REALITY HELL I: READ ABOUT OSCEOLA CAPTURE SITE, WHICH MAY BE DUG UP BY LOOTERS (DIGGERS) FOR NATIONAL TV PROGRAM -- JUST SAY NO!

Osceola's capture site hidden

One of Seminoles' greatest leaders betrayed near Wildwood Drive

JENNIFER EDWARDS
Special to the Record

Published Monday, October 19, 2009

A quiet street in the peaceful Wildwood Creek neighborhood leads to a site that marks government betrayal, bloodshed and a fire that consumed a national landmark nearly 170 years ago.

On Oct. 26, 1837, federal troops from Fort Peyton captured one of the government's fiercest enemies in Florida, Seminole war leader Osceola.

For years, Osceola had bedeviled the government's attempts to remove Native Americans from the area. He was taken prisoner under a flag of truce and was imprisoned in the Castillo de San Marcos, where he died shortly afterward.

Fort Peyton, not far from the Wildwood Creek neighborhood, was one of several forts designed to protect St. Augustine during the Second Seminole Indian War. It burned down in 1840.

An unpaved trail now leads from Winterhawk Drive through the forest and ends at a freshly restored historical marker -- the only nod to the fort located here and the area's rich history. The path is unmarked and hard to find.

"Something very important happened there ...," Robin Moore, St. Johns County historic resources coordinator, said of the Fort Peyton site. "St. Augustine knew who Osceola was and people in Central Florida and other places knew who he was ..."

But until this year, not even the marker could bear witness to the life and eventual betrayal of one of the most well-known Indian leaders of the era.

"There was a bunch of bullet holes around the sign and the post was all shot up," explained Kevin Spilling, 17, a Pedro Menendez High School senior and Eagle Scout who organized a project to restore the marker and dress up the site.

In addition to restoring a marker that describes the history of Fort Peyton and mentions Osceola's capture, volunteers from Spilling's troop also mulched the area, added wooden benches and created a planter around another marker.

That marker, a coquina monument erected in 1916, also commemorated Osceola's capture at a nearby site but has long since lost the plate describing that capture.

Spilling, who lives near the markers, said he organized the restoration because when he was growing up, "I wished it was more built up and people had a place to go back there and eat lunch, sit and talk instead of it being all overgrown with weeds."

The actual spot of the Seminole war leader's capture is even more overgrown. According to local tradition, it is located about a mile south of the Fort Peyton site where a trail leads through nearly a third of a mile of underbrush and to another faceless coquina marker. That marker is nearly hidden by palmetto fronds.

But that site may get new life, too, Moore said.

Moore said the marker may be replaced soon as part of an agreement with a potential subdivision developer, and he said St. Johns County also is looking to develop the area around the Fort Peyton marker.

"We've targeted special spots like that for educational development," he said, noting that the area could become part of an interpretive trail.

"You could learn the history of the Seminole war and the activities that went on on the land you are walking," he said.

*

What the marker says

"Fort Peyton, established by Maj. Gen. Thomas S. Jesup in August 1837 and garrisoned by regular army troops, was one of a chain of military outposts created during the Second Seminole Indian War for the protection of the St. Augustine area.

It consisted of four log houses, built on a hollow square, two occupied by the troops, one by officers and the fourth used as a hospital commissary.

This post was first known as Fort Moultrie, but its name was changed in honor of Lt. Richard H. Peyton, post commander in 1832. The Seminole Indian chief*, Osceola, was captured about a mile south of this site.

Fort Peyton was ordered abandoned by the secretary of war, Joel R. Poinsett, in May 1840. The buildings burned to the ground on February 14, 1842, presumably set afire by an incendiary."

Source: St. Johns County Historical Commission, 1966.

*Note: Osceola was not a chief.

*

Did you know?

Osceola was born Billy Powell, and of mixed ancestry. He was the son of William Powell, a white trader in the Tallassee, Ala., area and a Native American woman named Polly Copinger.

