«FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION« FALSE ADVERTISING COMPLAINTS

FILED AGAINST:

Round I: Cover Letter to the FTC + "The Truth..."

signlettersontheweb.com Complaint

Architectural Bronze

Complaint

PS: Since these Complaints were filed & posted, Ron Erbele/Metallic Arts has revamped his 'site to further distance himself from his supplier--and apparent owner--Gemini (although retaining some images). That doesn't make MA a "manufacturer"−with "manufacturer-direct pricing"−and "The leader in the metals industry for over 100 years" as claimed.

Round III: Third Cover Letter to the FTC  "Level 2" Response From the FTC:

"The decision to open up an investigative action depends on how widespread the practice is, how many consumers are hurt, how much harm is done, and how much evidence we have. We must also determine how much staff time and effort we can put into each case, and we must concentrate on the most urgent problems." Takeaway: The FTC is impotent here.

 cast-bronze-plaque.com Complaint

Berntsen International Complaint

NOTE: getplaques.com/kbronze.com/custombronzeplaques.com et al often reference their "employing a creative network of design professionals along with the latest in bronze manufacturing technology....Other companies spend thousands of dollars...on search engine placement, offsetting...costs by increasing your bill. Due to the innovative Internet marking plan developed by our...associates at Luna9 Media Group, we do not spend money on search engine placement..."

That's interesting because every contact I've had was from Matt Kieffer. When he phoned P&L on 10/31/09 to object about his being listed here, Caller ID showed "Matt Kieffer". The ph: # was 317-833-5717 (no 800 #). getplaques.com, kbronze.com & even his UK website bronzeplaques.co.uk−please see Matt's Our Technology link−all use the same Carmel, IN ph. #. "worldwide creative network"? "collaboration of designers ...& marketing genius"? Read: link farming. After Matt's "doth protest too much" call, he offered he'd come clean online: His is a sole distribution "network", manufacturing nothing. CLICK HERE for a scan of his webpages before corrections are made (if ever).

     Let's view this beyond industry-specific. In a waning recession (as of 02/02/2012, the unemployment rate has tumbled to 8.3%, albeit higher than the historical norm of 6.4%), some still wonder: "What the 'heck' happened??" It's not complicated. "Things" were never worth what people believed−wished− they were; they were artificially valued. Some Financial Instruments or "tools" were nothing more than shell games. This country−great as it is−sometimes operates on faulty fundamentals. Here's two:

1) "Boom or Bust" (aka "Make Hay While the Sun Shines", "Take the Money & Run" OR: "My Fantasy is Just as Good as Your Reality"): TIME's Barbara Ehrenreich's written a book on this "positive thinking", demonstrating that it’s brought us an era of irrational optimism resulting in fiscal disaster. She ends with a call for existential clarity and courage. Earlier, Ayn Rand formed an akin philosophical system she called Objectivism. She considered reason to be the only means of acquiring knowledge and the most important aspect of her philosophy. Her friend Alan Greenspan deemed the lack of same "irrational exuberance", referring to the outlandish speculation in the housing market. No, "they'll never make more land'"...but they made many more houses than anyone could ever afford. Mortgage brokers were "incentivized" to do the wrong thing: The higher the mortgage risk, the higher their % rate of compensation per sale. Ergo: $25,000/year custodians were living−temporarily− in $250,000 homes. That temporarily benefited the brokers. That temporarily benefited the new "homeowners"...many of whom became homeless. That temporarily benefited contractors & Home Depot & Lowes, but...

   I visited Vegas in '07 with the thought of living there. After all, hearing it was "the fastest growing city in the U.S."−temporarily−and property there should be a good investment + Vegas is a fun place to live, it seemed a sound idea. (Circe du Soleil acts & Blue Man Group are as fantastic as many have seen & heard.) As a failed architecture student (a D in physics in '74 at LSU was a poor harbinger, so I went into advertising), I deem some of their buildings (replications or other) amazing.

   The problem then & now: Those houses were built on wild suppositions and many aren't worth a burned biscuit now. Unemployment in NV is 14% and had 64,429 foreclosure filings in the first half of 2010, one filing for every 17 households or 5 percent of the housing units in the state (11/10). 80% of all LV NV mortgages are financially underwater as of 11/10. Real estate agents are SOL, and many of those contractors' employees now...aren't. I'll take a half moon to a total eclipse any day. It wouldn't seem to be political to say (though is to some) that "planned growth" is a reasonable path.

