Hey Dude, Where's My Documentary? or What Happened to Pump and Dump, the Fuel Cell Documentary (Dude)?

In 2015, I began investigating hydrogen fuel cell companies for a documentary to educate the public about how an alternative energy source had been seemingly killed by Wall Street insider trading and Big Oil. I was most surprised at what little cooperation I received from any hydrogen fuel cell company. As I began to dig, I began to find out why. What I found out in my investigations will shock you. Here is part one of Hey Dude, Where's My Documentary? 

It was late 2013 November to be exact my wife and I had just returned from a contract teaching in Saudi Arabia for the American company of Raytheon and its subsidiary company called SALTS. We had returned to the United States full of many things. We had hope for the future. We were also full of relief at being able to return to the United States and leave the Arab world behind after many years of teaching and finally a fairly sized chunk of money. We would finally be able to settle down and live the American dream.

There were many reasons for our hope and optimism. The first being that we had been watching a technology that seemed to be on the verge of a major breakout. That technology was called hydrogen fuel cell technology. But before we go into too many specifics, let's begin with a little bit of background and history of what hydrogen fuel cells are and what they have been in the past.

In 1999 while reading Scientific American, I had seen an article about a new technology called hydrogen fuel cells. The article stated along with an explanation of how hydrogen fuel cells work (that I will not go into at this point) as well as how hydrogen fuel cells will ultimately replace batteries, internal combustion engines and just about every other energy source. According the article, we had with a cheap clean technology whose only byproduct was water. I mean water. How much cleaner can you get?

But I was not the only one riding the hydrogen fuel cell title wave of optimism in 1999. On the stock market the stock prices for companies like Ballard Power Systems of Canada, Plug Power Systems of New York and Fuel Cell Energy of Connecticut also saw their stock prices go everywhere from over one hundred dollars for Ballard Power down to between $75 and $80 for the other mentioned companies. But alas, the tech bubble burst in 1999 and took with it price of fuel cell stocks and the optimism. It also took millions if not billions of dollars in investor money and placed in the hands of those who had the “vision” to get out early.

I myself have never seen a lot of activity in the stock market simply because of the fact that I have never had that much money to invest. But, with the salaries I was making in the Middle East as a teacher of English in universities and on military contracts, along with the sales of my first two books, I finally had a little bit of extra money. So, I thought I would begin to invest. I, being an idealist through and through, limited myself to investments in green energy starting in the year 2008.

Although it may seem to be digressing a little bit, I feel it is important for the reader to understand that the idea here is to not only understand what has happened to fuel cell technology, but also what is happened to alternative energy stocks period. So, we must start in 2008.

In 2007-2008, the stock price of a company called First Solar began a meteoric rise. This rise was based on the fact that First Solar’s solar panels incorporated a new cheaper metal (cadmium telluride if anyone cares) which allowed them to be produced and sold at a much lower cost. At the time of the news and the expansion of First Solar from the United States into Germany and Europe, the stock price soared from around $45 and ultimately hit $280 before it, in the vernacular of the market "tanked." For the first time ever, I chose to invest some money and I actually made a little bit on the transaction.  I had enogh sense to get out of the stock before it ultimately plummeted.

Full of enthusiasm for the stock market and the "American Way" I began looking around for more green technology to invest in. Enter a company called BioSolar.

When I first saw BioSolar, my attention was peaked because, like First Solar, they claimed to have a revolutionary new solar panel or what they called a back sheet which was made from naturally occurring materials such as linseed oil and cotton. Not being a petroleum product made it both environmentally friendlier and much cheaper to produce.

I watched as the stock went from mere pennies to over a dollar. I saw that it was time to get in as I calculated my profits from investing a few thousand dollars at a little over a dollar a share in a stock that could reach the same levels as First Solar had just a few months before.

Like all other unwary uneducated and most likely foolish investors, I saw the pie-in-the-sky and I wanted as big of a slice for myself as I could possibly afford. It was at the time that the market had just crashed and I had made some money investing in things like Ford at $4 and General Electric at $8. At that time, GM was a dollar a share, but a taxpayer bailed out company to me did not seem like the kind of investment with the return that Biosolar, a small company out of Salinas California was sure to produce. And so it seemed, it was just a matter of time before my ship was going to come in. It also seemed foolish at the time not to have as much money as I could possibly scrape together to invest in this company.