His name later became Osceola, and was taken from "asi," a black drink and "yahola," or singer.

He was an important war leader, but was never the chief of an Indian tribe.

Source: William and Ellen Hartley, "Osceola, the Unconquered Indian."

REALITY HELL II: DESIREE M. MANDELBAUM TO DIG UP SITE OF FORT PEYTON, LOCATION OF OSCEOLA'S CAPTURE?

Note to our friends at the SEMINOLE TRIBE, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel and Spike TV:

LA casting Director DESIREE M. MANDELBAUM told me at 8:12 PM EST tonight that “I will not confirm” but “I do not deny nor will I confirm," that she has paid money to the owner of Fort Peyton, the place where Seminole Indian leader Osceola was captured, to allow her to dig up the site.

In the immortal words of Washington Post Managing Editor Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee during Watergate, “that’s a non-denial denial.”

Look for pickets, protests, lawsuits and legislation to stop this from ever happening.

Support the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. www.staugustgreen.com

Stop looters and schlockmeisters and “developers” from destroying our history and nature for profit.

It’s time to preserve our history and nature forever.

DESIREE M. MANDELBAUM, a/k/a "We're professional diggers," proposes a series of looting archaeology and wants to sell it to DISCOVERY CHANNEL, HISTORY CHANNEL OR SPIKE TV.

Read her resume, which is heavy on casting for goober-exploitation "reality shows."

Does she look qualified to cover archaeological or other scientific issues to you? What do you reckon? Listen to the words of DESIREE M. MANDELBAUM:

Former UN Ambassador Andrew Young says that in social activism, it is always important to let the other person “save face.” In the spirit of Andrew Young, I attempted yesterday to engage DESIREE MANDELBAUM about the community values of St. Augustine, Florida about our history and archaelogy.

I politely suggested to DESIREE MANDELBAUM that she film Carl Halbirt and Kathy Deegan, doing professional archaeology digs. MANDELBAUM refused.

I asked about her credentials. MANDELBAUM said, “We are professional diggers. I don’t feel the need to explain myself. When we come out, your town will be very happy. Thanks for the call, Ed.”

DESIREE MANDELBAUM hung up the telephone.

Thinking perhaps DESIREE MANDELBAUM might have been disconnected on her cell phone, I called her back.

Then DESIREE MANDELBAUM said, “We haven’t decided whether to go there or not.” She refused to disclose the names of her production company, her TV network, or their lawyers, saying we hicks and rubes here in St. Augustine, Florida “don’t need to know.”

MANDELBAUM thereupon repeated herself a lot, like a hierarchical authoritarian Republican would do with too much coffee. I said she was inarticulate. Then she said, “You’re being mean to me,” and hung up the telephone again.

Double click.

For more, see prior blog posts.

Activist Post: MITT ROMNEY's BAIN CAPITAL OWNS CLEAR CHANNEL, EMPLOYER OF HATE-SPEWERS LIMBAUGH, HANNITY, BECK, SAVAGE, et al.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Bain Capital Owns Clear Channel (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Etc.)

Michael Snyder, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

Wouldn't it be great if a Republican presidential candidate could just buy the support of just about every major conservative talk show host in America? Well, it may not be as far-fetched as you may think.

Clear Channel owns more radio stations (850) than anyone else in the United States. They also own Premiere Radio Networks, the company that syndicates the radio shows of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck, among others.

Needless to say, Clear Channel basically owns conservative talk radio in the United States. So who owns Clear Channel?

Well, it turns out that Bain Capital is one of the primary owners of Clear Channel. Yes, you read that correctly. The company that Mitt Romney ran for so long is one of the "big bosses" over virtually all conservative talk radio in America.

Of course Mitt Romney is not running Bain Capital anymore. He is a "retired partner", but he still has a huge financial stake in Bain Capital. We're talking about millions upon millions of dollars. If you doubt this, just check out page 34 of this public financial disclosure report. So if you have been wondering why so many conservative talk show hosts are being so incredibly kind to Mitt Romney, this just might be the answer.

