Not Ken Bradley's Weblog

Well, the Pirate Fest™ is over.

There is quite a lot that I can and will say about this poorly-managed event, but there is one matter of greatest concern. That is the fact that Ken Bradley grossly and deliberately violated the terms of his agreement with the PUD and the rights of the public by his misuse of Riverwalk Park.


The Basics

Riverwalk Park is under the management of the Chelan Public Utility District. It is publicly owned and exists for the benefit of the public.

When the parks are used for events, conditions are placed on that use, including the fact that the public may not be denied access to any part of the Park. This and other conditions are very explicit and are specified in writing. Event organizers are required to sign their name to the document. I have a copy of that document here for all to see.

Simply put, events may charge "donation type" fees for whatever entertainment they may provide, but if any public person cares to enjoy any part of the park including the entertainment venue without donating, they may do so.


What Bradley Did

What Ken Bradley did at Riverwalk Park was to fence off the entire slope surrounding the Riverwalk Pavilion (that's the covered stage alongside the water). The fence, about 7 feet high and covered with a green tarpaulin screen, was set up by Thursday. (That unsightly fence sat uselessly in place for at least two days prior to the event; and was still in place today, Monday.)

Then, during Saturday's event, Ken Bradley placed hired uniformed private security guards at the only three points of access to the fenced-off area!

I watched as his guard at the main point of entry repeatedly directed people to Ken Bradley, who sat nearby under the picnic shelter with a cash register and a huge sign: PIRATE FEST TICKETS HERE.

The photos you see to the right show the guards at all three points of access.

Ken Bradley took full and exclusive control of a public facility, treated it as if it were his own property, placed guards around it and forced the public who actually own the park to pay for access.


How Ken Did It

It's my understanding that the PUD's Park Foreman inspected the event's setup sometime Saturday morning. I don't know what his response was to the huge fence. I don't know whether he was aware of the security guards. I have been told that he explicitly required Ken Bradley to permit public access to the riverfront walkway that passes in front of the Pavilion (stage).

Presumably, Ken assured the PUD's representatives that he was allowing access.

Once the event was underway, I don't know whether any PUD personnel were there to observe.

(I've contacted the PUD's Parks Supervisor, Ryan Baker, and he has promised to fill in the blanks for me. I will post that information when I have it, as updates within this article.)

By the time of my arrival at 10:35, the guards were present and access to the fenced area was under their total control.

Apparently, Ken Bradley waited until he was unsupervised, then proceeded to deliberately violate his absolutely clear agreement with the PUD.


And He Wasn't Kidding

Upon my arrival, Mr. Bradley immediately sent one of his hired guards to remove me from the Park. After I refused, Ken then loudly proclaimed to all nearby that they should ignore me, and that the police would be arriving shortly to remove me. Contrary to his words, apparently his intention was to intimidate me by calling attention to me. I had said and done nothing but to stand nearby and take a couple of snapshots.

The police were indeed called but they did not remove me, of course. I had an amicable conversation with a very professional and courteous officer, who assured me he would inform one and all that in the absence of a crime, I was free to remain.

During my entire stay at the event, I did virtually nothing but take photos and engage in friendly conversations with attendees, vendors, exhibitors and pirate actors.

Altogether, Mr. Bradley and his associate Troy Clark made three definite attempts to remove me from the park. The third attempt nearly succeeded, apparently because the Sheriff is unable to find adequate numbers of qualified personnel. A Deputy named "Buck" threatened me with arrest in an extremely intimidating manner, although I had done absolutely nothing to warrant any such treatment. It may have been in response to a false report by Troy Clark.



Troy Clark

Troy is worth a passing mention. He lives at Ken Bradley's place on Little Butte Ranch Road. He and Ken appear to spend a lot of time together. Troy was acting as an assistant to Ken Bradley at the pirate event, and later attended one of the inflatable "carnival" attractions.

I have a rather bizarre history with Troy. It's a brief but entertaining tale, which I may tell here sometime if he becomes relevant to matters surrounding Ken Bradley.



What We Must Do

I wish to urge that anyone and everyone who witnessed Ken Bradley's outrageous usurpation of our public park make a complaint to the PUD. It's as simple as a phone call or an email. Tell what you saw and what you think of it.

Ryan Baker, the PUD Parks Supervisor, has told me that he wishes to hear from the public about this. He needs information from multiple reliable sources in order to conduct a review. Ryan's email address is ryan.baker@chelanpud.org. His phone number is 509-661-4495.

Please, if you object to the blockage of our Park, the violation of explicit standards for the conduct of events, and the intentional breach of contract by Ken Bradley, make that complaint now.

In addition to your complaint, I wish to suggest that you ask that the PUD exercise its right to obtain full financial records from Ken Bradley.

It's my impression that Ryan Baker wants to attend closely to this incident. He suggested to me that it may even be necessary to reconsider the Parks' policies with respect to profit-making events. But I'm sure has plenty else to do as well. The sooner he gathers all the information he needs, the sooner he can get back to normal business.

- Not Ken Bradley

To my utter amazement, Lake Chelan has suddenly acquired a 200-year pirate tradition... and a dragon.

Although I now know that Ken Bradley began to post scraps of info to Facebook about the "Pirate Fest" in late June or so, it had flown entirely under my radar until last Friday afternoon, the 10th of August. On that day, Ken Bradley's daughter made the rounds of downtown Chelan businesses, handing out an 11"x17" poster (left).

I was seated in a restaurant when the delivery was made. Minutes later, a proprietor of the restaurant arrived at my table, placed the poster before me on the table and said, "We're becoming Leavenworth. Invent-an-event." She was obviously displeased.

As I scanned the poster, within seconds I was struck with the realization: This horrible piece of bad design, Papyrus font and all, HAD to be the work of Ken Bradley. I immediately visited some nerds-only online resources, and found that indeed, the advertised website, LakeChelanPirateFest.com, resides on the same server with Bradley's LakeChelanOnline.com and most of his other domains. (For a rundown of Bradley's immense Web Empire, see An Open Letter to Beth Bettis.)

Note that the business owner in question had no idea who Ken Bradley was. Her response to his poster was completely on its own face value. She'll be amused to learn that Bradley once made a play for Leavenworth.
Stealth

Incredibly, Bradley has sprung his "Fest" on practically the whole of Chelan just 35 days beforehand.

It was not known to nor even suspected by anyone to whom I have so far spoken. It is absent from the Chamber of Commerce calendar. It's also not listed on the KOZI events calendar.

Pirate Fest pronouncements appear nowhere on any website not controlled by Ken Bradley, with the sole exception of the Facebook page of one of the entertainers (MacKay). Where's the "buzz" any sensible promoter will always seek to create? Where's the community involvement?


The Website

Where to begin? The site's amateurish design, difficult navigation, and the prominent display of the "under construction" image (at right) on almost every page fairly shouts an unintended message of un-preparedness and un-professionalism.

The site abruptly presents us with a clumsy myth about pirates in 1812 who, for some unspecifiable reason, left the Caribbean, braved over ten thousand miles of ocean, including the storms of Cape Horn; then crossed a hundred miles of towering mountains and dense forests to sail their magically-transported vessels upon a landlocked lake in an unpopulated wilderness.

Even a kindly suspension of disbelief leads to -- disbelief.

The few pages with actual content are head-shakers. The glowing description of Lake Chelan is nice, but what have its stats to do with the event? Surely our visitors already have some idea of the lake's location, length and elevation.

There's not even a way to buy the supposed tickets.

Newsletter? None. Official Souvenirs? None. Lodging Packages? None. Movie? What movie? Frequently Asked Questions? No answers! The -- Dragon? (I'm sorry to snipe, but what the hell has a dragon to do with anything? And he has trademarked it!)

Parade? Seriously? Are we really going to shut down the streets for a pirate parade?
The website is a litany of mysteries. And not the good kind.

One might say that anything in life is always a work in progress. But where's the progress? The event happens in a month! And Bradley hasn't even written the Dragon™ Myth.


Sponsor(s)

Three sponsors are listed:

The Lake Chelan Tourist Center: This is Bradley's own very weird and so-far utterly unsuccessful attempt to become a middleman for all of Chelan. As his own enterprise (if such it can be called), it is NOT a "sponsor." In this context it can be nothing more than an attempt to present an appearance of legitimacy by the addition of a genuine-seeming business name. Bradley did the same thing with his Santa™ event, listing several of his own lame entities as "sponsors" in an apparent effort to pad the list of supporters.

Weinstein Beverage Co.: If indeed Weinstein is sponsoring Bradley's event, it must be from a position of ignorance. Ignorance, that is, of who Ken Bradley is, and of the quality of his promotions. Well, Bradley is a convincing talker. It's surely not their fault that no one had warned them. Er, well, except for the existence of this website.

Goodfellow Bros., Inc.: Years back, the Goodfellows donated to Bradley's Lake Chelan Santa™ promotions, believing it to be a genuine charity. Bradly has continued to use their name in that connection despite the fact that they ceased to contribute. I would be beyond amazed if they have since contributed consciously to Ken Bradley in any way, and I cannot imagine their interest in sponsoring an event such as this. Lacking evidence to corroborate, it is my own belief that Bradley is once again using the Goodfellows' name falsely.

Pepsi®

It is doubtless in connection with Weinstein's sponsorship that Bradley has felt free to use the Pepsi name in his printed and online materials.

Pepsi does not have and never has had a "Pepsi Pirate" promotion of any kind (although, pictured somewhere online there is a nifty pirate-ship comprised entirely of Pepsi cans!). Bradley has presumed to invent that slogan on his own. I wonder how PepsiCo, Inc. would feel about that. Perhaps only Weinstein's permission is necessary, but did they grant it?

I do know without any doubt that PepsiCo would not at all approve of the fact that the circled-R ® Registered Trademark symbol is in evidence nowhere on Bradley's poster, nor in his online usages of their very emphatically trademarked name and logo. That is a definite no-no in the world of big-name commercial trademarks. That symbol is supposed to be used at least once. I suspect that a few posters may be hastily withdrawn from some shop windows before long.


Entertainers

The advertised players are: Dwight Coleman as Jack Sparrow, Jeff MacKay, Rebecca MacKay, the Rogue Mermaids, sea-shanty-singer Tugboat Bromberg, Angelo Jones, and the Washington Scottish Pipe Band.

The what? Scottish... Never mind.

I wonder if the dragon™ is Scottish.

A quick bit of online research reveals that all these entertainers (excepting, I think, the Pipe Band) know one another. They apparently often perform in the same venues, which doubtless include such events as Seattle's classic Seafair and the Portland Pirate Festival. (Bradley's efforts seem to be modeled on the latter, incidentally, judging by a scan of their website.)

The MacKays and the Mermaids are effectively one and the same.

I contacted Dwight by telephone. He first heard from Ken Bradley just a week ago. He is not yet entirely certain he will be performing, which suggests Bradley's announcement of his presence may be premature. Nice guy, by the way! And apparently quite good at his Captain Jack character; even Disney has hired him to perform it at one of their huge staff events.


Vendors

A wise man I know once said, "A link to an online seller of Piratical Paraphernalia does not a 'vendor' make."

As for REAL vendors, the kind who pay fees and actually show up, not a single one is listed. But there's an application form if anyone is interested.


Lodging

Nothing here. Not even an unsolicited link.

But under Camping, there are some suggestions. Precisely how the nonexistent Pirate Village proposes to accomodate campers is unknown to me. Does the Casino's venue have facilities for that? I don't know.

