The Mage

I have been extra generous with this thread, but I can't let this devolve into a back and forth shouting match. I am contemplating locking this thread if it keeps devolving. I have removed a single post because it made an accusation about attempted murder. There have been accusations in this thread, but that is over the top.

STATE OF WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS SECURITIES DIVISION IN THE MATTER OF DETERMINING Whether there has been a violation of the Business Opportunity Fraud Act by: Joseph Zapata, d/b/a Redsolutions, Respondent ) __________________________ Order No.: S-17-2293-18-SCOI STATEMENT OF CHARGES AND NOTICE OF INTENT TO ENTER ORDER TO CEASE AND DESIST __________________________ THE STATE OF WASHINGTON TO: Joseph Zapata STATEMENT OF CHARGES Please take notice that the Securities Administrator of the state of Washington has reason to believe that the Respondent, Joseph Zapata, has violated the Business Opportunity Fraud Act, RCW 19.100, and that his violations justify the entry of an order of the Securities Administrator under RCW 19.110.150 to cease and desist from such violations. The Securities Administrator finds as follows: TENTATIVE FINDINGS OF FACT Respondent 1. Joseph Zapata ("Zapata") is a California resident who is doing business using the name "Redsolutions." Redsolutions' website lists its principal place of business as Irvine, California. Redsolutions holds itself out as a commercial coffee route and equipment provider. Nature of the Offering 2. Zapata used misleading Internet advertising claims to offer a business opportunity. On October 23, 2017, Zapata posted a Craigslist advertisement on the Internet. The advertisement was targeted to the Seattle and Tacoma, Washington area. The advertisement remained on the Internet during at least October and November 2017. 3. In the Craigslist advertisement, Zapata made misleading earnings claims. The advertisement included the headline: "Make [$]100,000 a year doing coffee routes!!!" The advertisement also repeatedly included a claim that purchasers would "Make $1,500.00 a month on your first cycle! Make [$]6,000 a month after 1 year!" Zapata failed to provide any reasonable basis for the business opportunity's projected earnings. 4. Zapata omitted material information about the business opportunity that was being offered. The Craigslist advertisement stated that Redsolutions would pay for the business and the products and equipment, but Zapata failed to disclose the projected costs of operating the business opportunity. The Craigslist advertisement also referenced a $5,000 program fee, but stated that everyone would be approved and in-house financing would be provided. However, Zapata failed to disclose the terms of any available financing. 5. In the Craigslist adve1iisement, Zapata misrepresented that "Redsolutions operates in EVERY city and EVERY state in the USA." Zapata also misrepresented that the business opportunity was risk-free. The Craigslist advertisement stated that the opportunity had a money-back guarantee with "NO RISK!!!" In fact, the business opportunity had material risks, including the possible loss of the entire investment. 6. During the same time period of the Craigslist ads, Zapata adve1iised the business oppo1iunity on a second Internet website with additional false or misleading claims. In October 2017, Zapata misleadingly adve1tised that for a "small set up fee of $5000 you can jump right into the commercial coffee services industry ... with a whopping 15 to 20 accounts and 'without spending a dime." The advertisement failed to disclose the purchaser's costs of operating the business opportunity, including, but not limited to, mileage, communications expenses, and business formation costs. 7. In the Internet advertisement, Zapata omitted other material information about the business opportunity that was being offered. The advertisement indicated that insurance would be available to purchasers, but it failed to disclose the source, the type, or the amount of any available insurance coverage. 8. In the Internet advertisement, Zapata included a misleading statement that a route license could be sold for "huge" sums of money after it reached maturity. Zapata failed to provide a reasonable basis for the projected increase in value or provide a timeline for the expected return. Additional Undisclosed Material Information 9. When offering the Redsolutions business opportunity, Zapata failed to disclose other material risks of the business opportunity, including, but not limited to, competition; the unknown operating history, legal status, and financial condition of Redsolutions, the company offering the business opportunity; the operating costs and expected revenues for the coffee delivery business being offered (including delivery and service costs and the anticipated revenues for any specific routes); regulatory compliance risks; personal liability risks; litigation risks; and the risks of inexperience with operating a coffee delivery business. Failure to Respond to an Investigative Subpoena 10. In November 2017, the Securities Division served a subpoena on Zapata, which required the production of records relating to the offer and sale of Redsolutions business opportunities to any Washington investors. Zapata failed to respond to the subpoena. Registration Status 11. Zapata and Redsolutions have never been registered to sell business oppo1iunities m Washington. Based upon the above Tentative Findings of Fact, the following Conclusions of Law are made: CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The offer of the opportunity described above constitutes the offer of a business opportunity as defined in RCW 19.110.020(1). 2. Respondent Joseph Zapata has violated RCW 19 .110 by offering and selling business s opportunities without being registered with the Securities Administrator to do so. 3. Respondent Joseph Zapata has violated RCW 19.110.120 by making a untrue or misleading statement of a material fact or to omitting to state a material fact in connection with the offer, sale, or lease of a business opportunity in the state of Washington. NOTICE OF INTENT TO ORDER THE RESPONDENT TO CEASE AND DESIST Based upon the above Tentative Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, the Securities Administrator intends to order that Respondent Joseph Zapata, and his agents and employees each shall cease and desist from violations of RCW 19.110.050 and RCW 19.110.120. AUTHORITY AND PROCEDURE This Statement of Charges is entered pursuant to the provisions ofRCW19.110.150 and is subject to the provisions of Chapter 34.05 RCW. The Respondent, Joseph Zapata, may make a written request for a hearing as set forth in the NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY TO DEFEND AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING accompanying this order. If the Respondent does not make a hearing request in the time allowed, the Securities Administrator intends to adopt the above Tentative Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law as final and to enter a permanent order to cease and desist as to that Respondent. Signed and Entered this 11th day of January, 2018 *Note: For some reason cutting and pasting from a PDF resulted in misspellings that did not exist in the pdf. I have corrected them.

