Author Topic: Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH  (Read 21196 times)

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Offline Anonymous

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #90 on: June 21, 2006, 10:38:00 AM »
Quote
On 2006-06-21 05:18:00, TheWho wrote:

I have debated about isolation to the point where any kid who did not have 24/7 access to their friends and parents was considered in isolation.  (You cant call you friends and parents at most summer/ boy scout camps anytime you want, many households don?t let you call your friends at any hour).
<


This is not true at all.  This is why I can't take you seriously.  You know very well there is a big difference between the two.  Summer camp kids write home to their friends and family all the time.  My kids would write me and tell me how homesick they were at first, how they hated the place, the kids were mean, the counselors were mean etc.  Every bit of that got through to me.  That would not be so in a TBS/RTC etc.  They wrote to their friends often.  There was no "approving" friends that they could communicate with.  They wrote to whoever they wanted to.  The counselors would collect the mail and deposit them in the mailbox for the kids.  They did not read any of the letters.  

True that they didn't have constant access to a phone but they could call if they really wanted or needed to.  My youngest had a hard time the first time being away and called me 3 times the first week because she was so homesick.  It was out of the ordinary but the counselors saw how homesick she was and made arrangements for her to call.  

The kind of isolation that takes place in the RTC/TBS extreme.  No contact with anyone not approved by the staff.  Virtually no contact with anyone on the outside world at all.  Combine that with the extremem pressure of LGATS and the like and it's nothing but behavior modification and mind control.  They have no frame of reference anymore as to what's normal and what's not.  They begin to accept these methods as valid because there is no one around to acknowledge or validate that gnawing feeling that this whole thing is really, really wrong.  There is no way in hell any rational, thinking person can even think about comparing a regular summer camp to these places.
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Offline Troll Control

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #91 on: June 21, 2006, 10:45:00 AM »
Quote
There is no way in hell any rational, thinking person can even think about comparing a regular summer camp to these places.


This is the sticky wicket, isn't it?

You're talking about a guy who compares Rudy Bentz and Tim Brace to Ben Franklin and Bill Gates and licenses to practice therapy or teach to driver's licenses.

You're not dealing with a rational human being here.
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Offline TheWho

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #92 on: June 21, 2006, 11:20:00 AM »
Quote
On 2006-06-21 07:38:00, Anonymous wrote:

"
Quote

On 2006-06-21 05:18:00, TheWho wrote:


I have debated about isolation to the point where any kid who did not have 24/7 access to their friends and parents was considered in isolation.  (You cant call you friends and parents at most summer/ boy scout camps anytime you want, many households don?t let you call your friends at any hour).

<



This is not true at all.  This is why I can't take you seriously.  You know very well there is a big difference between the two.  Summer camp kids write home to their friends and family all the time.  My kids would write me and tell me how homesick they were at first, how they hated the place, the kids were mean, the counselors were mean etc.  Every bit of that got through to me.  That would not be so in a TBS/RTC etc.  They wrote to their friends often.  There was no "approving" friends that they could communicate with.  They wrote to whoever they wanted to.  The counselors would collect the mail and deposit them in the mailbox for the kids.  They did not read any of the letters.  



True that they didn't have constant access to a phone but they could call if they really wanted or needed to.  My youngest had a hard time the first time being away and called me 3 times the first week because she was so homesick.  It was out of the ordinary but the counselors saw how homesick she was and made arrangements for her to call.  



The kind of isolation that takes place in the RTC/TBS extreme.  No contact with anyone not approved by the staff.  Virtually no contact with anyone on the outside world at all.  Combine that with the extremem pressure of LGATS and the like and it's nothing but behavior modification and mind control.  They have no frame of reference anymore as to what's normal and what's not.  They begin to accept these methods as valid because there is no one around to acknowledge or validate that gnawing feeling that this whole thing is really, really wrong.  There is no way in hell any rational, thinking person can even think about comparing a regular summer camp to these places."


