Wednesday, October 24, 2007

MIRABILIS SUES TO RECOVER ITS LOST MILLIONS


Orlando-based Mirabilis Ventures Inc. has filed three new lawsuits against companies it did business with, invested in or lent money to since 2005, including one firm owned by one of the richest men in America.

The suits -- two in Orange Circuit Court in Orlando and another in Tampa's federal court -- are the second wave of litigation filed this month by Mirabilis. They seek to recover millions from former top company executives, firms that owe money to Mirabilis or others it accuses of making fraudulent deals with the company.

Mirabilis, a holding company that announced earlier this month it lost at least $220 million, has shut down nearly all of its operations and is trying to generate cash to pay a large tax bill anticipated from an ongoing Internal Revenue Service probe.

"Basically, Mirabilis doesn't want to get stuck with someone else's tax bill," said Bob O'Malley, an Orlando public relations consultant hired by Mirabilis. "We're seeking to collect what could be the total amount of taxes."

Magnate named in suit

Among those named in the tax-related suit are Kenneth Hendricks, a Wisconsin construction supply magnate ranked 91st on the 2007 Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans. Another suit seeks to recover about $8 million in loans made to a dozen ex-Mirabilis security companies whose officers include Kevin Billings, a retired Secret Service agent from Orlando.

Billings was one of three security contractors detained and jailed in Africa's Democratic Republic of the Congo in May 2006 while working for a consulting company owned by Mirabilis' chief strategist, Frank L. Amodeo. The successful release of the three thrust Amodeo and Mirabilis into the public eye.

The lawsuits by Mirabilis, which once held interests in 70 human resource, construction, restaurant and security companies, follows scores of workers being laid off in Orlando earlier this year. The IRS and a federal grand jury are probing its operations.

One of the most recent suits, filed in Tampa, names Hendricks, his wife and their company, Amfinity Capital LLC. It seeks $230 million in damages stemming from Mirabilis' purchase of Amfinity's interests in two payroll outsourcing firms, Presidion Corp. and Presidion Solutions Inc.

The Presidion firms and others taken over by Mirabilis in the 2006 deal owe an estimated $173 million for federal payroll and Social Security taxes collected from workers' paychecks, O'Malley said. The suit said the Hendrickses did not disclose the tax problems and should be liable for them.

Morris Brooks Jr., attorney for the Hendrickses, sued Mirabilis earlier this year, saying it had defaulted on the $2.85 million purchase of Amfinity's interest in Presidion. Brooks said the couple did not run the companies and had nothing to do with the unpaid employment taxes.


Lawyer blames Mirabilis

"Mirabilis took our assets, didn't pay us our money and it's just that simple," Brooks said.

A second suit, filed in Orlando, seeks return of nearly $8 million in payroll advances made to Orlando-based security consulting firm Stratis Authority and 11 subsidiaries from 2005 to 2007 before they broke from Mirabilis in January.

The suit also accuses Stratis of failing to "properly maintain corporate compliance" with state and federal laws, an apparent reference to uncollected employment taxes.

Though no individuals are named in the suit, Orlando companies listed among those owing money to Mirabilis include A Very Private Eye, Gibraltar Integrity Corp. and RF Scientific Inc. Officers in those firms include Billings, the former Congo detainee; ex-Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Kellie Tomeo; and ex-Orlando police Officers Bill Eplin and Charles Rahn.

Billings could not be reached for comment.

Reached Tuesday, Rahn said he was "flabbergasted" by the suit and never signed any loan agreements with Amodeo or Mirabilis. Amodeo sold the private-investigation company back to him in March for $10, Rahn said.

Lawsuit called 'audacious'

Jim Abbott, the former majority owner of RF Scientific, called the suit "audacious." Money Mirabilis is seeking from RF includes the $350,000 it paid to buy the Orlando satellite communications company in March 2006, he said.

"They came and bought our company and now they're saying it was a loan?" Abbott asked.

The last of the most-recent suits accuses several investment companies and their principals of fraud and misrepresentation in multiple deals with Mirabilis from 2005 to 2007. Named are Forge Capital Partners LLC of Boca Raton; Argent Capital Advisors of Tampa, formerly known as Atlantic American Capital Advisors LLC; and principals Joseph Bryant of Jacksonville, Robert Moreyra of Tampa and Peter Collins of Boca Raton.

They could not be reached for comment.

Mirabilis spokesman O'Malley said the company invested $16 million through the various parties, including $2 million that was supposed to go into the Trump Towers project in Tampa but was diverted.

All the deals turned out to be plagued with problems, misleading finances and tax liabilities, the suit said.

Jim Leusner can be reached at [email]jleusner@orlandosentinel.com[/email] or 407-420-5411.

SOURCE

Monday, October 15, 2007

The Central Florida Real Estate Bust


Nearly twice as many people face losing their homes in Central Florida this year compared with 2006, many of them borrowers struggling to repay adjustable-rate loans or investors unable to sell in a glutted market.

Through the first eight months of 2007, more than 11,000 homeowners in a seven-county area in and around Orlando have entered the foreclosure process by defaulting on their mortgage payments -- 85 percent more than all of last year.

An Orlando Sentinel analysis of public records gathered by RealtyTrac Inc., which sells foreclosure data online to prospective home buyers, found the problem cuts across differences in income, race, ethnicity and geography:

Osceola County has been hit hardest in the region, with more than triple the number of defaults so far this year compared with all of 2006. But Volusia, Brevard and Polk counties already have more than twice as many defaults as all of last year. And Orange, Lake and Seminole counties have registered increases ranging from 42 percent to 57 percent.

Communities with widely divergent income are affected. The ZIP codes with either a high volume or a high concentration of defaults range from east Pine Hills and north Poinciana -- areas with median household incomes in the bottom quarter for Central Florida -- to Waterford Lakes and Celebration, communities whose median incomes fall within the top 5 percent for the region.

The complexions of the communities also vary. The most-affected ZIP codes range from Taft and south Poinciana, which are nearly two-thirds Hispanic and black, to Windermere and Davenport, which are more than three-quarters white.

Single-family homes dominate the foreclosure rolls, constituting about nine of every 10 defaults and public auctions. Condominiums come in a distant second, with about one in every 20 defaults and auctions.

The situation is likely to get even worse, because the data indicate that the number of loan-default notices has jumped sharply in recent months.

Experts say the evidence points to both homeowners living beyond their means and investors grasping for quick riches as prime sources of the problem, with foreclosure notices stretching from the new resort-home subdivisions near Walt Disney World in Osceola to the established starter-home neighborhoods of Deltona in Volusia County.

"There is blame for everybody: builders who overbuilt, Realtors who oversold, lenders who weakened loan criteria and borrowers who stretched too far knowing nothing goes up forever," said Doug Duncan, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Florida is one of four states driving the nationwide rise in foreclosures, Duncan said. The others are California, Arizona and Nevada.

He attributed the increase in Florida at least partly to investors, noting that home construction far outpaced population growth in the Sunshine State during the five-year housing boom. Now, with home prices dropping, many first-time owners have no equity with which to refinance their mortgages, and investors who had hoped for a quick and profitable resale cannot sell for what they owe, Duncan said.

Statewide this year, home lenders started foreclosures on more than 60,000 properties through August -- three-quarters more than during all of 2006, according to the Sentinel analysis of RealtyTrac data. During those same eight months, more than 16,000 Florida properties were put up for sale at public auctions, an increase of about two-thirds from all of last year.

How foreclosure happens

Lenders initiate the foreclosure process in Florida once a homeowner has defaulted on a loan by missing three payments. At that point, the bank asks the court to set a sale date for the property. Once a judge sets the auction date, servers notify the homeowner. The public can bid on the property at auction. If there are no bidders, the lender repossesses the property.

Don Casselman of St. Cloud started missing mortgage payments on his home earlier this year, after work injuries and a failed attempt to start a duct-cleaning business. His century-old house weathered Hurricane Charley three years ago with only a chimney brick missing, but when Casselman, saddled with two mortgages, tried to sell it recently, he got no takers.

Last month, Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank forced his family to leave.

"They take people who are not in the best of credit, and they treat us like we're millionaires -- then they try to rip every dollar that you can make from your pocket, and they try to draw blood," said Casselman, who couldn't persuade lenders to refinance his adjustable-rate loans when the $974 monthly payment was about to double. "They try to keep a poor man poor."

Osceola hard-hit

Fast-growing Osceola County, with its production-line subdivisions and service-job wages, is the local epicenter of the mortgage meltdown.

The one-time cattle county on Disney World's doorstep has recorded one foreclosure for every 184 residents so far this year -- compared with one for every 339 people in Orange County and one for about every 450 residents in Seminole and Lake counties.

Linda Goodwin, a real-estate agent in Kissimmee, says foreclosures were inevitable in Poinciana, a 47,000-acre working-class community that straddles the Osceola-Polk county line. Prices for basic, three-bedroom homes there had doubled since 2000, as they had most everywhere else, Goodwin said.

"We knew this had to stop, because salaries had not gone up that much," she said. "That's why we're seeing so few buyers."

South Poinciana is home to the worst-hit ZIP code in Central Florida -- 34759 -- where nearly 300 homeowners have defaulted on their mortgages so far this year.

The community is one of the youngest in the region, with a median age of 33. It also has one of the highest concentrations of Hispanic residents in Central Florida, though other heavily Hispanic communities, such as Pierson in Volusia County and Mascotte in Lake County, have not encountered the same default rates.

In all of Osceola County, defaults through August totaled 1,328, compared with 416 for all of last year.

"A lot of houses in this area were owned by the British, [and] a lot have gone through foreclosure," said Clara Arango, who lives with her four school-age sons in a neighborhood south of Disney World filled with investor-owned vacation homes.

Her street of pastel stucco houses has more "For Sale" signs in the yards than cars in the driveways. She used to live in a larger home nearby, but the family lost it to foreclosure last year after she and her husband divorced.

Jump in loan defaults

The biggest indication that the region's and the state's mortgage woes are far from over is the recent spike in the number of property owners defaulting on their home loans.

In the seven counties surrounding Orlando, the number of monthly loan defaults recorded in court has jumped from 611 in January to 3,181 in August. Statewide, monthly loan defaults increased from 2,919 in January to 18,676 in August.

In Florida, one in every 33 homeowners with an adjustable-rate loan was in foreclosure as of June, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data, compared with fewer than one in every 100 homeowners with a fixed-rate loan.

Loan defaults are spiraling into auctions more often these days than in past years, experts say, because property owners' options are limited when they can neither sell the house nor refinance the loan. And Florida buyers who used "subprime" loans to finance their purchase have been 10 times more likely to lose their property than homeowners with conventional-rate loans, according to MBA data.

Even some homeowners who built up some equity are losing their dwellings because they took out second mortgages to pay such things as credit-card debt, said Richard Schram, special-projects manager at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Florida and the Florida Gulf Coast.

"They lose their job, they're in trouble," he said.

Whatever the reason for falling behind, a homeowner who misses three monthly payments faces added bills that include lender's fees, court costs and other expenses.

"The [monthly] payment is $1,200 when they buy," Schram said. "When they fall [three months] behind, it goes to an attorney, and that adds $2,500 to $3,000. Suddenly they're $6,000 behind, and the lenders may want another inspection or appraisal," which further drives up the debt.

To make matters worse, homeowners in financial trouble usually don't seek help restructuring their debts until it's too late, Schram said. In July, for example, his nonprofit credit-counseling service offered an Orlando workshop for homeowners titled "The ABCs of Mortgage Foreclosure." Two people showed up.

"We still have people who call and say, 'I need to go through counseling today, because my property is going to be sold tomorrow,' " he said.

Flooding the auction block

More defaults inevitably lead to more homes on the auction block.

In Central Florida, more than 3,000 properties were put up for sale at public auction from January through August, about two-thirds more than for all of 2006. They ranged from a $3.3 million mansion in Isleworth, with five bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms, to a $131,000 half-century-old house in Deltona with two bedrooms and a single bath.

