From Whistle-Blower To Elder Champion

Brooke Astor, the New York philanthropist, socialite and writer, wanted to leave her family fortune to charity as her legacy. She did that. But she has also touched the lives of many elderly people through the work of her grandson, Philip Marshall.

Marshall is using his experience in protecting his grandmother from abuse to help lead a crusade to protect all older people from financial exploitation, abuse and neglect. To do that, Marshall first had to confront his own father, Anthony Marshall, Brooke Astor’s son.

Thanks to Philip, who prompted one of the most well-known court cases involving elder financial abuse in U.S. history, Brooke Astor will go down not only as a patron of the arts and a philanthropist, but as a lead player in the fight for elder justice. That fight, which began on a very personal level, now has Marshall spearheading a movement more national in scope as he fights to protect vulnerable elderly people. And he says financial advisors and institutions like banks have a crucial and lead role to play in that fight.

Patrick T. Harker, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, says financial exploitation of older Americans affects families, society and the overall economy. As the population ages and more retirees rely on their own personal savings and investments, elder fraud has the potential of becoming a full-blown national crisis.

Part of the problem with tackling elder financial abuse is that the size of the problem is not even known, Harker says. Also, many questions remain about how the brain ages and who is susceptible to cognitive decline. Estimates of the cost of financial abuse range from $3 billion a year to $36 billion, he says, and even those figures don’t take the social costs into account.

One of the major causes of cognitive decline is Alzheimer’s disease. Approximately 5 million Americans have the disease today, a figure that is expected to rise to 14 million by 2050, according to Patricia Boyle, a researcher at the Rush University Medical Center. Financial decision-making is often one of the first areas impacted by cognitive decline, she says.

Cognitive decline and elder financial exploitation and abuse are also issues that have to be addressed by financial regulators and the financial industry, as well as the medical, social and legal industries.

Philip Marshall, who is now 64 and lives in South Dartmouth, Mass., will relate his grandmother’s story to almost anyone if he thinks it will help the cause, and he recently told the story to Financial Advisor magazine.

He has been at it long enough that he talks in sound bites, but he is never glib. This is serious to him and to a growing number of other people.  (Click to Continue)

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From Whistle-Blower To Elder Champion

See Also:
Too Sick for Court?

Brooke Astor heir Anthony Marshall leaves sons out of his will; millions will go to second wife and her children

Brooke Astor's Lasting Legacy

Settlement Reached in Brooke Astor Estate Battle

Astor's Son Found Guilty

Scammers bilk elderly out of cash with lies about grandkids in trouble

If you believe a loved one needs you to authorize a cash payment or gift card purchase over the phone to keep a family member out of jail? It's a lie.

Erie County Comptroller Stefan I. Mychajliw and Sheriff Timothy Howard warned seniors of a Grandchild In Need scam targeting seniors – including the grandparent of a comptroller's office employee, who barely saw through the scam.

Scammers call a family member and pretend to be their grandchild or tell them a loved one, usually a grandchild, is in police custody and they must immediately send money to get them out of jail. Families should be aware that con artists use names, photos and other information on social media to make victims believe them.

"They are scum for targeting the elderly," Mychajliw said. "Unfortunately in some cases, they succeed."

A news release recounted a report from the City of Tonawanda, where a senior citizen was scammed out of $4,000. According to police reports, the victim received a call that his granddaughter was in a car accident. The caller told the victim the granddaughter had been on her cellphone when the accident occurred and the vehicle she struck was uninsured and she needed $4,000 to be released from police custody.

The victim was instructed to get four $1,000 gift cards from Sam’s Club and call back. The victim complied and called back, furnishing the card numbers and PIN.

If you or a loved one has received a call, complaints may be filed with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or 1-877-382-4357.

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Scammers bilk elderly out of cash with lies about grandkids in trouble

Down syndrome advocates want Netflix to remove Tom Segura's comedy special

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 MADISON, Wis. - Local disability advocates are coming together to ask Netflix to remove comedian Tom Segura's "Disgraceful" standup show.

Representatives from the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County and the Madison Metropolitan School District gathered at Gigi's Playhouse on Wednesday to send a message that the word "retard" is not acceptable.

"You can't say retarded anymore," Segura said in the comedy special. "People get very upset. I don't really support the arguments against it."

"Now you can't say that. You gotta be like, that's not smart. Your idea has an extra 21st chromosome, if you ask me," he continued.

More than 85,000 people have signed a petition to ask Netflix to remove the sketch and issue an apology.

The Madison community is joining the cause, and encouraging others to get involved.

"The R word is not a joke, never has been. It's not meant to be a punchline," said Nicki Vander Meulen, a member of Madison's Board of Education.

"Letting people think it's okay to bully or target people with Down syndrome is completely unacceptable," said Nancy Gianni, the president at CEO of Gigi's Playhouse.

The nonprofit in Madison is one of 35 locations. The space is a Down syndrome achievement center providing free educational and therapeutic programming.

The founder's daughter Gigi created a video directed at Netflix.

At the press conference, Michael Johnson, the president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dane County, vowed to become an advocate and supporter of Gigi's Playhouse and to make sure each club is properly serving and supporting local families with Down syndrome.

"These are beautiful people. These are our people, these are smart young men and women that live in our community," said Johnson.

Parents said although they can't change Segura's way of thinking, they can stop Netflix from airing the program.

Speakers want the larger community to know that using the word is not okay and it is considered hate speech,

"When kids use it, when adults use it - please intervene. There are different words to use that can describe whatever is happening," said Danielle Kaiser, the mother of a 13-year-old with Down syndrome.

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Down syndrome advocates want Netflix to remove Tom Segura's comedy special

Big, small guardianship actions debated

Laurie Martinez of Santa Fe talks about a bill intended to correct problems with guardianship cases during a Senate Judiciary Committee

SANTA FE – Faced with an approaching deadline and a multimillion-dollar price tag, backers of legislation to overhaul the state’s troubled guardianship system presented dueling substitute measures late Wednesday in a hurried attempt to pass at least some significant changes this year to improve transparency and permit families more involvement with their protected, incapacitated loved ones.

Sen. James White, R-Albuquerque, offered to amend his mammoth bill that incorporates a new model guardianship law promulgated by the national Uniform Law Commission into two parts, delaying enactment for at least a year.

