James L. Paris's Blog, page 63

Christian Author And Gold Salesman To Be Sentenced Tuesday To Federal Prison

ChristianMoney.com Staff Writers

Larry Bates, a Christian author and former gold salesman, will be sentenced tomorrow to federal prison for his role in a multi-million dollar gold Ponzi scheme. For each count of the conviction, Bates is facing a potential sentence of 20 years in prison and a potential fine of $250,000.

Press release from the U.S. Justice Department -

Memphis, TN ��� After a five-week trial, a federal jury found Larry Bates; his two sons, Chuck and Robert Bates; and Kinsey Bates, the wife of Robert Bates, guilty on all counts set forth in an indictment that charged mail and wire fraud and conspiracy. The charges rose out of the defendants running a decade-long Ponzi scheme in the buying and selling of gold and silver coins. The proof at trial showed that the defendants were able to accomplish the fraud through First American Monetary Consultants, a Colorado corporation, which had offices in Memphis, Tennessee and Boulder, Colorado. More than three hundred and sixty victims lost more than twenty-one million dollars due to the defendants��� illegal scheme, which lasted from as early as 2002 through October of 2013.

"Unfortunately, fraud, corruption and embezzlement can occur everywhere, including in the investment world," said Larry Laurenzi, Acting United States Attorney, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant U.S. Attorney David Pritchard. "People need to be mindful of this terrible fact and work hard to protect themselves and their families from those who prey on others, like the Bates family preyed on so many innocent victims. As this case shows, the United States Attorney���s Office and its law enforcement partners work diligently to expose people responsible for such fraudulent acts, to vigorously prosecute them, and to bring them to justice."

At trial, the proof showed that the defendants promoted their business through a variety of Christian television and radio programs, including the Jim Baker Show and Jewish Voice. Larry Bates, a self-proclaimed doctor in economics, held conferences across the United States, predicting an economic collapse and emphasizing the need to invest in precious metals. Between 2007 and 2013, customers gave more than eighty-seven million dollars to First American Monetary Consultants for the purpose of buying precious metals. During this same period, the proof showed the defendant diverted customers��� monies that were to be used to purchase precious metals to the defendants own use and benefit. Testimony at trial showed that by 2009, the company had more than twenty-six million dollars in unfilled customer orders. Read Full Press Release

Joel Osteen Doubles Down On His Decision To Close Church As Congregation Gives Him Standing Ovation

I was one of those that was critical, not so much of his decision not to open the church, but how poorly everything was communicated. Absent from his comments here is any admission of a mistake, or that things could have been handled better, etc... I guess none of that matters when you are speaking to your own supporters that are giving you a standing ovation. What would have shown humility and honesty is to say that mistakes were made and we are going to do better next time. Once this new video of his comments circulates, my sense is that it will only make things worse, not better for Osteen. I guess I can now be included as one of those that was attacking 'faith, and hope, and love' (as he says in video below). My own video on what I truly thought at the time is also embedded below. I also thought it would be helpful to embed the video of the NBC interview as well.

Osteen's Comments To His Church

Mayor May Not Purge NYC of Columbus Statue, After All

A few days ago, this space talked about a plan proposed by New York City���s Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio to review the Big Apple���s statues and monuments for the purpose of seeing how they fare against an as-yet undefined ���purity��� test. The purity test would pertain to the matter of to what degree the figures symbolized in various public displays were guilty of transgressions evaluated in terms of the present-day social justice court of public opinion. Those statues and monuments that do not pass���would be hauled away.

One of the statues de Blasio���s office said would be under review is that of Christopher Columbus. Although seen as the ���discoverer of America��� in popular culture, Columbus, like so many historical figures active centuries ago, is now reviled by many on the left because their behavior and activities do not pass the social justice tests framed in terms of 21st century sensibilities.

As The New York Times has noted, however, since de Blasio first made his announcement, he appears now to be quietly stepping back from making any commitments on the matter of removing the Columbus statue, or any statues at all. Since his plans were made public, de Blasio has become silent on the matter of statue purging, and he has even announced that he will march in October���s Columbus Day Parade as a ���proud Italian-American.���

Moreover, there has been no further talk about the appointment of a statue review commission, and de Blasio is now saying that rather than hauling statues away, plaques might be added to the displays instead for the purpose of giving ���balance��� to the historical contributions of the honored.

It���s believed there are two elements conspiring to give the mayor second thoughts. One, as a growing number of polls indicate that statue removal is something that appeals to a vocal minority, rather than to a majority of voters, politicians quick to silence the cacophony may find that doing so comes back to bite them on election day.

And as for Columbus , specifically, de Blasio presides over a city that is famously multi-ethnic. While removing public tributes to Columbus may please some elements of his constituency, it is angering others, particularly Italian-Americans.

