Petition to reopen ch.13 bankruptcy case - pa

24-minute read. Now is the time to pretend you have diarrhea.

Russia is concerned that Armenia no longer wants Russia's mediation efforts after the latter allowed Azerbaijan to commit ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh

Russia's foreign ministry criticized Armenia for quickly accepting negotiations offered by Washington and Brussels. At the same time, according to them, Armenia has rejected 3 separate Russian meetings since September.
Azerbaijan, on the other hand, prefers the Russian platform and has rejected Western efforts after the West's condemnation of the invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh and the demands to send monitoring missions to ensure the safety of ethnic Armenians who wish to return.
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Azerbaijan is hunting for "U.S. spies"; investigative journalists are pressured to praise Aliyev's invasion of Karabakh instead of exposing corruption

Earlier we learned that the Azeri regime arrested the head of the investigative outlet Abzas Media. The police asked them why they focused on corruption instead of Azerbaijan's victory over Armenia and Karabakh.
Before the arrests, the Azeri state media claimed there was a network of U.S. spies in Azerbaijan that needed to be "cleansed". State media:

Azerbaijan must be cleansed of the U.S. spy network, 'American corners' set up in Azerbaijan have to be investigated, and USAID's activities have to be shut down

The U.S. government and Amnesty International expressed concern over the arrests.

The U.S. and Azerbaijan have recently canceled bilateral meetings over disagreements on the peace talks between Azerbaijan and its archival Armenia. Azerbaijan has accused the U.S. of being pro-Armenian

Human Rights Watch: Azerbaijan cracks down on independent media

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Russia hopes Armenia hasn't changed its foreign vector

PUTIN's OFFICE: We regret Armenia's decision not to participate in the CSTO meeting. We hope that Armenia will not change the vector of its foreign policy. Armenia remains our ally, our strategic partner. //
Belarus leader Lukashenko urged Armenia not to make a démarche away from the bloc. Russian president's office hopes Armenia will attend the December CIS meeting in St. Petersburg.
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border delimitation groups from Armenia and Azerbaijan will resume negotiations on November 30

The efforts began shortly after the 2020 war but were suspended later. A few days ago Armenia offered Azerbaijan to resume the talks. The November 30 discussions will be limited to efforts to delimit the borders.
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Nagorno-Karabakh refugees have stopped leaving Armenia in large numbers: PM Pashinyan

Over 3,000 of the 101,000 refugees left Armenia for other countries in the initial days. The government says this trend has stopped.
PASHINYAN: There was a rather disturbing number in the early days. We assume that in most cases people who were unable to leave Nagorno-Karabakh for several months have finally found an opportunity to visit a relative abroad and hopefully, they will return. The situation has since stabilized. //
The government will pay for the education of all college and university students from Nagorno-Karabakh for this semester.
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the lights went out during the government session on Thursday: VIDEO

Pashinyan was discussing the illegal privatization of a property years earlier and the need to return it under state control when the room went dark for a few seconds.
PASHINYAN: This is what we were discussing this morning, Mr. [Infrastructure Minister]. We have an electrical quality problem in Armenia. How many times are we going to discuss this issue without taking decisive steps? Should I repeat this every day for ten years? We have low-quality electricity in Armenia, including in this building. Light bulbs are constantly blinking in offices.
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Goris (Syunik) mountains will light up in colors at night: PHOTO

The colors will change throughout the year based on the season. The project is co-funded by Germany (GIZ) as part of a government program to develop the provinces.
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construction is underway to restore the image of old Goris in some parts of the city: VIDEO

Some streets and sidewalks will be made out of stone and cables will be moving underground. Street signs will have a new design. New doors, roofs, and balconies facing the streets.
REPORTER: Are the streets comfortable?
DRIVER: Driving on a stone isn't as smooth as on asphalt but it looks prettier.
REPORTER: Aren't you afraid that someone wearing high heels could trip and fall while walking on the cobblestones?
DRIVER: You don't have to wear a heel. // [Armenia is so conservative it's actually progressive?]
Crosswalks are made of large polished stone plates for people with heels. The project is facing delays because the stone delivery company is unable to keep up with demand. The project is expected to finish in spring 20240.
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Nikol is spying on you?

Opposition media outlets raised the alarm last week claiming that Armenian authorities have found a way to eavesdrop on all messages and audio calls made specifically by WhatsApp and that it's as vulnerable as regular phone calls made through cell towers.
A fact-checker says the claim is absurd because of the way WhatsApp encrypts communication, and that the only way to gain access to this data is if the entire phone is hacked.
That does not mean the government cannot request WhatsApp to provide "some" information, such as metadata that does not contain the content of the communication. These requests have intensified since 2015 with about 75% of cases ending with the handover of "some" information.
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parts from Pashinyan's 9-hour-long press conference on Friday during which he accepted pre-recorded video questions from citizens

A resident asked if Pashinyan supports the merger of smaller communities into larger municipalities and to explain its benefits. Pashinyan said that before the merger the villages were left on their own, resulting in emigration and abandonment. Villages struggle with a lack of resources and poor management. The merger provides benefits, including infrastructure projects funded by the federal government. The government has invested around ֏137B ($340 million) in thousands of projects since 2018. The most important benefit comes with the consolidation of local budgets and tax collection, said Pashinyan. He also said corruption is more widespread in smaller municipalities due to "friendships" and familial relations, and that the larger the municipality, the more functional checks and balances it has.

... Academic City

A diasporan molecular biochemist from New York has offered his English-language support and the delivery of modern equipment to the planned Academic City on the outskirts of Yerevan. He wants to know if its labs and scientific departments will function like the ones in the West. Pashinyan said it's too early to deliver equipment because it's still in the planning stage. Diasporans are invited and encouraged to support it by contacting the Education Ministry.
The goal is for it to meet international standards. There will be up to 8 state universities funded by the state (today the state universities rely heavily on tuition fees). Students with decent performance will study for free.
There is not a single university in Armenia today that meets international standards with its infrastructures, said Pashinyan, admitting that the government has been choosing not to enforce a certification process because doing so would lead to the closure of every single university in Armenia. The Academic City is meant to reboot higher education and establish new standards.
Today, students who visit Yerevan for education are forced to search for expensive apartments for rent. The Academic City will have dorms. The project is expected to attract more international students who will pay a tuition fee, "so it's important to raise the standards to attract them." Some classes will be taught in foreign languages, and foreign professors will be invited to lecture.
The Academic City will also have high schools as part of efforts to maintain a chain of education. Applicants will choose their major: military, arts, science & tech, pedagogy, etc.
PASHINYAN: We should focus on quality over quantity. Today we have "universities" in provinces with standards so low that they shouldn't be called universities at all. After the establishment of Academic City with proper standards, the only place you will find universities in Armenia will be the Academic City. In provinces, we will develop colleges with higher standards to train experts so people can remain in their communities and find a job if they wish. You won't be required to attend a university to be skilled and financially successful. Today Armenia has a shortage of skilled welders. They get paid very high wages but this field has been neglected for years and there is not enough interest in it. We can't have a so-called "university" on every corner. It has led to quality issues that we are forced to deal with today. Those who want to study will be able to study. This isn't about there not being a university "close enough" to someone's community and them having to travel to Yerevan. They will be able to get admitted, travel there, and study in a large academic environment that promotes education. I'm from a province myself. When you travel to a new environment and become part of a big educational system, it changes your mindset, it becomes part of your education. We need to teach young students to get out of their homes and see the world. Gaining this experience is part of becoming an adult. After all, mom and dad aren't going to hold you in your hand your entire life. Living an independent life and having to gain new skills to resolve your new problems is also education.
When I was a newspaper editor, one time a man in his 50s entered my office with his daughter in her 20s. "Hello. I want my daughter to work at your publication." I told him brother, the job of a journalist is a very serious one. If your adult child doesn't have the determination to independently come and apply, are you going to sit down with her during interviews and write the articles with her? We need to end the practice of holding our children's hands forever. Let them go see the world. Then you wonder why they don't have a job and courage. You are not giving them an opportunity to face challenges. Release them from the incubator. They need to travel to the Academic City, enter the new campus, engage with new people and a new environment, and learn to resolve new problems. Our students will cooperate with foreign students and gain new experiences in the Academic City. Engaging with a foreigner, a foreign culture, is also a prerequisite for a good diplomatic workforce.

... universal healthcare & medication

A blood cancer patient asked why his prescription medication called Jakafi is so expensive in Armenia when the same thing is much cheaper in Georgia and Turkey. Pashinyan said the list of state-subsidized medicines keeps expanding and that a similar medication called Hydrea(?) is available for free now. The government calculates the best price-quality radio before deciding which medications to subsidize. Some medications are not registered in Armenia so they cannot be imported.
Under the new universal healthcare system (gradually starting mid-2024), the patient will be allowed to choose the medication, to a degree. Instead of giving a specific pill for free, the state will offer to pay for the medication chosen by the patient.

... electricity

PASHIHNYAN: The recent liberalization of this field allows households and businesses to buy their electricity directly from a producer, bypassing the main energy company ՀԷՑ. Today, 19% of all electricity is sold through this method. ՀԷՑ is still the only delivery service, but you no longer have to buy it from them. I urge consumers to install solar panels with batteries.
ANDO: Ara did you hear that fuel prices have gone up?
VAGHO: Who cares ay axper I always fill in the amount of $20.

... teachers' salaries

Pashinyan said the new attestation system (exams that check the teachers' knowledge) has allowed teachers to double their salaries. Those who score under 60% (out of 100%) do not qualify for a raise but the government has decided to give them a chance to improve their skills and give it another shot.
If the teacher scores 30% on the first exam, they will be allowed to try again. If they score 15% higher than before, now 45%, the government will view this as a sign of self-improvement and will encourage them by giving them another chance. Teachers who repeatedly fail will be fired.

... has Azerbaijan decided to end the peace negotiations around the mutual recognition of territorial integrity?

PASHINYAN: Too early to tell. Efforts continue. We will draw conclusions from the November 30 border delimitation meeting and other meetings.

... diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan

A resident asked about the efforts to establish relations with SA and Pakistan. Pashinyan said work was done recently to improve relations with SA and that several direct flights were held between Riyadh and Yerevan. These flights are seasonal, not 12/365. The diplomatic efforts continue. [Note: Hours after this interview it was announced that Armenia and SA have officially signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations.]
As dictated by the Constitution, Armenia is ready to establish relations with any country, including Pakistan, but it's first necessary to analyze and understand the underlying problems with Pakistan, said Pashinyan.

... gender equality

Pashinyan addressed criticism that his government is running certain gender-oriented programs just to show the world that he is progressive. The government recently allowed women to voluntarily sign up for compulsory military service. Efforts are also underway to ensure that 30% of all Patrol officers and a higher share of political party members are women.
Pashinyan urged the public to leave behind the "old stereotypes" that "women are weaker and men are stronger". A police officer is a police officer regardless of gender, and there are women who lead countries and defense ministries around the world, Pashinyan added.

... why doesn't Armenia confiscate Russian-owned assets in Armenia and sue Russia in arbitration courts for taking $400 million and never delivering weapons since 2021?

PASHINYAN: There is indeed an issue with not delivering weapons. There are discussions around possible methods to resolve this issue. One option is to reduce Armenia's debt held by Russia by a similar amount. This is just one of several options. You are aware that Russia itself is in need of weapons today. Hopefully we can find a solution.

... why doesn't Pashinyan ban the broadcasting of Russian state propaganda channels in Armenia?

PASHINYAN: Armenia and Russia signed an agreement on 30 December 2020 to regulate interstate broadcasting. It states that parties should not attempt to intervene in each other's internal affairs or destabilize the situation. Our institutions have recently identified multiple violations of this agreement. Considering the friendly relations with Russia, our institutions invited them to hold consultations to discuss these violations. I hope these consultations will take place soon and this issue can be resolved amicably.

... the Crossroads of Peace

PASHINYAN: Each participant state should handle the border, customs, and security oversight on its territory. It appears Azerbaijan is no longer interested in this project because they prefer to build a link through Iran. We are not against that, but our offer stands. If Azerbaijan agrees, we can simplify the procedure of transfers but every participant country must agree to it first.
We want railways to connect our southern town of Meghri to the northern regions of Armenia, as well as Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan, and the regional countries to each other. All communications must reopen.

... when will you kick Russian border agents out of Zvartnots airport?

PASHINYAN: There is some backstory that led to their presence in Zvartnots. But our policy is to gradually raise Armenia's institutional sovereignty. The Crossroads of Peace works with the same principles.

... we are wasting so much water in Armenia

PASHINYAN: Around 60% of irrigation water is gone wasted today. If we release 100 liters from Sevan, only 40 reach the gardens. 1) The water network is warned out. 2) Bad water management.
We have rules that regulate how farmers can unite and form water users' associations but I've never seen this play out the way it was intended. One of the underlying issues is that the price of water offered to farmers does not correspond to the price of water and its delivery from point A to point B [it's too cheap]. We need our farmers to change their perceptions about water. The planet is warming. The water resources are never going to increase. It's going to get more scarce. You must adapt. The agricultural methods used 25 years ago are no longer feasible today.
We have introduced assistance programs to help install drip irrigation systems to conserve water. Small gardens that switch to drip irrigation won't have to pay a water bill for 5 years. This program has NOT been popular because today water is so cheap farmers don't see a need to conserve. I want you to think about not only the price but also the reserves. The prices could increase soon. It is inevitable.
We want to build 15 reservoirs today. When the time came to prepare the projects, it turned out there was only a single company in Armenia equipped with the necessary skills. This company couldn't complete all 15 in time. This is also why we need to reform our education and create more specialists. We need architects and construction companies.

... why don't you build nice housing near borders and distribute them for free to diasporans under the condition they won't be able to sell it for 10 years? This would encourage the repatriation of thousands.

PASHINYAN: We implemented a similar program starting this year but not many know about it. If you build a house in a border settlement, the bank will give you AMD 16 million in loan, while the government will cover the interest and the principal. We are essentially giving you AMD 16 million to build a house. You must have a decent credit record and a land near the house. Everyone can apply, not just diasporans.

... about the return/exchange of Armenian and Azerbaijani enclaves/exclaves

PASHINYAN: One option is for each country to keep the enclaves/exclaves that it currently controls. Even if that's not the case, all the apocalyptic theories about us losing control of our existing logistics routes are severely exaggerated because we have a plan for every scenario. Unnecessary tension was introduced into this topic.

... Nikol's mother had 6 siblings, so he wants you to breed like a rabbit and replicate his family model

A question was asked about some benefits and awards for mothers who give 6 births. Pashinyan, half-jokingly, said 6 should be the new normal. He brought his family's example. Today the government gives more financial benefits, including monthly payments for a couple of years, for a newlyborn.
PASHINYAN: We saw the highest number of births in 6 years in the January-September of 2023. I have 4 children myself and wouldn't mind having more [did you discuss this with your wife before going on Live television and broadcasting it for ալամ աշխարհ to hear?].

... what is preventing you from signing Armenia's exit from the Russian-led CSTO bloc? Are you afraid of being assassinated?

PASHINYAN: We have the political will and courage to take any steps that we believe are in Armenia's best interest. If we didn't have the courage, we wouldn't have made all these statements critical of CSTO. Our decisions are based on analysis. What we do in the future depends on what's best for Armenia. Today we are doing everything possible to make our position more clear to CSTO and to understand CSTO more clearly.

... Pashinyan confirms that Armenia's membership to CSTO has prevented Armenia from receiving weapons from other countries, in the past

PASHINYAN: In 2018-2019 we were unable to purchase certain weapons from CSTO countries. When we attempted to acquire it from others, we were denied because of our membership to CSTO. Our CSTO partners must understand this: You aren't giving us military and political support, on the other hand, our membership to CSTO is a barrier to other partnerships. We have to make decisions that are in the best interest of Armenia after weighing the options.

... what are you doing to eliminate the 5th column [political parties aligned with Russia]?

PASHINYAN: These forces are not state-oriented. They don't take Armenia's statehood seriously. They think Armenia should be a subordinate, a servant of other powers, as long as we wave the Armenian flag superficially. We disagree with this approach because we believe we can have a sovereign state. Our state is our homeland, we don't have another homeland. Our homeland is 29,800 km^2. We must strengthen our state if we love our homeland. Pay your taxes, respect the law and your fellow countryman. This is the best approach to combat the 5th column. We must deprive them of the ability to grow. We have done a lot in this direction lately.
We have eliminated the "deep state" in Armenia. There are no longer individuals behind the curtains making decisions about our country. This was a blow to the 5th column. We have also eliminated the 5th column in our military. These were individuals who prioritized the interests of foreign powers over Armenia's. [a shot at Russia]

... are we going to have a new national anthem?

PASHINYAN: No, but it's not a final no. State symbols are important. The topic of the anthem resurfaces every now and then. Every word in the anthem is important, it influences our consciousness. As a writer myself, I've been thinking about various endings for our anthem but I always fail to come up with something satisfactory.
I have also met many experts who pointed out the issues in our coat of arms. One of the lions depicted there looks clownish. If this issue keeps coming up, that means it's a problem that eventually needs to be addressed. Let's sit down and discuss this with experts even if we ultimately decide not to change anything.

... what is the fate of Armenians living in Russia now that the AM-RU relations are worsening?

PASHINYAN: I wouldn't hurry to draw such conclusions. Russia remains a friendly state regardless of whether there are unresolved issues or not. We want mutually respectful relations with Russia and respect for each other's sovereignty and independence.

... Pashinyan responds to Russia's demand to recognize Russian as a special/state language in Armenia in exchange for granting Armenian workers the right to drive in Russia

PASHINYAN: Let's say Ashot is regularly driving a truck from Moscow to Krasnodar (both in Russia). If Armenia changes the law today to grant the Russian language a special status in Armenia, will that magically improve Ashot's Russian language skills?
This requirement on language law is unjustified and isn't in EAEU's spirit, which stipulates the free movement of the workforce. Similarly, it wouldn't make sense if we demanded Russian relocants to learn Armenian.
Considering our culture and peculiarities, I don't see how we can have a foreign language as a second state language in Armenia. I think I speak for the Armenian people.
As for the living conditions of Armenians who live in Russia, we will be happy if they decide to move to Armenia, but it's their choice. [gad damn that was extra dry, like the bottle of Armenian wine that's about to get stuck in Upper Lars]

... are you going to restrict the Russian language in schools and force Russian relocants residing in Armenia to learn the Armenian language?

PASHINYAN: No. I encourage students to study Russian and as many languages as they can. It will only improve their skills. I also welcome the presence of Russians who moved to Armenia after 2022. We learn a lot from them, including thanks to the regularly published blogs and videos with their opinion about Armenia. It helps us look at ourselves from someone else's perspective.

... Pashinyan about maximalism and Nagorno-Karabakh's leadership

A diasporan wanted to know why the Armenian government isn't calling Azerbaijan "Mets Hayq" in response to Azerbaijani leaders calling Armenia "Western Azerbaijan". Pashinyan said he is against playing word games aimed against statehood.
PASHINYAN: Vano Siradeghyan used to publish articles in my newspaper under a pseudonym. He once urged the nation to move away from a "virtual homeland" to a real homeland. This is our real homeland today. Mets Hayq is history. Do not use Mets Hayq as a stick to inadvertently beat up today's homeland.
During my 2023 New Year's message I urged the public to read "Yerkir Nairi" by Yeghishe Charents. Critics at the time said I picked a bad book that's too nihilistic and irrelevant. It turns out everything that eventually happened to Nagorno-Karabakh this year was very very precisely described in Yerkir Nairi. A word-by-word prophecy.
I have my share of blame but if you look at the mentality that prevailed in Nagorno-Karabakh over the past year, it was Yerkir Nairi. Every time we took steps, our colleagues at Nagorno-Karabakh would respond with [harsh criticism]. I approached it with understanding, but the problem is, Yerkir Nairi is this "Mets Hayq" narrative today. There is no Mets Hayq, there is only Republic of Armenia.

... YouTube monetization is coming in 2024

A blogger asked Pashinyan if they are negotiating with YouTube to allow Armenians to earn money from ads. He says it was briefly experimented in 2020 and it brought $0.10-$0.40 per 1,000 views.
PASHINYAN: I was able to extort a "promise" from High-Tech Ministry that this feature will become available in Armenia sometime in the first half of 2024. This is an important topic. We would like to see more Armenian language classes and various educational videos on YouTube.

... Pashinyan discusses Serj's legacy in Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations

PASHINYAN: Some members of the former regime claim Russia allowed the 2020 war as a "punishment" because my administration was not pro-Russia enough. In that case, why was Armenia punished [by Russia] in 2016? And that's after Serj's decision to abandon the negotiations with the EU to sign a deal with Russia's EAEU instead. Why was Armenia punished in 2011 when Russia signed a multi-billion dollar arms contract with Azerbaijan? Serj Sargsyan essentially "announced" the 2020 war during his April 2018 speech, when he said that Azerbaijan should be expected to attempt to resolve the conflict through the use of force at any time due to the gridlock in negotiations.
Do you know what the details were surrounding Serj's much-praised "interim status" for Nagorno-Karabakh as of August 2016? Do you know what the situation was as of April 2018? The UN General Assembly was planning a resolution to regulate the organization of life in Nagorno-Karabakh, which the UN Security Council was supposed to adopt at the request of the UN General Secretary after discussions with Azerbaijan, OSCE, and Armenia. What did this "interim status" entail de jure and de facto? It meant the end of the state system [presidency, etc.] in Nagorno-Karabakh and the formation of a new governing system. This is what we had on the negotiation table as of 2018 when I entered office. The UN Security Council was supposed to decide the organization of life in Nagorno-Karabakh. After the nullification of the governing system in Nagorno-Karabakh, the new governing system would be based on the Madrid Principles, which meant joint governing of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azeris and Armenians. The real dissolution of Nagorno-Karabakh as a state happened in August 2016.
All these negotiation documents exist and everything is provable, so the former regime should stop denying the reality. They somehow want to tie the 2018 revolution to the war. In reality, Armenia is currently independent only thanks to the 2018 revolution. We have the chance to remain a free state.
Look at Serj's u-turn in 2013. He publicly negotiated with the EU for years just to turn it down at the last moment [in favor of Russia]. It was a serious blow to Armenia's sovereignty and reputation. Six years of wasted time. Why was he negotiating to begin with, if he wasn't going to sign it? This was a punishment for Armenia's image. Was the u-turn made to improve Armenia's security? Was it done to place the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations on a favorable track? Then why did we receive the 2016 war and the unfavorable negotiation documents?
Nagorno-Karabakh was dissolved in August 2016. Regardless of how much we try to hold today's political figures accountable, the dissolution took place in August 2016 with the presentation of the 3-piece negotiation plan. So who punished Armenia in 2016? In April 2018 Serj got elected as PM by the parliament and thought he was going to remain in power, that's why he openly revealed the dire state of negotiations. The 2020 war was announced by Serj in April 2018. The difference that the 2018 revolution has made is that it has allowed us to preserve our independence today. Just look at the situation around the Association Agreement. Today we have that chance. There are many challenges and dangers but we have that chance today. Read the Yerkir Nairi then take it straight to the history archive. Glory to the Republic of Armenia. Now is the time to replace the virtual homeland with a real homeland so we don't look back at our statehood with nostalgia later. We will have a statehood. I believe in that because I believe in you.

... are you willing to recognize Ossetia and Abkhasia as territories occupied by Russia?

PASHINYAN: We support Georgia's territorial integrity, unity, and statehood. If you look at how Armenia voted in UN resolutions, you will see a difference before and after 2019. Our Georgian brothers have expressed satisfaction with that change. Armenia fully supports Georgia's territorial integrity [thanks for Bastions, wink].

... are you afraid of Donald Trump returning to power in the U.S.? If he does, do you have a plan?

PASHINYAN: I wouldn't like to make any statements disrespectful to the sovereignty or internal affairs of the U.S. but I'll say this directly: the U.S. is a global power so any election result has a significant impact on the world and Armenia. Our relations have significantly developed with the U.S. over the past few years, we are in a very important developmental phase. In 2019 we launched a strategic dialogue with the U.S. A very important event happened in Armenia recently: the joint military exercises. It's not unprecedented but still "unprecedented" because it was for the first time in many years. We also have an economic component. The U.S. is aiding us with democratic development.

... the construction of a copper smelter is being delayed due to fears of sanctions, and another major mine in Armenia hasn't been paying enough taxes because its shareholder is under sanctions

Someone asked Pashinyan to explain what was being done to build a copper smelter and another factory in Armenia. Presumably, some of the people involved in this business are Russian billionaires who own mining shares in Armenia. Pashinyan said the smelter project is being delayed due to some concerns about possible sanctions. He didn't want to reveal more info. The goal is to finish it by 2030.
Teghut mine is functioning but it has a lot of debt accumulated before 2018. It was in the process of bankruptcy. The debt owner was able to gain control of the business but the plans failed because the new operator [also Russian] fell under international sanctions. Teghut's products are being sold at below-market value due to these sanctions so Armenia isn't receiving as much in tax payments as it hoped. [Nationalize that shit?]
PASHINYAN: As for the Alaverdi smelter, it needs investments so its environmental safety systems can meet modern standards. There is currently a lawsuit between two private shareholders. We hope they can sort things out ASAP and invest in the plant.
When the mine owners/operators don't work, it's the state budget that suffers. As a result, we have revoked licenses for 75 idle miners in recent years. We want to take the abandoned mines and give them to active investors. This is a nasty industry mired in global conflicts and sometimes all the work we do is wasted because of circumstances outside of our control. //

... what will be your legacy, what will be written about you in the history books?

PASHINYAN: It depends on who writes the history book. In our traditional history books, one of the most negative and despised figures is King Pap. He is presented almost as satanic and anti-tradition, anti-Armenian. Do you know why the books present him like that? Because he decided to strengthen the statehood "at the expense" of the church.
Pap was an exceptionally state-oriented figure. Although the church hated him, he is the reason why our church is independent today. Before him, our Catholicos were coronated in Caesarea. After coming to power, he wanted us to elect our own Catholicos.
Pap noticed that the state budget was empty. Advisers informed him that it's because there is very little to no land taxation because most lands are owned by the church which doesn't pay taxes. He pushed for a tax collection and a state budget. Land reforms began.
Pap wanted to gather an army but was told there were not enough men. How come? It turns out a large share of men worked at church, while women were locked up in virgin houses and unable to give birth, so there was a demographic crisis. Pap disagreed with those policies. And so on...
During Pap, the elites in Armenia [pro-Russian parties today] were writing complaint letters to Constantinople [Moscow] to inform them that Pap was acting against them and needed to be neutralized. A campaign was launched to discredit him, calling him homosexual, etc. In reality, this was a figure who understood the value of statehood. King Pap is one of the cornerstone figures in our history.
What happened to Pap? With the help of the Armenian elites and church members, they invited him to a dinner and stabbed him to death. His murder was one of the "October 27" episodes of our history, but his assassination began earlier with the targeted defamation campaign. What you knew about Pap depends on whose book you read. The same will be true about my legacy. //
(That concludes my coverage of the press conference.)
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more details emerge about the plans to implement universal healthcare starting mid-2024

A special state insurance fund will be created.
Employment will be required for able-bodied persons to be able to keep the insurance.
The recipients will be required to undergo annual medical exams as preventative care to keep the population healthy and the long-term costs down.
It will cover all types of medical services, except dental and plastic surgery.
Recipients will pay ֏200K/year ($40/mo). The government will subsidize it for some categories of citizens.
2025 - The government will begin to subsidize seniors' insurance premiums.
2027 - The system will become mandatory for all citizens.
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the government has calculated every financial scenario for Crossroads of Peace and it's even more profitable today than it was during the 2021 calculations: finance ministry

REPORTER: How much will it cost to build railways and roads in Armenia?
MINISTRY: Depending on the scenario we choose, depending on whether there will be highways or only railways in some sections, it'll cost $400-$500 million.
REPORTER: Can you break it down?
MINISTRY: Hrazdan-Ijevan-Azerbaijan railway: $318m. Yeraskh-Nakhijevan-Syunik-Horadiz railway: $62m. Yeraskh-Nakhijevan and Nakhijevan-Syunik-Azerbaijan highways: $101m. Gyumri-Akhuryan road: $9m.
REPORTER: When was this calculated?
MINISTRY: In 2021. We also know the volumes of cargo passing through our region, the content of cargo, the buyers and producers, the countries that would be interested in using Armenia as a transit state, etc. We have also calculated the impact on the volume of transfers in the event the cost is reduced by each X dollars. When we made these calculations in 2021, the volumes weren't as big as they are after the war in Ukraine. Today we can expect an even better scenario for us. We could increase the cargo traffic by 8 million tons.
source,

Armenia will install x-ray devices and conduct thorough checks on the border checkpoint with Turkey

$417,000 was allocated by the government on Thursday to acquire equipment for inspections. Turkey and Armenia had earlier agreed to open the border to travelers from third countries. No agreement has been reached yet on when it will open. It was utilized briefly in February when Armenia sent humanitarian aid to Turkey after the earthquake.
source,

poverty rate by province: 2022

5% Syunik
8% Aragatsotn
16% Vayots Dzor
18% Yerevan
19% Lori
24% Ararat
26% Kotayk
34% Gegharkunik (49% in 2021)
37% Tavush
41% Armavir
42% Shirak (47% in 2021)
source,

after repeatedly lowering the interest rate, Turkey is now increasing it by 5% at a time to tackle inflation

source,

Appeals Court sides with consumer protection agency, prohibits companies from advertising their product as "cheese" if it's made of vegetable oil

It cannot contain milk fat substitutes. The label on the product must be color-coded and inform the consumer that it's not real cheese.
source,

Looking for some advice on how to approach this:
I currently share a Joint Checking/Savings account with my S/O (non-married) whom is looking to file a chapter 7 bankruptcy sooner than later; as their debt has surpassed any feasible or practical way for us to reasonably expect to repay it. The caveat is, I've accrued about $12,000 in our joint savings account, hopefully for a future down-payment on our first house. (My S/O would not be financially involved in purchasing the house - so I'm not concerned about the bankruptcy in this regard).
I was the primary account holder & I am the one who opened the account independently; regrettably making it a joint account for us both just a few months ago. To complicate that now poor decision, we have both had direct-deposits from our employment made to this account and have been using it jointly for all of both of our expenses & spending.
We are DE residents, but haven't lived here for 2+ years yet; our previous state was PA. & From what I've read, our bankruptcy case would still be filed under PA laws (which uses federal exemptions) until we are residents of DE for 2 years +91 days.
My S/O has no assets, and only 1 primary vehicle owned outright & used for employment (AKA exempt). So also from what I've read, could the Federal "wildcard exemption" ($1,475 + $13,950 leftover without a 'homestead exemption') be used to protect the cash in our joint account?
Tldr; My (non-married) S/O is looking to file Ch. 7 bankruptcy, but we share a (recently) jointed bank account with $12,000+ but that we've both made direct-deposits to & expenses withdrawn from. My S/O has no assets but a (reasonably & presumably exempt) primary vehicle. We share no other financial obligations or interests other than a lease, renting an apartment. All that said : Could the 'wildcard' Federal exemption (used in PA) be used to protect most/all of the cash? (especially considering that it should/would at least be considered 1/2 mine?) If not, how am I to protect funds that are reasonably/justifiably mine in a joint account with someone looking to file bankruptcy? Is it unwise to move the funds to an account solely in my name?
Edited for clarification

Astronomers have made a very interesting discovery that has been dubbed the Giant Arc. The newly discovered crescent of galaxies spans 3.3 billion light-years and is described as one of the largest known structures in the universe. The massive size of the ark of galaxies is challenging some of the basic assumptions astronomers hold about the cosmos. https://www.slashgear.com/a-gigantic-arc-of-galaxies-has-been-discovered-spanning-3-3-billion-light-years-12677816/
The truth about intelligence? It’s in your eyes, controversial research suggests https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2021/06/12/intelligence-eyes-science/
The study explores a training method developed in 2012 that uses deep learning techniques to train people with normal sight to see through camouflage. Individuals can be trained in this way in as little as two weeks, the researchers report, with just an hour a day spent analyzing scenes.
That training enables people to recognize whether or not a given camouflage scene contains a target. Here, it was shown that those individuals could pick out the target too, even with just a 50-millisecond look in some cases. The participants were not told what to look for and were not shown the target object in isolation. https://www.sciencealert.com/people-can-be-trained-to-see-through-camouflage-and-it-works-better-than-we-thought
Although the designation of the frigid waters around the icy southern continent as a separate ocean has kicked around for almost 100 years and is widely used by scientists, until now it has not had popular backing.
But on June 8 — World Oceans Day — the society announced it would henceforth be labeling the Southern Ocean as the fifth ocean on its maps of our planet. https://www.livescience.com/earth-fifth-ocean-confirmed.html
Across the board, music and dance activities had different types of health outcomes, though. Making music mainly affected auditory function, the immune system, cognitive health, wellbeing and social functioning. Dance activities generally also scored high in those last three categories, as well as in body composition, mental health, physical fitness and physical function.
And it doesn’t take much effort to see a positive effect of the performing arts. One hour per week on a regular basis seemed to be enough to get the benefits of dancing and other activities.
The types of dancing that had multiple health benefits weren’t just the usual suspects like Zumba, which is already offered as exercise at many fitness centres, but also other forms of dancing like ballroom dancing or even social dancing. So once nightlife comes back, you could get away with thinking of a night out as “exercise”. https://www.forbes.com/sites/evaamsen/2021/06/14/drumming-and-dancing-found-to-be-the-healthiest-of-the-performing-arts/?sh=116084e27d14
Professor of Global Change Science at UCL, Simon Lewis said: "This is about finding solutions to the climate crisis that embody fairness and build trust. Lower income countries did not create this problem, yet they are already paying for it with their livelihoods and increasingly their lives. It's up to those who have contributed the most to the problem to address that injustice and build trust going forward. Solving the climate crisis means acknowledging the damage already caused and making new alternative plans and choices to reverse that tide.
"The global South has been a small part of the problem so far, but it's a huge part of the solution. We need to demonstrate that the safety and security of its people are a priority. As with the pandemic, none of us is safe until we are all safe. Similarly, no country can fully protect against the impacts of climate change unless we are all protected against them.
"Stabilizing our climate requires emissions to drop to net zero. But building a prosperous and resilient world will require more than that, it will require increasing the power of the income poor and making investments to protect those who are already suffering the most through no fault of their own."
Professor of Earth System Science at UCL, Mark Maslin, said:" The science is clear - going beyond 1.5°C will increase human misery around the world and put a huge financial burden on all of us. Our Charter calls on the governments of the world to invest in dealing with climate change now, which will not only increase people's health and well-being now but will save trillions of dollars. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/ucl-swg061121.php
US-1 has since been elbowed out of the United States by even more aggressive strains of the pathogen that have originated in Mexico. Winter tomato crops - grown in Mexico and imported into the U.S. - harbor the pathogen, Ristaino said.
The study also suggests that the pathogen spread first in potatoes and then later jumped into tomatoes. Spread of the pathogen in ripe tomatoes in ships' holds would have been unlikely, Ristaino said. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/ncsu-ipf061121.php
They found that warmer temperatures (above 20° Celsius), increased humidity, and higher levels of UV radiation were moderately associated with a lower reproductive number (a measurement of how many new infections are caused by a single infected person in a fully susceptible population), meaning that these factors were likewise associated with decreased person-to-person transmission. Of the three factors, absolute humidity played the greatest role.
The study, published today in the journal Nature Communications, provides one of the most robust bodies of scientific evidence yet linking weather conditions to the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Early epidemiological studies of COVID-19 https://scienceblog.com/523253/heat-humidity-and-uv-rays-linked-to-covid-19-spread/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogrssfeed+%28ScienceBlog.com%29
Identity fusion: Why some people will go to extremes for the beliefs of a group https://phys.org/news/2021-06-identity-fusion-people-extremes-beliefs.html
Using chemical synthesis, Bright Peak Therapeutics can produce proteins that have never before existed. This holds great potential for cancer immunotherapy. The Basel-​based spin-​off has its beginnings at ETH Zurich. https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2021/06/they-build-proteins-that-are-not-known-to-nature.html
Observational studies are only able to tell us if something is linked, not if one thing caused another. This study only tells us there is a link between these diets and the outcomes they looked at.
But in this study, there are plausible biological links between bone development and growth in children.
Calcium, vitamin D and protein are critical for bone development and growth. These nutrients may be lower in vegan diets, as they come mainly from animal products: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/the-conversation-do-vegan-diets-really-make-kids-weaker-and-shorteEQDOEKN46VSS4EEM7JLJG7QJR4/
Our galaxy has an enormous bar made of stars at its centre, from which its spiral arms emanate. Like the rest of the galaxy, that bar rotates, but the dark matter suffusing the Milky Way is slowing it down by about 13 per cent every billion years. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2280691-dark-matter-is-slowing-down-the-slab-of-stars-at-our-galaxys-centre/
Social science: COVID-19 stay-at-home policies linked to 37% reduction in urban crime
Nature Human Behaviour http://www.natureasia.com/en/research/highlight/13705
It’s likely the artificial intelligence capabilities developed by tech giants such as Amazon and Google will only grow more capable of influencing us in the future.
But what do we actually find persuasive?
My colleague Adam Duhachek and I found AI messages are more persuasive when they highlight “how” an action should be performed, rather than “why”. For example, people were more willing to put on sunscreen when an AI explained how to apply sunscreen before going out, rather than why they should use sunscreen. https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/ai/how-ai-can-affect-our-choices-and-decisions/
If there are high levels of particulate matter, outdoor sports can impair the cardiovascular system. This is now shown by a study from South Korea.
A recent study shows that physical exercise promotes health with moderate levels of particulate matter, while sport has the opposite effect and harms the cardiovascular system with higher air pollution levels.
“What is special about the study is that it is the first to indicate a threshold for particulate matter pollution, above which it is detrimental to the heart and circulatory system to do sports outside,” say scientists who study the matter.
Fine dust gets into the blood through the alveoli and can thus cause chronic inflammation, arteriosclerosis, heart attacks and strokes. The smallest particles of fine dust can even cross the blood-brain barrier and trigger inflammation in the brain.
The EU’s fine dust limit values ​​are very close to the range in which, according to the study, physical activity outdoors is already harmful to the cardiovascular system.
In some countries, the limit values ​​are even exceeded in Germany, for example in high industrial areas.
Whether or not outdoor sports are recommended depends on the local environmental pollution. Special apps can help by measuring air pollution, noise and temperature and then calculating whether outdoor sports are healthy. https://m.novinite.com/articles/210039/Sports+in+Air+Polluted+Areas+Could+Be+Harmful+for+Health+Shows+Study
AstraZeneca’s vaccine contains a chimpanzee adenovirus genetically engineered to avoid its replication and instead make Covid spike protein in people receiving the jab. The human protein impurities – mostly heat shock and cell scaffold proteins – come from the human kidney cell line used to generate the chimp adenovirus. Viral proteins important for the virus during replication in producer cells were also present.
The study’s lead researcher, Stefan Kochanek from Ulm University, says he was surprised by the quantities of proteins detected by mass spectrometry in three vaccine lots. ‘At least half of the proteins present in the vaccine are of human origin,’ Kochanek says. One vaccine lot contained about 12.5μg of virus in one dose and about 22μg of non-virus proteins.
The adenovirus vector is obtained by disrupting cultured mammalian cells infected with the virus, and the viruses are then purified. ‘If that procedure is not super perfect, then you end up with what we see here: the presence of proteins from the production cells, which is why we call them process-related impurities,’ Kochanek explains. https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/protein-impurities-found-in-astrazenecas-covid-19-vaccine-stir-debate/4013844.article
“Affinity for certain foods must have strong evolutionary drivers, because without taste, animals would be forced to overconsume everything in the hopes of hitting the magic ratio of elements needed for growth and development,” says Benjamin Reading, co-author of the study and a professor in NC State’s Department of Applied Ecology. “They would need to eat way too much and end up excreting huge quantities of those things they need less of, which is not efficient.” https://www.technologynetworks.com/analysis/news/good-taste-is-not-just-a-coincidence-349796
What We Know About Water May Have Just Changed Dramatically Ben Paul June 3, 2021
Research from USC Viterbi and USC Dornsife points to a potentially strong impact from water purification to drug manufacturing. https://viterbischool.usc.edu/news/2021/06/what-we-know-about-water-may-have-just-changed-dramatically/
Ultra-processed foods: Urgent action needed to reduce harm https://www.hippocraticpost.com/nutrition/ultra-processed-foods-urgent-action-needed-to-reduce-harm/
He says studies have tested people's pain thresholds before a poor night's sleep and then retested them after a poor night's sleep and have shown "there is quite an increase in pain responses" from these people after that poor night's sleep.
'It's a grey area as far as treatment goes because we're only just starting to understand that sleep does indeed influence pain' https://www.9news.com.au/health/sleep-pain-exclusive-what-is-it-symptoms-research-study-living-with-sleep-pain/fd39b77f-25e7-47e2-8c3d-b02af88d1b12
Scientists, led by two from the University of Portsmouth, UK, are the first to model how exceptionally well preserved fossils that record the largest and most intense burst of evolution ever seen could have been moved by mudflows.
The finding, published in Communications Earth & Environment, offers a cautionary note on how palaeontologists build a picture from the remains of the creatures they study.
Until now, it has been widely accepted the fossils buried in mudflows in the Burgess Shale in Canada that show the result of the Cambrian explosion 505 million years ago had all lived together but that's now in doubt.
The Cambrian explosion was responsible for kick-starting the huge diversity of animal life now seen on the planet.
Now, Dr Nic Minter and Dr Orla Bath Enright have found that some of the animals which became fossils could have remained well preserved even after being carried large distances, throwing doubt on the idea the creatures all lived together. http://astrobiology.com/2021/06/fossil-secret-may-shed-light-on-the-diversity-of-earths-first-animals.html
Human-driven climate change only half the picture for krill https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/uoca-hcc061421.php
Eco-friendly smart farms based on nutrient solution recirculation
UV sterilization and microbial stability analysis used to recycle nutrient solution; proposed method minimizes the use fertilizers and water by hydroponic farms https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/nrco-esf061421.php
Even though electric cars use the power grid to charge up—and that grid is largely fueled by coal, which produces its own harmful emissions of fine particulate matter and other toxins—they would still provide a health benefit by reducing emissions at the street level, where people are, Spengler said.
Spengler said the study suggests that policymakers should offer incentives to encourage the purchase of electric cars, and that cities should consider electrifying certain portions of their fleet. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/increasing-the-use-of-electric-cars-could-improve-health-outcomes/
The current study shows that mutated cells use the same gene in order to establish a permanent footing in the tissue.
"Mutated cells kind of hijack the ageing gene and use it against the healthy stem cells," Katajisto says.
The results from this study may lead to the development of new therapies, because the function of the enzyme encoded by the ageing gene can be blocked pharmacologically.
The research group led by Katajisto has previously used a compound for this purpose in aged research animals to enhance the function of aged stem cells.
In the current study, researchers used the same method to reduce the chance of mutated cells winning in competition. A three-week treatment reduced the number of adenomas in animal models.
"The results are promising and create a foundation for developing new therapies for patients predisposed to intestinal cancers. This research demonstrates that by enhancing the natural mechanisms of how tissues remove damaged cells, we could also reduce cancer risk in other tissues," Pekka Katajisto concludes. https://ecancer.org/en/news/20483-cancer-cells-fight-for-their-footing-by-using-an-ageing-gene
Beauty comes with a cost? Major makeup brands contain toxic compounds, researchers findCosmetics sold in the US and Canada were found with high levels of PFAS
byFermin Koop
June 16, 2021
A long list of cosmetics sold in the United States and Canada seem to contain high levels of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — a potentially toxic class of chemicals linked to a number of serious health conditions https://www.zmescience.com/science/beauty-comes-with-a-cost-major-makeup-brands-contain-toxic-compounds-researchers-find/
The encryption algorithm GEA-1 was implemented in mobile phones in the 1990s to encrypt data connections. Since then, it has been kept secret. Now, a research team from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), together with colleagues from France and Norway, has analysed the algorithm and has come to the following conclusion: GEA-1 is so easy to break that it must be a deliberately weak encryption that was built in as a backdoor. Although the vulnerability is still present in many modern mobile phones, it no longer poses any significant threat to users, according to the researchers.
Backdoors not useful according to researchers https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/rb-abi061621.php
Diesel-polluted soil from now defunct military outposts in Greenland can be remediated using naturally occurring soil bacteria according to an extensive five-year experiment in Mestersvig, East Greenland https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/uoc--but061621.php
The find in Lake Huron is part of a broader study to understand the social and economic organization of caribou hunters at the end of the last ice age. Water levels were much lower then; scientists have found, for example, ancient sites like stone walls and hunting blinds that are now 100 feet underwater.
"This particular find is really exciting because it shows how important underwater archaeology is," Lemke said. "The preservation of ancient underwater sites is unparalleled on land, and these places have given us a great opportunity to learn more about past peoples." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210616094106.htm
And It Still Works
The results astonished us as we detected almost the exact same data pattern as Cialdini and colleagues found nearly half a century ago. Moreover, further analyses supported the idea that the door-in-the-face effect is based on the norm of reciprocity.
Yes, this is just one replication of one experimental finding. Nevertheless, our successful replication indicates that at least some classical findings may last over time and across cultures. This is not the only classical finding to stand the test of time, but it is an important one. Those fundraisers and salespeople who employ this technique are using sound science to manipulate you! https://www.spsp.org/news-centeblog/genschow-psychology-findings-over-time
There are some important points, when considering whether the Universe is truly homogeneous on the largest of cosmic scales, that most people — even most astronomers — often overlook. One is that the data is still very poor; we have not even identified most of the underlying galaxies supposedly behind these quasar, gas cloud, and gamma-ray burst features. When we restrict ourselves to high-quality galaxy surveys, there are no structures larger than ~1.4 billion light-years.
Secondly, the Universe itself is not born perfectly homogeneous, but with imperfections on all scales. A few large, uncommon, but not excessively rare fluctuations could provide a very simple explanation for why we see structures on larger cosmic scales than a naive analysis would predict.
These larger-than-expected structures, if they turn out to be real, would pose quite a conundrum not just for the assumption of homogeneity, but for the foundations of modern cosmology and the very essence of the Copernican Principle. Still, there are some substantial hurdles that must be cleared before the evidence becomes conclusive, rather than merely suggestive. It’s a fascinating research topic to keep your eye on, but just like you shouldn’t bet on a preliminary result that suggests Einstein is wrong, you shouldn’t be so fast to bet against Copernicus, either. https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2021/06/16/new-astronomical-discovery-challenges-500-year-old-copernican-principle/?sh=4d25bb586d93
Dream incubation advertising is not some fun gimmick, but a slippery slope with real consequences,” they write on the op-ed website EOS. “Our dreams cannot become just another playground for corporate advertisers.”
It’s actually quite extraordinary to stop and consider that things have gotten to this point, that the Facebook-Google duopoly has engorged itself on so much of the digital ad market, like a morbidly obese wolf with an infinite appetite, that advertisers and the companies that serve them are running out of, you know, normal options, such that they have to think about invading our minds while we sleep.
Ads have ruined the Internet from Showerthoughts
Indeed, advertising and the hyper-targeting of users to serve up better and more relevant ads are an increasingly nettlesome fact of life in this day and age — which explains why researchers would want to go to great lengths to try something like this. From the Science journal:
“‘People are particularly vulnerable (to suggestion) when asleep,’ says Adam Haar, a cognitive scientist and Ph.D. student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology … Haar invented a glove that tracks sleep patterns and guides its wearers to dream about specific subjects by playing audio cues when the sleeper reaches a susceptible sleep stage. He says he has been contacted by three companies in the past 2 years, including Microsoft and two airlines, asking for his help on dream incubation projects.” https://bgr.com/science/online-ads-are-everywhere-now-advertisers-targeting-sleep-and-dreams-5932326/
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, where President Biden suspended drilling leases that had been awarded in the final days of the Trump administration.Credit...U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, via Associated Press
By Coral Davenport
June 15, 2021, 8:44 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Louisiana has blocked the Biden administration’s suspension of new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters, in the first major legal roadblock for President Biden’s quest to cut fossil fuel pollution and conserve public lands.
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Judge Terry A. Doughty of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana granted an injunction Tuesday against the administration, pending the outcome of a separate legal challenge led by Jeff Landry, the Republican attorney general of Louisiana. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/15/climate/biden-drilling-federal-land.html

