The US Securities and Exchange Commission has not verified the origin of 'NuSkin Enterprises' sales revenue'

Pseudo-scientific mystification. The instigators of pernicious cults seek to overwhelm their adherents emotionally and intellectually by pretending that progressive initiation into their own superior or superhuman knowledge (coupled with total belief in its authenticity and unconditional deference to the authority of its higher initiates) will defeat a negative or adversarial force of impurity and absolute evil, and lead to future, exclusive redemption in some form of secure Utopian existence. By making total belief a prerequisite of redemption, adherents are drawn into a closed-logic trap (i.e. failure to achieve redemption is solely the fault of the individual who didn’t believe totally). Cultic pseudo-science is always essentially the same hypnotic hocus-pocus, but it can be peddled in an infinite variety of forms and combinations (‘spiritual’, ‘medical’, ‘philosophical’, ‘cosmological,’‘extraterrestrial’, ‘political’, ‘racial’, ‘mathematical’, ‘economic’, ‘New-Age’, 'magical', etc.), often with impressive, made-up, technical-sounding names. It is tailored to fit the spirit of the times and to attract a broad range of persons, but especially those open to an exclusive offer of salvation (i.e. the: sick, dissatisfied, bereaved, vanquished, disillusioned, oppressed, lonely, insecure, aimless, etc.). However, at a moment of vulnerability, anyone (no matter what their: age, sex, nationality, state of mental/ physical health, level of education, etc.) can need to believe in a non-rational, cultic pseudo-science. Typically, obedient adherents are granted ego-inflating names, and/or ranks, and/or titles, whilst non-initiates are referred to using derogatory, dehumanizing terms. Although initiation can at first appear to be reasonable and benefits achievable, cultic pseudo-science gradually becomes evermore costly and mystifying. Ultimately, it is completely incomprehensible and its claimed benefits are never quantifiable. The self-righteous euphoria and relentless enthusiasm of cult proselytizers can be highly infectious and deeply misleading. They are invariably convinced that their own salvation also depends on saving others.

Structural mystification. The instigators of pernicious cults can continue to organize the creation, and/or dissolution, and/or subversion, of further (apparently independent) corporate structures pursuing lawful, and/or unlawful, activities in order to prevent, and/or divert, investigation and isolate themselves from liability. In this way, some cults survive all low-level challenges and spread like cancers enslaving the minds, and destroying the lives, of countless individuals in the process. At the same time, their leaders acquire absolute control over capital sums which place them alongside the most notorious racketeers in history. They operate behind ever-expanding, and changing, fronts of ‘privately-controlled, limited-liability, commercial companies,’ and/or ‘non-profit-making associations,’ etc. Other than ‘religious /philosophical’ and ‘political’ movements and ‘secret societies,’ typical reality-inverting disguises for cultic crime are:

‘charity/ philanthropy’; ‘fund-raising’; ‘lobbying’ on topical issues (‘freedom’, ‘ethics’, ‘environment’, ‘human rights’, ‘women’s rights’, ‘child protection’, ‘law enforcement’, ‘social justice’, etc.); ‘publishing and media’; ‘education’; ‘academia’; ‘celebrity’; ‘patriotism’; ‘information technology’; ‘public relations’; ‘advertising’; ‘medicine’; ‘alternative medicine’; ‘nutrition’; ‘rehabilitation’; ‘manufacturing’; ‘retailing’; ‘direct selling/ marketing’; ‘multi-level marketing’; ‘network marketing’; ‘regulation’; ‘personal development’; ‘self-betterment’; ‘positive thinking’; ‘self-motivation’; ‘leadership training’; ‘life coaching’; ‘research and development’; ‘investment’; ‘real estate’; ‘sponsorship’; ‘bereavement/trauma counselling’; ‘addiction counselling’; ‘legal counselling’; ‘cult exit-counselling’; ‘financial consulting’; ‘management consulting’; ‘clubs’; etc.

(From 'The Universal Identifying Characteristics of a Cult,' David Brear, Axiom Books, copyright 2005)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

It is universally accepted that lying to, or withholding key-information from, people in order to take their money, is fraud which is a form of theft. Unfortunately, as numerous cult instigators have proved, the broad mass of people will more-easily fall for a big lie than a small one, and if you tell a big enough lie and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to accept it as the truth. Fortunately, you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time (with the possible exception of sociologists of religion, short-sighted US politicians and all the many lawyers at the US Securities and Exchange Commission).