But a group of state district judges, mostly from Bernalillo County, helped devise a smaller substitute sponsored by Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, D-Albuquerque. That proposal, which is still evolving, would allow the judiciary to implement changes by July 1 that would open currently closed guardianship hearings to the public, expand the list of parties who would be notified, require bonding for conservators and rein in guardians’ authority to limit visitation of those deemed incapacitated.

“It’s a question of what can we do right now? What can we phase in? And what makes sense to ensure we’re going to have the funding (for the future)?” Ivey-Soto said.

No votes were taken after two hours of debate in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is expected to continue the discussion Monday, if not sooner.

The 30-day legislative ends Feb. 15.

State District Judge Shannon Bacon of Albuquerque, who represented the judiciary at the hearing, told the committee that the courts favor improving the system, but that there are an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 existing guardianship/conservatorship cases that would have to come into compliance under the sweeping model guardianship act sponsored by White.

Under some cost estimates, up to $7 million would be required in each of the first two years if White’s version of the uniform guardianship act is adopted.

“A lot of the cost,” Ivey-Soto said, “is the cost of the dysfunctionality of the system that’s existed for many years.”

White said phasing in the uniform act over the next two years would give the courts time to overhaul the system and permit the Legislature to make amendments and finance the changes along the way.

“One million is what I’ve got to get this moving,” White said, in an apparent reference to funding he has secured to begin enacting the model law.

But Bacon countered, “One million dollars doesn’t even scratch the surface.” An expensive part of the model act requires judges to appoint lawyers to advocate for the wishes of the incapacitated person at the hearing, a cost that would be borne by the government,

As to the cost of the more immediate changes under Ivey-Soto’s proposal, Bacon said the judiciary would absorb the costs. “We will, I think the legal term is, suck it up.”




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Big, small guardianship actions debated

New guardianship office set to fight senior abuse

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) As baby boomers age, they may be in need of a guardianship. Mandated by a district court in Nevada, it means "a protected person" hands over finances, health decisions, even living arrangements over to someone agreed to by a judge. But here in Nevada the system has been rampant with abuse. Now a new investigative unit hopes to change that. 

In March of 2017, former Las Vegas resident April Parks was brought to Nevada to face 270 counts of elder exploitation, racketeering and theft.

As a professional guardian, the Attorney General's office claims she bilked 150 elderly clients out of their life savings, dignity, and health. Until recently, there were some guardians in the state of Nevada who would exploit a senior or someone with mental health issues by receiving a court-ordered guardianship and take hold of that person's life, deciding how much the guardian himself would be paid out of the estate, taking homes, cars, and isolating the protected person from family and friends.

The 2017 Legislature changed much of that, including forming an investigative office located inside the state Supreme Court to help district courts find abuses.

"I'd like to see that we have been successful in identifying elder exploitation and abuses and that we have actually reduced that," says Kate McCloskey, the new Guardianship Compliance Manager for the state of Nevada

Nevada is one of only a handful of states to have a guardianship compliance program. Beside McCloskey, a forensic accountant will be hired, as well as an investigator.

They will be called in by the district court when a complaint is filed on a guardian or something isn't adding up.

"They don't have the resources to investigate it themselves, at that point we would go in, and investigate for the court," says McCloskey.

One of the first moves by the guardianship compliance office will be to set up a hot line and website where Nevada residents can file complaints. Both of those programs should be set up within the month.
 
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New guardianship office set to fight senior abuse

Make Caregiving Easier with a Caregiver Notebook Template

Information at your fingertips reduces caregiver stress

A caregiver notebook is essential for keeping track of important information about your older adult. There are so many details involved in caregiving, nobody can remember them all. 

That’s where a good caregiver notebook can help. Having everything you need to care for your older adult in one place saves time, reduces mental clutter, and decreases stress. Instead of searching for prescription details, dates of service, or policy numbers, you could take a break to rest and recharge.

We found an excellent, comprehensive, and free caregiver notebook template from Springwell. These notebook pages cover every aspect of your older adult’s life – medical, personal care, financial, and legal.

Find out how to get the most out of this caregiver notebook template and get a detailed walkthrough with our recommendations for the most useful pages.

Tips to get the most out of the caregiver notebook template

 

Springwell’s The Caregiver’s Notebook has 36 template pages to choose from. Start by printing a few pages that seem most useful (see our recommendations below). Don’t feel like you need to use every page or that you need to fill in all the info on a page.

After printing, keep the pages in a standard 3 ring binder dedicated to your caregiving notebook. Use dividers to keep each section separate so it’s easy to find what you’re looking for.

Springwell also shares tips for getting the most out of their templates. Here are the 5 we found most helpful:

1. Pace yourself by choosing the pages and sections that are most relevant now and start there.
2. Get creative. For example, the monthly calendar can be used for more than just medical appointments. You could create calendars for tracking calls to make, prescription refill dates, bills to pay, etc.
3. To make certain pages more portable, you could keep them in a separate “travel” binder.
4. Photocopy important papers to put into the binder for reference, but keep the originals in a safe place.
5. Gathering financial information can be overwhelming. One way to start is by collecting a month’s worth of mail. That gives you a snapshot of existing bills and monthly financial statements. The most recent tax return is another good source of financial information. 

Recommendations for the most useful pages + walkthrough guide

We explain what each caregiver notebook template page is used for, what page it’s on, and how it could help you. Recommended sections are marked with ** and bold text.

Section 1 – At A Glance
●  ** Critical Information – Page 5. An excellent brief summary of health information that’s essential for emergency situations.
●  ** Emergency Room Checklist – Page 6. The list of items to bring to the hospital (top half) is the most helpful part. (For a more complete emergency checklist, click here)
●  Person(s) able to make Legal, Financial & Medical decisions in Elder’s Stead – Page 7. This is helpful if several people are responsible for different aspects of your older adult’s care. Summarizing the roles, responsibilities, and key info into one document makes sure everyone has the same understanding of the situation.
●  Home Emergency Information – Page 8. This list of contacts and information for home utilities and other emergency contacts is helpful, but not essential.
●  Important Personal Contacts – Page 9. A list for your older adult’s personal contacts. If you need to get in touch with people in your older adult’s life who you may not know, this list is nice to have.
●  Monthly Schedule Tracking Calendar – Page 10. Use this blank calendar if you’d like to create your own monthly caregiving calendar with key appointments, notes, meals, etc.