   When people pay sparse attention to a country's direction−as when Congress in '99 managed the dismantle of regulations over financial intuitions (Banking vs Insurance vs Investments)−and too few balked, we arrived: An implosion of confidence in the American economy...if not the economy itself. A contributing factor was, the members of the FTC−the 'watchdogs' of Wall Street−were ostensibly policing their own former co-workers. Bernie Madoff's advice to a colleague concerning how to handle the FTC: "...It's better off just to be 'casual' ... You don't have to be too brilliant with these guys." The FTC−along with the FAA, FDA, DOJ, DHS etc.−was and is under funded.

    Tangentially: For all "patriots"−anarchists both right & left, including a few (?) "Teaparty-ers" denigrating our duly-elected President with racial slurs and claims he's a Nazi because of the Administration's T.A.R.P. stimulus package (if banks don't lend, "U gots no mony fer either per'nal nor 'biddness'"), manufacturing support (few sensible want to see what the U.S. would be like without "The Big Three" & related industries, distasteful as bailing out two was; GM & Ford now make world-class product at a fair price, despite hoary stigmas; "May the Best Car Win.") & healthcare plans (U.S. healthcare costs rise 3 X the rate of inflation, crippling businesses & prompting layoffs): Where were any "Get government out of our lives!" protests ten years ago when the U.S. engaged in a devastatingly-expensive, albeit unfunded, "pre-emptive strike" against Iraq?; who don't believe in government, nor the taxes required to support it; that government should be held accountable... but without proper funding, and that their services should be "pay as you go"−here's offered an email from a non-fiction author conveying: "I believe ALL taxes are theft. The reason why people play taxes is out of fear. If you resist, you will forcibly taken and possibly killed...I believe we should be working toward a society were all government is supported the same way churches are—by a voluntary collection basket.  Under that system, we would get government exactly in the size we want, and it would be very small...An Army? Every able bodied adult should learn how to shoot...I believe health care...is like a marriage. It is a relationship between you and the doctor. The State should not be involved except in licensing and in resolving contract disputes (courts). When in doubt, return to a fee-for-service scheme as in every other transaction." My reply: "Pave your own street then, monitor your own flight safety and food and drug safety, check to see if there's mercury in your water, pick up your own garbage and deposit it in your own landfill, provide your own utilities, address the environmental aspects of that...ad infinitum." Try having a liver transplant a la carte, or handling "invading hordes" with an ad hoc "Army".

People who rail about dynamics they're incapable of understanding are missing the logic chip, having no regard for cause & effect. AIDs global funding advocates--when Obama supports that cause--show up protesting his every speech. Oddly, they don't bother protesting at Tea Party rallies whose members largely don't support it--and need to consult a map or campaign rally schedule. When hooligans ("After Profitt was identified as Paul's Bourbon County coordinator, he was fired by the campaign. Police issued a criminal summons for him...") demand an apology from those they literally stomp on, "out-of-whack" is apropos.

Those who shout, make wildly-inaccurate linkages, spurious statements and lie to make a point didn't have one to begin with. Glenn "Everybody-is-a-Fascist-or-Commie-but-somehow-related-to-Hitler" Beck, Sean Hannity, Michele "Pearl Necklace" Bachmann, Rand Paul & pater, Bill O'Reilly, ranting Rush and lets-kill-endangered-polar-bears-from-the-comfort-of-planes "grizzly moms" like Palin, wrapped in "the Founding Fathers would support everything we say...if only they were here" with their diatribes are political prostitutes. Their goals are demonstrably not the betterment of society, but provide shrill slogans to either sell a show, book and/or political career. When Palin asserts that she "knows [her] American history", it's inexplicable that she offers about P. Revere's ride: "Part of his ride was to warn the British that were already there. That, hey, you're not going to succeed. You're not going to take American arms. You are not going to beat our own well-armed persons, individual, private militia that we have. He did warn the British.". As his was a clandestine operation, apparently Palin is calling Revere a traitor. NBC News reported on 06/06/11 that several of her apparent supporters tried to change the events of Paul Revere's efforts on WikiPedia so they synch with Palin's revisionist history. This is desperation at its near-worst. If the FACTS don't suit your position...alter them? Again see "My Fantasy is Just as Good as Your Reality". "Patriotism" indeed exists...but is only truly manifested by those who understand the definition. Standing up to those who abuse power is noble. It's not patriotic to stand against everything beyond one's analytical grasp.       