But how about the Kamei Campground and RV Park? Which, it says right there in the blurb, is open all the way through Labor day. That's the 3rd of September. Think about it.


Timing

Speaking of the date, has it not occurred to Bradley that mid-September is a lousy time for a kid-oriented event? They all march off to school after Labor Day. The Lake Chelan resort hubbub subsides dramatically after that date. The lake, once full of boats and wave-runners, is suddenly calm and quiet. It's actually a wonderful time to visit Lake Chelan. But it is a horrible time for a touristy event, assuming you want it to be well-attended.


The Venue

The main identifiable venue for this event would seem to be the Casino's Deepwater Amphitheater.

Its website does not list the Pirate Fest. I phoned the Casino's online number for the Amphitheater. My mention of the Pirate Fest produced only puzzlement, but in fairness, I was unable to reach the Marketing Manager, who is most in position to know about bookings. There is, at least, no other event listed for that date on their online calendar.Bradley's website also claims there will be "Pirate Cruises" conducted by the Lake Chelan Boat Company. I wonder if they know.


Thefts

Incidentally... those with experience with Ken Bradley will be aware that he jealously, even fanatically, guards his supposed copyrights. Doubly hypocritical, then, is the fact that he steals others' work. The shadowy pirate ship that appears on his printed poster and (for IE users at least) on the website's every page was stolen from The Ventura College Women's Basketball Team. On the event's Facebook page, in its Wall Photos, he uses an image of a tall ship silhouetted against the moon; blatantly stolen from a photographer's collection which is replete with copyright notices. These are not the first such examples I've found.


Under Destruction

I have a burning question: How does Bradley intend to pay for all this? Has he a backer? Certainly he hasn't the means on his own. He has no job, no significant income, no liquid assets, and considerable debt. He is also, as it happens, in the middle of a hotly contested divorce, which places any equity on his property completely out of reach (to view that document, visit the link, close it, then visit it again).

If Bradley does have a backer, that person is facing major losses in the very near future. But he's made no large expenditures yet, that I know of. I would speculate that he intends to try and "bootstrap" this event, financing it on the pre-payments of vendors and ticket buyers.


History

Is this such a big deal? The world is, after all, full of poorly-planned, sparsely promoted, clumsily executed seat-of-the-pants event promotions. But it's here, in our town; and it's weird. So yes, it's a big deal to Chelan.

But I think the most important aspect of this event is not in the details. It is its promoter. Ken Bradley has a history.


Oktoberfest 2000

Just 12 years ago, Ken Bradley promoted "Oktoberfest 2000" under the name of his bogus nonprofit corporation World Cultural Foundation. He apparently intended the event as a promotional avenue for his fraudulent Pen Friends enterprise, in addition to the prospect of collecting vendor fees, ticket sales revenues, and whatever other incomes such a venture may involve.

An online archive showing some of Bradley's website promotion of this event is still available.

That long-ago website bears an eerie resemblance to the present example of LakeChelanPirateFest.org, with its sophomoric design, nonexistent lodging affiliations, missing vendors, strangely "reduced" German Car Show and other glaring omissions and confusions. There's even a Coca-Cola logo! (I guess he burned that bridge.)

The one and only person I have ever found who witnessed Oktoberfest 2000 recalled only that it was poorly attended. Apparently it wasn't very memorable.

Unforgettable, though, is the fiscal malfeasance that Ken Bradley committed in connection with it. Bradley defrauded the Seattle Center itself with a last-minute hall rental for which he paid $9,800.00 by check. The following Monday, the checks were worthless. Bradley had stopped payment. Adding further sums he left unpaid for related services, he was eventually sued by the City of Seattle, successfully, for a total of 12,871.48. It has never been paid. Assuming that judgement is still valid, which I believe it is: with interest included, Bradley now owes the City of Seattle a sum in excess of $40,000.

Within mere weeks of the event, Bradley was also sued by Triumph Events Network, Inc., whom he had hired to promote and organize the event. They too were never paid. I once contacted the CEO of that company about the incident. It's safe to say her opinion of Ken Bradley is unprintable.

Around the same time, Bradley was also sued for non-payment of multiple large credit card debts, totaling in excess of $20,000. Those remain unpaid as far as public records indicate.

It's impossible to say how many others were stiffed. Entertainers? Equipment rentals? Only substantial sums are worth the trouble of a lawsuit, and only the lawsuits leave a lasting record.

It's no wonder Bradley kept an obsessively low public profile for years after his secretive arrival in Chelan in 2004. Even now he keeps his own name carefully unconnected to his publicly visible activities. Most of his west-side creditors have probably given up on him long since. But "the guilty flee though none pursueth."

Given the facts, I would offer just a few words of advice to one and all who may provide facilities, materiel or services of any kind to Mr. Bradley's Pirate Fest: Collect your payments in advance, in cash. Take a check only if the bank is open, and get it redeemed before closing time. And take promises of future payment with a grain of Pirate Salt.

- Not Ken Bradley

Friday's Frolic

Last Friday, the 1st of July, Chelan's First Friday festivities provided pleasant diversions. I had a couple of free hours that evening, and spent them wandering the town in that perfect weather. I had a beer and a sandwich at Tin Lilly, then strolled around till I bumped into some good friends who were showing their visiting grandkids a good time. Most of that encounter was spent loitering at the corner of Emerson and East Woodin, where for an hour or so, we engaged in quirky conversation while entertained by the unserious serial humiliations of the mechanical bull-ride which dominated that corner's attractions. It was a fine evening, pleasant in every way; a hearty slice of the Good Life we all hope to enjoy as much as possible in our short time on this earth. I went home refreshed.

That would end the story — which, pleasant as it is, would need no telling; but for my surprise later on. An acquaintance phoned me with a series of questions about my activities at First Friday.


Tirade Portrayed

It developed that in an alternate universe, on that very corner and at that very time, I had engaged in a shouting, raging public altercation with Ken Bradley. I brutally exposed embarrassing details of his personal life as his children looked on. I threatened to post scandal, replete with photos, on the Net, and to ruthlessly stalk Bradley and his family to that end.

Surely the harshest aspect of this behavior was that it was done the presence of the children; elevating it from the merely boorish to the outright reprehensible.

If I ever get a chance to discuss this offensive incident with my alternate antimatter self, I might very well collide with him deliberately, thus annihilating us both in a cataclysmic explosion. Or, if he's not made of antimatter, I'd at least cause a bruise he wouldn't soon forget. However; although legitimate researchers into the arcane fringes of physics have calculated the existence of alternate timelines, apparently Ken Bradley is the first and only person to discover the means of travel between the universes. He's unlikely to share his secrets with his inferiors, so I will probably never get the chance.


Outsourced Remorse

All things considered, I'm determined not to apologize to the denizens of this universe for the actions of one of my quadrillions of other selves in some other universe. That is simply too much to ask. After all, think about it: your alter-ego in some timelines has probably committed serial murder and worse! Would you care to be held to account for that, when you had made far better choices?

Don't let it bother you. No doubt my Doppelganger has killed someone in some nearby timeline too. In fact, holy falling cow, I might have some idea who it was! Oh and heyyy, here's a thought. Maybe our Ken Bradley can use his Inter-Universal Warp Technology to go there and fill the vacancy! No one would be the wiser, and he'd have the eternal pleasure of knowing he had fooled everyone. Not to mention, that other me would be deservedly spooked out of his skin. (There's your ticket, Ken, if you're seeking escape.)


For the Record

If the accounts are true, Ken Bradley has used his knowledge of my evil other-selves in an effort to frighten and disgust quite a few people for quite a while. It seems I (they?) have engaged him like a frothing madman on several past occasions as well, and that I have stalked him and his family more or less continuously with my short temper and a long lens.

I don't know precisely why Ken decided to invent these incidents. He can rest assured that I have no insight into his Master Plan. I can only say without reservation that in this universe I spend the vast majority of my time utterly unconcerned about the details of his daily life.

This is not the first nor is it likely to be the last time I find myself portrayed by a delusional person as someone I am not. I've never yet gotten used to it. But I'm improving in the why-give-a-damn and get-on-with-life departments. It can't be allowed to matter very much. Even so, now and then one must offer a defense.

In the unlikely event that anyone who actually matters has attributed my mirror selves to the real me, I just want to comment on where I draw the line. Please take this next paragraph to heart:

I have no intention, ever, of exposing Ken Bradley's purely personal affairs. Nor anyone else's, for that matter.

I know the facts of the public record about Ken Bradley. I know the accounts of people Ken Bradley has victimized. I know numerous details some individuals have sought me out to tell. Where those things are relevant to the public record; where they are relevant to Bradley's public behavior and his business dealings as they may affect other businesses and persons in general; I may make them the subject of comment here. The rest is off-limits: the personal, the dubious, the unsupported, the irrelevant. This website was created in an effort to protect good people from a heartless and destructive con-artist. It wasn't created to indulge in a vendetta, nor to disturb innocent children, nor to tar anyone in any way with an unjust brush.

Incidentally, this brings me to a subject in which someone might possibly have been treated unfairly by my blog postings. Friends of Rosalyn Bradley have told me that despite what seemed like collusion, she was oblivious to the profit motive and to the legal liabilities of Ken Bradley's "Santa Event" enterprise. I have been told that she is now better informed and has washed her hands of any further involvement in her husband's fake-charity venture.

- Not Ken

 
Around 2:00 in the afternoon of the 10th, I went to see how Reindeer Day™ was going.


Crickets

There wasn't a soul in sight, except for Ken Bradley and his Elf, Beth Bettis.

And two reindeer, who lay upon pavement in a tiny fenced enclosure.




Dialogue

I said, "Merry Christmas." Beth greeted me cheerily. I took some photos of the reindeer. Beth and I exchanged pleasantries as Ken stood rooted by a shed at one side and glared, arms crossed. He said nothing.

When I complimented the reindeer as a fun thing for the kids to see, Beth presented (glaring) Ken to me with a broad smile, sweep of her arm and these admiring words: "This is the man who's responsible for it all." Beth apparently isn't yet an avid reader of this blog. Had she been, the words may not have changed, but the tone...

I thought to say, "Yes, good of him to spend part of the proceeds on these fine animals. Had you asked him where the rest of the cash will go?"

Instead, I said to Ken, "Is that true?" Ken glared and said, "yes."

I said, "May I take your picture?"

Ken said, with finality, "NO."

Snap-Flash.



"I'll have to ask you to leave," said Ken.

That spoiled the mood. I pointed out he was in a public place. He differed, saying it was private property. I could have pointed out the public nature of the event™.


The Kids?

I said something more about it being nice for the kids. Ken — who never stopped glaring — said, "I hope you know what it's all for." I smiled and said, "Yes, I think I do!"

And I went on my way.

It was nice to meet Beth. She's a genial lady.

- Not Ken Bradley

 
Hello, Beth Bettis.

You don't know me personally, nor do I know you, but we do have something in common. That thing is Ken Bradley.

I'm sure you know the fellow I'm referring to. You were recently on the radio singing his praises. Apparently he's been helpful to you. I know he has placed a slide-show video of a rental property of yours on his lakechelanonline.com website. I know he took photos of you and your horse at a parade last summer, which he placed on his website along with a positive writeup.

Relevant links are:
http://lakechelanonline.com/beth
http://lakechelanonline.com/beth/Rental.wmv
http://lakechelanonlinenews.com/beth-bettis-and-a-norwegian-fjord-named-aud-p2709-91.htm
http://lakechelanonlinenews.com/lake-chelan-fishing-report-p2097-130.htm

As I'm sure you will agree, there's nothing obviously wrong with any of this. The August story about you and your horse is fine. The video about your rental is a nice gesture and it may have helped you rent the place. Your gratitude to Ken Bradley is completely appropriate.

