The Contract for Deed Scam

A $19,000 house was found, perfect for a sober living home, and yay, the out of state owner is up for a Contract for Deed! She said she wanted me to look at it first, though, before talking turkey.

Fair enough. I got the door code from her, and drove back to inspect it. It was pretty good. I mean, not great, but for the price, not too bad at all.

I could see that we'd need to pull the carpets and paint the walls. Probably need a new water heater. But the siding was no more than 10 years old and the roof had to be less than five years old.

I was excited. I was supposed to be. Wait for it.

I called her back and asked what down she'd like, she named a reasonable number. $1,500. Wow.

I asked what payment per month she'd like, she named a - well, it seemed like too reasonable a number. I mean, $350 per month, with a slightly less than 10% down?

This could really be it, this could be the just the affordable fixer upper my wife and I needed for our third sober living home!

I asked, "For how many months?"

She said brightly, "Oh, just 180!"

Oh, of course, I thought. When it's too good to be true...

Me: "180 months?"

Her: "Yes."

Me: "Or put another way, fifteen years?"

Her, warily: "Yesss...."

I was silent. She said, "The house is worth $34,000..."

I said, "It would be worth that to me, true. But apparently the interest is to be...$29,000?"

She said, "It's not for everyone. For cash, I can do $19,000."

I said, "I understand. Thank you anyway."

The house is worth more than $19,000. Not much more, but a bit more. Maybe $25,000 - tops. And there were probably pitfalls in the house that would have manifested themselves, making it worth just that $19,000.

But best case scenario? Possibly $34,000 would be a fair price to ask total, for paying that over time, if the house truly had no other troubles than I could guess at.

But $63,000 paid out over 15 years? With you liable for all the taxes and insurance and repairs and upkeep?

This is the "trick poor people into thinking they get to own a house" scam.

You get the poor couple - it's always a poor couple, usually with a kid or two - excited about a halfway reasonable house that is just barely plausible to be offered for what appears, to the innumerate, to be a song,

You "qualify" them with an application - which I did get a copy of - and make sure they've a barely plausible renting history and currently paying job.

You get the down first, before even signing over to them the right to move in. They'll never see that again. You've won even if they catch on now.

Then you charge an upfront of another thousand or so, to cover anticipated insurance and taxes. They probably didn't quite expect it to be around $1,500, but that's what the fine print does add up to.

They can gulp, swallow hard and scrape that up, or lose that first $1,500 they already gave you.

Now, $3,000 into it - and still $63,000 to go - they can move in to the "as is" house that won't have their name on it for enough years for their toddler to enlist in the Army.

If even then.

Yes, you took then $350 from their account that you have total access to. But you also took the monthly fee for taxes and insurance. Yes, that's charged monthly, and it's insured through...well, some dummy corp that if I dug deep enough into it would lead back to you insuring yourself.

They're surprised that it was $500 instead of $350, since they had thought this would be cheaper than the $500 in rent they used to pay. But what are they going to do? Walk away from $3,000 of the money the saved, scrimped, pawned for and borrowed?

So they pay - no choice, you just took it. They could cancel their account so you couldn't again, but then they'd be evicted.

And next month, they have another $500 took out. And next month, it was a bit short, so it bounced. $5 short in that account means the bank fee of $30.

And the fee that you charge. So $525. That $65 total fine means they're a bit short next month. So that happens again. With a massive effort, they get past that, and have $500 in the month after that.

But you don't mind. You either get paid more than three times what that crap house was worth or they almost inevitably default in a year or two tops.

Then, pocketing $15,000 - which is probably more than you paid for that $19,000 house - you "sell" it again to the net sucker.

And can probably sell it for more.

After all, they were basically paying rent on a place that when anything broke, they had to fix it. And they already had to fix the electrical, install a new water heater, tear out those carpets, sand and stain the floor and paint the whole place when they moved in.

Oh, the lower classes being the lower classes they probably sold the fridge and stove out from under you, and there'll be a fist sized whole in a wall from that time when the buyer figured out how bad you screwed them.

But nothing that they didn't more than cover with that $15,000 you got from them in two years. Which worked out to $625 per month rent for those suckers.

And a fixed up house for you.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

The Extended Warranty Scam

On any random evening you might get a call pertaining to this scam.  It will start with the number calling you looking like a local number, though it is not.  It's a falsely generated local number that appears on your screen, but if you call it back, it is not in service.

This way you cannot find out who they are, or give them any grief over this.

How it is a scam, besides that obvious indicator, is that they start right off with a recorded message saying that they've been trying to mail you - they've not - and that your auto warranty has expired and this is the last chance to get it extended so you can maintain your coverage. 

They don't really know who you are, what car - if any - you have, and what warranty may or may not have lapsed.  All they're really doing is trying to sell you a bogus policy that will do nothing for you.

If you do not opt out, the recording will eventually stop and you'll be transferred to a live person.  This is the first of three people you'll speak to.  Their job is only to weed out the jokers and those who obviously could not qualify for any kind of warranty.

They'll "verify" your name by having you give them your name for the first time.  I gave the name "Steve Banner", and curse my luck, the operator was nerd enough to ask, "Like David Banner?" 

I said, "Yeah, I get that sometimes, but no, it's Steve."

She accepted that.  Perhaps she was just a nerd, and had not suspected it was the fake name it is.  She asked what kind of car I had.  Other times, as I get these calls a lot, I'd say stuff like "An '89 Yugo", "A '57 Edsel", "A '71 Pinto", or "any year Chevy".  You know, just to name the least insurable crap that ever came out of Detroit or Bratislava.  This time I said, "2010 Toyota Avalon". 

