In 2013, Herbalife, facing a full-on assault from a hedge fund manager still bitter about not rowing varsity crew at Harvard; a class action lawsuit inexplicably emanating from Salt Lake City; and several ominous Sword of Damocles style government inquires… added a mandatory arbitration and class waiver provision to its ridiculous consumer “contract”.
Here’s the first version of that provision. (Please make sure to read every word carefully because it’s desperately important to the story. I can’t overemphasize the importance of reading the provision, in its entirety, before continuing.)
SECTION 29 ARBITRATION AGREEMENT FOR DISPUTES BETWEEN MEMBERS AND HERBALIFE
Jessie Conners Tieva is a scammer who’s spent most of the last ten years fronting for various Utah fraud operations. She’s a grinder–always out on the road, talking about doing things she’s never done. Jessie is one of the few scammers who I’ve had the pleasure of heckling in person. When we met in a half empty hotel conference room in Chicago six years ago, she was fronting for the Robert Kiyosaki Rich Dad Poor Dad Utah-backed op.
This week Jessie and her husband Matt Tevia were busted by the FTC and the Minnesota Attorney General for operating a short-lived hustle called Sellers Playbook.
The Fake News should be running the headline:
Trump University “Professor” and Failed “Apprentice” Busted for Fraud
This is my most viewed video. It’s amazing. I won’t pretend that I don’t love it–the greed, the panting, the epic drama of secret audio recordings.
It’s been floating around the internet for eight years now, but it’s not allowed on YouTube. My heartbreaking work of staggering genius has been taken down from the big social media sites an absolutely uncomical amount of times.
This article is brought to you by the advertising that brings you Slate.
I started sometimes reading Slate when Slate started publishing stuff to read. Slate, an exclusively online news magazine, was one of the first of its kind. I thought it was going to change the world. Back then I naively thought that just about everything that was happening on the fledgling web was going to change the world.
Oh, M&M’s have their own website now? This is going to change the world!
Bloomberg reports that top YouTube stars can expect poverty level wages. That doesn’t surprise you because you’re sophisticated (and good looking, and smart, and conscientious) and you read a site taglined: “… you can’t make money online.” But other–lesser–people are surprised.
Straight to the guts:
Breaking into the top 3 percent of most-viewed channels could bring in advertising revenue of about $16,800 a year, Bärtl found in an analysis for Bloomberg News. That’s a bit more than the U.S. federal poverty line of $12,140 for a single person. (The guideline for a two-person household is $16,460.) The top 3 percent of video creators of all time in Bärtl’s sample attracted more than 1.4 million views per month.
That’s almost enough money to buy gas, drive to the library, and take a nap.
One in 3 British children age 6 to 17 told pollsters last year that they wanted to become a full-time YouTuber. That’s three times as many as those who wanted to become a doctor or a nurse.
You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney–and obviously you cannot–then screw you.
That’s how the law “works” for real people. The system is built for, and run by, powerful synthetic people. Corporations, cartels, partnerships, shells, professional associations, unions, and government agencies are “the people”–the people are the pawns.
When Herbalife needs lawyers to fight off fraud claims, they get to pick from the biggest and the bestest. It makes no difference that their business model is a blatant deception bringing about a humanitarian crisis. Members of the legal monopoly don’t have to care about petty triflings like morality. Herbalife’s got the cash to put up a huge retainer–and to pay legal bills larger than the operating budgets of most companies–so the “best” lawyers and law firms are immediately available to them… less than no questions asked.
“Our new name, Herbalife Nutrition, reflects our strategic transformation as a leader in the nutrition industry.”
They’ve strategically transformed into a leader in nutrition. But they don’t sell food; they sell food replacements isolated from commodity crops and industrialized into unnatural pills and powders. It’s the opposite of everything that science, and life, has to tell us about nutritiousness.
The shifty internet marketing outfit Cambridge Analytica, attached to the shifty editor of internet propaganda site Breitbart.com, attached to the shifty too-old-for-the-internet billionaire Robert Mercer; mined Facebook data and used it to target voters.
Also, if you need any Ukrainian prostitute type stuff… that’s a yes for Cambridge Analytica. They do it all - from spamming, to expounding on spamming, to pretending that they know a guy who knows a guy who does murders while spamming.
On September 18, 2017, myself (an online activist) and my longtime friend Etan Mark (an offline litigator) filed a federal class action lawsuit against Herbalife’s fraudulent Circle of Success event system.
The suit doesn’t accuse Herbalife of being a pyramid scheme, or make any claim for damages related to the purchase of Herbalife’s products. Instead, it focuses on a cartel of shady creeps who run a dirty side business mandating that victims spend small fortunes attending a never-ending sequence of expensive events.
Live events are the backbone of the Herbalife scam, and of the scam industry in general; the draw and the glue that makes all of the life ruining possible. It can’t be “too good to be true” when you can see other people believing that it is true. The best weapon against nice people is other nice people.
Michael Hamilton :: owner of the Angel Valley Fake Results Exploitation Retreat Center LLC :: and proud member of the gnome family :: spent Friday wearing a tie and being crossed by Truc Do {Munger Tolles & Olson} :: ninja of boring.
Angel Valley has hosted James Arthur Ray’s increasingly dangerous :: and obviously horrible :: Spiritual Warrior event every year since 2003. It’s a miracle that people didn’t die sooner. That they didn’t surely had NOTHING to do with Gnome Hamilton {2.0} … who charges people big money to watch him pretend like he’s something other than a dirty little money whore.
It’s his land. It was his lodge. It was his fault. Says the defense to the jury :: me thought … but no.
Such a good argument :: because it was his fault. Not all his fault {of course} :: and not his criminal fault. But Michael Hamilton and his imaginary Angels were at fault. Enabling the devil’s greeds to service your own greeds is faulty.
The defense team spent entire days trying to destroy the credibility and characters of Ms. Martin and Dr. Bunn :: both of whose actions were near impeccable. So the bankrupt :: corrupt … posing little asshole Michael Hamilton was sure to get his.
Mike Koenigs has a Main Street Marketing Machines {Fusion 2.0} that he wants to get you rich with … of course you’ll have to pay him some thousands now … but then later you’ll be totally fucking rich :: and stuffs :: and you’ll say to yourself :: “Self :: great job giving Mike Koenigs all that fucking money … well played.”
Before Main Street Marketing Machines 2.0 Fusion was riching people up :: there was Mike’s multi-thousand dollar value extravaganza :: Social Media Money Machines …
A few months before that there was the equally high priced Main Street Marketing Machines {not-Fusion 2.0} …
A few months before that … pond scum dirt eater Mike Koenigs pitched his idea for a Traffic Geyser rebrand to the faux-Godfather of Internet Syndicates Irwin Frank Kern.
Sean McAlister has a turd of a company that he and his drunk stupid mommy decided to call JVProductLauch. Sean and his hommies over JVPL will help you launch a massively overpriced fruaduct via dubious affiliate relationships. It doesn’t sound very exciting until you hear the background music …
Sean McAlister was JVPL’ing James Malinchak’s Millionaire Secrets Revealed frauduct :: and so had a direct financial interest in my shockingly popular post of almost the same name. Sean decided to try and save the launch by misrepresenting himself and his interests on this blog … not a particularly good idea.
Now presenting Sean McAlister as “Gotcha” :: a microcosm of the fake robot project …