On the radio, you made your association with Mr. Bradley very public, so I suspect by now you have encountered more than one person who cautioned you that Ken Bradley may not be quite the person he has presented to you. One such individual has said to me that you were referred to this website; but that you said its contents were untrue and falsely motivated.

I can appreciate your honorable wish to defend someone you consider a friend. It's a fine attribute in a person and I wish more people were so inclined. Mutual trust between friends is a precious and sometimes a fragile thing, very well worthwhile to foster and protect.

Sadly, there are people in this world who will deliberately build trust relationships for less honorable purposes. They may do so for direct benefit, or as a stepping-stone to other, more exploitable contacts. In such a case, truth tends to fall by the wayside.

Truth is something we all need more of, and with that in mind, I wish to ask you some questions about Ken Bradley. It's not difficult. You can check these off mentally with a "yes" or "no."

• Has Ken Bradley told you that he operates a series of websites?
  
• Has he asserted that any of those websites attract "a million visitors per day," or any number of millions per week, month, etc?
  
• Has Ken Bradley told you he runs a large international business?
  
• Has he named this business? If he gave it a name, was it "Branting International?"
  
• Has he told you he operates under a grant from such a business, perhaps the same one, for the benefit of local commerce?
  
• Has he told you he has employees in Germany?
  
• Has he claimed to be, or to have acted as, a business consultant?
  
• Has he said he rescued others' businesses from ruin, or attempted to do so? One example might be a medical clinic. Another might be a local Bed & Breakfast.
  
• Has he said that he founded any major business, such as the erstwhile Pony Express courier service?
  
• Does he lay claim to a military career that included undercover work, criminal investigations, or similar?
  
• Has he claimed professional involvement with Federal agencies or local law enforcement?
  
• Does he claim to have a photographic memory?
  
• Does he tell you he runs an array of international businesses and websites from his home using four different high-speed Net-connected computers?
  
• That he runs those overseas businesses at night because of the time differences; that he needs only a few short hours of sleep every night?
  
• Has Ken Bradley claimed family lineage involving Nobel Prize winner Hjalmar Branting?
  
• Does he say he runs a nonprofit with 501(c)3 status (tax exemption)?

If you got this far, you may be wondering how I could possibly know he'd have said some of these things to you.

I could ask a lot more questions like these, all representative of things Bradley has consistently said to many people. He doesn't tell all his tales in all cases, nor are they entirely consistent. And he does sometimes tell new ones.

Are they all just tales? Well... have you actually checked any of them out?

I have.

I've spent two years researching Ken Bradley on a very part-time basis. I've interviewed a couple of dozen people who have known him across almost the whole span of his adult life. In addition to extensive data from the Internet, I've sought out court records, and federal, state, and local government documents that serve to chronicle, irrefutably, a good many of Bradley's activities from 1982 to the present. In addition to everything you can see on this site, I have a daunting amount of raw data that I have far too little time to properly organize and place online. And I have been told a great deal on a confidential basis.

I will now tell you some facts.


The Websites

Ken Bradley does indeed run a string of websites. It's a lot to describe, so bear with me.

Apparently the most important of Bradley's sites, and clearly the one he has invested his efforts in the most is LakeChelanOnlineNews.com. Others are:

• LakeChelanOnline.com (a sort of portal to Bradley's main group of sites, with some content of its own)
  
• LakeChelanEvents.com (an indifferently maintained listing of some area events, sometimes)
  
• ChelanOnline.com (Attempts to appear as if it were the City of Chelan's official website, with absolutely no link to the real thing)
  
• LakeChelanWeddings.org (a wedding "association" with no associates.)

The four above, along with LakeChelanOnlineNews.com, seem to comprise a sort of constellation, all listed on the front page of LakeChelanOnline.com.

And there are...

• WeddingchapelLakeChelan.com (advertises a wedding chapel that doesn't exist)
  
• LakeChelanTours.com (offers nothing and never has)
  
• ShopLakeChelan.com (a weird abortive website that sells nothing and leads nowhere)
  
• LakeChelanWineSpot.com (another halted attempt to create a real website)
  
• LakeChelanPhotos.com (redirects to Bradley's account on PhotoReflect.com)
  
• LakeChelanSanta.com (lists Bradley's own events)
  
• ReindeerDay.com (same as LakeChelanSanta.com)
  
• LakeChelanHalloween.com (same as LakeChelanSanta.com)
  
• BrantingInternational.com (a dummy page that reveals nothing and leads nowhere)
  
• LeavenworthOnlineNews.com (a recent attempt to garner ad business in Leavenworth)
  
• WCF.org (defunct site of the defunct nonprofit corp World Cultural Foundation)
  
• Penfriends.org (sells pen-pals but evidently doesn't deliver them)
  
• DanceLakeChelan.com (dance instruction business run by Rosalyn Bradley, Ken's wife)

Bradley also hosts a few sites belonging to local businesses:

• CaravelResort.com (former name of the Grandview, this merely directs visitors to grandviewonthelake.com)
  
• LakeChelanSignGirl.com (hosted free of charge in exchange for past signage services)
  
• LakeChelanBedAndBoating.com (I believe this is Bradley's only paying customer besides "caravel.")

Formerly, Ken Bradley hosted a number of other sites; a dozen or so. All those customers, including very recently The Grandview, have sought service elsewhere.

In some cases he has kept the domain names of those he formerly hosted. For instance, FasterBoat.com, which Ken Bradley once hosted for a hydro racing/sales operation called Performance Engineering, now redirects to lakechelanonline.com.

Almost all of Bradley's websites are kept on one server at a hosting facility named AdHost. He pays about $50.00 per month for all of them under his reseller account. LakeChelanOnlineNews.com and LakeChelanEvents.com are hosted separately for a similar cost.

Although I could go into more detail, this is pretty much the status quo of Bradley's vast web empire.

What about those German "webmasters?" I invite you to visit each of Ken's sites. Decide for yourself whether they are the product of a large staff of professional web designers, German or otherwise. Or does it look like the half-baked work of just one individual? They are created and maintained by just one person: Ken Barry Bradley. Meanwhile his name appears nowhere on any of those sites.

What about those millions of visitors to those websites?

Advertisers need traffic and ranking information if they're to choose wisely where to place their ads. As a consequence there are some excellent online resources for evaluating how much traffic any given website attracts, what search terms lead to it, and so forth. By far the best is Alexa.com. Alexa taps into major traffic centers of the Net to continuously enumerate and evaluate billions of Web connections. Another resource of note is GoogleRankings.com.

While Alexa ranks sites according to traffic, it does not cite exact numbers of visitors (though they can often be deduced). Instead sites are ranked on a numeric scale. A site ranked #1 would be the most-visited on the entire Web. #1000 is the 1000th most-visited and so forth.

As of the 6th of December 2010, Alexa says of Bradley's sites (in order of ranking):

• "Lakechelanonline.com has a three-month global Alexa traffic rank of 5,101,729."
  
• "Penfriends.org's three-month global Alexa traffic rank is 13,689,939."
  
• "Lakechelanonlinenews.com is ranked #15,259,291 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings."
  
• "Lakechelanweddings.org's three-month global Alexa traffic rank is 16,830,559."
  
• "There are 19,767,354 sites with a better three-month global Alexa traffic rank than Leavenworthonlinenews.com."
  
• "Weddingchapellakechelan.com is ranked #20,793,083 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings."
  
• "There are 21,919,536 sites with a better three-month global Alexa traffic rank than Lakechelanevents.com."

To give you some idea what these multi-million ranking numbers imply; Bradley's WCF.org "has a three-month global Alexa traffic rank of 16,047,982." Yet the site has absolutely no content. Check it out. It's got an essentially blank home page, and has had for a couple of years.

Alexa doesn't bother ranking sites beyond about number 30,000,000 (thirty million). ChelanOnline.com is not ranked at all. Same with LakeChelanTours.com, ShopLakeChelan.com, LakeChelanPhotos.com, LakeChelanSanta.com, ReindeerDay.com, and BrantingInternational.com.

Bradley's highest rated site is LakeChelanOnline.com at 5,101,729. Yet his primary vehicle for ads and news is LakeChelanOnlineNews.com, which oddly has a much lower ranking — nearly as bad as that of WCF.org! (If you wonder why this is, I'll be glad to explain sometime. Ken obviously doesn't understand it.)

Rankings don't tell all. Other sites' connections to one's own site are a factor for instance. There's more data available at Alexa.com should you care to know more. But the upshot of it is that Bradley's websites — not one of them — can be fairly described as "high traffic," much less honestly sold as carriers for effective ads.

With the exception of search engines, there are no links of any consequence from the web at large (other websites) into any of Ken Bradley's websites.

What should the real thing look like? Probably the most appropriate comparison is GoLakeChelan.com, a highly Chelan-centric news-and-info website that is what Bradley's sites pretend to be. Alexa says: "Golakechelan.com is ranked #927,302 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings. Search engines refer approximately 3% of visits to it. Approximately 87% of visits to the site consist of only one pageview (i.e., are bounces). The site belongs to the “Chelan” category. Golakechelan.com has a relatively good traffic rank in the city of Seattle-Tacoma (#27,618)." I believe this suggests that a lot of local people probably use it as their homepage (makes for a lot of one-page views). It attracts a fair amount of attention from outside the local area yet within this State, probably because its news items are occasionally referenced and linked-to by other sites.

If Ken Bradley told you he's running a high-traffic web empire, or anything to that effect, he was — to put it mildly — stretching the truth. All of Bradley's websites rolled into one haven't seen a million visitors in the entire 6 years since he moved to Chelan.

Consider that Bradley is selling advertising. When he charges high rates (which he certainly does) for ads practically nobody will see, his gross inflations of the truth begin to look a little bit like fraud.


The Big International Business

In 1988, Ken Bradley registered a business named "Branting International" with the State of Washington. Its purpose was classified at the time as "Wholesale Plumbing & Heating Equipment and Supplies" — as it still is.

Despite extensive efforts, I have been unable to identify a single instance of Branting International having done any business whatsoever with any other person or business entity whatsoever, anywhere on Earth, at any time. Not one word or deed is attributed to the supposed "company" anywhere on the entire World Wide Web. Yet, I can tell you that your given name is Lysbeth Jeanne and that your Norwegian Fjord gelding named Jouen shares an ancestor (King Harald) with your lovely mare, Aud. It is very difficult to keep even personal and private information off the Web, and completely impossible for any active business (much less a huge firm!) to remain invisible. It isn't just some sort of coincidence that Branting International has left no footprints anywhere. The supposed enterprise by that name has never done any significant business anywhere.

Viable or not, Branting International is Ken Bradley's only currently valid business license. The name is used as the registrant in some of Bradley's Internet domain registrations. The name Lake Chelan Online Network, which he uses similarly and more prominently, is fictional.

Ken Bradley has had other "real" entities at various times. He once operated a Pony Express franchise on Mercer Island with a partner. That business failed and was closed in 1995. However, as late as 2000 he was still using its name on a credit card account (we know because the bank sued for non-payment), and to this day he sometimes uses its address. Though that address literally does not exist, having been bulldozed and rebuilt into an apartment complex; and though he hasn't been there since 1995, it is nonetheless the physical address he provided to the Post Office when he opened PO Box 789 in Chelan in 2004. (Yes, in case you wondered, it is illegal to lie to the Postal Service about your address. By law they require accurate information.)

