Jack

About me:

I had an incredible grandmother. Her name was Sarah Elizabeth Walters. She lived to be between 101-104 years of age (Depending on which family Bible you look at.). When I was a little boy, she gave me the following words of wisdom: "Son don't let the grass grow under your feet!" I took her words to heart. When I finished junior college in Houston, I could have gone on to the University of Houston. Instead I chose to accept the much larger challenge of going to Tulane University. My first wife and I made our move from Houston to New Orleans. We moved into a dirty student apartment. She got a job with Bell Telephone Company. I got a job with the city of New Orleans working from 11:00 PM to 7:00AM. Despite all of this hard work, I finished my BA degree well ahead of schedule with a "B" average. I got accepted for MBA studies at Tulane and the University of Southern California. The Vietnam war was still on and I was a US Navy reservist. I was called to active duty. Again I decided to take the challenging and tough way as opposed to the easy way. I volunteered for Vietnam. I was assigned to a motor patrol boat operating out of Danang and going far up the North Vietnamese coast. Part of my adventures there were chronicled in the book and movie The Flight Of The Intruder. Our boat was later blown out of the water. I got some shrapnel in my jaw. I won a purple heart. I was sent back to the Bureau of Naval Personnel for the rest of my military career. When I got out of the Navy in 1973, jobs were hard to find. I started helping people to find mortgages for their homes. I also started working as a consultant to the FBI in Houston. I also got to travel to Latin America. I was in Santiago, Chile the day that General Pinochet took power. In early 1975, I saw an odd advertisement in the classified ads. It had the following words: "We need a fraud expert. Please call the following number:- - - - - - -." I was so intrigued that I called the number. I set up a luncheon meeting with a mysterious man named Brewer Newton. I showed up for the appointment. He told me that he was a retired lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force. He told me that he had been an intelligence officer. He said nothing more about himself or the company that he represented. He ordered six martinis with lunch. He gave me an in depth interview. Before leaving, he asked me to give me the name and the phone number of the FBI agent I worked with. I called my FBI associate and he confirmed that Mr. Newton had called him. A week later, Brewer Newton called me. He gave me directions to come to his office and told me to be there at 11:00 AM. I arrived on time. I was surprised to see myself at Occidental Petroleum. Brewer had my appointment letter for me to sign. I was being offered a starting salary of $25,000 per year (A nice salary in those days.) After I accepted, he told me to make sure that my passport was up to date. I was being sent first to Moscow and then to Tripoli, Libya. I was going to be investigating major fraud allegations in both countries. When I got to Moscow, I found out that a good employee had been falsely accused. When I got to Libya, it was a different matter. I found a purchasing manager buying pick up trucks in Houston for $7,500 US and selling them to Occidental Libya for $15,000 each. I built a strong criminal case against the corrupt employee. Unfortunately my superiors made some tactical errors that caused the criminal case to be dismissed. My next assignment was Lima, Peru. It was during the day of the military government. I was assigned to investigate fraudulent acts on the part of PetroPeru, the Peruvian national oil company. I spent a lot of time in Iquitos, Peru on the Amazon River and Talara,Peru, a coastal town near the border with Ecuador. I developed definite proof that Petro Peru had cut into our pipeline to illegally diver crude oil. I wrote a comprehensive report that identified $5 million dollars in losses. Corrective actions were taken. My good work in Peru lead to my transfer to Rio de Janeiro,Brasil. I was assigned to Vulcan Material Plastico, S.A. I was there to investigate a major bribery scheme. My investigation lead to the discovery of $500,000 US cash in the safe of the managing director. After Brasil I was sent to South Africa to work with a company called Sasol. Occidental was working on a shale to oil project in Colorado. Sasol had coal to petroleum products technology they had used since 1946. Sasol was the world leader in this technology. I had to win the trust of skeptical and suspicious people. I had to overcome many cultural and political obstacles to develop a good working relationship between Occidental and Sasol. The project was a success. I next was sent to Occidental Australia in West Australia. The company saw the potential in offshore oil exploration. They never were able to develop the potential of this venture. When Occidental Petroleum decided to leave Australia, I resigned and elected to stay in West Australia. I joined a gold mining company owned by a dynamic young business man named Ron Morelini. He hired me as an internal auditor. He decided to start an export division to specialize in Southeast Asia. He promoted me. He sent me back to school to learn the export business. It was an incredible amount of hard work. I had to learn a lot and overcome a lot of obstacles. I was able to develop a viable export department. While I was with Ron, I decided that it was time to get my MBA degree. All postgraduate education in West Australia was public institutions. Tuition was low or non existent. There was one problem with the whole process. The graduate and professional schools only accepted the top 1% of college graduates. I certainly was not a distinguished college graduate who would qualify. I decided to take a chance. I applied to the West Australian Institute of Technology. They had a foreign student quota that had not been filled. They looked at my application in great detail. I got my acceptance letter. I