Brevard County has recorded the biggest jump in auctions so far this year of any county in the state: nearly a sixfold increase to 677 compared with all of last year. Osceola County was fifth in Florida through August by the same measure, with 333 auctions, or four times as many as all of last year.

Palm Bay, whose town motto is "A Perfect Place to Grow," has had nearly 100 properties sent to auction through the first eight months of the year.

Anticipating an eviction from their Palm Bay home, Lori Groos and her family recently moved into a rental and are working with their lenders on a "short sale," in which the house is to be sold for less than the amount the family owes.

Groos said the family's debt grew when she and her husband took out a second mortgage to repair damage from the 2004 hurricanes. Then their income shrank when Groos opted to stay home from her Internet Web-design job to watch the couple's children.

"Banks are willing to work with the short sales, just to keep the house from coming back to them," said Groos, who hopes the house sells soon because interest continues to accumulate on the couple's loans until a buyer is found.

North Palm Bay, where the Grooses live, is generally representative of Central Florida as a whole, with a median age of 38 and a median household income of $45,980 a year. The reason for the flood of foreclosure auctions, however, may be the concentration of investor-owned properties in town.

Sharon Maynard, a Palm Bay real-estate agent, says she knew the area was headed for trouble back in 2005, during the height of the housing boom, when home prices jumped 10 percent in a single month. Out-of-state buyers, attempting to seize what they saw then as an opportunity, were snapping up relatively affordable new homes in hopes of reselling them soon after for huge profits.

"It's people who were trying to flip houses: buy them from the builder" and sell them to someone else, Maynard said. "But the market went down, and they weren't able to sell them."

Sean Snaith, an economist and professor at the University of Central Florida, also blames investors for the pockets of mortgage misery in places such as Palm Bay and Kissimmee.

Whether the Federal Reserve's recent half-point cut in interest rates will be enough to thaw the credit markets and slow the region's rising foreclosure rate is not yet certain, Snaith said. But at least the local economy appears to remain strong enough to weather the real-estate slowdown.

"That's kept this from getting worse than it could be," he said.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

MIRABILIS VENTURES ANNOUNCES LAWSUITS TO RECOVER 285 MILLION DOLLARS IN LOSES

Embattled Mirabilis Ventures Inc., under siege by creditors, the Internal Revenue Service and a federal grand jury for failed business dealings and an employment tax scandal, announced Friday it has suffered at least $285 million in losses.

The public disclosure -- the first made by the Orlando company about its losses -- came as Mirabilis announced it had launched the first wave of lawsuits against former company officials, creditors and partners with whom they loaned or invested money.

"The company has been working on gathering information," said Bob O'Malley, a public relations consultant hired by Mirabilis. "And now is the time to file the collection actions."

"Mirabilis is shutting down and we are in collection mode so we can recover assets owed to the company and pay off its obligations."

He said any money collected would be assigned to the Internal Revenue Service to cover any back taxes owed for entities related to Mirabilis, including Presidion Solutions, a defunct payroll and human resource firm. Former company officials say Presidion and related entities owe the government more than $100 million in back taxes.

Several angry former employees have complained that Mirabilis has failed to honor health insurance claims from earlier this year when it laid off scores of employees and shut down virtually all of its subsidiaries and insurance processing units. O'Malley said the company would cover those debts if they present proper documentation.

Five Justice Department lawsuits filed against Presidion and related payroll outsourcing firms tied to Amodeo, Mirabilis or prior owners were filed this summer seeking up to $223 million in back taxes dating to 2001. But they quietly were dropped by prosecutors, apparently filed prematurely.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Gold, who is running the Mirabilis probe, said Friday he could not comment on Mirabilis disclosures because of an ongoing investigation. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office regional headquarters in Tampa confirmed the Mirabilis probe to the Sentinel in March after the newspaper obtained a grand jury subpoena for records in the case and interviewed several witnesses questioned by IRS and FBI investigators.

Mirabilis, an obscure investment fund which owned or held investments in 70 companies ranging from construction, restaurant and human resource payroll firms, claimed revenues of nearly $1 billion last year. It was the brainchild of Frank L. Amodeo, 47, of Orlando. Disbarred as a Georgia bankruptcy lawyer in 1994 who later served two years in federal prison for fraud, he took over Mirabilis in 2005 as a shell company and became its chief strategist and investor.

SOURCE

MIRABILIS LOST AT LEAST 220 MILLION DOLLARS

Standing in front of his top executives two years ago, Frank L. Amodeo bragged about growth prospects of his investment brainchild, Mirabilis Ventures Inc. He pledged to succeed where competitors, other Fortune 500 companies and even the Pentagon had failed.

On Friday, the Orlando-based holding company disclosed it had lost at least $220 million and had closed down virtually all of its operations.

"Mirabilis is shutting down, and we are in collection mode so we can recover assets owed to the company and pay off its obligations," said Bob O'Malley, a public-relations consultant hired by the company.

Mirabilis, which is under investigation by a federal grand jury in Orlando, also announced it is suing former top company executives and creditors, claiming they defrauded or owe money to the firm.

Money recovered from the lawsuits will be turned over to the Internal Revenue Service, which O'Malley said is trying to determine the company's tax liabilities and whether it is responsible for millions of dollars in payroll taxes collected by a human-resources firm linked to Mirabilis that were never paid to the government.

Mirabilis was an obscure company until three security contractors working for Amodeo were detained in the Democratic Republic of Congo in May 2006. At the time, Mirabilis owned or held investments in 70 companies, including construction, restaurant, insurance, defense consulting and human-resource-payroll firms.

Company officials claimed revenues of nearly $1 billion last year before it laid off scores of workers starting in December.

Alleged wrongdoing

Litigation filed recently in Orange Circuit Court allege wrongdoing by a number of Mirabilis business associates:

A fraud lawsuit accuses the former owners of RKT Constructors of Titusville, Robi A. Roberts, a trust she controlled, and F. Del Kelley of inflating the assets of the company. Mirabilis paid $3.2 million for RKT in December 2005. Roberts said Friday the allegations were untrue.

A suit against Palaxar Group LLC, ex-Mirabilis President Frank Hailstones and ex-secretary-treasurer Edith Curry alleges the executives breached contracts with Mirabilis and misappropriated trade secrets and patents developed by the company before they left. The suit said the former executives are marketing an anti-fraud product that would deprive Mirabilis of revenue. Neither could be reached for comment.

A breach of contract suit against ex-Mirabilis Vice President Robert Konicki and Premier Servicing LLC concerns the $1.1 million sale of three Mirabilis insurance subsidiaries -- Cadent Underwriters, Bencomp National Corp. and Community Health Solutions of America LLC -- to Premier earlier this year. It says Premier defaulted on its September and October payments and that Konicki structured the deal thinking Mirabilis would collapse before all payments were collected. He still is an officer with the three insurance firms, the suit said.

Konicki's lawyer, William Sheaffer, called the lawsuit "baseless" and an "attempt to deflect attention on issues being investigated by the federal government."

The IRS, FBI and a federal grand jury are looking at the business dealings of Mirabilis, its subsidiaries and Amodeo-related companies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Gold, who is running the probe, declined comment Friday because it was ongoing.

The investigation has focused on company acquisitions and more than $100 million in unpaid employment taxes collected by payroll-outsourcing companies tied to Mirabilis or Amodeo, including Presidion Solutions Inc., witnesses said.

Justice suits dropped

Earlier this summer, the Justice Department filed five lawsuits seeking up to $223 million in back taxes dating to 2001. But the suits quietly were dropped by prosecutors, apparently because they were filed prematurely.

O'Malley said Mirabilis has settled 16 of 24 business lawsuits filed against it across the country this year. In the remaining suits, the company has filed counterclaims seeking $14 million. More suits will be filed in the coming weeks, he said.

Numerous other disputes have been resolved without litigation, he said, including one involving nearly 500 workers who complained that about 2,000 health-insurance claims had not been paid.

Mirabilis, which once employed 400 workers in three downtown Orlando office towers, is now down to a handful of personnel. The company is reviewing 20,000 hours of internal office surveillance tapes -- which also have been turned over to prosecutors -- to find which former employees are culpable in unscrupulous dealings, O'Malley said.

Amodeo, 47, has served as Mirabilis' chief strategist and primary investor since 2005. O'Malley said the company would stay in business indefinitely while it collects its debts.

"The bottom line is he [Amodeo] is still around," he said. "He is very much trying to do the right thing and has had some good people who have stuck with him."

Some are skeptical

In July 2006, the Orlando Sentinel disclosed that Amodeo was disbarred as a Georgia bankruptcy lawyer in 1994 and served two years in federal prison for fraud.

Robert Sacco, owner of PaySource Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, remains skeptical of Amodeo and Mirabilis. He sued both in April, alleging they defaulted on the $22 million purchase of his human-resources firm. Sacco claims he lost $4 million taking back the company and fixing its operations.

"The guy acquired over 100 companies and didn't [fully] pay for them," Sacco said. "His actions and the consequences of his actions have caused collateral damage to thousands of people."

Orlando company says it will try to recover assets

SOURCE

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Jena 6 - A Case Of Black Racism

Racism should, at all times, be condemned. However, the black students are (no longer) the victims in this case. They turned themselves from victims into aggressors and they should be punished for it. Was it an attempt to murder the victim? I don’t know, it’s not likely. Second degree battery? Quite more likely.

The Jena six are no martyrs for the cause of Civil Rights. They are no heroes. They’re a bunch of cowards who don’t dare take on someone that can actually fight back. Instead of fighting against six others, they singled out one white and beat him. Would Martin Luther King Jr. have supported their crime? I don’t think so. He advocated non-violence, not beating up a single individual with a group of six.

Racism should be fought against, and Jena obviously has some major problems. Excusing the outrageous behavior of criminals, however, isn’t the way to do so.

The Jena Six Affair is nothing more than a disgusting display of Black Racism On Parade that is led by degenerate race baiting poverty pimps like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson who approve of the assault of whites by blacks and are supported by the Elite Leftard Media that totally ignores the recent murder of two whites at the hands of Black Racists in Tennessee.

*CLICK TO ENLARGE

A Revolting Story of Black Racism Ignored By The Leftard Media

The bottom line to this sorry Jena Six Affair and the Black Racist Murders in Tennessee is that the Leftard Media and Establishment in America has given its stamp of approval of all criminal acts by blacks no matter how terrible as long as the victims are white. I wonder how soon American whites will have to lock themselves in their homes in fear of black criminals who are allowed to rape, rob and murder by a criminal justice system afraid to hold them accountable? In South Africa we see a perfect example of what happens when the criminal justice system looks the other way. Do we want this for America? If not, this country must address the very real problem of Black Racism that targets whites as victims who should not be protected by law.

Video: Sean Hannity At Fox News Discusses Black Racism

Monday, September 03, 2007

BUST TOWN ORLANDO

BUST TOWN

By Bob Whitby

If you read the Orlando Sentinel Sunday, Aug. 26, you know that the condo market is dead. If you’re sentient, you already knew it was dead, but the Sentinel is nothing if not oblivious and slow.

Anyway, the biggest groaner in the article by Jason Garcia wasn’t the stunningly obvious conclusion; it was the twisted internal logic that left this reader, at least, scratching his noggin. Here is Garcia’s paraphrasing some of his sources on just how crappy the condo market really is at the moment: “Many developers say the condo market has fallen so precipitously that the true danger now lies with the handful of still-incomplete towers that have already passed the point of no return.”

In other words, there is no market. There never was, really, because few people ever bought condos in downtown Orlando with the intention of one day living in them. They bought them to flip and make a quick buck, which undermines any intrinsic value they had as housing. This is the house of cards that Orlando’s entire downtown renaissance is built on, those pricey venues included, and the people who have already started construction on huge condo towers are in shark-infested waters. Or are they?