If you can find any trace of Ken Bradley's Big International Business anywhere, I'd love to know about it.


The Big Home-Office Network

Because I can interpret the headers of his emails — and have done so on numerous occasions — (and because of other totally legal methods I prefer not to disclose) I know quite a bit about Ken Bradley's Net access arrangements. He appears to have just one net-linked computer, which identifies itself uniquely, so I can be sure it is just a single workstation. He uses an air-card or cell-phone type connection exclusively. (This is usually in the form of a sort of dongle that plugs into the computer's USB port.) There may be a second computer in the household that uses the dongle on rare occasions. That's it. If he had any other machines routinely connected to the Net, I would probably know about it. (Don't worry, Ken, I'm not looking over your shoulder.)

Oh, and the all-night global management marathons? Well, we know there's no global business happening. And people who've known him tell me he sleeps as much as anyone, if not a bit more.


The Grant

A grant is a contract. There's always paperwork, with terms and conditions and dollar amounts and names and dates and signatures and notary stamps. Seen any of that? Asked for it? If Branting International gave Ken Bradley a grant, what exactly would that mean?


The Military

In an article below on this blog, you will find detailed facts about Ken Bradley's actual military career, including documents obtained from the government using the Freedom of Information Act. The documents are not complex, nor was Specialist Bradley's military service. His three years as an MP in Germany involved duties more like those of a rent-a-cop than a super-spy.

In fact, after his service in Germany, Bradley was employed as a commercial security guard. His former employer, who is himself a former County Sheriff and a very sociable fellow, lives near you in Lakeside. I would be happy to introduce you.


The Photographic Memory

If Ken Bradley has laid claim to this startling talent... test him. Ask him what you were wearing last time he saw you. See if he knows what color Aud's bridle (or your hat) was that day of the parade last August. Wear a pin today and ask him to describe it tomorrow. Watch out, he might have read this blog entry! Think of something yourself. Be creative.


Ken Bradley's Ancestry

Although I have not researched Ken Bradley's family tree, I have found a wealth of data about the Swedish statesman Bradley claims as a relative. Ken Bradley has asserted that Nobel laureate Hjalmar Branting and/or his children fled the Nazis to the US during WWII and changed their name to Bradley. I have confirmed from plentiful historical accounts that Hjalmar Branting and his family never fled Europe, even during Hitler's occupation. His children and their children in turn are easily traceable. His daughter became a noted judge in Sweden; his son a member of Parliament. He has no direct descendants living in the US, and if he did, they'd certainly be using their own name.

Speaking of family... on his Penfriends.org website, Ken Bradley claims his family were involved in the World's Fair promotions by Parker Pen Co. when they used the "Pen Friends" name in the early 1960's. That also is utterly without foundation; a complete fabrication. Nothing anywhere corroborates his story, and Parker's own past statements exclude any such possibility. You will find on that same Penfriends page some hints of the Swedish ancestry falsehood and numerous other inventions (which, unsurprisingly, offer no evidence or corroboration whatsoever) interspersed with some actual facts and some stolen images.

Whereas Ken Bradley claims his family created the Pen Friends enterprise, I possess positive proof that Ken Bradley actually once worked as a US representative for the real creator and organizer of what amounted to a loose global network of Pen Friends chapters that sprang up in the late 60's after Parker Pen Co. abandoned what had been essentially a promotional gimmick. Around 1990, Ken Bradley betrayed this employer by setting himself up in the same business by the same name — and created the historical fictions that persist on his website to this day. In 1996 he even more audaciously hijacked his former benefactor's business name by registering "International Penfriends" as a US trademark. International Penfriends (Bradley's business, not the original) now rates an "F" at the Better Business Bureau because of an ongoing record of unanswered consumer complaints. Bear in mind that for every complaint there are many more who remain silent.

The genuine and original International Pen Friends, now based in Australia, survives despite the distractions Bradley has caused. They continue to specifically disclaim any connection to Ken Bradley's fabricated enterprise and its false history.


Nonprofit and Tax Exemption

Until last year, Ken Bradley maintained a non-profit corporation named World Cultural Foundation (WCF). (Lest this seem impressive to you, anyone can create a non-profit corporation. It requires a small fee and a bit of paperwork. Voila.) Under this name, he operated the Pen Friends business, and promoted at least one failed event in Seattle at the Seattle Center. (In connection with that event, Bradley reneged on payment to the City of Seattle and to others. WCF was sued and found liable as a result.)

Bradley persistently asserted 501(c)3 status for WCF. But tax exemption is not the same thing as "nonprofit." World Cultural Foundation was never granted 501(c)3 status by the IRS. The documents are publicly available -- or rather, the lack of them. The false claim was and is a Federal offense.

On WCF's annual reports, the Registered Agent and Vice President of WCF was listed as "Brad Snow, PHD." No one I can identify has ever met Brad Snow. I can find no record of any Brad Snow who could logically have been Ken Bradley's WCF associate, much less with a Doctorate degree. I have it from three separate past associates of Ken Bradley that he confided in them the same thing: Brad Snow is a fictional name, Brad for Bradley and Snow for snow job. Snow job means a scam, a swindle or con-job. Brad Snow's signature on the 2004 and 2005 annual reports bears similarities to the handwriting of Rosalyn Bradley.

Ken Bradley did other things under the WCF name that I'm still researching, such as the marketing of Latvian women to prospective American husbands in the early 90's; in company with a partner whose own longtime business involved the promotion of "escort services."


In Sum

I've really only hit a few of the high points here. And because I can't possibly know all the things Ken Bradley may have told you, I can only hope I have struck upon a few of them, and raised your awareness of whom you are dealing with.

I would like to caution you, incidentally, not to continue to repeat things Ken Bradley may have told you if those things might constitute false and malicious defamations of innocent persons. You probably can do no lasting harm to those persons; their friends know the truth. But you may cause harm to your own repute — which would be a shame. The indications are that you're a good person who only seeks to defend a friend you believe has been poorly treated.

It may be a virtue not to let unsavory facts stand in the way of a friendship you value. But should that friendship cause you to pay no heed to the truth?

- Not Ken Bradley

 
Ken Bradley wins again.

You've really got to hand it to him. His persistence — in the face of pervasive local disapproval, a long history of burnt bridges and firm rejection from every former venue — is almost beyond belief. And it has paid off.

Here you have it, a place for Santa™ and his Reindeer™ (as it now appears on lakechelansanta.com):



Evidently there's room in the backyard for the reindeer...



Bradley credits "Flatwater IV" for the use of the property. Having never heard of them, I looked up their website. They are a partnership of four real estate investment entrepreneurs.

A closer look reveals a probable factor in their support for Ken Bradley. All four individuals' phone numbers are listed on the site. All have west-side area codes (206 and 360). They're apparently not local residents, and they are relative newcomers to the Chelan business scene. Hence they have had no basis on which to judge the veracity and repute of Ken Bradley and his Santa enterprise.

Obviously they are nice people who are trying to help. I applaud them for that, and I wish them, and the parents and children who attend Ken Bradley's event, the best.

Still, for everyone's sake I do hope they soon come to recognize that it might not be, as Ken Bradley has claimed, "all for the children." Given their substantial contribution and the involvement of their good name and repute with his, I hope Flatwater IV will demand from Ken Bradley an accounting for every penny he has collected. State law, incidentally, mandates that he must provide that information on request, and Flatwater IV are now in an ideal position to require its disclosure in their own interests. But Bradley has yet to relinquish that information at any time since the first event in 2006, nor has he at any time complied with several other related Washington laws with respect to solicitations for alleged charitable purposes. (See last year's article on this topic.)

- Not Ken Bradley

 
I've been trying to make better sense of Ken Bradley's Santa event. There's much about this year's attempt that doesn't quite add up. So I'm adding it up anyway.


What, Where

Is Ken Bradley still trying to make the event happen? YES. This change has appeared on the Santa page:



There's now a location, sort-of; "Santa's House". There's no way to know what nor where Santa's House is supposed to be. Presumably Bradley will inform us sometime before the 11th?


Who (and how much)

What's up with sponsorship? What does the list of ads on that page really tell us? The following is from the Sponsorship Form the Bradleys sent out last year:



And here is a capture of the Santa Page as it looks today: very large image!

If you scan down the page, you'll see the same donor categories as those in the sponsorship form. Here are the categories, the dollar amounts they represent, and the sponsors:

Wish Come True - $1,000.00
Lake Chelan Online News.com
    (Ken Bradley's news website)
LakeChelanEvents.com
    (Ken Bradley's events website)

Christmas Angel - $500.00
Goodfellow Bros.

Holiday Hero - $250.00
Chelan Fresh
Lakeside Limousine

Santa's Helper - $100.00
Dance Lake Chelan
    (Rosalyn Bradley's dance instruction service)
Dr. Todd A. Harrison, DDS

Elf in Training - $50.00
The Old Firehouse Tasting Room
Chelan Valley Cheese Company
Darnell's Resort
Delicious Red Hatters of Chelan
Spirals
La Brisa Mexican Restaurant

Gift Bag Sponsor - $30.00
Lake Chelan Boat Company
Short Cuts
Chelan Chevron
Heartfelt Fitness
Deepwater Salon

In Kind Sponsor - [No data on how much this means in dollars]
Chelan Printing
Tree Top
Liberty Orchards
Lake Chelan Wedding & Honeymoon Association
    (Ken Bradley's DOA attempt to become a wedding services middleman)
LakeChelanTours.com
    (Ken Bradley's tours website, such as it is.)

Note that five of the credited sponsors, inluding the top two, are actually Ken and Rosalyn Bradley's own entities. All of them are represented by websites. None of them has a business license (check for yourself). Basically they are all just Ken Bradley personally and/or his wife Rosalyn.

Because the Santa event itself is not identifiable as a legitimate business entity of any kind, nor is "Lake Chelan Events," nor are ANY of the Bradley entities, there's no way to prove that the Bradleys have NOT donated $2,100.00 to the Santa Event, plus whatever an "in kind" sponsorship implies. But I for one am not so naive as to believe their listings are there for any other purpose than to pad out the apparent numbers of donors and to boost the appearance of legitimacy for the event and for those websites.

Last year I was told that Lakeside Limousine contributed only rides to the event location for Santa and Mrs. Claus, not any cash. I think it's safe to assume the same is true this year.

So, I did the math with those omissions; and I find the presumed contributions at this point add up to $1,300.00 plus "in kind" contributions. Generally in the real world an in-kind sponsor will donate facilities, services or materials rather than cash.


How

The event still has no firm location. Nobody can possibly make plans to attend. Yet it's just a week away!

Sponsorship is the lowest it's ever been. But what else did Bradley expect after four years of financial impropriety? His past donors never meant to pay his personal bills, and far too many of them now know that's precisely what they were doing.

Just how exactly does Ken Bradley think he can pull this off?

But then, maybe he just doesn't care all that much. After all, he's still ahead of the game...


The Score So Far

Ken Bradley: $1300.00+
Lake Chelan: 0


- Not Ken Bradley

Ken Bradley's plans for Reindeer Day™ and A Visit with Santa™ might be "slayed" this year.

Until a week or so ago, Bradley's Reindeer Day page had listed Tunnel Hill Winery as its venue for the 10th of December this year. Its location is now TBA (To Be Announced); and just ten short days away. His Visit with Santa is likewise without a location, but supposedly scheduled for the 11th and 12th of December.



