Rochester Smoke Out

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Wendy LongGeorge MaragosBob Turner

From the 2009 article Mysterious cancer treatment ‘backed by the Virgin Mary’ is plugged by major Catholic news agency – written by Damian Thompson, the Editor of Telegraph Blogs and a columnist for the Daily Telegraph – we got the news:

Zenit, the Rome-based Catholic news agency, has a reputation for accurate and careful reporting. So what on earth is it doing effectively advertising CellAdam, a “natural” cancer cure whose manufacturers claim to be working under the special protection of the Virgin Mary and believe it will earn a billion dollars?
…
Janossy [from the manufacturers, Biostemworld] says an ongoing 10-year study in Hungary is currently focusing on two groups of cancer sufferers. One group, who all went through chemotherapy, have since died, but those who have been taking CellAdam are still alive.
…
You don’t have to be Ben Goldacre to work out just how dodgy that statement is. Apparently, an unnamed religious order is preparing to test this medicine, which Biostemworld wants to keep out of the hands of unscrupulous US pharmaceutical companies. Instead, profits will be ploughed back into Catholic charities. Hmm.
…
Again, what is Zenit playing at, reporting these claims so uncritically? Pentin (the author) even says that “perhaps the most persuasive proof of this drug’s effectiveness is the belief among those running Biostemworld that this discovery is Providential”. That is proof?

Nope, that it’s not proof, according to a few commenters:

It’s a multi-level marketing con game.

What a load of absolute bullshit. How dare these frauds give false hope to the sufferers of disease. The Church should be quick to distance itself from this rubbish. I wonder if the Pontifical Academy for the Sciences could scrutinise it.

Help us bust this wide open with our current investigation. Thank you… any information to help is appreciated.

Want to be fair, so let’s hear it from the Biostemworld people, as reported in
A Believe-It-or-Not Cancer Drug / CellAdam Is Successful, Natural, Ethical

“This is a totally unusual and huge breakthrough,” says Dr. Thomas Janossy, president of Biostemworld, the company producing the drug internationally.

So why has hardly anyone heard of it? According to Biostemworld, the reason is because it was developed in Hungary during the country’s Communist era.

Imre Beke, Biostemworld’s chairman, calls it a “diamond in disguise” because of the numerous obstacles that have prevented this drug from reaching a wider market.

The first hindrance has been the Hungarian language. “As the researchers of this drug only speak Hungarian, it’s not been widely published in international media and so nobody really knows about it,” says Beke. Then there was the country’s Communist past and personal rivalries that remained even after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

“Envy, old skirmishes and conflicts, pharmaceutical companies worried about losing their market share in the cancer business — which is huge — all played a part,” Beke explains. “Now”, says Beke, “we’re really breaking out.”

Beke? Imre Beke? It can’t be! Our Imre Beke is a pious Republican, not a con, as this article headlined Catholic News Agency Says Cancer Cure from Virgin Mary claims:

Our Lady of the Miraculous Cancer Cure for Chumps… An Italian Catholic news agency, Zenit, has published reports of an alleged cancer cure with the uncontested claim that this supposed medical treatment is sponsored by the mythical Virgin Mary.

The clever marketing ploy these cons are using to fleece the sheeple seems to be a unique blend of New Age I’ll-believe-anything mumbo jumbo with the well established gullibility of those already afflicted with religious delusions about invisible super virgin faerie mothers that live in the sky.

What if the folks who developed this miracle cure were offering you a chance to get in on the ground floor of this “unique Business Opportunity“? Now do you believe that the Virgin Mary is cashing in sponsoring this breakthrough?

Hold on a sec! I think I received once an email from Biostemworld:

From: Biostemworld
Date: January 8, 2010 2:27:38 PM EST
To: Jon Dogar-Marinesco
Cc: Rochester Republican Committee
Reply-To: ibeke@hvc.rr.com

Dear Jon,

I believe that an honest exchange of opinions is a healthy exercise for any community, including our GOP…

Oops! So, it’s our Imre after all…Need more proof? Here it is:

Quod erat demonstrandum. My advice? Do not run against Imre Beke for a seat on Ulster County Republican Committee. You never know who’s backing him up…

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom

State Freedom Rankings

1. New Hampshire
2. South Dakota
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4. Idaho
5. Missouri
6. Nevada
7. Colorado
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10. North Dakota
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From www.foundingfathers.info:

When it comes to symbolizing freedom and the spirit of ’76, I do think there’s a better American flag. With all due respect to the stars and stripes, I prefer the yellow Gadsden flag with the coiled rattlesnake and the defiant “Don’t Tread on Me” motto.