In the media world, there is a clear understanding that you simply do not bite the hand that feeds you. Some of the most prominent conservative talk radio hosts are earning tens of millions of dollars a year.

If you were making tens of millions of dollars a year, wouldn't you be very careful to avoid offending your boss?

The deal in which Bain Capital became one of the owners of Clear Channel was initiated just a short time before Mitt Romney's first run for president. The following comes from Wikipedia....

On November 16, 2006, Clear Channel announced plans to go private, being bought out by two private-equity firms, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners for $18.7 billion, which is just under a 10 percent premium above its closing price of $35.36 a share on November 16 (the deal values Clear Channel at $37.60 per share).

The deal was finalized in 2008. Today, Bain Capital is still one of the primary owners of Clear Channel.

One of the subsidiaries of Clear Channel is Premiere Radio Networks.

Premiere Radio Networks distributes a whole host of conservative talk radio shows. Everyone in the conservative world knows names such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck. Clear Channel also controls some other conservative talk radio hosts (such as Michael Savage and Mark Levin) that are not part of the Premiere Radio family.

The power that Premiere Radio Networks has is absolutely staggering. The following is directly from the official Clear Channel website....

Premiere Radio Networks Inc., a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, syndicates 90 radio programs and services to more than 5,000 radio affiliations and reaches over 190 million listeners weekly. Premiere Radio is the number one radio network in the country and features the following personalities: Rush Limbaugh, Jim Rome, Casey Kasem, Ryan Seacrest, Glenn Beck, Bob (Kevoian) & Tom (Griswold), Delilah, Steve Harvey, Blair Garner, George Noory, John Boy and Billy, Big Tigger, Dr. Dean Edell, Bob Costas, Sean Hannity and others. Premiere is based in Sherman Oaks, California, with 13 offices nationwide.

So do you think that any of those hosts is going to risk viciously attacking Mitt Romney and Bain Capital during this election season?

Not likely.

One of the controversies that has plagued Premiere Radio Networks in recent years has been the uproar over their use of paid actors to call in to their radio shows.

The following comes from Wikipedia....

Clear Channel, through its subsidiary, Premiere Radio Networks, auditions and hires actors to call in to talk radio shows and pose as listeners in order to provide shows, carried by Clear Channel and other broadcasters, with planned content in the form of stories and opinions. The custom caller service provided by Premiere Radio ensures its clients they won't hear the same actor's voice for at least two months in order to appear authentic to listeners who might otherwise catch on.

So perhaps that explains where some of the "Romney callers" come from.

There is nothing illegal about what Romney and Bain Capital have done, but it sure does not pass the "smell test".

Conservative talk radio has the potential to sway millions of conservative voters in one direction or another, and it is just not proper for Bain Capital and Romney to have such an overpowering financial interest in conservative talk radio.

And, yes, Mitt Romney is still bringing in lots of money from Bain Capital. The following comes from a Wikipedia article about Mitt Romney....

At the time of his departure, Romney negotiated an agreement with Bain Capital that allowed him to receive a passive profit share as a retired partner in some Bain Capital entities, including buyout and investment funds.^[62][57] With the private equity business continuing to thrive, this deal would bring him millions of dollars in income each year.^[57] As a result of his business career, by 2007 Romney and his wife had a net worth of between $190 and $250 million, most of it held in blind trusts.^[62] An additional blind trust existed in the name of the Romneys' children and grandchildren that was valued at between $70 and $100 million as of 2007.^[63] The couple's net worth remained in the same range as of 2011, and was still held in blind trusts.

In addition, Bain Capital and Bain & Company continue to pour huge amounts of money into Romney's campaign coffers.

Just check out the following list of the biggest donors to the Romney campaign. These numbers come from opensecrets.org....