The following Orwellian statement has been taken from propaganda produced by the bosses of the 'MLM/Prosperity Gospel' cult most-commonly referred to as 'NuSkin:' 


'The success of Nuskin Enterprises which has allowed it to become a billion dollar company is due largely (to) their business model which allows any individual to have the opportunity to earn money by becoming distributors and resellers of their various top quality products. Today, Nuskin Enterprises is composed of a 750,000 distributors and the number is still growing. This growth in membership can be attributed to the fact that they offer highly sellable quality products...' 


http://mlmsponsoringnow.com/MLM-Business/mlm-companies/nuskin/nuskin-review/


It is very interesting to note exactly how the opening of this essentially-meaningless statement has been worded. Notice, it doesn't specifically claim that a significant number of non-salaried commission sales agents of 'NuSkin' have earned an overall net-income lawfully from regularly retailing 'NuSkin' products to the public for a profit, because that would be a direct lie. On the contrary, it specifically says that 'NuSkin has become a billion dollar company by allowing any individual to have the opportunity to earn money by reselling NuSkin products.' The final two phrases are a further, mystifying, 'Amway'-style inversion of reality: 'Today, Nuskin Enterprises is composed of 750,000 distributors and the number is still growing. This growth in membership can be attributed to the fact that they offer highly sellable quality products...' It would be far more accurate to say that, today (April 2012) the growing number of constantly-churning, losing investors around the world under contract to 'NuSkin' (but who have been arbitrarily defined in their take-it-or-leave-it contract as 'distributors'), is 850 thousands, but one of the reasons why 'NuSkin' has not been closed-down, and its bosses slapped in prison as racketeers (for running a dissimulated Ponzi scheme without a significant or sustainable source of revenue other than its own participants), is the fact that key- information has been maliciously withheld from both the public and from the regulators, by the beneficiaries of the 'NuSkin' fraud and by their de facto agents.  

'NuSkin' instigators c. 1984

Steve Lund               Sandie Tillotson          Blake Roney

In reality, since (the ironically-Orwellian year) of 1984, 'NuSkin' has been the label hung over the entrance to a typical, totalitarian labyrinth of corporate structures, which first appeared in the USA, then Canada (1990) and Hong Kong (1991) as a series of legally-registered, privately-controlled, limited-liability, commercial-companies comprising 'NuSkin International.' In 1992, 'NuSkin' reached settlements with 5 American States (Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan) over allegations of misleading marketing practises; admitting no wrongdoing, but paying the States' costs, refunding numerous losing participants and changing the wording of its literature. The Connecticut Attorney General sued 'Nu Skin,' charging the company with misleading its participants and running a pyramid scheme. Following a 1994, low-level civil investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission, 'NuSkin' was allowed to continue in the USA after paying $1 million and signing a effectively-toothless consent decree prohibiting it from making 'deceptive or unsubstantiated claims about its products.' 

In 1996, 'NuSkin Enterprises' was launched on the New York' Stock Exchange and the criminogenic organization's clandestine activities were exported around the globe. In 1997, the 'NuSkin' mob paid a derisory $1.5 million to the FTC to settle ongoing allegations of 'making unsubstantiated claims about its products.' At the same time, the Attorney general of Pennsylvania sued 'NuSkin,' again alleging that the company operated a pyramid scheme through a subsidiary corporate structure, 'QIQ Connections.' The Attorney General's office discovered that that 'QIQ' participants had paid for the right to market something which did not exist. 'NuSkin's' attorneys halted the suit by disolving the subsidiary, obliging victims who had paid money to 'QIQ' to transfer to 'Big Planet' (a newly-created blind alley in the mystifying 'NuSkin' labyrinth) offering 'Internet technology.' Classically, the head of 'Big Planet' then dismissed the pyramid-scheme charge as 'a few distributors who, in their enthusiasm, have been overzealous in some of their marketing activities.'

