREMELY SECRETIVE in general(two undisclosed partners and just one disclosed Xencor). ESPECIALLY for the results of the trial and use the same messaging amongst when asked about trial updates since early 2020 like robots.
• “No DLT’s (dose limiting toxicities) have been reported thus far” was mentioned so the safety part seems to be covered which is the primary endpoint of the phase 1b trial
• Remember according to preclinical models 50 % of tissues reacted in response to 2 out of 3 patients that progressed. Is it possible that 1 did see an amazing response and hence FDA recommended to double verify the toxicity before adding more?
• CEO John Orwin made a very interesting comment on June 2nd during the Jefferies conference call “There could be instances where one metastasis is progressing and the other is regressing so the doctor would keep them on the drug”. (recording unavailable so paraphrased)

That is the first clue ever given of any 101 efficacy but I don’t think it stops there.
ATRC101-The 100 Billion Drug
Preclinical doses and tumor volume (Atreca may 2021 corporate presentation)

• CEO John Orwin was also asked why did he enroll additional patients at 3 mg per kg and not at higher. His response was that they had patient demand at 3mg per kg and that was the only approved dose at the time so instead of turning patients away they dosed them at 3mg per kg
• This is another blatant clue for efficacy
• These clues for efficacy as a mono therapy is a huge deal because if the biomarker data lines up, the PD1 and Chemo combos will have closer to 75% to 90 % response rate for all targeted cancer types and is not a stretch given the mechanism of action. That means a ~100B dollar drug.
• 10mg kg and up are the doses that really matteras a mono therapy according to their preclinical data. Please see the diagram above. 0.3 mg was deemed as the “lowest efficacious dose” and that’s what they started with but in the models tumors clearly progressed even though it was “efficacious”.
• based on the diagram from Atreca may 2021 corporate presentation below its likely with one patient out of the 9(6 at 10mgk and 3 30 mgk) saw an amazing response.Maybe more.

A foundational drug poised for very high Response rates with PD1 and lower doses of chemo

• According to the remarks at the 3mgk cohort expansion from in the previous slide from John Orwin on June 2nd 2021 hints at efficacy at lower doses as well. Great for PD1 combo
• For these type of “foundational drugs” as President of research Dean li from Merck seems to call them - what is more important is the biomarker data that aligns the preclinical data. Even the first Pd1 inhibitor trials for the likes of Opdivo had to convince regulators to adapt trial to focus on Overall survival instead of resist criteria alone
• In Summary: If no CR's etc but there is clear signs of stable disease and biomarker data that is inline with their preclinical data that still keeps them on course of a blockbuster drug which was happened with anti PD1 opdivo early trials. If there preclinical data is inline with the biomarker data with are talking about 75-90 % response rates(or yes even higher) with chemo and PD1. Chemo induces the target not all patients could have the target like the tumor samples suggested ie. 50%. It is still extremely likely they are going to have a couple smashing responses based on the hints given by CEO john orwin

The History of departures of executives a few months before an acquisition in Biotech

• It is actually quite common for executives to leave prior to an acquisition in biotech. You could call it “a coincidence” but it's better for all parties involved that it happens.
• Its bad optics if key executives leave after an acquisition
• From a career perspective why would you take a title downgrade for a less incentive (those large stock options are no longer existent at a larger org like Merck)
• They never sell their stocks
• Here are some examples of prior executive departures followed by acquisitions a few months later . There is a common theme especially amongst the business side of the executive team - CBO/CCO, CFO, COO

Avexis CFO leaves then a few months later the company gets acquired by Novartis

• https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/brief-avexis-inc-cfo-thomas-210559046.html
• https://www.novartis.com/news/media-releases/novartis-enters-agreement-acquire-avexis-inc-usd-87-bn-transform-care-sma-and-expand-position-gene-therapy-and-neuroscience-leader

Clementia Pharma Chief Commercial Officer leaves then a few months later the company gets acquired by Ipsen

• https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/zhtkcfavbbq-arhzx3nssa2
• https://www.ipsen.com/press-releases/ipsen-to-acquire-clementia-pharmaceuticals-to-significantly-boost-rare-disease-portfolio/

Spark Therapeutics COO leaves hen a few months later the company gets acquired by Roche

• https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/nefev5bxanzgjtb5494r1a2
• https://www.s-ge.com/fnode/31105

Suspicious Chief Business Officer departure
Newly created position in a large Baker Brothers holding

• Lisa Decker left Atreca to join IGM Biosciences ~ 15th March 2021 for a newly created Chief Business Officer position specifically for her at IGM
• IGM is a large holding for Baker Brothers they own ~12% according to 13F fillings of the company which is in their top 15 holdings
• This is a baker brothers MO “The brothers rely on talented executives and scientists, often discovered at companies they invest in. These people frequently end up on boards of other companies where Baker Bros. is a stakeholder. When the executives launch businesses, the Bakers have often backed them in their new endeavors.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-01/baker-brothers-turn-biotech-prowess-into-a-3-8-billion-fortune
• CBO is not replaced and happens back to back with CSO before historical readout
• According to SEC filings She acquired/excersised 80,000 shares of Atreca stock on Jan 27 2021 approx 1.5 months before leaving. She hasn’t sold her Atreca stock according to SEC filings
• Awarded 60,000 share options at IGM according to SEC filings
• Seems like the right thing to do if the company is getting acquired i.e. CBO role likely to be axed/irrelevant if absorbed by a larger company.
• If things are not going to shit as indicated in the previous slides, why did she leave?

Suspicious Chief Scientific Officer departure
Timing & Terms of leaving , subsequently joining a startup is EXTREMELY suspicious

• The Chief Scientific Officer Michael Norman Greenberg left his role at Atreca ~ March 31 2021 according to SEC filings roughly 2 weeks after Chief Business Officer left.
• His terms of leaving combined with leaving a few months before a historical data readout is extremely suspicious. His shares vesting was extended by 21 months according to the separation agreement. This does not seem to align with his original employment contract.
• He joined a startup called Prellis Biologics founded in 2016 as an Executive Vice President which in itself is very suspicious. He title originally stated “Executive Vice President - Special Projects” on LinkedIn which was later changed to just” Executive Vice President” a few days later.
• Separation Agreement - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/0001532346/000155837021006950/atre-20210331ex1016262d9.htm
• Employment agreement ( Termination of Employment - Page 3) - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1532346/000155837020013618/atre-20200930ex107c069dc.htm
• If data is good why would he leave? Back to back with CBO

Merck’s acquisition target - Part 1
CEO on buying early stage assets with 9B cash got in June 2021 from spinoff dividend

• Merck recently acquired 9 billion USD looking to make an acquisition as stated by new incoming CEO Rob Davis April 29 2021

*“*You know, we've been very clear, we're -- we are open to any opportunity to add a meaningful asset. Size is not determined by dollars. Size is determined by complexity and the disruption it brings to our business. So, as we look at it, we are open to all forms of deals and we have the capital to go after all forms of deals.
We continue to believe where we have a lot of value is in products that are in earlier stages of development, which is what's driven a lot of the deals we've done. But we're not limiting ourselves to that. We're looking at all opportunities.”
https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2021/04/29/merck-co-mrk-q1-2021-earnings-call-transcript/

• Merck is under constant pressure for their reliance on keytruda which is almost 1/3 Merck’s revenues ~14 Billion USD. You can go to any conference call. Here is the latest one

“While we are very aware of the potential LOE of KEYTRUDA, we do not see the cliff in the same way the street does. I think we're very well-positioned with what we have internally to address a meaningful part of that. And then obviously, as we said, we understand we need to continue to be urgent and looking at business development to continue to augment it.”
https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2021/04/29/merck-co-mrk-q1-2021-earnings-call-transcript/
Likely been angling deal with Atreca since 2016

• Merck has been likely angling a deal with Atreca since 2016 - "But he cautioned that the company is not anxious to jump into a clinical deal right now with one of the pharmas angling for checkpoint inhibitor companion treatments. “That’s not our business model,” he said of such arrangements - Tito Serafini September 19 2016 https://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-report/atreca
• Merck did eventually form a partnership with Atreca in 2020Atreca will receive an upfront cash payment and retain exclusive ownership and rights to develop all Atreca antibodies included in the collaboration with Merck, while Merck will receive a right-of-first-negotiation should Atreca seek to partner or out-license one or more of these antibodies. https://ir.atreca.com/news-releases/news-release-details/atreca-announces-strategic-research-collaboration-merck-identify
• In many circumstances First right of negotiations are established in if an acquisition offer is rejected.^^^^^^^^^^^
• Ben Thorner Head of Business development which is in Merck Labs(for which Dean li is the President) said in an interview that he is most proud of acquisitions that sat harmoniously with Merck’s internal efforts. Atreca would be a clear acquisition that meets that criteria that would be additive to their internal pipeline with their technology platform.
• Merck is desperate to find a drug that works synergistically. There are hundreds of keytruda combo trials. ATRC 101 is an obvious IO agent to IO agent bet
• Out of all of the combo trials there are some strong suitors to be acquisition targets but none of them are as derisked as Atreca in the >7 b price range
• They did more critical event deals with Velosbio and Pandion have been done - the fact they have planned capital allocation gives them time to structure a partner buyout that might come with a higher price tag. An Atreca acquisition completes the Merck equation with the VelosBio and Pandion modalities as described in later slides
• Out of the publicly partners established 2020 I don't see a better suitor than Atreca. Not to discredit the science or partnerships any other partners im talking about from a pure cost benefit and derisking factors

The Merck Acquisiton Case - Part2 - Dr Dean Li

• Dr. Dean Li - President of research at Merck appointed this year replacing Dr. Roger M. Perlmutter.
• https://njbmagazine.com/njb-news-now/dr-dean-y-li-appointed-as-president-merck-research-laboratories/
• Dr Li has been at Merck since 2017
• Highly experienced executive with extensive experience in academia, clinical work and cofounded numerous successful startups
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Y._Li
• President of Research at Merck the biggest stakeholder for M&A with CEO
• “but it's also even harder to identify what I would call foundational drugs, drugs where you could go and lay out a beachhead quickly, define a patient population where you can have a beachhead, but also recognize that given that beachhead, there are many other applications. And the reason I sort of lay that out is some people talk about rare disease or precision targeted, I like molecules where I can quickly find out whether I'm right or wrong in a limited patient population and expand quickly”. - Dr Dean Li https://s21.q4cdn.com/488056881/files/doc_events/2021/06/MRK-USQ_Transcript_2021-06-22.pdf
• ATRC-101 is a foundational drug in that sense like PD-1. Dean and the world saw what happened to keytruda and they want to repeat history
• “Fundamentally, if you don't have the right target, it doesn't matter what technology you put on it, you're going to go nowhere. So there's this whole focus of what's the right target and how to get that target. When people often talk about the technology, they focus on what I would call the technology around modality or the composition of matter. And the critical question for that is often, what can you touch with that, that you couldn't touch already previously, assuming that it's a really good target?”

- Dean Li. https://s21.q4cdn.com/488056881/files/doc_events/2021/06/MRK-USQ_Transcript_2021-06-22.pdf

• Now that that has completed a few modality acquisitions it would logically make sense for a target centric company to be very attractive based on the above statement that too being largely novel.
• “In terms of technology, I think we say that we're modality-agnostic, but we can't do everything. And so to me, really defining, I'm going to do small molecules. I'm going to be in biologics. I am going to do protein engineering. I am going to be in ADCs. I'm going to play in that space where small molecules are getting larger. Those are places that you have to make a commitment, but it's very important that you don't make the commitment made on the platform because platforms don't make products. Products make platforms.” - Dean li. https://s21.q4cdn.com/488056881/files/doc_events/2021/06/MRK-USQ_Transcript_2021-06-22.pdf
• Merck’s past few acquisitions are platforms that generated products with great modalities and initial clinical data- Pandion, Velos Bio(adc’s). An Atreca acquisition would fit well.
• Prior acquisition history and comments above allude to desire on continued platform acquisitions
• Dean’s background and ideologies seem very similar to Tito Serafini - You may laugh at this but Dean has publicly stated that you can put whatever you want on powerpoint slides but the most important thing is trust - on both sides.
• Ben Thorner Head of Business development which is in Merck Labs(for which Dean li is the President) said in an interview that he is most proud of acquisitions that sat harmoniously with Merck’s internal efforts. Atreca would be a clear acquisition that meets that criteria that would be additive to their internal pipeline with their technology platform.

The Seagen Case

• Seagen is baker brothers largest holding and merger with Atreca would be an extremely shrewd move
• Atreca’s CEO John Orwin said ADC’s is of particular interest a few times including for the latest EphA2 candidate
• Merging with Seagen is a classic Baker Brothers move like they tried to do with BCRX - “Great Point Partners, a Connecticut hedge fund that owned shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc., wrote a letter to the drugmakers’ board in February 2018 opposing a proposed merger with Idera. Great Point co-founder David Kroin argued that the deal appeared to favor Idera’s largest shareholder, who was also a significant investor in BioCryst, to the detriment of other BioCryst investors. He didn’t name Baker Bros., but the firm was the biggest Idera shareholder at the time and also held a smaller stake in BioCryst.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-01/baker-brothers-turn-biotech-prowess-into-a-3-8-billion-fortune
• Atreca’s CEO John Orwin has been on the board of Seagen even prior to joining Atreca

Derisking factors

• ATRC 101 has many applications akin to PD-1 inhibitors
• Their second publicly disclosed antibody is against a validated known and potentially high value target over expressed in many many tumors that worked in prior trials i.e. EphA2. These trials were abandoned due to negative adverse events. There is only one other program in the clinic i.e. Bicycle therapeutics.
• No reactivity of toxicological significance observed in a human tissue cross reactivity study for EphA2 candidate
• They have 2000 antibodies that bind to tumor tissue preferentially across tumor types
• Based on prior data they have shown they should have a library of ~120 antibodies that can be investigated in a bispecific Tcell engaging format, ~350 antibodies in directed killing ADCC, ~ 40 antibodies in ADC formats
• This technology can be used in Autoimmune diseases which is actually the lab of where the technology came from - anti PD1 keytruda was also being toyed in autoimmune diseases originally
• The company is extremely secretive and given the way they are reverse engineering responding cancer patients they could also be holding validated assets that are in the clinic by other companies but that would require them to go head to head with later stage assets and beat that data with bigger companies which would be a bad decision.
• Atreca platform is a competitor to Abcellera and many others in the Antibody Repitoire Sequencing arena. They act as a service providers, with market caps of 5-10B. Atreca is the best at what they do and their antibody library, partnerships, candidates prove so.

Summary

• ATRC 101 is a foundational drug where the biomarker activity is more important than actual responses like former PD1 trials. Having said that it is likely be some amazing responses and/or stable diseases based on the preclinical data and the clues given by Atreca CEO John Orwin.
• If ATRC101 is inline with preclinical data this is a 100’s of Billions USD drug. John Orwin’s comments allude to that
• CSO/CBO departures are extremely suspicious and executive departure is commonplace prior to acquisition
• Merck has planned 9B capital stating they are looking to augment keytruda and acquire a earlier stage asset.
• Dean li has expressed his extreme interest in good targets, platforms and foundational drugs. No other company or partner fits that bill. On top of a foundational drug that also augments keytruda
• The Atreca platform would sit well with Merck’s internal efforts and recent acquisitions
• Likely the best acquisition for Merck from 2020 partners and combo trial partners with keytruda(they were all reviewed)
• Seagen or other Mega deal is also possible
• Shares trade at 9 $ book value is 7 $ I believe. So that’s the likely downside if any. 220 m cash goes till H23/24
• All 6 analyst at a buy with a 27-30$ PT. 30%-50% short interest. 500 % on data and 2000%+ is not out of question if we compare other foundational drugs BO like CD47. After all we are likely witnessing history in the making

Further reading - atreca.com - May 2021 corporate slideshow - https://ir.atreca.com/static-files/dddc911b-e978-47da-9a9e-a2e54a3a7daa - Preclinical webinar and slides for ATRC 101 - https://ir.atreca.com/events/event-details/atrc-101-preclinical-data-webinar - https://ir.atreca.com/static-files/20faeeee-7451-4ceb-a1e2-8e6a2563bedb - Cowen May 21 2021 - https://ir.atreca.com/events/event-details/atreca-cowen-2nd-annual-virtual-oncology-innovation-summit - Needham April 2021 - https://ir.atreca.com/events/event-details/atreca-20th-annual-needham-virtual-healthcare-conference - Literature on high bcell expression in PD1 responders - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1922-8?proof=t - Atreca patents(not sure if all) - https://patents.justia.com/assignee/atreca-inc - Publication of Founder William Robinson - Atreca technology was developed in his lab at Stanford - https://profiles.stanford.edu/william-robinson?tab=publications - Jim Allison Breakthrough - its a movie on amazon (PD1 discovory movie - quite entertaining) - https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidshaywitz/2017/07/26/the-startling-history-behind-mercks-new-cancer-blockbuste?sh=81f3ae8948d8 - https://www.griproom.com/fun/10-signs-your-company-is-about-to-be-acquired

Dear SilentSmartApes,
below is a text with great information that comes from site that is now down (https://web.archive.org/web/20210131014127/http://counterfeitingstock.com/CS2.0/CounterfeitingStock.html)
I think i have a good understanding of the text below and can answer questions in the comments. A small note: I think this text is writen before the masive upcoming of A lot of other non-primairy exchanges, Systematic internaliser, dark pools and a lot of off exchange transactions from retail brokers. The situation is becoming way less transparant and complex and even more inportant you understand how things are rigged against you.
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Illegal naked shorting and stock manipulation are two of Wall Street's deep, dark secrets. These practices have been around for decades and have resulted in trillions of dollars being fleeced from the American public by Wall Street. In the process, many emerging companies have been put out of business. This report will explain the magnitude of this problem, how it happens, why it has been covered up and how short sellers attack a company. It will also show how all of the participants; the short hedge funds, the prime brokers and the Depository Trust Clearing Corp. (DTCC)—make unconscionable profits while the fleecing of the small American investor continues unabated.
​
How The System Transacts Stocks — This explanation has been greatly simplified in the interest of brevity.

1. Customers — These can be individuals, institutions, hedge funds and prime broker's house accounts.
2. Prime Brokers — They both transact and clear stocks for their customers. Examples of prime brokers include Goldman Sachs; Merrill Lynch; Citigroup; Morgan Stanley; Bear Stearns, etc.
3. The DTCC — This is the holding company that owns four companies that clear and keep track of most stock transactions. This is where brokerage accounts are actually lodged. The DTC division clears over a billion shares daily. The DTCC is owned by the prime brokers, and, as a closely held private enterprise, it is impenetrable. It actively and aggressively fights all efforts to obtain information regarding naked shorting, with or without a subpoena. When the prime brokers sell directly to one another, circumventing the DTC, it is called ex–clearing.

Stocks clear as follows:
If Customer A–1 purchases ten shares of XYZ Corp and Customer A–2 sells ten shares, then the shares are transferred electronically, all within prime broker A. Record of the transaction is sent to the DTC. Likewise, if Investor A–1 shorts ten shares of XYZ Corp and Investor A–2 has ten shares in a margin account, prime broker A borrows the shares from account A–2 and for a fee lends them to A–1.
If Customer A–1 sells shares to Customer B–2, in order to get the shares to B–2 and the money to A–1, the transaction gets completed in the DTC. The same occurs for shares that are borrowed on a short sale between prime brokers.
As a practical matter, what happens is prime broker A, at the end of the day, totals all of his shares of XYZ owned and all of the XYZ shares bought and sold, and clears the difference through the DTC. In theory, at the end of each day when all of the prime brokers have put their net positions in XYZ stock through the system, they should all cancel out and the number of shares in the DTC should equal the number of shares that XYZ has sold into the market. This almost never happens, because of the DTC stock borrow program which is discussed later.
Who are the Participants in the Fraud? The participants subscribe to the theory that it is much easier to make money tearing companies down than making money building them up, and they fall into two general categories: 1) They participate in the process of producing the counterfeit shares that are the currency of the fraud and/or 2) they actively short and tear companies down.
The counterfeiting of shares is done by participating prime brokers or the DTC, which is owned by the prime brokers. A number of lawsuits that involve naked shorting have named about ten of the prime brokers as defendants, including Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch; UBS; Morgan Stanley and others. The DTCC has also been named in a number of lawsuits that allege stock counterfeiting.
The identity of the shorts is somewhat elusive as the shorts obscure their true identity by hiding behind the prime brokers and/or hiding behind layers of offshore domiciled shell corporations. Frequently the money is laundered through banks in a number of tax haven countries before it finally reaches its ultimate beneficiary in New York, New Jersey, San Francisco, etc. Some of the hedge fund managers who are notorious shorters, such as David Rocker and Marc Cohodes, are very public about their shorting, although they frequently utilize offshore holding companies to avoid taxes and scrutiny.
Most of the prime brokers have multiple offshore subsidiaries or captive companies that actively participate in shorting. The prime brokers also front the shorting of some pretty notorious investors. According to court documents or sworn testimony, if one followed some of the short money trails at Solomon, Smith Barney, they led to accounts owned by the Gambino crime family in New York. A similar exercise with other prime brokers, who cannot be named at this time, leads to the Russian mafia, the Cali drug cartel, other New York crime families and the Hell's Angels.
One short hedge fund that was particularly destructive was a shell company domiciled in Bermuda. Subpoenas revealed the Bermuda company was wholly owned by another shell company that was domiciled in another tax haven country. This process was five layers deep, and at the end of the subterfuge was a very well known American insurance company that cannot be disclosed because of court–ordered sealing of testimony.
Most of the large securities firms, insurance companies and multi–national companies have layers of offshore captives that avoid taxes, engage in activities that the company would not want to be publicly associated with, like stock manipulation; avoid U.S. regulatory and legal scrutiny; and become the closet for deals gone sour, like Enron.
The Creation of Counterfeit Shares — There are a variety of names that the securities industry has dreamed up that are euphemisms for counterfeit shares. Don't be fooled: Unless the short seller has actually borrowed a real share from the account of a long investor, the short sale is counterfeit. It doesn't matter what you call it and it may become non–counterfeit if a share is later borrowed, but until then, there are more shares in the system than the company has sold.
The magnitude of the counterfeiting is hundreds of millions of shares every day, and it may be in the billions. The real answer is locked within the prime brokers and the DTC. Incidentally, counterfeiting of securities is as illegal as counterfeiting currency, but because it is all done electronically, has other identifiers and industry rules and practices, i.e. naked shorts, fails–to–deliver, SHO exempt, etc. the industry and the regulators pretend it isn't counterfeiting. Also, because of the regulations that govern the securities, certain counterfeiting falls within the letter of the rules. The rules, by design, are fraught with loopholes and decidedly short on allowing companies and investors access to information about manipulations of their stock.
The creation of counterfeit shares falls into three general categories. Each category has a plethora of devices that are used to create counterfeit shares.

1. Fails–to–Deliver — If a short seller cannot borrow a share and deliver that share to the person who purchased the (short) share within the three days allowed for settlement of the trade, it becomes a fail–to–deliver and hence a counterfeit share; however the share is transacted by the exchanges and the DTC as if it were real. Regulation SHO, implemented in January 2005 by the SEC, was supposed to end wholesale fails–to–deliver, but all it really did was cause the industry to exploit other loopholes, of which there are plenty (see 2 and 3 below).Since forced buy–ins rarely occur, the other consequences of having a fail–to–deliver are inconsequential, so it is frequently ignored. Enough fails–to–deliver in a given stock will get that stock on the SHO list, (the SEC's list of stocks that have excessive fails–to–deliver)—which should (but rarely does) see increased enforcement. Penalties amount to a slap on the wrist, so large fails–to–deliver positions for victim companies have remained for months and years. A major loophole that was intentionally left in Reg SHO was the grandfathering in of all pre–SHO naked shorting. This rule is akin to telling bank robbers, “If you make it to the front door of the bank before the cops arrive, the theft is okay.” Only the DTC knows for certain how many short shares are perpetual fails–to–deliver, but it is most likely in the billions. In 1998, REFCO, a large short hedge fund, filed bankruptcy and was unable to meet margin calls on their naked short shares. Under this scenario, the broker dealers are the next line of financial responsibility. The number of shares that allegedly should have been bought in was 400,000,000, but that probably never happened. The DTC — owned by the broker dealers — just buried 400,000,000 counterfeit shares in their system, where they allegedly remain — grandfathered into “legitimacy” by the SEC. Because they are grandfathered into “legitimacy”, the SEC, DTC and prime brokers pretend they are no longer fails–to–deliver, even though the victim companies have permanently suffered a 400 million share dilution in their stock. (Click here for more on The Grandfather Clause). A significant amount of counterfeiting is the result of the options market exemptions. The rule allows certain options contracts to serve as borrowed shares for short sales even though there is no company issued share behind the options contract. The loophole is easily abused, helped in part by SEC's apparent inability to globally monitor compliance. There has been considerable pressure on the SEC to close the Options Maker Exemption, but through January 2008, they have refused to act. (Click here for more on The Options Maker Exemption). Three months prior to SHO, the aggregate fails–to–deliver on the NASDAQ and the NYSE averaged about 150 million shares a day. Three months after SHO it dropped by about 20 million, as counterfeit shares found new hiding places (see 2 and 3 below). It is noteworthy that aggregate fails–to–deliver are the only indices of counterfeit shares that the DTC and the prime brokers report to the SEC. The bulk of the counterfeiting remains undisclosed, so don't be deceived when the SEC and the industry minimize the fails–to–deliver information. It is akin to the lookout on the Titanic reporting an ice cube ahead.
2. Ex–clearing counterfeiting — The second tier of counterfeiting occurs at the broker dealer level. This is called ex–clearing. These are trades that occur dealer to dealer and don't clear through the DTC. Multiple tricks are utilized for the purpose of disguising naked shorts that are fails–to–deliver as disclosed shorts, which means that a share has been borrowed. They also make naked shorts “invisible” to the system so they don't become fails–to–deliver, which is the only thing the SEC tracks. The SEC does not examine ex–clearing transactions as they don't believe that Reg SHO applies to short shares held in ex–clearing.Some of the tricks are as follows:

• Stock sales are either a long sale or a short sale. When a stock is transacted the broker checks the appropriate box. By mismarking the trading ticket –checking the long box when it is actually a short sale the short never shows up, unless they get caught, which doesn't happen often. The position usually gets reconciled when the short covers.
• Settlement of stock transactions is supposed to occur within three days, at which time a naked short should become a fail–to–deliver, however the SEC routinely and automatically grants a number of extensions before the naked short gets reported as a fail–to–deliver. Most of the short hedge funds and broker dealers have multiple entities, many offshore, so they sell large naked short positions from entity to entity. Position rolls, as they are called, are frequently done broker to broker, or hedge fund to hedge fund, in block trades that never appear on an exchange. Each movement resets the time clock for the naked position becoming a fail–to–deliver and is a means of quickly getting a company off of the SHO threshold list. (Click here for more on Short Squeezes).
• The prime brokers or others may do a buy–in of a naked short position. If they tell the short hedge fund that we are going to buy–in at 3:59 EST on Friday, the hedge fund naked shorts into their own buy–in (or has a co–conspirator do it) and rolls their position, hence circumventing Reg SHO.
• Most of the large broker dealers operate internationally, so when regulators come in (they almost always “call ahead”) or compliance people come in (ditto), large naked positions are moved out of the country and returned at a later date.
• The stock lend is enormously profitable for the broker dealers who charge the short sellers large fees for the “borrowed” shares, whether they are real or counterfeit. When shares are loaned to a short, they are supposed to remain with the short until he covers his position by purchasing real shares. The broker dealers do one–day lends, which enables the short to identify to the SEC the account that shares were borrowed from. As soon as the report is sent in, the shares are returned to the broker dealer to be loaned to the next short. This allows eight to ten shorts to borrow the same shares, resetting the SHO–fail–to–deliver clock each time, which makes all of the counterfeit shares look like legitimate shares. The broker dealers charge each short for the stock lend.
• Margin account buyers, because of loopholes in the rules, inadvertently aid the shorts. If short A sells a naked short he has three days to deliver a borrowed share. If the counterfeit share is purchased in a margin account, it is immediately put into the stock lend and, for a fee, is available as a borrowed share to the short who counterfeited it in the first place. This process is perpetually fluid with multiple parties, but it serves to create more counterfeit shares and is an example of how a counterfeit share gets “laundered” into a legitimate borrowed share.
• Margin account agreements give the broker dealers the right to lend those shares without notifying the account owner. Shares held in cash accounts, IRA accounts and any restricted shares are not supposed to be loaned without express consent from the account owner. Broker dealers have been known to change cash accounts to margin accounts without telling the owner, take shares from IRA accounts, take shares from cash accounts and lend restricted shares. One of the prime brokers recently took a million shares from cash accounts of the company's founding investors without telling the owners or the stockbroker who represented ownership. The shares were put into the stock lend, which got the company off the SHO threshold list, and opened the door for more manipulative shorting.
• This is a sample of tactics used. For a company that is under attack, the counterfeit shares that exist at this ex–clearing tier can be ten or twenty times the number of fails–to–deliver, which is the only category tracked and policed by the SEC.

1. Continuous Net Settlement — The third tier of counterfeiting occurs at the DTC level. The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is a holding company owned by the major broker dealers, and has four subsidiaries. The subsidiaries that are of interest are the Depository Trust Company (DTC) and the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC). The DTC has an account for each broker dealer, which is further broken down to each customer of that broker dealer. These accounts are electronic entries. Ninety seven percent of the actual stock certificates are in the vault at the DTC with the DTC nominee's name on them. The NSCC processes transactions, provides the broker dealers with a central clearing source, and operates the stock borrow program.When a broker dealer processes the sale of a short share, the broker dealer has three days to deliver a borrowed share to the purchaser and the purchaser has three days to deliver the money. In the old days, if the buyer did not receive his shares by settlement day, three days after the trade, he took his money back and undid the transaction. When the stock borrow program and electronic transfers were put in place in 1981, this all changed. At that point the NSCC guaranteed the performance of the buyers and sellers and would settle the transaction even though the seller was now a fail–to–deliver on the shares he sold. The buyer has a counterfeit share in his account, but the NSCC transacts it as if it were real. At the end of each day, if a broker dealer has sold more shares of a given stock than he has in his account with the DTC, he borrows shares from the NSCC, who borrows them from the broker dealers who have a surplus of shares. So far it sounds like the whole system is in balance, and for any given stock the net number of shares in the DTC is equal to the number of shares issued by the company. The short seller who has sold naked—he had no borrowed shares—can cure his fail–to–deliver position and avoid the required forced buy–in by borrowing the share through the NSCC stock borrow program. Here is the hocus pocus that creates millions of counterfeit shares. When a broker dealer has a net surplus of shares of any given company in his account with the DTC, only the net amount is deducted from his surplus position and put in the stock borrow program. However the broker dealer does not take a like number of shares from his customer's individual accounts. The net surplus position is loaned to a second broker dealer to cover his net deficit position. Let's say a customer at the second broker dealer purchased shares from a naked short seller — counterfeit shares. His broker dealer “delivers” those shares to his account from the shares borrowed from the DTC. The lending broker dealer did not take the shares from any specific customers' account, but the borrowing broker dealer put the borrowed shares in specific customer's accounts. Now the customer at the second prime broker has “real” shares in his account. The problem is it's the same “real” shares that are in the customer's account at the first prime broker. The customer account at the second prime broker now has a “real” share, which the prime broker can lend to a short who makes a short sale and delivers that share to a third party. Now there are three investors with the same counterfeit shares in their accounts. Because the DTC stock borrow program, and the debits and credits that go back and forth between the broker dealers, only deals with the net difference, it never gets reconciled to the actual number of shares issued by the company. As long as the broker dealers don't repay the total stock borrowed and only settle their net differences, they can “grow” a company's issued stock. This process is called Continuous Net Settlement (CNS) and it hides billions of counterfeit shares that never make it to the Reg. SHO radar screen, as the shares “borrowed” from the DTC are treated as a legitimate borrowed shares. For companies that are under attack, the counterfeit shares that are created by the CNS program are thought to be ten or twenty times the disclosed fails–to–deliver, and the true CNS totals are only obtained by successfully serving the DTC with a subpoena. The SEC doesn't even get this information. The actual process is more complex and arcane than this, but the end result is accurately depicted. Ex–clearing and CNS counterfeiting are used to create an enormous reserve of counterfeit shares. The industry refers to these as “strategic fails–to–deliver.” Most people would refer to these as a stockpile of counterfeit shares that can be used for market manipulation. One emerging company for which we have been able to get or make reasonable estimates of the total short interest, the disclosed short interest, the available stock lend and the fails–to–deliver, has fifty “buried” counterfeit shares for every fail–to–deliver share, which is the only thing that the SEC tracks, consequently the SEC has not acted on shareholder complaints that the stock is being manipulated.

The Anatomy of a Short Attack — Abusive shorting are not random acts of a renegade hedge funds, but rather a coordinated business plan that is carried out by a collusive consortium of hedge funds and prime brokers, with help from their friends at the DTC and major clearinghouses. Potential target companies are identified, analyzed and prioritized. The attack is planned to its most minute detail.
The plan consists of taking a large short position, then crushing the stock price, and, if possible, putting the company into bankruptcy. Bankrupting the company is a short homerun because they never have to buy real shares to cover and they don't pay taxes on the ill–gotten gain. (Click here for more on Bankrupting The Victim Company).
When it is time to drive the stock price down, a blitzkrieg is unleashed against the company by a cabal of short hedge funds and prime brokers. The playbook is very similar from attack to attack, and the participating prime brokers and lead shorts are fairly consistent as well.
Typical tactics include the following:

1. Flooding the offer side of the board — Ultimately the price of a stock is found at the balance point where supply (offer) and demand (bid) for the shares find equilibrium. This equation happens every day for every stock traded. On days when more people want to buy than want to sell, the price goes up, and, conversely, when shares offered for sale exceed the demand, the price goes down.The shorts manipulate the laws of supply and demand by flooding the offer side with counterfeit shares. They will do what has been called a short down ladder. It works as follows: Short A will sell a counterfeit share at $10. Short B will purchase that counterfeit share covering a previously open position. Short B will then offer a short (counterfeit) share at $9. Short A will hit that offer, or short B will come down and hit Short A's $9 bid. Short A buys the share for $9, covering his open $10 short and booking a $1 profit. By repeating this process the shorts can put the stock price in a downward spiral. If there happens to be significant long buying, then the shorts draw from their reserve of “strategic fails–to–deliver” and flood the market with an avalanche of counterfeit shares that overwhelm the buy side demand. Attack days routinely see eighty percent or more of the shares offered for sale as counterfeit. Company news days are frequently attack days since the news will “mask” the extraordinary high volume. It doesn't matter whether it is good news or bad news. Flooding the market with shares requires foot soldiers to swamp the market with counterfeit shares. An off–shore hedge fund devised a remarkably effective incentive program to motivate the traders at certain broker dealers. Each trader was given a debit card to a bank account that only he could access. The trader's performance was tallied, and, based upon the number of shares moved and the other “success” parameters; the hedge fund would wire money into the bank account daily. At the end of each day, the traders went to an ATM and drew out their bribe. Instant gratification. Global Links Corporation is an example of how wholesale counterfeiting of shares will decimate a company's stock price. Global Links is a company that provides computer services to the real estate industry. By early 2005, their stock price had dropped to a fraction of a cent. At that point, an investor, Robert Simpson, purchased 100%+ of Global Links' 1,158,064 issued and outstanding shares. He immediately took delivery of his shares and filed the appropriate forms with the SEC, disclosing he owned all of the company's stock. His total investment was $5205. The share price was $.00434. The day after he acquired all of the company's shares, the volume on the over–the–counter market was 37 million shares. The following day saw 22 million shares change hands — all without Simpson trading a single share. It is possible that the SEC has been conducting a secret investigation, but that would be difficult without the company's involvement. It is more likely the SEC has not done anything about this fraud. Massive counterfeiting can drive the stock price down in a matter of hours on extremely high volume. This is called “crashing” the stock and a successful “crash” is a one–day drop of twenty–percent or a thirty–five percent drop in a week. In order to make the crash “stick” or make it more effective, it is done concurrently with all or most of the following: (Click here for more on Crashing The Stock).
2. Media assault — The shorts, in order to realize their profit, must ultimately put the victim into bankruptcy or obtain shares at a price much cheaper than what they shorted at. These shares come from the investing public who panics and sells into the manipulation. Panic is induced with assistance from the financial media.The shorts have “friendly” reporters with the Dow Jones News Agency, the Wall Street Journal, Barrons, the New York Times, Gannett Publications (USA Today and the Arizona Republic), CNBC and others. The common thread: A number of the “friendly” reporters worked for The Street.com, an Internet advisory service that short hedge–fund managers David Rocker and Jim Cramer owned. This alumni association supported the short attack by producing slanted, libelous, innuendo laden stories that disparaged the company, as it was being crashed. One of the more outrageous stories was a front–page story in USA Today during a short crash of TASER's stock price in June 2005. The story was almost a full page and the reporter concluded that TASER's electrical jolt was the same as an electric chair — proof positive that TASERs did indeed kill innocent people. To reach that conclusion the reporter over estimated the TASER's amperage by a factor of one million times. This “mistake” was made despite a detailed technical briefing by TASER to seven USA Today editors two weeks prior to the story. The explanation “Due to a mathematical error” appeared three days later — after the damage was done to the stock price. Jim Cramer, in a video–taped interview with The Street.com, best described the media function: “When (shorting) ... The hedge fund mode is to not do anything remotely truthful, because the truth is so against your view, (so the hedge funds) create a new 'truth' that is development of the fiction... you hit the brokerage houses with a series of orders (a short down ladder that pushes the price down), then we go to the press. You have a vicious cycle down — it's a pretty good game.” This interview, which is more like a confession, was never supposed to get on the air; however, it somehow ended up on YouTube. Cramer and The Street.com have made repeated efforts, with some success, to get it taken off of YouTube.
3. Analyst Reports — Some alleged independent analysts were actually paid by the shorts to write slanted negative ratings reports. The reports, which were represented as being independent, were ghost written by the shorts and disseminated to coincide with a short attack. There is congressional testimony in the matter of Gradiant Analytic and Rocker Partners that expands upon this. These libelous reports would then become a story in the aforementioned “friendly” media. All were designed to panic small investors into selling their stock into the manipulation.
4. Planting moles in target companies — The shorts plant “moles” inside target companies. The moles can be as high as directors or as low as janitors. They steal confidential information, which is fed to the shorts who may feed it to the friendly media. The information may not be true, may be out of context, or the stolen documents may be altered. Things that are supposed to be confidential, like SEC preliminary inquiries, end up as front–page news with the short–friendly media.
5. Frivolous SEC investigations — The shorts “leak” tips to the SEC about “corporate malfeasance” by the target company. The SEC, which can take months processing Freedom of Information Act requests, swoops in as the supposed “confidential inquiry” is leaked to the short media. (Click here for more on Frivolous Investigations).The plethora of corporate rules means the SEC may ultimately find minor transgressions or there may be no findings. Occasionally they do uncover an Enron, but the initial leak can be counted on to drive the stock price down by twenty–five percent. The announcement of no or little findings comes months later, but by then the damage that has been done to the stock price is irreversible. The San Francisco office of the SEC appears to be particularly close to the short community.
6. Class Action lawsuits — Based upon leaked stories of SEC investigations or other media exposes, a handful of law firms immediately file class–action shareholder suits. Milberg Weiss, before they were disbanded as a result of a Justice Department investigation, could be counted on to file a class–action suit against a company that was under short attack. Allegations of accounting improprieties that were made in the complaint would be reported as being the truth by the short friendly media, again causing panic among small investors. (Click here for more on Class Action Lawsuits).
7. Interfering with target company's customers, financings, etc. — If the shorts became aware of clients, customers or financings that the target company was working on, they would call and tell lies or otherwise attempt to persuade the customer to abandon the transaction. Allegedly the shorts have gone so far as to bribe public officials to dissuade them from using a company's product.
8. Pulling margin from long customers — The clearinghouses and broker dealers who finance margin accounts will suddenly pull all long margin availability, citing very transparent reasons for the abrupt change in lending policy. This causes a flood of margin selling, which further drives the stock price down and gets the shorts the cheap long shares that they need to cover. (Click here for more on Pulling Margin).
9. Paid bashers — The shorts will hire paid bashers who “invade” the message boards of the company. The bashers disguise themselves as legitimate investors and try to persuade or panic small investors into selling into the manipulation. (Click here for Confessions Of A Paid Stock Basher).