Here’s where things get weird. A few paragraphs later, Garcia quotes developers representing three huge, almost finished downtown condo buildings – the Vue at Lake Eola, Paramount and 55 West – saying sales are inexplicably fab at their unfinished projects. According to the developers themselves – who would never stretch the truth to move product – there are just 30 units unsold at the Vue; the Paramount is 98 percent spoken for and over at 55 West fully 75 percent of the units are gone. Demand is strong, so you’d better hurry if you want a condo in downtown Orlando!

The story so far: There is no condo market, except for the three huge developments about to come on line, which are selling at a very brisk pace, according to the people with a financial stake in them.

What’s really disappointing is that higher in the story, Garcia did some digging and found that of the 300 units at the recently completed Solaire at the Plaza, only 75 were owner-occupied, by dint of the fact that people actually get their mail there. What that says is that gauging the depth of the downtown Orlando condo bust is doable, and the Sentinel knows how.

But here’s betting they won’t, because it’s easier to call a developer and get a quote than to do the digging and find out that the myth of a hip, urbane 24/7 city – a narrative the Sentinel helped to write with its unquestioning, developer-friendly reporting back in the condo boom days – is on hold.

Back in the day, the Sentinel seemingly never met a developer they didn’t trust. Those were heady days of condos being snapped up by young hipster professionals who were going to change sleepy, boarded-up downtown Orlando into something like Austin or Atlanta, a happenin’ place full of happenin’ people making deals and drinking lattes. The paper wrote stories about “The young guns of Orlando” [Aug. 10, 2004] who were tired of downtown’s hidebound ways and were not going to take it anymore. They wrote stories about people snapping up condos as fast as they went on sale that relied almost wholly on anecdotal evidence and the word of developers who couldn’t say enough good things about the red-hot market. (See “Condo A-Go-Go, young professionals are buying up condominiums in downtown Orlando as fast as they go on sale,” May 29, 2004, for a particularly egregious example.) It all seemed so exciting then.

What the paper didn’t do was think about whether or not Orlando could ever generate enough high-paying jobs to allow its young working class to buy $300,000 condos. And the Sentinel was pretty much blind to the fact that neither retiring boomers nor young professionals ever bought downtown condos in significant numbers. The former found better places to spend their money and the latter simply couldn’t afford to live here.

Instead, investors fueled the condo market for its short boom cycle. And when the profits stopped coming in, it became obvious that the market wasn’t there in the first place – at least to everyone but the Sentinel.

Watch for more stories in the daily about the condo crash, now that it’s so obvious you nearly have to dodge people jumping off their balconies trying to get out of their condo contracts.

slug@orlandoweekly.com



Sunday, August 19, 2007

Islamic Terrorism In Peaceful Orlando


This recent incident in Orlando removes any doubt in my formerly military mind that CAIR is manufacturing anti-Islamic incidents on a nationwide scale, as the Orlando Police Department finds no evidence that the alleged incident actually happened. I'll wager that if you checked the background of the "offended" Muslim male who says he was "assaulted" by an enraged Infidel female you'd find the resume of a raving Islamofascist and/or a mentally ill person in the pay and control of CAIR.

THE FIRST CAIR STORY:

Muslim Man Says He Was Called "Terrorist" At Orlando Mall.

Article and Video

And of course CAIR, the unidicted co-conspirator in the ongoing terrorism trial, is right there to help him.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Muslim man is demanding police take action after, he said, he was discriminated against at a local mall.

Mustapha El Mahjahtti said he was at a store at the Prime Outlet Mall on I-Drive when a woman tried to cut him in line. He said he told the woman to go to the back of the line, but she allegedly physically attacked him and even called him a terrorist.

Mahjahtti said security guards failed to help. Now he's working with the local Council on American-Islamic Relations to get action.

"We are not criticizing the Orlando Police Department," said Danette Zaghari-Mask, Council of American-Islamic Relations.

A spokesperson with the Orlando Police Department said, in order for anything to be considered a hate crime, there has to be a physical assault and intentional prejudice based on race or religion.

So, what the hall do the police have to do with the fact somebody cut you in line and called you a terrorist?

A Tip Of The Steel Helmet To "Eye On The World"

THE SECOND CAIR STORY: Propaganda and Fund raising for Islamic Terrorism



CAIR's Orlando Annual Fundraising Banquet will be held on August 18th at the Orange County Convention Center 5-7 PM. CAIR was charged as an unindicted co-conspirator in an FBI terrorist funding case. The man pictured above is their guest speaker, unindicted co conspirator linked to WTC bombing Siraj Wahaj.

Why is a fundraising dinner of the Co-Conspirators taking place on taxpayer property?

A Tip Of The Steel Helmet To Pat Campbell

LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT BACKS ISLAMOFASCIST CAIR

The following is a report from Alan of the UAC's Orlando, FL chapter regarding the chapter members experiences while attempting to distribute anti-CAIR literature at the Convention Center where CAIR was holding a banquet. Alan can be reached at

florida@unitedamericancommittee.org
__

On the day of the CAIR Banquet at the Convention Center there was also a truck show that was open to the public. Interestingly the CAIR banquet was being held directly upstairs in clear sight of the truck show.

Three of us went to the truck show with the plan of quietly and politely handing out literature about Siraj Wahhaj and CAIR both named unindicted co-conspirators in separate cases. Two other members also drove over from Tampa to help out.

We arrived at the truck show at 3:10 PM and immediately began handing out literature to attendees, vendors, and exhibitors. At approximately 3:45 we were collectively flanked by approximately ten security guards, an Orange County Sheriff, and Beth Barrett of the Convention Center management. I was asked to present my ID, which I politely did. Then we were escorted out the Convention Center. When we were outside of the Convention Center there were 3-4 Orange County Sheriff cruisers shadowing our every move - as if we posed a serious threat.

The irony of this exercise is that right upstairs as we were being forced out of a partially tax payer funded venue for simply handing out literature. The group CAIR which is currently listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the ongoing Holy Land Foundation Hamas funding case had as their keynote speaker another unindicted co-conspirator in the 93 WTC Bombings who was also a character witness for the Blind Sheikh, who was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the murder and destruction at the WTC, were conducting business as usual.

The question I have is how could our city leaders allow CAIR Orlando and Siraj Wahhaj to speak at a taxpayer funded venue in the first place. I have left three messages with Mayor Buddy Dyers office and faxed info to Mayor Rich Crotty's office but have no responses as of yet.

That is briefly what our experiences were in our goal to hand out a few pieces of paper and educate the public about what is going on at the Orange County Convention Center.

Sincerely,

Alan
United American Committee
Orlando Chapter

Friday, August 10, 2007

Big Brother Is Watching You In Orlando


The government spy cameras have arrived in Orlando.

Do you want to lay a bet that within five years a police camera will be on most corners in Downtown Orlando watching our every move? Welcome to the age of Big Brother and "1984."


OrlandoSentinel.com
Red-light runners, beware: Cameras, fines coming
Jay Hamburg

Sentinel Staff Writer

August 10, 2007

By year's end, Orlando plans to start hitting red-light runners where it hurts: in their pocketbooks.

On Thursday, Mayor Buddy Dyer revealed the first 10 intersections scheduled to get cameras that will nab motorists who plow through intersections.

The plan is to get photographic proof of vehicles that have driven through the crosswalk after a light turns red. The city will send the owner of the vehicle a copy of the photo and a bill for $125 for the first two violations and $250 for the third.

"The message should be clear," Dyer said. "Obey the traffic light, or we will lighten your wallets."

All 10 are among the city's 25 most-dangerous intersections. Busy intersections such as State Road 436 and S.R. 50 were not included because they are outside city limits. Some dangerous intersections are not targeted because they are under control of the state, which doesn't allow red-light cameras on its property.

The intersections will be posted with signs warning drivers about the cameras. But Dyer added that to deter red-light runners, "we will probably post some intersections that don't have cameras, as well." The camera will be portable enough to move to other sites.

The first intersections to get cameras will be Colonial Drive at Garland Avenue; Colonial Drive at Magnolia Avenue; Robinson Street at Rosalind Avenue; Orange Avenue at Michigan Street; Dixie Belle Drive at Michigan Street; Gore Street at Orange Blossom Trail; John Young Parkway at L.B. McLeod Road; Kirkman Road at Conroy Road; Kirkman Road at Vineland Road; and Kirkman Road at Major Boulevard.

To avoid potential conflict with state statutes, Orlando plans to cite and fine the owners of vehicles that run red lights, as if the act were a code violation similar to a parking ticket. No points will be deducted from a driver's license.

For privacy concerns, the photos will show the vehicle and the license plate but will not identify the driver.

Apopka and Gulf Breeze are among a handful of governments already using red-light cameras, but Orlando is by far the largest government in the state with plans to use them.

Orange County recently declined to pursue a similar program after county attorney Tom Drage warned that, without specific state approval, the county would risk getting sued.

But Orlando officials think they are on solid legal ground with the proposed ordinance that still requires two votes of approval by City Council members in the coming months. The council, however, already has signaled its unanimous support of the idea, and Dyer wants the cameras clicking away before the new year.

"We think it's an appropriate step to take to save lives," city attorney Mayanne Downs said.

Red-light running accounts for at least 100 fatalities and more than 6,300 injuries a year in Florida. There were more than 450 red-light-running crashes in Orlando last year.

"Bottom line is that red-light cameras can save lives," Dyer said.

The setup will cost $50,000 to $60,000 per intersection. Orlando officials expect the red-light fines to pay for the program. Any extra revenue could be used to install more cameras.

Orlando police Chief Mike McCoy said the program is designed to change behavior, not fill city coffers.

"We're not here to raise a bunch of money," McCoy said. "We want you to stop running the lights."

So does Wendy Michaels, an Orange County resident who suffered a broken neck when a red-light runner broadsided the car in which she was riding.

After two years of recovery, she still has a lot of pain and partial paralysis from the accident that occurred in Illinois.

She cheered Thursday's announcement, saying that even during her current five-mile commute, she sees at least one red-light runner every day.

"It just breaks my heart," said Michaels, who works as a mortgage lender.

Asked what she would say to those running red lights: "Oh, you don't want to know that."

Jay Hamburg can be reached at jhamburg@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5673.

Link To Article

Friday, July 27, 2007

The Orlando Downtown Plan Passes


Three Cheers for the Democommie Mayor of Orlando and his willing Orange County Republican Mayor fellow traveler!

The greed for millions in bribes on the part of these politicians will make for a better Downtown Orlando for the majority of honest citizens, as the drug den and crime scene known as "Parramore" ("Sin City" would be more accurate) is on the fast track to destruction.

The smart money says most of the property has been sold to investors who will blitz Orlando's worst slum into the pages of infamy and build nice middle and upper class homes on the vacant property.

The "Bum's Rush To The Door" is also scheduled for the bleeding heart enablers of drug addiction & crime in Orlando: The Union Rescue Mission, Salvation Army, and the worst of the lot, the Government controlled abortion known as "Coalition For The Homeless" on West Central Blvd. that allows drug deals and drug use on its property.

No doubt many of you reading this post are about to call me a racist, a person without compassion for my fellow man and very Politically Incorrect. I will plea guilty to the last charge, but in reality I only give voice to what many of you Insiders and Old Timers really know to be the "Bottom Line" to the "Change In Venues" in Orlando.

The Orlando Sentinel
'Vision fulfilled': Downtown venues plan passes
David Damron and Mark Schlueb

Sentinel Staff Writers

July 27, 2007

Orange County leaders late Thursday approved a $1.1 billion plan for a new arena, performing-arts center and major Florida Citrus Bowl upgrades in downtown Orlando that supporters vowed would bring boundless new jobs and entertainment to the region.

The Orange County Commission approved the venues plan 5-2 after a marathon meeting nearly 10 hours long, capping an intense lobbying effort by the region's arts and business establishment.

The watershed vote on the largest public building project in Central Florida history featured an unusual display of cooperation between city and county politicians.

