Posted on 05/14/2004 3:43:32 AM PDT by calcowgirl
Prometheus Methods Tower Services Inc., the business that cost Nick Berg his life in Iraq, has no records with the Pennsylvania Department of State.
The company that specialized in building communications towers never registered with the Pennsylvania Corporation Bureau, said Brian McDonald, spokesman for the state department.
McDonald conducted a search of the bureaus online list of registered businesses, but found no matches.
The same search done by a Daily Local News reporter produced the same results -- several businesses contained the word "Prometheus" in their names. Only one is located in West Chester, and it is not related to Bergs business.
Companies are not legally required to register with the state, but McDonald explained it is usually the first step an owner takes.
"Youd be very foolish not to register your business with the department," he said. "It is nearly impossible to exist without doing it."
Registering allows an owner to set up his businesss tax structure. It also establishes how the business is run, for example, whether or not it is for-profit or nonprofit.
"It is basically the infrastructure by which businesses are set up in the commonwealth," McDonald said.
McDonald added it is possible the business could be listed in the bureaus records under a different name.
Searching the statewide yellow pages online found two company names containing the word "Prometheus" in Philadelphia. One is an Internet consulting business.
An employee at the second one, which is called Prometheus Radio Project, said it was not affiliated with the business owned by the local man slain in Iraq by members of al-Qaida.
Officials at the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service said state and federal laws prohibited their agencies from providing any records they had of Prometheus Methods Tower Services -- even whether the company had ever filed a return.
"Any information that we get or is contained on a tax return I cant release," said Steve Kniley, press secretary for the state revenue department. "It is considered confidential under tax law."
Tax records become public information only if a lien is filed against a business. According to Kniley, there are no liens against Bergs company.
Bill Cressman, spokesman at the IRSs Philadelphia office, said the only companies with public tax records are nonprofit corporations.
At least one person claims he can confirm Prometheus existence.
Jay Shur, who works at the radio station WCHE 1520 AM in West Chester, said on Wednesday he was in the process of hiring Berg to build a communications tower for the station when news of his death came out.
The station was awaiting approval of plans from both the borough and an environmental agency before construction could begin, according to Shur.
"Theres a lot of paperwork to go through, and the area we were looking at was a marsh- land so we had to get clearance," he said."When I do get the OK, Ill have to look for another contractor."
Michael Berg briefly spoke about Prometheus during a press conference Thursday morning outside his home.
"My son was not over there to make money," Michael Berg said. "My sons business, which was very profitable before he went to Iraq ..I will make good on anything the company owes anybody, but its pretty much going to be defunct."
It is unclear how many employees Prometheus had. Michael Berg spoke of a "foreman" during the press conference. However, Nick Berg traveled to Iraq alone.
Staff Writer Jill Nawrocki contributed to this article.
I'm not trying to trash his memory .. just looking for the truth .. and well, to be honest alot of things don't add up
No but endless speculation does, right?
Sorry, for all you "speculators" you don't seem to take too kindly to someone poking holes in your theories or inaccurate "facts."
It seems like you'll only be satisfied with ONE outcome.
And you're also guilty of overstating the case. "involvement" does not connote, in my mind, meeting someone on a bus(if that even happened)
Face it, if this email account hadn't ended up in use by someone "acquainted with" Moussaoui(and what does that mean, was this person ever a SUSPECT or ARRESTED? did he know him well, what is it?) this story would be relatively straightforward.
We have several people who knew him, his demonstrated expertise in this field or we have a bunch of people on FR trying to link his company's name with another outfit, just because of the name. We have people who REFUSE to take Berg's father's comments in context and try to read in some sinister meaning which doesn't fit the complete statement or the fact that the sentiment was echoed by a friend of NIck's.
And let's go further: What of the people who are trying to say that it isn't Zarqawi in the video, that it isn't Nick, etc? How far will the rampant and baseless speculation go?
No evidence...yet...but still lots of red flags.
The lawyer who was just arrested in conjunction with the terrorist attacks in Spain was...A Legal Professional...and there may not have been any "evidence" prior to the fingerprint, but obviously someone started asking questions.
Your argument is akin to saying that guy didn't spend three years in law school and pass the Bar Exam so that he could be a martyr for Allah.
I just don't get that just because he has professional bona fides that he can't be a terrorist sympathizer, sorry, I don't get it at all!
What if......
The research that I have uncovered points to the fact that this guy was a hardworking and fearless entrepenuer.
If someone wants to intecept radio signals they don't have to climb up on a 200 foot tower, they just need a .... radio! That is what you use to intercept radio signals.
What if he wanted to install his low level radio signals to do anti-American propaganda?
In America we call that Freedom of the press and freedom of speech. FYI, I had a pirate radio station broadcasting from my home for about 5 years. The FCC finally came to our house and told us to shut it down. We did. If Berg was running a pirate radio station in Iraq, then I'm sure the ICC would eventually have told him to shut it down. They wouldn't have cut off his head, they'd just cut the power to his transmitter.
Our soldiers are out there dying so that we can keep those freedoms of speech and the press here and so that the Iraqis can have that freedom in the future.
