Dionne Warwick a victim of the FBI

There is a verse in the “Declaration of Independence” that I place upon the highest mantle of human aspirations. It said:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

What does it mean when certain members of our government uses it’s formidable powers to deprive its citizens of such rights and distorts the very essence of what our country stands for? I spent the last three days reconstructing events surrounding the untimely demise of my company Capital America Corporation. The seriousness of my situation had a way of bringing back characters from the past in such vivid color that I was inspired. I’ve had to piece through transactions that were very hard to forget because of the suspicious circumstances in which it all transpired. In the back of my mind I was trying to find out why the rogue team (Jim & Brad) I wrote about in a previous blog was interested in me. The more that I thought about it the more convinced I became that they are conducting clean-up operations and are taking defensive actions to prevent the publication of very destructive information.

In the total scheme of things, it’s obvious that I was merely a small player in a much bigger picture that began playing itself many years ago. But what is clear is that they are preventing the uncovering of other “sabotage operations” conducted on powerful individuals substantially more influential than I. In my search, I’ve also found that Dionne Warwick was a victim of the same, whose business “the Psychic Friends Network” was demolished by the same rogue elements of the law enforcement community. Based on my cursory discoveries, I found that “the Psychic Friends Network” conducted business in 49 markets in the US, which only means that we definitely are dealing with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). If and when Ms. Warwick and I were to compare notes, what we will find in common is the mutual acquaintance with certain individuals and a particular advertising & marketing company that worked on projects for both Capital America and the Psychic Friends Network (PFN). We will find that this marketing company was part of an FBI team responsible for the closure of both our companies.

In the case of the PFN, there is evidence that the FBI assembled a task force of psychic customers ordered to call the PFN 1 (900) phone line to speak to any of the 285 psychics on staff. The purpose of the call was to chalk up phone time while seeking psychic advise and celestial intervention on a number of life related challenges. Then, in unison or timed for optimum destructive effect, the task force charged back the calls. In 1992, the PFN had to pay back $1.1Million to AT&T eventually causing the company to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy before shutting down its doors. It was later revived and was in business until 1998 until it closed for good. But clearly, the PFN or any of its employees or owners were not committing criminal acts. Otherwise, the FBI would have filed a criminal action against them. Instead, guided by their own warped sense of justice, they used government personnel and assets meant to protect Americans to destroy someone’s American dream. I am challenged to define what the FBI mission is - to bring criminals to justice or secretly shut down businesses they object to.




There was an incident that occurred while I was still living at City Lights Apartments that could only be described as mysterious and bore the fingerprints of a demolition team. It was described on the Second Amended Complaint of the action entitled Lacambra vs. Shea Properties et al, paragraph 32 page 10.

The last time, but most indelible was a curious incident when he met a couple at the Barnes & Noble coffee bar that had a 17 inch Apple Computer. Because Robert was an Apple Computer user, he struck a conversation with them and discovered that they too resided at the City Lights Apartments. With the promise of maybe working on projects related to Apple Computers and perhaps developing video and music together, they made a commitment to meet again. This time, they were to meet at the couple’s residence where a better and bigger system and all the new software were installed.

On January 24th, 2004, the evening of their appointed meeting, Robert knocked on the couple’s door and after minutes of knocking and waiting he discovered that nobody was home. And so he left and thought of returning later that night. On the way back to his apartment, he was stopped and accosted by a security detail that asked him questions regarding his whereabouts for the evening. It was only then that it became apparent he was being accused of “stalking” despite the curious fact that he had not even seen a single soul on his walk back. Within a half an hour a Sheriff’s Deputy was at his apartment asking him questions that explicitly accused him of the same. The name of the couple he was to meet that evening was recorded by the Sheriff’s Deputy on his report and will be inserted herein after discovery.