This is not every dirty trick that the shorts use when they are crashing the stock. Almost every victim company experiences most or all of these tactics.
How Pervasive Is This? — At any given point in time more than 100 emerging companies are under attack as described above. This is not to be confused with the day–to—day shorting that occurs in virtually every stock, which is purportedly about thirty percent of the daily volume.
The success rate for short attacks is over ninety percent—a success being defined as putting the company into bankruptcy or driving the stock price to pennies. It is estimated that 1000 small companies have been put out of business by the shorts. Admittedly, not every small company deserves to succeed, but they do deserve a level playing field.
The secrecy that surrounds the shorts, the prime brokers, the DTC and the regulatory agencies makes it impossible to accurately estimate how much money has been stolen from the investing public by these predators, but the total is measured in billions of dollars. The problem is also international in scope.
Who Profits from this Illicit Activity? — The short answer is everyone who participates. Specifically:

1. The shorts — They win over ninety percent of the time. Their return on investment is enormous because they don't put any capital up when they sell short — they get cash from the sale delivered to their account. As long as the stock price remains under their short sale price, it is all profit on little investment.
2. The prime brokers — The shorts need the prime brokers to aid in counterfeiting shares, which is the cornerstone of the fraud. Not only do the prime brokers get sales commissions and interest on margin accounts, they charge the shorts “interest” on borrowed shares. This can be as high as five percent per week. The prime brokers allegedly make eight to ten billion dollars a year from their short stock lend program. The prime brokers also actively short the victim companies, making large trading profits.
3. The DTC — A significant amount of the counterfeiting occurs at the DTC level. They charge the shorts “interest” on borrowed shares, whether it is a legitimate stock borrow or counterfeit shares, as is the case in a vast majority of shares of a company under attack. The amount of profit that the DTC receives is unknown because it is a private company owned by the prime brokers

The Cover Up — The securities industry, certain “respected” members of corporate America who like the profits from illegal shorting, certain criminal elements and our federal government do not want the public to become aware of this problem.
The reason for the cover up is money.
Everyone, including our elected officials, gets lots of money. Consequently there is an active campaign to keep a lid on information. The denial about these illegal practices comes from the industry, the DTC, the SEC and certain members of Congress. They are always delivered in blanket generalities. If indeed there is no problem, as they claim, then why don't they show us the evidence instead of actively and aggressively fighting or deflecting every attempt at obtaining information that is easily accessible for them and impossible for companies and investors? Accusers are counter attacked as being sour–grapes losers, lunatics or opportunistic lawyers trying to unjustly enrich themselves. Death threats are not an unheard of occurrence.
The securities industry counters with a campaign of misinformation. For example, they proudly pointed out that only one percent of the dollar volume of listed securities are fails–to–deliver. What they don't mention:

• that the fails–to–deliver are concentrated in companies being attacked
• for companies under attack, for every disclosed fail–to–deliver there maybe ten to forty times that number of undisclosed counterfeit shares
• companies under attack have seen their stock price depressed to a small fraction of the price of an average share, therefore the fails–to–deliver as a percentage of number of shares is considerably higher than as a percentage of dollar volume
• the examples cited are limited to listed companies, but much of the abuse occurs in the over the counter market, regional exchanges and on unregulated foreign exchanges that allow naked shorting of American companies, who are not even aware they are traded on the foreign exchanges.

Why does this continue to happen? It is no accident that the most pervasive financial fraud in the history of this country continues unabated. The securities industry advances its agenda on multiple fronts:

1. The truth about counterfeiting remains locked away with the perpetrators of the fraud. The prime brokers, hedge funds, the SEC and the DTC are shrouded in secrecy. They actively and aggressively resist requests for the truth, be it with a subpoena or otherwise. Congressional subpoenas are treated with almost as much disdain as civil subpoenas. (Click here for more on A Lack of Transparency).
2. The body of securities law at the federal level is so stacked in favor of the industry that it is almost impossible to successfully sue for securities fraud in federal court.For example, in a normal fraud case, a complaint can be filed based upon “information and belief” that a fraud has been committed. The court then allows the plaintiff to subpoena evidence and depose witnesses, including the defendants. From this discovery, the plaintiff then attempts to prove his case. Federal securities fraud cases can't be filed based upon “information and belief”; you must have evidence first in order to not have the complaint immediately dismissed for failure to state a cause of action. This information is not available from the defendants (see above) without subpoenas, but you can't issue a subpoena because the case gets dismissed before discovery is opened. (Click here for more on Federal Securities Law). This is only one example of the terrible inequities that exist in federal securities law.
3. The SEC is supposed to protect the investing public from Wall Street predators. While some SEC staffers are underpaid, overworked, honest civil servants, the top echelons of the SEC frequently end up in high–paying Wall Street jobs. (Click here for more on former SEC administrator Richard Sauer). The five–person Board of Governors, who oversee the SEC, is dominated by the industry. The governors are presidential appointees and the industry usually fills three slots, frequently including the chairmanship. (Click here for more on The Enforcement Apparatus).

I am informing you of this for three reasons. Many Iranians are not aware of the exaggerated claims by Pan-Turkist groups about Iran's population. I've been seeing more and more pan-Turkist groups on other subreddits spam these exaggerated claims. Turkey's state media is lying about Iran's population and they've been increasing their efforts. Yesterday, a pan-Turk claimed there are 25 million Turks in Iran and I debunked the liar by citing two censuses on Iran's population from 1888 and 2006, and the pan-Turk threw insults at me and accused me of having ties with IRGC. The IRGC was apparently around in 1888, lol.
An excellent article written over a decade ago crushed all of the false claims by pan-Turkist groups regarding the number of Iranians speaking Turkic languages. I'll be only copy and pasting some content from the article into this post. Please read the full article. https://www.azargoshnasp.net/Pasokhbehanirani/SomeStatisticsOnIranAndPanTurkistManipulation.htm
Pan-Turkist groups have been exaggerating the number of Turkic speakers and giving false statistics to different sites for a very long time now. They claim since 2008, there are 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 or 45 million Turkish speakers in Iran. Note the total population of Iran was 70 million in 2008. This article is not interested in the political nature of pan-Turkist groups and why they are making such politically motivated exaggerations, rather than that, we provides a scientific response to their false claims.

Actual Statistics from Iran

Unlike what the pan-Turkists claim, there have been statistics done in Iran. The pan-Turkist claim was based on an obscure site named Ethnologue.com (which has been corrected in the 16th edition-2009). The pan-Turkists however use the 15th edition of Ethnologue which has incorrect information. After contacting Ethnologue via E-mail in 2007, this is what the main editor Mr. Ray Gordon wrote to us: “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I am not able to locate the original source from 1997. ” Indeed the inconsistent nature of ethnologue.com can be seen here from their 1996 to 2000 to 2006 editions.
Another Iranian author (by the pen name Mazdak Bamdadan) has also written to ethnologue.com seeking their explanation on the big change from the 1996 to the 2000 and 2004 editions. They were not also able to provide a source: "Dear Mazdak, Sorry we cannot help you further with this question. This information was posted by a previous editor, and it probably came from his personal communication with someone else, and was therefore not documented. Regards, Conrad Hurd."
Interestingly enough, Ethnologue which has not done any actual sampling for their 15th edition has also been accused of political meddling and manipulations. We believe the previous editor who had personally communicated must have personally communicated with a pan-Turkist person.
Ethnologue refers to Tabrizi Turkish as "South Azerbaijani" and Shirvani Turkish as "North Azerbaijani". As you probably already know, "South Azerbaijan" is the real and historical Azerbaijan and there has never been any territory called Azerbaijan above the Aras river, and the territory that has been occupied by the illegitimate state "Azerbaijan" since 1918 was originally called Aran and Shirvan. They lie and call it "South Azerbaijan" because they want to create the illusion there was a country called "Azerbaijan" that was divided between Iran and Russia in 1828.
The following information found on the internet about SIL (Ethnologueis publication and endeavor of SIL international) is noteworthy. SIL has been accused of being involved in moving indigenous populations in South America from their native lands to make way for exploitation schemes of North American and European oil corporations. The most well known example is the case of the Huaorani people in Ecuador, which resulted in many deaths and the moving of the people into reservations controlled by the missionaries.
In 1975, thirty anthropologists signed "The Denouncement of Pátzcuaro", alleging that SIL was a "tool of imperialism", linked to the CIA and "divisions within the communities that constitutes a hindrance to their organization and the defence of their communal rights". In 1979, SIL's agreement with the Mexican government was officially terminated, but it continued to be active in that country (Clarke, p. 182). The same happened in 1980 in Ecuador (Yashar 2005, p. 118), although a token presence remained. Remnants of SIL presence were protested in every subsequent Indian uprising. In the early 1990s, the newly-formed organisation of indigenous people of Ecuador CONAIE once more demanded the expulsion of SIL from the country. At a conference of the Inter-American Indian Institute in Merida, Yucatan, in November 1980, delegates denounced the Summer Institute of Linguistics for using a scientific name to conceal its religious agenda and capitalist worldview that was alien to indigenous traditions.
John Perkins provides an example of criticism of SIL activity:

I had heard that (Jaime Roldos, President of Ecuador, 1979-81) accused The Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), an evangelical missionary group from the United States, of sinister collusion with the oil companies. I was familiar with SIL missionaries from my Peace Corps days. The organization had entered Ecuador, as it had in so many other countries, with the professed goal of studying, recording, and translating indigenous languages. SIL had been working extensively with the Huaorani and Matsés tribes in the Amazon basin area, during the early years of oil exploration, when a disturbing pattern appeared to emerge. While it might have been a coincidence (and no link was ever proved), stories were told in many Amazonian communities that when seismologists reported to corporate headquarters that a certain region had characteristics indicating a high probability of oil beneath the surface, SIL went in and encouraged the indigenous people to move from that land, onto missionary reservations; there they would receive free food, shelter, clothes, medical treatment, and missionary-style education. The condition was that they had to deed their lands to the oil companies. Rumors abounded that SIL missionaries used an assortment of underhanded techniques to persuade the tribes to abandon their homes and move to the missions. A frequently repeated story was that they had donated food heavily laced with laxatives - then offered medicines to cure the diarrhea epidemic. Throughout Huaorani territory, SIL airdropped false-bottomed food baskets containing tiny radio transmitters; The rumor was that receivers at highly sophisticated communications stations, manned by U.S. military personnel at the army base in Shell [a frontier outpost and military base hacked out of Ecuador’s Amazon jungle to service the oil company whose name it bears], tuned into these transmitters. Whenever a member of the tribe was bitten by a poisonous snake or became seriously ill, an SIL representative arrived with antivenom or the proper medicines - often in oil company helicopters." SIL was allegedly financed initially by expatriate coffee processors in Guatemala, and later by the Rockefellers, Standard Oil, the timber company Weyerhauser, and USAID. [...] By the 1980s, SIL was expelled from Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, and Panama, and restricted in Colombia and Peru. Today, according to SIL's annual report, funds are donations from individuals, churches, and other organizations, channelled to SIL by the Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Whether the information above is correct (allegation of SIL’s connection to various government agencies) is not clear or of concern. What I would like to point out here is that Ethnologuedid not have a source for their statistics of the 14th and 15th edition, and they have never been to Iran. And their editors also responded that they do not know their source and their number is incorrect It would not surprise the writer of this article that some pan-Turkists probably provided Ethnologue with false numbers which they cannot locate and justify.
In the 2009 edition of Ethnologue however, the information has been corrected. We read: 11,200,000 in Iran (Johnstone and Mandryk 2001), increasing. 290,000 Afshar, 5,000 Aynallu, 7,500 Baharlu, 1,000 Moqaddam, 3,500 Nafar 1,000 Pishagchi, 3,000 Qajar, 2,000 Qaragozlu, 130,000 Shahsavani (1993). Population total all countries: 12,612,660.
This 2009 correction is noteworthy considering that several pan-Turkist activists tried to pressure Ethnologue to keep their inflated numbers. In the 2009 edition of Ethnologue however, the information has been corrected.
Here is the letter of the pan-Turkist groups:

AN OPEN LETTER TO:
Mr Raymond G. Gordon, AN OPEN LETTER TO:
Mr Raymond G. Gordon, Editor, Ethnologue c/o International Linguistics Center 7500 West Camp Wisdom Road Dallas, Texas 75236 USA
Dear Mr Gordon:
As a group of Iranian and Azerbaijani scholars and human rights activists, we the undersigned would like to express our deepest gratitude to you and all the individuals involved in publishing and maintaining Ethnologue, the most objective and scholarly body of knowledge on world languages.
In recent months we have learned of some dubious attempts to pressure the editors of Ethnologue into reducing the number of Iran’s Azerbaijani-Turkic population (also known as Azeri, Azerbaijani, Turk, and Turkish) registered in Ethnologue’s current edition. Needless to say, we are deeply concerned and saddened by such attempts. In our capacity as scholars, academics, and human rights activists, we would like to assure you that Ethnologue’s current estimation (Web Edition, 2005) of Iran’s Azerbaijani and Turkic speaking populations is a most objective estimation that closely corresponds to the facts on the ground. We hope that the editors and researchers of Ethnologue will not cave in to various Persian ultranationalists’ propaganda, and will not allow Ethnologue’s scholarly reputation to be tarnished by ideologically motivated misinformation. To this end, we would like to bring the following to your attention:
1) It is a well-known fact that in Iran’s entire history, no kind of census has taken place that would account for the country’s population makeup based on ethnicity, nationality, and more importantly, language. All existing figures and numbers in this area are estimations based on unsubstantiated sources and literature. As such, care must be taken that in estimating the number of each ethnic community, the views of local community leaders, scholars, and human rights activists are taken into full account. In particular, an objective researcher must be cognizant to the fact that, due to lack of respect for human rights and the rights of minorities in Iran, both ruling governments and many scholars of the dominant Farsi-speaking group have always presented a distorted view regarding the size and status of disenfranchised communities in the country. Unfortunately, they still continue to do so.
2) In current Iran, even though the significant portion of the Azeri-Turkic population is living in the provinces of Eastern Azerbaijan, Western Azerbaijan, Ardabil and Zanjan; the entire population is by no means limited to these four provinces. These provinces are recent creations based on dubious government measures and questionable administrative purposes. While constituting the core of Azerbaijan’s geography, they neither correspond to historical Azeri lands nor do they reflect the Azeri inhabited areas in current Iran. In any kind of research on Iran’s Azerbaijani population, it must be borne in mind that the Azeri-Turks reside all over the country, from the current Azerbaijani provinces in the north-west to eastern and central Iran to provinces of Tehran, Khorasan, Markazi, Hamadan, Qazvin, and so forth. Paying due attention to this important issue is not only a matter of objectivity in social research; it is also a matter of consideration for morality and ethics, particularly in dealing with marginalized communities.
We are confident that Ethnologue’s competent researchers will pay attention to the above-mentioned factors and, as always, will present a most objective estimation of Iran’s Azerbaijani and Turkic populations in the upcoming edition of Ethnologue. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information or any kind of assistance. We will be more than happy to provide your researchers with relevant historical and contemporary literature on the subject.
Respectfully,
Fakhteh Zamani Research Engineer; Director of Association for the Defence of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP)
Dr Alireza Asgharzadeh Sociologist, York University
Dr Seyed Zia Sadr al Ashrafi Sociologist; Azerbaijani member of Congress of Nationalities for Federal Iran
Ahmad Geybi President, Association of Azerbaijanis in Sydney, Australia
Ismail Jamili Poet and Artist
Dr Almas Shoar Ghaffari Member of Societe Botanique Francais "citologiste"
Professor Reza Baraheni Iranian novelist and poet, a former president of PEN Canada and retired professor of Comparative Literature, University of Toronto, Canada
Seyfeddin Hatamlooy Writer and publisher
Shahrouz Torfakh Architect
Dr Shahriyar Rahnamayan Postdoctoral Fellow, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
Sedigheh Adalati Ph. D. Sociologist
Samad Purmusavi Architect and Artist
Alireza Ardabili Journalist and Publisher
Dr.Ali Gharajelou Political Scientist
Dr Farhad Ghaboussi Physician Un Konstanz
Lale Javanshir Writer and Artist
Mehemmed Azadgar Writer and human rights activist
Hadi Sultan-Qurraie Ph. D. Comparative Lit.
Hedayet Soltanzadeh Lawyer, writer, human rights activist
Professor Younes P. Benab Professor of Political Sciences at Strayer University, Washington, D.C.

We note that despite this strong pressure from pan-Turk oriented groups who put “Drs and Professors and Human right activities” in front of their title, they were not able to prove their false statistics. Some of these like Asgharzadeh, Beraheni and Sadr al-Ashrafi have ignored all statistics and only concentrated on the flawed 15th edition of ethnologue in order to pursue their ethno-nationalistic political interests. We will show that the Ethnologue 2009 version is fairly accurate(11-12 million Azeri-Turkic speakers) based on provincial statistics in Iran.
Let us now look at some actual statistics done in Iran. The first statistics is provincial statistics from Iran.
This is the most accurate and up to date census available from 2006. If we take the areas of predominantly Azerbaijani speaking population, that is East Azerbaijan, Zanjan, Ardabil and half of West Azerbaijan (although there are sources that mention majority Kurdish speakers as much as 70% and the Kurdish birthrate is actually higher than the national average), we obtain: 6.96 million. So this is rounded up to 7 million. If we assume 1.5 million in Qazvin, Hamadan (actual statistics done put Turcophone population at 28% mainly in the low populated areas of Bahar, Razan and Kabudar Ahang), Gilan (at most 10%), Arak and everywhere else in Iran except Tehran, we can safely say it is 1.5 million. This is now 8.5 million. Now in Tehran, about 95% of people speak Persian as their first language according to Hamshahri and many Azerbaijanis there have adopted Persian, have mixed with other Iranians and have become “Tehranis”. Despite this, if we assume 4 million Azerbaijani Turcophones in Tehran (which is an upperboud), we obtain 12.5 million. Thus this is also close to the ethnologue 2009 edition and this was an upperbound. In reality there are Tats, Talysh, Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians and standard Parsi-Dari speakers in East Azerbaijan, Ardabil and Zanjan as well and many Azerbaijanis in Tehran have become Tehranis.
The next statistics is a recently done weighted survey by a US based organization. http://www.terrorfreetomorrow.org/upimagestft/TFT%20Iran%20Survey%20Report%200609.pdf
According to one site:

Ken Ballen is president of Terror Free Tomorrow: The Center for Public Opinion, a nonprofit institute that researches attitudes toward extremism. Patrick Doherty is deputy director of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation. The groups' May 11-20 polling consisted of 1,001 interviews across Iran and had a 3.1 percentage point margin of error

According to the organization:

"Independent and uncensored nationwide surveys of Iran are rare. Typically, polls
in Iran are either conducted or monitored by the Iranian government and other
affiliated interest groups, and can be untrustworthy. By contrast, our poll—the
third in a series over the past two years—was conducted by telephone inside Iran
over May 11th to 20th, 2009, with 1,001 interviews proportionally distributed
covering all 30 provinces of Iran, with a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent"

Thus the margin of error is +/- 3.1 percent. This poll was taken in May 2009. On the question of background, we note the number of Azeris is no where that claimed by pan-Turkists. Indeed our estimate of 12.5 million (2009) is within the margin of error.
On the number of people who understand Azerbaijani Turkic (note this could also include Qashqais, some Kurds, Talysh and others who live in Azerbaijani speaking provinces,
Including many Kurds in Western Azerbaijan), the number is.
In contrast the number of people that understand Persian according to the same census is 100% (1001 out of 1001).
The next statistics is about languages rather than ethnicity. In Iran, Persian is the official language and according to the CIA factbook literacy (which means knowledge of Persian) stands at 77%. Although it is not clear how many percent of those literate in Persian are literate also in other languages and how many percent of the native Persian speakers are literate. The enclosed statistics is important because it was an actual census and shows how many people speak Persian as a first language. Keep in mind that CIA is the world's largest terrorist organization and they have a strong bias against Iran, so the knowledge of Persian in Iran is probably at 85%.
The third source I would like to introduce from 1949-1954 and called the Manual on Iranian Geography, published by the Iranian army of the late Shah’s government.
You can find this comprehensive 10 volume book in the university of Chicago (and probably other Universities):
http://libcat.uchicago.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=12W276976255K.57375&profile=ucpublic&uri=full=3100001~!3410862~!2&ri=1&aspect=subtab13&menu=search&source=~!horizon
Iran. Artish. Sitād-i Artish. Dāyirah-i Jughrāfiyāʾī.
The source has also been mentioned here: (Shahrzad Mojab and Amir Hassanpour, “The politics of Nationality and Ethnic Diversity”, Saeed Rahnama and Sohrab Behdad, eds., Iran after the Revolution: Crises of an Islamic State (London: I.B. Tauris, 1995), pp. 229-230.
And I will quote an excerpt from the article by Mojab and Hassanpour.
A summary of this book (Geographical Dictionary of Iran) with regards to language has been in this article here by the Iranian Kurdish scholar Ehsan Hooshmand: (Ehsan Hooshmand, “Faslnaameyeh Goftegoo”, “A closer look at religious and ethnic statistics in modern Iran”, 2005, Tehran).
The article can be found here. But the main summary table is given. Translation of the above table.
According to this book the population of Iran in 1335 (Iranian calendar) was 14 million. From this 14 million, 2451061 people lived in a mono-lingual Turkish (Azeri) setting, 877627 lived in a bilingual Persian-Azeri setting and 187464 lived in a place where Persian/Turkish/Kurdish was spoken. Thus the range of Azeri speakers is from 17.5% to 25.1% according to this actual statistics that was done. This is agreed with statistics with part 3 where we quote some expert references. Note the importance of this census is that it was actually done and it is not based on guest work.
Another source I would like to discuss and which also provides a sample is based on census taken in the Iranian month of Mordad (July 21 – August 21) in 1991. In this census, all 49,588 mothers who gave birth in the country, were issued birth certificates. They were asked about their mother-tongue.

"در مرداد 1370، هنگام صدور شناسنامه براي نوزادان، درباره زبان ٤٩ هزار و ٥٥٨ مادر در سطح كشور سوال مطرح شد كه نتيجه حاكي از سهم حضور ٥٣٬٨ درصدي زبان هاى غيرفارسي در ايران بود. بر اساس نمونه گيري مذكور، توزيع سهم هر يك از زبان ها (به درصد) به اين شرح بود: ٤٦٬٢ فارسي؛ ٢٠٬٦ تركي آذربايجاني؛ ١٠ كردي؛ ٨٬٩ لري؛ ٧٬٢ درصد گيلكي و شمالي؛ ٣٬٥ عربي ؛ ٢٬٧ بلوچي؛ ٠٬٦ تركمني؛ ٠٬١ ارمني؛ و ٠٬٢ ساير زبان ها ". پس اگر گويش‌ها و زبان‌هاي هم خانواده با فارسي را با آمار فوق جمع شود٬ زبان‌هايي كه "آريايي (ايراني)" خوانده مي شوند حدود ۷۶٪ ايران را دربرمي گيرند

The break down: 46.2% (Persian), 20.6% (Azeri-Turkish), 10% Kurdish, 8.9% Luri, 7.2% Gilaki and Mazandarani, 3.5% Arabic, 2.7% Baluchi, 0.6% Turkmen, 0.1% Armenian, and 0.2% Others.
Source: زنجاني‌، حبيب‌ الله‌، محمد ميرزايي‌، كامل‌ شاپور و امير هوشنگ‌ مهريار، جمعيت‌،توسعه‌، بهداشت‌ باروري‌، چاپ‌ دوم‌، تهران‌، نشر و تبليغ‌ بشري‌، 1379
Note the sample size is very large.
Another statistic which is old, but nevertheless truthful is from the English Noblemen Lord Curzon in 1890. The interesting thing about this statistics is that it shows the Turkic-speaking population of Iran was around 15-20% as it is today. Lord Curzon published it based on Russian Sources:
Curzon of Kedleston, George Nathaniel Curzon, Marquess, 1859-1925.
(Persia and the Persian question, by the Hon. George N. Curzon, 2 v. illus., plates, ports., maps (1 fold.) 23 cm., London, New York, Longmans, Green & co., 1892.). Based on the Russian scholar Zolatoraf who used official Iranian documents in 1888, the population of Iran was recorded as six million people, half of these were Persian, 1 million Turk/Tatar (the name Azeri was a recent designation and in the 19th century, the term Turk/Tatar was used for the speakers of this language), Lurs 780,000, Kurds 600,000, Arabs, 300,000, Turkmans 320,000. And the rest were Armenians, Assyrians and other groups. Large number of Assyrian Christians actually existed in Iran before they were massacred by the pan-Turkist young Turk government invasion of Western Iran during WWI.
Summary: About several statistics that were actually taken in Iran. The most recent statistic (2006) gives provincial statistics of Iran and the number of Azeri-Turkic in Iran can be upperbounded by 12 million in these statistics. So one wonders where do the pan-Turkists get (in 2008) their 45 million? Or 30 million? Or even 20 million?
The following formerly posted on a Christian website is one of the most accurate in terms of distinguishing different Iranian dialects. http://www.acts.edu/oldmissions/Iranhist1.html
Composition of Peoples:

(OPW) Peoples: Over 65 ethnic groups, many of which are small nomadic groups. Indo-Iranian 75.6%. Persian 25,300,000; Kurds 4,670,000; Luri-Bakhtiari 4,280,000; Mazanderani 3,265,000; Gilaki 3,265,000; Dari Persian 1,600,000; Balochi 1,240,000; Tat 620,000; Pathan 113,000; Talysh 112,000. Turkic 18.8%. Azerbaijani 8,130,000; Turkoman 905,000; Qashqai 860,000; Hazara 283,000; Teymur 170,000; Shahseven 130,000. Arab 2.2%. Mainly in southwest. Christian minorities 0.4%. Reduced from 1.5% in 1975 due to emigration. Armenian 170,000; Assyrian 40,000; Georgian 10,000. Other 3%. Gypsy (Nawar and Ghorbati) 1,188,000; Brahui 149,000; Jews 68,000. Refugees: Afghans 1.5 million, but decreasing; Iraqi Kurds 120,000 (at one stage in 1991 there were 1.2 million); Shi'a Arabs from Iraq.

Encyclopedia Encarta (accessed 2006):

Iran’s population is made up of numerous ethnic groups. Persians migrated to the region from Central Asia beginning in the 7th century bc and established the first Persian empire in 550 bc. They are the largest ethnic group, and include such groups as the Gilaki, who live in Gilān Province, and the Mazandarani, who live in Māzandarān Province. Accounting for about 60 percent of the total population, Persians live in cities throughout the country, as well as in the villages of central and eastern Iran. Two groups closely related to the Persians both ethnically and linguistically are the Kurds and the Lurs. The Kurds, who make up about 7 percent of the population, reside primarily in the Zagros Mountains near the borders with Iraq and Turkey. The Lurs account for 2 percent of the population; they inhabit the central Zagros region. Turkic tribes began migrating into northwestern Iran in the 11th century, gradually changing the ethnic composition of the region so that by the late 20th century East Azerbaijan Province was more than 90 percent Turkish. Since the early 1900s, Azeris (a Turkic group) have been migrating to most large cities in Iran, especially Tehrān. Azeris and other Turkic peoples together account for about 25 percent of Iran’s inhabitants. The remainder of the population comprises small communities of Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Baluchis, Georgians, Pashtuns, and others.

Conclusion

The current Ethnologue figure of 2009 (unlike that of the 2005), despite pressures from pan-Turkist and politically oriented groups, is correct. Also I have shown that the Azerbaijani population in Iran based on provincial statistics can be upperbounded by 12 million. I would like to add that Azeris are prominent members of Iran’s society (the supreme leader of Iran is an Azeri) and thus due to their presence in the government, economy and armed forces, some sources might have over-estimated their number. In 1890, the total Tatar (what Azeri’s were called then) was 1 million out of 6 million or approximately 16-17%. In the 1906 constitutional revolution, Persian was declared as the official language and schooling was done in this language. Before that, Persian was the main composition language of all of Iran and was the only language that was systematically thought alongside Arabic in the traditional schooling (Maktab) system. The current population of Iran according to the official census of 2006 is 70 million and assuming steady growth for all groups (actually large number of Azeris specially in Tehran have adopted Persian), the population of Azeris would be between 11-12 million. This agrees with the provincial statistics and some of the expert sources brought. It agreed with basically all actual census that was carried out in Iran even in the year 2009. Of course the pan-Turkist groups will claim 20, 25, 30,35,40,45 million (in 2009), but these claims are of political and not scientific nature. So why are these political claims made? I believe they are psychological, that is the pan-Turkists want to feel bigger than they are and want to influence foreign governments that they are a huge force. They should note that out of the 12 million or so Azeris, the overwhelming majority of Iranian Azeris are not with them and they should also note that situation of Iran might change one day, and it is not prudent to antagonize the Iranian population (not only patriotic Azeris but the majority Iranic speakers of the country who are indeed no friends of pan-Turkist concepts).

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

You need to be VERY familiar of what the Korean Labor Standards Act says. It's in English, here, and read before you sign a contract, of if you have concerns on the job. The same law that applies to native Koreans applies to foreigners. When it doesn't apply, is if you are in the probationary period (3 months or less) or an employer has less than 5 employees, so don't work for mom & pop establishments. I have never reviewed a contract that didn't have law violations in it, they all do. This Chungdahm contract is explained with my notes, read it, study it, learn about what you don't want as much as what you do want.
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Look at this case study of workers who had no other choice but to take their complaints to a lawyer.
A Certain Major Hagwon Chain (YBM) and the lawyer's advice.
If you need to contact a lawyer for help or clarification, go here.
Korean Labor Law and You: What to Do When Your Hagwon Goes South
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Here are some typical questions from foreigners and general advice:

Should I quit and do a midnight run, or give 30 day's notice?

Article 5 (Observance of Terms and Conditions of Employment)
Both workers and employers shall comply with collective agreements, rules of employment, and terms of labor contracts and be obliged to fulfill them in good faith.

If you actually want to fight for your final paycheck and everything else they stole from you, giving 30 day's notice is not mentioned in the law, but would be viewed as "good faith" so that you are right in the eyes of the labor board or whomever else you may write a complaint to. If your employer requires 60 day's notice, technically, you are supposed to "comply with collective agreements." If they are petty and harassing, which is what usually happens when you tender your notice of resignation, you should record ALL interactions and capture this behavior as proof. Then plot your escape as soon as possible and ignore the courtesy notice. If you don't agree with a contract, or it is too vague to know what you are agreeing to, don't sign it. You are not a slave. Give them in writing the date of your last day, your name, sign it, they don't need to sign it, you don't need to give them a reason, turn around walk out, do NOT get hauled in to a 2-hour arm-twisting meeting, a rookie mistake. You are firm in your decision, simply refuse any meetings, they can email their concerns and you'll get back to them later.

Why do I have to work weekends for free?

Article 7 (Prohibition of Forced Labor)
An employer shall not force a worker to work against his or her own free will through the use of violence, intimidation, confinement, or any other means by which the mental or physical freedom of the worker might be unduly restricted.

So when Hagwons force you to work weekends unpaid, then make the excuse you are now salaried instead of hourly and use passive-aggressive abuse to coerce you into working for free, that's a violation of the law, twice. By law, they must post your working hours and pay. They sneak in "some Saturdays" but never tell you how often, or how long you are required to work. That's illegal and not part of your regular pay. If they make you work during lunch monitoring kids (unpaid) and smash up your break into 5-10 transition periods between classes, that's also illegal. Find out about it here.
An employer shall state the following matters CLEARLY.

Article 17 (Clear Statement of Terms and Conditions of Employment)
Wages
Contractual work hours

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Article 10 (Guarantee of Exercise of Civil Rights)
An employer shall not reject a request from a worker to grant time necessary to exercise the franchise or other civil rights, or to perform official duties, during work hours: Provided, That the time requested may be changed, unless such change impedes the exercise of those rights or performance of those official duties.

This happened to a co-worker. She gave notice that her Visa was about to expire, and the employer denied her the opportunity to get it updated saying she was not able to leave during work hours. Immigration is open only during the same work hours. If she were to be deported for overstaying her Visa, she is solely legally liable for the error, not the employer. Denying her request is in fact illegal.

My tiny Hagwon fired me to avoid severance. Is this legal?

Article 11 (Scope of Application)
(1) This Act shall apply to all businesses or workplaces in which not less than five workers are ordinarily employed:

It might be legal. Be sure to check to see if your place of employment has less than 5 permanent employees or not, as the labor law does not apply to them in cases that may harm you. It's not clear which laws are altered for small businesses, but this one seems to be an escape hatch for them. Do not work for a small mom & pop Hagwon, they have more authority to avoid labor laws.

I have to follow the contract, but the Hagwon never does, why?

Article 15 (Labor Contracts in Violation of This Act)
(1) A labor contract which has established terms and conditions of employment which do not meet the standards as prescribed by this Act shall be null and void to that extent.

Almost all Hagwon contracts are null and void. They think that if they make up their own city-state on Microsoft Word, and you sign it, it's legally binding because you agreed to it. False. Federal labor laws supersede Hagwon fantasy world laws no matter if you agreed to them or not. They are just seeing what they can get away with and if they have your consent, perhaps you won't object to it.

I am always over-worked and kept in the dark. What can I do?

Article 17 (Clear Statement of Terms and Conditions of Employment)
(1) An employer shall state the following matters clearly. The same shall also apply to the changes of the following matters after entering into a labor contract.
Wages
Contractual work hours
Holidays under Article 55
Annual paid leaves under Article 50

If they were clear, you wouldn't accept the job with a mountain of responsibilities for low pay. Your contract should have the amount of hours with the monthly pay clearly listed so you can determine if you are working for the correct compensation. Overtime hours should not be vague, and when you agree to them, they stack on the maximum the law will allow, 12 additional hours per week, and they are not voluntary. Weekend work, how often, how many hours are never listed and illegal to make you do without compensation. Hourly employees are paid per hour, and this has to be "clear." Your annual leave must also be clear, or at least give you an expected range of when you are likely to be able to use them.

They are ignoring the contract. Now what do I do?

Article 19 (Breach of Terms and Conditions of Employment)
(1) When any of the terms and conditions of employment as expressly set forth pursuant to Article 17 is not observed, the worker concerned shall be entitled to claim damages on the ground of the breach of the terms and conditions of employment and may terminate the labor contract forthwith.