Blake Roney         Sandie Tillotson            Steve Lund

By the summer of 2010, 63 millions 'NuSkin shares' had been sold and these were illegally-trading at $27 a piece, making the counterfeit 'Direct Selling' company theoretically worth approximately $1.7 billions. At this time, 4.46 millions effectively-valueless 'NuSkin shares' owned by Blake Roney, Sandie Tillotson, Steve Lund and the 'Mormon Church' were unloaded for $114.3 millions. 


http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700039356/446-million-shares-of-Nu-Skin-sold-
for-114-million.html

The growing market-value of these bedazzling pieces of paper has been latterly based on the demonstrably-absurd, but strangely-familiar, capitalist/Utopian fairytale that the constantly-expanding, and increasingly-profitable, NuSkin/MLM enterprise is perfectly lawful, that $1.74 billions of 'NuSkin' products were sold during 2011 and that this will steadily grow to $2.5 billions over the next two years.  


http://www.gcimagazine.com/marketstrends/segments/skincare/138588224.html


However, some very important questions have evidently never been put to the corporate officers of 'NuSkin Enterprises Inc.,' by anyone from the mainstream media, the SEC or the FBI; principally:


Where has the bulk of your alleged 'direct selling company's' alleged 'income opportunity's' alleged 'lawful sales revenue' actually come from:

the regular retailing of goods, and/or services, directly to the general public by your alleged 'distributors' for a profit?

or 

from an endless-chain of recruits' regular, losing-investments laundered as 
'sales?'

Reed Elliot Slatkin

The above was essentially the same revealing question that was only put to Bernie Madoff, and to Reed Slatkin, after decades of increasingly-grandiose lies and mystifying distortions had been swallowed as the truth:

Has your company's alleged 'constantly-expanding, and increasingly-profitable, investment scheme,' had any significant source of revenue other than its own alleged 'investors?'

In the end, it was discovered that the answer to the question was 'no,' and Madoff got 150 years prison for peddling his wealthy victims infinite shares of their own finite money and for going to extraordinary lengths to hide the truth, whilst Slatkin got  just 14 years for doing the same, but (as far as I am aware) neither Madoff nor Slatkin was accused of cheating millions of people or of obstructing justice via the covert bribing of a leading US Presidential candidate with millions of stolen dollars.


In 2011, it was revealed that two Utah-registered corporate structures controlled by the bosses of 'NuSkin' had each given $1 million  to 'Restore Our Future,' a so-called 'Super PAC' (instigated by former aides to Mitt Romney), to 'support Mr. Romney's bid for the White House.'

Perhaps there is someone of a sufficiently high moral, and intellectual, calibre within the leadership of the Democratic party, or within the mainstream media, who might have the gumption to put a variation of the above, blindingly-obvious question directly to Mr. Romney in the lead up to 2012 US Presidential election?


If the USA was a rational country ruled by law (which manifestly it has long-since ceased to be), it would be FBI agents putting the above question to Mr. Romney, but then the ultimately-laughable, non-rational, criminogenic phenomenon of 'MLM Prosperity Gospel' cultism would never have been allowed to become established in the first place.


David Brear (copyright 2012)

The billionaire 'Amway' racketeers have also bought Mitt Romney

From 'The Universal Identifying Characteristics of a Cult' (Axiom Books, copyright David Brear 2005).

Radical changes of personality and behaviour. Pernicious cults can be of any size, duration and level of criminality. They comprise groups, and/or sub-groups, of previously diverse individuals bonded by their unconscious acceptance of the self-gratifying, but wholly imaginary, scenario that they alone represent a positive or protective force of purity and absolute righteousness derived from their leadership’s exclusive access to a superior or superhuman knowledge, and that they alone oppose a negative or adversarial force of impurity and absolute evil. Whilst this two-dimensional, or dualistic, narrative remains the adherents’ model of reality, they are, in effect, constrained to modify their individual personalities and behaviour accordingly.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Pam DeVos, Bob VanderWeide, Cheri VanderWeide, Dick DeVos, Betsy DeVos,
 Carol Van Andel, Dave Van Andel, and Doug DeVos 

It should come as no surprise to regular readers of this Blog to discover that, a few weeks ago, a dozen members of the billionaire DeVos and Van Andel clans publicly declared their support for Mitt Romney, describing him as:

 'a leader who stands for economic freedom, hope and opportunity.'

Heading the list of these 'MLM income opportunity' racketeers, and their dutiful wives, were Dick and Betsy DeVos. 

