A mathematical formula that can guarantee lottery winnings, revisited

It's been almost a decade since I first posted about the scam going around that a mathematical formula can guarantee lottery winnings. Well, I just found out that I was wrong--sort of--and I'm back to make an apology.
Joan Ginther was a math whiz as a kid, graduated at the top of her class at a small Texas high school, and went on to get a PhD in mathematics, with an emphasis on statistics, at Stanford. She then dutifully spend the next sixteen years teaching maths at small colleges in the Western US, but all that changed when she won a $5.4 million share of the Texas Lotto in 1993. Like most lotto millionaires, she quit her job. And like most lotto millionaires, she kept right on buying lottery tickets.
But here is what made Joan Ginther different: she actually HAD found a mathematical formula to guarantee lottery winnings, and she used her initial windfall to keep playing in such a way that she went on to win big two more times in the next 15 years--enough millions to keep up her lotto habit without having to borrow against future payouts. She'd found a way to lower her odds of winning from one in tens of millions down to about one in hundreds--which means that, given the right time and place, buying out her hometown Texas store's supply of lottery tickets produced better than even odds of hitting the jackpot. This she finally did in 2006, winning $10 million from one of a stack of $50 Extreme Payout tickets she'd gotten someone to purchase for her. She also allegedly hired an attorney to come to Texas, pick up the winnings, and return them to her Las Vegas hideout.

Once Texas Lottery officials realized this mega-winner obviously had some formula for buying winning tickets, they launched a full-on investigation of her. This turned out to be quite difficult to do, as she had stopped coming to Texas in person to buy the tickets, so there wasn't much to investigate. They tried to get the FBI involved, but once the FBI learned that she was using publicly available information--published by the Lottery Board itself--and legal proxy buyers, they had to patiently inform the Lotto officials that if researching ticket distributions was legal, and ordering publicly available information was legal, and hiring someone to buy and redeem tickets in your name was legal, then there was no crime to investigate.

Joan Ginther, though, never attempted to sell her forumla. Why would she? It was working fine for her. But after she cashed in for the fourth time, the ensuing investigation resulted in changes to the distribution of tickets that basically rendered her formula useless.
In 2010.
So by the time "Jared" started trying to sell me his mathematical secret to winning the lotto--if "he" had in fact managed to break into the Sanford Archives and get "his" hands on her dissertation from the early seventies (allegedly on the way winning lotto tickets were distributed)--it was already obsolete. So I do apologise for scoffing at the idea that it could be done--but I note that in the decade since I made that claim, every multiple lottery winner has turned out to be relying on fraud and inside access--not a mathematical formula. So yeah, it's not much of a mea culpa, because it doesn't have to be.

I also need to give credit due to Nathaniel Rich and Peter Mucha, the reporters who broke the story. According to Mucha, she never stopped buying Texas Lottery tickets, even after her big win, but the fifth big payout eluded her. As for me, I'm happy to go to my grave at a ripe old age never having purchased a single one.

Jenkins v. Miller et al update

First of all, the platform host seems to have relented a bit and has allowe me to sign on without providing a second email address, so I'm back to being incognito, until further notice. So I'll go ahead and share more of what I have been able to learn about Janet Jenknin's RICO lawsuit against everyone who helped Lisa Miller shelter her daughter from the reach of her evil stepmother. Most of what I'll share is based on this website.
First of all, we learn the reason Lisa Miller is no longer named in the lawsuit: she settled privately, on the grounds that she waive her attorney-client privilege. Having accomplished that, the fight has moved into the area of just how much privileged material has to be provided. Lisa's legal team is arguing that her journals, retained by her lawyer for safekeeping, should be excluded, on the grounds of the right to personal privacy, and in a stroke of pure irony, they cite Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court ruling on birth control that opened up the way for Roe v. Wade and Obergeffel v. Hodges. The court shows the difficulty of settiling these issues ahead of the trial, giving us some clue as to why the lawyer fees continue to rack up without much progress. We are, as it turns out, on rather uncharted ground here.
"It is challenging to formulate a discovery plan that allows disclosure of the relevant portions of the journals while simultaneously protecting Miller's privacy. The journals likely contain private information that is irrelevant to the case. See, e.g., ECF No. 794 at 2 (Miller declaration stating that the journals contain “intimate details of romantic relations, financial struggles, personal reflections, and reflections on [her] day to day life”). On the other hand, for the reasons outlined above, they also likely contain private details relevant to the alleged conspiracy, including Miller's “spiritual beliefs” and even her “legal struggles with Ms. Jenkins.” --Jenkins v. Miller, 2:12-cv-184, 15 (D. Vt. Jun. 26, 2024)
What's particulary bizzare is that the court pages aloud through some of the allegedly privileged information, musing as to whether or not it should be allowed to be brought up at the trial--at the same time publishing it for all the world to see. In the end, it allowed the litigant to almost entirely pierce the veil of secrecy customarily allowed to a defendent in communication with his defense team.
And, despite Isabella's depostition that she is in no way having her interests defended by this proceeding, they still continue the legal fiction that this is all in the best interests of the "kidnap victim."
At last report, all defendents and ex-defendents who were overseas at various stages of this legal saga remain the the US pending outcome of the case.

Miller Trial Update

I'd like to give an update on Jenkins v. Miller et al, but, not having a reporter in the courtroom this time, the information I have to share is limited and maybe even a little speculative. However, from what little I have heard directly, the trial is just about through all the motions and ready to proceed, probably in Vermont despite the defendent's insistence that since all the tortious deeds took place in Virginia, that district should be the proper venue.
I do know that Christian Aid Ministry managed to get removed from the case very early on, apparently because they had no organziational knowedge of, or involvement in, the tortious action. Lisa Miller is even off the list, apparently because her daughter testified that she doesn't consider being raised by her own mother to be kidnaping. It's still "v. Miller et al" because two of the remaining defendents, Ken and Timo, are Millers. The most recent court document I could find on the case is this one, from June, in which the plaintiff requests summary judgement (it was denied). Interesting, isn't it, that the Southern Poverty Law Center, which was founded to defend civil rights advocates against persecution in the American South, is now the primary law firm for the plantiff's attempt to persecute Christians in Virgina.