America is the “Land of Opportunity”. It should always be fertile grounds for the best ideas; where entrepreneurship is encouraged and fruits of labor rewarded on its merit. A company’s success should be decided by how effective it is in providing value to the markets. If it operates within the confines of the law, it should never be the subject of a saboteur’s insatiable lust for destruction – particularly rogue members of our law enforcement community. If we are to live in accordance with the vision of those who drafted the Declaration of Independence, we should ever be mindful that government exists to serve the people and not those that are served.

CLICK TO READ ABOUT THE PSN
CLICK TO READ ABOUT DIONNE WARWICK

Rich & Nina (14th November 2009)

Rich left a message on my cell phone. He said, “Hey, it’s me. I was invited back to the Oh Baby Club to spin more 80's tunes this weekend. Come by if you can”. Needless to say, I found myself hanging out and watching Rich spin some tunes. Admittedly, he has gotten better, enough to become a crowd favorite. The ladies have taken a liking to him and his DJ booth is now oozing with women. But, knowing him, there isn’t anything in this world that could as much as interrupt the amorous crooning aimed at his Nina.

DJ RICH: All right! Let’s make some noise around here! I want to see the building shaking! I want the walls moving and I want the tiles on the floor rising. (Raucous noise from the crowd). That’s what I’m talking about. Yeaaaahhh! It’s been a tough year. And what I want to know is this, Do we have people who are just barely making it from day to day. (Crowd: Yeaahhh) That’s what I thought. Welcome to the club! Sometimes I think to myself, I don’t know how I’m going to make it. But I need to make it just one more day. That’s right, one more day. Then, I get to think ‘bout my baby and ain’t nothing in this world that can bother me. She is so beautiful and so fine that I just know when I finally end up with her, I’ll be so good to my baby that aint nothin’ she’ll be able to do but love me. That’s right. And all I want from my baby is just another day …

CLICK TO LISTEN

DJ RICH: Do we have any hairdressers in the house tonight? (Crowd: Yeaahhh) Just look at me, baby. I am so good looking that sometimes when I look in the mirror, my reflection does a double take and he goes – Man, you so good looking, you make me look real bad. So, I says, wait ‘till I get home to my baby and take a shower. I’ma blow-dry my hair up and you’ll be green with envy. See, my baby makes me feel special. I know she’s thinking ‘bout me right this moment, wherever she is. So when I get ready to go out to take her out, the mirror tells me I’m perfect. I’m just about to brush my hair and he’ll scream at me, “Don’t touch that. What? What do you mean? How ‘bout this? “Nope can’t touch that either” Why not? Trust me, you really don’t want to touch that!

CLICK TO LISTEN

DJ RICH: When we go on a date and stay out late, my baby usually sleeps over at my place. Whenever she does, she usually cooks breakfast in the morning. One morning, she opened the fridge to get some eggs, it was all gone on account of that “omelette” I made me for dinner a couple of nights before. She looks at me and says, baby you’d better tell me how many eggs your gonna take ‘cause I have to plan the menu. Then, she gave me a kiss and sent me to the store. On the way back, I had an argument with a man at the corner. We were talking about something and all of a sudden he says, “What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?” So I say’s “Did I say anything about China, man? Wait a minute, are you Chinese?”, I asked the guy. He looked me in the eyes and said, No, I’m from Vienna. So I said, I should have known, man. You’re a damn Viennamese! But I was running late and so I told him, this conversation is going nowhere and I have my baby waiting for me at home. She just sent me to the store to get some eggs and now you’re wasting my time! Why you do me like that? He said, No man, time wasting is a second hand emotion. This is ‘bout love and everything it’s got to do with it.

