There has been plenty about the shady short-sellers of Medallion Financial Corporation (Nasdaq:TAXI) that never sat well with BloggerNews. The primary perpetrators of market manipulation of the stock, James Hickman and Gordon Gossage, exhibited some suspicious behavior right from the start. As reported here, their initial short-selling report was issued under the name “HVM Capital”. […]

The road to fiscal responsibility for our nation begins in the smaller municipalities. A smaller voting base permits individuals to have meaningful influence on elections, and therefor wield enough power to affect expenditures. In an ideal world, it isn’t a municipality that handles various civil engineering projects, but rather contracts it to a truly private […]

You wouldn’t have to worry about privacy issues on Facebook if you didn’t post sensitive, private information on Facebook…such as information that one day can be used against you. And really, you should share only what you consider “professional” information, even with family. Just stop with the nonsense. At any rate, it’s important to know […]

I like stories, I always have, I love books. As a young child growing up in a huge house in the North of England and few other kids to play with, books were my friends and confessors. I came across a book recently, but it was a book that not only told a story, but […]

Who’d ever think that 50 years ago, your money was safer in your bank account than it is today in this “modern” age: remote theft. If you bank with a large or small bank, your account may be at risk by hacking rings. However, most of the time, but not always, if your account is […]

If you have read Mike Monson’s work before such as The Scent Of New Death and What Happens In Reno you pretty know what to expect with Tussinland. You expect some seriously flawed human beings, plenty of violence, some sex, and a crime spree or two. Tussinland delivers on all that while mixing in some […]

Data Privacy Day was Wednesday, January 28, and these days the concept of “privacy” can be ambiguous, generic or confusing. What you might think of as private actually isn’t. The definition of personal identifying information, by the U.S. privacy law and information security, is that of data that can be used to contact, identify or […]

James Brown’s personal and musical development, as well as his political activism is documented in this excellent film directed by Alex Gibney, and produced by Mick Jaggers’ Jagged Films. The film begins with an overview of Brown’s early years growing up in the south in less than ideal circumstances. After serving time in a Georgia […]

I have the digital footprint of Godzilla online. Any half wit can find a way to contact me. My name is Simon Barrett and I do not write plays, although the other Simon Barrett and I have discussed an interview, it might be fun, one day we shall do it. I decided to find out […]

You may think you’re not dumb enough to fall for scams, but consider that someone you care deeply about is naïve enough to be conned. Besides, some scams are so clever that even those who think they’re scam-proof have actually been taken for a ride. Sometimes fraudsters pose as an authority figure. Some claim you […]

I was born in 1955, like all kids I had theories about what I wanted to be when I grew up, my friends wanted to be train drivers or firemen, I wanted to be a spaceman. As I neared the end of Grammar School once again the subject of what to do for a career […]

Today’s Taxi Truth comes from Medallion Financial Corporation, a publicly traded company that is on the Nasdaq under the symbol “TAXI”.  The company is best known for making loans against taxi medallions, mostly in NYC, but has moved more of its portfolio towards consumer and commercial lending recently. The company reported records results for 2014. […]

It’ll get worse before it gets better: online data safety. It’s amazing how many people think they’re “safe” online, while one huge business or entity after another keeps getting hacked to the bone. And “safety” doesn’t necessarily mean the prevention of your computer getting infected with a virus, or falling for an online scam that […]

Just saw this post over at SeekingAlpha.com, where shady short-seller James Hickman has been engaging in previously-mentioned misdirection and obfuscation in his attack on Medallion Financial Corporation (Nasdaq:TAXI).  Hickman has already been busted on numerous misdeeds, not the least of which are financial misdeeds in the state of Connecticut.  A commenter on one of Hickman’s […]

“Mormons” Freemasons & Extraterrestrials I was a little leery when I read the subtitle, it sounded more like a description of Art Bells famed radio program Coast to Coast AM, a conspiracy theorists sand box. However as I had greatly enjoyed Matthew Heines other books detailing his adventures in Oman and Saudi Arabia I threw […]

