"The Shrine fraternity, which operates the nation’s largest charity, has been misleading the public for years…In 1984, the circuses reaped an estimated profit of $17.5 million. The charity’s own records show the hospitals received only 1 per cent of that, a total of $182,000."
sandyfrost.newsvine.com... 2/07/2188846-jester-prostitution-updates-stebick-sentenced
"The Shrine of North America is a fraternity that grew out of Freemasonry over a century ago. Because of this, the Shrine is dedicated to Masonic principles. The Shrine Fraternity provides Masonic brothers a means to widen the fellowship first enjoyed in the Blue Lodge. .....If you are a Master Mason of a Lodge recognized and in amity with the Conference of Grand Masters of North America, you can petition to become a Noble of the Mystic Shrine."
www.rajahshrine.org...
Judge Tills, who faces prison time now at the age of 75, once prided himself as being one of the toughest sentencing judges in western New York state. I'd be curious how many prostitution cases came before him on the bench, and how he sentenced them. His actions—hauling hookers across state lines, and even into Canada, not once, but at least on six occasions—belies the claim that such practices within the Jesters are not widespread. The FBI has been involved since last year. And this is in addition to the story from last May about Jesters' "fishing trips" to Brazil that involved at least 19 members and hookers as young as 13."
"The first deposition, 61 pages, was provided by Adilson Garcia da Silva on Sunday, April 13, 2008. He describes how he became a fishing guide, his work history, how marijuana was allegedly obtained for the plaintiffs' clients then began describing how girls, from age 13 on up, were lured into prostitution from Brazilian Indian reservations for the fishing trips' clients. The girls, he said, were hired to provide 'programs' that consisted of 'oral sex, strip and dance contests.'
Question: What is the youngest age that you’re aware of a girl being on the boat as a prostitute?
Answer: My brother would pick up a group of girls in Autazes and would take by boat to an American. One was 13, one was 14, and there was one who was even 9 years old.
.........did some of the girls look in the age range of your own daughter who is 12 years old?
Answer: Yes, they were small girls.
specific group of customers?
Answer: They would ask from 13 on up.
This investigation has grown from dryly describing numbers on non profit tax returns to exposing the Shriners' dirty-little-secret sub-group, the Royal Order of Jesters and their prostitution scandals.
It's been kind of shocking to discover that this American icon has been "misleading the public for years" (1), and then come to find out that some of these Shriner/Jesters have committed sex crimes under the guise of being a non profit group.
You know.
Prostitution at tax payer expense.
Tax returns show that Jesters national spent over $570,000 on one weekend bash.
That's about $11,000 an hour.
..............Included in the court documents were statements from five “Jane Does” given to the Brazilian federal police and depositions from two Brazilian fishing guides.
One of the girls said she had after she’d been lured off her Indian reservation by a man named “Richard” who said he’d pay her to clean his fishing boat. Once on the boat, she found that she was supposed to drink whiskey and have sex with North American tourists.
Another said she was left pregnant at 13 after such a trip.
One fishing guide testified that these Jesters preferred to be called "Masons." He also reported seeing them have sex with underage girls and taking pictures that he provided to the Brazilian Federal Police.
____________
Last May, three members of the Royal Order of Jesters were caught in a federal human trafficking/prostitution sting.
FBI agents used court ordered wire intercepts to listen the owner of the four "massage parlors," Len Wah Chong, as she ran her prostitution businesses over the phone. Agents heard her talking shop with a former New York state Supreme Court Judge and former director of the Buffalo chapter of the Royal Order of Jesters Court #22, Ronald Tills. He not only frequented the “massage parlors,” but also supported Len Wah Chong by taking some of her illegal alien prostitutes to weekend Jester parties in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In his plea agreement, Tills also admitted to coordinating prostitutes with top Jester leaders for a national meeting in Canada.
The FBI's human trafficking sting caught two other Jesters besides Judge Tills. They are former police captain John Trowbridge and former prosecutor for the Erie County district attorney's office, former New York State Supreme Court law clerk and former Impresario of the Jesters Buffalo Court #22, Michael Stebick.
All three entered into plea agreements for violating or conspiring to violate the Mann Act, which was born of the United States White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910. It prohibited white slavery, banned the interstate transport of females for "immoral purposes" and addressed prostitution, immorality, and human trafficking.