One more blow against the death penalty

It has come to my attention that another chronological record had been broken--Iwao Hakamada was sentenced to death on September 11, 1968, which makes his time spent living under a death penalty the longest in recorded history--almost 58 years now. Due to the great likelihood that he was framed, no Japanese Minister of Justice has ever been willing to approve his execution, and he was actually released in 2014 pending a retrial, making his probably also the first-ever case of death row by home detention.

Has anything really changed?

Although, as I pointed out in my last point, this blog is not attracting any new readers (the vast majority of all visits coming from bots), I owe it to the readers of my past posts to give an update on the topic of child abuse, which often takes the form of child secshual exploytatshun. I've been particularly hard on ABWE for their coverup of Donn Ketcham.
This update regards how well the extensive policies and procedures ABWE have put in place in the years since work: they don't. Although the case in quesition is of simple childe abuse of the mildest form reportable--bullying--the system STILL punished the victims and protected the perpetrators. 

These Baptists don't seem to be any better at handling in-house child abuse allegations than the Mormons. 

Lisa Miller, a sister in chains

 Here is the text of the latest letter from Lisa Miller, via Pablo:

Dear Brethren and Friends,

Greetings in the name of our Lord, the ONE Who is All-Knowing. I greet you today from the Florida Detention Center in Miami.  I arrived here on Jan 27 and I am still in quarantine -- day 21 (my bunkie tested positive for COVID, so instead of being released, today I took another swab COVID test and will wait for the results right where I am -- in quarantine.), in a 2 bunk, approximately 14 x 7 feet cell which is locked 24/7. 

My food is served through a 12 x 4 inch slot (within the main door) which is also kept shut and locked except when used to pass items such as mail, clothes and books from guard to inmate or when we needed to be handcuffed (we turn our back to the door, stoop a bit and thrust our hands through the opening).

I am so grateful that God knows all I need.  Even though I am in prison, God has blessed and spoiled me with rest and quietness after the experiences of being propelled through the realities of being handcuffed by marshals (I had 5 escorting me at one point!), patted down, strip searched, questioned endlessly, fingerprinted at every "station" of processing, and other such memorable actions before being placed in cell 31 of the Solitary Housing Unit (SHU) (in lieu of being brought directly into the women's unit).  My God knows just what I need.

Thank you to all who have written to me.  Words cannot express enough how I have been encouraged and built up in Christ by your kindness.  Even though you may not receive a personal thank you, (I am limited to how many stamps I can order per month and I am not permitted to receive stamps from the outside), please know that you have blessed me by your letters of encouragement and with your prayers for both my daughter and me.  THANK YOU!

Please continue to pray for my daughter.  Even though I believe God IS taking care of her she still needs the prayers of His people.  I miss her!  Even so, I feel comforted knowing that she has prayer coverage. 

Please continue also to pray for me.  Pray that I will "make myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them" (I Cor. 9:19b), and that I "give no offense to Jews or to Greek or to the church of God" ( I Cor 10:32).  Personally, I have prayed (for years) that God would put me in the places where He wants me to be; consequently, I know that I am to be here.  Please pray that I honor God in His choices for me.

In His Service,

Lisa Miller #27502-509 [note this number is different than provided on previous newsletter]

P.O. Box 019120

Miami, FL  33101

**Important:  Please note my current direct address. If you do not use this address with my correct prison inmate number of #27502-509, I may not receive my mail. :( 

Thank you!

Also, do not only put the name, address and prisoner's number on the envelope, but also directly on the letter or card you send.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And an update on Isabella:
https://www.eagletimes.com/ap/now-adult-in-same-sex-custody-battle-seeks-removal-from-suit/article_83fe3209-85e5-55c8-89e2-7c83a7061576.html

The now-18-year-old woman at the center of a yearslong, same-sex custody dispute that spanned Vermont to Nicaragua said in court documents filed Wednesday that she wants her name removed from a 2012 civil lawsuit filed in her name.

Lisa Miller is facing federal criminal charges in Buffalo for taking Isabella Miller to Nicaragua in 2009 rather than sharing custody with her former civil union partner, Janet Jenkins, of Fair Haven, Vermont.

In affidavits written and signed last month by Isabella Miller in Managua, Nicaragua, and filed in federal court in Burlington, Vermont, on Wednesday, the now-adult says she has been “happy, safe, healthy and I have been well cared for” since arriving in Nicaragua.

Isabella Miller said she remains outside the United States of her own free will.

“If (and when) I desire to return to the United States I will do so,” she said in the affidavit filed by Vermont attorney Deborah Bucknam.

Lisa Miller's Legal Battle Resumes

It's interesting that it was the very week in which an important deadline passed in the RICO suit against her, that Lisa Ann Miller surrendered to US authorities at the embassy in Mangua. And that this even did not register so much as a blip in the national news, formerly obsessed with the case. Not even when she was put on a plane to be rendered to the Miami Dade Detention Center for quarantine as she awaits trial for kidnapping her own daughter--the daughter who prayerfully accompanied her to the Managua airport. It's as if she is still surrounded by cloaking angels. And certainly she is being upheld in fervent prayer.