Section 2 – Care Providers
●  Caregiver Information – Pages 11 – 12. Record detailed information about caregivers on your team and what they do to care for your older adult.
●  Professional Service Providers – Pages 13 – 14. Record key information about services your older adult uses, like a care community, home care agency, or housekeeping.
●  About the Elder Elder’s Self Care Abilities and Needs – Page 15-16. When introducing a new hired caregiver, this information helps them get to know your older adult’s likes, dislikes, and important facts about their life. It also covers their abilities and things they need help with.
●  ** Daily Activity Log – Page 17. Take notes on what happens during your older adult’s day. This is especially helpful if you’re looking for patterns that might trigger difficult behavior, managing incontinence, watching for medication side effects, training a new caregiver, sharing info with family, and more. If your older adult has an in-home caregiver, this gives you a great summary.

Section 3 – Medical
●  ** Medication and Pharmacy Information – Page 18. Keep an up-to-date list of all your older adult’s medications, vitamins, and supplements.
●  ** Health Log – Page 19. This is a useful log if your older adult has a health condition that needs to be closely monitored. For example, if they’re diabetic, this helps you track their blood sugar. Or, use it to track blood pressure. Use only the columns that you need or re-label to suit your situation.
●  ** Medical Information – Page 20. This is a useful way to quickly summarize major events in your older adult’s health history. It would be especially helpful when getting started with a new doctor or during an emergency.
●  Important Medical Events – Page 21. More detailed tracking for medical events. This is helpful if your older adult is often in and out of health facilities like hospitals or skilled nursing/rehab facilities.
●  ** Important Tests – Page 22. Complex health conditions mean lots of tests – X-ray, blood test, etc. Keep an overview of your older adult’s tests, results, and key info.
●  ** Physicians and Specialists – Page 23 – 25. Very important info! Keep all your older adult’s doctor information in one place for easy access and so you can share it with family or emergency personnel as needed.

Section 4 – Call Log/Visit Notes
●  Call Log – Page 26. If you’re dealing with something complex and ongoing, it helps to keep a log to remind you of who you spoke to and what was discussed. For example, this could help when you’re trying to straighten out a billing problem or an insurance claim issue.
●  ** Upcoming Doctor Visit Notes – Page 27. The best part of this sheet is that it gets you prepared to get the most out of your older adult’s next doctor’s appointment. Start these notes a month ahead of time to give you plenty of time to notice issues and think of questions.

Section 5 – Legal, Financial and End of Life – Important Information
●  Location of Key Documents and Important Papers – Page 28. Keep track of where important documents are located. For some, it might be easier to just gather all the important documents and store them together in one location.
●  Legal, Investment and Accounting Contacts – Page 29. Pulling these key contacts together will make must them easier to find.
●  Insurance (non-medical) Information and Contacts – Page 30. Keep track of necessary info like home, life, or auto insurance policies.
●  Banking Information – Page 31. This is very sensitive information, so be careful who has access to these pages. Depending on the situation, you may not want to write everything down in one place. You could still use it to jot a few notes or key facts about the banking info.
●  Income, Expenses and Net Worth – Page 32. This is also sensitive information. This summary can help you create a budget for your older adult and understand how much medical and personal care they can afford.
●  Monthly and Quarterly Bills – Page 33. Managing finances can be overwhelming. This is a way to keep bills organized and make sure payments are made on time.
●  End of Life Instructions – Page 34. This isn’t a legal document, but does help gather key info about end-of-life wishes. You might want to skip this form and use the Five Wishes living will instead.

Next Step  Print or save the caregiver notebook template from Springwell (PDF)

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Make Caregiving Easier with a Caregiver Notebook Template

Attorney for Carl DeBrodie's family says "whole system failed him"

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Attorneys for Carl DeBrodie's biological mother, Carolyn Summers, said Wednesday that they filed a wrongful death lawsuit on her behalf in order to find out what truly happened to DeBrodie and prevent what happened to him from happening to another vulnerable member of society.

"One of our desires is that it does not happen to other people, and that this be a wake up call," said attorney Rudolph Veit. "We see it all the time... individuals with mental conditions, they're so easy to take advantage of and to ignore."
The lawsuit claims those involved in DeBrodie's care failed to provide for his safety and attempted to cover up the circumstances of his death. The claims include wrongful death, negligence, civil rights violations and civil conspiracy.

On April 17, Fulton police received a missing person’s report from Second Chance Homes. They quickly realized DeBrodie had been missing a lot longer than the Second Chance workers had reported.

A week later, his body was found in a storage facility encased in a box of cement.

According to court documents, the wrongful death lawsuit was filed against 23 defendants, including Second Chance Homes, its' operator Rachael Rowden and the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

The number of defendants could shrink based on the depositions.

"If they haven't done something wrong, we would like their names not to be part of it," said Veit. "We only want to get to those people who breached their duty in the care of Mr. DeBrodie."

Veit said that the investigation on the federal level with the U.S. Attorneys office was taking longer than they expected and they wanted to start getting answers. Veit and fellow Carson & Coil attorney Gabe Harris are working as a team on the case.

"We felt like if we filed now, most of their work will have been completed," said Veit. "We can start depositions and do thorough depositions and find out truly what happened in this case, putting people under oath."

Veit said they have a viable case, and right now, they just have to determine who was responsible for DeBrodie's death, and try to bring awareness to the whole system.

"While in a state-paid institution, because of the challenges in his life, he basically ended up in a concrete block," Veit said. "We know that's not supposed to happen, we know that his guardian should have checked on him and there are state regulations on how often his well-being was supposed to be checked and they were not."

The investigation continues but no criminal charges have been filed yet.

Full Article & Source:
Attorney for Carl DeBrodie's family says "whole system failed him"

See Also:
The Case of Carl DeBrodie: The Investigation

Man whose body was found encased in concrete may have been missing months

Advocates: Guardianship law should focus on well-being

Eddy County judge facing discipline hearing retires

Eddy County Magistrate Judge Henry Castaneda

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Eddy County Magistrate Judge Henry Castañeda is retiring from the bench several weeks before he was to face a disciplinary hearing at the state Supreme Court.

The complaining petition filed by the Judicial Standards Commission against Castañeda details more than 100 emails, including dozens of raunchy, racist and sexist cartoons and jokes, along with personal emails and political emails sent to friends from his official judge email address.

The complaint against him says that despite one-on-one training sessions and access to IT experts, Castañeda claimed he just didn’t know how to delete or block emails and would just forward them to his personal email.