The owner of the “massage parlors,” Len Wah Chong, was sentenced on November 19 to six years in federal prison for enslaving as many as 11 illegal alien prostitutes. She pleaded guilty early last April to "Sex Trafficking of Persons by Force, Fraud and Coercion." She forfeited two properties,$70K in cash and jewelry seized and now must pay $350,000 in restitution to those she kept as sex slaves.
www.freemasonrywatch.org... sentenced.html
"And who convinced the IRS that the Jesters qualify as a non profit group?
Their 2006 tax return shows that though they lost $14,000, Jesters national
spent over $575,000 on one of their weekend parties. I know. Some of you are thinking
"Partying with prostitutes at tax payer expense? Where do I sign up?
Child sex tourism? 19 members of the Royal Order of Jesters were called as witnesses
in a federal lawsuit between fishing tour operators to testify about their first hand
knowledge of sex with minors while on a sanctioned fishing trip to Brazil.
But hey, don’t take my word for it. Check the FBI press releases, documents in
the PACER federal court system, AP, MSNBC, Newsday, the Buffalo
News, and the New York Times.
.......The Shriners spent over $12 million this past year convincing everyone
just how amazing they are. Dudes, you're sponsoring a charity
associated with white collar crime, prostitution and human trafficking."[/I]
www.jrgenius.com... 3108/Page13Halloween.pdf
freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com... robe-of-jesters-expands.html
"During the initiation of new Jesters I was offered the opportunity by another fellow brother to sleep with a whore, even though I had a wife and kids waiting for me to come home. I was not strong at the time and I violated every oath I had ever taken with my wife. This did not stop at initiation. These were a constant occurrence at our Jester functions and they are a common occurrence today. The initiation practices have not changed as well. Prostitutes were offered/made available at our functions and often brothers would have sex in front of other brothers.
Oral sex competitions between brothers were considered “fun” activities to build a strong brotherhood bond between members of the Royal Order of Jesters. Potentates and Chaplains, Attorneys and Judges, Past Masters and brothers all participating or watching with open eyes, but closed minds. I often felt ashamed of what I was doing, but the pleasure outweighed the guilt. I had fallen within a deep hole and my cable-tow had been severed.
Sex, illegal gambling and Alcohol were and are the preferred order of business to ease the "pain" of brother masons. Prostitutes are available at Jester functions for the brothers to have their way with.
There is also illegal gambling at our functions where Masonic brethren are playing high-stakes games with hard-earned cash. I have seen it all brothers and it is going on today, right under your noses, within your communities, and these men are calling themselves your Masonic Brothers." [/I]
"For more than a century of it's existance to become a Shriner you must have first become at least a 32 Degree Scottish Rite or Royal Arch Degree York Rite Freemason.
During the 2000 Imperial Session the Shrine lowered this requirement to only the 3rd or Master Mason Degree to stem membership losses, over the strenuous objections of the Supreme Council 33 of the Scottish Rite. It remains to be seen whether this controversial decision will be overturned by an expected campaign by the Scottish Rite to save itself from a possible membership implosion which could occur without having the carrot of the Shrine to dangle.
Most masons want to 'Get to the Shrine' as quickly as possible because they say that is where all the best parties are, and the most 'fun' is.
This is the primary reason most masons gave for putting themselves through the visibly occultic higher degrees of Scottish and York Rite Freemasonry."
www.freemasonrywatch.org...
There’s no question that without charitable works, the world would be a worse place to live. And that’s all the more reason that when we give money to a non-profit group, we need to make sure it’s the right one.
The American Institute of Philanthropy is one of several national charity watchdog organizations. It recently published its report card on 100 “failing” charities… charities that the AIP would not recommend you donate money to.
And you might be surprised at some of the results. Top failing charities in AIP’s estimation?
1. Research to Prevent Blindness
2. Shriners Hospitals for Children..................
The 1998 National Charity Report for the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine - 'The Shrine', recorded a staggering 8 Billion Dollars in Assets, a 1.2 Billion Dollar increase over the previous year. Interestingly however only a mere 6 percent or 500 Million Dollars of that asset base was fixed assets - it's hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. The other 94 percent is listed simply as investments.