There were warning signs, however. In an article posted on the Internet shortly after I began to make my investments, I noticed an article written by somebody who had nothing good to say about Biosolar. The article stated that the reason its stock price has soared to over a dollar was the result of something called a “Pump and Dump.” In the article the author pointed out that a Bloomberg "journalist" had been paid an undisclosed amount of shares by Biosolar management in return for a favorable treatment of Biosolar in an article. I remembered that article was what had influenced me to even consider the penny stock company was that it had been mentioned in Bloomberg, a reputable publication. So how could anything go wrong?

Immediately after the article was published, the price of the shares stopped rising. In fact, they seemed to be dropping somewhat. Being a new investor, I was not familiar with the term the author criticizing the company and the writer's publication used, or "pump and dump.” It seemed a rather self-explanatory phrase but I was not overly concerned. After all, I hadn’t lost any money trading, yet.

But the fact was, the Bloomberg author had pumped the BioSolar stock using his publication’s reputation for integrity and then had dumped the stock. Most likely he dumped it immediately after he was given the shares and that massive dump, along with the panic caused by the article subsequently published cause the shares to drop. First, they went into the $.80 a share range and ultimately ended up around $.10 a share.

But for me, the uninitiated unwary investor, I could see nothing but light and hope at the end of the tunnel as the lower stock price would allow me to accumulate hundreds of thousands of shares while I waited for my ship to come in.

While I was waiting and daily watching the stock’s activity, a year went by and then two years went by. Then in 2010, the company called BioSolar announced what I had never heard of before. It was called a reverse share stock split. For the uninitiated like myself at the time, what that meant ultimately, was that my hundreds of thousands of shares had suddenly become a few thousand shares. I didn't think it was even possible that a company could do that, but I found out it was all perfectly legal. So, I had been burned on alternative energy stock for the first time.

I swore then that I would never, ever invest in any kind of solar energy stock again. In fact, in the back of my mind I thought that the shares would ultimately turn around and like the Phoenix of mythology, rise from the dimes and reach that mythical $280 mark. That, and not wanting to lose my money, compelled me to sit on thousands of shares of basically worthless stock for years.

So, to review what we've learned so far in 1999, there were high hopes for an alternative energy technology called hydrogen fuel-cell technology. The pumpers on Wall Street had managed to get its share price in the case of the bigger companies to over $100 share. In the crash of 1999, the bubble that burst took with it the high stock shares of the hydrogen fuel cell companies along with many Internet companies and billions of dollars from the American economy, leaving that money in the hands of those at the Federal Reserve and those with connections to the Federal Reserve that knew that the bubble was about to burst.

We have also learned that there have been a number of other alternative energy companies that over the last decade and a half have burned millions of investors and left millions if not billions of dollars in the hands of insider traders on Wall Street.

So, thus ends the first part of the Hey Dude Where’s my Documentary blog series.

In the next segment, we will discuss the rise of a green energy company called Tesla that seemed somehow to reverse the trend and looked as if it was paving the way for green energy to make a comeback in 2012-13. Please stay tuned.

For more Deceptions, read Deceptions of the Ages by Matthew D. Heines

Diane Donovan Book Review Deceptions of the Ages: "Mormons" Freemasons and Extraterrestrials

Deceptions of the Ages  
"Mormons" Freemasons and Extraterrestrials
Matthew D. Heines

Print ISBN 9780990879329     
Print Edition $18.99
 516 pages
  Deceptions of the Ages: "Mormons" Freemasons and Extraterrestrials doesn't continue Matthew Heines' previous travelogue/teaching books covering intercultural relationships and discoveries: instead, it analyzes a different kind of relationship between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aliens, and Freemasons.

If this approach seems a 'stretch', for some readers - it will be. Deceptions comes from a teacher who takes five thousand years of history and brings a variety of disparate forces together, using a blend of historical texts, philosophical reflections, holy writings, and more to provide factual historical insights into traditional conflicts between science and religion - and he does so with an added measure of humor to make his approach more palpable.

From the incongruities of a secret society that claims the ambiguous situation of not being a 'secret society' so much as a 'society with secrets' to the great dig under the Temple of Solomon, why it happened, and the contrast of various theories about what they found (or didn't find), Heines takes a step-by-step approach in examining various facets of history and its deceptions.

And perhaps that's the most intriguing approach of all: not just the evidence of deceptions and how they evolved over the eons, but why they happened and how their stories were perpetuated and changed over time.

Few new age or historical discussions take the form of closely analyzing the gaps between science, history and religion. Too few pinpoint exactly where and how these gaps occurred, why they widened, and the various controversies that sprung from them, creating in and of themselves new perspectives and even religions and belief systems.

And few such considerations skirt the line between history, new age analysis, and philosophy, incorporating elements of all in a compendium that is, ultimately, greater than any of its individual parts.