• The weird world of Australia’s carnivorous plants

Australia is a hotspot for carnivorous plants, boasting more than 250 species. Get to know their way of life here. https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2021/06/the-weird-world-of-australias-carnivorous-plants/
After creating a food diary, Houlihan realized she had eaten offal from a Mexican food truck, contained within a burrito. The levels of nandrolone in her sample matched (according to her) the levels found in those that had consumed offal. She then underwent polygraph and hair testing, which suggested there was certainly no regular use of the steroid and instead likely just one ingested source – whether that be in drug form or burrito form. Despite challenging the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which settles disputes in sports and the Olympics, with the new information, her appeal was denied.
So, is it possible a pork burrito could lead to a false positive for a Schedule III drug? The science says yes.
A study in 2000 discovered that concentrations of steroids of up to 7.5 micrograms per liter could be detected 10 hours after boar tissue consumption, with levels returning to normal at around the 24-hour mark. https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/suspended-olympic-runner-blames-pork-burrito-for-failing-steroid-drug-test/
An antibiotic developed in the 1950s and largely supplanted by newer drugs, effectively targets and kills cancer cells with a common genetic defect, laboratory research by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists shows.
The findings have spurred investigators to open a clinical trial of the drug, novobiocin, for patients whose tumours carry the abnormality. https://ecancer.org/en/news/20496-antibiotic-found-to-kill-tumour-cells-with-dna-repair-glitch
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With sorghum poised to become an important crop grown by Pennsylvania farmers, Penn State researchers, in a new study, tested more than 150 germplasm lines of the plant for resistance to a fungus likely to hamper its production.
Sorghum, a close relative to corn, is valuable for yielding human food, animal feed and biofuels. Perhaps its most notable attribute is that the grain it produces is gluten free. Drought resistant and needing a smaller amount of nutrients than corn to thrive, sorghum seems to be a crop that would do well in the Keystone State’s climate in a warming world. But its susceptibility to fungal disease is problematic. https://news.psu.edu/story/661743/2021/06/17/research/sorghum-close-relative-corn-tested-disease-resistance-pa-farms
Many diseases caused by a dysregulated immune system, such as allergies, asthma and autoimmunity, can be traced back to events in the first few months after birth. To date, the mechanisms behind the development of the immune system have not been fully understood. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet show a connection between breast milk, beneficial gut bacteria and the development of the immune system. The study is published in Cell. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/ki-fmd061621.php
Aduhelm now joins this group of drugs that fiddle with the body’s physiology but potentially leave patients worse off and much poorer for it. Recall that with this drug, about 30–40 percent of study participants experienced either brain swelling or bleeding. Not to mention the $56,000 annual price tag—much of which Medicare is required to cover—could be a fiscal catastrophe for American health care. No one disputes that amyloid plaques appear in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, and no one doubts Aduhelm can clear amyloid plaques (by a respectable 30 percent), but how valid of a surrogate outcome are amyloid plaques for the real-world outcomes Alzheimer’s patients care about? Given the pent-up demand, the worrisome side effects, and the steep price, you’d hope the amyloid hypothesis is a slam-dunk. Unfortunately, it’s not even close. https://slate.com/technology/2021/06/alzheimers-drug-aduhelm-fda-outcomes-plaques.html
Ominous new research shows that the Earth is taking in a shocking amount of heat. In the past 15 years, the amount of incoming solar radiation trapped on the surface and in the oceans has doubled. https://gizmodo.com/nasa-earth-is-absorbing-an-unprecedented-amount-of-hea-1847120967
A recent clash between Indigenous community members in Sumatra and workers from pulpwood producer PT Toba Pulp Lestari has marred ongoing efforts to resolve a decades-long land conflict.The two sides have been locked in dispute over the land in North Tapanuli district since 1992, with 23 Indigenous communities claiming ancestral rights to some 20,754 hectares (51,284 acres) inside the concession granted to TPL, an affiliate of pulp and paper giant Royal Golden Eagle.In the wake of the recent clash, Indonesia’s national parliament has called on the police to investigate and press charges against the company for the violence against the communities.While a resolution is still far from being achieved, many members of the Indigenous communities defending their land claims against TPL have been met with violence and imprisonment. https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/land-dispute-turns-violent-as-sumatran-indigenous-groups-clash-with-pulpwood-firm/
Taskforce on Anti-Poaching says it penetrated 11 criminal syndicates in five years.Conservation groups say wildlife crime networks have moved from East to West Africa.Government says elephant populations have grown to 60,000 from 43,000 in 2014.Tanzania targets ‘zero-poaching’ after thousands of arrests.
Once known as the world’s elephant killing fields, Tanzania appears to have halted the worst ivory poaching within its borders, making more than 2,300 arrests of poachers and traffickers over five years. https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/poaching-declines-in-tanzania-following-prosecution-of-ivory-trafficking-ringleaders/
Massive Invisible Galactic Structure is Discovered – By Accident Posted on 2021-06-17 at 11:15 am. Written by Jill Malusky
Incredibly sensitive spectral observations from the Green Bank Telescope discover previously unknown huge Galactic structure https://greenbankobservatory.org/massive-invisible-galactic-structure-is-discovered-by-accident/
That doesn’t mean these companies can’t be held accountable. For those looking to go beyond symbolic action on this Juneteenth, consider ways to bring pressure to bear on these companies. Send a message to chocolate companies like Nestle, Hershey’s and Mars asking them to end their connections to slavery. Consider how companies are performing on slavery and child labor when you purchase chocolate – our buying guide is a way to do that. And contact your legislators to urge them to ban import of cocoa and other agricultural goods connected to egregious human rights and environmental abuses.
So today, celebrate Juneteenth for the progress it brought, but continue the fight against American companies’ ongoing contributions to Black slavery. https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/its-juneteenth-but-these-american-companies-are-still-profiting-from-slavery-commentary/
Burning fossil fuels doesn't just wreck the environment. It also wrecks human health, and to a very grave extent, new research shows.
Results of a new study combining chemical transport models with data on emissions and particles estimate over a million deaths around the world could have been avoided in 2017 by eliminating fossil fuel combustion. https://www.sciencealert.com/over-1-million-people-died-in-2017-from-fossil-fuels-being-burned
According to a recent Finnish study, higher levels of moderate and vigorous physical activity can curb arterial stiffening already in childhood. However, sedentary time or aerobic fitness were not linked to arterial health. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210618/Increased-levels-of-moderate-and-vigorous-physical-activity-can-curb-arterial-stiffening-in-children.aspx
have revealed that the enzyme katanin, which is named after the katana, is used by an anchoring complex to cut microtubules at specific locations of the framework within individual plant cells.
Katanin severs microtubules in cells, which is an important step in cell division and central to the development of many organisms, including plants and animals. Microtubules form part of the cytoskeleton, a complex network of protein filaments found in all cells. The severing performed by katanin enables mobility, which is important during development, and treadmilling -- a phenomenon where one end of a filament lengthens as the other shrinks, which results in a section of filament that seems to 'move' like a treadmill. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210617082741.htm
Geologic activity on Earth appears to follow a 27.5-million-year cycle, study https://www.techexplorist.com/geologic-activity-earth-appears-follow-27-5-million-year-cycle/39691/
‘Speculation rooted in utter distrust’: Top Chinese virologist at the centre of Covid lab-leak storm speaks out https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/covid-wuhan-lab-leak-china-origins-b1868952.html
Due to this, the surface temperature of the planet has increased, and it has started to snowball into other climatic problems like melting of ice caps and glaciers, raising the sea levels. Apart from that, an increase in water vapour and cloud changes are also caused by this, which ultimately lead to further rise of surface temperature.
These phenomena combine in a vicious cycle that continues to increase the heat on the ecosystem. The fact that, globally, forests are being destroyed in the name of urbanization is not helping the matters in any way.
Primary factors of imbalance
The researchers tried to ascertain the primary cause of the energy imbalance, and for this, they studied the changes in clouds, water vapour, output of light from the Sun, the light reflected by the surface of the Earth or the surface albedo, trace gases’ combined contribution, changes in the temperature distributions on the surface and atmosphere, and aerosols. https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/science/climate-change-energy-imbalance-on-earth-doubled-since-2005-causing-the-planet-to-heat-up/2274516/
A diet designed to boost brain health appears to benefit people with multiple sclerosis (MS), new research suggests.
For the study, a team from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City examined 185 people diagnosed with MS within the past five years. Each had MRI brain scans and responded to detailed questionnaires.
The upshot: Those who ate more of the "good" foods from a brain-health eating regimen known as the MIND diet and fewer "bad" ones tended to have more preserved tissue in a critical relay station in the brain called the thalamus. https://www.webmd.com/multiple-sclerosis/news/20210618/mind-diet-may-help-preserve-brain-in-people-with-ms?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Alarming COVID study indicates long-term loss of gray matter and other brain tissue https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210618/Alarming-COVID-study-indicates-long-term-loss-of-gray-matter-and-other-brain-tissue.aspx
analysed the composition of microbes in the body and found that there was a higher amount of pathogenic – disease-causing – bacteria in those who were most biologically aged. The study also found that those with a lower socioeconomic position had lower levels of betaine in their gut – a nutrient commonly obtained from a healthy, balanced diet containing fresh vegetables and fruits. https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_797241_en.html
“This is the largest mammal ever to have lived on land,” Deng said.
The researchers used genetic analysis to prove the animal was part of a new species of giant rhino. The giant rhinos would have lived in China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. A few of them might have reached as far as Eastern Europe. The species lived in the northern part of the Tibetan plateau some 31 million years ago, before moving southwest.
The Linxia Giant Rhino is the descendent of species living in Pakistan. It lived around 26.5 million years ago in the Linxia region where it died. Deng explained the animals would have had to cross the Tibetan plateau on their way to Linxia, which means the plateau was lower than it is now.
“In addition, animal migration is linked to climate change. So 31 million years ago, when the Mongolian plateau dried up, they moved south,” Deng said, adding that the weather then got wet, and the animals went back north. “Therefore, this discovery is of great significance to the study of the whole plateau uplift process, climate, and environment.” https://bgr.com/science/giant-rhino-fossil-biggest-land-mammal-on-earth-5933308/
Try it yourself
If you still think your phone is listening to you, there's a simple experiment you can try.
Go to your phone's settings and restrict access to your microphone for all your apps. Pick a product you know you haven't searched for in any of your devices and talk about it out loud at some length with another person.
Make sure you repeat this process a few times. If you still don't get any targeted ads within the next few day, this suggests your phone isn't really "listening" to you.
It has other ways of finding out what's on your mind.
Dana Rezazadegan, Lecturer, Swinburne University of Technology. https://www.sciencealert.com/are-our-phones-really-listening-to-us-turns-out-they-don-t-have-to
Bacteria converts degraded plastic bottles into vanilla flavoring . ############ https://newatlas.com/materials/bacteria-converts-pet-plastic-waste-vanilla-flavoring/
Tens Of Thousands Sign Petition To Stop Jeff Bezos From Returning To Earth https://www.npr.org/2021/06/20/1008559802/tens-of-thousands-sign-petition-to-stop-jeff-bezos-from-returning-to-earth
Texas Power Companies Are Remotely Raising Temperatures on Residents' Smart ThermostatsSeveral customers unknowingly agreed to the energy-saving practice as part of a promotion. https://gizmodo.com/texas-power-companies-are-remotely-raising-temperatures-1847136110
Berlin has set aside €1.5m to seed and nurture more than 50 wild gardens over a five-year period, while Munich has set up about 30 meadows since 2018. There are similar initiatives in Stuttgart, Leipzig and Braunschweig. Hamburg, which started the trend in 2015, this month unveiled the first of a series of bee-friendly flower beds atop bus shelters. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/20/bee-friendly-urban-wildflower-meadows-prove-a-hit-with-german-city-dwellers
Indeed, low levels of vitamin B12 and folate have both been linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Folates include vitamin B9, folacin and folic acid.
Memory problems are one of the key symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
This link has been observed by researchers for more than three decades. https://www.spring.org.uk/2021/06/b12-defcy.php
To boost employees' creativity, managers should consider offering a set of rewards for them to choose from, according to a new study. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210618134004.htm
Climate warming can influence fungal communities on oak leaves across the growing season https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210618134027.htm
Up to now, the Cladopyxidaceae have been classified within the Gonyaulacales, while other Dinophyceae with a comparable hyposome were assigned to the Peridiniales." Thanks to the recognition of this missing link, we have now shown that these are misaassignments," says Gottschling. Based on our work the two large groups can now be morphologically defined in a more coherent manner, which clarifies their evolutionary history. The modern Cladopyxidaceae are most probably quite similar to the last common ancestor of all dinophytes, which originated about 200 million years ago. They are the last suvivors of a group that was much more abundant during the times of the dinosaurs." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210618134030.htm

'Defend it I'm proud of it' GOP Senate candidate on having outsourced jobs
Daily Kos
Mon Oct 06, 2014 at 01:26 PM PDT
Laura Clawson
It would be hard for Georgia Republican David Perdue to back away from his extensive career in outsourcing jobs, now that a legal deposition in which he talked in detail about it is public. So maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that Perdue's response is that he's proud of his outsourcing work, and also that it's Obama's fault:
“Defend it? I’m proud of it,” he said in a press stop at The White House restaurant in Buckhead. “This is a part of American business, part of any business. Outsourcing is the procurement of products and services to help your business run. People do that all day.”
The deposition was taken as part of a lawsuit in the bankruptcy of Pillowtex, a failed textile company where Perdue was CEO in 2002 and 2003. In remarks Monday, he attempted to draw a line between his business decisions and Washington policies.
“I think the issue that people get confused about is the loss of jobs,” he said. “This is because of bad government policies: tax policy, regulation, even compliance requirements. It puts us at a competitive disadvantage with the rest of the world. Even today, right now this administration has policies going on that are decimating industries today.”
I'm not sure people get "confused" about the loss of jobs so much as confusing people is the intent of all the bullshit rich CEOs like David Perdue shovel to justify race-to-the-bottom business practices. Of course none of this makes any sense, from attempting to connect a president in office beginning in 2009 to job loss in 2002-2003, to the suggestion that outsourcing manufacturing jobs from the United States to Asia would somehow not lead to job loss if only there were fewer regulations and taxes.
Again, Perdue is sort of trapped by the reality of his business career and the bluntness of his past words describing it. But it sure sounds like he thinks sending manufacturing jobs to wherever in the world wages are lowest is something a candidate for United States Senate should actively embrace. It's something any Georgia voter who makes less than $100,000 a year should think hard about before voting.
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Despite Kansas' Continuing Economic Disaster, Sam Brownback Promises To Abolish Taxes
By: Rmuse
Sunday, January, 18th, 2015, 7:17 pm
PoliticusUSA
Most human beings learn early in life that conducting an experiment by sticking their hand in a fire will result in them feeling intense pain. However, if they are vicious and cruel they will never hesitate to see what happens if they stick someone else’s hand in the same fire. Kansas Governor Sam Brownback touted his trickle down tax cutting experiment would produce a bonanza in jobs, revenue, and economic growth the entire nation would marvel at and cause the rich no pain. Of course, the results have been exactly the opposite with Kansas residents and state government experiencing all the pain that a leader with an ounce of compassion would do anything to relieve; unless they are a Republican committed to the Koch brothers and Grover Norquist’s vision of abolishing income taxes as a means of abolishing government once and for all.
When Brownback first proposed giving away a $600 million budget surplus courtesy of his Democratic predecessor and add in another $1.2 billion for tax cuts for the rich and corporations, he knew the effects on the state would be devastating to the people. In fact, the recently ‘former’ head of the GOP warned Brownback at the time his trickle down tax cuts for the rich “will bankrupt the state within two years.” The House Democratic leader, Paul Davis said, “There is no feasible way that private-sector growth can accommodate the price tag of this tax cut for the wealthy. Our $600 million surplus will be a $2.5 billion deficit within just five years.” Instead of heeding the warnings, Brownback promised his tax cuts for the rich will produce nothing but economic success and gave thanks “for how god blessed our state.”
Apparently the damage to Kansas’ economy and its citizens from his Koch-Norquist tax-cutting scheme is insufficient for Brownback. During his recent state of the state speech he told Kansas lawmakers he had no intent of changing course and would accelerate his trickle down attack on government and the people. He also revealed that he was emboldened and came up with a new plan to punish the people after being in consultation with business and industry leaders regarding “our shared concerns. They have been generous with their time and frank with their advice, and we will continue our march to zero income taxes.”
That statement was music to the Kochs and Norquist’s ears. In 1980 when David Koch ran for the vice presidency on the Libertarian ticket one of the “big ten” issues was “the repeal of all taxation.” Grover Norquist has championed eliminating income taxes for a couple of decades as a means of “shrinking government down to a size I can drown in a bathtub.” Brownback’s tax elimination scheme is, besides a wealthy-enrichment plan, a process of cutting government to death and he started slowly with the conservatives’ vaunted trickle down scam.
Thus far, Brownback’s embrace of his “god blessed” trickle down experiment to enrich the wealthy and corporations will cost the state $5 billion in revenue within a few years despite a non-existent possibility of Brownback and Republicans addressing a $278 million revenue shortfall within a few months. Despite already “chopping government down to size;” the real reason for the Norquist-Koch tax cutting crusade, Brownback promises to shift money to cover just a fraction of the shortfall by further slashing much-needed infrastructure spending, and naturally just rob more from the state’s pension fund that is already suffering a major shortfall; all in an effort to preserve and increase tax cuts for the wealthy. Brownback’s tax cuts have failed to produce the storied trickle-down benefits he labeled “an economic shot of adrenaline” as the state lags every other state in the region in GDP improvement as well as a pathetic job growth record lagging the national trend of substantial job expansion. The tax cuts have also not helped the state’s per capita income ranking and Kansas residents are fleeing the state in record numbers to find jobs, adequately funded schools, and decent roads.
Since there is no way Brownback is going to abandon his tax cuts for the rich, both to increase their wealth and reduce government for Grover Norquist, he has few options to avoid immediate bankruptcy besides taking more from the people. He has already cut healthcare, education, pensions, infrastructure, and several state agencies, so his only recourse is to substantially raise taxes on the poor and middle class; a prospect Brownback told legislators is “definitely on the table,” and since he intends on abolishing income taxes he will use an “income inequality” widening scam Republicans can embrace; raise state sales tax rates.
Raising sales taxes is a perfect Republican scheme because doing so does “disproportionate damage to poor, low, and middle-income citizens.” Increasing sales taxes, according to several studies is the most regressive economic policy scheme and does the most possible damage to minimum wage workers who have to spend every penny they earn just to survive. A sales tax increase will not affect the rich proportionally, and according to The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, states with high sales tax are ‘fundamentally unfair” to poor, and lower-middle-income Americans; particularly in states with no income tax because they “disproportionally eat into low-wage workers’ meager incomes.”
The Tax Institute’s list of the “Terrible 10″ states with no income tax and higher-sales tax reveals that “the bottom quintile of wage earners pay up to seven times as much of their income in taxes as the top one percent does.” What that means for Kansas residents, especially poor and lower-income residents, is that they will pay more to help Brownback eliminate taxes on the wealthy and corporations besides losing more funding for education, healthcare, infrastructure, and domestic programs. It is doubtless that Brownback thinks making the poor pay more to enrich the rich and corporations will bring more of “god’s blessings on the state’s richest one percent.
In four short years Brownback squandered a significant budget surplus on tax cuts for the rich, added another billion-plus dollars paid for with education, healthcare, pension, infrastructure, and child program cuts and still, the state is hemorrhaging cash. The state has suffered several credit downgrades, been ordered by two separate courts to adequately fund education, and lags the nation in every economic category. Instead of rescinding, or at least reducing, the epic tax cut gifts to the rich, Brownback met with business and industry leaders to plan a tax elimination scheme that forces more economic pain on the state’s poorest residents.
One wants to empathize with Kansans, but it is difficult to feel anything but contempt for those who re-elected a walking, talking, Koch trickle down devotee who just announced he is going to advance his experiment and inflict more pain on the people; except those who were smart enough to flee the state.
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Deutsche Bank Records Said to Show Silver Rigging at Other Banks - Bloomberg
by David Glovin and Edvard Pettersson
‎December‎ ‎07‎, ‎2016‎ ‎9‎:‎26‎ ‎PM ‎December‎ ‎07‎, ‎2016‎ ‎10‎:‎31‎ ‎PM
After German bank settled, it gave documents to plaintiffs UBS, Barclays, Bank of America joined scheme, suit says
Eight months after Deutsche Bank AG settled a lawsuit claiming it manipulated gold and silver prices, documents it disclosed as part of the accord provide “smoking gun” proof that UBS Group AG, HSBC Holdings Plc, Bank of Nova Scotia and other firms rigged the silver market, plaintiffs claim.
The allegation came in a filing Wednesday in a Manhattan federal court lawsuit filed in 2014 by individuals and entities that bought or sold futures contracts.
According to the plaintiffs, records surrendered by Deutsche Bank show traders and submitters coordinating trades in advance of a daily phone call, manipulating the spot market for silver, conspiring to fix the spread on silver offered to customers and using illegal strategies to rig prices.
“Plaintiffs are now able to plead with direct, ‘smoking gun’ evidence,’ including secret electronic chats involving silver traders and submitters across a number of financial institutions, a multi-year, well-coordinated and wide-ranging conspiracy to rig the prices,” the plaintiffs said in their filing. The new scheme “far surpasses the conspiracy alleged earlier.”
New Complaint
The plaintiffs are seeking permission to file a new complaint with the additional allegations. Their proposed complaint broadens the case beyond the four banks initially sued to include claims against units of Barclays Plc, BNP Paribas Fortis SA, Standard Chartered Plc and Bank of America Corp.
Representatives of UBS, BNP Paribas Fortis, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Scotiabank didn’t immediately respond to e-mails outside regular business hours seeking comment on the allegations. Barclays and Bank of America declined to immediately comment.
A judge dismissed the lawsuit against UBS this year but allowed the plaintiffs to file a new complaint against the bank.
The Deutsche Bank documents show two UBS traders communicated directly with two Deutsche Bank traders and discussed ways to rig the market, the plaintiffs said. Among other things, the traders shared customer order-flow information, improperly triggered customer stop-loss orders, and engaged in practices such as spoofing. Spoofing entails submitting bids or offers with the intention of canceling them before they’re executed as a way to drive prices.
"UBS was the third-largest market maker in the silver spot market and could directly influence the prices of silver financial instruments based on the sheer volume of silver it traded," the plaintiffs allege. "Conspiring with other large market makers, like Deutsche Bank and HSBC, only increased UBS’s ability to influence the market."
The case is In re: London Silver Fixing Ltd. Antitrust Litigation, 1:14-md-02573 U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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Deutsche Bank's 'smoking gun' evidence to expand U_S_ silver rigging case Reuters
Thu Dec 8, 2016 10:15am EST
By Nate Raymond NEW YORK
Lawyers for investors accusing several major banks of conspiring to rig silver prices are seeking to add five new defendants to the case, based what they call "smoking gun" evidence they obtained from Deutsche Bank AG following a settlement.
In papers filed in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, the lawyers sought to revive previously-dismissed claims against UBS AG (UBSG.S) and add Barclays Plc (BARC.L), BNP Paribas SA (BNPP.PA), Standard Chartered Plc (STAN.L) and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) as defendants.
The newly cited evidence was produced by Deutsche Bank after it reached a $38 million settlement in the case earlier this year. The plaintiffs said the evidence showed the new defendants engaged in collusive price manipulation.
UBS said in a statement that it believed the plaintiffs' claims had "no merit." Representatives for the other banks either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.
In their proposed revised complaint, the investors claim Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) and others rigged prices of silver and silver financial instruments through a secret daily meeting called the Silver Fix.
The plaintiffs, who are seeking court permission to file the revised complaint, said more than 350,000 pages of documents and 75 audio tapes that Deutsche Bank produced, including electronic chats involving silver traders, backed up their claims.
In October, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni dismissed UBS from the case, saying there was nothing showing it manipulated prices, even if it benefited from distortions. But she allowed the investors to file a revised lawsuit against UBS.
The plaintiffs in Wednesday's filing said the Deutsche Bank evidence showed UBS was a "major participant" in the scheme to manipulate prices and that two of its traders communicated directly with two Deutsche Bank traders.
The case is In re: London Silver Fixing Ltd Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-md-02573.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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Deutsche Bank Admits It Rigged Gold Prices, Agrees To Expose Other Manipulators Zero Hedge
by Tyler Durden
Apr 14, 2016 9:48 PM
Well, that didn't take long.
Earlier today when we reported the stunning news that DB has decided to "turn" against the precious metals manipulation cartel by first settling a long-running silver price fixing lawsuit which in addition to "valuable monetary consideration" said it would expose the other banks' rigging having also "agreed to provide cooperation to plaintiffs, including the production of instant messages, and other electronic communications, as part of the settlement" we said "since this is just one of many lawsuits filed over the past two years in Manhattan federal court in which investors accused banks of conspiring to rig rates or prices in financial and commodities markets, we expect that now that DB has "turned" that much more curious information about precious metals rigging will emerge, and will confirm what the "bugs" had said all along: that the precious metals market has been rigged all along."
This was confirmed moments ago when Reuters reported that Deutsche Bank has also reached a settlement in US litigation alleging the bank conspired to fix gold prices. In other words, hours after admitting it was rigging the silver market, it did the same for gold.
Some more headlines:
Reaches settlement in U.S. litigation alleging it conspired to fix gold prices.
Plaintiffs' lawyers, in filing, say Deutsche Bank has signed a settlement term sheet
Plaintiffs' lawyers say are negotiating formal settlement agreement that would be presented for judge's approval later
Plaintiffs' lawyers say settlement contemplates a monetary payment by Deutsche Bank
Gold settlement follows similar accord involving alleged silver price-fixing that was disclosed on Wednesday
Most importantly, as the actual settlement reveals, Deutsche has agreed that in addition to once again providing "valuable monetary consideration" which will be paid into a settlement fund, that like in the silver settlement it will provide "cooperation in pursuing claims against the remaining Defendants."
And with that the floodgates open.
Here is the full settlement letter:
As a reminder, this is what we reported just hours ago on an identical settlement involving Deutsche Bank admitting to also rigging silver:
Deutsche Bank Confirms Silver Market Manipulation In Legal Settlement, Agrees To Expose Other Banks
Back in July of 2014, we reported that in an attempt to obtain if not compensation, then at least confirmation of bank manipulation in the precious metals industry, a group of silver bullion banks including Deutsche Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC (later UBS was also added to the defendants) were accused of manipulating prices in the multi-billion dollar market.
The lawsuit, which was originally filed in a New York district court by veteran litigator J. Scott Nicholson, a resident of Washington DC, alleged that the banks, which oversee the century-old silver fix manipulated the physical and COMEX futures market since January 2007. The lawsuit subsequently received class-action status. It was the first case to target the silver fix.
Many expected that this case would never go anywhere and that the defendant banks would stonewall indefinitely: after all their legal budgets were far greater than the plaintiffs.
Which is why we were surprised to read overnight that not only has this lawsuit against precious metals manipulation not been swept away, but that the lead defendant, troulbed German bank Deutsche Bank agreed to settle the litigation over allegations it illegally conspired with Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC Holdings Plc to fix silver prices at the expense of investors, Reuters reported citing a court filing by law firm Lowey.
Terms were not disclosed, but the accord will include a monetary payment by the German bank.
It goes without saying, that there would have been neither a settlement nor a payment if the banks had done nothing wrong.
According to Reuters, Deutsche Bank has signed a binding settlement term sheet, and is negotiating a formal settlement agreement to be submitted for approval by U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni, who oversees the litigation. A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman declined to comment. Lawyers for the investors did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
As noted above, investors had accused Deutsche Bank, HSBC and ScotiaBank of abusing their power as three of the world's largest silver bullion banks to dictate the price of silver through a secret, once-a-day meeting known as the Silver Fix.
None of this will come as a big surprise to readers, most of whom have been aware that this took place for years.
But wait there's more.
In a curious twist, the settlement letter reveals a stunning development, namely that the former members of the manipulation cartel have turned on each other. To wit:
“In addition to valuable monetary consideration, Deutsche Bank has also agreed to provide cooperation to plaintiffs, including the production of instant messages, and other electronic communications, as part of the settlement. In Plaintiff’s estimation, the cooperation to be provided by Deutsche Bank will substantially assist Plaintiffs in the prosecution of their claims against the non-settling defendants.”
The full shocking letter can be read here:
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Since this is just one of many lawsuits filed over the past two years in Manhattan federal court in which investors accused banks of conspiring to rig rates or prices in financial and commodities markets, we expect that now that DB has "turned" that much more curious information about precious metals rigging will emerge, and will confirm what the "bugs" had said all along: that the precious metals market has been rigged all along.
Finally, we'll just remind readers that the US commodity "regulator", the CFTC in 2013 closed its five year investigation concerning allegations that the biggest bullion banks manipulate silver markets and prices. It proudly reported in September 2013 that it found no evidence of wrongdoing and dropped the probe. This is what it said:
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) Division of Enforcement has closed the investigation that was publicly confirmed in September 2008 concerning silver markets. The Division of Enforcement is not recommending charges to the Commission in that investigation. For law enforcement and confidentiality reasons, the CFTC only rarely comments publicly on whether it has opened or closed any particular investigation. Nonetheless, given that this particular investigation was confirmed in September 2008, the CFTC deemed it appropriate to inform the public that the investigation is no longer ongoing. Based upon the law and evidence as they exist at this time, there is not a viable basis to bring an enforcement action with respect to any firm or its employees related to our investigation of silver markets.
In light of this confirmation that the CFTC's probe was "lacking" perhaps it is time for the so-called regulators who at the time was headed by ex-Goldmanite Gary Gensler (and assisted by "revolving door" expert and HFT lobby sellout Bart Chilton) to reopen its investigation?
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Deutsche Bank & Silver Price Rigging Will Justice EVER Be Served Silver Doctors
Posted on December 11, 2016 by The Doc
This is Mark Anthon Taylor’s story about his attempt to redress Deutsche Bank’s manipulation of the silver market…
By Mark Anthon Taylor and Katherine Frisk:
This is a three part series laying out one man’s attempt to see justice done in the United Kingdom.
Part one – investigates Deutsche Bank and precious metals price rigging.
Part two – investigates why Deutsche Bank would have benefited from the United Kingdom voting not to leave the EU.
Part three – investigates the role that Deutsche played in the rise of Daesh/ISIS also known as the Muslim Brotherhood and the Wahhabi sect.
Part one is a blow-by-blow account about a conspiracy by the UK judiciary and the UK government to cover-up Deutsche Bank’s gold and silver rigging cartel, Deutsche Bank’s conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and its perjury and the misconduct of judges and the malfeasance of Parliamentarians.
Judge Simon Brown QC, Judge Charles Haddon Cave, Judge Ian Burnett, Baron Thomas and Lord Chancellor Elizabeth Truss, by conspiring to keep market rigging a secret, became embroiled in precious metals market manipulation.
Emma Slatter and Anshu Jain of Deutsche Bank were probably aware of the outcome of the judges verdicts – why else would they emphasize ‘bare denial’ in their defence?
By systematically suppressing prices, anyone who has been forced to sell shares in mining companies due to a dramatic drop in share price value and little to no returns on investments or to sell bullion and jewellery in order to survive the financial crisis since 2008, thanks to the rigging cartel, has had to to endure heavy losses and a depletion of portfolio security often built up through a lifetime or even generations of hard work, sacrifice and careful savings.
The masses suffer for the manipulation, and the richest stackers profit. When the scam has finally brought down the banking system, these same bankers, judges and parliamentarians will have amassed their own hoard at public expense.
The middle class will be well and truly decimated leaving a two tier feudal society of the 99% living on the bread line and the 1% retaining their privileged status. This is Mark Anthon Taylor’s story about his attempt to redress the situation.
In Summary:
Deutsche Bank confessed to silver and gold rigging in New York lawsuit April 2016.
Deutsche Bank denied silver and gold rigging in Birmingham (UK) lawsuit Feb 2015.
Deutsche Bank tried to have New York lawsuit struck out as ‘nuisance’ and failed.
Deutche Bank successfully had Birmingham lawsuit struck out as ‘totally without merit’
HSBC won restraining order issues against claimant (Mark Anthon Taylor) in Birmingham lawsuit
Deutsche Bank executives refused to supply any evidence their audits were genuine.
In April of 2016 Deutsche Bank effectively confessed to silver price rigging in a New York lawsuit in which it has settled for a total of $98 million and incriminated co-conspirators . The lawsuit alleged that prices had been suppressed from 1999 onwards. Deutsche Bank had tried to have it struck-out as a vexatious and nuisance action, but the application was refused by the acting judge Valerie E Caproni.
A parallel lawsuit started in January 2015, in the Mercantile Court of Birmingham UK BM40B021, also alleging systematic price suppression. Defendants were Anshu Jain, former CEO of Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, RBS, UBS, Barclays Bank, Citigroup and JP Morgan.
...
end of article