I did that because I wanted to learn the full workings of this scam, and needed a realistic car for that.  Sure enough, that qualified and she passed me on to the real representative who'd take care of "extending" the non-existent warranty for my non-existent self's non-existent car.

That woman asked a mixture of real and "investment" questions.  The real questions were about things they needed to know, like if I had a job and credit card.  The "investment" questions were just those meaningless ones designed to get me excited about this.  "Do you understand that this will cover all repairs ever, give you full road side assistance anywhere in the universe and come and tuck you in at night?"

I answered the obvious "yes" to each. 

Then, to further "invest" me in wanting this - because a good con requires that you seek it out and pursue it hard - I was transferred to a third person, this one to verify I really qualified.  "Have you had your car in for any repairs in the last 90 days?", "Are there any pending maintenance issues?" and stuff like that.  Oh, and lastly, "Do you know that if you refuse this now, and then call another time, that you will not be eligible for this?"

Ahh, the "act now, don't delay" pitch, only used for the crappiest and shoddiest of scams.

I was then told that "for you" there'd be no actual check, but they'd take my word on this.  Which told me that it was unlikely that this company ever intended on paying any claim at all.  I mean, even the real warranty companies are a bit hinky, with them selling you on "bumper to bumper coverage" but then when you file a claim backing down to "bumper AND bumper".

Finally I was transferred back to the closer, and she went over what had been left for last.  The price.  Starting off with, "You must be dying to know the price for what coverage this great would cost, right?" and "Like anything this good, you do have to spend a little, but we don't charge you all at once."

To end the suspense, it was going to be $350 down, then $165 per month for 18 months.  Or $3,320.  Now understand, they're really just going for the $350.  You break out your credit card, pay for that, and they've got $350 that you'll never get back no matter what.  And as mentioned, the number you'd call back won't work.

But I decided to play it like it was real.  I said, "To be clear, if my math is correct, that would work out to be $3,320?" 

"Yesss..." she said warily.

"I'm sorry, but wouldn't the Blue Book value on a 2010 Toyota Avalon be about that much?", I asked.  "I mean, not trying to complain, but it seems I could buy another car for the price of this warranty."

She said frostily, "That would be your choice, sir.  But this does cover you for up to $15,000 for 48 months."

I looked at my phone's timer, and six and a half minutes had passed in this little exercise.  I said, "Well, doing more math, each time you guys call me and I hit '2' which is supposed to mean I don't get called, that adds up time-wise.  But now I've managed to waste about seven minutes of the time of three of you now, so I guess we're even."

Then, in case you were wondering if this was really a con, or just a really, really crappy deal on an extended warranty, her malice came out.  "You must be a real loser to have spent so much time on this!  You must have no family or friends at all!"

I heartily agreed, but said that I was able to pass some pleasant evenings with her mother now and again, but only when I had an extra twenty spot.  She then screamed about her estimate of the size of my endowment - and it was a distressingly low estimate - and I then pointed out that she'd be unlikely to ever be favored to find out for sure, but that her mother could be consulted. 

And she finally hung up. 

What are we to learn from this?

Well, we can learn that I'm darn good at estimating a made up car's blue book value, because looking it up afterwards, I found that - low end - it was $3,700.  Admittedly it could even get up to $5,000 plus, but I think my point about the excessive cost of the warranty was valid all the same.

So.  Here we go:

1.  Numbers that look local might not be, and when they cannot be called back, they cannot be trusted.  So never buy something at once, always hang up, ponder, look for better deals on line, and then call back if you must. 

2.  Folks who lie about their product are never going to be honest about anything else.  Remember, they're claiming to be selling you an "extension", when they are really - at best - selling you an entirely new warranty.

3.  When you must "act now" or lose all, then it's always a scam.

4.  Too good to be true always is.  No warranties are truly "bumper to bumper", there are always exclusions.  I said earlier this would turn out to be "bumper and bumper", but in reality, I doubt they'd even replace the bumpers.  They're just stealing that first payment.

5.  No one is going to trust a stranger without a real credit check.  So as soon as they offer a payment plan with a down - they or anyone else - know that it means that the down is all they want.  They won't mind if you actually do pay them each month, but all they're counting on is the down. 

Same with those "three easy installments" on some knife set or collector plate.  Sure they'll send you the crap after the first payment, as that first payment is all they were hoping for.

6.  When time is being wasted on clearly nonsense questions, realize that they're paid to ask, so there must be some point.  If the point is not truly informative, then it is "investment" type questions, designed to make you feel invested in the product or service. 

It's hard for people to say "no" when they've spent a given amount of time on something - and it's even harder for them to say"no" when they feel they've made another person spend a lot of time on something.  Which is why car salesmen always are up for running back and grabbing the keys, or running back and looking something they already know up, or doing this or that, anything to make you feel invested.

7.  No employee of a real company selling a real product or service starts engaging you angrily when you decline their offer.  Not only for obvious reasons pertaining to dignity and respect, but because they are paid to sell a legit product, not berate people they don't like.  And because who knows if a potential customer might mention the service to a friend who would want it?

The only ones who ever get angry at a person calling them out - are those who have something to be called out for.  "The guilty flee when no man pursue.", is a wise proverb, and no one gets as angry as a con man conned. 

When a con man - or woman - spends a given amount of time setting someone up for the fleecing, they literally come to believe that the wool they're about to shear from you is theirs by right.  When you then deny them that, they react as if you've stolen from them. 

And if you think that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, then you've never lead a con man or woman on and then laughed and said "no". 

Now.

What to do if you get these calls, or any like it?