"It's a monumental day for Central Florida," Magic executive Alex Martins said. "History will look back on this day in the same light as when Walt Disney decided to bring his theme park to Central Florida."

The agreement will pay for the new venues from a mix of tourist taxes, downtown property taxes, private contributions and other sources.

The deal brings a new home court and a 25-year lease for the Orlando Magic, an arts center with three state-of-the-art performance halls and an extensive renovation for the aging Citrus Bowl stadium.

"It's mission accomplished, vision fulfilled," said Mayor Rich Crotty, moments after the vote at 11:35 p.m.

Crotty and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer raised their clasped hands in triumph after the vote.

"We've really been focused on the revitalization of downtown and Parramore, and this is really going to be a shot in the arm for that," Dyer said.

Earlier, the board listened to hours of official presentations and public testimony before starting its own debate. Most of those attending were in favor of the project, and dozens of them filed to the microphone to implore commissioners to approve it.

"I don't think you'll ever get a better deal. . . . If you come back later, it's going to be 10 times the cost and 10 times the headaches," former Orlando Mayor Bill Frederick told the board.

County commissioners weren't completely sold on the plan at first, and several offered a handful of amendments. One requires each facility to use eco-friendly "green" designs and another requires the Magic to build five community gymnasiums. Commissioner Teresa Jacobs added a measure requiring the Citrus Bowl to wait for the pot of tourist taxes to grow before launching construction.

Several other amendments failed, including a call for a referendum by Commissioner Fred Brummer. He also pushed unsuccessfully to strip the city and county governments of their free luxury suites at the venues.

"You never miss a chance to improve a bad bill," said Brummer, who along with Commissioner Tiffany Moore ultimately voted against the plan.

Moore said the venues plan did not do enough to ensure Parramore residents of a better economic future.

But she was on the losing end of the vote. Crotty joined Commissioners Jacobs, Mildred Fernandez, Bill Segal and Linda Stewart in voting yes.

"The brass ring is here; let's grab it," Segal said.

Warning on trade shows

The plan seemed briefly threatened when a trade-show booking agent warned that conventions would begin bypassing Orlando in favor of Las Vegas, Chicago and elsewhere if the county spends tourist-tax money on anything but improvements to the Orange County Convention Center.

Ken McAvoy of Reed Exhibitions, the largest booker of trade shows at the I-Drive convention center, said his clients have "waited long enough" for the county to bring more amenities to the convention-center area.

"You're sending the message to our industry that you no longer care about conventions," said McAvoy, saying he would consider sending conventions to other cities in the future if the county voted to fund the venues.

McAvoy's remarks followed a presentation by two I-Drive-area developers with a competing venue plan.

But Crotty pointed out that the county has spent more than $1 billion on its convention center, including an expansion that opened just five years ago.

Backers of each of the three venues have tried and failed to get their projects off the ground in the past.

Frederick and former Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood each pushed for a performing-arts center to replace the aging Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre. The Magic pushed for a new arena in 2001 and nearly succeeded in getting a major renovation -- until the Sept. 11 terror attacks caused tourist taxes to plummet. And just three years ago, Citrus Bowl backers were saying a $50 million renovation could land the stadium a Bowl Championship Series title game.

Dyer began pushing all three projects not long after he was elected, but he didn't get much traction with Orange County officials at first.

Momentum slow to build

The proposal still seemed to lag until late that year, when Frederick publicly chided Dyer and Crotty for not showing leadership on the issue. About five months later, Crotty backed increasing the tourist tax from 5 percent to 6 percent, providing crucial funding for the deal. He earned key support from the hospitality industry by pledging half the money for more tourism marketing.

Unlike expensive projects in Central Florida's recent past, such as light rail and a proposed tax increase for transportation, the venues plan drew no organized opposition.

The deal also required the approval of the largely pro-venues City Council, which OK'd it Monday. But its fate with the County Commission was far less certain. That made at least four of the county commissioners potential swing votes, giving each of them rare leverage to push for changes to the deal.

But to even get to that point, months of grueling negotiations took place. The most aggressive demands were made by Crotty's bargaining team and Orange County Comptroller Martha Haynie and her top deputy, Jim Moye.

By the end, it was agreed about half of the projects' funding would come from tourist taxes paid mostly by outside visitors who pay a bed tax on hotel stays. The remaining venue funds will come from downtown property and state taxes, and private and corporate contributions and donations.

Borrowing to get the projects started will start almost immediately. Repaying those bonds could take 30 years, unless future tourist-tax revenues are so robust that the venue mortgages can be repaid early.

That's a possibility if resort-tax collections climb as they have historically. But it's also a weakness of the plan. Haynie warned that if resort revenues falter or bottom out, Orlando's downtown taxing district would be on the hook.

Once interest payments over time on those bonds are added to the construction costs, a final price tag could top $1.8 billion for all three venues.

The $480 million arena is the most expensive project, and it will sit on land already purchased by the city on the West Church Street and Hughey Avenue block downtown.

The Magic and Orlando Predators arena-football team will play home games there. Plus, proponents say, more big-name concerts and other premier events should arrive once the new facility opens in 2010.

It's projected to be more than twice the size of the current arena, with about 750,000 square feet, and will hold more than three times the number of luxury suites. The old Amway Arena will be sold and could be torn down.

In various polls, the arena has proved to be the most unpopular project with residents, with many saying the Magic needed to pay for more of the final cost.

In addition to the last-minute gymnasium agreement, the team is pledging to pay $50 million plus interest upfront, lease payments with a present value of $12 million, plus other revenue-, bond- and insurance-guarantee provisions. The team also promises to cover cost overruns.

Magic owner Rich DeVos also promised to contribute $10 million to help build the performing-arts center.

The projected $425 million arts center would be built on Orange Avenue and South Street. It will play host to Orlando's philharmonic, ballet and opera groups, as well as attract a larger array of touring Broadway shows and musical, boosters say.

The complex will include three halls, one as large as 2,800 seats. It will also be surrounded by condo, office and retail development.

Boosters say Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre is obsolete, and the flood of private donations could indicate the community agrees. Backers have already raised nearly $80 million of the $110 million goal for private donations. The rest of the arts-center project's costs will come mostly from property and tourist taxes.

The $175 million Citrus Bowl is the cheapest of the three venues, but it has no private backers. It would further update and expand the 1936 facility west of Orange Blossom Trail by replacing the lower bowl, adding 10 new suites, adding banquet space and increasing the number of bathrooms and concessions.

Of the three projects, this one could face the largest funding threat. An amendment approved by commissioners could force a construction delay of a year or more if tourist-tax revenues do not steadily increase in the coming years.

"I wish it was a 7-0 vote, but you can't win them all," arts-center Chairman Jim Pugh said. "Now we just need to go out and build the damn things."

Comments On The Article at The Orlando Sentinel

Thursday, July 26, 2007

The Leftists Are Damn Proud Of Orlando This Morning!


Orlando covers all Politically and Environmentally Correct bases in the new city building projects just recently approved.

These venues also would be groundbreaking in their eco-friendly building designs, which will save energy and respect the environment. And the venues' finance package will provide recreational basketball courts for Orange County's children.

Why do I want to puke?

THE ORLANDO SENTINEL

EDITORIAL
A day to make history
July 26, 2007

Orange County commissioners can make history today.

By voting to build a new downtown arena and performing-arts center and to renovate the Florida Citrus Bowl, the mayor and commissioners pictured above can give residents -- for the first time -- the top-quality entertainment venues they deserve.

These venues also would be groundbreaking in their eco-friendly building designs, which will save energy and respect the environment. And the venues' finance package will provide recreational basketball courts for Orange County's children.

Best of all, residents would get all this without having to pay higher taxes.

But the $1.1 billion venues themselves aren't the only things that would make it history. The approval would also put an exclamation point on the unprecedented cooperation between Orange County and Orlando. Over the years, the two governments have been scarred by parochialism and bitter politics, which has held this community back.

In the past year that has changed, with Orange Mayor Rich Crotty and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer joining together to, among other things, diversify the economy. They pushed successfully for a UCF medical school, even after the site was moved from the county to the city. They mounted a joint effort to woo the Burnham Institute for Medical Research here.

And, now, they've worked together on a vision for downtown Orlando that will provide a cultural and entertainment boost for all of Central Florida. All this comes on the heels of both the city and the county approving plans for commuter rail.

Their leadership has been inspired. Mr. Crotty, in particular, has taken great political risk this year by championing an increase in the tourist tax to pay part of a new arena and to provide more marketing for Central Florida tourism.

Today county commissioners get their chance to make history themselves. Several already have.

Commissioner Linda Stewart insisted that these venues be built to "green" design standards and that the Orlando Magic team and supporters of the performing-arts center and the Citrus Bowl pick up the costs. When approved, these venues will set the standard for the environmentally responsible design for sports and entertainment facilities. As near as anyone can tell, this would be the first green arena and performing-arts center ever built. These facilities would be envied and emulated by communities around the country.

Commissioner Mildred Fernandez drove a hard bargain, too. She questioned whether Magic owner Rich DeVos was putting up enough money for the new arena. But increasing the Magic's share of the arena's cost would do nothing for Orange County taxpayers, since the team's money would only reduce the amount of tourist taxes going to the project.

Mrs. Fernandez instead pushed the Magic to promise to pay for five badly needed recreational basketball facilities for Orange County's children. The idea, also endorsed by Commissioner Bill Segal, is to fight juvenile crime by giving youth safe places to go and wholesome activities to keep them busy. The Magic agreed, providing another example that the team is committed to this community beyond the profits generated by a new arena. This also provides a concrete benefit to the taxpayers, whether or not they ever set foot in a new arena.

Finally, Commissioner Teresa Jacobs is pushing for a change to provide even more security to taxpayers. She wants to be sure that construction on the Citrus Bowl doesn't begin until there is enough money collected through the tourist tax to pay for it. It's an extra layer of security for a finance plan that is already the most scrutinized proposal in Orange County history.

By supporting Mrs. Jacobs' good suggestion, commissioners can then vote for these venues with the confidence that they are doing the responsible thing in protecting the taxpayers' investment. Most of the money for these venues will come from the tax on hotel rooms.

Commissioners should also recognize the historic private support for the performing-arts center. Private contributions already have reached $80 million.

So what role will Commissioners Fred Brummer and Tiffany Moore play in history today?

Imagine the impact of a 7-0 vote. What a ringing endorsement for an improved quality of life in this community.

That unanimity, too, would be historic. The Orange County Commission couldn't even muster unanimous support for the deal that brought Walt Disney World here 40 years ago. It had one lone opponent.

So, commissioners, take advantage of an opportunity you may never get again. A yes on these venues today will make Central Florida history.


MORE: The Downtown Makeover

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The Acorn Conspiracy


I'm sure the military's operational security officers will give me all kinds of grief for posting this. But the hidden link between Iraq's man-eating badgers, Iran's squirrel spies, China's cyborg pigeons has been discovered. Turns out they're all part of one grand, U.S. spy plan: the "Autonomous Coordinated Organic Reconnaissance Network" -- "Project ACORN," for short. MountainRunner and the Small Wars Journal first unearthed the plan, which is sure to take its rightful place next to Directed Energy Sea Mammals as one of the most ingenious Pentagon projects ever launched.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Mirabilis Suits Dismissed

Overdue-tax cases against equity fund dropped

Jim Leusner

Sentinel Staff Writer

July 18, 2007

The Justice Department has dropped all five lawsuits against Orlando-based Mirabilis Ventures Inc. and four related companies seeking up to $223 million in overdue federal taxes.

Without explanation, Tax Division attorney Philip Doyle filed notices of "voluntary dismissal without prejudice" earlier this month in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale federal courts. The actions stop the proceedings but permit prosecutors to refile the suits later.

Harrison Slaughter, attorney for Mirabilis founder Frank L. Amodeo of Orlando, said he thinks that nearly 1 million documents the company turned over to local prosecutors have helped show that many other individuals and corporate officers also should be subject to tax litigation.