William Cunningham, a spokesman for former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, addressed with The New York Times the blowback de Balsio is facing, saying, ���The Christopher Columbus monument has become the symbol of when you run into something rashly and don���t think it thoroughly through, you leave yourself open to criticism from places you don���t expect it. Here he is, a half Italian-American and he���s getting grief from Italian Americans all over the City of New York.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

FBI Turns Down FOIA Request for Clinton Email Docs, Citing Lack of Public Interest

So who is in charge of the FBI these days, anyway?

As reported by a number of news outlets, including The Daily Caller, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents pertaining to the FBI���s investigation into Hillary Clinton���s emails was recently turned down by the feds on the basis that there is, in their opinion, no compelling public interest.

Ty Clevenger, the New York attorney who made the formal request for the information back in March 2016, heard directly from the FBI Records Management Division with their response that the bureau would proceed no further on behalf of his inquiry.

���You have not sufficiently demonstrated that the public���s interest in disclosure outweighs personal privacy interests of the subject,��� the letter reads. ���Therefore, records regarding your subject are withheld pursuant to FOIA exemptions.���

Wow.

Clevenger was asked by the FBI why he thought the public had an interest in viewing the requested documents, a question he found way out of bounds.

���Frankly, I am stunned I should have to explain why my request pertains to a matter of public interest,��� he shot back in a letter to the agency.

Speaking to The Washington Post, Clevenger went on about his surprise over the denial of his request.

���I���m just stunned. This is exactly what I would have expected had Mrs. Clinton won the election, but she didn���t. It looks like the Obama Administration is still running the FBI,��� Clevenger said.

���How can a story receive national news coverage and not be a matter of public interest? If this is the new standard, then there���s no such thing as a public interest exception.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

How I Found Over $4,000 Of Lost Money

I used the steps in this video to find over $4,000 of lost money for myself and $7,000 of lost money for a relative. There is tens of billions of dollars in unclaimed funds or so called lost money. Most people are skeptical, but many find they have money due them. Searching for your lost money is 100 percent free using my strategies. Don't pay anyone to find your lost money or agree to a finder's fee, because you can do this yourself.

 

Catholic School Removes Statues of Jesus and Mary to Be More Inclusive

The actual news is rapidly becoming so completely bizarre���that it���s getting to the point where you simply cannot believe it���s not satire.

Case in point:

You���re obviously familiar with the ���tear down the statues��� mania gripping the country now, right?
Well, if you thought there might be limits to it, you���re as wrong as you can be.
An independent K-12 Catholic school in the San Francisco Bay Area (where else?), San Domenico, has decided to remove religious statues in order that the campus be more inclusive of other faiths.
Let���s hear that again: A private Catholic school���has removed religious statues���so that people of other faiths will feel more welcome.

Even though it���s a Catholic school.

Oh, but there���s more.

The school didn���t decide to remove just any old religious statues���if there even is such a thing.

It seems that even the most deific of figures, Jesus and Mary, couldn���t make the cut.

That���s right; a Catholic school has tossed aside a statue of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary in its effort to be more politically correct.

One outraged parent, Shannon Fitzpatrick, in a complaint letter she fired off to the powers-that-be at San Domenico, happens to provide a little insight as to what���s been going on at the school for some time now.

���In our time here,��� Fitzpatrick writes, ���the word ���Catholic��� has been removed from the mission statement, sacraments were removed from the curriculum, the lower school curriculum was changed to world religions, the logo and colors were changed to be ���less Catholic,��� and the uniform was changed to be less Catholic.���

Parent Kim Pipki, speaking to the Marin Independent Journal, said, ���The one main statue that has everyone fired up is the baby Jesus and Mary one.��� According to Pipki, the school used to hold a ceremony during which students placed a crown on Mary���s head.

Now, apparently, the ceremony at San Domenico will involve seeing if the students can find any sign of Mary���or Jesus, for that matter���anywhere on campus.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Highly-Rated Pundit: Republicans ���Repeatedly��� Show Campaign Pledges Are Lies

Did you happen to catch Tucker Carlson Tonight on Friday?

Fox News��� brightest ratings light right now, Tucker Carlson, sharply took Republican members of Congress to task for their opposition to the idea of a Trump-initiated rollback of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy. DACA is a product of the Obama administration, and acts to give those undocumented immigrants who came to the country as minors a renewable, two-year period of deferment from immigration enforcement actions, including deportation. The upshot of DACA is that those who qualify for its protection could simply remain in the country interminably.

On that, Carlson specifically hammered House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Rep. Mike Hoffman (R-Colo.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), suggesting the politicians have ���more affinity in many cases for President Obama���s policies than they do for��� those of President Trump.

Eloquently voicing the growing frustration felt by many responsible for Trump���s remarkable upset victory last November, Carlson scorched Republican leaders more generally, saying:

���Republicans won big last fall. Not simply because they weren���t the party of Hillary Clinton but because they promised to undo key parts of the Barack Obama legacy. So far, they haven���t. Congressional Republicans could not come together to repeal Obamacare. They did not defund Planned Parenthood. They definitely don���t want to build a border wall. But now almost 10 months into the Republican Congress, top Republicans on Capitol Hill have finally found an issue they can really rally around: preserving President Obama���s immigration policy.���

Yup.