Merchants Beware

Bradley's means of cashing in on the Santa and Reindeer events is to solicit donations from local businesses. He then contrives to put on the events at considerably less expense than the sum of collections, and pockets the difference. Given that the events may not even happen this year, that "difference" might be 100% of the sum.

If Ken Bradley does make a forceful attempt to pull off the events this year (though it now seems much too late), he will undoubtedly engage in an aggressive effort to collect from local merchants. He would logically also be on the hunt for a suitable location.

Any attempt to organize and promote the event at this late date must be too little, too late. Even if you choose to trust Ken Bradley with your money, it can hardly be well spent this year.

Even so, the signs are that he may actually be trying to pull it off. On one of his facebook pages, Bradley made an entry on the 18th urging local businesses to donate:



One must assume he has sent out "Event Sponsorship Forms" to local merchants.

So are sponsors responding? Apparently some are. There's a prominent credit for "Christmas Angel Sponsor" on the Santa page suggesting that the Goodfellow Bros. have sent Bradley a sizable check. As I recall, that indicates a donation of $500.00 or more. One wonders if the Goodfellows will be informed — or refunded — if the event never happens. A few other local entities are listed as lesser donors: Lakeside Limos, Chelan Printing, Tree Top, and Liberty Orchards. Bradley isn't always accurate in his claims of support; in particular I believe he has falsely claimed Lakeside Limo as a sponsor at other times and places in the past. Bradley's own entities and his wife's Dance Lake Chelan enterprise are always listed as a means of padding the donor list. But because he promises ads in exchange for donations, he has little choice but to follow through. The ads other than those for Bradley's own fronts probably provide a somewhat reliable tally of this year's actual donors.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone Bradley may have solicited for donations toward this year's events. How is he presenting it? Did he disclose the lack of a venue?

Each year since 2006, Bradley has promoted the scheme as a charity event and has claimed non-profit status for it. When asked, he would cite his (now-defunct) corporation World Cultural Foundation — for which entity he has falsely asserted tax-exempt 501(c)3 status. Based on his track record, the fact that the corporation no longer exists may be no barrier to Bradley continuing to claim he works under its umbrella. It was never anything but a piece of paper anyway.

(That's incidentally the same corporation Ken Bradley hid behind when he scammed the Seattle Center out of $12,871.48 in the year 2000. The City of Seattle sued World Cultural Foundation in 2005 and now holds a substantial judgment against its nonexistent assets. The lawsuit is online here, here and here. Yes, that's Ken's own signature on those worthless checks.)

With respect to the Santa and Reindeer events, Bradley has never accounted for the money he controlled regardless who was asking; and he has no basis to claim the events were ever for any other purpose than personal profit. If he represents these events as "charity" under these conditions he is breaking the law. See earlier entries in this blog, and accompanying comments, for much more on the Santa topic, including the facts about applicable laws.

Not to Worry

Santa can be found locally in at least two places on weekends to come. The Black Dog Frame Shop at the northeast corner of Woodin and Emerson in downtown Chelan will be offering kids a shot at Santa every Saturday and Sunday, as well as a chance to get shot with him -- by a crack photographer in a picture-perfect setting. Also I'm told Santa will be making an appearance at Blueberry Hills in Manson on the 11th. Count on him to be even more jiggly than usual 'cause of that down-home cookin'.

And there are other Holiday-oriented ways to entertain the kids. The Chamber of Commerce events listings and other local resources can help direct parents to various seasonal activities.

- Not Ken Bradley

Leavenworth, be warned!

A friend informed me a couple of days ago about Ken Bradley's startling new initiative: he is now targeting Leavenworth.

By way of announcement, that friend sent this hilarious image, the cover page of an apparently entirely new magazine:



Check out Bradley's Leavenworth website: Leavenworth Online News

It's more or less a clone of his faltering site, Lake Chelan Online News. Bradley, who is known to refer to Chelan locals as "yokels," "rubes" and "a bunch of farmers," has apparently pumped Lake Chelan dry and gone in search of fresh prospects.

He's pulling out all the stops, running a multi-front assault that includes Facebook (must log in to view) and YouTube.

Ken Bradley, as usual, keeps his own name completely out of view. But be assured, it is none other than Ken Bradley who is creator, proprietor, and sole employee of the Leavenworth Online News and of the "Lake Chelan Online Network" (which is not a bona fide business entity).

Check out some images of Bradley and his car. However he may represent himself, this is the one and only guy you're dealing with when you're dealing with the Leavenworth Online News. He has no known business associates, and no employees.

So begins a new chapter in the Tale of Bradley.

I welcome communication and participation of any kind from those in Leavenworth who have had contact with Ken Bradley. It will be interesting to know more about exactly how he seeks to sell himself. Comments can be posted anonymously.

Much more to come on this.

I received this from one of Ken Bradley's former local friends, whom he obviously victimized. With permission and after some minor fact-checking, I'm posting it in its entirety.

Quote:

Such interesting stuff pops up out of the dark into the light when you read other peoples brushes with the Bradley grinding machine. And into the light Bradley doesn't want all these sleazy things to come. When we realize how his slithering shadow comes under so many disguises. He wants you to think he is doing you all these favors, when he is really trying to pick your pockets and he hopes your friends pockets through you. You wonder how many other people there are out there that haven't stepped forward.

I remember Bradley sitting in our living-room and telling the tale about him doing such humanitarian things for a holistic doctor. I have no idea who the Doctor was, he never gave the Doctor a name or place of residence. He said the doctor was an amazing healer, but he was a complete idiot about business and almost filing bankruptcy. Bradley said he took over the workings of the clinic and soon put it not only on a paying basis but making a huge profit for the man. He said the Doctor wanted to make him a partner with a huge salary and have him start opening up satellite offices all around the area. He had to tell the doctor no. Bradley said he really didn't need the income, and he would neglect his own huge over-seas operations that needed his attention and there was no one else in the firm to take his place. Bradley said that he had had all the fun fixing things and soon, after the idiot had it all completely screwed up again, he would always go back and fix it again. All gratuitous of course, free of charge. I know that people who are wonderful at some things have trouble with the business side of things. Artists are always under pricing themselves. Van Gogh never sold a painting. I thought it was wonderful that Bradley helped this fine man so the Doctor could continue to heal people.

One of the things he said the doctor was famous for was curing grey hair with nutrition. I am a great believer in Holistic medicine and thought this was all possible. Not understanding business made him an idiot? I don't think so!

It would be interesting if we found the "Idiot Holistic Doctor" (if he or she really does exist) and heard his or her side of the story. Was Bradley's work ever free of charge? I doubt it, I bet they got hosed like everyone else that does any business with him. They are lucky if they still have a clinic and reputation left, if it ever existed. When I heard about this caper his mouth was moving and we all know what that means. They finally come to know what is really going on and boot him out hoping that no-one knows they have been so stupid. He then tells nasty lies about them. (I know what lies he tells about us, though we never harmed him but only tried to help... and then finally questioned him. I have him in all his ugly glory on tape.)

He loves to brag about how he really fixed them when they didn't do what they were told, for... free. FREE! It is the most expensive FREE ADVICE you will ever receive. He rants about others and accuses them of doing all the nasty things he is doing to them. He knows what he is doing and he is responsible for what he does. The only way someone like this can succeed is for all of us, whom he has made feel like idiots, to keep silent. Tell your story. It may help your neighbor slip through his clutches.

One thing he loved to say was that you know you have arrived in this world when you needed a tax attorney and not a tax accountant. He talked about how he warned people about using his photos without his permission. If they didn't stop immediately then he had one of his corporation's big staff of full time attorneys send them a letter. I know he told us about several people here in Chelan he had sent these letters to. When I asked him why it was so important to act this way in our great little town, his answer was that it was so important to never tell a lie and to be ethical and accountable for your actions. He couldn't be party to their illegal actions. If you persisted in doing this he could bring you and your whole house around your knees with one phone call and make you very sorry for questioning him or the reason he did things. I know these stories were very thinly veiled threats for what would happen to me if I questioned him and his perfect photographic memory. If the dear man that is doing this web site hadn't stepped in I would have been at his MERCY, and would never have had a way to try to warn you of this real peril that is out there driving around in an old Bellevue police car, a black and white Ford Crown Victoria, hoping to scare the daylights out of you for his own amusement.

There is a couple here in town that have known him since he was a teen-ager. After Bradley and his family wore out their welcome all over town, these good people took Bradley, his wife and children in so they would have a place to live to get them off the street. They were supposed to stay only a month or so.

Many months later they had to be asked to move. Instead of saying thanks for all the free rent and food Bradley spent the next several years bad-mouthing them. Bradley told terrible tales about them. How the poor wife had to work to try to pay the bills while her lazy good for nothing husband stayed home and did nothing but sit and watch cartoons and eat the food Rosalyn (Mrs. Bradley) had put in the refrigerator for the Bradley children. The man was so in debt that he would probably lose the business even though Bradley had secured a loan for them with one of his companies or associates with a very good rate. He said the man had been a minister in a church in the Seattle area but had been asked to leave because of his overbearing temper.

I was amazed when I met this very attractive cultured man. I first thought I couldn't be speaking to the same man I had heard about all those months, but yes Bradley's mouth had been moving and we all know what that means. Again how could I have been such an idiot? Talking and listening to him turns you into one. I learned later that most of the cloak-and-dagger escapades that Bradley laid claim to are probably stories Bradley had heard from this man, once his friend and benefactor, who had actually been a military officer and a government security specialist. That the stories were real would give them a truthful ring to any unsuspecting new listener.

I worry a great deal about the Bradleys' lovely children. I loved to have them come and visit us after school. Marie was growing into such a lovely young girl with soft fawn eyes. She is a great help with her younger brother and sisters. Kris used to play tic-tac-toe with me. He always won but was very patient with me. He is the family arbitrator. Boo is Boo. She likes to stomp her little size three shoe and get her way. She could be president if she sets her mind to it and dear little Katie is just one big smile but not easily pushed around by Boo. I noticed later that they came less often, and now we may never see them again. I just want the children to know that they are welcome here under any circumstances, to stay as long as they want . . .no questions asked. All they have to do is knock at our door or give us a call.

Unquote.

- Not Ken Bradley

 
It's the classic oxymoron. The implication of the joke is of course that "military" and "intelligence" are mutually exclusive concepts.

But I personally consider it unfair to malign the whole of the military. The IQ of a bullet and the discrimination of a bomb notwithstanding, I feel sure that few even of the Services' lowliest cannon-fodder are so stupid as to lie broadly and unremittingly when available evidence stands ready to contradict them.

With the apparent exception of Ken Bradley.

As I outlined in the Shell Schlock entry, Ken Bradley has laid claim to an extraordinary military career, in which he arrested errant officers; guarded the lives of heads of state; and even outranked, after a fashion, a general who piqued his ire. He claims to have survived artillery fire and the perils of spy missions.

As I said in that previous story, simple logic was enough to put some of Bradley's lies to shame. But the lack of documented fact still left much in question. What really was Ken Bradley's contribution to the Army?

Thanks to the helpful folks at POWnetwork.org, we can now know the facts in ample detail. By means of a Freedom of Information Act request, they sought — and received — an accounting of Ken Barry Bradley's military career.

The PDF that was emailed to me contains two pages. There's a Cover Page and a Record of Assignments.