Yes you obviously have experience with a different place than I did.  My Daughter wanted to call me because she was anxious and the counselor allowed her to call.  There was no isolation.  If a kid was out on a boy scout trip or rafting trip they may not be able to just call when ever they want.  You have 25 kids all wanting to call their friends and family 3 times a day, no, they tell the kids no phone calls unless it is an emergency, period.  The place my daughter attended had no fences, she could walk away anytime she wanted.  
I did debate someone, Nile,who posts here once in awhile, who debated me to the point where he considered isolation was not having 24/7 access to a phone and just the shear distance between the kids and their parents.  He was determined to prove my daughter was the victim of isolation, when it just wasn?t true.  Based on that definition, this would be the same as Boy Scout camp.  I am not implying that the whole school can be compared to it, just the distance aspect and access to phones.
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Offline Fire Swamp

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #93 on: June 21, 2006, 11:28:00 AM »
So in your estimation The Who is a harebrain...a screwball...fruitcake..etc.
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Offline Fire Swamp

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« Reply #94 on: June 21, 2006, 11:30:00 AM »
Quote
You're not dealing with a rational human being here.

So in your estimation TheWho is a harebrain...a screwball...fruitcake..etc.
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Offline Anonymous

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #95 on: June 21, 2006, 11:33:00 AM »
Quote
On 2006-06-21 08:20:00, TheWho wrote:


I did debate someone, Nile,who posts here once in awhile, who debated me to the point where he considered isolation was not having 24/7 access to a phone and just the shear distance between the kids and their parents.  He was determined to prove my daughter was the victim of isolation, when it just wasn?t true.  Based on that definition, this would be the same as Boy Scout camp.  I am not implying that the whole school can be compared to it, just the distance aspect and access to phones.

"


That was him.  He is not Fornits.  I was very clear in my distinction.  I never claimed that summer camp was isolation.  Deal with him when you're talking to him and me when you're talking to me.

Do you believe that regular summer camp and RTC/TBS etc. are the same?  Do you believe they follow the same standards for the same reasons?  Agreed that kids at summer camp don't have access to a phone 24/7 but it's for a very different reason than the kids in a TBS.
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Offline TheWho

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #96 on: June 21, 2006, 11:56:00 AM »
Quote
That was him. He is not Fornits. I was very clear in my distinction. I never claimed that summer camp was isolation. Deal with him when you're talking to him and me when you're talking to me.
I was explaining why I made the analogy.  You must be new, people talk in generalizations here, all programmies are alike, all RTC?s are the same etc.  I guess I am not use to talking with someone who doesn?t generalize, this is refreshing.

Quote
Do you believe that regular summer camp and RTC/TBS etc. are the same?

No, not on every level.

 
Quote
Do you believe they follow the same standards for the same reasons?

No, not exactly


Quote
Agreed that kids at summer camp don't have access to a phone 24/7 but it's for a very different reason than the kids in a TBS.


I think some of the reasons are similar.  Any environment where there are large groups of teenagers there is an effort to try to limit their use, public schools, church groups, summer camp, schools.  Kids would never get anything done or be able to keep their attention.  Now at TBS? they have the same reasons and then more.  kids are their for various reasons and access to certain people may not be healthy for them i.e. those that abused them, drug dealers, people who could trigger a setback etc. So for them they need to be protected from some outside influences which could be harmful.  So they are different in that respect.
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Offline Anonymous

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #97 on: June 21, 2006, 12:09:00 PM »
Quote
On 2006-06-21 08:56:00, TheWho wrote:

 You must be new, people talk in generalizations here, all programmies are alike, all RTC?s are the same etc.  I guess I am not use to talking with someone who doesn?t generalize, this is refreshing.


I've been around here a lot longer than you have.  Stop making assumptions.
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Offline TheWho

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #98 on: June 21, 2006, 12:33:00 PM »
Quote
On 2006-06-21 09:09:00, Anonymous wrote:

"
Quote

On 2006-06-21 08:56:00, TheWho wrote:


 You must be new, people talk in generalizations here, all programmies are alike, all RTC?s are the same etc.  I guess I am not use to talking with someone who doesn?t generalize, this is refreshing.



I've been around here a lot longer than you have.  Stop making assumptions.  "


Ah, touché.
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Offline Deborah

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #99 on: December 11, 2007, 10:24:18 PM »
The Southard re-open under new license

Dec. 10, 2007, 12:11PM
Case sparks new look at youth camp licenses
Couple still in business after being made to close site where two died

By TERRI LANGFORD
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

The relocation of a summer camp for learning disabled children in the Hill Country has social services officials examining the state's one-size-fits-all license for youth camps in Texas.

