Industrial Heat's James A. Bass: President of Reactance Engineering Inc and Engineer for JM Products

I'll try to be as coherent as possible in this post.

Data Point One -- According to a new court docket document, Darden himself among others met James A. Bass in person.

"During the week of February 9, 2015, Thomas Darden, John T. Vaughn visited the Testing Facility with Paul Lamacraft (and possibly Harry Raikes) from the Woodford Fund ("Woodford"). The visited lasted approximately two hours and the purpose of the visit was toe meet with Andrea Rossi, Fulvio Fabiani, James Bass, and Bary West."

Data Point Two -- In the above referenced document, an address for James A. Bass is provided.

James Bass 515 NE 8th Avenue
Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Data Point Three -- The address is used for the registering of Reactance Engineering Inc.

http://us-companies.info/fl/29…reactance_engineering_inc

Data Point Four -- A photo of James Bass is provided on a "LinkedIn" page stating he is the President of Reactance Engineering. The photo is clear and vivid. If Darden and other individuals from I.H. did indeed go to the plant to meet him, they should be able to recognize him from the photograph without problem. They wouldn't list this James Bass as being "the" James Bass unless they were certain he was the man they met at the Doral site.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bass-38b2721

Data Point Five -- A photo of James Bass, of the same person above, is on Google Plus.

https://plus.google.com/103592467864801831205

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My hope for this thread is that we can try to discuss the information that is openly available for this individual and how it relates to the testing of the plant in Doral, Fl. At the end of this email, I'll post the contents of a document I've found online detailing his career and experience. Additional information seems to be available on "LinkedIn."

Now, a few questions.

1) If I.H. met this individual in person (which they surely did) and he was openly listed on such a prominent website, why did they start off the lawsuit acting as if they thought he was a hired actor and probably not an engineer?

2) Can we be reasonably sure this is THE James A. Bass that actually worked in the plant?

3) Should the time it took for them to locate him (remember certain individuals on this board were telling us that I.H. had the resources to do top notch investigative work and if he could be found he would have already been found) give us any reason to hold back from being certain this is *the* James A. Bass? Remember, they referred to him as a "John Doe" for a period of time in court paperwork. Could they be less than completely certain this is the man their representatives remember from the Doral, Fl plant?

4) Does this individual seem qualified to perform the function of an engineer in a chemical manufacturing plant? After a quick review, it doesn't seem that he has any chemical engineering experience.

5) This individual seems to have an extensive and credible professional work history in technical fields. Does this have any relevance to this saga?

6) Can anyone find any connection, even a loose one, to Johnson Matthey?

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http://www.beyond.com/CEF8BBA9…00#CareerSummaryAccordion

James Bass Miramar, FL

Job Function: Information Technology, Customer Service Highest Education: 4-Year College Degree

Portfolio: http://www.beyond.com/CEF8BBA9-6D69-41D1-BBA4-E7DD3A8AF900

Career Summary Highly acclaimed engineer / manager of network engineering, product development and quality assurance groups with proven track record for delivering high performance, stable network systems and services. Outstanding reputation for ensuring customer satisfaction and for training and leading focused engineering teams. Experienced with debuggers, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, oscilloscopes, and spectrum analyzers Network Capacity Planning Traffic Engineering Network Simulation FR, ATM, TCP/IP (CCNA) Embedded Linux WiFI/ WiMax/ Mvdds Long Distance Cisco / Aruba/ Meru Distributed WiFi MS SQL, MySQL, Oracle MS Server, RHEL Linux Server