found myself in MBA classes with the best of the best of West Australian business. It was an incredible challenge and exciting! I came to admire the British system of education that downplays memorization and emphasizes original thinking. All tests were essay tests. Case studies were giving great emphasis. One of my case studies was so good that it was made required reading for all students. It was a proud day when I received my MBA degree. In conjunction with the MBA program, I also studied law at the University of West Australia law school. I was very proud when I earned the highest grade in tort laws given until that time. It was 96/100. I returned to Los Angeles in 1986. I ran into an old friend from Vietnam, James C. Lewis. He had an incredible idea. He wanted to buy lobster for $1.75 a kilo in Honduras and sell it in Tokyo, Japan, for $35.00 per kilogram. Jim had a big problem. He needed to purchase surplus air freight planes to transport the lobsters from Honduras to the Los Angeles airport. As luck would have it, Jim had spent over 20 years in the US Air Force as a transport pilot. He spoke fluent Japanese. We hired a Japanese woman as our vice president. We went out and raised the money from a group of Japanese investors. The company turned out to be a success. It still exists in Los Angeles with ownership by a large corporation. In 1990, I decided to move back to South Africa. I was tired of the high housing prices in Los Angeles. I had promises of a good job when I arrived in South Africa. I left Los Angeles. I visited with relatives in Brasil. I then flew to Johannesburg. I was full of hope and optimism. When I went to see my new employer, my job evaporated. I was deeply disappointed. I refused to quit and go back to Los Angeles. I got in the Johannesburg Yellow Pages. I went to the section listing "import/export companies." I called all 150 companies listed. I got one job interview with Bahmann International Trading. I had to borrow my landlord's car to go to the job interview. I met with the managing director, Uli F.W. Bahmann. We had a pleasant interview. He explained to me that he had achieved great success as an importer. He now wanted to also become an exporter. He offered me the job as managing director of his export company. The salary was a living wage and I got a BMW 3-series company car. I accepted the challenge. After my initial joy had worn off, I realized that I had undertaken a huge challenge. Here I was in a strange country where I did not know how business was done and how things work. I knew that I needed to know a lot more and fast. I started to spend a lot of time in Pretoria with the South African Department of Trade and Industry. (When I was in Australia I came to appreciate all the help that a major government trade department can give a struggling export company.) After two months of work, I had a series of subsidies and special tax deductions that would finance the development of our company. I would not need to ask Mr. Bahmann for a big capital infusion to get the company going. I next looked at the possibilities for exporting South African manufactured products. I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the products were very high-quality and modern.Unfortunately short production runs and socialistic labor laws model after Europe made prices uncompetitive. I could not compete against US and Japanese manufacturers. I decided that in order to succeed, I had to find very innovative and advanced products not available elsewhere in the world. I also had to find special opportunities and situations. My first special product was a device that ground up hypodermic needles after a patient got a shot. AIDS was starting to be recognized as a major problem. Reuse of needles caused AIDS. This product gained wide acceptance in Latin America and Europe. My second innovative product is something that many bicyclists take for granted now. It is a water pack they carry on their back. It allows them to drink water without interrupting their bicycle riding. This product had been developed by the South African Army. It was used by their special forces troops operating in places like the Kalahari Desert. The man holding the patent for the water system lived in Durban. I worked with him to find a backer in Taiwan. The product is now a mainstay all over the world. The third opportunity came from the Metropolitan Bus Cooperative of Montevideo, Uruguay. They operated a large fleet of Leyland Victory buses. The only place in the world still manufacturing the Leyland Victory bus was South Africa. A deal was made to supply the bus cooperative with bus parts from South Africa. I was able to establish a viable export company. In 1996, I returned to the USA. I worked for a management consulting company for one year. I worked for a Dutch trading company for two years afterwards. My next big challenge happened when I joined Telewave, Inc. in San Jose, California. I arrived in boom times. Telewave sold hundreds of ceramic autotune combiners to major companies such as Nextel and AT&T. These units sold faster than they could be built. In 2001, the market suddenly collapsed. Telewave was left with an unsold inventory of over $2 million dollars in autotunes. No one wanted to help the president with this problem. I stood up and volunteered. I started doing research to find companies who might buy ceramic autotune combiners. I found a small Nextel company called Nextel Partners. They had never bought autotunes. They had also survived the economic downturn with a strong capital expenditures budget. I got themt o start buying from our unsold inventory. They turned out to be a multi-million dollar customer over the years. I also begant o identify foreign customers for autotune including Nextel do Brasil, Nextel del Peru, Nextel de Argentina,DNA Telecom in Singapore, Motorola Israel, and Public Telecommunications Company in Saudi Arabia. These people became customers. I sold the whole inventory of ceramic autotune combiners in the warehouse!!!