CLICK TO LISTEN

DJ RICH: Do we have any people from out of town here in the house, tonight? (Crowd: Yeahhh) Cool, baby. There was a time when my baby was living in the east coast and I was living in the west coast. The DJ action in the left coast was just really happenin’ for me, you know. So every once in a while I’ll get a text from her saying “Hey Mr. Dj, are the ladies keepin’ you busy?” So I’d send her a text saying, “Ain’t no ladies but you, baby.” She would send me a smiley face. So I sez, baby you know how it is. I’ve been saving up some money so I can send you tickets. I have a choice for you. If you want to see your man right now, I can send you Greyhound tickets. ‘Coz I have the money in my piggy bank right now. If you want to fly on a plane it will take me six months to save up that money. What’s it gonna be, baby? Next thing I know, I hear a click. She hung up on me. So I called the telephone man to tell him something happened to the phone. He says, Ain’t nothing wrong with the phone. Are you sure ain’t nothin’ wrong with what you said to your lady? For about a week I wasn’t eating, drinkin’ or sleeping. I was in real bad shape, until out of nowhere she just showed up at my house. I’m glad she did ‘coz even the phone man was getting tired of me. Every time I called him this is what I said.

CLICK TO LISTEN

DJ RICH: All right, y’all. I wanna make a confession. But before I begin, I want to know something. Do we have any Catholic Priests in the house? (Crowd: We have the Pope!) Wait a minute. You mean to say, we have the Pope in the house? (Crowd: Yeaaahhh) Wow. Il Papa, the man himself? We are honored, your Popeship. Well Pope, here’s my confession. I have a bad addiction to medication. I got it real bad. When I wake up in the morning I got to have it. In the afternoon I got to have it. And right before I sleep I gotta have it. It’s an addiction that has no compare ‘coz like all the stuff out there, this one has no bad side effects. It ain’t no upper. It ain’t no downer, either. It’s just my baby. I have to tell you Pope. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I’m gonna have to face it I’m addicted to love ….

CLICK TO LISTEN

DJ RICH: Alright. Was that hot, or what? Proud Mary herself. Miss Tina Turner. Yeaahhhh. All right we need more noise around here. This ain’t the time to relax y’all (Crowd: Yeaaahhh) No way. We have lots of things to do. I want you all to spend your shoes on the dance floor tonight and come Monday you’ll have to take your shoes to the shoe repair shop. When you get there, I want the Korean repair lady to say – “Yo shu broken. No way repair. Yu need nu shuz! By the time you leave here tonight, I want y’all all walking barefooted cause your shoes are busted up. Do you hear me? I said, Do you hear me? (Crowd: Yeaahhh) That’s right! I want y’all to sweat. If you want to be on my dance floor, y’all have to be able to last for hours at a time ‘coz I don’t want you to stop. You hear me baby? It’s like a marathon over here. We are gonna run long and we are gonna run fast. We are going to go very far together ‘coz you know baby you and I were born to run …

CLICK TO LISTEN

DJ RICH: It’s always fun to see old stuff being recycled and embraced by the new generation. I was standing at a bus stop and saw a young kid wearing Ray Ban Wayfarers. I was thinking, Man, talk about old school. Too bad I threw mine away because I thought it has gone out of fashion in the 80’s. I had it in two colors – turtle skin and black – with the dingy white jacket. Every time I wore those things I felt like I’m on Miami Vice – stylin’. Those were the days. Every day was summer. When my baby finally marries me, I wanna get her a little house on the beach, nothing more than we need, just enough for the family. So, I have a treat for you baby ‘coz I want you to start feeling summer even though it’s gonna be Christmas real soon.

CLICK TO LISTEN

DJ RICH: Alright, we’re gonna turn down the lights and slow things down a little bit so you can get close with each other. I want you guys to be close enough that you can smell your ladies’ perfume. See, she smells good doesn’t she? That’s worth the admission you paid for right there. I’ma serenade my baby now. This is for you baby ‘coz I don’t think you know what you’re getting into. Almost everything I ever did never came out right. If I ever ran for office, I wouldn’t even get my own mother’s vote. If a dog can vote, even my dog wouldn’t vote for me. That's until I met you. The good thing is that the only vote that matters is yours. I know I’m not the brightest tool in the shed but I never give up. I will climb any mountain, cross any ocean, and walk through a forest fire for you. That's because I don’t have a car. But you don’t mind, right baby? It doesn’t matter how I get there, right? You know it. I’ll always be there for you, whatever the odds.