Goldman Sachs $367,200
Credit Suisse Group $203,750
Morgan Stanley $199,800
HIG Capital $186,500
Barclays $157,750
Kirkland & Ellis $132,100
Bank of America $126,500
PriceWaterhouseCoopers $118,250
EMC Corp $117,300
JPMorgan Chase & Co $112,250
The Villages $97,500
Vivint Inc $80,750
Marriott International $79,837
Sullivan & Cromwell $79,250
Bain Capital $74,500
UBS AG $73,750
Wells Fargo $61,500
Blackstone Group $59,800
Citigroup Inc $57,050
Bain & Co $52,500

As with anything, whenever you want to get to the real truth you just need to follow the money.

Earlier this week, Sean Hannity told Rick Perry that his attacks on Mitt Romney's time at Bain Capital sounded like something that "Occupy Wall Street" would say.

Just the other day, Rush Limbaugh compared Rick Perry to Fidel Castro and rabidly defended Mitt Romney on his radio program....

'There’s no way you can try to dress that up,' Limbaugh fumed. 'I don’t understand it. Well, politically I understand it, but that’s just absurd. It’s sad. ‘Cause I really, really, really like Rick Perry! I really do. I had such hopes! I did. I’ll tell you, I did, but all of this talk about “corporate raiders,” and as I listen to politicians start talking about capitalism, lights are going off in my head. Maybe they don’t really know what it is. Maybe they’re under some misconception about what capitalism is, because this characterization of it? A distinction with venture capitalism and vulture capitalism? This bite from Perry doesn’t compute.'

So why are these conservative talk show hosts defending Mitt Romney so furiously?

I think now we know.

It is all about the money.

When you have enough money, you can get conservative talk show hosts to promote an extremely liberal candidate.

Yes, of course Bain Capital does not "control" what these talk show hosts say.

Yes, of course some of the talk show hosts toss some light criticism at Romney from time to time.

But they simply do not go after Romney like they should.

The truth is that Mitt Romney is really a Democrat that is masquerading as a Republican. When you closely examine his record, he is very similar to Obama.

There is no way in the world that any self-respecting conservative should ever cast a single vote for him.

But right now Mitt Romney is running away with the race for the Republican nomination.

If Republicans can be fooled this badly, is there any hope for the future of the Republican Party?

This article first appeared here at the American Dream. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.

Click Here to Watch C-SPAN/Tavis Smiley's George Washington University Forum on Poverty in America

Awesome program about the poverty of power in America and its refusal to do anything about the scourge of poverty!

Washington, DC
Thursday, January 12, 2012

Panelists discuss a recent report from Indiana University on how poverty is changing in America. Participants include Princeton professor Cornel West, TV host Suze Orman, filmmaker Michael Moore, and author Barbara Ehrenreich. Tavis Smiley moderates the discussion.

Mr. Smiley also hosts “The Tavis Smiley Show” on PBS and co-hosts “Smiley & West” on Public Radio International.

USDOJ Press Release: Former SEC Enforcer Settles Conflict of Interest Charges w/ $50,000 Fine

Former SEC Head of Enforcement for the Fort Worth Office Settles Conflict of Interest Allegations

U.S. Attorney’s Office January 13, 2012

Eastern District of Texas (409) 839-2538

PLANO, TX—Spencer Barasch, 54, of Dallas, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas have entered into a settlement agreement today resolving federal conflict of interest allegations arising from Barasch’s representation of Stanford Financial Group, announced Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney John M. Bales. Barasch has agreed to pay a fine of $50,000, which is the maximum civil fine amount for a violation of 18 U.S.C. 207.

According to the settlement agreement, Barasch served as the head of enforcement for the Fort Worth Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission from approximately 1998 through April 2005. As head of enforcement, Barasch was responsible for the review, oversight, and approval of matters under investigation. It is alleged that during Barasch’s tenure, Stanford Financial Group made false material representations and omissions of material fact to numerous investors that caused significant financial losses to those investors. It is alleged that Barasch had substantial participation with the Stanford Financial Group investigation while at the SEC: specifically, it is alleged that in August 1998, Barasch directed a preliminary SEC investigation into the activities of Stanford Financial Group to be closed; that in December 2002, Barasch declined a referral from his examination staff to investigate the activities of Stanford Financial Group; and that in fall 2003, Barasch declined to open an investigation into the activities of Stanford Financial Group. Barasch subsequently left the SEC for private practice in April 2005.

