Jane's Place

Here's a scam a local store here in NJ was doing:

I bought three $5 scratch-off lottery tickets once (it's a good way to pass the time when you are early for an appointment) but I noticed that the small serial number portion was scratched off on two of them. The game portion was fully in tact though.   I realized right away that the ticket was checked by the store-owner already using the code instead of playing the game.    That is how they verify a winning ticket, but they know that everyone does not know that.

So the store owner, was selling tickets she had already ruled-out as losing tickets!
I reported it to the lottery commission, because I felt bad for all the people who didn't catch what they were doing, and were scammed.    The serial number part of the ticket is so small, that the average person wouldn't even notice.
The lottery commissioner didn't really know what to do about it.  He strangely seemed to be more concerned about what I thought, as if he were afraid I would alert the press.    He kept calling me back to let me know what he was doing in his investigation.   He made a trip to the store, and the store owner did admit to selling them, but made up a story on how her husband scratched the code off and she didn't know. The commissioner didn't really believe her story.   The commissioner called me back, and actually told me he was unsure what to do, and they would leave it up to me, if they could keep their lottery machine or have the commission remove it from their store.  I didn't  want to get that involved, I just wanted to alert them that people were being ripped off.   So I just recommended a warning, not to be the bad guy.   Who knows how long they were getting away with that though?

I wanted to post this here, in case anyone here buys them too.  They make it so easy for a store owner or worker to do this, so I imagine it happens in other stores too.   What they should do is put the ticket's serial number in the center of the game portion, so that the buyer would notice it being exposed.    No?

Jane

>! fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs?
>Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty
>uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid,
>aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghi t pclae.  The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh?   yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Funny;  I found this in my email, and  I read it at the same speed as if it was written correctly.    But what does that mean?    Why then, are 45% not able to read it without unscrambling it?     Who are the 55% and who are the 45%.........anyone?

Jane

John...

I loved your cell-phone-popping-corn story; that was great!    Although I have never seen the video before; at first I was ready to trash my cell when you aired it.   Thanks for proving it to be a hoax, because I can't imagine being without a cell.

That is really unfair advertizing though; I mean how many of us are microwave scientists to know better?     And they made it appear so believable!   I wonder how many people actually got rid of their cell phones because of them.    YouTube should post a warning "Everything you see here may not be real".

Jane

When Debra Jean Palfrey was threatened with 40-years imprisonment during her trial; in retaliation, she threatened to release the names of government officials who used her agency's services.    She had not released the clients names yet, and it is now believed that she was murdered so she couldn't release that information.

Randal Tobias resigned from his position as Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, on April 29th 2007 because he was linked to being a client of Madam Debra Jean Palfrey.  

Debra wrote to Time Magazine:    "If I go to jail, rape, beating, maiming, disfigurement and more than likely murder disguised in the form of just another jailhouse accident or suicide would await me"

It's hard to believe that a woman responding in that phrase; who is rationally preparing for a rough road ahead, could be the same woman who was found hanged in her shed with a suicide note.    Two and two are not equalling four!

When one of Debra's call girls "Brandy Britton,"  also a professor at University of Maryland, hung herself over a year ago;  a week before she was to testify at her trial;  Debra said she did not believe it was a suicide, rather a murder.

Check this out........     YouTube - DC Madam Suicide or Murder?

Jane

Way to Go Doctor!!!      Finally a doctor willing to put it on the line to save a child!!!    

My family doctor told me that she will not take babies as patients because she refuses to give the vaccinations as well.

When my son was born in 1991, we were told the odds of having an autistic child was 1 in 10,000.     Over the last 16 years that ratio gradually progressed into an epidemic!  

One out of every 150 babies will be Autistic, and 1 out of every 94 male babies will be Autistic, because it is more common in males.

New research has proven the link between these vaccinations and the onset of Autism.    My son was normal, until he had his shots at age 17 months old,  just the same as all the other cases.     After the shots, he lost the 30 words in his vocabulary and became silent for a few years.   In addition, he had most of the classic symptoms, and he suffered his entire childhood.

Through therapy, special education and persistence, he made a huge emergence from Autism, and he appears to be about 95% recovered, but he  still struggles, trying to fit in to a world he doesn't completely understand.

The symptoms of Autism are a perfect match to the effects of mercury poisoning.   Mercury is in these vaccinations.      It is believed that babies whose immune systems are not fully developed yet at the time of receiving these shots, are the ones that get Autism from the mercury poisoning.   

Here is a link to an article of recent information linking the two:    

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_anthony_
_
080422_tipping_point_in_aut.htm 

If I were to have a baby knowing what I know now, I would NEVER allow my baby to have the vaccinations.    I would home-school the child instead, to save the child's soul before it is stolen from him.

Jane

Freedom isn't free........someone has to pay!    For that reason, remember it is important to look past the horse & pony show the political candidates are putting on for us, and get very serious about our country's future!     Don't let any candidate blind you with cheap tricks to divert your attention!

