I Love It When It's Easy!
A special shout out to Paper Prophet for helping me figure this one out quickly.
I came across USSE by accident while searching for another business in the same sector (that is actually processing bioDIESEL). The USSEC idea seemed intriguing.
First internet search yielded the Forbes "Kissy Kat" article which I have to say was pretty damning. By the way (although not strictly related to USSE) any company that is doing business with Laurus is a candidate for bankruptcy. If you are a shareholder in a co. that has accepted one of their toxic financings- I can only advise you to sell out before your position hits "the ultimate resistance level" of $0.00.
I listened to the conf. call yesterday which was just a rehash of the same claims that had been made so many times before. The only questions supposedly asked were whether or not they owned their storage facilities?! Give me a break! My own question- third party evaluation of the technology, natch- was naturally not touched upon.
Today I got it figured out conclusively. You can find the letter from the professor at Cornell University both on this site and at www.jhrivera.com. I actually bothered to call this guy and ask him what he saw when he was there.
FOAF: Hi, this is [FOAF]. I wanted to ask you about your visit to the USSEC facility last year.
UC Prof: Uh, yes.
FOAF: Did you reach any kind of assessment of the process?
UC Prof: Um, I no longer comment on that.
Bingo! So a guy who wrote this effusive letter a year ago about how Rivera was going to change the world- today, will only say, "um, I no longer comment on that." Not "Yes, John Rivera will change the world- and donate 10% of profits to battered puppies!"
And the guy’s tone of voice- you just had to be there. It was the tone of voice you’d use if you had just found out that your prom date was turning tricks on the side- “um, I no longer comment on that.”
Finally, (and this is a pretty obvious one) google "John Rivera" and "fraud." First match (!) comes to you from the Posner Project, a searchable archive of Richard Posner's legal opinions over the past couple decades. For you stock pumpers out there, Posner is one of our most respected Federal judges.
This John Rivera (who knows, maybe not our John Rivera?) got involved in some litigation. As you read on you begin to think that perhaps we are talking about the same person, though:
“John Rivera, a businessman interested in "cogeneration." This term refers to techniques for using energy that normally is wasted in the course of producing electricity. Rivera believed that Caldwell's aircraft engines, which from an engineer's standpoint are simply gas turbines, could be arranged in a cogeneration network that would enable the engines to produce electricity directly and the energy normally wasted in that process to be used for air conditioning, water purification, or other valuable uses, including the generation of additional electricity.”
But wait, there’s more:
“Caldwell contributed $ 25,000 in cash to the fledgling corporation in return for 50 percent of the stock. Rivera became president of the corporation and the other 50 percent stockholder. He contributed to the corporation -- besides his ideas about cogeneration, his know-how, and his time -- a fax machine and some computer software of uncertain value.”
Rivera and Caldwell started doing business and decided that they would promise that they could deliver large quantities of natural gas (true!) to commercial buyers without knowing exactly where they were going to get the gas. This small problem notwithstanding they decided to go ahead and promise the gas, and eventually got sued, bringing them before Judge Posner, and leaving for any USSE shareholder or potential shareholder a virtual “Rosetta Stone” of how John Rivera does business, concluding with a complete legal victory for the plaintiffs, and perhaps more relevantly for us,
“Rivera was not a credible witness.”
So to all y’all who say that “the proof is just a Google search away!” I say, “you don’t know how right you are!”
http://www.projectposner.org/case/1991/763FSupp1445