Monday, January 31, 2011

SOS Recieved!

Message In A Bloggle.

Many investigators who have a successful PI. business work 14 hour days - which include field /scene work,  conducting interviews, writing up case notes, searching computer databases, generating backgrounds, diagrams, meeting with attorneys, the works.
I focus primarily on personal injury investigations, so most of the cases I handle are in civil, not criminal court.
I work for attorneys who represent injured people.
And when many of people are too injured to get the attorney,  I'm the one the attorney sends to the injured person's home, apartment, RV, campground, lean-to, place of business... or if they insist, a coffee shop.

I prefer their residences and so do the attorneys.
It's easier to get inside someone's head when you're inside the place they live.
That's when you get a better profile of your subject.
And it's the best way to see how the injury specifically affects their lives and the lives of those around them.

So here I live  across the water from Seattle,
doing my own private cases...
and doing others for attorneys who dispatch  me to new investigations daily.
Sometimes one case a day, sometimes several a day into the night.
And because my turf is all of Western Washington state....  all the way up north the Canadian border,  then south to Portland....  east the sea, and west to the mountains. I put more miles on my car in a week than some people put on in a year.

The travel suits me because this is one beautiful state, populated largely by fairly wonderful people and scenery that defies description.
Certainly there is a psycho around every bend, yet the trained eye can see them coming and prepare or counter accordingly.
The variety of this job is pleasing... the puzzles fascinating..... and the pay could be better considering it is all work and no play.

Spending hours in a surveillance vehicle in the mid-day sun is not fun.
Knocking on doors in very bad neighborhood, not sure you are in the right place,produces an instant shot of adrenalin.
Then add  a dog barking ferociously behind those doors to the mix...
and the shot of adrenalin steps up to a rush.

P.I.'s look carefully before they sit on strange sofas and chairs...
hypodermic needles are often quickly stuck in sofas before company arrives.
And when the P.I. enters a subject's residence, there's an ability/the savvy to recognize the look of instant disdain in the eyes of your subject.
Some people take an instant dislike to you because you are thinner, fatter, shorter, taller, whiter, younger, older, have some authority...  whatever the reason, they hate you instantly.
Therefore, establishing a rapport is the first order of business.

I'm good at that.
And by the end of the interview, not only do I leave with my investigation task accomplished,
my subject knows there are people in the justice system who care about two things:
what they have to say and the truth.
Everybody matters.
Every voice.
Every word.
Every observation.
Every feeling. Every mistake.
Every lesson learned. Or unlearned.
Every personal truth.

Here is something I have learned on this job:
There is not one of us who is better than another because of who they happened to be born to.
Or how much money they have.
Or what country they were born in.
Or what religion their parents to chose to bestow upon -- or burden them-- with.

In the course of my job recently, I've gone into  home of an Native American medicine man in the morning and in the afternoon, met with  a couple from Iran who just received their U.S. citizenship.
I sat in the living room of family from Afghanistan, just after I met with a Navy Seal in a Denny's near his military base.
I saw a couple of lily white wealthy folks who seem blissfully unaware the whole planet is in an economic/unemployment meltdown...
and  sat on the floor of a basement apartment with a translator and a Somalian family that had no furniture. Just patterned rugs covering the walls and floor.

I have longed for a moment to just step away and put some of these observations in words.
This... would be that moment.
At long last, a brief window in time has opened and allowed this P.I. to send some words into the cyber wind...
my message in a bottle.

Thank you for finding and reading it.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Two Seattle Crooks

Per usual, I am, rushing out to catch a boat. I need to be brief, yet this is important.
So I decided to cut and paste this whole article rather than link it.
Without good forensic accountants/investigators, these Seattle bad boys might've slipped under the radar. 
P.I. work offers many money-making possibilities. 
So does crime. 
The latter, ultimately, does not pay.
PI works usually does. just get some money upfront. 

2 men get 4 years in prison for $240M tax scheme

Updated Jan 28, 2011 - 6:39 pm
By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press