Since Ryan cohen has been alluding to expensive consultants quite frequently. I ran into this article about what happens when these consultants are hired and what happens with a company on the ropes with bankruptcy.
Described in this article is about Sanford c. Sigoloff aka Mr. Chapter 11 and his business practices and premium charges.
This is a very long read
https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/From_the_archive__The_lucrative_business_of_bankruptcy.html
The lucrative business of bankruptcy In the surge of bankruptcies caused by heavy corporate debt in the '80s, the winners are high-priced consultants hired to close companies. The losers: Workers thrown out of their jobs.
by By Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS Published Jun 12, 2012 Editor's note: The following story ran Oct. 21, 1991, on Day Two of the nine-day "America: What went wrong?" series published in the Inquirer.
It was May 22, 1990, Rosalind Webb's last day of work after more than 30 years at the Bonwit Teller store in Center City.
The store was one of 14 Bonwit branches that were closing after Bonwit's parent company filed for bankruptcy protection.
ADVERTISEMENT That morning, Rosalind Webb did what she customarily did - she boarded the No. 48 bus at Allegheny Avenue and 29th Street in North Philadelphia and rode 25 minutes to her job in the shipping department of the store.
Somewhere aloft, Wilhelm Mallory, Steven Hochberg and Peter Dealy did what they customarily do, too.
Mallory flew from San Diego to New York, and billed a client $250 an hour for his travel. His associate, Dealy, flew from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and billed $300 an hour. Hochberg flew from New York to Atlanta and charged $150 an hour for his time in the air.
What kind of work warrants such fees for sitting in an airplane? The same kind that charges $225 an hour for Richard Schmid to pack and unpack boxes.
ADVERTISEMENT Mallory, Dealy, Hochberg, Schmid - they are all in a business that reorganizes companies and puts people like Rosalind Webb out of work.
The bankruptcy business.
It pays well.
Mallory billed $1,250 that day for his five-hour flight. That money - more than Rosalind Webb earned in three weeks - came out of the dwindling cash reserves of a floundering business that was eliminating Webb's job to save money.
ADVERTISEMENT With the surge in bankruptcies growing out of the excessive debt load that crushed many companies in the 1980s, there are more jobs than ever like those of Mallory, Dealy, Hochberg and Schmid. But there are many millions more people like Rosalind Webb, who have been thrown out of work.
They are, overwhelmingly, middle-income employees who are being forced into lower-paying jobs, part-time employment, premature retirement or unemployment.
In the process, they are losing all or part of their pensions and having to settle for reduced benefits, or no benefits at all.
So it is with Webb, who is now unemployed and must pay $181 a month for medical insurance.
ADVERTISEMENT "All those years I had health insurance and didn't need it," she said. ''Now I need it and don't have it. "
Rosalind Webb, like millions of Americans, is snared in an economic shift in the United States in which the middle class is being squeezed and the ranks of the working poor are growing, while new jobs paying up to $500 an hour are being created for a select group of professionals - lawyers, accountants, bankers, investment advisers, brokers and management specialists.
For all this, you can thank a series of Congresses, presidents and the heads of regulatory and administrative agencies who, during the 1970s and '80s, rewrote the rules governing the tax and bankruptcy systems.
These changes, along with Congress' failure to enact measures correcting growing inequities in the economy, benefited special interests at the expense of everyone else.
ADVERTISEMENT Consider Congress' handling of two issues - corporate debt and bankruptcy.
While making sweeping revisions of the Internal Revenue Code throughout the 1980s, lawmakers agreed to leave intact a provision that allows corporations a virtually unlimited tax writeoff of interest paid on borrowed money. This, even though corporate debt was ballooning to its highest level this century and was being used increasingly to buy and then dismantle companies, not to build them.
That decision followed an overhaul of the U. S. Bankruptcy Code in 1978 - the first revision in 40 years - that made bankruptcy easier for troubled businesses. Companies were given much more flexibility to stay in business while they attempted to resolve their financial problems.
The result: a bankruptcy code that encouraged an explosion in corporate bankruptcies brought on, in part, by an explosion in corporate debt that Congress failed to discourage through tax law revisions.
All this is incorporated in the government rule book, that agglomeration of laws and regulations that, through incentives and disincentives, sanctions and prohibitions, determines the course of the U.S. economy.
More significant, the ever-changing rule book in large measure determines your place in the economy - whether you are working or not; whether your standard of living is improving or declining; whether you are a member of America's fastest growing group of workers - those earning $100,000 a year and up.
In the case of bankruptcy, a few numbers compiled from an Inquirer analysis of a half-century of bankruptcy data tell the story.
During the 1980s, businesses filed, on average, 63,500 bankruptcy petitions a year nationwide.
That was up 155 percent over the 24,900 petitions a year filed in the 1970s, and up 302 percent over the 15,800 filed in the 1960s.
The '80s, in fact, produced the largest growth in bankruptcy cases since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Not only is the number of bankruptcies spiraling; so, too, is the size of the companies flocking into Bankruptcy Court.
When the Penn Central Transportation Co., parent company of the old Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad, sought protection from its creditors in 1970, it was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history - the first ever to exceed a billion dollars.
For years, it was the bankruptcy against which all others were measured.
No more.
Since 1985, more than 50 companies with assets of more than $1 billion each have filed bankruptcy petitions - including nearly a dozen with assets that exceeded Penn Central's $6.9 billion.
The combined assets of large companies seeking Bankruptcy Court protection ballooned to more than $70 billion last year.
Big-business bankruptcy has become so brisk that a new trend has emerged:
The repeat bankruptcy customer.
Braniff Inc., the airline, first sought protection in Bankruptcy Court in May 1982. It emerged two years later, in March 1984, but made a return appearance in September 1989. It emerged again in July 1991, and returned for a third time the following month.
Continental Airlines went into Bankruptcy Court in 1983. And again in 1990.
All this has been a bonanza for the burgeoning bankruptcy industry - the lawyers, accountants and other specialists who charge up to $500 an hour for their time.
They get paid to fly about the country, from courthouse to courthouse, from business to business. They get paid to talk for a few minutes on the telephone. They get paid to pack files. They get paid to unpack files. They get paid to pick up their mail. They get paid to sort their mail. They get paid to schedule conferences. They get paid to attend conferences. They get paid to keep a list of the conferences. They get paid to keep track of the way they spend their time. They get paid to fill out expense reports.
And they get paid to eliminate the jobs of people who work for two weeks to earn what they charge for one hour.
Meet Ming the Merciless.
He is otherwise known as Sanford C. Sigoloff, 61, a Los Angeles businessman who describes himself as "internationally renowned for his work in corporate turnarounds and restructurings. "
Indeed, newspaper, magazine and television reports have praised his work as a doctor of ailing companies. The New York Times called him one of the ''masters of the corporate turnaround. " The Los Angeles Times described him as a "corporate savior. "
But employees of companies that Sigoloff has managed remember him better as ''Ming the Merciless. "
Ming, the evil ruler of the planet Mongo in the Flash Gordon serial, is one of the more unsavory characters in science fiction. It is a nickname that Sigoloff relishes, though. In fact, he gave it to himself to signify his single-minded dedication to cost-cutting.
Sigoloff and a small group of longtime allies direct Sigoloff & Associates, a "crisis management" firm in Santa Monica, Calif., whose clients have fallen on hard times.
Its biggest client to date: L. J. Hooker Corp., the U. S. subsidiary of an Australian real estate company that once had annual revenue of more than $1 billion.
Beginning in 1987, Australian Hooker went on an American buying spree, snapping up such well-known department store chains as Bonwit Teller and B. Altman & Co.
These and other acquisitions were made, naturally, with borrowed money. So much borrowed money that Hooker quickly collapsed under the weight of its debt and entered Bankruptcy Court on Aug. 9, 1989.
That same day, Sigoloff, who had been retained to guide the company and its subsidiaries through bankruptcy reorganization, distributed a news release:
"Daily operations will continue as usual, stores will remain open and transactions . . . will go on just as before the filing. Paychecks will be issued at the same time as if no proceeding had been filed. "
Four months later, the paychecks began to stop.
First, Sigoloff closed B. Altman, the 124-year-old New York-based department store chain with seven stores in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. About 1,700 jobs were lost. Next, he liquidated all but two of Bonwit Teller's 16 stores, eliminating about 2,500 jobs in a department store empire that dated back 94 years.
He closed all six stores of Sakowitz, the upscale Houston-based retailer that had been in business for 88 years, eliminating 450 jobs. He sold off most of Hooker's real estate holdings, throwing more employees out of work.
Hooker employed about 12,000 full- and part-time people in August 1989 when Sigoloff took over.
When a reporter asked a Hooker spokesman for the number of people currently employed, he answered:
"Today the number is 62. "
Reporter: "6,200? "
Hooker spokesman: "No, 62. "
Reporter: "Sixty-two people? "
Hooker spokesman: "People. Exactly. "
While the 1980s corporate restructuring boom resulted in the loss of 12,000 Hooker jobs, for Sigoloff & Associates, it produced $6.5 million in fees in the first year alone.
And the fees continue - such as the ones charged for riding in airplanes.
Sigoloff and his colleagues flew often from Los Angeles, near their Santa Monica home base, to New York, Atlanta and other Eastern cities where Hooker had operations.
On Feb. 12, 1990, Sigoloff flew first class from Los Angeles to New York and billed $500 an hour for the five-hour trip. He also billed two hours' time for a conference that day on Bonwit Teller.
Three days later, on Feb. 15, Sigoloff billed $500 an hour for three hours of phone calls, a one-hour meeting and five hours for "Travel: New York to Los Angeles. " For the round trip, he collected $5,000.
In the first 12 months that Hooker was in bankruptcy, Sigoloff logged about 175 hours in the air, charging more than $90,000 in fees for riding on airplanes. First class.
Peter Dealy, a senior associate, logged 200 hours in the air. Fees for travel: $55,000.
James M. Van Tatenhove: 250 hours in planes, collecting fees of more than $75,000.
Seymour Strasberg spent 212 hours aloft and billed $60,000.
The charges are fees billed by Sigoloff & Associates, not necessarily paid directly to those doing the work. Overall, Sigoloff & Associates earned more than $500,000 for time the associates spent in planes during the first 12 months that Hooker operated under the Bankruptcy Court's protection.
The Sigoloff firm is by no means unique. It is part of a growing fraternity that manages ailing companies and charges such fees.
In fact, so many management consultants have entered the field that they have formed their own group. It is called, appropriately, the Turnaround Management Association.
The association, composed of more than 400 managers, consultants, bankers, lawyers and accountants, holds an annual conference and bestows awards on companies deemed the most successful turnarounds of the year.
Its 1990 conference had as its theme, "Corporate Reconstruction: Managing the Aftermath of the 1980s. "
James A. Schuping, the association's executive vice president, foresees a bright future:
"The misfortune of the economy and a great many of the companies that are suffering right now are to the advantage of our people because that's their specialty. We look for this business failure phenomena to continue well throughout the decade. "
A look at the billing practices of Sigoloff & Associates offers a glimpse at that future.
Packing and unpacking files, for example.
That chore led to several thousand dollars in billings by Sigoloff associate Richard Schmid, who managed Hooker's real estate operations in Washington, D. C.
Schmid accumulated the file-packing fees as he prepared to move Hooker's offices in May 1990 from one suburban Washington location to another.
A sampling from his billing logs:
May 14, 1990 - "Worked on packing files for office move. " Schmid billed four hours at $225 an hour, collecting $900.
May 15, 1990 - "Monitored removal of certain items of furniture, files and equipment . . . " Four hours, $900.
May 17, 1990 - "Continued selective packing of files for . . . move. " Two hours, $450.
May 22, 1990 - "Pack desk files for Chantilly move. Empty credenza and bookcases - sort files for storage. " Three and one-half hours, $787.50.
May 23, 1990 - "Packing for Chantilly move. " Four hours, $900.
Finally, on May 24, the move took place, with the Hooker office relocating from Vienna, Va., to nearby Chantilly, Va. After the move, Schmid began a new series of entries on his expense reports:
May 24, 1990 - "Unpack boxes and set up at Chantilly. " Four hours, $900.
May 29, 1990 - "Unpack files for use at new office. " Two hours, $450.
May 31, 1990 - "Continue unpacking boxes and set up office space. " Three and one-half hours, $787.50.
A Sigoloff spokesman, Michael Sittrick, said the firm's fees are reviewed and approved by Bankruptcy Court. As for flying time: "Sandy said they work while they're on airplanes. His comment was: 'They don't sit and watch movies. ' "
As for entries such as "packing" and "unpacking" boxes, Sittrick said that Richard Schmid might have been searching for financial records.
"Dick is a terrific financial guy but maybe not a real good time-slip keeper," Sittrick said. "I know Dick Schmid. Dick is a very senior guy. He would have one of his subordinates packing and unpacking boxes. He wouldn't be packing and unpacking. "
It should be noted that Schmid's billing practices were in keeping with those of his co-workers, who collected fees for performing seemingly routine tasks.
Richard A. Stemm, who was handling creditors' claims against Hooker, billed $90 an hour to "return car to airport" and "to make travel arrangements" and to "rearrange flight, hotel checkout, car return and standby" for a flight.
And then there was the "master calendar. "
That's the schedule of forthcoming meetings, court appearances and other dates affecting the business of L.J. Hooker.
Sigoloff & Associates collected thousands of dollars in fees to revise, update and delete information from this schedule.
Excerpts from Bankruptcy Court records:
On June 14, 1990, longtime Sigoloff associate Wilhelm Mallory, who was overseeing Hooker's retail properties, billed 6 3/4 hours, or $1,688, for ''master calendar task review. "
Sigoloff, the highest-paid member of the firm, billed $500 an hour every time he worked on the calendar.
On Jan. 5, 1990, he spent an hour on "master calendar assignments. " The next day, he billed three hours for work on the "professional master calendar. "
The day after that he collected $3,000 in fees for the "review of corporate master calendaprofessional master calendar . . . "
On Jan. 9, it was two hours of fees for "review of master calendar draft II. "
Then on Jan. 31, after all the work on the master calendar that month, it was time for what Sigoloff described as "master calendar cleansing. "
Sigoloff collected fees for working on the master calendar wherever he happened to be. On July 30, 1990, while on the French Riviera, Sigoloff phoned his office to "review Hooker master calendar. " For the call, he billed his usual hourly rate - $500.
As is so often the case in bankruptcy proceedings, some of the most detailed work is keeping track of fees. And there are fees for keeping track of fees.
Sigoloff & Associates staff billed thousands of dollars in fees to record their expenses, to fill out time sheets, to prepare an application to Bankruptcy Court for their fees, to appear in court to answer any questions the judge might have about the fee requests.
Every three months, Sigoloff & Associates petitioned Bankruptcy Court in New York for payment of its fees.
The compiling, writing, revising and drafting of the final fee application generated yet another round of fees.
On Nov. 17, 1989, Arthur Cayley billed three hours at $175 an hour for work on the "fee application. " Three days later, he billed five more hours for work on the fee application. The day after that, he billed four more hours for work on the application. On Dec. 14, Cayley billed three hours and 50 minutes for giving "support for fee application. "
After the application was completed, Sigoloff filed it with Bankruptcy Court in New York, seeking $1.8 million in fees and expenses for August through October 1989.
Not everyone does so well off the bankruptcy boom.
Ask Joyce Buckner, who lost her job as a $6.05-an-hour meat slicer at the Toppers Meat Co. in Sedalia, Mo. The plant was closed in 1990 after Doskocil Cos., a meat processor that owned Toppers, entered bankruptcy.
"I went to school for a while but financially that wasn't working," she said. "I did try to find work but some of the jobs were at night, and when you have children, it's just not possible. It took about seven or eight months before I found a job. "
Today, Buckner packages bullets in a plant that manufactures ammunition. ''I'm just there," she said, "because I need the money. The hourly wage isn't that great. It's $5 an hour. Less than what I was making (at Toppers) but a little bit above minimum wage. "
Doskocil was an American success story until, like so many other businesses, it got caught up in the takeover and debt revolution of the 1980s.
The Hutchinson, Kan., company had carved out a niche in the highly competitive world of meat packing by making pizza toppings for some of the largest fast-food chains.
Doskocil grew by adding plants, employees and products until 1987, when it decided it wanted to really grow. Not slowly by selling more products and building more plants, but by acquiring a competitor.
With the help of Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., the investment banking firm that is now in Bankruptcy Court, Doskocil sold $50 million in high-risk, high- yield junk bonds to finance an acquisition. The next year it launched a hostile takeover of Wilson Foods, an Oklahoma City meat packer. Wilson was six times larger than Doskocil.
Doskocil had sales of $215 million, compared with Wilson's $1.3 billion. Doskocil had 900 employees, compared with Wilson's 5,000. Doskocil had five plants, compared with Wilson's 12.
Wilson had a corporate history dating to 1853, when it was one of the first of the great national meat packers.
Doskocil dated to 1963, when founder Larry Doskocil slaughtered a hog in a former chicken coop on the outskirts of Hutchinson and sold the parts.
Nevertheless, the times were such that a small company with access to the easy money of Wall Street could take on larger prey.
Although Wilson initially rejected the bid, the Doskocil company eventually won out after a bitter three-month battle.
The takeover fight generated millions of dollars in fees for lawyers, investment bankers and accountants.
For Wilson, the price was steep, creating an $11.8 million loss in the last quarter of 1988.
The Doskocil company formally took control of Wilson in January 1989, firing the president, chief executive officer and more than 100 salaried employees at Wilson's corporate headquarters in Oklahoma City.
Just 15 months later, the deal that took millions of dollars in fees to put together came apart. Unable to sell off parts of Wilson as planned, Doskocil could not pay the interest on the huge debt it took on to buy Wilson. Citing a ''liquidity crisis," Doskocil filed for bankruptcy protection on March 5, 1990.
Squeezed for cash, Doskocil sought to lower costs by closing plants or imposing layoffs or wage cuts at other plants.
Carol Jean Smith was one of the casualties.
For more than six years, she had made meatballs for pizza toppings at the Doskocil-owned Toppers plant in Sedalia, 70 miles east of Kansas City. She earned $6.25 an hour.
Then in May 1990, two months after Doskocil filed for bankruptcy, she lost her job. The Sedalia plant closed. Permanently.
To Carol Jean Smith and her co-workers, the shutdown came as a shock.
"We thought the plant was doing OK," she said. "Everyone was always telling us what a good plant it was. Then they began laying off people and we began to wonder if they were going to close the plant. But they said no. They had no plans to do that.
"But then before it happened, we knew something was up. They began calling people in for a meeting. Even those who were on vacation got a call and were told to come to the plant. The meeting was in the cafeteria. (The manager) read a letter saying they were going to close the plant in two weeks. We were all shocked. We couldn't believe it."
Since then, Carol Jean Smith has looked for a job, but hasn't yet found steady work. Meantime, she cleans houses - at $5 an hour.
If the Doskocil bankruptcy has been a financial hardship for Carol Jean Smith, Joyce Buckner and others who lost jobs that paid $6 an hour, it has been a windfall for another group of workers.
Lawyers, accountants and consultants from across the country have swarmed to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Topeka, Kan., to grab a share of the fees for representing a variety of interests.
Nightingale & Associates Inc. of New Canaan, Conn., bills at a rate of $250 an hour as management consultant for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Doskocil.
Andrews & Kurth, a Houston law firm, bills $250 an hour as counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Doskocil.
Stutman, Treister & Glatt, a Los Angeles law firm, collects up to $400 an hour as Doskocil's lead bankruptcy counsel.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, a New York law firm, bills $435 an hour as special counsel for the Official Unsecured Creditors' Committee of Wilson Foods.
Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz, a Philadelphia law firm, bills $260 an hour as attorney for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors' of Wilson Foods.
Kensington & Ressler, a New York law firm, bills $220 an hour as counsel for Doskocil.
Not so long ago, such cross-country travel in the pursuit of bankruptcy business was rare. That's because such fees were rare.
Until Congress rewrote the bankruptcy rule book in 1978, bankruptcy cases were processed in U. S. District Courts, along with other civil cases.
But most of the daily work was presided over at a lower level by so-called referees, who were appointed by District Court judges.
Fees were comparatively modest. So was the number of bankruptcy lawyers.
When Congress revised the code, it created a separate Bankruptcy Court to deal solely with bankruptcy cases. Fees closer to the going corporate rate could now be charged.
The result was predictable: Cases, fees and the number of lawyers specializing in bankruptcy soared.
So much so that Working Woman magazine has singled out bankruptcy practice as one of the 25 best career choices for women today.
"Just a few years ago," the magazine said in July 1990, "corporate bankruptcy law, like real estate law before it, was the poor sister of the bar . . . but (the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978) allowed judges to award fees in line with regular corporate rates. Bankruptcy law suddenly became more lucrative, and large law firms that previously had farmed out bankruptcy work to smaller firms began to develop in-house departments. "
Today, in many jurisdictions, Bankruptcy Court judges routinely approve the fees. Sometimes they explain their reasons.
Like the charges for "word processing expenses" billed in 1990 by the New York law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, which represents L.J. Hooker Corp.'s creditors. These were not stenographic fees, but fees for the use of the firm's computers.
The law firm billed $25 an hour for its own staff to use its own computers during regular working hours to prepare letters and legal documents, and $50 an hour outside of the normal workday.
Arthur H. Amron, a member of the firm, explained the procedure to the court:
"There's a usage charge, that is an hourly fee for the use of the system. There's an overtime usage by the word processing department outside of the normal hours. That is a charge added on to the usual charge for overtime use. "
Replied Judge Tina L. Brozman:
"I think that billing practices citywide have changed. I am not sure that I necessarily agree with them, but if it's standard, I think my mandate is to compensate firms as they are compensated in other matters and not to be niggardly. "
During that particular hearing, at which Brozman approved the awarding of millions of dollars in fees, she did reject one expense item - a $16 tip on an $88 taxi bill turned in by an Australian bank.
"Take out the tip," said Brozman, "we will deal with it at -"
Attorney Alan Hyman interrupted with a little Bankruptcy Court levity:
"It's expensive to take a cab to Australia."
As might be expected, the generous fees have prompted strong reactions from creditors, who get only what's left. Consider those with a stake in the reorganization of American Continental Corp. in Phoenix.
American Continental is the parent company of Lincoln Savings & Loan Association, a California thrift controlled by Charles H. Keating Jr. that was seized by federal regulators in April 1989.
The American Continental bankruptcy case and related litigation have been a perpetual money machine for scores of lawyers, accountants and other professionals.
One law firm alone, Wyman, Bautzer, Kuchel & Silbert of Los Angeles, estimated in February 1991 that it had "devoted approximately 40,000 hours, the equivalent of 20 lawyer years, of professional services" to the American Continental case.
When another law firm filed petitions in Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix, seeking payment of more than $1.5 million in interim fees in the case, a man and woman from Riverside, Calif., wrote the court, complaining that the lawyers were "asking for money faster than the U. S. Mint can make money."
They were among the thousands of investors, many of them retirees, who had purchased American Continental bonds and who now stood to lose most of their money.
They argued that if American Continental had "this kind of money in the bank to pay attorneys, then the investors should be paid off first and the attorneys afterwards."
A Westminster, Calif., investor, adding up the fee requests from several law firms, told the court: "All the available monies will be discharged to counsels and the creditors will be left holding the bag; again."
To be sure, not all Bankruptcy Court judges are so liberal in dispensing fees.
Judge Joseph L. Cosetti, who presides over bankruptcy proceedings in Pittsburgh, has rejected fees for some expenses that New York judges have approved.
Among them: The charges for word-processing, or computer use, during the bankruptcy reorganization of Allegheny International Inc., a Pittsburgh-based conglomerate.
In an opinion dealing with fees, Cosetti took special note of the billings for computer time: "Secretarial time, both regular and overtime, as well as charges for word-processing, are clearly overhead. . . . Therefore, those entries are disallowed. "
He also disallowed charges for meals and local cab fares. He cut the hourly fees charged by lawyers, saying they were too high. And he complained that lawyers from the same firm were billing for too much time in office meetings, and that multiple lawyers from the same firm appeared in court.
Nonetheless, the fee petitions were so voluminous - as they are in many cases - that Cosetti conceded it was impossible to go over every claim. He wrote:
"Unfortunately, the court lacks the resources because of its other cases to review, line-by-line, every fee petition filed in this case. The fee petitions which are the subject of this opinion, when stacked together, are over two feet high. "
Law firms spend many hours preparing fee applications that even the most conscientious judges lack the time to sift through.
How many hours?
In one month, a couple of lawyers and legal assistants in the Atlanta law firm of Trotter, Smith & Jacobs billed 150 hours - at rates up to $215 an hour - to prepare one fee application in the bankruptcy reorganization of Southmark Corp., a Dallas real estate and financial services firm.
Herewith a sampling from Trotter, Smith reports for April 1990:
"Review . . . of court's Dec. 18, 1989, order to determine date next fee application by Trotter Smith & Jacobs must be filed. "
"Drafting . . . of memorandum . . . regarding filing date for next fee application by Trotter Smith & Jacobs. "
"Preparation . . . of file containing prior fee application information. "
"Conference . . . regarding assignments to individual attorneys for writing narrative summaries to include in application by Trotter Smith & Jacobs for interim award of attorneys' fees. "
"Preparation, assembly and review . . . of distribution packets to thirteen billing attorneys . . . regarding the preparation of summaries to be used in connection with the preparation . . . of the third fee application . . . for interim awards and reimbursement expenses. "
Not too surprisingly, the nation's bankruptcy courts are choking on paper.
Keeping track of hearings attended, hearings rescheduled, letters sent, letters not received, expense reports compiled and expense reports filed, obviously requires a massive amount of record-keeping.
The cases are so voluminous that they have forced bankruptcy courts to take special steps to handle the flow.
Around the country, bankruptcy courts have limited hours, rented additional space, hired more clerks, restricted access to records, installed telephone answering machines to route the flow of requests, and invoked other emergency measures to try to manage what one Bankruptcy Court official described as a ''tidal wave" of paper.
In St. Louis, 10 additional clerks have been hired to deal with the largest bankruptcy in the city's history, Interco Inc., whose holdings include such familiar names as Florsheim shoes and Broyhill furniture.
In Phoenix, the bankruptcy case of American Continental Corp. is so gargantuan that the clerk's office retained a legal-services management firm, which rented an entire warehouse to store documents that fill nearly 10,000 boxes. That's for one case.
In Los Angeles, the influx of documents is so great that the clerk's office in Room 906 is beginning to resemble a supermarket, with specialized lanes to handle specific requests.
Inside the main door are these signs above the public counter: "Advanced Request Here," "Return Files Here," "Request Files Here," "Photo Copying" and "Cashier. "
Unlike most supermarkets, however, there are no express lanes in Bankruptcy Court.
In Manhattan, the Bankruptcy Court clerk's office has created a special division to try to manage the volume of paper produced by a series of massive bankruptcies stemming from the era of easy debt.
Until four years ago, all bankruptcies - however large or small - were filed in Room 525 on the fifth floor of the historic old U. S. Custom House at the foot of Manhattan.
Today, most still are - except L. J. Hooker, Eastern Airlines, Ames Department Stores, Drexel Burnham Lambert, Integrated Resources, Pan American Airways, Best Products and other mega-bankruptcies. They're in a new office down the hall.
Until the summer of 1989, Room 510 was a dark, unused storage area, piled high with old furniture from the days that the building was New York's principal custom house.
Today, it looks much like a typical clerk's office found in bankruptcy courts across America. Except that it is handling fewer than three dozen cases. They are so enormous they require a section all their own.
"The purpose of that room was because we simply could not deal with the public otherwise," said Cecilia Lewis, the Bankruptcy Court clerk.
After the large cases began to be filed, she said, the court discovered ''there were not enough telephone lines, not enough people, not enough copies of the petition available to give to people. "
What accounts for the runaway growth of paperwork?
In four words: the government rule book.
When Congress rewrote the rule book in 1978 to revise the bankruptcy law, it opened the floodgates to a specialized proceeding called Chapter 11.
Under the old law, companies in trouble tended to file petitions under a section of the code called Chapter 7. That section provides for the liquidation of the company. Its assets are sold and the proceeds distributed to creditors. The business ceases to exist.
Chapter 11 is different. It allows a company to continue operations and existing management to stay in control. The company reorganizes under court supervision, protected from its creditors. Chapter 11 had existed previously, but the new law made it a more appealing option.
It came at a time of shifting values in the world of business, when bankruptcy began to lose the stigma once attached to it.
Those same shifting values permitted companies to engage in practices they once would have avoided - such as unrestrained borrowing - out of fear of bankruptcy.
And they permitted corporate executives whose faulty judgments resulted in the failure of their businesses to seek sanctuary in Bankruptcy Court and, perhaps more important, retain their jobs.
An Inquirer analysis of a half-century of bankruptcy caseloads shows what happened:
From 1976 to 1979, businesses filed, on average, 3,700 bankruptcy petitions each year under Chapter 11.
During the 1980s, with the new law in effect, businesses filed, on average, 15,200 petitions each year under Chapter 11. That was an increase of 313 percent.
By contrast, Chapter 7 petitions rose just 43 percent, from an average of 28,200 to 40,300.
The dramatic growth in Chapter 11 proceedings - in which a business conducts its affairs under the supervision of the courts and an army of lawyers, accountants and management consultants - brought on the avalanche of paperwork.
As with so many legislative actions involving the government rule book, lawmakers failed to understand the consequences of their bankruptcy code revisions in 1978.
Sen. Malcolm Wallop, a Wyoming Republican, promised that "no longer will needless litigation in several courts be required to determine all the matters involved in a bankruptcy case. "
Rep. Don Edwards, a California Democrat, hailed the Bankruptcy Reform Act, saying that it "encourages business reorganizations by a streamlined new commercial reorganization chapter. "
No more needless litigation? Streamlined?
As for the end of litigation, take a look at the bankruptcy proceedings of Integrated Resources Inc., the financial services company that collapsed in February 1990.
There has been litigation involving unpaid merchandise, breach of contract, unpaid rent, default on promissory notes, fraud and misrepresentation in the sale of partnership interests, securities law violations, fraud and negligence in the sale of investment programs, conspiracy and fraud in the marketing of partnerships, nonpayment of notes, and a class-action lawsuit by stockholders.
There is so much litigation overall that in 1990 Andrews Publications of Westtown in Chester County, Pa., began publishing a twice-monthly newsletter, the Failed LBO Litigation Reporter, just to report on bankruptcy cases in state and federal courts.
Frank Reynolds of Andrews Publications said that the Failed LBO Litigation Reporter follows major cases with an eye on "who might be liable for the mess and who is going to sue who and what is the proportion of the liability among various parties. "
As for streamlined, take a look at the number of law firms representing some of the interests in the Hooker bankruptcy case.
There are Attorneys for the Creditors Committee, General Counsel to the Debtor, Special Counsel for Debtor, Attorneys for Debtor, Co-counsel to Debtor, Attorneys for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, Special Local Counsel, Attorneys for Plaintiff, Special Corporate Counsel, Special Counsel for the Debtors Trade Creditors, Consultants for Debtors and Accountants to the Official Creditors' Committee.
All those committees beget a prodigious volume of paperwork, which, in turn, begets prodigious fees.
When the L. J. Hooker Corp., the U.S. division of the Australian real estate company, filed for bankruptcy in New York in August 1989, it submitted one petition for Hooker Corp. - and 14 separate petitions for 14 Hooker subsidiaries.
Now, each time Hooker files an accounting, it submits 15 separate statements covering operations and liabilities.
One such statement, Document No. 47, is 1,510 pages long, seven inches thick, weighs 10 pounds, and contains the names of 15,000 potential creditors of one Hooker subsidiary - Bonwit Teller.
At the Bankruptcy Court in Dallas, there is the Southmark Corp., the real estate combine. Instead of 15 subsidiaries, Southmark had 550 subsidiaries and 350 public and private real estate partnerships. The collapse of hundreds of those entities in turn spawned about 850 lawsuits.
In Phoenix, the bankruptcy cases have grown so large that the Bankruptcy Court was compelled to retain a private firm, Ameriscribe Management Services Inc., to handle the flood of legal documents.
So it is with the reorganization of Circle K Corp., a convenience store chain based in Phoenix that in 1990 had annual sales approaching $4 billion.
Thus far, Circle K has produced nearly 5,000 legal documents - some of which are thousands of pages long - that have been submitted to the court and Ameriscribe.
It is "generating huge, huge amounts of paper," said Mark A. Scipione, an Ameriscribe official. When the company filed its list of assets and liabilities, Scipione said, they were "25 volumes long. There were 40,000 pages of creditors. "
"We had some people call and say, 'I want that list of assets and liabilities. '
"And I said, 'Sure, do you want to pick them up with a truck or should I send them air freight?' "

now for those who are women and by using that blanket statement also means them. so be careful what you ask for.
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Laura Anne Ingraham (born June 19, 1963) is an American conservative television and radio talk show host. Since 2001, she has hosted the nationally syndicated radio show, The Laura Ingraham Show, is the editor-in-chief of LifeZette, and beginning in October 2017, has been the host of The Ingraham Angle on Fox News Channel.
Ingraham worked as a speechwriter in the Reagan administration in the late 1980s, and then worked as a judicial clerk in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York and then for United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. After working as an attorney for the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York City, Ingraham began her media career in the late 1990s.
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Laura Ingraham calls immigration detention centers 'summer camps' _ Daily Mail Online
Laura Ingraham Compares Child Immigrant Detention Centers To Summer Camps _ HuffPost
Laura Ingraham_ Migrant child detention centers 'essentially summer camps' _ TheHill
Laura Ingraham_ Migrant Kids Are In ‘Summer Camps’ – Hollywood Life
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Patty Murray on Health Care
Yes, I read ObamaCare; I helped write it!
On health care, Rossi blasted the new federal law, saying it will siphon money from Medicare, raise costs on corporations and cause "tens of thousands of jobs" to be lost or not created in Washington. "This actually could bankrupt America," he said.
Murray was asked if she read the bill before voting on it. "Not only did I read it, I helped to write it," she said proudly. She said it is "not perfect" but is a step in the right direction to give individuals greater control of their health care.
Voted NO on the Ryan Budget: Medicare choice, tax & spending cuts.
Proponent's Arguments for voting Yes:
[Sen. DeMint, R-SC]: The Democrats have Medicare on a course of bankruptcy. Republicans are trying to save Medicare & make sure there are options for seniors in the future. Medicare will not be there 5 or 10 years from now. Doctors will not see Medicare patients at the rate [Congress will] pay.
[Sen. Ayotte, R-NH]: We have 3 choices when it comes to addressing rising health care costs in Medicare. We can do nothing & watch the program go bankrupt in 2024. We can go forward with the President's proposal to ration care through an unelected board of 15 bureaucrats. Or we can show real leadership & strengthen the program to make it solvent for current beneficiaries, and allow future beneficiaries to make choices.
Opponent's Arguments for voting No:
[Sen. Conrad, D-ND]: In the House Republican budget plan, the first thing they do is cut $4 trillion in revenue over the next 10 years. For the wealthiest among us, they give them an additional $1 trillion in tax reductions. To offset these massive new tax cuts, they have decided to shred the social safety net. They have decided to shred Medicare. They have decided to shred program after program so they can give more tax cuts to those who are the wealthiest among us.
[Sen. Merkley, D-TK]: The Republicans chose to end Medicare as we know it. The Republican plan reopens the doughnut hole. That is the hole into which seniors fall when, after they have some assistance with the first drugs they need, they get no assistance until they reach a catastrophic level. It is in that hole that seniors have had their finances devastated. We fixed it. Republicans want to unfix it and throw seniors back into the abyss. Then, instead of guaranteeing Medicare coverage for a fixed set of benefits for every senior--as Medicare does now--the Republican plan gives seniors a coupon and says: Good luck. Go buy your insurance. If the insurance goes up, too bad.
Status: Failed 40-57
Voted YES on overriding veto on expansion of Medicare.
Congressional Summary:
Extends Medicare to cover additional preventive services.
Includes body mass index and end-of-life planning among initial preventive physical examinations.
Eliminates by 2014 [the currently higher] copayment rates for Medicare psychiatric services.
Pres. GEORGE W. BUSH's veto message (argument to vote No):
I support the primary objective of this legislation, to forestall reductions in physician payments. Yet taking choices away from seniors to pay physicians is wrong. This bill is objectionable, and I am vetoing it because:
It would harm beneficiaries by taking private health plan options away from them.
It would undermine the Medicare prescription drug program.
It is fiscally irresponsible, and it would imperil the long-term fiscal soundness of Medicare by using short-term budget gimmicks that do not solve the problem.
In addition, H.R. 6331 would delay important reforms like the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies competitive bidding program. Changing policy in mid-stream is also confusing to beneficiaries who are receiving services from quality suppliers at lower prices. In order to slow the growth in Medicare spending, competition within the program should be expanded, not diminished.
Proponent's argument to vote Yes: Sen. PATTY MURRAY (D, WA): President Bush vetoed a bill that would make vital improvements to the program that has helped ensure that millions of seniors and the disabled can get the care they need. This bill puts an emphasis on preventive care that will help our seniors stay healthy, and it will help to keep costs down by enabling those patients to get care before they get seriously ill. This bill will improve coverage for low-income seniors who need expert help to afford basic care. It will help make sure our seniors get mental health care.
Reference: Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act; Bill HR.6331 ; vote number 2008-S177 on Jul 15, 2008
Voted YES on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D.
Would require negotiating with pharmaceutical manufacturers the prices that may be charged to prescription drug plan sponsors for covered Medicare part D drugs.
Proponents support voting YES because:
This legislation is an overdue step to improve part D drug benefits. The bipartisan bill is simple and straightforward. It removes the prohibition from negotiating discounts with pharmaceutical manufacturers, and requires the Secretary of Health & Human Services to negotiate. This legislation will deliver lower premiums to the seniors, lower prices at the pharmacy and savings for all taxpayers.
It is equally important to understand that this legislation does not do certain things. HR4 does not preclude private plans from getting additional discounts on medicines they offer seniors and people with disabilities. HR4 does not establish a national formulary. HR4 does not require price controls. HR4 does not hamstring research and development by pharmaceutical houses. HR4 does not require using the Department of Veterans Affairs' price schedule.
Opponents support voting NO because:
Does ideological purity trump sound public policy? It shouldn't, but, unfortunately, it appears that ideology would profoundly change the Medicare part D prescription drug program, a program that is working well, a program that has arrived on time and under budget. The changes are not being proposed because of any weakness or defect in the program, but because of ideological opposition to market-based prices. Since the inception of the part D program, America's seniors have had access to greater coverage at a lower cost than at any time under Medicare.
Under the guise of negotiation, this bill proposes to enact draconian price controls on pharmaceutical products. Competition has brought significant cost savings to the program. The current system trusts the marketplace, with some guidance, to be the most efficient arbiter of distribution.
Status: Cloture rejected Cloture vote rejected, 55-42 (3/5ths required)
Reference: Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act; Bill S.3 & H.R.4 ; vote number 2007-132 on Apr 18, 2007
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Patty Murray on Obamacare_ _Not only did I read it, but I helped to write it._
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Sen. Patty Murray’s bipartisan health care effort left out of spending bill
Originally published March 21, 2018 at 5:03 pm Updated March 22, 2018 at 8:16 pm
By Ryan Blethen
Seattle Times staff reporter
A health care bill crafted by Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., pushed to the back burner when Congress tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act received another blow, this time a victim of budgetbill machinations.
The legislation had another chance but Wednesday Congressional budget negotiators left it out of a spending bill to fund the government through September. Murray and Alexander, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, drew up the legislation after President Trump ended payments reimbursing insurers for supplementing copayments and deductibles for qualified insurance customers on the individual market. The bill would restore those cost-saving payments to insurers and give states more flexibility to regulate health insurance under the ACA, also known as Obamacare.
Republicans have proposed a provision to withhold funds from insurance plans that provide abortions, which was rejected by Democrats and rankled some other Republicans who had worked on the bill.
In a joint statement issued with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Republican Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Ryan Costello, R-Pa., Alexander said, “It is disappointing that an opportunity to lower health insurance rates by up to 40 percent for working Americans has turned into a debate about the mechanics of funding for abortion coverage.
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Why Haven't Washington Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray Backed Medicare for All Yet_ - Slog - The Stranger
Why Haven't Washington Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray Backed Medicare for All Yet?
by Rich Smith • Sep 13, 2017
Senators Murray and Cantwell are still thinkin' on it.
According to recent polls, a large majority of Democrats support Medicare for all.
A majority of "independents" support Medicare for all. Even 28 percent of Republicans say they favor the idea.
Given these numbers, introducing Medicare for All legislation, as Bernie Sanders and 16 Democratic Senators did this morning, doesn't seem like such a wild idea. Though he includes no language about how we'd pay for the $3 trillion dollars needed to fund the single-payer system, Sanders clearly intends the bill as bread to sustain a base that's starving for any interesting ideas at all. But while the single-payer system at the heart of his proposal is a very old idea, Washington State Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell say they're just not quite sure where they stand on the bill yet.
Why? Because apparently they don't feel the pressure.
A spokesperson for Cantwell told me that the senator is "looking into" Sanders's bill, and referred me to her previous positions on finding the best way to achieve "universal coverage." For Cantwell, that means cobbling together a bunch of little plans that still rely on a private healthcare system.
Meanwhile, Patty Murray, the third most powerful senator in the country and the chair of the important HELP committee, is giving the same lines Nancy Pelosi is giving:
“I am really glad that Senator Sanders is introducing this bill. Democrats are absolutely committed to high quality, affordable health care for all—because we believe that should be a right in this country, not a privilege," she said, echoing an old line Sanders uses all the time. "I am focused right now on fighting back against Trumpcare and getting Republicans to join us on legislation to stabilize health care markets and prevent premium increases, but I am also excited about the great ideas that so many Democrats have to keep us moving toward that goal of health care for all—and this bill should absolutely be a big part of the conversation and something every Senator should look at seriously.”
When pressed, neither Cantwell nor Murray's spokespersons would cite a specific concern the Senators had with Sanders's bill.
In his an analysis of the politics of the Medicare for All bill, John Cassidy at the New Yorker mentions that there's a lot of public support for the bill, but "when pollsters point out to survey participants some of the things such a change would entail, support for the Sanders approach tends to drop quite sharply." For fear of allowing Republicans to cast Democrats as a tax monsters, politicians like Pelosi, Murray, and Cantwell prefer to cast themselves as righteous defenders of the ACA rather than fervent supporters of a more progressive healthcare system.
But there's no reason a Washington state Democrat like Murray can't fight off GOP attempts to repeal the ACA and also throw her support behind Medicare for All, unless of course she's feeling more pressure from the pharmaceutical companies that give her hundreds of thousands of dollars a year than from her constituents. Ditto Cantwell, who receives far less money from pharmaceutical companies, but who is up for re-election in 2018.
Constituents who want to know why neither of these Senators currently plan to sign onto Bernie's bill might call their staff and ask what's up. Maybe you'll get a different answer.
Senator Patty Murray (206) 553-5545
Senator Maria Cantwell (206) 220-6400
*Update*
After the publication of this article, Senator Cantwell confirmed that she isn't supporting Medicare for All at this time:
“Health care is a right, not a privilege. Whether it is single payer, a Medicaid buyin option, the Basic Health Plan, or one of the other options being discussed, we must achieve universal coverage, reduce costs, and improve health outcomes.
Senator Sanders's bill sparks a much needed conversation to achieve those goals.
I look forward to continuing my work with Senator Sanders and others to find the best solution that covers everybody and is cost effective.”
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» Donna Brazile Admits The Nomination Was Rigged For Hillary Clinton In 2015 Liberal Values
As time goes on we get increasing evidence that the DNC rigged the Democratic nomination for Hillary Clinton while the evidence also increasingly casts doubt about her claims that Russia rigged the general election for Trump. Donna Brazile finally admitted to the unethical conduct at the DNC and rigging the nomination for Hillary Clinton in her new book, Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House. I had hoped to have a post up on this earlier but did not have time until now. There was a lively discussion on Facebook after I posted a comment on this earlier today. As I said then, I would have a higher opinion of her if she hadn’t leaked the debate questions to Clinton, and if she wasn’t pushing the bogus line that Russia cost Clinton the election.
Excerpts from her book were posted today at Politico. Brazile began by admitting that Debbie Wasserman Schultz had allowed the Clinton campaign to control the party writing, “Debbie was not a good manager. She hadn’t been very interested in controlling the party—she let Clinton’s headquarters in Brooklyn do as it desired so she didn’t have to inform the party officers how bad the situation was.”
Brazile described how the party was broke, with Hillary’s campaign “grabbing money.” On further investigation she uncovered unethical actions giving Clinton control of the party by 2015:
Right around the time of the convention, the leaked emails revealed Hillary’s campaign was grabbing money from the state parties for its own purposes, leaving the states with very little to support down-ballot races. A Politico story published on May 2, 2016, described the big fund-raising vehicle she had launched through the states the summer before, quoting a vow she had made to rebuild “the party from the ground up … when our state parties are strong, we win. That’s what will happen.”
Yet the states kept less than half of 1 percent of the $82 million they had amassed from the extravagant fund-raisers Hillary’s campaign was holding, just as Gary had described to me when he and I talked in August. When the Politico story described this arrangement as “essentially … money laundering” for the Clinton campaign, Hillary’s people were outraged at being accused of doing something shady. Bernie’s people were angry for their own reasons, saying this was part of a calculated strategy to throw the nomination to Hillary.
I wanted to believe Hillary, who made campaign finance reform part of her platform, but I had made this pledge to Bernie and did not want to disappoint him. I kept asking the party lawyers and the DNC staff to show me the agreements that the party had made for sharing the money they raised, but there was a lot of shuffling of feet and looking the other way.
When I got back from a vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, I at last found the document that described it all: the Joint Fund-Raising Agreement between the DNC, the Hillary Victory Fund, and Hillary for America.
The agreement—signed by Amy Dacey, the former CEO of the DNC, and Robby Mook with a copy to Marc Elias—specified that in exchange for raising money and investing in the DNC, Hillary would control the party’s finances, strategy, and all the money raised. Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff. The DNC also was required to consult with the campaign about all other staffing, budgeting, data, analytics, and mailings.
I had been wondering why it was that I couldn’t write a press release without passing it by Brooklyn. Well, here was the answer.
When the party chooses the nominee, the custom is that the candidate’s team starts to exercise more control over the party. If the party has an incumbent candidate, as was the case with Clinton in 1996 or Obama in 2012, this kind of arrangement is seamless because the party already is under the control of the president. When you have an open contest without an incumbent and competitive primaries, the party comes under the candidate’s control only after the nominee is certain. When I was manager of Al Gore’s campaign in 2000, we started inserting our people into the DNC in June. This victory fund agreement, however, had been signed in August 2015, just four months after Hillary announced her candidacy and nearly a year before she officially had the nomination.
I had tried to search out any other evidence of internal corruption that would show that the DNC was rigging the system to throw the primary to Hillary, but I could not find any in party affairs or among the staff. I had gone department by department, investigating individual conduct for evidence of skewed decisions, and I was happy to see that I had found none. Then I found this agreement.
The funding arrangement with HFA and the victory fund agreement was not illegal, but it sure looked unethical. If the fight had been fair, one campaign would not have control of the party before the voters had decided which one they wanted to lead. This was not a criminal act, but as I saw it, it compromised the party’s integrity.
Donna Brazile’s confession that the nomination was rigged is hardly the first evidence of this. Their actions were actually quite obvious considering how the rules were used to help Clinton, including both long standing rules to allow the DNC to influence the process, along with changes initiated in 2016 specifically to help Clinton. DNC email released by Wikileaks provided further confirmation. Tom Perez previously admitted this before trying to walk this back. Elizabeth Warren agreed today that the nomination was rigged for Clinton.
If the Democratic Party is going to have a chance to restore its integrity and bring back those who are now reluctant or unwilling to vote for a Democrat again, major reforms will be necessary. This includes eliminating Superdelegates, eliminating front loading of primaries in the south, eliminating restrictions on debates, making primaries open, and ideally removing those from DNC leadership positions who were involved in either giving Hillary Clinton the 2016 nomination or the recent purge of progressives. Tulsi Gabbard has also recommended many of these reforms.
I would also hope that the party move away from Clinton’s right wing views, including curtailing perpetual warfare and the surveillance state, along with the influence of corporations and lobbyists on public policy. (I also suggested on Facebook that putting Peter Daou in front of a firing squad is not a nonnegotiable demand but would be a sign of good faith on their part.)
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Betsy DeVos Stirs Uproar By Saying Schools Can Call ICE On Undocumented Kids
05/23/2018 03:32 pm ET Updated 1 day ago
Betsy DeVos Stirs Uproar By Saying Schools Can Call ICE On Undocumented Kids
The education secretary said it's a local decision, but she didn't argue against it.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos provoked an outcry Tuesday when she said schools can choose to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement on potentially undocumented students.
“I think that’s a school decision, it’s a local community decision,” DeVos told the House Education and the Workforce Committee. “I refer to the fact that we have laws and we also are compassionate. I urge this body to do its job and address and clarify where there is confusion around this.”
DeVos was responding to a question from Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) about whether she thinks school leaders should call ICE on students or their parents.
Advocacy groups immediately protested her answer, pointing out that under the Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe, all children ― undocumented or not ― are entitled to a free public education. Some demanded that DeVos issue an immediate clarification in light of this fact.
Elizabeth Hill, press secretary for the U.S. Department of Education, provided HuffPost with a clarification of DeVos’ remarks on Wednesday. “Her position is that schools must comply with Plyler and all other applicable and relevant law,” said Hill.
During the hearing, DeVos did note that the 1982 Supreme Court decision requires public schools to educate all students, including those who are undocumented. Still, she repeatedly said it was a school’s decision if it wanted to call ICE on kids and their parents.
MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, issued a statement saying that DeVos should resign for “abject incompetence” if she does not “issue an immediate clarification that emphasizes the holding in Plyler.” The organization also said it “stands ready to hold accountable through legal challenge anyone in public education who attempts to report a student to ICE.”
DeVos’ comments could have a chilling impact on undocumented students attending schools, said Andrea Senteno, legislative staff attorney for MALDEF, on Wednesday. Indeed, around the country, schools have seen substantial drops in attendance after ICE raids at local businesses.
“We are very concerned her statement yesterday leaves open to interpretation what the law actually is for schools and administrators and those in the community,” Senteno said. “There are going to be students and family members who are not going to know what that means.”
The Education Department needs to make publicly clear “what the current law is and what students’ rights are,” said Senteno.
The American Civil Liberties Union also blasted DeVos’ comments at the hearing.
“Let’s be clear: Any school that reports a child to ICE would violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court has made clear that every child in America has a right to a basic education, regardless of immigration status. Secretary DeVos is once again wrong,” said Lorella Praeli, director of immigration policy and campaigns for the ACLU, in a statement.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of MALDEF legislative staff attorney Andrea Senteno.
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DeVos Demands Taxpayer Money For Religious Schools
M A Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 B Y M I C H A E L S T O N E 1 0 9 C O M M E N T S
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos wants to lift constitutional restrictions on taxpayer
money being used for religious education.
Last week DeVos was in New York, where she went on a two day tour of private religious schools, but refused to visit any public schools.
On her tour of private religious schools, DeVos spoke during a breakfast meeting hosted
by the Alfred E. Smith Foundation. At the meeting Devos defended the use of public
money for religious schools, telling the guests in attendance, including Cardinal Timothy
Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, that constitutional restrictions on spending tax
dollars for religious schools should be overturned.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:
We haven’t checked in with U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for a while. She spoke yesterday in New York City to the influential Alfred E. Smith Foundation, which raises money for Catholic causes and charities.
Her speech doubled down on her belief that American parents should be free to use tax dollars to send her children to religious schools, a point she underscored by visiting two New York City schools, neither of which was a public school.
DeVos visited two Orthodox Jewish schools.
Speaking about her desire to use taxpayer money to support religious schools, DeVos told
her audience:
I know very well there are powerful interests that want to deprive families their God-given freedom. I know that those sycophants of ‘the system’ have kept legislators here from enacting a common-sense program that would open options to thousands of kids in need.
Making her case for public money to be used in supporting private religious schools DeVos cited a recent Supreme Court decision:
As many of you know, the Supreme Court ruled in last year’s Trinity Lutheran case that it was unconstitutional for a playground restoration program funded by state-taxpayers to exclude a school ‘simply because of what it is – a church.’
These amendments should be assigned to the ash heap of history…
The amendments DeVos is talking about are known as Blaine Amendments, “constitutional provisions in 38 of the 50 state constitutions in the United States that forbid direct government aid to educational institutions that have a religious a”
So when the Secretary of Education says “these amendments should be assigned to the
ash heap of history” she is in essence saying the separation of church and state should be
assigned to the ash heap of history.
Note: Advocating for an end to the separation of church and state is standard operating
procedure for theocratic Christian conservatives like DeVos.
Commenting on the story, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of
Teachers told Shareblue Media:
Her actions have repeatedly demonstrated her disdain for public education.
DeVos is about defunding and destabilizing public schools, not strengthening and building the public schools she’s charged with overseeing and improving.
The fact that DeVos wants to destabilize public schools while shifting taxpayer money to
religious schools is not a surprise. In fact, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is a radical Christian extremist who wants to use American schools to “advance God’s kingdom.”
Previously, when asked about spending taxpayer dollars on private and religious schools,
DeVos declared:
There are not enough philanthropic dollars in America to fund what is currently the need in education…[versus] what is currently being spent every year on education in this country…Our desire is to confront the culture in ways that will continue to advance God’s Kingdom.
Indeed, DeVos is a religious extremist who has made it clear she wants to destroy public education and use taxpayer money to fund Christian schools. She is an anti-secular theocrat with no experience working in public education. However, she has used her immense wealth and influence to try and destroy public education in America.
DeVos never attended public school. She did not send her kids to public school. She has never worked in a public school. She does not have an education degree, and she has never been a teacher. In fact, she has demonstrated an open hostility to public education, and a desire to destroy public education by using taxpayer money to subsidize private, religious schools.
Last year, an alarming report was released by a conservative Christian group with ties to DeVos advocating for the promotion of Christianity in public schools and putting an end to the Department of Education.
And DeVos is not alone in wanting to use taxpayer to subsidize the religious indoctrination of children. During his address before a joint session of Congress last year, President Donald Trump repeated his campaign pledge to provide taxpayer money to fund private, religious schools.
Bottom line: DeVos is demanding that taxpayer money be used to fund private religious schools while suggesting that the separation of church and state be “assigned to the ash heap of history.”
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if i might, being a christian zealot and so is pence. gee i wonder who brought her name up for this cabinet seat