The Elizabeth Smart Effect

 Elizabeth Smart is an amazing woman. Abducted at age 14 through her bedroom window one night by a drifter whom her father had hired for some odd jobs, she spent the next nine months being raped several times a day. When she was finally found by investigators hidden in plain sight on the streets of Sandy, Utah, she had been so utterly brainwashed that, thinking her family would never take her back, she initially refused to even admit who she was.
But from that low point, she made an amazing comeback. After making up the year of school she'd missed, she went on to graduate from BYU and flew back from a Mission in France to testify at her abuser's trial for kidnapping and rape. Then, incredibly, she became a journalist for NBC, interviewing women like her who had been kidnapped by sexual abusers. Unlike abuse victims who desire anonymity, she has never been afraid to tell her story and in fact used it to catapult her to national attention, using that platform to advocate against sexual assault.
In honor of Elizabeth and her willingness to share every facet of her horrifying experience, I'm naming a little-understood phenomenon after her: The Elizabeth Smart Effect. Simply put, this is the tendency of traumatic rape victims not to have functioning reproductive systems during the time they are under the control of their abusers. Despite the daily rapes, Elizabeth never fell pregnant until after she had married her legal husband. How could this be?

Some may offer the obvious answer that her abuser wasn't fertile himself, and was thus unable to impregnate her. But what about numerous other victims who demonstrate the same effect? In The Slave Across the Street, Theresa Flores relates her experience of serving as a teenage concubine to an entire underworld crime network for over a year--without ever falling pregnant. And the anecdotes are countless; despite pregnancy resulting from single rapes that happened to coincide with a woman already being fertile, rapes that are part of an ongoing abusive situation really do sometimes seem to shut down a woman's reproductive system, so that she never does go through a fertile cycle until the abuse ends.

More study on this is definitely needed--but will it ever come? The political establishment, particularly the pro-abortion wing, clings desperately to the idea that women who are raped NEED the option of snuffing out of any life that results from that rape, and anyone referencing the Elizabeth Smart Effect is likely to get shouted down--or, in the famous case of Todd Akin, even voted out of office just for mentioning it. If there is a biological phenomenon behind the Elizabeth Smart Effect, isolating it, describing it, and publishing it will face some formidable political hurdles.

Happy Birthday, Isabella!

Isabella Miller is now legally an adult, having spent most of her life in hiding from her evil stepmother. Although the clock only now begins to tick on the statute of limitations for charging her mother with a long list of felonies for helping her escape, Isabella is already free to enjoy the privileges of her American citizenship without risk of being imprisoned. And, significantly, free to testify against Janet Jenkins in her still ongoing civil suit against those who aided in her escape.

The following has been circulating in emails to those following the Miller Kidnapping Saga. I reproduce it without the variously added comments:

Isabella's story:
When she was 9, her mom fled the United States with her for parts unknown to everyone except the people that helped them escape the judicial tyranny of the Vermont Federal Court. Let’s hear the story in Isabella’s own words:
 "You see, my mother (before I was even a thought) had a lesbian relationship with another woman and they went to Vermont to get a civil union because same-sex marriage had not yet been legalized in Virginia. I was born in Virginia in 2002, and my mom, Lisa, is my birth mother. Janet Jenkins was ‘my other mother.’ Something marvelous happened to my mom – she was gloriously saved and became a committed Christian, leaving the homosexual lifestyle, dissolving the civil union, and that’s when all the trouble began. Janet wanted visitation with me. She wasn’t my real mom; she wasn’t even a relative; in fact, given the opportunity twice, she refused to adopt me. So the court battles began – first, in Virginia, then in Vermont, then in Virginia, then in Vermont and on and on. Visitation was set up and began erratically and haphazardly – missed visits, miscommunications. Finally, there were unsupervised visitations. As a 7-year old, I started wetting the bed, having nightmares and wanting to commit suicide; I was under terrible emotional distress, which the courts totally ignored. My mom stopped the visitation. The judge in Vermont was not happy, and he was going to give me to Janet as a result of my mom’s disregard for the court orders. On September 27, 2009, my mom and I fled the country."

Life in Prison for helping women and babies? Time to get out of New York!

Government oppression has now reached the point that the White Man recommends that his readers move out of New York state as soon as practical. Just as an example of how topsy-turvy their legal system is, note that the same state whose legislators rose to their feet and cheered after passing a law that permits homicide of newly-delivered babies has now charged a midwife with homicide for doing her job of referring an unborn baby to the higher level of care that it apparently required. She's also been charged with the ridiculous charges of fraud and identity theft just for filling out the onerous forms that the government requires in order for her to do her job of assisting mothers with the birth of their babies--no such forms being required of the murderers who kill babies at their mothers' request. To reiterate, according the government of New York State, a doctor who strangles a newborn baby with his own hands is not guilty of homicide if the baby dies; An assailant who stabs a baby in its mother's womb, thus killing it, is not guilty of homicide; but a midwife who refers a pregnant woman to a hospital to finish out her delivery IS guilty of homicide if the baby dies. I'll be posting further updates here.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 8:
Apparently Mrs. Catlin has a sensible judge, who released her on her own recognizance (i.e. without bail) until the trial, which probably won't be for at least a year.

Defecting to Russia? A possibility.