Given the wider facts that the Utopian 'MLM income opportunity'  lie has been used to bedazzle, blame and steal billions of dollars from, tens of millions of constantly-churning victims around the world, and that some of this mountain of stolen cash has wound up in Mitt Romney's bulging pocket, this sanctimonious document is enough to make any free-thinking reader want to vomit; for it actually says:

'Because of Mitt’s vision to address the critical issues of today and his track record as a proven, thoughtful leader, we are pleased to join other West Michigan leaders in adding our support for his campaign for President .... This country needs a leader like Mitt who has the courage and experience to find long-term solutions that address our current economic challenges and strengthens this country’s sense of optimism, competitiveness, and prosperity – and ultimately the quality of life for our citizens.'

The full list of signatories includes Steve, Dave and Carol Van Andel and Richard, Helen, Dan, Pam, Doug and Maria DeVos, and Cheri VanderWeide.

In reality, if Mitt Romney is elected to the office of US President in 2012, the chances of any major, US-based 'MLM income opportunity' racketeers being held fully to account for their crimes, will suddenly become even more remote than they are now. It is, therefore, manifestly in the criminal interests of the DeVos and Van Andel Clans that Mitt Romney be elected; whilst the financing of his campaign by the bosses of the 'Amway' mob and by the bosses of the 'Mormon' copy-cat of 'Amway' , 'NuSkin', should be seen for what it is - an attempt to subvert the democratic process and obstruct justice. However, the grooming and buying of yet another short-sighted US politician by narcissistic 'MLM income opportunity' racketeers (who steadfastly pretend moral and intellectual authority whilst pursuing clandestine criminal objectives), is only one small section of a pattern of ongoing, major racketeering activity (as defined by the US federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 1970, and clarified by subsequent US Supreme Court judgements) which now stretches back more than 60 years.

In the past, various casual observers have thrown up their hands in horror when I have dared to say that (given its scale and tragic results) blame-the-victim 'MLM' fraud is a global financial holocaust (with a small 'h') of which many people have been in denial; but how else can such an extensive and cruel deception be accurately described? Sadly, the 'MLM income opportunity' lie has been allowed to grow to such titanic proportions, that the truth has become almost unthinkable. However, since the concept of the big (propaganda) lie, is very well-documented, it seems almost inconceivable that the directors of intelligence agencies around the world have also remained unable to look beyond the ends of their noses and identify what the bosses of 'MLM/Prosperity Gospel' cults have actually been doing. 

The following quote has often been attributed to Joseph Goebbels (as a confession): 

'If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.'

Given its content, it is supremely ironic that there is no evidence for Goebbels ever having made the above statement. Indeed, before his suicide in the face of reality, Goebbels spent the last few years of his life steadfastly pretending that the heroic and enlightened leader of the Aryan master race, Adolf Hitler, was telling the truth, whilst the leaders of Britain and the USA (controlled by the forces of evil - Jews and Freemasons) were repeating big propaganda lies.

The origin of the quote is, in fact, a psychological profile of Adolf Hitler, compiled in the USA during WWII by the 'Office of Strategic Services,' later to become known as the 'CIA.' This stated that Hitler's :'primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.' This profile was compiled by a team of 'OTS' academics who had apparently been studying 'Mein Kampf,' Chapter 10:

 '... in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad mass of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly outrageous lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.' 

Again, Hitler was not confessing to being a liar. This was merely a pathetic little narcissist who imagined himself to be a great author/thinker steadfastly pretending to be struggling to establish the truth against the reality-inverting forces of evil.

'Amway Diamond' schills, Dexter and Birdie Yager

Bearing all this in mind, the following is a transcript of a ‘training tape’ entitled: ‘How to Handle Negative Websites’, produced and distributed by the ‘InterNet Services Corporation’, an organization registered in the USA as a privately-controlled limited-liability commercial company (apparently independent of ‘Amway’), but owned by ‘Amway Diamond Distributor’, ‘pastor’ Dexter Yager. The speaker was Pastor Mark Gorman, 2001, author of 'God's Plan for Prosperity' (which, in respect of 'MLM' fraud, might be more accurately-entitled 'How to Stop Thinking Critically and Commit Financial Suicide'):