(WARNING: HIGH DECIBEL CONTENT. LOWER VOLUME BEFORE CLICKING)

CLICK TO LISTEN

DJ RICH: Now for the final song this evening. I want y’all to chant for me. RICHIE, RICHIE, RICHIE, RICHE, RICHE …. (Crowd: RICHIE, RICHIE, RICHIE, RICHIE …..) Baby, if you’re hearing this, our love will be the greatest of all time ….

CLICK TO LISTEN

WHY THE FUNNY BLOG SERIES?

Rich & Nina - Announcement

We've been hard at work fighting the bad guys here at RobertsJustice. As a result, we'll be late bringing you this month's installment of Rich & Nina. It's actually partially done but we didn't want to publish it in piece meal so we decided to delay it until this evening. Check out our blog at 700PM tonight and we should have it published for your reading enjoyment.

Robert

A Town Hall Meeting

It was a political morning fit for Veteran's Day. I met Republican Assemblywoman Diane Harkey of the 73rd District at a “Town Hall Meeting” she hosted in Aliso Viejo. The discussion ranged from the problems of water shortage to the budget deficit in Sacramento and other issues that I was surprisingly uninformed about. There were some very passionate people in the crowd who were quite vocal about their concerns. That seems to be the norm these days, though. People are on the edge worrying about the future. Those who have jobs are worried they might get laid off. Those who are unemployed are worried that their unemployment checks would stop. Things seem gloomy considering the national unemployment rate is at 10.6%, a 26 year high.

After the meeting, I shook her hands and pointed to her where I slept last night which was within view of the meeting hall. I also explained to her that I am homeless and that my “Department of Real Estate License” and “California Drivers License” have been revoked because of my failure to pay child support payments. I also told her that the car I used to sleep in was towed away the OC Sheriff’s Department. “That’s really bad”, she replied. Before we parted, I told her that I was going to email her. A link to the email is attached. My purpose for writing her is to enlist her help in crafting legislation that are more sensible than the ones we currently have in the books. At the present time, the state has the power to punish anyone who fails to pay child support payments by revoking the individual’s professional and drivers licenses. Any thoughtful person would be of the opinion that such ill-considered legislation is counter-productive specially in SoCal where driving is almost a must.

I hate to say this but that's the kind of thinkers we have in Sacramento. Since when is the government the one who tells us what profession we should get into? How can a constituent contribute to society if the government takes away the means of livelihood and the way in which the person gets to work? Is there really any wonder why California has a $42 Billion budget deficit?

READ MY EMAIL TO ASSEMBLYWOMAN HARKEY

WEBSITE OF ASSEMBLYWOMAN HARKEY

Demolition Team works on ROBERT

We were in the middle of a heated argument that one hot afternoon and I was baffled by something he said that didn’t make sense at the time. Jim Mackey, an acquaintance with a mysterious past and lifestyle said something that haunted me for a while. He said, “You’d better do as you’re told. I don’t want you to have any problems with Brad”. I committed that to memory wondering all this time what he meant and why it was said in such a threatening manner.

It took a while but the answer to that riddle came a few days ago (November 1). I was at the Aliso Viejo Library and in comes another acquaintance I met many weeks ago named Brad who went off on a mindless and disturbing verbal assault. “Did you want to see a demonstration of an Apple being crushed by a person’s bare hands?” he asked. I’m busy right now, I retorted. Well, you’d better tell me who’s been circling my car. You and your Israeli friend – the one you said was trying to poison you with an Apple. Oh, and I read your blog and you are deranged. You are like a kid!” All this within ear shot of people at the library. “I don’t know what you are talking about. If you have a problem about people walking around your car, don’t drive your car around here”, I said. "Don’t tell me where to drive my car. You punk", he replied. Off course, none of things he claims I said were true and were calculated to paint a picture of me that isn't flattering.

