Long time, no see..

 Does this thing still work?

Who is at fault?

I recently overheard a discussion about a young man who injured his foot under a fairly unusual set of circumstances. He suffered a broken foot, the fracture being just below the ankle on the outside of the foot, however it was the way in which he broke the ankle that was the focus of the conversation. Specifically, some interesting questions about who is liable and/or responsible for picking up the tab for the young man's medical expenses, which included a visit to the emergency room, to office visits with an orthopedist with at least one more scheduled, x-rays, a cast, crutches and an Aquashield water-proof cast protecter (a device used to keep casts from getting wet while showering and/or from rain).

The young man was enjoying some adult beverages with his friends at a one of the popular establishments in the college town in which he lives (he is a 21 year old senior in college, for what it's worth). When closing time rolled around, a bar employee hastily ushered everyone out of the high-ceiling second-floor establishment and onto the staircase leading to the exit. This created a crowd of people near the top of the staircase.

One of the more inebriated gentlemen towards the back of the pack stumbled, creating a domino effect of people tumbling down the stairs. The young man who sustained the broken foot was positioned toward the front of the pack when the collision occurred, and sustained the injury during the fall - possibly due in part to the weight of the other people who fell on top of him as his foot was positioned awkwardly due to the fall.

The question that was being debated was whether or not the bar should be held liable for the young man's medical expenses incurred as a direct result of the injuries he sustained in a fall that occurred under circumstances in which an unsafe number of people were herded onto a staircase by employees of the establishment. Does the fact that employees of the establishment in a sense were responsible for the crowd at the top of the stairs that prompted the fall render them liable for the medical bills for injuries to patrons hurt in the fall?

At first glance, this seems like a fairly easy question. However, there are other factors that could have contributed to the man's broken foot. For example, was the man getting sufficient amounts of calcium, vitamin d3 and magnesium through his diet and/or supplements? It has long been established that these three nutrients help to built and maintain strong, healthy bones, and that deficiencies of any and/or any combination of the three renders one more vulnerable to osteoporosis, broken bones and a host of other diseases and conditions, especially in the case of vitamin d3 (the form of the vitamin obtained through sunlight and more recently supplements). It has been shown that when people are deficient in vitamin d, the likelihood they'll be stricken with a whole host of diseases, illnesses and other health maladies skyrockets.

Can it be proven that the injury occurred in the fall? Does it have to be proven outright, or would overwhelming circumstantial evidence be sufficient to win a decision in court?

All-in-all, is the young man responsible for footing the entire bill for the more than one thousand dollars in medical expenses incurred as a result of the fall, or should the establishment at which the injury occurred pay for some or all of the man's expenses?

I welcome any and all input from those qualified to answer a question such as the one posed here.

Companies Pass Exorbitant BBB Membership Fees Along to Customers

Think You're Being Smart by Shopping an A+ Rated, BBB-Approved Comopany? Think Again!

BBB Membership Dues (the Only Criteria for Acceptance or Rating) Drive Up Prices Among Members of Extortion Club

By: Fat Lester (FREE Consumer Advocate)

You’re proud of the fact that you need a herd of other sheep surrounding you in order to make decisions? You’re proud that you’re a big enough sucker that you gave $400-$500 to a gang of wanna-be mobsters who aren’t cool enough to have guns and wouldn’t know what to do with them if they did just so they wouldn’t make fun of you?

Wow Jason! That’s pretty pathetic!

Is the feeling of acceptance you get hanging out with a bunch of parasitic dweebs who didn’t move out of their mom’s basement until they were in their 40′s and even still managed to avoid getting a real job worth the $500 you take away from your little girl’s education fund each year so that you can remain a member of the lamest club on earth?

What would you do if someone were to tell you that your buddies will in all likelihood be indicted before the end of 2014 on charges of fraud, racketeering

and extortion? Would you fear for your own safety or would you become psyched by the opportunity to be one of the “inner circle” of ‘mid-40′s-but-still-not-self-sufficient dweebs’ by default if the current group of super-sized maggots were to be sentenced to a federal prison term?

