International Law

I am Dumb, but Dummies Lie

Posted on September 12, 2008
Image via Wikipedia One of the most interesting and challenging logical phenomena discovered in the 20th century was the rigorous study of the relationship, for a certain class of statements, between what the statement asserted, and what the statement said about itself asserting what it did...

Bowdoin's Last Call?

Posted on September 11, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Patrick Pretty is reporting on his website that Bowdoin has given his last public performance regarding Ad Surf Daily."The embattled president of Ad Surf Daily no longer will participate in conference calls at the advice of his attorneys, ASD members report...

Earnings Claims, what are they?

Posted on September 11, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Kerry Pipes has a good article about Financial Performance Claims, or Earnings Claimings for franchise systems.If you get an FDD and there is no Item 19, he says [Charlie Simpson, COO of Great Clips], ask a very direct question: Why not? "How they respond to that will you give you a glimpse of the integrity and the sustainability of that franchise...

Prepaid Phone Card Fraud

Posted on September 11, 2008
Image via Wikipedia From the FTC Press Release regarding Prepaid calling card fraud:The Federal Trade Commission today told the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that while the FTC will continue its aggressive law enforcement and consumer education programs in the prepaid calling card arena, pending legislation would benefit consumers by providing "an additional remedy to those already available to the Commission...

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YTB Lawyer Resigns

Posted on September 11, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Not a good sign for YTB, their new lawyer resigned."On September 3, 2008, John D. Simmons resigned from the Board of Directors of YTB International, Inc (the "Company"). Mr. Simmons resignation was prompted by his belief that as a general matter he could not effectively influence the practices of the Company's management...

Magic in Mind and the Short Con

Posted on September 10, 2008

Credit Repair Fraud

Posted on September 10, 2008
Image via Wikipedia From the FTC Press Release on Credit Repair Fraud:The Federal Trade Commission charged two credit repair marketers with violating federal law by collecting advance payment for credit repair services and falsely promising to remove derogatory information from consumers' credit reports - even if the information is accurate and not obsolete...

AmeriDebt Refunds to Consumers

Posted on September 10, 2008
Image via Wikipedia From the FTC Press Release on the AmeriDebt Consumer Fraud:The Federal Trade Commission announced today that the agency returned approximately $12.7 million to consumers this week from a settlement with Andris Pukke and his companies, AmeriDebt, Inc...

Franchise Investigation Revolutionized

Posted on September 09, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Don Sniegowski, editor of Blue Mau Mau, has a fantastic development about franchise investigation."A new database of free and searchable online franchise documents has been launched today. The site searches financial statements, franchise agreements, franchisee litigation against franchisors and more by accessing more than 3,200,000 franchising related documents from the public records of California's Department of Corporation's online database system for franchisors that register in that state...

Can You Detect Lies?

Posted on September 09, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Seth Godin has an interesting claim about lies:"Humans are lie detectors. We hear stories. We enjoy them. We try them on for size. We're looking for falsehoods and we sniff them out. We value the truth and we enjoy it. And we're always wary about the occasional lie...

Bidz.com Doing a Pump and Dump?

Posted on September 09, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Sam Antar has an interesting discussion about Bidz's share repurchase program.Why are Bidz.com (NASDAQ: BIDZ) insiders selling shares as the company is buying back shares, especially when management has claimed that the company's shares are undervalued? Legendary investor Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA), was once said: Now, repurchases are all the rage, but are all too often made for an unstated and, in our view, ignoble reason: to pump or support the stock price...

How to Become a Professional Con Criminal

Posted on September 08, 2008
Image via Wikipedia How to Become a Professional Con Artist "If it sounds too good to be true, then you're dealing with an amateur con artist." Dennis Marlock Dennis Marlock has written an interesting book on the art of the short con, important for our understanding of persuasive techniques of con criminals...

123 Not Fit for Franchising

Posted on September 08, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Jonathan Maze, writing at the Franchise Times has an excellent story on the downfall of 123 Fit Franchise"123 Fit was built around a fitness regime designed by Wilson that is more intense than the Curves workout - one that continues to receive raves even from the company's biggest critics...

The Stock Market is a Ponzi

Posted on September 08, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Mark Cuban, writing at his blog, confirms that we can model the stock market as if it were a Ponzi scheme."I've said a lot of this before. The stock market is by definition a ponzi scheme. As long as money keeps on coming in, then there is someone to take the stocks from the sellers...

End of Authority for Blog Gurus?

Posted on September 08, 2008
Image by Tamar Weinberg via Flickr Darren Rowse on his popular blog writes about the Blog Panel at the upcoming Blog World Expo."I had confirmation this week that Jeremy from ShoeMoney is joining our 'make money online with a blog' panel at Blog World Expo...

Franchisee Compliance Due Diligence

Posted on September 08, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Richard Solomon writes, over at BMM, about what franchise disclosure really amounts to."Franchise agreements became much stricter in providing for franchisor options. Business information management technology exponentialized in its ability to "report"...

Where Are the Gurus?

Posted on September 05, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Like you, I am a fan of Jeremy Shoemaker, Brian Clark, and Darren Rowse, read their RSS feeds and generally enjoy their observatons. Shoe gossips, Clark provides insight, and Rowse is consistently steady with practical advice. So, I wonder what the following graph means? Are they losing their collective audiences, is the market for attention not growing, or is it a meaningless picture? Related articles by ZemantaGreat Darren Rowse Problogger Interview by Guy on SunThe Future of Blogging RevealedTwitterMeme13: Angering New Bloggers in TechRedesign of Problogger...

How to Create A Better Stop Sign

Posted on September 05, 2008
From Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational, The Corporation does Coordination http://view.break.com/542649 - Watch more free videos Buy Dan's Book, Predictably Irrational.Related articles by ZemantaIs your market "predictably irrational"?Amazon and B&N; suggest wildly different booksPricing IrrationalityWant me to spend? Give me cash...

What Does Caveat Emptor Mean?

Posted on September 05, 2008

Disagreement is Disrespect

Posted on September 05, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Robin Hanson's posts at Overcoming Bias often intrigue me.  He appears to be engaging, perhaps deliberately, in what the philosopher Grice called flouting conversational implicatures. Just read this."When you knowingly disagree with someone you are judging them to be less rational than you, at least on that topic...

Dead Amway Co-Founder Jay Van Andel Remembered at Republican National Convention- Former Amway President, Dick DeVos Comes out in Support of Sarah Palin

Posted on September 04, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Rachel, writing at OPTree, reports on an interesting connection between the Republican convention and Amway."Early in the night, before speeches by President Bush, Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman, convention go-ers and leaders remembered Republican Leaders who have passed away during the last four years, including Van Andel, a large presence on the Republican political scene...

AdSurfDaily documents Subpoenaed

Posted on September 04, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Dave Hodges, writing at Tallahassee.com about AdSurfDaily, claims"Quincy-based AdSurfDaily Inc. has until Tuesday to respond to a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office requesting more documents in a grand jury proceeding that may involve a violation of the government's wire-fraud statute, a criminal offense...

Why Our Brains Cannot Grasp Probabilities

Posted on September 04, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Michael Shermer, writing at Scientific American, has an interesting observation about chance and the measurement of risk."Have you ever gone to the phone to call a friend only to have your friend ring you first? What are the odds of that? Not high, to be sure, but the sum of all probabilities equals one...

Apply for Airborne Refunds, Now

Posted on September 04, 2008
Image via Wikipedia From the FTC Press Release on Airborne products;September 15, 2008 is the last day for eligible consumers who purchased Airborne products over a six-year period to apply for refunds. Details on eligibility can be found at www.airbornehealthsettlement...

Palin Vetted for VP?

Posted on September 03, 2008
Image by sloomis08 via Flickr As a Canadian, I don't have much of a horse in the upcoming US Presidential Race, or what I call "Crown the King" race.Having lived in the US for several years, I have a great deal of respect for the underlying democratic institutions...

Business Opportunities - Tips From Florida

Posted on September 03, 2008
Image via Wikipedia When you can log on to the Florida site which provides advice about purchasing business opportunities, it does have some good information.Many Americans dream of owning their business. Although many achieve this dream, others run into financial ruin by falling prey to scams devised by unscrupulous promoters of business opportunities...

New Cult Products From USANA

Posted on September 03, 2008
Image via Wikipedia From Rachel at OpTree, we learn about the new USANA products.We have gotten our hands on the pricing for the products and this should be an exciting and profitable edition to the vast line of USANA nutritional products. REV3 Energy (12 cans) $66...

Pinnacle Quest Indicted for Fraud

Posted on September 03, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Tom McLaughlin, at the Daily News, has a nice story on the Pinnacle Quest Fraud.Niceville residents Mark and Claudia Hirmer have been arrested by federal authorities and charged with conspiring to "impair and impede the Internal Revenue Service...

Jerry Reed

Posted on September 02, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Jerry Reed passed away today. He was a much better performer than generally recognized. In honor of his passing, here is one of ironic songs.Jerry Reed had a great ear for some of the absurdities of modern life, which he passed on in his country songs...

Shop to Earn Refund

Posted on September 02, 2008
Image via Wikipedia Tracy Coenen, who is researching the business opportunity Shop to Earn, writes:"This isn't the first reader commenting here about their ability to get a refund from ShopToEarn (aka ShopToEarth). If you sign up as a member, there is apparently a clause which offers refunds, but members seem to have a hard time actually getting their money back...

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