The Dark Side of the Looking Glass

Sanity Check ^ | 2004-2005 | Dr. Patrick M. Byrne

[Hostage]

There are 20+ million readers of FR. Most everyone of them are among the most intelligent Americans that exist today.

This is a 1-hour presentation about a scandal that dwarfs Enron, a scandal that should be as important in our thinking as the War on Terror and in fact interplays with WOT.

Once America has an understanding of this scandal, the revolution that ensues will change American markets and politics as severely as the Great Depression transformed American society of the 1930s and 1940s.

The revolution this scandal will generate could go in any direction. It is the duty of conservatives to educate themselves of the mechanics of this incredible crime and to ensure that needed reforms are driven away from socialist remedies and towards transparency.

Part of the problem this scandal encompasses includes NAKED SHORT SELLING in our capital markets.

You may think that the capital markets do not affect your life, but that would be wrong thinking, The following presentation will open your eyes and start the process of making you think hard about your future and everyone else's.

http://www.businessjive.com/nss/darkside.html

[Hostage]

This is no tin-foil hat conspiracy. This is as real as it gets, much more real than any news buzz of the day.

The only reason you haven't heard about it before is because no one has been able to explain to you. You may have caught a whiff of it when REFCO hit the national and international news outlets. But likely you didn't understand what was really in front of you.

It is a complex matter but once your eyes are opened you will understand it is driven by the same vices of greed, larceny and counterfeit fraud that have existed throughout human history.

The presentation is timely meaning the mid-2000s. Because chances are if you are 50 years or less of age you won't see a retirement and social security will not be helpful (if it still exists for you).

To understand how this scandal affects your retirement, you may also want to view the Frontline piece from May 16, 2006 entitled "Can You Afford to Retire?".

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/retirement/

No, this is not a post about how 'the sky is falling'. This scandal can be exposed and understood. The problems it has caused in our society can be fixed but only if you take the time to get smart about it. Your mission is to lift the fog draped around you by those that would have you remain blind.

Remember that the problem with exposing this scandal is because it is COMPLICATED. So please study it and boil it down to the following mantra:

Settle the Trades and Disclose the Failures!

or

Market Transparency Now!

or any other mantra that Freepers are famous for inventing.

And finally, when you observe your retirement and the retirement of others pull a disappearing act, be ready to push for political reforms based on your superior understanding of who the real culprits are and what is needed to ensure our American way of life.

[ansel12]

"There are 20+ million readers of FR"



I find it hard to believe that more than 20 million different people read FR, where does that number come from?

[taxed2death]

http://www.nesara.us/pages/home.html

[Hostage]

Try listening to the presentation link I posted. Your link is for nutjobs. The link I posted is for everyday ordinary Americans.

[theDentist]

Let's cut to the quick. What are you selling?

[Al Gator]

Yea Doc, my thoughts exactly.

[MineralMan]

"This is no tin-foil hat conspiracy."

---

Really! I'd say this is a full-scale tape aluminum foil over all your windows conspiracy. In fact, it's a big enough conspiracy that you might just want to build a Faraday cage around your entire house.

Uffda!

[Rockingham]

This is one of those things that the regulators should address but are chronically disinclined to do so until there is a massive crisis. If that happens, the government will do things: print more money so as to prevent a liquidity crisis; and then express shock about the scandals and deny that they reach into the political and regulatory system, which, of course, they do.

[Graybeard58]

I find it hard to believe that more than 20 million different people read FR, where does that number come from?

Rectal estimate.

[RoadTest]

"There are 20+ million readers of FR."

Is this true? Twenty million plus???

[RadioAstronomer]

LOL! BTTT for later read.

[gondramB]

>>http://www.nesara.us/pages/home.html<<

>>2. Removes US administration officials and all members of the US Congress from their positions due to their continuous unconstitutional actions. Bush, Cheney, Cabinet members, and all members of Congress are immediately removed from office by NESARA’s public announcement; specific law enforcement personnel shall physically remove Bush government officials from their offices. <<

Is this something you are advocating? Forceful overthrow of the Federal government? Or is this just a link you provided?

[Al Gator]

Yup, got pulled out his butt while he was typing.

Still burnin hot!

[Graybeard58]

See #9

There are a little more than a quarter million registered here, that number probably includes dead trolls too.

[Malacoda]

Purina Viking Kitty chow?

[Hostage]

I am not selling anything. If you don't have the time for the presentation, then blow it off. Or bookmark it for later.

Nothing is being sold here.

The reason I put it out here is because it is a real problem that is DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN. There's a fair chance that Freepers can boil this thing down so that the everyday Joe can grasp it (I hope).