Defecting to Russia--it's the latest way to escape becoming a political prisoner in the USA. Although only a couple per cent of applicants receive refugee status, the risk of long imprisonment back in their home country has led thousands to take on those odds--including some prominent American whistleblowers who faced immanent imprisonment for uncovering deep state corruption.
One person who may be joining them is Lisa Miller, whose daughter Isabella will finally be free from the threat of imprisonment in her wicked stepmother's home in only a few months--but who is still eligible for imprisonment herself for years to come.
The US has a long history of jailing mothers who just want to raise their own daughters, beginning with Elizabeth Morgan, who was jailed for 759 days from 1987 to 1989--not for kidnapping her daughter, as there was no evidence of that, but merely for refusing to tell the authorities where she was (living under an assumed name with her grandparents in New Zealand, as it turned out); and continuing to so refuse under penalty of indefinite imprisonment for contempt. It took two acts of Congress (one of which was later declared unconstitutional) before she and her daughter were able to live together under US jurisdiction. |
In another famous case, Lee Barnett fled the country with her infant daughter Savannah, only to be arrested, extradited, and imprisoned for it two decades later. The problem was that she fled to a country where people generally supported US custody law--Australia--and a suspicious acquaintance turned her in when she carelessly referred to her daughter "Samantha" by her real name. Had Lee and Savannah fled to Russia, I don't envision this having happened.
Both of these cases had in common with the Miller case that the natural mother lost custody of her child following a divorce, a loss of custody that took place despite of charges of sexual abuse against the party who was nevertheless granted sole custody of the child. In in all three cases, it appears that the party who eventually won full custody wasn't even interested in being a parent until after the affected child was born, and the mother tried to take her away.
Lisa Miller faces some serious prison time if she ever returns to the US; I don't think there even is a statute of limitations on her contempt charges. New Zealand is out, and Australia is out, so unless she's content to indefinitely risk continuing to live where she does now, Russia seems a viable option, if she can just reach there--or their nearest consular office--undetected. And as the case of Julian Assange demonstrates, just reaching the consular office isn't always enough.

UPDATE FEBRUARY 25, 2019 Supporters of the Millers are calling for a campaign to ask President Trump to pardon all involved. Should this happen, Lisa and Isabella will be able to return to live openly in the land of their birth. Otherwise, they will be forced to continue their life of crime indefinitely.

UPDATE JANUARY 20, 2020 Lisa and Isabella made the decision to come out of hiding, despite not receiving a presidential pardon. Isabella's only crime to date has been living in Nicaragua without a visa for the past ten years, and--since she was a minor almost the entire time--there's a good chance she won't go to prison for it. 

An opportunity to help one of the defenders of Isabella Miller

I've got another post in the works that I'm holding off on until September, but in the meanwhile here is something that can't wait that long.  Philip Zodhiates is in need of funds to pay his legal fees. You can donate at this link or this address: 419 Fund P.O. Box 4075 Lynchburg, VA 24502 .
This is the message I received:

URGENT NEED:

WANT TO HELP PHILIP ZODHIATES REDUCE HIS OUTSTANDING ATTORNEYS' FEES BY $81,000?

IF WE CAN PAY $42,000 BY SEPTEMBER 1ST, THE ATTORNEYS WILL CUT $39,000 OFF THE REMAINING AMOUNT OWED!

If you have ever thought about donating to Philip's attorneys' fees, now is the time to maximize your donation!

*************

Short version: Philip is in prison for giving a ride to Lisa and Isabella Miller from Lynchburg, Virginia to Buffalo, New York!

Lisa was in a lesbian relationship, got a civil union in Vermont, had Isabella in Virginia, got gloriously saved, dissolved the civil union. Janet Jenkins filed in Vermont for parental rights and visitation. Judge granted both, although a Virginia judge had declared Lisa Isabella's only mother.

Lisa allowed the visitation for a while, but discovered Isabella was being sexually abused. After years in the court system (from 2004 - 2016),

Lisa had no choice but to flee the country to save her daughter from the abuse by Janet Jenkins and the court system.

The sexual abuse was never allowed to be presented in court; thus, Philip was convicted of Aiding International Parental Kidnapping. Mind you, Lisa had full custody of her daughter and their passports, and she was under NO travel restrictions.

NO CRIME WAS COMMITTED!

We are a 501(c)(3) and your donations are tax deductible.
Thank you!
Janet Stasulli
Co-Founder and President, 419 Fund
"But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:19

