It takes two to be gullible

It takes two to be gullible, really. And the youngest and the oldest are most at risk.

Think about it... One has to tell you a "tale", and you have to believe it, for you to be "gullible". It is a lot like lies. It takes a liar, and it takes a victim to accept the lie as true.

Researchers have found a portion of your brain that controls gullibility, and it's only fully developed at middle age. Really.

The youngest are at risk because they don't have the experience to tell what's true and what's not believable (or at least, questionable). That's why baiting kids with tall tales like Santa Claus and Tooth Fairy is so amusing.

The oldest are at risk because their mind is not as sharp as they used to be. Most societies discourage that by imposing additional penalties for senior abuse.

Even if you are middle-aged, you are probably easily mislead because you rely on INTUITION, NOT LOGIC, to determine what to trust, and what not to.

Funky Shark is no more: realized it's going to die like Zeek (not the way you think)

News just spread that Funky Shark, a venture that is supposed to be penny auction done right, legal, and such, everything that Zeek wasn't, decided to refund all founders and apparently, close up shop and NEVER launch their business.

The following e-mail is now being spread:

Please read this communication in it’s entirety as it contains important information crucial to your business with Funky Shark.
Today marks a sad day for us all here at Funky Shark. I’m sorry to report that we’ll be cancelling the launch of Funky Shark. We’re sorry to those of you that were excited about the launch. We want to ensure everyone that we will be providing refunds for everyone, making them completely whole.
Funky Shark is a unique twist on the idea of being able to qualify for commissions resulting from penny auction profits and bid sales. But based on advice from our legal counsel, we have recently discovered that the way we executed our Founder program may violate certain securities laws in the United States.
While this news has come as an extreme shock to us, our immediate response was to ensure that all Crown Members be made whole. The goal is to restore all members to their original situation before starting the program. This means the following:
Any Crown Member who paid the $1,000 and has not received any commissions from the Founder program will be refunded their entire $1,000 payment.
Any Crown Member who has received commissions from the Founder program will have the difference between commissions collected and the $1,000 Crown Member fee reimbursed to them. The sum of our reimbursement and collected commissions will total $1,000; thus, rendering the member whole.
As for the Crown Members who have received more than $1,000 in commissions from the Founder program, they’re not due any additional funds. The sum of collected commissions have exceeded the $1,000 fee paid; therefore, they’ve gained from the program, not lost.
Regarding the administrative fees collected when you joined, those funds will also be refunded in similar fashion.
Due to these actions that we’re taking to remedy this error, in conjunction with our business model, our confidence in the future success of Funky Shark as a penny auction is greatly reduced. We really cannot in good conscience move forward with the penny auctions. In order for the penny auction to be profitable, there needs to be a lot of activity with the auctions. We lack confidence in this regard.
The Business Manager web site will remain live so that you can receive future updates from Funky Shark and it will remain live until all members have been refunded.
We ask that you please remain patient and give us the opportunity to work with our legal counsel and payment processors to devise a plan to get everyone accommodated. Our commitment to you is that we will work quickly and diligently around the clock to resolve this matter.
Please log into the Business Manager (Back office) for refund instructions and details.
We will keep you well informed of our efforts and progress.
Sincerely,
Funky Shark

Funky Shark was supposed to be Zeekler done right, none of the illegal Ponzi like ZeekRewards. So what did it do, and why would it attract the wrath of the SEC much like Zeek?

Another Zeek Victim Files Report with Judge of Case

PatrickPretty.com reported that another victim has filed an affidavit with the court supervising the disposal of Zeek assets.

Bad Argument: Magician's Choice

Top hat as an icon for magic (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ever heard of the term "magician's choice"? No?

It's a way to trick you thinking you have influence over his act, when you don't. It's an illusion of choice.

It's pretty simple, if I show you an example.

Let's say magician deals two cards from the deck, and says to you, pick one. Let's just arbitrarily name them L and R (left and right).