The Cover Page

The cover page starts with his name. This alone is highly useful information, because the military doesn't mess around with names. They will only use a soldier's legal name precisely as stated on certified legal documents. So we know his name really is Ken Barry Bradley. Ken isn't short for Kenneth or Kent or Kendrick, it's just Ken. Barry isn't an altered form of Barrett or Barack. It's just Barry. This may seem trivial, but when you research a person as I have done, it matters. There are hundreds if not thousands of Ken Bradleys. This is the most reliable confirmation I have seen of this Ken Bradley's true birth name.

The document says Ken Barry Bradley was in the Army for precisely three years (not two; I stand corrected), from 15 March 1983 to 14 March 1986.

Bradley was honorably discharged having reached the rank of "Specialist Four" which means he was at pay grade E4, and ranked just above Private First Class and just below Corporal.

As a Specialist (and not a Corporal), we can be sure Bradley had no subordinates. He didn't give orders; he received them — and was expected to do as he was told. His E4 pay was $810 a month in 1985.

Bradley did just one item of specialized training: a 5- or 6-week course in Law Enforcement.

On his dress uniform, Ken Bradley is qualified to wear a ribbon for the fact of being in the Army (active duty); a ribbon for service overseas (Germany), a badge for qualifying Expert in pistol and hand grenade; and one for Marksman with rifle.

Bradley's weapons qualifications were required in order to complete Basic Combat Training. Marksman is incidentally the lowest passing qualification in weapons training: next is Sharpshooter, then Expert.


The Record of Assignments

The Record of Assignments fills in details of the nature and location of Bradley's service, including the period during which he remained in the Reserves after his three years of active duty. The Record is a mass of abbreviations only a bureaucrat could love, so I'll spare the reader and use mostly plain English in this text. If you're interested in more details, visit my annotated version of this document and place your mouse over the abbreviations to see what they mean.

Ken Bradley signed up on the 4th of February 1983, and was officially in the Army Reserves Delayed Entry Program for around 40 days, until his enlistment at Fort McClellan, Alabama on the 15th of March. Bradley's duty assignment from the outset was "95B", Military Police. At Fort McClellan, along with a group of 95B recruits, starting on the 21st of March 1983, he did his Basic Combat Training for 9 weeks — followed by about 6 weeks of "Advanced Individual Training" which in his case comprised the Law Enforcement Course.

Four months after enlistment, Bradley was enroute to Germany. After apparently cooling his heels for a couple of weeks, on the 3rd of August he was assigned to the 54th Area Support Group in Augsburg, Germany as an MP Patrolman. The Area Support Group (ASG) was responsible for logistics for all the Army units in its area. Generally an ASG manages storage and movement of supplies of all sorts, weapons and ammunition; and vehicle parts and mantenance. As an MP Patrolman in that scenario, Bradley would almost certainly have done essentially the duty of a security guard; things like watching over storage facilities or checking credentials at a gate.

If Bradley had done any specialized duty, that would be reflected in his training and/or in his unit assignment. For instance an MP would only investigate traffic accidents if he'd done a specific training course on the subject. Bradley's duties had to be pretty limited. If he carried a sidearm, it was only on duty and only on base. Off base, whether in or out of the US, he had no authority whatsoever.

And that was that. He held no other position, advanced no further than Specialist rank and no further than 95B10 skill (the lowest of 5 skill levels), and earned no additional awards. After two years, four months and one week doing this one job, he headed back to the States. On the 14th of March 1986, he was released from active duty and became a Reservist from that day until his discharge on the 14th of December 1990.

Bradley's years in the Reserve were undoubtedly spent as a typical "weekend warrior" — showing up for roll calls and minor exercises at some Army facility near his home on weekends; and doing a 2-week stint each year involving some form of training exercise.

Bradley's military service obligation had been for a 6-year period (which was typical for signups prior to 1984). In March of 1989, he was approaching the end of that contract. He apparently saw some advantage in extending his service. He was undoubtedly offered a bonus for re-signup. Possibly the ongoing supplement to his income was also of interest.

Whatever his reasons, he did re-sign, changing his job description to "97B", Counter Intelligence. The record refers to Bradley's duty assignment as "... (USAR READY)". "Ready" surely refers to the Ready Reserve. The duty and station assignments refer to an Army unit. Because he was still a Reservist, Bradley never did active duty in this new Counter Intelligence capacity, and he received no major course of training. (Had he been called for active duty, he'd undoubtedly have gone straight into a training course that is strictly mandatory for the 97B job.)

What work would he have done if he'd gone active? Counter-Intelligence sounds pretty cool on paper, but in practice it's mainly desk work. It's a likely next step for a former MP. As far as I can determine, a junior CI agent's typical day involves things like background checks on civilian personnel or recruits. He'd spend a lot of time handling files and filling out forms and reports, requesting records from civilian authorities, and checking personal histories. With further training and advancement, he might occasionally do something a bit more interesting, like interviewing captives in a war zone, or electronic surveillance of suspected hostile informants. But Bradley the CI Guy never really even got started.

Bradley was discharged from the Reserve on the 14th of December 1990, having spent 21 months on that final contract.


What it Is, What it Ain't

There are two things I find most notable about this record. The first is what it is. It is a perfectly ordinary record of acceptable military service. OK, so it was easy duty, almost vacation-like. He had ample opportunities to tour around Europe, and probably did just that. Sure, it wasn't full of advancement or excitement. But Bradley obviously had no plans to be a career soldier. All told, he quite evidently just did his job. Which is fine. He must have kept his nose clean; even a handful of traffic tickets can get a 95B status rescinded. Furthermore, anyone who joins the Army in any capacity is basically putting his life on the line in some measure. Whether mundane or memorable, an unblemished military record is nothing to be ashamed of, and good cause for pride.

The second notable thing is what it isn't. It isn't anything like what Ken Bradley has represented it. Given his grandiose claims, the good and normal is transformed into the bad and abnormal; it becomes cause for shame. So that when directly challenged to present the facts, Bradley could do nothing but remain deceitfully silent.

The pity of it is, Ken Bradley could have got loads of mileage out of honesty, even if he were inclined to seek a surplus of approval. Asked what he did in the military, he could say simply, "I was assigned to Counter-Intelligence my last couple of years." And then pointedly shut up. Almost any civilian would be suitably impressed. Doubtless they'd imagine his work was need-to-know-only! A decorated Vietnam vet I knew used to say "I get a lot of free beers just telling people I 'saw some action' and let their imagination do the rest." (He'd have got a lot more beers for the whole story, but he didn't often like to talk about it.)

But Bradley couldn't leave well enough alone.

Shame on you, Ken Bradley, for making a good thing into a bad one. You do no credit at all to those who maintain their sense of honor while in and out of the Services. And you've done yourself a disservice as well.

I want to repeat my thanks and appreciation for the help of Chuck and Mary Schantag of POWnetwork.org. They responded to my query with an offer of help before I had ever offered my small donation to their cause. Far beyond the service they do by busting the Valor Inventors (they've even listed Ken Bradley in their rogues' gallery), they maintain an impressive resource of information and memorials in honor of those who have risked and paid the sometimes-terrible price of service to their country. Please consider donating in support of their efforts.

- Not Ken Bradley

(Revised to correct comments on a mis-read record entry, as assisted by Paul Barnett in his comment)

Some of Ken Bradley's former confidantes -- or rather victims -- have sent me images of a lavish mansion's floor plan, sent to them by email by Ken Bradley, which Bradley had claimed were the plans of his own house.

The images depict a truly grand residence with sweeping staircases, bedroom suites, offices, verandas, towers, a broad terrace, a grand ballroom, and so on. These plans were, he said, drawn up by his privately employed architects for the mansion his family was to occupy on his 50-acre Chelan Butte estate. He described its ongoing design and construction, advancing and embellishing the tales as he went. Versions varied, and even the house plans varied, but the pattern remained the same.

Three of the images are shown here.

As far as I can determine, Bradley still to this day tells anyone who will listen (and whom he believes knows nothing to the contrary) the same or similar series of tales surrounding his supposed palatial mansion.

He says it's surrounded by ultra-modern security, and that no one is allowed to visit this home that is kept solely as a sanctuary for his family. He tells elaborate stories of the import of container-loads of Italian marble for its decoration. He goes into excruciating detail, even including his frustration at delivery and work delays and his masterful handling of those responsible.

We know now, of course, that while Ken Bradley indeed lives on the Butte, not one other part of this story is true.

I was sent copies of these images for the third or fourth time recently, and I was finally moved to do something that had long since crossed my mind: to search the Net and see if I could learn where Bradley had acquired them.

Knowing the whole story for a lie, it still remained to find the actual origin of the images. I see a distinct difference between merely knowing the images are not what Ken Bradley claims — and proving it absolutely.

I was surprised how easy it was to do. I browsed to images.google.com. I typed in the words: "east wing first floor plan"

In the second page of results Google found one of the images hosted at this link:
http://www.thehousedesigners.com/plan_details.asp?PlanNum=6048

A bit more searching and I found the full set of images here:
http://www.archivaldesigns.com/houseplan_details.php?planname=Balmoral

And so we know. To substantiate his flimsy web of lies, Bradley merely went online, found images of suitably lavish plans, and emailed them to his credulous confidantes as proof of his vast wealth and power.

Several people have commented to me that they find it difficult to understand how anyone could believe Ken Bradley's tales. Some have gone so far as to suggest anyone who was taken in by Bradley had caused his or her own problems. There may be some truth in this, and foolish people are hardly in short supply. But from direct knowledge of persons involved, including of Bradley himself, I'm convinced it's not so simple.

In the first place, Ken Bradley lies without any hesitation whatsoever. In our phone conversation, Bradley lied to me boldly and convincingly. I did not detect the slightest sign of slyness or self-doubt. I can't speak for others, but I'm not sure I could keep a straight face while feeding people whoppers like those Ken Bradley concocts. I'd probably trip over my own tongue. I imagine being preoccupied by the possible responses, my mind racing to prepare a reply if I were disbelieved. I well remember trying to lie to adults as a child. It rarely worked out well.

I'm not referring here to those little social lies of which we're all sometimes guilty. I'm talking about huge cock-and-bull stories, sweeping whole-cloth grand inventions. However well-constructed his fibs may be, who expects such madness from any grown man?

But Bradley was smooth as silk. Lacking facts, I was inclined to believe he had employees, and could even accept that these employees may be in Germany as he claimed. I saw contradictions immediately, and concluded on the spot that some of his statements were untrue. I was onto him. Right away after that conversation, I began to check him out in considerable depth. Nonetheless, had so many of his statements not been disproved once I began to gather facts, I might even then have given him the benefit of whatever doubt remained. It's difficult to say how quickly I'd have seen through Bradley's deceptions had I not been forewarned of his dishonesty.

I am not easily fooled. Yet like most people, in most circumstances, I don't expect to be lied to, especially when I can't see a motive for it. Most of the time I will initially accept an apparently credible person's apparently rational statements at face value, if for no other reason than I would want them to accept mine. We who hope to benefit by trust also must extend it.

Nor am I willing to accuse anyone of lying without positive proof. And, whether someone has a posh mansion or not usually doesn't concern me in the least. Unless, as with Bradley, it is part of a fabric of lies meant to elevate himself falsely, and to intimidate, deceive and dispossess his credulous victims.

- Not Ken Bradley

I have in hand two reports that Ken Bradley has very recently claimed to be a disabled war veteran. He claimed he was "shell shocked" from being under artillery fire in combat. He complained also that his "war wounds" had lately flared up and had caused him debilitating pain.

For these many months I have communicated at length with many of Bradley's past victims and acquaintances. Most of these have told me that Bradley has made a variety of self-aggrandizing claims about past military service, including the ridiculous assertion that he worked in an Intelligence capacity and that his service record was "top secret." (He also said that because of his secret Intelligence status, his personal history had been wiped from the public record. Which this website most particularly disproves!)