Castañeda, who has been a judge since 2003, submitted his letter of resignation in early January, and it was submitted to his official disciplinary file Tuesday with an effective date of Feb. 4.

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Eddy County judge facing discipline hearing retires

Evaluators find problems in nursing home oversight

Mat Erpelding

BOISE — Staff from the Office of Performance Evaluations uncovered major human resources problems in a state agency charged with nursing home oversight as well as challenges with placing more individuals with complex conditions, even as Idaho’s elderly population grows rapidly.

Senior evaluators Ryan Langrill and Tony Grange told the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Monday that their investigators had uncovered “serious dysfunction” within the Bureau of Facilities Standards, a subsection of the Department of Health and Welfare which conducts surveys of nursing home residents. Surveyors who worked in the office had high turnover rates, and in both 2015 and 2017 only seven of 13 positions were filled. The current vacancy rate is more than 50 percent, according to OPE’s report.

“Nursing home surveyors described the workplace at the division as hostile and demeaning,” the report states. “Surveyors feel berated and belittled; they also believe the work environment explains the ongoing retention problems of the survey team.”

While the Office of Performance Evaluations staff didn’t find evidence that work environment had led to excess fines against nursing homes, they found nursing homes were felt intentionally targeted by bureau staff. Fewer than one in 10 nursing home administrators said they had a high or moderate level of confidence in the nursing home study team, compared to about 45 percent who expressed confidence in the assisted living team and nearly 80 percent in the children’s residential care survey team.

“Our interviews and results from a questionnaire revealed that providers fear and distrust the nursing home survey team,” the report states. “Surveyors reported that individuals on the team intentionally instill this fear.”

The bureau’s workplace issues were so severe that OPE investigators asked to be authorized to perform a follow-up investigation within three months, both to ensure that employees who had cooperated with evaluators didn’t face retaliation and to ensure that problems were quickly resolved.

“Correcting the workplace culture is the most pressing of our recommendations,” Langrill told the committee.

In an official response attached to the report, Department of Health and Welfare Director Russ Barron — who the report indicates began an investigation once informed of the problems in the workplace — said the department is committed to resolving the issues.

“We find it unacceptable that despite our efforts over the last two years, surveyors and nursing home providers feel the work environment and culture continue to be harsh,” he wrote in an attached letter.

“We are currently conducting a workplace assessment to determine strategies to address the work environment and culture.

“We will resolve these issues.”

The report also put focus on the diminishing number of facilities willing to accept patients with complex behavioral and medical conditions, given the lower and relatively flat reimbursement structure they receive from the state.

Idaho’s Medicaid program has a flatter reimbursement system than surrounding states, and OPE found this has had the effect of reducing the number of facilities willing to accept those with complicated behavioral issues.

“Hospitals, residential care providers, and advocates reported to us and to the Legislature that placement in residential facilities is more difficult for individuals with complex medical conditions or behavioral problems,” the report states. “They may remain in hospitals or move out of state to receive appropriate care.”

“Why do we have essentially a flat reimbursement rate, regardless of the complexity of the (patient’s condition)?” asked Chairman Mat Erpelding, a Boise Democrat.

“It’s just the fee structure that the states have chosen to use. Idaho has less variation,” Langrill said.

One issue that OPE found was problematic in the regulatory oversight of assisted living facilities is a secondary class of violations called “noncore violations.” There is no process to appeal a finding that a facility had violated those rules, evaluators pointed out.

Lawmakers and Barron lauded the report, and authorized the agency to follow up on the employment issues over the next three months. It will produce a follow-up reporton other issues in residential care regulation in a year.

Rep. Maxine Bell, a Jerome Republican and longtime chairwoman of the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee, said the report underlined the need to restore funding at the Department of Health and Welfare, which was cut during the Great Recession.

“You cannot sit back and assume that a state agency can do more with less all the time,” she said.

Full Article & Source:
Evaluators find problems in nursing home oversight

David Silver: The power of Power of Attorneys

By David Silver

As of Jan. 1, 2018, the new North Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act came into effect that significantly changes the authority, use, and treatment of Power of Attorneys in North Carolina. A Power of Attorney (“POA”) that was signed before 2018 is still valid and will be interpreted under the prior law, so if you already have an adequate POA you will probably not need to have that document re-drafted. However, if you sign a POA after 2017, it will be interpreted under the new law. Please don’t be the person who forces a judge to figure out how to interpret a POA designed for the old law but signed during the time period of the new law.

A POA is one of the most important tools to have in your estate plan. If you don’t have a Will, your wealth will still be distributed to your family (just maybe not in a way that you would prefer). However, if you don’t have a POA, you might not have much of an estate left at your death. A POA can allow your loved ones to take care of you during a time of diminished capacity without having to go through the formalized court process. It can also allow for some planning and asset preservation even after you become incapacitated.

A POA is a document wherein a person gives authority to make financial-type decisions to another person or other people.

By creating a POA, you are giving someone else power to act on your behalf but you are not giving up anything. You are still the boss. You can still act on your own behalf and you can fire the Agent whenever you want for any reason. Additionally, the Agent has a fiduciary duty to you, meaning that they can only exercise the powers granted in the POA if it is in your best interest.

Most POAs are effective on the day that they are signed, even though they are often put in a drawer/safe/etc. and not used until needed. However, a “Springing” POA is one that only becomes effective if/when the grantor becomes incapacitated.

A “Durable” POA means that the POA is still valid even after the grantor becomes incapacitated. While a non-durable POA might have been very useful to landowners in 15th Century England (a lowly tax collector could become the most powerful man in the earldom with the POA of an incapacitated earl), it doesn’t make much sense to have anything but a Durable POA in modern society.

There is a plain-vanilla POA within the North Carolina General Statutes (Section 32C-3) that anybody could simply cut-and-paste to create a workable POA, and a separate statutory POA limited to performing real estate transactions. This “Short Form POA” might be sufficient for some purposes, but it lacks some powers and provisions that are very important in estate planning. Whatever you do, do not sign the Short Form POA that existed under the old law since it is unknown how the courts will interpret these documents under the new law.