Notwithstanding his supervisory position at the SEC and oversight of the investigation of Stanford Financial Group, which restricted him from future private representation of Stanford Financial Group before the SEC, as well as his having been verbally informed that he was unable to represent Stanford Financial Group due to a permanent conflict of interest, it is alleged that Barasch represented Stanford Financial Group in connection with SEC proceedings between September 29, 2006, and December 18, 2006, and made, with the intent to influence, a communication to the SEC. Despite his efforts, Barasch did not obtain any confidential information from the SEC.

Barasch has denied any allegations of wrongdoing.

In assessing the settlement agreement, U.S. Attorney Bales announced that: “We are committed to ensuring that former federal government attorneys and employees adhere to the rigorous ethical standards imposed upon them by law. In this instance, the SEC ethics program worked and Barasch’s misguided attempt to represent Stanford Financial Group had no lasting consequence. Even so, there must be zero tolerance for ethical missteps. Today’s settlement agreement demonstrates that we will hold those that shirk their professional responsibilities accountable for their conduct.”

This case was investigated by special agents with the FBI with the assistance of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The settlement was negotiated by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shamoil T. Shipchandler and L. Frank Coan, Jr. with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

Awesome Stuart Korfhage Column on Tim Tebow

Stuart Korfhage column: Tebow still playing like he did when he belonged to St. Johns County

Posted: January 13, 2012 - 12:02am

Back | Next

Record file photo

Tim Tebow was one of Nease's top rebounders.

By STUART KORFHAGE

stuart.korfhage@staugustine.com

Before his name was a verb, before he took over nearly every discussion about pro football and before he crossed over from star athlete to celebrity, Tim Tebow was just a kid with a football in his hand.

How lucky we were that kid came of age right in front of our eyes in St. Johns County.

The Tebow phenomenon is absolutely out of control right now after the former Nease star led the Denver Broncos to an overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the playoffs last week.

If Tebow somehow pushes the Broncos past the heavily favored New England Patriots on Saturday, the excitement might cause a Twitter meltdown. The company has reported that Tebow spawned 9,420 tweets per second during last week’s game.

It’s crazy, isn’t it?

And yet it’s almost impossible to be surprised.

Those of us who were at any of those Nease-St. Augustine games during the Tebow years understand. Even if you absolutely hated Nease, you couldn’t help but be wowed by Tebow.

And even if you hated him on the field, there is something wrong with you if you hated him off of it.

I saw people wearing St. Augustine shirts asking for Tebow autographs after those heart-breaking defeats.

And a crying Tebow obliged many of them.

It’s hard to have perspective about something while it is happening, but I think most of us knew what a special talent Tebow was even in high school.

There is absolutely nobody to compare him to in my experience as a sports writer or even a sports fan.

And if you spent five minutes around the guy, you realized he was truly the fun-loving, yet hard-charging athlete you saw on the field.

By the time Tebow was a junior, tales of his prowess had started to leak outside the county. A lot of people would show up at games to see if the reality lived up to the legend.

I used to love meeting people who got to see Tebow play for the first time. Anyone who didn’t walk away feeling amazed just wasn’t watching — or wasn’t being honest with himself.

People would sometimes look at me in surprise when Tebow would do the things Tebow does.

“He does this every week,” I would say.

That’s why I’ve never been surprised by the fame Tebow has achieved.

I know a lot of people are behind him because of the way he constantly puts his Christian faith on display.

But he’s not the first to do that. He’s just the first to be noticed by the whole world. The reason we keep paying attention to Tebow is that he’s still doing his job with the same flair, enthusiasm and abandon as he did when he was a high school kid breaking in his first razor.