Tea Partiers pants were pulled down with Jon Stewart's 10/30/10 "Rally to Restore Sanity". It's interesting--and warranted--that he's deemed by one poll as "the most influential and trusted man in America". Stewart offers well-researched truths about complex issues, yet makes it palatable to digest. This link warrants a visit. People who say they "want to get our country back" should have been paying attention to this country's dynamics long before now. Simply because they become unemployed does not validate the country suddenly went anywhere. If they spent time systematically analyzing issues instead of fabricating tri-cornered hats & senseless grievances, we'd be better off. Symbolism goes only so far. Knowledge takes time to acquire. If one doesn't have time, they should avoid making ignorant comment and public, courthouse displays of same. An informed populace will always be any country's greatest asset. When they're intentionally misinformed by others: Try to be reasoned; it's not a dirty word. "Truth is the first casualty of war.", and this is an ideological war." Act like you've been there" without frothing at the mouth. It's not a good look. A phrase Michele Bachmann obviously adhered to: "Let's not confuse the issue with the facts." Quoting myself: "If you have to lie to make a point you didn't have one to begin with." Quoting Daniel Patrick Moynihan: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."

The American electorate pulled their own pants down 11/02/10, by returning control of the House to those who largely generated this mess (as polls support). Benjamin Franklin (or Einstein, if you prefer) said: "The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again...yet expecting a different result." President Obama's administration and the Federal Reserve simply--and skillfully--applied an emergency tourniquet, however reluctantly. "No good deed goes unpunished". Their mantra: "Lower Taxes. Smaller Government." A simplistic panacea because 1) It's impossible to cite an epoch when trickle down ever actually worked (despite cloudy memories of what actually occurred during the 80's), and 2) Somebody has to pay sufficient taxes to fund demanded programs (Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid and Defense the lion's share), as well as decrease national debt, service for which burdens heavily. The Administration--and rich people such as successful entrepreneurs George Soros, Bill Gates & Warren Buffet--offer the logical and inevitable: DO tax those earning over $250 K, certainly a million. As Willie Sutton the bank robber apocryphally said when asked why he robbed banks, 'Because that's where the money is'." We're not getting pennies, nickels, dimes or dollars from heaven.

Obviously logic's too onerous for many, preferring divine intervention. That's sad for an otherwise great country. J. Boehner's "Listen to the American People" recitation avoided the fact that some voters are simply ignorant of how things work. It's bogus for Boehner to whine about deficits and convey he finally "gets what the American people said", yet he insists NO ONE pays taxes, including the non-needy rich, which only exacerbated the deficit. "Now is not the time to raise taxes during a recession..." is the talking point. There's never been a time according to them to do so, yet that's required to balance an unbalanced budget.

J. Boehner once addressed Congress with an impromptu reading of "the Constitution" while holding a miniature copy in his hands. Problematically, his recitation of "We hold these truths to be self evident..." is instead from the Declaration of Independence. (This is beside his January 2011 stunt, when Congress read most if not all of the actual Constitution to themselves, as well as those watching CNN, Fox News et al.)

Millions vote out of childish fits of pique, when life's not as fun as it used to be, as opposed to rationally-derived motivations. Senior citizens were scared, believing right-wing radio insurgents who demonstrably lied about there being "death panels" and "you and your children and grandchildren will be sleeping in the streets if 'ObamaCare' continues..." and turned the election in a way which only harms them. Heard of the Congressional Budget Office? They don't have a dog in the fight, and have always been considered, by both parties, honest brokers. CBO clearly stated that 'ObamaCare' will actually save money, and will not curtail services. However, fear tactics almost prevailed. (What's with 'ObamaCare', given that it was passed by both houses of Congress?)

Mitch McConnell offered his "vision" after the 2010 election: "The top political priority over the next two years is denying Obama (without a "Mr." in sight for the Commander-in-Chief) a second term [turtle-faced grimmace] after all the 'mistakes' the Democrats have made." CA's Prop 19 (pot legalization) failed, so I don't know what Mitch is smoking. Politics is absurd, but Mitch doesn't even provide a fig leaf of bipartisanship, yet the Wall Street puppet whines about lack of same from the administration. Mitch never fails to fail. What Mitch wants is acquiescence to a non-existent "mandate". "Who's the Fool? The Fool or the Fool who Follows it?" Click the words in this sentence for a photo homage of the invariably-sad-faced U.S. Senate Minority Leader. Boehner and McConnell have "plans"; they're just senseless. "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."

SIMPLE FACT: We gave the previous administration two terms to screw up, which it was "successful" at, yet lose patience with the current one to fix it after only 3.5 years. Hackneyed but: The American condition is like a battleship, not turning on a dime. It will never improve while some "leaders" strategize: "We will not support the Administration, regardless of what it does. Just say no. We want them to fail regardless of costs..." to the detriment of the country.