Remember that if you really needed the product or service, you'd probably have gone out and got it, or googled and got it.  No one ever really needs what the person calling (or knocking) is selling.

So just hang up. 

But what if you need the product or service?

Then hang up and find it from some legit company. 

The Election Scam

In a free and democratic society, the people naturally expect almost all organizations to have some modicum of member feedback.  Thus it behooves organizations - corporate, club, church and such - to at least give lip service to the appearance of an accountable leadership.

Yet lip service is often all it is.

Now there are many ways of rigging an election process - no, not rigging an election as ballot stuffing and such - but a rigging of the process itself so that no ballot stuffing is necessary.

One such way is popular not only with communist dictatorships like North Korea, but a great number of churches of all denominations and sects across America.

Consider it from their point of view.  They are open to the public, and any who profess to accept their tenets and/or get baptized are then full members.  How dangerous that must seem to the current crew of heavy tithers who having invested so much in what they have come to regard as "their" church, do not want to see that damaged or took in a different direction then they believe is "correct".

Yet, at the same time, they can hardly wish to simply - and honestly - say, "Yes, it will be we few that decide things, but all of you keep donating and tithing and serving."

So what's a church to do?

Take a church I am familiar with.  I won't name it because so many other brands/faiths do it, too.

They choose their board by a process not unfamiliar to North Koreans.  The board picks some "choosers" from among their own ranks, or if they feel comfortable, some who they know can be counted on.  Those choosers then pick a "nominating committee", made up of board members and those deemed safe.

That nominating committee is then in theory choosing a name for each slot based upon prayerful seeking of divine guidance.  In other words, they are claiming that the names they provide are not based upon their own personal desires, but that of God Himself.  A bold claim, and if you've seen most church boards, a rather blasphemous one, yet really no church in America fails to make it.

Those names then being chose, the slate - with no opposition candidates whatsoever - is presented to the church members, who may then vote "yes" or "no".  And like in North Korea, any who do not vote "yes" will be regarded with dark suspicion forever more, and any dumb enough to vote "no" will be quizzed as to why, and then will be in the position of having to report problems about various leaders that were already known - but will be denied and then the leader appointed anyway, there being rarely more than one who would be so foolish or idealistic enough to complain.

And then that "no" voter can be ostracized.  You may imagine how many would be critics that silences in advance.

Unsurprisingly, most "votes" for the names pre-chosen for the positions - which will bear remarkable similarity to the previous holders - garner a 100% vote of approval.

Again - much like North Korea.  If by "much like", one means "exactly like".

Still, sometimes a church runs it's affairs so poorly, and the danger of grumbling is so great, and the problems with the current leadership so obvious, that they must go even further.

Announce the "election" without full board approval.  Rush it so that a slate can be put in with the members having only six or seven days notice to prepare.  No two week notice, no general business meeting to get all the members involved, just let it be a random 25% of such members that typically show up for the weekly service.  Don't give the members the names to be took home and prayed over.  Don't wait for the new minister to arrive, get your slate jammed in before his arrival so he's stuck with it.

I see those tricks, and always think to myself, "When they break their own rules, then even they know they're up to something."  The breaking of their own rules lets me know that such is not done innocently, but with full intent.

Oh, such leadership is not entirely dumb, they know to pull some razzle-dazzle.  On a regular size board, appoint some token outsider unlikely to have the intellectual capacity to cause trouble or rock the boat, or even one that probably won't be bothered to attend much.  On a large board, you can appoint even three or four such, on a really large board of around 20, you could get away with five.

Let some few leaders be "demoted" for a term or so, but make sure their spouse, brother, sister, cousin or in-law has it.  Thus they still feels comfortable supporting the church, as they still actually have as much say as ever.

And, best of all, if any do complain, they may be branded as "un-Christ-like" or "power seeking".  Picture the irony of the Communist Party of North Korea accusing some upstart reformer of merely being in it for the power!  It's the same irony to be found in various American churches when those who've had a hammer lock on titles and status for years, shut others out, then brand them "devil-inspired" should they complain.

How does this hurt the people, how does it "scam" them?

Well, the rank and file members, good hearted and there for spiritual guidance and fellowship, are judging things by how their own hearts are, and so will not be likely to really ponder this and realize what's up.  And they derive a benefit socially from their church association, they may have been in it all their lives, and all their family and friends may be from there, so they only need the flimsiest of excuses to grab on to, anything that sounds good and can justify them not speaking up about any concerns they may well have.

And thus a large group of people continue to throw good money after bad for an entrenched leadership that having wasted tons of it in the past, will now continue wasting tons of it in the future.  Were tens of thousands of dollars took in, but little or no outreach done?  No matter, no leader will lose his job, as the members have no real recourse.

In spite of loans and gifts and such, amounting to half a million plus, is the church still a quarter of a million dollars in debt?  No matter, the leaders can continue on, changing and correcting nothing, as it isn't like they'll lose their titles, position or authority if they don't.

Unable to meet even the monthly budget?  Why would this concern them or cause them to correct anything?  Again - they still won't lose their status or be called to account.

Because if any one - like a person not raised in the church and not reliant upon them for all their social interactions - complains, that person can be branded "outsider", "power seeker", "devil inspired", "title hungry" and such.

Thus with no real feed back, no meaningful accountability, no checks and balances, and no means of correcting the flawed system, church after church after church in America goes under, goes bankrupt and fades away.  Abandoned church buildings dot the land, not mostly for people not believing in God, but for an unaccountable leadership running it into bankruptcy while all those who have it in their hearts to donate - but know in their heads that the leadership is scamming - simply move to a better run church.