‘I'm convinced more and more each day that this (‘Amway’) business was God's idea. What  I'm saying is God created this (‘Amway’) business so that we could pull families together and help people — and the Devil does not like that ! If you don't believe there's a Devil, go on the Internet  !  Man I'm telling you, there's a Devil ! The Devil does not like this (‘Amway’) business ! - He does not like the unity in this (Amway’) business ! All I want to say to you is:  guys, if I were the Devil and I saw a business that was keeping marriages together, where that men learned how to love their wife … they're taught from stage in Leadership sessions how to love their wife … where women are taught how to really integrate the marriage … the husband and wife relationship … where parents are taught how to bring up their children and encourage them to speak life and positive things into them so that those children have good healthy self-images and believe that they can really do anything that they put their minds to do .  If I saw a business that was responsible for holding those marriages and families together, and getting people out of debt, and learning how to treat people with dignity, respect and kindness … a business that gave people hope for freedom, hope for their financial future … that a person could not even succeed in this (‘Amway’) business without helping somebody else, and that the more people you help the more money you make… a business that teaches the principles of morals and ethics and integrity, that gives dignity to human life, that validates marriages an institution that should be reverenced that should not be put down or criticised or belittled .… If I saw a business that did all those things and so much more for humanity .… If I were the Devil, I'd hate it with a passion ! And I am convinced that not only does Satan hate the Church, I'm convinced with all my heart that Satan has good reason for hating this (‘Amway’) business. He has good reason for hating Dexter and Birdie and every Leader in their organisation. Satan hates this (‘Amway’) business with a passion, because this (‘Amway’) business stands for everything he hates ! And if you want to know whose behind those Websites, all I ask you is, who could it be… huh  ? … Could it be Satan ?’

Thus, according to the frighteningly-familiar, closed-logic fiction that has controlled the reality and modified the personalities, and behaviour, of 'Amway' core-adherents, anyone challenging the authenticity of the morally and intellectually perfect 'Amway' leaders is not a free-thinking individual in search of the truth, but a liar controlled by the reality-inverting forces of evil. 

David Brear (copyright 2012)

After one month, Rupert Murdoch's 'Wall Street Journal' is still covering up the 'Amway' racket

From 'The Universal Identifying Characteristics of a Cult' ( Axiom Books, copyright David Brear 2005).

Self-appointed sovereign leadership. Pernicious cults are instigated and ruled by psychologically dominant individuals, and/or bodies of psychologically dominant individuals (often with impressive, made-up names, and/or ranks, and/or titles), who hold themselves accountable to no one. These individuals have severe and inflexible Narcissistic Personalities (i.e. they suffer from a chronic psychological disorder, especially when resulting in a grandiose sense of self-importance/ righteousness and the compulsion to take advantage of others and to control others’ views of, and behaviour towards, them).* They steadfastly pretend moral and intellectual authority whilst pursuing various, hidden, criminal objectives (fraudulent, and/or sexual, and/or violent, etc.). The admiration of their adherents only serves to confirm, and magnify, the leaders’ strong sense of self-entitlement and fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, ideal love, etc.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Narcissus by Caravaggio c. 1599

* ‘Narcissistic Personality Disorder,’ is a psychological term first used in 1971 by Dr. Heinz Kohut (1913-1981). It was recognised as the name for a form of pathological narcissism in ‘The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 1980.’ Narcissistic traits (where a person talks highly of himself/herself to eliminate feelings of worthlessness) are common in, and considered ‘normal’ to, human psychological development. When these traits become accentuated by a failure of the social environment and persist into adulthood, they can intensify to the level of a severe mental disorder. Severe and inflexible NPD is thought to effect less than 1% of the general adult population. It occurs more frequently in men than women. In simple terms, NPD is reality-denying, total self-worship born of its sufferers’ unconscious belief that they are flawed in a way that makes them fundamentally unacceptable to others. In order to shield themselves from the intolerable rejection and isolation which they unconsciously believe would follow if others recognised their defective nature, NPD sufferers go to almost any lengths to control others’ view of, and behaviour towards, them. NPD sufferers often choose partners, and raise children, who exhibit ‘co-narcissism’ (a co-dependent personality disorder like co-alcoholism). Co-narcissists organize themselves around the needs of others (to whom they feel responsible), they accept blame easily, are eager to please, defer to others’ opinions and fear being seen as selfish if they act assertively. NPD was observed, and apparently well-understood, in ancient times. Self-evidently, the term, ‘narcissism,’ comes from the allegorical myth of Narcissus, the beautiful Greek youth who falls in love with his own reflection.