SEATTLE (AP) - Two Seattle-area men were sentenced Friday to four years in prison for concocting a bogus tax shelter to help a Hollywood mogul, the owner of the New York Jets and other wealthy clients avoid paying $240 million in payments.
Jeffrey Greenstein, 48, was the founder and chief executive of the boutique investment firm Quellos Group LLC, and Charles Wilk, 52, was its tax attorney. They acknowledged that they ran the tax shelter from 1999 to 2006, to make it appear that their clients' princely financial windfalls were offset by losses from offshore funds so no taxes would be owed.
They somberly told U.S. District Judge Ricardo they were sorry and deeply humiliated.
"I failed to live up to the standards I set for myself," Greenstein said. "There's no way to minimize what I did, justify it or rationalize it."
Seattle U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan called the case one of the biggest tax frauds in U.S. history, and said the $240 million could have provided loans to hundreds of small businesses or a month's worth of hot breakfasts for a million schoolchildren.
"It's not the IRS that was cheated," she said.
The shelter's five clients included Haim Saban, who licensed the Power Rangers from Japan in the 1990s, and philanthropist and New York Jets owner Robert Wood Johnson IV.
Prosecutors said the clients were misled about the nature of the tax shelter, and they have paid the IRS back all $240 million, plus interest. Greenstein paid back all of the money he made from the scheme _ $6.4 million _ and Wilk paid back the $600,000 he made. The pair also reimbursed the government nearly $300,000 for the cost of their prosecution.
BlackRock Inc., a prominent investment firm, acquired Quellos' main business for $1.7 billion in 2007.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez told the defendants he struggled with balancing their criminal behavior against their otherwise exemplary lives.
For decades, Greenstein has been a generous donor to and volunteer with organizations ranging from the Seattle Art Museum and University of Washington School of Medicine to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, which was devastated by a mentally ill gunman's rampage in 2006.
Friends and supporters wrote about 200 letters to the court on his behalf; one of them, by Costco Corp. founder Jeffrey Brotman, said Greenstein was "selfless" with his time, money and expertise.
In 2006, Greenstein helped found Hope for Heroism, a nonprofit that helps wounded and traumatized Israeli soldiers rejoin society. Several soldiers, some of them suicidal, lived with Greenstein and his family during their darkest times, and spoke on behalf of Greenstein in a video submitted to the court.
"The letters describe a man who obviously loves his family very, very much, who cares about his community," the judge said. "Yet that same man stands in this courtroom having admitted defrauding the U.S. government."
Greenstein and Wilk pleaded guilty to fraud and to assisting in the filing of a false tax return in September. As part of the deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend no more than six years in prison, and defense attorneys sought no less than two years.
In addition, each defendant agreed to speak about what they did at their graduate schools _ Greenstein, at the University of Washington Business School, and Wilk at New York University's School of Law.
NYU declined to let Wilk speak, saying that whatever he might say would be of dubious ethical value, since he might only be saying it to curry the favor of the court before his sentencing. Greenstein spoke at the University of Washington, though, taking responsibility for misrepresentations he made to clients and to the U.S. Senate when it investigated such tax shelters.
Parts of that speech troubled the judge, who noted that instead of using words like "scam," "crime," or "fraud," Greenstein told a class: "I knew that there was no real stock, but instead, a synthetic equity forward position created with over-the-counter legal contracts between two offshore special-purpose vehicles."
"These are young students in grad school," Martinez said. "You missed a wonderful opportunity to tell those kids at that time where that (ethical) line is."
The wealthiest among Quellos' clients was Saban, who sold his half of the Fox Family Channel, which included the Power Rangers, to The Walt Disney Co. in 2001 in a $5.2 billion deal. He enlisted former Los Angeles lawyer Matthew Krane to handle taxes on the transaction.
Krane then hired Quellos to offset the capital gains in exchange for a $36 million kickback from the company. He pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion and false statements, and was scheduled to be sentenced next week.
Durkan said that although Quellos' clients did not know the exact nature of the tax shelter, "people who could afford to pay were trying to find ways not to."
Wilk's attorney, John Keker, also criticized the clients, though he said he was not trying to shift blame from Wilk.
"The idea that these people are victims _ these people are people that come out and say, 'I have $1.5 billion in capital gains, and I don't want to pay any taxes,'" he said.
(Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Seattle Zombie Thriller Dance

S'cuse me, but Zombies?

I have to run.
Fortunately, I am still human and not a zombie so all my limbs should be in tact when I return.
And I make a point of avoiding any one walking with half a limp body.... and blood and viscera dangling from their bloody mouths and meth-mouth like teeth.
Meantime, I must say...I think this whole Zombie thing is getting out hand... especially here in Seattle.
Proof in point?
This link - Zombie Tours.
http://www.seattlezombies.com/.

Humans vs. Zombies tag game under fire at UW

by OWEN LEI / KING 5 News
Bio | Email | Follow: @
KING5.com
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 5:50 PM