Tebow plays football like it’s a game, not a war, not a dance contest.

He plays football the way you used to play with your brother in the backyard.

He plays the way he played when he was 16 and he was still all ours.

Click here to view resume of DESIREE M. MANDELBAUM, a/k/a "We're professional diggers," whose series threatens to loot St. Augustine's archaeology

DESIREE M. MANDELBAUM, a/k/a "We're professional diggers," proposes a series of looting archaeology and wants to sell it to DISCOVERY CHANNEL, HISTORY CHANNEL OR SPIKE TV.



Read her resume, which is heavy on casting for goober-exploitation "reality shows."

Does she look qualified to cover archaeological or other scientific issues to you? What do you reckon? Listen to the words of DESIREE M. MANDELBAUM:

Former UN Ambassador Andrew Young says that in social activism, it is always important to let the other person “save face.” In the spirit of Andrew Young, I attempted yesterday to engage DESIREE MANDELBAUM about the community values of St. Augustine, Florida about our history and archaelogy.

I politely suggested to DESIREE MANDELBAUM that she film Carl Halbirt and Kathy Deegan, doing professional archaeology digs. MANDELBAUM refused.

I asked about her credentials. MANDELBAUM said, “We are professional diggers. I don’t feel the need to explain myself. When we come out, your town will be very happy. Thanks for the call, Ed.”

DESIREE MANDELBAUM hung up the telephone.

Thinking perhaps DESIREE MANDELBAUM might have been disconnected on her cell phone, I called her back.

Then DESIREE MANDELBAUM said, “We haven’t decided whether to go there or not.” She refused to disclose the names of her production company, her TV network, or their lawyers, saying we hicks and rubes here in St. Augustine, Florida “don’t need to know.”

MANDELBAUM thereupon repeated herself a lot, like a hierarchical authoritarian Republican would do with too much coffee. I said she was inarticulate. Then she said, “You’re being mean to me,” and hung up the telephone again.

Double click.

For more, see prior blog posts.

Senator Ted Kennedy's 1994 TV commercials told the truth about MITT ROMNEY's vulture capitalism, Social Darwinism and sexism, profiteering from misery

Los Angeles Times on Supreme Court's dangerous 8-1 precedent in favor of mandatory, cramdown arbitration of consumer contracts

Give consumers their day in court

A string of Supreme Court rulings in favor of companies that force wronged consumers into arbitration instead of allowing them to pursue lawsuits shows change is needed. A Senate bill aims to do that.

By David Lazarus

January 13, 2012

The Supreme Court once again gave its backing this week to the notion that businesses can deny consumers the right to file lawsuits and can instead require any disputes to be mediated by an arbitrator.

The high court overturned an earlier ruling by a U.S. appeals court in San Francisco that the 1996 Credit Repair Organizations Act prevented so-called arbitration clauses in certain agreements.

Writing for the court majority in the 8-1 decision, Justice Antonin Scalia said it wasn't Congress' explicit intention to prohibit arbitration of disputes when it set rules for companies that claimed to be able to improve people's credit scores.

"Had Congress meant to prohibit these very common provisions, it would have done so in a manner much more direct" than what was included in the 1996 law, he said.

I'm no attorney, but the language of the law seems pretty clear. It says that credit repair firms must inform consumers that "you have a right to sue a credit repair organization that violates the Credit Repair Organizations Act."

Scalia and the court majority interpreted this as meaning consumers have a right to be so informed, but not to actually file suit — a bizarre distinction.

In any case, the conservative-leaning court has made clear where it stands on mandatory arbitration. It ruled in a 5-4 decision last April that AT&T could block customers from filing suit and could require them to arbitrate disputes.

The ruling gave a green light to all businesses — phone companies, cable companies, credit card companies — that want to avoid individual lawsuits and potentially costly class actions by customers.