In the business of "Loss Mitigation" there is such a thing as “Identity Demolition”. This is an example of a skilled “provocateur” trying to snare an individual into a no-win confrontation in a public place – in a quite library, no less - where everyone can hear and make unfavorable judgments about the person who is the target. The idea is to make the target so angry that he is trapped into behaving in a way that is embarrassing, socially unacceptable and destructive to his or her reputation. This is part of a dirty tricks toolkit used by very powerful organizations and individuals threatened by an expensive lawsuit or a major expose.

The high stakes world of power and money are full of these types of organizations who send out teams of very efficient and well-paid operators to sniff out everything about a potential plaintiff before a trial. They descend on a target and try to unearth every single piece of information that could be used against him or her – affairs, bankruptcies, criminal record, persons with adverse opinions, enemies, bad debt etc. A full blown civil action may cost up to several millions to bring to trial. But if a potentially disastrous case can be settled early, the better off the defendants are.

There is a very seedy side to that business. I’ve heard stories of prostitutes specializing in these kinds of things being sent out to put a person in very uncompromising positions. One elicit affair and all they have to say is, “we have pictures of you and a whore”. If the person is married and has children, continuing the lawsuit becomes a difficult proposition considering everything will become public.

There are a number of objectives that “Identity Demolition Teams” try to achieve. First, they try to make a person look like someone else entirely by highlighting the unsavory parts of the person’s life and character. Second, they try to find a way to settle the case. If the person is financially vulnerable, they come with inducements of money and other gifts. If that is not possible, they find a way to put the person in a situation where they will need money. For instance, if the person is a realtor, they will send out a number of fake clients to tie the individual up with endless requests for property showings and meetings, enough to keep the target busy and produce a pipeline of deals of which none will fund and certainly create a desperate bind teetering on financial disaster. At the optimum moment, they come in with an offer that the target could not refuse. The money is secondary. What they need above all else is to keep their reputation intact by avoiding the possibility of the case being covered by the media. A settled case will almost certainly specify the non-disclosure of terms making it difficult to gauge the level of culpability and guilt, thereby keeping their reputation unassailed.

THE STORY OF JIM MACKEY
By any measure, Jim Mackey is an interesting man. He claims to be an Archeologist with an undergraduate degree from UCSB, UC Berkeley and has a law degree from UCLA. Over time, I’ve befriended him because of his unusual lifestyle, something I am quite familiar with. By all accounts he sleeps in his Chrysler van and have several federal cases filed in Pro Per (Self-Represented) docketed in various courts across the country. He also makes a living picking baseballs at local baseball parks and selling it on Ebay. On particular days during the month, he goes to REI sales all over the western USA and purchases tents and other outdoor equipment for resale. I’ve gone to such trips with him – Arizona, Northern California and Southern California REI Stores. The last of which was in San Diego just recently. I personally negotiated the purchase and secured absolute rock bottom pricing for a number of tents.

When we got back from San Diego, we came to terms with my compensation. Except for fast food dinners, up until that point I have not been paid on any of the trips I made with him. I have been out of a car for several months now and have been living on the streets. As we were driving around, we stumbled upon a Mercedes Benz Diesel 300D that was for sale for $560. We ended up negotiating for the purchase of the Mercedes Benz as well as a Cadillac that the owner was also trying to sell. We entered into a "Purchase Contract" and placed a $100 deposit for delivery of either cars. The cars were to be my compensation for the trips I’ve made in the past with him. He was so happy with the way I negotiated the deal with the REI people on the last trip that he in fact said that, (I) was a good businessman. There were a number of things that the owner of the cars needed to do before he could deliver the cars and so we agreed to talk again in a couple of days to arrange for delivery.

The day after, Jim and I went to a local park to inspect the used tents for damages. Repairs had to be made prior to it being resold online. That afternoon, we set up over 10 tents. During the course of the day, the Sheriff’s Department paid us a visit. Apparently, a resident made a complaint thinking we were setting up a homeless tent city. After explaining what we were doing to the deputy, Jim promised to disassemble the tents before the end of the day. It just so happened that we had an earlier conversation with another acquaintance, Linda Luther aka Fei Lin Fong who was coming into town by train. We agreed to pick her up at the San Juan Capistrano Train Station at about 645PM. At around 630PM, Jim directed me to stay behind and watch the tents. His reason is that he wanted for Linda to see what we purchased. Considering my history with the Sheriff’s Department and the forthcoming civil rights case that I am drafting against them, I declined his coercive request.