SEATTLE -- Like the same-name genre of movies and video games -- and much like zombies themselves -- a specialized game of tag is spreading across the country.
But at the University of Washington, Humans Versus Zombies Tag is coming under fire from certain faculty and administrators.
"I had an encounter with a student dressed in combat fatigues, carrying a dark (toy) rifle strapped over his shoulder, and perched in the window of the fourth floor stairwell of Thomson Hall," said Professor Mary Callahan in an e-mail.
Citing the tragedy in Tucson, Callahan stated, "I don't doubt that this game has its social, sporting and strategic appeal, but I believe it should be played elsewhere... I don't like walking around campus amongst make-believe assassins sneaking around with toy guns, looking to take out targets."
But organizers of the "HVZT," which is a registered student group on campus, said that student was not playing correctly, and if identified, would have been kicked out.
"He was still essentially playing the game while in an indoor area, and that is absolutely against our rules," said Sean Mack, game overseer.
So what is Humans Versus Zombies?  Essentially, it's a modified version of tag that lasts five days.  UW students play it one week each quarter, starting with a one or two "zombies."
If you're a zombie, your goal is to tag as many humans as possible, which turns them into zombies.
If you're a human, your goal is just to survive the week.  You can, however, "stun" your pursuers for 15 minutes with foam weapons or rolled-up socks, according to the rules.
Players said the appeal of the game is that it turns your walk to class into a veritable fight for your life.
"It overlays sort of this alternate reality on top of your everyday humdrum campus life," Mack said.
The game has seen tremendous growth at UW since it began in 2009.  Last fall, more than 900 students and two faculty members took part in the game.  During the game two weeks ago, Mack said they still saw more than 400 people register despite the winter quarter.
"The game itself is an ice breaker for a lot of social interaction in that way," Mack said.
But office manager Beverly Winner-Coates also spotted the student perched in the stairwell, and said he did not look like a kid at play.
"He was bent forward, dressed in fatigues, and looking out the window like he was looking, seeing who he could shoot, is the impression we all had," she said.
Winner-Coates supports a push from some UW faculty to ban Humans versus Zombies.
"I don't like getting scared in the middle of the workplace feeling threatened," she said.
But game organizers said a ban goes too far in punishing a group that already has strict rules against inside play.  Academic buildings, dorms, bathrooms, inside a car -- essentially, anywhere indoors -- are off limits to players, according to the club rules. Once indoors, players are supposed to resume their normal, student actions.
Players distinguish themselves from non-players by wearing bright orange or green bandannas.  Zombies wear bandannas on their heads while humans wear them on the arm.
And the types of weapons students are allowed to carry are limited to bright-colored Nerf- or Nerf-like "blasters," said Mack. "The general theme of all those is that they use very sort of bright, vibrant color schemes to distinguish themselves from any firearm."
Mack said the group is in talks with student life leaders about how they can better publicize their activities before people are surprised by the "zombie hordes."  They are also discussing what equipment they will be able to use.  In a worst case scenario, Mack said, they would ban the foam guns in place of rolled-up socks.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Nirvana 's "Heart Shaped Box". Was It A Suicide Or Homicide Note?

Suicide Or Homicide?

An investigator working a suicide v. homicide case must determine... did the deceased kill him/herself, or did someone else kill them and deliberately stage a suicide?
These are among my favorite cases to do because they are so intriguing.

People kill each other for all kinds of reasons.
One person kills another for money, blind rage, jealousy or they're in a drug or alcohol black-out/ stupor.
It happens all the time.

Many times, people really do kill themselves.
However, many times, the death is murder -- a crime with no statute of limitations.

I like to believe the killer will never sleep as peacefully as he or she wishes.
Insurance companies are as interested in these cases as much as the police.
If there's a suicide clause in a million dollar policy, the insurance company won't have to pay out if their investigators can prove it was a suicide.
In my opinion and experience, a person who is going to kill themselves so their family will have the money might wait until the suicide wait period is over.
Then again, if they're desperate enough, they may move more quickly and stage their own murder.

So indeed, if someone does kills someone and get away with it...
in other words, make it look like a suicide when it's not...
and some people  know their loved one was murdered including the police...
yet they can't get the evidence to convince a grand jury...
I believe the killer carries his/her secret in their own body and brain and sometimes, grave...
and  the weight of that dark secret always lays heavily on the killer's psyche.

I believe people who kill others and get away with it are eternally haunted.
While alive, they psychologically shape shift into the invisible man cloaked in denial. Or they are are haunted by the discovery that someone else may discover their secret.

Maybe they got what they wanted initially -- an insurance payout, freedom from an overbearing partner , the house, the kids, extrication from one of life's tar pits.
However, I like to think that self-gratification is short-lived and ultimately, the killer's psyche is forever altered when karma steps in until the criminal justice system can.

I think that might/could be the case with Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love.
I do not believe she pulled the trigger.
And I'm about 50/50 on whether she was somehow linked to the person who pulled the trigger.
I do know/believe the woman is haunted.
And I do believe Kurt left more than a clue behind in the above song by his and Seattle's beloved Nirvana.
You draw your own conclusions.
And here's a link to Private Investigator Tom Grant's fascinating and evidence filled site:

THE CURT COBAIN MURDER INVESTIGATION BY TOM GRANT.

The title of this post is the link. Just click on it and off you go.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Willie Nelson & Sinead O'Connor - Dont Give Up

Hard Times

The song, "Don't Give Up" above is about 5 years old.
Yet it's still so relevant today, it's like time's stood still.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, like everywhere across the U.S. and planet earth,  the unemployment rate is growing exponentially.
The fires, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, mudslides, tanking real estate and job market combined with the global economic meltdown hadn't helped  any.

Because part of my job involves doing my investigations/interviews/getting statements in subjects'  homes, I see what's happening to people's lives in a dramatic, physical, emotional and financial sense.
I ask if they are working or not.
I find out if they have lost wages, are on unemployment, disability, Worker's Comp or welfare.
I find out how much they are paid per hour or what their salary is.
So I get it when someone says they're broke.
They're really broke.

Yesterday someone asked me to photograph their empty refrigerator to prove they were so poor they could not afford food.

A few weeks ago, I watched while Rent-A-Center came and hauled out a living room of furniture while we sat on the floor and discussed what the family of a  sole provider on life support intends to do next.