Unfortunately I do not yet have any documentation of the actual facts of Bradley's military service. Privacy rules make such records difficult to obtain (but perhaps not impossible... I'm looking into it). Even so, I have established to my own satisfaction that Bradley's grand claims for his military career are completely false.

In my own opinion, and I know many people share this with me, false claims of military service are among the more despicable and offensive assertions any person can make. I consider this a matter of considerable importance and I am no longer willing to leave it unmentioned.

In an effort to understand the facts, I have lately spoken with persons who knew Ken Bradley in the 1980's. Their accounts are consistent though dates are foggy. In the mid-80's Ken Bradley served just two years in the US Army, much — perhaps most — of which time he spent in Germany. He was engaged in no combat of any kind. During at least part of his time in Germany he served as an MP (military policeman). He held no significant rank, performed no unusual or special service, was never injured, and was most likely honorably discharged. If there's more to his military service, I don't know about it and neither, apparently, does anyone else unless it's Bradley himself.

Admittedly, the information I have is verbal and it is not backed by any verifiable document. The persons who talked to me prefer not to be identified publicly. So it may seem unfair of me to assert that Bradley has been dishonest when I cannot absolutely and conclusively prove that he has been.

But the facts I can prove don't look good for Bradley's veracity. Furthermore, Bradley himself can with extreme ease support his claims, if they're true, with undeniable proof; and I hereby publicly welcome him to do so.

All discharged military personnel are issued a copy of their own DD-214 (example at left), a standard form listing the time, place and manner of military service, all awards and medals, specialized training, and discharge status. Bradley has such a document, and if he has lost it he can replace it at virtually no cost by filling out an online form and mailing or faxing a signature verification form.

If Bradley was disabled in the Service, whether in battle or not, he was issued a disability award letter by the US Department of Veterans Affairs which details the nature of his injury and the degree, generally a percentage figure, to which he was disabled. No disabled vet is without this letter; it's required as an attachment to all manner of routine paperwork.

If Ken Bradley provides me with copies of these documents (he's free to redact whatever parts he likes) proving he told the truth, I'll post them here and apologize most sincerely.

There are many facts that make me confident that Bradley has been lying. A few of them are:

• Bradley graduated from high school in 1982. His high school yearbook photo is at right. He can't possibly have been in the military before 1982.
  
  
• In early 1988, Bradley acquired a business license in the name of Branting International, ostensibly to sell "wholesale plumbing & heating equipment and supplies."
  
  
• The documented timeline of Bradley's activities from 1988 onwards makes it impossible that Bradley could have served in the military at any later time. (Although there is a gap in my Timeline documents between 1990 and 1993, in actual fact I possess much more information than the Timeline presently contains. There is ample evidence Ken Bradley was in Washington throughout that time.)
  
  
• So we have a period from 1982 to 1988. Bradley's military service had to fit somewhere in that gap.
  
  
• Therefore, for instance, it is not possible that Bradley was in the Service during the invasion of Panama in December of 1989. Nor could he have participated in the 1991 military actions against Iraq, or anything afterwards.
  
  
• In the 1982 to 1988 period there was only ONE battle involving US Army troops that could conceivably have put any Army personnel under artillery or mortar fire. This one incident was the short and utterly decisive October 1983 invasion of Grenada. (You can check for yourself on Wikipedia's Timeline of United States Military Operations.)
  
  
• The Grenada invasion force consisted of the 22nd Marine Amphibious Unit, Army Rangers, and paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division. The 82nd is based at Fort Bragg, NC, not in Germany. Neither Bradley nor anyone has claimed he was a Marine. He most certainly wasn't an Army Ranger; you don't get that kind of training on a 2-year bid for college subsidy.
  
  
• I can't imagine a single plausible reason the Army would have flown in a junior MP from Germany to fight a 3-day war in Grenada.

So that's it. It's Grenada or nothing. If Bradley ever told anyone he was in any battle but the Grenada action, based on what I do know and with logic alone I can tell you without any doubt whatsoever that he LIED. And I don't believe for one nanosecond that he was in Grenada, much less took enemy fire there.

If he ever makes dubious Service claims to YOU, don't believe a word of it. Demand that he show you — and me — his discharge, his DD-214 and his disability award letter -- or else to shut up and admit to the truth. Stolen valor isn't just a little white lie. Don't let him get away with it.

READER: If Bradley has told you any of his miltary tales, or if you have any other comments to offer, please click here and tell us about it.

- Not Ken Bradley

OH OH OH - Merry Christmas

As Christmas nears, the Spirit of Giving possesses all of us who enjoy its charms, and Lake Chelan businesses are no exception.

As he has done in three previous years, Ken Bradley is putting on a Christmas event which he bills as "A VISIT WITH SANTA™". The event aims to entertain children in the lead-up to Christmas. Generally it consists of fenced reindeer for the kids to observe, a bag of trinkets given free to each little one, and a tableau featuring a jolly live Santa, where Bradley photographs the visitors. The photos are later displayed in an online gallery that Bradley places on his LakeChelanOnline.com website.

In previous years the event was held at the Whaley Mansion. This year it appears at the Tunnel Hill Winery just outside Chelan on Highway 97A.

As of November of this year, Ken has registered the domain name LAKECHELANSANTA.COM, which he has begun using to promote the event.

The event is funded by donations from local businesses, which are enthusiastically solicited.

WHO WHO WHO

As is his habit, Ken Bradley keeps his own name meticulously out of view. Depending where you look, the event is attributed variously to Lake Chelan Events, the "Lake Chelan Online Network," LakeChelanOnline.com, LakeChelanEvents.com, and LakeChelanOnlineNews.com; but all of those entities are in fact one entity, with one operator: Ken B. Bradley.

Ken’s wife, Rosalyn Bradley, a dance instructor, is handling emails and phone calls to prospective donors. She sent this email to a large list. Note that she omits her last name. She has telephoned and visited past donors and numerous other local businesses and individuals in search of contributions and volunteers.

AH AH AH

Ostensibly, the funds the Bradleys collect are used solely "for the children"; to hire the reindeer, to buy the gift bags and for other event-related costs. The Bradleys have stated positively that they do not profit from the event. In fact, Ken has claimed that his company bears the brunt of the costs.

But persons associated with the past 'Santa' events tell a somewhat different story. Conservative estimates place the total of collected funds from 2006, 2007 and 2008 at more than $20,000. In 2007 specifically, more than $8,500 was raised, all of which was given directly into Ken Bradley's care.

Those persons later made an estimate of the event's costs in 2007. It was based on the known source and price of the gift bags (the largest single expense); the fee of about $1000.00 (give or take $200) for the reindeer; and a few other identifiable expenses. Cost was no more than $4,500, probably less. Some hundreds of gift bags were left unused. Those were gathered up by Bradley and were never seen again.

The 2008 event was similar in all respects. But by then a few donors had grown concerned, and asked that their contributions not be given to Bradley.

Despite requests, then and since, no accounting has yet been provided by Bradley for the disposition of the funds he handled.

When Rosalyn was recently asked for such information in response to a donation request, she replied that she'd have to get that information from the "corporate office."

NO NO NO

There is no corporate office. There is no corporation. There isn't even an address. There's just Ken Bradley and Rosalyn Bradley.

In point of fact, there is no business entity named "Lake Chelan Online Network". A group of so-named Internet domains and websites do exist. Most are registered to "Lake Chelan Online" at PO Box 789, Chelan, WA; but no actual business by that name nor any similar one is licensed in this or any state.

When you give money to the Santa event, you're not giving money to any identifiable business entity. You're simply giving it to the Bradleys.

If the ads on the Santa page are a true representation of donors; and if a significant number of those donors have given more than the $30 minimum, it's fair to say the fund-raising for the 2009 event is already shaping up as a success.

The Bradleys are going to need it.

GO GO GO

Ken has no employer and no apparent source of steady income. Rosalyn's earnings are obviously modest.

All the available facts suggest they have cash flow issues. As one example, recently (see previous article), Ken was evidently hard pressed to maintain the payments for hosting of his LakeChelanOnlineNews.com website, which is the primary vehicle of virtually all his local business dealings. The site went down, very conspicuously — and obviously for lack of payment — for about four days.

By my reckoning, the Bradleys need to obtain at least $52,000 in the very near future in order to maintain any semblance of financial stability.

Why $52,000? And how do I know?

It's all on public record.

On the 1st of May of this year, Bradley was sued by a creditor to whom he owed past-due payment on a pair of $75,000 promissory notes dating from early 2005. Those notes were included in the public filing of the suit (they had not previously been placed on public record). They require a payment of $5,000 each January; together, $10,000 yearly.

Two weeks after the suit was filed, on 15 May, Bradley had secured a short-term loan for $42,000 using his property at 100 Little Butte Ranch Road as collateral. By that time, Bradley had evaded three attempts to serve him with the summons, which must occur for the suit to commence. Presumably using the loan, he then paid the past due amount in dispute, rendering the lawsuit moot; it was dropped.

The loan appears to have also been used to obtain a used double-wide mobile home that appeared on the Butte property about that time; as well as a vehicle for Ken's wife. Previously, there had been only a large garage as the sole permanent structure on the property.

Bradley was sued in June by the Little Butte Property Owners, a homeowners' association on the Butte which provides his water and maintains the access road. He had reportedly sworn for years that he'd never paid them a dime — and never would. But the process service succeeded this time. He duly appeared in court, lost the case, and was required to pay court costs and more than $700 in back fees.

The $42,000 note, plus interest, came due on 15 November 2009. If it were paid, a "reconveyance" of the deed Ken Bradley placed in trust would be on record. The County records are updated in real time when a document is filed. As of 11 December 2009, that record does not exist. (Search Chelan County Documents for BRADLEY KEN B or Parcel #272215340050)

WOE WOE WOE

Typically the gears of foiled finance begin grinding in earnest when payment is 30 days in default. Presumably then, around the 15th of December, Bradley will be sent a notice of default, which will contain an unmistakable threat of foreclosure. If the creditor is so inclined, 100 Little Butte Ranch Road could go on the auction block within weeks* about 4 months.

Ken Bradley is no stranger to this process. His house in North Bend was slated for auction no less than four times, some years ago. (The records don't show how he managed to avert those sales. He sold that home, clearly under duress, in early 2004 and moved to Chelan.)

Based on its history, the Santa event can't possibly provide enough funds to bail Ken out of the potential foreclosure. It might stave off the January creditor to a substantial degree.

The latter creditor is the party who sold the Little Butte Ranch Road property to Bradley in the first place.

Amazingly, in 2005 Ken and his wife were given an unencumbered deed to that property by that seller, for a nominal on-paper payment of $3,400. The $150,000 in promissory notes is, without a doubt, the balance due to the seller for that transaction; but it was never recorded as such. It is for all intents and purposes a signature loan.

Hence, Bradley's residence is not in direct or immediate jeopardy if he should fail to pay the $10,000 that comes due in January.

Unless the Bradleys find some means of rescue from the creditor who CAN foreclose, they may need funds to manage the transfer of their family to a new abode.

In their place, many a parent might pursue an income as audaciously as Ken and his wife are doing.

HO HO HO

The generosity of those who support the Santa event is a tribute to their good intentions and to their genuine wish to give the kids a merry Christmas. They are in no way diminished by any of the above-mentioned facts.

Doubtless the event will happen, as it should. Doubtless many kids will be thrilled.