The fact that you responded within a few minutes means you haven't listened to the following:

http://www.businessjive.com/nss/darkside.html

I guarantee if you take the time and try to understand it you will find that nothing is being sold here. It's for education only.

[Hostage]

Again your response is within a few minutes of the original posting. It is impossible that you listened to the following:

http://www.businessjive.com/nss/darkside.html


Try listening and studying and then come back and mouth off all you want.

[MineralMan]

Given the huge amount of information there is out there, you'll need to come up with a better reason than this for me to go sit through a presentation.

Let's start with your opening premise...that there are 20+ million FR readers. That's wrong by at least two orders of magnitude.

So, if you can't get even that right, why should I bother with your post at all? Is the math in that presentation on the same level of accuracy as your statement? If so, then it's worthless.

So tell us why we should bother....

[Hostage]

Thank you. The first intelligent response so far. But you've must have been informed previously.

Nevertheless, please do take the time to listen to this presentation:

http://www.businessjive.com/nss/darkside.html

or bookmark for later. Even though you are wise to what's going on, the above link is still educational and I would value your comments as to how it can be made simpler for the average Joe to grasp.

[Junior]

Most everyone of them are among the most intelligent Americans that exist today.

Nice attempt to blow sunshine up our asses. I can assure you as an eight-year veteran of this forum, the average intelligence here is reflective of the average intelligence in America -- i.e., it's average. Indeed, with any population sampling of the size you provided, the average intelligence will be ... average.

[Al Gator]

clapclapclapclapclap

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

And the problem is that half of the population is below average in intelligence.

[Hostage]

Please ignore the nutjob link you responded to. It is distracting from the educational and rational link here:

http://www.businessjive.com/nss/darkside.html

[bert]

He has confused Free Republic with Rush Limbaugh.

[Hostage]

Not just registered! I said READERS OF FR, not necessarily all are registered!

[Al Gator]

Your pressing insistence that I listen to your tape first tells me that there is some kind of hypnotic, satanic message buried in it that will make me one of Rush's 20 million mindnumbed robots.

Right?

[Blackirish]

So when the hedge funds buy.....let's say crude oil ..people want it outlawed.

When hedge funds sell short...say s&p futures...people want it outlawed.

Let's just not allow them or any large player to buy or sell. It works real well in Cuba.

[ansel12]

"There are 20+ million readers of FR"



"I find it hard to believe that more than 20 million different people read FR, where does that number come from?"





Please do me the courtesy of answering my simple question, you are responding to most everyone else.

[gondramB]

>>So, if you can't get even that right, why should I bother with your post at all? Is the math in that presentation on the same level of accuracy as your statement? If so, then it's worthless.

So tell us why we should bother....<<

As a separate issue from this presentation there is a problem here. Of the $6 billion a day of short sellers who fail to deliver the stock there is a portion (perhaps as high as 1/4) who do it on purpose). Because stock exchange members are not required to buy into the system that covers such cases there is potential for abuse - someone could use the system to depress the price temporarily of a thinly traded stock.

this mainly hurts active traders of thinly traded stocks so i don't really see why there is this scare that it will effect retirements. In any case its less one 1/1000 of the traded shares. So i don't see any need to sit through this presentation but you could keep an eye on this - big hedge funds could such naked short selling illegally and move a big stock.

[Moose4]

So, for those of us who are firewalled and cubicle-bound and not watching any hour-long presentations because we're too busy working so the gummint can screw us out of our money...can you distill this down into a paragraph or two, instead of just reposting the link over and over and over? Y'know, for the 50% of us that are below average.

}:-)4

[Hostage]

How would you know there are 20 million listeners of Rush Limbaugh?

Given that Hannity, Rush and many many others have referenced, discussed many many times Free Republic, you can reasonably infer that 20 million separate persons worldwide have hit the FR site.

I already told in the posting why people should bother.

I invested the time. And my time is precious and scarce.
It's your choice. Don't want to invest the time? Blow it off!

[Hostage]

I said most. Maybe you are ex-most?

[Al Gator]

Alrighteee then, because you did it, so should I!!!

Now where's that doggone cliff.....

[Hostage]

Rush Limbaugh has mentioned and referenced this site many many many times. But it is not relevant. What is relevant is this link:

http://www.businessjive.com/nss/darkside.html

[Al Gator]

Now I get it. Its a trojan horse. You click the link, he gets yer goodies.

Or is it malware?

Too insistent that I click his confounded link!!