Last week, I saw two little kids cry when the cable man came and took away their black
cable box... the one escape pod in an overcrowded apartment.
 
I dress in extra layers these days, because  many people have turned off their heat to save money.
Still others have had their heat and electricity cut off by the power company.
I have clients, now homeless, call me from the streets on stormy  Friday and Saturday nights talking about their misfortune or the possibility of suicide like others talk about the weather.
The shelters are overcrowded.
The food banks are almost empty.

The other day a client told me his  22 year old brother got out of jail for a" possession with intent to sell marijuana" charge and he can't even get a job interview. I didn't have the heart to say I suspect he'll go back into his prior line of work because there's no work now for kids with college degrees and/or high school diplomas with no prior criminal charges.

So this morning, when  I  came across the Willie Nelson/Sinead O'Conner duet  above on a friend's Facebook wall, I knew I had to post it here.
I'd never heard it before.... and I think it speaks to the displaced, the disenchanted and especially to those who feel discarded.

Good P.I.'s have empathy and can establish a rapport with just about anyone.
I think this song says what I wish I could put into words  in this blog.
Being...

Sometimes, all it takes to help another person through hard times is just "being there."
Otherwise...
it's a cold cruel world indeed.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Friday, January 21, 2011

A Look At The Players - One year ago

From MyNorthwest.com and KIRO News radio

Months before arrest, Clearly Lasik 'intense place to work'


Michael Mockovak is charged with two counts of solicitation to commit first degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit theft and attempted theft. (KIRO Radio/Chris Sullivan)
By TIM HAECK
KIRO Radio

link to article: http://www.mynorthwest.com/category/local_news_articles/20110119/Months-before-arrest,-Clearly-Lasik-%27intense-place-to-work%27/ 
In a murder-for-hire trial, a former manager testifies about disagreement, tension and anger in the workplace at Clearly Lasik.
CEO Christian Monea testified Clearly Lasik was an intense place to work in the summer and fall of 2009. One source of anger was a dispute between partners Michael Mockovak and Joseph King over the work schedule at the Renton clinic.
Of Mockovak, Monea testified, "Oh, he was very angry at Dr. King."
When the prosecutor asked the witness to rate Mockovak's anger on a scale of one-through-five, Monea replied, "This is a five."
Monea also testified there was disagreement over work schedules and the dollar value of the eye surgery business.
"Doctor King felt as though here's his partner who is out to screw him, for lack of a better word, I think that was the term that was used," testified Monea.
King County prosecutors accuse Mockovak, 52, of trying to hire a hit man to kill his business partner and collect on a $4 million "key man" life insurance policy. Mockovak is charged with two counts of solicitation to commit first degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit theft and attempted theft.
Doctor Michael Mockovak was arrested in November 2009 after giving money to a man who was actually an FBI informant to have his partner, Doctor Joseph King, murdered.
Doctor King is scheduled to testify against Mockovak Wednesday afternoon.

An Eye For An Eye?

Sometimes certain cases I don't work on captivate me as much as the ones I do work on.
One of those cases is that of is the Lasik Eye Surgery "murder for hire" case which has come to trial in my hometown this week.
The storyline is so incredible, it truly took me a while to plumb the depth of this life and near- death drama.
One  eye surgeon allegedly hired someone to kill his partner.
Both eye doctors ran one the biggest Lasik Surgery places in many cities.
The doctors lived closed to each other and as I recall while writing this, both doctors happened to be related to by marriage.

The accusations of a a familial and professional alliance gone bad were incredible, sensational, and riveting.
And in my opinion Dr Mackovack is in deep guana.
What I find fascinating is how Dr. King and his family endure and carry on through all this.
From what I hear, they are handling it with dignity and grace.
I do have a fear for Dr King, his family and others.

My fear is that  Mackovack will get off with a slap on the wrist, his defense claiming a practical joke turned into entrapment.
Or maybe some legal glitch will get him off.
Then... and this is what I fear...Mackovack will try again.
 
I truly believe "the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior."
Of course, people CAN change.
And I truly tend to believe we are all better than out last bad act.
However....
the ones with such depraved behavior as Dr Mackovack exhibited to a business partner and family member tend not to change.
The Perps only grow more angry, feel more victimized and strike again.
Getting caught adds fuel to their psychological fire.

However, Mackovack is innocent until proven guilty.
And the jury's just begun hearing this case which started this week.
The story is still being told.

I like the article that follows from the Vancouver Sun... which came via the Seattle Times... is a good over-view of the case if you are not familiar with it.
Lesson learned in this one?
Sometimes being a rich and famous in an international family business ain't all it's cut out to be.

Murder-for-hire trial begins for eye surgeon with connections to Vancouver Island

 Link: Murder-for-hire trial begins for eye surgeon with connections to Vancouver Island

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Burned!

The below You Tube post is dedicated to a friend who recently loved and lost in a particularly brutal way.
My friend sent me just the lyrics to Anastacia's song to describe the depths of her inner anguish.
I sought out the song... and decided to just post a lyrical, rather than a music video featuring the band.
The point is for you to hear the words... to  understand what it feels like to be betrayed.
Once you know that feeling, at least as an investigator, you become better at catching liars and stopping them before they drain their subjects/your clients dry.
You can also begin to fathom the depths of your clients' pain.

