STATEMENT: ‘UncleFesta26′ Pillories Us On YouTube; References Family Pet In Videos And Suggests PP Blog Has No Right To Publish Advertisements
Notorious cyberstalker “unclefesta26,” who has used other derivatives of the Uncle Festa name and also uses the handle “pistol,” has skewered the PatrickPretty.com Blog in two new videos on YouTube, PatrickPretty.com announced today.
On Nov. 3, “unclefesta” used a Google email address to harass the Blog by sending links to earlier videos he had published on YouTube. The incident earlier this month followed on the heels of a June incident that used a different Google email address as part of a bid to disrupt the Blog’s operations.
Unlike his previous approaches when pillorying the Blog, unclefesta26 did not use a Google account to email PatrickPretty.com to boast about his latest videos or take credit for them. The two new videos appear to have been posted Nov. 28, in an apparent bid to retaliate against the Blog for publishing advertisements for Ponzi-themed information products and merchandise.
unclefesta26 used YouTube on Nov. 2 in a similar bid to retaliate against the Blog for publishing advertisements.
PatrickPretty.com views the actions of unclefesta26 as a form of cyberstalking designed to extract an editorial result. unclefesta26, posting as “pistol” at PatrickPretty.com, was blocked from publishing comments here in June for repeatedly spamming links to a ning.com forum from which he showcased his videos and for disrupting the operations of the Blog.
The ning.com cyberstalking forum maintained by unclefesta26 was taken offline.
PatrickPretty.com has received 15,973 spam emails since December 2008. The Blog’s Comments threads that accompany stories frequently are targeted by spammers. unclefesta26 has been among the spammers.
In a video dated Nov. 28 and titled “Widow Woman,” unclefesta26 suggested that the PatrickPretty.com Blog was stealing from widows by offering for sale Ponzi-themed products and a $27 infoproduct on the dangers of autosurf Ponzi schemes.
Access to PatrickPretty.com is free. No reader is required to purchase a product on the Blog, which does not charge a fee for reading any of the hundreds of detailed articles in its editorial well. The Blog also features a free search function and free access to dozens and dozens of court filings from Ponzi scheme cases.
Its author is journalist Patrick Hernan, who has received awards from the Associated Press for investigative reporting and public service, awards from Edgell Communications for coverage of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and Hurricane Hugo, and a Keystone Press Award from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association for general reporting.
In 2002, Hernan’s work to expose mortgage fraud that had led to an unprecedented number of foreclosures in western Pennsylvania was submitted for consideration by the Derrick Publishing Co. for the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting. Hernan was a longtime correspondent for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and a frequent contributor to other publications.
Disturbingly, some of the videos posted by unclefesta26 include references to “Maddy,” the Hernan family pet. The Blog occasionally has published stories about Maddy.
“Patrick Pretty” is the name of a fantasy brand developed in 2007. The brand emerged as a result of a joke submitted by a forum poster who doctored an image of Hernan using Photoshop. The brand, which features an “ugly” former child star who assumes he is handsome because he is famous, positioned itself as “the sensational master of eye candy.”
“Our editorial mission is to educate, enlighten and inform readers about the dangers of Ponzi schemes, which often trigger human suffering and sometimes have the feel of black comedy,” PatrickPretty.com said. “Like tens of thousands of publishing ventures — from the websites of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and The Huffington Post to Newsweek and CNN and small- and large-scale publications for niche audiences across the globe — our Blog also publishes advertisements.
“It simply is not news that advertisements appear on the Blog. Nor is it responsible commentary to suggest widows and vulnerable groups of people somehow are being taken advantage of financially,” Patrick Pretty.com said in response to the cyberstalking by unclefesta26. “The PatrickPretty.com Blog has become a key source of information for people whose lives have been affected by Ponzi schemes. It has published stories about senior citizens whose lives were altered by a Ponzi scheme, and has published nearly 6,000 comments from readers interested in the topic.