Work Experience

Automation Test Engineer Voalte, Inc, Voalte, Inc Jan '13 - Jun '14 (1 Year, 5 Months) Voalte, Inc - Sarasota, Fl 2013 - Current Automation Test Engineer Responsible for automation testing for distributed WiFi on iPhone and Android Clients. Designed and incorporated automated test capability using programmable RF attenuators for Cisco, Aruba, and Meru distributed WiFi systems. RF Project Engineer Clearband/Cablevision, Clearband/Cablevision Jan '12 - Jan '13 (1 Year, 1 Month) Clearband/Cablevision Pompano Beach, Fl 2012 2013 RF Project Engineer Project Engineer for Clearband, a wireless internet service provider. Design and manage central transmitter sites with WiMax and MVDDS high frequency / high bandwidth internet. Design and implement the IP infrastructure and integrate with the radios. Quality Assurance Manager Optical Crime Prevention, Inc, Optical Crime Prevention, Inc Jan '10 - Jan '12 (2 Years) Optical Crime Prevention, Inc Sunrise, Fl 2010 - 2012 Quality Assurance Manager Manager of the Quality Assurance Program in OCP, a five man startup developing video surveillance equipment for remote access and storage over the internet. Develop test programs and network simulation in Linux servers to test Linux imbedded CPE devices and applications. Senior Test Engineer Emergin Philips, Emergin Philips Jan '07 - Jan '10 (3 Years) Emergin Philips. Boca Raton, Fl 2007 - 2010 Senior Test Engineer Responsible for performance and stress testing of Emergins Hospital Alarming and Paging Systems. Test systems integration with Windows Server, SQL Data Base, and networking. Develop C# applications and scripts for automation testing and measurements. Manager Network International Solutions, Inc, Network International Solutions, Inc Jan '01 - Dec '06 (5 Years, 11 Months)

Network International Solutions, Inc Pompano Beach, FL 2001 - 2006 Manager Network Engineering Design and turnup a set of new converged service offerings (IP/VPN, VoIP, Video Conferencing, and SOHO telecommuting) utilizing wireline and wireless technologies while maintaining existing legacy traffic for major U.S. banks. Implement long distance wireless Triple Play networks with Alvarion WiFi/WiMax radios in Hollywood, California for the film industry. Sales Support Manager Business Development Remote Office, Remote Office Jan '99 - Jan '01 (2 Years, 1 Month) Nortel Networks Deerfield Beach, FL (Remote Office) 1999 - 2001 Sales Support Manager Business Development, Emerging Carrier Market Provided technical support to the business development sales managers. This support included technical product presentations, sales personnel and customer personnel training, technical responses to RFPs, as well as providing onsite product demos & evaluation trials. Was given specific recognition for key contributions to numerous major contracts won; specifically Oglethorpe Power. Manager of U.S. Product Test Virtual Access PLC, Virtual Access PLC Jan '98 - Jan '99 (1 Year) Virtual Access PLC., Deerfield Beach, Florida 1998 - 1999 Manager of U.S. Product Test Provided product assurance and customer application testing for the LinxSpeed Pro ISDN router. Specifically responsible for LinxSpeed Pro product release to the U. S. market. In addition to release QA testing I also provided technical support for all U.S. field trials. Manager of Presales Technical Support for Latin America Subsidiary of ECI Telecom, Subsidiary of ECI Telecom Jan '92 - Jan '98 (6 Years, 1 Month) Telematics International, Inc. (Subsidiary of ECI Telecom) 1992 - 1998 Manager of Presales Technical Support for Latin America. Responsibilities were presales, proposals, field trials, and customer training for Latin America on the PCP Frame/X.25 switches and ACP Access PADs. Language skills in Spanish and Portuguese were also used to translate RFPs and responses as well as verbal technical support and training. Manager of U. S. Customer Service Telematics International, Inc, Telematics International, Inc Jan '90 - Jan '92 (2 Years) Telematics International, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, FL 1990 - 1992 Manager of U. S. Customer Service Managed the Field Support Group consisting of ten (10) field service engineers working with X.25, Frame, and TDM networks distributed around the U. S. and Latin America. Major accomplishment during this period was the significant improvement of customer satisfaction metrics that resulted in a dramatic increase in customer service contract revenue. Manager of Network Products Quality Assurance Telematics International, Inc, Telematics International, Inc Jan '87 - Jan '90 (3 Years) Telematics International, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, FL 1987 - 1990 Manager of Network Products Quality Assurance With the support and direction of executive management I formed a new systems test group specifically chartered to Stress Test all switch products. To meet the objectives my team and I designed and built a wide area network simulator system to test X.25 packet and Frame Relay switching equipment. The resulting automated test platform was aptly named Rambo for its extraordinary capabilities in stressing both hardware and software system components. This system was completely automated and could be easily programmed or configured to stress any particular aspect of a systems error handling or recovery elements. "Rambo" was responsible for the elimination of several hundred service affecting (i.e. Level 1- Severe) problems within X.25, Frame Relay, SNA, and IP product suite. Presales Technical Support Telematics International, Inc, Telematics International, Inc Jan '85 - Jan '87 (2 Years) Telematics International, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, FL 1985 - 1987 Presales Technical Support Provided standard presales technical support e.g. field trials, proposals, customer training, installations, for numerous WAN customers.