It's one thing to live a rich full love life with someone who'd take a bullet for you.
It's another thing to have that person betray your trust.... your love with lies, illusions, delusions.
If you are stable, you will survive.
If not, adios.

All too many men and women today are ready, willing and able to jump on the internet and search the web.... hoping to avoid black widows and tarantulas..... and land the love of their life.
The problem is the internet is one great big sticky web...
where predators wear masks of sanity...
and nothing can be what it appears to be.
Which means people aren't always who they appear to be.

And the end result of encountering someone who has betrayed you?
Fire.
Internal arson.
Flamethrower to the heart.

I think this song by says it far better than I ever could.

Anastacia - Everything Burns

Monday, January 17, 2011

Facinating story from Fellow Investigator.

Thanks to Lloyd Weatherford for sharing a fascinating and important case with his fellow investigators. And thanks to Fox news for telling the story in a way frank described in his email as "a local news story that mostly got it right."
I pass the story onto you now in the opes that you will remain ever vigilent.
It is wise to consider hiring a licensed investigator to check someone out... before handing out a large sum of money.

 From KPTV.com
Homepage / Portland News
12:43pm | January 17, 2011

Business Owner Accused Of Racketeering, Theft

Investigators Say Records Forged

POSTED: 11:10 pm PST January 13, 2011
UPDATED: 11:36 pm PST January 13, 2011
Stephen G. Nagy’s business, S&S Drywall Assemblies, is closed after investigators executed a search warrant in October.The search warrant came after a year-long investigation in which prosecutors say Nagy, the owner, failed to pay fair wages.Nagy kept his head low in a Washington County courtroom Thursday afternoon as he was arraigned on charges of racketeering, theft, money laundry and forgery.Investigators accused Nagy of not paying proper wages to his carpenters.Last year, several local unions started protesting S&S Drywall and the company became wrapped up in a labor dispute.“They're a company that pays way below area standard wages,” says Jason Sheckler, who last year protested a job site of S&S Drywall in Beaverton.Jack Gamboa works for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters and says his organization was very concerned after hearing Nagy’s company failed to pay standard wages."It’s good to see justice finally come to this individual who has been cheating the people in the state of Oregon,” Gamboa says.Nagy has been under investigation by the state for more than a year. Prosecutors claim he also engaged in money laundering. Court documents say Nagy destroyed vital records the state had subpoenaed.In January 2009, the FOX 12 investigators team sat down with Nagy and he defended his business practices.“We are paying above the state average wage for carpenters,” Nagy said.Prosecutors have also charged Nagy with 20 counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.After his arraignment, Nagy and an unidentified woman both declined to comment.Investigators say there could be more charges filed in the case. A judge set Nagy’s bail at $280,000.Nagy's family members declined to comment, but off-camera they say they stand by Nagy and say the allegations against him are unfounded.

Under Pressure?

Friday, January 14, 2011

And the Facebook Murder Beat Goes On...

The Canadian Press
EDMONTON — Six students have been suspended from an Edmonton high school for posting threats on social network sites after the fatal stabbing of a teen.
The suspensions at St. Joseph High School follow the death of Niko Arlia, a 17-year-old who was killed at a weekend party.
The messages on Facebook and other sites threaten retaliation for Arlia's death, but police warn that such postings could lead to criminal charges.
Sgt. Kelly Rosnau, a school resource officer, says the messages can escalate quickly and could hamper the police investigation.
Two of the students are suspended with a recommendation for expulsion, but their parents have five days to appeal.
Kevin Moffett, a 19-year-old Edmonton man, has been charged with second-degree murder and weapons offences in the teen's death.

Wife Murdered for Facebook Status!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Re: Kate Nash's Skeleton Song Below

Please be forewarned.
Do not play this You Tube cut when there are minors, or any  people who are offended by violent language.
This is one dark tune.
Don't get me wrong. I think Kate Nash has a great deal of talent.
And this song fits my Facebook "Skeleton In Your Closet" status theme tonight perfectly.
However, the song gets quite violent.
Which is precisely why I am posting it below.
Though admittedly, I am debating whether...or how long... it will stay up.

I think the young people of today are desensitized to violence because there seems to be no-holds- barred attitude in the media when it comes to the horrific, horrendous and hideous on  films, TV, news stories, music and you-tube videos. The darker the better,

Kate Nash, the singer/songwriter below is a  beautiful, sweet looking  young woman.
The fact that she's got these words in her head and they come out of her mouth raises a big red flag to this investigator.
Our young ones are hurting. Big-time.
And when they hurt....  sometimes, they want to make others hurt too.
This song takes the concept to an extreme.
In my opinion, the song is both seductive.... repulsive... and revealing.
It demonstrates what every good P.I. learns.
We all have skeletons in our closet.
Some dance.
Some are murder.