"This is not a popularity contest!     It is Our Own Children's Blood at Stake!!!"

Jane

Okay ready?

So you download this software that turns your computer into a free phone, (you can make it a video call if you want to use your web cam)  and in minutes you are talking to people all over the world!

You can set your status to private or open.  If you choose private, then only people you invite into your private network can call you online.     Out of curiosity, I left my name open for people to call me.   The sound quality is crystal clear!    You can plug-in a headset or just use a microphone and your computer will be a speakerphone (make sure your sound is on) 

The first call I got was a gentleman named Leonid in Russia (near Siberia) who was married with 2 kids, and working on his college homework.  He asked me to help him use correct English.    I was impressed because he spoke better English than some Russian clients I have that lived in the U.S. for the past 10 years.    He was so nice!    I was happy to help him as I always aced English in school.     However, when I called him back to ask what grade he got on his paper, he said his teacher said some of my English was incorrect!    Ha!    How dare this Russian-speaking teacher correct my English when it was perfect!    I guess there are different types of English depending on where you are from.

The last call I got was a few minutes ago;  a guy named Johnny in France.    I tried really hard to keep up the conversation but my French wasn't good enough.   Okay, it was terrible!    Eventually we had to disconnect because we couldn't understand each other.   

What's cool is that you can conference 5 or more people together.   I am not sure how many people can conference at once.

You might get unsolicited calls, but you don't have to answer them, and the caller can be blocked permanently with one click.

I am always going over my cell phone minutes, even though I subscribe to 2100 a month, so I figured if I use this as a phone too, I can save some cell minutes.    I put multiple phone lines in my office, but sometimes they are all in use....so now I can make a computer call when there are no lines free, instead of adding more lines to my office.

It costs nothing to use, unless you want to own your own Skype phone number and be able to call people from your computer to their regular phone, then it's about $5. per month; but computer to computer is free of charge.......so when you have some free time, try it-------and Skype Me!   

Jane

Twins playing a prank.....

A girl asks her boyfriend to come over Friday night to meet, and have dinner with her parents. Since this is such a big event, the girl announces to her boyfriend that after dinner, she would like to go out and make love for the first time.  The boy is ecstatic, but he has never before, so he takes  a trip to the pharmacist to get some condoms. He tells the  pharmacist it's his first time and the pharmacist helps the boy for about an hour. He tells the boy everything there is to know about condoms and sex.  At the register, the pharmacist asks the boy how many he'd like to buy, a 3-pack, 10-pack, or family
pack. The boy insists on the family pack because he thinks he will be rather busy, it being his first time and all.  That night, the boy shows up at the girl's parents house and meets his girlfriend at the door. "Oh, I'm so excited for you to meet my parents, come on in!"
The boy goes inside and is taken to the dinner table where the girl's parents are seated. The boy quickly offers to say grace and bows his head. A minute passes, and the boy is still deep in prayer,
with his head down. 10 minutes pass, and still no movement from the boy.    Finally, after 20 minutes with his head down, the girlfriend leans over and whispers to the boyfriend,   "I had no idea you were this religious."     The boy turns, and whispers back, "I had no idea
your father was a pharmacist."

Your house as you see it......

As your Buyer sees it.......

As your Appraiser sees it.....

As your Tax Assessor sees it......

Smart Girl !!!     Her mother didn't raise no fool !!!

Did you know Spitzer's $4000.00 call girl / musician set up a pseudo  "pay per listen" business on the internet where you could pay to hear her songs???   

Wow!    Somehow she knew that she was going to be famous in advance, and that people would pay to hear her sing online.    

Gee I wonder who leaked the gov's secret to the FBI????    Hmmmm.

Jane

She lost her battle with cancer a long time ago, but her words are her legacy to inspire....

Elliot...

Really?   You thought a politician could have a private deceitful life?   If so then you are not smart enough to be a polititian in the first place!

Devastating and humiliating your wife and daughters, just for a cheap thrill, shows you are out of control of your life-----so how can you possibly govern New York, if you can't even govern your own life.

It seems like people in power are totally tripping these days!  Somehow the power leads to them to believe they are resillient from everything!    Whether it be politics or Hollywood------I don't get it.

All you politicians should either get your act together, or quit now, to avoid the embarrassment and destruction to your families.     Am I wrong?   It would make sense to me.    

Jane

Although I don’t usually believe in wasting too much time on pointing the blame finger, as it’s much smarter to take the same time and energy to try to fix the problem, I wanted to review some every-day scenarios which led us to the real estate bubble.

SCENARIO #1

A home valued at $350k sells for $380k.   But the realtor knows that no mortgage company would lend $380k on a $350-valued house---even with money down.   The realtor and mortgage rep both have a large commission riding on it, so they find an appraiser willing to get creative so the appraisal can be stretched to 380k.   With the 380k appraisal, the home can sell for 380k with no problem, and everyone is happy, including the entire neighborhood.   When this home sold 30k higher, it set a new precedence on public record for all homes within half a mile.  Now the comparable homes in the neighborhood, just went up 30k in market value.