NASDAQ:TSLA / 120
I know, I am still not rich enough to let something ride on 200% in a day. Luckily I still have FCX XOM XLE SLB VNOM and NGAS calls that are absolutely printing so it makes the pain a little less, but its frustrates me getting scared with TSLA calls, because when they print its something to see
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 02:51:44 2022 SUBREDDIT : Daytrading
you kind of need to pick a strategy that works for your emotions, available time, capital levels and go with it. Practice trades don't work as well as just making the trade every day with small size. I languished for a long time moving from furu to furu, listening to everyone else's winning strategies that didn't work for me. I had to shut all of that down and come up with my own approach to be successful. My approach now is that I trade TSLA calls/puts every morning at the opening bell. I wait for pre-market highs/lows to be broken, let the price come back to the pre-market line you drew (buy on the retracement), then wait for 1 or 2 pops and market sell on the pops. This approach works for me because 1) I know TSLA really well and have been trading/investing in it for about 7 years, 2) I have a day job and I can be done with trading by 9:35 each morning. I usually take the trade around 9:31 or 9:32 and I'm out in 30 seconds to a minute. Holding an option you bought at open any longer than that is a terrible idea and you'll get murdered on spreads and decreased volume the further you get away from open. I have about an 80% win rate doing this and I keep my risk mgmt to roughly 1:1. the key for me was to practice this trade a lot, every morning for months. Then made a rule that once I started trading it I HAD to make the trade...every morning...every time it set up for me. Even if I lost, I closed down and had to come back and do it again the next day. After doing this, I was able to take the emotions out of the trade and calmly take the trade each day and control my emotions - cut the trade if I'm wrong and take profit when it was given to me. Both are incredibly important. TL/DR: find yourself 1 strategy you're comfortable with and work it, refine it, and get to where you can make this trade every time it sets up with no emotions. Every other strategy, anything else someone online says, forget about it.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 15:47:56 2022 SUBREDDIT : Daytrading
Looks like a good inside out analysis... ​ Wish I could say the same, I got calls on tech last Friday, almost shit myself monday on open and pulled my go to rip cord (Tesla calls when its down sharply on open) when its down like it was monday morning 4.5%, TSLA and nailed options, held my -40% calls and now I'm up on everything lol
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 01:43:15 2022 SUBREDDIT : Daytrading
YOLO, all or nothing on TSLA March calls.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 03:17:14 2022 SUBREDDIT : Daytrading
Don't buy into a rally.. Don't sell into a drop .. If you eat sleep and crap the market then your chances of success improve greatly .. 100 subscription to Motley fool for a year will pay for itself in a week or so .. first time you get the recommended stock from stock advisor Thursday.. The technical stuff seems to matter less to me but my grandpa loves the candle sticks and the dojo butterflies or what ever they are called .. Don't try to hit a homerun every time .. Leave enough cash to buy dips and stick to your plan.. I panic sold a lot and when I went back and looked at all my sells .. What I found out is I bought most of my losers back but paid more for them after I already took a big loss .. So my gut was to blame not my brain .. I love ABNB, UPST, AFRM, RBLX, TSLA, NVDA, FTNT, BA, AMD, ZIM, CFLT, TTD, SHOP just to name a few. This isn't half of my watchlist and it's constantly growing. Best thing to know is to have fun.. When it's fun you're doing it right. Oh and if something does not go as planned make you know what went wrong.. Its scary if you take a loss and don't know why .. good luck man .. didn't mean to ramble that long ..
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 05:52:32 2022 SUBREDDIT : Daytrading
for example look at TSLA today, 5M chart, at 11:30 you have nice pullback hammer, thats a textbook long if you want examples on daily chart go to finviz screener and filter technicals for hammer or doji candles
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Tue Jan 11 17:52:57 2022 SUBREDDIT : Daytrading
imagine all the people running from TSLA to F
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 02:36:58 2022 SUBREDDIT : StockMarket
TSLA's strange trend made me confused. My $18,000 is in a dilemma
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 15:31:21 2022 SUBREDDIT : StockMarket
TSLA. Had been watching it since at the 400 mark. Saw it hit 500 and thought i was too late.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 04:31:47 2022 SUBREDDIT : StockMarket
Buying only a single TSLA @235 back in 2018 when I had the money get 20. Good thing that I haven’t sold yet.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 06:35:56 2022 SUBREDDIT : StockMarket
Let's talk useful metrics for comparison: How many cars has BYD sent into space ? Does BYD have jurisdiction to sell cars on mars? This is good for TSLA.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 13:59:01 2022 SUBREDDIT : StockMarket
I like the MSFT, NVDA, AAPL, HD and TSLA. The rest are not as appealing
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 13:34:39 2022 SUBREDDIT : StockMarket
TSLA #1
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Tue Jan 11 16:52:15 2022 SUBREDDIT : StockMarket
TSLA 34% BTC/USD 23% COST 22% MA 21%
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 05:11:13 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
38% - VTI/FZROX 31% - TSLA 5% - QQQM 5% - COST 4% - FTIHX (international) 1-3% - ABML, DKNG, GOOGL, MP, PLTR, PTRA, SOFI, TDOC, TGT, WMT Obviously heavy tech / high growth but it works for me. Goal is to continue adding to index funds until they're 50% of the portfolio. Not cutting into TSLA, it's grown from my 2018+ investment. Zero plans to ever touch COST. Have 10-15% small speculative investments which haven't done well over the last year (obviously). Giddy up!
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 21:05:21 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
I am bearish on Ford and believe they are overvalued. By ER it will go back to 21$. Do not compare Ford with TSLA. TSLA produced 1m EV vehicles in 2021 when Ford is targeting 650,000 by 2024. You need to compare Ford with legacy automakers Toyota , GM, Daimler, VW. Ford PE 34 compared to Toyota 11 Daimler 5 , GM 8 , VW 6.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 12:57:28 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
I love that she called the smallest increase in other automobile stocks "ridiculous" when TSLA constantly moons over nothing (or following bad news). It's really clear how desperately she clings to TSLA's performance considering every etf of hers has that as a lynchpin.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 03:34:18 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
I wouldn’t call 20%+ “the smallest increase”. That is massive for a legacy dividend stock like F. Not even TSLA has ever increased by that much at once. Moreover she wasn’t referring to the increase itself, but rather the reason for the increase. EVs make up less than 2% of Ford sales, so yes, why should F increase on an announcement about EVs? She’s right, it doesn’t make any sense. At least when TSLA moves, it’s for a material result (such as doubling sales YoY). Not because the CEO makes an insignificant announcement.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 08:13:10 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Her third biggest holding is COIN and her fourth biggest holding is ZM, which are the ones I chose to look at. Her biggest is TSLA. Her second biggest is TDOC, which if you agree with her logic is at the beginning of S-phase growth and will grow to be the next big tech in the next 5-10 years. There are 102 stocks in QQQ, many of which are unprofitable, but most people only look at the top 5 or 10.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 03:31:42 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
In 2018 NVDA went down more than 50% in just 3 months. Salesforce lost more than 40% multiple times. Good thing everyone sold those shitty companies off huh? If you wanted to be in rock solid stalwart names, you'd be knee deep in T and KO, not in growth funds. But if you do your research, you can potentially buy TSLA or SHOP instead of KO.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 03:57:30 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
>"Rotation out of tech" > >Been hearing this one for years 🙄 Low rates and easy money has been the MO for years That favors growth stocks, which includes tech. Rate hikes have been getting priced into all the smaller tech and growth companies since last February while AAPL TSLA NVDA and MSFT carried all the indices. And now, those leaders are starting to turn down.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 02:44:19 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
SCHD,VYM, O, TSLA.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 10:00:33 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Yup I would sell TSLA puts all week!
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 06:44:32 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
I know, right? I taught a kid I play game with to write (he got 500 TSLA as birthday or something when it was in the $50s). So he’s been writing that and other things and netting around $2K minimum a week. He’s been doing that for a month something now and already covered this semester tuition on his own.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 06:46:27 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
So from what I've learned from this thread, it would seem as long as I don't yolo it all on TSLA puts and have a diversified portfolio with some vanguard ETF's whilst doing dollar cost averaging while keeping just enough aside for hookers and blow, I should be alright.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 05:41:28 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
I didn't see it preforming quite this bad, but during peak hype in early 2021 I explicitly warned people here that it was likely a bad idea to invest in ARK at that point in time. Like you I got a lot of dismissive responses. People really believed her active management approach would allow her to outperform regardless of market conditions. Honestly I've been surprised at just how bad her calls have been this year. I run a similarish strategy to Cathie Wood in that I invest almost entirely in growth stocks within the innovation space and I've done alright this last year. The fact ARKK is down so much imo is a product of Cathie's extreme optimism which prevents her from managing risk appropriately. She's recklessly bullish which might be a good strategy in strong bull markets, but otherwise this is the expected result. Frankly her 2019 $4,000 call on TSLA was stupid and only seems smart in hindsight. And after she was proved right, she continued to double down and only got more bullish on TSLA. She should have sold the position entirely and put it into less loved places. That said, I think some of her stocks are really oversold at this point. I'm not investing in ARKK, but recently I have been looking through her holdings and picking out some names I like. Threads like this and ETFs like SARK suggest to me there is a kind of reverse FOMO going on at this point. I suspect many of her stocks will see a decent bounce in 2022. COIN and ROKU I quite like at their current price, for example.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 11:26:57 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
I think that's the million dollar question. She keeps dumping TSLA in favor of countless other pre-revenue stocks... which with the current market sentiment is basically the opposite of what all analysts are advising. Maybe it's genius and a year from now everyone will be eating crow. Maybe it's simply time to put money elsewhere. I guess time will tell.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 04:14:37 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Now do SNOW and TSLA and basically all stocks. The entire shit show is overvalued. The whole market is an overpriced JPOW pump.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 22:07:40 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Ford is not TSLA by any extent of the imagination. I remember the time when it was $4 in no so distant past, and it was largely attributed to COVID, but the execution was shit too, and COVID stimulus helped to bail-out a lot of businesses. It's still the same company plenty of debt, little R&D, no EV market moat. They have been dealt a very good hand now, the question is can they execute efficiently? And I have certain doubts. P.S. does not mean I think TSLA is valued fairly, it's just not right comparing the 2.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 06:52:17 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Right? Schwab has an Equity rating of C for AMD and a D for TSLA. !(emotefree_emotes_packkissing_heart)
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 17:01:56 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
It's not necessarily about building a quality product with healthy margins. It's more about production, scaling, and network. How many years did it take TSLA to get to where they are? 10+ years and they are still not at 1,000,000 cars.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 15:53:40 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
The “unproven manufacturing ability to deliver and the unknown cost of charging networks” were the same argument against TSLA a while back. I was bearish on RIVN but after watching both Doug DeMuro and Carwow’s reviews on the truck, my mind was changed. That being said, the share price is still too high IMO, but I would happy to build positions in RIVN for the future
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 16:58:28 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Everyone wants the next TSLA instead of just buying TSLA
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 15:06:48 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
LCID and TSLA as well
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 03:33:48 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
>How many years did it take TSLA to get to where they are? 10+ years and they are still not at 1,000,000 cars. The 1st million is always the hardest. You'll see 1mm TTM at the end of 2022Q1. And 2mm TTM somewhere around 2023Q1. Anyways, back to Rivian. Companies CAN do it. And Tesla DID do it. But it doesn't mean that even for Tesla the road is over. And it certainly doesn't mean that the road was easy. I think Tesla, with their profits and margins and growth, etc etc is actually worth it. Rivian, Lucid, Nikola (HA) and the rest are worth what Tesla was worth, maybe 5-6 years ago.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 17:38:53 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
"Next Tesla" is what made NKLA, LCID, Nio and now RIVN way overvalued due to many Fomo Sapiens. There is no next Google, next Amazon and next Apple. The next 1 trillion company is not going to be another EV maker. As a very long a TSLA bull and Model 3 owner, I am very impressed with R1T. The build quality is great. The tech is almost on par with Tesla and ahead of everyone else. Rivian has a great product. Still, that doesn't justify its current price. So I will wait when all the FUD and shortsellers drive the stock down to a much lower level before buying in the company.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 16:57:00 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Elon triggers leftists. Reddit is full of leftists who spend their days outrage clicking. Therefore, Reddit does not like TSLA. That’s the 2022 reddit-TSLA dynamic. Don’t read too much into it.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 15:14:13 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
I don't think TSLA will fall below IPO, but I'll sell you some puts :D
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 06:38:25 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
And the fact that they were just plain wrong on the stock. There was a post awhile ago I saw with someone asking people’s highest conviction stocks. I said TSLA and post got removed for “meme stock”🤣
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 15:16:44 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
I am actually quite bullish on Tesla the company (see below however for my views about TSLA the stock). Tesla benefits from a major tailwind given that the West is politically determined to accelerate the conversion of passenger cars to EV. When viewed in isolation, their growth numbers are stellar (for a car company) and they are (mostly) executing along the expected trajectory. So far, they have seemed largely immune to the chip and other supply chain shortage issues that have pestered Ford, GM and others. Led by a charismatic (say what you will about Elon) founder, they have been terrifically successful in using the capital markets to their benefit (raising tens of billions of dollars at market highs). There's no question that they are a much better company than your average auto manufacturer and (outside of the fact that they are in a fundamentally lousy business) could be one of the best companies in the world. Yes, there's a lot of hype and BS (Cybertruck, semis, robotaxis, AI, robots, etc.) and even some quality and other issues, but the cars have a lot of demand and this will continue to be so (and they will continue to execute on being able to fill that demand for quite some time). Now, to your second point about market share and profitability. I wrote this quote from Terry Smith on another thread just now: >“As Jim Chanos, the renowned short seller, observed ‘The worst thing that can happen to reopening stocks is that we reopen.’ It is often better to travel hopefully than to arrive.” By extension, the worst thing that can happen to the Tesla stock is that they actually get to 20 million cars annually. IMO, the stock is 100% a "trading sardine" at this point. Yes, they are not a traditional car company, margins are slightly better (and could still improve somewhat), etc. But there's just no way the $1T market cap (which is even higher fully diluted) is or ever will be justified. Yes, it's true that nobody knows what industries and areas they will venture out to etc. but that's just the same old price-driven narrative seen so many times before in times like 1999 etc. The stock is held by: - traders / speculators / shills who are holding to sell at profit to less sophisticated investors - unsophisticated retail investors who just know the story and are completely price indifferent (just poll your friends and relatives and you'll know what I mean) - cult fanatics (like Jason DeBolt) who are either also price indifferent or have intentionally blocked off intellectual honesty when it comes to valuation work As a side note, I am bullish on stocks and am currently 100% invested in US stocks in my PA. However, I just finished reading "The Great Crash, 1929" and I cannot overstate how many parallels there are to today and EVs and the Tesla stock. Human behavior, will never change.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 20:04:30 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
The bull case is that they grow into their multiple. It will take 5 years of growth consistent with current historical run rates, but if done the stock can be seen as reasonably priced rn with little to no debt and a strong fixed asset base (ie factories). Ford, on the other hand, has a history of false starts and even if successful with EVs has a massive amount of debt; union issues; etc. A good comparison for TSLA imo is Amazon. For years investors snubbed the stock because they thought the multiple was too high and earnings too low. What they missed was that Amazon was pouring the majority of profits into R&D, which eventually paid off in a big way. Math - TSLA earnings in 2021 = 3.50/sh doubled each year for five years = $56, which puts the forward mutiple at 20 (1100 stock price/56). 20 multiple not too bad for a growth stock imo.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 02:51:50 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
TSLA rewrote their software to handle the chip shortage. Kids graduating from college are going to TSLA over AAPL and GOOG. That’s why they aren’t just a car company.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 23:10:14 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
TSLA is years ahead of Ford. Doubt they will be able to catch up. Ford is priced like a growth stock when it is a value stock.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 19:56:06 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
good company, grossly overvalued. the sad part about TSLA is this: the average investor is going to lose a lot of money when the stock prices gets corrected, while the intelligent investors are gonna buy the dip and flourish long term.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 03:14:27 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
TSLA is not just a car company ... F is not just a car company.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 19:51:36 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
TSLA is a cult that's the only bull case I guess
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 02:33:12 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
the day Elon dies, TSLA crashes
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 05:10:29 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
For the first time in 3 years of following TSLA you are the only person to make me take its price seriously - and the fact you did that at this CURRENT price is even more impressive. Wish I had an internet medal to bestow
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 07:28:33 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
VWAG - 159,800 BEVs and 63,500 PHEVs I don't think that TSLA is worth 8x the valuation of VW considering that VW group shows a faster EV growth and on top sells 2 million ICE cars a quarter. Cannibalization is a slow process and there will be people that still buy ICE cars in 2030. Plus: Tesla FSD is a huge scam and money pit. Even die hard fans have realized it in the meantime.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 22:58:49 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Elon is running a business the way a business should be run, and his capex on factories is benefitting the US economy. Contrast to a “blue-chip” stock like Home Depot where mgmt has repurchased 40% of the issued share capital since 2010 and increased debt 4x. A spike in rates to 10% would reduce their earnings 30% by my estimate, yet most investors would rather buy that stock at 45x (or the many others like it) than TSLA. You have to be careful in today’s market. All is not what it seems.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 07:37:22 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Ford plans to produce 650,000 EV cars by 2024. And that’s if they can actually upgrade their capacity and produce it as moving from ICE to EV vehicle manufacturing isn’t easy. TSLA did around a million EV sales in 2021. TSLA will be the company to dominate the auto and EV market.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 20:01:54 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
I am bearish on TSLA lol, I never said I agree about its valuation and stock price. But that doesn’t mean that I think Ford will be able to take a big % of TSLAs future sales.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 20:09:13 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Again you say you're bearish on TSLA but also say they will dominate the Auto & EV market? Dude just stop fighting yourself at this point.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 20:14:16 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Are you okay ? They can dominate the EV market but the current valuation is still too high which is why I am bearish. I ain’t no TSLA cult. The company is great and will dominate however the stock is out of reality
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 20:17:23 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
It hurts to see people really think these companies have no chance in competing with Tesla when they literally have enough money to outsource software. Even companies like BB are making QNX software to be installed in other cars in the future. And bringing up debt of these other cars without mentioning TSLAs? I see you a Elon rider. And you're not funny with that lame attempt at a joke with the picture frame. No one cares what you do dude, I'm not your father.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 04:52:24 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
TSLA 495% above pre-covid high ARKK only 39% above pre-covid highs, putting it below SPY and well below QQQ How did they accomplish that. Anyone holding TSLA as their biggest holding before covid should be comfortably ahead of the indices, to have +495% as your biggest holding yet underperforming takes skill.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 16:09:19 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
yeah buddy market is not all around fair value and PEs these days. Congrats on missing a ton of gaining opportunities if this is the only metric you use. SForce is also overvalued, and what? Good growth in stock price YoY. Ain't going nowhere. NET has decent moat and is a leader in its industry, it will be the same as TSLA where it is overvalued but growth in sales will out% the stock price% growth.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 16:49:15 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
YOLOing into TSLA calls tomorrow? Just think of the tendie.s !(emotefree_emotes_packheart_eyes)
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 06:14:03 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Yea I used to momentum-trade TSLA options. Just one contract at a time. Sometimes got 5 or 6 winners in a row. Then when I started to put up big-boy money, of course I lost it all, and more.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 01:32:51 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
She shot to fame in 2020 after ARK returned a 157% return. In 2018 she predicted that TSLA would hit $4000 in 5 years. It happened in about 3 years. Recently she predicted that Bitcoin will go 10x in the next 5 years. She is heavily into growth stocks. They did very well in 2020 but the excitement around at-home stocks died down a notch in 2021. Nevertheless, she is a successful fund manager. When she talks, people listen. I don’t own ARKK nor any of the stocks within it, but let’s give credit where one is deserved. She became somebody from nobody all by herself. I wish her the best.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 16:28:53 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
she gets attention due to her fame with TSLA. just 2 yrs ago, TSLA was around $30-40B market cap and everyone on CNBC was bragging about their short position on TSLA. Cathie would keep telling ppl rather openly that TSLA would hit $500B market cap in a couple of yrs. everyone laughed at her at the time. the rest is history
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 16:46:09 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
1)Rock star statuts due to TSLA 2) Public trades and personality 3) InNoVvAtIoN I personaly avoid stocks she buys.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 16:10:03 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
I actually called her out in Twitter with regard to regulatory approval of FSD and her TSLA target based on that. She replied and I had like 200 comments. It was pretty funny. So far I’ve been correct. Tesla FSD still heavily in beta, no regulatory approval in sight.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 05:26:38 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
> In 2018 she predicted that TSLA would hit $4000 in 5 years. She predicted that TSLA would hit $4000 due to having 1 million self-driving robotaxis on the road.... 2 years ago. Tesla is nowhere near having a single robotaxi on the road, let alone 1 million 2 years back. I'm sharing this to show that her success had literally nothing to do with her analysis or foresight, but was simply a product of being in the right place at the right time. Arkk funds are basically a bet on the highest beta growth stocks in sectors with lots of "future" hype. In other words, they simply happened to capture what 40 million 25 year olds who knew nothing about investing thought a good stock purchase would be when they received $1400 in stimulus checks.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 20:44:41 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
luck...lol how many times can i person get lucky ? TSLA BTC ROKU SQ and im probably missing a ton of others. You. sound like everybody that doubted her when she called TSLA 4000.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 02:22:44 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
I guess it was luck to have TSLA as your biggest holding for so many years. I guess it was luck to hold firm to your belief that Tesla will become a multi trillion company by 2025 when everybody else was betting on bankruptcy. Yes, success is all luck and you are just unlucky. Keep believing that
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 02:07:32 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
TSLA
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 01:51:30 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
TDOC, TSLA (If they smash their delivery targets again + 2 factories ramp up quickly + some advancement in FSD beta), IBM (if their AI/Cloud business grow by double digits - as they have completed their spinoff).
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 06:02:18 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
PE is like higher than TSLA...what gives?
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 04:45:00 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
TSLA High risk high reward type srock there, personally i wouldn't invest in this company but thats based of gut feeling nothing else. VOO Good, safe pick. This is one of the gold standards for investing. QQQM Don't know much about this one, but the expense ratio is high. I would not buy into this one myself. AAPL Another solid one, but keep an eye on it. Fundementals are great for this company but market cap (total value if the company) makes my head spin. MNRA This is one I'm strongly bearish on, unless you bought sub-200 I would not buy more or hold onto it. UNH No opinion. F My favorite on this list. Ford has really turned themselves around over the past 5 years particularly over the past 12 months. Just keep up to date on any production short falls the company may experience as some have popped up recently. BRK.B It's fun to say you own some of the most popular investment company. Great fundementals and solid historic growth, a safe good buy. MSFT Yep, also good. As an added bonus market cap for microsoft is half of Apple's allowing for more valuation growth. NVDA Watch me start a flame war. NVDA is the 2nd worst semi contuctor company to buy. If you have high risk appitite go for AMD. For a more conservative investment go for INTC. COST Solid defensive play. This will, however, under preform the market. QCOM Neutral standing. QCOM is expanding outside of phone chips/processors but geowth for the company appers limited. Overall, a nice portfolio. Here's a few more companies I would look into: Safe plays: O, PEP, SPY, T Riskier: NRZ, SNAP, MRO Play money: BBIG, HOOD, BBBY
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 04:27:03 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
I get your position here. But I have invested in both stocks and crypto for 4 years now. In that time I learned options, DCA, and how to read T/A. I made most my money from PLUG, TSLA, BRK.B, DKNG, and pump stocks from Reddit groups. You'll be doing great @100% per year returns after a while. However crypto will make you ten of thousands per year once you learn to trade and invest with experiences and tools from stock trading. Do not be silly you were born at the right time to invest in crypto. Image a minimum 1000% returns yearly. It's not hard to get paid in that sector
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Thu Jan 13 23:21:26 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
One more thing that makes owning individual stocks cooler and more fun than boring old ETFs: voting rights! If you own whole (not fractional) shares in most cases you have voting rights as a shareholder in the company. That means you are entitled to attend the annual shareholder's meeting where the company executives appear and answer to the shareholders. You can vote on proposals that require shareholder approval. Before COVID the meetings were in person but now they are mostly virtual. Someday they might go back to being in person. So say you owned whole shares of TSLA (I own 25 shares of TSLA BTW. I used to own more but I stupidly sold some in early 2019 pre-split. What an idiot!). So as a shareholder of Tesla you could participate in the shareholder's meeting and ask Elon Musk why he is wasting company resources on Bitcoin, or anything else company-related you wanted to ask. Here's a video of Elon taking a question from a shareholder: https://youtu.be/Z-_MnTd9TFc How cool would that be? Especially if you prefaced your question by mentioning you are a (by then) 15-year-old Tesla shareholder. Elon would probably get a kick out of that.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 06:41:50 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Ohh I never knew this. Do you get more votes depending on the number of shares you own? I do actually own 4 shares of TSLA, it’s my biggest holding. I’d love to attend one of these meetings. One more question: how often do companies typically have these shareholder meetings? is it once every year, or every quarter?
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Fri Jan 14 12:40:29 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks
Something I struggle with is that many of the FOMO stocks actually end up being good stocks to own long-term, the problem is that most don't. Take TSLA or SQ as an example, these have always had a lot of hype behind them, but have also been great stocks to own over the years. I have the same reverse FOMO feeling you're describing whenever I see a stock that's hyped here or seems very expensive, but I've learnt that feeling doesn't always serve me well. Back in 2014 I really wanted to invest in NFLX, but the price was so high and there was so much hype around Netflix back then that I figured it would probably come down and I could get in at a better valuation later. But I never got in later and I missed out on what would have been a 10x return. I felt similar about AMZN back when it was trading at a PE over 100 too. Seemed expensive and everyone was hyping about AWS at the time so I mistakenly stayed away. These days I try to assume my gut instinct is wrong and that the FOMO is right. If I can make a valuation make sense based on the FOMO narrative then it's probably worth looking into more. Stocks like NET and CRWD which are both very expensive and very hyped fall into this category for me. While I can acknowledge I'm paying a premium to own both of them, they're also great companies which in theory should be able to grow into their valuation. I could try waiting for a better entry price, but like with NFLX and AMZN I suspect I won't find a perfect time so sometimes it's better to just follow the FOMO than miss out entirely. If a stock has a mediocre product that's easy to disrupt, along with an excessive valuation and a lot of hype I find then it's generally a bad investment. Stocks like PTON and ZM fall into this category for me.
KEYWORD : TSLA DATE : Wed Jan 12 19:26:23 2022 SUBREDDIT : stocks

Definitive Murdaugh Mystery Timeline: 2015-2022. Final Update.
Original Timeline - https://www.reddit.com/MurdaughFamilyMurders/comments/qpmq0c/the_definitive_murdaugh_mystery_timeline/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Notes: * Edit from original Timeline. # New entry. [] indicate my comments. Hampton Probate Court has no online records.
Indictments:
AM & CES 4 November 2021 - https://www.scag.gov/about-the-office/news/ag-alan-wilson-announces-hampton-county-grand-jury-has-indicted-alex-murdaugh-and-curtis-smith/
AM - 19 November 2021 - https://www.scag.gov/about-the-office/news/state-grand-jury-issues-indictments-against-richard-alexander-murdaugh-for-breach-of-trust-obtaining-property-by-false-pretenses-money-laundering-computer-crimes-and-forgery/
AM - 9 December 2021 - https://www.scag.gov/about-the-office/news/ag-wilson-announces-state-grand-jury-issues-a-new-round-of-indictments-against-alex-murdaugh/ SC Courts Search: https://www.sccourts.org/caseSearch/
People:
SS - Stephen Smith (aged 19, found dead on country road, friend of 'Buster' Murdaugh. Mother Sandy, twin sister Stephanie, father Joel Fred Smith who died few months later)
GS - Gloria Sattersfield (aged 57, Murdaugh house keeper, died after fall at 'Moselle', sons - Tony Satterfield and Brian Harriot)*
AM - Richard Alexander Murdaugh Sr (aged 52, middle son of RM III, ex-lawyer, PMPED)
MM - Margaret Murdaugh, AM spouse (Maggie, age 52, murdered at 'Moselle'. b. 15 September 1968, d. 7 June 2021)*
BM - Richard Alexander “Buster” Murdaugh Jr (aged 26, eldest son of AM & MM).
PM - Paul Terry Murdaugh aka "Timmy" (youngest son of AM & MM, murdered age 22, at' Moselle'. b. 14 April 1999, d. 7 June 2021)
RM IV - Randolph Murdaugh IV (AM brother, eldest son of RM III, lawyer, PMPED, suing AM for $43,500)
JMM - John Marvin Murdaugh (AM brother, youngest son of RM III, owns farm equipment business)
MB - Mallory Beach (aged 19, killed in boating incident on AM's 2006 Sea Hunt at Archers Creek around 2:20 a.m)*
RSB - Renee S Beach, Mallory Beach's mother (filed law suits against AM, RM III & BM, Parker's)
CC - Connor Cook (Friend of PM, on boat, suing AM for trying to make him the fall guy for boat incident, AM recommended CF to CC)
CES - Curtis Eddie Smith aka "Fast Eddie" (age 62, acquaintance of AM, alleged suicide insurance fraud with AM, received many checks from AM. AM represented CES in personal injury suit in 2015 - Colleton, case # 2010CP1500948).
JP - John E. Parker (President of PMPED law firm, suing AM for $477,000)
CF - Corey Fleming (Attorney for GS sons in suit against AM whom AM recommended. Formerly of Moss, Kuhn & Fleming PA. Law licence currently suspended*)
CW - Chad Westendorf (Banker for Palmetto State Bank, acted as attorney for GS sons, paid $30,000 fee since returned.)
CBR III - CB Rowe III (Caretakefarm manager at Moselle. Allegedly had fight with AM when fired.)
BTB - Barrat T Boulware (co-owned a lot of property with AM, formerly owned 'Moselle')
DH - Dick Harpootlian (South Carolina Senator, Attorney for AM and PM)
JG - Jim Griffin (Attorney for AM, Managing Partner at Griffin & Davis LLC)
Institutes:
PMPED - Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick, PA law firm.
PSB - Palmetto State Bank. BoA - Bank of America.
MKF - Moss, Khun and Fleming, PA law firm.
SCDNR - South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
SLED - South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
BB&T - Branch Banking and Trust Company and SunTrust Banks. (Truist Financial Corporation)
Others:
'Moselle' - AM & MM's large property with hunting grounds at 4147 Moselle Road, Islandton, SC 29929.*
'Forge' - AM's two BoA accounts: "FORGE" and "RICHARD A MURDAUGH SOLE PROP DBA FORGE".*
'Parker's' - Chain of convenience stores (PM bought alcohol from on the night of the boat accident).*
​
Timeline:
2015 Timmy becomes PM's alter ego one night at 'Moselle' according to CC. (no date available)*
8 July 2015 - SS found dead on Sandy Run Road around 4am. RM IV calls SS family offering to represent them for free. Timeline of that day and more [this is the very best and I'm not going to plagiarise] - https://www.fitsnews.com/2021/06/25/stephen-smith-case-files-why-was-hampton-teens-death-ruled-a-hit-and-run-in-2015/
11 July 2015 - SS funeral 5pm. Family keeps his casket open so that people could see what they did to him.
22 September 2015 - AM opens “RICHARD A MURDAUGH SOLE PROP DBA FORGE” account with Bank of America in Columbia SC (See Exhibit N, Satterfield suit, Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298, Supplemental Summons filed 6 December 2021).#
7 October 2015 - AM takes a $338,056.14 check which was titled "Proceeds for investment - Deon Martin" and makes it out to 'Forge' (Original injury suit - Allendale, case # 2013CP0300113, Indictment 2021-GS-47-29, Counts 1 & 2).#
15 December 2015 - South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) received a tip from a man, who says his stepson told him that another man “struck and killed Stephen Smith. The caller stated that the reason he was passing this information on was because RM IV told him to call, Sgt. Todd Proctor wrote in his report.#
2016
9 June 2016 - AM takes a $95,000 "Johnny Bush - Structured Funds" check and makes it out to his 'Forge' account. (Indictment: 2021-GS-47-36) [Hampton case # 2014CP2500093 lists "Johnny L Bush" - same person?]#
31 August 2016 - AM takes a $90,000 check with the description "re: Jamian Risher" and makes it out to his 'Forge' account. Also takes $5,504.94 in August or November 2019. (Hampton, case # 2008CP2500020 or 2010CP2500007, Indictment: 2021-GS-47-37) [NB: AM later represented him again! - see 31 May2018.]#
11 October 2016 - AM takes a $45,000 check which was titled "Proceeds for investment - Deon Martin" and makes it out to 'Forge' (Allendale, case # 2013CP0300113, Indictment 2021-GS-47-29, Counts 3 & 4).#
15 October 2016 - AM takes a $70,000 check which was titled "Structured Settlement - Manuel Santis" and makes it out to 'Forge' (Colleton, case # 2011CP1500764, Indictment 2021-GS-47-31). [NB: Indictment has wrong name, should be " Manuel Santiz Cristian", who was an illegal immigrant at the time.]#
20 December 2016 - AM sells 'Moselle' to MM for $5. (Colleton County Register of Deeds, Code book page: RB-2493-292 )#
2017
22 April 2017 - PM charged with littering “less than 15 pounds or 27 cubit feet in volume” by a DNR officer at McCalley’s Creek sandbar. He was fined and ordered to appear in court on May 25, 2017. That same day, the court noted a “failure to comply” and issued a “bench warrant/arrest warrant,” records show. (Beaufort, case # 822827)
29 May 2017 - PM charged with "purchase possession of beer or wine by a minor" along with 2 friends by SCDNR officers in Beaufort County. Two other friends were charged, both of whom were on the boat the night of Mallory Beach died.* PM paid littering fine of $510 and bench warrant for "failure to comply" was removed*.
29 June 2017 - PM's attorneys (AM & CF) filed for jury trial for the alcohol possession charges. Trial delayed 5 times.
29 September 2017 - PM 'arrested' for 2886-Traffic / Seatbelt violation - Non-criminal.(Hampton, case # 6102P0296594)
3 November 2017 - AM withheld $9.569.30 from Randy Drawdy and made a check out to 'Forge' for the same amount (Hampton, case # 2006CP2500460A, Indictment: 2021-GS-47-32).#
18 December 2017 - PM - Estill Magistrate Court for seat belt violation. (Case # 6102P0296594, Judge Solomons, Algernon Gibson Jr) Fined $25.
2018
2 February 2018 - GS has an accident on the steps outside 'Moselle'. MM makes 911 call at 9:24.38am. PM also speaks to 911 operator. (SLED released 911 call on 30 November 2021)*
26 February 2018 - GS dies in hospital.
28 February 2018 - GS funeral.
NB: No claim for GS's wrongful death was ever filed: As per Bland's suit - Fleming, MKF and Westendorf asserted claims against Alex Murdaugh for negligence resulting in Gloria’s death, Alex Murdaugh admitted that he was at fault.
"Upon information and belief, Alex Murdaugh’s residence was insured by one or more carriers, including Lloyds of London. Upon information and belief, Alex Murdaugh told his insurer that there was no defense to the claim and that the claim must be paid." - See Satterfierld lawsuit, Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298.
Without filing a lawsuit, Fleming, MKF and Westendorf were able to achieve a partial settlement of the claims associated with the death of Gloria from Lloyds of London in the amount of $505,000.00. [That's why I couldn't find a date for one!] and $4.305 million from Nautilus Insurance. Also why there were no dates for CF being appointed attorney for GS's sons or CW being appointed Personal Representative for the Estate of Gloria Satterfield until much later on 18 December 2021.
Unfiled order appears to bear Judge Mullen’s signature, Bland and Richter have said. [I agree]
4 March 2018 - PM arrested for 243-Traffic / Expired vehicle license (Hampton, Case # 20182410296839).
2 May 2018 - PM court date for expired vehicle licence at Varnville Magistrate Court (Hampton, case # 20182410296839, Magistrate - Carolyn A. Williams).
-- May 2018 - PM sentenced to attend alcohol diversion program (Alcohol Education Program for 29 May 2017 offence)* Charges later dropped after program completed.
31 May 2018 - AM files a suit (Hampton, case # 2018CP2500219) seeking $75,000 on behalf of Jamian Risher whom he had previously represented in two previous suits and stole $90,000 from in 2016! (See 31 August 2016)#
5 June 2018 - PM 'arrested' 2886-Traffic / Seatbelt violation - Non-criminal in Colleton County (case # 20182900006854, Walterboro Municipal Court, Judge Payne, R Morrison M) Fined $25.#
14 June 2018 - PM pays $150 fine for expired vehicle licence as per 4 March 2018.
5 July 2018 - PM charges for possession of alcohol dismissed after successfully completing AEP and record including incident report expunged.*
10 August 2018 - PM 'arrested' 3152-Marine / Exceed catch or size limit on gamefish or sharks, criminal (case # 843882, Colleton County Magistrate, Judge Duffie, Elbert O) Fined $105.#
21 August 2018 - PM charged by SCDNR officers in Colleton County for “exceed catch or size limit on gamefish or sharks”. Paid $150 in fines.
31 August 2018 - AM opens 2nd 'FORGE' account with BoA at the Jean Ribaut Square branch in Beaufort, SC. (See Exhibit O, Satterfield suit, Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298, Supplemental Summons filed 6 December 2021).# 3
1 August 2018 - AM deposits a $85,000 'Settlement Proceeds' check for Jordan Jinks into his 'Richard A Murdaugh Sole Prop DBA Forge' account (Beaufort case #2017CP0700180, Indictment: 2021-GS-47-35, see also 3 October 2018). #
3 October 2018 - AM deposits a $65,000 'Settlement Proceeds' check for Jordan Jinks into his 'Forge' account (Beaufort case # 2017CP0700180, Indictment: 2021-GS-47-35).#
4 December 2018 - CW as personal representative of GS estate & MKF, PA receives check for $505,000 from Lloyds Underwriters via Community National Federal Bank.
18 December 2018 - CW appointed by the Hampton County Probate Court as the successor personal representative of the Estate of Gloria Satterfield as of 28 March 2018 (signed by Judge Sheila B. Odom)*
19 December 2018 - CW on behalf of GS's ESTATE files for 'Petition for approval of wrongful death settlement' v AM. (was obtained on 13 May 2019 but was never filed - Judge Carmen Mullen).
2019
6 January 2019 - Philadelphia issued a commercial lines policy of insurance, bearing policy number PHPK1926389, to “R. Alexander Murdaugh” (Murdaugh), for the policy period January 6, 2019 to January 6, 2020 (“the CGL Policy”). Philadelphia also issued a commercial umbrella liability insurance policy, bearing policy number PHUB660797, to Murdaugh for the same policy period (“the Umbrella Policy”).
7 January 2019 - CF as per MKF, PA, writes check to "Forge" for $403,500 and signs on AM's instruction and sends to a PO Box No.*
7 January 2019 - CW receives $10,000 check made payable to "Chad Westendorf" and endorsed by Westendorf (BB&T) (Lloyds)
9 January 2019 - AM deposits $403,500 Satterfield check in his 'Forge' account (Indictment 2021-GS-47-30, Counts 1-3).#
23/24 February 2019 - Boat "accident" early am. MB (19) killed - body found a week later. AM & RM III attend hospital. RM III shouts for PM to "shut his mouth", AM intimidates witnesses.
29 March 2019 - MB's mother, Renee S Beach (RSB), files wrongful death suit against GREGORY M. PARKER, INC. a/k/a) PARKER’S CORPORATION d/b/a, PARKERS 55, LUTHER’S RARE) AND WELL DONE, LLC, KRISTY) C. WOOD, JAMES M. WOOD, RICHARD ) ALEXANDER MURDAUGH, RICHARD ) ALEXANDER MURDAUGH, JR, RANDOLPH MURDAUGH, III, Individually and as Trustee of the) MURDAUGH RESIDENCE TRUST 2; and ) The MURDAUGH RESIDENCE TRUST 2. (Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111)
Spring 2019 - BM allegedly kicked out of University of South Carolina School of Law for plagiarism.*
11 April 2019 - AM takes a $12,500 check titled "Est of Blondell Settlement Proceeds" and makes it out to 'Forge'. (Indictment 2021-GS-47-33)#
18 April 2019 - check for $3,800,000 from Nautilus Insurance written.
18 April 2019 - Would have been MB's 20th birthday. PM charged with two counts of boating under the influence causing bodily injury and one count of BUI involving death in connection with Beach’s death in 2019 (Beaufort, case #'s 2019GS0700814, 2019GS0700815 & 2019GS0700816).*
22 April 2019 - CF as successor representative of GS estate & MKF, PA as attorney sent check from Nautilus Insurance. (Reference No 00001257RR, Policy No PU386801, Date of Loss 02/02/2018, Reported date of loss 03/30/2018, Insured RAM, Claims System ID ESCCPRD:1411422, Claims No 10096368, Supplier Invoice Date 04/17/2019, Adjuster Name Amy Coryer-Miller (Nautilus Liability 3)#
6 May 2019 - PM pleads not guilty to the charges relating to boat crash. PM released on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond - passport forfeited and can't leave 14th judicial circuit territory. Mugshot taken in court room with iPhone 7.
13 May 2019 - Judge Carmen Mullen apparently signs a docket numberless 'order approving settlement' for $4,305,000.00 from Brit Syndicates Ltd and Nautilus Insurance to the Petitioner for the benefit of the Estate of Gloria Satterfield with the following breakdown:

Lloyd's Underwriters: $505,000.00 Nautilus Ins. Co: $3,800,000.00 Attorney's Fees (Lloyd's): $168,333.33 Attorney's fees[sic] (Nautilus): $1,266,666.67 [Attorney Fees Total: $1,435,000.] Total Prosecution Expenses: $105,000.00 Total to Beneficiaries: $2,765,000.00 

(NB: Date of injury states 02/28/2018 - that's wrong, see 2 February 2018)*
Additional:
PRIORITY MATTER WITHORAL ARGUMENT AND TESTIMONY UNDER OATH REQUESTED NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION FOR SETTLEMENT FUNDS TO BE DEPOSITED AND PAID TO THE ESTATE OF GLORIA SATTERFIELD AND FOR CONTEMPT AND SANCTIONS FOR WILLFUL VIOLATIONS OF COURT ORDERS - (filed 5 October 2021, Satterfield suit, Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298).

1. Upon information and belief, while he was awarded attorney’s fees of $1,435,000.00, Fleming did not pay himself $1,435,000.00. Upon information and belief, Fleming instead paid his law firm approximately $666,000 of the approved $1,435,000.00 in fees and paid the remainder to Murdaugh.