"Korean surprise" your job responsibilities are slowly increasing after the honeymoon period is over, and you are wondering when you should fight back. Unlimited clauses, "....and all other duties requested" are infinite and you apparently agreed with it, now what do you do? You have to keep a list of what you never consented to, record all conversations, and present it to your employer, and risk your employment in the process. You can claim damages to the labor board if you have enough evidence. Here is how to make a complaint.

I'm quitting, now they want to steal all my money.

Article 20 (Prohibition of Predetermination of Penalty for Breach-of-Contract)
An employer shall not enter into any contract in which a penalty or indemnity for possible damages caused by the breach of a labor contract is predetermined.

Recruiter fees, housing deposit, health/visa/immigration fees deducted from you salary cannot be done without an order from the court. "Pay now, sue later" is the law. They have 15 days from your last day of employment to pay you. After a complaint in your favor, your employer will be given notice to pay, given a grace period, and if you have not received your settlement, the government will have cause to take steps to issue penalties. The Korean Law subreddit answers this question in more detail, and again here.

Can my employer fire me without notice?

Article 26 (Advance Notice of Dismissal)
When an employer intends to dismiss a worker (including dismissal for managerial reason), he or she shall give the worker a notice of dismissal at least 30 days in advance of such dismissal, and, if the employer fails to give such advance notice, he or she shall pay that worker ordinary wages for not less than 30 days: Provided, That this shall not apply where a natural disaster, calamity or other unavoidable circumstances prevent the continuance of the business or where the worker has caused a considerable hindrance to the business or inflicted any damage to the property on purpose and it falls under any cause determined by Ordinance of the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

Yes and no. Yes because they ignore the law whenever they please, but they can as there are exceptions in article 35. This person was fired prior to 3 months. A post on the Korean Law subreddit answers this question.
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Article 35 (Exception of Advance Notice of Dismissal)
The provisions of Article 26 shall not apply to a worker falling under any one of the following subparagraphs:
A daily employed worker who has been employed for less than three consecutive months
A worker who has been employed for a fixed period of not exceeding two months
A worker who has been employed for less than six months as a monthly paid worker
A worker who has been employed for any seasonal work for a fixed period of not exceeding six months
A worker in a probationary period.

So if you have been working less than 3 months, during a probationary period, or a "seasonal worker" (wintesummer camp) they can void article 26.

What are the procedures for getting fired?

Article 27 (Written Notice of Reasons, etc. for Dismissal)
(1) When an employer intends to dismiss a worker, he or she shall notify the worker in writing of the reasons for and time of the dismissal.
(2) The dismissal of a worker shall become effective only upon written notice pursuant to paragraph (1).

Where does it say you have to sign the written notice? Don't sign anything. Just accept the notice and that's it. Do NOT engage in harassing, blaming, accusing, arm-twisting meetings. Simply communicate by email correspondence, or by proxy (a co-worker) when the relationship has gone sour. Be businesslike, get to the point of the meeting, take your paperwork and walk out, do not engage in a 40 minute soliloquy as to why your employer thinks your are a terrible disloyal teacher. Cut them off and take charge of what you allow yourself to put up with. Too many foreigners get berated by their employers, start crying and run away. Take charge of the meeting, if they can't tell you in 30 seconds what the main idea and outcome is, get up and walk out. So what? They are firing you anyway, why be cooperative if they are taking the opportunity to rub it in?
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Article 28 (Request for Remedy from Unfair Dismissal, etc.)
(1) When a worker is subjected by the employer to any unfair dismissal, etc., he or she may request a remedy therefor from a labor relations commission.
(2) A request for remedy under paragraph (1) shall be made within three months from the date of the unfair dismissal, etc.

The 11th month firing so the Hagwon can save $7000 in severance, return airfare etc. This is why you need to record all interactions. Suddenly, when they want to save money, you are the most incompetent employee they've ever had, but didn't mention it until the 11th month. File a complaint, get your money.
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Article 29 (Investigation, etc.)
(1) The Labor Relations Commission shall, upon receipt of a request for remedy pursuant to Article 28, immediately conduct necessary investigation and examine the parties concerned.

This is why you document and record everything. Screenshot of the job ad, video record all Skype interviews with Hagwons and request a 2nd interview regarding the contract so that they can lie on camera (never allow a recruiter to ask and answer job questions, they are not legally liable).

My employer refuses to pay me, what do I do?

Article 33 (Compulsory Performance Money)
(1) The Labor Relations Commission shall impose compulsory performance money of not exceeding 20 million won on an employer who fails to comply with an order for remedy (including the decision made by reexamination in which an order for remedy is contained; hereafter in this Article, the same shall apply) within the specified deadline for executing the order after such order is issued.

If the employer loses a case brought by the commission, the penalty is $20,000 IF they fail to pay back what they were caught stealing. Essentially, there is no penalty for stealing, just in the event they are caught and refuse to return it. You must get a salary statement every month, be able to understand it, (example here) and keep good records. If they don't pay, and you can prove it, they have 15 days to pay after the commission agrees with you, if they don't, make a complaint, then they can either pay you or pay the penalty.

I'm being extorted for a Letter of Release, what are my options?

Article 39 (Certificate of Employment)
(1) Whenever an employer is requested by a worker to issue a certificate specifying the term of employment, kinds of work performed, positions taken, wages received, and other necessary information, he or she shall immediately prepare and deliver a certificate based on facts, even after the retirement of the worker.
(2) The certificate referred to in paragraph (1) shall contain nothing other than what has been requested by the worker.

According to this post, you may not need to be extorted for a Letter of Release. A Certificate of Employment is also accepted by immigration.

I think I'm being blacklisted.

Article 40 (Prohibition of Interference with Employment)
No person shall prepare and use secret signs or lists, or have communications, for the purpose of interfering with the employment of a worker.

Employers cannot keep blacklists to prevent workers from employment.

Due to Coronavirus, I'm staying at home and not getting paid.

Article 46 (Shutdown Allowances)
(1) When a business shuts down due to a cause attributable to the employer, he or she shall pay the workers concerned allowances of not less than 70 percent of their average wages during the period of shutdown: Provided, That if the amount equivalent to the 70 percent of their average wages exceeds that of their ordinary wages, their ordinary wages may be paid as their shutdown allowances.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), the employer who is unable to continue to carry on the business for any unavoidable reason may, with the approval of the Labor Relations Commission concerned, pay the workers shutdown allowances lower than the standards as prescribed in paragraph (1).

This is a big issue regarding Coronoavirus. Hagwons are paying less than 70%, and in many cases, no wages at all. Many employers believe the cause is not attributable to them, as it's by government decree.

How many hours can they legally make me work?

Article 50 (Work Hours)
(1) Work hours shall not exceed 40 hours a week, excluding hours of recess..
(2) Work hours shall not exceed eight hours a day, excluding hours of recess.
(3) Upon calculating the work hours under paragraphs (1) and (2), any waiting time, etc. spent by workers under the direction and supervision of their employers that is necessary for the relevant work shall be deemed work hours.

You can be forced to work over 40 hours in certain situations. If you are at work 9 hours, but 1 hour is lunch, it counts as 8 hours (excluding recess). If you are an hourly wage earner (yes) and you have to work for free on weekends, that's a violation of the law. You are not salaried.
Article 51 (Flexible Work Hours System) / Article 52 (Selective Work Hours System)
Hours can extend beyond 40 hours a week, under certain circumstances, for a limited time. The most common are summewinter "intensives" which are usually Monday - Saturday for four weeks.

Can they force me to work overtime?

Article 53 (Restrictions on Extended Work)
(1) Where there exists an agreement between the parties, work hours referred to in Article 50 may be extended up to 12 hours per week.

Is it in your contract and you agreed to it, then yes, you'll probably be working 52 hours a week instead of 40. Never agree to "may/might/possibly/on occasion" wording as all of that means 100% "will." If it says, "Overtime only by written consent of both parties" the contract can be construed as written consent because it's written and you signed it.

I don't get a break, is that legal?

Article 54 (Recess)
(1) An employer shall allow workers a recess of not less than thirty minutes if working for four hours or a recess of not less than one hour if working for eight hours, during work hours.
(2) Recess hours may be freely used by workers.

Hagwons give you a 30 minute break, but it's not continuous, it's broken into 10 minutes between classes, which is not an actual break, it's considered "waiting time." If you are eating lunch with kids, it's not a break, as you are not free to leave. If you are compelled to work or attend a meeting during your recess, refuse it, it's not a break if you are working. This is why Hagwons refuse to release a class schedule to you prior to employment. They don't want you to know you have 8 back-to-back classes a day. They will almost always make an excuse why they can't give you a sample schedule for your approval. Don't argue with them. Keep track of all your hours on a Microsoft Excel document, keep your illegal schedule, and then make a complaint at the end of your contract to get your money back. Here is roughly how much money you are owed.

They always have an excuse why I can't take my vacation days.

Article 60 (Annual Paid Leave)
(1) Every employer shall grant any worker who has worked not less than 80 percent of one year a paid leave of 15 days.
(2) Every employer shall grant any worker who has continuously worked for less than one year or who has worked less than 80 percentage of one year one paid-leave day for each month during which he or she has continuously worked.

This is the most abused part of the contract. They remove them from you if you are sick, double count federal holidays, weekends, use excuses and stalling tactics until your contract runs out. If your contract states less than 11, it's illegal.
Article 61 (Measures to Urge Workers to Take Annual Paid Leave)
They are supposed to inform you of your leave, and schedule it when it doesn't have significant harm to the business. You are not supposed to be left in the dark, denied, or have to beg for them. If you have worked for 6 months and haven't used 1/2 your vacation days, you can assume you won't be able to use the remainder for the back six of your contract. At some point you have to make them pay up such as someone who owes you money but is always dodging the issue. Inform them you are either taking those days, or you want to get paid for each day not used.
Final Comment:
You MUST document and record every bit of communication from a screenshot of the advertisement, all electronic communications (email/Skype), face-to-face interactions, all paper handouts. In the event there is a contradiction and you feel it's important enough to argue about, then you need evidence and possibly ruin the relationship with your employer as they deem being caught by a subordinate a "save face" embarrassment. The unwritten rule is, "You allow me to take advantage of you, and you'll receive a recommendation, housing, employment, healthcare, severance in return." Once you start getting uppity, they are going to threaten to revoke those benefits. In the event the relationship is totally broken beyond repair, you can just inform your employer of the violations for the sole purpose of recording to get them to indict themselves so you can take that and your other evidence to the labor board.

Hello retards,
After many failed attempts of clearing this through the auto-mod's security system, I have failed and am resorting to posting on my profile.
I'm here today to inform you of an article listed in Robinhood's Customer Agreement, and how it could impact your held securities.

TLDR AT BOTTOM, AT LEAST PRETEND TO READ TO BE INFORMED

Here is a screenshot of that article
For you autists who can't tap on a link, here it is in word form, not that you can read:
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I understand that Robinhood may, in its discretion, prohibit or restrict the trading of securities, or the substitution of securities, in any of My Accounts. I understand that Robinhood may execute all orders by Me on any exchange or market, unless I specifically instruct Robinhood to the contrary. In the event of a breach or default by Me under this Agreement, Robinhood shall have all rights and remedies available to a secured creditor under all applicable laws and in addition to the rights and remedies provided herein. I understand that Robinhood may at any time, at its sole discretion and without prior notice to Me: (i) prohibit or restrict My access to the use of the App or the Website or related services and My ability to trade, (ii) refuse to accept any of My transactions, (iii) refuse to execute any of My transactions, or (iv) terminate My Account. The closing of My Account will not affect the rights or obligations of either party incurred prior to the date My Account is closed.
Further, Robinhood will not tolerate any foul or abusive language, physical violence, threatening behavior, or other inappropriate conduct directed toward Robinhood, its Affiliates' officers, employees, contractors or customers. If I engage in any such behavior, as determined by Robinhood in its sole discretion, I agree that Robinhood is authorized to: (i) liquidate any securities, instruments or other property in My Account, (ii) send Me the proceeds, and (iii) close My account. Robinhood will not be responsible for any Losses caused by the liquidation of securities, instruments or other property pursuant to this paragraph, including any tax liabilities.

Bois, that's as long as DFVs dong, and I'm sorry. But here's the gist of it:

Unless you specifically instruct Robinhood NOT to close your securities (stonkz and options for you autists), they hold the right to liquidate your positions at any time using their own discretion under their agreement that you accepted the terms of.
Now you're probably thinking "Alright small dick, I can't read, and you're losing my attention, so get to the point" which is a valid thought.
It would be beneficial to submit such a letter to Robinhood to limit their ability to liquidate your assets on a whim.
Here is a sample letter that I drafted:

Dear Robinhood,
This letter is to express my strict opposition of the unauthorized sale of my personal securities held through the Robinhood Financial, LLC and Robinhood Securities, LLC brokerage companies. In accordance with Article 16 of Robinhood’s Customer Agreement, stated “I understand that Robinhood may execute all orders by Me on any exchange or market, unless I specifically instruct Robinhood to the contrary.”, I am submitting this documentation to exercise my right set forth in the Customer Agreement to formally deny Robinhood the ability to liquidate my securities in it’s discretion without My, the asset holder, prior written consent.
Sincerely,
Name Email Address associated with account

PLEASE if you have any suggestions to this draft letter, let me know. I have about a c-hairs more information on legal documents and formal letters than the average retard, and I am always open to feedback!

Now, I havent found a specific email address that I can send this to yet, but if you go to the help center on the app or website, you can get to a message submission form where you'll be able to enter this information and send it off. This counts as formal documentation and is directly linked to your account! If anybody has information on a Robinhood email address that these could be sent to, please let me know and I'll add it to the post.

NEXT!! IMPORTANT:

If you gained several IQ points from these big dick gains with GME/BB/AMC/otherfuckinglameassstocks and decided to take on the challenge of reading the article, you might have noticed a second paragraph. Good fucking job. This paragraph of Article 16 states that if you use foul or abusive language, physical violence, threatening behavior, etc. in any manner with Robinhood, then they ALSO hold the right to liquidate your assets. I bring this up because there has been a roller coaster of emotions (rightfully so) over RH restricting buy access to stock that brings in juicy tendies, and people are more likely to lodge complaints with them, whether it be through their app, email or phone. Allow me to explain.

TO UPDATE THOSE ON WHY TENSIONS HAVE BEEN HIGH LATELY (If for whatever reason you missed this):

In the past few days, we have found new developments and information relating to the drama surrounding large HFs and Robinhood. As many know, RH (and a few other brokerages) decided to restrict buy access to select meme stocks last week, dropping volume tremendously and allowing Hedge funds to short ladder attack the stock prices down over 100%. Vlad claimed that this move had nothing to do with Citadel instructing them to restrict trade, and in fact was a fiduciary requirement imposed by the clearing house due to the high volatility of such securities. Unfortunately as it currently stands, plausible deniability is going to keep Robinhood afloat, regardless of the validity of Vlad's claims.
What I later learned from a live stream with Elon, Vlad, and many others is that the clearing house isn't a federally ran institution, and is in fact a consortium. For those with extra chromosomes, this means that the clearing house is ran by a conglomerate of financial institutions with some amount of interest in the clearing house, and those institutions collectively decide how it runs as a business.
Do I find it extremely suspicious that Citadel just happened to reload their short positions right before trading was restricted by RH, and that Citadel is responsible for 40% of RH's revenue? Yes. Do I also find it extremely suspicious that the clearing house, who required RH to either up their deposit or limit purchasing power, is ran by companies who have a massively vested interest in shorting those stocks and devaluing them? Fuck yeah I do. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we will have a clear conclusion anytime soon, and any SEC investigation will likely take many months or years to finalize.
I digress.
IF YOU SHOW ANY NEGATIVE BEHAVIORS THAT COULD BE PERCEIVED AS ABUSIVE, THREATENING, FOUL AND THE LIKE, RH HAS THE RIGHT TO LIQUIDATE YOUR ASSETS WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT. DO NOT BE THE GUY LEFT BEHIND ON THE TRIP TO ALPHA FUCKING CENTAURI BECAUSE YOU DROPPED THE F-BOMB (or a real bomb) IN THEIR DMs AND HAD HIS (or hers for all those ladies) POSITIONS CLOSED.
TL;DR - I know many of us are on the first flight out of RH and into Fidelity/Vanguard after the GME squeeze has been squozed, but the interim wait is extremely important, and sending in the letter above to Robinhood could prevent them from selling your stocks/options without your consent. BE NICE WHEN COMMUNICATING WITH RH OR THEY CAN ALSO SELL YOUR TENDIE PRINTING STOCK WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT.
If I missed something, or misinterpreted the article, please let me know. I am a retard after all
Also maybe obligatory? This is not financial advice.
100% obligatory 💎👐💎👐💎👐🚀🚀🚀

Your 15-minute Friday-Sunday report in 3793 words.

opposition MP Naira Zohrabyan calls for mandatory re-education camps

The BHK MP Zohrabyan is a controversial figure with a history of berating diasporan Armenians by calling them cowards who fled for a piece of bread, spreading fake news about borders, and more recently using inappropriate language, say the members of the ruling QP Party, who drafted a resolution to terminate her chairmanship in Parliamentary Human Rights Committee.
Recently Zohrabyan referred to the majority of Armenian voters, who voted for the QP Party in 2018, as "ժեխ", which stands for "human garbage", or as Zohrabyan herself says "impure". "They cling on that one word and now want to punish me... I don't really care... Nikol is a small man."
She earlier wrote another post, essentially calling for the establishment of forced re-education camps for anyone who voted for Pashinyan's QP party, "so they won't make the same mistake again during future elections".
Zohrabyan:: "Մեր երկրի թիվ 1 խնդիրը տգիտությունն է: Նիկոլի ու Նիկոլիզմի ավարտից հետո մենք, եթե կուզեք, այո, բռնի ուժով պիտի կրթենք նաեւ հասարակության էդ հատվածին, որ այլեւս որեւէ ընտրության ժամանակ չգնա ու իր հայելային արտացոլանքին չբերի իշխանության."
QP party responds: A person with such a vocabulary cannot fulfill the duties of the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Human Rights and Public Affairs.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038965.html , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/203760 , https://factor.am/324452.html

opposition holds demonstrations

The 16 parties allied with the former regime continue demonstrations with demands for Pashinyan's resignation. They shut down several streets in Yerevan on Friday. The police detained 15 activists for not following orders to clear roads.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038985.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038998.html

Mikael Minasyan publishes a document / Security Council responds

Serj Sargsyan's fugitive son-in-law Mikael "Povar Mishik" Minasyan published - what he calls - a secret document sent from Russia-led CSTO military bloc to Armenia a month before the war, which allegedly "warned" Armenian about the war, and that Pashinyan had an opportunity to ask for help but didn't.
Security Council responds: it's unsurprising that Minasyan spreads nonsense to mislead the public. He attempts to present a plan for a routine military exercise as a "warning".
He doesn't know the difference between "Secret" and "For official use only" (FOUO). The content of the FOUO document wasn't Secret, it's just for internal use and not for publishing publicly. Minasyan is attempting to present it as a document that was intentionally kept secret from the Armenian public.
As for the content of the document, CSTO chief Stanislav Zas talks about the organization of a routine exercise that is planned annually. Similar events had taken place in the past, with scenarios similar to this one.
Minasyan also lies about an offer to contact CSTO with a letter.
Based on this letter, the Security Council carried out appropriate work to ensure the participation of the Armenian representatives in the exercise. The NSS, MoD, and Emergency Ministry also took part in the exercise, which was held remotely via teleconference. Details can be found at https://odkb-csto.org/…/v-tsentre-krizisnogo…/:
https://factor.am/324609.html

another opposition leader is charged with inciting violence

"National Agreement" party leader Aram Harutyunyan posted a video clip in which he incited/glorified violence against govt officials, say the prosecutors, who charged Harutyunyan with Code 226.2. Several other officials were recently charged after calling for Pashinyan to be assassinated.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039009.html , https://youtu.be/vBR8A-6kI8s
Garnik Isagulyan, another opposition figure who called for Pashinyan's assassination, won't be arrested before his trial. The court found an arrest unnecessary.
Prosecutors criticized the court for "not arresting a man who publicly and openly called for the violent act, at a time when large quantities of weapons are smuggled into Armenia and there are political tensions that can be breeding ground for violence". Prosecutors will appeal the decision.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/203730 , https://factor.am/324569.html
Update: Qajaran mayor, a critic of PM Pashinyan, who was earlier charged with kidnapping and torturing a local resident in an incident that happened several months ago, will not be jailed before his trial, either. The mayor's lawyer hailed the court and said the court continues to be "independent from the government" and "is not following orders". (screenshotted)
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/203724

church gets entangled in the political fight

Several members of the church had recently publicly disrespected Pashinyan by not shaking his hand, refusing to hold a sermon with his participation, etc. A group of Pashinyan supporters decided to organize a protest against the Catholicos in Ejmiatsin on Sunday.
Church leader Garegin B said the "churchmen have the right to express their views, just as any citizen".
Prosecutors' office urged demonstrators not to "hinder the church's normal activities" and not to use "hate speech or make calls for violence".
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038975.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039089.html

Pashinyan talks about an episode from war: weapon storage locked, lights stolen

Pashinyan during an interview: two days ago I met soldiers who were discharged recently. They told me episodes from the war that require investigation. For example, a unit exhausted its ammo arsenal and went to the storage to receive more, but the person in charge of the storage, whose name is known, refused to provide weapons. The soldiers were forced to break the storage doors, to then find that the storage was completely full of weapons.
I don't know what exactly happened. This needs an investigation. If this is confirmed, this is one of the reasons we lost. I won't avoid responsibility but we need to know the full truth. Every time a new piece of information comes to light that needs clarification; maybe some are false or may be true. I'm not the judge.
There are reports about dozens of high-ranking individuals who removed and took away street lighting from Armenian settlements that were still under Armenian control. There are specific names.
https://factor.am/324619.html

Syunik borders: the roads that became the borders / Kapan mayor interview

Context: Artsakh's Qashatagh region went under Azeri control. It neighbors Armenia's Syunik province, which means Syunik has a border with Azerbaijan now. Checkpoints are being installed on each side. Some bordering Syunik villages were built partly in Qashatagh, which means several dozen buildings and some road sections will go under Azeri control. In some areas they will be guarded by Russians.
Kapan mayor: PM Pashinyan visited Syunik on October 18th (during the war, when Azeris stretched across Araks river basin) and asked us to organize self-defense. General Artakh Davtyan was in charge. He told us to hold positions within Syunik and outside (within Qashatagh). There were fierce battles. Then the ceasefire Statement was signed on November 9th. On December 17th we were told to retreat back to Armenian borders (from Qashatagh). This caused issues. Azeri positions are now 100 meters away from village "Syunik", and 1km from Kapan city.
Kapan-Goris and Kapan-Chakaten sections of the road are functional, but the Kapan-Agarak section is under Azeri control and isn't being used by us now. As a result, residents have to use a much longer bypass road. Some houses are cut off.
Today's border activities on Syunik are not an actual "border demarcation/delimitation" where border signs are installed, but rather an installation and identification of positions. For example, a group of Azeris approached our borders yesterday to negotiate with our MoD. Azeris offered both sides to move back 200 meters to increase the distance between us, so Armenian and Azeri soldiers won't have direct contact with each other. Our MoD said something like that would require an implementation across the whole border if it's to be done.
We need both sides to install Border Guards instead of the regular army, to avoid armed confrontations.
We need a law to allow Syunik's bordering residents to carry hunting rifles. Everyone should have a weapon at home to feel safer and prevent emigration out of these settlements. [LHK chief Marukyan says he made such a weapon law offer after the 2016 April war].
The MoD began protecting Syunik borders in late October and early November, headed by General Makaryan. They recruited Syunik residents for border protection. The main conscript army was deployed today.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038942.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038941.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038945.html , https://youtu.be/xjxcVzhtrfY?t=42 , https://factor.am/324220.html , https://factor.am/324226.html , https://factor.am/324238.html , https://factor.am/324259.html , % tps://factor.am/324277.html

Pashinyan talks about Syunik borders / it's not a "legal" delimitation

Q: there are accusations that we routinely yield positions, our roads are given away, Azeris are entering our borders. The opposition says PM can't secure the borders. We yield Armenian lands with GPS.
Pashinyan: there is no such thing, no Azeri has protruded into the Armenian border. The opposition says "there are no borders there" but then they says "Azeris entered our borders". Many of the accusations towards us contradict each other. They say we didn't take steps to avoid this war, but then they criticize us for taking steps today to avoid new wars in the future.
Armenia gained independence within certain territories. If there are questions about the borders, I cited the 2010 law which states that Syunik's Vorotan village borders Azerbaijan. The law specifically clarifies these borders.
Q: opposition says that law is about internal administrative division and not state border.
Pashinyan: what does Azerbaijan's border have to do with Armenia's internal administrative map. If the former govt meant that there is an official Azerbaijani territory within the Republic of Armenia, then how can they claim that Azeris entered the Republic of Armenia? Is there Azerbaijan within Armenia?
The law was written clearly. Sotq, Shurnukh, and Votoran settlements' borders coincide with the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. What's happening today is what the 2010 law envisioned. We are taking these steps to avoid new wars.
[Former president] Serj Sargsyan earlier claimed that Armenia was ready to give away 7 Artsakh regions to Azerbaijan. Weren't Zangelan and Qubatlu [neighboring Syunik] part of those 7 regions?
As of signing the November 9th Statement, over 90% of Qubatlu and Zangelan regions were unfortunately already under Azeri control. Under the November 9th Statement's context, there was a verbal agreement to conduct border positional, but not border delimitation, clarifications. We knew at the time that disputes could arise around this issue that could turn into a war that would endanger Syunik, so we decided to take steps to ensure Syunik's safety. As I've said earlier, the way we ensure Syunik's safety today is by matching the borders with the [internationally-recognized] CSTO-guarded borders, so our security agreement with Russia could be used if needed.
Azerbaijan doesn't have official delimitated borders with Georgia and Russia, either, but none of these states go around and say "this is mine". There has to be a point of separation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. What we do today isn't a real demarcation and delimitation. Those would require diplomatic ties, the creation of committees to sit down and work on a map, then install the actual demarcation points on the borders.
There are questions about why Russia didn't help us during the war. It's simple, Russia signed an agreement with Armenia, while the battles were happening in Artsakh.
The opposition says why hadn't we taken steps to prevent the war. There was only one way to prevent the war: give away 7 regions.
There are disputed with a dozen houses on the borders. We agreed with Azerbaijan that the border roads will be safe for use while we settle these disputes. Either way, the borders of the Republic of Armenia aren't ceded.
https://factor.am/324625.html , https://youtu.be/CbHfJohz-2c , https://factor.am/324628.html

collection of recent fake news around Syunik borders you might have seen

https://fip.am/14339

snap elections in 2021: Pashinyan invited opposition for talks

Pashinyan had earlier made it clear he would be open to holding snap elections after finishing his 6-month roadmap and "stabilizing the internal situation".
Pashinyan: Dear compatriots. It is now obvious that the opposition's demands for the Prime Minister's resignation did not receive the support of the wider public. The opposition had all the tools necessary to gather wide public support: money, media outlets, massive organizational resources, the ability to hold large demonstrations.
Not only they failed to receive popular support, but today their numbers are dwindling. No one can claim that we held onto power by using brute force. On the contrary, we are accused by some of being unnecessarily lenient.
This, however, does not change in any way the commitment of our political team and me to stand before the people, to answer to the people. I do not cling to the seat of Prime Minister, but I can not be careless with the authority vested in me by the people. The people must be the ones to make decisions.
I am ready to leave the post of Prime Minister by the decision of the people, and only the people. I am also ready to continue to lead in these difficult times shall the people express their trust. There is only one way to find the answers: snap elections. I invite Parliamentary and non-Parliamentary parties to hold discussions about new elections in 2021.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039007.html

the former regime rejects Pashinyan's offer for snap elections

The 16 opposition parties want to install their own PM's candidate Vazgen Manukayan, govern for a year, and only then hold new elections. They don't want new elections to be held while Pashinyan is Prime Minister (because they wouldn't be able to buy voters and rig elections, let's put this out there for the record).
https://factor.am/324622.html

demonstrations on Saturday

Besides the main demonstrations, a small group of opposition activists and MPs continue to hold a sit-in in front of the govt building. They installed several tents to stay overnight.
Photos: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039075.html

Lachin residents will also receive aid

One of the aid packages for Artsakh residents, whose homes went under Azeri control, was a one-time $600 payment. Lachin corridor did not go under Azeri control, but it's not fully Armenian either, so the govt is preparing a new aid package to pay residents of these settlements who didn't qualify for an earlier package.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/203713

update: aid distribution progress

One of the aid packages gives ֏68,000 to every qualified Artsakh resident. 90,000 have already received ֏6.5 billion ($13.5 million) in aid. That's 98% of those who qualify.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038940.html
Another aid package gives ֏300,000 to those who lost their homes due to occupation. 5,000 out of 30,000 recipients have received it so far.
Today, another aid package began distributing ֏250,000 to those who had their homes damaged.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038961.html
There is aid for residents living in the Republic of Armenia's bordering regions who had their properties damaged. ֏50 million was paid to 71 residents.
Additionally, ֏5 million will be paid to each of the families who lost their relatives and up to ֏3 million to those who received a disability.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038979.html

POWs and search operations

The army has identified 45 more soldiers who died fighting. The known death toll is at 3248, some are yet to be identified.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038899.html
Search operations found 4 bodies near Mataghis (north).
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038909.html
Several family members continue to wait for news about their missing relatives. They shut down a street earlier. Today they met PM and the govt to discuss it. The father of one of the soldiers said he isn't satisfied with the works that are being done. He believes the identification process is too slow and the second DNA-sequencing device won't be ready next year.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/203748

army awards soldiers for acts of heroism

Lt. Harut Hamzoyan and two of his subordinates destroyed two anti-tank firing points.
Cpt. Karen Alexanyan shot a loitering drone.
More: https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/203775

6-month import ban on Turkish products

... was approved by the govt during the war. It goes into effect in January and applies to Turkish products imported from all countries.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038924.html

air is open for civilian jets

A Turkish jet flew passengers from Istanbul to Baku today. There was a lot of talk around it. Civil Aviation says "such civilian flights are internationally recognized and normal. Similarly, Armenia has the right to fly over Turkey."
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31021445.html

Artsakh army denies rumors about conflict resumption near Tegh village

https://factor.am/324630.html

Iran-Armenia gas & electricity exchange

Armenia gives electricity to Iran in exchange for gas. There are plans to expand his cooperation. Today the govt met the Iranian representatives to take steps to operate the Iran-Armenian gas pipeline at a full capacity. They discussed the construction of the third electric network between the states.
https://factor.am/324603.html

Russian humanitarian mission in Artsakh

Russia sent modern vehicles for use by Artsakh's Emergency Ministry. A dozen emergency vehicles, trucks, and a crane.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038912.html
Russian sappers traveled to Artsakh schools and taught 80 children how to identify and avoid bombs.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038915.html
Russian doctors have treated 902 patients so far. Russian peacekeepers accompanied 44,600 refugees back to Artsakh via Lachin road. 540 returned today.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039003.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039023.html
Russian govt decided to double the salaries earned by its peacekeepers in Artsakh. The sum isn't mentioned.
https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/288971/

Russian children sent gifts to Artsakh children

Children in Russia's 10 cities held a teleconference with their Artsakh counterparts. Thousands of toys and postcards were sent to Artsakh in a show of support. The peacekeepers donated backpacks to kids.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039087.html

Red Cross distributed aid to Artsakh residents

... who are staying in temporary hotels before the availability of permanent housing. 741 people received food, heaters, and items of basic necessity.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/203737

home repairs & housing aid in Artsakh

3,500 residents have contacted the govt to receive aid with renovating their homes. 50 building renovations are complete. They are mostly hospitals, schools, and other infrastructure facilities.
In the first stage, ֏300 million will be spent to renovate residential roofs, doors, and windows. Beginning January, the HimnaDram.org (All Armenia Fund) fun will help Artsakh to renovate building interiors.
Several abandoned buildings in Stepanakert will be converted into residential apartments. Villages in the Askeran region weren't heavily targeted by Azeris, so the govt will resettle some homeless residents in dozens of abandoned buildings.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038900.html
Martuni was one of the frontline cities that received heavy damage. 850 out of 950 houses were damaged. The govt assessed the damage for 10 construction firms to begin the renovations.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039024.html

What's the best way to help Artsakh?

"Live and work in Artsakh, even if it isn't the job of your dreams," said Labor Minister Tandilyan, who is looking for qualified staff.
https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/289003/

COVID stats over weekend

+7734 tested. +1692 infected. +54 deaths. +2347 healed. 15280 active.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038914.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039027.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039082.html

COVID: planning to visit Armenia but don't know if you're allowed?

Details for residents of each country who wants to travel to Armenia.
https://factor.am/324474.html

Armenia imports COVID equipment from China

4 large oxygen tanks for patients with COVID. 100,000 test kits. 200,000 sampling sticks. Masks and gowns.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039035.html

COVID vs Economic Activity Index & Salaries

First 11 months combined -7.2%
Industrial production -0.2%
Construction -11.2%
Trade -13.5%
External trade -12.4%
Exports -5.2%
Imports -15.9%
Electricity production +1.8%
Consumer Price Index +1%
Average monthly nominal salary +4.2% (֏186,167)
Average monthly nominal salary in Public Sector +5.9%, and in Private Sector +3.2%
1 Dollar was 486 Drams
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038936.html

EAEU trade block: unemployment registrations

The number of people registered in employment centers in October 2020 vs October 2019:
Belarus -18% (fewer registered unemployed)
Armenia -2% (total 60,700)
Kyrgyz -6%
Kazakh +34%
Russia up 5.4 times (total 3,170,000)
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038895.html

EAEU trade block: available free jobs listed in employment centers

Armenia -59%
Kyrgyz -42%
Belarus -17%
Russia +8%
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038895.html

remember the mass-attack on Gavar hospital in April?

19 people have been identified and charged. They are family members of murdered men who incorrectly identified an innocent hospital patient as being a murderer, then decided to avenge. The hospital building was trashed, cops and patients were beaten.
https://factor.am/324385.html

Robin the robot is here to lock you out of your spaceship

The Blood Disease & Children's Cancer Center has a new robot Robin designed by "Expper Technologies" and donated by Nazaryan Family and INICIAR. Unlike similar robots, it can display emotions and built a connection with people.
"Robin is a robot of hope, smiles, and companionship for the patients, their families, and the staff of the Hematology Center."
Full: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038990.html

Caucasus Nature Fund

... has donated $1.5 million to Armenia in 2020 to help defend nature and co-subsidize forest guard salaries.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/203743

modernized HayPost office: online queue, delivery lockers, changing rooms

Yerevan has a new post office facility in Davtashen. For the first time, it will utilize an online queue system, "Earlynote" integration, "ShopIn.am" lockers where you can pick up items purchased online.
If you purchased clothing, you can use HayPost's new changing rooms to make sure it fits. The practice is borrowed from Singapore.
High Tech Ministry: we will have similar high-tech branches in other locations soon. Within a year, residents will see new facilities and improved service.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038962.html

free programming classes for thousands of applicants

High Tech Ministry and the Russian-Armenian University organized free "Programming Basics" classes. 5,000 people applied from Armenia and Artsakh. 2,000 of them passed the first stage and took the classes. Half of them received certificates in the end.
The top-100 students will receive in-depth courses organized by RU-AM University. The top-5 will be involved with university projects.
www.edu2020.am
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038984.html

solar energy in Armenia

The army has installed 20 mobile solar panel stations in several positions, donated by donors. They will power communication tools, lighting, etc.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038904.html
Combined 5MW-strong solar farms have been installed in Shoghakat settlement this year, bringing the total capacity to 8.1MW. ֏2 billion was invested this year. 70 temporary and 8 permanent jobs.
Next year they plan to build 14MW farms. The authorities have already authorized the land and construction paperwork.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038916.html

Neolithic archaeological discovery in Akhashen

Armenian and French experts have been digging Aknashen for 15 years (south-west of Yerevan). They discovered a Neolithic monument from the stone age when humans began building settlements and develop agriculture for the first time. An international book will be published with extensive details.
The excavations began in 2004. Located south of the Qasakh river, this is the largest of its kind monument studied in the Caucasus.
Photo: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038896.html

sports news

Boxer Karen Tonakanyan debuted his career in the professional ring with a KO victory against the former WBF/IBF/WBO champion.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038905.html
Henrikh Mkhitaryan wins the title of best Armenian soccer player for the 10th time. National team coach Caparros is the best coach.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038958.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039060.html
Chessist Shant Sargsyan is the deputy-winner of cyber-chess under-18 international kerfuffle.
https://factor.am/324554.html

top-5 bestseller children's books in November

5) Harry Potter and the Socrates Stone, by J.K. Rowling
4) Գայլը և յոթ ուլիկները
3) Շաղգամը, by Atabek Knhnkoyan
2) Բոքոնիկը (kolobok)
1) Ով է ապրում տնակում, by Vladimir Suteev
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1038858.html

How to donate to Artsakh & Recovering Soldiers

www.1000plus.am (soldiers' medical help)
www.HimnaDram.org (for Artsakh & Armenia)
www.ArmeniaFund.org (U.S. tax-deductible)

archive of older posts

Armeniapedia's archive of my daily news threads:
http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/Daily_Anti-Corruption_Reports

disclaimer

All the accused are considered innocent unless proven guilty in the court of law, even if they "sound" guilty.