It will be forever strange that some simultaneously complain 1) "We've got real problems here, and someone needs to do something about it", yet offer 2) "Let's vote for gridlock so nothing can be done... that's what 'the Founding Fathers' wanted. Checks & Balances..." Think about this inherent contradiction. We're now engaged in governance-by-tantrum. "Vote the bums out"? Great. Then why did many vote some back in? One voter offered: "We didn't immediately get the change we wanted so I'm voting for change again." There's gotta be some logic there...

There was no logic or "getting our country back" involved when Rep. (D) Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head on 01/08/11 in Tucson, AZ. This was a public servant, whose husband is a NASA space shuttle astronaut, meeting with her state's constituents. Six were killed, including a federal judge and a 9 year old child. 12 or more wounded. The shooter proved nothing except he's an idiot. (He thought she was actually too conservative.) The same applies to those who foment violence like Limbaugh and his ilk. You'll never hear Rush say "Go out and shoot someone." He doesn't have to after risible rants. He purportedly even knows it's nonsense he spews, and merely continues for ratings and the almighty dollar. Sad. And sad for those who don't know better than to bite on his tautologies. To believe that fear mongers like Limbaugh don't foment violence--or at least stupidity--is stupid in and of itself. Before people depict others as "The Joker", let's spend more time actually identifying who the true jokers really are. "Liberal"--and "Nazi"--are facile words to use. Facts, however, are resplendent, albeit used sparsely.

Be wary of buzzwords like "family values". Which and whose specific values? Whose family? Which member? W's, who is against gay marriage, or daughter Barbara's, as well as wife Barbara's, who are for it?

Irrational, reckless ramblings and vitriol breed reckless acts. Rush and fired-or-quit Glenn Beck ("I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore. Is this wrong?"), Ann Coulter, whom would blame falling snow on "Goo-goo liberals" et al may be "laughing all the way to the bank"... but sane people should not be their enablers. In light of the shooting, Palin's camp offered: "We never ever, ever intended it to be gun sights" "It's surveyor's symbols." Fascinating. I suppose "Don't retreat, reload." is surveyor jargon. Click HERE for more. If we simply ignore them, they might finally go away. Speaking of which:

The going-on-70, oft-married "family values candidate" Newt Gingrich reared his Lego-inspired head again. Late May 2011 he proclaimed "The 2012 Presidential Election Will be the Most Important Since Before Civil War". Newt also blasted President Obama as "the most successful food stamp president in modern American history." (I'm surprised that he didn't throw in a Hitler comment; it's en vogue.) The only thing Newt will ever preside over is The Society of Ignorance of History. Along with Palin, Bachmann and Rick Perry, Newt joined a list of non-candidates. Perry's the same TX Gov. who supported seceding from the U.S. ...who then wanted to be president of same. Perry, "droppin'" tha "g"s at campaign events, and using homespun-wisdom, provided his doubts on manmade global warming: "I don't think...that I want to be engaged in spending that much money on still a scientific theory that has not been proven and from my perspective is more and more being put into question." 1) You can't prove "scientific theories" unless money is spent validating them, and 2) It's a FACT that at best 10% of world scientists doubt that global warming is caused in large part because of human contribution. (You can't make this stuff up. Well you could but...) We didn't need another "Yee-Hah!" president, at least so soon. Now the hopefully-unelectable Mitt Romney is the "conservative" candidate to also disappear.

The deceptive "We need to have an adult conversation..." slogan about fundamental federal spending cuts is infantile. Most who use it consistently refuse to consider Social Security entitlement cuts. Again: SS spending is one of the three most expensive "entitlements" this country offers. (US aid to foreign countries worldwide is a fraction of 1--ONE--%. "Bleeding heart left-leaning liberals" didn't invent that.) Fundamental change addresses fundamentals, not the periphery.