[NB: I cannot find this on the Hampton County Court website, only Fitsnews as a source.]
​
13 May 2019 - CF as per MKF, PA writes check to "Forge" for $2,961,931.95 and signs on AM's instruction.*
15 May 2019 - AM deposits the $2,961,931.95 Satterfield check into his 'Forge' account. (Indictment 2021-GS-47-30, Counts 4-6). Soon after AM pays off $100,000 credit card bill, gives RM III $300,000 and writes two checks to himself for $610,000 and $125,000. #
13 May 2019 - CW receives $20,000 check made payable to "Chad Westendorf" and endorsed by Westendorf (BB&T) (Nautilus)*
24 May 2019 - MB wrongful death suit amended against AM, BM & Parker's (See Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111, filed 05/24/2019-16:22).#
30 September 2019 - Philadelphia insurance file to contest payout in MB wrongful death suit. (https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18372371/philadelphia-indemnity-insurance-company-v-murdaugh/)
20 December 2019 - PM 'arrested' 2886-Traffic / Seatbelt violation - Non-criminal. (case # 20192411256085)
2020
11 February 2020 - PM - Seatbelt violation - Varnville Magistrate Court (case # 20192411256085, Williams (Magistrate), Carolyn A.) Fined $25.
27 February 2020 - AM takes a $750,000 'Settlement Proceeds' check for Christopher Anderson and deposits it into his "Richard A Murdaugh Sole Prop DBA Forge" account. (Hampton: Case # 2018CP2500285, Indictment: 2021-GS-47-34)#
28 May 2020 - Notice of ADR (Alternate Dispute Resolution) given in Beach wrongful death suit. (Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111, Begin date 05/28/2020-10:43, Completed 09/30/2020-10:43)#
1 May 2020 - Murdaugh's sell 515 Holly Street, Hampton property for $375,000. (source: zillow)*
26 May 2020 - PM traffic ticket - speeding on Adams Run, S.C. (Towing boat 15mph over speed limit)
16 June 2020 - Boat incident depositions released the week before this date.
23 June 2020 - RM III created a will that gave all of his estate to a trust under his name. "The Randolph Murdaugh III Trust" is listed as the only beneficiary of his estate. RM IV listed to become personal representative of the trust.#
4 September 2020 - AM files a injury suit on behalf of Johnny Bush (Hampton, case # 2020CP2500354). [Is this the same person whom AM represented in 2016 and stole from? - See 9 June 2016]#
10 September 2020 - Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) was conducted in the form of Mediation in MB wrongful death suit. After 8.5 hours of ADR the case is at an impasse. (See Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111, filed 09/30/2020-09:32)#
5 October 2020 - AM & CF file for dismissal of Satterfield settlement. Judge Carmen Mullen approves.
6 October 2020 - CF as per MKF, PA writes check to "Forge" for $118,000 and signs as per AM's instruction.
6 October 2020 - AM deposits the £118,000 Satterfield check into his 'Forge' account (Indictment 2021-GS-47-30, Counts 7-9).
13 October 2020 - AM answers to Plaintiff's 1st supplemental interrogatories in the Beach wrongful death suit: "Defendant objects to this Interrogatory on the grounds that it is overly broad and unduly burdensome and seeks material that is irrelevant, immaterial, and not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence."#
13 October 2020 - AM answers to Plaintiff's 2nd supplemental interrogatories in the Beach wrongful death suit: as above plus "Further, to the extent this Request seeks documentation reflecting Defendant's net worth, this documentation wouldnot he relevant and/or discoverable until a bifurcated trial on punitive damages."#
16 October 2020 - Motion filed to compel AM & BM to fully respond to Plaintiff’s discovery requests in MB wrongful death suit. (Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111, Begin date 10/16/2020-16:11)#
22 October 2020 - AM issues a check for $9,085 from his BoA 'Forge' account to CES. 17 checks totalling $155,970 issued between October 2020 and May 2021. Another 254 checks issued to CES from AM's personal account also with BoA. (See Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298, Supplemental summons, Begin Date 12/06/2021-17:03).#
30 November 2020 - AM convinced the personal representative of Sandra Taylor's Estate that recovery would only be $30,000 in her wrongful death suit and therefore he was not going to take a fee. Instead he paid legal fees and minor expenses and then took an 'Estate of Sandra Taylor Settlement Proceeds' check for $152,866, made it out to 'Forge' and deposited it in his "Richard A Murdaugh Sole Prop DBA Forge" account (Indictment 2021-GS-47-38).#
2021
29 January 2021 - AM takes a $125,000 "settlement proceeds" check intended for Highway Patrolman Thomas E. Moore and makes it out to 'Forge' (Orangeburg, case # 2018CP3800565, Indictment 2021-GS-47-27) [NB: indictment says Thomas L. Moore which is wrong.]#
2 February 2021 - AM issues a check for $9,239 from his BoA 'Forge' account to CES.# 5 March 2021 - JP (of PMPED) loans AM $150,000 (see .
10 March 2021 - AM persuades Chris Wilson of Wilson Law Group LLC to write checks for fees of $192,000, $375,000 & $225,000 to AM's 'Forge' account instead of PMPED (Indictment 2021-GS-47-28).#
11 March 2021 - PM received a $105 ticket for boating with an expired fire extinguisher near Shem Creek in Charleston County (AM's 2008 Scout boat) 15 March 2021 - MM endorses an $839.40 check (originally written by Brenda Young for AM's fees) with "For deposit only BoA". Check deposited in AM's 'Forge' account.#
12 May 2021 - A check made out to the legitimate "Forge Consulting, LLC" from PMPED's Client Trust Account for $83,333.33 is issued (Memo on check says, "Est. of Jacob Hershberger Structured Fee for RAM"). AM subsequently deposits this check in his 'Forge' account. (Original case Hampton, case # 2021CP1500165)#
19 May 2021 - JP loans AM $77,000. 28 May 2021 - AM issues a check for $22,109 from his BoA 'Forge' account to CES. Last of 17 checks totally $155,000.#
4 June 2021 - Reported that Mark Tinsley (Beach lawyer) says mediation in the Beach wrongful death suit has failed. Hearing scheduled for 9am, 10 June 2021 in Orangeburg SC.#
7 June 2021 - (Monday) MM (52) and PM (22) murdered at 'Moselle'. Time of death between 9pm and 9.30pm. AM dials 911 at 10.07pm. Call last 6 1/2 minutes. RM IV claims to arrive 15 minutes after AM calls him. JMM claims he arrived 30 mins later (Good Morning America - 17 June 2021). SLED regional agents arrive 11.47pm. SLED Crime Scene agents began arriving on scene at 12:07 a.m.
8 June 2021 - JMM/RM IV find MM's phone before 9am. SLED spokesperson Tommy Crosby says based on the evidence, they do not believe there is a danger to the public 9.20am. Coroner releases bodies.
10 June 2021 - RM III dies from cancer aged 82. MM & PM autopsies. AM questioned by SLED (Hearing for civil suit against AM & BM regarding finances due this date but subsequently postponed - Fitsnews June 15, 2021).*
11 June 2021 - MM and PM funeral service.
13 June 2021 - RM III funeral service.# 16 June 2021 - SLED announced a tip line dedicated to the case. The number is (803) 896-2605. 17 June 2021 - RM IV & JMM give interview to Good Morning America.
21 June 2021 - SLED release redacted police reports for 7 June murder of MM & PM.
23 June 2021 - SLED reopen investigation into the death of SS.
25 June 2021 - AM & BM announce a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of assailants involved in the murders of Maggie and Paul.
7 July 2021 - CC Pre-suit Discovery - Columbia, S.C., attorneys Joseph M. McCulloch Jr. and Kathy R. Schillaci on behalf of Connor Cook, one of five survivors of the crash, alleging a civil conspiracy possibly connecting law enforcement and members of the Murdaugh family. (See Connor Cook V SCDNR, Beaufort's County Sherriff Department & Unknown Others - Richland County Court, case # 2021CP400381)*
15 July 2021 - JP loans AM $250,000.
16 July 2021 - South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) released hundreds of documents related to its investigation of a 2019 Beaufort County boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.
22/23 July 2021 - SLED release AM's 911 call for the night of 7 June 2021 10.07pm after finding bodies of MM & PM and other documents.
6 August 2021 - South Carolina Attorney General’s Office drop charges against PM after getting the official death certificate from Colleton County.
11 August 2021 - 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone has recused himself from prosecuting any cases in the shooting deaths of MM & PM via a letter to South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, after consulting with University of South Carolina Law School Professor Gregory Adams.#
18 August 2021 - SCDNR has released new information it hopes will convince a judge to dismiss the petition in the CC conspiracy filing on 7 July 2021 (Return in Opposition to Rule 27 Petition - Richland, case # 2021CP400381)#
27 August 2021 - AM waives the right to become personal representative for PM's Estate. AM requests RM IV be appointed. (Colleton County Probate Court, case # 2021-ES-15-00333)#
31 August 2021 - RM IV becomes personal representative for RM III's Trust.#
2 September 2021 - PMPED discover AM's "Forge" BoA account. Request for RM IV to act as personal representative to PM's Estate certified in the Colleton County Probate Court (Judge Ashley H. Amundson).
3 September 2021 - (Friday) AM confronted with the information PMPED discovered through its review. AM resigned from PMPED. RM IV loans AM $75,000 "to cover overdrawn bank account to pay workers".
3 September 2021 - PMPED notified the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division of the suspected criminal activity as well as the SC Bar.#
4 September 2021 - AM dials 911 @ 1.30pm and claims to be a victim of a drive by shooting on Old Salkehatchie Road near Varnville. (story later changes and CES alleged to have shot AM in suicide bid/insurance fraud for $10 million) AM transferred to hospital.
6 September 2021 - AM admitted to rehab - releases statement to Hampton County Guardian. RM IV loans AM $15,000 for rehab fees.
7 September 2021 - PMPED issue formal statement saying AM resigned due to misappropriation of funds.
8 September 2021 - AM's licence to practice law suspended by S.C. Supreme Court (Case No. 2021-000974).#
13 September 2021 - SLED confirm they are investigating missing money from PMPED.
13 September 2021 - PSB filed two separate creditor claims against Murdaugh III’s estate totalling more than $935,000. ($617,246.51 for an unsecured commercial line of credit RM III & AM took out on 19 December 2017. $318,075.89. when RM III guaranteed JMM's mortgage in 2014)# The application for the credit line, signed by Alex Murdaugh on Dec. 19, 2017, said the money would be used for real estate.
14 September 2021 - CES charged with assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Also distribution of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana.
15 September 2021 - SLED opens a criminal investigation into Gloria Satterfield’s (GS) death as well as the handling of her estate.
15 September 2021 - GS's sons file suit against Alex Murdaugh, attorney Corey Fleming, Fleming’s law firm (Moss, Kuhn & Fleming), and Chad Westendorf (Palmetto State Bank) using attorney Eric Bland (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298).
16 September 2021 - BM made Power of Attorney for AM's estate - DH & JG witnesses. DH gives interview to NBC Today says shooting is personal, AM doesn't know who did it and JG & DH are investigating and may have individuals who need more scrutiny.
16 September 2021 - AM arrested and charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and filing a false police report. AM released on $20,000 bond, hands over passport, goes back to rehab. CES released on $55,000 bond.
20 September 2021 - CC files suit against Parker's, AM & BM (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500303)#
21 September 2021 - AM & BM insurance cover denied in MB wrongful death suit. Judge Sherri A. Lydon agreed with the insurance company (Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company) that the underlying allegations of drunken boating didn’t qualify as an insured activity. Nor did Buster Murdaugh meet the definitions of being an insured party in the first place. Also denied for damage to boat via Progressive Northern Insurance Company. (lawandcrime.com 27 Sept 2021)
23 September 2021 - BM, acting as PoA for AM, executed a satisfaction of a mortgage with a face value of $970,354.004 on a 42-acre property located in Hampton and Colleton counties.
27 September 2021 - GS's sons file for arrest and detention of AM until property returned.
27 September 2021 - 'Exhibit D' filed . Exhibit D is the docket numberless "Order approving settlement" in the original Gloria Satterfield insurance case apparently signed by Judge Carmen Mullen on 13 May 2019 (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298, Begin Date 09/27/2021-10:06 ).*
29 Septmber 2021 - GS's family (Tony Satterfield, Brian Harriot & GS's sister Ginger Harriott Hadwin) interview with NBC’s “Dateline” airs at 9 p.m. ET,#
30 September 2021 - Expiry date of $100,000 reward for information regarding MM & PM murders.
1 October 2021 - BM acting as PoA for AM sells AM’s share in a hunting club called Green Swamp in Jasper County for $250,000 according to Mark Tinsley (RSB's lawyer).
4 October 2021 - CF and HK&F settles with GS's sons.
5 October 2021 - Eric Bland & Ronnie Richter, on behalf of GS's sons, files notice to question Judge Carmen Mullen in videotaped disposition and explain that she handled the Satterfield settlement appropriately and wasn’t involved in a scheme - scheduled 20 October 2021.
6 October 2021 - PMPED file law suit against AM alleging money stolen from firm and clients over a number of years (Colleton, case # 2021CP1500603. Civil Action No.: 2021-CP-15-00603). The filing seeks discovery on where the funds went and if any of it is hidden away. In addition, the firm is requesting to know whether Murdaugh has entered into any agreements that involve future payments related to books, interviews or other publicity.*
6 October 2021 - Eric Bland drops notice to question Judge Mullen and says other information has come to light which proves his case (against AM/CF/CW) and her deposition is not required.
7 October 2021 - RM IV sends letter to Judge Amundsent at Colleton Probate Court citing conflict of interest in being PR to the Estate of PM after a "recent discovery of events" and resigns. Request for JMM to take over as personal representative.#
8 October 2021 - CF placed on interim suspension by Supreme Court of South Carolina.
12 October 2021 - CES interview with New York Times. CES claims AM asked him to shoot AM. Struggle, gun went off, CES fled, threw weapon away.
13 October 2021 - RM IV removed as the personal representative for the estate of Paul Murdaugh.
14 October 2021 - AM arrested in Orlando, Fla. for two felony counts of obtaining property under false pretenses (Satterfield scam).
19 October 2021 - AM bond hearing. Bond denied by Judge Newman pending psychiatric evaluation.*
20 October 2021 - BM and Jared Romero corrected (description of) deed (2021073859) on behalf of AM and BTB.
22 October 2021 - CC files lawsuit against AM & BM asking for a temporary injunction that will stop both Murdaugh’s from “hiding, concealing, misappropriating, selling, encumbering, transferring, impairing the value of or otherwise disposing” of any assets of both Murdaugh’s during the final resolution of the lawsuit (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500303). [NB: actual document has wrong case #]
22 October 2021 - SLED releases AM and passers-by's 911 calls for the 4 September 2021 drive-by shooting/assisted suicide event on Old Salkehatchie Road.
22 October 2021 - Mark Tinsley (RSB's lawyer) filed a motion to freeze AM’s assets in the ongoing MB wrongful death suit (Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111, Begin date 10/22/2021-08:43). In the motion, Tinsley asks the court to appoint two outside parties — attorneys John T. Lay Jr. and former U.S. attorney Peter M. McCoy Jr.#
25 October 2021 - PMPED reaches settlement with GS sons.
28 October 2021 - RM IV sues AM for $46,500 $90,000 minus £43,500 in Kubuta tractor and rotary cutter (Hampton, case #2021CP2500357). [20 days past the 30 days RM IV believed he'd be paid back)]
29 October 2021 - AM files a Confession of Judgement admitting he owes RM IV $90,000. [odd as it's not the amount sued for]
29 October 2021 - JP sues AM for a total of $477,000 (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500358).
1 November 2021 - Mark Tinsley (RSB's lawyer) files supplemental memoranda for motion to freeze AM's assets due to JP & RM IV suits against AM (Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111, Begin date 11/01/2021-11:11)#
2 November 2021 - AM files a Confession of Judgement admitting he owes JP $477,000.
4 November 2021 - AM & BM assets frozen. John T. Lay, Jr. & Peter McCoy appointed as co-receivers as per motion filed on 22 October 2021.
4 November 2021 - AM and CES indicted by South Carolina Attorney General's Office - Alan Wilson AG.
Indictments, Hampton County:
AM - false claim for payment (2021-GS-25-00478), conspiracy to commit insurance fraud (2021-GS-25-00394), filing a false police report (2021-GS-25-00395).
CES - false claim for payment(2021-GS-25-00479), assisted suicide (2021-GS-25-00400), assault and battery of a high aggravated nature (2021-GS-25-00401), pointing and presenting a firearm (2021-GS-25-00397) and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud (2021-GS-25-00399).*
​
5 November 2021 - John T. Lay, Jr. & Peter McCoy (co-receivers for AM and BM estates) file MOTION FOR EMERGENCY ORDER STAYING ENFORCEMENT OF CONFESSION OF JUDGMENT. (until 29 December 2021)
8 November 2021 - CES due to appear in court on charges of distribution of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana. [No appearance was reported]*
9 November 2021 - AM denied bond for 2nd time by Judge Newman.#
10 November 2021 - DH & JG petition SC Supreme Court for AM bond. Dr. Donna Maddox psychiatric evaluator. AM - Prescribed painkillers for knee surgery 20 years ago.#
11 November 2021 - PSB settle suit with Satterfield family.#
12 November 2021 - AM responds to PMPED suit. Pleads 5th Amendment to paragraphs 4-36 of the complaint (Colleton, Case # 2021CP1500603, Civil Action No.: 2021-CP-15-00603).#
15 November 2021 - AM files motion to end receivership and unfreeze assets.#
16 November 2021 - Eric Bland announces a second and final settlement was reached with attorney Cory Fleming, his former law firm, Moss, Kuhn & Fleming, P.A., and their professional liability insurance carrier in connection with an additional portion of their applicable insurance policy.#
17 November 2021 - DH & JG file motion to dismiss the GS suit against AM as per the 15 September 2021 filing against AM.#
19 November 2021 - AM indicted by Grand Jury for 20 further crimes including forgery, money laundering and computer-related crimes (Indictments: 2021-GS-47-27 thru 31)#
22 November 2021 - DH & JG file for a 'gag order' against Eric Bland.#
23 November 2021 - EB files to dismiss gag order.# 29 November 2021 - DH files a formal grievance with SC Supreme Court Office of Disciplinary Counsel with respect to Eric Bland's comments and conduct.#
30 November 2021 - SLED release the 911 call from MM & PM regarding GS's fall at 'Moselle' on 2 February 2018.#
2 December 2021 - Keith 'Anthony' Cook JR, files a lawsuit against Parker's, AM & Tajeeha Cohen (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500391) [Anthony was MB's boyfriend and on the boat the night of the 'accident'].#
3 December 2021 - RSB (along with others) files a "civil conspiracy/outrage suit" against Parker's and a number of other parties (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500392).#
9 December 2021 - AM indicted with 21 additional charges (6 indictments in Hampton; 2021-GS-47-32 thru 37, 1 in Colleton; 2021-GS-47-38).#
13 December 2021 - AM bond hearing. Judge Alison Lee sets bond at $7 million.# 16 December 2021 - Justin Bamberg of Bamberg Legal LLC announces he is representing Johnny Bush whom AM stole $95,000 from on 9 June 2016.#
20 December 2021 - 2 Indictments in the Satterfield case against AM have been dropped and absorbed into 12 other indictments.#
27 December 2021 - Justin Bamberg tells Fitsnews that PMPED billed a client for £300,000 in fees when they paid his client the $750,000 originally owed. See 27 February 2020 entry.#
29 December 2021 - PMPED partner Daniel E. Henderson files paperwork with the South Carolina Secretary of State’s Office for a new firm located at the same premises in Hampton bearing the name Parker Law Group LLP whilst retaining 8 of the current partners.#

Definitive Murdaugh Mystery Timeline: 2015-2022. Final Update.
Original Timeline - https://www.reddit.com/MurdaughFamilyMurders/comments/qpmq0c/the_definitive_murdaugh_mystery_timeline/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Notes: * Edit from original Timeline. # New entry. [] indicate my comments. Hampton Probate Court has no online records.
Indictments:
AM & CES 4 November 2021 - https://www.scag.gov/about-the-office/news/ag-alan-wilson-announces-hampton-county-grand-jury-has-indicted-alex-murdaugh-and-curtis-smith/
AM - 19 November 2021 - https://www.scag.gov/about-the-office/news/state-grand-jury-issues-indictments-against-richard-alexander-murdaugh-for-breach-of-trust-obtaining-property-by-false-pretenses-money-laundering-computer-crimes-and-forgery/
AM - 9 December 2021 - https://www.scag.gov/about-the-office/news/ag-wilson-announces-state-grand-jury-issues-a-new-round-of-indictments-against-alex-murdaugh/
SC Courts Search:
https://www.sccourts.org/caseSearch/
People:
SS - Stephen Smith (aged 19, found dead on country road, friend of 'Buster' Murdaugh. Mother Sandy, twin sister Stephanie, father Joel Fred Smith who died few months later) GS - Gloria Sattersfield (aged 57, Murdaugh house keeper, died after fall at 'Moselle', sons - Tony Satterfield and Brian Harriot)* AM - Richard Alexander Murdaugh Sr (aged 52, middle son of RM III, ex-lawyer, PMPED) MM - Margaret Murdaugh, AM spouse (Maggie, age 52, murdered at 'Moselle'. b. 15 September 1968, d. 7 June 2021)* BM - Richard Alexander “Buster” Murdaugh Jr (aged 26, eldest son of AM & MM). PM - Paul Terry Murdaugh aka "Timmy" (youngest son of AM & MM, murdered age 22, at'Moselle'. b. 14 April 1999, d. 7 June 2021) RM IV - Randolph Murdaugh IV (AM brother, eldest son of RM III, lawyer, PMPED, suing AM for $43,500) JMM - John Marvin Murdaugh (AM brother, youngest son of RM III, owns farm equipment business) MB - Mallory Beach (aged 19, killed in boating incident on AM's 2006 Sea Hunt at Archers Creek around 2:20 a.m)* RSB - Renee S Beach, Mallory Beach's mother (filed law suits against AM, RM III & BM, Parker's) CC - Connor Cook (Friend of PM, on boat, suing AM for trying to make him the fall guy for boat incident, AM recommended CF to CC) CES - Curtis Eddie Smith aka "Fast Eddie" (age 62, acquaintance of AM, alleged suicide insurance fraud with AM, received many checks from AM. AM represented CES in personal injury suit in 2015 - Colleton, case # 2010CP1500948) JP - John E. Parker (President of PMPED law firm, suing AM for $477,000) CF - Corey Fleming (Attorney for GS sons in suit against AM whom AM recommended. Formerly of Moss, Kuhn & Fleming PA. Law licence currently suspended*) CW - Chad Westendorf (Banker for Palmetto State Bank, acted as attouney for GS sons, paid $30,000 fee since returned.) CBR III - CB Rowe III (Caretakefarm manager at Moselle. Allegedly had fight with AM when fired.) BTB - Barrat T Boulware (co-owned a lot of property with AM, formerly owned 'Moselle') DH - Dick Harpootlian (South Carolina Senator, Attorney for AM and PM) JG - Jim Griffin (Attorney for AM, Managing Partner at Griffin & Davis LLC)
Institutes:
PMPED - Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick, PA law firm. PSB - Palmetto State Bank. BoA - Bank of America. MKF - Moss, Khun and Fleming, PA law firm. SCDNR - South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. SLED - South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. BB&T - Branch Banking and Trust Company and SunTrust Banks. (Truist Financial Corporation)
Others:
'Moselle' - AM & MM's large property with hunting grounds at 4147 Moselle Road, Islandton, SC 29929.* 'Forge' - AM's two BoA accounts: "FORGE" and "RICHARD A MURDAUGH SOLE PROP DBA FORGE".* 'Parker's' - Chain of convenience stores (PM bought alcohol from on the night of the boat accident).*
Timeline:
2015
Timmy becomes PM's alter ego one night at 'Moselle' according to CC. (no date available)*
8 July 2015 - SS found dead on Sandy Run Road around 4am. RM IV calls SS family offering to represent them for free. Timeline of that day and more (this is the very best and I'm not going to plagiarise) - https://www.fitsnews.com/2021/06/25/stephen-smith-case-files-why-was-hampton-teens-death-ruled-a-hit-and-run-in-2015/
11 July 2015 - SS funeral 5pm. Family keeps his casket open so that people could see what they did to him.
22 September 2015 - AM opens “RICHARD A MURDAUGH SOLE PROP DBA FORGE” account with Bank of America in Columbia SC (See Exhibit N, Satterfield suit, Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298, Supplemental Summons filed 6 December 2021).#
7 October 2015 - AM takes a $338,056.14 check which was titled "Proceeds for investment - Deon Martin" and makes it out to 'Forge' (Original injury suit - Allendale County Court, case # 2013CP0300113, Indictment 2021-GS-47-29, Counts 1 & 2).#
15 December 2015 - South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) received a tip from a man, who says his stepson told him that another man “struck and killed Stephen Smith. The caller stated that the reason he was passing this information on was because RM IV told him to call, Sgt. Todd Proctor wrote in his report.#
2016
9 June 2016 - AM takes a $95,000 "Johnny Bush - Structured Funds" check and makes it out to his 'Forge' account. (Indictment: 2021-GS-47-36) [Hampton case # 2014CP2500093 lists "Johnny L Bush" - same person?]#
31 August 2016 - AM takes a $90,000 check with the description "re: Jamian Risher" and makes it out to his 'Forge' account. Also takes $5,504.94 in August or November 2019. (Hampton, case # 2008CP2500020 or 2010CP2500007, Indictment: 2021-GS-47-37) NB: AM later represented him again! - see 31 May2018.#
11 October 2016 - AM takes a $45,000 check which was titled "Proceeds for investment - Deon Martin" and makes it out to 'Forge' (Allendale, case # 2013CP0300113, Indictment 2021-GS-47-29, Counts 3 & 4).#
15 October 2016 - AM takes a $70,000 check which was titled "Structured Settlement - Manuel Santis" and makes it out to 'Forge' (Colleton, case # 2011CP1500764, Indictment 2021-GS-47-31). NB: Indictment has wrong name, should be " Manuel Santiz Cristian" who was an illegal immigrant at the time.#
20 December 2016 - AM sells 'Moselle' to MM for $5. (Colleton County Register of Deeds, Code book page: RB-2493-292 )#
2017
22 April 2017 - PM charged with littering “less than 15 pounds or 27 cubit feet in volume” by a DNR officer at McCalley’s Creek sandbar. He was fined and ordered to appear in court on May 25, 2017. That same day, the court noted a “failure to comply” and issued a “bench warrant/arrest warrant,” records show. (Beaufort, case # 822827
29 May 2017 - PM charged with "purchase possession of beer or wine by a minor" along with 2 friends by SCDNR officers in Beaufort County. Two other friends were charged, both of whom were on the boat the night of Mallory Beach died.* PM paid littering fine of $510 and bench warrant for "failure to comply" was removed*.
29 June 2017 - PM's attorneys (AM & CF) filed for jury trial for the alcohol possession charges. Trial delayed 5 times.
29 September 2017 - PM 'arrested' for 2886-Traffic / Seatbelt violation - Non-criminal.(Hampton, case # 6102P0296594)
3 November 2017 - AM withheld $9.569.30 from Randy Drawdy and made a check out to 'Forge' for the same amount (Hampton, case # 2006CP2500460A, Indictment: 2021-GS-47-32).#
18 December 2017 - PM - Estill Magistrate Court for seat belt violation. (Case # 6102P0296594, Judge Solomons, Algernon Gibson Jr) Fined $25.
2018
2 February 2018 - GS has an accident on the steps outside 'Moselle'. MM makes 911 call at 9:24.38am. PM also speaks to 911 operator. (SLED released 911 call on 30 November 2021)*
26 February 2018 - GS dies in hospital.
28 February 2018 - GS funeral.
NB: No claim for GS's wrongful death was ever filed: As per Bland's suit - Fleming, MKF and Westendorf asserted claims against Alex Murdaugh for negligence resulting in Gloria’s death, Alex Murdaugh admitted that he was at fault.
"Upon information and belief, Alex Murdaugh’s residence was insured by one or more carriers, including Lloyds of London. Upon information and belief, Alex Murdaugh told his insurer that there was no defense to the claim and that the claim must be paid."
Without filing a lawsuit, Fleming, MKF and Westendorf were able to achieve a partial settlement of the claims associated with the death of Gloria from Lloyds of London in the amount of $505,000.00. (That's why I couldn't find a date for one!) and $4.305 million from Nautilus Insurance. Also why there were no dates for CF being appointed attorney for GS's sons or CW being appointed Personal Representative for the Estate of Gloria Satterfield until much later on 18 December 2021.)
Unfiled order appears to bear Judge Mullen’s signature, Bland and Richter have said. (I agree)
4 March 2018 - PM arrested for 243-Traffic / Expired vehicle license (Hampton, Case # 20182410296839).
2 May 2018 - PM court date for expired vehicle licence at Varnville Magistrate Court (Hampton, case # 20182410296839, Magistrate - Carolyn A. Williams).
-- May 2018 - PM sentenced to attend alcohol diversion program (Alcohol Education Program for 29 May 2017 offence)* Charges later dropped after program completed.
31 May 2018 - AM files a suit (Hampton, case # 2018CP2500219) seeking $75,000 on behalf of Jamian Risher whom he had previously represented in two previous suits and stole $90,000 from in 2016! (See 31 August 2016)#
5 June 2018 - PM 'arrested' 2886-Traffic / Seatbelt violation - Non-criminal in Colleton County (case # 20182900006854, Walterboro Municipal Court, Judge Payne, R Morrison M) Fined $25.#
14 June 2018 - PM pays $150 fine for expired vehicle licence as per 4 March 2018.
5 July 2018 - PM charges for possession of alcohol dismissed after successfully completing AEP and record including incident report expunged.*
10 August 2018 - PM 'arrested' 3152-Marine / Exceed catch or size limit on gamefish or sharks, criminal (case # 843882, Colleton County Magistrate, Judge Duffie, Elbert O) Fined $105.#
21 August 2018 - PM charged by SCDNR officers in Colleton County for “exceed catch or size limit on gamefish or sharks”. Paid $150 in fines.
31 August 2018 - AM opens 2nd 'FORGE' account with BoA at the Jean Ribaut Square branch in Beaufort, SC. (See Exhibit O, Satterfield suit, Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298, Supplemental Summons filed 6 December 2021).# 31 August 2018 - AM deposits a $85,000 'Settlement Proceeds' check for Jordan Jinks into his 'Richard A Murdaugh Sole Prop DBA Forge' account (Beaufort case #2017CP0700180, Indictment: 2021-GS-47-35, see also 3 October 2018). #
3 October 2018 - AM deposits a $65,000 'Settlement Proceeds' check for Jordan Jinks into his 'Forge' account (Beaufort case # 2017CP0700180, Indictment: 2021-GS-47-35).#
4 December 2018 - CW as personal representative of GS estate & MKF, PA receives check for $505,000 from Lloyds Underwriters via Community National Federal Bank.
18 December 2018 - CW appointed by the Hampton County Probate Court as the successor personal representative of the Estate of Gloria Satterfield as of 28 March 2018 (signed by Judge Sheila B. Odom)*
19 December 2018 - CW on behalf of GS's ESTATE files for 'Petition for approval of wrongful death settlement' v AM. (was obtained on 13 May 2019 but was never filed - Judge Carmen Mullen).
2019
6 January 2019 - Philadelphia issued a commercial lines policy of insurance, bearing policy number PHPK1926389, to “R. Alexander Murdaugh” (Murdaugh), for the policy period January 6, 2019 to January 6, 2020 (“the CGL Policy”). Philadelphia also issued a commercial umbrella liability insurance policy, bearing policy number PHUB660797, to Murdaugh for the same policy period (“the Umbrella Policy”).
7 January 2019 - CF as per MKF, PA, writes check to "Forge" for $403,500 and signs on AM's instruction and sends to a PO Box No.*
7 January 2019 - CW receives $10,000 check made payable to "Chad Westendorf" and endorsed by Westendorf (BB&T) (Lloyds)
9 January 2019 - AM deposits $403,500 Satterfield check in his 'Forge' account (Indictment 2021-GS-47-30, Counts 1-3).#
23/24 February 2019 - Boat "accident" early am. MB (19) killed - body found a week later. AM & RM III attend hospital. RM III shouts for PM to "shut his mouth", AM intimidates witnesses.
29 March 2019 - MB's mother, Renee S Beach (RSB), files wrongful death suit against GREGORY M. PARKER, INC. a/k/a) PARKER’S CORPORATION d/b/a, PARKERS 55, LUTHER’S RARE) AND WELL DONE, LLC, KRISTY) C. WOOD, JAMES M. WOOD, RICHARD ) ALEXANDER MURDAUGH, RICHARD ) ALEXANDER MURDAUGH, JR, RANDOLPH MURDAUGH, III, Individually and as Trustee of the) MURDAUGH RESIDENCE TRUST 2; and ) The MURDAUGH RESIDENCE TRUST 2. (Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111)
Spring 2019 - BM allegedly kicked out of University of South Carolina School of Law for plagiarism.*
11 April 2019 - AM takes a $12,500 check titled "Est of Blondell Settlement Proceeds" and makes it out to 'Forge'. (Indictment 2021-GS-47-33)#
18 April 2019 - check for $3,800,000 from Nautilus Insurance written.
18 April 2019 - Would have been MB's 20th birthday. PM charged with two counts of boating under the influence causing bodily injury and one count of BUI involving death in connection with Beach’s death in 2019 (Beaufort, case #'s 2019GS0700814, 2019GS0700815 & 2019GS0700816).*
22 April 2019 - CF as successor representative of GS estate & MKF, PA as attorney sent check from Nautilus Insurance. (Reference No 00001257RR, Policy No PU386801, Date of Loss 02/02/2018, Reported date of loss 03/30/2018, Insured RAM, Claims System ID ESCCPRD:1411422, Claims No 10096368, Supplier Invoice Date 04/17/2019, Adjuster Name Amy Coryer-Miller (Nautilus Liability 3)#
6 May 2019 - PM pleads not guilty to the charges relating to boat crash. PM released on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond - passport forfeited and can't leave 14th judicial circuit territory. Mugshot taken in court room with iPhone 7.
13 May 2019 - Judge Carmen Mullen apparently signs a docket numberless 'order approving settlement' for $4,305,000.00 from Brit Syndicates Ltd and Nautilus Insurance to the Petitioner for the benefit of the Estate of Gloria Satterfield with the following breakdown:
Lloyd's Underwriters: $505,000.00 Nautilus Ins. Co: $3,800,000.00
Attorney's Fees (Lloyd's): $168,333.33 Attorney's fees[sic] (Nautilus): $1,266,666.67
[Attorney Fees Total: $1,435,000.]
Total Prosecution Expenses: $105,000.00
Total to Beneficiaries: $2,765,000.00
(NB: Date of injury states 02/28/2018 - that's wrong, see 2 February 2018)*
[Additional: 69. Upon information and belief, while he was awarded attorney’s fees of $1,435,000.00, Fleming did not pay himself $1,435,000.00. Upon information and belief, Fleming instead paid his law firm approximately $666,000 of the approved $1,435,000.00 in fees and paid the remainder to Murdaugh.

• Satterfield suit, Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298, PRIORITY MATTER WITHORAL ARGUMENT AND TESTIMONY UNDER OATH REQUESTEDNOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION FOR SETTLEMENT FUNDS TO BE DEPOSITED AND PAID TO THE ESTATE OF GLORIA SATTERFIELD AND FOR CONTEMPT AND SANCTIONS FOR WILLFUL VIOLATIONS OF COURT ORDERS - filed 5 October 2021.][NB: I cannot find this on the Hampton County Court website, only Fitsnews as a source.]

13 May 2019 - CF as per MKF, PA writes check to "Forge" for $2,961,931.95 and signs on AM's instruction.*
15 May 2019 - AM deposits the $2,961,931.95 Satterfield check into his 'Forge' account. (Indictment 2021-GS-47-30, Counts 4-6). Soon after AM pays off $100,000 credit card bill, gives RM III $300,000 and writes two checks to himself for $610,000 and $125,000. #
13 May 2019 - CW receives $20,000 check made payable to "Chad Westendorf" and endorsed by Westendorf (BB&T) (Nautilus)*
24 May 2019 - MB wrongful death suit amended against AM, BM & Parker's (See Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111, filed 05/24/2019-16:22).#
30 September 2019 - Philadelphia insurance file to contest payout in MB wrongful death suit. (https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18372371/philadelphia-indemnity-insurance-company-v-murdaugh/)
20 December 2019 - PM 'arrested' 2886-Traffic / Seatbelt violation - Non-criminal. (case # 20192411256085)
2020
11 February 2020 - PM - Seatbelt violation - Varnville Magistrate Court (case # 20192411256085, Williams (Magistrate), Carolyn A.) Fined $25.
27 February 2020 - AM takes a $750,000 'Settlement Proceeds' check for Christopher Anderson and deposits it into his "Richard A Murdaugh Sole Prop DBA Forge" account. (Hampton: Case # 2018CP2500285, Indictment: 2021-GS-47-34)#
28 May 2020 - Notice of ADR (Alternate Dispute Resolution) given in Beach wrongful death suit. (Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111, Begin date 05/28/2020-10:43, Completed 09/30/2020-10:43)#
1 May 2020 - Murdaugh's sell 515 Holly Street, Hampton property for $375,000. (source: zillow)*
26 May 2020 - PM traffic ticket - speeding on Adams Run, S.C. (Towing boat 15mph over speed limit)
8-12 June 2020 - RSB, MB's mother, files civil law suits against Murdaugh family and Parkers (convenience store)
16 June 2020 - Boat incident depositions released the week before this date.
23 June 2020 - RM III created a will that gave all of his estate to a trust under his name. The Randolph Murdaugh III Trust is listed as the only beneficiary of his estate. RM IV listed to become personal representative of the trust.#
4 September 2020 - AM files a injury suit on behalf of Johnny Bush (Hampton, case # 2020CP2500354). [Is this the same person whom AM represented in 2016 and stole from? - See 9 June 2016]#
10 September 2020 - Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) was conducted in the form of Mediation in MB wrongful death suit. After 8.5 ADR the case is at an impasse. (See Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111, filed 09/30/2020-09:32)#
5 October 2020 - AM & CF file for dismissal of Satterfield settlement. Judge Carmen Mullen approves.
6 October 2020 - CF as per MKF, PA writes check to "Forge" for $118,000 and signs as per AM's instruction.
6 October 2020 - AM deposits the £118,000 Satterfield check into his 'Forge' account (Indictment 2021-GS-47-30, Counts 7-9).
13 October 2020 - AM answers to Plaintiff's 1st supplemental interrogatories in the Beach wrongful death suit: "Defendant objects to this Interrogatory on the grounds that it is overly broad and unduly burdensome and seeks material that is irrelevant, immaterial, and not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence."#
13 October 2020 - AM answers to Plaintiff's 2nd supplemental interrogatories in the Beach wrongful death suit: as above plus "Further, to the extent this Request seeks documentation reflecting Defendant's net worth, this documentation wouldnot he relevant and/or discoverable until a bifurcated trial on punitive damages."#
16 October 2020 - Motion filed to compel AM & BM to fully respond to Plaintiff’s discovery requests in MB wrongful death suit. ((Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111, Begin date 10/16/2020-16:11)#
22 October 2020 - AM issues a check for $9,085 from his BoA 'Forge' account to CES. 17 checks totalling $155,970 issued between October 2020 to May 2021. Another 254 checks issued to CES from AM's personal account also with BoA. (See Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298, Supplemental summons, Begin Date 12/06/2021-17:03).#
30 November 2020 - AM convinced the personal representative of Sandra Taylor's Estate that recovery would only be $30,000 in her wrongful death suit and therefore he was not going to take a fee. Instead he paid legal fees and minor expenses and then took an 'Estate of Sandra Taylor Settlement Proceeds' check for $152,866, made it out to 'Forge' and deposited it in his "Richard A Murdaugh Sole Prop DBA Forge" account (Indictment 2021-GS-47-38).#
2021
29 January 2021 - AM takes a $125,000 "settlement proceeds" check intended for Highway Patrolman Thomas E. Moore and makes it out to 'Forge' (Orangeburg, case # 2018CP3800565, Indictment 2021-GS-47-27) NB indictment says Thomas L. Moore which is wrong.#
2 February 2021 - AM issues a check for $9,239 from his BoA 'Forge' account to CES.#
5 March 2021 - JP (of PMPED) loans AM $150,000 (see .
10 March 2021 - AM persuades Chris Wilson of Wilson Law Group LLC to write checks for fees of $192,000, $375,000 & $225,000 to AM's 'Forge' account instead of PMPED (Indictment 2021-GS-47-28).#
11 March 2021 - PM received a $105 ticket for boating with an expired fire extinguisher near Shem Creek in Charleston County (AM's 2008 Scout boat)
15 March 2021 - MM endorses an $839.40 check (originally written by Brenda Young for AM's fees) with "For deposit only BoA". Check deposited in AM's 'Forge' account.#
12 May 2021 - A check made out to the legitimate "Forge Consulting, LLC" from PMPED's Client Trust Account for $83,333.33 is issued (Memo on check says, "Est. of Jacob Hershberger Structured Fee for RAM"). AM subsequently deposits this check in his 'Forge' account. (Original case Hampton, case # 2021CP1500165)#
19 May 2021 - JP loans AM $77,000.
28 May 2021 - AM issues a check for $22,109 from his BoA 'Forge' account to CES. Last of 17 checks totally $155,000.#
4 June 2021 - Reported that Mark Tinsley (Beach lawyer) says mediation in the Beach wrongful death suit has failed. Hearing scheduled for 9am, 10 June 2021 in Orangeburg SC.#
7 June 2021 - (Monday) MM (52) and PM (22) murdered at 'Moselle'. Time of death between 9pm and 9.30pm. AM dials 911 at 10.07pm. Call last 6 1/2 minutes. RM IV claims to arrive 15 minutes after AM calls him. JMM claims he arrived 30 mins later (Good Morning America - 17 June 2021). SLED regional agents arrive 11.47pm. SLED Crime Scene agents began arriving on scene at 12:07 a.m.
8 June 2021 - JMM/RM IV find MM's phone before 9am. SLED spokesperson Tommy Crosby says based on the evidence, they do not believe there is a danger to the public 9.20am. Coroner releases bodies.
10 June 2021 - RM III dies from cancer aged 82. MM & PM autopsies. AM questioned by SLED (Hearing for civil suit against AM & BM regarding finances due this date but subsequently postponed - Fitsnews June 15, 2021).*
11 June 2021 - MM and PM funeral service.
13 June 2021 - RM III funeral service.#
16 June 2021 - SLED announced a tip line dedicated to the case. The number is (803) 896-2605.
17 June 2021 - RM IV & JMM give interview to Good Morning America.
21 June 2021 - SLED release redacted police reports for 7 June murder of MM & PM.
23 June 2021 - SLED reopen investigation into the death of SS.
25 June 2021 - AM & BM announce a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of assailants involved in the murders of Maggie and Paul.
7 July 2021 - CC Pre-suit Discovery - Columbia, S.C., attorneys Joseph M. McCulloch Jr. and Kathy R. Schillaci on behalf of Connor Cook, one of five survivors of the crash, alleging a civil conspiracy possibly connecting law enforcement and members of the Murdaugh family. (See Connor Cook V SCDNR, Beaufort's County Sherriff Department & Unknown Others - Richland County Court, case # 2021CP400381)*
15 July 2021 - JP loans AM $250,000.
16 July 2021 - South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) released hundreds of documents related to its investigation of a 2019 Beaufort County boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.
22/23 July 2021 - SLED release AM's 911 call for the night of 7 June 2021 10.07pm after finding bodies of MM & PM and other documents.
6 August 2021 - South Carolina Attorney General’s Office drop charges against PM after getting the official death certificate from Colleton County.
11 August 2021 - 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone has recused himself from prosecuting any cases in the shooting deaths of MM & PM via a letter to South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, after consulting with University of South Carolina Law School Professor Gregory Adams.#
18 August 2021 - SCDNR has released new information it hopes will convince a judge to dismiss the petition in the CC conspiracy filing on 7 July 2021 (Return in Opposition to Rule 27 Petition - Richland, case # 2021CP400381)#
27 August 2021 - AM waives the right to become personal representative for PM's Estate. AM requests RM IV be appointed. (Colleton County Probate Court, case # 2021-ES-15-00333)#
31 August 2021 - RM IV becomes personal representative for RM III's Trust.#
2 September 2021 - PMPED discover AM's "Forge" BoA account. Request for RM IV to act as personal representative to PM's Estate certified in the Colleton County Probate Court (Judge Ashley H. Amundson).
3 September 2021 - (Friday) AM confronted with the information PMPED discovered through its review. AM resigned from PMPED. RM IV loans AM $75,000 "to cover overdrawn bank account to pay workers".
3 September 2021 - PMPED notified the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division of the suspected criminal activity as well as the SC Bar.#
4 September 2021 - AM dials 911 @ 1.30pm and claims to be a victim of a drive by shooting on Old Salkehatchie Road near Varnville. (story later changes and CES alleged to have shot AM in suicide bid/insurance fraud for $10 million) AM transferred to hospital.
6 September 2021 - AM admitted to rehab - releases statement to Hampton County Guardian. RM IV loans AM $15,000 for rehab fees.
7 September 2021 - PMPED issue formal statement saying AM resigned due to misappropriation of funds.
8 September 2021 - AM's licence to practice law suspended by S.C. Supreme Court (Case No. 2021-000974).#
13 September 2021 - SLED confirm they are investigating missing money from PMPED.
13 September 2021 - PSB filed two separate creditor claims against Murdaugh III’s estate totalling more than $935,000. ($617,246.51 for an unsecured commercial line of credit RM III & AM took out on 19 December 2017. $318,075.89. when RM III guaranteed JMM's mortgage in 2014)#
The application for the credit line, signed by Alex Murdaugh on Dec. 19, 2017, said the money would be used for real estate.
14 September 2021 - CES charged with assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Also distribution of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana.
15 September 2021 - SLED opens a criminal investigation into Gloria Satterfield’s (GS) death as well as the handling of her estate.
15 September 2021 - GS's sons file suit against Alex Murdaugh, attorney Corey Fleming, Fleming’s law firm (Moss, Kuhn & Fleming), and Chad Westendorf (Palmetto State Bank) using attorney Eric Bland (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298).
16 September 2021 - BM made Power of Attorney for AM's estate - DH & JG witnesses. DH gives interview to NBC Today says shooting is personal, AM doesn't know who did it and JG & DH are investigating and may have individuals who need more scrutiny.
16 September 2021 - AM arrested and charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and filing a false police report. AM released on $20,000 bond, hands over passport, goes back to rehab. CES released on $55,000 bond.
20 September 2021 - CC files suit against Parker's, AM & BM (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500303)#
21 September 2021 - AM & BM insurance cover denied in MB wrongful death suit. Judge Sherri A. Lydon agreed with the insurance company (Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company) that the underlying allegations of drunken boating didn’t qualify as an insured activity. Nor did Buster Murdaugh meet the definitions of being an insured party in the first place. Also denied for damage to boat via Progressive Northern Insurance Company. (lawandcrime.com 27 Sept 2021)
23 September 2021 - BM, acting as PoA for AM, executed a satisfaction of a mortgage with a face value of $970,354.004 on a 42-acre property located in Hampton and Colleton counties.
27 September 2021 - GS's sons file for arrest and detention of AM until property returned.
27 September 2021 - 'Exhibit D' filed . Exhibit D is the docket numberless "Order approving settlement" in the original Gloria Satterfield insurance case apparently signed by Judge Carmen Mullen on 13 May 2019 (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500298, Begin Date 09/27/2021-10:06 ).*
29 Septmber 2021 - GS's family (Tony Satterfield, Brian Harriot & GS's sister Ginger Harriott Hadwin) interview with NBC’s “Dateline” airs at 9 p.m. ET,#
30 September 2021 - Expiry date of $100,000 reward for information regarding MM & PM murders.
1 October 2021 - BM acting as PoA for AM sells AM’s share in a hunting club called Green Swamp in Jasper County for $250,000 according to Mark Tinsley (RSB's lawyer).
4 October 2021 - CF and HK&F settles with GS's sons.
5 October 2021 - Eric Bland & Ronnie Richter, on behalf of GS's sons, files notice to question Judge Carmen Mullen in videotaped disposition and explain that she handled the Satterfield settlement appropriately and wasn’t involved in a scheme - scheduled 20 October 2021.
6 October 2021 - PMPED file law suit against AM alleging money stolen from firm and clients over a number of years (Colleton, case # 2021CP1500603. Civil Action No.: 2021-CP-15-00603). The filing seeks discovery on where the funds went and if any of it is hidden away. In addition, the firm is requesting to know whether Murdaugh has entered into any agreements that involve future payments related to books, interviews or other publicity.*
6 October 2021 - Eric Bland drops notice to question Judge Mullen and says other information has come to light which proves his case (against AM/CF/CW) and her deposition is not required.
7 October 2021 - RM IV sends letter to Judge Amundsent at Colleton Probate Court citing conflict of interest in being PR to the Estate of PM after a "recent discovery of events" and resigns. Request for JMM to take over as personal representative.#
8 October 2021 - CF placed on interim suspension by Supreme Court of South Carolina.
12 October 2021 - CES interview with New York Times. CES claims AM asked him to shoot AM. Struggle, gun went off, CES fled, threw weapon away.
13 October 2021 - RM IV removed as the personal representative for the estate of Paul Murdaugh.
14 October 2021 - AM arrested in Orlando, Fla. for two felony counts of obtaining property under false pretenses (Satterfield scam).
19 October 2021 - AM bond hearing. Bond denied by Judge Newman pending psychiatric evaluation.*
20 October 2021 - BM and Jared Romero corrected (description of) deed (2021073859) on behalf of AM and BTB.
22 October 2021 - CC files lawsuit against AM & BM asking for a temporary injunction that will stop both Murdaugh’s from “hiding, concealing, misappropriating, selling, encumbering, transferring, impairing the value of or otherwise disposing” of any assets of both Murdaugh’s during the final resolution of the lawsuit (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500303). [NB: actual document has wrong case #]
22 October 2021 - SLED releases AM and passers-by's 911 calls for the 4 September 2021 drive-by shooting/assisted suicide event on Old Salkehatchie Road.
22 October 2021 - Mark Tinsley (RSB's lawyer) filed a motion to freeze AM’s assets in the ongoing MB wrongful death suit (Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111, Begin date 10/22/2021-08:43). In the motion, Tinsley asks the court to appoint two outside parties — attorneys John T. Lay Jr. and former U.S. attorney Peter M. McCoy Jr.*#
25 October 2021 - PMPED reaches settlement with GS sons.*
28 October 2021 - RM IV sues AM for $46,500 $90,000 minus £43,500 in Kubuta tractor and rotary cutter (Hampton, case #2021CP2500357). [20 days past the 30 days RM IV believed he'd be paid back)]
29 October 2021 - AM files a Confession of Judgement admitting he owes RM IV $90,000. [odd as it's not the amount sued for]
29 October 2021 - JP sues AM for a total of $477,000 (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500358).
1 November 2021 - Mark Tinsley (RSB's lawyer) files supplemental memoranda for motion to freeze AM's assets due to JP & RM IV suits against AM (Hampton, case # 2019CP2500111, Begin date 11/01/2021-11:11)#
2 November 2021 - AM files a Confession of Judgement admitting he owes JP $477,000.
4 November 2021 - AM & BM assets frozen. John T. Lay, Jr. & Peter McCoy appointed as co-receivers as per motion filed on 22 October 2021.
4 November 2021 - AM and CES indicted by South Carolina Attorney General's Office - Alan Wilson AG. Indictments, Hampton County:
AM - false claim for payment (2021-GS-25-00478), conspiracy to commit insurance fraud (2021-GS-25-00394), filing a false police report (2021-GS-25-00395). CES - false claim for payment(2021-GS-25-00479), assisted suicide (2021-GS-25-00400), assault and battery of a high aggravated nature (2021-GS-25-00401), pointing and presenting a firearm (2021-GS-25-00397) and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud (2021-GS-25-00399).*
5 November 2021 - John T. Lay, Jr. & Peter McCoy (co-receivers for AM and BM estates) file MOTION FOR EMERGENCY ORDER STAYING ENFORCEMENT OF CONFESSION OF JUDGMENT. (until 29 December 2021)
8 November 2021 - CES due to appear in court on charges of distribution of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana. [No appearance was reported]*
9 November 2021 - AM denied bond for 2nd time by Judge Newman.#
10 November 2021 - DH & JG petition SC Supreme Court for AM bond. Dr. Donna Maddox psychiatric evaluator. AM - Prescribed painkillers for knee surgery 20 years ago.#
11 November 2021 - PSB settle suit with Satterfield family.#
12 November 2021 - AM responds to PMPED suit. Pleads 5th Amendment to paragraphs 4-36 of the complaint (Colleton, Case # 2021CP1500603, Civil Action No.: 2021-CP-15-00603).#
15 November 2021 - AM files motion to end receivership and unfreeze assets.#
16 November 2021 - Eric Bland announces a second and final settlement was reached with attorney Cory Fleming, his former law firm, Moss, Kuhn & Fleming, P.A., and their professional liability insurance carrier in connection with an additional portion of their applicable insurance policy.#
17 November 2021 - DH & JG file motion to dismiss the GS suit against AM as per the 15 September 2021 filing against AM.#
19 November 2021 - AM indicted by Grand Jury for 20 further crimes including forgery, money laundering and computer-related crimes (Indictments: 2021-GS-47-27 thru 31)#
22 November 2021 - DH & JG file for a 'gag order' against Eric Bland.#
23 November 2021 - EB files to dismiss gag order.#
29 November 2021 - DH files a formal grievance with SC Supreme Court Office of Disciplinary Counsel with respect to Eric Bland's comments and conduct.#
30 November 2021 - SLED release the 911 call from MM & PM regarding GS's fall at 'Moselle' on 2 February 2018.#
2 December 2021 - Keith 'Anthony' Cook JR, files a lawsuit against Parker's, AM & Tajeeha Cohen (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500391) [Anthony was MB's boyfriend and on the boat the night of the 'accident'].#
3 December 2021 - RSB (along with others) files a "civil conspiracy/outrage suit" against Parker's and a number of other parties (Hampton, case # 2021CP2500392).#
9 December 2021 - AM indicted with 21 additional charges (6 indictments in Hampton; 2021-GS-47-32 thru 37, 1 in Colleton; 2021-GS-47-38).#
13 December 2021 - AM bond hearing. Judge Alison Lee sets bond at $7 million.#
16 December 2021 - Justin Bamberg of Bamberg Legal LLC announces he is representing Johnny Bush whom AM stole $95,000 from on 9 June 2016.#
20 December 2021 - 2 Indictments in the Satterfield case against AM have been dropped and absorbed into 12 other indictments.#
27 December 2021 - Justin Bamberg tells Fitsnews that PMPED billed a client for £300,000 in fees when they paid his client the $750,000 originally owed. See 27 February 2020 entry.#
29 December 2021 - PMPED partner Daniel E. Henderson fileS paperwork with the South Carolina Secretary of State’s Office for a new firm located at the same premises in Hampton bearing the name Parker Law Group LLP whilst retaining 8 of the current partners.#