Agent Johnson: It is 11.34am and the date is May 19th 2007. For the purposes of the DIR, the participants in this criminal interview are myself, Agent Bill Johnson. Also present, Agent Danny Rodriguez. Under federal arrest and cautioned is Damian Ramsey. He is here today in regards to an incident in Ormewood, Georgia, that occurred on 12th august 2005. The abduction, rape and murder of 5-year-old Kyle Taylor. Mr Ramsey has waived his right to legal representation. Can everyone just confirm their presence for the purpose of the tape?
Agent Rodriguez: Daniel Rodriguez, Present.
Damian Ramsey: Ask and you shall receive. I am here! In the flesh.
Rodriguez: please state your full name Mr Ramsey and indicate your presence. No need for the theatrics.
Ramsey: Damian Clive Ramsey. Present.
Johnson: Ok thank you. Mr Ramsey, do you understand the charges against you?
Ramsey: Well either it’s a federal crime to be devilishly handsome or this is about that poor young ‘un who got his self gotten by that rascal of an uncle of his. It’s always a family member aint it? Yaknow I read somewhere that 82% of all child murders are committed by a parent or some other close relative! I was like ‘stop the god damn world and let me off this sumbitch.’ ya know what I mean?
Johnson: yeah, that statistic is unfortunately true Mr Ramsey... But it also means that 18% of the time it isn’t. It means that 18% of the time it's an opportunistic psychopath. Someone who sees a chance to satisfy his needs and takes it. With no regard for the pain and suffering it will cause. And in the case of Kyle Taylor, we believe it was someone from the 18%.
Ramsey: Meaning me I presume?
Johnson: For the purpose of the DLR, Agent Rodriquez is showing Mr Ramsey Item Reference DR-342, an image capture from an internal store CCTV camera at Holdens DIY store on Beck road, Ormewood. The image shows a man matching the description of Mr Ramsey walking with a boy matching the description of Kyle Taylor. The man's left hand is on the back of the boy's neck and appears to be gloved. Ushering him in the direction of the old Ormewood freight and rail depot. Is this you in this Image Mr Ramsey?
Ramsey: …
Johnson: For the purpose of the tape Mr Ramsey has refused to answer this que-
Ramsey: Jesus! Can't a man breath in this god damn facility of yours, agent? Now while I would love to say that is myself on that there photo, as he is one fine looking individual! But unfortunately, no Mr Johnson that is not me. Oh lord, you really have fallen from grace haven’t you boys? People talk about the Feds and word is you two ain’t shit anymore, been stuck on cases that are as cold as that Taylor boy is now. Chasing some group of boogeymen apparently, made yourself a laughing stock. I can see why though? Look atch’ you both! Bringing an innocent man like me in here with nothing but some blurry image of that kid and his uncle dressed in some snappy gloves. You two need to think about applying at the new MacDonald's in Lakewood Heights. Accusing an innocent law abiding citizen such as myself of this monstrous act. I wasn’t even in Georgia at the time.
Johnson: Oh really? Where did you go?
Ramsey: Oh I went for a little trip to Talladega National Forest. Ya know? See the trees, the birds, cook marshmallows out on a nice big open fire... The whole damn shebang.
Johnson: Ok and what dates did you travel to Talladega and what date did you return to your registered address in Marietta?
Ramsey: I took my camping gear and I headed over on the 8th and didn’t return while the 14th.
Rodriguez: Say that again...
Ramsey: Jesus lord almighty. It speaks.
Rodriguez: Say that again... please... for the tape.
Ramsey: Say what?
Rodriguez: The dates you weren't in Atlanta. Not even in Georgia apparently...
Ramsey: (clears throat with a cough) erm, yeah the 8th till the 14th
Rodriguez: So we’ve got that on tape. You have mentioned... when questioned... something that can be used in evidence and something you may go on to rely upon in court.
Johnson: Agent, please present Mr Ramsey with Item Reference WJ-242. A clip of dash cam footage from the 10th August 2005. For the purpose of the tape, we are now playing a section of film sent in to us in September 2005 after an appeal for ANY footage of the Taylor family in the days leading up to and inclusive of the 12th August 2005. This footage was first logged in the investigation into Reece Taylor. Kyles uncle who was the original prime suspect. I have paused the video of the dash cam footage from a car driving out of the Georgia Dome carpark which captures the family waiting for a shuttlebus. In said image, you can see a man matching the same description and biometrics of the man in the hardware store image. The man is staring directly at the family, notably Kyle. Facial Recognition Software indicates a 99.5% likelihood that this individual is Mr Damian Ramsey.
Ramsey: …
Johnson: YOU WERE THERE! YOU WEREN’T ANYWHERE NEAR ALABAMA!
Ramsey: …
Rodriguez: You watched them, didn’t you? You stalked them and saw he had a tendency to wonder off, making him easy prey!
Ramsey: ...
Johnson: You planned it all didn’t you? You knew where to take him, busy marketplace for him to get lost, panic and need a good Samaritan to help him look for his parents. You knew where to go to avoid detection by traffic cameras. You knew where you could take that poor boy and do what you did to him and no would come for him! WHERE NO ONE WOULD HEAR HIM SCREAM!
Rodriguez: A search team are at your house now; they found no camping gear. They found a laptop with some pretty disgusting things on it and they found a collection of shoe laces.
Ramsey: You stay away from those.
Rodriguez: 11 pairs... all children's sizes. They are at the lab now being tested to see who they belong to. I put my house on one of those belonging to Kyle Taylor.
Johnson: We also took some samples of DNA from your toothbrush and comb. I imagine they will match the bodily fluids found on and inside Kyle at the scene of his murder.
Ramsey: …
Johnson: I got you. You son of a bitch, I got you! You will rot in prison for the things you did to that poor boy. Paedophiles are like royalty in prison too I hear, so I’m sure you’ll be made right at home. Get this piece of shit of he-
Ramsey: Now just you wait a cotton-picking minute, Agent Johnson. We ain’t done here. And I aint going anywhere cos I got something you need!
Johnson: What on earth could a sick and twisted Al Pacino tribute act have, that I need? You’re Done. Interview terminated at twelve twenty-
Ramsey: How about I could make you the biggest cat in this whole freaking alley Agent?
Johnson: What are you talking about? You’re a child murderer. You can’t make anyone anything other than make innocent kids become statistics.
Ramsey: Ha-ha-ha well, there is that. However, you my ‘Alec Baldwin tribute act’ friend are looking at the answer to all your issues. You are looking at a gold mine. You are looking at the guy who can prove it...
Johnson: Prove what?
Ramsey: THAT YOU WERE RIGHT! ALL ALONG!
Johnson: …
Ramsey: ahhh, you didn’t think I didn’t know all about you and your trips and falls here within this building, did you Agent Johnson? I know everything. I know you, and your little wetback friend here, are at the bottom of the food chain. I know you’ve been given the cases that these yuppies round here don’t want nothing to do with. I know you think there's a gang doing these horrible things, not some Neo-Ted Bundy. Well, (clears throat) make these charges go away... and I can turn EVERYTHING around for you!
Johnson: I don’t care what you know. you abducted, tortured, raped and left a boy to die. You could know the Powerball numbers for the next 12 months and I wouldn’t trade that little boy's justice.
Rodriguez: are you saying you have information that could help aid the theory that a group of criminals are behind these disappearances? Bill, maybe we should hear what he has to say? I mean, we’ve been looking for the missing link for years and ok this guy is a piece of shit but-
Ramsey: I am here you know boys.
Rodriguez: - But let’s be honest, beggars can’t be choosers! Don’t you want to prove that this gang exists, stop them and save 1000s of lives! Nothing can bring Kyle Taylor back buddy but-, but if this son of a bitch is telling the truth then his death could have meaning...
Ramsey: Well you may just be the smartest taco muncher I ever did meet. No wonder they pulled you out of home depot. Why send me to prison where I get 3 meals a day and a gym membership so the parents can call me a monster on the news for the death of their kid who, let's face it, was BEGGING for what he got.
Rodriguez: WOAH WOAH WOAH BILL, CALM DOWN! BILL, NO! UGH! COME ON! SIT DOWN HES TRYING TO RILE YOU!
Ramsey: No matter how much his mum shouted at him for wondering off, the little prick kept doing it didn’t he?
Johnson: You shut your goddamn mouth before I shut it for you! Ramsey: He waddled right up to me, crying, looking all scared like. Asking me ‘Mister, Can you help me find my mummy?’
Rodriguez: BILL, NO! STOP! GODDAMMIT!! CAN I GET SOMEONE IN HERE!!
Ramsey: ‘I certainly can my little friend... Come with me she’s waiting down the street’
Johnson: YOU SICK FUCK, ILL KILL YOU!
Ramsey: ‘Hey how about before we get to your mum...’
Unidentified Officer: AGENT JOHNSON STAND DOWN! ASSISTANCE INTERVIEW ROOM 4! Ramsey: ‘...We go have a look at some trains? Hahaha choo-choo! Like a moth...’
Unidentified Officer: SHUT THAT TAPE OFF!
Ramsey: ‘...to a flame.’
Unidentified Officer: INTERVIEW TERMINATED!
Bill Johnson was given a verbal warning for his assault on Damian Ramsey. This was swiftly over turned though once Ramsey corroborated the trafficking angle to the 2006-2007 string of disappearances. The details surrounding Ramsey's arrest over the Kyle Taylor incident were buried. The incident remains officially unsolved.
There was a follow up interview 2 days later between Johnson, Rodriquez, Ramsey and two FBI mediators. Ramsey under legal guidance and federal caution confirmed Agent Johnsons hypothesis that the abductions were carried out by a group he was a part of.
He agreed to divulge details about the group's operation. In return for this information, he would receive a new identity, full immunity for any past crimes and he would be relocated to a safe house. On the U.S tax payers dime of course!
I managed to obtain the transcripts of his second interview. Below is a large section from the interview.
Johnson: Ok now we’ve got the legal stuff out of the way. How about you start and tell us who ‘The Swarm’ are? And what is your relationship with them?
Ramsey: (sips water and clears throat) They are the stuff nightmares wake up all sweaty from. They are a group of very bad people Agent.
Johnson: Well, you would fit right in then, wouldn’t you?
Lawyer: My client is co-operating, Agent. There’s no need for hostilities here.
Ramsey: Yeah, Bill. Let's all just settle down ya know? No hard feelings...
Rodriguez: Please tell us everything you know about ‘The Swarm’. We don’t need your personal opinion on their morale compass.
Ramsey: Very well Agent. The Swarm are a group of individuals who hide in the shadows. They have no faces; they have no names. What they do have though, is a complete disregard for the human race. They take what they want and do what is necessary in order to further the interests of the ‘Queen’.
Johnson: The Queen? Like in England?
Ramsey: As much as the sarcasm of that question wasn’t lost on me Agent, I do have to answer the question with an honest response and that answer is...Maybe.
Rodriguez/Johnson: Huh?
Ramsey: The truth is I don’t know. I don’t know if anyone really does. Hell, I don’t even know if it’s a bitch.
Johnson: So, what is ‘The Queen’?
Ramsey: The Queen is the top of the chain. The person who started this whole thing. It’s someone with elite connections. Someone financially motivated because everything the Swarm does is to make money.
Johnson: Ok, well let's keep with what you do know. Tell me how the gang further the financial interests of the high-ranking members of the organisation.
Ramsey: Pain, Misery, Torture, Intimidation.
Rodriguez: Specifics...
Ramsey: The Swarm, from what I know, has 4 units. Unit 1. They take people.
Johnson: Take people?
Ramsey: Yeah, you know? Those types that who all the cute little youtubers make all the videos about. People who are walking home and never make it. Then ya get all the crackpots saying it was aliens or some shit. Well, this unit. They just come out of nowhere and snatch you up. You don’t even know they’re there. Until it's too late, that is.
Johnson: Ok, Unit 2?
Ramsey: Unit 2, They hurt people.
Rodriguez: Hurt people?
Ramsey: Yeah. When Unit 1 bring someone in, they are taken to ‘The Hive’-
Johnson: Wo-woah, what on earth is ‘the Hive’?
Ramsey: Again, it's all up for speculation... I don’t know if its’s a fixed location or its just where they set up shop for the time being. Either way, it’s not somewhere you’d want to be finding yourself.
Johnson: Ok so what do Unit 2 do at ‘The Hive’?
Ramsey: I’m sure your all not ancient enough to know the basic computer term ‘The Dark Web’.
Johnson: I do.
Rodriguez: Hm-hmm.
Ramsey: Well one of the ‘resources’, shall we say? Of the Swarm are the ‘Red Rooms’.
Johnson: Sorry, what now?
Rodriguez: ‘Red Rooms’ are what our cybercrime team describe as Live Feed Torture and Execution Sessions. Usually there's a group chat box where site members can pay bitcoin or other encrypted currencies in return for having their requests inflicted on the victim.
Ramsey: Wow, very nice work Agent ‘Taco-Bell'. Bill, I thought you were meant to be the senior agent here and your little brown buddy here is showing you up.
Rodriguez: I’m showing you a lot of patience here Ramsey. It's going to take a lot more than some racist white trash child murderer to make me lose my cool.
Johnson: One more comment like that Ramsey and this immunity deal... dead.
Ramsey/Attorney: (inaudible whispers)
Attorney: My client apologizes for any light-hearted teases taken to heart. He is 100% on board with co-operating with the Buruea in return for the guarantee of his safety.
Johnson: Yeah. More like in return for getting off with raping and killing a five-year-old fu-
Mediator 1: Agent cool yourself. Neither the time or the place.
Mediator 2: We’re here to obtain information on the OCG carrying out these violent acts. I understand there is some animosity between you guys from your previous interview but can we please just keep this professional.
Johnson: Fine.
Ramsey: Absolutely Mr. Fancy Tie, whatever you say.
Rodriguez: Please, continue about Unit 2 and the ‘Red Rooms’.
Ramsey: Well, most of the time, you get these paid snuff sites. Nothing special. Usually just some old tramp in an underpass or some drugged party girl. Then, of course you get the more shall we say ‘Premium’ sites. These are your migrants, run-aways, stow-aways, refugees who trust the wrong people and find themselves strapped to a chair Infront of a webcam. These are the more interactive sites. As you mentioned, the chat boxes and requests being carried out. But then you have the sites these guys run. Extremely hard to find. VIP members only.
Johnson: what's so special about these sites then?
Ramsey: The content mainly. The people they have in those rooms. They’re hmm special...
Rodriguez: Special?
Ramsey: Cops. Federal Witnesses. Politicians.
Johnson: …
Rodriguez: …
Ramsey: For the DIR, Agents Johnson and Rodriguez are looking at me like they’ve just shit their pants.
Attorney: (inaudible whisper)
Ramsey: Hmm, sorry guys. Couldn’t resist.
Johnson: Did you say Cops and Witnesses?
Rodriguez: Politicians?
Ramsey: Hmm-hmm. Cops who maybe take their job a little too seriously. ‘Dog with a bone’ types. Gets to a point where maybe someone, somewhere thinks that things would go more smoothly if this person went away.
Johnson: Someone? ‘The Queen’?
Ramsey: Maybe. I don’t imagine anything gets done without her sanction. Either way, there’s a ‘process’ other groups can follow and with a bit of planning and prep, in a few week they can be watching that giant pain in the ass getting his limbs ripped off on camera. Swarm takes a fee, and they make a bucket load of bitcoin from the viewers.
Johnson: Sons of bitches.
Ramsey: Outside the dark web, they also use there ‘skill-set’ to make videos that might be hard for rich parents to watch their kids in. The type of video that makes you pay a shit load of money so that you don’t get another one.
Johnson: God damn, I fucking knew it. March 2006, Two kids. Video sent to parents of them being tortured. Requested a large payment in exchange for their suffering to end. I knew it was connected.
Rodriguez: Jesus Christ Bill, you were right.
Mediator 1: Sorry to interrupt but Mr Ramsey, you also said Federal Witnesses?
Ramsey: Yep.
Johnson: ...Like you?
Mediator 1, 2 and Attorney: Agent!
Johnson: That wasn’t a dig. I’m being serious. Surely you must have thought about this when you decided to testify against them?
Ramsey: Listen, Agent Johnson. You let me worry about me and you can worry about you not being one of the ‘dogs with a bone’. We all as safe as each other from these guys. Johnson: …
Ramsey: Besides anyway, I’m a little more confident I'll be ok in the hands of the Bureau.
Johnson: What makes you say that?
Ramsey: Let's just say the people who go the cops... are playing a dangerous game.
Rodriguez/Johnson: What?
Attorney/Ramsey: Inaudible Whispers.
Attorney: I have advised my client to only give out information that he has witnessed with his own eyes. Speculation is not part of the WITSEC/Criminal Informant agreement
Johnson: Look ok we won’t include it as part of the official statement but come on Damian. What's your take?
Ramsey: …
Johnson: For the DIR, Mr Ramsey just received a non-verbal confirmation from his attorney.
Ramsey: I think ‘The Swarm’ has a little help from the boys in blue. Johnson: Jesus Christ, what's your basis for that?
Ramsey: A while back I was watching this girls house. Took some snaps, few videos. Not really my type ya know. Little old for my taste. I sent the info on, My job was done and I got a payment for my work. Anyways a few days later, I heard through the news and a contact of mine that there was a witness to the take. A couple of high school kids were making out in a car in a blind spot when the girl was being thrown into the van. I heard that they went to the police and gave an officer a very detailed statement about the van and 3 men. Those two people went missing 10 days later.
Johnson: So how does that mean that the police betrayed them?
Ramsey: Well, I guess it don’t but hell, the fact I even knew the couple made the statement suggests that the gang found out some way. I scouted that street. I watched that girl, her family and neighbours for days. The way that make-out spot was situated and where those car was parked, in relation to where the house was, there’s no way the Unit would have known that the witnesses were there. Surely if the cops didn’t screw them, then they would have remained anonymous and there would have been some arrests but there was nothing. No arrests, No investigation. I think they gave their statement to the wrong cop. They passed that to their ‘guy’ and the evidence was destroyed and the witnesses taken. But ya know, it's completely circumstantial. I get that.
Johnson: ‘His guy’?
Ramsey: Well, I’ll get to that shortly but for now let me just tell you about Unit 3.
Johnson: Ok. What do Unit 3 do?
Ramsey: They move people.
Rodriquez: Move people?
Ramsey: Yeah. Move, Trade, Sell, Swap. Ya know Trafficking?
Johnson: This is the gang's bread and butter?
Ramsey: Yep. This is where I came in to things. Unit 3, which I am not a part of by the way! Unit 3 are a go between for The Swarm and the buyers of the ‘Livestock’
Johnson: What type of buyer we talking? Paedo-Rings? Grooming Gangs?
Ramsey: Sometimes but mainly, and hold on to your hat's gentleman, it's rich old white pervs. CEOs, Judges, Senators.
Johnson: You’re fucking kidding, right?
Ramsey: Ha-ha what's wrong, Bill? Think everyone who likes to have a bit of fun wi’a young un is a creepy monster like me?
Johnson: Basically, yeah.
Ramsey: WELL, THEY AIN’T! They are rich, old, white privileged socialites who moonlight as Satanic Worshippers and nothing tells the big red horny bastard downstairs that you're on his team more than a group of the country's most rich and powerful starting their evening with a nice little banquet at their private country club followed by a ritual of gang rape and human sacrifice.
Johnson: What the fuck.
Rodriguez: If this is true then can you provide the names of this people?
Ramsey: hmm. All in good time gentlemen. Memory's a little foggy right now but down the line who knows?
Johnson: Son of a bitch, you played your card and it's got you off the murder of Kyle Taylor. Don’t be holding back from us.
Attorney: Agent, my client has been extremely co-operative and has given you a comprehensive insight into this organised crime group. He’s said he can’t remember the names of the buyers but you will be the first to know once he can recall them.
Johnson: That right Damian? Got a fuzzy little memory there, have you? Ramsey: Well, I didn’t used to but you know agent, it has been a little foggy ever since you clocked me.
Mediator 2: Guys! Can we just settle down and try wrap this up quickly so we can separate you two?
Johnson: Fine by me.
Ramsey: By all means.
Rodriguez: Ok so we’ve covered Units 1, 2 and 3. Unit 4?
Ramsey: Well, that’s just it. I don’t know.
Johnson: ‘Their Guy’...
Rodriguez: Huh?
Ramsey: I see you gone and catched on there, Billy Boy. Well done.
Rodriguez: Can someone tell me what you're both talking about?
Johnson: Unit 4. Corrupts people.
Ramsey: If I was to hazard a guess. Yes.
Rodriguez: Corrupts who?
Johnson/Ramsey: The Police.
Rodriguez: You said that was speculation though.
Ramsey: Well, it is. However, Unit 4 is kept so close to the chest it's got to be something juicy right? There was once a spotter like myself, who asked a few too many questions about the mysterious Unit 4. Next thing I know, me and another guy are being tasked with dumping a body. We were told not to look who was in the plastic. The other did as he was told but me, I’ve never been able to resist things that make me curious. It was the guy who asked too many questions.
Johnson: Do you know his name? Or is your memory still foggy?
Ramsey: No, I remember. You have my word I will provide his name in my official statement.
Rodriguez: Thank you. Please, can you tell me something?
Ramsey: Shoot...
Rodriguez: This guy who helped you bury the body. The guy who asked too many questions. Yourself. What Unit do you belong to?
Ramsey: Oh agent, I and those men have no official affiliations to those people. See?
Johnson: For the DIR, Mr Ramsey is lifting up his shirt to show us he does not have a tattoo.
Ramsey: The fact I don’t bear the mark should be enough to show you I'm what you might call ‘freelance’.
Rodriguez: The mark?
Johnson: The Butterfly.
Rodriguez: The Brand?
Johnson/Ramsey: Yeah.
Ramsey: Besides, if I was a member. We wouldn’t be sat here talking.
Rodriguez: Why not?
Ramsey: ‘cos like I've said these guys. They have no names. They have no faces.
Johnson: How do they not have faces?
Ramsey: Well I've worked with at least 1 guy from each unit apart from unit 4. I never learnt their name and they never took it off.
Rodriguez: Took what off?
Ramsey: Their mask.
Johnson: … Rabbit or a Bunny, By any chance?
Ramsey: Some yes. The newbies wear a black ski mask or a balaclava. Once they’ve proven themselves, they move up in rank.
Rodriguez: What do they wear when they move up?
Ramsey: Unit 1, the takers. They wear the mask of an eagle. Sometimes a falcon. Either way it’s a bird of prey. Then yes, Unit 2. They wear the mask of a bunny or rabbit. Then Unit 3, the movers. They wear the mask of a sheep.
Johnson: Why those animals?
Ramsey: Who knows? I guess eagles swoop in and snatch their prey. The bunny masks are anything but cute and the sheep masks could symbolise Livestock. There is another mask though...
Johnson: Go on...
Ramsey: A goat or a ram.
Johnson: Unit 4?
Ramsey: Not sure. I just know that if you wear that mask, then boy! You have some serious clout.
Rodriguez: So, the goats and rams, they are the high-ranking members of the group?
Ramsey: Yeah. Pretty much so.
Rodriguez: So, would you say one of the people in the goat mask is ‘The Queen’?
Ramsey: There are 2 goats and 2 rams. 1 commanding officer for each of the 4 states the group operate in. Florida, Virginia, Georgia and Louisiana. But none of them are ‘The Queen’. The ‘Queen’ is someone with a name. Someone with a face. Someone with a lot of power. Someone with a lot of influence. Someone no doubt with a nice family, important job, big reputation, maybe even someone in the public eye.
Rodriguez: Ok well thanks. We will be sure to include your testimony about the group's hierarchy. I have a Question, though.
Ramsey: Go on.
Rodriguez: What level are you in the gang?
Ramsey: Me?! No. Guys like me, we just sell information. You see through our (cough) ‘hobbies’, we spot potential targets. You know the types, kids who get left home alone, kids who sneak out at night to go drink, kids who wonder off from their parents.
Johnson: Like Kyle Taylor?
Ramsey: Hmm yes. Except one thing Bill.
Johnson: What's that then?
Ramsey: Kyle was just my type so I decided to keep him for myself.
(Unidentified Commotion)
Mediator 1: Can we all just settle down! Jesus.
Johnson: You know Ramsey, you’re a sick piece of shit. You’re a slimy son of a bitch who has stuck his nose in all the right places and now you know you’re a goldmine.
Ramsey: Well sorry Bill, but let's not stand here on ceremony Agent Johnson-
Mediator 2: I think we are done for now. Rest of the testimony can be writ-
Ramsey: You had a chance to have me halfway to Macon State by now but instead you sold out that boy too. Just to prove you were right-
Johnson: …
Mediator 1: Ramsey, that’s enough! Counsellor, I suggest you control your client.
Ramsey: - Just to prove that all along, you had it nailed and all these other guys were chasing ghosts.
Johnson: …
Attorney: Come on Damian, let’s leave it there.
Ramsey: No! Fuck you all. I hope the DIR is still running because I will be heard!
Johnson: ...
Rodriguez: Come on Bill, let's go get you a coffee.
Ramsey: Me and you ain’t so different, Bill. We both had chance to do right by that boy and we didn’t.
Johnson: you fucking piece-
Mediator 2: I’m calling this interview to a close.
Ramsey: You could have caught his killer and got his family justice but instead you’ve given me freedom, a new life and a killer, government funded pad. Just so you can be the top Agent at the Bureua...
Mediator 1: I agree, this is getting out of hand now.
Ramsey: … And when that silly, sniffling, whiney, little prick wandered over to me asking me if I could help him find his mummy, I could have shown him back to his parents...
Rodriguez: Yep, come on Bill. Let's get you out of here.
Ramsey: But I didn’t... Instead, I led him down to the train tracks.
Johnson: One day Ramsey, One day... I swear to god-
Ramsey: The look on his face when he knew what I was going to do...
Johnson: One day, you will PAY for what you did to that boy! Karma finds all man!
Ramsey: … Priceless.
Mediator: Interview Terminated at 16.32!
The formalities following these initial interviews included Damian Ramsey providing a fully comprehensive statement of his working knowledge of the OCG known as ‘The Swarm’. In return for his co-operation, he was set up in a safe house in Fort Worth, Texas. He was given a new alias, Dave Miller and was granted total immunity from any crime relating to ‘The Swarm’ and also Kyle Taylor.
Over the course of 14 months, Dave Miller went on to live a life of luxury but he continued to commit crimes in this time however.
In September 2007, he was caught in the process of trying to abduct a 7-year-old girl from a county fair. On his arrest he was also in possession of class A narcotics and stimulants.
In December 2007, he was reported for exposing himself to a group of kids who were playing in a park.
In March 2008, he was arrested for getting drunk and hitting someone with a bottle
I’m sure you all now wondering, how on earth this guy was still within the limits of his WITSEC agreement? Well due to the nature of his interviews and the speculation over the mysterious Unit 4 potentially being a group of individuals working as go betweens for high-ranking state police officers and the influencing members of The Swarm, The FBI set up a MOPI re-route on anything relating to Damian Ramsey or Dave Miller.
A MOPI re-route is an encryption programme used by the FBI to manage sensitive information with the police. Any reports, complaints or searches made in regards to Dave MilleDamian Ramsey were encrypted to anyone outside the FBI and digitally rerouted to the Bureau for them to handle.
This was to protect the FBI’s Golden Goose from a potential corrupt officer handing him over to the Swarm from them to slaughter him. Every time the FBI pulled Dave Miller in for questioning on the charges listed above, they’d threaten to terminate his WITSEC agreement.
However, on each occasion just as the Bureau were about to pull his deal, he would proclaim that his memory had cleared up and he could remember more details about the people who dealt with ‘The Swarm’.
In October 2007, The FBI set up a sting operation on a grooming gang in Jackson, Mississippi. The investigation yielded evidence that the group was being bankrolled by one, Roger Marshall. The Republican Senator for the state.
In November, the gang members were taken down and the organisation was folded under the RICO act and all defendants served sentences between 7-25 years. They also arrested Roger Marshall on November 25th on the following charges.
Malfeasance in a public office, Conspiracy to commit murder, Conspiracy to commit rape and Conspiracy to sexually exploit a child.
The FBI covered up the details of the arrest, posing it as a tax fraud scandal so to try not to alert ‘The Swarm’ they were looking into them.
In January 2008, Dave Miller provided a lead about a group of rich socialites in Chicago who were exploiting young boys for sexual acts who they’d purchased from Unit 3 of the Swarm. There were 13 people arrested in regards to the investigation but the core members were...
Alan Davies, 45, CEO of a stocks and bonds broker. Sentenced 10 years. Jim Pipe, 59, Supreme Court Judge. Sentenced 11 years. Mike Roland 49 and James Roland 47, Criminal Lawyers. Sentenced to a combined 19 years. And the club president, John Paul Richards, 64. The archbishop of the catholic church of Illinois. Sentenced to 15 years with no chance of parole.
In May 2008, Dave Miller provided a lead on a potential Satanic Cult with close ties to the ‘Queen’ based in California. Unfortunately, he claimed his memory was ‘fuzzy’ again and couldn’t think of the names. It was enough to get him off the drunken assault charge however.
By this point however, the FBI had used the information provided by Ramsey/Miller to get two highly sensitive operations sanctioned.
On October 2007, the undercover and sensitive operations unit of the FBI assigned an agent to be immersed into the OCG known as ‘The Swarm’. That man was Joe Clayton. An experience undercover agent who has worked to bring down biker gangs in Canada and a violent cartel in Mexico. The details of his integration, immersion and investigation will be included in his journal. I intend to post Claytons journal once I can crack the encryption on the 2nd half of it. Having viewed the first half, trust me It’s honestly quite the read.
Two other key pieces of evidences were entered against the gang after a serious event occurred in July 2008.
On Thursday 27th July 2008, Dave Miller attempted to abduct another child, Kim Summerfield aka Olivia Matthews, with the sole intention of inflicting as much pain and suffering as his did to Kyle Taylor in 2005. This is the girl who I referenced earlier with the link to her story.
As Dave Miller tried to force Kim into her empty home to violently rape and murder her, he was abducted by Unit 1 of the Swarm and drove away in a white Ford Transit van to the ‘Hive’, where Unit 2 made him pay for his betrayal.
On Friday 5th July 2008, Unit 1 of the Swarm attempted to take Kim Summerfield from her home but after an unfortunate case of mistaken identity, her friend Grace Blake aka Jessica, was kidnapped instead. Unit 3 of the group attempted to trade her to the same group who ordered Kim but the mystery organisation only wanted Kim. Grace was then handed over to Unit 2.
Later that evening, at 00.23 am, a botched FBI sting was ambushed by Unit 1 and FBI Agent Ray Daniels was also kidnapped. He was also handed over to Unit 2.
Grace Blake, Ray Daniels and Damian Ramsey were all brutally killed on Livestream sites on encrypted websites.
This is where the other two pieces of evidence came in to play.
Two 16-year-old boys, Liam Brookes and Mark Neill, we’re urban exploring and unwittingly stumbled into ‘The Hive’. They witnessed the three murders of Blake, Ramsey and Daniels. They also saw faces and vehicles. The boys took their information to the police. This is where the suspicions of Damian Ramsey and Agent Johnson about corrupt police involvement was sadly confirmed.
Liam Brooks left a detailed letter documenting the week between his discovery of the Gang and the day he disappeared from his home on July 12th 2008
This evidence was paramount in proving a link between ‘The Swarm’ and high level police corruption. I am 90% finished decrypting his letter. I am excited to read and post this brave young man's sacrifice.
And finally, after Ramsey/Miller was kidnapped and taken away, this prompted the FBI to hire Dave Peterson. A freelance cybercrime expert who had extensive experience in unearthing the most hidden pathways on the hidden web. He’d been hired all over the world by M15, the CIA and Interpol to help bring down one of ISIS’ recruitment site. He’d also done work for the DEA to help bring down illicit drug sites like Silkroad.
When an eyewitness to the Ramsey kidnapping called the police to report the incident, the MOPI notice alerted the FBI of Ramsey’s situation. They shut the police out of it immediately and on Saturday June 28th 2008, Peterson was hired to do an independent investigation to try and locate the missing Federal Witness Damian Ramsey and, in the process, find the main haunt of the Swarm known as The Hive.
On July 6th, after Agent Johnson and his team had taken investigatory control of the Grace Blake abduction, A botched sting to try reclaim her at an arranged meet with a unit of the gang resulted in the abduction of Ray Daniels. Peterson was then tasked in finding him too before it was too late. David Peterson recorded his findings on a Dictaphone, whilst searching the deep web. This has since been transcripted and again, I have obtained the file. I will just need some time to decrypt it.
Unfortunately, David Peterson along with Liam Brookes and Joe Clayton all suffered horrible fates due to their involvement in the investigation. The Important thing is however, that they still managed to get the job done and submit enough evidence for this group to be brought to its knees eventually in April 2012 when the ‘Queen’ was unmasked and there was enough evidence to crush the organisation and all its units and associations under the RICO act. Before you ask, no I don’t know who the ‘Queen’ was. I imagine it will be revealed in one of the coded submissions so I am working day and night to crack the FBIs encryption. If you’re wondering what happened to Agent Johnson. After, the FBI sting was ambushed, he faced a disciplinary board in regards to his judgement to send a team of just 5 agents to a potentially combustible stand-off with a criminal organisation with a known history of extreme violence. He argued that any larger FBI presence would have potentially scared off the Swarm and they would have lost the chance to save Grace Blake.
The board agreed his actions were justifiable and the operation was authorised by the Strategic Firearms Commander. However, 5 Agents lost their lives and the Bureau needed a scapegoat. As punishment, he was removed as Senior Commanding Officer of the Major Violent Crimes Department and replaced with his protégé, Danny Rodriguez.
Agent Johnson, never a man who measured himself on status and titles, took it on the chin and was pleased Danny got the promotion. He deserved it. He continued to serve with Agent Rodriguez, giving his life to the cause of bringing down the Swarm.
Travelling 250 miles a week, working 16 hours a day, surviving on flat whites and big macs.
In July 2011, Agent Johnson was Diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma. He was given 6 months to live.
He refused to take early retirement on medical grounds. He also refused treatment and medication so not to effect his work performance.
Agent Johnson was present 9 months later when the FBI arrested and charged ‘The Queen’.
Agent Johnson was present when 87 violent criminals who had all were part of the OCG known as ‘The Swarm’ were brought to justice. 42 arrested. 45 shot and killed by federal operatives.
Agent Johnson was present when 268 young boys and girls were released from captivity after being sexually exploited and abused across 7 different locations in 5 different states. Each and every single of them thanked him for his hard work to save their lives.
Agent Johnson was then present 2 months later when the surviving gang members, known associates, accomplices and their remaining leaders were ALL sentenced to indefinite years in separate maximum-security prisons.
2 days after the last sentencing, Agent Johnson was admitted to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital after he fainted in his own home.
He died 23rd June 2012.
People say once he brought down the group. He had nothing else to live for.
The Agents at the Bureau all say that the man was born to bring down the Swarm. Despite all the set-backs, despite all the grief, the man never lost sight of his goal.
His photo is on the Wall of Fame at FBI HQ, Quantico.
This story has been untold outside the FBI for 8 years! Due to the horrific nature of the level of institutionalised corruption in the state police departments and the state political scene, the details of this investigation have been buried, including the tremendous sacrifices of the people involved.
This was to protect the public's trust in their local police, mayors and senates. As the findings of this investigation, we’re eye opening to say the least.
This is the first of 4, I need time to decrypt the other pieces of evidence but once I crack the codes, I will submit all the other stories.
Please watch out for the next one!

Emanuela Orlandi,15-year-old girl, was the daughter of a clerk working at the Prefecture of the Papal Household [that manages the Papal residence in the Vatican] and disappeared in Rome on June 22, 1983. Her disappearance was then linked to the disappearance of another Roman teenager, Mirella Gregori, who disappeared on May 7, 1983 and was never found again. What at first seemed like a common case of two missing girls, soon became one of the darkest cases in Italian and Vatican history, involving the Vatican itself, the Italian State, the Vatican bank , the Magliana Gang [criminal organization], the Banco Ambrosiano [Catholic bank] and the secret services of several countries. The real nature of the events has never been defined.
flyer with photos and info of the girls: https://images.app.goo.gl/ERHHSNA7epWqFgca6
*** Sorry for any mistake, English is not my native language, I hope everything is understandable 🌈

• The disappearance of Mirella Gregori (May 7, 1983)

Mirella Gregori was the youngest daughter of the owners of a bar in Volturno Street in Rome. She lived with her parents and was described by everyone as an absolutely normal girl. She attended a technical high school in Rome. On May 7, 1983, Mirella went to school and returned home around 2pm, after spending some time with a friend in a bar near her home. That friend said they had talked about normal everyday things and could not provide any other information. Back home, Mirella was called on the intercom by someone called "Sandro", who was pretending to be her friend, and to whose requests to go out Mirella exclaimed: "If you don't tell me who you are, I won't come out!". Then she said they could meet at 3pm. Around 3 pm the girl went out, telling her mother that she had an appointment at Porta Pia with an old classmate, who, after being heard by the investigators, declared that he was busy elsewhere that afternoon and had a alibi. Since then, the family has not heard from the girl. The mother reported that her daughter, shortly before she disappeared, bragged to her that she was able to find the money to buy an apartment that her parents could not afford; however, that idea at the time was dismissed as a joke.