Kate Nash - Skeleton song x

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Randy and Amy Loughner’s Statement
This is a very difficult time for us. We ask the media to respect our privacy. There are no words that can possibly express how we feel.  We wish that there were so we could make you feel better.  We don't understand why this happened.  It may not make any difference, but we wish that we could change the heinous events of Saturday.  We care very deeply about the victims and their families.  We are so very sorry for their loss.
Thank you,
The Loughner Family

Jared Lee Loughner's parents blame themselves for deadly shooting in Tucson

Was it nature or nurture that caused him to snap?
Could he have a genetic predisposition to this madness?
Did he take a fall that damaged the frontal load of his brain.
Was he a sociopath in the womb?
These are things I wonder.
The story that follows is from the New York Daily news.
Imagine, if you can, being this man's parents....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, January 11th 2011, 12:43 PM
Jared Lee Loughner's alleged role in the Tucson shooting has left his parents "devastated."
Popat/AP
The anguished parents of accused Arizona assassin Jared Lee Loughner blame themselves for the Tucson tragedy.
Randy and Amy Loughner, are devastated "and they feel guilty for what happened," neighbor Wayne Smith, 70, told KPHO-TV.
"They want to know, where did they fail?" he said. "I told them they didn't fail. They taught him everything about right and wrong. We all know you can teach someone everything and have no control how it works out."
Loughner's mom has been in bed and crying nonstop since Saturday's slaughter, Smith said.
Neither parent has said anything publicly about the massacre, which left six dead and badly wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords fighting for her life.
While Loughner lived with his parents, it was a bad relationship, added Roxanne Osler of Tucson, whose son had been friends with the suspected shooter.
"What Jared did was wrong," she told The Washington Post. "But people need to know about him. I wish people would have taken a better notice of him and gotten him help. ... He had nobody, and that's not a nice place to be."
Loughner's parents were not in the Phoenix courtroom Monday when their disturbed 22-year-old son was ordered held without bail.
Meanwhile, Giffords' doctors reported more good news Tuesday - she is able to breathe on her own.
Giffords, who was shot in the head, also continues to respond to simple commands, which doctors take as a sign that her brain is less damaged than might be expected.
Her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, has been a constant presence at her bedside.
Authorities released a chilling mug shot of Loughner - sporting a shaved head and little smirk - that was taken shortly after shooting 20 innocent people in cold blood.
Loughner - whose rampage killed six - was hit with federal charges for trying to assassinate Giffords, a 40-year-old Democrat, murdering Federal Judge John Roll and Giffords' aide Gabe Zimmerman, and wounding two other congressional staffers.
State charges are pending.
Federal Magistrate Judge Lawrence Anderson ordered Loughner back to court Jan. 24, when a new judge will be appointed to hear the case.
No Arizona judge would take the case because all of them knew Roll.
Loughner was assigned one of the best public defenders in the land: San Diego lawyer Judy Clarke, who specializes in federal death penalty cases.
She helped defend Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph.
The Justice Department has not said if it will seek the death penalty for Loughner.
He has not revealed his motive.
President Obama, who along with the First Lady led the nation in a moment of silence Monday, plans to travel to Tucson on Wednesday to attend a memorial service for the victims.
"I think it's important for us to also focus ... on the extraordinary courage that was shown" by the Arizonans who tackled Loughner, Obama said.
He singled out Daniel Hernandez, the 20-year-old intern who ran into the line of fire to comfort Giffords; the three men who tackled the gunman, and 61-year-old Patricia Maisch, "who helped secure the ammunition that might have caused even more damage."
With Corky Siemaszko
hkennedy@nydailynews.com