Despite that, he persisted in a threatening manner arousing my anger. Considering the potential backlash of another Sheriff’s encounter which I was sure was going to happen, I was indignant. “Why don’t you have Kyle watch your f***ing tents, I replied. His nephew, Kyle, lives in the community and not very far from the park. That was when he uttered those words that did not make sense until only recently – “You’d better do as you are told. I don’t want you to have any problems with Brad”. At this point, I was incensed and defiant. So I gathered my things – my backpack and my notebook computer – and started heading back to the middle of town. The last time I spoke to Jim, he claimed that a number of tents were stolen that evening. On top of that, the cars that we’ve negotiated haven’t been delivered to me. It appears, Jim had pulled out of the transaction and reneged on our agreement to pay my wages.

THE STORY OF BRAD

I first met Brad one morning as I was walking out of the Neighborhood Cup with my then employer Luis Vargas. “Are you by chance Robert”, he inquired. “Yes”, I said. I was referred to him by Jim who said that I could help him with a ticket that he had. Like Jim, he was also living in a car. So, I said that I had to work but would meet him in the afternoon.

Back at the Neighborhood Cup, he regaled me with tales of his many run-ins with the law. He claims that there are a number of police officers in Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach who he named individually that are corrupt. The same police officers, so he claims, on a number of occasions used their badge to maliciously target him. He even told me that he was once detained for 5150 – law enforcement parlance for a psychiatric hold because he threatened to hurt her sister who he claims tried to poison him. It wasn’t very long that I made the determination that I had a mental case on my hands. Nevertheless, I tried to conduct our meeting as normally as is possible. He was trying to finish up an appeal on a traffic ticket and sought my advice.

I’ve had a chance to talk to him over the many weeks since I met him. Over a couple of meetings he introduced me to the “Wormwood Star” that he claims is a dwarf star that will orbit into our solar system and will cause catastrophic natural disasters. He even attributed the series of Tsunami in the Indian Ocean to its gravitational pull. But an encounter I had with him one morning was particularly bizarre. I was at the Neighborhood Cup and was approached by Jen, the Proprietor, who told me that the person who just walked out the door (Brad) had asked about me. It was clear that he wasn’t looking for me because Jen would have pointed me out. But rather, he was asking for information about me. That made me suspicion.

I followed him to his SUV and cordially asked him if he needed anything from me. He immediately went on a defensive. ‘Have you been circling around my car?” Do you know who’s been taking stuff from my car?” It went on and on about all the things that were taken from his car. Fortunately, I was able to get out of that conversation and get back to my work feeling like I just got away from a psycho.

Unfortunately, the encounter with Brad at the library could not be avoided. He walked right up to my table and started ranting off his psychosis within earshot of other people. It was magnified by the fact that we were at a quite library.

THE CASE
So far, I’ve created some very powerful enemies that are just at the verge of getting their close-up in the media. They are running out of time and must dig up some very unsavory things about me. This is evidenced by unusual things that I’ve been experiencing - intercepted mail, blocked emails, sabotaged business dealings and situations that are clearly designed to make me commit criminal acts just to survive.