I got fed up with no timeline so created one at the weekend - it sort of snowballed and I went down the rabbit-hole. Not sure how this will come out. I don't have links to sources, but I can assure you all that the dates and comments are as correct as can be. If there are any corrections or additions required then please post in the comments and I'll try to amend. Hopefully this will go in the FAQs.
P.S. I'm British so use the dd/mm/yy format, but I've written it 'long-hand' so as not to cause any confusion and I think it's easier to follow anyway.
Abbreviations.
People.
SS - Stephen Smith (aged 19, found dead on country road, friend of 'Buster' Murdaugh.)
GS - Gloria Sattersfield (aged 57, Murdaugh house keeper, sons - Tony Satterfield and Brian Harriot.)
AM - Richard Alexander Murdaugh Sr (aged 52, middle son of RM III, ex-lawyer, PMPED.)
MM - Margaret Murdaugh, AM spouse (Maggie, age 52, murdered at Moselle, rumoured to be separated and saw divorce lawyer.)
BM - Richard Alexander “Buster” Murdaugh Jr (aged 26, eldest son of AM & MM)
PM - Paul Terry Murdaugh aka "Timmy" (youngest son of AM & MM, age 22, murdered at 4147 Moselle Rd - 'Moselle'.)
RM IV - Randolph Murdaugh IV (AM brother, eldest son of RM III, lawyer, PMPED, suing AM for $46,500)
JMM - John Marvin Murdaugh (AM brother, youngest son of RM III, farm equipment (rental?) business.)
MB - Mallory Beach (aged 19, killed in boating incident, Archers Creek around 2:20 a.m, mother, Renee S Beach filed law suits against AM, RM III & BM, Boat - AM's 2006 Sea Hunt)
CC - Connor Cook (Friend of PM, on boat, suing AM for trying to make him the fall guy for boat incident, AM recommended CF to CC)
CES - Curtis Eddie Smith aka "Fast Eddie" (age 62, acquaintance of AM, alleged suicide insurance fraud with AM)
JP - John E. Parker (President of PMPED law firm, suing AM for $477,000)
CF - Corey Fleming (Attorney for GS sons in suit against AM whom AM recommended. Formerly of Moss, Kuhn & Fleming PA. Law licence currently suspended. Made $1.435million in fees - $168,333 in the Lloyd's payout and $1.27million in the Nautilus payout)
CW - Chad Westendorf (Banker for Palmetto State Bank, acted as attorney for GS sons, paid $30,000 fee, fee since returned.)
CBR III - CB Rowe III (Caretakefarm manager at Moselle. Allegedly had fight with AM when fired.)
BTB - Barrat T Boulware (co-owned a lot of property with AM, formerly owned 'Moselle')
DH - Dick Harpootlian (South Carolina Senator, Attorney for AM and PM)
JG - Jim Griffin (Attorney for AM, Managing Partner at Griffin & Davis LLC)
Institutes & Addresses.
PMPED - Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick, PA law firm. PSB - Palmetto State Bank. BoA - Bank of America. MKF - Moss, Khun and Fleming, PA law firm. SCDNR - South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. SLED - South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. BB&T - Branch Banking and Trust Company and SunTrust Banks. (Truist Financial Corporation) 'Moselle' - 4147 MOSELLE RD, ISLANDTON, SC 29929.
Timeline
2015
Timmy becomes PM's alter ego one night at Moselle according to CC. (no date available)
“Alexander Murdaugh d/b/a Forge” account opened by AM at Bank of America.(no date available yet)
8 July 2015 - SS found dead on Sandy Run Road around 4am. RM IV calls SS family offering to represent them for free. Timeline of that day and more (this is the very best and I'm not going to plagiarise) - https://www.fitsnews.com/2021/06/25/stephen-smith-case-files-why-was-hampton-teens-death-ruled-a-hit-and-run-in-2015/
11 July 2015 - SS funeral 5pm. Family keeps his casket open so that people could see what they did to him.
18 December 2015?? - Tip followed up. Original phoned in on advise from RM IV.
2017
22 April 2017 - PM charged with littering “less than 15 pounds or 27 cubit feet in volume” by a DNR officer at McCalley’s Creek sandbar. He was fined and ordered to appear in court on May 25, 2017. That same day, the court noted a “failure to comply” and issued a “bench warrant/arrest warrant,” records show.
29/31 May 2017 - PM charged with "purchase possession of beer or wine by a minor" along with 2 friends by SCDNR officers. (boat involved ??) PM paid littering fine of $510 and bench warrant for "failure to comply" was removed.
29 June 2017 - PM's attorneys (AM & CF) filed for jury trial for the alcohol possession charges. Trial delayed 5 times.
29 September 2017 - PM 'arrested' for 2886-Traffic / Seatbelt violation - Non-criminal.(Case # 610P0296594)
18 December 2017 - PM - Estill Magistrate Court for seat belt violation. (Case # 610P0296594, Judge Solomons, Algernon Gibson Jr) Fined $25.
2018
2 February 2018 - On or around this date GS has accident at AM's Hampton house (515 Holly Street)
26 February 2018 - GS dies in hospital.
28 February 2018 - GS funeral.
NB: No claim for GS's wrongful death was ever filed: As per Eric Bland's suit - Corey Fleming, MKF and Chad Westendorf asserted claims against Alex Murdaugh for negligence resulting in Gloria Satterfield's death, Alex Murdaugh admitted that he was at fault.
"Upon information and belief, Alex Murdaugh’s residence was insured by one or more carriers, including Lloyds of London. Upon information and belief, Alex Murdaugh told his insurer that there was no defense to the claim and that the claim must be paid."
Without filing a lawsuit, Fleming, MKF and Westendorf were able to achieve a partial settlement of the claims associated with the death of Gloria from Lloyds of London in the amount of $505,000.00. (That's why I couldn't find a date for one!) and $4.305 million from Nautilus Insurance. Also why there were no dates for CF being appointed attorney for GS's sons or CW being appointed Personal Representative for the Estate of Gloria Satterfield until much later on 18 December 2021.)
Unfiled order appears to bear Judge Mullen’s signature, Bland and Richter have said. (I agree having seen comparisons on Fitsnews)
4 March 2018 - PM 'arrested' for 243-Traffic / Expired vehicle license (Case # 20182410296839). [My note: 'arrested' date was taken from the court records. I don't think there was an arrest as per normal as it's a traffic violation, but I've used 'arrest' for simplicity]
2 May 2018 - PM court date for expired vehicle licence at Varnville Magistrate Court (20182410296839, Magistrate - Carolyn A. Williams).
-- May 2018 - PM sentenced to attend alcohol diversion program (Alcohol Education Program - AEP). (for 29 May 2017 offence) Charges later dropped after program completed. [cannot find a date]
14 June 2018 - PM pays $150 fine for expired vehicle licence as per 4 March 2018.
5 July 2018 - PM charges for possession of alcohol dismissed after successfully completing AEP and record expunged (hence why no date for arrest/sentencing although charged on 29 or 31 May 2017).
21 August 2018 - PM charged by SCDNR officers in Colleton County for “exceed catch or size limit on gamefish or sharks”. Paid $150 in fines.
4 December 2018 - CW as representative of GS estate & MKF, PA receives check for $505,000 from Lloyds Underwriters via Community National Federal Bank.
18 December 2018 - CW appointed by the Hampton County Probate Court as the personal representative of the Estate of Gloria Satterfield. (which judge OK'd that?)
19 December 2018 - AM "settles" wrongful death lawsuit. CW on behalf of GS relatives v AM. Partial settlement was obtained without a claim being filed.
2019
6 January 2019 - Philadelphia issued a commercial lines policy of insurance, bearing policy number PHPK1926389, to “R. Alexander Murdaugh” (Murdaugh), for the policy period January 6, 2019 to January 6, 2020 (“the CGL Policy”). Philadelphia also issued a commercial umbrella liability insurance policy, bearing policy number PHUB660797, to Murdaugh for the same policy period (“the Umbrella Policy”).
7 January 2019 - CF as per MKF, PA writes check to "Forge" for $403,500 and signs.
7 January 2019 - CW receives $10,000 check made payable to "Chad Westendorf" and endorsed by Westendorf (BB&T) (Lloyds??)
23/24 February 2019 - boat "accident" early am. MB (19) killed - body found a week later. AM & RM III attend hospital. RM III shouts for PM to "shut his mouth", AM intimidates witnesses.
29 March 2019 - MB's mother, Renee S Beach, files wrongful death suit against GREGORY M. PARKER, INC. a/k/a) PARKER’S CORPORATION d/b/a) (Jury Trial Demanded) PARKERS 55, LUTHER’S RARE) AND WELL DONE, LLC, KRISTY) C. WOOD, JAMES M. WOOD, RICHARD ) ALEXANDER MURDAUGH, RICHARD ) ALEXANDER MURDAUGH, JR, RANDOLPH MURDAUGH, III, Individually and as Trustee of the) MURDAUGH RESIDENCE TRUST 2; and ) The MURDAUGH RESIDENCE TRUST 2
Spring 2019 - BM kicked out of University of South Carolina School of Law for alleged plagiarism.
18 April 2019 - CW as representative of GS estate & MKF, PA as attorney receives check for $3,800,000 from Nautilus Insurance.
18 April 2019 - Would have been MB's 20th birthday. PM charged with two counts of boating under the influence causing bodily injury and one count of BUI involving death in connection with Beach’s death in 2019.
6 May 2019 - PM pleads not guilty to the charges relating to boat crash. PM released on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond - passport forfeited and can't leave 14th judicial circuit territory. Mugshot taken in court room with iPhone 7.
13 May 2019 - Judge Carmen Mullen apparently signs a docket numberless 'order approving settlement' for $4,305,000.00 from Brit Syndicates Ltd and Nautilus Insurance to the Petitioner for the benefit of the Estate of Gloria Satterfield. (Date of injury states 02/28/2018 - that's wrong)
13 May 2019 - CF as per MKF, PA writes check to "Forge" for $2,961,931.95 and signs. Soon after AM pays off $100,000 credit card bill, gives RM III $300,000 and writes two checks to himself for $610,000 and $125,000.
13 May 2019 - CW receives $20,000 check made payable to "Chad Westendorf" and endorsed by Westendorf (BB&T) (Nautilus or Lloyds??)
7 July 2019 - Columbia, S.C., attorneys Joseph M. McCulloch Jr. and Kathy R. Schillaci on behalf of Connor Cook, one of five survivors of the crash, alleging a civil conspiracy possibly connecting law enforcement and members of the Murdaugh family - Richland County Court.
18 August 2019 - SCDNR has released new information it hopes will convince a judge to dismiss the petition in CC conspiracy filing on 7 July 2019.
30 September 2019 - Philadelphia insurance file to contest payout in MB wrongful death suit. (https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18372371/philadelphia-indemnity-insurance-company-v-murdaugh/)
20 December 2019 - PM 'arrested' 2886-Traffic / Seatbelt violation - Non-criminal. (case # 20192411256085)
2020
11 February 2020 - PM - Seatbelt violation - Varnville Magistrate Court (case # 20192411256085, Williams (Magistrate), Carolyn A.) Fined $25.
1 May 2020 - 515 Holly Street, Hampton property sold for $375,000. (source: zillow)
26 May 2020 - PM traffic ticket - speeding on Adams Run, S.C. (Towing boat 15mph over speed limit)
8-12 June 2020 - MB mother files civil law suits against Murdaugh family and Parkers (convenience store)
Summer - Boat incident depositions released.
5 October 2020 - AM & CF file for dismissal of Satterfield settlement. Judge Carmen Mullen approves.
6 October 2020 - CF as per MKF, PA writes check to "Forge" for $118,000 and signs.
2021
5 March 2021 - JP (of PMPED) loans AM $150,000.
11 March 2021 - PM received a $105 ticket for boating with an expired fire extinguisher near Shem Creek in Charleston County (AM's 2008 Scout boat)
19 May 2021 - JP loans AM $77,000.
7 June 2021 - (Monday) MM (52) and PM (22) murdered at 'Moselle'. Time of death between 9pm and 9.30pm. AM dials 911 at 10.07pm. Call last 6 1/2 minutes. RM IV claims to arrive 15 minutes after AM calls him (est 10.30pm). JMM claims he arrived 30 mins later. SLED regional agents arrive 11.47pm. SLED Crime Scene agents began arriving on scene at 12:07 a.m.
8 June 2021 - JMM/RM IV find MM's phone before 9am. SLED spokesperson Tommy Crosby says based on the evidence, they do not believe there is a danger to the public 9.20am. Coroner releases bodies.
10 June 2021 - RM III dies from cancer aged 82. MM & PM autopsies. (Hearing for civil suit against AM & BM due this date but subsequently postponed)
11 June 2021 - MM and PM funeral service.
16 June 2021 - SLED announced a tip line dedicated to the case. The number is (803) 896-2605.
17 June 2021 - RM IV & JMM give interview to Good Morning America.
21 June 2021 - SLED release redacted police reports for 7 June murder of MM & PM.
23 June 2021 - SLED reopen investigation into the death of SS.
25 June 2021 - AM & BM announce a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of assailants involved in the murders of Maggie and Paul.
7 July 2021 - Attorney Joe McCulloch jr files petition on behalf of CC alleging several local and state LE officers have knowledge of a conspiracy to cover up boat incident. 100 pages filed - likely depositions released in summer 2020.
15 July 2021 - JP loans AM $250,000.
16 July 2021 - South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) released hundreds of documents related to its investigation of a 2019 Beaufort County boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.
22/23 July 2021 - SLED release AM's 911 call for the night of 7 June 2021 10.07pm after finding bodies of MM & PM and other documents.
6 August 2021 - South Carolina Attorney General’s Office drop charges agaisnt PM after getting the official death certificate from Colleton County.
2 September 2021 - PMPED discover AM's "Forge" BoA account. AM declines to act as personal representative for the estate of Paul Murdaugh. Request for RM IV to act as representative certified in the Colleton County Probate Court.
3 September 2021 - (Friday) AM confronted with the information PMPED discovered through its review. AM resigned from PMPED. RM IV loans AM $75,000 "to cover overdrawn bank account to pay workers".
4 September 2021 - PMPED notified the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division of the suspected criminal activity.
4 September 2021 - AM dials 911 @ 1.30pm and claims to be a victim of a drive by shooting on Old Salkehatchie Road near Varnville. (story later changes and CES alleged to have shot AM in suicide bid/insurance fraud for $10 million) AM transferred to hospital.
6 September 2021 - AM admitted to rehab - releases statement to Hampton County Guardian. RM IV loans AM $15,000 for rehab fees.
7 September 2021 - PMPED issue formal statement saying AM resigned due to misappropriation of funds.
13 September 2021 - SLED confirm they are investigating missing money from PMPED.
14 September 2021 - CES charged with assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Also distribution of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana.
15 September 2021 - SLED opens a criminal investigation into Gloria Satterfield’s (GS) death as well as the handling of her estate.
15 September 2021 - GS's sons file suit against Alex Murdaugh, attorney Corey Fleming, Fleming’s law firm (Moss, Kuhn & Fleming), and Chad Westendorf (Palmetto State Bank)
15 September 2021 - BM made Power of Attorney for AM's estate. DH gives interview to NBC Today says shooting is personal, AM doesn't know who did it and JG & DH are investigating and may have individuals who need more scrutiny.
16 September 2021 - AM arrested and charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and filing a false police report. AM released on $20,000 bond, hands over passport, goes back to rehab. CES released on $55,000 bond.
21 September 2021 - AM & BM insurance cover denied in MB wrongful death suit. Judge Sherri A. Lydon agreed with the insurance company (Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company) that the underlying allegations of drunken boating didn’t qualify as an insured activity. Nor did Buster Murdaugh meet the definitions of being an insured party in the first place. Also denied for damage to boat via Progressive Northern Insurance Company. (lawandcrime.com 27 Sept 2021)
23 September 2021 - BM, acting as PoA for AM, executed a satisfaction of a mortgage with a face value of $970,354.004 on a 42-acre property located in Hampton and Colleton counties.
27 September 2021 - GS's sons file for arrest and detention of AM until property returned.
27 September 2021 - 'Exhibit D' filed . Exhibit D is the docket numberless "Order approving settlement" in the Satterfield insurance case apparently signed by Judge Carmen Mullen on 13 May 2019.
30 September 2021 - Expiry date of $100,000 reward for information regarding MM & PM murders.
1 October 2021 - BM acting as PoA for AM sells AM’s share in a hunting club called Green Swamp in Jasper County for $250,000 according to Tinsley.
4 October 2021 - CF and HK&F settles with GS's sons.
5 October 2021 - Eric Bland & Ronnie Richter, on behalf of GS's sons, files notice to question Judge Carmen Mullen in videotaped disposition and explain that she handled the Satterfield settlement appropriately and wasn’t involved in a scheme - scheduled 20 October 2021.
6 October 2021 - PMPED file law suit against AM alleging money stolen from firm and clients over a number of years. The filing seeks discovery on where the ill-gotten funds went and if any of it is hidden away. In addition, the firm is requesting to know whether Murdaugh has entered into any agreements that involve future payments related to books, interviews or other publicity."
6 October 2021 - Eric Bland drops notice to question Judge Mullen and says other information has come to light which proves his case (against AM/CF/CW) and her deposition is not required.
8 October 2021 - CF placed on interim suspension by Supreme Court of South Carolina.
12 October 2021 - CES interview with New York Times. CES claims AM asked him to shoot AM. Struggle, gun went off, CES fled, threw weapon away.
13 October 2021 - RM IV resigns as the personal representative for the estate of Paul Murdaugh citing conflict of interest after a "recent discovery of events".
14 October 2021 - AM arrested in Orlando, Fla. for two felony counts of obtaining property under false pretenses (Satterfield scam).
19 October 2021 - AM bond hearing. Bond denied pending psychiatric evaluation.
20 October 2021 - BM and Jared Romero corrected (description of) deed (2021073859) on behalf of AM and BTB.
22 October 2021 - CC files lawsuit against AM & BM asking for a temporary injunction that will stop both Murdaugh’s from “hiding, concealing, misappropriating, selling, encumbering, transferring, impairing the value of or otherwise disposing” of any assets of both Murdaugh’s during the final resolution of the lawsuit.
22 October 2021 - SLED releases AM and passers-by's 911 calls for the 4 September 2021 drive-by shooting/assisted suicide event on Old Salkehatchie Road.
25? October 2021 - PMPED reaches settlement with GS sons.
26 October 2021 - RM IV sues AM for $46,500 $90,000 minus £43,500 in Kubuta tractor and rotary cutter. (20 days past the 30 days RM IV believed he'd be paid back)
29 October 2021 - AM files a Confession of Judgement admitting he owes RM IV $90,000. (odd as it's not the amount sued for)
29 October 2021 - JP sues AM for a total of $477,000.
2 November 2021 - AM files a Confession of Judgement admitting he owes JP $477,000.
2 November 2021 - AM & BM assets frozen. John T. Lay, Jr. & Peter McCoy appointed as co-receivers.
4 November 2021 - AM and CES indicted by South Carolina Attorney General's Office. Indictments: AM - false claim for payment, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, filing a false police report. CES - false claim for payment, assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.
5 November 2021 - John T. Lay, Jr. & Peter McCoy (co-receivers for AM and BM estates) file MOTION FOR EMERGENCY ORDER STAYING ENFORCEMENT OF CONFESSION OF JUDGMENT. (until 29 December 2021)
8 November 2021 - CES in court on charges of distribution of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana.

Linda Sherman then 27 years old and mother to a 9-year-old daughter, vanished on April 22nd, 1985 following an argument with her husband. No trace of her was found minus her car parked at the local airport. Five years later her skull appears on the grounds of a Mexican restaurant. Linda's killer and the rest of her body have never been found.
This case is a re-write of my previous work and it's been updated with more information and to better fit my personal standards. I'm not the best with grammar and spelling and if you need to correct I am not offended. I also use initials and redactions to offer a thin layer of protection to friends/family involved. I encourage people to take my work if they wish! I would love credit but that's not my goal. I like to ask that you pretend a family member involved in the cases is going to read whatever you comment. Just a gentle reminder to be sensitive. Lastly, if you like to google cases but are worried about graphic visuals this case is safe.
Key = Upstairs info means any source that is credible and Downstairs Info is any source that is second-hand. LE = Law Enforcement, POI = Person of Interest
7/10/2020\ I noticed Linda did not have a profile on Namus. So, I contacted the regional specialist to see if that was something that could be done. They said after they research it some more they might look into doing that! It is currently 7/15/2021 and I have received no updates nor do I see her in Namus. Feel free to help with this! How will we find her remains if no one knows to look for her?*
The Story
Linda Sue Sherman disappears on April 22nd, 1985 sometime around 6:00 PM. Most of the information we have is based on what Linda's husband says and according to him, Linda came home around 2:00 AM after her work shift. (Depending on the sources the times for the scenario change by a few hours) Donald Edward Sherman (Known as Don Sherman) said the pair had an argument that lasted until around 4:00 AM and it ended with Linda sleeping on the couch and Don sleeping in their bedroom.
That day Linda did not wake to take their daughter P.S. to school. P.S. saw Linda laying on the couch with her face to the back. P.S. has said that it was very unusual that her father took her to school and that her mother didn't wake to even say goodbye and in some accounts, P.S. said that her mother wasn't moving.
With next to few leads her case dwindles until years later on June 28, 1990, when her skull was discovered at a local Mexican restaurant. This also had no leads besides confirming her demise and pointing the investigation in the direction of homicide.
The Story Expanded / Investigation (Usually I split this into segments and break down what LE has done for the case but it just didn't work out for this case!)
April, 22nd, 1985 Linda arrives at her home around 2:00 AM from her work shift and engages in an argument with Don until around 4:00 AM where allegedly she sleeps on the couch and he sleeps in their bedroom. Also, according to Don, the argument had been about her affair. This home is a brick house in Vinita Park sometimes described as a five-room bungalow on a dead-end street, 8300 block of Monroe Avenue. According to the weather history, the daytime high would have been around 80 degrees with an unknown low. The weather was cloudy that day. Sunrise and Sunset were at 5:15 AM and 6:46 PM.
Later that morning P.S. their daughter finds it unusual her mother does not wake nor take her to school. Don takes P.S. to school a chore that he rarely did and went to work. Later that day he returns home around 6:00 PM and according to Don his wife is running late for work and she was angry and antsy. Linda did not phone her older sister F.M. of [Redacted], Missouri and it was their custom to talk on the phone every night. Linda then goes to work around 6:00 PM with no witnesses seeing this event take place. Linda did not report to work and was not seen again. According to Don Sherman, Linda was wearing blue jeans, tennis shoes, a blue jersey emblazed with the number 76.
Don did not report her missing until one full day later on April 24th and it was at the urging of Linda's family did he do so. Don stated that he waited because this behavior was typical for her and pointed out her overnight bag was gone. Investigators did say they had found evidence of some missing items from the home. The weather on this day would have been mostly cloudy, with some wind and some fair spots. The High was 70 with an unknown low but the average was 50.
Linda did have a history of leaving and was having a confirmed by LE affair with a man from her work. This boyfriend had an alibi and was cleared from the investigation. This would have also been the day Linda's car would have been marked as parked over 24 hours at the airport.
Linda's family however were very concerned because while Linda had a history of leaving she had never done so without P.S. Linda did not trust Don Sherman with their daughter as he had made threats to murder the entire family before. Linda's family also knew that Linda had been making plans to secure her independence from Don Sherman. Linda was routing her mail to her sisters and sending her paycheck money there and the family knew she was going to attempt to leave for good and they were aware of Linda's affair. Linda's last paychecks when to her sister's and brother-in-law's house. They kept them unopened for years in a file with all the newspaper clips they could on this case.
The family began making major search efforts on their own and created flyers with 1,000 dollar rewards for information.
One lead was found entirely on a hunch by Linda's brother-in-law S.M. and wife F.M. According to S.M. he thought about a story where the victims car appeared at the airport so the pair headed to the local airport in the evening (St. Louis Lambert Airport) to search the cars and there they found Linda's 1971 Volkswagon Beetle parked in short-term parking. No signs of a struggle and the doors were locked. The family said they could see school books and hat in the backseat of the car. The family was afraid her body would be in the trunk so they didn't touch anything and called for help. They called the airport security and they opened the front compartment trunk but nothing was inside. Allegedly, the trunk had been unlocked. The airport tracked the cars parked longer than 24 hours and this one was marked on April 24th. It is at this time LE suspect that Linda might have met with foul play.
The airport had no records of a Linda Sue Sherman that had left on any airplanes. Linda's family points out the possibility of walking back to the Sherman home from the airport. According to google maps, this would have been a one-hour and thirty-minute walk.
Michael Webb, the Vinita Park Police Cheif becomes the lead investigator for this case. Webb becomes obsessed and dedicated to this case. Starting from the start all over again he interviews everyone that he can. Webb is known to have studied this case in detail up until he died nearly twenty years later on February 4th, 2009. Webb was convinced Don Sherman had been the killer and he wanted justice for Linda and interviewed Don repetitively but no solid evidence ever surfaced even after one of Don't ex-girlfriends allegedly came forward to say that Don confessed to her murdering Linda.
Family and friends involved in the case slowly began to live their lives as the case went cold. P.S. Did not live with her father but moved in with her maternal grandmother and saw Don Sherman only on the weekends. Don became depressed and began to heavily drink he was legally still married to Linda and he attempted to divorce her on the grounds that she was cheating and abandoned him. However, this was overturned, the judge saying they would wait until Linda was able to consent.
No arrests were made in regards to this case but law enforcement did declare Don Sherman as the sole suspect of the case.
The Skull
Five years pass and on June, 28th,1990, a skull was found in Bridgeton, MO, and being held by St. Louis County Medical examiner's office. Two TWA flight attendants make the discovery from their table by the window around noon on a hot Thursday. According to historical weather, the high was 94 with a low of around 70 degrees. The weather was mostly cloudy. Sunrise and sunset were 5:40 AM and 8:31 PM.
The flight attendants chose to have lunch at Casa Gallardo a chain Mexican restaurant. According to an employee of another location, this chain did not use any skull motifs in decorations. In my sources below, you can see this statement is true by an article talking about the closing of the restaurant as it has photos of the inside. This Casa Gallardo is now permanently closed and removed but at the time it was only 7 minutes from the airport the location had been on 12380, St. Charles Rock Road.
The skull was spotted peeking out from beneath a yucca plant in a rocked landscape strip outside. The skull was positioned with the face at the window on the building's east side. Described as an ocher color with dirt lodged in the teeth and jawbone askew.
12:47 p.m. the manager was called over because the flight attendants assumed it was a prank. The manager pulled the blinds and called the police.
The scene is described by the then-police chief W.M. “It’s a very well-manicured area. Plants and gravel and what have you. And the way it was situated, it would give one the impression that you know, somebody put it there so you would see it. During that time period, there was the relocating of a cemetery that was in the area, and a lot of bodies were being exhumed, graves were being moved, so it gives you the impression now that this may be a prank, and there would be no reason to suspect that there was any foul play.” - Unsolved Mysteries Gallery
The LE took photographs and an anthropologist was consulted. They said the bones were of recent origin and female but nothing else could be determined. They did not declare a crime scene as nothing else had been disturbed. The event was classified as 'found human remains'. The LE dismissed the event as a prank. In the area, a local cemetery was being exhumed and moved. There had already been an incident with teens breaking into the area and taking photos of skeletons. Linda's skull was then taken to a morgue and sat on a shelf with no name.
Don Sherman was at the Casa Gallardo that day in the evening after the event. This was one of his favorite drinking spots and he allegedly heard reports of the skull is found. “It was scary. And somebody that put those remains here at the restaurant obviously knew me or knew that I hung out there. We’re not talking about a place that I casually visited. We’re talking about a place that I would visit two, three times a week.” -Don Sherman Unsolved Mysteries Gallery
Only 14 months later, on September 6, 1991, an unsealed envelope arrived Vanita Park Police department. Inside is a flyer from the restaurant dating it to the day the skull was found there. Some sources say it was a Superbowl flyer. One side of it in purple ink sometimes described as rubber-stamped was the sentence. "THE BRIDGETON POLICE HAVE L. SHERMAN'S SKULL." in capital letters.
The LE matched Linda Sherman's dental records to the skull and it was a match. Unfortunately, the letter and skull were both voids of evidence. The letter had even been sent to an FBI crime lab in Washington. The investigation has now ruled a homicide.
Don Sherman and P.S. were informed of the find and match at home. P.S. is now 16 years old and said that her father informed her by simply saying "They found your mom" and then he went to his room. P.S. had to learn of the details later from a cousin.
January 05, 1993, LE seek help from the public by going to the news-press. "All Leads have been exhausted, Lt. Webb said. "but we have reason to believe that there are members of the public who may know something about it." - Police appeal for clues in 1985 Murder by Thom Gross.
Webb was so desperate with any leads he would go to police conventions and pull aside famous detectives. They were not able to help with tips or ideas. When technology advanced enough Webb pursued soil sample tests that were on the skull.
August 20th, 1999 The case and investigation are reopened. Linda's skull is exhumed from a grave near Fulton, Mo. Linda's skull was sent to Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute in Mercyhurst, Pa. The examination was lead by a soil scientist and forensic archaeologist. They hoped the trace evidence will help find Linda's full remains. They also send Linda's skull to the University Of Columbia, Missouri. They concluded the skull had been buried in a large wooded area in Missouri and that the plant matter that was found was common purple morning glory.
Webb sent cadaver dogs to Perryville, Mo where he thought matched the description and a rumor. However, nothing turned up there. This town is outside of St. Louis.
July 01-2nd, 2001 Lt. Webb appears to herald the rerun episode of "Unsolved Mysteries". I highly encourage you to watch this episode as it has interviews with Linda's family, P.S., and even Don Sherman.
Currently, there have been no more leads and nothing to propel this case further. The lead investigator passed away, many of Linda's family pass away and Don Sherman relocated, remarried, became estranged from P.S., and also passed away. The surviving member P.S. relocated and now has her own daughter.
Linda Sue Lutz Sherman
Linda Sue Lutz Sherman is also known as Linda Sue Sherman. Linda does not have alias names but her name is often shortened into Linda Sue. Linda was born October, 19th 1958 in Saint Louis City, Missouri. Linda's death date is listed on her gravestone as April 22nd, 1985. Linda's skull was laid to rest in Steedman Cemetery in Steedman, Callaway County, Missouri. At the time of her disappearance, she was working at the U.S. Government Records Center in Saint Louis, Missouri. It has been renamed at National Personnel Records Center. Linda lived in Vinita Park, Missouri.
Linda is sometimes described as sheltered, quiet, and reserved other times she's described as outgoing, classy, and athletic. She was the youngest of her large, religious and loving family of four older siblings. Linda's family advocated for her in her personal life and after her disappearance. Linda had dark brown hair cut into a popular layered bob style of the 1990s and she wore fashionable makeup of the time.
Linda grew up in Florissant or by some accounts Dadebride Court in Ferguson. Attended McCluer High School in the Saint Louis area. This high school was where she met her future husband Don Sherman.
Married February 10th, 1975, at Christ Memorial Baptist Church, Linda was 17 years old at the time. The wedding theme was powder blue and it was not a large ceremony. Afterward, they went to Noah's Ark Restaurant in Saint Louis, Missouri.
They rented a home next to Linda's parents W.L. occupation of carpenter and E.L. occupation of homemaker. They are both now deceased and buried in the same cemetery as Linda. Later that year Linda gives birth to child P.M.S. around August but is determined to finish her education and relies on her mother to watch P.S. Linda graduated from high school and pursued more education. The couple often worked opposite shifts and this strains the marriage. Linda juggled many jobs over the years; Sears, Site Oil Company, and as a cocktail waitress at the Flaming Pit restaurant.
Don Sherman was upset and jealous of Linda's job at the Flaming Pit and claimed she flirted with men and changed there. The marriage lasted 10 years even with the obsessive nature of Don and physical abuse. “Don was very possessive of her. ‘When I get off of work if I’m not home within five minutes, he wants to know what’s goin’ on, who are you seein’? What are you doin’ out that late?’ He was always hitting her and things just weren’t right.” - D.L. Linda's older brother Unsolved Mysteries Gallery
Linda filed for divorce in October of 1977 and wanted to take them home and sole custody of her daughter. However, they reconciled in 1979 and moved to Vanita Park together into a five-room bungalow a short time after that.
Then in 1980 Linda had a miscarriage or stillbirth and was diagnosed with epilepsy and seizures. The couple chose to not have any more children, something Don reportedly was upset with. This event seemed to be a catalyst for discontentment with the marriage.
1982 The marriage becomes strained again to the point Linda leaves the home into an apartment in Saint Ann, Missouri making sure to take their daughter with her. This year in September Linda files for protection from Don because he had threatened to murder-suicide the family and tampered with Linda's car.
The protection was granted but it didn't last long. One month later Linda wrote a letter to the judge to discontinue it herself as they had reconnected. "Please acknowledge the fact that my husband, Donald E. Sherman, and myself, Linda S. Sherman, are presently working things out," Linda wrote the judge on Oct. 21, 1982. -Body Of Evidence Riverfront Times
After their 10th wedding anniversary Linda planned to leave Don again but this time she wanted to make it permanent and she started to make quiet moves to do so safely. April 11th, 1985 she filed for divorce. F.V. was her attorney. "I just remember her as being very nice, very polite, and an attractive lady," he says. "She was not sophisticated or anything, but I think she was kind of classy... I remember her as having class and being a person of stature." -Body Of Evidence Riverfront Times
In the early months of 1985 before she vanished Linda began to set up her life in such a way as to leave Don Sherman for good. April 11th she filed for divorce with her lawyer F.V. with the intent that the papers wouldn't be served until sometime later.
Donald Edward Sherman
Donald Edward Sherman with no known alias but the name is often shortened to just Don Sherman. Born April 6th, 1957 in Missouri and died May 7th, 2015 at 10:54 AM on Thursday at the Good Samaritan Regional Health Center in Mt. Vernon Illinois at the age of 58 years old. Don has sandy brown hair, one pierced ear, light-colored eyes, caucasian, and often sports beards with styled hair parted in the middle. Older photos show him with darker hair and mustaches.
Don had continued to live in the home he had shared with Linda for nearly 14 years after her vanishment. In that time he had girlfriends and shared the home with them as well. Then he eventually moved and married. We know he lived in Nashville according to his obituary and then eventually Illinois with his new wife S.G. and her children J.G., R.G., and T.G.
In Don's obituary, there is a mention of another daughter but the name is wrong and so is the hometown address. However, I assume this was supposed to mention daughter P.S. On Don's memorial page a virtual candle stays lit and its inscription reads, "One and only daughter".
Don was also survived by 4 grandchildren; J.G., J.G., N.G., and E.G. A brother; K. Sherman of Missouri, and numerous friends. Don had other siblings but I do not know if they passed away or not. R. Sherman of Florissant MO, B. Sherman of Cool Valley Mo, and two sisters B.B/B.J. of St. Charles and lastly. P. Sherman of Florissant.
Don was a manufacturing machinist and built things. Don liked to hunt and spend time with loved ones. Lastly, he was not laid to rest but instead cremated.
Don had many jobs; gas station attendant, manufacturing machinist, and various factory work.
Don was described as controlling, verbally abusive, physically abusive, and very jealous of Linda's family. Linda's brother said he would have fits if Linda and he went out to lunch. During the time of her disappearance, Don was working dayshift at a machine shop and according to him Linda started smoking again, wouldn't be at work when he called or didn't come home after her shifts. A truck driver friend of Don's confirmed an affair after seeing Linda with a co-worker.
Don had wild theories about what happened to his wife and often convoluted the casework with them. Don seemed offended that the police had made him the main suspect of the case but other times seems to accept this. Only one week after Linda's vanishing he told the police that he had seen her in a truck or van with another man and she had ducked out of sight when he chased and yelled. Then on another occasion, he said she had been killed for her involvement in a cocaine ring at her workplace. This was his reasoning for why Linda's skull had been placed at his favorite restaurant because it was there to frame or intimidate him. Don would deflect the topic by saying things like "I don't remember exactly what was going through my head," he says now. "It's way too long ago to remember that." - Body of Evidence by the Riverfront Times.
Don got a lawyer right away after Linda's vanishment and refused polygraph testing. The lawyer was F.A. but it was strange he chose this person as it was the same lawyer that represented his mother in a murder charge. Don's mother A.S. shot her husband on February 25th, 1974 in their family home. A.S. claimed someone was breaking into their house and the murder weapon was found in the air duct. A.S. served 6 months in jail. According to Don both, his parents were alcoholics and that was the real reason behind his father's murder. Don said his choice of a lawyer was simply because he knew him.
Daughter Of Linda and Don Sherman P.M.S.
was born in August of 1976. P.S. is now P.H. of Attica, Indiana. P.H. has blond hair, pale, eyes, is caucasian. P.H. has recurrent nightmares of the last day she had seen her mother. P.H. believes that her mother was already dead that morning when she lay on the couch with her face to the back. Though she is aware her father is the main suspect of this case she still hopes for closure and wants to bring all of her Mother's body home to rest. “In my heart, I think that he might’ve done it. You know, I can’t think of anybody else who would’ve.” -Interview from Unsolved Mysteries.
Theories / Notes / Brainstorms
This section in no way claims or accuses anyone of anything. All people are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The theories reported in this section are exactly that. Just theories and reporting common ideas of the public.
Alex from Unsolved Mysteries posted Linda's case to the Unsolved Mysteries Facebook. In there he expresses his opinion that Don killed his wife plain and simple. Many people agree with him and this is the top and most prevailing theory one even supported by Don's own daughter. Many spin off theories have come off of this main idea with thoughts like; Don had help hiding the body or maybe he threatened his daughter to keep quiet about certain details or information. Motivation theories on why range from jealously, to accidental, to possessiveness.
Speaking of possessiveness while watching the Unsolved Case interview with Don Sherman I found it interesting that he shook his head no over most of what he was saying. Most of the time he used his wife's full name and just seemed overall distant. Strange for someone who was reported to have been so jealous his wife wasn't able to have lunch with her own brother. I hardly imagine a man this intense would be OK with his wife's disappearance and I feel like he'd search for her high and low out of needing to know where she was... unless... he already knows where she is. I got the distinct impression Don was the sort of person that wraps a tiny nugget of truth up into lies. If you watch or think of the case with that idea in mind it could conjure up some interesting theories. Such as he said he thought Linda's skull was placed at his favorite restaurant as a way to intimidate him or frame him. What if that is a half-truth? What if it was done by someone he knew to make sure he had an alibi for when it was found?
Most people were also very convinced that Linda was already dead or dying that morning when P.H. went to school and saw her on the couch. Considering P.H. still has nightmares about this moment it's implied that she agrees with this theory.
Most people agree that the motivation for Linda's skull reappearing seemed to be out of the need to prove her death for their marriage to finally dissolve. Leaving Don legally able to pursue marriage. However, most missing persons are declared dead after a certain period of time. Why the need to speed up this process when the average declared time period is 7 years?
A.N.Sherman is Don Sherman's mother who lived in Bridgeton Missouri and was formerly of Crosstown Missouri. A.S. died June 6th, 1996 at the DePaul Health Center, St. Louis Missouri. Wife of C.K.S. whom she murdered. A.S. has three sons and two daughters.
A.S. lived in Bridgeton Missouri and that is the same town where Linda's skull had been found at Don's favorite drinking restaurant. The Casa Gallardo would have been a roughly estimated 29-minute walk or 4-minute drive from A.S. house.
Also, Linda's car had been found in short-term parking at the Lambert airport. That probably would have been terminals 1 or 2. These terminals are a roughly estimated 5-minute drive or a 30-60 min walk to A.S.'s house. The address A.S. had listed in '93 according to the census is 12001 Farnclar Dr. Bridgeton Mo and it no longer exists due to the airport expansion, which is why I feel it's safe and fair to share this location.
I don't often bring spiritualism into a case but I went to sleep thinking about Linda. That night I dreamt that Don packed Linda's body up into a suitcase and put her in her car and drove her to the airport. It reminded me when I woke up that Don had made it a point to investigators that Linda's overnight bag and items were missing. I wonder how large this bag was and if any other luggage was missing. Anything large enough to hide a petite woman? Linda's car had been found with the trunk compartment unlocked at short-term parking but the car doors locked.
Lastly, it was reported that Don lawyered up very quickly and that he used the very same lawyer that had gotten his mother off on murder charges. Don was asked why he used that lawyer and he said it was because he knew him and no other reason. That lawyer advised Don to never take any polygraphs and it was advice he followed.
Was Linda's favorite color blue? It's a random thought but the outfit she went missing in is blue, the photos she is most often seen in shows her with blue eyeshadow and a blue turtle neck. Also, I wonder what sports jersey she was wearing? Was it a Royals jersey? This is something good to document if we can get her a profile on Namus. If this is indeed the outfit she was murdered in perhaps she was buried in it as well so if her remains are found it could help identify her.
Did Don lie to his new wife about the details of his daughter? Why would his obit have wrong information then and even be included in the obit?
Conclusion
The key to this case is going to be a witness or finding the rest of the body. So, if you have any information or a tip, please call the Vinita Park Police Department in Vinita Park, Missouri, (314) 428-7373 or call Unsolved Mysteries at 1-800-876-5353 (If you call the unsolved it just growls at you. It's now a disconnected number.) Also, if you can please share her story! I know I usually say fliers but this time... she has NONE. I would love to try and get her into Namus or other missing person sites. How can you find a body if nobody knows your looking for it?
Upstair
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13038307/linda-sue-sherman
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/36098283/audrey-naomi-sherman
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10550337/st-louis-post-dispatch/
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/michael-webb-vinita-park-police-chief-pursued-murder-case-foarticle_af4d26e9-195a-5206-ba1c-4bad8557c3c9.html
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/body-of-evidence/Content?oid=2475396
https://peoplelegacy.com/linda_sue_lutz_sherman-3s1L16
https://www.styningerfuneralhomes.com/notices/Donald-Sherman
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/body-of-evidence/Content?oid=2475396
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/michael-webb-vinita-park-police-chief-pursued-murder-case-for-years/article_af4d26e9-195a-5206-ba1c-4bad8557c3c9.html
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/casa-gallardo-bridgeton/Location?oid=2692811
Subscription Sources
https://www.newspapers.com/image/142550372/?article=c7a7e2cd-7ad8-460b-b136-d9822ed3cff7
https://www.newspapers.com/image/142448633/?terms=Bridgeton%20Murder&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/139959485/?terms=Bridgeton%20Murder&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140985747/?terms=Bridgeton%20Murder&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62015879/st-louis-post-dispatch/

Daily compilation of important posts from Superstonk and GME.
[History]
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Superstonk

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1. Elliott Waves, GME, The S&P 500, The Beginning Of The End 🚀
   
2. $GME Daily Discussion
   

News Media

1. Robinhood says retail trading is slowing down - I think they mean everyone transferred out of their app.
   
2. 1st Delivery at York, PA facility in the books…onwards!!!
   