“Despite its vast well of free information, unclefesta26 appears to believe there is something unseemly about the Blog’s bid to retire its publishing costs and perhaps earn a profit through serious reporting on a serious subject — and unclefesta26 seems prepared even to make a family pet part of his cyberstalking mission.”
PatrickPretty.com has been targeted by at least one other cyberstalker. A poster who identified himself as a supporter of Ponzi schemes and used the core identity of “joe,” was blocked from PatrickPretty.com in September for posing a chronic maintenance problem and demanding an editorial result.
“joe” went on to create multiple user identities on the Blog and at Scam.com in a bid to stalk PatrickPretty.com.
We have Bob G, and the British Isles have unclefesta. Maybe unclefesta will soon learn it is not wise to run around half-cocked with an empty pistol. One can hope.
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I Watched His Videos. These Are Very Low Quality. Annoying To Watch. My 16yo Son Could Blow His Productions Away. Give It Up.
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Quick note: unclefesta26 still isn’t done. He has posted a new video on YouTube, dated today, that suggests we are ripping off readers of this Blog by offering a $3 discount on our autosurf Ponzi report at the Warrior Forum.
Our report is listed as a Warrior Special Offer (WSO) at the Warrior Forum’s WSO page. The Warrior Forum requires a Warriors-only price on products listed in that section; it’s what makes a WSO a WSO — a special price, just for members of the forum.
The normal price of the report is $27; it’s listed for $24 in the WSO forum. The Warrior Forum listing was posted Nov. 12 — 10 days after it debuted here. Because the Warrior Forum is extremely busy, the listing got pushed quickly from the first page of WSO listings. It currently is on Page 13 and eventually will get pushed out of the forum by WSOs from others.
Patrick
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Patrick,
You are in good company….mine. But he’s more “affectionate” to you.
He came after me because I moderated a forum which had a racist slur posted. I hadn’t been there for a year or more. At the point the regrettable slurs were posted, the admin put in filters and took other actions. The poster kept coming back using similar words. So the meaning still came through.
Nothing pleased UF. Short of quitting the Internet, nothing would have pleased UF. I responded with what actions we took and why. Nothing mattered to him…
Just be glad your not in his family and don’t have to see him on a daily basis. What a freak!!!
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Hi d_b,
You’ve just summarized the experience of a good number of people. There simply is no way to engage him in a meaningful fashion because his communications are not legitimate.
Patrick
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He has survived well past his expiration date.
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Who’s up for locking him in a poorly ventilated room with my favorite convicted felon, Bob Guenther?
pay per view gold!
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That is an understatement, and he has other, good, reasons to dislike anyone associated with that forum. I wont go into details.
Last time I checked there still were “racist slurs” a few weeks ago. A lot of the “trouble” seem to stem from a single source which is bizarrely tolerated.
The difference in price for the ebook is also slightly odd. Why would the ebook be cheaper on a forum that is not directly associated with discussing ponzi scams? It seems to me that the audience for the book is more likely to be posters & readers of this blog. Perhaps its is just as well I chose not to buy a copy.
As for the google ads, they are easily filtered out by firefox, so are effectively harmless. I found the link to the amazon shop interesting – I didn’t know so many books had been written on the Madoff scam.
I do not support Festa’s methods, but he sometimes makes some valid points.
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Hi Tony,
Here is why I listed the book at the Warrior Forum: In July 2008, before the ASD seizure, a 14-page thread on ASD suddenly materialized at the WF.
http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=258285&whichpage=1
That thread received high readership and sparked significant passions. I noticed that ASD had supporters — some of whom appeared to be defending ASD in kneejerk fashion — the Google partnership stuff, the White House stuff and, eventually, claims ASD’s critics would be sued.
There were approximately 500 posts in the WF thread. These sparked my interest in following the ASD debate elsewhere. So, I went to other forums discussing ASD, and noticed the same thing.