If I had to make a case, I will show this is the handy work of rogue elements of the law enforcement community whose operations are just about to be uncovered by discoveries that I must do on my case against the OC Sheriff’s Department. I’ve had to think back to events that happened in the past that may have caused them to investigate me. My search in time, the juggling of memory came up with one very strong possibility. I once did business with a self-confessed Mexican Mafia named Donald “Curly” Castro while I was still a mortgage banker. I saved three million dollar beach-front properties he owned in Laguna Beach that were in foreclosure. He claims to have been the cellmate of Michael Milken, the famed Wall Street financier who ran Drexel, Burnham Lambert. Castro also claimed to have had ties with the group that killed DEA Agent Enrique Camarena in Mexico. For the most part, I found his stories unbelievable only because he was in foreclosure. If he was really a drug king-pin, how was it that he was out of money? But after a while, I became convinced he was on the radar of the FBI, DEA and other specialized law enforcement teams. In a case as complex as his with many varying jurisdictions that span North America, they probably had a joint task force including elements of both state and federal law enforcement agencies.

So the plot thickens. Why is the law enforcement community all of a sudden interested in my situation? I am not clear about that but my search led to another question. Did they commit criminal acts while investigating my dealings with Donnie Castro? Around that time my business, Capital America Corporation, became insolvent under unusual circumstances. But even more troubling, my marriage collapsed under the weight of extreme financial difficulties. Put in a different way, it appears they didn’t have anything that they can use to charge me with so instead they destroyed my livelihood and then my life. I hope not, because that would be wholly Un-American and unbecoming the members of our law enforcement community. The dynamic duo (Jim & Brad) just gave me a reason to find out.

What you must know is this: It would serve their interests well if I were to remain homeless because homelessness is just a few steps away from mental illness. They would love nothing more than to be able to call me mentally ill in front of a jury. It appears, they are throwing everything at the wall hoping something sticks. The good thing about that is that they are making a lot of mistakes, which I will show in court.

VIEW THE PICTURE ALBUM

A Chance Meeting ...

The most interesting part of my homeless lifestyle is the many serendipitous moments – some welcome and some I really can do without. Last night, I found myself sleeping on a bench outside a local restaurant called “Mangia Bene” in Laguna Niguel CA. I chose that spot because it was the only establishment in that particular strip mall that is dark after hours. It is also a distance away from the main street affording me some quiet sleep.

It was a cold night and all I could think of was, “When is it going to be daybreak?” I avoid walking around the city when it’s dark because it arouses suspicion. However, I wanted to start walking around to make myself warm. I know the temperatures got pretty low because the cold went right through my Merrell hiking shoes. I was still half asleep when I was roused from my sleep by the sound of an SUV backing up to within a few feet from where I was sleeping. There were two things that immediately came to mind. First, the guy was delivering something before business hours. Second, he was the restaurant owner who was just about to kick me out. I waited a few seconds but nobody came out of the SUV. Every time something out of the ordinary happens, I usually start searching for my camera. As soon as the flash went off, the gentleman in the SUV stepped out. It was a few minutes before 600AM and he was there to set up the sound system for a band who will entertain a “Men’s Christian Fellowship” who meets at the restaurant every month.

Within moments of the doors opening, I was part of a road crew setting up the sound system before a concert. There is no way of knowing what my day will be like from day to day. Just before I met Bob, I was dreaming of something hot and filling for the belly. It worked out funny that way. Before the morning was over, I was being entertained by a band, I was drinking hot coffee and having a hearty breakfast. I also heard an interesting message from the Guest Pastor Peter-Jon Courson.

Hallelujah!