[Hostage]

See post #31. I did not expect that '20 million readers' would derail you from discussing what is truly relevant:

http://www.businessjive.com/nss/darkside.html

[Al Gator]

Cmon hostage post that link a few more hundred times.

Hostage to the link, right?

[MineralMan]

"How would you know there are 20 million listeners of Rush Limbaugh?
"

I wouldn't. That's why I didn't write such a thing. You're attributing something to me that I did not write.

It is patently ridiculous to state that there are 20 Million individual people who read Free Republic. There is no possible justification for that number.

That's why I responded.

You could start with giving us a bio of this Dr. Byrne who created this hour-long slideshow. Who is he? What are his qualifications to wax eloquent regarding naked short selling?

I went to the site, but did not get an adequate answer to that question. So I did not waste an hour of my time. I even Googled his name, but was unsatisfied there, as well.

Before I invest an hour, I need more information. You seem unwilling to supply any of it, so I'll just pass. I've wasted too much time on this already.

[Al Gator]

Too late Mineral, you clicked his link, now he's got a bug on you.

[ansel12]

"And my time is precious and scarce."



That wasn't much help on the 20 million thing, but why is your time so "precious and scarce", ?

[Hostage]

I have been registered to FR a very long time and have never been suspended nor accused of creating software traps or any such thing. It's not in me to do such things. The only thing I do on FR is trade information and education.

I guess the old adage applies here:

"Never argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and beat you to death in Idiotville".

[MineralMan]

I found this brief bio of the author of this presentation. I remain unimpressed with his credentials:

---

"Patrick M. Byrne, PhD, received his undergraduate degree in Asian studies and philosophy from Dartmouth College, a certification from Beijing Teachers University, his master's degree from Cambridge University, and his doctorate in philosophy from Stanford University. He has served as a visiting lecturer at both Dartmouth and the Beijing Normal University. Dr. Byrne is currently Chief Executive Officer of Overstock.com, a successful internet site. He travels extensively throughout the world."

[evets]

[Al Gator]

"Never argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and beat you to death in Idiotville"."

LOL

You read my tagline.

[somemoreequalthanothers]

All right, which one of you guys is from Idiotville??

[MineralMan]

From the Wikipedia entry on Patrick M. Byrne, PhD:

---

'Jihad' against naked shorting
In 2005, Byrne contended that a market-wide conspiracy to commit naked short selling was targeting Overstock.com. Short selling is a way for an investor to bet that the share price of a company will decline, namely by borrowing shares from someone else, selling them, and then when the price is lower buying them back to return to the person one borrowed shares from. In naked short selling, the shares are not borrowed beforehand. The practice is controversial, and its prevalence is open to dispute.

Byrne held a conference call which was widely publicized because of its many allegations, including his contention that a "conspiracy" was targeting his company, and his comparing his company's adversaries to the "dark lord of the Sith". He repeated the conspiracy allegations several times during 2006, contending the markets were "broken."

Byrne subsequently commenced what he described as a "jihad" against naked short selling and short-sellers who he described as targeting his company. He filed suit against a hedge fund, Rocker Partners, which he claimed colluded with a securities research firm and the press to drive down the price of his stock. The defendants vigorously denied the charges. He also waged a public campaign against the practice, in the media and Internet.

Besides controversy over what many allege to be unstable behaviour of Byrne, there is a more general debate about whether a CEO should be concerned about naked short selling of the stock of his company. The reason is because if the CEO believes in the strength and future prospects of his company, naked short selling would cause the price of the company to temporarily fall, allowing the CEO to buy more of the valuable company at cheaper prices.

In March 2006, the chairman of Overstock.com, John Byrne -- Patrick Byrne's father -- said that he was thinking of stepping down in disagreement over his son's "jihad" over naked short-selling. This development contributed to the controversy over Byrne's behavior. [1] In April 2006, John Byrne stepped down to become vice-chairman, and was replaced by Patrick Byrne.

[Hostage]

Well I guess you're more interested in the number 20 million. What a load of crap and what a mistake for me to think that it was so unimportant.

As for who Dr. Patrick M. Byrne is, there's a search engine called Google, use it.

Oh sh*t, I'll bend over for your majesty and do it for you:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Dr.+Patrick+M.+Byrne

and if you don't like Google, there's ask.com or msnsearch.com or .... ad infinitum.

[Al Gator]

(blush) I guess that be ME!

[xjcsa]

Great link, that's some hilarious reading.

[MineralMan]

With the two above postings regarding the author of this hour-long presentation, I will leave it to the individual to decide the worth of listening to it.

For me, it sounds like the sour grapes ramblings of the CEO of a company that isn't working out so well. Life's tough.