The meaning of Old Glory can get mixed up with the rights and wrongs of the perpetually new-and-improved government. The meaning of “Don’t Tread on Me” is unmistakable.

From Comcast must die! by Bob Garfield (Advertising Age, November 19, 2007):

In the digital age, never get in a dispute with someone with access to a computer. Because if he is agrieved enough, and righteous enough, and persistent enough, and connected enough, he can burry you. Or at least make your life miserable for a long, long time. He doesn’t need to have a chain of newspapers, all he needs to have, basically, are fingers and rage…

For people with anger issues, the internet is a cathartic godsend and/or lethal weapon. You know the type — people who might accept the ordinary indignities of life with reasonable equanimity but become suddenly radicalized when lied to, cheated, bullied or otherwise personally abused…

Some of us — no matter how generally sweet-natured and generous, no matter how friendly and thoughtful, no matter how empathetic and transcendently kind — are simply not to be screwed with. Because when we are wronged, we will go to rather extreme lengths to be righted…


No members of the Dream Team were harmed in the making of this picture.

Imre Beke, Sr. is a huge fan of our legislator, but he can’t remember her name:

January 9, 2010
From Imre Beke, Sr. to Kandy Santosky

Dear Kandy:
Probably you know that Terry Bernardino is our Town’s Republican representative in the Ulster County Legislature. I enclose her letter that may be useful in the future. Please forward it to your friends.
God bless, Imre

Imre Beke, Sr. – a bit confused about a Committeeman’s obligations – is trying to justify his refusing to carry Manuela’s petition:

January 8, 2010
From Biostemworld (ibeke@hvc.rr.com) to Jon Dogar-Marinesco

Dear Jon,
…You also claim that I neglected my obligation as a Committeeman. I was elected to a position as an Ulster County Committeeman. That is also the basis of my position as a Town Committeeman. My obligation as a Committeeman, both Town and County, is to support the democratically determined decision of the County Committee – whether I happen to agree with that position or not. A Committeeman’s position is one of authority only through the Committee as a whole, not as an individual. Clearly your assertions with regard to a Committeeman’s obligations are both incorrect and divisive…
Sincerely,
Imre

As you see above, Imre Beke, Sr. has difficulty in grasping the meaning of unofficial nominating convention:

June 16, 2011
From David O’Halloran to Rochester Republican Committee

…Our unofficial county convention last week is just that, unofficial… I encourage all committee members to carry petitions for all county candidates. As committee members we are required to support all registered Republicans that seek our support to represent our voting district.…
David O’Halloran

Forget about Imre Beke, Sr.’s refusal to circulate petitions for Town of Rochester Republican Councilwoman Manuela Michailescu. Let’s focus instead on the stellar job he did for candidate Terry Bernardo. Let’s look at Sheet #152 (below) – containing all the signatures for Terry Bernardo witnessed by Imre Beke, Sr.

Out of 13 signatures, I objected to 12 for having fatal errors: some didn’t show the town, four signers committed perjury by making false statements about being a “dully enrolled voter of the Republican Party,” four signers – including both Bekes – signed twice, Imre Beke, Jr. signed on an out of order date, while Imre Beke, Sr. witnessed his own signature!

Ulster County Board of Elections upheld all my objections by unanimous vote. Out of 13 signatures, only one – on line 5, highlighted above – was left standing.

Thank God for emails…
Even our Legislator seemed to know what “committee people” should do:

July 26, 2010
From Terry Bernardo to Rochester Republican Committee

… As committee people, it is our job to know what a proper petition looks like…

As a Republican, I can’t accept to be represented by an obviously confused gentleman, stuck in blind partisan political thinking, incapable of carrying out his Committeeman’s duties.