While it is not required for the Grantor to pass some IQ or memory test to effectively execute a POA, you must have the mental capacity sufficient to understand the nature of the document, its consequences, and its effect upon your rights and interests. If you don’t have a POA in place prior to that stroke, bus accident, loss of capacity as a result of Alzheimer’s, then your family members will have to file a petition with the Court to have you declared incompetent and have the Court create a guardianship for your estate. Compared to a POA, incompetency hearings and guardianships are expensive, unpleasant, cumbersome and inflexible.

A POA might be the last chance for you to preserve some of your hard-earned assets for the benefit of your loved ones. The problem with a POA is that, when you really need one, it is too late to sign one. While a full description of all POA requirements and options are beyond the scope of this article, I hope you now understand that you should have a POA as part of your estate plan and appreciate that not all POAs are the same.

David Silver teaches The Legal Environment of Business in ECU’s Department of Finance. Dave is also a Partner with The Graham.Nuckolls.Conner Law Firm in Greenville, NC, concentrating in Elder Law

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David Silver: The power of Power of Attorneys

Fixing Minnesota elder abuse failures is new commissioner's first job

 ST. PAUL—A Minnesota woman is back for her second stint as state health commissioner with instructions to fix the state's failed nursing home abuse investigation process.

Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday, Jan. 30, appointed Jan Malcolm to lead the Health Department as it struggles to get through a backlog of complaints about mistreatment of Minnesota elderly in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Malcolm, who served in the job about 19 years ago for then-Gov. Jesse Ventura, said her first duty is to "learn more about the root causes" of the backlog, but promised to catch up on long-ignored complaints.

A report released by AARP says that complaints of elder maltreatment soared 600 percent since 2010, but the department only investigated 1 percent of 20,791 reports from health care providers and just 10 percent of 3,491 complaints from individuals.

Malcolm said the good news is that the department has triaged the complaints and that about 1,000 still "need more work." She said she is committed to investigating all backed-up cases by end end of 2018.

The cases began to pile up while Dr. Ed Ehlinger was commissioner; he resigned late last year.

While the Health Department should have done better, Dayton said, the initial care authority lies elsewhere. "The responsibility first and foremost begins with those facilities."

After the elder abuse topic arose last year, Dayton asked AARP to convene a working group to investigate. It released its report late Monday. The governor also brought in the state Human Services Department to help the Health Department fix its problems.

The report called for "far-reaching policy and agency practice changes to prevent and deter abuse. The recommendations reflect the experiences of our organizations and a belief that older and vulnerable adults and their families should be at the center of any reform."

The report indicates that it is important to fix the problem now because the elderly population will continue to grow.

Among the working group's recommendations are:

• Expand the rights of elderly and vulnerable adults and their families.

• Senior citizens and their families should have more access to abuse reports.

• Stronger laws against nursing home and assisted living retaliation against people who report abuse.

• More legal penalties against elderly abuse.

• State licenses should be required for assisted living and dementia care facilities, like many other states already do.

• Existing laws and rules need to be better enforced, including the use of fines.

"Minnesotans deserve a system that provides optimal care and services, and maximum protection against abuse," the report says. "Elder abuse is not an inevitable consequence of the system."

Malcolm said the state is developing a better program to deal with abuse complaints, one that will prevent a backlog such as was discovered last year.

Malcolm, who has been a nonprofit health care executive, also promised that the state would do a better job of communicating with families.

The Minneapolis-based Star Tribune reported last fall that hundreds of residents at elderly care facilities in all areas of the state are beaten, sexually abused or robbed every year. Even when reports were filed with the state, investigations often were not started.

"First and foremost, I am so sorry for the pain and trauma and difficulties that have been caused," Malcolm said Tuesday.

Sen. Karin Housley, the Minnesota Senate aging committee chairwoman, said she will introduce legislation to help fix the problem after the Legislature convenes Feb. 20. "My priority will be on creating a more transparent, accountable process for facility complaints, providing better access to data sharing for families and caregivers and working to change the culture of neglect and intimidation within the state bureaucracy."

Full Article & Source:
Fixing Minnesota elder abuse failures is new commissioner's first job

House approves legislation to help advisers combat senior exploitation

The Senior Safe Act provides liability protection for financial professionals who report cases of suspected elder abuse to regulators or other authorities

Legislation that would help financial advisers combat financial exploitation of senior citizens gained House approval Monday night in a bill that could provide a vehicle to get it through the Senate.

House lawmakers passed on voice vote a larger bill that contained the Senior Safe Act, a measure that provides liability protection for investment advisers, brokers and other financial professionals who report cases of suspected elder abuse to regulators or other authorities.

The Senior Safe Act was also included in a larger bill approved by the Senate Banking Committee in December that would reform parts of the Dodd-Frank financial law.

But the bill the House passed on Monday may provide the smoothest pathway to full Senate approval for the elder-abuse legislation because the Senate Banking bill could get hung up in the House.

"This [House bill] that it is attached to seems the least controversial piece of legislation that contains Senior Safe Act provisions," said Paul Richman, vice president of government affairs at the Insured Retirement Institute. "That's why we're hopeful that this House bill will be taken up expeditiously in the Senate."

The Senior Safe Act, written by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Me., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., was approved by the House in a previous Congress but failed to make it through the Senate when one senator placed a hold on the bill. It had to be reintroduced in the current congressional session.

Another obstacle facing the bill is a difficult Senate agenda that includes approving a budget and tackling immigration legislation.

"This is still high on their list in the Senate, but until other issues are resolved, it will be difficult to move it forward," Mr. Richman said.

If the bill is approved by Congress, it would bring a federal law into the senior financial exploitation area.

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. regulation goes into effect on Feb. 5 that gives brokers safe harbor to report exploitation and allows them to place temporary holds on disbursements from accounts of elderly clients who may have been victimized by scams.

Also, a number of states have approved a North American Securities Administrators model rule that is similar to the Finra regulation but that mandates incident reporting.

The Senior Safe Act has wide support among financial industry trade associations and other organizations, including IRI, NASAA, the American Council of Life Insurers and the Investment Company Institute.