Take a dip in the gene pool with Benjamin Zephaniah

Monday, January 10, 2011

Jared Lee Loughner's FOX News-inspired Manifesto

Local Blogger Posts Arizona Shooter Jared Loughner’s MySpace Rants

10:03 AM January 10th, 2011 by James Pitkin

A Portland blogger has posted what appears to be a collection of deranged MySpace status updates in 2010 from Jared Loughner, the alleged gunman in an Arizona shooting spree Saturday that injured U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).
The blogger who goes by the name Trey Starrs normally writes insulting pieces about local jail inmates on his website ThePotShot.com. He pulls photos and personal information from inmates’ Facebook and MySpace pages, then uses that material as fodder for offensive humor.
Starrs appears to have scored a minor coup on Saturday by accessing Loughner’s MySpace page before law enforcement shut the page down. Photos and brief excerpts from Loughner’s MySpace page have turned up elsewhere on the web, but our quickie Google search could find no more complete record of Loughner’s MySpace material than the one Starrs posted.
Loughner’s status updates—if Starrs’ material is accurate—reveal a paranoid mind quickly coming unraveled over the past six months. We’re pasting all of Loughner’s status updates from Starrs’ page below. Kudos to Starrs for the quick reflexes in grabbing them.
Jul 11, 2010 – I keep hearing voices in my head!
Aug 18 – I’ll tell you how to kill a pig in my bulletin! Sep 14 – I didn’t hesitate playing Russian roulette with 3 bullets!
Sep 16 – I thought about attempting suicide again…… notice the again…
Sep 27 – Be careful when you go out of body, the government can control the out of body with programming their energy.
Oct 3 – I’m suspended from school for my first freedom! The police is on myspace stalking you! Call them f**king teachers! Cons! The police are wrong.
Nov 14 – Are you single and looking for a rich boyfriend?
Nov 17 – It hurts to have been never sexually active at 22!
Nov 22 – :( The literacy rate is below 10% in Tuscon; you cant write or read!
Nov 24 – The FBI and CIA is watching you for rioting!
Nov 24 – The CIA is on your myspace.
Dec 09 – I know your watching me pigs!
Dec 10 – I’m done with this because the police bugged my myspace.
Dec 12 – I can’t wait for something f**kin huge!
Dec 13 – I don’t feel good: I’m ready to kill a police officer! I can say it.
Dec 14 – Wow! Im glad I didn’t kill myself. I’ll see you on National TV. This is foreshadow… Why doesn’t anyone want to talk to me?
Dec 14 – You’re going to regret not talking to me!(this message was repeated six times on this date)
Dec 20 – OK! I’m f**king dead! Im about to prove to myself something.
Dec 20 – Why are you not texting me for anal sex?
Dec 20 – I can’t stand to look at a f**kin pig without thinking about murdering that f**k!
 Here's a link to PotShot, the original blog this was drawn from. There's further social network info there.http://www.thepotshot.com/

Second Thoughts

I need to head out quickly, in the hopes of out-running the next snow storm due to hit the Northwest. As I got up the this morning, the news was already on and there was a special report on the Arizona shooting. 
Watching the stories of the victims, sipping coffee by the fire, watching the news and trying to figure out what was going on in the head of the shooter, I thought instantly of this blog and yesterday's post.... which showed a lot of graphic gun violence.
The beauty of the blog is if you post something you think is a hoot, a.k.a. "funny" one day....
and the next day you re-think that post and decide it is distasteful... you can take it down.

So given the mass shooting, and given the fact that the "Bambee" video I posted on this blog is no longer funny to me.... and no doubt, offensive to many, I am censoring myself and pulling the video off the blog after I write this.
As a P.I. you must be fast on your feet and even faster in your head.
You have to read the world around you and remain fluid, become like a shape-shifter.
It is very important to establish rapport in this business with people you interview and deal with and that's where the shape-shifting comes in.
You talk to a gang member and want info, you want them to think you respect them to elicit the info you need. You are not a police officeer, you are a P.I.... which gives you certain liberties in how you dress and act to match your subject's success.

You talk to someone who is incredibly wealthy and you're not, you need to step it up, to up-scale.
You need to acknowledge their success without showing awe.
Investigators are much like chameleons, we blend into our surroundings to make our subjects think we understand the subtle shades, colors, hues, of their lives.
As the economy continues to tank.... as people self-medicate with booze or drugs...
or, go off the meds they need because they can't afford them...
there will be more of this violence like we have seen almost everywhere.

I am not so naive as to believe we can stop it.
I am smart enough to know we can change ourselves, in the same way I am changing this blog to remove  a piece  I now feel is offensive.
So today, I leave this quote, written many years ago, in my wake.
It has been on the blog before, however, it is an inspiration to me and I hope it will inspire others.
To anyone whose path crosses this blog today, consider the following carefully.
There is truth and genius in Sir Arthur Ward's words, so many years after they were written.
Please be safe and well out there today.

"Before you speak, listen.
Before you write, think.
Before spend, earn.
Before you invest, investigate.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive
Before you quit, try.
Before you retire, Save.
Before you die, give."
                    
                             William Arthur Ward                                

Friday, January 7, 2011

The World Needs More Heroes

Real-Life Super Heroes Strike Again in Seattle

January 4, 20111:00 pm PM
phoenix jones, seatlle, super heroWe once ran a very fun slideshow of a variety of modern-day, real-life super heroes, all of whom put on costumes and go fight crime in their cities. Today, there is a news report of another hero (not pictured above) operating in Seattle. Phoenix Jones, a member of the Rain City Superheroes (no website), recently scared away a would-be car thief. Jones wears a custom suit "including bullet-proof vest and stab plates" and caries a Taser and Mace. But being a super hero without super powers can be difficult:
Phoenix said since he started his crime-fighting crusade nine months ago, he's been stabbed, and had a gun pulled on him a few times, but received no serious injuries.
Photo from the Real Life Super Hero Project, by Peter Tangen.
Link to another great story on Phoenix by Jack Ryan, go the the link below.  http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212341877.shtml

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Hell's Kitchen Host Almost Set on Fire.