Caprica: Caprica - filming starts in June
http://capricatv.blogspot.com/2008/05/caprica-film...

ABC News: Bitter Foes Strike Deal in Zimbabwe
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=5...

Our Depression index—and the parallels | 1929 and all that | The Economist
http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubjec...

O.J. Simpson guilty of armed robbery, kidnapping
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/10/04/oj.simpson.ver...

Former gridiron great O.J. Simpson was found guilty Friday of all 12 counts in the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas, Nevada, casino hotel last year.

Internet millionaire takes aim at Mars | csmonitor.com
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/10/1...

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Obama's ahead, polls say, but will the lead last?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/28/polling.loo...

With a week to go before Election Day, most recent national polls show Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama with an advantage. But how much are they to be believed?

Zakaria on Obama's win
http://www.cnn.com/video/?JSONLINK=/video/us/2008/...

Fareed Zakaria gives his reaction to the presidential election.

Barack Obama can be the next Franklin D. Roosevelt. Let us pray that he lives up to his potential.

Unemployment leaps up to a 14-year high in America | A painful job to do | The Economist
http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.c...

New nuclear plants need new physicists | Limits to growth | The Economist
http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubjec...

For those young people looking at a career, nuclear physics and engineering has a lot of potential.

SUCCESS — What Achievers Read. On Newsstands Now!
http://www.successmagazine.com/From-the-Corner-Off...

Obama Positioned to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/08/AR2008110801856.html?referrer=myspace

Obama launches Web site to reach public
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/11/10/obama.wired/ind...

Barack Obama had a formidable online presence during his quest for the White House, and he is once again turning to the Internet to communicate with the American public as president-elect.

Federal mortgage rescue plan due
http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/11/news/economy/loan_...

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the administration officials are set to announce program to help at-risk homeowners.

WW II vet held in Nazi slave camp breaks silence: 'Let it be known'
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/11/11/acevedo.pow/i...

Anthony Acevedo thumbs through the worn, yellowed pages of his diary emblazoned with the words "A Wartime Log" on its cover. It's a catalog of deaths and atrocities he says were carried out on U.S. soldiers held by Nazis at a slave labor camp during World War II -- a largely forgotten legacy of the war.

Astronomers capture first images of new planets
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/11/13/new.plane...

The first-ever pictures of planets outside our solar system were released today in two studies.

Obama, Clinton meet to talk about her future
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/14/transition....

President-elect Barack Obama met with his former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton to see if she would be interested in a role in his administration, two sources told CNN Friday.

GM failure: The shockwave
http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/14/autos/auto_failure...

If General Motors declares bankruptcy, industry watchers say, the entire domestic auto industry could be badly hurt.

Zimbabwe opposition group backers missing, officials say
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/20/zimbabw...

The whereabouts of a dozen opposition supporters -- including a mother and her 2-year-old daughter -- remain unknown, weeks after they were seized by Zimbabwean security forces, the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe and a human rights lawyers group said Thursday.

Copernicus

In search of aliens
http://www.cnn.com/video/?JSONLINK=/video/tech/200...

Miles O'Brien explores the possibility of intelligent life beyond Earth.

$150M in ransoms paid to pirates
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/21/pirates...

More than $150 million have been paid to pirates around the Horn of Africa over the past 12 months, Kenya's foreign minister said Friday.

First military execution since 1961 scheduled next month
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/20/military.execu...

A U.S. soldier convicted of rape and murder two decades ago will be executed December 10 in the nation's first military execution since 1961, the Army said Thursday.

Roswell revisited
http://www.cnn.com/video/?JSONLINK=/video/us/2008/...

Miles O'Brien visits the site of an alleged flying saucer crash.

Taj Mahal hotel owner: We had warning
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/29/india....

The Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, India, temporarily increased security after being warned of a possible terrorist attack, the chairman of the company that owns the hotel said Saturday.

Kaiser Permanente develops unique laboratory to test tech products' usefulness - San Jose M
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_1112717...

Terrorism in India | The Pakistan connection | The Economist
http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/asiaview/di...