Full Article & Source:
House approves legislation to help advisers combat senior exploitation

Tonight on Marti Oakley's T. S. Radio: Exposing Medical Predators #4 With Carly Walden

5:00 pm PST … 6:00 pm MST … 7:00 pm CST … 8:00 pm EST

Hosted by CARLY WALDEN

Faith Daron reached out to me a year and a half ago regarding her mother Dorothy Daron. At this time I learned of Dorothy’s terrible injustices going from facility to facility; which began from a time frame of 2008- 2016 when her mother’s death was hastened in a hospice facility. We both tried hard to save Dorothy’s life even to the point where I, Carly Walden felt inclined as an elder advocate to call the authorities and request EMTS examine Dorothy for her sores and or neglect. These people were of no help at all and even laughed at Faith for having a elder advocate to help along with her brother laughing in the background. The bottom line with this case is Faith has other siblings that were living off of her mother’s estate adhering to their own agendas while Dorothy was on the decline. Faith fought very hard for her mother’s life and I know because I was with her through this period the best way I could be. With her mother’s estate drained by siblings and her unwavering will Faith is still giving her mother a voice today!

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Probate judge order contradicts criminal charge against Spruce Head woman

St. George — Four months after being arrested -- and two weeks before indicted by a Knox County grand jury for endangering her bedridden husband by not providing him the care he needed -- a 67-year-old Spruce Head woman was declared to be a devoted care giver by a probate judge.

Lincoln County Probate Judge William Avantaggio signed an order Dec. 21 in response to a request by the children of the late Ralph Cline Jr. for custody and control of their father's body. The judge ruled that his wife Shirley Cline should be granted immediate and exclusive custody and control of his body.

"That he was unhealthy was simply the existing state of affairs, and clearly not the result of any lack of care by Mrs. Cline," Judge Avantaggio stated. "While Mrs. Cline could perhaps have made a call to find care for her husband during her absence, she was also dealing with a head injury and ambulance attendants."

"Far from indifferent, it is clear Mrs. Cline devoted her life to to the care of her husband," Avantaggio stated.

Ralph Cline Jr. died Dec. 6 at the age of 83 at Coastal Manor in Yarmouth. He had been married to Shirley Cline for nearly 10 years.

He suffered a stroke in October 2014, was hospitalized for several months followed by a stay at a rehabilitation center until returning home. In July 2015, he suffered a second stroke.

He was brought back to their home in January 2016. Shirley Cline "virtually exclusively" cared for her husband from that date until her arrest in August 2017, according to the probate judge.

On July 28, 2017, Shirley Cline slipped outside her home and struck her head. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital and later in the day returned to the home.

When she returned, she found Ralph Cline had been removed from the home. Law enforcement had found Cline alone in bed in a "poor state of health and cleanliness."

An affidavit filed by the Sheriff's Office in Knox County Unified Court in August reported that police were called when Shirley Cline had been taken to the hospital and Ralph Cline had been left alone. Police managed to enter the house and found he was covered in feces and needed medical care.

Ralph Cline was later returned to the home. Police returned to the house on Aug. 3 to talk with Shirley Cline and found the house and Ralph Cline clean, according to Probate Judge's Avantaggio's ruling.

But Shirley Cline was uncooperative with the Knox County Sheriff's Office detective, a home health care nurse and a representative of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, according to the judge's report.

She was then arrested by the Sheriff's Office detective and charged with endangering the welfare of an endangered person.

His children were then granted temporary guardianship and conservatorship of their father on Aug. 16 in the wake of Shirley Cline's arrest.

After his death in December, the children filed its motion to have custody of their father's body. Judge Avantaggio ruled on Dec. 22, however, that Shirley Cline had properly cared for her husband.

Shirley Cline was indicted Tuesday, Jan. 2, by a Knox County grand jury for endangering the welfare of a dependent person. The charge is a Class C felony.

The indictment alleges that between July 28 and Aug. 3, 2017, in Spruce Head, Cline "intentionally or knowingly endangered the health, safety or mental welfare of a dependent person, Ralph Cline, who was unable to perform self-care because of advanced age or physical or mental disease, disorder or defect."

Ralph Cline was a lumberman by trade and operated a family sawmill. He was a local historian and a civic leader. He served as a selectman and chairman of the select board for the town of St. George.

A 2015 story by The Courier-Gazette featured Shirley Cline as serving as the coordinator of the Midcoast Stroke Support Group. She talked about caring for her husband, who had suffered his second stroke in two years.

Full Article & Source:
Probate judge order contradicts criminal charge against Spruce Head woman

Attorney General launches new teams to protect seniors

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - Nevada's top prosecutor is stepping up to help protect vulnerable residents of our community.

Contact 13 has the details in an ongoing coverage of corruption in Nevada's guardianship system.

Attorney General Adam Laxalt announced today that his office is putting teams together to help local police recognize elder abuse and exploitation.

Our series of investigative reports uncovered heart-wrenching cases where loved ones were isolated from their families while their life savings were drained.

Calling it the "...largest criminal guardianship abuse case in Nevada history", Laxalt referred to former private, for-profit guardian April Parks.  Following our Contact 13 investigation, Parks and her business associates were arrested and charged with hundreds of felony counts, including racketeering and exploitation.

Family members of victims told us Parks often used the threat of calling police as a means to intimidate and isolate those she was assigned by the court to protect.

Court records from Parks' case state sometimes "police were with Parks...to create further fear"

Using new grant money from the department of justice, the AG's office is forming several teams to train local police, first responders, guardians and others to help seniors get the services they need without being exploited.

The new teams will hold training sessions through out this year, in both Southern and Northern Nevada. The AG's office also released a new elder abuse resource guide.

Full Article & Source:
Attorney General launches new teams to protect seniors

2 Colony men arrested for elder abuse

Roger Lawrence McKinnon and Rufus Jerome Parker

COLONY - Two Colony men were arrested on Thursday for elder abuse, according to the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to a welfare check on an elderly female under the care of Roger Lawrence McKinnon, 54 and Rufus Jerome Parker, 53. Once the deputies arrived at the residence, they heard the victim yell for assistance from her bedroom, said a statement from the CCSO. Deputies made entry and found the woman bedridden and unable to help herself.

In the course of investigation, deputies determined that McKinnon and Parker were allegedly taking the victim’s checks, instead of using the money to care for her. The victim told deputies she had been receiving calls from “check-cashing” establishments.

McKinnon was charged with third-degree elder abuse and neglect, along with possession of drug paraphernalia.

Parker was charged with third-degree elder abuse and neglect, as well as third-degree financial exploitation of the elderly.

Due to the nature of the crime, the CCSO is not releasing the victim’s name or details of her condition.

Both suspects are being held in the Cullman County Detention Center, each on a $4,000 bond.