In 2006, Rand and Colleen Southard, the owners of the Charis Hills summer camp, were stripped of their state license for another facility, the Star Ranch residential treatment center in Kerr County, after two Texas foster care children died there.

But they continued to operate - without incident or complaint since 1999 - Charis Hills, their summer camp for learning disabled children under a youth camp license issued by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

A spokesman for the Southards says the operations are different, so the licenses that govern them should be different, and losing one at one facility shouldn't reflect badly on the record of another.

"This is a different population than the Star Ranch kids," said Dave Vinyard, a Charis Hills board member and spokesman for the camp. "The kids coming to Charis Hills are there because their parents want them there."

But the state's not so sure after questions were raised about whether one social service agency can allow a group to operate a children's facility if a sister agency has barred the same agency from caring for state foster children.

"This situation has made us aware of a serious gap in how we license camps," said Albert Hawkins, Texas Health and Human Services' executive commissioner. There are 538 youth camps in the state and all adhere to the same Texas state health department sanitation and safety standards, even those facilities with campers who have special needs or those operated by owners who have had a license revoked by any other state agency.

Like Woodside Trails/Eagle Pines Academy.
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=296292#296292

A youth camp in Texas is any facility or property that is used primarily for recreational, athletic, religious or educational activities and accommodates at least five minors who attend or reside there for the better part of four days.

Questions about relocation
The licensing issue surfaced this fall with the relocation of Charis Hills from the Kerr County town of Ingram, to the Llano County hamlet of Castell, about 88 miles west of Austin.

The Southards sold the Ingram property and began looking for land close to Kerr County that had access to water.

When they came upon 43 acres near Castell, they bought it and have begun clearing land to make way for camp facilities to house about 150 children with learning disabilities such as Asperger syndrome or attention-deficit disorder.

Along the Llano River, Charis Hills' new neighbors are puzzled that the camp owners would choose such a remote place, considering there is one narrow road in and out. They're concerned about the traffic the facility would bring.

The chief question residents have raised, though, is the one the state is now considering: whether there is a lack of consistency about how children's facilities are licensed. While Charis Hills has a camp license for the Ingram property, the company will have to apply for another one after the new camp near Castell is built.

"I want to know - my mom wants to know - why, when the state of Texas will not let him care for their children, why will they give him a license to care for my children?" said Cindy Yeager, whose family land near Castell will be some of the closest to the Charis Hills camp. "Why does the state of Texas think that if the Southards are supervised any less that they're going to care for children any better?"

Two deaths
The Star Ranch residential treatment center for troubled, abused foster children was stripped of its license by the state health department's sister agency, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in 2006.

http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=201577#201577
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=157678#157678

The decision was made after two children died within six months of each other. The first died while being restrained from banging his head on the floor. The second child died during a bike outing along a rain-swollen creek. The child got off his bike and was swept into the creek.

The license revocation bars the Southards from seeking another DFPS license until 2011, but it does not keep them from operating another facility for children under a different type of state license.

And there's nothing wrong with that, Vinyard said.

"If what we're doing on the property in Castell is legal and appropriate in Llano County and the state of Texas ... and if we have the state health licensing to operate a facility, and the parents of these children choose to send them to Charis Hills, whose business is that?" he said. "It's a private camp. It's private property."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 64435.html


Charis Hills website
http://www.charishills.org/index.html

Counselor requirements
http://www.charishills.org/counselors_whatittakes.htm
http://www.charishills.org/counselors_positions.htm

No formal training necessary. The mission:
We teach children about Christ because that is our mission.  We believe that if a child can understand who Christ is, his or her life can be changed through that understanding. We also believe that most of our daily problems can be overcome through an understanding of the Bible and that understanding is sufficient for a successful life.

Texas Department of Health – Licensed as a Summer Camp
Charis Hills meets all criteria and standards set forward by the Texas Department of Health.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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Hidden Lake Academy, after operating 12 years unlicensed will now be monitored by the state. Access information on the Federal Class Action lawsuit against HLA here: http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t=17700

Offline Che Gookin

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #100 on: December 11, 2007, 10:41:36 PM »
Around and around we go where we stop nobody knows!