Letter from Philip on his birthday
July 17, 2019
Wednesday, Day 225
 
    Today is my 64th birthday and I’m not in the least bit discouraged or depressed. The Lord God Almighty has provided me with the best birthday gift imaginable.
    I began my day, as usual, awakening between 7 and 7:30 am, walking downstairs to fill my “whirley” with hot water for my morning instant coffee, and then went to send Kathie my ritual good morning email. I had six emails by 7:30 this morning – two emails from Kathie telling me happy birthday, and an email from my sister Lois, my daughter Victoria, and one from Janet Stasulli of the 419 Fund, all telling me happy birthday. But these emails are not what I’m referring to. “E” got on the terminal next to mine and said good morning, and that he’s trying to “figure out” his girlfriend. I asked him, “What do you mean?” He accepted Christ not long after I arrived, and has been faithful never to miss a Bible study or prayer ever since. I’ve seen a remarkable change in him, thinking back on it.
    “E” replied to me, “She’s become all ‘Christian-y.’ I talk to her on the phone, and she’s different. She doesn’t curse anymore. I’ve changed, and she’s changed. I’ve said I don’t want to be unequally yoked, and so she’s changed. Maybe my daughter will change too. It’s a really good thing.”
    These few words made my heart leap for joy. Because I am beginning to see the multiplying effect I’m praying will happen through the lives of these men I have befriended. Who knows what God might do!
    I got back to my cell, rejoicing in the Lord, and picked up “The Daily Bread” devotional, which I get from the chapel. Today’s Scripture was from II Corinthians 2:1-17, “But thanks to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and MANIFESTS THROUGH US THE SWEET AROMA OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM IN EVERY PLACE. FOR WE ARE A FRAGRANCE OF CHRIST TO GOD AMONG THOSE WHO ARE BEING SAVED AND AMONG THOSE WHO ARE PERISHING; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? For we are not like many, peddling the Word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak Christ in the sight of God.”
    This has been my prayer since I arrived in prison: that others would want what I have – the peace that surpasses all comprehension (Philippians 4:7).
    The Holy Spirit then instantly reminded me of two other encounters I had yesterday, where God was subtly trying to tell me my time here at FCI Ashland is not for naught. The first was around 1:00 pm when I was walking the track in the rec yard with “Texas,” who’s been “dumping” on me about his significant anger problem and being constantly bothered by the numerous demons flying around this place. He’s angry because he says he doesn’t deserve to be in prison, nor do I, and that we are both here because of political vendettas. I always just listen to him but tell him when one gives his life to Christ, He will remove the anger and make him a new person. At one point he said, “You never get angry about anything, do you? Not even about having to be in this place?” I said, no, I know God has me here for a purpose, and I need to make the most of it. I used to have an anger problem when I was a young boy but realized when I became a teen that my anger was always getting me in trouble, and it was something I could not control. So, I told God it was something I couldn’t deal with and asked Him to take it away. And He did! This morning, “Texas” told me that he indeed asked Christ into his heart. He’s been telling me for weeks that God put us both here in this prison for him, so he can get his life right with God and turn it around.
    Then I also remembered what one of the Christian brothers who is living in “C’s” unit told me at supper yesterday when I asked if “C” found out when he is leaving for the camp in Indiana. He told me it won’t be until August, but then he told me, “You know since ‘C’ moved back to R unit, I’ve seen such a big change in him spiritually!” “C” is another who has told me over and over again that God allowed me to come to prison so I could meet him and be friends with him for the rest of his life. The fact that this brother would tell me how changed “C” is now thrills my soul!
    My current cellmate, “JB,” also just told me this week that God keeps bringing people in his path here in this prison he can learn from. He found out today he is leaving soon for a camp. I had prayed over him for that!
    Today my class was canceled, so I went outside to do my 2 ½ mile fast-paced walk and ended up walking about 3 ½ miles with “J,” my former cellmate. He, too, reminded me today that God brought me here to this prison just for him! I said that’s what “Texas” keeps telling me, too. But he retorted, “Yeah, but I told you that first!” “J” is even fasting now two days a week!
    So, I praise God today that despite the fact I sometimes get discouraged, apparently the sweet aroma of the Lord is manifesting itself through me to others around me and is even beginning to spread to others outside these prison fences. To that, I just praise and rejoice in the Lord. God has given me the greatest gift I could ever imagine – His sweet aroma manifesting itself through me!
 
   To top it off, “C” made me a delicious cheesecake in celebration after chow tonight, and “J” gave me a leather cover he had made for my radio in hobby craft. They and a handful of other men, including “E,” sang happy birthday and we enjoyed the cake and fellowship. I had two pieces!
In His Service,
Philip

An exciting update from Philip Z.

  Earlier in June, as a result of the recently enacted First Step Act, I sent a motion to my sentencing judge pro se to request him to vacate or re-sentence me based on two reasons:

    First, there was an “affirmative defense” included in the law under which I was prosecuted which allowed for a parent to remove a child when there was an incidence of abuse. This means I should never have been convicted based on the merits of the law.

    Secondly, affidavits verifying evidence of such abuse had come into my hands within several months of coming to prison, which I have subsequently forwarded to Judge Arcara.

    This past week, Judge Arcara requested a response to my motion to vacate or re-sentence based on my motion to the U.S. government. The prosecution has until August 3 to respond.

    Keep in mind that the alleged abuse of Isabella Miller was never brought out in my nearly two-week trial. The jury only heard it alluded to in passing perhaps one time, but it would have been easily missed. Many of the hundreds of people who wrote Judge Arcara prior to my sentencing alluded to it, however, as did I at the day of my sentencing. This judge, from what I was told, has never allowed anyone convicted in his courtroom, in approximately 30 years, to go free on bail pending appeal. The probation officer was asking for an eight-year prison sentence and a $50,000 fine.

    But on the day of the sentencing, it was very evident God had moved on his heart. My sentence was three years (the minimum), and the fine a mere $200. He several times mentioned the hundreds of letters and the fact that he had read many, if not most of them, twice. Then, on the next day, he allowed Timo Miller, my co-defendant who had already served eight months in prison, to go free at his sentencing, rather than making him serve more time. He then explained to Buffalo News in an interview something to the effect that we were good people who got caught up in something we shouldn’t have.

    In light of my motion, and these two issues I’ve brought to his attention, please pray with our family diligently that God will indeed speak to his heart once again, and send me home in August. I will be in my eighth month of incarceration.

    Pray that he will recognize the injustice of my case, which would have never happened had it not been for the political nature of it. I am asking God to speak to his heart and that he will heed God’s nudge to say, enough is enough.

    I do not regret this opportunity to spend these months in prison. I believe God has used it in my life and others. Has it been easy? No. Was it as bad as I expected? No. Am I glad for the experience? Yes. Did I learn a lot from the experience? Yes. Would I have chosen to go through it in hindsight? Ask me in a year or two or three. Has God used it to His glory? I believe so, particularly if it encourages others to stand firm for Christ and not cower in the face of persecution.

    Please pray with me and believe in faith, that God will once again touch the heart of Judge Arcara, and not just vacate my sentence, but also dismiss the criminal charges against Lisa Miller, who certainly does not deserve to be a fugitive.

    Thank you so much for your many prayers and support up until this point. God has been moving. Two weeks ago, a judge in the western district of Virginia threw out the lawsuit against us filed by Janet Jenkins. Judge Arcara’s favorable ruling at this time would definitely assist in aiding us in winning the civil lawsuit filed against us by Janet Jenkins in Vermont.

    I know that my God is mightier than all the lawyers of the Southern Poverty Law Center combined. In Him alone there is victory!

    Please pray with us diligently over the course of the next month for Judge Arcara to allow me to go home in August.