Despite Heines' attempts to inject humor and readability into the text, this is by no means a light read. Typical new age readers (the book's most likely audience) will find it dense, packed with historical, philosophical and spiritual references, and filled with evidence that points to the obvious fact that "we are not alone".

An index to its many references and approaches would have made Deceptions of the Ages even more useful for readers who want to cross-reference strings of thought and different historical figures - but would have been a weighty undertaking in a discussion of this magnitude.

Suffice it to say that Deceptions of the Ages offers much food for thought, will find its most enthusiastic readership among new age circles who appreciate wide-ranging discussions pulling together facts from a range of disciplines, making for a powerful, thought-provoking read.

Simon Barrett Book Review of Deceptions Of The Ages by Matthew D. Heines

Book Review: Deceptions Of The Ages by Matthew D. Heines

Posted on February 16th, 2015

by Simon Barrett in All News

“Mormons” Freemasons & Extraterrestrials

Deceptions of the Ages:...

$17.00

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I was a little leery when I read the subtitle, it sounded more like a description of Art Bells famed radio program Coast to Coast AM, a conspiracy theorists sand box. However as I had greatly enjoyed Matthew Heines other books detailing his adventures in Oman and Saudi Arabia I threw caution to the wind and settled down on my front porch to discover what possible connection there might be between “Mormons” the wriggly finger mob and good old ET.

Deceptions Of The Ages turned out to be quite an interesting read, a journey through history, well researched and well reasoned. Sure there are a few ‘leaps of faith’ and some speculation, but you find that in every non fiction book.

The one thing that the Mormons, Freemasons and UFO’s do most certainly have in common is mystery. Mystery always breeds speculation, and speculation in turn breeds conspiracy. A great example is the assassination of JFK, I have lost count of the number of books and documentaries I have read or watched on the subject. Some have plausible plots, some are just out and out ridiculous. But as long as you have a situation where there is mystery, you will find speculation and conspiracy theories.

The Mormons are a good example. If you were to ask people at random to write a short description about them you might get something along the lines of:

Founded by some dude named Joseph Smith who found a bunch of gold tablets and wrote his own bible, Silly man lost the tablets so all we have to go on is his word. They all live in Utah, wear funky underwear and have a dozen wives each. Young Mormon teenagers of 16 dress in black pants a white dress shirt and black tie, carry a small briefcase, travel in pairs and knock on strangers doors to elicit new members, particularly young girls in order to maintain the supply of breeding stock.

While most of that statement is untrue, it is the perception. There is an air of distrust about what happens behind the closed doors of the Mormon church, so theories abound.

Perception also plays a big part in thinking about the Freemasons.

Oh, the wriggly finger handshake mob, they cavort naked in their lodges, performing all kind of sexually deviant acts, and form part of the ‘shadow government’, they are the new world order. They used to sacrifice virgins, but the supply of virgins ran out in the 60’s with the sexual revolution.

And of course the always popular UFO. You can blame UFO’s on almost anything. In the 70s I recall working for the Xerox corporation. Phil was a guy that would be late for his own funeral. One morning he tuned up late and while waiting for the elevator a vice present walked in. “late again Weigard” the man remarked, “Yes, so am I” he replied in his Aussie twang. His best one however, occurred a couple of weeks later, when asked why he was late, he explained that he had been on the London Underground and Aliens had abducted him.

Space is a really big place, to think that we are the only planet with life on it is statistically very unlikely. But would an intelligent lifeform want to visit us? We don’t have a unified language, we spend most of our time blowing each other up, watching sitcoms, and generally doing our best to destroy the planet. If I was an alien I certainly would not want to come visit.

The delightful part about the whole extraterrestrial gig is that you can’t prove or disprove it. Some are convinced that it is a huge government cover up.

All three subjects make for great subjects for a book, Mathew Heines takes it one stage further and interconnects them.

I enjoyed the history lesson, particularly that of the Freemasons. Yes I can see how the dots can be traced back to the Crusades and The Knights Templar. It is when you journey further back in time that, for me at least the dots and lines become blurry. We get into the whole Holy Grail discussion, one that made Dan Brown a very rich man with his book The Da Vinci Code. I am also not convinced of the connection of the Freemasons to early Egypt. But many are, so I bow down to more learned people.

Deceptions Of The Ages is a book that I can recommend, however, it will not appeal to everyone. It requires an open mind and an inquisitive nature. Matthew Heines opens some interesting doors, peek behind them if you dare.

To order your copy of Deceptions Of The Ages click on the Amazon link above.