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

1. Frank Reggero $50,000
Bernardo’s newly hired $50,000 per year Budget Analyst Frank Reggero appears as a current employee of the New York State Senate on at least three of the Senate’s biweekly payroll reports. On the other hand, Frank Reggero appears to be Terry Bernardo’s personal driver cum scribe.

2. Fawn Tantillo $51,093
Vice Chair of the Ulster County Independence Party, Fawn Tantillo – infamous for the Tantillo’s Law – was hired as Terry Bernardo’s confidential secretary.

3. Lisa K. Mance $45,915
Before she was arrested for DWI, Lisa K. Mance had been employed by the County Clerk’s office under the name of Lisa K. Fraser. A relative of Fawn Tantillo, she was re-hired as a county employee by Terry Bernardo. In a blatant manifestation of political cronyism, Lisa is attending political meetings as Bernardo’s note taker.

4. Terry Bernardo $20,000
Please, don’t get me started…

5. Langdon Chapman $49,750
“The bigger issue with Langdon is that on top of his large salary as an employee of the NYS Senate ($96k) and the nearly $50k he receives from the Ulster County Legislature, he also serves as the Town Attorney for Town of Monroe (Orange County), Town Attorney for Town of Stamford (Delaware County), Town Attorney for Town of Bovina (Delaware County), Deputy Town Attorney for Town of Mamakating, and Village Attorney for Village of Liberty (Sullivan County).”

6. Alexander Mathes $37,500
I know, I know, he can’t be seen in the photo, but he can’t be seen in the County Building either.

We the People have every right to question whether tax breaks granted by the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) are producing the promised economic benefits. For those not familiar with the issue, the following paragraphs come in handy.

From Ulster County Cloakroom:

This is classic lazy journalism. DiNapoli writes that a number of businesses in Ulster County could lose tax breaks or be subject to other sanctions, but she cannot be bothered to ask which businesses O’Halloran is referring to. Her article doesn’t say that the THR tried and failed to obtain this information (which is publicly available). So, why the omission? Could it be that one of these “underperfomers” is Skate Time 209, which is owned by O’Halloran patrons Len and Terry Bernardo? How convenient of DiNapoli to leave this information out of her article.

From Liberty Coalition (yes, it’s about Skate Time 209):

For example if a business applied for IDA assistance – whether for a loan, tax breaks or both – and they said they were going to create twenty jobs but their reporting shows they’ve created only nine (45% of the target) then maybe a formula needs to be created that increases the tax liability based on the underperformance. After all, I don’t think any of us wants to pay for an underperforming business to operate on our nickel. Put another way, if a $1.4 million commercial property is paying under $7,000 per year in property taxes, and that business is at only 45% of their job target, which includes the owners, it sounds like the taxpayers are getting screwed.

Mrs. Bernardo, tonight – for a change – do the right thing: when the Resolution No. 157 pops up, recuse yourself.

Resolution No. 157 June 19, 2012

Requesting That The Ulster County Industrial Development
Agency (IDA) File An Annual Report Card To Improve
Transparency, Accountability And Ensure the Public Trust

Referred to: The Economic Development and Tourism Committee (Chairman
Maloney and Legislators Maio, Roberts, Loughran and Wishnick)

Legislators David B. Donaldson and Peter Loughran offer the following:

WHEREAS, the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) is a public benefit corporation formed for the benefit of Ulster County and governed by Article 18-A of the New York State General Municipal Law, and

WHEREAS, the IDA is a tool utilized for economic development purposes throughout the County, and

WHEREAS, the Office of the New York State Comptroller has issued a report examining the record of New York’s Industrial Development Agencies and questioning their effectiveness, and

WHEREAS, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli stated that “…residents, particularly those in high cost regions such as Long Island and the mid-Hudson Valley, have every right to question whether the additional tax breaks are producing promised economic benefits,” and

WHEREAS, it is paramount to the operation of the Ulster County IDA that it maintain transparency to allow taxpayers to truly evaluate its effectiveness and provide assurances that it’s generating the promised economic benefits, and

WHEREAS, if the IDA submitted reports detailing its goals and achievements, its transparency would thereby be increased and provide assurance to the taxpayers of Ulster County that the IDA was effective in its mission, and

WHEREAS, an annual report card and five year summary and comparison reports would allow County officials to more effectively evaluate the IDA and create a vastly improved level of accountability of the IDA to the public, and