• The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi (June 22, 1983)

Emanuela Orlandi (born in Rome on January 14, 1968) lived in the Vatican city with her parents, brother and sisters: she was the fourth child of five. In June 1983 she had just finished the second year of high school at the Vittorio Emanuele II National Boarding School. She had considerable musical talent and had attended for years a music school in Piazza Sant'Apollinare in Rome, not far from Palazzo Madama [office of the Senate of the Republic]. There she attended piano, flute, choral singing and solfeggio courses.
The day of her disappearance, Emanuela went to music class around 4 pm, but left at 6.45 pm, ten minutes earlier than usual. Then she phoned her older sister Federica from a telephone booth, saying that she would be late because the bus didn't pass and that a man had stopped her on the street offering her a job during a fashion show for the sum of 370,000 lire [about 500 euros today]. It was a job of a few hours as a promoter of cosmetic products of a well-known brand [Avon] during a fashion show in the Sorelle Fontana atelier, in a few days; however, her sister advised her not to heed such a proposal and suggested that she return home as soon as possible to discuss it with their mother. This was the last contact Emanuela had with her family. Later, it was found that the cosmetics company in question - which moreover employed only female staff - had nothing to do with the job offer allegedly made to the young woman and it also turned out that, in the same period, other adolescents of the same age of Emanuela had been lured by a man under the false pretext of advertising cosmetic products at events like fashion shows.
After the phone call, Emanuela together with two classmates (Maria Grazia and Raffaella), reached the bus stop in Corso Rinascimento. According to the girls, Emanuela alluded to a very attractive job offer she received and, warned by them, said that she would first ask permission from her parents and that she would still be careful to avoid nasty surprises. Around 7:30 pm, first Maria Grazia and then Raffaella got on two different buses headed home, while, according to Raffaella, Emanuela didn't get on the bus, because it was too crowded, and said she would wait for the next one. From this moment, all traces of the girl are lost. According to another later version, after the phone call Emanuela confided to Raffaella that she would stay there and wait for the man who had made her the offer, to inform him that she would first ask permission from her parents to participate. Raffaella then reported that she had seen Emanuela (from the bus window) talking to a curly-haired woman, who was never identified, although some suggested that it was most likely some other student of the music school.
When Emanuela didn't come home, her father Ercole and her brother began searching at the music school and in the vicinity of it, they contacted the principal of the school who provided the telephone numbers of some of Emanuela's classmates and advised to wait before alerting the police; nevertheless Ercole Orlandi went immediately to the "Trevi" Commissariat to report her disappearance, but the staff invited him to wait before filing a complaint, suggesting that the girl had stopped for dinner with friends and forgot to call home. The complaint was formalized the following morning (June 23) by her sister Natalina. The next day (24 June) the Roman newspapers "Il Tempo" and "Il Messaggero" published the news of the disappearance and a photograph of the girl, with the plea for help from the family and their telephone numbers.

• The phone-calls from "Pierluigi"

On June 25, after a series of unreliable phone calls, a interesting phone call arrived from a young man. His name was "Pierluigi", 16 years old. He said that together with his girlfriend he had met two girls in Campo dei Fiori [Roman square]; one of them was selling cosmetics, had a flute with her and said her name was Barbara. "Pierluigi" also reported that "Barbara", at the invitation to play the flute, refused because to do so she had had to wear glasses, which she did not like and had added that she would have preferred a Ray-Ban model like the one that the alleged girlfriend of "Pierluigi" wore.
Three hours later "Pierluigi" called back, adding that "Barbara's" glasses were "teardrop glasses, to correct astigmatism" but refused to meet with Emanuela's family or letting his girlfriend talk to them, claiming that she was distracted and unreliable. These calls appeared reliable to the family, (Emanuela was astigmatic, she was ashamed tof wearing glasses and played the flute). On June 26, "Pierluigi", during another phone-call answered by Emanuele's uncle, added some information about himself: he said that day he was with his parents at a restaurant by the sea. He also communicated that "Barbara" said that she was going to play the flute at her sister's wedding scheduled for September, but refused any further collaboration to track down Emanuela and meet her uncle in person; indeed, when Emanuela's uncle asked him to meet in the Vatican city (at Emanuela's parents' house)"Pierluigi" was surprised and asked the uncle if he was a preist. The investigators found out that among Emanuela's friends there was indeed a boy named Pierluigi, who, however, was on vacation elsewhere at the time of her disappearance.

• The phone-calls from "Mario"

On June 28 it was the turn of "Mario", who claimed to be the owner of a bar in Rome, near Piazza dell'Orologio [very close to Ponte Vittorio, along the route that Emanuela usually took to go to the music school]. "Mario", who had a strong Roman accent, said he was 35 years old. He claimed to have seen a man and two girls selling cosmetics, one of whom claimed to be from Venice and was called "Barbarella". During the phone call from "Mario" a small detail was significant: when asked about the height of the girl, he hesitated and then said "She's quite tall", but Emanuela was barely 5,2 feet tall. In the background, a second voice was heard, saying "No, more!".
In another phone call, "Mario" explained that "Barbara" had confided to him that she had voluntarily left the house because she was tired of the domestic routine, but that she intended to return at the end of summer, for her sister's wedding. The family, considering this hypothesis impossible, lost faith in the phone calls from "Mario" and "Pierluigi". Years later, it was suggested that "Mario" was a man close to the Magliana Gang [criminal organization], but this hypothesis was never proved.

• First investigations: the man in the green BMW

In the days following Emanuela's disappearance her brother and some friends discovered that a young woman, described as very similar to Emanuela, had been noticed talking to a man (both from a police officer and a traffic policeman on duty in front of the Senate). The man was about 5,7 ft tall, between thirty-five and forty, slender, elegantly dressed, with a long face, balding, he carried a briefcase or bag and drove a green BMW Touring. The policeman claimed there was a casing, perhaps a haversack, in the man's hands.
A collaborator of SISDE [Italian secret services] and friend of Orlandi's cousin, Giulio Gangi, soon managed to track down the "tundra green" BMW; he discovered that it had been repaired (despite being undocumented) by a mechanic from the Vescovio district. A blonde woman had brought the car to this mechanic; the damage involved the breakage of the glass of the right front window, but this breakage did not seem to have been caused by a direct action from the outside towards the inside, it was from the inside towards the outside. Gangi quickly tracked down the woman in question, but she refused to cooperate and on the way back to his office Gangi discovered that his superiors had been informed of what he was doing, despite using fake documents and a fake license plate.
Gangi had also checked the Fontana sisters' atelier, where he was informed that a lot of girls had showed up, deluded to be able to participate as presenters of cosmetics. That possibility was definitely excluded by the director. A year after Emanuela's disappearance, a Roman teenager was lured by a young fake promoter of cosmetics; the man was stopped but turned out to be unrelated to the Orlandi case.

• Alleged connections with the attack on John Paul II (the Grey Wolves lead) and "the Amerikano"

Wikipedia page about the attempted assassination of the Pope (English): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Pope_John_Paul_II
Wikipedia page about the Gray Wolves (English): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Wolves_(organization)
Wikipedia page of Mehmet Ali Ağca (English): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmet_Ali_A%C4%9Fca
On July 3, 1983, the Pope John Paul II addressed a plea to those responsible for the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, formalizing for the first time the hypothesis of the kidnapping. On July 5, a phone call came to the Vatican press office. At the other end of the phone a man, who spoke with a strong Anglo-Saxon accent (and for this reason was immediately renamed by the press "the Amerikano"), claimed to be holding Emanuela Orlandi hostage, arguing that many other elements had already been provided by others members of his organization, "Pierluigi" and "Mario", and requested the activation of a direct phone line with the Vatican. He asked to release by July 20 Mehmet Ali Ağca [turkish terrorist, member of the terroristic organization Grey Wolves, he shot the Pope in St. Peter's Square a couple of years earlier]. An hour later, the man called Orlandi home, and played a tape of the recorded voice of a girl with Roman accent, who repeated a phrase six times, perhaps extrapolated from a longer phrase: «School: Vittorio Emanuele II National Boarding School, it's my third year of high school».
On July 8, a man with a Middle Eastern accent phoned a friend of Emanuela, saying that Emanuela was their prisoner and that they had 20 days to release Ali Ağca, then asked for a direct phone line with the Cardinal Agostino Casaroli [Secretary of State]. The young friend declared that she and Emanuela had exchanged telephone numbers on the same day of her disappearance, to keep in touch for the preparation of a concert, adding that Emanuela had transcribed her number on a piece of paper that she had placed in her jeans pocket. On July 17, a tape was found in which the request for the release of Ağca and the request for a direct phone line with Cardinal Casaroli was confirmed; the voice of a girl on the tape was begging for help, saying she felt ill; it was found that the voice had been extrapolated from a film and was not Emanuela's. The phone line was installed on July 18. A few days later, in another phone call, "the Amerikano" asked Emanuela's uncle to make public the message contained on the tape.
The phone calls from "the Amerikano" were 16, all from telephone booths. Despite the various requests, and the alleged evidence, the man (never traced) did not open any real leads. No evidence was ever produced that the girl was actually hostage of the Gray Wolves, the organization of which Ağca was a member of. In the press release of November 20, 1984, the Gray Wolves declared that they kept Emanuela and Mirella Gregori as prisoners. The "Turkish lead" of the Gray Wolves, however, has been disavowed by 'former Stasi [East German secret services] officer Günter Bohnsack, who stated that the East German secret services exploited the case of Emanuela Orlandi and wrote fake letters to Rome, to consolidate the thesis that connected Ağca with the Gray Wolves, in order to exonerate Bulgaria from the accusations during the investigation into the attack on Pope John Paul II.
On February 2, 2010 Pietro Orlandi, Emanuela's brother, had an interview with Ali Ağca, in which the terrorist confirmed the hypothesis that the kidnapping was orchestrated by the Vatican (already mentioned in the phone call of July 5). He mentioned the name of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re (considering him a person informed on the facts) and reassured him that "Emanuela is alive and will soon return home". According to the former Gray Wolf, the girl “now lives in a secluded villa in France or Switzerland. She will come back home ». A year later, the recording of the interview was published on the show "Who has seen it?" [Italian true crime show], where they censored the cardinal's name. There, Pietro Orlandi announced that he had spoken with the cardinal himself, that denied the words of the terrorist.
Wikipedia page of Cardinal Battista Re (English): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Re
According to some newspapers and publications, the identikit of "the Amerikano" corresponds to Monsignor Paul Marcinkus, who at the time was president of the IOR, the Vatican "bank": SISDE specialists, analyzing the messages and phone calls received by the family, for a total of 34 communications, considered them reliable and linked to those who had carried out the kidnapping. The mysterious person had a thorough knowledge of the Latin language, better than Italian, was probably of Anglo-Saxon culture and had a high cultural level and knowledge of the ecclesiastical world and the Vatican, in addition to the in-depth knowledge of different areas of Rome (where he probably had lived).
Wikipedia page of Monsignor Paul Marcinkus (English): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Marcinkus

• Alleged connections with the Magliana Gang

Wikipedia page of the Gang (English): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banda_della_Magliana
Wikipedia page of De Pedis (English): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_De_Pedis
Wikipedia page of Cardinal Poletti (English): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugo_Poletti
Wikipedia page of Roberto Calvi (English): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Calvi
Wikipedia page of Michele Sindona (English): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Sindona
On July 11, 2005, an anonymous phone call arrived at the editorial staff of the program "Who has seen it?" in which it was said that in order to solve the case of Emanuela Orlandi it was necessary to go and see who was buried in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare. They had to check "the favor that Renatino did to Cardinal Poletti". It was thus discovered that "Renatino", the deceased man buried there, was none other than a boss of the Magliana Gang, Enrico De Pedis. A journalist managed to obtain the photos of the tomb and the original documents relating to the burial of the boss, commissioned by Cardinal Ugo Poletti, then president of the CEI [Bishop Assembly]. On February 20, 2006, a repentant of the Gang, Antonio Mancini, claimed in an interview with a journalist of "Who has seen it?" that he recognized "Mario"'s voice as the voice of a hitman at the service of De Pedis, called Rufetto. However, the investigations conducted by the Public Prosecutor's Office did not confirm Mancini's statement.
A postcard depicting a southern town was then sent to the editorial staff, with the following text: «Leave Renatino alone». The same year Sabrina Minardi, ex-wife of footballer Bruno Giordano, said in an interview that between the spring of 1982 and November 1984 she had a relationship with De Pedis. In 2007 Antonio Mancini released statements relating to the involvement of De Pedis and some Vatican exponents in the disappearence of Emanuela Orlandi, revealing that in prison, at the time of Emanuela's disappearance, "it was said that the girl was ours [of the Gang], one of us had taken her ". Mancini's declarations also seem to be confirmed by Maurizio Abbatino, another repentant of the Gang who, in December 2009, revealed some rumors among the Gang members on the involvement of De Pedis and his men in the kidnapping and murder of Emanuela. In June 2008 the press reported the statements that Minardi had made: Emanuela was killed and her body, locked up in a sack, was thrown into a cement mixer in Torvaianica [Roman district]. On that occasion, according to Minardi, De Pedis also got rid of the body of an 11-year-old boy killed in revenge, Domenico Nicitra, son of a old member of the Gang. Little Nicitra, however, was killed on June 21, 1993, ten years after the time period described by Minardi, and three years after the death of De Pedis himself, which occurred at the beginning of 1990. According to the woman, the abduction of Emanuela would have been materially carried out by De Pedis, at the orders of Monsignor Marcinkus "because they wanted to send a message to someone above them".
In particular, Sabrina Minardi said she arrived by car at the Gianicolo bar, where De Pedis had told her to meet a girl she was supposed to "take to the Vatican gas station". A dark BMW arrived at the meeting, with "Sergio" ( the driver of De Pedis), then a red Renault 5 arrived with a girl called "Teresina" (the housekeeper of Daniela Mobili, a friend of Minardi) and a confused girl on it, recognized by the witness as Emanuela Orlandi. Then, "Sergio" put Emanuela in the BMW that Minardi drove. Left alone in the car with the girl, the woman noticed that she "was crying and laughing together" and "looked like a drug addict." When she arrived at the gas station, she found a man "who looked like a priest" waiting in a Mercedes with a number plate of the Vatican City. They took Emanuela.The girl then spent her imprisonment in Rome, in a house owned by Daniela Mobili (Minardi's friend) in Pignatelli Street, which had "an immense basement that almost reached the San Camillo Hospital" (whose existence, in addition to a small bathroom and an underground lake, was ascertained by the investigators in June 2008). The housekeeper of Daniela Mobili, "Teresina", took care of Emanuela; according to Minardi, Daniela Mobili was close to Danilo Abbruciati, another leading exponent of the Magliana Gang.
Mobili denied knowing Minardi or having a role in the kidnapping, since in those years she was, like her husband, in prison. However, Minardi has referred in the past to the housekeeper "Teresina", who actually worked at the apartment at that time, even though she did not have a driving license. Subsequently, Minardi cited another member of the Gang, who, traced by the police, confessed that the refuge in Pignatelli Street was indeed a hiding place, "but not for the kidnapped, [but] for the wanted. It was the refuge of "Renatino" [De Pedis] », denying the connection between the former boss of the Magliana Gang and the kidnapping of Emanuela Orlandi.
Minardi said she had dinner twice together with De Pedis (at that time already wanted by the police) and Giulio Andreotti [seven time shady Italian Prime Minister] and that it "has nothing to do directly with Emanuela Orlandi, but with Monsignor Marcinkus, yes". Minardi's statements, although they were recognized by investigators as partially inconsistent (due to the woman's drug use in the past), gained more credibility in August 2008, following the discovery of the BMW that Minardi herself said was used for the transport of Emanuela Orlandi and which appeared to have belonged first to Flavio Carboni, an entrepreneur investigated and then acquitted in the trial on the death of Roberto Calvi [Italian banker], and subsequently in one of the Gang members'. The publication of what Minardi said sparked protests from the Vatican, which, through Father Federico Lombardi, spokesman for the Holy Press Office, spoke of "a lack of humanity and respect for the Orlandi family ", and he defined as" false the accusations made against Archbishop Marcinkus, who has been dead for some time and who's unable to defend himself ".
On June 30 of that year the show "Who has seen it?" transmitted the full version of the anonymous phone call of July 2005, left private until that moment. After the revelations on the tombs of De Pedis and Cardinal Poletti, the voice added "And ask the bartender in Montebello Street, that his daughter was also with her ... with the other Emanuela." The bar turned out to belong to the family of S. D. V., a friend of Mirella Gregori. The staff of the program was also threatened by another anonymous phone call from a certain "Blond". On November 21, another interview with Minardi was broadcasted on Rai News 24, where she said that Emanuela Orlandi had spent the first fifteen days of imprisonment in Torvaianica, in the house owned by Minardi's parents.
On March 10, 2010, the existence of a new suspect was announced, it was Sergio Virtù, indicated by Sabrina Minardi as the trusted driver of De Pedis, and who allegedly had a role in the kidnapping of the girl. The man was under investigation for aggravated voluntary homicide and kidnapping. Virtù was arrested on the day of the interrogation for other crimes and transferred to the Regina Coeli prison. He had two previous sentences for fraud crimes. Virtú denied any wrongdoing on the matter, in particular that he had known or had friendly relations with De Pedis. There were also some statements by another woman, defined by the investigators as a former cohabitant, who also allegedly had a role in the kidnapping and had received compensation for this.
In July 2010 the Vicariate of Rome gave the go-ahead for the inspection of the tomb of De Pedis in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare and the DNA sampling was compared with the DNA of De Pedis's brother, relatives of Emanuela and Antonietta Gregori, Mirella's sister.
In July 2011, the district prosecutor of Rome arrested some members of the De Tomasi family, accused of crimes including usury and money laundering; according to the investigators, Giuseppe De Tomasi, known as "Sergione", affiliated with the Magliana Gang, was the same person who phoned the Orlandi family in 1983, identifying himself with the name "Mario", while his son, Carlo Alberto De Tomasi, was the author of the phone call to the show "Who has seen it?" in 2005. In 1984 De Pedis was arrested in an apartment in Vittorini Street, propriety of Giuseppe De Tommasi. Sergione, as told by the repentant Abbatino, was pardoned by De Pedis and organized his wedding reception in June 1988. He also attended De Pedis funeral. De Tommasi defended himself by saying that he could not have made that call in 1983 because he was in prison. On July 24 Antonio Mancini, in an interview with " La Stampa", stated that Orlandi was actually kidnapped by the Gang to obtain in return the money invested in the IOR [Vatican Bank] through the Banco Ambrosiano [Catholic bank] (as also hypothesized by judge Rosario Priore). Mancini added that he believed they wanted to ask for 20 billion and that it was De Pedis who put an end to the phone calls, despite the fact that the money had not all been returned, but obtaining in exchange, among other things, the possibility of being buried in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare, as it actually happened later.
On May 14, 2012, the tomb of De Pedis was finally opened but inside there was just the body of the deceased who, as wished by the family, was cremated. It was then excavated more thoroughly, but only small remains of bones (dating back to the Napoleonic period) were found; no traces of Emanuela and Mirella's DNA was found. Four days later, on 18 May, Monsignor Pietro Vergari was investigated for complicity in kidnapping. In October 2015 the GIP [preliminary judge], at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office and due to lack of consistent evidence, closed the investigation into the disappearances of Emanuela Orlandi and Mirella Gregori, started in 2006 due to the statements of Sabrina Minardi and which found six people under investigation for murder and kidnapping. In 2018 Abbatino revealed that he learned from Claudio Sicilia [member of the Magliana Band] that De Pedis was behind the kidnapping.
“It was for the money he gave to the Vatican. Money ended up in the IOR pockets and was never returned. And there were not only the billions of De Pedis but also the money of the mafia. The murder of Michele Sindona [italian banker and criminal] and that of Roberto Calvi [italian banker] are linked to the Orlandi kidnapping. If the first one is not resolved, the truth about Calvi's alleged suicide and the girl's disappearance will never be solved. In my opinion it was not an order [from the mafia] but a thing done in agreement. I know of Renatino's relations [De Pedis] with Monsignor Casaroli. I can confirm the Gang's relationship with the Vatican. But I have never met Don Vergari. He may also have done charity but he was certainly not Catholic, Renato was a Buddhist. Relations between the Vatican and the Magliana Gang date back to those years [at least to 1976]. And they are due to Franco's [Magliana Gang member] friendships. There was a homosexual boy, his name was Nando. It was him who brought Franco to Casaroli. Casaroli was known. Franco knew him. And I know that this friendship was "inherited" from Renatino."

• The pedophile lead
  According to an investigative lead, Emanuela Orlandi was lured and killed in a round of sexual parties in which members of the clergy, a Vatican gendarme and diplomatic staff of a foreign embassy were involved. Other investigations refer to a trail leading to Boston, involving pedophile priests.
  

According to Father Gabriele Amorth [excommunicated priest, exorcist, and all around not a reliable person], Emanuela Orlandi was drugged and then killed in an orgy of pedophiles held in the Vatican. This is the hypothesis that, in an interview released in May 2012 to" La Stampa", was advanced by the man defined by the newspaper as the "world leader of exorcists"; the theory is also published in his book "The Last Exorcist". In the interview, the exorcist stated the following: «As also stated by Monsignor Simeone Duca, Vatican archivist, parties were organized in which a gendarme was also involved as a" recruiter of girls ". I believe that Emanuela ended up as a victim [...] I never believed in the international lead, I have reason to believe that it was a case of sexual exploitation resulting in murder shortly after the disappearance and concealment of the body. The crime also involved diplomatic personnel from a foreign embassy ”. The same hypothesis, with the addition of the involvement of Monsignor Paul Marcinkus, was made by the collaborator of justice Vincenzo Calcara, former mafia affiliate, who reported to the show "Who has seen it ?", in 2014, an alleged statment of a mafia boss, affirming that Orlandi died during a drug and sex party and that she's buried in the Vatican with other alleged young victims.
An anonymous source, in 2005, stated that Emanuela died, perhaps accidentally, following a "convivial meeting" held in a house near the terminal of the bus that the girl took to return home. The house was propriety of a high prelate or a person close to the Vatican, and her body was probably hidden nearby. No proof of this was found.

• Recent Developments

In June 2011, during a live debate on TV about Pietro Orlandi's book "My sister Emanuela", a man who declared himself a former SISMI [Italian military secret services] agent stated that "Emanuela is alive, she is in an asylum in England and is always sedated" . He added that the cause of the kidnapping was the knowledge by Ercole Orlandi, Emanuela's father, of "dirty" money laundering activities, linking the kidnapping to the death of Calvi [italian banker].
In September 2017, the journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi, author of two other books concerning the Vatican, published "The impostors. Inquiry into power". In May he came into possession of a report dated March 28, 1998 sent by the then leader of the APSA [who administers the patrimony of the Holy See] Cardinal Lorenzo Antonetti (who died three years earlier) to the archbishops Giovanni Battista Re [substitute for the General Affairs of the Secretariat of State] and Jean-Louis Tauran [in charge of Relations with States] titled "Summary report of the expenses incurred by the Vatican City state for the activities relating to the citizen Emanuela Orlandi" and in the first paragraph reads: "The Administrative Prefecture of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See has received a mandate to draw up a summary document of the economic services necessary to support the activities carried out following the kidnapping and the subsequent events of the citizen Emanuela Orlandi. "
The document, which would prove that the girl was alive, was allegedly stolen in the night between 29 and 30 March 2014, from the safe in an armored cabinet of the Prefecture of Economic Affairs, which was under the responsibility of the secretary Monsignor Lucio Ángel Vallejo Balda. Balda was arrested on November 2, 2015, as part of the so-called Vatileaks 2, for providing confidential information for the publication of the book "Via Crucis" by Gianluigi Nuzzi (which ended up under investigation together with Fittipaldi who had written "Avarizia") and was then pardoned by the Pope. Francesca Chaoqui, a member of COSEA [Pontifical referent for the organization of the economic-administrative structure] under Balda's control until his arrest, revealed that in the safe, in addition to the dossier on Orlandi, there were also dossiers on Michele Sindona [criminal and banker] and Umberto Ortolani [shady banker] (as also confirmed by Monsignor Alfredo Abbondi, head of the Prefecture office), on the IOR and on the political expenses of Pope John Paul II during the Cold War and she also said that the theft was faked by Balda himself.
The report in Fittipaldi's possession was typewritten with a font dating back twenty years, it did not contain official stamps and therefore could also be a fake. It listed the expenses between January 1983 (six months before the disappearance) and July 1997 for a total sum of 483 million lire [around 250000 euros] used to investigate at the Atelier Fontana (from which the girl made the last call home before her disappearance), then they investigated the secretary of State Agostino Casaroli, the president of the CEI Cardinal Ugo Poletti, the boarding and lodging at the Catholic student hostel in London, Emanuela's travel and medical expenses, the trips to London by senior representatives of the Vatican [...].
In June 2017, the Orlandi family had already filed an application to be able to view "a dossier kept in the Vatican" (Pietro Orlandi had learned of its existence in February / March according to their lawyer). Monsignor Angelo Becciu (substitute for General Affairs of the secretariat) denied its existence, however, Cardinal Re assured that "the secretariat of state (of which he was substitute in 1997) had nothing to hide" and on the phone with Fittipaldi stopped the conversation.
In October 2018, the Vatican permitted the DNA analysis on some bones found during restoration work at the Vatican Nunciature in Rome. The investigations, entrusted by the Holy See to Italy, and in particular to the Rome prosecutor and the scientific police, were aimed at comparing those bones with Emanuela Orlandi's DNA. However, the bones found in the Nunciature did not belong to Emanuela Orlandi, nor to Mirella Gregori. From the analysis of the Scientific police the bones of the Nunciature undoubtedly dated back to a period prior to 1964. And above all they were attributable to the skeleton of a man. On 11 July 2019, a further inspection was carried out in two graves in the Teutonic cemetery, those of Princess Sofia of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Bartenstein and Princess Carlotta Federica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, following specific leads. But no human remains were found inside.

• Sources

documentary (Italian): https://youtu.be/ObQCgKGivqc
Wikipedia pages (English):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Mirella_Gregori
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Emanuela_Orlandi
others::
https://www.insider.com/everything-we-know-about-the-1983-disappearance-of-emanuela-orlandi-2018-11
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/20/emanuela-orlandi-brother-anguish-vatican-missing-teenager-investigation
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49055783

DECN is a company that was founded in the early 2000s. Before COVID-19 shocked the world, their product was(and still is) an at-home blood glucose testing strip; these items can be found on Amazon and a plethora of other medical sites.
On March 3rd, 2020, they announced an introduction to their screening method for COVID-19.
"Our product is timely, simple to use, cost-effective, and will be commercially ready in the summer of 2020."
"I want to say straight on that we have developed a Coronavirus screening method, not a cure or a vaccine for this virus. That being said, our screening method should allow for 80% of the suspected carriers of Coronavirus to exit the quarantine systems in the places where Coronavirus is rampant."
https://www.accesswire.com/578719/DECN-Jumps-into-Screening-and-Testing-Channel-For-Coronavirus-COVID19-Using-Its-Innovative-Impedance-Technology-First-Implemented-In-Its-GenUltimate-TBG
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Before this announcement, the stock was trading sub $0.02. On March 3rd, the stock reached a peak of $0.045.
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The next day, they had more PR come out that stated the following:
"..... GenViro for the Coronavirus (covid19) began as an outgrowth of our GenUltimate TBG product line. What makes the testing for the Coronavirus possible, and the GenUltimate TBG special is the company's Impedance measurement technology."
https://www.accesswire.com/578869/DECN-Fills-in-the-Gaps-Adds-to-Knowledge-Base-for-its-GenViroTM-Coronavirus-Covid19-Multi-Dimensional-Diagnostic-Methodology-Announced-March-2
DECN's stock price stayed within the $0.03-$0.04 range with this PR
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On March 11th, just a week after their first announcement, they put out a PR that started a lot of buzz and hype.
"Today... we present the Coronavirus test kit and the Phase 1 unit forecast... We anticipate the sale of 420,000,000 kits in the first full year of commercial sale. The company has retained FDA counsel who is in the process of securing expected emergency waiver for diagnostics and diagnostic devices."
"Keith Berman, CEO of DECN commented, "Because we perfected the Impedance technology in 2019 for our GenUltimate TBG glucose test strip and meter, we have shaved months off of the development time for the GenViro! device."
https://www.accesswire.com/579985/DECN-Provides-First-Looks-At-Its-GenViroTM-Corona-Virus-Screening-Kit-First-Year-Product-Forecast-of-420-Million-Kits-with-Sales-Beginning-Late-3Q-2020
This caused the stock price to jump from sub $0.025 to over $0.07; within a week it went up 350% and started gaining a lot more eyes due to how big this virus was starting to get around the world.
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Over the coming weeks, they would put out more and more PR highlighting the product previously spoken about, and this would gain the eyes of a lot of investors because of how rapidly the virus was spreading.
Some key quotes from their PR:
"We are awaiting (the) release of blood samples from previously infected people in Daegu, Korea, so that we can complete testing and make a final report to the U.S. FDA so that we may secure our Emergency Waiver."
https://www.accesswire.com/580769/DECN-Updates-on-Its-Corona-Virus-Testing-Product-GenviroTM-With-200000-Kits-to-Be-Provided-in-USA-EU-Prior-to-the-Summer-12-Month-Forecast-Updated-to-480mm
"We are happy to inform all interested parties that we have raised our 12-month forecast to 525 million kits."
"... receiving a plan from our technical and R&D director, we decided to take the next step with GenViro™and further refine its use for hospitals. While we have not yet forecast sales to hospitals, and while most of the lesser but competitive products are directed toward hospital uses, we nonetheless believe that hospitals will be a large future source of revenues."
https://www.accesswire.com/581057/DECNS-GenViroTM-Corona-Virus-Swift-Kit-Now-to-Be-Additionally-Offered-to-Commercial-Labs-and-Religious-Groups-as-12-Month-Forecast-is-Raised-to-525MM
"Mr. Berman concluded, "I have been in and around the in-vitro diagnostics business for over 40 years, and never before in all of that time, have I witnessed a policy like this. This latest guidance from the FDA shaves months from our product development process, and we all shall reap these benefits. Tomorrow we will discuss our new plans going forward now that we will shortly be a two product coronavirus diagnostics company."
https://www.accesswire.com/581231/DECNs-GenViroTM-COVID-19-Rapid-Kit-to-Reap-Huge-Boost-from-316-FDA-Guidance-Allowing-for-Near-Immediate-Distribution-of-Kits-Prior-to-Emergency-Waiver-Grant
"DECN announces that the company's Board of Directors has approved the offering of $13 million in non-dilutive debt financing, the first $2 million in Notes, followed by a $1 million credit facility to purchase manufacturing equipment for their Korean manufacturing facility, and the remaining $10 million in a revolving line of credit to finance inventory."
https://www.accesswire.com/581701/DECN-to-Finance-2Q-2020-Roll-Out-of-its-GenViro-Covid-19-Rapid-Kits-Using-Non-Dilutive-Debt-Financing-Totaling-13-Million-Acquired-in-Near-0-Rate-Environment
At this point, the stock that originally was trading below $0.02 is now trading near $0.26.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***** "GenViro! provides results in 15 seconds, based on a small finger-prick blood sample. The method is safe, effective, and its biggest benefit to the healthcare system is that the device can be used to screen out the 97% or 98% of those tested that are negative for COVID-19. Our method is quicker, provides the desired result, is much cheaper, and effective." ***** - March 23rd
https://www.accesswire.com/582023/DECN-Finalizes-FDA-Pre-EUA-Version-of-Its-Genviro-Screening-Covid-19-Swift-Kit-Providing-Results-in-15-Seconds-Using-Only-10-20-Microliters-Whole-Blood
Over the coming weeks, they release more and more PR, all leading up to April 23rd, where they announce a 2nd EUA application, followed by a response from the SEC.
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Before April 23rd, the stock was now trading around the $0.40 mark, an astounding jump in share price from what it was trading at pre-test kit.
"The company's goal for GenViro! is not just to receive EUA approval from the FDA, but when this approval is received, to become the go-to testing solution, in demand by Professional organizations as well as Fortune 500 companies, even sports teams"
"New markets for our GenViro! have also been recently identified, the latest -- large businesses, Fortune 500 companies, seeking to reopen for business in the next month or two.... Some of these businesses have already contacted the company and even tried to place large purchase orders for GenViro! Swift kits, using the first in line principal, so that they may test and retest returning employees. No other test kit can accomplish this."
https://www.accesswire.com/586571/DECN-To-Submit-Second-EUA-Application-For-Covid-19-15-Home-Testing-GenViro-Swift-Kit-Reports-Huge-Response-From-Fortune-500-Companies
Then, the SEC announces the following:
"The Commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities of DECN because of questions regarding the accuracy and adequacy of information in the marketplace since at least March 3, 2020."
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/suspensions/2020/34-88735.pdf
The stock has a sudden fall to the $0.20 mark and is suspended from trading for 10 days
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DECN puts out a response 4 days later
"Prior to the trading suspension Keith Berman, DECN's CEO, had voluntarily submitted to over three hours of interviews conducted by SEC staff members over multiple days. At the conclusion of the second interview, a third interview was requested by the staff. Instead, the SEC suspended trading without warning or further discussion.""Despite the interim trading suspension... intends to press its negotiations with the FDA for expedited approval of the company's GenViro! Swift Kit for the testing of the Covid-19 virus."
https://www.accesswire.com/587124/DECN-Strongly-Questions-SECs-Unilateral-Imposition-Of-10-Day-Trading-Suspension--Company-Is-Undaunted-And-Still-Seeks-Expedited-FDA-EUA-Approval-For-Genviro-Swift-15-Virus-Test-Kit
Even with the SEC halting the trading of their stock, they continue to press with the kit that is being put into question.
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The day the stock became un-halted, it fluctuated from $0.015 to $0.21. May 15th, DECN responded with an amended petition for their trading suspension:
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/apdocuments/3-19788-event-2020-05-15-amended-petition-for-termination-of-suspension-of-trading-in-the-securities-of-decision-diagnostics.pdf
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May 20th, SEC publishes their information at the time of the suspension:
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/apdocuments/3-19788-event-2020-05-20-information-before-the-commission-at-the-time-of-the-trading-suspension-and-declaration-of-carlisle-e-perkins.pdf
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May 21st, DECN publishes their testing results for interested parties.
"Both of our Covid-19 test kits are now in the FDA EUA review process. The company has received Pre-EUA Acknowledgement letters from the U.S. FDA for (the) device (serial number) PEUA200232, GenViro Covid-19 Screening Kit for professional use in commercial and group settings and device (serial number) PEUA200947, GenViro Covid-19 Screening Kit for at-home use."
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/decn-publish-specific-testing-completed-141500448.html
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June 17th, DECN responds to the SEC information:
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/apdocuments/3-19788-event-2020-06-17-petitioner-brief-in-support.pdf
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They also apply for a provisional patent for their test-kit:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/decn-files-provisional-patent-genviro-142000019.html
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July 1st, the SEC releases the final documentation for the petition on the suspension of trading:
​
"... the Commission’s opinion that the public interest and the protection of investors required suspension of trading in DECN’s securities was the right decision and remains the right decision. Accordingly, the Petition should be denied."
​
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/apdocuments/3-19788-event-2020-07-01-divisions-brief-in-opposition.pdf
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Read this, at the very least, if you are going to buy this stock.
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July 2nd, CEO Keith Berman releases an open letter:
​
"Public health experts seem to agree on two things, the need for a vaccine and the importance of increased, immediate, and affordable testing to determine exactly who is ill and contagious. As New York Governor Andrew Cuomo stated, "The more testing, the more open the economy." The President's Advisory Task Force agrees that the economy won't open completely and remain such without wide-scale testing."
​
"But, testing is only valuable when it is accurate. In the case of a pandemic, it must also be affordable and produce reliable results in minutes, even seconds. On that front, there has to date been a failure to deliver. "
​
"Companies large and small have jumped in headfirst to the testing race under the FDA's guidance and with big dollars on the line. Unsurprisingly, that favors the large players to the detriment of smaller, often more nimble and innovative players. In the end, it's the public health, really all of us, who suffer. Another article points out the FDA's oversight has been inconsistent at best, stating, "The FDA must stick to its normal process for review but expedite it by giving it top priority with its clinical reviewers and bring in more reviewers if necessary."
​
"More so, our public health administrators favor familiar technologies whose applications often don't respond to the exact urgent needs of the moment. Worse yet, they seek familiar faces, often the big pharma-med-tech players, who like an oil tanker in the open ocean, take forever to change course in the direction required. Unfortunately for us all, this frequently unfolds at the immediate expense of creative, alternative thinking, new, unknown, smaller players who may actually have the answers, but rarely get the chance and support to appropriately test their solutions."
​
https://www.accesswire.com/596043/DECN-CEO-Offers-Open-Letter-on-COVID-19-Testing-Highlighting-Needed-Support-for-Innovation-in-Testing
​
There are a ton of quotes from this letter, but I wanted to point out a few.
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July 8th, DECN announces distribution:
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"The company plans to manufacture two GenViro! International Covid-19 Swift Kit packages for sale in Central and Southern Asia and reports that its new distributor will be opening hubs in Singapore, India, and Australia... The company still estimates that sales for its International GenViro! Swift Kits will commence in late Summer 2020."
​
https://www.accesswire.com/596668/DECN-Announces-Distribution-Agreement-Covering-GenViro-Covid-19105-Swift-Kits-and-Its-GenUltimate-and-TGB-Products-in-India-Malaysia-Sri-Lanka-Singapore-Indonesia-Thailand-Vietnam-Nepal-Bangladesh-and-Australia
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July 10th, DECN announces a saliva COVID-19 test-kit for professional and home use, as well as re-iterating their blood-prick test-kit is showing results within 11 seconds:
​
"Test reporting for the GenViro! finger stick kits are currently producing results at :10.5 seconds, and initial testing completed on the saliva version of the kit should yield even faster results since the saliva testing will not require any sample correction."
​
"Preliminary testing... was run using saliva from human donors and indicated that the saliva exhibits a comparable, and in fact favorable, impedance curve profile when compared to whole blood."
​
https://www.accesswire.com/596976/DECN-to-add-GenViro-Saliva-Covid-19-Swift-Kit-105-for-Professional-and-Home-Use-Testing-Providing-an-Alternative-Modality-to-its-Finger-Stick-Methodology
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What does this all mean?
DECN says they have a product that will literally have an impact on the world; we need to test everyone and we need to do it in a way that is easy, yet effective. The fact they claim they can make upwards of 500 million test kits within a year of production shows the scale that they are able to bring their product.
​
The risk:
- This is an OTC, so it is inherently more risky than other stocks
- This stock will not go up any more than it is currently at now without the EUA from the FDA
- It is still on the Grey Market(normal stocks are on pinks) and you may not even be able to buy it currently, DECN has to submit form 211 in order to get themselves off the grey market; to my knowledge, they have not done this yet
- On a scale of 1-10, 1 being a low risk and 10 being high, I would have to give it a solid 7.5-8.5; again, this stock will not move without the FDA approving their device
​
The reward:
- You get in on the low of a stock that has the potential to raise upwards over 1-5$; my PT has been laughed at many times, but think about it... 500 million test kits, $6.95 wholesale price per test kit... stocks with this much in earnings are not penny stocks
​
Why I believe in this company:
If you double, triple, and quadruple down, saying that you have a product that can produce the results you promise, and then you continue to put out PR that you have come to agreements for distribution, preparing for the moment you get the approval, you would need to actually have that product. The US is seeing the 2nd wave, and this virus is not going to leave our lives for the foreseeable future.
​
My predictions for the stock:
- If FDA approval comes before it moves off the grey market: $0.70-$0.95
- If it moves off the grey before FDA approval: $0.40-$0.55
- Once it has both FDA approval and is moved off the grey market: $1.00-$1.25
​
TLDR: DECN claimed to have a quick testing process for COVID-19, SEC halted them due to the belief of misinformation. DECN denounces the halt, still pushes forward with trying to get the EUA from the FDA. DECN has since released multiple statements that they have a product and it does produce the results they previously stated. No EUA has been given to DECN yet, no movement off of the grey market yet, VERY RISKY STOCK TO BUY, but also could be more rewarding than others once they get all of the previously stated items.

^{TL;DR at the very bottom. Not sure if I'm completely delusional or there's actually something here. Let me know what ya think.}

Business Overview

Attis Industries, formerly known as Meridian Waste Solutions, is a conglomerate with business operations in the healthcare, medical waste, and environmental technology sectors. Their main operations are split into three segments; Attis Healthcare, Attis Innovations, and Flux Carbon LLC (JVCo 80% Ownership). Attis Industries currently sells on the OTC markets at a market capitalization of less than $2,500,000 and has a total of 6,680,000 common shares outstanding.

Operations Overview

Attis Innovations leverages its ability to source low-cost renewable feedstocks with proprietary conversion technology to produce high performance, sustainable materials for everyday products.
Attis Healthcare strives to improve patient care and enable better patient outcomes by providing cost-saving opportunities through innovative and comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic solutions for patients and healthcare providers.
Flux Carbon LLC (JVCo 80% Ownership) holds the rights to an expansive portfolio of clean technologies and manages existing engineering and licensing businesses.

Investment Thesis

Attis Industries is currently undergoing a transition from a waste management company to a multi-oriented conglomerate. They are delinquent on multiple SEC filings and this has turned into a major catalyst for the company's share price. While delinquent financials usually spell trouble for a company, Attis Industries has become a special situation whereupon the completion and submission of their financial reports, the market will hopefully realize the true value of the company’s assets. From what I’ve gathered, Attis’ current book value of $13,700,000 does not represent the fair value of the company's assets. Upon completion and submission of their financial reports, true book value will be closer to $50,000,000 due to financing and recent acquisitions not stated in Attis' most recent filing. Not only are Attis' asset values extremely understated, but revenues are grossly understated aswell. The company's latest filing states a revenue figure of only $1,070,000. Attis' full-year 2020 revenue projections are stated at roughly $160,000,000. While the timeline for the posting of Attis' financials is still unclear, they have taken many positive steps in the right direction over the last year and made this statement upon delisting on 11/19/19:

“Attis is continuing to work tirelessly with its independent accounting firm to bring all of its delinquent filings current. Once all of the filings have been completed and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and all other listing requirements have been met, the Company plans to immediately begin the reapplication process with the Exchange to elevate Attis’ publicly available securities back to the NASDAQ Stock Exchange.”

In Attis’ case, I would say actions speak louder than words and the crux of this thesis is dependent on them following through on this promise. The notable actions they have taken over the last year include the recent hiring of an SEC Financial Reporting Director, the transition to BDO as their independent auditor, and the implementation of strict accounting procedures across all business segments. While these changes don't point to an exact filing date, they have significantly increased the odds of Attis coming through on their promise to update their filings and will bring forth much-needed clarity and transparency from the company to the public markets when financials are finally posted.

Financial Projections

As stated before, Attis' operations can be split into three operating segments; Attis Innovations, Attis Healthcare, and Flux Carbon LLC.
Attis Innovations is expected to have generated $150,000,000 in "guaranteed" revenues by the end of full-year 2020. These revenues are guaranteed through a 10-year off-take agreement with Sunoco at Attis' Fulton Ethanol Plant. Attis purchased the Fulton Ethanol facility from Sunoco in June of 2019 at a price of $20,000,000 and the facility was recently appraised at a value of $57,000,000. If you compare Attis' Fulton operations to a competitor like Valero, you'll find that Fulton's operating profit could be in the range of $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 by the end full-year 2020. Attis has plans to take Fulton from an 85,000,000 gallon ethanol facility to a 100,000,000 gallon facility adding an additional $20,000,000 to revenues upon completion of the upgrades.
Attis Healthcare has stated that upon full rollout of their operations, they expect revenues to be close to $100,000,000. Robert Dunn, president of Attis Healthcare, has projected full-year 2019 healthcare revenues to have been between $10,000,000 and $12,000,000. He made this statement in late 2018 (press release dated 10/22/18):

"Deep market analysis has led Attis Healthcare to design and build its current lab infrastructure to handle samples that would produce revenue of $10-$12 million and margins between 20-25%. With further lab and infrastructure build-out and a concentrated effort by our contracted sales force, I believe we can double our expected revenue in the next 12 to 18 months.”

With revenues of approximately $10,000,000 and a gross margin of between 20 to 25%, operating profits for the segment should be somewhere around $1,000,000. The total acquisition costs attached to Attis' healthcare segment since inception is roughly $7,000,000.
Flux Carbon LLC is said to be producing roughly $14,000,000 in annualized revenues as of 06/21/18, with gross margins close to 70% and an operating profit at least $4,000,000. The total cost of Attis' 80% ownership of Flux Carbon LLC is estimated to be around $30,000,000. As a side note, Attis, along with its JVCo partner Greenshift Corporation, launched an appeal in September of 2018 to overturn a summary judgment in a patent infringement case, where, if won, Flux Carbon LLC) could see over 90% of the corn ethanol industry paying royalties to them for patents they own. While chances of a favorable ruling appear slim, if won, this would be a huge added bonus to what Attis has already accomplished. If lost, I see the end result being a short-term, temporary set back that may provide an even better buy-in opportunity for future shareholders and signal the end of a company quiet period.
Financing for the company’s ambitions does not appear to be an issue as Attis has, within the last year, received non-dilutive financing for the purchase of their Fulton ethanol facility, received financing for their planned upgrades to their Fulton facility, and received financing for both their commercial and federal labs. Attis is also in the process of restructuring debt in an attempt to eliminate future dilution.
In conclusion, by the end of full-year 2020, Attis is projecting to have produced $150,000,000 in guaranteed revenues, $24,000,000 in non-guaranteed revenues, and an estimated $8,000,000 in operating profit across all segments. Today, Attis Industries currently trades on the OTC markets at a market capitalization of less than $2,500,000. Upon completion and filing of their financials, I can easily see Attis' market capitalization being no less than a conservative $20,000,000, a possible 10x return.
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Overview for the remainder of this post:

• Catalysts
• Delinquent Filings
• The Formation of Attis
• Attis’ Key Partnerships and Acquisitions
• Company Certifications and Grants
• Break Down of Current Operations
• Break Down of Potential Operations
• Simple Overview of Company Leadership
• Disclaimer
• TL;DR

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Catalysts

• Greenshift/Attis patent litigation appeal wrapping up,
• End to quiet period.
• Completion of debt restructuring.
• Bringing financials up-to-date,
• Non-Disclosed Acquisition/Partnership announcements.
• Company road map/investor update.

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Delinquent Filings

As of 01/06/20, Attis is delinquent on the following filings:

• Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2018
• Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018
• Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2019
• Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2019

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The Formation of Attis

On 02/20/18, Meridian Waste Solutions sold their waste management service operations to Warren Equity Partners for $90,000,000 and the remaining operations were rebranded as Attis Industries. The transaction eliminated $87,000,000 of debt and allowed the newly formed entity, Attis Industries, to pursue new business opportunities in higher-margin industries. The remaining assets, not sold in the deal, were expected to generate $3,000,000 in pre-tax earnings and cut the company’s debt burden by 90%, according to Jeff Cosman, Attis Industries CEO.
Since the formation of Attis in 2018, the company has made multiple acquisitions, formed multiple partnerships, and launched an appeal to overturn a summary judgment in a patent infringement case tied to their subsidiary, Flux Carbon LLC. First, we will tackle the acquisitions and partnerships they have made since inception. For the sake of structure, I have organized the partnerships and acquisitions under four banners; Attis Innovations, Attis Healthcare, Flux Carbon LLC, and Other. The “other” category pertains to acquisitions and partnerships that have not been finalized but are still “in the works.”
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Acquisitions & Partnerships

Attis Healthcare Acquisitions
DxT Medical

• Acquisition Date: 10/23/17
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/7/meridian-waste-solutions-strengthens-its-sales-distribution
• DxT Medical is a national healthcare distribution partner aiming to improve patient care and provide cost-saving opportunities through innovative, compliant, comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic solutions for patients and healthcare providers. The all-stock transaction for DxT Medical was valued at $462,000 and comprised of 350,000 restricted shares of Meridian Waste Solutions valued at $1.32 per share.

Welness Benefits LLC, LGMG LLC (verify Resource Group), Integrity Lab Solutions LLC

• Acquisition Date: 11/20/17
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/10/meridian-waste-solutions-closes-three-acquisitions-to
• The three acquired companies specialize in medical hospital laboratory testing and diagnostics operations. (The 71.65% interest in LGMG LLC comes from the WelNess Benefits LLC acquisition which owned the initial interest.)
• The total costs of these three acquisitions are as follows:
  • Stock Consideration $1,000,000
  • Warrant Consideration $896,645
  • Contingent Consideration $2,220,683
  • Total Cost $4,117,328
    • (Source, Pages 35-37: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/949721/000121390018011473/f10q0618_attisindustries.htm)

EnviCare

• Acquisition Date: 01/24/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/15/meridian-waste-solutions-acquires-envicare-a-medical-waste
• EnviCare is a regulated medical waste company which provides waste transportation and disposal solutions for regulated and specialized waste, pharmaceutical disposal solutions, sharpes management services, controlled substance waste solutions, integrated waste solutions for large healthcare facilities, and compliance training and education for the healthcare industry.

Quality Rx Returns LLC

• Acquisition Date: 08/08/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/45/attis-industries-acquires-pharmaceutical-destruction
• Quality Rx Returns is a full-service provider of pharmaceutical reverse logistic solutions, serving pharmacies, hospitals, and healthcare providers nationwide. Attis plans to grow the Quality Rx business through its existing robust sales infrastructure, including its recently announced partnership with a new nationwide representative group. The Company’s potential network now includes the 4,749 hospitals and 45,000 long term care facilities located in the United States. In addition, the Quality Rx acquisition is expected to expand the Company’s service capability for large quantity generators and manufacturers of pharmaceutical waste by the third quarter of 2018, and enable the Company to expand its licensing to include high margin services for the return and destruction of DEA pharmaceuticals.

Attis Healthcare Partnerships
Macon County General Hospital

• Partnership Date: 12/04/17
• Press Release: (https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/27/attis-industries-secures-agreement-with-macon-county)
• The partnership will result in a profitable, highly functioning hospital laboratory that will provide improved health care for the citizens of the hospital's community. According to Attis, a hospital laboratory of this size can typically process, on average, upwards of 1,000 samples per month.

New Representative Group

• Partnership Date: 06/04/18
• Press Release: (https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/36/attis-industries-partners-with-new-representative-group)
• New Representative Group includes approximately 300 representatives from across the country, and it will provide toxicology and blood samples for testing in the new Attis federal lab as well as other partner labs that Attis works with throughout the U.S.

North Crest Medical Center of Springfield

• Partnership Date: 10/08/18
• Press Release: (https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/55/attis-industries-partners-with-northcrest-medical-center-of)
• North Crest Medical Center is a community hospital located in Springfield, Tennessee. Attis Healthcare will assist in the expansion and operation of their existing state-of-the-art hospital laboratory and will provide outreach services within the community. Attis estimates that the laboratory will be able to test upwards of 1,000 specimens per month and the Company expects to generate revenue and cash flow almost immediately from this partnership.

Oklahoma Clinic

• Partnership Date: 10/31/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/59/attis-industries-adding-volume-for-commercial-labs
• Attis plans to process all blood and toxicology samples coming through the clinic starting immediately. Attis believes the account can generate upwards of $1,000,000 in annualized revenue.

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Attis Innovations Acquisitions
Fulton Ethanol Plant

• Acquisition Date: 06/04/19
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/78/attis-industries-acquired-corn-ethanol-plant-expected-to
• According to Attis, the plant is expected to produce $150,000,000 in annualized revenues and lay the foundation for their other patented technologies. With their current patent and license portfolio, they expect to have industry-leading margins at this facility. They also have plans to upgrade this location from 85,000,000 gallons to 100,000,000 gallons, adding an extra $20,000,000 and pushing revenues to around $170,000,000 at Fulton alone. Attis is planning to purchase two to three more facilities over the next one to three years and expand operations at Fulton to include other bioproducts such as plastics and carbon fiber.
• The current full specifications of this plant are as follows:
  • 85,000,000 gallons of ethanol
  • 360,000,000 pounds of CO2,
  • 455,000,000 pounds of distiller's dried grains with solubles,
  • 18,000,000 pounds of distillers corn oil, and
  • 4,000,000 pounds of malted grain.
• This plant was purchased from Sunoco for $20,000,000 and was recently appraised at a value of $57,000,000. Sunoco had a write-down of $47,000,000 for the facility in their most recent 10-Q.
  • (Sunoco Write Down, Source, Pages 25-26: https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgadata/1552275/000155227519000040/sun-09302019x10q.htm)
  • (Fulton Plant Appraisal, Source: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/06/04/1863938/0/en/Attis-Industries-Acquired-Corn-Ethanol-Plant-Expected-to-Generate-Approximately-150-Million-in-Revenue.html)

Attis Innovations Partnerships
American Science and Technology Corporation (ASTC)

• Partnership Date: 11/10/17
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/8/meridian-waste-solutions-attains-facility-and-exclusive
• From this partnership, Attis gained the exclusive licensing rights to ASTC’s patented Organosolv Process Technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Attis Industries will have an exclusive commercial license to ASTC patents and a lease for the ASTC Biomass Processing Facility in Wausau, WI. ASTC’s patented technology claims to drive the value of Lignin up from $50 per ton to between $600 and $2000 per ton. Under the agreement, Attis has an option to acquire AST in its entirety.

Plastics Industry Association

• Partnership Date: 05/24/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/32/attis-industries-joins-plastics-industry-association
• Attis announced its participation in the innovative Plastics Industry Association (“PLASTICS”) Bioplastics Division.
• (PIA’s Website: https://www.plasticsindustry.org/)

Jordan Forest Products

• Partnership Date: 07/17/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/41/attis-industries-taps-timber-industry-leader-for
• With the partnership, Attis announced the execution of a letter of intent with Jordan Forest Products, LLC (“Jordan”) to provide raw material feedstock procurement services for its recently announced biorefinery in Barnesville, Georgia. Jordan is a division of Jordan Lumber & Supply Inc., one of the largest privately-owned lumber companies in the U.S.

Gyeuongbuk Institute of Science and Technology

• Partnership Date: 08/09/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/46/attis-industries-to-use-sunlight-and-water-to-convert-co2
• With the conclusion of the partnership, Attis gained an exclusive license agreement for DIGIST technologies.

Novozymes

• Partnership Date: 01/16/19
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/65/attis-announces-collaboration-with-novozymes-to-provide
• Under this newly announced relationship, Novozymes has committed to supplying the enzymes required by Attis to convert its pulp into sugar at all of its planned biorefineries.

Iowa State University

• Partnership Date: 01/24/19
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/67/attis-announces-rd-partnership-with-iowa-state-university
• The partnership calls for a funded research program to develop carbon fibers for use in a wide variety of applications derived entirely or predominately from lignin produced at Attis’ planned biorefineries. On 05/06/19 Assistant Professor Xianglan Bai was awarded a patent for a process she developed, through the partnership, to convert lignin into precursors of biofuels and chemicals (https://news.engineering.iastate.edu/2019/05/14/me-professor-awarded-patent-for-lignin-conversion-process/).

Advanced Biofuels Association

• Partnership Date: 07/10/19
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/80/attis-industries-joins-the-advanced-biofuels-association
• The Advanced Biofuels Association (“ABFA”) supports and advocates for public policies that are technology neutral, utilize sustainable feedstocks, and offer subsidy parity to ensure all viable advanced biofuels can compete with the benefit of a level playing field. The ABFA engages government at all levels to secure support for the advanced biofuels industry, allowing its member companies to commercialize their technologies and bring products to market that are competitive and compatible with petroleum-based fuels and byproducts.

Specialist Nutrition

• Partnership Date: 12/20/19
• News Source: https://biofuels-news.com/news/specialist-nutrition-secures-e135-million-ethanol-by-products-deal/
• According to Attis, the partnership and new product offering significantly improves efficiency, while reducing the processing time of distillers’ grains, saving over €2.3 million in annual costs for natural gas supply. It also lowers the facility’s carbon footprint and increases operational performance by 3-5 days.

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Flux Carbon LLC Acquisitions
Advanced Lignin Biocomposites LLC & UT Battelle LLC Partnership

• Acquisition Date: 11/30/17
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/11/meridian-waste-solutions-completes-acquisition-for
• Advanced Lignin owns and develops lignin recovery, production and application technology. Advanced Lignin uses its methods to more cost-effectively produce many different materials, including adhesives, renewable fuels, carbon fiber, and plastics. Advanced Lignin’s main operations generated revenues of approximately $7,000,000 to $10,000,000 and $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 of cash flows the year prior. Along with this acquisition came Advanced Lignin’s partnership with UT-Battelle LLC, the management and operating contractor for the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. On 05/29/18 Attis restructured this acquisition to reduce the associated expense and liabilities of the deal by about $1,350,000.
• The total cost for this acquisition is as follows:
  • ABL Shortfall Provision $2,307,363,
  • Shares Issued and Sold at Value by ABL $1.032m
  • Total Cost $3,319,363
    • (ALB SFP Page F-39, Shares Issued Page F-22, Document 10-k 2017: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/949721/000121390018004538/f10k2017_meridianwaste.htm.)

Genarex FD LCC 49% Interest

• Acquisition Date: 05/29/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/33/attis-industries-acquires-49-stake-in-genarex
• Attis purchased a 49% stake in Genarex FD LLC. Genarex is a technology development company focused on refining low-cost renewable feedstocks into functional biofillers. Genarex is capable of recovering about 1.1 pounds of biobased plastics additive per gallon of ethanol produced, which equates to an expected $11 million in new EBITDA from each 100 million gallon per year ethanol facility. Under applicable agreements, the Company agreed, in pertinent part, to pay an aggregate purchase price of $2,266,667, plus 8% of the EBITDA and certain material transaction proceeds of the Company’s Innovations group.

FLUX Carbon LLC 80% Interest(JVCo)

• Acquisition Date: 05/31/19
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/34/attis-industries-acquires-clean-technology-licensing
• JVCo is a new joint venture company between Attis Industries and Greenshift Corporation that holds the rights to an expansive portfolio of clean technologies and manages an existing engineering and licensing business. This new joint venture can be expected to initially contribute between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000 to Attis’ earnings. The existing business generated approximately $7,000,000 per year in sales with gross margins of about 70% for the three-year period ending December 31, 2017. The Company agreed to pay an earn-out based purchase price with a floor of $18 million. An initial payment was paid at closing in the form of restricted shares of the Company’s stock, including 180,000 shares of the Company’s Series G preferred stock. GreenShift is required to use the first proceeds received upon sale of the shares to pay or refinance its senior secured debt.
• The opportunity with Greenshift and JVCo could be huge for Attis. Greenshift is currently in legal battles over patent infringement, claiming that multiple ethanol producers have infringed on their patents. According to Attis, “CleanTech and its inventors developed and commercialized a process that intercepts the flow of that final third in the plant, extracts corn oil, and returns the stream back to the host for completion of drying. The extracted oil is then most commonly sold as a feedstock for refining into biodiesel for about $0.25 per pound. CleanTech has licensed its portfolio of corn oil extraction patents to producers of about 12% of the 15 billion gallons of ethanol produced annually in the U.S. However, CleanTech estimates that upwards of 90% of the corn ethanol industry practices methods covered by CleanTech’s patents, and some of those patents are the subject of litigation which CleanTech has asserted against about 10% of the industry alleging infringing use since 2010.”
• On 09/05/18, Attis and Greenshift filed an appeal to overturn a summary judgment deeming GreenShift’s patents unenforceable. Oral arguments recently took place on December 3rd and the final verdict is still under deliberation. Audio of the oral arguments can be found here: https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=152592091. More information on the legal battle can be found at http://greenshift-gers.blogspot.com/. The full appeal can be found here: https://www.greenshift.com/content/investorresources/pdf/appeal_2018_08_29_brief.pdf.

Flux Carbon LLC Partnerships
GreenShift

• Partnership Date: 01/16/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/17/meridian-waste-solutions-attis-innovations-executes
• With the partnership came a licensing agreement for a proprietary biofuel process technology. This technology is expected to reduce construction costs and improve the profitability of biodiesel by an estimated $0.40 per gallon.

Noveda Technologies

• Partnership Date: 06/06/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/37/attis-completes-strategic-investment-in-noveda-technologies
• Noveda's patented monitoring solution integrates consumption and generation data to provide actionable real-time intelligence for owners, operators, and users, including for users across networks of production facilities.

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Other Acquisitions
Custom Cable Services Purchase Agreement (TBT)

• Announcement Date: 09/10/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/51/attis-industries-executes-purchase-agreement-to-acquire
• The agreement is an all-stock deal valued at $4.6 million. The transaction has yet to close but is still being worked on by both parties according to Custom Cables CEO. Custom Cable Services, Inc. is a broadband network construction and maintenance firm. Over the past 5 years, CCS has generated consistent annual revenues between $10-$12 million with $1.5-$2.0 million in EBITDA. CCS has key long-term relationships with Charter and Cox Communications for multi-year projects.

Barnesville Biorefinery Site Selection (TBT)

• Announcement Date: 07/16/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/40/attis-industries-to-purchase-site-for-first-commercial
• The planned Barnesville facility is expected to cost roughly $45,000,000 and produce $35,000,000 in annual revenue. Attis has stated that the bottom line for this facility would be close to $12,000,000 and would provide a return on investment after year four.
  • (Attis Investor Update Transcript Details plans for Barnesville location. It contains other important information as well. Recommended read: https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/attisind/files/docs/ATIS+Shareholder+Update+Call+Official+Transcript_092618+CLEAN.pdf)

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Certifications & Grants

COLA Accreditation

• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/30/attis-industries-nearing-completion-of-its-first-federal
• The laboratory has already received COLA accreditation for laboratory quality assurance, expects CLIA certification in the coming weeks, and is now in the application process for Medicare coverage for all states and Medicaid coverage in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico.

CLIA License

• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/44/attis-industries-obtains-clia-certification-for-its-first
• Attis obtained its CLIA Certification for its first internally developed lab. The Company expects that this federal laboratory will be testing a baseline of 3,000 toxicology samples per month by the end of 2018, which trends to approximately $600,000 per month of revenue and over $7,000,0000 for 2018. The Company also expects to add blood testing to its federal laboratory by the end of the year, which will drive additional revenue growth for the Company moving forward. By the second quarter of 2019, they expect the combined number of blood and toxicology samples in the federal lab to be between 5,000 and 8,000 per month. This means the federal lab is expected to be generating over $1,000,000 in revenue per month by mid-2019.

CMS License

• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/58/attis-industries-secures-medicare-license-for-tulsa
• Attis announced that it has received the Medicare license for its toxicology laboratory in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The laboratory, which received its CLIA license in August, is dedicated to running samples reimbursed by Medicare and individual state Medicaid programs only (“federal lab”). Now that Attis has received its CMS license, which provides Medicare coverage for all states, Attis will begin taking samples and billing under its new Medicare number while at the same time begin applying for Medicaid coverage for the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico. Deep market analysis has led Attis Healthcare to design and build its current lab infrastructure to handle samples that would produce revenue of $10-$12 million and margins between 20-25%. “With further lab and infrastructure build-out and a concentrated effort by our contracted sales force, I believe we can double our expected revenue in the next 12 to 18 months.”

USDA Grant

• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/16/meridian-waste-solutions-attis-innovations-awarded-3
• Grant Information: https://cris.nifa.usda.gov/cgibin/starfinde0?
• Attis was awarded a USDA $3,000,000 grant to support the commercialization of patented and patent-pending lignin conversion and refining technologies that it owns.

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Break Down of Current Operations

Attis Healthcare
Federal & Commercial Labs

• CLIA License
• CMS License

Revenue Estimate

• $10,000,000 - $12,000,000
  • President Rob Dunn’s Estimate for FY 2019

Known Financing

• Roughly $7,000,000
  • Based on All Healthcare Related Acquisitions

Attis Innovations
Fulton

• 85,000,000 Gallon Facility
• Plans to upgrade to 100,000,000 gallons

Revenue Estimate

• $150,000,000
  • Attis’ Projection

Known Financing

• $20,000,000
  • Attis' Stated Cost of Acquisition

Flux Carbon LLC
Licensing and Engineering Business

• Large Patent Portfolio
• Some Patents Subject to Litigation

Revenue Estimate

• $14,000,000
  • Based on Attis’ Stated Revenues for ABL & GS

Known Financing

• $30,300,000
  • Acquired $28m in patents from GS
  • Acquired ABL for $2,300,000

Current Operations Summary
Revenue Estimate

• $174,000,000

Known Financing

• $55,000,000

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Break Down of Potential Operations

Custom Cable Services (Possible Announcement)

• Contingent on Attis Updating its Financials

Revenue Estimate

• $7,000,000 - $9,000,000
  • Attis’ Projection

Known Financing

• $2,300,000
  • Attis Stated Cost of Acquisition

Barnesville Biorefinery

• Unsure as to whether the site has been purchased or developed

Revenue Estimate

• $35,000,000
  • Attis’ Projection

Known Financing

• $45,000,000
  • Attis’ Stated Cost

Potential Operations Summary
Revenue Estimate

• $42,000,000

Stated Financing

• $47,000,000

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Leadership

Board Members
Jeff Cosman

• In four years, built a vertically integrated solid waste company with over $55 Million in revenue and over $12 Million of EBITDA, then sold said company for $103 million.

Joe Ardagna

• 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry

Maggie Arvedlund

• CEO and Managing Partner of Turning Rock Partners

Thomas J. Cowee

• 37 years of experience in the environmental industry
• 15 years of experience as a Chief Financial Officer

Jackson Davis

• 20 years of experience in technology and technology leadership roles
• Ties to Cox Enterprises

David E. Rivers, DHL

• Professor and Director of the Public Information and Community Outreach at the Medical University of South Carolina.

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Management
Jeff Cosman, CEO of Attis Industries
Gregory Pilewicz, President of Attis Industries

• Boasts 16 years of experience in Energy, Healthcare and Industrial Manufacturing
• Held the previous position of CEO at Esmark

David Winsness, President of Attis Innovations

• Developed, commercialized and built a team that produced the largest innovation to occur in the corn ethanol biofuel space: back end corn oil extraction.
• Developed a lignin recovery system that is less than 50% of the CAPEX of any known competitor while improving its quality within the extraction process to allow greater value to be captured.

Robert M. Dunn Jr., President of Attis Healthcare

• Has represented both Fortune 100 companies and small businesses in litigation involving product liability issues, business disputes, and wrongful terminations
• Significant experience working directly for a multi-national Fortune 500 company in the medical device industry.
• Has ties to St. Jude Medical

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Disclaimer: I'm not your investment advisor and I am not responsible for any of your investment decisions. This post is for informational purposes only and any decisions made after reading this post are yours, and yours only. Please, please conduct your own research and verify information when making investment decisions or consult an investment advisor.
Disclosure: I hold investments in both Attis Industries (ATIS) and GreenShift Corporation (GERS).
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TL;DR

Ticker: ATIS
Market Cap: $2.5m
Shares Outstanding: 6.68m
Guaranteed Revenues: $150m
Non-Guaranteed + Guaranteed Revenues: $174m
Net Debt: $35m
Low End Earnings Estimate: $4.8m
High End Earnings Estimate: $7.4m
Current Book Value: $13m
True Book Value: $40m+
Core Assets: Fulton Ethanol Plant, Commercial Lab, Federal Lab, Licensing Business, Patent Portfolio.
Key Partnerships: Sunoco, Novozymes, Specialist Nutrition, Greenshift Corporation.
Catalysts: Patent litigation appeal wrap up, End to quiet period, Bringing financials up-to-date, Acquisition announcements, Rollout and implementation of patent portfolio.
^{If you'd like a list of other resources (such as ceo interviews, investor update transcripts, news articles, etc. let me know and I can send them your way.})

^{TL;DR at the very bottom.}

Business Overview

Attis Industries, formerly known as Meridian Waste Solutions, is a conglomerate with business operations in the healthcare, medical waste, and environmental technology sectors. Their main operations are split into three segments; Attis Healthcare, Attis Innovations, and Flux Carbon LLC (JVCo 80% Ownership). Attis Industries currently sells on the OTC markets at a market capitalization of less than $2,500,000 and has a total of 6,680,000 common shares outstanding.

Operations Overview

Attis Innovations leverages its ability to source low-cost renewable feedstocks with proprietary conversion technology to produce high performance, sustainable materials for everyday products.
Attis Healthcare strives to improve patient care and enable better patient outcomes by providing cost-saving opportunities through innovative and comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic solutions for patients and healthcare providers.
Flux Carbon LLC (JVCo 80% Ownership) holds the rights to an expansive portfolio of clean technologies and manages existing engineering and licensing businesses.

Investment Thesis

Attis Industries is currently undergoing a transition from a waste management company to a multi-oriented conglomerate. They are delinquent on multiple SEC filings and this has turned into a major catalyst for the company's share price. While delinquent financials usually spell trouble for a company, Attis Industries has become a special situation whereupon the completion and submission of their financial reports, the market will hopefully realize the true value of the company’s assets. From what I’ve gathered, Attis’ current book value of $13,700,000 does not represent the fair value of the company's assets. Upon completion and submission of their financial reports, true book value will be closer to $50,000,000 due to financing and recent acquisitions not stated in Attis' most recent filing. Not only are Attis' asset values extremely understated, but revenues are grossly understated aswell. The company's latest filing states a revenue figure of only $1,070,000. Attis' full-year 2020 revenue projections are stated at roughly $160,000,000. While the timeline for the posting of Attis' financials is still unclear, they have taken many positive steps in the right direction over the last year and made this statement upon delisting on 11/19/19:

“Attis is continuing to work tirelessly with its independent accounting firm to bring all of its delinquent filings current. Once all of the filings have been completed and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and all other listing requirements have been met, the Company plans to immediately begin the reapplication process with the Exchange to elevate Attis’ publicly available securities back to the NASDAQ Stock Exchange.”

In Attis’ case, I would say actions speak louder than words and the crux of this thesis is dependent on them following through on this promise. The notable actions they have taken over the last year include the recent hiring of an SEC Financial Reporting Director, the transition to BDO as their independent auditor, and the implementation of strict accounting procedures across all business segments. While these changes don't point to an exact filing date, they have significantly increased the odds of Attis coming through on their promise to update their filings and will bring forth much-needed clarity and transparency from the company to the public markets when financials are finally posted.

Financial Projections

As stated before, Attis' operations can be split into three operating segments; Attis Innovations, Attis Healthcare, and Flux Carbon LLC.
Attis Innovations is expected to have generated $150,000,000 in "guaranteed" revenues by the end of full-year 2020. These revenues are guaranteed through a 10-year off-take agreement with Sunoco at Attis' Fulton Ethanol Plant. Attis purchased the Fulton Ethanol facility from Sunoco in June of 2019 at a price of $20,000,000 and the facility was recently appraised at a value of $57,000,000. If you compare Attis' Fulton operations to a competitor like Valero, you'll find that Fulton's operating profit could be in the range of $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 by the end full-year 2020. Attis has plans to take Fulton from an 85,000,000 gallon ethanol facility to a 100,000,000 gallon facility adding an additional $20,000,000 to revenues upon completion of the upgrades.
Attis Healthcare has stated that upon full rollout of their operations, they expect revenues to be close to $100,000,000. Robert Dunn, president of Attis Healthcare, has projected full-year 2019 healthcare revenues to have been between $10,000,000 and $12,000,000. He made this statement in late 2018 (press release dated 10/22/18):

"Deep market analysis has led Attis Healthcare to design and build its current lab infrastructure to handle samples that would produce revenue of $10-$12 million and margins between 20-25%. With further lab and infrastructure build-out and a concentrated effort by our contracted sales force, I believe we can double our expected revenue in the next 12 to 18 months.”

With revenues of approximately $10,000,000 and a gross margin of between 20 to 25%, operating profits for the segment should be somewhere around $1,000,000. The total acquisition costs attached to Attis' healthcare segment since inception is roughly $7,000,000.
Flux Carbon LLC is said to be producing roughly $14,000,000 in annualized revenues as of 06/21/18, with gross margins close to 70% and an operating profit at least $4,000,000. The total cost of Attis' 80% ownership of Flux Carbon LLC is estimated to be around $30,000,000. As a side note, Attis, along with its JVCo partner Greenshift Corporation, launched an appeal in September of 2018 to overturn a summary judgment in a patent infringement case, where, if won, Flux Carbon LLC) could see over 90% of the corn ethanol industry paying royalties to them for patents they own. While chances of a favorable ruling appear slim, if won, this would be a huge added bonus to what Attis has already accomplished. If lost, I see the end result being a short-term, temporary set back that may provide an even better buy-in opportunity for future shareholders and signal the end of a company quiet period.
Financing for the company’s ambitions does not appear to be an issue as Attis has, within the last year, received non-dilutive financing for the purchase of their Fulton ethanol facility, received financing for their planned upgrades to their Fulton facility, and received financing for both their commercial and federal labs. Attis is also in the process of restructuring debt in an attempt to eliminate future dilution.
In conclusion, by the end of full-year 2020, Attis is projecting to have produced $150,000,000 in guaranteed revenues, $24,000,000 in non-guaranteed revenues, and an estimated $8,000,000 in operating profit across all segments. Today, Attis Industries currently trades on the OTC markets at a market capitalization of less than $2,500,000. Upon completion and filing of their financials, I can easily see Attis' market capitalization being no less than a conservative $20,000,000, a possible 10x return.
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Overview for the remainder of this post:

• Catalysts
• Delinquent Filings
• The Formation of Attis
• Attis’ Key Partnerships and Acquisitions
• Company Certifications and Grants
• Break Down of Current Operations
• Break Down of Potential Operations
• Simple Overview of Company Leadership
• Disclaimer
• TL;DR

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Catalysts

• Greenshift/Attis patent litigation appeal wrapping up,
• End to quiet period.
• Completion of debt restructuring.
• Bringing financials up-to-date,
• Non-Disclosed Acquisition/Partnership announcements.
• Company road map/investor update.

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Delinquent Filings

As of 01/06/20, Attis is delinquent on the following filings:

• Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2018
• Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018
• Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2019
• Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2019

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The Formation of Attis

On 02/20/18, Meridian Waste Solutions sold their waste management service operations to Warren Equity Partners for $90,000,000 and the remaining operations were rebranded as Attis Industries. The transaction eliminated $87,000,000 of debt and allowed the newly formed entity, Attis Industries, to pursue new business opportunities in higher-margin industries. The remaining assets, not sold in the deal, were expected to generate $3,000,000 in pre-tax earnings and cut the company’s debt burden by 90%, according to Jeff Cosman, Attis Industries CEO.
Since the formation of Attis in 2018, the company has made multiple acquisitions, formed multiple partnerships, and launched an appeal to overturn a summary judgment in a patent infringement case tied to their subsidiary, Flux Carbon LLC. First, we will tackle the acquisitions and partnerships they have made since inception. For the sake of structure, I have organized the partnerships and acquisitions under four banners; Attis Innovations, Attis Healthcare, Flux Carbon LLC, and Other. The “other” category pertains to acquisitions and partnerships that have not been finalized but are still “in the works.”
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Acquisitions & Partnerships

Attis Healthcare Acquisitions
DxT Medical

• Acquisition Date: 10/23/17
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/7/meridian-waste-solutions-strengthens-its-sales-distribution
• DxT Medical is a national healthcare distribution partner aiming to improve patient care and provide cost-saving opportunities through innovative, compliant, comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic solutions for patients and healthcare providers. The all-stock transaction for DxT Medical was valued at $462,000 and comprised of 350,000 restricted shares of Meridian Waste Solutions valued at $1.32 per share.