Senior MTS Engineer Computer Products, Inc, Computer Products, Inc Jan '85 - Dec '85 (11 Months) Computer Products, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, FL 1985 Senior MTS Engineer Designed the microcode on the Host Interface Processor for the ASL Flight Simulator Senior MTS, Manager of Hardware Development Modular Computer Systems, Modular Computer Systems Jan '82 - Jan '85 (3 Years) Modular Computer Systems 1982 - 1985 Senior MTS, Manager of Hardware Development Development manager/codesigner of the Distributed Communications Subsystem. Managed five engineers in the design and implementation of a new communications architecture.
Education
Bachelor Degree '74 Rutgers University Jan '74 BSEE Rutgers University, 1974 Summa Cum Laude Deans List, Presidents List, Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Pi. Bachelor Degree | Spanish Software: numerous assemblers, Visual Basic, C, C#, Windows Server, MS SQL, MySQL, Oracle, Linux, Unix, Alcatel Motive CPE Network Manager, National Instruments LabView. Speak fluent Spanish and conversant in French and Portuguese
Skills
Systems Engineering (Advanced) 7 to 8 Years Process Control (Advanced) 7 to 8 Years Proposals (Advanced) 7 to 8 Years Technical Support (Expert) More than 10 Years Presales (Advanced) 7 to 8 Years

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Interesting Find

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/bu…ation-20151030-story.html

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/…o-Ms.-Judith-M.-Conti.pdf

Laurie Yadoff, supervising attorney at Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida in Plantation, said Florida's $77
million online filing system itself is the first obstacle for the unemployed. If an applicant doesn't initially answer
the security questions correctly, the person can't get back into the system.

"The only way is to call a specific number for assistance to verify your identification. When you call the number,
it tells you that there is no one to assist you — try again," she said.

If the caller gets through, the person can get a temporary pin to get back into the system — but that doesn't re­
open the person's case so he or she can claim benefits.

Jim Bass of Deerfield Beach applied for benefits in 2014 and was asked: "Where have you not lived with your ex­
wife?" Bass, a software engineer, said he thought the question about his ex­wife's address was "absurd."

"I was so offended at that question," said Bass, who had been divorced from her since 1986. "I hadn't been in
communication with her for years. How in the world am I supposed to know that?"

Unemployment workers told him: "We're sorry. We can't verify your identity," even though he has lived in the
same house since the 1980s. Finally, he was directed to fax a copy of his Social Security card. He didn't have a
physical card so he went to the Social Security office to get a temporary one and faxed it to the state as requested.
Weeks went by and he heard nothing, so he called again and was told that no one could verify getting his Social
Security document. Bass said he got benefits only after he called his Florida legislator, Rep. George Moraitis Jr.,
R­Fort Lauderdale.

Quote from MrSelfSustain

1) If I.H. met this individual in person (which they surely did) and he was openly listed on such a prominent website, why did they start off the lawsuit acting as if they thought he was a hired actor and probably not an engineer?