Because those who cannot truly vote with their hands tend to eventually vote with their feet.

And maybe the new church will have the best doctrine and maybe it won't, but at least when it's donated to it won't just be squandered away on stuff that isn't even about "personal gain" for the leaders but just about "ineptitude".  For most all church leadership at the local level is far more ignorant than greedy.  They aren't squandering the money on fur coats, pinky rings and yachts, but they are squandering it all the same on needless repairs, over priced contractors, useless feel good mailings, videos and other unproductive "outreach", silly pet projects and all other manner of things none of which really does any good in drawing in new members at all.

I've seen the leadership of a church let a perfectly salvageable half a million dollar chapel sit empty for four years while they squabbled among themselves till it was so dilapidated that what could have been repaired at $10,000 would now take $250,000 plus to repair!  And each of them would in all sincerity blame the other, and none would actually have personally profited, but there was no democratic process, no means of the membership to snap their fingers and wake them up, and so an entire church building must be torn down.

And every one who participated in that?  They've been re-nominated for yet more terms, excepting some few who are letting their wives, brothers, and such have a go on their behalf.

Recognize then this Election Scam, know it for what it is, and choose then carefully where you give your donation dollars.  Churches may claim to be of God and under Christ's authority - in fact, all of them claim that - but I doubt God or Christ truly wishes this kind of nonsense to go on, where all the good hearted donations of the flock get flushed down the toilet by such modern day Pharisees.

Go to any church you want - but when it comes to any desire to do the Lord's work, you may wish to investigate as carefully as you would any other investment.

The Tipping Scam

A new meme is going around, pushing for waitresses to be paid a 20% tip.

So if we take that seriously, then if it's a party of five going out to eat, we have to pay as if an entire extra person was eating - just to make sure we get the service we were already paying for?

No.

10% - not 15%, let alone 20% - was good enough for the gals in 1943 waiting for their husbands to come back from WWII. And since percents remain constant with inflation, then 10% of a $10 meal now is as good as 10% of the $2 meals back then. And back then, ten people would have had to eat in order for the tip to rise to the cost of an entire extra meal! Ten people - not five!

The scam is in invoking the Single Mother or the Elderly Old Lady. Or both. As if every waiter and waitress is in some terrible financial position in desperate need of you ponying up just so they can survive the cold winter night. "But...but...they're single mothers! What about all that hard work! The long hours! Did you know they make less than minimum wage?!"

Often it will even be personalized, to greater or lesser degrees. From "Well, the waitress I know is very nice, she deserves every penny she gets!" all the way up to, "Me mum was a waitress...*sniffs, sniffs*...she worked bloody hard to make sure I had clothes on my back...*tear rolls down cheek*...she sure don't need no heartless arsehole like you to stiff her on the tip! If she was alive, that is! She died with a coffee pot in her hand! Some bugger like you wanted a fourth refill!" I cry foul. I mean, honestly, if the wages are otherwise so lousy that the customers have to be begged off of more aggressively each year, then it's time they all quit (yeah, even your dear old mom!) and applied at McDonalds. Or Walmart. Or went to college on loan packages available to all. Or a thousand other options. I mean, what, is this 1850? Is waitressing the only work out there for women? Hardly.

Is it truly forgot that they (waitresses and waiters) each applied for these jobs? That they were not captured by men with nets and guns while they ran across the plains of the Midwest laughing and carefree? That they were not branded and shackled and forcibly impressed into the food service industry?

I had a guy at our sober living home once, and he was a waiter. Same lousy hours - if we count between five and eight hours as lousy. Same hard work - if writing on pads and bothering to remember things counts. He'd put in his hours, but then he'd take the $75 to $100 he made in tips each day and blow it on Hydrocodone. Why not? His wages and just the tips from a day or two could readily afford his weekly living expenses.

Do all the wait staff make $100 a day? Nope. But it'd be an odd shift for them not to bring in $50 a day. And if we assume $10 meals - which with drinks and taxes they are always at least that - and a 10% tip, that assumes they only served 50 people. That is quite livable, and in fact the same in tips as what a day laborer would earn in 8 hard hours of manual labor. (And some of you brighter readers are already doing the math of 'tips you usually leave' times 'customers you see in an hour' times 'hours in a regular shift' and starting to get my point.)

So it is absurd for it to be suggested that a normal family must now pay the cost of an entire extra meal just so Flo doesn't collapse from malnutrition into a snow drift while walking home to the bridge she lives under and leaving seven orphans behind. Because yeah, also in this scam is the tacit assumption that the customer should ever, for any reason, have to pay extra for what he already paid for. And what do we call it, when the reason for you having to give is the alleged distress of another, with no other value offered? Begging. And one does not go to a restaurant to be subject to that.

Try that with your boss sometime. "Yes, sir, well, I'd have been faster with that file, but last time I brought a file to you, all you said was 'thank you'. No tip. And do you know how little I make? I mean, yeah, I know you do, but jeez, it's just terrible. I've kids, did I mention that? How about you start telling our customers to give me a little extra something something on each order? You know, To Insure Promptness in me getting it done? We good on that?"

See? Tipping itself is a scam. And while I accept that we live in a culture in which that has been accepted for some professions - barbers, cabbies, waitresses, as opposed to equally deserving ditch diggers, sewer workers and cashiers - I disagree with the additional scam of forever raising the percents!

I thus say "No" on 20%. And "No" on the previous crap about 15%.

10%. Good enough for the "Greatest Generation". Good enough now.

It Takes a Magician

In ancient times, people believed in Magicians.  Powerful men who could bend the world to their desires with their spells and incantations.