"The bottom line is that many other people are connected with these companies and are liable for tax recovery," Slaughter said. "The government was premature in filing these suits."

Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller would not comment on the dismissals. But other defense attorneys said they thought that the suits might have been dropped as a legal maneuver to protect government witnesses in the criminal probe from being interviewed at this time by company lawyers.

Mirabilis, an equity fund, has liquidated and shut down most of its operations. The company, its founder and related entities have been under scrutiny in recent months by the IRS, the FBI and a federal grand jury in Orlando investigating tax liabilities, witnesses and a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said earlier this year.

A lawsuit against Mirabilis seeking nearly $1.6 million in unpaid corporate taxes, penalties and interest for the 2005 tax year was quietly dropped in late June by Justice Department lawyers in Washington. Slaughter said bank and tax records show the taxes were paid in September 2006.

The companies named in the other dropped suits, which sought unpaid corporate and employment taxes back to 2001, included Sunshine Staff Leasing; Sunshine Companies III and IV; Presidion Solutions I, IV, V and VII; and Professional Benefit Solutions.

The firms are payroll- and benefit-outsourcing companies, known as professional employer organizations, which help provide accounting and health insurance for businesses and their workers.

Jim Leusner can be reached at 407-420-5411 or jleusner@orlandosentinel.com.

Frank Amodeo And Mirabilis: "I know NOTHING! NOTHING"



BY RON BARBOUR

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER FOR THE FREEDOM FIGHTER'S JOURNAL

Recently several of my confidential informants have expressed worry about their true identities being exposed by means of their Emails to me. I have this to say,"Don't Worry...Be Happy!" I have dumped copies of all Emails from all three of my accounts, which would include everything concerning Frank Amodeo, Kevin Billings and the Mirabilis scam, and everything sent to by me and to and from my Media contacts.

The reason I do is that the smart money says the Mirabilis scam is in its final stage of meltdown, as the last of "SS Mirabilis Pirates" are making their final deals with the Feds and the indictments are soon to be announced. I understand a big "King Rat" (not Frank Amodeo) is this very day in the office of a very Big Fed doing a deal that will get him off the sinking ship. Gee, I suppose the old axiom is correct: "There is no honor among thieves."

One of my favorite characters in comedy was the late John Banner of Vienna, Austria who played the character of Sergeant Schultz on "Hogan's Heroes" in the late 1960s and whose favorite lines were, "I know NOTHING! NOTHING" The character of Schultz was so popular because he represented the little guy trapped in a totalitarian system who wanted to survive, but not at the cost of exposure of those in active rebellion against that system in the character of Colonel Hogan and his followers. Thus Schultz by his silence became a leading member of the conspiracy against the Nazis at the P.O.W. camp.

I think of myself as a latter day Sergeant Schultz in regards to the Mirabilis scam in that a score of individuals have sent me a small mountain of information on this criminal affair asking only that their identities be protected. I have done so by the deletion of all my Emails, indeed, in addition to the purge of all my Emails on all topics, the hard drive of my computer has been replaced and the old one located now in one of Orlando's many land fills.

If in the future anyone asks me what I know about the confidential informants of Mirabilis who have contributed many articles to my Blog, I can look that person right in the eye and say in all honesty, "I know NOTHING! NOTHING!" I think Sergeant Schultz, a symbol of quiet rebellion against injustice in Hogan's Heroes, wouldn't mind me stealing his famous lines.

All Articles Published In The Freedom Fighter's Journal Concerning Mirabilis and Frank Amodeo From Most Recent

MORE FROM YAHOO BUSINESS


1. Addition by subtraction. “Stratis” has been removed from our vocabulary, Vandevere has “resigned”. The cloud that is Amodeo and Mirabilis has evaporated. MDI wanted Learnsafe, not Stratis. Net positive. Less ammo for the ranting and raving of local yokel doom and gloomers. MDI is cleaning house. Prerequisite work to a Nortel buy out perhaps? see Cisco/Broadware

2. The Real Deal. MDI, was awarded a contract by the largest Education Service Center in Texas to provide security systems as part of their direct purchasing network which specializes in school-based solutions. An award predicated upon a comprehensive “point system” based on past performance in the government security arena, professional services capabilities, suitability and technology, pricing and other programs available to support the extensive client roster. Let me reiterate, MDI is one of only a handful of security companies good enough to be in the direct purchasing network from which clients can choose. MDI, however, stands out as a bona fide security industry leader, with awards from Frost & Sullivan and Asset protection magazine. MDI has established itself amongst federal and state government agencies, the U.S. armed forces, and homeland security. Thus, there really is no competition. What’s good for the goose…

MDI brings heavyweights like Nortel and Assa Abloy to the table. Assa Abloy already has thousands of schools on its client list and Nortel provides network and security components and exposure. MDI will get the lion share of clients. In fact, it will probably “snowball”. One school district turns to three, three to ten, ten to forty, you get the idea. Now apply the same for governments, companies and other agencies and the potential earnings are staggering.

The market is wide open, and in this case includes Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The list of end-users is equally impressive. 1,100 school districts, 225 private and charter schools, 40 colleges, 19 regional centers, 260 city and county governments and 150 state agencies, local governments and non profits.

Make no mistake, this is a deliberate and calculated joint effort from MDI, SBS, Nortel and Assa Abloy to deliver products, services and training, with diligence and purpose. And they want it done in their house, at the San Antonio Texas headquarters.

MDI has entered into a marketing contract with the States School Board Association to promote Learn Safe, as a platinum-level sponsor, in multiple conferences this year, including a special industry solutions conference matching MDI with the decision makers, school administrators, superintendents and school board officers from 50 of the largest school districts in a small personalized seminar format. Cozy. :)

Bottom line: IMHO, we should not waiver. We took another salvo today, shorts were active. Some weak hands fell, but I fault no one. It will be our turn soon. Above news should result in PR after PR, contract after contract. “This essentially allows for an unlimited number of projects for the foreseeable future” Michael Thomas, antandsons.com. That’s great for our PPS and our piece of mind. In addition, the shorts will soon cover, and on July 24th we get Security Systems news.

MDI, I hope you are listening. Most of us still expect a “record breaking” year. Many are concerned about the implications of recent events. "Through our relationship with Stratis Authority, I believe that our model will make us the leader and de-facto standard in the educational security market within the next two years” J. Collier Sparks, MDI. While I believe we are better off today I also realize that a substantial portion of guidance was contingent on Stratis. I am confident 2007 will be a banner year regardless. But shareholders need confirmation of expected guidance, in the form of a press release. Informed investors are good for MDI. Speculation needs a rest. IMHO, it is time to clear the air.

Raging Bull

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Frank Amodeo And Mirabilis: Mdi, Inc, Makes Their Move To Show Amodeo Not Involved But Stock Won't Respond?


Source: MDI, Incorporated

MDI Attains Ownership of Learn Safe(TM) and Other Security Programs under the ''Safe Initiatives'' Brand

Monday July 16, 1:01 pm ET

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MDI, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDII - News), the leading provider of Unified Technology(TM) solutions for the security industry has today announced the following significant events:

* Ownership of LearnSafe and Other Safe Initiatives

On July 11, 2007, MDI attained ownership of the "Safe Initiatives" brand portfolio formerly under Stratis Authority, Inc. The transaction included the unique program financing model that is designed to deliver affordable alternative funding methods to end-users requiring comprehensive safety and security programs. MDI's new brand portfolio will consist of Learn Safe(TM), Work Safe(TM), Play Safe(TM) and Live Safe(TM). Further details on the formal launch of these brands by MDI will follow at a later date.

As part of the transaction, the rights to trademarks and tradenames associated with the Safe Initiatives, including the name "Stratis", have been assigned to MDI. It is the decision of MDI management to discontinue all use of the name "Stratis" immediately. All "Safe Initiative" operations previously handled from the Stratis Florida office will be administered out of MDI's corporate headquarters in San Antonio, Texas.

The following URLs, phone and fax numbers have been assigned to MDI and will be redirected to the appropriate MDI personnel in San Antonio, Texas:

http://www.learnsafe.org/ (including all corporate email addresses)

http://www.stratisauthorityinc.com/ (including all corporate email addresses)

The Learn Safe toll free number - (866) 423-1740
General telephone number - (407) 423-1740; and
Fax number - (407) 805-0338

MDI has begun the integration of the new "Safe Initiatives" business into the MDI business infrastructure. MDI management, under the direction of CEO and President J. Collier Sparks, will manage this integration.

* Resignation of Mr. James M. Vandevere from the MDI Board of Directors

Mr. James M. Vandevere resigned as a Director of MDI, effective July 11, 2007. The company has no present intention to fill the vacancy.

* MDI Suit Against Ecomatrix Funding and Minh Phan Settled

On June 15, 2007, the suit brought by MDI against Ecomatrix Funding, Inc. and Minh Phan was resolved to the parties' mutual satisfaction. All litigation between the parties has been dismissed. MDI continues to own all of the ASL assets and rights it acquired in January 2006, including all of the ASL intellectual property rights, software, trademarks, goodwill, customer and supplier agreements. The California office formerly occupied by ASL has been transferred to MDI's San Antonio, Texas headquarters. Effective February 2007, Minh Phan ceased to be associated with MDI.

About MDI, Inc.

MDI (NASDAQ: MDII - News) manufactures security technology solutions designed to protect people, facilities and assets. These solutions are unified by ONE Technology. ONE Technology unifies security point products, systems and subsystems into a common management platform. Far beyond the Integrated Security Management software promoted by industry competitors, ONE delivers an open architecture environment that adapts each individual application and device into its platform - promoting global collaboration as ONE system. The MDI product family currently protects over 8 million alarm points across the globe for many of the world's most recognized organizations including Microsoft, MBNA Worldwide, John Deere, Pepsi, FBI, TSA, Fidelity Investments, Bureau of Engraving & Printing, American Express, Department of Defense, IRS, Disney, The Smithsonian, MIT and San Diego Unified School District to name a few. The company has received numerous industry awards for their security technology including Frost & Sullivan's Security System Technology Leadership Award and the Security Industry Association's Best Integrated Product Award for 2006. For more information on MDI or its diversified line of products and professional services, please visit

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

Except for historical information and discussions contained herein, certain statements included in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, as discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:MDI, Incorporated

Investor Relations Contact:
Richard A. Larsen, 210-582-2664
Richard.Larsen@mdisecure.com
or
Media Contact:
Michael M. Garcia, 210-477-5400
Mike.Garcia@mdisecure.com
Source: MDI, Incorporated

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Ronbo and The Nazi Invasion of Orlando



Ronbo meets Nazis in downtown Orlando at the corner of Church Street and Division at 1305 hours (that's 1:05 P.M. to you civilians) on February 25, 2006.

After parking his car near the Orlando Public Library at 1300, that's 1 P.M. to you civlians, Ronbo advanced up Church Street towards the location of the Nazis on his Recon partrol. When he arrived at the intersection of Church Street and Division and observed the approximately 25 Nazi demonstrators well guarded by the OPD SWAT TEAM & mounted policemen on the Division Street side in a public parking lot.

Suddenly Ronbo found himself surrounded by young teenage anarchists of the Southeastern Anarchist Network dressed in completely in black with masks over their faces and was pushed towards the police line. It was clear that the anarchists wanted to kick some Nazi butt and this youthful desire to slay dragons bought back to life the old war horse in Ronbo, a retired Army veteran of many campaigns, who was for the dressed for the occasion in a loud Hawaii style shirt, white pants and black Nikes, so thus uniformed he marched for a moment at the front with his new battlefield allies with grey hair flying in the wind towards the surprised Nazis.

Needless to say, the presence of Ronbo and his cohort of about 50 girls and boys in black was quickly noted by the mounted police, OPD SWAT Team and various members of law enforcement present who thought he was the ancient leader of a Crusade of Children, and this idea was reenforced when he began a shout that was picked up by the Young Crusaders , "Death to the Nazis!" and other such martial verbage.

Ronbo's Sortie came to a quick end when he was detained by several mounted policemen about half way across Division Street and separated from the Children's Crusade. He was quickly herded down Church Street for an interview with an OPD sergeant. Ronbo's I.D. was checked and seeing as how he had no outstanding warrants he was released and told to go home. And he did go about two blocks towards his car down Church Street until he came to Orange Avenue looking for the gutsy little group of black dressed anarchists with the idea of having another go at the Nazis, but passing Central Blvd. and noticed that brave hearted youngsters were being arrested by the OPD and loaded into Paddy Wagons.

Ronbo then decided on a flanking movement towards the Nazis and at the next intersection where he briefly enlisted with a JDL group that was flying the Israeli flag and marching towards the OPD HQ where the Nazis were now located. The Nazis, 30 minutes behind schedule due to the brazen assault of one old man and a platoon of young anarchists began their march down Church Street with a right turn made at Paramore Street -- the heart of African-American Orlando -- much to the disgust and amazement of the residents who loudly demanded the police go away so they could lynch the Nazis.

By then Ronbo's group was one of dozens of other anti-Nazi groups and individuals that numbered in the hundreds, if not over a thousand. The Long March ended in front of the Federal Building on Hughey Avenue where the Nazis gave speeches and said "Seig Heil" to the scores of anti-Nazis and policemen. The crowd responded with "Nazis Go Home" and "F*** You" and "No Fascist USA!" Ronbo a street fighter and rabble rouser of many years experience knew this was his last chance to start another sortie against the Nazis, so he began to shout, "Death to the Nazis" and "Hang Them High!" chants that were picked up by the large emotional crowd, especially those facing Hughey and the Federal Building, the frontline where the younger and most radical stood who took encouragement from those shouting behind them and began a movement towards the Nazis, which was well recorded by the Media with literally dozens of cameras present to record what looked like for a moment like a real street battle when a fist fight broke out on the right flank.

The forward movement stopped. It was stopped by about a dozen mounted policemen. The psychological effect of stalwart men on horseback who refused to give an inch. So instead of attempting a flanking movement or forcing themselves between the horses, the leaderless mob was halted and then retreated. When Ronbo saw that the moment was passed he withdrew from the scene to fight another day.

Ronbo is at this moment typing these lines in the Orlando Public Library, not knowing if he'll be arrested when he returns home. Sorry folks no pictures. The camera bag which contained camera, notebook and tape recorder was lost at "Ronbo Sortie" somewhere near Church Street and Division. However, this event was well covered by the local Media and Ronbo did observe a UPI cameramen and reporters of various national and International Media at the scene. There should be lots of pictures. Perhaps even a few of a wild old man wearing a loud shirt yelling, "Death to the Nazis!" If you don't hear from Ronbo-- He's been busted.

Just send his bail to the Orange County Jail.

Pictures of the Nazi invasion of a peaceful Florida city:


























Reprinted from:

CENTRAL FLORIDA FUTURE

UCF Student newspaperNeo-Nazis marchProtesters steal the show with 500 coming out against the rally February 25, 2006

By: Abe Aboraya



Groups of UCF students joined protesters Saturday against a rally held by the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group now based in Orlando, despite warnings from city officials to avoid the rally.

"There were a lot of people saying we should stay home and ignore [the NSM]," said Eric Eingold, a 20-year-old political science major and recent candidate for vice-president of the SGA. "We decided to come out and show solidarity and show that we don't stand for this happening in our community."

The Progressive Council at UCF and Campus Peace Action gathered students in front of Millican Hall before commuting to the rally. Campus Peace Action organized a car pool for UCF students wanting to go to the rally. At least 50 students took advantage of this, according to Mychel Estevez, chairperson for CPA.

Some groups protested in a different way. The Hispanic American Student Association urged its members not to attend.

"We didn't want any students to get arrested or hurt," HASA president Jennifer Padilla said. "It wasn't so much ignoring them as it was making a conscious decision not to fuel the fire."

The NSM march began in front of the Orlando Police Station headquarters, wrapped around to Parramore Avenue, and ended at George C. Young U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building. Bill White, spokesperson for the NSM, said the goal of the march was not to incite violence.

"We always hope these demonstrations are peaceful," he said.

"We are demonstrating against black criminality, and we want the blacks to know that if they don't behave in a civilized manner, we're going to go into their neighborhoods and demonstrate against them," White said. The group had fewer than 30 members marching, while protesters numbered near 500.

The NSM has chapters in Tampa, Sarasota and now in Orlando. The Orlando chapter is a recent branch-off from the Tampa chapter, according to White. The NSM has been an organization since 1974 and is "expanding to get into electoral campaigns," White said.

Black community leaders and city officials were concerned that the situation could have turned ugly. The NSM sparked a riot in Toledo, Ohio, in October 2005 that resulted in over 100 arrests. "Operation Be Cool" was enacted to prevent similar violence in Orlando.

Police kept NSM members on one side of the street and protesters on the opposite side. They used a barrier of officers in full riot gear, mounted and bicycle officers and slow-moving police cruisers to keep the protesters back. Once at the courthouse, protesters were kept behind police barriers.

Some people used airhorns to disrupt the NSM, while others used drums and chanting. The NSM speakers delivering speeches at the courthouse were inaudible because of the protesters and a lack of any sound system. Seventeen arrests were made, including one for battery on a police officer.

Protesters with Code Pink, a national women's peace organization, carried a blow-up doll in addition to traditional banners. The doll was dressed in bondage leather and had a sign that read "Hate is Bondage."

Cris Field, a member of Code Pink, said that "it's really rude to go to someone else's house and say 'I don't like you.'"

Elgin Grigley, a resident of the Parramore community, believes that the police presence was necessary to preserve peace.

"To walk right down the black neighborhood without police presence… That would've never happened," he said.

Tony Redding, a volunteer for state Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, believes that the heavy police presence was to protect the NSM from the crowd. He was also angered at the amount of officers used to do this.

"Actually I wasn't too upset until now, looking around at these few would-be baby Hitlers and all the money and resources being spent to protect these guys," Redding said. "These are our homeland terrorists right here."

Members of NSM threatened to sue the city prior to the rally because of restrictions the Orlando Police Department required of members. Restrictions included NSM members showing ID and going through metal detectors before the march. The restrictions were lifted and the suit was dropped soon after.

"I respect their right to their view," Joshua Eggnatz, a 22-year-old legal studies major and candidate for SGA president, said. "But I don't respect their views at all."

Eggnatz said that "[the police] did their job, but at times they were a little forceful with people. No physical force, but a little demeaning, but they had to… keep the peace."

Eggnatz thinks the big story is the amount of response to NSM's rally.

"It was a really good experience for UCF students to get our names out there and show that we want to be a part of this community," he said. "I think UCF students should be doing this more often."

Other protesters disagreed with the way the OPD handled the rally.

"[The police] ran my ID and asked to see my tattoos," said Jerry Tobin, a welder from Daytona.
"I'm a shady-looking character, but no moreso than anyone else around here."

Eingold didn't like the way the OPD controlled the crowd.

"Granted, I know they have to protect every citizen involved, but nobody was allowed to stay there," Eingold said. "We were always being pushed back. I didn't like that at all. They could have handled it better."

Jody and Scott of O-Rock 105.9 asked their listeners to come to the rally wearing last year's Halloween costumes. However, police were turning away people wearing anything covering their faces.

Bryan Pfeffer, a cafeteria worker at UCF's Rosen campus, came to the rally dressed as a Star Trek character. He said the reason he dressed up was "for fun, to lighten up the Nazi people. Not to get in trouble, not to act crazy." Pfeffer, who described himself as an avid O-Rock 105.9 fan, could not find anyone else in costume.

Matthew DeVlieger, a recent candidate for SGA president, felt like a hero for attending.
"We beat the Nazis. We feel like your grandfather," he said.

When the Mainstream Media (The Old Media) does not do its job, which happens quite often these days, the New Media of the Blogsphere, free lance writers and photo journalists and reporters from smaller publications step up to the plate to get the word out. The story below is written by a young reporter from a small Orlando newspaper with considerable courage by the name of James Carlson who poses as a Nazi in order to get the story from behind the lines.

White Like Me

By James Carlson

Orlando Weekly

I'm standing in front of a long rack of black boots at the American Army & Navy Store on South Orange Blossom Trail, pondering that age-old question: What should I wear to my first Nazi rally? The National Socialist Movement, one of the best-organized neo-Nazi groups in America, is set to march through Orlando's Parramore district, and I need some boots. I try on four different pairs: two old, two new. I settle on a $10 pair with scuffed toes. I pick up a $5 black T-shirt for good measure.

While the media is preparing for a feeding frenzy when the Nazis come to town, scurrying around trying to find the best angles and interviewing anyone they can find, I've decided on a different tactic. I want to watch this march from the inside. I want to hear the pep talks the Nazis give one another before facing an angry crowd 20 times larger than their own group. What will they mutter to each other as they march? What's it like on the other side of the line? There's only one way to find out. Following instructions from David Gletty, an organizer with the Orlando chapter of NSM, I show up nearly two hours early for the march Feb. 25. I told organizers I'm from Missouri (true) and that I wanted to march with them (true).

I also told them my name was Bill (not true) because I'd already been in contact with the NSM's national office and didn't think they'd let me in as a reporter. It's a bit of subterfuge, but the story warrants it. I park on Central Avenue and walk toward the meeting point, the parking lot underneath I-4, across the street from the Orlando Police Department. From 100 yards away I can already see the unmistakable image of a swastika on a poster one man is holding. It reads "White People Unite." I casually stride up to the group and lean on a minivan next to a kid with a shaved head. Not 10 seconds later, a tall man with short dark hair and wire- rimmed glasses walks up to me. "Hi, I'm Bill White," he says in a husky voice.

White is the national spokesman for NSM, and he's traveled all the way from Virginia for the rally. He's dressed in full NSM "storm trooper" regalia: black cargo pants tucked into black boots, a tan button-down shirt with a black tie and a red felt swastika band around his left arm. White thanks me for coming out and immediately walks off to take a call. I was worried that my hair was too long, but apparently my $15 surplus-store Nazi outfit is convincing enough. I introduce myself to a couple of people. Most of the Nazis milling about are from out of town. There are two burly guys from Wichita, Kan., two thin- framed friends from Tampa Bay and a carload from Savannah, Ga. There are a few marchers from Ohio, a couple from Lynchburg, Va., and one man down from Alabama. I count about 25 total waiting under I-4 to march. At least six are in "storm trooper" outfits like White's. Another quick fashion observation: long, stringy goatees are in with Nazis.

A crowd carrying anti-racist signs is starting to gather around the edge of the police perimeter. I feel the need to stay alert. Gletty steps out of an SUV and introduces himself. He's a muscled man in khakis, a polo shirt and sneakers. He's got close-cropped blond hair, but not a buzz cut. Gletty is a former professional roller derby player, which means he can kick some ass … while on skates. There's another Orlandoan – bearded and wearing sunglasses – standing next to me near the minivan. After an introduction, he points to a University of Central Florida student who's here taking photos. "She looks good," he says to me as we lean against the minivan. "Probably a Jew, though."

In the distance I hear a drumbeat and around the corner of Church Street and Garland Street come the anti-racist protesters, faces covered with handkerchiefs. They form a line across the road and march forward, holding a sign that reads "We're anti-fascists. We shoot back." They make it right up to the south entrance of the parking lot before the mounted police cut them off. White and the other storm troopers, standing in the middle of the lot, turn and bolt toward the ruckus. The police find themselves sandwiched between the racists and the anti-racists. White is screaming at the top of his lungs, "Smash the Reds! Smash the Reds! Smash the Reds!" The police push the counter-protesters back with their shields, and when some of them resist, they're taken down and handcuffed.