In His Service,
Philip

A Life Sentence for Flying a Plane

I have written earlier of the odd sentencing practices in the United States, but this one takes the cake: at an age when most people who committed murder in their youth have long since been released from prison, Cuban-American Antonio Bascaro has just been released 20 years early from a 60-year sentence that he couldn't have possibly outlived. His crime? Conspiracy to violate US drug laws that are on the verge of being repealed. He flew the airplane that carried marijuana into the United States. Yes, you heard me right: Sixty years--basically a life sentence for a man in his 40's--for smuggling weed. His real crime, as it turns out, was refusing to rat on his fellow smugglers: the federal prosecutors made sure that, as punishment for refusing to aid in their conviction, he himself was punished for all their crimes. A similar fate befell Timo Miller, who attempted to cooperate but wasn't willing to leave his wife's bedside at a crucial moment and was thus punished as if he had done nothing but resist.

The Travesty of Justice that is the Miller Kidnaping Case

I've been posting regular updates on the Miller Kidnapping legal saga here, but I thought this link  to an interview of Philip Zodhiates right before his imprisonment (part one, start at 9:15 or so) and (part two, start at about 1:00) deserves a post of its own.

Notice that the Justice Department was able to get the courts to suppress affidavits both damning to Janet Jenkins and supporting of Philip Zodhiates; to keep his trial from being held where the alleged conspiracy actually occurred (where he was much more likely to get a fair trial); to have the trial held where an impartial jury would be harder to find; and made sure that even then, no one approaching the status of the defendant's peer was allowed to serve on the jury. It was a travesty of justice from beginning to end, with Janet Jenkins even using civil discovery to feed incriminating information to the prosecutor.

This is not about a child being taken away from her parents. This is not about conspiring to violate a federal law (no evidence was raised in the trials that any of the defendants were aware of the law they were sentenced under). This is about an abused girl trying to escape her abuser, and the goverment, guided by the LGBTQ agenda, sparing no expense at preventing it, and punishing to the utmost all who helped her escape.

Isabella is already 16, the age at which a child in many states can finally choose which parent to live with. In a little over a year, she will be old enough to nullify any custody order, no matter how austere. But under today's suppression of adulthood responsibility, she will not be totally free of the Vermont court's decisions until she graduates from college or turns 26. So there's little chance of her coming out of hiding any time in the near future. May God protect her, and her longsuffering mother, in the meanwhile.

UPDATE MARCH 8, 2019
Philip's appeal was turned down by the Supreme Court. He will spend the next couple years in prison.

Another Lexical Obituary

Living in America as I do, I'm constantly struck by news reports of "migrants" wanting to come here to live. Back in my elementary days, I was taught that a migrant is one who temporarily leaves his native land for seasonal employment, like the migrant workers who lived in Mexico but traveled north with the harvest for about half the year, hand-picking vegetable crops for which meechanical harvesters hadn't yet been invented, as the cotton harvesters which replaced the slaves and sharecroppers in the cotton fields of the American South. A migrant lives part of his year as native, and part as a foreigner. He is thus distinguished from a nomad, who lives always on the move within the bounds of his own territory.

I was also taught two other words: Emigrant, one who was leaving his native land to live somewhere else, and Immigrant, one arriving in a new country to make it his home. The two words were of course used of the same people, just from opposite perspectives. Neither was ever used of a migrant. And of course both were in contrast to Native, which referred to a person living in the land of his ancestors--one who had neither emigrated nor immigrated.

There was another word I wasn't taught in school, but picked up from conversation, that was used in reference to a person whose present situation wasn't well described by any of the other five words: Expatriate. This was someone not living in his native land, but with no intentions of becoming a citizen, or of leaving descendants, in the land where he dwelt. He was there long-term enough not to qualify as a migrant, but still not permanently. He may not have owned a dwelling back in his native land, but no matter how long he was absent, his loyalties and affections remained with it, rather than with the land of his current residence, which at any rate was often likely to change every few years.

One of these six words has never been all that common--and is frequently misspelled as Ex-patriot--but two of them have gone from common to almost extinct in the course of a single generation.
Emigrant and Immigrant have now been almost totally replaced by Migrant, the original meaning of which has been sacrificed to force it to swallow the combined meanings of both other words. The word Native has also been suppressed, mostly narrowing its application--at least in the States--to those with autochthonous tribal ancestry.

Another word which has suffered greatly in connotation and change of meaning is Colonist, which originally referred to a group of expatriates who functioned as immigrants, planting a piece of their own culture on foreign soil, which they never intended to leave. Unlike true immigrants, who abandoned their former loyalties to join another culture, they brought theirs with them. Colonialism in that sense has almost gone extinct, so the word has become attached to other meanings loosely attached to the original one. Colonialsim lives on only in a cultural sense, when immigrants adapt somewhat to the local laws, but retain their original lifestyle, language, and culture. Mennonites are a good example of this, and they do in fact still refer to their settlements as Colonies.

How does this all relate to the so-called Migrant Caravan that is so much in the American news these days? Well, they certainly aren't migrants, in the classical sense of the word: they don't intend to return to live in their Central American homes on a seasonal basis. American immigration laws (ironically, the term will probably live on for centuries in statute after it is abandoned in speech) have made that process increasingly difficult to impossible. By leaving behind their homes and national loyalties, they are true emigrants; they want to come here to settle. But are their intentions in settling in America those of immigrants, expatriates, or colonists?

More on the Untimely Demise of the Life Sentence

Although it's not listed in the heading of this blog, one of the things I've written about is the erosion of any connection between crime and punishment: specifically, the demise of the death penalty, rapidly followed by the elimination of the life sentence. Today we shall look at one of my predictions, and see how it's played out.