Nowadays, we think this is because they were "dumb" or "primitive".  In reality, they were just referring to a phenomena which we've all witnessed, but just didn't know what we were seeing.

Our cities, our churches, our corporations, our clubs, these are all "social constructs".  They are made up of individuals, but once together, they take on a life of their own.  No, they are not "sentient", but they are susceptible to manipulation.

While it's been speculated that some Magicians earned the title by knowing of and having access to some herbs or potions, and while that was true in some cases, in other cases, these men simply knew how to pull the levers of power in the various city/states and Empires and temples of the time.

Your average peasant - and 98% were country-bound peasants - had no idea what these "cities" were or how they worked.  And when a man with a sword told them "Give me some of your grain!" was he robbing them, or was he the man appointed to guard the gate trying for a bribe, or was he exacting the King's Entry Tax?

The peasant could not know - but the "Magician" could.  And if he knew the guard was just engaged in a shake down, he could wave his hand and mutter in that city's home language (not the trade language the guard used for the peasant) "Let us pass, we've business with Lord Urias.", and the knowledge of the local language, the local custom and the name of a powerful figure within would have the fearsome guard let them pass unrobbed.

Of course the peasant just heard the "incantation", just saw the wave of the hand, and it may well have seemed to be a Jedi "These are not the droids you're looking for!" mind-trick to him!

In the city, the magic could continue.  You will be hurt by the King's Court, unless you know the words to say to deflect that.  Any Lord might summon you, but if you know the laws and customs, then what would be a calamity for another would be nothing for you.

You would observe other peasants visiting and tripped up by 1,000 different dangers, but your escort - really, just a guy who knew all the customs - would get you safely through, your grain sold for a reasonably fair price, and you back to the farm.

Magic.

This carries on today, but we do not call them Magicians.  Lawyers, Accountants, Insurance Agents, Realtors, Brokers, Loan Officers, Landlords, Bosses, Government Bureaucrats - these are the men who know the Words of Power, and who against you will always win, unless you can pay one of their own to be on your side, and say back the counter-spell to get you out of your jam.

The City's Bureaucrats write words on a piece of paper delivered to your home, it says you need a new roof.  And you will lose your home and all your assets if you do not bow to them and do as they say.  But when you know the right counter-spell, you can write other words on a paper, and if you send it back correctly, you have yet more time to do it, or sometimes, do not need to now do it at all.

The scam I am speaking of then is where Evil Magicians, who are well versed in the Dark Arts - er, the "customs" of our age - use their knowledge of the Words of Power to harm you, safely knowing that you do not know how to ward off those Words, nor can you afford any of their own who could tell you those Words.

Thus a City Bureaucrat - "Evil Magician" - might send a spell your way to compel that roof fix, even knowing that the law allows you more time.  But he hopes to scare you into giving up, and then he gets to seize your house.  But you either learned of the secret Words of Power, or can scrape up enough money to hire a Magician - er, Lawyer - who can, and so you back him off.

It's a scam because they know that they have no right to what they want of you, but they're counting on you not knowing what words to say back to get them to lay off of you.

Businesses do this to screw you.  They'll say that while you think the service you got for your money was lousy that there is nothing you can do.  But file the right words at a local courthouse, and all of a sudden they will give your money back.  Because they have repented of their evil?  No, because they see you know the counter-spell, and can hurt them back, and they only go after those with no "magic".

The weak.  The defenseless.  The uneducated.  The poor.

These have always been the Evil Magicians targets, from days of old to now.  And they can only be fought with magic, if you try and use force, it always fails.  For they use more spells/words to summon the fighting forces of the City/State or the police of the town to stop you from fighting off their robberies by force.

No, when an Evil Magician is stealing from you, only magic counters it.  When a modern day non-violent thief tries to scam you, only knowing the words that frighten them work.

"Civil suit".  "Small claims".  "Redress".  "Tort".  "Actionable".  "Remedy".  These obscure words and related phrases may as well be incantations, and they work nearly as fast.

Peasant/Citizen:  "Will you please refund me, as you did not give me what I paid for?"

Evil Magician/CPA:  "No, that's what you paid for.  Sorry you were unsatisfied, there's nothing to be done about it."

Peasant/Citizen with no magic:  *walks away broke*

Peasant/Citizen with magic:  "I've noted and marked the number of errors, any of which would have had my application denied by law and my fee not refunded.  These are actionable under IRG 9128:12(a).  I am prepared to file a small claims suit in pauperis formis, which will cost me nothing, but will cost you twice what I'm asking just to defend against.  Therefore if you have not refunded me in X number of days, the filing will occur."

Evil Magician/CPA:  "Without admitting liability, we will settle this as a courtesy to avoid further hassle.  Expect the check in X number of days."

So, yeah, in case any of you are wondering, why yes, I did get the CPA who screwed me to agree to a refund.  But what if I had not those words of power?

What a sick and sad society we live in, where we can all know that if you are small you are screwed - and we do nothing about it.  We say the little people have a representative government, but do the schools teach them how the law works?  Do the courts offer legal advice to those who by their taxes pay their salaries?

Did you know that when the police tell your teenage son, "If you don't answer our questions, you're Obstructing Justice, a felony?" that this is but a spell to get him to wave his 5th amendment rights?  Did you know that the counter-spell is "I will gladly answer all your questions in the presence of my attorney, please arrange for me to have one quickly so that your investigation is not unduly delayed."?

It's the difference between one kid going to jail - having incriminated himself - versus the other going home, as he really had been innocent any way and failed to frame himself for what they thought he did.