Also the Shriners posted an amazing 233 Million Dollar profit for the same year.
www.freemasonrywatch.org...
Would-Be Shriner Says He Was Subjected to Painful Initiation Rites
The Associated Press
November 20, 1991
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Michael G. Vaughan says he went to the Shrine temple to learn the secrets of the universe. What he learned, he says, is that the Shrine's initiation rites involve electric shocks and the humiliation of having one's underwear filled with strawberries and whipped cream.
Before Circuit Judge George Barker issued a gag order last summer, Vaughan said in interviews that he wanted to become a Shriner because the group promised spiritual and emotional fulfillment.
So, in 1989, he and about three dozen other initiates stood before an audience of Shriners and began a series of tests, which included walking on an electrified mat, sitting on an electrified bench and getting a jolt of electricity to their bare buttocks, the lawsuit says.
At one point, the lawsuit says, Vaughan's shorts were taped to his legs and he suspected a nearby sinkful of strawberries, whipped cream and ice cream was to be poured into them.
This last humiliation was not carried out, he says, because a table fell over and took him with it. The lawsuit says Vaughan hit his head on the floor and was knocked unconscious.
................
A court-ordered videotape of the temple's initiation devices confirmed much of Vaughan's story, including the existence of the electrified bench and mat
www.freemasonrywatch.org...
Only 2 percent of the Shrine hospitals’ operating income comes from money raised by Shrine temples and members’ dues. (The bulk is supplied by the hospitals’ $9 billion endowment.)
¶A top Shrine official told a meeting of temple treasurers that poor accounting for cash coming into the organization was “an increasingly common problem,” and that more than 30 temples had discovered fraud — like theft of money and inventory, altered bank statements, padded payrolls and fake invoices — amounting to as much as $300,000 and involving members of their “divans,” the five-member boards that govern each temple.
In one of the rare cases where the Shrine prosecuted wrongdoing, the Zem Zem temple in Erie, Pa., accused a former top official last year of misappropriating $1.2 million in bingo revenues. The temple settled for an undisclosed amount.
Critics say the line has been blurred between money raised for the hospitals and for members’ entertainment.
“Money raised for the hospitals is being used to pay for parties and liquor and trips, and they know it,” said Johnny L. Edwards, who was a leader of Oasis Shrine in Charlotte, N.C., until he began campaigning for better control over money. “The way I see it, they’re stealing from crippled children.”
Only 2 percent of the hospitals’ operating expenses — $11.3 million a year, on average, from 2002 to 2005 — comes from money raised by Shrine temples and dues paid by their 411,000 members worldwide, according to the Shrine’s financial accounts.
www.freemasonrywatch.org... ml
Jester Confesses to Wife He Organized Prostitutes
Mon Aug 25, 2008
Sandy Frost
Note: The Royal Order of Jesters’ parties are called “Books” that involve the members performing the “Book of the Play.” It can be read here. Apparently, the “Book of the Play” revolves around the murder of William Shakespeare. This, according to the Jesters’ website, is how they obtained IRS status as a “charity”:
JW: He maybe attended two a year for the first two years, but by his seventh year, he had 14 trips planned. Finally, I said “enough, where do I fit in anymore?” In all of our married years, John never stopped at a bar after work with the guys. He took, maybe, one golf trip a year without me. We were a team and did everything together.
Everything he did now or anywhere we went was associated with the Jesters.
He was completely obsessed, though he couldn't see it. I noticed how he bragged about being a member. Jesters are not supposed to advertise themselves as being Jesters, as it is kind of a secret organization. But John would wear purple, carry purple emblemmed golf bags, license plates, and boast about it being a strictly stag, luxury organization for no purpose other than to spread mirth. The more I heard that, the more disgusted I became. I also noticed that he was not taking cell phone calls in front of me, or he would go outside to talk. He used to let me answer his phone.
I had no lingering suspicions. I had heard about the girls by accident, about the second year that John was in. He certainly played it down, and told me he had nothing to do with them, they were kept separate, no contact at all. I believed him. I didn't ask any more questions. The Jesters oath is “What you hear here, what you see here, stays here when you leave here.” Every new member must take that oath. He was a bit open with me about some of the things that went on, I guess telling me just enough not to arouse any suspicions. So I definitely discovered our problem after a specific incident.