Businesses prefer arbitration because settlements are generally limited and because professional arbitrators, who are typically paid by the company in the dispute, tend to favor businesses. It's a classic example of not biting the hand that feeds.

This week's court decision appears to be limited to credit repair companies, but it only reinforces the position that all companies, and particularly those in the financial services field, can deny customers the right to a lawsuit or trial.

As it happens, I received a letter the other day from Michael Cornwell of Pasadena, who passed along one of a series of hard-sell "notices" he's received from a Texas company called CreditArbitrators.

The notices state that Cornwell is carrying as much as $30,000 in debt, and say he has only a short amount of time to contact CreditArbitrators and "activate a debt mediation plan."

Cornwell, 78, told me he'd be nervous about such warnings except for the fact that "our credit card balances have long been paid off."

Curious, I contacted CreditArbitrators and spoke with the company's manager, John Dodson. He acknowledged that some people can be spooked by the official-looking solicitations sent out by CreditArbitrators' marketers.

"Their job is to drive phone calls in," Dodson said. "That's what they do."

He speculated that the marketer who's been chasing after Cornwell "may be using old information."

CreditArbitrators isn't a credit repair firm. Instead, the company focuses on negotiating with creditors to reduce the amount of money people owe. Dodson said about $201 million worth of debt has been addressed by CreditArbitrators since 1997.

And how much will this service run you? The company charges a flat rate of 12% of whatever you owe at the outset of the settlement process. Thus, a $10,000 balance will cost $1,200 to reduce, on top of whatever you end up paying to creditors.

CreditArbitrators' website says that "no particular results are guaranteed." The disclaimer appears at the very bottom of the site in a lighter, barely legible font.

But don't think about suing if you feel like you've been misled after making regular monthly payments to the company. CreditArbitrators has a clause in its contract denying customers the right to sue and requiring arbitration for any disputes.

The Supreme Court has made clear where it stands. Now it's up to lawmakers to level the playing field.

The Arbitration Fairness Act — S. 987 — was introduced last year by Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) in the House. It would amend the Federal Arbitration Act to invalidate all arbitration clauses in consumer and employment contracts.

The bill hasn't gone anywhere since it was unveiled in May. Its corporate opponents, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have lobbied against it.

So who speaks for consumers here? Clearly it's not the Supreme Court. And it's not the deep-pocketed business community. And, at least so far, it's not Congress.

If there's going to be change, it'll be up to you to let your representatives know that you support the right to a trial by jury, as guaranteed by the 7th Amendment to the Constitution, and you oppose efforts to deny you that right.

Businesses say that arbitration is a fair, fast and effective process. If so, then it's perfectly reasonable that consumers have this as an option when things go sour with a company.

But it shouldn't be the only option.

Maybe we could take up the matter with an arbitrator.

David Lazarus' column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.

Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times

Heartless Justice Department Lawyers Insouciant About Senator John Edwards' Rights

Someone in the Justice Department Public Integrity Section in Washington, D.C. needs to have a talk with their psychiatrist, priest, rabbi or minister. It seems that former Senator John Edwards needed more time to prepare for trial because of vast quantities of paper and electronic documents obtained in discovery. Our government actually opposed the motion.

That is contrary to the genius of a free people.

Not only is DOJ putting on trial the one and only 2008 presidential candidate who cared about inequality, in a questionable case brought subject to a new legal theory.

But DOJ actually wanted to deny Edwards adequate time to prepare his defense. That is cruelly unfair, but all too typical of government lawyers, who can be incredibly overbearing, trying to grind less powerful parties into the dirt.

Whenever I tried cases against government (or corporate) lawyers on behalf of whistleblowers, I found them all too often lacking in humanity. Whether they were Department of Energy EPA, NASA, TVA or private sector defense lawyers, they were too often soulless and hateful, only too happy to collect raises and bonuses and promotions and partnerships for violating peoples' rights.