Carlson later added the following:

���Donald Trump ran in 2016 with almost no support from the Republican establishment. In many cases, they actively denounced him. They almost all despised him. But he won anyway because his campaign promises had powerful appeal and Republicans on the Hill were able to benefit by extension.

���Rather than take advantage of their good luck and consider whether they ought to try to help the president achieve those campaign promises, Republicans have repeatedly shown their campaign pledges were lies and their chief interest is in protecting the tiny donor class that funds their campaigns.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

How Do You Buy Bitcoin?

I have been discussing Bitcoin since October of 2012 (when Bitcoin was at $12). I have not received a warm reception on the topic. Most readers and radio show listeners yawned and took little interest, while others chastised me for suggesting something that has been used by criminals (as if the U.S. Dollar has not). I want to share in this post on how to buy Bitcoin, just in case some of you may have changed your mind. 

Despite Bitcoin trading at nearly $5,000 at the time of writing this article, I believe there is still a tremendous opportunity. Consider how much $100 invested today would be worth based on some of the future predicted prices for Bitcoin.

$100,000 Bitcoin ($100 today becomes $2,000)

$500,000 Bitcoin ($100 today becomes $10,000)

$1,000,000 Bitcoin ($100 today becomes $20,000)

$2,000,000 Bitcoin ($100 today becomes $40,000)

To get started with Bitcoin is a very simple process. I recommend using Coinbase (the largest Bitcoin buying platform). If you use this link you will receive $10 in bonus Bitcoin when you make a $100 purchase. Opening up an account at Coinbase is simple to do. There will be just a couple of steps required for you to verify your identity. Once your account is active, you can link a bank account or a credit card to make your first purchase. You can also buy Litecoin and Ethereum through your Coinbase account (two lesser known Bitcoin rivals).

Of course, I don't offer investment advice (and this article is for informational purposes only). If you do buy Bitcoin, you should only do so with money you can afford to lose, and only after consulting with your own financial adviser.

Helping you make the most of God���s money!

James L. Paris 
Editor-In-Chief ChristianMoney.com 
Follow Me on Twitter Twitter.com/jameslparis
Christian Financial Advice 
Jim Paris 24 Hour Radio

Why Andrew Left Is Dead Wrong About The (GBTC) Bitcoin Investment Trust

If you are long the Bitcoin Investment Trust (like I am), you no doubt are aware of the 20 percent drop in value on Friday. The drop was precipitated by comments by commentator Andrew Left (who announced he is shorting GBTC). Left is beating the drum on an issue that most people are already aware of, that GBTC trades at a big premium to its underlying asset - Bitcoin. In the same market that places a value of more than $15 billion on a stock like Snapchat (SNAP), which has no earnings and no intrinsic value based on on traditional measures, some simply can't accept the notion that GBTC can logically trade at such a premium.

There is a very simple explanation, and solid logic to why there is no reason to be worried about the GBTC premium. The way that I look at this is that GBTC represents the 'secondary market' and buying Bitcoin directly on an exchange is tantamount to buying the IPO. We readily accept every day that a stock can be offered at a given IPO price and on the first trade double or even triple (If you are not a stock trader, another way to look at this is the difference between wholesale and retail pricing). 

The second major reason is very simple. The convenience of buying through the stock exchange, and being able to do so within a retirement account, creates a substantially higher demand for GBTC than for Bitcoin as a direct purchase. 

Lastly, if you are someone that believes that Bitcoin is headed to $100,000 or even $1,000,000 or more, you frankly don't care if you are paying double the price today. I know this might sound crazy, but I have had so many conversations with people that would rather buy online through their brokerage account than to deal with any of the exchanges. Many don't trust the exchanges (thank you MT Gox), and others are simply unwilling to deal with loading an app on their phone, or the technology curve of buying through Coinbase or any of the others. This is the reason that a cryptocurrency will rise in price when buying it becomes easier (e.g. Litecoin being added to Coinbase). I continue to buy Ripple XRP through Gatehub, but it is not an easy platform for newbies to use or trade on. This is why XRP will jump substantially in value once it inevitably ends up on Coinbase itself. 

Conclusion

I think it is only logical to expect the divergence between the spot Bitcoin price and the implied price in GBTC to narrow over time. This will happen when investors have a wider variety of Bitcoin funds to choose from. The biggest mistake any investor can make right now, in my opinion, is not owning a piece of the Bitcoin pie (even if you pay double to get a slice). Of course, the lowest cost way to get in is to set up an account with one of the exchanges. If you do so, I personally recommend Coinbase, and this link you will get you $10 of bonus Bitcoin when make a $100 purchase.

In my view, shorting the Bitcoin trust at this time is about as smart as standing in front of a freight train.

Helping you make the most of God���s money!

James L. Paris 
Editor-In-Chief ChristianMoney.com 
Follow Me on Twitter Twitter.com/jameslparis
Christian Financial Advice 
Jim Paris 24 Hour Radio  

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