I’ve been covering the sordid financial tale of James F. Hickman, a sleazy short-seller of a good company called Medallion Financial.  Hickman is under a Consent Order in Connecticut for financial misdeeds.  In his latest screed at another financial website, Hickman attempts his usual fear-mongering to try and scare holders of the solid alternative lending […]

By Blood Bound: The Smith & Sons Saga is a novella in three parts reflecting its publication as a series of short stories in the anthology Fathers: 12 Tales of the American West published by Western Trail Blazer Publishing. As the book opens Marshall Silas Smith is returning to the town of Clancy, Nebraska on […]

A graduate of the University of Missouri—Columbia, John Herrick explores themes of spiritual journey and the human heart in his works. Herrick’s debut novel, From the Dead,which was hailed as “a solid debut novel” by the Akron Beacon Journal, achieved Amazon best-seller status. Herrick’s second novel, The Landing, was named a semifinalist in the inaugural […]

Deadbolts aren’t hyped up; they really are superior to regular knob locks. Though we keep shaking our head in amazement whenever yet another news story comes out about a burglar or rapist who waltzed through an unlocked door and committed mayhem, it remains a hard fact that many criminals gain entry via physical force. Yes, […]

I like James Ross, he is a character and all of his books have character. He started back in 2008 with Lifetime loser and has not looked back. Each time he dips his quill in the ink well I am convinced that he cannot beat the previous book, and each time he proves me wrong. […]

A bear in the wild that wants to protect its young from another predator isn’t worried about manners. This is how people should feel when in circumstances that don’t feel right. The bear has a gut instinct not to let its young near a predator. A woman who feels funny about getting into an elevator […]

Over the years much has been written about Winnie Mandela and her ex husband Nelson. Nelson Mandela did much to remove apartheid in South Africa, his efforts gained him 27 years in jail and a Nobel Peace Prize. Many books and documentaries have been made about this great man, a man of the people. His […]

A recent study says that people are more mindful of online safety issues than what experts had previously believed. An article on phys.org says that Nitesh Saxena, PhD, wanted to know what goes on in users’ brains when they come upon malicious websites or malware warnings. Saxena points out that past studies indicated that users’ […]

For today’s Taxi Truths, we’ve been handed data that is consistent with what we’ve been reporting here. Nevertheless, it is earth-shatteringly bad for the rideshare industry.   There have been lots of claims about how rideshare is going to destroy taxis, yet data obtained from the New York City Taxi & License Commission shows that […]

Growing up Michael “Gypsy” Moran could not wait to leave the isolated town of Wink in far west Texas. He would not be back now if not for a problem in Vegas that required him to make a very hasty departure. A problem that very well might have gotten him killed if he had stuck […]

Yesterday the President of the United States during his address at the annual prayer breakfast in Washington managed to discredit generations of Christians for participation in the Crusades and compared the recent immolation of a Jordanian pilot with the actions of Crusaders over one thousand years ago. As is true with war at any time […]

Today’s Taxi Truth comes from a fleet management company in Manhattan.  He tells us that his garage has been fully rented out for months, with “the usual exceptions of holidays and what-not”.  He also adds a very interesting observation about driver capacity.   For as long as I can remember, we have always had more […]

Patrick Garry’s many readers know that once they open the cover of one of his novels, they will be taken gently and firmly by the hand and led off on a journey whose itinerary and destination will be revealed in due time.   Call it a journey, a plot, a story line—call it what you want—all […]

“You are old father William the young man said” A quote from Alice in Wonderland written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (AKA Lewis Caroll). Well I feel a little like Father William. Larry Irons has done a fabulous job of celebrating the the number one hits on Billboards hot 100 chart between 1956-1975. I was only […]

Years ago, having “the talk” with your kids meant telling them where babies come from. Nowadays, “the talk” has a whole new meaning. Your kids may be able to explain in detail how a baby is created, but may be clueless (because so many adults are) about something called “data permanence.” Don’t beat around the […]