I had hoped people would remember the WF thread and the debate it sparked when I placed my WSO Nov. 12, 10 days after its release here. I mentioned the thread in my WSO and discounted the report as required by the WF rules — a price for WF members only. The discount offered for WF members was $3 off the regular price of $27.
The report has sold ZERO copies at the WF, and only two here. It had been my hope that the report could help retire the costs of this Blog.
It was not to be — either here or there. It’s possible I got the pricing wrong or anticipated a demand that simply was not there. There is, after all, hundreds of free articles on this blog and hundreds of links to information sources.
This Blog is not paying for itself and I cannot continue to subsidize it. That is the simple reality. Publishing in general is hurting.
Meanwhile, my PonziNews.com site effectively was destroyed by thieves who mined 100 percent of the content verbatim and put it on their own websites — without so much as a backlink. I awoke one morning to discover I’d been working for free for at least two thieves, both of whom set up domains behind proxies and simply harvested my content.
My output of free articles in the past year has exceeded 700. This Blog and PonziNews both added considerably to the public information well. I’m proud of that. I have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours performing research and preparing stories.
It’s interesting, to say the least, that one of the principal criticisms of this Blog is that it publishes advertisements. It’s all the more interesting that much of the criticism came from ASD members, all of whom purportedly were members of a professional advertising company.
You say you do not support Festa’s methods. That’s good. His methods treat the human soul as though it were a plaything — something not to be cherished and celebrated, but something to be condemned from his High Tower of Cyberstalking on YouTube.
His behavior is unnatural and plainly extortive. If you don’t play his game or share his worldview, he pillories you on YouTube — and then sends you an email to gloat.
There is a clear “cause and effect” to what he does. It is disturbing, and it is classic cyberstalking.
The videos mocking this Blog did not begin until he was blocked here for licensing himself to vomit all over the floor. Almost instantly he created a new user identity here — and also the first YouTube video, along with an emailed link to gloat. He’s followed it up with additional videos and an email to gloat. He might as well say, “Look at me: I have power over you. Here is how I’m exercising it to hurt you and force you to put out the fires I start.”
I’ve given this Blog my best shot. It’s an important site to a good number of readers; I’ve been deeply moved by a number of emails I’ve received.
But the publishing world is hurting; I am part of that world. My client base has eroded. Major publishing companies are in bankruptcy. My personal story is that I have never worked harder and longer for fewer rewards.
I find the criticism that this Blog shows ads and attempts to make a profit from product sales remarkably shallow. Yes, I’m attempting to publish for profit in a highly newsworthy niche. There are 15 articles on the main page alone — and hundreds more in the monthly archives. The November 2009 archive alone has 50, information-packed articles — all free to any person with web access.
There is a very good chance that I’ve totally missed the boat in believing this Blog actually could retire its costs and become a source of revenue that could sustain me as my retirement years approach.
If so, that’s my fault. But there is no denying the free content of this Blog has made a difference in people’s lives. My email shows me that, so my efforts have not been entirely in vain. The reading public has been well-served by this Blog.
Patrick
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I also nominate Andy Bowdoin for the locked, poorly ventilated room. If they need a fourth for tag-team action, maybe Robert Fava would be a good choice for Andy’s partner. Three accused or convicted felons for sure; don’t know about Uncle Festa but it wouldn’t surprise me if his mouth hasn’t landed him in the poky a time or two…. As Gregg says, that would be a cash cow for pay per view TV!
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Patrick, one of the reasons I didn’t buy your ebook was the format – PDF. I tend to read most news & books on a PDA/Phone. Have you ever tried reading a PDF on a PocketPC? I haven’t found a PDF reader I liked yet. Usually the font is difficult to read, the margins & text spacing mean it needs to be read landscape or you get 3 words on a line. Forever scrolling left, right, up & down.