*not to self.. put above new shitpit on visit list for 2009.
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Offline Anonymous

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #101 on: December 11, 2007, 10:44:20 PM »
Quote from: ""Guest""
Quote

On 2006-06-21 05:18:00, TheWho wrote:


I have debated about isolation to the point where any kid who did not have 24/7 access to their friends and parents was considered in isolation.  (You cant call you friends and parents at most summer/ boy scout camps anytime you want, many households don?t let you call your friends at any hour).

<



This is not true at all.  This is why I can't take you seriously.  You know very well there is a big difference between the two.  Summer camp kids write home to their friends and family all the time.  My kids would write me and tell me how homesick they were at first, how they hated the place, the kids were mean, the counselors were mean etc.  Every bit of that got through to me.  That would not be so in a TBS/RTC etc.  They wrote to their friends often.  There was no "approving" friends that they could communicate with.  They wrote to whoever they wanted to.  The counselors would collect the mail and deposit them in the mailbox for the kids.  They did not read any of the letters.  



True that they didn't have constant access to a phone but they could call if they really wanted or needed to.  My youngest had a hard time the first time being away and called me 3 times the first week because she was so homesick.  It was out of the ordinary but the counselors saw how homesick she was and made arrangements for her to call.  



The kind of isolation that takes place in the RTC/TBS extreme.  No contact with anyone not approved by the staff.  Virtually no contact with anyone on the outside world at all.  Combine that with the extremem pressure of LGATS and the like and it's nothing but behavior modification and mind control.  They have no frame of reference anymore as to what's normal and what's not.  They begin to accept these methods as valid because there is no one around to acknowledge or validate that gnawing feeling that this whole thing is really, really wrong.  There is no way in hell any rational, thinking person can even think about comparing a regular summer camp to these places.


When you say that there "frame of reference" is removed, are you quoting someone? I remember that phrase from a book I wanted to investifge, and can no longer recall the title. That is such a good way of putting it!!
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Offline Deborah

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #102 on: December 11, 2007, 10:44:38 PM »
10/31/2007 10:00:00 PM    
Castell residents to fight proposed summer camp

By George Hatt
Highland Lakes Newspapers

Another fight is brewing in Castell.

Rand and Colleen Southard, owners of Charis Hills, a Christian summer camp for children with learning disabilities, or "learning differences" as Mrs. Southard prefers to call them, have bought property on the Llano River and plan to move Charis Hills from its current location in Ingram.

"We just finalized the property this week (Oct. 22)," Mrs. Southard said. "We are just getting our ducks in a row and getting Charis Hills up and running."

Mrs. Southard said that they have sold the location in Ingram. Work crews are already improving the acreage on the Llano River, called Llano River Estates.

"It is a camp for special needs children," Mrs. Southard said. "We call them learning differences," instead of learning disabilities. "We are building our permanent location on the Llano River."

Mrs. Southard said that she planned to be ready to host up to 500 campers by next summer.

"Camp starts in the early part of June, and the staff comes in May," she said. "We better be ready. We have a lot of work to be done, but we are very excited."

In the off-season, the camp will serve parents and children together.

"During the remainder of the year, we will have family camp. Parents can attend educational seminars and learn about their child's diagnosis and parenting from a Biblical standpoint," Mrs. Southard said.

Some in Castell are gearing up for a fight. Weeks before the deal closed, residents alerted the press to a dark spot on the Southards' record called Star Ranch, a residential treatment center that was closed after the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services pulled the Southards' permit to operate.

The Southards have a permit through the Texas Department of Health to operate a non-residential summer camp, which is what Charis Hills will be.

DFPS cited several incidents, two of them fatal, as justification for pulling the residential treatment license.

The incidents were detailed in a letter to Mr. Southard from Charlane Bateman, director of residential licensing, dated June 15, 2006.

The letter said that in December 2005, "a child died as a result of an inappropriate restraint by one of (Star Ranch's) staff members; DFPS subsequently made an abuse finding against that staff member."

The letter also accused the facility of neglectful supervision that resulted in a drowning in 2006 and two instances of sexual conduct between residents.

In December of 2005, "a 17-year-old resident of your operation sexually assaulted an 11-year-old resident in part because of the neglectful supervision by a caregiver," the letter said. "On or about Sept. 3, 2005, one of (the) staff members neglectfully supervised three children who in turn acted out sexually," the letter goes on to say.