I got news for you Jasey… Your mom’s the only person who thinks you’re cool. Paying $500/year to be a member of a fake-club wherein the club’s upper-echelon agrees not to make fun of you of call you names if you pay them doesn’t make you cool. It’s still not the same thing as a fraternity (which aren’t cool either — just a less uncool group of conformist twits). The difference between someone like you and someone like me is that you’ll shell out big bucks for approval, whereas I go out an earn mine through my work and my character.

Then again, I don’t expect you to know anything about that… Character and the doofuses who make up the BBB are mutually exclusive. I’d rather be among the former (someone with character and principles) than a wanna-be tough-guy gangster only fat from drinking too much beer on mom’s sofa any day of the week.

Good luck in federal court… I hope you all get at least six months. What I’m really looking forward to though is the class-action civil suit that’s going to issue divine comeuppance to your oversized kindergarten class full of adult twerps.

You might as well let mom know what’s coming, as your snarky little badge means nothing to anyone aside from you, mommy and the other twerps who have convinced each other that you actually did something besides pay someone smarter than you (smart enough to get you to pay $500 for a $0.30 badge) three days salary so you could pretend to be important with the other manboys in the little clubhouse.

Better Business Bureau: Criminal Extortion Racket

Better Business Bureau: High-Ranking Members May Face Charges

The Better Business Bureau, often mistaken by ill-informed consumers for a "consumer protection" agency, is under fire in the latest chapter in a series of flare-ups involving irate small business owners who are becoming increasingly vocal in expressing their unanimous belief that the BBB and the individuals who grow rich charging businesses for "protection" are guilty of the felonious crimes of fraud, extortion and racketeering.



 Many of the small business owners whose companies have been the subjects of BBB bullying and fraud are joining together to present a united front against the criminal enterprise in hopes of amassing sufficient lobbying power to have federal prosecutor issue a blanket indictment against hundreds of individuals on whom the working class believes it has proof of criminal association based upon their Better Business Bureau ties.

"Essentially, the BBB is a criminal enterprise consisting of parasites of men who don't work for a living, opting instead to target those who do work and threaten to lie and besmirch their hard work, hopes and dreams if they refuse to hand over their wallets in a 'pay for protection', traditional Mafioso-style extortion scheme," ~ Fat Lester - GoDOTyourself Enterprises

Many with common sense and the ability to think independently of a herd are the most adamant that anyone and everyone with recent BBB affiliations go to prison racketeers and extortionists who don't care about honesty or credibility so long as there are suckers out there dumb enough to think they're anything but a criminal racket and cowardly enough to succumb to their threats/extortion.




Entire national organization should be under indictment with plans to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law any member past or present who (obviously won't be testifying against them in either criminal or civil court) and who has ever taken part, either directly or indirectly in an extortion scheme involving the deliberate spreading of lies, distortions and/or falsehoods with respect to a privately-held company in order to coerce the owner of said company to grease the pockets of those spreading said lies as a means of offering incentive for them to cease harassment of a given victim-organization.

When criminals band together and claim to be acting in the best interests of the consumer, those are some of the instances in which the consumer had better either run fast or bend over, grab the ankles tight and brace himself because what comes next is neither pleasant nor believable, but it is real.

ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis): Letter From a Man with ALS

A Random Letter From a Victim of ALS

By: Fat Lester

The following are the contents of an email that a friend and colleague passed along to me. He is raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) to help find a cure for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis).

Out of nowhere (he does not know this man - hence the anonymity - nor does he know how the man obtained his top-secret email address. That said, he found the letter quite the motivational tool to summon his best efforts in attempting to solicit donations from family, friends and social media contacts, and as one of those whom he asked to help spread his message, I was given his permission to publish the contents of the letter he received from an actual ALS victim provided I keep the gentleman's identity private and include no information that could lead to his identity being tied to the substance of the message itself.