Currently, NPD has nine recognised diagnostic criteria (five of which are required for a diagnosis):

·         has a grandiose sense of self-importance.

·         is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, ideal love, etc.

·         believes that he/she is special and unique and can only be understood by other special people.

·         requires excessive admiration.

·         strong sense of self-entitlement.

·         takes advantage of others to achieve his/her own ends.

·         lacks empathy.

·         is often envious or believes that others are envious of him/her.

·         arrogant disposition.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Charles Ponzi                           Bernard Madoff

Imagine if a leading financial journalist had been granted an interview with either the high and mighty Charles Ponzi or Bernie Madoff, prior to them being exposed as absurd, but dangerous, economic alchemists running variations of the same outrageous, fake 'investment scheme' without any external source of revenue other than that deriving their own so-called 'investors.' Imagine if that journalist had been given a complete prior-explanation (at his own request) of what Mr. Ponzi or Mr. Madoff was doing, but then failed to ask the obvious key-questions which would have revealed their hidden criminal objectives.

With the benefit of hindsight, what conclusions would any free-thinking observer of such a friendly interview be forced to draw?

In reality, from what we now know of Mr. Ponzi and Mr. Madoff, neither of these severe and inflexible narcissists would have agreed to take part in any interview unless he was confident that the interviewer was financially illiterate, or unless the interview itself was part of the economic hocus-pocus and the interviewer a stooge.

Reed Elliot Slatkin, admired and respected 'Scientology Minister,' 
sentenced in California in 2003  to 14 years prison for
mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and obstructing justice.

Perhaps a more revealing analogy would be to imagine if a leading financial journalist had been granted an interview with Reed Slatkin, prior to him being exposed as a psychotic economic alchemist who secretly justified 25 years of financial crimes with the scripted lie that he was an enlightened 'Scientologist' - a superior being struggling to clear planet Earth of the invisible forces of evil.



So, how can the following be explained?

http://online.wsj.com/video/the-big-interview-questioning-the-amway-way/FE12F29C-D022-42B8-8ACD-16A114E0DA96.html

It is now one month since this 30 minute propaganda broadcast for the 'Amway' fraud, in the form of an 'interview'  appeared on the Net.

Dennis K. Berman

Let's be quite clear about this, unless he really is a financially illiterate dope (which is very difficult to believe, considering his job), Dennis Berman (Deputy Bureau Chief, Money and Investing, at Rupert Murdoch's 'Wall Street Journal') conducted a sham interview maliciously designed to obstruct justice and cover up ongoing major racketeering activity; for despite being supplied (at his own request) with a full and accurate deconstruction of how all so-called 'MLM income opportunities' have actually been closed-market swindles (a.k.a. Ponzi schemes, dissimulated behind effectively-unsaleable products, and or services, and based on the specious economic theory that endless-chain recruitment + endless purchases by the recruits = endless profits for the recruits), Dennis Berman failed to ask Messrs. DeVos and Van Andel the obvious questions that might have revealed their hidden criminal objectives:

Excluding all the 'Amway' corporation's own unsubstantiated documentation, and all unsubstantiated verbal statements made by yourselves and by your alleged 'sales force,' what independent evidence can you produce that would prove that your enterprise's alleged 'permanently profitable and expanding Multi-Level Marketing income opportunity' has actually had any significant external source of revenue other than that deriving from its own constantly-churning participants? i.e. Can you produce the audited accounts of a significant number of persons who have been under contract to 'Amway' as alleged 'business owners,' showing that their alleged 'businesses' have been authentic and that these persons have paid income-tax on profits accruing lawfully from their having regularly retailed a significant quantity of 'Amway' products, and/or services, directly to the public? 

Self-evidently, during the alleged interview, Dennis Berman behaved like a grinning stooge feeding scripted gag-lines to two grinning comedians. Laughably, at no time did he challenge any unsubstantiated statement made by Messrs. DeVos and Van Andel whom he kept addressing as 'you guys.' 