Welness Benefits LLC, LGMG LLC (verify Resource Group), Integrity Lab Solutions LLC

• Acquisition Date: 11/20/17
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/10/meridian-waste-solutions-closes-three-acquisitions-to
• The three acquired companies specialize in medical hospital laboratory testing and diagnostics operations. (The 71.65% interest in LGMG LLC comes from the WelNess Benefits LLC acquisition which owned the initial interest.)
• The total costs of these three acquisitions are as follows:
  • Stock Consideration $1,000,000
  • Warrant Consideration $896,645
  • Contingent Consideration $2,220,683
  • Total Cost $4,117,328
    • (Source, Pages 35-37: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/949721/000121390018011473/f10q0618_attisindustries.htm)

EnviCare

• Acquisition Date: 01/24/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/15/meridian-waste-solutions-acquires-envicare-a-medical-waste
• EnviCare is a regulated medical waste company which provides waste transportation and disposal solutions for regulated and specialized waste, pharmaceutical disposal solutions, sharpes management services, controlled substance waste solutions, integrated waste solutions for large healthcare facilities, and compliance training and education for the healthcare industry.

Quality Rx Returns LLC

• Acquisition Date: 08/08/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/45/attis-industries-acquires-pharmaceutical-destruction
• Quality Rx Returns is a full-service provider of pharmaceutical reverse logistic solutions, serving pharmacies, hospitals, and healthcare providers nationwide. Attis plans to grow the Quality Rx business through its existing robust sales infrastructure, including its recently announced partnership with a new nationwide representative group. The Company’s potential network now includes the 4,749 hospitals and 45,000 long term care facilities located in the United States. In addition, the Quality Rx acquisition is expected to expand the Company’s service capability for large quantity generators and manufacturers of pharmaceutical waste by the third quarter of 2018, and enable the Company to expand its licensing to include high margin services for the return and destruction of DEA pharmaceuticals.

Attis Healthcare Partnerships
Macon County General Hospital

• Partnership Date: 12/04/17
• Press Release: (https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/27/attis-industries-secures-agreement-with-macon-county)
• The partnership will result in a profitable, highly functioning hospital laboratory that will provide improved health care for the citizens of the hospital's community. According to Attis, a hospital laboratory of this size can typically process, on average, upwards of 1,000 samples per month.

New Representative Group

• Partnership Date: 06/04/18
• Press Release: (https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/36/attis-industries-partners-with-new-representative-group)
• New Representative Group includes approximately 300 representatives from across the country, and it will provide toxicology and blood samples for testing in the new Attis federal lab as well as other partner labs that Attis works with throughout the U.S.

North Crest Medical Center of Springfield

• Partnership Date: 10/08/18
• Press Release: (https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/55/attis-industries-partners-with-northcrest-medical-center-of)
• North Crest Medical Center is a community hospital located in Springfield, Tennessee. Attis Healthcare will assist in the expansion and operation of their existing state-of-the-art hospital laboratory and will provide outreach services within the community. Attis estimates that the laboratory will be able to test upwards of 1,000 specimens per month and the Company expects to generate revenue and cash flow almost immediately from this partnership.

Oklahoma Clinic

• Partnership Date: 10/31/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/59/attis-industries-adding-volume-for-commercial-labs
• Attis plans to process all blood and toxicology samples coming through the clinic starting immediately. Attis believes the account can generate upwards of $1,000,000 in annualized revenue.

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Attis Innovations Acquisitions
Fulton Ethanol Plant

• Acquisition Date: 06/04/19
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/78/attis-industries-acquired-corn-ethanol-plant-expected-to
• According to Attis, the plant is expected to produce $150,000,000 in annualized revenues and lay the foundation for their other patented technologies. With their current patent and license portfolio, they expect to have industry-leading margins at this facility. They also have plans to upgrade this location from 85,000,000 gallons to 100,000,000 gallons, adding an extra $20,000,000 and pushing revenues to around $170,000,000 at Fulton alone. Attis is planning to purchase two to three more facilities over the next one to three years and expand operations at Fulton to include other bioproducts such as plastics and carbon fiber.
• The current full specifications of this plant are as follows:
  • 85,000,000 gallons of ethanol
  • 360,000,000 pounds of CO2,
  • 455,000,000 pounds of distiller's dried grains with solubles,
  • 18,000,000 pounds of distillers corn oil, and
  • 4,000,000 pounds of malted grain.
• This plant was purchased from Sunoco for $20,000,000 and was recently appraised at a value of $57,000,000. Sunoco had a write-down of $47,000,000 for the facility in their most recent 10-Q.
  • (Sunoco Write Down, Source, Pages 25-26: https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgadata/1552275/000155227519000040/sun-09302019x10q.htm)
  • (Fulton Plant Appraisal, Source: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/06/04/1863938/0/en/Attis-Industries-Acquired-Corn-Ethanol-Plant-Expected-to-Generate-Approximately-150-Million-in-Revenue.html)

Attis Innovations Partnerships
American Science and Technology Corporation (ASTC)

• Partnership Date: 11/10/17
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/8/meridian-waste-solutions-attains-facility-and-exclusive
• From this partnership, Attis gained the exclusive licensing rights to ASTC’s patented Organosolv Process Technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Attis Industries will have an exclusive commercial license to ASTC patents and a lease for the ASTC Biomass Processing Facility in Wausau, WI. ASTC’s patented technology claims to drive the value of Lignin up from $50 per ton to between $600 and $2000 per ton. Under the agreement, Attis has an option to acquire AST in its entirety.

Plastics Industry Association

• Partnership Date: 05/24/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/32/attis-industries-joins-plastics-industry-association
• Attis announced its participation in the innovative Plastics Industry Association (“PLASTICS”) Bioplastics Division.
• (PIA’s Website: https://www.plasticsindustry.org/)

Jordan Forest Products

• Partnership Date: 07/17/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/41/attis-industries-taps-timber-industry-leader-for
• With the partnership, Attis announced the execution of a letter of intent with Jordan Forest Products, LLC (“Jordan”) to provide raw material feedstock procurement services for its recently announced biorefinery in Barnesville, Georgia. Jordan is a division of Jordan Lumber & Supply Inc., one of the largest privately-owned lumber companies in the U.S.

Gyeuongbuk Institute of Science and Technology

• Partnership Date: 08/09/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/46/attis-industries-to-use-sunlight-and-water-to-convert-co2
• With the conclusion of the partnership, Attis gained an exclusive license agreement for DIGIST technologies.

Novozymes

• Partnership Date: 01/16/19
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/65/attis-announces-collaboration-with-novozymes-to-provide
• Under this newly announced relationship, Novozymes has committed to supplying the enzymes required by Attis to convert its pulp into sugar at all of its planned biorefineries.

Iowa State University

• Partnership Date: 01/24/19
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/67/attis-announces-rd-partnership-with-iowa-state-university
• The partnership calls for a funded research program to develop carbon fibers for use in a wide variety of applications derived entirely or predominately from lignin produced at Attis’ planned biorefineries. On 05/06/19 Assistant Professor Xianglan Bai was awarded a patent for a process she developed, through the partnership, to convert lignin into precursors of biofuels and chemicals (https://news.engineering.iastate.edu/2019/05/14/me-professor-awarded-patent-for-lignin-conversion-process/).

Advanced Biofuels Association

• Partnership Date: 07/10/19
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/80/attis-industries-joins-the-advanced-biofuels-association
• The Advanced Biofuels Association (“ABFA”) supports and advocates for public policies that are technology neutral, utilize sustainable feedstocks, and offer subsidy parity to ensure all viable advanced biofuels can compete with the benefit of a level playing field. The ABFA engages government at all levels to secure support for the advanced biofuels industry, allowing its member companies to commercialize their technologies and bring products to market that are competitive and compatible with petroleum-based fuels and byproducts.

Specialist Nutrition

• Partnership Date: 12/20/19
• News Source: https://biofuels-news.com/news/specialist-nutrition-secures-e135-million-ethanol-by-products-deal/
• According to Attis, the partnership and new product offering significantly improves efficiency, while reducing the processing time of distillers’ grains, saving over €2.3 million in annual costs for natural gas supply. It also lowers the facility’s carbon footprint and increases operational performance by 3-5 days.

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Flux Carbon LLC Acquisitions
Advanced Lignin Biocomposites LLC & UT Battelle LLC Partnership

• Acquisition Date: 11/30/17
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/11/meridian-waste-solutions-completes-acquisition-for
• Advanced Lignin owns and develops lignin recovery, production and application technology. Advanced Lignin uses its methods to more cost-effectively produce many different materials, including adhesives, renewable fuels, carbon fiber, and plastics. Advanced Lignin’s main operations generated revenues of approximately $7,000,000 to $10,000,000 and $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 of cash flows the year prior. Along with this acquisition came Advanced Lignin’s partnership with UT-Battelle LLC, the management and operating contractor for the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. On 05/29/18 Attis restructured this acquisition to reduce the associated expense and liabilities of the deal by about $1,350,000.
• The total cost for this acquisition is as follows:
  • ABL Shortfall Provision $2,307,363,
  • Shares Issued and Sold at Value by ABL $1.032m
  • Total Cost $3,319,363
    • (ALB SFP Page F-39, Shares Issued Page F-22, Document 10-k 2017: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/949721/000121390018004538/f10k2017_meridianwaste.htm.)

Genarex FD LCC 49% Interest

• Acquisition Date: 05/29/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/33/attis-industries-acquires-49-stake-in-genarex
• Attis purchased a 49% stake in Genarex FD LLC. Genarex is a technology development company focused on refining low-cost renewable feedstocks into functional biofillers. Genarex is capable of recovering about 1.1 pounds of biobased plastics additive per gallon of ethanol produced, which equates to an expected $11 million in new EBITDA from each 100 million gallon per year ethanol facility. Under applicable agreements, the Company agreed, in pertinent part, to pay an aggregate purchase price of $2,266,667, plus 8% of the EBITDA and certain material transaction proceeds of the Company’s Innovations group.

FLUX Carbon LLC 80% Interest(JVCo)

• Acquisition Date: 05/31/19
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/34/attis-industries-acquires-clean-technology-licensing
• JVCo is a new joint venture company between Attis Industries and Greenshift Corporation that holds the rights to an expansive portfolio of clean technologies and manages an existing engineering and licensing business. This new joint venture can be expected to initially contribute between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000 to Attis’ earnings. The existing business generated approximately $7,000,000 per year in sales with gross margins of about 70% for the three-year period ending December 31, 2017. The Company agreed to pay an earn-out based purchase price with a floor of $18 million. An initial payment was paid at closing in the form of restricted shares of the Company’s stock, including 180,000 shares of the Company’s Series G preferred stock. GreenShift is required to use the first proceeds received upon sale of the shares to pay or refinance its senior secured debt.
• The opportunity with Greenshift and JVCo could be huge for Attis. Greenshift is currently in legal battles over patent infringement, claiming that multiple ethanol producers have infringed on their patents. According to Attis, “CleanTech and its inventors developed and commercialized a process that intercepts the flow of that final third in the plant, extracts corn oil, and returns the stream back to the host for completion of drying. The extracted oil is then most commonly sold as a feedstock for refining into biodiesel for about $0.25 per pound. CleanTech has licensed its portfolio of corn oil extraction patents to producers of about 12% of the 15 billion gallons of ethanol produced annually in the U.S. However, CleanTech estimates that upwards of 90% of the corn ethanol industry practices methods covered by CleanTech’s patents, and some of those patents are the subject of litigation which CleanTech has asserted against about 10% of the industry alleging infringing use since 2010.”
• On 09/05/18, Attis and Greenshift filed an appeal to overturn a summary judgment deeming GreenShift’s patents unenforceable. Oral arguments recently took place on December 3rd and the final verdict is still under deliberation. Audio of the oral arguments can be found here: https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=152592091. More information on the legal battle can be found at http://greenshift-gers.blogspot.com/. The full appeal can be found here: https://www.greenshift.com/content/investorresources/pdf/appeal_2018_08_29_brief.pdf.

Flux Carbon LLC Partnerships
GreenShift

• Partnership Date: 01/16/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/17/meridian-waste-solutions-attis-innovations-executes
• With the partnership came a licensing agreement for a proprietary biofuel process technology. This technology is expected to reduce construction costs and improve the profitability of biodiesel by an estimated $0.40 per gallon.

Noveda Technologies

• Partnership Date: 06/06/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/37/attis-completes-strategic-investment-in-noveda-technologies
• Noveda's patented monitoring solution integrates consumption and generation data to provide actionable real-time intelligence for owners, operators, and users, including for users across networks of production facilities.

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Other Acquisitions
Custom Cable Services Purchase Agreement (TBT)

• Announcement Date: 09/10/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/51/attis-industries-executes-purchase-agreement-to-acquire
• The agreement is an all-stock deal valued at $4.6 million. The transaction has yet to close but is still being worked on by both parties according to Custom Cables CEO. Custom Cable Services, Inc. is a broadband network construction and maintenance firm. Over the past 5 years, CCS has generated consistent annual revenues between $10-$12 million with $1.5-$2.0 million in EBITDA. CCS has key long-term relationships with Charter and Cox Communications for multi-year projects.

Barnesville Biorefinery Site Selection (TBT)

• Announcement Date: 07/16/18
• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/40/attis-industries-to-purchase-site-for-first-commercial
• The planned Barnesville facility is expected to cost roughly $45,000,000 and produce $35,000,000 in annual revenue. Attis has stated that the bottom line for this facility would be close to $12,000,000 and would provide a return on investment after year four.
  • (Attis Investor Update Transcript Details plans for Barnesville location. It contains other important information as well. Recommended read: https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/attisind/files/docs/ATIS+Shareholder+Update+Call+Official+Transcript_092618+CLEAN.pdf)

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Certifications & Grants

COLA Accreditation

• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/30/attis-industries-nearing-completion-of-its-first-federal
• The laboratory has already received COLA accreditation for laboratory quality assurance, expects CLIA certification in the coming weeks, and is now in the application process for Medicare coverage for all states and Medicaid coverage in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico.

CLIA License

• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/44/attis-industries-obtains-clia-certification-for-its-first
• Attis obtained its CLIA Certification for its first internally developed lab. The Company expects that this federal laboratory will be testing a baseline of 3,000 toxicology samples per month by the end of 2018, which trends to approximately $600,000 per month of revenue and over $7,000,0000 for 2018. The Company also expects to add blood testing to its federal laboratory by the end of the year, which will drive additional revenue growth for the Company moving forward. By the second quarter of 2019, they expect the combined number of blood and toxicology samples in the federal lab to be between 5,000 and 8,000 per month. This means the federal lab is expected to be generating over $1,000,000 in revenue per month by mid-2019.

CMS License

• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/58/attis-industries-secures-medicare-license-for-tulsa
• Attis announced that it has received the Medicare license for its toxicology laboratory in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The laboratory, which received its CLIA license in August, is dedicated to running samples reimbursed by Medicare and individual state Medicaid programs only (“federal lab”). Now that Attis has received its CMS license, which provides Medicare coverage for all states, Attis will begin taking samples and billing under its new Medicare number while at the same time begin applying for Medicaid coverage for the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico. Deep market analysis has led Attis Healthcare to design and build its current lab infrastructure to handle samples that would produce revenue of $10-$12 million and margins between 20-25%. “With further lab and infrastructure build-out and a concentrated effort by our contracted sales force, I believe we can double our expected revenue in the next 12 to 18 months.”

USDA Grant

• Press Release: https://ir.attisind.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/16/meridian-waste-solutions-attis-innovations-awarded-3
• Grant Information: https://cris.nifa.usda.gov/cgibin/starfinde0?
• Attis was awarded a USDA $3,000,000 grant to support the commercialization of patented and patent-pending lignin conversion and refining technologies that it owns.

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Break Down of Current Operations

Attis Healthcare
Federal & Commercial Labs

• CLIA License
• CMS License

Revenue Estimate

• $10,000,000 - $12,000,000
  • President Rob Dunn’s Estimate for FY 2019

Known Financing

• Roughly $7,000,000
  • Based on All Healthcare Related Acquisitions

Attis Innovations
Fulton

• 85,000,000 Gallon Facility
• Plans to upgrade to 100,000,000 gallons

Revenue Estimate

• $150,000,000
  • Attis’ Projection

Known Financing

• $20,000,000
  • Attis' Stated Cost of Acquisition

Flux Carbon LLC
Licensing and Engineering Business

• Large Patent Portfolio
• Some Patents Subject to Litigation

Revenue Estimate

• $14,000,000
  • Based on Attis’ Stated Revenues for ABL & GS

Known Financing

• $30,300,000
  • Acquired $28m in patents from GS
  • Acquired ABL for $2,300,000

Current Operations Summary
Revenue Estimate

• $174,000,000

Known Financing

• $55,000,000

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Break Down of Potential Operations

Custom Cable Services (Possible Announcement)

• Contingent on Attis Updating its Financials

Revenue Estimate

• $7,000,000 - $9,000,000
  • Attis’ Projection

Known Financing

• $2,300,000
  • Attis Stated Cost of Acquisition

Barnesville Biorefinery

• Unsure as to whether the site has been purchased or developed

Revenue Estimate

• $35,000,000
  • Attis’ Projection

Known Financing

• $45,000,000
  • Attis’ Stated Cost

Potential Operations Summary
Revenue Estimate

• $42,000,000

Stated Financing

• $47,000,000

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Leadership

Board Members
Jeff Cosman

• In four years, built a vertically integrated solid waste company with over $55 Million in revenue and over $12 Million of EBITDA, then sold said company for $103 million.

Joe Ardagna

• 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry

Maggie Arvedlund

• CEO and Managing Partner of Turning Rock Partners

Thomas J. Cowee

• 37 years of experience in the environmental industry
• 15 years of experience as a Chief Financial Officer

Jackson Davis

• 20 years of experience in technology and technology leadership roles
• Ties to Cox Enterprises

David E. Rivers, DHL

• Professor and Director of the Public Information and Community Outreach at the Medical University of South Carolina.

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Management
Jeff Cosman, CEO of Attis Industries
Gregory Pilewicz, President of Attis Industries

• Boasts 16 years of experience in Energy, Healthcare and Industrial Manufacturing
• Held the previous position of CEO at Esmark

David Winsness, President of Attis Innovations

• Developed, commercialized and built a team that produced the largest innovation to occur in the corn ethanol biofuel space: back end corn oil extraction.
• Developed a lignin recovery system that is less than 50% of the CAPEX of any known competitor while improving its quality within the extraction process to allow greater value to be captured.

Robert M. Dunn Jr., President of Attis Healthcare

• Has represented both Fortune 100 companies and small businesses in litigation involving product liability issues, business disputes, and wrongful terminations
• Significant experience working directly for a multi-national Fortune 500 company in the medical device industry.
• Has ties to St. Jude Medical

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Disclaimer: I'm not your investment advisor and I am not responsible for any of your investment decisions. This post is for informational purposes only and any decisions made after reading this post are yours, and yours only. Please, please conduct your own research and verify information when making investment decisions or consult an investment advisor.
Disclosure: I hold investments in both Attis Industries (ATIS) and GreenShift Corporation (GERS).
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TL;DR

Ticker: ATIS
Market Cap: $2.5m
Shares Outstanding: 6.68m
Guaranteed Revenues: $150m
Non-Guaranteed + Guaranteed Revenues: $174m
Net Debt: $35m
Low End Earnings Estimate: $4.8m
High End Earnings Estimate: $7.4m
Current Book Value: $13m
True Book Value: $40m+
Core Assets: Fulton Ethanol Plant, Commercial Lab, Federal Lab, Licensing Business, Patent Portfolio.
Key Partnerships: Sunoco, Novozymes, Specialist Nutrition, Greenshift Corporation.
Catalysts: Patent litigation appeal wrap up, End to quiet period, Bringing financials up-to-date, Acquisition announcements, Rollout and implementation of patent portfolio.
^{If you'd like a list of other resources (such as ceo interviews, investor update transcripts, news articles, etc. let me know and I can send them your way.})

Georgia Tombstones (Part 3)
by Jayge 8^J
"There aren’t many things that get my anger and paranoia out for a walk on a rainy weekday afternoon than reading about advances being made by the military-industrial empire having to do with mind control. I like to be left alone to determine the direction of my life, so I find Joseph Farrell’s Microcosm and Medium to be a breath of fresh air, first for its new information, then for some analysis by someone with advanced intelligence and terminal degrees, and thirdly for its approach to hope for humanity. There are things we can do to prevent the cell doors of tyranny from slamming shut. “Following a paradigm of researching the relationship between alternative history and science, Farrell has followed with a stunning series of books….”; I can lay claim to having sampled the ones about Babylon’s banksters, and about transhumanism. And I resonate with the theme of cognitive integration, individually and within relationships, as a contrapuntal answer to the CIA’s push for a “disconnected, dissociative population in a state of confusion, hysteria, and passivity that is oblivious to transcendent beauty and virtue”. It is Farrell’s contention “that to ignore the mind control aspect of the post-World War II manipulation of the world of the arts by the deep states, not only of the West but of the Soviet bloc, is to ignore what may be a central and principal key of their respective mind control and psychic research programs: that connection between (1) mind manipulation and/or control, (2) cosmology, and (3) the arts. Farrell cites Frances Stonor Saunders’ “The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters”. Being enamored of pipe organ and C.P.E. Bach, Farrell is comfortable discussing music theory and Dietrich Bartel’s Musica Poetica. “Music [using time signature, tempo, key, cadence and an entire arsenal of rhetorical methods and devices], supremely of all the arts, is thus in the fullest sense of the words a magical science or scientific magic, a quasi-alchemical craft of the manipulation of Affekten, and from thence the manipulation of subjective individual emotional responses”. You can see, as I did, that the way forward in reading “Microcosm and Medium” seems littered with cobwebs, but stay with it; in a moment, Farrell is discussing vibrations, frequencies, and the ability to move people. Citing C.P.E. Bach’s “Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments” [“A musician cannot move others unless he too is moved.”] Farrell says that “if one wishes to control, manipulate, or dominate the culture, one has to find a way to manipulate that which is the wellspring of it all: the mind…. No better argument in favor of this thesis exists than the American intelligence’s community mostly successful post-war attempt to drive the artistic-cultural agenda, and thereby to manipulate and engineer broad cultural perceptions.” Farrell speaks of the current degeneracy of the Western culture, of experimentation for the sake of experimentation, the embrace by the CIA of antinomianism, what Wikipedia called a “nonconformity through the concept of transgression”. This extends the modern usage of the term, from simply implying that “moral laws are relative in meaning and application”, to include the avowed irreligion manifest in modern Satanism”. Greg Barnhisel is cited as saying that complete moral degeneracy has been made “safe for consumption by American middle-class audiences”. Farrell cites certain anti-music like Schonberg as an example of “cultural Marxism”, the “unresolvable, unrealizable, unrealistic, unreasonable and irrational pursuit of pure equality of results”. He then turns to Dave McGowan’s book on the weird scenes inside Laurel Canyon and “the very evident hidden hand at work, the links to military and intelligence communities, with its hints of secret underground tunnels, MKULTRA operations”, drugs, and the continuation of a deep trend in aesthetics toward nihilism. “… the arts have been drafted and perverted as a soft power technique of mind manipulation and social engineering to the extent that perhaps the real target of the effort is not simply the population, nor its real motivation to ”socially engineering narrative and manage perceptions. It would appear that one possible and even deeper target maybe to hide the link between the mind and cosmology from the general public, all the while exploiting it in every way by and for the mandarins of the deep state.” [Page 54] Twenty-seven pages later, Farrell is still talking about embedded structural codes in music, math, dialogue, with its intervals, ratios, proportions and overtones or “harmonics”, and ten pages after that, he’s into William Tiller’s work on intention [ https://www.tillerinstitute.com ], Lt. Col. Tom Bearden (US Army, Ret’d) and his book “Gravitobiology: New Biophysics using Internal and External electro-magnetic field energy to produce new mechanisms for deep effects in biological systems” (noting especially his theory on the downing of the DC-8 at Gander, Newfoundland), and the topics of psycho-energetics and the induction of disease [how vary interesting that, in the October 2nd show of “New Amsterdam”, the second episode was devoted to and named “rituals”). And then turn to Part Two [“The Techniques and Technologies of Mind Manipulation”], starting at page 121, with Frank Church’s famous warning on August 17th, 1975, not to allow the US to fall into “the abyss from which there is no return”. Rudolf Hess is noted. Farrell’s tale about the remarks by the Deputy Fuhrer at the Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal — that his entire nation had been plunged into a genocidal barbarism by some form of “brain poison”, that their thoughts and emotions had been manipulated by a secret and diabolical technology — are recounted in “Hess and the Penguins: The Holocaust, Antarctica and the Strange Case of Rudolf Hess”. “It was the first time in modern history that the world had been confronted with the possibility, not just of mind-control, but of mind control on a national and continental scale.” Farrell notes Jack Ruby and Sirhan Sirhan, as well as the oratorical “mass hypnosis” of Adolf Hitler, to give us glimpses into the possible use of hypnotic induction as a means of implanting suggested thoughts and actions, and the use of cues, triggers and methods of “sealing”. On page 142, Farrell introduces the idea of remote broadcast hypnotism. The brain can receive and send auditory and visual signals. There’s a special note at the bottom of page 142 that makes the acquisition of this book imperative. This is followed by information on pages 156-157 and Farrell introduces the book by Michael Meiers "Was Jonestown a CIA Medical Experiment?" Farrell answers “yes”: electroshock “treatments”, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, money-laundering, field tests for mass mind manipulation and population control, the administration of pharmaceuticals into large population groups through fast foods, the presence of an experimental kitchen and an unusually large medical staff of seventy people including psychiatrists, psychologists, behavioral scientists, pharmacologists, nurses and therapists to “evaluate the effectiveness of different mind control drugs specifically on Black and Native American populations [“race-specific designer drugs”] to render them (without detection) able to do heavy labor but without a will of their own. After the arranged suicides and murders, Zbigniew Brzezinski ordered that “politically sensitive papers and all forms of identification” be “removed from the corpses” (confirmed here and here). Farrell reviews the literature on psychic research behind the Iron Curtain (noting especially the works of Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder, as well as Leonid Leonidovich Vasiliev [See http://www.espresearch.com/mentalsuggestion/ .] Farrell speaks of the possibility of mind manipulation being used to enable or create “the collapse of a common cultural matrix”. Farrell notes the use of music to entrain other information, of its use in SuperLearning; Farrell switches gears and discuses research into psychokinesis, remote viewing, and telepathy; he notes John White’s 1988 book “Psychic Warfare: Fact or Fiction? An Investigation into the use of the mind as a military weapon” and engages in his trademark ‘high octane speculation’. The possible role for telepathy in a “first contact situation” with extra-terrestrial intelligent life (or whether telepathic communication would be perceived as a threat) brings to mind the recent movie “Arrival” and the idea of “talking in circles” (five-minute video). Time machines and time travel, and Farrell’s own book “The SS Brotherhood of the Bell”, make an extended cameo from pages 197 to 207. Soviet researcher Edward Naumov notes the possibility of affecting an individual or “a whole crowd of people”, their emotions, thoughts, memory, and “attention span”, and can cause physical fatigue, disorientation and altered behavior. Farrell notes that “psychometric or psychotronic weapons are not subject to any treaty provisions, nor are they subject to regulation. … there is nothing forbidding their acquisition or use by private groups, corporations, criminal Mafia-like organizations, terrorist cells” or non-state actors, an idea echoed by Robert Steele here : “… This weaponry is not just available to the CIA, it is now in the hands of paramilitary corporations as well as Deep State elements including the Knights of Malta, the Freemasons, and the Satanic Church.” Farrell brings two people in particular to our attention: Gloria Naylor and her book “1996”, a thinly-fictionalized account of her experiences of having been harassed with mind manipulation technologies of “synthetic telepathy”; and John Hall, a physician, whose two books (Guinea Pigs: Technologies of Control) and (“A New Breed: Satellite Terrorism”), present concise overviews of the technologies and make up the powerful end-punch of Farrell’s book. [Ed.: I have not read these books.] Naylor’s experiences imply that “the brain’s electroencephalogram has been so extensively mapped that there are ‘electroencephalographic dictionaries’ which are capable of modulating the exact waveforms onto the microwaves; that a more sophisticated version of this technology exists that allows the remote reading of your brain waves which would in turn allow an individual’s interior conversation to be monitored and, if necessary, to allow whole conversations without any actual spoken words transpiring between them.” [Underlining added]. Hall discovered that DARPA granted a 1972 contract to the Stanford Research Institute on the premise that thought was nothing more than an interior, non-vocalized conversation. “The implications of such a technology for use in warfare and battlefield communications should be apparent”, says Farrell. Additionally, as suggested by George Estabrooks, authoritative expert and author on hynoptism and the mind, this technology allows the development of “broadcast hypnotism”, and allows the hypnotize to monitor the state of the subject, and the degree of trance or success. Farrell notes, however, that as a broadcast technology, it is subject to the same possibilities for jamming by a third-party, for erasure of the information being modulated if the jammer has access to the same ‘electroencephalographic dictionaries’, or which can be used to send back an entirely different batch of information to the broadcaster. A “two-way channel of information transfer” could exist, ”thus making it possible for the subject of such an attack to counter-attack” and potentially, counter-manipulate those during the targeting. Farrell notes a resemblance to the recent “Cuban Embassy attacks”. Naylor claimed that John St. Clair Akwei, a former employee of NSA, sued, claiming that the NSA uses phoney (sic) business fronts” (see http://whale.to/b/akwei.pdf ). Akwei further “alleged that the NSA had the capability to alter specific television and radio signals at the receiving end with special equipment allowing them to modulate information into those signals, in effect, turning specific sets into broadcast transmitters of information received by certain individuals, but not other individuals. The potential for such a technology to create “false broadcasts” of genuinely “fake news” is evident, as is its potential to create the “Mandela effect”….Akwei even goes so far as to allege that the capability exists to monitor specific individuals by their “bioenergetic fields”. Known as” ‘radiation intelligence”, Farrell says that “the possibility arises that one method of “mapping” an individual’s bioelectrical neurological signature would be precisely through some covert mechanism or capability concealed in cell phones”. Naylor also points out (on page 121ff of her book) the use of these kinds of technologies on individuals to induce false dissociative states and symptoms – schizophrenia– is the perfect “plausible deniability” so coveted by covert operation operatives. John Hall, the anesthesiologist, has done the research to discover ultra-sonic technologies which can ”restrict blood vessels, cause the cessation of blood flow to the heart, prompt dizziness, cause blackouts, or create lethal heart attacks, leaving the local coroner none the wiser. Satellite technologies could be used for targeting the individual for a variety of microwave-induced physiological problems ranging from “heartburn, vomiting blood and blood in stool”, since all of these can be caused by thermal changes to the lining of stomach, esophagus, and intestines.” As noted, rogue groups that have access to these kinds of technologies can piggy-back their own agendas in operations onto government or corporate owned satellite systems and resources using the phenomenon of compartmentalization to cloak their activities. “Given that the government has conducted non-consensual studies on civilian and military subjects, none of whom were informed, ranging from the infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiments on unwitting poor blacks, forced sterilizations on children of mentally ill people, testicular transplants on prisoners, experiments on radiated Quaker Oats cereals and intentional radiation releases on unwitting populations, it is clear that the American military-intelligence complex has absolutely no scruples about using its own soldiers, prisoners, or citizens as human guinea pigs. Given this prior record, similar mind control experiments by the government cannot be ruled out. What must be avoided is simply the conclusion that the government, and only the government, has access to such technologies and that only the government would be willing to use them.” Farrell points out that the mere existence of electroencephalographic dictionaries implies an ability not only to read thoughts from a brain, but to “write” them to a brain. Farrell reminds us of the work of Dr. Jose Delgado, notorious mind manipulation advocate and MKULTRA researcher, famous for planting electrodes in brains in order to modify behavior, and for his research on the stimulation of areas of the brain involved with sexual characteristics, sexual identifications and the stimulation of desire. Given our culture’s ongoing push for gender-neutral language, the acceptance of trans-genderism, a push to accept pedophilia, soft forms of mind manipulation through broadcasting, language, music and the rewiring of pathways associated with certain powerful and emotional terms associated with human sexuality, and the engineering of individual and group identities and memories, and a review of Dr. Farrell’s references in this book to complete cultural collapse must be considered. I urge everyone to read this and related books, some whose links are embedded in this text. I urge you to assess their content and veracity. I urge you to convene and conduct further investigative research and dialogue. I especially urge everyone to address their deep implications for communication, education, and citizenship. I urge you to seriously embrace the challenges laid out here at PhiBetaIota.net, and see that sufficient funding is forthcoming to address them. We teeter on the edge of an abyss from which there will be no exit." -- review by Ed Jewett, phibetaiota.net
“Every morning brings us news of the globe, and yet we are poor in noteworthy stories. This is because no event comes to us without being already shot through with explanation. In other words, by now almost nothing that happens benefits storytelling; almost everything benefits information. Actually, it is half the art of storytelling to keep a story free from explanation as one reproduces it. . . . The most extraordinary things, marvelous things, are related with the greatest accuracy, but the psychological connection of the event is not forced on the reader. It is left up to him to interpret things the way he understands them, and thus the narrative achieves an amplitude that information lacks.” ― Walter Benjamin
“Actually, I hardly feel constrained to try to make head or tail of this condition of the world. On this planet a great number of civilizations have perished in blood and thunder. Naturally, one must wish for the planet that one day it will experience a civilization that has abandoned blood and horror, in fact, I am . . . inclined to assume that our planet is waiting for this. But it is terribly doubtful whether we can bring such a present to its hundred—or four-hundred-millionth birthday party. And if we don’t, the planet will finally punish us, its unthoughtful well-wishers, by presenting us with the Last Judgment.” ― Walter Benjamin
“Work on a good piece of writing proceeds on three levels: a musical one, where it is composed; an architectural one, where it is constructed; and finally, a textile one, where it is woven.” ― Walter Benjamin
“Writers are really people who write books not because they are poor, but because they are dissatisfied with the books which they could buy but do not like.” ― Walter Benjamin
“You could tell a lot about a man by the books he keeps - his tastes, his interest, his habits.” ― Walter Benjamin
“To be happy is to be able to become aware of oneself without fright.” ― Walter Benjamin
“The only way of knowing a person is to love them without hope.” ― Walter Benjamin
“That things are "status quo" is the catastrophe.” ― Walter Benjamin
“The work of memory collapses time.” ― Walter Benjamin
“History is written by the victors.” ― Walter Benjamin
"None of the reforms, increased training, diversity programs, community outreach and gimmicks such as body cameras have blunted America’s deadly police assault, especially against poor people of color. Police forces in the United States—which, according to The Washington Post, have fatally shot 782 people this year—are unaccountable, militarized monstrosities that spread fear and terror in poor communities. By comparison, police in England and Wales killed 62 people in the 27 years between the start of 1990 and the end of 2016. Police officers have become rogue predators in impoverished communities. Under U.S. forfeiture laws, police indiscriminately seize money, real estate, automobiles and other assets. In many cities, traffic, parking and other fines are little more than legalized extortion that funds local government and turns jails into debtor prisons. Because of a failed court system, millions of young men and women are railroaded into prison, many for nonviolent offenses. SWAT teams with military weapons burst into homes often under warrants for nonviolent offenses, sometimes shooting those inside. Trigger-happy cops pump multiple rounds into the backs of unarmed men and women and are rarely charged with murder. And for poor Americans, basic constitutional rights, including due process, were effectively abolished decades ago...The criminal justice system, at the same time, refuses to hold Wall Street banks, corporations and oligarchs accountable for crimes that have caused incalculable damage to the global economy and the ecosystem. None of the bankers who committed massive acts of fraud and were responsible for the financial collapse in 2008 have gone to prison even though their crimes resulted in widespread unemployment, millions of evictions and foreclosures, homelessness, bankruptcies and the looting of the U.S. Treasury to bail out financial speculators at taxpayer expense. We live in a two-tiered legal system, one in which poor people are harassed, arrested and jailed for absurd infractions, such as selling loose cigarettes—which led to Eric Garner being choked to death by a New York City policeman in 2014—while crimes of appalling magnitude that wiped out 40 percent of the world’s wealth are dealt with through tepid administrative controls, symbolic fines and civil enforcement...In a recent interview, [sociologist Alex S.] Vitale told me, “We’ve been waging a war on drugs for 40 years by putting people in prison for ever longer sentences. Yet drugs are cheaper, easier to get, and at a higher quality than they’ve ever been. Any high school student in America can get any kind of drugs they want. Yet we persist in this idea that the way to respond to the problem of drugs, and many other social problems, is through arrest, courts, punishments, prisons. This is what Trump is playing to. This idea that the only appropriate role for the state is one of coercion and threats—whether it’s in the foreign policy sphere or in the domestic sphere.” Police forces, as Vitale writes in his book, were not formed to ensure public safety or prevent crime. They were created by the property classes to maintain economic and political dominance and exert control over slaves, the poor, dissidents and labor unions that challenged the wealthy’s hold on power and ability to amass personal fortunes. Many of America’s policing techniques, including widespread surveillance, were pioneered and perfected in colonies of the U.S. and then brought back to police departments in the homeland. Blacks in the South had to be controlled, and labor unions and radical socialists in the industrial Northeast and Midwest had to be broken." -- Chris Hedges, truthdig.com
"Chris Hedges's profound and provocative examination of America in crisis is "an exceedingly...provocative book, certain to arouse controversy, but offering a point of view that needs to be heard", about how bitter hopelessness and malaise have resulted in a culture of sadism and hate. America, says Pulitzer Prize--winning reporter Chris Hedges, is convulsed by an array of pathologies that have arisen out of profound hopelessness, a bitter despair, and a civil society that has ceased to function. The opioid crisis; the retreat into gambling to cope with economic distress; the pornification of culture; the rise of magical thinking; the celebration of sadism, hate, and plagues of suicides are the physical manifestations of a society that is being ravaged by corporate pillage and a failed democracy. As our society unravels, we also face global upheaval caused by catastrophic climate change. All these ills presage a frightening reconfiguration of the nation and the planet. Donald Trump rode this disenchantment to power. In his "forceful and direct" America: The Farewell Tour, Hedges argues that neither political party, now captured by corporate power, addresses the systemic problem. Until our corporate coup d' tat is reversed these diseases will grow and ravage the country. "With a trademark blend of...sharply observed detail, Hedges writes a requiem for the American dream" and seeks to jolt us out of our complacency while there is still time." -- amazon.com
"Walker Percy in his 1971 dystopian novel Love in the Ruins paints a picture of a morally degenerate America consumed by hedonism, wallowing in ignorance, led by kleptocrats and fools, fragmented into warring and often violent cultural extremes and on the cusp of a nuclear war. It is a country cursed by its failure to address or atone for its original sins of genocide and slavery. The ethos of ceaseless capitalist expansion, white supremacy and American exceptionalism, perpetuated overseas in the country's imperial wars, eventually consumes the nation itself. The accomplices, who once benefited from this evil, become its victims. How, Percy asks, does one live a life of meaning in such a predatory society? Is it even possible? And can a culture ever regain its equilibrium when it sinks into such depravity?" -- Chris Hedges, America: The Farewell Tour, 2018, pg. 241
"On July 4, Dr. Thomas More, with a carbine on his knees, sits in a pine grove on the southwest cusp of the decaying interstate cloverleaf. A sniper has shot at him earlier in the day, and from this point he commands a view of all four directions. In one quadrant is the city, inhabited largely by conservative Christian businessmen; in another, the Paradise Estates, a suburb where he ordinarily lives in a house inherited from his deceased wife. In still another direction, there is the federal complex, which includes the hospital where the narrator works, a medical school, the NASA facility, the Behavioral Institute, the Geriatrics Center, and the Love Clinic. In the remaining quadrant, the huge Honey Island swamp shelters assorted social rebels and castoffs: white derelicts, young dropouts pursuing love, drugs, and the simple life, and ferocious black Bantus, who use the swamp as guerrilla base for launching raids against outlying suburbs and shopping centers. Immediately below Dr. More’s lookout post, an old, abandoned Howard Johnson’s motel, long deserted after a devastating raid in years past, is a temporary shelter for Dr. More’s two girlfriends, Moira and Lola, and his loyal nurse, Ellen, whom he also loves. The action of the novel covers, in retrospect, the preceding four days, during which this awkward personal and public crisis came to a head. The amiable Dr. More, though hardly responsible for the persistent failure of American society to eradicate racial inequality and bigotry, does nevertheless share some obscure guilt for the peculiarly volatile situation on this particular day." -- Walker Percy, Love in the Ruins, 1971
"Slavery is legal in prisons under the Thirteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which reads: 'Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States'...The highest hourly wage in prison rarely exceeds $2 and most prisoners earn less than a dollar an hour. In Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, and Texas most prisoners are not paid for their work. Once you enter prison you become, in essence, a slave of the state...Prisoners work, often through subcontractors, for major corporations such as Chevron, Bank of America, IBM, Motorola, Microsoft, McDonald's, AT&T, Starbucks, Nintendo, Victoria's Secret, JC Penney, Sears, Walmart, Kmart, Eddie Bauer, Wendy's, Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Fruit of the Loom, Caterpillar, Sara Lee, Quaker Oats, Mary Kay, Texas Instruments, Dell, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Nordstrom's, Revlon, Macy's, Pierre Cardin, and Target." -- Chris Hedges, America: The Farewell Tour, 2018, pgs. 278-9
“What if a small group of world leaders were to conclude that the principal risk to the Earth comes from the actions of the rich countries?... In order to save the planet, the group decides: Isn't the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn't it our responsibility to bring that about?” -- Maurice Strong
“Either we reduce the world's population voluntarily or nature will do this for us, but brutally.” -- Maurice Strong
“The real goal of the Earth Charter is that it will in fact become like the Ten Commandments.” -- Maurice Strong
“This planet might be able to support perhaps as many as half a billion people who could live a sustainable life in relative comfort. Human populations must be greatly diminished, and as quickly as possible to limit further environmental damage.” -- Eric Pianka
“War and famine would not do. Instead, disease offered the most efficient and fastest way to kill the billions that must soon die if the population crisis is to be solved. AIDS is not an efficient killer because it is too slow. My favorite candidate for eliminating 90 percent of the world's population is airborne Ebola (Ebola Reston), because it is both highly lethal and it kills in days, instead of years. "We've got airborne diseases with 90 percent mortality in humans. Killing humans. Think about that. "You know, the bird flu's good, too. For everyone who survives, he will have to bury nine.” -- Eric Pianka
“The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes. Three generations of imbeciles is enough.” -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
“Malthus has been vindicated; reality is finally catching up with Malthus. The Third World is overpopulated, it’s an economic mess, and there’s no way they could get out of it with this fast-growing population. Our philosophy is: back to the village.” -- Arne Schiotz
“Humans on the Earth behave in some ways like a pathogenic micro-organism, or like the cells of a tumor or neoplasm.” -- James Lovelock
“Mankind is the most dangerous, destructive, selfish and unethical animal on the earth.” -- Michael J. Fox
“The prospect of cheap fusion energy is the worst thing that could happen to the planet.” -- Jeremy Rifkin
This morning there were no cashiers, only blinking scanner checkouts. Mine thanked me for shopping. Polite security guards presume everyone's a thief now, not just brown people. Poor Walmart bloated billionaires can't afford to pay living wages anymore so I'm forced to patronize local shops where I can still wish clerks a great day. It's time to ramp up the revolution & purge the have-it-alls. They're terrified we'll do it. That's why all the surveillance exists, not for terrorists who are really them, but for the rest of us, We the People.
Look around you at this prison culture of Zionist filth & poison they have built around us, their predatory capitalism, their military-industrial complex, their surveillance state, their drugs, drones, GMOs, artificial intelligence, inane award shows, violent films, pageants, pornography, 'reality television', & 'social media'. Brutes who torment Arabs for endless decades are, like Nazi scum they mimic, no better than subhuman swine. Be aware or remain oblivious. Next, elites may come for us.
"Dark Journalist - Eleventh Hour
Like a story in childhood
I can't remember all the words
Floating streams of strange impressions
Coming out of remote space
Taking scenes of mass confusion
Establishing a quicksand in its place
Someone said we've come full circle
Now I believe it's true
Deaf ears won't cure the tempest
Brewing around me and you
Listen close can you hear the breathing?
There's a rush around your fates
Something's getting less and less afraid
To show us all its ugly face
It's our Eleventh Hour
Hope is light shining in the darkness
Freedom can save you from yourself
Hope is light shining in the darkness
Freedom can save you from yourself
Distant roars and distant rumblings
Saying that it's us and them
Playing on the random violence
Raising racist flags again
It's our Eleventh Hour
We can't believe it's true
Can you feel the crush that's closing
All around me and you
Hope is light shining in the darkness
Freedom can save you from yourself
Hope is light shining in the darkness
Freedom can save you from yourself
A rush of anger, torment
Seized the moment from the sane
The chaos that arises
Plays a familiar game
Won't you take a look around you and tell me what you see
Inconsistent...Unrestrained
Corruption runs deep
It's our Eleventh Hour
We can't believe it's true
Can you feel the crush that's closing
All around me and you
These days whispers come and find us willing
They talk of our Eleventh Hour
They talk of our Eleventh Hour
They talk of our Eleventh Hour
While they build a trojan horse
While they build a trojan horse
While they build a trojan horse"