It happened at the same time I realized how many trips he was taking. As a matter of fact he was at his court’s book, when I received a phone message:
“Hi John, this is Jane from St. Louis. I'm at the Union Station in downtown Chicago and wonder if you're sending a Jester to pick me up of if I should get the shuttle.”
I called him on his cell phone and told him he should train his Jester girls better so they don't call the wife. He of course didn't know what to say. This was on a Thursday. I thought he would come home right away, as the hotel was just 1/2 hour away. He didn't come home until Saturday night, although he did call me later to try to explain.
..........When I confronted him, he explained to me how it works. The Jesters have a “pool” of girls. Certain men have their favorites and make requests to have them at the books. It is up to each court's Director to assign the job of inviting the girls, a number based of the number of attendees. In this case, eight girls were invited for between 180-200 men. He says that only about 20% of the men use the girls, but a friend said it's more like 70%. I really don't know. They get $100 an hour. ......
He was asked to do the job because he travelled so much and knew who the girls were and who the favorites were......
.......Off duty cops act as guards for the secure floors, so they already know about it. ?
.........It's like at Halloween when you dress up and are something you would never be any other day. That is the closest I can analyze how he felt with the Jesters. They drink only top shelf, money is no object, stay at the best places, dress in tuxedos and get away with whatever.
...Other than girls, there is a lot of high stakes poker, low stakes gin, and 24 hour hospitality rooms. The initiation involves “stunts” which I know include nudity, but I don't know much about it.
The Royal Order of Jesters is a secret sub group made up of invited Shriner leaders. ...............The Jesters applied to the IRS and were granted two non profit classifications, one fraternal and the other charitable. The charity was formed so the National Jester Court could build a new million dollar museum/headquarters, from which to oversee the fraternity.
(1) According to court documents, the U.S. Attorney's office describes the Royal Order of Jesters as:
This organization maintained chapters throughout the United States, including in Western New York, and it was the custom of these chapters to host periodic meetings, usually on weekends, for their members. At most of these meetings, some members of the organization would be tasked to arrange for the presence of women at the meetings, for the specific purpose of utilizing the women to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity with the organization's members in exchange for money."
sandyfrost.newsvine.com... 2008/08/25/1784263-jester-confesses-to-wife-he-organized-prostitutes."
The International Royal Order of Jesters oversees nearly 200 clubs. Their members include(d) United States Presidents, including Truman and Ford, congressmen, governors, state representatives, federal judges, US district attorneys and secretaries of state. Their ranks are swollen with doctors, lawyers, sheriffs, Masonic Grand Masters and Shrine leaders.
............
Have the Jesters hustled the feds by convincing them that raising millions for partying is a legitimate exempt purpose because the IRS has had no problem classifying them as both a nonprofit fraternity and charity?
...............
•Prostitutes were available for Jesters to have their way with
•Brothers had sex in front of other brothers
•Brothers held oral sex competitions
•Potentates, Chaplains, Attorneys, Judges and Past Masters were Jesters
•Sex, illegal gambling and alcohol were the preferred order of business
www.illuminati-news.com...
* Eleven out of twelve of Shriner Hospitals for Children (SHC) trustees are Jesters.
* Fourteen out of twenty one of those listed on the SHC 2006 tax returns are Jesters.
* Nine out of fourteen of those listed on the 2006 fraternal tax return are Jesters.
This could help explain the hospital's financial woes that nearly led to closures. ...... The last Shriner national convention saw a vote to keep the hospitals open as well as throw out former SHC CEO, Ralph Semb.
An internal investigation investigated Semb and Imperial Treasurer Gene Bracewell and, among other things, recommended that they be reprimanded for lobbying on behalf of [B]a fundraiser who kept $43 million out of $47 million raised for the hospitals
aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com... x-returns-reveal-jesters-controlled.html
Originally posted by network dude
what you have listed as offences include the incident with the Jesters that was exactly as reported. It was very unfortunate and the men involved were certainly not acting masonicly, they were expelled from masonry and charged with the crimes they stood accused of.
Please tell me other than that, what facts do you and freemaosnrywatch have to offer about other charity scams?
And while you finish that, please tell me where masonry gets it's money from? Craft masonry.