Common sense (and the law, see below) says that donors would be within their rights to request, even to demand, a full and fully documented accounting for the funds they contribute. But perhaps it's just as well if they simply recognize that they're giving a merrier Christmas to the Bradleys as well as to the event's attendees.

- Not Ken Bradley

Comments invited! Just click on that tiny "Comments" link at the top.
*Corrected 15 Dec — Ref. RCW 61.24.040

---

Related Facts:

• Ken Bradley claims to be working under a grant from a large international shipping and consulting firm called "Branting International". He says the grant's purpose is the support of businesses in the Lake Chelan area. This is frequently the basis on which he approaches prospective customers and donors.
  
  
• Ken Bradley has never actually demonstrated that he is the recipient of any grant from any entity anywhere.
  
  
• Ken Bradley is the sole proprietor of a business licensed in Washington State under the name of "Branting International." Branting International has no real assets on record, no offices, no legitimate address (its address of record is a former residence from sometime prior to 1998), and no discernible history of having done any business anywhere with anyone; except that Ken does use the name in some of his Internet registrations. If you're looking for Branting International and you happen to find Ken Bradley, you're seeing 100% of Branting International standing there before you. It is he and he is it.
  
  
• Hence, if Branting International actually were ever to give Ken Bradley a grant, it would be Ken Barry Bradley giving a grant to Ken Barry Bradley. He wouldn't even have to move the money — assuming he had any — from his left pocket to the right.
  
  
• Branting/Ken Bradley does not have any employees — not in Germany (as he consistently claims) and not anywhere else. Its website is a deceptive and utterly uninformative façade.
  
  
• Ken Bradley is the sole operator of his business ventures, in company only with his wife Rosalyn, who consistently supports his fictions. Everything Ken attributes to others in the "company" or "corporation" is entirely his own personal doing and his own personal responsibility.
  
  
• Ken Bradley has no non-profit corporation. He DID have one, named "World Cultural Foundation"; which, until June of 2009, was registered in Washington State as a nonprofit. Anyone can have a nonprofit corporation for the cost of a small filing fee.
  
  
• Online and off, verbally and in writing, Bradley has consistently claimed World Cultural Foundation is a "501(c)3" tax-exempt corporation. (Jan 1997) (Dec 2004) In fact, World Cultural Foundation has never at any time had 501(c)3 status. All that exist are listed here; and their IRS reports are public documents.
  
  
• Donations to Ken Bradley and/or to his events are not tax deductible and never have been.
  
  
• "Brad Snow, PHD", who was on record as an officer of World Cultural Foundation, does not exist. The name is an alias used by Ken Bradley. "Andrea Lamers" is likewise an alias, though I have one unconfirmed report that she was a real person Ken once knew; the same applies to "Terry Schmautz." There may be other aliases, but these three are certain. Local persons and businesses have at various times received emails from all three of those names in the course of their dealings with Bradley; consequently they may never have known they WERE dealing with Ken Bradley. All of the emails I have examined that used those names came only from Bradley's computer up there on the Butte.
  
  
• For the record, Chapter 19.09 of the Revised Code of Washington Law (RCW) lays out the law on the subject of charitable solicitations. Ken and Rosalyn Bradley are in direct and obvious violation of some of those laws. There are unambiguous requirements for clear and complete identification of themselves, their business, and its location There are very clear rules about public financial disclosure (must) and profiting from the collections (must not/must disclose). Other rules in Chapter 19.09, major and minor, would seem to be broken as well. I invite the reader to click on that link and look it over. The legal language isn't too dense, and it may help you to judge when any solicitor who contacts you is or isn't acting within the law.
  

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Click to enlarge.

Ken Bradley's Lake Chelan Online News website along with its companion site, Lake Chelan Events, has been non-operational for about the past three days. Its only sign of existence as of this date and time is the page seen above.

According to my sources, Bradley has responded to questions about his disabled site. He claims "new software" is being installed and that the sites must be offline for the purpose.

In fact, those two sites are hosted on Bulletlink, which is designed specifically to host newspaper-type websites. Bulletlink is essentially a "pre-fabricated" hosting system. The "software" is Bulletlink's.

Although it's not necessarily obvious to the untrained eye, I can tell you the "error" page you see on those two domains is the usual result of not paying one's hosting fees. The giveaway is the link you visit if you click on the giant purple text "lakechelanonlinenews.com" that is the only content of the page.
That link: http://www.lakechelanonlinenews.com/loginexpired.asp?h=lakechelanonlinenews.com

The "loginexpired" part tells us that the account relating to that domain is "expired" i.e. its term of paid-for hosting has ended.

Further evidence supports this conclusion. The server that has hosted Bradley's Bulletlink sites (and now hosts only "error" pages) is at IP address 64.182.89.172. That server is a multi-host; it houses a large number of other websites, all of which appear to be completely operational.

Here's a partial (yes, PARTIAL!) list of the other sites on that same server:

arcadianewsleader.com
arcoadvertiser.com
arlingtontimes.com
ashnews.com
asianjournalusa.com
badvance.com
balitapinoy.net
barbertonherald.com
bellinghambulletin.com
browardinformer.com
bschillsboro.com
bulletinnewspapers.com
bulletlink.com
business-journal.com
butlercountytribune.com
carlyleobserver.com
chamberofcommercejournal.net
cheneyfreepress.com
claycountyleader.com
clintoncourier.com
clippertoday.com
communitytimes.com
cookeville.com
countywidenews.com
crossville.com
elcentroamericano.net
exit27.com
fingerlakesclassifieds.com
fingerlakesmedia.com
frederickpress.net
gardnernews.com
gotown-crier.com
gotowncrier.com
gotransport.net
hamptonchronicle.com
henricocitizen.com
heritagefl.com
hillsbororeporter.com
horryindependent.com
hotspotjournal.com
hydeparkbulletin.com
iaahouston.com
india-herald.com
jamaicaplainbulletin.com
jhvonline.com
jodibarrows.com
journalpress.com
kenlynews.com
khbrhillsboro.com
kingfisherpress.net
laindependent.com
lakelander.com
lamardemocrat.com
latinotoday.net
lennoxnews.com
lexingtonchronicle.com
liberalopinion.com
lindalenews-times.com
loscerritosnews.net
malakoffnews.net
marioncountynews.net
marysvilleglobe.com
michigancitizen.com
midhudsontimes.com
miltontimes.com
minorleaguefootballnews.com
msjnews.com
myrevere.net
myrtlebeachherald.com
nenewsroom.com
newkirkherald.com
newsatnorman.com
nwosportsbeat.net
oakhillgazette.net
okcfriday.com
pacificpublishinginc.net
patriotsherald.net
pendoreillerivervalley.com
pennypower.com
pittsfieldgazette.com
plancsf.org
positiveentertainment.net
postnewsgroup.net
ramonasentinel.com
rejoicemagazine.net
roslindalebulletin.com
sandiegocountynews.com
scotsmanonline.com
sentinel-tribune.com
shelbycountynews.net
sopghreporter.com
soysource.net
spanishjournal.com
squareinasquare.com
starcouriernews.com
successfuloffice.net
tcvpub.com
texasjewishpost.com
the-leader.net
thecrier.com
thedowsadvocate.net
theretrospect.com
thetimesdaily.com
thetipsheet.net
toodyayherald.com.au
trinityjournal.com
tunicatimes.com
ubstandard.com
undertheappletree.com.au
vernal.com
wallkillvalleytimes.net
waunakeetribune.com
wavenewspapers.com
wcregister.net
weeklypress.com
westleague.com
westroxburybulletin.com
westwindsbookshop.com
wwpinfo.com
www.plancsf.org

If the server were down, they'd ALL be down. So the fact is inescapable: when Bradley says the server is down for a software change, he is LYING.

What's all this mean? Most significantly, it means that until he pays, Bradley has no access to his own sites. Nor has the public. And if he lets it go long enough, Bulletlink will delete the delinquent account's content. If lakechelanonlinenews.com is to survive past that point, Bradley must re-setup the site entirely; presumably on some other hosting service.

This raises more questions. Lakechelanonlinenews.com is Bradley's primary vehicle for many of his local business dealings as well as his broader online presence. It seems very unlikely he'd allow the domain to remain down for so long; unless money posed a serious problem. So we must wonder: Is Bradley having a cash flow problem? If Ken can't pay Bulletlink, what about Adhost, which hosts the balance of his domains and those of his clients? If he lets THAT account lapse, every one of his remaining sites and those of his hosted clients will go offline.

If things go that far awry, it could get messy. Because Bradley owns and controls most of his customers' domain names, those clients will be completely at his mercy, unable to re-establish their sites under other hosting except with Bradley's direct assistance and cooperation.

I believe Ken Bradley's customers should consider acting immediately to take full control of their sites and domains, simply as a matter of sound policy if not in response to the apparent instability of his enterprise.

Welcome!

As of 2009-05-24, notkenbradley.com is about half complete.

Beyond the brief index page, it consists of three main pages:

1. The tale of my first encounters with Ken Bradley and the rationale for this website, titled Bradley, Behaving Badly (link);
   
2. The Timeline, with its large number of reference documents and pointers to their online sources (link) — which will be continually updated. This is the central 'core' of information that is the factual basis for this website;
   
3. The Gallery, nearly complete at the moment but certain to grow (link).

The most recent content addition was to the Gallery on 17 April; photos of Ken Bradley from his 1982 Mercer Island High School Yearbook.

And, as of this date, this blog was created.

Planned additions are:

• A page that focuses on Bradley's place of residence. This is relevant for Bradley's local victims and targets, because it debunks his consistent misrepresentations about his supposedly palatial home.
  
• A page dedicated to Bradley's Washington State business titled Branting International. The core facts exist on the Timeline. However, its factual history needs to be juxtaposed with Bradley's misrepresentations.
  
• A page about Bradley's nonprofit corporation, World Cultural Foundation, its nonexistent officers and, again, Bradley's falsehoods in contrast to the facts.
  
• Bradley operates International Pen Friends (not to be confused with the legitimate organizations by that name outside the US and on the Web, whose name and history he sought to usurp) under the aegis of World Cultural Foundation. A page will be created that describes the facts and fictions about that enterprise.
  
• Probably, there will be a page devoted to analysis of the aliases Bradley has used in his efforts to create the false illusion of an organization with numerous staff. Examples are Brad Snow and Andrea Lamers (both also listed as WCF corporate officers), Terry Schmautz, and others.
  
• There are numerous court documents yet to be obtained, and a handful of known facts for which public documentation is yet to be found.
  
• Bradley continues to make statements to others, some of which are getting back to me. He now claims, for instance, that his financial troubles that date from around the year 2000 (see Timeline) were the result of a major car accident in which he was injured; that during his recovery all his affairs were in the apparently gravely irresponsible care of his "best friend." Serious injury auto accidents are matters of public record. So far I can find no evidence of any such accident involving Ken Bradley in King County; except possibly for one that may have occurred many years earlier. I'm in the process of obtaining records of that earlier accident and the civil litigation that may have resulted from it. This and other matters may need to be given special attention.

My available time for this website is limited. Feedback from readers will help me decide priorities.

I invite public comments and private emails from anyone who knows or has known Ken Bradley or his victims. Help me to ensure that Bradley cannot continue to lie with impunity.

I stand by the accuracy of any and all information presented here; but mistakes do happen. Please don't hesitate to notify me of any error you may find.

I expect most of my blog posts to detail updates and changes to the website. But one never knows. If Bradley's antics necessitate it, I may have any number of new stories to tell.