VIEW PICS OF THE FELLOWSHIP MEETING

VIEW WEBSITE OF MANGIA BENE

Yestradamus 110709

CONTINUED FROM YESTRADAMUS 100709 (PART 5 OF 5)
READ PART I
READ PART II
READ PART III
READ PART IV

The job took me to the very center of this pot culture. The source of the mind-altering flora was a guy named, Mr. Green. He wasn’t a big time drug-lord by any stretch of the imagination. He was just a guy who was able hustle a permit that gave him the state license to sell marijuana for medical purposes. I can tell that he has smoked his share of pot in his life. His shoulders were permanently lifted up, almost Larry King like - a straight clothesline because of the many lung-filling inhalations he has taken. He talks precisely like a stoner, like he took a drag from a joint, held his breath and then starts talking without letting even a little bit of air out. To make him feel comfortable I started talking to him like a pothead as well. If we were dumped in a swimming pool in the middle of a conversation we would have looked like a couple of fishes to the observer – our mouths would be opening and closing but no bubbles would be coming out. After a while, I was dizzy because of the lack of oxygen going to my brain. That’s when he said; “I’ve got something for you. This is some horse kicking stuff that will make your head-ache go away”. He brought out a joint the size of the cigar. That thing was humongous. Pointing to it he said, “This is what I call a one hit wonder. One hit and you’ll be wondering". “Wondering about what?”, I asked. “Find out for yourself, here. This is meant to bring out the kid in you". That made me think. It sounded tempting because I missed those Christmases I had when I was a child – so many cool toys. But at the same time, it was problematic because I was working. “No thanks”, I said.

The day of the round up finally came. It was one of the most anti-climactic events of my life. I wasn’t working for any law enforcement agencies so I wasn’t empowered to detain or even charge anybody. My job was to find out whether or not this guy, whose mother hired me, was a pot dealer. It turns out that he was. His source was actually Mr. Green. He would buy as much as he can and then pass it on to his friend who would sell it to his other friends. The money he made dealing pot was more than he would make flipping burgers.

The drug bust, if you can call it that, was a meeting with the mother. I organized a portfolio for her that included photos, recordings and names of his friends who I was certain were potheads. The danger, I told her, was that pot is a transitive drug that leads the user to try other drugs. That’s when you get into serious trouble especially in this day and age when manufactured synthetic drugs are very potent and addictive. For instance, try heroine just once and you are an addict for life. You will forever be looking for that first high. Crack, a derivative of cocaine that is more potent will have the same effect. Speed will fry your brains faster than just about any drug. MRI’s of long time users of Speed always shows dry holes in a person’s brain. The net effect is that it actually shrinks the brain. Once your brain is physiologically altered in that way, you are never the same again. It is one organ that cannot yet be replaced by transplant operation.

One parent I met, who lives in a surf city, said that there is something about his city that encourages pot use among the teens. So as a way to placate his son from the peer pressure, he has his son do a urine test every week. When offered drugs, he just says that he can’t because he’ll get a piss-test the coming weekend. As for my client, she eventually decided it was best to move her son to another state, away from his friends and that scene that created that environment.

What happened to my girlfriend? I married her years later. I never had so much fun with any person before. I had to tell her the truth and promised her never to lie to her again. She thought about it and felt that my feelings were genuine. Every day I wake up with such a feeling of happiness that I ended up with her. She didn’t know it at the time but in many ways she saved me. I definitely married up.

But what Yestradamus is really saying is like this: Your body is merely a vessel for your brain. Care for it as best as you can because the quality of your life depends on it.

(WARNING: This featured film was Rated R when it was first released in 1982. It uses language that are unsuitable for children. If you are under the age of 17, seek the approval of your parents before viewing this clip.)

VIEW A CLIP OF A STONER

(ANALYST 147X)

Baby disappearance solved

We’ve all misplaced our car keys before. And the sequence goes like this. First, we retrace our steps and figure out where we’ve gone since last driving. The sofa – we lift the cushions. The bed – we lift the sheets. The car – we look inside. The dining table – we move the huge bowl of fruits. The desk – we move all the clutter. We look everywhere – over, under, on top, beside everything that might obstruct the view that reveals where the keys might be. When you’re running late for an appointment or work the above actions are reasonable things to do. But what do you do if your baby just mysteriously disappears?

Here’s a story of a baby that technically did not disappear but rather got misplaced? The word misplaced does not do the incident justice either. Four days after baby Shannon Lee Dedrick (7 months old) was reported missing, she was found in a box under a bed. Authorities have since announced that charges will be filed against the sitter, Susan Elizabeth Baker, the mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer; and Baker’s husband James Arthur Baker.

Because there isn’t really a school for responsible parenting, we believe one word may apply: Prison! But that may not be right either because it's doubtful it will make them better parents. So, what can society do to make the situation better? We'll follow this story and report on future developments.

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