Originally posted by Lucifer777
Masonry, as I understand it, is just another sect of Christianity whose adherents dress up in fancy dress constumes and consider themselves to be Christian Knights (i.e., soldiers).
Originally posted by Lucifer777
Originally posted by KSigMason
reply to post by Lucifer777
Masons are not humanists. We allow men of various faiths to join and as such are tolerant. Lodge is a neutral zone where neither politics nor religion is talked about or one side held over others.
Do you have proof that only a fraction goes to charity? Cause I know sometimes they save up and do stuff like I don't know...open a new wing like they did a year or two ago in Oregon. Do you have proof that these guys have stripper parties? It's easy for someone to "report" (allege/accuse) these things of happening, its quite another that it actually happens.
I would also like you to say the Shriners Hospitals are a scam to some of the recipients of the charity. See what they have to say.
In the old days you had to either go through the Scottish Rite or the York Rite to join the Shriners. Today, you just have to be a Master Mason in good standing to join.
FreemasonryWatch is your source for this? Yeah, you've lost all credibility with that right there.
Like I've said, I would like to see some evidence, not some guys word, but to see the documents.
Originally posted by Lucifer777
Masonry, as I understand it, is just another sect of Christianity whose adherents dress up in fancy dress constumes and consider themselves to be Christian Knights (i.e., soldiers).
Masonry certainly is not a sect of Christianity. Freemasonry belongs to no religion. It requires a man to hold a faith to join, but doesn't dictate what faith it is. The York Rite, a branch of Freemasonry, is more oriented to Christianity, but that is really only in the Chivalric Orders.
I take pride in being a Christian Knight, but I'm not going on some crusade against Islam.
If this is what you believe Freemasonry to be you really need to do more research or just ask questions of those who are members.
Originally posted by Lucifer777
As a soldier and a Christian, I take great offense to being compared to a suicide bomber.
Originally posted by KSigMason
reply to post by Lucifer777
Do you have proof that only a fraction goes to charity?
"The Shrine fraternity, which operates the nation’s largest charity, has been misleading the public for years…In 1984, the circuses reaped an estimated profit of $17.5 million. The charity’s own records show the hospitals received only 1 per cent of that, a total of $182,000."
sandyfrost.newsvine.com... 2/07/2188846-jester-prostitution-updates-stebick-sentenced
Cause I know sometimes they save up and do stuff like I don't know...open a new wing like they did a year or two ago in Oregon.
Do you have proof that these guys have stripper parties? It's easy for someone to "report" (allege/accuse) these things of happening, its quite another that it actually happens.
thelonious:.... Many if not most of the esoteric Masons have viewed the Shriners in an unfavorable light................ most of them are like me: we were initiated in the Shrine, found the whole thing ridiculous, and never went back.
Prostitutes were available for Jesters to have their way with
•Brothers had sex in front of other brothers
•Brothers held oral sex competitions
•Potentates, Chaplains, Attorneys, Judges and Past Masters were Jesters
•Sex, illegal gambling and alcohol were the preferred order of business
..............
The complaint continued that “the Jesters pride themselves in having control of all leadership positions at all of the Shrine Temples in the U.S. and Canada as well as the Imperial Shrine leadership. Also, they have risen through the ranks in every body of Masonry including the Scottish Rite, York Rite, Rosicrucians, Red Cross of Constantine, Eastern Star and the Demolay Organizations.”
.....The International Royal Order of Jesters oversees nearly 200 clubs. Their members include United States Presidents, including Truman and Ford, congressmen, governors, state representatives, federal judges, US district attorneys and secretaries of state. Their ranks are swollen with doctors, lawyers, sheriffs, Masonic Grand Masters and Shrine leaders.
sandyfrost.newsvine.com...[/ url]
FreemasonryWatch is your source for this? Yeah, you've lost all credibility with that right there.
Like I've said, I would like to see some evidence, not some guys word, but to see the documents.
Originally posted by Lucifer777
Masonry, as I understand it, is just another sect of Christianity whose adherents dress up in fancy dress constumes and consider themselves to be Christian Knights (i.e., soldiers).
Masonry certainly is not a sect of Christianity. Freemasonry belongs to no religion.