WHEREAS, legislation requiring mandatory reporting of similar information by IDA’s to various New York State offices and agencies has been proposed in the State Legislature by the State Comptroller, and

WHEREAS, the Ulster County Legislature seeks to take a leadership role in ensuring that the public has confidence in the operation of the Ulster County IDA, and that the annual reporting recommended by the State Comptroller’s proposal should be implemented by the Ulster County IDA on a voluntary basis, even absent
the passage of State legislation mandating same, now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency is hereby requested to file an annual Report Card and Five Year Summary and Comparison Reports, as detailed in attachment A, with the Ulster County Legislature, County Executive and County Comptroller,

and move its adoption.

ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES:NOES:

Passed Committee: Economic Development and Tourism on ___________________.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:
NONE

0601

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

In the previous installment of this story we saw that all hell broke loose after Rochester Councilwoman Manuela Michailescu announced her running for a Republican Committee seat. Then…

David O’Halloran made clear his disapproving of Republicans challenging Republicans’ petitions, and asked for identical petition forms for him and Manuela.

While signing David O’Halloran’s petition, Manuela noticed a difference between their petition forms, both received from GOP headquarters. She added by hand “Town of” in front of “Rochester” in order to eliminate the difference, and that was “the reason” for which her petition was challenged.

The challenge came from Imre Beke, Jr., – the son of Imre Beke, Sr. – with the sole purpose of saving his father’s Committee seat, despite the fact that on Monday, July 19, 2010, in front of the entire Rochester Committee, Imre Beke, Sr. declined his petition, leaving David O’Halloran and Manuela Michailescu as the only candidates in District 2.

The sneaky but well executed plan cooked by Imre Beke, Sr., Imre Beke, Jr., and both Bernardos – with help from Tom Turco at the Board of Elections – succeeded in having Manuela’s petition denied. Within twenty minutes, Terry Bernardo was on the phone calling the newspapers: “Did you hear what happened to poor Manuela?”

Here is a timeline in emails:

June 09, 2010
David O’Halloran to Mario Catalano

Mario,
Please prepare a single petition for Manuela Michailescu, district 2. Please use the address on record at BOE. In addition, I do not want any petitions thrown out on technicalities; please make sure Manuela’s petition is prepared identical to my own.
Thank you,
David O’Halloran, Chair
Rochester Republican Committee

June 23, 2010
David O’Halloran to Manuela Michailescu

Manuela,
Let’s make sure our petitions are identical. I will give you a copy of mine and vice versa. Then Tom Turco will be asked to insure either or both are correct and challenge proof.
David

July 24, 2010
Manuela Mihailescu to David O’Halloran

David,
I received in today’s mail Imre Beke Jr.’s specific objections to my Committee member petition. He found two “fatal deficiencies” in the petition form received from GOP HQs… Didn’t Imre Beke Sr. decline his petition in front of all Rochester Republican Committee members present at the meeting on July 19, 2010?
Manuela

July 26, 2010
David O’Halloran to Manuela Mihailescu

Manuela,
You are right; I accept full responsibility for your petitions being thrown out. I assured you that your petitions would be identical to mine and that they would be challenge proof. It will be my responsibility to make up for this error.
David

July 26, 2010
Jon Dogar-Marinesco to David O’Halloran

David,
I expect you to address the discrepancies between what you told me and what Terry Bernardo writes.
Funny how she takes the lead, being the first to inform all committee members. Funny that Imre Beke Jr is a notary too… but daddy needed Terry’s notary skills…
Jon

July 27, 2010
David O’Halloran to Jon Dogar-Marinesco

Jon,
My actions will address this issue. I will find out today if I need Imre’s consent to change member’s districts. If I do, Imre and I will have a chat. What I won’t do is get to deep into a drama of he said-she said. I have learned the hard way to read between the lines, a talent you mastered before me.
Thanks for giving me a chance to show that I’m not a bunch of twisted words but an individual that actually means what he says.
David

October 7, 2010
David O’Halloran to Manuela Michailescu

You were confirmed on October 5, 2010 by the UC GOP Executive Board as an appointed member of the UC GOP Committee representing the Town of Rochester. Congrats!

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco