Tag: europe

Wow, We Bought a Castle – Grifting Can Be Fun!

On By southwerkIn Business Ethics

I must admit that I think this whole thing is hilarious. Probably thousands of people and organizations coughed up millions of dollars thinking not unreasonably that the money would be used for advocacy. The organization advertised itself as anti-immigration so they were probably thinking television commercials, editorials, books and articles, maybe a documentary. But that would have been a mundane and common use for monetary contributions. Instead of that silly advocacy stuff they bought a castle in West Virginia. I promise I had no idea that West Virginia participated in the Medieval Period but there it is, a real castle. It must have been a lonely existence waiting for America to be discovered.

(More of a French Chateaux but close enough. I have no concept of what a West Virginia castle looks like.)

Satire aside, maybe this is one of those apocalyptic preparations for the end times. We might eventually see pure-bred Anglo-Saxons pouring hot oil on rappers and Hispanic gardeners, and maybe even hordes of seasonal farm workers.

Buying a castle is probably pretty tempting even if you don’t think the world is ending any time soon. And you can live in the thing which has to be nice. The views are probably amazing.

Twenty some years ago, I found at article about a Republican’s Congressman’s wife who had set up a Political Action Committee with the stated intention of collecting money for Republican candidates. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were used for “administrative” costs and nearly twenty dollars was raised for the electioneering part.

After some reflection I did not write about it. As far as I could tell that money not going to those candidates was an excellent outcome and I was content.

And I must admit I’m very content with this one, too. As long as they aren’t spending the money for a cause I disapprove of, I’m just fine. Let them buy another castle, they can buy lots and lots of stuff, do some fine dining and take home some champagne afterwards.

When the right wing is out for the grift, all of America benefits.

James Alan Pilant

The article below is quite good and I recommend you go to its home and read the whole thing. jp

Kara Scannell writing for CNN reports that civil charges have been filed alleging that – Far-right activists ‘looted’ corporate assets to buy a castle, NY AG says.

The New York attorney general’s office filed civil charges against far-right anti-immigration activist Peter Brimelow and his wife for allegedly misusing more than $2 million in assets, including a West Virginia castle, from a charitable foundation they run.

Brimelow founded VDARE, whose website has been a platform for white nationalist and anti-immigration viewpoints, and ran it with his wife Lydia until he suspended it in 2024 because of NY AG Letitia James’ investigation into its finances.

The lawsuit alleges the Brimelows used $1.4 million dollars of VDARE funds to acquire a castle complex in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. They moved into the castle, transferred it to two entities they controlled and charged VDARE rent and fees for use of the space, according to the lawsuit.

Smoking Sensor Abuse!

On By southwerkIn Business Ethics, Capitalism

Hotels are charging customer a five hundred dollar fee if a smoking sensor determines that you have smoked in your room. But do smoking sensors actually work and work reliably? They might. Maybe? I must once again confess that when a juicy $500 fine can be gotten for a false positive — I can’t help but feel there are going to be lots and lots of false positives. It gets taken directly off the credit card. Five hundred free bucks and you didn’t even have to use a gun.

The article says you should use Google reviews and see if they have a lot of customer complaints for smoking fines and then don’t stay there if you see them.

I have a better idea. How about our wimpy, unenergetic, corporate owned news media do investigations, find out if these sensors work, and expose hotels who steal from their customers?

That is what is supposed to happen? Why isn’t it happening? Could it be all the advertisements bought by hotels? Could it be the sympathy from another capitalist operation, you know, a sort of honor among thieves code??

I suppose for many of the powers that be and our pitifully corrupt ruling class, stealing an extra five hundred from a customer is just another yawn. Just another common man or women giving up some more money to their betters. They’d have probably bought beer or high sugar food — or any of those other justifications the wealthy have for sneering at the rest of us.

I don’t think so. Taking people’s money under false pretences is wrong. And no amount of babble about the reliability of the technology when it isn’t proven is going to make it right.

It’s a crime. It’s theft and it should be investigated and prosecuted.

If they have evidence these sensors actually work, why don’t they show it? And exactly what costs do they bear to justify this fee?

If you don’t mind me saying so — It all smells.

Please read the article linked to below. It is written by Caleb Harmon-Marshall. He is apparently quite the up and coming young author.

https://creators.yahoo.com/lifestyle/story/new-smoking-sensors-are-triggering-500-fees-for-non-smoking-hotel-guests-210033335.html

Imagine checking out of your hotel room, confident that everything went smoothly, only to find a $500 non-smoking fee charged to your credit card. No warning, no evidence, and no actual smoking. That’s the reality for dozens of travelers staying at hotels using air quality monitoring systems from a company called Rest.

Welcome to the latest hospitality tech trend that’s costing travelers hundreds of dollars, and it could happen to you.

In addition, here is a very fine article from Consumer Rescue about the immense difficulties involved in getting a smoking charge reversed. It is by Michelle Couch-Friedman.

https://consumerrescue.org/travel-troubles/how-get-hotel-smoking-fee-refunded/

Getting a surprise hotel smoking fee reversed isn’t easy — even if you’re a non-smoker like Kelsey Russell. Or a determined consumer advocate. But it can be done. Here’s how.

Kelsey’s case is yet another story that illustrates a disturbing trend that seems to be developing in the franchise hotel industry. Increasingly, we’re receiving complaints from guests who say these branded properties have hit them with an array of surprising post-stay charges — no proof included. But, as you’ll see in this case, even when the hotel provides “evidence,”  it might just lead to more questions than answers.

This turned out to be a lengthy piece and a very good story. You should read it. And I have to admit it gave me a very good first impression of “Consumer Rescue.”

Beware of strange charges after spending the night at a hotel or other such venue.

James Alan Pilant