Without further adieu, here is the letter minus the greetings and signatures:

Dear Peter,

On January 25, 2012 I was diagnosed with ALS. From that evening on-my life has changed drastically. I have always been a very active person but due to the progression of the disease, my activities are limited. I left work shortly after finding out I have ALS to spend more time with my family and to acquire much needed rest. My symptoms were, and still are, muscle aches/twitches, headaches, stiff neck, noticeable muscle loss in my chest/back, cramps in my legs/feet and general fatigue.

My upper body is my weakest and biggest problem at this time. It is now getting difficult or impossible to do some of my everyday activities because I can barely raise my arms. Shaving, bathing, dressing, getting in and out of the bed are all a challenge and require assistance.

The people at MDA of Greater New Orleans have been a Godsend. They are so helpful and are always willing to help you with any issue you face. The staff at the MDA clinic that I go to every 3 months is also wonderful – they are friendly, knowledgeable professionals that will do anything to help.

I have a very supportive family and close friends that are always there for me no matter what my needs are. My wife and I have met some great friends, other pALS (People Living with ALS) and their wives. We get together often for dinner and other activities and find that these are the most wonderful relationships. We are all dealing with the same struggles, even though we are at different stages with ALS, but understand what each other is going through. This group bond that we have as made a huge difference in our lives.

If it weren’t for organizations like MDA I would not have had the opportunity to meet these pALS and receive the help we need. I know there are more hard situations in the future, but with all the support I have, I will get through it all.

Thank you for supporting the Covington Lock-Up, MDA and my family.

Since we're keeping the author of the message anonymous, there will be no signature or goodbye message included here. That said, if that does not touch upon a soft spot in your heart, one must wonder if you even have one.

That disease (ALS) is among the most debilitating and torturous illnesses in the history of mankind, and my heart goes out to everyone and anyone who has ever suffered from it, God rest their souls.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

The friend posted a blog about ALS, why he is motivated to help find a cure and why he feels that you and anyone else reading his blog should donate to the MDA Lock-Up event Thursday, May 23 in Covington, Louisiana. The friend will be "arrested" as a "repeat offender" and will need to post "bail" (your donations) in order to be granted release from the makeshift holding cell at the restaurant at which the event is being held.I will ask all readers of this blog though to please consider donating anything you can --- even if its just a single dollar --- to his "bail bond" as finding a cure for ALS is about as good a cause as one could conceive of to financially support.
If you can afford to help out, please do so, and know that his company, EGAN Medical Equipment, will be matching each and every dollar donated up to $1,000.

Unruly Women's Threats, Demands: Criminal Fraud or Postpartum Psychosis?

Crazy Postpartum Moms Make Company Rethink Generous Return Policy

By: Fat Lester

This article began as a comment in response to an article written by Jennifer Moyer about postpartum psychosis.

Reading Ms. Moyer's article left me wondering whether or not a disgusting behavior I've experienced at work far too many times is the product of a sociopathic scam artist engaging in criminal, fraudulent behavior; or a mentally ill woman desperately in need of some help. Prior to reading Moyer's article, I had always presumed that the behavior was the former, never even so much as considering the latter.

I work for a company that sells maternity and postpartum supports (orthopedic undergarments designed to provide physical support to women during and post-pregnancy).

We often receive requests for refunds months after women order a maternity support such as the Prenatal Cradle. The obvious suspicion here is that these women want to have their cake and eat it too, using the product until it is no longer needed, then attempting to return it for a full refund after giving birth.

These women all seem to have one thing in common: a mentality that that they deserve and are entitled to receiving their money back despite our company totally fulfilling our obligation for the initial transaction. It's not like these requests come days or weeks after the orders are placed (we do receive such requests, but these often are eligible for an exchange or refund).

The ones that come months afterward are those to which I am referring. The women will call with a tone-of-voice clearly meant to bully the person on the other end of the line. They threaten everything from writing negative reviews to filing chargeback disputes with their credit card companies (we've yet to lose one when they follow-through on these requests). Each time, it appears as though the woman genuinely believes she's the first to ever think of the idea, and thus should be able to pull the wool over our eyes without any problem.

When informed that requests made so long after the initial transaction are ineligible for a refund, they have been known to become so abusive that the owner of the company ordered all customer service personnel to immediately discontinue such calls when the customer becomes abusive and/or threatening.