His FATHER said he was Al Qeada's Best Friend
Admittedly that is strange. But his Father is a certifiable whack job. His father did not deserve to have Nick Berg as a son.
What if? What if? What if? What if? What if? What if? What if? What if?
Plus, he was a criminal defense lawyer, which is only one step below Terrorist on the sub-human evolutionary scale.
You got nothing on Berg. Call me when you have evidence that his fingerprints were on the knife that cut off his head. Call me when you have evidence that he was a Muslim Convert. Call me when you find out he wasn't a tower guy, but a criminal defense lawyer with ties to terrorists.
The fact that his father is a certifiable whack job is irrelevant. If we are going to be judged by the relatives we keep, I dare say we are all in trouble.
So you START from the presumption of guilt and look for evidence to the contrary.
How kind of you.
BTW, what does that lawyer have to do with anything? The lawyer was a MUSLIM CONVERT. Not only that, but his FINGERPRINTS WERE FOUND IN CONNECTION TO A BOMBING.
Completely different set of circumstances. I can't believe your STARTING POINT is AQ links. There are about 2-3 OTHER explanations before you even get to that. But smear on.
Different story altogether.
Nick Berg was beheaded. That girl was strangely safe. If her story were true, she'd likely have never been alive to tell it.
Ping.
Look, I was, and still am, shocked and horrified at this guy's death. Nobody, but nobody, deserves to die like that.
I definitely was not looking for doubt, but many details about this story struck me as odd from the get go.
I'm glad you buy the story and I hope it's true. I'm not looking to smear anyone and I hope he is no more than a naive kid who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He might have been a brilliant technical professional but he sure was silly to traipse around a war zone crawling with Islamic Fundamentalists whose sole goal in life is to kill Americans, any American with no guide or security and an Israeli stamp on his passport. So naive that it got him killed.
But the ANSWER connection with his dad; the fact that dad was mighty quick to shout "Pro Bush, Pro War"; the crazy terrorist email connection, remote as it is; the fact that he had already been investigated by the FBI; the email referring to "you'd hardly know it was [leftist buzzword] occupied; the refusal of safe passage from the country (like overland to Turkey, Jordan or Kuwait is more safe???); the contradictory stories from those who knew him in Iraq; the fact that his most unfortunately severed head had an Islamic looking shaved beard with no mustache; the fact that the terrorists never announced he was being held hostage in the month or so that they apparently held him; the fact that this independent contractor guy was apparently killed by one of the biggest terrorist masterminds floating around Iraq as opposed to mere run of the mill Islamic Radicals; and the fact he didn't look at all scared or upset during the whole pre-beheading tirade cause me to ask questions.
I've followed many of your posts, Skywalk, and I guess you simply are kinder than me but you just don't have me convinced.
I'm not accusing the guy of anything, I'm just saying that there are many questions that for me have not been answered yet. If he turns out to be exactly who he seemed to be at first glance, I'll be thrilled. But if we don't question the apparent inconsistencies in this story, we might never uncover some really dangerous activities on the part of ANSWER or their ilk, and that could spell the literal death of many more innocent Americans. I hope to God this is not the case.
You know NOTHING more than the rest of us.....PERIOD! You are HOPING that he was better than his father,but you have NO idea if he was.
I understand what you're getting at, and if I want I could easily give you counters to those "red flags"
For instance, a young man travelling alone may feel invincible, but it might behoove him to adopt local dress and customs. He was carrying a Koran right? But there's zip evidence he was converting to Islam. What makes more sense is that he was "curious" as he was described or was trying to have "non-offending" articles on him in case he was captured. A man carrying an anti-Semitic(though how virulent I don't know) book and Koran and wearing an Islamic-style beard would probably survive longer than a Jew with the little curls and a kipah(yarmulke), yes?
Occupied is...well, let's be honest--it's what everyone uses. At first, maybe it wasn't a fair word, but now it's quite clear that we are an occupying force. The Americans in Japan were called the Occupational Authority, I believe. It is of note that he pointed out Mosul is pretty safe-appearing. He wasn't making things up or saying "the Americans are brutal." Merely, that there weren't many checkpoints or patrols. hardly the mark of a fanatic leftist.
I could go on, but....well, it just seems that people will take one "fact" and draw the conclusion they prefer. There's simply little reason to believe Berg was anything other than what has been portrayed UNTIL we hear at least an acquaintance describe something else in his character or beliefs.
....no evidence....hopefully it means he was NOT a traitor!
And you do?
You can't even quote the man's father right. How can we trust any of your conclusions?
The fact is, as of THIS point, you have no evidence for your presumption of his guilt.
Come on, you're even talking about intercepting radio transmissions? You're speculating worse than DU about this guy and why?
Mainly because his dad's a leftist and an email account. That's it.
They shoudl have looked under Universal Exports.
OMG!! Do you hve TWO tin foil hats?? I NEED one!!! Prometheus and Communications...You are the FIRST Freeper to mentio this Robt. Ludlum book!!
What is an RF attack that Pete Tridish...aka Wyrnn did?
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