The best formats I’ve found are the now largely defunct Microsoft LIT format, and the one used by Mobipocket. Perhaps you may find a wider audience for your books if you publish vis the Mobipocket site or something similar.
I have no doubt about that.
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Patrick, think of this WONDERFUL blog as the groundwork for your best seller. This book will naturally evolve from your exhaustive research and writings into a fascinating ASD saga. You don’t have to be physic to see this inevitable text on the New York Times Top 10 List.
Festa does NOT believe in capitalism! He is a fervent follower of British politician of the 30’s, Oswald Mosely. The short version is Mosely formed the British Union of Fascists (BUF) modeled after Mussolini’s National Fascist Party in Italy. Festa despises free enterprise and entrepreneurs are nothing but capitalists in his eyes. So, ANYONE who profits without toil is a thief in Festa’s demented world. As we all know, a thief is to be punished and punish Festa does relentlessly. What I don’t understand is why he targets people fighting crime and leaves the criminals alone. He posts NOTHING about Bob Guenther or Robert Gardner or Robert Fava … this list goes on and on.
I was able to get youtube to take down the horrid video’s he had on me. Being the vindictive cuss he is, I feel certain he will find a way to punish me for this post.
Lastly, Festa has to be a product of too many drugs in the 60’s!!! He is frozen in the world of the immature teenager, which is what TOO many drugs as an adolescent will do.
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It is just my personal opinion, but I think uclefesta got taken in a major scam, lost a lot of money, and maybe referred a bunch into it that cost him dearly. The most obnoxius anti-smoker is none other than a previous smoker who has quit. I think the same holds true for him. But like Kathy, I don’t get why he is against anyone who tries to take-down these scammwers or exposes them to the public. With his ties to Oswald Mosely, it does clarify some other issues about him. I also think he is very lonely, and this is his only way of feeling important or known.
What is truly intersting is that people will send thousands, if not hundreds of thousdands dollars to scammers for an invetment program that with any common sense people would see is a fraud, but won’t send $20 to someone who is helping put them away and warning the public against them. This is just an observation. A lot like your blog and all the good it does, yet people won’t pay for a product that would not only help them in the future, but their friends and family too. Amazing.
It is well worth the price for your eReport, as it has some incredible helpful information that people need to know. I remain surprised more have not bought it. Maybe it is time to do a Christmas special that if your order it in the next 30 minutes, you get it for the bargain price of $19.95, and unclefesta’s E-mail address thrown in as a bonus.
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Hi Tony,
Thanks for the thought.
Patrick
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Hi Kathy,
I have had no luck with YouTube. It requires considerable effort even to locate the information on how to report stalking, and then you’re rotated from screen to screen. I have contacted YouTube twice, filled out the forms twice and haven’t received even a courtesy response.
The forms also limit the number of videos to bring to YouTube’s attention to five and the number of words you can use to report cyberstalking to 300. Festa put up two new videos within hours of when I completed the forms for the second time.
Basically he has weaponized YouTube and uses it as an instrument of terror. He doesn’t use it to educate, enlighten and inform.
If you won’t play ball with Festa, he exacts a price.
Patrick
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Whilst I agree, in principle, that no anti scammer should be denied the right to draw the public’s attention to a fraud, I don’t think that Festa genuinely falls in that category. Why? He clearly hates ponzis. However, since I personally became aware of his existence, I have yet to see him initiate a discussion about a fraud or scam. He jumps on a bandwagon started by others, who have identified an area of fraud, but, like many others, he is not the one to bring it to light. His comments are generally confined to agreeing with those who have, with added comments of his own and, and – here is the problem – constantly picking on people who he has decided have participated or do participate in that fraud. Regrettably, he is long on sarcasm but short on accuracy.