Did you know that when I petitioned a law firm for a refund a few years ago that they would not give it to me until I could prove to them by correspondence that I knew enough to file pro se against them?  That had I failed to demonstrate my knowledge of the Words of Power that they'd have kept over $1,000 from me?

Did you know that when nearly anyone tries to make you do something, it's based on their hope that they have the right words and you do not?  That you can do almost anything - it will even truly seem magical - if you have the facility and education to come up with the right Words of Power on the spot?

Police Officer:  Could you come down to the station, answer a few questions?

Me:  Are you investigating a crime?

Police Officer:  Well...yes.

Me:  I'll need an attorney present before I answer any questions.

Police Officer:  You can bring an attorney.

Me:  I'm too poor to afford one.  Will you be providing me one?

Police Officer:  No, Mr. West.  Thank you for your time.

Does it always work?  Well...yeah, actually.  Quite a bit of the time.  Understand, it's not truly "magic", obviously the cops had to know that there was little or no evidence of any supposed guilt of mine.  But what a terrible night it would have been for me "proving my innocence" if I had not known what to say.  3am, a small room, and the officer saying, "Let's go over this one...more...time...!"

But note that in each case, "powers that be" are trying to get a little guy to do something he does not wish to do and he deflects them not by force, but by knowing the right words.

If you can understand this lengthy explanation, really understand it, you will start to notice instances in your own lives where this happens.  Where you are swayed or deterred or otherwise harmed by the words of others, because you did not know what to say to get your way.

Now, it is no scam that you do not always get your way.  But again, as I mentioned, it IS a scam for you to be unjustly deprived of liberty, property and such because an Evil Magician knew the right words, and knew you were unlikely to have the counter-spell.

Go to our courts - and all courts are just two magicians flinging words at each other, with a "Judge" to decide which one's words are most likely to resonate with those above him.  Or which words weave a story that allows a judge to do what he wanted to do.

Haven't you wondered how two lawyers can fight each other in the first place if the law is clear and objective?  Well, the law is never in any case "clear" and "objective".  So one lawyer can argue "community standards" as a reason for you to not paint your house purple and the other lawyer can argue "private property" as a reason for you to be able to.  And then the Judge decides which words he likes better, as either set of words could be said to be valid.

A government then of men, not of laws.  A government - and a whole culture - based on who can phrase things the most cleverly, who can weave the best narrative.  Was it you who dropped your phone who is owed no refund?  Or you who dropped a defective phone who is owed a refund?

Who phrases it better?  Who knows what to and what not to admit?  The company may well know there is a defective batch.  You may well know you dropped it.  Both may have took place.  Who's phrasing it better?

The corporation will usually win, as they are large and have staffs of magicians - lawyers - on stand by.  You must either hire a free-lance magician or know the words yourself.

VISA's local counsel to my wife a few years ago:  We are suing you over a debt of $1,200.  Show up at such and so court in 30 days or the judgment will be entered in against you.

Me writing up a pro se motion back as if I was my wife:  You are suing in State court, but your listed headquarters are in Virginia while I am a resident of Illinois.  Citing therefore diversity of jurisdiction, this matter needs to be at once transferred to Federal Court.  I also declare that I desire a jury trial, as is my right as the Respondent.  I also will be seeking to subpoena the records of each merchant that alleges charges were made at their establishment.  And I will be seeking to depose the various employees of your corporation who approved such purchases.

VISA's local counsel to my wife:  At this time we are dropping our suit at law while retaining the right to file at some future date.

And they never then did.  Words of Power.  They had no right to what they sought, but had I not known the counter-spell, my wife would have had a judgment entered against her.

I've pulled stuff like this all my life.  I suppose it makes me a minor magician.  But what of those who don't have my facility with words?  Can you even begin to calculate the human misery, and throughout all of history, due to the powerful knowing these words and these games and these spells and knowing most of all that the poor are helpless in the face of them?

All of it is a scam, a pretense that we have all gave up violence for justice, when in reality we've all gave up violence so that the physically weakest - but mentally most predatory - can prey on all of us without fear of being gave bodily harm.  Not a one of them would dare try this type of thing should the System falter for a moment.

This is why the Supreme Court says what the laws mean - instead of a dictionary.  This is why courts will not aid citizens in how to file the appropriate motions and counter-motions.  This is why public schools will not teach children how to exercise their rights.  This is why corporations have 21 page contracts and floors of lawyers on stand by.

It's a scam, then.  Of the over-educated and against the regular Joes working for a living.  You've heard of the maker, takers and fakers?

You're the maker.  The random street thugs who 95% of you have never encountered are the takers.  And the Evil Magicians, who have got over you your whole life in every way conceivable, are the fakers.

No real surprise - the word "faker" comes from the word "fakir" - meaning "magician".

The Flip Around Scam

A husband goes to the bathroom and from the living room, hears a cry of anger from his wife.  Oops, he thinks, he forgot to sign out of his email...

An old pro at adultery, he doesn't rush, but saunters back in with a pretend concern of "What is it, honey?"

She retorts in righteous anger, "Don't 'honey' me, I saw the email from Juanita at work!  Working late, huh?  Why is she thanking you for yesterday evening?  You were 'wonderful', huh?!"

Now the old pro has a couple of options.  He could do the "blame the victim" thing, and speak of her not being up for as much marital relations as they had 20 years ago.  Or that her figure never re-bounded after the third child.  But that's pretty darn risky, for obvious reasons.

He may drag that in later, as a supplement, but really, better if she can be made to think of those on her own, without him laying himself open to a charge of rudeness and ingratitude by saying them himself.