Mrs. Southard defended their record.

"There were two horrible accidents that happened to 18 years of an excellent record," she said.

Mrs. Southard said that the child who was restrained was banging his head and staff had to restrain him. She claims that the child had a heart attack.

As for the sexual activities, she said that the information was incorrect.

"I think we had an excellent record," she said. "This is a population of kids who are misunderstood. They're not always the easiest children to work with."

The Southards appealed the finding in June 2006; the finding was upheld this spring.

Residents are concerned about the Charis Hills' ability to supervise the children.

"As someone who is deeply inspired by our heritage, I find an effort of this nature to be a total cultural shock to the calm and peaceful 160-year-old German community of Castell," said resident Patty Pfister. "As property owners whose property adjoins the proposed camp, my husband and I find the newspaper articles of the death of two children and other allegations of abuse and neglect of children at their previous camps to be very unsettling and disturbing."

The Southards will not be able to apply for another license from DFPS to operate a residential treatment center for five years.

Mrs. Southard said that she and Mr. Southard are committed to bringing Charis Hills to Castell.  "We feel like we were called by God. We're excited to be doing what we're doing."
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Hidden Lake Academy, after operating 12 years unlicensed will now be monitored by the state. Access information on the Federal Class Action lawsuit against HLA here: http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t=17700

Offline Deborah

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Another 12 year old dies at STAR RANCH
« Reply #103 on: December 11, 2007, 10:47:03 PM »
Center to give support to former foster kids

By Alison Beshur
The Daily Times  

Published November 27, 2007

When foster children age out of the state’s system, many struggle because they lack access to affordable housing while they start college, get their first job or simply plan their next step in life.

These young adults between the ages of 18 and 23 soon will have a place to go to ease their transition into adulthood.

Enhanced Horizons, a young adult transitional living center, is expected to open in May at the former Star Ranch-Charis Hills camp in Ingram.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Hidden Lake Academy, after operating 12 years unlicensed will now be monitored by the state. Access information on the Federal Class Action lawsuit against HLA here: http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t=17700

Offline Deborah

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« Reply #104 on: December 11, 2007, 10:55:11 PM »
Castell Residents Circulate Petition
Look to stop Charis Hills
Published on December 5, 2007
By Staff Reports

The Castell Community Christmas Party Saturday night was not all holiday camaraderie, it was also an opportunity to bring residents together in their opposition to the Charis Hills Camp.

The new summer camp with an emphasis on children with learning disabilities is being planned by Rand and Colleen Southard for 43 acres of land on the Llano River and the Castell Community is not happy about it. A petition headed for the Llano County Commissioners Court was circulated at the Saturday gathering.

The petition has four tenants for appealing to the commissioners for some kind of help in blocking the development.

First they say the location is unsafe and unsuitable for a youth camp:

• CR 104 and the 43 acre camp site are subject to life-threatening flash flooding. CR 104 is the only entrance and exit to the property between the Castell Bridge and Elm Creek. The road is in the 100-year floodplain and in the past has been inundated with 6-8 feet of floodwaters.

• Children from the camp would be required to cross the county road in order to access the river.

Secondly, says the petition, managers of a camp known as Star Ranch near Ingram in Kerr County, Texas, and run by the same operators’s had a residential program license revoked by the Texas Department of Family Services (DFPS) after the death of two children and numerous other incidents of neglect and abuse.

Thirdly, Castell residents complain that the camp represents an undue Llano County tax burden.

• The owner of the proposed facility is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization which will not pay county taxes.

• The facility will likely require initial and ongoing expense including extra law enforcement personnel, the pavement and improvements to CR 104, additional maintenance on county roads, and potential evacuation costs during flooding events.

Finally, the petition lumps together unknown factors.

• The impact of the facility on downstream water quality is unknown.

• The eventual uses of the property are unknown. The previous facility in Ingram Texas, started as a summer camp, and then expanded to a residential facility, a placement service and a charter school.

“We, the undersigned, do not welcome a corporate business that would put children and others in harms way, place an undue hardship on an entire community, and a financial burden on all of Llano County, the petition concludes.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Hidden Lake Academy, after operating 12 years unlicensed will now be monitored by the state. Access information on the Federal Class Action lawsuit against HLA here: http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t=17700