In this scenario who caused the artificially inflated home prices?    The realtor, the mortgage rep, the appraiser, the seller, or the buyer?

SCENARIO #2

A month later, a similar home a block away sells for 390k-----and so the bubble grows.

The Smiths’ down the street are thrilled, as this is causing their home to go up in value very fast.   They decide to use their new-found equity to take 40k cash out of their home with a refinance.  They use the money to pay off their credit cards, go shopping, and take that dream vacation.    Home values continue to escalate because home flippers are buying and immediately selling higher like mad!   The Smiths’ need money again, and take another 40k cash out of their home.   After the money is spent, and their adjustable rate mortgage payment rises, and they are struggling each month to make the payment to keep their home.  Some months they just can’t make the payment.  Their credit scores drastically drop, and now they are 3-months late and must refinance just to get enough cash to bring the mortgage current and out of foreclosure.   Unless they win the lottery, they can only prolong the inevitable foreclosure for so long.    The Smiths’ become a homeless statistic, along with millions of others that also fell into the “My home works like an ATM” trap.

SCENARIO #3

Behind the scenes, the wholesale banks put pressure on their outside sales reps to go out and solicit every mortgage broker's office for loans.  “We need loans to convert on Wall Street to cash premiums!”  Go out there and bring us their ugliest train-wreck deals!  If they had a bankruptcy last week, no problem!   An unemployed borrower?  No Problem!”     The investors in Korea are anxious to invest their money in higher rate sub-prime U.S. mortgages.   $1000 bonus for the rep that brings in 10 new loans today------offer the brokers a higher premium------go get em’!”

So who caused artificially inflated home prices leading to the bursting of the proverbial bubble?   Was it the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, mortgage lenders, house flippers, real estate investors, appraisers, foreign mortgage investors, frivolous refinancers, buyers or sellers?    Or are all of the above contributors to the end result? 

After the correction is complete, will the cycle start all over again?   I think the answer is; only if there are lots of third-party investors investing billions into our mortgage notes again.   (There are hardly any foreign investors now due to the super-high number of foreclosure in 2006.)   If not, lenders will only lend to individuals with perfect credit and income, because it is their own money being invested, not some foreigner’s money.   

I am willing to accept my share of the blame for working in the industry, although it is like going with the flow on a highway where everyone is speeding.    But the imploding of the bubble was caused by a large spectrum of reasons, not just by the people working in the industry.   We are just the pawns in a big game of real estate chess.

Jane

You might think, "I am not in the real estate industry, so this won't affect me"---------WRONG!    The mortgage sector is the main strength of our country's economy, and we may be heading for a melt-down!

As an insider in both the real estate and mortgage industry, let me offer you this as a consumer advisory:

Back in March I posted a blog about how the subprime mortgage industry lost all of their investors due to the super-high forclosure rate in 2006.   Of course they created this mess themselves, by offering mortgages to anyone who can breathe, to make a quick 1 to 2% of the loan amount in a conduit Wall Street trade to the investor.   Sheer greed got in the way of banks even caring about the fraud involved to misrepresent the loan to the investor.   The most common types of fraud are stretched appraisals, phoney employment, phoney stated income; although there are many other types as well.

For those not aware, the banks may service your mortgages, but 98% of them were funded and owned by rich investors in mostly Korea.   These investors stopped investing in our mortgages because the high rate of forclosures, made them take a huge loss.   Now most banks can only fund loans out of their own resources, and the designated amount loaned to them by the federal reserve.    It seemed as if we would be okay with just the subprime lenders shutting down, but now seeing A-credit lenders shutting their doors, is very shocking!

American Home Loans, is / was a very large wholesale mortgage lender, that I have brokered many A-credit loans through myself.   I was surprised to learn that they closed their doors two days ago.  Their stock dropped 90% that day.

I was told at my real estate office that last week;  right at the closing tables in two separate incidences, Countrywide Bank recalled their loans, and left the homebuyers sitting at the closing table in shock and helpless!   They actually wired the mortgage money to the closing attorney, then requested it back!

I am receiving emails daily from large wholesale banks stating their new limitations and stricter guidelines, while defending how much money they have in reserve, so we don't give up on them.  

I am not sure why the public isn't being alerted to what is happening, and how it could ramify into a much weaker economy-----hopefully not a crash;  but I sold all my personal investments last week just in case.   I am in no way recommending to anyone to sell off their investments, that was just my personal choice.   I can always reinvest if a solution to this problem somehow comes about.   I just don't see one in sight.

Not to create a panic, but I am advising you to do your own research, and stay alert to what is happening in this industry, because it will affect you, no matter who you are.  

Jane