3. There is a diamond pick axe destroying a Market Makers building brick by brick in the preview of the Moonjam event in Minecraft - all credit to u/dotadewk who found the image and posted in the jungle sub
   
4. No caption needed...
   
5. Bwahahahahaha. Good luck Girl!
   
6. The Daily Stonk 07-19-2021
   
7. Looks like covid’s back on the menu.
   
8. Last Tuesday: Goldman Has "Aggressively" And Quietly Liquidated A Quarter Of Its Equity Investments
   
9. How the is this allowed, on NASDAQs own site no less? MSM = Mass Shill Media
   
10. DOW headed for it's worst day of the year since... January 27th and 29th... 🤔
    
11. Morgan Stanley reporting an upcoming market correction
    
12. Any information ℹ️ ?
    
13. Mayo has been mentioned so much they believe Heinz is getting hyped.
    
14. This is just getting ridiculous now 🤣
    
15. -726 points and it’s the beginning.
    
16. Inflation Alert! Extreme and deadly floods close rail lines in Europe for months or longer and Union Pacific suspends inbound international container shipments to Chicago for a week.
    
17. Kenny's own kids had to lawyer up. That's all the confirmation bias I need.
    
18. US Bank Corporate Banking System is down
    
19. Just so you all know
    
20. Uh oh, Robinhood has halted trading again! MOASS is a coming!
    
21. Ya don't say? 🤣🤣🤣 I think we already know.
    
22. Daily DDs/News/Discussions Compilation - July 19, 2021
    
23. Sound familiar?
    
24. Ah yes, that pesky delta variant...
    
25. Trading is a tough game.
    
26. If anything is the catalyst, I think the Cloudstar ransomware attack might be it
    
27. Fed Releases Public Sections of Required Resolution Plans for 8 Banks: "Resolution plans describe the company's strategy for rapid and orderly resolution under bankruptcy in the event of material financial distress or failure." Plans were due 7/1/21 👀
    
28. Ray Cohen is at it again!
    
29. Heatmap for the S&P 500, Dow Jones, Russell 2k, and The Nasdaq: 8:16am PST
    
30. Lol when was it agreed upon the dow dropping (now) 800 points today was because of covid fears?
    
31. We are reaching levels of mental gymnastics that shouldn’t even be possible
    
32. GameStop isn’t associated with their own verified esports account… yet..? Is this something to ponder?
    
33. Margin Calls Go Out at 2PM? BULLISH!
    
34. GME is literally the best hedge against a market crash! BUY & HOLD 🚀
    
35. FREDDIE MAC (mortgage backed securities) STILL DOWN NEARLY 50%
    
36. Jimmy asked for someone to step up, I did, and I’m still waiting for a response. Link in comments - blow up his Twitter to answer me
    
37. $98 billion wiped from crypto market. What the heck is happening?🚀🚀
    
38. FINRA Data: The combined debit balances of American margin accounts (the amount of $ owed to a broker or lender to buy securities) hit an all-time high of $882 Billion in June. Up 2.4% from $861 billion in May.
    
39. ⌚Never thought I would see GME in a luxury watch article: What Is A Beater, Anyway? "Depending on your lifestyle, tax bracket, and GME exit strategy, a beater can be a Casio F-91, a Seiko SKX007, or a Rolex Submariner."
    
40. So now they're trying to say that we're the ones manipulating it lmao what
    
41. Apes don’t need social validation. Apes find comfort in being doubted 🦍🙌🧠
    
42. Someday, the post-pandemic equities rally is going to end. When it does it will take a lot of newly christened stock bulls with it.
    
43. Nice try CNBC. 😏😂 BUY & HODDDDDLLLLL!!!!!!
    
44. Eviction moratorium - ending July 31 and is the "final 30 day-period". It appears they will not be extending it and millions could lose homes.
    
45. Bear Sterns is fine
    
46. Well, this didn’t age well from 6:05am this morning
    
47. SS finally making it’s way yo MSM. Doesn’t matter... BUY. HOLD. 💎 🙌🏼
    
48. Lol
    
49. I don't fully understand yield curves but this seems like a massive red flag for the market.
    
50. Oh... I had no idea! 🤦‍♂️
    
51. Guys, the VIX is breathing.
    
52. So many shills, morons, drama queens and ssholes on this sub - BUT we are not fcking leaving because this is OUR home 💪💎⚡️⚡️
    
53. Moonjam to be hosted by Minecraft YouTube superstar Shubble and professional wrestling and entertainment personality Booker T 🚀 🚀 🚀
    
54. Where is my GME @cnbc?
    
55. The morning sell-off in stock futures is accelerating with Dow futures now down 450 points
    

DD

1. How I explained the Gamestop saga to family and friends by summarizing all the DD about GME since 1/2021 in an easy-to-understand way: in the epic battle between reports by mainstream media VS online crowdsourced research regarding naked short selling of Gamestop, there can only be one liar.
   
2. The Chicken or The Egg: Why speculation regarding hyped dates and action by Ryan Cohen are wrong. The MOASS will be triggered by a market wide flash crash 🚀🌙
   
3. When Kenny Sneezes the Market Has a Seizure, Part III: got 99 problems and a GLITCH ain't one — Going Cross-Eyed with Crossed Markets
   
4. Saved DD History STRICTLT GME / GameStop / Superstonk Apes Wanted it You Get it... Lots and Lots of DD, Discussions / ULTIMATE DD COMPILATION as per request
   

Possible DD

1. PG-13
   
2. GUTOF! Connecting the Dots...
   
3. GME has a striking similarity to volatility linked ETFs. This fuels my confirmation bias and it should yours as well 💎🙌
   
4. RC new tweet? Talks of Dividends? Stock Splits? Let me present to you the old theory of a ‘RC Kill shot’ seems plausible now.
   
5. Max Pain Theory
   
6. "The underwriters may also sell shares in excess of their option to purchase additional shares, solely to cover over-allotments, creating a naked short position."
   

Education Data

1. 🔴Daily Reverse Repo Update 07/19: $860.468B🔴
   
2. CONGRATS APES, WE OWN A FUCKTON OF GME -- RH had $4.1 billion of assets transferred out by ACAT in Q1 2021, that is $3.7 billion higher than normal. This was approx. 206k accounts lost/$12.6 million in ACAT fees.
   
3. There's a rising post which shows the 10 biggest Dow Jones point drops in history, but what it should show is the ranked % drops. Here is that information.
   
4. Market, wut doing?
   
5. This is the step by step transaction, thank you u/criand in his latest DD, that shows how HF fill FTDs with option buy-writes.
   
6. Data Alert! Eight firms were required to submit targeted resolution plans by July 1: Bank of America Corporation; The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation; Citigroup Inc.; The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Morgan Stanley; State Street Corporation; and Wells Fargo & Company.
   
7. I CAN'T HEAR YOU: Closed with 2.3 Mil volume! That's 3rd lowest YTD and only 2 of the lowest 10 days were before the past 30 days!
   
8. Diamantenhände 💎👐 German market is open 🇩🇪
   
9. Update on DOW.
   
10. 19/07/2021 - GME Bloomberg Terminal information
    
11. I haven’t seen this posted today so here you go. 3 to 1 buy vs sell today on fidelity.
    
12. 10-Year Treasury Yields, and why it matters: Smooth Brain Edition
    
13. Why VIX going up is good (maybe): a short explanation for illiterates
    
14. GME Volume by Exchange 7/19
    
15. This is what a Starmine short squeeze score look like for a normal stock like MSFT vs GME in the last 5 years
    
16. Someone needs ca$h...
    
17. Wut doing?
    
18. FTDs: Fuck The Deliveries ( A visual guide )
    
19. YOU MEMBER? 🚀🚀🚀 Floor is $36,869,821 💎🙌
    
20. 10 year update - 1.17% going lower. Keep your eye on this. The lower this goes, the worse things are for the markets.
    
21. I smell blood in the water.
    
22. I think I see what RC did in the share dilution.... a T+21 push out
    
23. A few abnormally large darkpool trades we missed (June 10, 25)
    
24. Crypto taking a dump currently.
    
25. Why are you guys so worried about a market crash? It's not like we're overvalued or something.... oh wait..
    
26. It bears repeating: the minuscule volume we’re seeing in this movement should be keeping your tittaaays permanently jiznacked. That is all. 🚀 🌙
    
27. TaxMyTendies.com update and other goodies! Oh My!
    
28. Increase to Minimum Clearing Fund Cash Requirement - OCC
    
29. βeta as a measure of risk and volatility; Smooth Brain Edition
    

Discussion

1. When shills are wrong about their guess of 140 EOD KEKW Byebyeeeee
   
2. NEW RC TWEET: Not PG-13🎬…..PG. 13📖 As in Page 13 of the GME Prospectus. The page that talks about “Units”. And oh yea those chopsticks….usually you split those apart when you open the package=GME STOCK SPLIT???🤔
   
3. Oh F#ck, You're Gonna Make Me GAMMA -- A Brief Post Looking Ahead
   
4. For Newcomers, this should be the first thing their eyes hit. Especially for people that are completely new to Reddit (I think that percentage is going to explode soon)🟢🚀👍🏻
   
5. I just finished the new PBS documentary on the Federal Reserve. This little snippet was striking, and just such a great picture of why Citadel and friends are taking the risks they are - it is ingrained in their thinking that there will always be a bailout of they lost a big bet.
   
6. Premarket is already looking good, y’all
   
7. PG13 of the GameStop prospectus
   
8. Jerkin it with Gherkinit S5 E1 Live Charting and TA for 7/19/21
   
9. VIX wut doing👀? Interesting day ahead? Or is it still manipulated?🤔
   
10. Some juicy confirmation bias for you. Saw this graph showing the 10 largest drops in the Dow Jones this year. Checked against the chart, and every single date (with the exception of June 18th) coincided with an imminent (or current in a few cases) price spike for GameStop. Buy. Hold. 🚀
    
11. Puts Options FAR OTM From a Small Selection Represent a Bare Minimum Of 868,902,550 Shares
    
12. GME News Digest - 07/19/2021
    
13. Potential scam? Potential data break? More Robinhood shenanigans?
    
14. Since LinkedIn awareness is probably scaring the SHFs, we should work out how best to share information in other networks without spamming/brigading/colluding
    
15. Cloudstar posted this on Thursday. On Friday they were ransomware attacked, shutting down large parts of the Real Estate, Financial Services, and Petrochemical Industries. A little too ironic?
    
16. If GME drops below 100 today, MOASS may be imminent
    
17. A market crash will trigger MOASS
    
18. Banks just tightened lending standards for home mortgages - could this be another sign of impending bank failures and/or market crash?
    
19. PG13 Dr. T’s book. Don’t lend out your shares because you won’t get the dividend
    
20. HERE'S OUR PROBLEM - AND SOLUTION
    
21. Nothing to see here. 🙄
    
22. Minehut text decoded: Looks like someone ordered a package to the address below (:
    
23. Alexis Ohanian, MC Hammer, and The Future of Gaming
    
24. None of the other ex-mods were banned
    
25. Can we talk about VIX for a second? With all the drama over the weekend, I didn’t see a single post about how VIX skyrocketed in the final minutes of trading on Friday. I’m just a smooth brain. Anyone have a clue why it did this?
    
26. Is this normal? Buyers and sellers seem to just disappear. Volume dropped off and price goes sideways at 11:24am. Is something about to happen or market just decided to take a nap?
    
27. Can we show only DD by default
    
28. Chart I made as an attempt to compensate for the ATM. I went to check how it was doing and noticed this pattern. Mmm...Sweet confirmation bias!!
    
29. Theory for wrinkled Apes to opine on. RC tweet “PG-13” & the T+13 ETF FTD cycle from the Russell rebalance.
    
30. Filing of SR-NSCC-2021-009
    
31. Can we get some clarification on this post/information? I haven’t found anybody so far that can explain what the ‘score’ is based off, how it ranks to the rest of the market, how Jan effected the data, etc… Not enough questions being asked IMO
    

Question

1. That is a lot of red at the opening bell. Could this be the start of the catalyst?
   
2. What's that last sentence about?
   
3. Can you dumb dumbs look at new before posting the same shit over and over. Jesus it takes five seconds.
   
4. MoonJam Ocean Explorer UPDATE: I started getting deeper, and somewhere roughly around 1500-1600 on the position tracker, that transmission showed up. Roughly another 1600 clicks out, the second one showed up. I haven't found anyone else posting or talking about these messages yet.
   
5. All the British banks websites went down or are currently down today. If you go to downdetector.com you can scroll through and see each bank on there. Possibly coincidence. Any thoughts on why?
   
6. 6 shares traded at $10 below bid ask spread? Nothing to see here.
   
7. Bellboy here, reporting on the final bell. As you can see they are cheering for all the red that is on the screen! The catalyst, what is the catalyst?
   

GME

Pinned 📌

• GME Megathread for Tuesday - July 20, 2021

News Media

1. This brutal fake MSM should be punished by LAW. WHERE the f...ck is law enforcement when we talk about MSM??? Simply nonsense. What will happen next time? They will write this " the poop is killing the rich with digital weapons!!!" ???
   
2. I remember someone saying they would try to blame the crash on the new variant and BAM like clockwork 🤣
   
3. Citadel has worked their first Saturday shift in all of my 2 months of hourly monitoring. Those puts and sub migration must have been a pain to deal with. Luckily all I need is buy and hold!
   
4. Oh no!! Anyways, - weekend recap for Apes who are coming in late!
   
5. My first LinkedIn post ever, first Facebook post in 6 years. SHF don't want people to know. Make it known!
   
6. Corno Live Thread 7/19 - The Fourth Great Age
   
7. National emergency by monday? Cant close loans? Ransomware attack? 🧐
   
8. You hear that Bezos?
   

Social Media

1. They are getting even more desperate xD
   
2. Update on the margin call news going around..
   
3. Interesting observation. GGs
   
4. Heads Up: Margin Calls are common, but I've never seen a warning sent out like this. Not to spread un-do hype, but it piqued my interest.
   

DD

1. Puts Options FAR OTM From a Small Selection Represent a Bare Minimum Of 868,902,550 Shares
   
2. Jerkin it with Gherkinit S5 E1 Live Charting and TA for 7/19/21
   
3. GME has a striking similarity to volatility linked ETFs. This fuels my confirmation bias and it should yours as well 💎🙌
   
4. Melvin Capital recently disclosed buying lots of SeaWorld Entertainment. It gapped down and ended -8.5% today. Reopening trade reversal might be a margin call catalyst.
   
5. How the Insanely Wealthy Avoid Paying Taxes: Wolters Kluwer & WMB Holdings
   

Debunked

• PG 13? The only 13 page SEC filing lately is the 8K from 6/9. Could it be?! Tits jacked!

How To

• GME Prepper

Discussion

1. I think we all feel their pain
   
2. Fidelity Job application..
   
3. So, I was looking at Insider Trading Data....
   
4. That shithead Warden deleted all his social media, reddit and youtube accounts today after he predicted GME goes to 140. I found this very sad and tragic series of posts on another sub. This is exactly why you do your own fucking DD and stop listening to these children.
   
5. Why Selling on the way down Is FUD
   
6. Margin Calls Incoming? How long to find collateral?
   
7. Alright you Apes, since we’re getting close to the end, it’s time you read this 7 year old comment before 33% of you kill yourselves after the squeeze.
   
8. VIX up 28% already today
   
9. Proof HFs didn't close in January - Distillate Capital Partners Q2 2021 Investment Letter
   
10. Mod from this sub commented this, can someone explain me why selling on the way down is fud? Sorry am smooth brain not trying to witch-hunt...
    
11. Regarding /SuSt's pin: There have not been notable calls to violence lately. Nor has there been an uptick in "harrassment"—suspecting shillery is not harassment, and no one is upset at Madie, whose persona we don't think even exists IRL. The latest pin is FUD from shill mods. BEWARE. DIVERSIFY.
    
12. Just a reminder that the market falling could be a good thing for gme
    
13. I just finished the new PBS documentary on the Federal Reserve. This little snippet was striking, and just such a great picture of why Citadel and friends are taking the risks they are - it is ingrained in their thinking that there will always be a bailout of they lost a big bet.
    
14. GameStop V Amazon
    
15. ~30% Increase of the VIX index today ! Market is red, crypto is red and GME is (a bit) green. Everything’s fine for ape
    

My frustration is rising at students and families who refuse to see any danger. I work in a district in PA that has been hybrid since Day 1 in August. We’ve had 2 stretches of virtual time due to high cases / exposure. The great bulk of the faculty / staff has gotten immunized in the last 6 weeks. With the students, it remains a constant battle to get them to wear masks right, especially over the nose.
Almost 2 weeks ago, the school board surprised almost everyone and voted to stay in hybrid for the remainder of the school year. We are the only district in our county staying hybrid. That led to a flurry of community activity to get the decision reversed. This past week, the road to school has been lined with signs calling for ‘Full Send’ (mostly in front of a house that still has all of its Trump regalia in place, so make of that what you will), and our principal carved out half an hour of professional development time to effectively warn us of what was coming.
Last night, a student used the school email system to forward a petition for reopening. It was replete with grammatical and capitalization errors, which makes us all look bad, but that’s a small matter. A student in one of my classes forwarded it; this particular student missed ALL of last week. I am particularly frustrated by students and parents who don’t grasp what this will actually do. When this passes on Monday ( that’s our next board meeting, and I’m a realist), the admins will probably be able to have any full return delayed until after Easter. That would put it at April 6. I would argue that there will be an outbreak and we will be back to virtual by April 23 - and I have fellow faculty members telling me that’s optimistic.
Sorry to vent to those who have had a far worse year.

"We are deeply concerned by reports of election irregularities, politically motivated arrests, and violence during Tanzania’s elections last week." - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, irony murderer

We'll Always Have Harris

Nearly 98 million Americans have already voted, the president has laid out his plan to throw their ballots out, and a host of people who understand how democracy works have firmly replied, “lol, no”: Happy Election Eve.

• A final round of swing-state polls fell in line with every generation of polls before it, finding Joe Biden solidly (if not invincibly) ahead. So naturally, Donald Trump has decided that the ballot-counting in states like Pennsylvania should stop whenever it looks like he’s winning: “We're gonna go in, the night of, as soon as that election's over, we're going in with our lawyers.” On Sunday, a balloon with a goatee drawn on it Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller suggested that counting all of the votes would amount to stealing the election for Biden. (It bears repeating that Republicans, who claim to simply want a speedy result, also made sure Pennsylvania couldn’t begin processing mail-in ballots until Election Day.)
  
• One tiny snag here: Donald Trump saying stuff is not how elections get decided. States have never reported a winner on election night. Pennsylvania’s attorney general made clear that Trump can yell whatever he wants, but every eligible vote in Pennsylvania will be counted. The Biden campaign has been preemptively getting the word out that “under no scenario will Donald Trump be declared a victor on election night,” and The Media has now had AMPLE TIME to prepare to REACT APPROPRIATELY so it would be PRETTY WEIRD if any political journalists FUCKED THIS UP.
  
• “But what about the courts,” you ask, panic-sweating through your third shirt of the day. There’s reassuring news there, too. After voters in Harris County, TX, (a heavily Democratic area) had been casting ballots via drive-through for over two weeks, Texas Republicans went to court seeking to have those nearly 127,000 votes tossed out. The Texas Supreme Court rejected that ludicrous effort on Sunday, and an extremely right-wing federal judge took a hard pass on Monday, saying the plaintiffs lacked standing: “For lack of a nicer way of saying it, I ain’t buying it.” If that judge ain’t buying it, Trump’s chances of getting the courts to throw out votes after November 3 start looking a whole lot slimmer.
  

There’s still the small matter of making sure those votes actually arrive in time to be counted.

• The Postal Service reported another drop in on-time ballot delivery on Sunday, for the third day in a row. Only 62 percent of central Pennsylvania’s ballots moved in a timely manner on Sunday, and ballot processing scores (the measure of how many ballots were moved on time) in most swing states dropped below 90 percent. On Sunday night Judge Emmett Sullivan ordered the USPS to use its “extraordinary measures” policy to ensure it “delivers every ballot possible by the cutoff time on Election Day.” (Dons fifth shirt of the day.)
  
• There is also the small matter of, um, “the country might explode.” Things are getting a little scary out there. On Friday in Texas, a caravan of Trump supporters aggressively surrounded a Biden campaign bus and rammed into a Biden staffer’s car; Donald Trump later celebrated this. Trump supporters also blocked traffic on major highways in New York and New Jersey on Sunday. In Georgia, Democrats had to cancel a planned rally due to a “large militia presence” drawn by Trump’s visit. We can’t control what nutjobs in MAGA hats do this week, but it might ease your anxiety to know that no matter what stunt Trump tries to pull, progressive groups have worked out a plan of action.
  

Before all hell breaks loose on Tuesday, take a moment to consider what you’ve helped accomplish over the last four years. We have come into this election with so much momentum, organization, and determination that Republicans are fecklessly scrambling to get ballots thrown out in Texas. There’s still plenty of work to be done until the moment the final polls close, and if we all step up to turn out every last voter, we’ve got this. One more day.

Look No Further Than The Crooked Media

You have the right to vote fairly and safely. But, if you run into any issues or problems while voting, you can call the national or state voter protection hotline. Maybe make it a contact on your phone, we'll wait. ⁣All done? Save this graphic and post it to your social media accounts to help spread awareness for Election Day!

Under The Radar

President Trump suggested at one of his superspreading rallies that he might fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after the election, after Fauci told the Washington Post that the U.S. “could not possibly be positioned more poorly” for the fall and winter. Here’s just a glimpse of what Trump has personally contributed to that poor positioning: A Stanford University study estimated that Trump’s rallies were directly linked to at least 30,000 infections and 700 deaths—and that’s before Trump went into campaign overdrive during the last few weeks of accelerating outbreaks. In the great tradition of ending one’s campaign by killing a few more people closer to home, Trump reportedly plans to hold an indoor election-night party at the White House, with some 400 guests. Apropos of nothing, this is a great article on how Trump set the stage for a catastrophic White House outbreak (from the reporter who made that outbreak public), and this is another on how we might still learn more about the White House cluster through genetic sequencing.

What Else?

A few handy things to keep at your fingertips, and share far and wide on Tuesday: These are the states that allow Election Day voter registration, this is every voter protection hotline, this is when to expect results in each state, and this is a list of good cheap wines.
Police in Graham, NC, used pepper spray on people who were peacefully marching to the polls on Saturday, just to finally tie these “violence against protesters” and “voter suppression” storylines together.
Trump stranded his rally attendees in the cold for a third time, straining the very limits of symbolism. Congrats to the Trump campaign on finding the most on-brand possible way to save some money, though!
Trump allies have consistently blown past Facebook’s election misinformation guardrails, if you can believe it.
Kyle Rittenhouse was extradited to Wisconsin and made his initial court appearance today. His bail has been set at $2 million.
Two gunmen at Kabul University killed at least 22 people and wounded 22 others. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, in spite of having been wiped off the planet entirely by Donald Trump.
Prince William had coronavirus back in April and didn’t tell anyone, cementing his long-suspected status as the Khloe Kardashian of the royal family.
You knew masks work, but now there is a Magic Schoolbus-style visualization to prove it.
Friendly’s Restaurants has filed for bankruptcy and put itself up for sale. Rival chain Worsening Hostility’s, on the other hand, absolutely thriving.
Sean Connery, the first and best James Bond, has died at age 90. (Too soon?)

Be Smarter

Black Mississippians have had to contend with ramped up voter suppression to vote in an election with major race issues on the ballot. Mississippi is the only state in the country where the GOP-controlled legislature didn’t give citizens any option to vote early in person or by mail in the middle of a pandemic. Voters will have to wait in line on Election Day and risk coronavirus exposure to vote for Mike Espy, who could become the first the Black senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction, to replace a sitting senator with a history of racist remarks. Mississippi voters will also be deciding whether to replace a confederate symbol on the state flag, and whether to strike down a Jim Crow-era law that effectively prevents any Black person from winning statewide office. As coronavirus cases surge, higher-risk Black voters in particular will have to decide if it’s worth risking their health to cast their vote—an unacceptable choice in a functioning democracy. No matter what happens on Tuesday, we’ve got ourselves a broken system to fix.

What A Sponsor

Today, as cities contemplate reopening and rebuilding their local economies, Lyft has expanded its Jobs Access Program to provide access to rides and additional job search support through Goodwill and United Way in 20 major cities. A ride — whether it's on a Lyft bike, scooter, or rideshare — can go a long way towards supporting an individual’s economic mobility and recovery. In the first year of the Jobs Access Program, Lyft provided nearly 20,000 rides through its partners.
The program focuses on three key interventions in the employment pipeline that are critical to individual success, and where transportation can play a major role:

• Rides to/from job training programs
  
• Rides to/from job interviews
  
• Rides to/from the first three weeks of employment, until individuals receive their first paycheck and begin to pay for their own transportation
  

Whether you’re in need of a ride or you want to donate and support others, the Jobs Access Hub makes it easy to take action. Qualifying individuals can use the Hub to see if a ride is available, and if so, Goodwill or United Way will distribute the ride credits.
LyftUp is Lyft’s comprehensive effort to expand transportation access to those who need it most. Through LyftUp, Lyft partners with leading nonprofits to help provide access to free and discounted rides to individuals and families who lack affordable, reliable transportation.

Is That Hope I Feel?

The Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit against Black Lives Matter organizePod Save the People host DeRay Mckesson, sending the case back to state courts.
Just about everyone but white men is demonstrably fired up in Georgia.
Beyhive voter turnout is now assured.
Hope is active. Hope is about making something happen. Hope is picking up one more volunteer shift.

Enjoy

100% Goats on Twitter: "* 1 goat video attached *"

March 25: Trump makes baseless attack on nurses, claims they are stealing equipment. Not only is there no evidence, but the explanation for increased usage is straightforward: During a pandemic *all* hospital workers (janitors, techs, foodservice employees, etc.) need PPE – not the case otherwise.
March 26: US death count is now over 1,100.
March 27: $2 trillion stimulus package signed into law (official document / breakdown of spend / chart). Key points: Unemployment insurance extended, individuals gets a small one-time payout ($1,200 per person or less), small businesses get up to $2 million in forgivable loans (but not really…) if they keep people on their payroll, a dedicated bailout for the airlines (with those who donated to Trump getting first dibs), and a $4.5 *trillion* fund for big business (leveraging the $454 billion in the bill as credit for a greater fund) – to be doled out by Secretary of the Treasury, with Inspector General oversight). Trump immediately vows to remove that oversight (official Signing Statement), which would violate the law. He makes good on this promise on April 7th.

• Note: Trump reportedly said he would reject a bailout package if it included aid to keep the US Postal Service functioning.
• Note: A month later, the mayor of San Juan says that of the 88 million payments that went out, not a single one went to Puerto Rico.
• Note: The US Catholic church may be the largest recipient of federal coronavirus aid, with as much as $3.5 billion.
• Note: American Indian tribes are slated to receive $ 8 billion, but instead receive $0.

March 29: US death count is now over 2,400. Trump Thrilled That Coronavirus Is Boosting His Press Conference Ratings
March 29: Trump says he expects 100,000 US deaths, and that 200,000 deaths would still indicate we’ve done a ‘good job’
March 30: “I haven't heard about testing in weeks. We've tested more now than any nation in the world. We've got these great tests.... I haven't heard about testing being a problem."
March 30: Trump bizarrely blames hospitals for mask and ventilator shortages. Definitely part of a larger trend.
March 30: Trump repeatedly claims (at least four times) “We inherited a broken (covid-19) test.” The virus did not exist before he took office, so (of course) there was no test then. The faulty initial test for the coronavirus was created during Trump's administration, in early 2020, by the CDC.
March 30: Asked about the expansion of mail-in voting (with so much of the country in lockdown), Trump says Republicans would ‘never’ be elected again if it was easier to vote.
March 31: Trump, when asked why the US is not testing (per capita) as many people as South Korea, “It’s very much on par.” It’s not. Embarrassingly so.
March 31: “I know South Korea better than anybody. It’s a very tight. Do you know how many people are in Seoul? Do you know how big the city of Seoul is? 38 million people. Bigger than anything we have. 38 million people all tightly wound together.” Seoul has just under 10 million people. Wonder where that came from?
April 1: Journalists are skipping Trump’s daily coronavirus briefings, citing a lack of information and an abundance of campaigning.
April 1: US death count is now over 5,000. 1,000+ people are now dying per day, over twice the rate of the flu – and death rates are still doubling every 3-5 days.
April 2: Pence Denies Trump Ever Downplayed the Coronavirus
April 2: Networks refuse to carry Trump’s daily coronavirus press briefings, saying they have little news value and are basically campaign rallies.
April 2: The Labor Department announces that 6.6 million Americans filed jobless claims through the end of March, bringing the two week total to 10 million. Trump responds “It’s not like we have a massive recession…”
April 3: Trump fires the Intelligence Inspector General, the watchdog who sparked the impeachment process, who publicly states he was fired for doing his job. Even Republican leaders are asking for an explanation.
April 3: Jared Kushner, taking a greater role in managing medical supply chains in response to the virus, declares that stockpiles of much-needed supplies (PPE, ventilators, etc.) governors were requesting to help with the coronavirus pandemic aren’t meant for the states (video), but instead for private corporations that will sell them to the highest bidding states. Four days later it comes out that Feds are seizing PPE directly from hospitals, with hospital leaders unable to get answers as to where the PPE is going. Some in Congress believe it is going to Trump’s allies. They prioritized tips and bids from close Trump associates rather than experienced/legitimate vendors, which predictably led to some bad deals.
April 3: Trump orders PPE manufacturers to stop shipping to other countries. 3M publicly rebukes him (official statement) and ignores the order, and Canada’s Prime Minister threatens retaliation.
April 3: From this point forward, at least 10,000 people in the US will die from the virus each week. The following week more than 15,000 will die, and the week after that more than 19,000 will die.
April 4: Governors confirm that Trump is selling PPE to private companies (McKesson Corp., Owens & Minor, Cardinal Health, Medline Industries, etc. These companies receive an antitrust waiver on Saturday, so they can coordinate pricing (to maximize profit) across state lines.
April: The Trump administration pays a bankrupt company with zero employees $55 million for N95 masks, which it's never manufactured. Why? Likely, that company is going to buy masks from the seized federal pool for $0.64 each and sell them to the government for $5.00+ each, using the profit to pay outstanding company debts. Since the money repays a "debt", it cannot be feasibly recovered in the future since it has already been paid to someone else (guy that loaned the company his own money, Trump's buddies, Russians etc.) Being loan repayments, the payouts are difficult to legally prove are "kickbacks."
April 4: Only one official has been fired over the virus – the captain of an aircraft carrier who pleaded to let his infected ship dock so his infected men could go into isolation. The captain tests positive for the virus. The secretary of the Navy flies 8,000 miles to Guam to publicly humiliate the captain over the carrier’s PA system, and is forced to resign a couple days later. By April 12th, over 600 sailors will be infected before the ship is (mostly) evacuated. 850 will be infected in total. The first sailor from the ship will die on April 13th. Captain Crozier will be restored to duty on April 24th.
April 5: Administration officials are telling reporters that, with his corona policies, ‘Trump is killing his own supporters’.
April 6: Trump cuts off Dr. Fauci during a briefing when he attempts to answer a reporter’s question about Hydroxychloroquine; a White House meeting erupts afterward where Dr. Fauci is attacked for disagreeing with the president. Trump’s enthusiasm for the drug is reported to be from Dr Oz. and Rudy Giuliani. Trump’s information is incorrect. Two weeks later the FDA will issue warnings on the drug as ‘serious poisoning and death’ reported, and that patients receive no benefit and have a higher death rate taking hydroxychloroquine for the virus.
April 7: Trump effectively removes the stimulus oversight role by replacing the Inspector General with a loyalist. This gives Trump unfettered access to, through Secretary Mnuchin, dole out $4.5 Trillion (more than the *entire* Federal budget) to whoever he wants.

• Note: In normal times replacing two Inspector Generals (the IG of Intelligence on April 3rd and the IG for Stimulus on April 7th) for overtly self-interested reasons would be a national scandal.

April 7: Trump publicly states that he is considering cutting off US funds to the World Health Organization, saying they “missed the call” and were months late warning about the virus (WHO warned that the global risk from SARS-CoV-2 was high on January 23rd, and declared a global health emergency on January 30th).
April 7: Two more Republican Senators found profiteering on Inside corona info - Senator Perdue (R – GA) bought $185,000 in PPE stock and that Senator Burr (R – SC, the guy who told his donors to sell) also sold shares in a company just before sanctions were imposed that crushed the stock price.
April 8: Wisconsin holds their in-person Democratic primary during lockdown, with extensions for mail-in / absentee ballots being rejected by the Republican WI legislature and the US Supreme Court. Over a million people applied for ballots, but most were not even sent to voters by election day, particularly in “blue” counties. There were very few open polls: Milwaukee, for instance, has 600,000 people and *five* polling stations (down from 180). Wait times were over four hours as polls opened, and increased as the day went on. In addition to being obvious voter suppression (“'One of the Most Brazen Acts of Voter Suppression in Modern Times'”, per the US Supreme Court dissenting opinion), it will result in the direct & unavoidable outcome of more COVID-19 cases and deaths. Ironically, the Republicans in the WI legislature and the WI Supreme Court voted absentee to make this decision because they determined that it wasn't safe to meet in person to vote on it. This is considered to be a trial run for the election in November. The debacle backfires for Wisconsin republicans, who fail to hold onto a key state Supreme Court seat.
April 9: Trump denounces mail votes as corrupt – before admitting he applied for one (and ignoring that there is over a century of precedent). Most Americans want mail-in ballots; Trump admits he is against them because more inclusive voting is bad for Republicans. Trump lies about voter fraud while his own CDC encourages mail-in ballots and voter support for mail-in ballots continues to increase.
April 9: The Labor Department announces that another 6.6 million Americans filed jobless claims through April 3rd, bringing the recent total to 16.8 million. Trump boasts about stock market gains.
April 9: Pence's office says it will block experts such as Dr. Fauci from appearing on CNN until the networks agree to televise the portion of the White House briefings that include the president / vice president. Reverses course when called out.
April 10: Trump tweets about ratings for his coronavirus press briefings for the 3rd day in a row as US death toll surpasses 18,000 and unemployment nears 17 million.
April 10: Trump claims unconstitutional power to overrule state stay-at-home orders, as falling re-election polls drive him to want to prematurely re-open the economy.
April 11: Chief medical officer on the White House's coronavirus task force, Dr. Deborah Birx tells administration officials that the virus would most likely soon go away
April 11: New York Times publishes major article on Trump’s handling of the virus. Trump is enraged.
April 11: The Postal Service announces bankruptcy by September without assistance (above, Trump explicitly banned $13 billion for the USPS in the stimulus package). Voices from all sides proclaim that the Post Office must remain viable. His motivation seems to be (seriously) jealousy of Jeff Bezos.

• Note: The Post Office operates at a significant disadvantage due to the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA), which some have taken to calling "the most insane law" ever passed by Congress. The law requires the Postal Service, which receives no taxpayer subsidies, to prefund its retirees' health benefits up to the year 2056. This is a $5 billion per year cost; and a requirement that no other entity (private or public), has to make. Lots more detail here and here. You can’t have mail-in ballots if you don’t have mail… … not that Trump has a solid understanding of absentee / mail-in ballots, anyway.
• Two weeks later Trump says he will stop congressionally approved funding (by the way, what he was impeached for) if the Post Office doesn’t immediately raise prices (“The Post Office should raise the price [of package delivery] four times.”) This, of course, would make them uncompetitive with UPS and Fed-Ex. Also, raising prices requires approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission (independent from the Post Office), so the “immediate” part of his request is (in addition to being dumb and destructive) impossible. Just hours after threatening to let it doe, he vows to 'never let our Post Office fail'.
• On May 7th, Trump appoints ally and top GOP fundraiser, with no previous Postal experience, to lead the Postal Service.

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April 11: Trump shows that he still doesn’t know the difference between bacteria and a virus; says ‘germ is so brilliant antibiotics can’t keep up with it’ in chaotic White House briefing – describes the virus as ‘very smart’, ‘a brilliant enemy’, and ‘a genius’, on same day more than 2,000 US citizens die.
April 13: Trump claims he has “total” authority as US president and insisted he had the power to lift coronavirus restrictions despite the nation’s constitution leaving such rights to state governors. Constitutional experts disagree. The CDC and FEMA warn of a significant chance of resurgence. Even Fox News anchors see the problem.
April 13: Governors respond by pointing out that the United States is not a monarchy, that they will ignore any orders to re-open while they feel it’s unsafe, start to form regional alliances to coordinate their respective reopening, publicly state they expect no further help from the federal government, and organize secret flights to bring masks and gloves from China out of fear Trump would seize them (unfortunately, this doesn’t always go well.)
April 13: Networks continue to not cover or to cut away from his press briefings; CNN cuts away from this one with the chyron “Angry Trump turns briefing into propaganda session”. MSNBC cut away as well. Coverage of the briefings has changed from covering the news around the virus to covering Trump’s increasingly crazy antics.
April 13: Number of diagnosed cases of the novel coronavirus: 555,371, though experts believe the real number is far higher due to under-testing. Number of deaths: 22,056, though experts believe the real number is far higher because of people who die at home or have their deaths misclassified (in mid-May, Dr. Fauci says the same.) Number of newly unemployed: 17 million, though experts believe it's likely higher because so many laid-off workers were unable to file for unemployment.
April 14: Trump cuts off US funding to the World Health Organization, says "I am directing my administration to halt funding while a review is conducted to access the World Health Organization's role in severely mismanaging and covering up … the spread … of the coronavirus," While the largest contributor to the WHO’s budget, the amount he is stopping is less than half of what he has spent on golf outings since becoming president… during which time (3+ years) he has failed to appoint a US Representative to the WHO.
April 15: Trump delays printing of Stimulus checks to get his name printed on each one.
April 15: It’s revealed that Senate Republicans snuck a $90 billion tax cut for millionaires into the stimulus package. Over 43,000 US millionaires will get ‘stimulus’ averaging $1.6 million each. “For those earning $1 million annually, a tax break buried in the recent coronavirus relief legislation is so generous that its total cost is more than total new funding for all hospitals in America and more than the total provided to all state and local governments,” Billionaires are now $280 billion richer since the start of the pandemic.
April 15: Trump threatens to adjourn both chambers of congress (allowable under the constitution only under conditions that are not met) to unilaterally install judges and political nominees - something no president has ever done. There is little doubt where this is coming from.
April 15: Protests against stay at home policies occur in several states are organized by an group linked to the DeVos family and guns rights groups. Fox defends even the fringe protesters. And there are a lot of them. Less than 24 hours after stating that the decision to ease restrictions was up to governors (and just two minutes after Fox News airs a segment on the protests) Trump tells protesters to ‘Liberate’ their (democrat) states and lends support to the protesters. Governors accuse Trump of encouraging ‘domestic rebellion’; and experts agree. Protests will continue and expand over the next few weeks, with increasingly bad elements at many rallies, leading to fears of violence.
A few weeks later, 72 people in Wisconsin test positive after attending one of these 'large gatherings'… and Michigan’s governor warns Pence that anti-lockdown protesters are spreading the virus to rural areas.
April 15: White House snubs Azar, installs Trump loyalist Michael Caputo as Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson.
April 16: The Labor Department announces that another 5.2 million Americans filed jobless claims in the week ending April 10th, bringing the four week official total to 22 million, or 13.5% of the labor force.
April 17: Trump calls for reopening America’s gyms (germs?) one day after call with SoulCycle’s owner, who happens to be a big supporter that recently had a Trump fundraiser. A big one.
April 18: Trump ridicules social distancing at Air Force Academy commencement as 'Politically Correct'.
April 18: Trump boasts he likely saved ‘billions’ of lives in a nation with 330 million people.
April 19: Trump brands FBI top brass ‘human scum’, calls CNN reporter ‘brainless’, and says he’s ‘not a fan’ of Mitt Romney in freewheeling press conference.
April 20: Trump tweets that he will, through executive order, ‘suspend immigration’ into the U.S – parroting Fox News talking points. The USCIS has been closed since March 18, 2020, so practically this was already in effect.
April 20: Government Accountability Office (GAO) launches 30+ separate coronavirus Stimulus related audits, striving to bring accountability to fund dispersal.