And as an old pro, he knows that "blaming the victim" not only depends on the person actually feeling guilty for something they did in the past, but it would also be a tacit confession that he did do it, just with reasons.  And why would he admit that right out of the gate, when he may yet win?

Is there a way he can not have to make the admission?  And not have to rely on her feeling guilt for something that is normal and natural?

Sure!

It's called the Flip Around!

That's where you shift the conversation immediately from your action, to their reaction.  Done right, their reaction becomes the "action" under discussion, and your own tawdry action is left behind, perhaps even, if done right, never to be addressed again!

Watch!

Wifey:  "...you were 'wonderful', huh?!"

Old Pro:  "I'm at an utter loss here, as to how you could do this to me."  *shakes head sadly*

Wifey:  "What?!  What are you talking about!?"

Old Pro:  "How many years have we been married?  But this is the level of trust we have - or don't have - that my emails, my personal emails are fair game to you?"

Wifey:  "You're the one who left it open, so why don't you tell me about this 'wonderful' time you had with her?"

Old Pro:  *pretending to squeeze back a tear with his finger*  "I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time hearing that your snooping is my fault.  It's like you're blaming the victim for your actions, like it's my fault you read my personal emails!  This makes me question things between us now.  It makes me question things a lot."

Wifey:  "What?  How does that even matter!?  How long have you been seeing her?"

Old Pro:  *pauses to build anticipation at a supposedly honest answer*  "Listen.  We've been married a long time, and I love you very much, so I'm not just going to rush to judgment on what you've just done here or what it's cost our relationship.  Even though I notice you seem fast enough to jump to conclusions with me.  I'm going to grab some alone time, maybe watch the game, try and cool off, as this bothers me more than I think you know.  There'll be time enough to talk everything out later, including your silly suspicions."

Okay, let's review that.

First, he didn't make the mistake of denying out right and at once, because after all, he doesn't know how many of those emails she saw, or if she found the pics.  As it happens, she only found the one left open, and that was not too explicit, so he knows now that she knows very little for sure.

Second, in his initial non-denial, he did immediately go on the attack.  Remember in Proverbs, "the guilty flee when no man pursue, but the righteous are as bold as lions".  Thus the lesson - the dark and horrible lesson - that the Flip Around scammer learns is, "Do not flee from the accusation, or you'll look guilty, rather boldly attack as a lion so you'll look righteous!"

Thirdly, the wifey falls into the trap by doing a bit of understandable "victim blaming".  Technically speaking, she was not to look in his email, but instead of giving a perfect response, her emotional state caused her react to his accusation defensively, thus making her look guilty - and feel guilty.  If his own accusation planted a bit of guilty feeling in her, her very act of defending against that spurious allegation re-enforced in herself a guilty feeling she never really should have.

Fourthly, since the Old Pro tricked her into a poor defense, and one that made herself feel "defensive", he then ably followed it up with a pretense of a sad emotional state, which she notes and will wonder of later, and also named her sad - and actually justified attempt at - victim blaming, so to further re-enforce a sense in her that maybe she really is as guilty as she is increasingly starting to feel.

Fifthly, her "What? How does that even matter?" is weak, as on some level, she is actually asking him to explain that to her as if she needs real correction and instruction on this matter from him.  Only after that, does she - secondarily - ask the real question of how long he's been seeing her.  Which sadly confesses that she knows not.

Sixthly, the long pause as if in emotional shock over another's wrong doing not only helps emphasize how wrong the wifey was, but it gives the flip arounder time to come up with a great non-answer.  That non-answer is nothing more than a threat.  He is literally - if only subtly - implying that the marriage itself may be over, or at least gravely damaged, by HER actions in violating his privacy.

He still also persists in not denying or defending, making her start to doubt there is anything for him to deny or defend.  He's also offering her an "out".  That possibly, after he cools off, there may be hope in a future conversation in which she could convince him that she meant no harm in looking at that email.

See?  Now she's almost eager to brush off the suspected affair, just if it will get him off her back about her violating his privacy.  Why?  Because she values the peace and stability of the marriage and her place in it, above all.  It's her love and reliance upon that stable and comfortable relationship that is the very thing that makes the flip around work so well.

What she had read made her feel that the marriage was in doubt, due to HIS actions.  But he has done the "flip around", so now she feels her marriage is in doubt due to HER actions in violating his privacy, but she is hoping now that he'll just cool off and not bring this up again.  Because while she really doesn't know "for sure, for sure" about his cheating, she knows she's stone cold busted on the privacy violation.

Now her only goal is not to prove his guilt and speak of punishment of him, but to avoid speaking of any of this at all, so that her own guilt will not be used as a reason for he to end or modify the marriage.

Flip around complete.  The guilty will now be sought out by the innocent, with the innocent hoping that the guilty can forgive and forget about this, and just move on!  And if you think that's all very stupid, and cannot happen, well, you've limited experience with jerk men, or for that matter jerk women, as they can pull equivalents.

The Flip Around Scam works on far more than just betrayed wives.  It's a scam for any time you do not wish to be held accountable for a wrong doing you've committed, or if you do not wish to have to go to the trouble of punishing someone who did wrong.

"I'm more concerned with your failure to be quiet in the library
then this spurious allegation of me kissing Juanita in the stacks!"

Like if you're a boss, and you have to deal with the owner's son working in your department.  You know, the owner's son who always causes trouble but you can't really touch without getting grief.

One day at a routine office meeting, someone asks why the TPS reports weren't done right, and some regular employee speaks up, "It's because he *points to the owner's son* didn't do it!  He never does them!  When can we finally get someone who will do them so the rest of us won't fall behind any more?"

Clearly the employee is justifiably angry and has named something that justifies anger.  He's also making it that you - the boss - must now do something, or you're the baddie.  You can't do anything to the owner's kid, but you sure don't want to look like the baddie!

So you Flip Around!

Boss:  "You're entirely out of order!  If there were any legitimate concerns - and that's a big IF - you should have talked to the employee in question first, or if that didn't work, come to me!  After all, we're here today to get things accomplished, not this surprise ambush of a co-worker!  This is completely unprofessional!"

Complainer:  "I'm sorry."

Boss:  "Fine.  Next time you know."

Okay, so let's review that.

First, the flat out of the gate shut down, as bosses have more authority than husbands!  And by making sure the employee knows the boss is angry - through tone and labels - the employee now fears for his own position.  Which drives out of mind the previous concern about what - if anything - would be done about the slacker.

Secondly, it's as if he's the guilty one, as you've named at least three supposed offenses of his.  That he failed in procedure twice and that he violated some previously unknown sanctity of a meeting!  That the emotionally charged words like "ambush" and "unprofessional" really gives him a good "back off blast"!

Thirdly, after the instant apology, you as the boss just gave an unresponsive dismissive statement.  Not that you'd review it, not that you'd do anything.  If he had enough temerity, you could afford to say "You may trust we'll look into everything", with the emphasis on "everything" letting the employee know you meant him.

Issue now dead.  The owner's son need not be talked to, and no employee will risk being targeted by you next!  Therefore they will instead solve your problem by picking up the slack - on their own - of the owner's son!

Now that's managerial brilliance in responsibility avoidance - Flip Around Scam style!

Of course, it's actually for crap.  The Flip Around NEVER rewards goodness and decency, always and ever it only rewards the guilty.  That's the only thing the Flip Around is for, so that's no surprise.  It's the tool of guilty husbands and bosses who don't want to do their job.

Or are afraid to.

How about in the legal arena?  You bet!  There's been prosecutors who not wishing to prosecute the son of a rich man who burgled a citizen's home will instead threaten to charge the home owner for the injuries the home owner gave that kid!

This changes the dialogue from "Hey, Mr. DA, how come you aren't prosecuting the guy who I shot when he crept through my daughter's window?" to "Ok, Mr. DA, I appreciate you not prosecuting me for shooting at the guy who crept through my daughter's window."

How about in the religious world?  You bet!

I've lately seen the fanstastical display of a good woman weepingly reading from the Bible and seeking solace and aid from her pastor and peers, and the pastor trying to shut her down by accusing her - and those who were in support of her - as being like a "lynch mob" and for me in asking about it the next day being "inciting".

She didn't ask in the right time and place - but when pressed, he admitted he did not know himself any ideal or proper time and place.  I "incited" by asking two Elders and a Pastor what to do.  Who besides they I should have asked - well, he could not name any other better course.

See, as was mentioned in another blog - Theological Musings - ministers are frightened that by a "commission of discipline" they might lose a member, even a bad one.  So they prefer to risk losing several good members by their "omission of discipline", which they feel somehow makes them less at fault.

They also hope - like the Flip Around boss - that if they throw it back on the good members, the good members will pick up the slack to mitigate the bad actions of the bad member.  Then the pastor gets the benefit of doing nothing, and everything still lurches forward.  True, the baddie will inevitably drive yet more away, and even some of the good will drop out, or while staying, lose heart, but hey, controversy will be avoided, and real decisions will be put off, so a win, yes?

Uh huh.  A win for the Flip Around Scammer.  And the baddies involved.

Never for the good.  Not for the good wife.  Not for the good employees.  Not for the good home owner.  And not for the good church members.

It is a scam, and like all scams listed in this blog, needs to be fought with education and awareness. You are now educated and aware.  Next and last is the firm naming of it.  That is ALL one ever has to do to deflate this scam.

Name it.  The Flip Around scam is a like a cockroach - it cannot stand light.  It thrives only when some good person doesn't know about it, and trusting the other, gets their trust brutally used against them.

When ever you see it tried on another, or you, name it at once.

"No.  This is a flipping around of the guilt, from the one who hurt to the one who was hurt.  It is not a 'lynching' to be hurt by another and then seek out help and aid from your church family and church leadership."

"No.  This is a flipping around of the guilt, from the one who hurt to the one who was hurt.  It is not 'inciting' to seek counsel from Elders and a Pastor."
 
"No.  This is a flipping around of the guilt.  Maybe you have legitimate sins of mine and my friends to speak of later.  But we are only here and now speaking of the sin of the man who hurt us.  Address that. There will be time later to address how we could have better reacted in pain and anguish."

Those I just field tested recently, so I know they work.

But that also works for every situation because the Flip Around Scam is the same - and just as bad - no matter whether it's done by Pastor or cheating husband, District Attorney or work boss.

"No.  This is a flipping around of the guilt, from you who may be having an affair to me who at worst looked at an open screen.  Address my concern first, and I promise will do my best to atone for any wrong in looking at that screen."

"No.  This is a flipping around of the guilt.  From the owner's son who is never disciplined to the rest of us who must then do more work.  Are we getting raises?  Or are we dusting off resumes?"

"No.  This is a flipping around of the guilt.  From the man who terrified my wife and daughter in the wee hours of the morning under cover of darkness, to I who apparently winged him in the shoulder when I attempted to drive the unknown threat away from my loved ones.  When is he being prosecuted?"

The commonality is that in each case you recognize that the Flip Around Scammer is very concerned with trying to deal "justly", ha, ha, with your supposed bad reaction.  But very reticent about in any way dealing meaningfully - or at all - with the action that prompted your reaction.