If the magician wants to show off the R card, and you picked R, he'll say "good choice".

If the magician wants to show off the R card, and you picked L instead, he'll say "let's get rid of that one".

EITHER WAY you end up with the R card. Thus, your choice is NOT a choice. It's called "magician's choice". You had an ILLUSION that you had 50% influence. The reality is you have ZERO influence.

And that's EXACTLY how a scam works: by giving you ILLUSION of choice.

UPDATE on Motor Club of America (MCA) and TVC Matrix

NOTE: There's a previous post about MCA and TVC
http://amlmskeptic.blogspot.com/2012/10/motor-club-of-america-tvc-matrix.html

Further investigation of MCA/TVC yielded some results.  NOTE: Updated 13-DEC-2012

This TVCMatrix.com / TVCMarketing.com (same website)

However, there's this "TVC Pro-Driver" that I didn't notice before.

Further search for TVC Pro-Driver produced a website called TVCWest.com

Trivia: TVC stands for "Trucker's Voice in Court".

However, the domain reg info is set to private. (Why?)  It's also registered through a different registrar. So this is NOT an official TVC website, but rather, an independent website selling TVC, and under "Contact Us", we got the name" Jeffrey Nagel", who leads a bunch of TVC associates in Oregon and Nevada at truck stops. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, there's barely a word about recruiting more sales associates. Good!

However, this website produced no new information. Back to TVCMatrix.com... and Pro-Driver. And I get...

If you go "more details", you get...

And if you scroll to the end, you get...

So what is "Advance"?

Is MLM about substance or power?

Think (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When one have an argument (not necessarily a heated one), one should be aware of one's goal, vs. the opponent's goal. Is it over actual matter of substance, or merely vying for power? The problem here is making sure which one is your opponent actually vying for, as it will affect how s/he frame the arguments, and how you approach it.

More relationship arguments are over power, not substance. Sometimes capitulation, even when you know you are "right" (substance), may not be worth the effort.

However, most financial or business arguments are over substance, unless you're talking about corporate power struggles.

You need to know what are you fighting over. If you attempt to go for power, but your opponent is talking substance, you'll sound rather dumb in avoiding the issues (of substance).

And that brings up one of the fundamental problems of MLM... is it about substance (making money), or power (controlling people)?

When critics of MLM talk about MLM, we generally talk about substance, about how many people win, how many people do NOT (and how many people LOSE), how profitable is the product, the business model, and so on.

When PROponents of MLM talk about MLM, they sound like they are talking substance too. However, often they are not. They are usually talking about power.

That illustrates one fundamental dichotomy about MLM... a fundamental contradiction of its role.

Bad Argument: The Preemptive Moral Strike

Joseph Raymond McCarthy
Master of preemptive moral strike
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A "preemptive moral strike" is a particular insidious tactic used by people who want to appear as if they have the moral high ground, but actually doesn't. It's surprisingly simple.

To perform a preemptive moral strike, list the underhanded way your would use on your opponent, then claim your opponent used them first.

If you will lie, accuse your opponent being a liar.

If you will blame the poor for the troubles, accuse your opponent of blaming the poor for the troubles.

You get the idea.

Is it hypocrisy? Absolutely, but at the time of delivery, if done properly such as enlisting some greater ideology like "The American Dream", "Liberty", and so on, it causes the sheeple to flock to the accuser's defense. Accuser is exercising his leadership, and most people, when lead, will simply follow.

Hitler accused Roosevelt and Churchill of conspiring the take over the world, when he's the one trying to establish the Fourth Reich. Yet he lead the German people and conquered most of Europe, by appealing to the German sense of pride and Fatherland.

Joseph McCarthy accused his opponents of being un-American, with his Committee was the one treading on people's freedoms, the most fundamental of being an American, by issuing innuendos and statements that damaged reputations of hundreds of people, and death of many (some committed suicide).

And the most advanced scammers do the same thing, claiming moral outrage when they are the ones cheating.