Anyway, do you think that this behavior would fall into the category of postpartum psychosis? That certainly would explain this rage-fueled mentality that until now we've only been able to explain by writing them off as lunatics, bullies and/or scam artists.

The question is whether or not they planned to attempt to get their money back prior to giving birth, as that would answer the question of whether or not they are simply scam artists who have realized that they can often have their cake and eat it too by threatening online retailers, many of whom simply give in to such uncivilized behavior. My employer stands firm on principle, insisting that such demands constitute fraud, and has even suggested that the act is criminal in nature.

What is your opinion about this? Are these women really merely suffering from a legitimate mental illness or are they simply dishonest scam artists who have figured out how to abuse the system successfully?

Vitamin D3 and Chronic Hair Loss

Vitamin D3 May Help Reverse Chronic Hair Loss

By: Peter Egan

Chronic Telogen Effluvium: Can Vitamin D3 Reverse It?

A particularly interesting post appeared on the Vitamin D3 blog Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Unlike the other articles and news stories detailing scientific research and clinical trials in terms normal people can understand, this post was actually a lengthy comment submitted by a reader in response to an article confirming a link between vitamin D deficiency and alopecia, a form of premature hair loss.

The lady detailed her experience with Chronic Telogen Effluvium, a hair loss condition considered to be among the most severe, with little known about the condition, its cause or how to fix it.

According to "Elle", she had tried every solution under the sun to try to regrow her hair after being diagnosed with chronic telogen effluvium to no avail. She checked her own records from all of the blood tests she'd had conducted over the years, and was shocked to learn that despite her doctor(s) never once mentioning anything of the sort, her vitamin D levels were alarmingly low in each test in which they were measured.

For the past three months, she has been on an intensive vitamin D3 supplement regimen, and claims that her hair has not only stopped falling out, but also has started to grow back.

Gun Ban News: Tulane Students Cite "Widespread Rape" in Calls for Security

Tulane's Campus Gun Ban Leads to "Widespread Rape" of Female Students

Tulane University's female students have been among if not the most commonly raped demographic of people in the entire world for at least a decade now. When I was a student at the institution, I took note of this, and being a women's rights advocate did the only rational thing I could think to do: request the school eliminate its campus-wide gun ban in an editorial which was featured I the campus newspaper.
Thinking I'd done a good deed in helping protect the poor women being victimized while leaving campus, you can imagine my surprise the next week when I saw this: http://www.thehullabaloo.com/views/article_5021235c-7d42-56b3-9425-f25942f0800a.html.

The paper received a record 450 responses by the print deadline and countless more afterwards. They dedicated the entire op/ed page to the least vulgar of the hate mail that poured in for weeks afterwards. I received one email from a fellow student who commended me for standing up to the liberal institution and fighting for what is right.

For what it's worth (for those who read the hate mail linked to above), Kira McAllister refused to accompany me on my walk home from campus. I did email her and request that she do so.

The fact that this has gone on for a decade because the criminal waiting two blocks away have guns and the students do not is heinous and I hope that eventually one of those rape victims has the courage to sue the school for the physical and psychological harm she had to endure because Tulane threatened to expel her if she dared protect herself.

For anyone interested, I wrote a more in-depth and more general dissertation of the problem in which I posed the question of whether or not universities are actually encouraging such violence by placing the students at a disadvantage. Anyone wishing to read it can find it here: Do Colleges, Universities Encourage Violence Towards Women?

I think the answer to that question is patently obvious. Please share your thoughts on the matter should you feel strongly enough about the issue to do so.

Please don't take my word for it though. If anyone thinks this is even remotely exaggerated, please see the following, which I had no part of: http://jezebel.com/5877160/tulane-university-students-invoke-widespread-rape-in-calling-for-increased-off+campus-security 


"I'm pretty paranoid in general.  I carry around pepper spray with me everywhere I go,” said Tulane University student Angie Baroffio." http://www.projectnola.com/the-news/news/42-fox-8/177260-off-campus-crimes-have-loyola-tulane-students-on-edge