After approximately 14 minutes of sycophancy, Dennis Berman asked the 'Amway' bosses what percentage of their '$10.8 billion annual sales' are to the general public? He was first told that according to 'Amway's' own estimates, 50%, but in almost the same breath, this 50% figure was quickly qualified as referring to 'customers and end-users.'  However, again almost in the same breath, the 'Amway' bosses made the absurd claim that 100% of 'Amway sales are to customers and end-users, because Amway distributors are all customers and end users.' In other words, 'Amway' adherents have been both buyers and sellers in an economically-unviable closed-market. To the ill-informed,  this mystifying economic hocus-pocus might sound impressive. However, it is a classic piece of Orwellian 'double-think,' but then, the quantifiable evidence proves that 'MLM income opportunity' lie has been maintained, by shutting down the critical and evaluative faculties of its victims using co-ordinated devious techniques of social, psychological and physical persuasion (without their fully-informed consent). Indeed, in a recent lawsuit brought by a group of distressed American 'Amway' adherents, an internal report (from 2006) was produced as evidence. This unchallenged document (which had been deliberately withheld from the public) showed that less than 4% of alleged 'Amway sales' were, in fact, authentic retail transactions to the public. However, even this ridiculously low score is a distortion of reality, because most 'Amway customers,' who have not been adherents of the organization, turn out to have been relatives or close friends of adherents. 

Rupert Murdoch

After Dennis Berman's comic charade with the billionaire 'Amway' bosses appeared on the WSJ Website, for obvious reasons, both Robert FitzPatrick (President of the Pyramid Scheme Alert http://pyramidschemealert.org/) and I contacted him with our many concerns. Furthermore, we also contacted Dennis Berman's Bureau Chief at the WSJ, and I took the trouble to contact Rupert Murdoch (the billionaire boss of 'News Corporation'). Indeed, I spoke to Rupert Murdoch's personal assistant, Nancy Porto, at length, and she requested that I send my concerns about Dennis Berman (in the form of an e-mail) to her, to be given to her boss.

After one month, neither Robert FitzPatrick nor I, have received so much as an acknowledgement, let alone an intelligible reply, from any employee or officer of the 'WSJ' or  'News Corporation.' 


In this instance, Rupert Murdoch cannot say that he was completely unaware that a 'News Corporation' employee has been participating in corrupt activities. 

William H. McMasters

It is interesting to note that one of Ponzi's 'business' associates/employees, a sharp-witted publicist, William H. McMasters (who, for 10 days during 1920, helped Charles Ponzi, to expand his fraud dramatically by arranging for him to be interviewed by wide-eyed journalists who then published articles which were the equivalent of free advertisments), sold the explanation of what Ponzi was really doing to the 'Boston Post,' and that this publication later received the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for its reporting of the story. McMasters saw that Ponzi was a blithering idiot who couldn't even add up. He immediately applied common sense, and deduced that what Ponzi said (that his 'Securities Exchange Company' had been sending millions of dollars of its investors' money to a network of agents who had been buying international postal reply coupons in countries with currencies weakened by WWI, and then shipping them to the USA, where he had exchanged them for equivalent US postage stamps which he had then sold for a 400% profit) was far too good to be true. McMasters, who was not an economist, simply observed that all Ponzi was doing was taking his later victims' money to pay out imaginary 'profits' to his earlier contributors. Ponzi wasn't actually sending money abroad or trading in anything. He was peddling his victims infinite shares of their own finite money. It was later discovered that Ponzi had only ever bought a handful of international postal coupons (which could not be redeemed for a profit), and that the entire world supply of these documents was vastly-inferior to the phenomenal quantity which Ponzi had claimed to have traded.  
http://www.fraud-magazine.com/article.aspx?id=4294970026

In the case of Bernie Madoff, as most people now know, no one seems to have taken much notice of the independent whistle-blower, Harry Markopolos, who applied common sense and came up with essentially the same absurd explanation as McMasters had, 80 years previously. 

Bernie Madoff's narcissistic lie entitled, 'the world's largest hedge fund' (but which appears almost insignificant in comparison with the narcissistic lie entitled 'MLM income opportunity'), had been allowed to grow to such titanic proportions, that the truth had become almost unthinkable.




David Brear (copyright 2012)