Former United States Senator Johnny Reid Edwards was indicted on June 3, 2011 for six felony and misdemeanor counts arising out of almost $1 million that rich contributors gave to help hide his pregnant mistress during and after his 2008 presidential candidacy.

At least DOJ agreed to Senator Edward' request to reschedule his upcoming criminal trial on account of life-threatening condition that required heart surgery. The new Judge assigned to the case has granted the motion.

I wish John Edwards well during his surgery and wish him a speedy recovery.

I hope the jury does justice. There's not nearly enough -- not nearly enough -- justice in our Nation and planet at this time.

What do y'all reckon?

Democracy on the March; Right-Wing Dupery, Kookery and Nincompoopery on the Defensive

It's another beautiful day in a beautiful place. There is good cause for celebration today.

Our City of St. Augustine is recovering from years of mismanagement and corruption.

Our City just won two (2) Department of Transportation grants – totaling $903,000 -- to reunite our Bayfront and Castillo with the rest of our historic downtown. Winning grants is a wonderful way to celebrate the fine work of our new City Manager, John Regan, who is committed to making St. Augustine a better place for ALL.

Right wing dupery, kookery and nincompoopery have been rejected. Where once the former City Manager refused to apply for grants (or his nephew missed deadines for them), today, our City is partnering with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Transportation.

As Mayor Joseph Boles said in a press release, ““I am overjoyed …It is exciting that the federal government is partnering with us to tell the nation’s oldest story. Our goal is to provide a visitor experience that is safe, accommodating and will lead to a fulfilling experience for everyone.”

There are those in our community – including Republican State Committeeman RANDY COVINGTON – who disdain federal grants – COVINGON has told state and county legislators that local governments should not apply for grants. That’s typical of the nuttiness emitted by the Tea Party.

Partnering with the National Park Service and Department of Transportation will help bring about the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. www.staugustgreen.com

Like federal grants, the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore makes “angry” the tiny group of misbehaving St. Augustine Tea Party and radical Republican apparatchiks, the successors to the ideological perversions of the Ku Klux Klan.

Former St. Johns County Committee Chairman Ben Rich told Folio Weekly that St. Johns Count is “one of the last bastions of the KKK,” but I seriously doubt the KKK will ever again win another election here. There are more of us than there are of them.

But sadly, on November 1, 2011 – a date that will live in infamy – our County Commissioners showed a negative “profile in courage” by rejecting the park idea, based upon inane ranting from Tea Party member COVINGTON, et al,. who compared environmental activists Robin Nadeau (recently deceased), Judith Seraphin, Faye Armitage and me to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, claiming that a National Park and Seashore is Communist and Fascist.

Our governments locally and nationally are too sensible to listen for too long to bigots, bullies and cognitive misers, poor misguided souls who know not that they know not that they know not.

Environmental Racism is going out of style in St. Augustine and St. Johns County.

Civil Rights violations are no longer being tolerated here. Of course, our St. Augustine Police headquarters is still named for Virgil Stuart, KKK-empowering Police Chief who helped the KKK harass protesters here, and called Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. an “outside agitator.” (That’s the same kind of cheesy rhetoric that our local Tea Party and Republican Party use today). But Civil Rights, Equality and Diversity are on the ascendancy.

The tawdry, transparent, tedious, tendentious Tea Party and Republican plot to slash minority voting strength fizzled. We beat them 9-1 by vote of the St. Johns County Commission and School Board last month.

Riberia Street is being fixed – ALL of it.

West Augustine is getting water and sewer utilities – at last.

We now have two Civil Rights monuments.

We’re getting a National Civil Rights Museum.

We’re working to stop a Hollywood production company from looting our archaeology with an inane TV series on “diggers.”

We’re working to stop the arrests of musicians and artists on St. George Street and our Plaza, and to end the reign of ruin when a couple beastly commercial landlords bossed and bullied First Amendment rights and City Hall in the name of their own bigotry.

Through the grace of God, and with the support of all of the good people here, we’re going to get a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. www.staugustgreen.com

We shall overcome.