A common definition of "undue" is referred to as "more than is reasonable or necessary". A legal definition of "undue" refers to "exceeding or violating propriety of fitness". A common definition of "hardship" is "something that causes pain, suffering or loss". A legal definition of "hardship" is "The severity with which a proposed construction of the law would bearupon a particular case, founding, sometimes, an argument against such construction, which is otherwise termed the "argument ab inconvenienti". The combinations of these terms, with regards to Plaintiff's case, and the positive form of this appeal to consequences highlights a very simple truth; if forced to pay back his student loans Plaintiff would face an inevitable burden of growing debt that would not allow him to "get out from under it", or sustain a minimal standard of living for any duration of the life on the loans, regardless of the prescribed repayment methodology, which itself could likely result in an undue hardship, as well.
See, e.g., In re Skaggs, 196 B.R. 865, 868 (Bankr. W.D. Okla 1996). If repayment of the student loan would prevent the debtor from satisfying ordinary and necessary living expenses so that the debtor could not effectively "make ends meet," this would be an undue hardship.
Also see (Correll v. Union Nat'l Bank of Pittsburgh (In re Correll), 105 B.R. 302, 306 (Bankr.W.D.Pa.1989)), "[w]here a family earns a modest income and the family budget, which shows no unnecessary or frivolous expenditures, is still unbalanced, a hardship exists from which a debtor may be discharged of his student loan obligations."
When Congress created the undue hardships code for discharging student loans in bankruptcy there was no uncertainty about what it meant to make payments on a student loan, and throughout the past three (3) decades Congress has continued to update and provide development with respect to the bankruptcy codes, all the while having full peripheral knowledge of the development of various income-driven repayment plans, Congress has not changed the original 1978 language of the dischargeability of student loans for "undue hardship" under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8).
We can safely believe that Congress did not foresee or intend that the development of income-driven repayment plan to be considered as a factor in determining "undue hardship". In Re Bronsdon, 435 B.R. 791 (1st Cir. BAP 2010). The Brondson court recognized, as have all other courts, that participation in a long-term payment plan is not mandatory and a borrower should not be denied an undue hardship discharge based solely because he is not persistently enrolled in a plan or did not enroll in one in the past.
Plaintiff had enrolled in an income-driven plan, after multiple efforts to enroll were denied by the loans service provider Navirent, and he did so in an effort to find the necessary means possible of sustaining his loan payment obligations -to no avail. Plaintiff simply cannot sustain his student loan payments, nor is he currently able to sustain a minimal standard of living based on his current income, as reflected in his unbalanced monthly budget in his Chapter 7 bankruptcy case herein.
In the last quarter-century, education costs and student loan debt have increased exponentially. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 1980 and 2010, the cost of college increased at a rate approximately five times the rate of inflation. While the current Bankruptcy Code allows discharge of student loans upon showing "undue hardship", Congress has, in some regards, continually failed to provide clear definition of the term "undue hardship", with regards to it's use within 11 U.S.C § 523, thus leaving the entire judiciary system susceptible to constant evolving opinions, and sometimes conflicting interpretations of how "undue hardship" ought to be measured.
The fact of the matter is that Congress has continually evolved the laws surrounding the governance of student loans in bankruptcy over the past three decades, Congress uses the term of "undue hardship" across other bankruptcy code sections that deal with the reaffirmation and dischargability of consumer debt, as student loans are in fact a consumer debt, and have provided a presumption to guide bankruptcy courts in applying the undue hardship standard (aside from any measure used that is not found within the legal language). See 11 U.S.C. § 524(m)(1): …it shall be presumed that such an agreement is an undue hardship on the debtor if the debtor's monthly income less the debtor's monthly expenses as shown on the debtor's completed and signed statement in support of such agreement required under subsection (k)(6)(A) is less than the scheduled payments on the reaffirmation debt. This test created by the presumption appears to look solely at the debtor's income and expenses in relation to the repayment requirements with regards to undue hardship.
The Tenth Circuit observed "the phrase 'undue hardship' was lifted verbatim from the draft bill proposed by the Commission on the Bankruptcy Laws of the United States." ECME v. Polleys, 356 F.3d 1302, 1306 (10th Cir. 2004). The Commission Report describes "undue hardship", as follows (Report of the Comm'n on the Bankr. H.R. Doc. No. 93-137, Pt. II § 4-506 (1973): In order to determine whether nondischargeability of the debt will impose an "undue hardship" on the debtor, the rate and amount of his future resources should be estimated reasonably in terms of ability to obtain, retain, and continue employment and the rate of pay that can be expected. Any unearned income or other wealth which the debtor can be expected to receive should also be taken into account. The total amount of income, its reliability, and the periodicity of its receipt should be adequate to maintain the debtor and his dependents, at a minimal standard of living within their management capability, as well as to pay the education debt.
However, even with regards to presumptively clear directives to appropriate the measuring of the standard of "undue hardship", interpretational gloss has lacked both consistency and certainty in determining what truly constitutes as an undue hardship for a debtor in a bankruptcy case involving student loans.
Sadly, many debtors have been forced to prove that their life has to be "totally incapacitated" or that they have a "certainty of hopelessness" in order to discharge their student loans in bankruptcy.
Todays graduating students are not only faced with the heavy and unreasonable debt needed to fund their education, but they are also competing for jobs on a global market.
With regards to an attempt at uniformity, the majority of circuit courts have adopted the Brunner Test to evaluate "undue hardship", named after the 1987 case. While significant changes to student loan borrowing, specifically with relation to the weighty increased costs of attending, have long evolved the behaviors of modern borrowers since the adoption of the Brunner Test standard, the recent changes to § 523 and student loan programs have long rendered the Brunner Test obsolete, and compel consideration of a new approach.
The callousness of the Brunner Test can be understood simply as a relic of its times based on both the Judiciary and Congress's theory that student loan borrowers would abuse the bankruptcy system by submitting impetuous filings. Although, the judiciary assumed the interpretation without Congressional directive and added "good faith" to the Brunner Test, despite the lack of any contextual basis for it in § 523. See (In re Brunner, 46 B.R. 752, 755 (S.D N.Y. 1985), the "good-faith" requirement carries out the intent of § 523(a)(8) to "forestall students…from abusing the bankruptcy system".
An empirical study has recently been published that identifies current statistical demographic characteristics about the average debtor that seeks discharge of student loans through bankruptcy, which clearly debunks the validity of this Congressional and Judiciary theoretical concern of the 1970's, and that those same concerns lack both the relevancy and validity in todays student loan borrowing arena as well.
In fact, there is no statistical data, or scientifically evaluated evidence that would even suggest that, or point out trends that identify student loan borrowers are, or have abused the bankruptcy system. On the contrary, we see the majority of student loan borrows that file for bankruptcy not even attempt to discharge their student loans in their bankruptcy cases, and for the majority that do attempt to discharge their loans through bankruptcy, they are subjected to a very basic violation of The United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4; uniformed laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States.
While Congress, presumably, has been ineffectual in modifying necessary changes to the bankruptcy codes in recent years, two recent bankruptcy cases indicate that the judiciary might, in incremental fashion, be reintroducing a debtor's ability to discharge student loans without forcing debtors to live up to the historical unreasonable interpretations and expectations of the Brunner Test. Specifically, in 2013, the Seventh Circuit and Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) issued decisions that were critical of Brunner in Krieger v. Educ. Credit Mgmt. Corp., 713 F.3d 882 (7th Cir. 2013) and Roth v. Educational Credit Management Corp. (In re Roth), respectively. Krieger and Roth have further supported a decade long circuit split on the Brunner majority.
The assault on the Brunner supremacy began in 2003, when the Eighth Circuit decided Long v. Educ. Credit Mgmt. Corp. (In re Long), 322 F.3d 549 (8th Cir. 2003). Instead of forcing the debtor to climb the Brunner mountain, the Long court provided a more lenient path, analyzing the totality of the circumstances, including (1) the debtor's past, present and likely future financial circumstances; (2) his/her reasonably necessary living expenses; and (3) any other relevant facts and circumstances.
Wetmore v. Markoe, 196 U.S. 68, 77 (1904), the overarching purpose of the Bankruptcy Code is to provide a "fresh start" for the honest-but-unfortunate debtor.
Initially in his academic pursuits PLaintiff was falsely promised unachievable goals in exchange for signing his student loans. By being provided misleading statistics about employment opportunities, given false salary prospects and lied to about the selectivity of the program, Plaintiff unknowingly was forced to spiral into a decade long journey to find meaningful credentials necessary for sustaining a minimal standard of living and paying off his student loan debt.
At the time of enrolment into culinary school Plaintiff not only lacked the basic reading and writing skills necessary to interpreting the legal contents of the contracts and loan agreements, but the school also preyed on Plaintiff's vulnerability of his recent struggles with homelessness by informing him that the program would "project him into a bright and prosperous future." Plaintiff was told he would "easily earn a the salary upon graduation needed to pay back his loans and live well."
Plaintiff experienced significant difficulties with finding work after graduating culinary school, and was only able to sustain entry-level positions that did not require a culinary degree to obtain.
Plaintiff claims that the individuals that provided the private loans he used to fund culinary school to be predatory lenders that actively engaged in academic extortion because they knew full well that student loans are nearly impossible to discharge in bankruptcy and any repayment modification would only be provided after a debtor has sustain a series of deferments and forbearances that would ultimately capitalize any outstanding interest, thus driving profits through the roof.
It cannot be viewed as rationally sound, or justifiable for a lender to operate on the assumption that an uneducated and homeless individual is capable of sustaining payments for a loan of over $40 thousand with an initial interest rate of 17.9% to attend a program that did not have a history of graduating students immediately into positions of employment with the necessary wages needed to sustain a basic standard of living and make the minimum monthly payments required to avoid inflated fees associated with the loans default and capitalized interests.
The onset of the burden for Plaintiff to repay his student loans after graduating from culinary school triggered symptoms of his post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuires and drove him to once again consider suicide as a means or relieving himself from the lifelong burden of his private student loan debt. Not only did the program fail to produce Plaintiff with the skills needed to become a chef, but also sending him into a career field saturated with "culinary graduates" that were acquiring jobs that didn't require culinary degrees.
Plaintiff has presented compelling factual evidence throughout this RESPONSE that show he meets the criteria for the Brunner Test (Brunner v. New York Higher Educ. Servs. Corp., 831 F.2d 395 (2d Cir. 1987)), regardless of how outdated and callous it may be, Plaintiff fully meets the criteria for the Brunner Test, for example: (1) Based on Plaintiff's current income he cannot maintain a minimal standard of living if forced to pay his student loans, and in the event his income changes it will likely still render him incapable of sustain a minimal standard of living; (2) Plaintiff's current state of affairs have persisted throughout his life, with specific regards to his financial circumstances, but his social, physical and psychological limitations he lives with as a result of his diseases will remain for the duration of his life, and his violent felony record will continue to impose barriers on him for the duration of his life, thus rendering this circumstances to continue for an unforeseen amount of time, and (3) Plaintiff has attempted to make payments on his loans throughout the years when he was financially able to do so, he has continually attempted to acquire employment that would increase his annual income to a satisfactory manner of affording him the ability to sustain a minimum standard, he attempted to gain the necessary credentials necessary for sustaining a career that would afford his minimal standard of living and loan payments, he has exhausted his forbearances and deferments options for many of his student loans, he enrolled qualifying loans into an income-driven repayment plan but removed them due to a potential for long-term financial burdens they impose, and he continues to live a very frugal lifestyle without accruing any unreasonable expenses outside of those needed to sustain a minimal standard of living; all indicative of a very sound and meaningful "good faith effort".
Plaintiff's has made every effort possible to "make ends meet", but he is still unable to sustain a minimal standard of living, even without paying his consumer debts.
Plaintiff's suffers from traumas that have significantly altered his social, physical and mental wellbeing. The traumas that he has suffered throughout childhood that continued through adulthood and have significantly impacted his abilities in many of his basic life functions.
In addition to both the psychological and physical impacts of the traumas Plaintiff endured throughout his life, Plaintiff also has lifelong limitations from his Traumatic Brain Injuries that will always present challenges for his overall mental health. Additionally, Plaintiff has suffered several near death physical injuries that have imposed lifelong limitations to his physical capabilities. Furthermore, much has been subjected to new injuries since the commencement of this matter, as a direct result of retaliation, discrimination, and harassment from his most recent employer, of which said injuries have show a material fact on a specific % amount his future earnings are impacted by the work place injuries alone.
Plaintiff is forever bound behind a stigma of being both a criminal and a violent felon, and regardless of the amount of time he has successfully lived beyond the crime itself and his criminal record continues to plague him, and will continue for the duration of his life. Over 75% of individuals with Plaintiff's criminal background alone end up back in prison again within (5) years of release.
Plaintiff's journey to higher education has not been a conventional path, and his efforts to become a productive member of society, given the paths he has had to walk, not only speaks to his tenacity but also his character, but these attributes alone do not guarantee a healthy successful life, nor does it ensure he will be able to make ends meet and sustain a minimal standard of living. His career path is a noble path in the service of others with seemingly impossible odds he will find a position in the social work field to afford the cost of the loans it took him to get to this point in life.
DCL ID: GEN-15-13, a Policy Directive distributed on 7 July 2015 by the Department of Education (a true and correct copy was submitted in the initial complaint itself for the matter herein), provides guidelines to lenders on settling court cases of undue hardship without a trial if possible, and to avoid excessive legal costs and protracted or unnecessary litigations.
While the DCL ID: GEN-15-13 policy directive attempts to establish precedency in identifying critical legal cases and viable opposing argument positions that will help lenders simplify the methodology of determining whether or not to contest the complaint for dischargeability of a debtor's claim of undue hardship, there is additional compelling information that suggests otherwise contradictory elements of the Department of Educations intentions for student loan lenders and affiliate agencies. The policy directive states, "Congress has never defined 'undue hardship' in the Bankruptcy Code and has not delegated to the Department the authority to do so". However in additional guidelines provided through the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) under Section 682.402 of Death, disability, closed school, false certification and bankruptcy payments, 34 C.F.R. § 682.402 identifies contradicting guidance in regards to DCL ID: GEN-15-13. 682.402 states: "if the agency determines that repayment would not constitute an undue hardship, the agency shall then determine whether the expected costs of opposing the discharge petition would exceed one-third of the total amount owed on the loan, including principal, interest, late charges, and collection costs." This factual finding clearly shows directive guidance for entities to make "self-determining measurements" of a debtors "undue hardship" claim, while the policy directive DCL ID: GEN-15-13 specifically identifies that Congress has not authorized Defendant's with the authority to do so.
What we are seeing as a result of these contradicting guidelines between DCL ID: GEN-15-13 and § 682.402 is that when the agency "disagrees" with a debtors undue hardship claim based on their own determination of undue hardship, lengthy trails are undergone.
A further contradictory element offered within 682.402 encourages the "agency" to strategize ways of manipulating the outcome of a debtor's relief under §523(a)(8): "In opposing a petition for a determination of dischargeability on the grounds of undue hardship, a guaranty agency may agree to discharge a portion of the amount owed on a loan if it reasonably determines that the agreement is necessary in order to obtain a judgment on the remainder of the loan."
What we may see in Plaintiff's case is that the lenders will agree to discharge a portion of the loans in order to filter Plaintiff into another financial pigeon-toed position so they can immediately file to seek a judgment against him after the bankruptcy case herein concludes.
The facts shown in the guidelines offered in DCL ID: GEN-15-13 and those under § 608.402 scream of premeditated malcontent on behalf of a Defendant that has granted itself the authority and capacity to determine the classification and measurement standard of "undue hardship" without having received the necessary Congressional or Judiciary authority to do so, and has laid out guidelines for strategically manipulating and misinterpreting the bankruptcy codes, thus subjecting honest but unfortunate debtors to a lifetime of undue hardship when the debtors debt outweighs the litigation costs.
Furthermore, if the Defendant's claim to be protecting the interests of the tax payer, as annotated in DCL ID: GEN-15-13, one would speculate that student loan bankruptcy would impose significant burdens on the United States economic system; Instead of seeing a burden to the U.S. economy through student loan bankruptcies we are seeing the counter effect in the U.S. - student loan debt has now surpassed auto and credit card debt combined, and the negative effects on the economy are already widely known and recognized. Many credible experts have already suggested that returning bankruptcy protections to student loans would only cost the United States economy about $3 billion per year. $3 billion is a small percentage compared to the multiple billions that gets leant out every year, or the $127 billion in profits that the Department of Education projects over the next decade. A governmental agency that makes a profit off the defaulted loans of it people… should have us all worried. A claim of "protecting the interest of the taxpayer" is nothing more than a false representation of facts used to disguise a hidden agenda that the U.S. public will likely never know the truth to.
Hon. Judge Jim D. Pappas, in his concurring opinion for the bankruptcy appellate panel decision in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, said the analysis used "to determine the existence of an undue hardship is too narrow, no longer reflects reality and should be revised."
"Good faith is measured by the debtor's efforts to obtain employment, maximize income, and minimize expenses." Mason, 464 F.3d at 884.
Courts should also consider a debtor's effort-- or lack thereof--to negotiate a repayment plan," Id. (internal quotation omitted), as this is an "important indicator of good faith." Birrane, 287 B.R. at 499. However, failure to negotiate or accept an alternative repayment plan is not dispositive. Educ. Credit Mgmt. Corp. v. Jorgensen (In re Jorgensen), 479 B.R. 79, 89 n.4 (9th Cir. BAP 2012) (debtor's failure to accept ECMC's "Graduate Repayment Option" is not de facto evidence of a lack of good faith). Any offered repayment plan's terms, duration, and consequences need to be examined. Carnduff, 367 B.R. at 136-37. These consequences need also be observed in light of the burden it would impose upon the debtor, include future tax liability and negative credit ratings as well
Wherefore, based on the material facts supported herein and herewith, this court should deny Defendant's MOTION, accept Plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment, rule the repayment of Plaintiffs student loans would impose an undue hardship if he were forced to repay then, and discharge the student loans and close this matter. If this court is not inclined to rule in favor of the Plaintiffs cross-motion for summary judgment, this court should deny the motion and deny the Defendant's request for a PARTIAL SUMMARY ADJUDICATION, and permit this matter to proceed to trail without prejudice.

I couldn't find any website that had all the information. So while I was filling out my ballot I put all the information I could find in one place. Some of the format is off, but I couldn't upload the word document.
United State Senator
• Patrick Murphy (D) o Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Miami with a double major in Accounting and Finance. o Top Priority: Florida’s Economy  Florida needs to adapt and grow its economy by becoming a center for green energy innovation. We need to invest in infrastructure shore up our bridges and roads and provide the foundation for the high-tech economy of the future. Finally, we need to protect the industries that have always been vital to Florida’s economy. In the U.S. Senate, I will promote small business, protect our environment to keep our beaches and water beautiful for our tourism industry, stand with Florida’s farmers, and fight for fair trade.” o Other important issues: Healthcare, Climate Change, Gun violence, Womens Rights  “Protecting Social Security and Medicare for our Seniors: After a lifetime of paying into Social Security and Medicare, our seniors have a right to these vital programs and I will always fight to strengthen and protect them. I will oppose all benefit cuts to Social Security, including privatization, raising the retirement age, means testing, and cutting cost-of-living adjustments. On Medicare, I will preserve seniors’ freedom to choose their own doctor, their own health plan, and their own pharmacy.  Combating Climate Change: Climate change is a serious threat to our way of life and Florida is directly impacted. In the U.S. Senate, I will fight to protect our environment and push for investment in green energy. I will oppose offshore oil drilling along Florida's coast, fracking in the Everglades, and seismic testing in our waters.  Preventing Gun Violence: We need commonsense measures to gun violence. Along with most Floridians, I support background checks for online, gun show, and private gun purchases. I am also strongly in favor of closing the terrorist gun loophole and preventing suspected terrorists from purchasing guns.  Defending a Woman’s Right to Choose: Women should have full control over their own health care decisions. I am strongly pro-choice and will always fight to defend a woman’s access to essential health care services. I also support family planning services like Planned Parenthood.”
• Marco Rubio (R) o Education: University of Miami Law (J.D.) University of Florida (B.A.) o Top priority: War  Keeping our country safe from threats at home and abroad will remain my top priority if re-elected. I will work to undo the disastrous policies put in place by President Obama, including the dangerous nuclear deal with Iran, his accommodation of Vladimir Putin's efforts to expand Russian influence, the weakening of critical intelligence programs, and massive defense cuts that have handicapped every branch of our military. o Other important issues: Repealing Obamacare, Nuclear Deal, Radical Islam  “I am committed to repealing Obama’s harmful policies, including the dangerous nuclear deal with Iran, the weakening of critical intelligence programs, and massive defense cuts that have handicapped every branch of our military.  I am the only candidate that understands that national security is the number one issue we face as Americans and I understand that the threat of radical Islam is real and will only continue to grow. I am committed to ensuring that the people of Florida are safe and secure.” • Paul Stanton (L) o Education: High School o Top priority: Peace  I will work towards peace by introducing legislation to end presidential war powers without an immediate threat and congressional consent. o I’m just going to stop there
Representative in Congress District 10
• Thuy Lowe (R) o Not much information on her o Lost her last election in 2014 o Lowe, a longtime school volunteer in Lake County who operated a medical transportation company, argued her experience and community connections will help her overcome Demings' advantages.
• Val Demings (D) o Education: B.S. in Criminology from FSU; M.A. Public Administration from Webster University o Top Priority: Safety  The security of our nation and the safety of our neighborhoods is my number one priority in Congress. I am committed to improving the criminal justice system. We need stronger laws to prevent gun-violence, that will keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, and prevent mass shootings.
Clerk of Courts
• Tiffany Moore Russell (D) o Education  Juris Doctorate from Florida State University College of Law (1999); Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of South Florida (1996)  Top Priority: Expand access to court system • “My top priority is to 1: Continue to increase access to the Court system by self-litigants; 2. Enhance the customer's experience and 3. Expand on services through the use of technology.”
• Daisy Arus (No party affiliation) o Education:  University of Phoenix Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management - 2003  Valencia CollegeA.A. Degree in General Studies o Top Priority: Change?  “As the newly elected Orange County Clerk of the Courts my goal, duty, and responsibility will be to implement a new mission statement that clearly states the expectations for everyone, raising the standards across the board. The focus would be to promote efficiency, accuracy, and integrity, while embracing diversity to build the trust of every citizen. My expectation will be to service all equally and respectfully, to strive continuously to give exemplary customer service and I would start by evaluating unnecessary surcharges, create an internal auditing team for the accuracy of documentations, streamline processes for efficiency and cost effective services, and create methods that will have less wait or turnaround times. Address typical complaints such as the need of interpreters, operating hours, response time and user friendly online services. Keep focus on creating a positive respected organization while providing service to our diverse community.”  “I would rework the structure of the organization to better serve the needs of all our customers and diligently build all the necessary relationships and alliances to create unity in our community. Focus on being proactive and create solutions in all our efforts.”
Sheriff
• Spike Hopkins (R) o Top priority: Change  Permanent police in neighborhoods  Transparency: body cameras  App that will tell you what’s going on
• Jerry Demings (D) o Education  Master of Business Administration, Orlando College (Everest University)  B.S. Finance, Florida State University  AA, Florida State University  Certificate of Completion - Harvard University JFK School of Government  FBI National Academy graduate o Top Priority: Balance Budget, pay raise for deputies, 200 new hires  “My first priority upon being re-elected will be to continue fighting crime and begin negotiations for the 2017-18 fiscal year budget to include pay increases for my deputies. I anticipate hiring 200 new deputies within the next year.” o Other Priorities: community policing initiatives, counter terrorism, federal funding
Property Appraiser
• Edward DeAguilera (R) o Education  graduated from Bishop Moore High School. He went on to study political science and public relations at the University of Central Florida and earned his B.S. in political studies from Columbia College in 2010 o Top Priority: Economy  reduce the burden of taxes on Florida’s business and families and improving Florida’s business climate to promote economic development. Small business owners spend countless of hours on over burdensome government bureaucracy and regulations. The entrepreneur is the key to the success, the small business is the backbone of our economy. We must make sure that government does not obstruct the entrepreneur spirit but rather nurture – the Small business of today are the Fortune 500 companies of tomorrow.
• Rick Singh (D) o Very limited information online o Overturned a county charter that made the office and other elected positions non partisan o 20 years ago, he joined the Orange County Property Appraiser’s office, and became a State-Certified Residential Appraiser. He left the office in 1996 to pursue his entrepreneurial interests in real estate. o Since taking office, Rick has returned more than $550 million to the Orange County Tax Roll by vigorously pursuing fraudulent exemption claims, and has done all this while reducing his office budget and returning over $5 million to the county. o Has two questionable legal issues  One involving denial of theft charges when he was younger and lying on an official application  The second involves routing money through his state seminars to his daughter’s charities
Supervisor of Elections
• Bill Cowles (D) o Education:  Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration from UCF – 1976  CERA – Certified Election Registration Administrator from Auburn University – 2014 o Top Priority: Keeping the office non partisan  “As the current Supervisor of Elections, I will continue to ensure that this office continues to be run in a fair, balanced, professional, and non-partisan manner. As demonstrated, we will continue to look for the best practices around the country to make the process more efficient, keep current and evaluate changes to our procedures, and explore new technology; i.e. we will be preparing for the new on-line voter registration process coming in the fall of 2017.”
• Della Davis (NPA) o Education  B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida  Master of Public Administration degree specializing in Local Government Management from Walden University  Graduate Certificate in Project Management  Graduate Certificate in Human Resources Management (Oct 2016) o Top Priority: Online Voter Registration  Online voter registration begins in October, and I will be working to make sure that the organization is prepared for the internal changes that come with it, as well as disseminating information about this new feature to Orange County citizens. o Has no current occupation o experience is volunteerism.
State Supreme Court- should they stay?
The Florida Bar also asked members personally familiar with these judges whether they should be retained.
• Charles T Canady o recommended by 84 percent of lawyers personally familiar with those justices' performance.
• Jorge Labarga o Labarga was recommended for retention by 91 percent of respondents with considerable or at least limited knowledge of the justice.
• Ricky Polston o recommended by 84 percent of lawyers personally familiar with those justices' performance.
• Jay Cohen o recommended for retention by 86 percent of respondents
• James Edwards o was endorsed by 86 percent.
• Brian Lambert o got the nod from 83 percent
• Vincent Torpy o scored highest at 87 percent
Circuit Judge 9 Group 4
• Luis Calderon o Education  BSBA with Highest Honors, University of Florida; Juris Doctor, Georgetown University Law Center o Top Priority: Service  To serve the community, uphold the U.S. Constitution, the Florida Constitution and the laws of this State. o I have handled thousand of cases and represented countless clients and have conducted numerous trials in Criminal and Civil cases in both State and Federal Courts. I have also demonstrated through over ten years of legal practice, exemplary skills and ethics in my profession earning the recognition of my peers and clients by being named one of the top 100 Lawyers in the Nation since 2013 and by maintaining a perfect '10' rating with online Attorney rating service, AVVO.
• Joseph Haynes Davis o Education  J.D. Rutgers Law School, Camden, NJ, 1996  M.S.W. University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Work, Philadelphia, PA, 1992  B.S (Communications/Journalism) Illinois State University, Normal, IL, 1981 o Top Priority: Public Trust  To continue to uphold the “public’s trust” which is what is expected from a circuit court judge. o I have the qualifications, and the needed temperament and the experience and understanding of the “public’s trust”, all of which are important for a competent, well balanced, and successful judicial candidate. If elected, I am committed to giving the public sound and well-reasoned decisions from the bench in a timely manner, and running the courtroom efficiently, thereby demonstrating an understanding of the “public’s trust”, and acting professionally at all times by demonstrating the necessary temperament and understanding of the law as set forth and passed by the legislature of the state of Florida. o I have practice experience Commercial and Residential Real Property Closings, Mortgage Law, Title Insurance, Probate and Guardianship and Mental Health law, Business Formation and Consulting, Civil and Criminal Litigation and all trial matters both criminal and civil, Real Estate, Personal Injury, Estate Planning, Bankruptcy, and Family Law. Like the rotating circuit court judicial seat that I seek in the August 30, 2016 election, I have developed the requisite skills and knowledge base for a circuit court judge by having legal experience in multiple areas in my law practice. I have been court-appointed by Orange and Osceola Counties in probate and mental health and criminal. I have also been appointed as a Value Adjustment Board Attorney-Special Magistrate since 2008 by 16 of the 67 counties in the state of Florida by those counties’ Value Adjustment Boards and have conducted hundreds of hearings as an impartial attorney magistrate when the citizen-property owners of Florida have matters against those counties and their property appraisers. As a result of the aforementioned, I am the most qualified candidate in this race. •
County Judge Group 1
• Eric Dubois o Education  B.A. International Studies- University of South Florida  Juris Doctor- Barry University 2004 o Top Priority: Equality  My priority is to treat every person that comes before me in my Courtroom with dignity, respect and civility. To treat all persons equally regardless of why they are in court or if they have an attorney with them or not. To ensure everyone has their day in Court and leaves with a sense of having their case heard in a fair and timely fashion. o “I am the only candidate in Group 1 who manages both civil and criminal cases on a regular basis and is a Florida Supreme Court Certified mediator. I believe I have the demeanor and temperament to treat all persons fairly and equally. I am proud to have been endorsed by over 200 lawyers and 18 Past Presidents of the Orange County Bar Association.”
• Michael Gibson o “has most experience” o “Never counted but nearly 200 jury trials” o “Teach young attorneys” o http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/orl-orange-county-judge-group-1-michael-gibson-20160726-story.html
County Judge Group 4
• David Johnson o http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/orl-orange-county-judge-group-4-david-johnson-20160726-story.html o Gets along with daughter who goes to Florida State
• Tom Young o Education  McMurry College, Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education with emphasis in Government and English (Magna Cum Laude 1987)  Texas Tech University School of Law, Doctor of Jurisprudence (Cum Laude and Order of the Coif 1990) o Top Priority: Efficiency  I will work to improve the efficiency and service in the Orange County Court. My record over the course of 26 years illustrates better than words the substance of my character and the work ethic, care, and respect that will characterize my service as Orange County Judge. o I have actively practiced law for 26 years. I have broad and complex litigation and trial experience, having tried cases in several different areas of law: contracts, professional negligence, personal injury, products liability, and estates and trusts, among others. I also have broad experience in appellate practice, which involves recognizing and dealing with error committed by lower courts and presenting argument concerning the presence or absence of such error. As an appellate lawyer, I not only handle appeals but also consult with other lawyers about issues pending in the trial court that may end up on appeal. The remainder of my practice consists of civil litigation, employment law, general business, professional conduct, and pro bono representation of abused and neglected children. •
County Judge Group 5
• Frank George o Education  B.A. Flagler College, 1987; J.D. Thomas M. Cooley Law, Lansing, MI, 1991 o Top Priority  My top priority will be to be fully prepared, treat everyone with equal respect and bring trust to those that come into my court that justice will be done; For many that come to County Court, it is their first interaction with the Court system; thus, it is vitally important that people feel the administration of justice ran smoothly and fairly and that everyone felt that they had the opportunity to be heard. o With expereince in criminal defense, civil law, dependency law and criminal prosecution, I have had a well-rounded career that I will bring to the County bench. My expereince in trying over twenty murder trials as well as sex crimes and child abuse cases gives me the ability to put all cases in proper persepctive. I have earned the respect and support of the majoity of the criminal defense bar, the civil bar, as well as the endorsement of two retired Circuit Court judges.
• Evellen Jewett o Education  University of Florida B.A. political science/journalism  University of Florida J.D. o Top Priority  My top priority if elected is to set the tone running a fair, respectful and efficient courtroom where the judicial system will serve the public by providing a forum to resolve disputes in a manner where people, defendants and victims alike, will feel they were heard and treated fairly. I would also have an open door policy so that the new attorneys who tend to be assigned to County Court could get feedback after their trials to help improve their skills. Skilled lawyers better serve their community. o County Court is not about power, it’s about service. It deals in a high volume of smaller matters that are very important to those directly involved. I have spent 27 years fighting for and protecting the rights of individuals and families and have represented thousands of clients in all manner of cases. In 2015 I was certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Family Law Mediator. Mediation training emphasizes good problem solving skills and the ability to listen. Being a good listener is the key to being a good County Court Judge. A judge should have legal knowledge, consistency, respect for all people AND their time, a patient temperament, and a measured sense of justice. I have all of these attributes and am ready to work for you. •
County Commissioners
• Robert Olszewski o Education  Dr. Phillips High School  University of Central Florida, Double Major in Radio/Television (B.A.) and Organizational Communication (B.A).  Rollins College, Corporate Communication & Technology (M.A.)  Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Management (M.S.)  Northcentral University, Ph.D. in Business Administration o Top Priority  My top priority when elected is putting “Residents and Community First” back in Orange County. o I have been elected twice by West Orange County residents to serve as a Winter Garden Commissioner. The city of Winter Garden has enjoyed the highest property value growth in all of Orange County the past two years with smart, planned, and balanced growth, becoming the third largest city in Orange County with almost 40,000 residents. o My family does not own any land in the district that needs to be developed, nor does my employer make a dime off of any vote that I make, as I truly will put "Residents and Community First." It is critical that we maintain the unique feel and charm of our neighborhoods which makes our communities our home.
• Betsy VanderLey o Boone High School grad, then Valencia Community College (now Valencia College) o Top Priority: Growth  District 1 is one of the fastest growing areas in Orange County, priority number 1 is managing that growth. That will include using school impact fees in the area they are collected so we can get schools built faster, dealing with the traffic and infrastructure impacts created, and protect our historic areas and rural settlements so those residents can enjoy the quality of life they expected when they purchased their homes. o I have been a small business owner and have experienced firsthand government overreach. I have volunteered my time for many worthy not for profits and also for Orange County on Planning and Zoning and Affordable Housing boards. I have a demonstrated track record of getting involved to make my community a better place. I am not a career politician. This is the first time I have ever run for office. I am doing so because I believe we need to be represented by someone who wants to serve the community and has the knowledge, history and skills to do so, not by a career politician. o
Soil and Water Conservation Group 1
• Michael D. Barber o Education  Winter Park High School 2004; University of Central Florida, Bachelors, 2008; University of Florida, Juris Doctorate, 2011. o Top Priority: Lobby federal funding  To lobby our local, state, and federal leaders to allocate funds and resources to the cause of establishing long-term, and sustainable, management and conservation practices for our fresh water supplies in the State of Florida.  Believes that right to clean water will be won not behind a podium, but in the court rooms.
• Maria Bolton-Joubert o in order to ensure the long-term clean water needs for Orange County, to advocate that Orange County become a state leader in renewable energy for increased job growth, to highlight financial savings by converting to low maintenance native plants, and to promote additional community gardens.
• Stary Grayson o Alan Grayson‘s 17-year-old daughter o will turn 18 in November, before the Nov. 8 election. o member last year of the Olympia High School National Honor Society •
Soil and Water Conservation Group 3
• Cynthia Ellenburg o Education  attended both Evans and Colonial High School graduating in 1976 then received my Associate of Science in Dental Hygiene at Valencia Community College. o Top Priority:  As Supervisor of the Orange Soil and Water Conservation, I plan to work with legislators to find a middle ground that allows the county and state to utilize resources while protect our environment, resolve and manage issues of concern with water quality and the environment, and most importantly use my platform to be a voice for the citizens of our community.
• Nicole Victoria McLaren o Education  Nicole Victoria McLaren is a native Orlando and a graduate of West Orange High School, Florida A&M University, and Levin College of Law. o In 2012, the voters of Orange County overwhelmingly elected Nicole Victoria McLaren to serve as an Orange Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor. with over 196,000 votes.
• Jimm Middleton o Education  Degrees in Information Technology and Applied Behavioral Science o Top Priority: No Flint Here  “"NO FLINT HERE!" We cannot permit the breakdown in government oversight, and activities considered criminal, that occurred in Flint, Michigan causing a crisis and contamination to their water to happen here. Keeping our water safe and embarking upon a mission to include routine maintenance of existing systems are my primary goals.”
Soil and Water Conservation Group 5
• Steven Laune Beurner o Education  Graduated Wayne State University, School of Labor and Industrial Relations o Top Priority: Pollution  I view three issues as key to my efforts if re-elected. The first is the issue of water. Florida is in the midst of a real water crisis. The state is allowing more toxic chemicals in our water, our water supply is definitely limited, not enough conservation efforts are being done and pollution in many of our fresh water is creating huge problems on our coastal areas. Second is promotion of community gardens. This is an opportunity for people to have access to healthy fruits and vegetables. It is also a great way to make an impact on stemming climate change, as every new plant begins to take CO2 out of the atmosphere. And third is to continue to advocate for greater education about the environment so that people understand their interaction and their impact—both positive and negative.
• Dustin Bowersett o University of Central Florida, Bachelors, 2012 o 26 o Top Priority: 2014 Amendment 1 issues  Instead of using the Amendment 1 funds for new projects, the Legislature is using the funds to plug holes in underfunded conservation programs. The misuse of Amendment 1 funds has caused the Florida Wildlife Federation, the St. Johns Riverkeeper, the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida and the Sierra Club to file a joint lawsuit accusing lawmakers of violating the constitution by misspending $237 million in money in Amendment 1 funds intended for water and land conservation. At best, 80% of the Amendment 1 funds are going to conservation related expenses.
• Richard-Paul Danner o No real information other than an empty facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/richardpaul.danner
• Tiffany S. Dziekan o Education  Bachelors degree from University of South Florida o Top Priority: Community Outreach  My top priority would be to increase community outreach and fundraising. That will provide funds for the board to implement various projects that will benefit Orange County soil and water. Due to lack of state and county funding, the board needs to increase its fundraising if it wants to have money to bring its ideas to life.
Amendments:
What is Amendment 1?
Vote no on 1!
Amendment 1 "establishes a right under Florida's constitution for consumers to own or lease solar equipment installed on their property to generate electricity for their own use," per the amendment's own summary language. "State and local governments shall retain their abilities to protect consumer rights and public health, safety and welfare, and to ensure that consumers who do not choose to install solar are not required to subsidize the costs of backup power and electric grid access to those who do."
That would have meant fewer utility customers, and so Amendment 1 was born, backed by the utility companies that stood to lose ratepayers. This amendment caused confusion during the petition-gathering process, eventually leading to it getting enough signatures to get on the ballot while the energy-leasing amendment failed to do so.
So, Amendment 1 is backed by utility companies?
Consumers for Smart Solar, the committee behind Amendment 1, has received more than $21 million in contributions, making this the second-most expensive amendment drive in state history. (The first was a medical malpractice amendment in 2004 that had both doctors and attorneys contributing millions, eventually coming to a $23 million record.)
Almost all of the $21 million for Amendment 1 has come from energy companies and their industry allies. Florida Power and Light contributed $5.5 million, good for second-largest contributor to the committee. The largest is Duke Energy with $5.7 million. Gulf Power and the Tampa Electric Company contributed seven-figure sums as well.
Wasn't Amendment 4 in the primary election about solar energy?
Yes. That was an entirely different amendment that, now that it passed, will allow property owners to install renewable energy devices on their property and not have those additions count toward the property's taxable value.
What's Amendment 2?
Amendment 2 would legalize medical marijuana in Florida for people with cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, PTSD, multiple sclerosis, ALS or "other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated," according to the ballot.
Don't we already have medical marijuana in Florida?
To an extent. In 2014, the Legislature legalized some strains of marijuana low in THC, the chemical in cannabis that produces a high, for epilepsy and cancer. Last year, it legalized full-scale medical marijuana, but only for people who had a year or less to live. And only six vendors in the state are allowed to grow and dispense the marijuana in either case.
Didn't we vote on this before?
Yes. A similar but less restrictive medical marijuana amendment was on the ballot in 2014 but got only 58 percent of the vote. Constitutional amendments need 60 percent of the vote to pass.
Would Amendment 2 allow legalized pot for everyone?
No. Opponents of the amendment have drawn comparisons to medical marijuana laws in California, but the law there is far broader than the proposed constitutional amendment in Florida.
Will there be marijuana dispensaries on every corner?
That depends. Under the amendment, there are no regulations about how many dispensaries can operate in an area. But the state Legislature, local governments and the state Department of Health will all weigh in on this. It's unlikely any municipality will let this go entirely unregulated, and some could ban dispensaries within certain areas.
What about Amendment 3?
This amendment adds first responders who are permanently and completely disabled in the line of duty to the list of people who qualify for an exemption from property taxes. That would be in addition to the $50,000 homestead exemption. Florida voters have previously given such an exemption to surviving spouses of veterans and first responders killed in the line of duty. It's unknown how much tax money this would cost the state. The amendment requires the Legislature to separately pass a bill granting the tax exemption, and estimates of revenue losses will come once the Legislature has such a bill on the table.
Finally, what's Amendment 5?
Iin 2012, voters approved a property tax exemption for Floridians age 65 and older living in a home worth less than $250,000 who have lived in that home for at least 25 years and make less than $20,000 a year. This amendment clarifies that the home value that counts toward the property exemption is the value when the resident first applies for the exemption. There have been issues since the passage of the amendment in which home value rises and suddenly these elderly folks who had been counting on not paying property taxes are assessed taxes on a home that is now worth more than $250,000. If passed, this amendment would change the constitution so that rising and falling property values would not catch poor, elderly Floridians unaware.
Charter Amendments
Orange County voters prefer to choose their sheriff, tax collector and other constitutional officers in elections where party affiliations are less important, they must revise their charter. The charter is essentially the county's constitution and can only be changed by a majority vote for a proposed amendment. Voters will have three such amendments to consider Nov. 8. Amendments Two and Three deal with the same issue: changing elections for constitutional offices to nonpartisan contests in which candidates are not identified on the ballot as a Democrat, a Republican or other party affiliation. Those ballot questions also would impose term limits. Q: But didn't voters already decide these issue? A: Yes, in 2014. But Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh, Sheriff Jerry Demings and Tax Collector Scott Randolph sued to overturn the controversial measure, which got 71 percent of the vote. They argued the amendment confused and misled voters by mixing the issues of term limits and nonpartisan races in one ballot question. A judge decided in May the change clashed with state law. That decision is being appealed. The Charter Review Commission, a group of citizens appointed by county commissioners to examine issues and recommend changes, drafted a pair of amendments that they say will protect the "will of the people" who voted in 2014. Amendment Two also would turn constitutional officers into charter officers, a change that those six elected officials say would threaten the independence of their offices. Q: Are nonpartisan elections better for the constitutional offices of clerk of courts, comptroller, property appraiser, sheriff, supervisor of elections and tax collector? A: Not if you're a Democrat candidate. Orange County has tilted sharply to the left in the past decade, a fact that gives Democrats an edge in a partisan race where a candidate's party affiliation is listed on the ballot, too. Supporters of nonpartisan elections argue that politics should not matter to voters choosing the best candidate to evaluate property, maintain court records or enforce the law. If the measures pass, the sheriff and other constitutional officers would be limited to four consecutive four-year terms. Q: But why two ballot issues on the same topic? A: Kevin Shaughnessy, chairman of the Charter Review Commission, described the two measures as "belt and suspenders," saying they accomplish the same thing differently. Both amendments seek to preserve the 2014 vote on nonpartisan races and term limits in case an appellate ruling goes against the county and in case the Legislature intervenes. The charter commission hopes voters approve both while the League of Women Voters has urged the electorate to turn down both. Q: What's the issue with Amendment One? A: It would make it much harder for private citizens to put a proposed charter change on the ballot for fellow voters to consider. That's usually done by collecting thousands of signatures. Though it's only been done twice in the 30 years since Orange County adopted its charter, some of those who drafted the change say the process lacks transparency and can be hijacked by special interests who pay to round up signatures. Opponents argue that the changes are not about fairness or transparency, but designed to prevent citizens from changing rules. They say the proposal grew out of a citizen-initiative to require employers to provide paid sick leave to workers, a measure opposed by the theme parks and other business interests. The proposed measure would add new rules. For instance, if the charter group's proposal passes, a citizen-initiated amendment would be subject to a legal review, require a Comptroller-prepared financial impact statement, and force petitioners to collect thousands more signatures. Those collecting signatures would have to wear an identification badge and sign an affidavit disclosing whether they were volunteers or getting paid to circulate the petition.