Full Article & Source:
2 Colony men arrested for elder abuse

Tonight on Marti Oakley's T. S. Radio: Abolishing Probate: Massachusetts Poised to Sanctioning Human Trafficking of the Eldery

5:00 pm PST … 6:00 pm MST … 7:00 pm CST … 8:00 pm EST

Hosted by Marti Oakley, with Luanne Fleming and Robin Austin

Our guest is David Arnold a Massachusetts advocate and activist who was forced to endure the human trafficking of his companion, Gretchen.

Tomorrow, January 30th, the Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on these bills in Massachusetts. David will be testifying at this hearing.
David will be discussing the Hearing on bill S.1177/H3027

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/190/S1177

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/190/H3027

An Act to establish the office of adult guardianship and decisional support services
These bills are of course, the government sanctioning of predatory guardianships wherein the ongoing identity theft by predator guardians and the fee churning by attorneys will be white-washed, sanitized and made to sound as if their intent is to perform a good deed. These bills simply sanction the human trafficking of the elderly with the intent to profit. All participants in this trafficking will be immune from being held accountable or prosecuted for their crimes against humanity. These bills were originally offered by the former AG of Massachusetts. these bills are also companion bills at the state level, to the Federal bill S 178……..the expansion and inflated funding of the very organizations and individuals who traffic the elderly now with the addition of dozens more.

Contact your Legislators
Main Statehouse Phone Number(617) 722-2000

Search by street address for a list of legislators that serve your area. Then, use the contact information on their member page to reach out to them about issues for which you have questions or concerns.

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‘We the People’ and Accountability of the Lawyers

by David Arnold

Part 1. “We the People”

The Constitution of the United States begins with “We the people of the United States . . .”

Abraham Lincoln said: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”

The United States of America is the best country in the world. The goal of many people in the rest of the world is to live in the United States. I always felt safe living in the United States of America because it is a democracy. The purpose of a democracy is to prevent abuse by government.

I never worried about abuse of the power by government until 2012. Someone I loved very dearly was subjected to abuse by a professional guardian appointed by the Probate Court. I was also subjected to abuse. In practice, there was no recourse to the power of the guardian. There were no checks and balances. There was no accountability.

People who have been victims of abuse by court-appointed guardians say this is not supposed to happen in a democracy like the United States. This kind of thing only happens in third-world dictatorships. But it does happen. I know. I was a victim.

I kept asking myself how this could happen in a democracy. That question would not go away. It remained unanswered for four years. In 2016, the answer finally came to me out of the blue. The Probate Court is not a democratic institution. It is a dictatorship (see the December 2017 issue #45 of The Boston Broadside, page 3).

Unfortunately, that is not the end of the trail. There is an underlying problem that makes it very difficult to fix the problems with guardianship.

The French philosopher Montesquieu who advocated the idea of three branches of government also pointed out that the personnel of the three branches should not coincide. If the same people or entity control all the branches of government, this negates the checks and balances.

The problem is not hidden. We all have the information needed to understand what is wrong. However, it took me a long time to see the truth that was lying in plain sight. Consider the following:

1. The Judicial Branch is controlled entirely by lawyers.
2. The Legislature, both state and federal, appears to be about 60 percent
   lawyers.
3. The Office of the District Attorney, which is under the Executive Branch,
   is controlled by lawyers.
4. A disproportionate number of governors and presidents are lawyers.

As the list above shows, the government of the United States is controlled almost entirely by lawyers, not ordinary people from all walks of life. Although the individual people may be different, the same entity – the legal profession – has total control of the Judiciary and the Legislature, and a lot of control over the Executive Branch.

Is our government really “of the people, by the people, for the people”? I guess it depends on how you define “people.”

Suppose we change one word in Lincoln’s famous statement so it reads: “Government of the lawyers, by the lawyers, for the lawyers shall not perish from the earth.” In my opinion, this is much closer to the truth.

In 2011, there were 1.22 million lawyers out of a total population of 311.7 million. This means that 0.4 percent of the total population controls two of the branches of government. The representation of lawyers in the legislature is 150 times greater than their percentage of the total population.

We cannot blame the lawyers for controlling so much of our government. We the people elected them. If this is a problem, we have only ourselves to blame. It is not surprising that so many legislators are lawyers. Knowledge of the law is needed to draft good legislation. On the other side of the coin, the Legislature is supposed to represent the interests of ordinary people from all walks of life, not just lawyers.

The problems with guardianship center around misconduct by lawyers and judges. The problem I ran into is that lawyers seem to control all of the ways that one would file a complaint against the lawyers and judges who are guilty of these abuses. In my opinion, lawyers should disqualify themselves from handling complaints against their professional colleagues on the grounds of conflict of interest. Would there be anyone left if all lawyers disqualified themselves? I have described below what happened when complaints were filed.

After Gretchen died, I filed complaints with all three branches of government. Two other parties also filed complaints to the court, on a website, and in an article published in the September 2017 issue #42 of The Boston Broadside (page 16). None of these complaints had any effect. All these complaints ended up in the hands of a lawyer or a judge who did nothing.

Specifically:

1. In 2012, Gretchen’s son and daughter-in-law filed a blistering complaint with Judge Gorman asking for the removal of the professional guardian, Regina Bragdon. Instead of removing the guardian, the judge approved a motion by the guardian’s attorney, Lawrence K. Glick, giving the guardian more authority.
2. In 2014, I filed a complaint with the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs of the Massachusetts Legislature. The complaint was handled by Kelly Love, Esq., the director of research for the Committee. She was sympathetic but did nothing. She took another job without leaving any notes on this case.
3. In 2015, I filed a complaint with the Middlesex District Attorney. The person I talked to on the phone was a personal friend of the professional guardian Regina Bragdon. The central issue of my complaint was that allowing a guardian to overrule a doctor could enable a guardian to commit an indirect form of homicide by denying necessary care. The neurologists treating Gretchen had to go through college, medical school, and internship. Judge Gorman gave the professional guardian, who had no medical training, authority to overrule all of Gretchen’s doctors. The details of how the guardian kept overruling Gretchen’s doctors are given in the September 2017 issue #42 of the The Boston Broadside (front page). The Office of the District Attorney found no legal grounds for an indictment. The guardian had the legal authority to overrule Gretchen’s doctors.
4. In December 2016, I met with my state Senator William Brownsberger to discuss the problems with guardianship. My complaint was against the judge and the lawyers in the case, not just the guardian. I pointed out that as a lawyer himself, Senator Brownsberger was in a position of conflict of interest. I knew the bar association would oppose any reform of guardianship that interfered with the income of its members. I asked Senator Brownsberger to refer my complaint to someone who is not a lawyer. His response was: “I do not practice law and have not practiced for almost 10 years. I have no fear of retaliation from bar associations or others. I serve only my constituents.”
5. In 2017, I filed a complaint with the Office of the Chief Justice of the Probate Court. Nothing was done. I was told there is no record of the testimony I gave against the GAL (Guardian ad Litem) and the professional guardian at the trial in February 2013. The Office of the Chief Justice referred me to Bill S.1178/H.3027, saying it was proposed by a group of advocates for the elderly. A close reading of the bill shows that it creates a dictatorship and puts the immunity of guardians into law. Judges already give guardians immunity as “agents of the court.”

