[blparent] Full and Open Disclosure

[Jo Elizabeth Pinto]

Hi, all.  Gabe Vega, in a private message he wrote to me, accused me of misrepresenting my income and job situation to this list in an effort to make myself look better than I really am.  Moreover, he claims to have looked my personal information up online, which is how he found out about the supposed lies I told.  I shouldn't have to justify myself to him or to anybody else, but I try to live a life of integrity, and so, in case any of the rest of you feel that I portrayed myself dishonestly, here is the whole truth.

I receive a monthly check from the Social Security Administration, but it is an SSD check, not SSI or welfare, as Gabe originally claimed.  I was on SSI at one time, but I eventually paid into the system enough to qualify for SSD, as per the regulations of the United States government.  I still pay into the system via yearly income taxes, and a 15% Social Security tax, which is required of people who are self-employed.  I'm sorry if my denial of receiving SSI or welfare was interpreted to mean that I got no government money at all.

In addition to my monthly SSD check, which is just enough to cover my $921 mortgage payment, I also work as an independent contractor, proofreading braille for several production houses across the country.  Gabe accused me of playing up the income from my job when it was, he said, in actuality pocket change.  Last year I made $10,623.95, gross income.  In the first year I started doing freelance proofreading, which was 2005, I earned $20,750.85.  In my best year, which was 2006, I grossed $28,653.30.  The economy is very far down since then.

Gerald, who is not my husband, makes fairly good money as the sole proprietor of a watch and clock repair shop in the town where we live.  I am not at liberty to disclose the figures.  However, he has another household for which he is largely, though not wholly, responsible.  So, as I said in my original defense against Gabe's first attacking post, most of the money to support myself and my daughter comes from me.

I don't know exactly what information Gabe found out about me online, or how he came by what he did locate.  I feel threatened by the fact that he decided to dig into my private business via the Internet, and if he can really ferret out facts as easily as he says he can, the rest of you ought to be careful not to bring his wrath, or his detective skills, down on your heads.  But I'm not threatened by telling the truth, and so I have given all of you a full and open disclosure of the facts in question.

Regards,
Jo Elizabeth

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."  Maya Angelou