Some mask their self-serving don't-tax-the-rich motivations by calling this "class warfare". It's "class warfare" only in that some enormously rich people would just as soon the working class disappear because they're not sufficiently self-sufficient. There are many reasons why they're not. But there's one main reason why the rich should care: They need them to support their existence. Henry Ford (beyond his essential egalitarianism) knew that. Common sense supports it. "The rich need a tax cut...We need to balance the budget"? Pick ONE. People are demonstrably fed up with the "class warfare" waged upon the shrinking Middle Class. Click HERE for a map of "Occupy" locations (10/07/2011). What began as a call for Americans to gather in New York's Financial District has given rise to like-minded actions nationwide. This nation is divided more than any other time in memory because many are seeking facile solutions, and following the self-serving advice of those who make their livings by providing "red meat" to the uneducated. The results are internecine.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Monday, October 31, 2011— "A Halloween-themed graphic featuring a zombie President Barack Obama with a bullet hole in his forehead provoked widespread outrage and the attention of the Secret Service Monday after a local Republican committee in Virginia used it to scare up interest in Halloween parade political activities." "Yeah, that's real clever." Gotta finally say it: THIS IS DIVISIVE, RACIST INTERNECINE NONSENSE.

Do pick one concept when you offer: "Obama didn't do enough." or "Obama did too much..." when dealing with healthcare policy, the auto industry meltdown, energy and environmental policies, national security concerns re: Afghanistan, Iraq, and/or the situation in Libya. Before picking, research. "Some of this is complicated. Most of it is not." That's what's so sublime about the sanity below:

		Tim Profitt: Don't commit assault & battery then ask for an apology.

There is a need for government programs...just without all of the "waste, fraud & abuse". The solution with both business and government is some effective level of scrutiny.

    We've now paid for parsimonious lack of oversight in both the financial & housing markets. "You get what you pay for." We in the U.S. often "close the barn door only after the horses have escaped". If the Army Corps of Engineers had ever been funded properly, Katrina's destruction of NOLA would not have occurred...costing far less. The Netherlands believe in science & prevention and acted before disaster happened. (It's tough to deny, but...)

   Same applies when we feint oversight in other business realms cannot be improved, and is "As Good as it Gets", and "regulation" is considered an epithet. Tisant. It's either that, or businesses should do a better, more honest job in their own claims & actions. Brilliant former NY AG & Governor Eliot Spitzer (with his own issues) offered that our financial woes are due in part to "recklessness, greed and a 'fundamental misunderstanding' of what the 'Free 'Market' is all about. Financial products and tools don't create any actual wealth. Investments in actual industries like bioenergy do." With all the bank failures, those in the upper Midwest are doing just fine because they didn't bite the derivatives bullet. Instead, they kept investing in things having real worth.

2) "Engage in superlatives & hyperbole until it hurts." When a cardboard rack at a box store is "Battery Headquarters", and everything's "the best", then there is no "best", and words become meaningless. The "Groundhog Day"-like" Only if you call within the next ten minutes..."  spots are another example. Some'll recall Carson's “Suzy the Rope” & the über-useful "Dickey the Stick" lampoons. SNL's Dan Aykroyd's "Irwin Mainway" character selling his "Bag O' Glass" for $1.98 is a later take on "overpromise": "I mean, it's a creative toy, you know? If you hold this up, you know, you see colors, every color of the rainbow! I mean, it teaches him about light refraction, you know? Prisms, and that stuff! You know what I mean?". "This just in from NBC10: The residents in the area are 'in a state of shock'." That's a medical diagnosis. Either they were all interviewed by psychologists...or the residents were simply "shocked" by the murder. But when it's ratcheted down to real, there's not much "viewer value", is there.

"For the first ten callers this product is ! Please provide $12.95 S&H. Offer does not include tax, title & license. (Fine print: Your acceptance of this offer means you are now enrolled in our monthly offerings which will automatically be shipped to you. Your credit card will be charged accordingly.) Not valid in Guam & the Galapagos Islands. May cause psoriasis and a wariness to believe everything you ever hear."

Some people would rather lie when telling the truth is easier. In this environment, most people either A) Believe most of what they hear because they "don't have time" to find out otherwise, or B) Believe nothing...except everything's a "conspiracy". There's a third option: "Trust but Verify.".

   It's largely true that lying rarely pans out...in the long run. Please see: WorldCom's CEO Bernard Ebbers' accounting tricks to cover falling profits; Bernie Madoff's mug shot; Nixon's "I am not a crook"; Reagan's & Ollie North's "We don't sell arms to terrorists."; Bill Clinton's "I did not have sex with that woman; Ms. Lewinsky." ; & Enron's Kenneth "the-smartest-guys-in-the-room" Lay's "I know nothing. NOTHING." Problem is, too few seem to agree with that, or at least act so.

    TO: LA AG re:3rd Round

From LA AG: One of Six Standard Replies   P&L Conclusions to LA AG's Office Concerning Same Six

Saxton's Attorney

Saxton's Attorney

Franklin Bronze

One of the worst can't be listed, but not because

of any lawsuit. Beware of superlatives like "Most".