Having “starred” in many of his video offerings, both when I still believed that Andy Bowdoin was a good guy and hadnt been able to figure out the math to show that ASD was insustainable, and since then. Not being alone in this, I can only conclude that Festa’s interest is not to warn people about fraud, nor to stop them joining or continuing in them, but to gloat that he has (in his mind) identified someone to blame. He appears unable to disstinguish between people who realise that they made a mistake and wish to make amends by educating others and those who have no conscience.
His writing and videos attempt to be vindictive and cruel and go no way to educate any one who is not already educated in why a ponzi or fraud is just that. That job he leaves to the Entertaineds, Eagles, Xaviers, Patrick Prettys of this world, and others too numerous to mention here. Both myself and many other ex ASD fans have much to thank these good people for their patience in helping us to understand just what the heck we got into and, as a result, have enabled us to go on to warn others.
Festa’s objective seems not educate, but, as I have already stated on other boards, to be the vulture that picks over the bones of the already slain, or the guy who turns up at the scene of the fatal accident to remind the driver responsible that he is guilty, but forgetting to call an ambulance, or teaching others to drive better in the future.
His speciality is the ad mominem attack, which is behaviour we are more used to seeing as a form of retaliation used by scammers, but is not exclusive to them.
The problem with conduct like Festa’s is that, instead of helping in the fight against fraud, his attacks alienate the very people who in fact need the information about the programmes they are in. Ironically, silly videos which attack people are generally counter productive in convincing their associates or members that those people are fraudulent. Their viciousness and general base level of the attacks can often reinforce the followers that they are in fact on the right track and that anyone attacking with silly videos has very little of value to say. This is true whether or not the “star” of the video is a scammer or an anti scammer
Overall, people like Festa do no service to the fight against fraud and their narcisistic need to protagonise every discussion is usually counter productive. They are best ignored and their videos unviewed.
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Hi Lynn,
I appreciate your words. The price it’s worth is the price people are willing to pay, which more or less appears to be zero. It’s obvious that $27 was met with a thud. My thoughts about offering it at a lower price were that not even my low-priced reports sold when traffic to the Blog was increasing markedly. I have a year of data that suggested it was best to offer the autosurf report for a higher price because not even a lower price would generate volume. With the higher price, in theory, I’d at least have a chance to retire my costs.
What I appear to have done is create a site that many people value, but a site that cannot generate sufficient revenue to sustain itself. I have a lot to think about.
Regards,
Patrick
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Patrick,
First of all, you will have to ignore the protests about the ads on your site. Everyone uses Google Adwords or something similar to finance their sites. If there is a way to filter out the ones that advertise scams and which are picked up by the robot because of the language of your blog, that is fantastic. However, readers need to be a little more “internet savvy” and realise that news and anti fraud sites do not sell a product and therefore have to finance themselves somehow. Donations are great, if you can get them, but advertising is a more common and easier way for most people. The sale of a book which helps people learn about ponzis is equally valid and, now you have given us the reminder that we were going to buy it, hopefully they will improve. The price is the authors business!
Without wishing to offend any other blog or forum, I think, at this time, the Patrick Pretty blog is the best and most comprehensive guide to the events of the ASD prosecution, and has and continues to serve an invaluable educational service to anyone involved in it.
I wish it was in print, as many of the victim generation are still used to reading! lol
I can only express disgust and amazement that other articles in Ponzi News have been stolen. One is accustomed to internet copyright theft, but to find it in the ANTI fraud world is disheartening – to say the least. One would hope to find a higher level of ethics in that particular world. But, after all, after reading the above article on a supposed anti scammer, we should not be surprised at anyone’s behaviour on the net.
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Wow, only 2 copies.
I’m thinking down the road about the collector price.
Glad I have one of the two.
Big Joe
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Hi Joe,
I’m glad you have one of the two, too.
Thanks, Joe.
Patrick
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hehe – not any more Joe – you are one of at least 3 now.
and Patrick – now I have to get the printer fixed so I can read it in the manner that the lord intended – in print. lol
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Thank you, alasycia. You are, indeed, No. 3.
Regards,
Patrick
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