The rally has barely started and the scene is already chaotic. Protesters are yelling at the Nazis. One guy, introduced to me as being from the Aryan Nation group, is pumping his fist and whooping as more counter-demonstrators are arrested. Other Nazis wave their signs – "We don't have white guilt" – at the crowd of people. White is jumping up and down. "Beat those commies! Beat those fuckers! Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler!" Gletty yells to the group to watch our backs. I look over my shoulder to see a black man, who has somehow made it through the police line, walking toward the group. One young storm trooper, shaved bald, leaves this scene and sprints back to meet the intruder. The Nazi is no more than an inch from the black man's face, yelling something about "nigger" and "dirty neighborhood." Others from the group pull the Nazi away as police escort the black man back to the masses. Later the bald Nazi tells me, "I wish more niggers would have started stuff. I like to get angry."

So far, this thing is every bit as crazy as I thought it would be. The NSM is a lightning rod for hatred, on both sides of the fence. They held a rally in Toledo, Ohio, five months ago that led to riots among the counter- demonstrators. Businesses were torched and bricks were thrown at police. We haven't even started marching yet, and I'm already on edge. I look over my shoulder constantly. The police tell us we're starting early due to the disruption, and Gletty gets us formed into two lines. I'm standing behind a girl, 25 years old at most. On the back of her neck is a tattoo of an eagle clutching a swastika in its talons. "Listen up," Gletty yells over the roar of a sheriff's helicopter overhead. "This is a point in history for Orlando. Nothing like this has ever been done. Remember: Image is important. We want to stay civilized. Give these police officers the respect they deserve." Gletty knows what he's doing. From the front of the police station where we are, the growing mob is visible. We're already outnumbered, and the cops are our only protection from a sure ass-whipping. Make no mistake: Nazis may have First Amendment rights like everyone else, but their cause is not a popular one.

Gletty gives us the OK to start. The girl in front of me kisses a swastika medallion hanging around her neck, and we're off. The march down Church Street is fine. Gletty walks up and down the line telling us to stay alert. He pats me on the shoulder and says, "Good job, comrade." I feel sick. As we near Terry Street, Gletty tells us this is where the shit could hit the fan. I round the corner and there are throngs of people, white and black, lining the opposite side of the street. It's a wall of sound, mostly indiscernible, but definitely vitriolic. Some people are just observing. Others are hurling insults. "Fascist!" "Racist!" "Pig!" I look one young black man in the eye. He mouths something to me and shakes his head in disgust. I'm on the wrong side, and I know it. I remind myself that I'm here to do my job – there's no better way to catalog blind hatred and bigotry than to immerse yourself in it. As we near Washington, Gletty tells us to watch out. There are more protesters, or else the same ones are running to keep up. I hear a woman shout, "Shame on you." We pass by a few houses on our side of the street that aren't buffered by the police. Outside one stands a young black woman and a small black girl. As we pass, the angry Nazi shoves his sign in their faces and says, "Huh? How do you like that? Why don't you clean up your neighborhood?" From the crowd across the street comes an airborne stone, then another. Someone from the back of the group yells, "Rocks!" One whizzes by my head and instinctively I duck and almost trip over myself.

We make it to our destination, the federal courthouse, and it's more of the same. We're on one side. Several hundred protesters smashed against plastic barricades are on the other side. The police, decked in riot gear, stand between. Hughey Avenue is no man's land. White is still at it. He stands beside the angry Nazi, who's also lobbing racial slurs across the road, and belts out, "Nigger, go back to your ghetto! Nigger, go back to your ghetto!" He pauses to pull us all into a semicircle. Standing in the middle, he begins a fire-and-brimstone speech in an angry, dictatorial tone you don't encounter often in civilized society. His rant concerns the "commie Jews" who are steering the national crime conversation away from the facts – the facts, in his mind, being that crime is a black issue. He paces back and forth, yelling to be heard over the din of the crowd. Apparently everyone has it all backwards; these Nazis are not about hate, says White. They're about love – of your own race, that is. Look at them, says White, pointing across the road. They are the ones who hate. As he finishes the group screams, "Sieg Heil!" They hit their chests and throw out a few Nazi salutes. "Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!" It's an eerie flashback to some World War II special on the History Channel.

I can't bring myself to do it and don't lift a finger. Neither does the Nazi beside me. He leans over and says, "I'm a little sieg-heiled out." A crack in the fascist armor, or a cramp in the arm? Who knows? Gletty gets in front of us and gives us another shot of anti-Semitic bile. When he ends, the group again throws out more salutes. He tells us we're about done. "Get in another two minutes of Sieg Heils, and we're out of here," he says. The police lead us down Hughey and across the street into the parking lot. I see protesters scurrying to surround the lot. The police, I'm told, will escort our convoy out of the area – which is great, only I didn't park here. What the hell am I going to do? Either I try to walk the two blocks back to my car and risk getting beaten by a gang of enraged hippies, or I go with the Nazis. Sounds like an easy choice. I squish into the back seat of a white pickup truck along with the two Tampa Bay marchers. A woman and a skinny tattooed man sit up front.

We pull out and are soon on I-4, en route to Gletty's house for some post-rally grub. The Tampa duo talks quietly between themselves. The girl up front is on the phone with someone named Lars. The driver lights up a cigarette. In five minutes we're on the 408 heading east. The driver switches the radio station, and a Slipknot song gives way to "Tripping Billies" by the Dave Matthews Band. Ten seconds pass, then 20, and the driver still hasn't changed the station. Eat, drink and be merry For tomorrow we'll die The fiddle comes in for a short solo. No one in the car says anything. Remembering once out on the beaches We wore pineapple grass bracelets The light, poppy sound of the DMB melody fills the car. The driver puffs away and the Tampa guys stare out the window. I start to hum aimlessly. You and me and all our friends Such a happy human race Nothing like a little DMB to wrap up a hate rally.

We pull up to Gletty's house and walk around back. People are sitting in a rickety wooden gazebo, some drinking Bud Light, others fruit-punch Gatorade. (It was a hard march.) Everyone's here, all 25-plus. Most who were in the storm trooper outfits have changed. Many take their shirts off right here, revealing giant swastikas tattooed on their chests. Gletty brings out a pan of chicken breasts, boiled potatoes and baked beans. I sit down and listen. The Aryan Nation guy is talking about how Nazis don't hate, they just love their own race, a virtual rehash of White's speech earlier. Everyone is jolly, and if it weren't for the swastika tattooes, this could be your neighbor's Fourth of July party. Of course the conversation is a bit surreal; topics like "Jewish conspiracies against America" are breezily discussed as if talking about yesterday's baseball scores. Which decade am I in? A heavyset Nazi with a thick beard tells me that he just doesn't support the Iraq war. Sure, he would support a military effort against a real threat, but come on, what's Iraq going to do to us? Besides, he says, there are more pressing issues here at home: lack of health care, failing schools, rising crime. "We need to focus on helping the children over here first," he says. For once I agree, though I'm guessing he's talking about helping only the white children. I walk over and scoop up a few potatoes and some baked beans (delicious, by the way).

While I'm up, I listen to a discussion going on across the gazebo. One Nazi, a former Marine, sits shirtless, showing off his swastika tattoo and his gut, talking to the Aryan Nation guy. "I consider myself a racist," says the Aryan Nation guy. "Whites are just a better bloodline than niggers." The ex-Marine has a different take. "A racist is someone who hates blacks solely because they're black. I don't hate them just because they're black. I hate them as a race because of what they do to my people." Soon the debate devolves into the same message I hear over and over again: All of our problems – crime, poverty, too much rainfall – are the result of the lax Jewish-communist government we support. And you thought the world was a complex place. We check the early news reports of the march online – coverage, a couple of Nazis opine, has been favorable so far – and I mention that I need to get back to my car downtown. Gletty hollers above the group. "Hey, guys! Guys! We've got another white brother leaving. Let's give him a good white power send-off." Like a contestant leaving American Idol, I am surrounded by people wishing me well. "White power," says one as he shakes my hand heartily. "Hail Victory!" barks another. I picture saying that to my mom the next time I get off the phone. "It was good talking to you, son. Love you." "Hail victory!" More than one person asks if I'm on Stormfront, which is apparently the coolest online forum for the Fourth Reich. The boys from Kansas invite me to stay in touch. "Maybe we could get something together," says one of them. I still hear the discussions of racism and more calls for "white power" as I make my way out of the backyard and back into the 21st century. jcarlson@orlandoweekly.com

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Nazi Invasion of Orlando, Florida

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My Word

'Welcome to Orlando?!'

Allison Muller Chambers

February 28, 2006

OK, first let me state right up front that I am a firm believer in our Constitution -- our right to free speech and right to assemble.As a native and lifelong resident of Winter Park, I am proud of our community at large. I consider Central Florida sophisticated and dynamic. It's a fabulous place to live, work and raise a family. That's why I still live here. "We" -- the citizens -- are very welcoming of both tourists and new residents.

So, naturally and obviously, I chose residential real-estate sales as my profession and, therefore, consider myself somewhat of an "ambassador" of our region.However, let me do a brief replay of my Saturday.I made a quick phone call to the downtown Orlando hotel where my client was awaiting my arrival. He is an accomplished physician, from out of state, who is considering a move to the Orlando area. I apologized that I was a bit late; for some reason there were detours, barriers and police everywhere.

We met and he hopped into my car, and I promised him the grand tour. I gave him points of reference with regard to hospitals; I proudly drove him through Loch Haven Park; he was charmed by Park Avenue, our public golf course and lovely Central Park. He was "wowed" by Baldwin Park and its feeling of "community." On our way to Thornton Park, we chatted about how many cultural events and activities our area has to offer. I wanted him to see and feel that hip vibe around Central and Summerlin. The Chambers of Commerce would have been pleased.We were not too far from his hotel, so I suggested I show him Lake Eola -- you know, that great place to stroll with your dog, see an art festival, catch a Shakespeare performance in the amphitheater, participate in a charity walk or run to benefit some great cause.

Once again, I had to make my apologies as I was met with closed roads and detours. I was unable to show him our beautiful Lake Eola after all. I did, however, impress him with my circuitous route back to his hotel -- being the native, you know.We shook hands, exchanged pleasantries about the time we spent together and, as I was about to drive off, I enthusiastically encouraged him to make that short walk to Lake Eola to see what fine festival or gathering was the cause for all my traffic woes.

My cell phone rang about 30 minutes later, and it was my new client, the physician who was considering a move to join a medical practice in our area. He informed me he was told that the great event at Lake Eola was a Ku Klux Klan rally. Now I had to call him back and let him know that I believe what's really happening is a neo-Nazi white supremacists' march just a few blocks away, in the Parramore neighborhood.

Did I mention, dear reader, that my client is an African-American?

Welcome to Orlando!

Allison Muller Chambers is a real-estate agent in Winter Park.


FBI controlled fascist leader, David Gletty, at 2006 Orlando Nazi March

The major threat facing the country today is Islamic terrorism. One would think that the FBI would concentrate its resources against Islamofascists, for example, the many Hamas cells active in the USA. This was not the case last year in Orlando when an informant under the control of the FBI, David Gletty, was the leader of a Nazi march in Orlando that resulted arrests, injuries, property damage, disorders and untold millions paid by taxpayers for security efforts.

SENTINEL EXCLUSIVE

Neo-Nazi rally was organized by FBI informant

Henry Pierson Curtis Sentinel Staff Writer

February 15, 2007

A paid FBI informant was the man behind a neo-Nazi march through the streets of Parramore that stirred up anxiety in Orlando's black community and fears of racial unrest that triggered a major police mobilization.

That revelation came Wednesday in an unrelated federal court hearing and has prompted outrage from black leaders, some of whom demanded an investigation into whether the February 2006 march was, itself, an event staged by law-enforcement agencies.

The FBI would not comment on what it knew about the involvement of its informant, 39-year-old David Gletty of Orlando, in the neo-Nazi event. In court Wednesday, an FBI agent said the bureau has paid its informant at least $20,000 during the past two years.

"Wow," Gletty said when reached by phone late Wednesday. "It is what it is. You were there in court. I can't really go into any detail now."

Orlando City Councilwoman Daisy Lynum, whose district includes the march route west of Interstate 4, said she wants to know who was behind the march, the neo-Nazis or the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies.

"If it was staged, I would feel very uncomfortable and would ask for a full-scale investigation," Lynum said. "To come into a predominantly black community which could have resulted in great harm to the black community? I would hate to be part of a game. It's a mockery to the community for someone else to be playing a game with the community."

Others applauded the FBI's infiltration of the neo-Nazis.

"It's one of the largest extremist groups in the country, and Gletty was one of the most visible individuals in the National Socialist Movement," said Andy Rosenkranz, state regional director for the Anti-Defamation League. "Generally, the FBI and the JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force) in Florida does an excellent job."

Rally puts city in spotlight

Orlando drew national attention when the city granted a permit to Gletty so a minimum of 100 white supremacists and National Socialist Movement members could march Feb. 25 through the historically black Parramore neighborhood.

Wearing swastikas and holding signs declaring "White Pride," the 22 neo-Nazis who turned out were protected from 500 counterprotesters by about 300 police officers.

Gletty's secret life became public Wednesday in a federal court hearing resulting from the arrest last week of two suspected white supremacists on charges of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine.

Last Thursday, the FBI arrested Tom Martin, 23, and John Rock, 35, after Gletty wore a wire to a meeting and agreed to help them rob a drug dealer in Casselberry, according to testimony.

Rock told Gletty in a tape-recorded conversation that he and Martin had robbed seven drug dealers by posing as law-enforcement officers, according to testimony. Martin and Rock remain held without bail in the Seminole County Jail.

Slip-up lets name out of bag

Throughout most of the hearing, Gletty was referred to as "Mr. X" or "CW" (cooperating witness). His identity was revealed when Assistant Federal Public Defender Peter W. Kenny repeatedly slipped up and mentioned Gletty's full name.

FBI agent Kevin Farrington and a federal prosecutor were clearly uncomfortable with the disclosure of the informant's name in open court.

Questioned about Gletty's role in the march, Farrington testified that "he participated in it. He did not organize it. . . . [That's] pretty good firsthand information, sir."

The city parade permit, however, lists Gletty as the "on scene event manager."

And pictures of Gletty addressing marchers sporting swastika armbands for the Orlando rally appear on a neo-Nazi Web site. Captions from other photos on the site mock the counterdemonstrators and the police presence.

On another Web site, Gletty details his role in organizing the Orlando event and hosting a victory party afterward.

"On 1/17/06 I got the permits and started the ball rolling," he writes. "On 2/25/06 at 3 pm on saturday [sic] in downtown Orlando My crew and I got it done."

In another part of the posting, he writes: "Since I was the permit holder I was the person to deal with the police and had over-all authority of the event."

No word from FBI

FBI officials did not return calls asking for specifics about the agency's relationship with Gletty. A tree-trimmer in Orlando, he withdrew from the National Socialist Movement last fall to pursue other projects, Farrington testified.

Orlando police Deputy Chief Pete Gauntlett, who supervised the march preparations, would not say what the FBI told police about Gletty and other marchers.

"We let them express their free speech and let them do what they're allowed to do, but we wanted to have control," Gauntlett said.

Bill White, a former spokesman for the National Socialist Movement who participated in the rally and now runs another neo-Nazi group, said he was surprised to hear of Gletty's involvement with the FBI. He said Gletty did a lot for the cause.

A neo-Nazi offers his take

"If he was being sponsored by the FBI, then American National Socialism has a lot to thank the FBI for," White said in an e-mail.

Lynum said that if the FBI was behind the march, she would like the agency to reimburse the city for the tens of thousands it spent to send officers -- including SWAT-team and mounted-unit members -- to police the march.

Adora Obi Nweze, president of the State Conference NAACP in Miami, said she was disturbed an informant set up the march and was working for the FBI.

"That's very troubling that somebody like that would be an informant for the FBI," she said. "You never know what they are capable of. No question, it bothers me."

But Alzo Reddick, a former state legislator who grew up in segregated Orlando, lived through KKK marches and later taught black history, said he was proud of the way the police and the community responded. He was a member of the "Be Cool" movement organized to calm the community before the march.

"I think law enforcement has to walk in some murky places to be where the bad guys are," Reddick said. "Was the FBI informant an activist or a participant? Was he the agent provocateur from the get-go? Sure, that would be part of what I'd like to know."

Rene Stutzman, Jim Leusner and Willoughby Mariano of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Henry Pierson Curtis can be reached at [email]hcurtis@orlandosentinel.com[/email] or 407-420-5257.

Article By David Gletty where he calls Nazi Demonstration, "My March" ---


By David Gletty

National Socialist Movement (NSM)

It started one day after my January 14, 2006 N.S.M recruitment party at my house. I decided that too many people were talking but nothing was getting done. I did not mention much of my plan to people there because I do not bullshit, I get it done then brag about it later.

On 1/17/06 I got the permits and started the ball rolling. On 2/25/06 at 3 pm on saturday in downtown Orlando My crew and I got it done. I will mention everyone there by name to the best of my knowledge. And for those of you that could have made it but did not shame on you. Everyone needs to do their part for the cause. I can say this because I have and will continue to. Nobody can question my abilities or my heart. I dare you too!!!!!!!!!

And with that said I will tell you about the hard work that goes into a Rally of this size and importance. A rally this size sets the standard for the rest of the year. Not only for N.S.M but other groups trying too keep up. Other groups are choking on N.S.M"s dust right now and want to jump on board.

So after I got the initial permits the city of Orlando wanted to put all these rules on us 12 days before the Rally. Enter Bill White. One of the many HERO'S of this story. He took control of the legal side of this deal and made the city eat crow. After flying in 8 days before the rally Bill was able to intimidate the City with his legal knowledge of the system. And in a short period of time they had to bow to Mr. White"s request. How impressive that was. You see this Rally has many victories and that was just one of them. Thank you Bill White.

The next thing to get done was to get on the ball and really hammer the protest home and let everyone know that the Rally was still on and we need your support. I must have e-mailed about 300 people that were for and against. I then was put in the newspaper 3 times. Letting all know that I was a Nazi supporter. I went on T.V 6 different times to help support that even more. I sacrificed alot for the cause. I am not afraid of this. We are at a cross-roads right now. You are either for us or against us but do not get in our way by bitching about it and not doing anything about. I am too active to have time for you.

After doing all the interviews and e-mails all I could do was wait to see who shows.

Friday night Will Johnson and his comrade arrived from Kansas at 7 p.m. I was busy cooking all the food for the victory party so they went downtown for awhile. At 9 p.m Rick Springs, the leader of Aryan Nations, was at my house . Imagine that Rick Springs at my house. What an honor. I have shown support for some of his events in the past. Shortly after that "DOC" arrived. He is a good comrade of Von Bluvens. He represents Klan. Very educated man. He is also a pastor or reverend for the church. We all had good conversation between the 3 of us. At about 10 p.m Bill White, Sgt. Drake and Wesley arrived. And then the Kansas crew arrived. We had a really good meeting for awhile. Everyone headed for the hotel after 12:30 a.m sat.

I finished cooking(slaving over a hot stove like a woman, all respects to them) the food for the party and waiting for SS Mann Martin to arrive with Gary and Jamie all the way from Ohio. All the way from Ohio just for my protest. What an honor. You see back in Dec. of 05 I drove from Orlando to Ohio for their Rally. Do you see how it works now. You show me support and I show you support and before you know it we have 10,000 soldiers standing on the steps of D.C. After We chatted a bit I gave my guest house up to Mark,Jamie and Gary and I retired to the main house.

The next morning the excitement started around 9 a.m. I made coffee as people started to arrive. If you can imagine people running around getting into uniform taking pictures giving direction and so-on.When the time got near I put Sgt. Drake in charge security and running the troops. I would have other duties to perform and would not have time for that. My hats off to him. Without him I would have had alot more responsibilities. He was great. He had everyone line up in the yard for photos. After photos I gave the few instructions that were needed. You see most White People are well disciplined and need no instructions.I would go to battle with the crew that showed up at my house.After getting ready and waitng for everyone to show it was GAME TIME. This is the battle that we long awaited for. The battle we were going into was not going to be fought with guns and knives. It was going to be fought with GUTS and HONOR and BRAVERY. We had 30 people show up for battle. The other side was so intimidated by 30 White People that they had 500 to 800 there trying to battle us. Those are good odds. Whether the ones that are against us know it or not by showing up they are suppoting us. When we draw that many against us we win. If they do not show we do not get noticed and we lose. That will never happen. After showing up in the designated rally point we were surrounded by police. We were there for about an hour and a half before marching. By us just being there waiting we had already witnessed 25 A.R.A punks getting out of control and being thrashed by the police. At that point the police told me to get everyone lined up and ready to march. Since I was the permit holder I was the person to deal with the police and had over-all authority of the event.You see the permit I had not only gave N.S.M permission to protest It also gave the Anti-protesters the right to protest us. Without that they would have been breaking the law by being there. They did not know that though.What Irony.

We started our march and headed toward the darkest parts of town. We were on one sidewalk and they were on the other with the police in the middle. They were yelling some of the ugliest things you could imagine. We were all calm, cool, and collective. We had our banners, flags and signs and were glad to be able to express our constitutional rights. As we headed on I was drifting in and out of the troops giving orders and support. Sgt. Drake was at the point leading the troops with precision and discipline. Bill White was doing his magic with the media and SS Mann Martin was supervising the over-all mission. While all of this was going on Rick Springs was marching on showing his support for us.We do need to return the favor soon. We all ran as a well oiled machine. After marching through the angry mob for 20 minutes we made it to the Federal Courthouse. While there we gave numerous salutes and chants. We were there for about 30 minutes. There was so much anger in the air that we could have ran a city on the energy put out by the people. I saw alot of hate filled people on the other side. If only they took that energy and turned it toward the issue then we would not have to ever be there again. But they would rather blame us rather than fix the problem. At this point I thought we had proven our point and getting together with SS Mann Martin and Sgt.Drake we thought it was time to give the police a break and get out of DODGE. Between us we could feel that things were on the edge of getting out of control. This was a tough decision for me because Bill White wanted to stay another 30 minutes.

I can see Bill's point also but If we had stayed things would have went bad for the police and that would have hurt the good name we are building with police forces around the country. I hope all can see that.

So I called it at that point and we were escorted back to the vehicles. Once the vehicles were loaded the police gave us a 6 car escort right out of town. From there we headed down the expressway and back to my house. The VICTORY party started. And it was a hell of a VICTORY party. All enjoyed the food, conversation and being on private property. You see on my property with the gates shut and being 300 feet from the road with no neighbors you can say and do what you want without bothering anyone. With a guard at the gate nobody gets in or out without the gate being opened. You have to like that. We all ate dinner and as it got dark we lit the fire and burned the symbol of our cause.

There was alot of activity going on at my house. I was so busy playing host that I only was able to stop and talk to people for short amounts of time. I missed out on alot of the good conversation. As the hour slowly got toward midnight people started to head back on their long journey home.

It was about 1:30 a.m sunday morning when the last person left that was not staying the night. Mark Martin, Gary, and Jamie left my house at 5:30 a.m that morning and headed back to Ohio. Doc left at 10:00 a.m and I was standing in my yard when the last person left thinking to my self "WOW". What a good job we all did pulling this thing together. My thanks to all that were involved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

David Gletty 3/01/06

Here is the list of those that marched!!!
Bill White David Gletty
Chris Drake Todd
Wesley unknown
Mark Martin unknown
Gary Josh
Jamie Mr. Folks
Brad Doc
Brad's comrade Isis
Kevin Will
Ragnaar(not his real name) Will's comrade
Billy Chris
Rick Springs Kyle
Joe Amber
Casey Edward
Casey's girlfriend Chris

Those are the Brave men and woman that fought for you!!!
We should all thank them!!!!!