Ramsay held at gunpoint by Gangsters
From Yahoo News:
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay was doused in petrol and held at gunpoint as he tried to uncover the dark world of illegal shark fin trading for a new TV show.
The Hell's Kitchen star was shooting scenes for Big Fish Fight when he confronted gangsters in Costa Rica who had slaughtered thousands of sharks to sell their sought-after fins.
But Ramsay was left terrified when the gang kept their guns trained on him and his TV crew before throwing fuel over him. He was later advised by local police to flee the country for his own safety.
The chef tells the Daily Mail, "It's a multi-billion-dollar industry, completely unregulated. We traced some of the biggest culprits to Costa Rica. These gangs operate from places like forts, with barbed-wire and gun towers.
"At one, I managed to shake off the people keeping us away, ran up some stairs to a rooftop and looked down to see thousands of fins, drying on rooftops for as far as the eye could see. When I got back downstairs, they tipped a barrel of petrol over me.
"Back at the wharf, there were people pointing rifles at us to stop us filming. A van pulled up and these seedy characters made us stand against a wall. The police came and advised us to leave the country. They said, 'If you set one foot in there, they'll shoot you.'"

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Caught In a Bad Romance

Besides having someone you love  go flat broke, get sick or die...
(yourself included),
there's nothing quite so bad as a bad romance.
They get ugly.
 Often dark, violent and deadly.
After I write this blog I am going to Facebook to post  a link a friend shared on his wall.
It too has to do with a romance so bad it's criminal.

Living as long as I have...
and being a P.I. who paid my dues on domestics...
And.... having been married a time or two...
I gotta' tell you...
there's a very thin line between love and hate.
And personally, I really don't think there is such thing as an amicable divorce.
However, I don't think they all have to be so dangerous.


I have been told what first attracts you to a person in the beginning could be what most repels you later on.
New relationships produce changes in the body that are secretions of hormones that also affect the brain.
You co-mingle and  think, instantly, you are in love.
It's the two of you against the world.
And love is all there is.
All faults are overlooked...
All mistakes easily forgiven...
as dreams appear to meld so effortlessly.
Yet once those hormonal changes wear off,
once the hunter snares the catch...
and the once the  gatherer has primed the nest...
the hormones wear off and the claws come out.

Since I'm working a couple of particularly disturbing domestic cases, I thought I might add add Lady Gaga to the mix.
In my P.I. brain, this song illustrates the insanity  I witness every time someone who is beaten, abused, degraded, demeaned  or ripped off by their alleged partner tells me they stay because they are in love.
Imho, what a crock.
It is far better to live alone happily than to live with someone miserably.

Lady Gaga haters, time to turn your heads.
This song is raw.

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

Monday, January 3, 2011

Two Snakes Marry

'Charmed' pythons tie the knot in Cambodia

The head of male python, Krong Pich, in a cage after its wedding ceremony 
Fortune-tellers said the two pythons were husband and wife and needed to live together. Hundreds of Cambodians have celebrated the unusual wedding of two snakes, in the belief the nuptials will bring those attending prosperity and peace.
Serpent bride Chamreun, a 16ft-long (4.8m) python weighing 200lb (90kg), wed her smaller mate in a village just south of the capital Phnom Penh.
Buddhist monks blessed the pair and villagers showered them with flowers during the two-hour ceremony.
Many Cambodians are superstitious, and merge animist practices with Buddhism.
Animism is the belief that spirits can inhabit living and inanimate objects.
"We organised the wedding ceremony for the pythons in order to oust bad things and bring good luck and happiness for our villages," said 41-year-old Neth Vy, who owns Chamreun.
"We were told (by fortune-tellers) that the two pythons are husband and wife and they need to live together, and if we don't marry them we will meet bad luck," he was quoted by AFP as saying.
Mr Neth said he had found the then-tiny python while fishing in 1994, and that she had become part of the family.
Since taking the snake in, he said no misfortune had befallen his family.
The python groom, named Krong Pich, was caught 12 days ago by people in a neighbouring village.
This a BBC story, link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12107716

"The Only Home We've Ever Known"

Be The Change

These are hard times for everyone except, I think, the very rich.
And even they have their problems.
In fact, I think I have yet to met a person who is problem free.
The problem with problems is they often only get worse unless you solve them.
P.I.'s are problem solvers.

I tell many clients, "In Chinese, the symbol for problem and opportunity are the same same.  So let's turn this problem into an opportunity."
So I can say, for instance, to an injured person...
 
"Yes, it so sucks you got run over by a truck in the crosswalk,  yet there is an opportunity here with the help of an attorney.
An opportunity to live (which most people hit by trucks don't, i point out)...
and heal because the police cited the trucker, and the truck has commercial insurance.
And maybe you can get some lost wages upfront if there is PIP (Personal Injury Protection)...
and with an attorney the problem of no health insurance is easier to handle because some doctors work on liens again the case.

And so it goes. problems become opportunities.
Hopelessness turns to possibilities.
Walls  can be knocked down, climbed over or walked around. If you're real clever, you can fly over a wall.

Today is a challenging day for this P.I. That's why I have posted  the pale blue dot today. I often turn to it as form of self therapy. The You Tube version above is a variation on the Carl Sagan's brilliant theme. Another version is on my Facebook Wall. His full presentation is astounding and on You Tube.

When the going gets tough and the tough get going... it also helps to keep growing.
The way you do that is to put everything in perspective.
And it all starts with a simple little blue dot.

The only universe we can change is the one that dwells within us.
Once we change, everything around us changes.
It's an amazing truth, really. Yet so few people know or embrace it.
.