Simon Barrett

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Diane Donavan Book Review: Killing Time in Saudi Arabia: An American Experience

Review

Killing Time in Saudi Arabia: 

An American Experience

Matthew D. Heines

Print ISBN 9780990879374 

Print Price $18.99 

Now, Killing Time in Saudi Arabia demonstrates perfectly the reason why some books written as a trilogy should be viewed as 'one', read in order, considered as a unit, and stronger as part of a package production. For without the background provided in My Year in Oman and Another Year in Oman (which documents the author's experiences from 2001-2003) this third book would not feel nearly as rich and fulfilling in background, setting and sentiment as it covers eighteen months of life from 2004-2005, when some of the heaviest fighting of the War on Terror occurred - right under the author's nose.

In Killing Time in Saudi Arabia Heines has left Oman and taken a job as an English teacher, training national guard officers for the Saudi Arabian military. Amidst the backdrop of educational progress are the uncertainties and threats of war: gunfire erupting and changing lives, drives through the streets of Riyadh, reflections on life, death, and independence ("...I had become a person who was somewhat in control of his situation...I suddenly realized that the act of buying a car had changed in one night, my entire Saudi Arabian experience.")

New reports of gunfire, killings, and terror are a very effective conclusion to every chapter, documenting daily life in the Middle East and placing the author's experiences within the context of a wider world's troubles and a culture's psychology and wonders.

This isn't just about serious life-threatening moments, as readers might expect: there is much humor to be found in cultural misunderstandings - as when Heines believes he has contracted to tour a camel farm and gets something far different: "The worst thing I thought could happen was a terror attack. I had been concerned about being killed when I should have been concerned about being embarrassed and humiliated. "I did everything I could to make it clear that we wanted to see a camel farm," I explained. "I must have asked him three different times...Wouldn't you just assume that a camel farm would include camels?" It's one thing to fail to arrange to see camels. It's quite another to bring a group of eager tourists along for the ride: a group interested in the trappings of culture, not the culture itself: "With few exceptions, most of the group was not interested in Saudi culture at all, which made my appearance in Saudi clothes just one more bizarre detail in an increasingly bizarre story."

Against the backdrop of love, war, tourism and teaching, the gaps between West and Middle East are highlighted. Under Heines' deft hand these cultural interactions and misunderstandings come to life and ultimately serve to provide a better understanding not only of Middle East atmosphere and culture, but of the psychology and perspectives of ordinary people living in a very different world.

A series of misadventures and ironies emerges; even more so than in the two Oman books - which is unexpected, because by Book Three readers would anticipate that Heines has likely penetrated the Middle Eastern veil and is settling in. Nothing could be further from the truth: he's now in a different region and his understanding is still uncertain, his grasp of politics and peoples still tenuous, and his experiences greatly different than in the comparatively isolated medieval town atmosphere of Oman, with its very different world.

Again, humor is embedded in every chapter; so if you don't want quirky observations and tongue-in-cheek wry remarks, look elsewhere ... though that would be a shame, because this approach is what lends all three books a personal, interactive, intimate perspective lacking in most other accounts of the Middle East: "...except for the threat of a large-scale attack by a battalion of terrorists, car combings, or random acts of terror, I had little to fear."

Another difference between these books and other Middle East accounts is that Heines always seeks to think - and act - outside the box. Thus, he often arranges for expeditions beyond his teaching objective and his comfort zone: "...we made plans for yet another expedition into the far reaches of Saudi Arabia with the Riyadh Rovers. With no map, and no GPS, all I knew six days later, was that we were somewhere in the north, near Kuwait."

His expeditions, as with his teaching goals, are all about breaking through these boundaries of comfort, and bring readers along for the bone-rattling jeep rides and cultural encounters introduced by romance and experience alike.

Some might fault Heines for including romance in every book. Some might look for more background history, or more cultural insight, or even more teaching encounters (if the reader intends on teaching abroad and is seeking pointers) - but that's not the objective of this trilogy.

Its purpose is to profile the author's cultural encounters and his immersion in foreign lands and perspectives, and it's here that this trilogy shines.

It's life in the middle of war, life in the middle of cultural incongruities, and most of all, it's about reaching out of one's familiarities to grasp for more. Individually each book in the set stands alone as an engrossing saga. Taken together, they form the nexus of a cultural investigation not undertaken in your usual Middle East books written by commentators, observers, and military personnel.

Any who would truly understand the region and its psyche would do well to enjoy the combination of rollicking adventure and cultural insights that permeate all three stories, defying the usual labels of 'travelogue', 'teacher's experience', 'romance' or 'social analysis' to embrace elements of all four approaches.