HPSCI voted today to send more than 4 dozen unredacted transcripts to Mueller. The best resource to figure out who all testified that I've found so far is this CNN tracker, which I've reproduced below for convenience:

Date	Name/Role	Private/Public	Notes
March 8, 2018	Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski	Private	Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski met with the House Intelligence Committee for a second private interview. Lewandowski said he answered “every relevant question,” but Rep. Adam Schiff, the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, said Lewandowski still avoided discussing key topics.
February 27, 2018	Former WH communications director Hope Hicks	Private	Then-White House communications director Hope Hicks testified in private before the House Intelligence Committee as part of the panel’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. During the nine-hour interview, Hicks admitted that she had told white lies on behalf of President Donald Trump, though she argued that she never lied about anything substantive, a source told CNN.
February 15, 2018	Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon	Private	Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon met with the House Intelligence Committee for a closed-door interview. But he told the committee that he had been instructed by the White House to invoke executive privilege on behalf of President Donald Trump. Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, later said Bannon should be held in contempt of Congress because he was “stonewalling” the investigation.
January 17, 2018	Deputy White House Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn	Private	Deputy White House Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn met with the House Intelligence Committee for a closed-door interview. CNN previously reported that Dearborn, who worked for Jeff Sessions during his Senate tenure, exchanged emails during the presidential campaign about a potential meeting between Donald Trump and a Russian government official close to the Kremlin.
January 17, 2018	Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski	Private	Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski sat down with the House Intelligence Committee for a closed-door interview. He told the panel that he was unprepared to answer questions about matters that occurred after he left the campaign in June 2016, according to California Rep. Adam Schiff, the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee.
January 16, 2018	Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon	Private	Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. CNN reported that his testimony ran into problems over whether he can invoke executive privilege for events that occurred during the Trump transition.
January 10, 2018	Former State Department official David Kramer	Private	David Kramer met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview after the panel issued a subpoena for his appearance in late December 2017. Kramer, a senior fellow at Republican Sen. John McCain’s think tank, interacted with Christopher Steele, the former British spy who wrote a dossier alleging collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Kramer quietly met Steele in the UK in November 2016 and later obtained a copy of Steele’s dossier, which McCain eventually passed along to the FBI.
December 22, 2017	Trump personal assistant Rhona Graff	Private	House Intelligence Committee staff traveled to New York to interview Rhona Graff, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal assistant. Graff served as Trump’s assistant at the Trump Organization for more than two decades.
December 21, 2017	Former Clinton campaign adviser Jake Sullivan	Private	Former Clinton campaign foreign policy adviser Jake Sullivan met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. Sullivan, who also worked for Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state, has previously denied any connection between the controversial Uranium One deal and donations to the Clinton Foundation, saying “there was really nothing to” the allegations of Clinton influencing the deal based on donations to her namesake nonprofit. Sullivan has been very critical of Trump’s ties to Russia and Russian meddling in the election.
December 21, 2017	Rep. Dana Rohrabacher	Private	Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. He is considered one of the most Russia-friendly members of Congress and has faced scrutiny for meeting with Kremlin-connected Russians during trips to Moscow and for meeting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the summer of 2017.
December 20, 2017	Russian-American businessman Felix Sater	Private	House Intelligence Committee staff traveled to New York to interview Russian-American businessman Felix Sater. He is a former business associate of President Donald Trump who has a criminal past and has faced scrutiny for his role in an unsuccessful effort to build a Trump Tower in Moscow during the presidential campaign.
December 20, 2017	FBI special agent Michael Gaeta	Private	FBI special agent Michael Gaeta met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel. The book “Russian Roulette,” about the Russia investigation, claims that Gaeta met with former British spy Christopher Steele during the 2016 campaign. During the meeting, Gaeta reportedly received a copy of the dossier about Donald Trump’s ties to Russia, which was later shared with the FBI in Washington.
December 19, 2017	Former State Department official David Kramer	Private	David Kramer, a senior fellow at Republican Sen. John McCain’s think tank, met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. Kramer interacted with Christopher Steele, the former British spy who wrote a dossier alleging collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Kramer quietly met Steele in the UK in November 2016 and later obtained a copy of Steele’s dossier, which McCain eventually passed along to the FBI.
December 19, 2017	Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe	Private	Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe testified in private before the House Intelligence Committee for over seven hours. McCabe faced scrutiny from Republicans on the panel over disparaging text messages about President Donald Trump that were sent by FBI agent Peter Strzok, who was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team earlier this year. McCabe was also questioned about whether he should have recused himself from the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server due to alleged conflicts of interest surrounding his wife, who received campaign contributions from then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Clinton ally.
December 18, 2017	Michael Sussman	Private	Perkins Coie lawyer Michael Sussman met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. The law firm Perkins Coie, as part of its representation of Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, hired Fusion GPS to compile opposition research on Donald Trump. This effort eventually produced the 35-page dossier written by a former British spy.
December 18, 2017	Former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz	Private	Former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. The House panel was interested in Wasserman Schultz because the DNC indirectly funded the effort to compile an opposition research dossier on Donald Trump’s connections to Russia. Wasserman Schultz has denied knowledge of the matter.
December 18, 2017	British publicist Rob Goldstone	Private	British publicist Rob Goldstone met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. Goldstone faces scrutiny for his role in arranging the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer who promised incriminating information on Hillary Clinton.
December 14, 2017	Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix	Private	Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix testified via videoconference before the House Intelligence Committee. Nix, whose data firm was hired in the summer of 2016 as part of the Trump campaign’s data operation, told House investigators that he did not discuss Russia with the Trump campaign. Nix also faces scrutiny for his outreach to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange seeking access to Hillary Clinton’s private server, and Assange claims he rejected Nix’s request.
December 13, 2017	Marc Elias	Private	Perkins Coie lawyer Marc Elias met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. As part of the law firm’s representation of the Clinton campaign and the DNC, Perkins Coie hired Fusion GPS to compile opposition research on Donald Trump. This effort eventually produced the 35-page dossier written by a former British spy.
December 12, 2017	Washington Free Beacon chairman Michael Goldfarb	Private	Michael Goldfarb, chairman of the Washington Free Beacon, met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel. The conservative news publicationretained political research firm Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research on then-candidate Donald Trump and other Republican candidates during the 2016 campaign. Fusion GPS later hired a former British spy to produce a dossier about Trump’s ties to Russia, but the Free Beacon denies any knowledge of or connections to the dossier.
December 12, 2017	Trump campaign national co-chairman Sam Clovis	Private	Trump campaign national co-chairman Sam Clovis met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. Clovis previously withdrew his nomination for a top job at the Department of Agriculture following scrutiny of his contacts with Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts.
December 8, 2017	Former Trump campaign adviser Walid Phares	Private	Former Trump campaign adviser Walid Phares met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. Phares served as a member of then-candidate Donald Trump's foreign policy team, and Trump mentioned him - along with George Papadopoulos and Carter Page - in his list of initial foreign policy advisers in March 2016.
December 6, 2017	Donald Trump Jr.	Private	Donald Trump Jr. met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. Trump Jr. told the committee that he did not first communicate directly with his father, President Donald Trump, about how to respond to news reports of his June 2016 Trump Tower meeting. Instead, Trump Jr. testified that he discussed the response with White House aide Hope Hicks, who was aboard Air Force One and was speaking with President Trump while the statement was being crafted.
December 5, 2017	CrowdStrike president Shawn Henry	Private	Shawn Henry, president of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel. The Democratic National Committee hired Crowdstrike after discovering a breach in the DNC server in spring 2016. Crowdstrike later concluded that a hacking group with ties to Russian intelligence was behind the cyber intrusion, an assessment later confirmed by US intelligence agencies.
December 5, 2017	RNC delegate Diana Denman	Private	Diana Denman met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel. Denman, a Texas delegate at the 2016 Republican National Convention, proposed an amendment to the party platform that called for “providing lethal defensive weapons” to Ukraine to help counter Russian military moves in the region. Trump staffers intervened to change the amendment’s language and the final version did not include that phrase. Trump allies say the Russia-related language was still stronger than the 2012 platform.
December 4, 2017	Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta	Private	The House Intelligence Committee brought back former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta for a second private interview. Podesta was called back following reports that the law firm Perkins Coie, as part of its representation of the Clinton campaign and the DNC, had paid Fusion GPS to compile an opposition research dossier on Trump and Russia. Podesta denied knowledge of the agreement in his testimony, according to a source familiar with his testimony.
November 30, 2017	Security contractor Erik Prince	Private	Investor and security contractor Erik Prince met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. His role in the Russia investigation largely pertains to a secret meeting in the Seychelles, a remote island chain in the Indian Ocean, that he had with a Russian businessman tied to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
November 30, 2017	Attorney General Jeff Sessions	Private	Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. The closed-door interview came after Sessions testified several times in public about his contacts with Russians during the campaign, and his knowledge about meetings with Russians.
November 28, 2017	Russian translator Anatoli Samochornov	Private	Russian translator Anatoli Samochornov met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. Samochornov served as translator for Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya during the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr., then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
November 14, 2017	Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson	Private	Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of the research firm that hired a former British spy to produce a dossier about Trump’s ties to Russia, met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview that lasted for about seven hours. The committee had issued a subpoena for Simpson's testimony, but it was later withdrawn after they made an agreement for Simpson to voluntarily appear.
November 13, 2017	Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin	Private	Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. Akhmetshin attended the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr., then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. He was invited by Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, and he is also a lobbyist for an organization she runs that is trying to overturn US sanctions against Russia.
November 8, 2017	Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson	Private	Fusion GPS co-founder met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel. Simpson is a co-founder of Fusion GPS, the Washington-based political research firm that hired former British spy Christopher Steele to produce a dossier about Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
November 7, 2017	Former White House aide Keith Schiller	Private	Keith Schiller, who served for several months as director of Oval Office operations, testified before the House Intelligence Committee as part of its Russia investigation. Schiller is a longtime friend and confidant to Trump, and worked for Trump throughout his business career. Trump dispatched Schiller in May to hand-deliver a letter to the FBI headquarters, informing then-Director James Comey of his termination. Comey’s firing is under scrutiny for potential obstruction of justice.
November 3, 2017	Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates	Private	Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates testified behind closed doors before the House Intelligence Committee. Yates warned the White House in January 2017 that then-national security adviser Michael Flynn had been potentially compromised by the Russians. Shortly after that, she was fired by Trump after refusing to defend the first version of his travel ban in federal court.
November 2, 2017	Russian-American businessman Ike Kaveladze	Private	Ike Kaveladze, a Russian-American businessman who attended the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower, spoke to investigators from the House Intelligence Committee. He worked for the Russian oligarch who sought to broker the meeting senior Trump campaign staff, including Donald Trump Jr., and Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer with some connections to the government. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his campaign chairman at the time, Paul Manafort, also attended the meeting at Trump Tower.
November 2, 2017	Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page	Private	Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page met with members of the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. A transcript of the proceedings was officially released a few days later, and it showed that Page revealed new details about his contacts with Russians during the campaign, and that he had informed Trump campaign staff about his summer 2016 trip to Russia.
November 1, 2017	Google, Twitter, Facebook	Public	Top lawyers from Facebook, Twitter, and Google testified before the House Intelligence Committee as part of the panel’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. During the hearing, the House Intelligence Committee officially released a sample of Facebook ads and Twitter handles linked to a Russian troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency.
November 1, 2017	Former acting attorney general Mary McCord	Private	The House Intelligence Committee interviewed Mary McCord, the former acting assistant attorney general at the National Security division. McCord, who left the Justice Department in April, was one of the top Justice Department officials overseeing the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation.
October 25, 2017	Former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes	Private	Ben Rhodes, who was President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser, met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. Rhodes was expected to face questioning from the panel about the unmasking of Americans in intelligence reports during the Obama administration.
October 24, 2017	Trump campaign digital director Brad Parscale	Private	The House Intelligence Committee interviewed Trump campaign digital director Brad Parscale. The panel was interested in interviewing Parscale about the Trump campaign’s digital and data operations, and whether Russia aided in the proliferation of pro-Trump fake news ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Parscale has repeatedly denied that the data operation he oversaw had any links to Russia or colluded with the Kremlin.
October 24, 2017	Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen	Private	The House Intelligence Committee interviewed Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen in a private session. Cohen, who was named in the 35-page dossier written by a former British spy, has repeatedly denied allegations of collusion with Russia. Cohen has faced scrutiny after reports surfaced that he had pursued a Trump Tower project in Moscow during the presidential campaign in 2015, although the project was later abandoned in January 2016.
October 20, 2017	Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch	Private	Loretta Lynch, who served as President Barack Obama’s attorney general, met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. Lynch has faced scrutiny for her handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation while attorney general, including a meeting with former President Bill Clinton on an airport tarmac in June 2016 while the investigation was ongoing.
October 18, 2017	Fusion GPS co-founder Thomas Catan	Private	Thomas Catan met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel. Catan is a co-founder of Fusion GPS, the Washington-based political research firm that hired former British spy Christopher Steele to produce a dossier about Donald Trump’s ties to Russia. Catan invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during the committee meeting, according toBloomberg.
October 18, 2017	Fusion GPS co-founder Peter Fritsch	Private	Peter Fritsch met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel. Fritsch is a co-founder of Fusion GPS, the Washington-based political research firm that hired former British spy Christopher Steele to produce a dossier about Donald Trump’s ties to Russia. Fritsch invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during the committee meeting, according to Bloomberg.
October 13, 2017	Former UN ambassador Samantha Power	Private	Former President Barack Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, appeared before the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview. She has come under scrutiny from some House Republicans for allegedly unmasking the names of Trump associates in classified intelligence reports, which she would have had access to as UN ambassador. Power denies any wrongdoing.
October 12, 2017	Law student Jonathan Safron	Private	The House Intelligence Committee interviewed law student Jonathan Safron, who worked as an assistant to GOP operative Peter Smith. Smith tried to recruit cybersecurity experts in 2016 in an effort to obtain Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's private emails from Russian hackers. Smith claimed to have ties to the Trump campaign, which the campaign denies. Smith committed suicide in May 2017. Safron declined to comment on the details of his testimony.
October 6, 2017	Cybersecurity analyst Matt Tait	Private	House Intelligence Committee staff held a closed-door interview with Matt Tait, a British cybersecurity analyst who says a Republican operative tried to recruit him in 2016 in an effort to obtain Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s private emails from Russian hackers. The operative, Peter Smith, reportedly claimed to have ties to the Trump campaign, which the campaign denies. Smith committed suicide in May 2017.
September 28, 2017	Former White House aide Boris Epshteyn	Private	Trump campaign adviser and former White House aide Boris Epshteyn met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, as part of its investigation into Russian meddling.
September 26, 2017	Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone	Private	Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of the president, met with the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors as part of its investigation into Russian meddling. He said he had a “frank exchange” with the committee and downplayed questions about his contacts with WikiLeaks during the campaign.
September 6, 2017	Former national security adviser Susan Rice	Private	Former President Barack Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview related to the panel’s investigation into unmasking of Americans in intelligence reports.
August 30, 2017	DNC contractor Yared Tamene	Private	Yared Tamene, a tech-support contractor at the Democratic National Committee, met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel. The New York Times reported that, in the fall of 2015, Tamene fielded calls from the FBI alerting him to cyber intrusions into the DNC’s network.
August 30, 2017	Former DNC official Andrew Brown	Private	Andrew Brown, then-technology director at the Democratic National Committee, met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel. Brown knew that a DNC tech-support contractor was fielding calls from the FBI in the fall of 2015 about cyber intrusions into the DNC’s network, according to The New York Times.
July 27, 2017	Former DOJ official John Carlin	Private	House Intelligence Committee members interviewed former assistant Attorney General John Carlin as part of their Russia investigation. Carlin oversaw the National Security Agency’s surveillance program during the Obama administration.
July 26, 2017	Trump campaign adviser J.D. Gordon	Private	Trump campaign adviser J.D. Gordon met with House Intelligence Committee members for a closed-door interview. He is under scrutiny for his role in an effort in July 2016 to change language in the Republican National Committee platform regarding Russia’s aggressive moves in Ukraine.
July 25, 2017	White House senior adviser Jared Kushner	Private	White House senior adviser Jared Kushner met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, one day after he met with the Senate Intelligence Committee for a closed-door session.
July 17, 2017	Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper	Private	Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel.
July 14, 2017	Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo	Private	Former Trump campaign communications adviser Michael Caputo testified before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed-door session. He resigned from the campaign after the GOP primaries.
June 27, 2017	Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta	Private	Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta met with investigators from the House Intelligence Committee for a private meeting. The Russian hack of Podesta’s private email account played a pivotal role in the 2016 election, after WikiLeaks released tens of thousands of his personal emails online.
June 26, 2017	Former Pentagon official Evelyn Farkas	Private	Evelyn Farkas, who served as a deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia until 2015, met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel. Farkas said in March 2017 that she had urged her former colleagues in the Obama administration and officials on Capitol Hill to preserve intelligence about Russia election meddling before Donald Trump took office.
June 22, 2017	Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats	Private	Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private interview, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel.
June 21, 2017	Former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson	Public	Former President Barack Obama’s Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson testified before the House Intelligence Committee in a public hearing. He discussed his efforts to protect state election systems from cyberattacks propagated by Russian actors, and also discussed his response to Russian hacks of Democratic National Committee servers.
May 23, 2017	Former CIA Director John Brennan	Public	Former CIA Director John Brennan appeared before the House Intelligence Committee in a public hearing. Brennan said that the Russians had “brazenly interfered” in the 2016 election, including actively contacting members of the Trump campaign. However, the former head of CIA stopped short of saying definitively whether there was collusion between President Donald Trump’s team and Kremlin representatives.
May 4, 2017	NSA Director Mike Rogers	Private	FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers provided private testimony to the House Intelligence Committee. One of the reasons for the private meeting was to give Comey a chance to respond to questions that he claimed he couldn’t answer in public – which he did almost 100 times in his previous public appearance before the committee.
May 4, 2017	FBI Director James Comey	Private	FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers provided private testimony to the House Intelligence Committee. One of the reasons for the private meeting was to give Comey a chance to respond to questions that he claimed he couldn’t answer in public – which he did almost 100 times in his previous public appearance before the committee.
March 20, 2017	NSA Director Mike Rogers	Public	FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Adm. Mike Rogers testified in an open hearing before the House Intelligence Committee. Comey revealed for the first time that the FBI was investigating possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
March 20, 2017	FBI Director James Comey	Public	FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Adm. Mike Rogers testified in an open hearing before the House Intelligence Committee. Comey revealed for the first time that the FBI was investigating possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
March 2, 2017	FBI Director James Comey	Private	FBI Director James Comey met with the House Intelligence Committee for a private hearing, according to a report released by Democrats on the panel. The hearing was related to FBI counterintelligence investigations.

Hungarian is an Uralic language spoken predominantly in Hungary, though there exist enclaves of speakers in neighboring countries and among expatriate communities. There are approximately 13 million native speakers of the language.
The dialects of Hungarian identified by Ethnologue are: Alföld, West Danube, Danube-Tisza, King's Pass Hungarian, Northeast Hungarian, Northwest Hungarian, Székely and West Hungarian. These dialects are, for the most part, mutually intelligible. The Hungarian Csángó dialect, which is mentioned but not listed separately by Ethnologue, is spoken primarily in Bacău County in eastern Romania. The Csángó Hungarian group has been largely isolated from other Hungarian people, and they therefore preserved features that closely resemble earlier forms of Hungarian. See Hungarian dialects for more information.
Hungarian is the official language of Hungary, and thus an official language of the European Union. Hungarian is also one of the official languages of Vojvodina and an official language of three municipalities in Slovenia: Hodoš, Dobrovnik and Lendava, along with Slovene. Hungarian is officially recognized as a minority or regional language in Austria, Croatia, Romania, Zakarpattia in Ukraine, and Slovakia. In Romania it is a recognized minority language used at local level in communes, towns and municipalities with an ethnic Hungarian population of over 20%

History

See History of the Hungarian Language for more information.
Prehistory
Hungarian likely split from the other Ugric languages in the first half of the 1st millennium BCE. This likely happened in western Sierian, east of the southern Ural mountains. This event also likely coincided with the shift of the Hungarians from a settled hunter to a nomadic pastoralist lifestyle, which possibly came about through contacts with Iranian nomads (Scythians and Sarmatians). Old Iranian loanwords, dating back to shortly after the split of Hungarian from the other Urgic languages, help support this view.
During this shift, the Hungarians were also migrating. They first settled the coastal region of the northeastern Black Sea, where the language was greatly influenced by the Turkish languages spoken in the area. It was while they were living here, in the 6th century CE that Hungarians likely experienced writing for the first time.
The first written accounts of Hungarian arise in the 10th century, though they are mostly personal and place names (written in the Old Hungarian Script; this is likely due to wood, a highly perishable material, being the main medium of writing. The first extant text fully written in Hungarian is the Funeral Sermon and Prayer, which dates to the 1190s.
A more extensive body of Hungarian literature arose during the 14th and 15th centuries. Changes to the language are clearly seen through the literature of the eras. The Old Hungarian period ended at roughly the beginning of the 16th century.
The first printed Hungarian book was published in Kraków in 1533, by Benedek Komjáti. The work's title is Az Szent Pál levelei magyar nyelven (In original spelling: Az zenth Paal leueley magyar nyeluen), i.e. The letters of Saint Paul in the Hungarian language. In the 17th century, the language was already very similar to its present-day form, although two of the past tenses were still used. German, Italian and French loans also appeared in the language by these years. Further Turkish words were borrowed during the Ottoman occupation of much of Hungary between 1541 and 1699. This was the Middle Hungarian period.
In the 18th century a group of writers, most notably Ferenc Kazinczy, spearheaded a process of nyelvújítás (language revitalization). Some words were shortened (győzedelem > győzelem, 'triumph' or 'victory'); a number of dialectal words spread nationally (e.g., cselleng 'dawdle'); extinct words were reintroduced (dísz, 'décor'); a wide range of expressions were coined using the various derivative suffixes; and some other, less frequently used methods of expanding the language were utilized. Further standardization occurred during the 19th and 20th centuries, and a leveling of dialects. causing previously unintelligible dialects to move closer together. This is the Modern Hungarian period.

Linguistics

As an Uralic language, Hungarian is related to major languages such as Finnish and Estonian. However, it is more closely related to the Ugric branch of these languages, which includes such as Khanty and Mansi.
Classification
Hunagarians's full classification is as follows:
Uralic (Proto-Uralic) > Finno-Ugric > Ugric > Hungarian
Phonology and Phonotactics
Hungarian has 14 vowel and 25 consonant phonemes. The vowels are grouped in pars of short and long phonemes. Hungarian consonants can also be long or short, a process knows as gemination
As in Finnish, Turkish, and Mongolian, vowel harmony plays an important part in determining the distribution of vowels in a word. Hungarian vowel harmony classifies the vowels according to front vs. back assonance and rounded vs unrounded for the front vowels. While /i/, /iː/, /ɛ/, and /eː/ are all front unrounded vowels, they are considered to be "neutral vowels" in Hungarian vowel harmony.
Apart from vowel harmony, Hungarian has many other sandhi processes, such as voicing assimilation, nasal assimilation, sibilant assimilation, palatal assimilation, degimination, intercluster elision, elision of [l] and hiatus effects.
Stress is on the first syllable of the word, and particles are generally left unstressed.
Morphology and Syntax
Hungarian is an agglutinative language, and predominantly suffixing. It is a topic-prominent language and so its word order depends on the topic-comment structure of the sentence (for example, what aspect is assumed to be known and what is emphasised)
With a few exceptions, Hungarian nouns do not mark a distinction for gender, or for any noun classes. They are marked for two numbers, the singular and plural, though the plural is used less sparsely.
Hungarian nouns do, however, decline for eighteen different cases. These are: nominative, used for the subject; accusative, used to express the direct object; dative, used to mark the indirect object; instrumental-comitative, used to mark 'with'; causal-final, used to signal 'for, for the purpose of'; translative, which works as the English 'into'; terminative, 'as far as, up to'; essive-formal, 'as, in the capacity of'; essive-modal, 'by way of'; inessive, which signals position inside; superessive, which signifies position on; adessive, for position nearby/at; illative, expressing motion into something; sublative, expressing motion onto something; allative, expressing motion to a place; elative, used for expressing motion out of a place'; delative, for expressing motion off a place, or information about/concerning a place; and ablative, expressing motion away from a place. Examples of all of these can be seen in the table below. Where changes differ from the expected form based on the suffix, it's due to assimilation.

Case	Suffix	lakás (apartment)	English Meaning
Nominative	∅	lakás	apartment (as subject)
Accusative	-ot/(-at)/-et/-öt/-t	lakást	apartment (as direct object)
Dative	-nak/-nek	lakásnak	to the apartment
Instrumental-Comitative	-val/-vel	lakással	with the apartment
Causal-final	-ért	lakásért	for the apartment
Translative	-vá/-vé	lakássá	[turn] into an apartment
Terminative	-ig	lakásig	as far as the apartment
Essive-formal	-ként	lakásként	in the capacity of an apartment, as an apartment
Essive-modal	-ul/-ül	lakásul	by way of an apartment
Inessive	-ban/-ben	lakásban	in the apartment
Superessive	-on/-en/-ön/-n	lakáson	on the apartment
Adessive	-nál/-nél	lakásnál	by/at the apartment
Illative	-ba/-be	lakásba	into the apartment
Sublative	-ra/-re	lakásra	onto the apartment
Allative	-hoz/-hez/-höz	lakáshoz	to the apartment
Elative	-ból/-böl	lakásból	out of the apartment
Delative	-ról/ről	lakásról	off the apartment, about/concerning the apartment
Ablative	-tól/-től	lakástól	(away) from the apartment

As you can see, many of these correspond to prepositions in English. That's exactly how they were formed, as can be seen through the shifts in written Hungarian. Several of the suffixes were originally postpositions, common in Hungarian, that were then grammaticalized and suffixed onto the noun before it to form a new case.
Even though Hungarian is a pro-drop language, meaning pronouns are rarely used, there are personal pronouns used when for contrast or emphasis, or when there is no verb. Hungarian pronouns decline for person and plurality, but not for gender. There are three second person pronouns, labelled "informal", "formal" and "official". These are seen on the table below, in their subject form.

Meaning	Singular	Plural
1st	én	mi
2nd informal	te	ti
2nd formal	maga	maguk
2nd official	ön	önök
3rd	ő	ők

Most Hungarian verbs only conjugate for the past and present tense, with the future being formed by an auxiliary verb. The verb lenni, 'to be', however, has three inflected tenses. Hungarian verbs can be expressed in three moods: conditional, indicative and subjunctive/imperative.
In Hungarian, verbs not only show agreement with their subjects but also carry information on the definiteness of their direct objects. This results in two types of conjugations: definite (used if there is a definite object) and indefinite (if there is no definite object). Therefore, Hungarian verbs conjugate depending on both the subject and the object of the verb. The full paradigm of a regular verb can be seen on the Wikipedia page.
Furthermore, Hungarian has two forms which can be added to the stem to modify the meaning. One of these, -hat-/-het-, has a modal meaning of permission or opportunity. Compare beszélek, "I speak", with beszélhetek, "I may speak" or " I am allowed to speak". The other, -at-/-et-/-tat-/-tet- has a causative meaning. It's often used to express "having something done", or "Having/making someone do something. Compare beszélek, above, with beszéltetek, "I make somebody speak".
Hungarian verbs also have three participles as well as a verbal noun and infinitve and verbal prefixes/particles.

Miscellany

• Old Hungarian text: Latiatuc feleym zumtuchel mic vogmuc. yſa pur eſ chomuv uogmuc. Menyi miloſtben terumteve eleve miv iſemucut adamut. eſ odutta vola neki paradiſumut hazoa. Eſ mend paradiſumben uolov gimilcictul munda neki elnie. Heon tilutoa wt ig fa gimilce tvl. Ge mundoa neki meret nu eneyc. yſa ki nopun emdul oz gimilſtwl. halalnec halalaal holz. Hadlaua choltat terumteve iſtentul. ge feledeve. Engede urdung intetvinec. eſ evec oz tiluvt gimilſtwl. es oz gimilſben halalut evec. Eſ oz gimilſnek vvl keſeruv uola vize. hug turchucat mige zocoztia vola. Num heon muga nec. ge mend w foianec halalut evec. Horogu vec iſten. eſ veteve wt ez munkaſ vilagbele. eſ levn halalnec eſ poculnec feze. eſ mend w nemenec. Kic ozvc. miv vogmuc.

Samples

Spoken sample:

• lullaby
  
• sports interview
  
• Wikitongues
  
• Song
  

Written sample:
Minden emberi lény szabadon születik és egyenlő méltósága és joga van. Az emberek, ésszel és lelkiismerettel bírván, egymással szemben testvéri szellemben kell hogy viseltessenek.

Sources

• Wikipedia articles on Hungarian

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