In this 2012 post I wrote: "I venture to predict that no American criminal, sentenced after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on execution in 1976, will ever again serve over 30 years in prison for any heinous crime--and, for those committed to mental institutions for murder, I predict an even shorter timeframe. "

Enter the case of Patrick Lizotte, who shot his High School teacher in cold blood one March day of 1982, and was almost immediately taken into police custody for murder.

Patrick was sentenced to the incongruous "Two Consecutive Life Terms Without Possibility of Parole." I'm sorry, but such a ridiculous sentence brings to mind the medieval sentence of being hanged, drawn and quartered, and burned at the stake. What possible effect can a second consecutive life sentence have on anyone but Jesus?

Ironically, Patrick's prison term (delayed, of course, by the slow-grinding Wheels of Justice until 1986) did actually reach the 30 year mark after I wrote the above--but came to an abrupt end only months later after extensive legal proceedings that began with the Nevada Assembly Bill 267 of 2015, which “revises provisions concerning the sentencing and parole of persons convicted as an adult for a crime committed when the person was less than 18 years of age.” He is now on parole.

Thus, it was as I predicted: "The idea that a person still represents a threat to society as an eighty year old man, based on something he did as a teen, may not endure that long." Or in this case, only a fifty year old man. Had Patrick held off on committing the murder until his senior year--after he turned 18--he would probably still be in prison. But not for another thirty years.

Persecution Update: of Produce and Pronouns

It's been two and a half years since the bulk of my Indiana Revival Reports, but I've continued to follow Kyle Lance Martin and Time to Revive, as they held extended meetings in Florida, Ohio, Dallas, and now Wisconsin. An interesting update came out in a recent sermon in Wausau: at about 1:40:40 in this video, Kyle Martin tells about the Michiana farmer who lost a majority of his wholesale business after putting peel-away gospel stickers on 600,000 of his watermelons. I saw some of those rejected watermelons, donated by the crate to a local food pantry, the sticker still on them. They tasted just fine.
Like a frog in a teakettle, American Christians are experiencing such a gradual loss of their liberty that most young adults have no idea how much their country has changed just in their lifetimes. Thirty years ago, for example, women were typically addressed as either Mrs. or Miss; those titles have almost universally been replaced by Ms.--not, as far as I know, due to a single court decision--definitely not to an act of Congress--but the social pressure to conform to the new normal has sufficed to snuff out two words that were, not all that long ago, among the most commonly spoken ones in our vocabulary. And now, a six-year-old is investigated for calling a friend 'he' when he now prefers 'she'. Two even more common words are in immanent danger of disappearing themselves.

Elizabeth Elliot lived among naked savages in Ecuador--well, they were still naked savages when she met them, but contact with incarnated Christianity was rapidly changing that. She ate what they ate, lived where they lived, spake as they spake, and even let her daughter run wild with their children--but she drew the line at dressing as they dressed: a single cotton string around the waist, or--if they really wanted to dress up--one around the upper arm as well. She didn't want to just identify with their culture--she wanted to uplift it. And as they saw the three incarnate Christians wearing clothes, they all started wearing them too--and have ever since.

Christians just aren't going to be socially acceptable to a depraved and fallen culture. They needn't bother to even try to keep up with the decline. Any who continue trying to comply with the culture's escalating demands are just hoping that the crocodile they feed will eat them last.

The Zodhiates and Miller Sentences

Okay, here's the straight scoop; there will be a lot of details provided later. First of all, Philip Zodhiates won't be going to prison quite yet. By filing an appeal, he was able to bail out for the duration of the appeal process, however long that may be. The specific sentence he's appealing is 36 months for conspiracy to commit international parental kidnapping, with enhancements for coordinating and obstructing, and 36 months for accessory, to be served concurrently, and 1 year supervised release on both charges, to be served concurrently. He was also assigned the minimum fine of $100 for each charge. This was the minimum sentence.

 Timo has been fined $100 and released for time served to 1 year parole in Pennsylvania, where his family will be living until that is over. This was actually below the minimum sentence, both the government and the court having taken into account his 6 weeks of 'hard time' served in Nicaragua.


Timo, freshly changed out of shackles and prison orange, with his family outside the federal courthouse in Buffalo. Refusing to leave his wife's side for their youngest son's birth was the impetus of his 10 months imprisonment. Photo provided.
By the way, all of Timo's financial needs have been supplied, and he has two jobs to pick from waiting for him.

I will start with Timo's sentencing, since that was the shortest--but I won't be able to resist making some mention of the previous hearing along the way.

It's been noted that the Mennonite community has come out in force for these Miller Kidnapping Trial proceedings--with the glaring exception of those related to Philip Zodhiates. It makes one wonder, if Lisa Miller ever comes to trial, whether any Mennonites will see fit to show up--or maybe they will, if at the time she's caught she is still living as a Mennonite. Well, at any rate, about 100 Mennonite men, women, and children (mostly men) showed up this time, barely fitting into the gallery of the courtroom.

I suppose we should start with the Status Conference held last August 27 before Hon. Richard J. Arcara in Buffalo. The Prosecution informed the court that it considered defendants Timothy Miller and Lisa Miller to be fugitives who would not appear. This despite the fact that Timo's lawyer, Jeffrey Conrad, had been in constant contact with the court regarding Timo's willingness to appear if needed, but desiring to have Mr. Conrad represent him in the mean time so he didn't have to keep flying back and forth from Managua for every last hearing. This is quite common; even some of the lawyers involved in this case, spread out as they are across four states, have often appeared by telephone. But once the government declared Timo a fugitive, his name started appearing on wanted lists--Interpol, for instance--which has an office in Managua.When local authorities in Nicaragua came looking for Timo, they were assured that he was quite willing to come with them, if they just contacted him personally.

But they had a strange way of doing that.  Two weeks later, Timo was dragged off his bicycle on a city street and hauled off to Managua's notorious Chipote Prison. When friends arrived to visit him, they were told he wasn't there. This run-around was to continue for the next five days, until his wife was finally allowed in to see him.