Judge stays first U.S. military execution in 47 years
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/03/military.execu...

A federal judge has stayed what would be the nation's first military execution since 1961, saying the U.S. soldier -- who was convicted of rape and murder two decades ago -- should have more time to pursue a federal appeal.

Zimbabwe introduces new banknotes as inflation soars
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/zimbabwe-...

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http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/12/copper-th...

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/man-alleg...

Simpson to be sentenced for Las Vegas hotel fracas
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/05/oj.simpson.sen...

Football legend-turned-celebrity convict O.J. Simpson will be seeking leniency from a Nevada judge Friday when he faces a possible sentence of life in prison for a 2007 confrontation at a Las Vegas hotel.

O.J. Simpson's sentencing hearing starts
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/05/oj.simpson.sen...

Wearing blue jail scrubs, former NFL great O.J. Simpson walked into a Las Vegas courtroom for his sentencing on Friday.

Cholera strikes in Zimbabwe, as things go from bad to worse | Piling on the agony | The Economi
http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.c...

Funding Argentina's “New Deal” | Funding Argentina's “New Deal” | The Economist
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Cyberwar in America | The worm turns | The Economist
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Feds charge Del Biaggio, alleging more than $100 million in fraud - San Jose Mercury News
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11139232

A Toyota Takeover Could Save GM
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081205_a_toy...

Hyperinflation forces Zimbabwe to print $200 million notes
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/12/06/zimbabw...

Cash-strapped Zimbabwe revealed plans Saturday to circulate $200 million notes, just days after introducing a $100 million bill, Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi said.

Al Jazeera English - Africa - Calls mount for Mugabe to resign
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2008/12/...

Kenya PM calls for troops to 'dislodge' Zimbabwe's president
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/12/07/kenya.z...

The prime minister of Kenya Sunday called for troops to "dislodge" Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as the country's humanitarian crisis worsens.

Al Jazeera English - Europe - Sarkozy says 'Mugabe must go'
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2008/12/2...

ABC News: Health Groups: Unknown Thousands Dying in Zimbabwe
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=6...

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Blagojevich free on $4,500 bail after arrest
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/09/illinois.go...

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appeared in court Tuesday afternoon to hear corruption charges against him. Bail was set at $4,500, and Blagojevich was then released on his own recognizance. He also had to forfeit his passport.

Crimes suspected in 20 bailout cases -- for starters - Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-...

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That September Apple Tablet? More Like A 2010 Apple Tablet.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/13/that-septembe...

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KEY GOLD-PRICE DRIVERS
http://nicholsongold.com/2009/08/key-gold-price-dr...

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WSJ.com - Foreclosures Grow in Housing Market's Top Tiers
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125530360128479161...

Foreclosures+are+rising+in+the+more+expensive+housing+markets%2C+new+data+suggest.

SpaceX hopes to launch first manned commercial rocket -- OrlandoSentinel.com
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/orl-comm...

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NASA Administrator Orders Study of Heavy Lift Alternatives | Universe Today
http://www.universetoday.com/2009/10/21/nasa-admin...

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WSJ.com - IRS Brings New Focus to Auditing the Rich
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125659261162008901...

A+new+IRS+enforcement+unit+--+dubbed+the+Global+High+Wealth+Industry+Group+--+will+help+decode+partnerships%2C+offshore+trusts+and+other+techniques+used+to+hide+income.

Jean Lannen: Happy Halloween
http://www.pacificariptide.com/pacifica_riptide/20...

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SCI FI Wire Video - V

Interview with Elon Musk
http://www.examiner.com/x-10722-Orlando-Science-Po...

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Ex-Astronaut Lisa Nowak Pleads Guilty to Burglary, Battery but Gets Light Sentence - Local News
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,573623,00.html...

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Ares: NASA looks at alternatives to Ares moon rocket -- OrlandoSentinel.com
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-nasa-...

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Harvard ignored warnings about investments - The Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/art...

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NASA's latest manned Mars mission plan now available - Hyperbola
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/hyperbola/2009/1...

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More mortgage-modification horror stories Realty Q&A - MarketWatch
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/more-mortgage-mod...

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Ten predictions for 2010: Economy, dollar, gold - Precious Metals - Resource Investor
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/News/2009/12/Pages...

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Let House Prices Do What They Must
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/pol...

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Remodeling adds less to home resale values than it used to - Dec. 18, 2009
http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/18/real_estate/return...

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What Happens When California Defaults?
http://www.newgeography.com/content/001274-what-ha...

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You lost your house - but you still have to pay
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/03/real_estate/forecl...

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