1. "Do you solemnly declare, upon your honor, that in seeking admission to this Valiant and Magnificent Order of Christian Knighthood you are actuated by no mercenary or other unworthy motive?"
2. "If called upon to draw your sword in a religious cause, will you give preference to the Christian Religion?"
3. "Does your conscience accuse you of any crime, unrepented of, which would render you unworthy of becoming member of an Institution founded upon the Christian Religion and the practice of the Christian Virtues?”
I further notice that in Canada the Knight's Templars are referred to as "The Order of the Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests
[url=http://]http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140121
I take pride in being a Christian Knight, but I'm not going on some crusade against Islam.
1.Milieu Control. This involves the control of information and communication both within the environment and, ultimately, within the individual, resulting in a significant degree of isolation from society at large.
2.Mystical Manipulation. The manipulation of experiences that appears spontaneous but is, in fact, planned and orchestrated by the group or its leaders in order to demonstrate divine authority, spiritual advancement, or some exceptional talent or insight that sets the leader and/or group apart from humanity, and that allows reinterpretation of historical events, scripture, and other experiences.
3.Demand for Purity. The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection. The induction of guilt and/or shame is a powerful control device used here.
4.Confession. Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to a personal monitor or publicly to the group. There is no confidentiality; members' "sins," "attitudes," and "faults" are discussed and exploited by the leaders.
5.Sacred Science. The group's doctrine or ideology is considered to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute. Truth is not to be found outside the group. The leader, as the spokesperson for God or for all humanity, is likewise above criticism.
6.Loading the Language. The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand. This jargon consists of thought-terminating clichés, which serve to alter members' thought processes to conform to the group's way of thinking.
7.Doctrine over person. Member's personal experiences are subordinated to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group.
8.Dispensing of existence. The group has the prerogative to decide who has the right to exist and who does not. This is usually not literal but means that those in the outside world are not saved, unenlightened, unconscious and they must be converted to the group's ideology. If they do not join the group or are critical of the group, then they must be rejected by the members. Thus, the outside world loses all credibility. In conjunction, should any member leave the group, he or she must be rejected also.
en.wikipedia.org... lism
]Originally posted by Lucifer777
As a soldier and a Christian, I take great offense to being compared to a suicide bomber.
B: The Joshua Experiment. The Dangers of Religious Indoctrination.
This experiment by an Israeli psychologist is explained in Richard Dawkin's "God Delusion;" it is a very similar experiment to the Milgram Experiment, but it deals ony with "religion," and it is less well known than the Milgram Experiment, but the conclusion is essentially the same, though it applies to "religious authority."
A class room of students in Israel were told the story of Joshua's Biblical holocaust of the Canaanite Tribes. It was essentially a "tribalistic" genocide. The students were then asked if they considered this to be morally justifiable. Most of the students agreed that it was morally justifiable.
The same story was then told about a different occasion of tribalistic genocide which did not involve the Bible or the ancient tribal deity of the Israelites. There are many examples of this in history, such as the recent Rwandan genocide of 1994 which was, just like Joshua's genocide a "tribalistic" genocide. When the students were asked if they considered such a genocide to be morally justifiable, the majority of them expressed the view that it was not.
These experiments show the dangers of religious indoctrination, where people who think themselves to be "good, godly, righteous, moral" are willing to torture people or to support tribalistic genocide just because some Archon (authority figure) tells them that it is OK, and an Archon can be some dead religious fanatic from 1000's of years ago whom most modernists would probably consider to be as ridiculous as the "Life of Brian" prophets, were they not blinded by religious indoctrination. The effects of submission to religious authorities and to the authority of the state are very subtle; probably most of those Israeli students would not consider themselves to be religious fanatics, nor would most of the subjects of the Milgram experiment consider themselves to be psychopaths.
Ibid
Originally posted by JoshNorton
A few points: If there are over 1.4 million Masons in America, and if there are only 1200 Jesters at any given time (as DragonTattooz has indicated), then the percentage of Masons who are Jesters is minuscule.
You say the Shrine has 8 billion in the bank. If, by other reports, they spend a half-billion a year keeping their charity hospitals open, then at any point in time they've theoretically got a 16 year operating budget. I would think this was a good thing. If they stopped accepting donations today, they could continue to help burn victims for 16 years before they ran out of money. I'm trying to see the down side here.