TO BE UPDATED . . .

So sorry, folks, I'm taking so long to finish this. I probably bit off more than I could chew, so I'll break into the detailed narrative to give the upshot: Timo was sentenced to time served and a year of supervision; Philip was sentenced to 3 years, on bail pending his appeal. Ken was finally released from federal prison on March 6, 2018.

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2018

Timo's year of parole has ended, but he's keeping a rather low profile at present, so I don't have nay news of his latest whereabouts. Having served out their sentences, he and Ken are no longer active participants in the story. But Philip is. As noted above, Philip Zodhiates had appealed his sentence to the Second Circuit, which was unsuccessful, and he has been scheduled to be sent to prison. His lawyer, Robert Hemley, has appealed the case now to the United States Supreme Court, and requested the imprisonment be further stayed pending the outcome of that appeal. So now the case is in the hands of the Supreme Court.

UPDATE DECEMBER 8, 2018
Philip Zodhaites is now in a federal prison in Kentucky. After federal appellate judges refused to hear Zodhiates’ last appeal in October of this year, his attorneys began to prepare an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and asked the court for a stay of sentence pending the filing and the court’s ultimate decision. Although Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg turned down the request for a stay of sentence, Justice Neil Gorsuch decided to place the petition for the stay of sentence on a list of conference items for January 4 of next year, allowing all the justices to vote on the matter. In the meantime, it appears, Zodhiates will remain in federal prison. The composition of the Supreme Court has certainly changed since this case was first brought before a judge, and that may make all the difference. I'm almost certain, for instance, that before this legal battle is over there will be one less homosexual advocate on the Court. But we'll see.

Update December 22, 2018
Since any people come directly to this page from a link, I'm writing here to let you know that I put up a new post today with links to an interview with Philip, in which he disclosed some of the financial cost of his legal battle: he's spent over a million dollars on lawyers, and some of his customers apparently have been taking advantage of his situation not to pay him what they owe for his services. He also states that Lisa Miller's lawyers could have done a lot better job keeping her in legal custody of Isabella.

Timo's Trial

Things are happening pretty fast on the Miller Kidnapping Case, so I'm starting another post here for information on Timo's trial as it comes in. Word is that Timo is in Buffalo awaiting a pretrial hearing, and we will let you know how that goes as soon as we can. The prosecution may look on this as an opportunity to add to Ken and Philip's prison time by trying to put them on the stand against Timo. This, of course, would be only for spite, as they already have plenty enough evidence against him--he was first arrested for this crime over five years ago.

Timo's detention hearing was scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on October 12--then bumped to that time on the 14th. Carl Swartzentruber sent in this report: “God was very good to us, and he did answer prayers in the court hearing. The judge was very friendly and gracious. The decision was to not ask for pre-trial release for now. Jeff Conrad, Timo’s lawyer, talked to Timo about this and Timo agreed. At this point they are going to pursue a plea-agreement and negotiations are ongoing. Timo was in good spirits. He looked in good health and good condition all the way around. He was very happy to see us all there and came out with a big smile on his face. It was good to see him again as well. The judge also asked that Timo be moved to a prison closer to Lancaster County for Jeff Conrad’s sake. That was interesting and very gracious. We just felt like God was there and blessed. There was a good spirit in the whole proceeding. Now we need to pray for the ongoing negotiations so that God works everything out the way he wants it.”

A website has now been set up to collect donations for the expenses associated with Timo's legal process. Of all things, it was false charges of child pornography that got Timo whisked off a Managuan street in thrown in the dungeon. What a case of projection.

“We probably couldn't have extradited you. But that doesn't mean we couldn't get you. When we really want somebody, we work with our friends, in whatever country we happen to be. A few phone calls, a little back-and-forth, tit for tat. We get them to cancel your immigration status, and next thing you know, you're being deported.”  --American officer David Foster in Straight Flush by Ben Mezrich

UPDATE NOVEMBER 30
Timo had his day in court, and Carl has sent in another report:

"The hearing today went very well overall with good spirit among everyone involved. Timo's day had started at 3am when he was taken from the prison to go to the courthouse, but in spite of a tired body he was in good spirits as well. The early part of the day was spent in private discussion among the attorneys and Timo. During that time, Timo had a special opportunity for some very positive personal interaction with the lead prosecutor and expressed his love and goodwill for him and his desire for the well being of his soul.  It was a rather touching moment for Timo.  

"When the status hearing began the judge was informed by the prosecution lawyers that they had reached a plea agreement. The judge was favorable to that and suggested that they could hold the plea hearing later in the afternoon rather than scheduling it for another time. They recessed while the court addressed another case on the docket and then Timo's case was recalled and they proceeded with the plea hearing.  The judge was very gracious and took time to explain everything thoroughly.  Timo pled guilty to one of the two charges against him and the other charge was dismissed.  A reduced sentence was recommended and the judge set March 23 for the sentencing date when he will finally rule on the sentence.  He has guidelines to follow in sentencing but has discretion in following them as well. That should become a fresh matter of prayer.  Timo will remain in prison while he awaits sentencing.  

"There were approximately 60 people from several surrounding states who attended the court hearing in support of Timo.  It was very encouraging for Timo to see that support and it was impressive to the court staff as well.  They had opportunity to pray together in the courthouse hallway and sing together on the courthouse steps.  There was goodwill and a good spirit all around. . ."

UPDATE MARCH 1
Timo's wife and children have been provided a home in Lancaster County, PA which is still quite a ways from the Youngstown, OH prison where he has settled down for the time being. This is his address:

Timo Miller 78268083
North East Ohio Correctional Center
2240 Hubbard Road
Youngstown, Ohio 44505