Part 2. Accountability of Lawyers

There is nothing wrong with having lawyers in government service. However, the fact that lawyers have so much control over the whole government means that there has to be a good system of accountability for lawyers.

One of the organizations working to stop abuse of power by court-appointed guardians pointed out to me that the legal profession is entirely self-policing. This violates a universally accepted principle of law. No person can be his own judge. No profession or entity can be its own judge.

There are a number of problems with accountability of lawyers:

1. Lawyers control the court that is responsible for accountability of all members of society including lawyers. No other profession controls the institution responsible for its own accountability.
2. Lawyers are required to report misconduct by other lawyers. I know two lawyers who fulfilled this professional responsibility. In both cases, the lawyer who “blew the whistle” on another lawyer was subjected to severe retaliation by the other lawyer. The court did not just look the other way. The court enabled the retaliation. As one attorney told me: “Attorneys who have a clue are afraid — life is too short . . . very entrenched system.”
3. Under the Constitution, the Legislature can impeach a judge. However, the Legislature is controlled by lawyers. This tends to negate the checks and balances intended by the Constitution.
4. Review panels for lawyers and judges consist of lawyers, not ordinary people from all walks of life.

Lawyers are a special case because they control the court that is supposed to hold them accountable. The Constitution does not deal with the special case of lawyers. I do not find this surprising. About 60 percent of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were lawyers.

In my opinion, it is possible to construct a reasonable, practical, effective system of accountability of lawyers:

1. Review panels for judges and lawyers should be comprised of ordinary people from all walks of life.
2. There should be a system for filing indictments against a lawyer that is not controlled by lawyers.
3. The Constitution does not require judges to be professional attorneys. I think there should be judges who are not professional attorneys for the specific purpose of handling cases involving lawyers and judges.

A lawyer may not have the same goals as the client he represents. The practice of law is an occupation of common right. The legal system should be user friendly so people can represent themselves.

Self-policing violates a basic principle of law. It will not work in a culture that does not tolerate whistle blowers. Honest lawyers seem unable to defend themselves against dishonest members of their profession. Lawyers control most of the government. In order to have a true democracy, lawyers need to be accountable to We the People.

Full Article & Source:
‘We the People’ and Accountability of the Lawyers

Parents Starve Teen Son with Cerebral Palsy

(LifeNews.com) – A Oklahoma couple is facing charges after they allegedly starved their teenage son who has cerebral palsy.

Jesus Hibbard, 16, died in September 2017, and authorities said his parents are at least partially to blame, Oklahoma News 4 reports.

Police said Victor Trinidad, 28, and Lindsie Trinidad, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, have been charged with child neglect. They said Jesus could not feed himself, and his parents neglected to feed him. According to police, he was malnourished and underweight when he died.

Police said his mother told them that Jesus could not eat solid foods, and her blender “was broken a bit.” The Trinidads also stopped taking their son to his doctor, nutritionist and therapist, according to police.

Deadly discrimination against people with disabilities occurs both outside the womb and in. While abuse like this still is condemned, discrimination by abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia tragically are accepted and even encouraged in some cases.

No matter what their abilities, every human life is valuable and deserving of protection.

Full Article & Source:
Parents Starve Teen Son with Cerebral Palsy

Nevada Attorney General releases guide for elder abuse, neglect investigations

CARSON CITY, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — The Nevada Attorney General's office has released a resource guide for law enforcement across the state when it comes to investigating cases of elder abuse, neglect or exploitation.

Attorney General Adam Laxalt said in a statement the guide will help law enforcement recognize signs of elder abuse and help the elderly get services they need.

Laxalt's office applied for and received a federal grant for enhanced training and services. Three resources teams have also been formed to look into issues, including a team for Washoe County and rural Nevada communities.

Grant dollars have also been earmarked for direct services to elder victims of domestic and sexual violence, stalking, financial exploitation and neglect.

To view the resource guide, visit the Attorney General website.

Full Article & Source:
Nevada Attorney General releases guide for elder abuse, neglect investigations

Tonight on Marti Oakley's T. S. Radio" Tanya TalkS #3 Bent Elisens FBI Whistleblower

4:00 pm PST … 5:00 pm MST … 6:00 pm CST … 7:00 pm EST

Hosted by Tanya Hathaway

-SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT-

“There’s a wrong way to do the right thing” Brent Elisens

To some a hero; others tout him as just trying to get a reduced sentence; and to others still scratching their heads, and well- just need to know more than mainstream media’s version (just in-case), before they form an opinion on this whole twisted and okay, I am going to say it although it really is not a pun intended-explosive matter.

Thankfully, the operatives, including Brent- knew no explosives would detonate on that fateful day.

Former FBI under-cover finally gets the chance to set the record straight. Meet Brett Elisens.

Through preliminary talks and meeting Brent, (host, Tanya Hathaway), can say that Brent doesn’t mince words, and is willing to tell it all…even when “all” might not be so perfect-but as Brent says “Omission is commission”- so let’s hear him out.

You really won’t want to miss this live, so please, mark your calendars and listen in and listen up! “Where your voice is heard and your story is told” on TNT Tanya Talks, with host, Tanya Hathaway, who will have a one-on- one candid conversation with Brent- and you decide for yourself what is real and what is bureaucracy at it’s ________ (you fill in the blank).

After Brent got wind of just how these FBI reps “operated”; he realized he needed to be recording more than just Varnell. There are three very short clips (@ 30 seconds each) to give you a taste of how some of the FBI navigate and seem to think……….. Let’s face it-voices really do carry. These are available in extended versions on thepyramidgroup.us.

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