Sharks have electroreceptors that can detect electricity, so they can hone in on hiding fish by detecting the weak electrical signal from twitching muscles. They recently determined that cats can see into the ultraviolet spectrum, so when they seem to be reacting to nothing, there might be something there. On an added note, some people who have had the lenses in their eyes removed are able to see part of the uv spectrum too.

A thanks to Chard for donating to support VENDiscuss.

When people post pictures of their daughter graduating from college apparently it's wrong to respond with, "I'd hit that." Who knew?

I'm sorry, somehow I missed this. Strange since I am supposed to be alerted to any post here. Anyway Internet Explorer has not been supported by Microsoft since January 2016. Microsoft knew it was time to rebuild the browser, but instead of just calling it Internet Explorer 12, they decided to separate it out completely, and avoid a bunch of issues. First and foremost the negativity associated with the browser with many people, and second it gave them the ability to fix their issues without having to admit their mistakes. But you really shouldn't be using Internet Explorer anymore. Not just because it is out of date, but because it now lacks 2 years of security updates.

Hey Dave, glad you're doing better. Make sure you are taking CoQ10, preferably as Ubiquinol. There is real research behind this supplement benefitting heart health, and reducing the risk of future problems. CoQ10 Getting your kids to learn to invest is great. Have them check out Motley Fool. They unfortunately have gone overboard on their advertising, but what they teach is top notch, low risk, and based on the top investors in the world. Their 13 steps are the place to begin. https://www.fool.com/how-to-invest/index.aspx

A thanks to poplady1 for again donating to keep VENDisucuss up and running.

And a thanks to QuikVend for donating to support VENDiscuss.

A big thanks to gumball guy For donating to keep VENDiscuss up and running.

Maybe Johnny will think twice before talking back to his teachers.

If people did or didn't notice I was missing last week, I was on a cruise ship with my wife. First time on a cruise ship, so we kept to a 4 day cruise. Figured that if we had any issues with motion sickness, then taking a shorter cruise might be best. (We had no issues, which is a surprise for my wife. She get motion sickness at the movies.) This was our ship. I believe it is about the average size for Carnival. A picture of Atlantis resort from the Nassau port. We took a look inside the hotel, and hit the Starbucks they had inside it. And the claw machine they had onboard, in the casino area. I thought of giving it a try, (and getting a video of me failing,) but this picture was the only time I saw it wasn't in use, and we were headed elsewhere at the time. See, our trip was vending related. (Does this make it deductible?)

And a thanks to fhamann for donating to support VENDiscuss.

A thanks to droopi for again donating to support VENDiscuss.