Weak inferences from the IH filings created the impression reported. In the original answer, Document 29:

Quote

80. Leonardo, Rossi, JMP, Johnson and Fabiani even went so far as to create a fictional JMP employee – James A. Bass, Director of Engineering for JMP. Despite diligent search, Counter-Plaintiffs have not been able to identify or locate this individual, for the simple reason that he does not exist. Rather, Leonardo, Rossi, JMP, Johnson and Fabiani created this fictional person as a means of making JMP appear to be a real manufacturing company that would need a Director of Engineering and to create a person with whom they would allegedly interact on technical issues involving JMP’s non-existent operations and operational needs

It's important to understand that a party to a lawsuit may make allegations and state as fact what is only suspicion. That is what IH was doing at this point. "Does not exist" was a manner of speech. Of course somebody existed, that's obvious, Darden met him and we now know when. However, was that his real name, and a name alone did not clearly identify him. "Created a person" would refer to hiring or otherwise inducing someone to play the role of "Director of Engineering." Remember, this is how we can assume the matter appeared to IH, writing that Answer.

The Amended Answer names Bass as a counter-claim defendant:

Quote

“JOHN DOE” a/k/a James A. Bass (“Bass”)

and then we have:

Quote

21. Third-Party Defendant “Bass,” upon information and belief, is a citizen of Florida with a primary residence in this judicial district.

The Second Amended Answer simply refers to James A. Bass and has:

Quote

21. Third-Party Defendant Bass, upon information and belief, is a citizen of Florida with a primary residence in this judicial district.

The only change is the removal of quotation marks, because at this point they had sufficient information to consider Bass as the real name. It looks like they did not yet have the specific address, but this has become an inconsequential detail. It appears that a motion to quash service of a subpoena was filed to prevent IH from obtaining phone information that would identify Bass. In the order suspending that subpoena, Johnson was directed to supply whatever information he had, and if this had proven inadequate, the subpoena to the phone provider would have gone through. We do not know exactly how this resolved, but, whatever, Bass was located and apparently served, and Bass is sharing an attorney with Johnson. My guess is that Johnson is paying those fees.

That one person has the same name as another does not mean that they are the same person. As was shown, there are many people with the name. Which one? IH would not just serve a notice of suit on some random James Bass. They would need specific reason to consider the person the same as the one they had met. The only means of identification they would have had was visual, from Darden's recollection. That can be shaky and unreliable. Rather, they simply looked for specific connection, and Rossi and/or Johnson would certainly know, and would be legally obligated to provide the information. Rather obviously, they resisted, but that was not going to fly.

To me, the resistance is highly suspicious, though it is possibly explainable. "Secret customer" and all that.

Quote

2) Can we be reasonably sure this is THE James A. Bass that actually worked in the plant?

Yes, though "worked in the plant" is surmise. This is the same person as the one who represented, or who allowed the representation, that he was Director of Engineering for JM Products.

Quote

3) Should the time it took for them to locate him (remember certain individuals on this board were telling us that I.H. had the resources to do top notch investigative work and if he could be found he would have already been found) give us any reason to hold back from being certain this is *the* James A. Bass? Remember, they referred to him as a "John Doe" for a period of time in court paperwork. Could they be less than completely certain this is the man their representatives remember from the Doral, Fl plant?

Gad, the thinking this displays! Sorry.

IH has major resources, but may not devote them when there is a simpler, cheaper way. When they referred to "John Doe" they were leaving open the possibility that James A. Bass was not his real name. After all, once something is being faked, how much is real?

Quote

4) Does this individual seem qualified to perform the function of an engineer in a chemical manufacturing plant? After a quick review, it doesn't seem that he has any chemical engineering experience.

That is what was apparent to me from the Linked-in profile. Bass was an experienced engineer, but not in that field. However, I could do a job like this. Mostly, one keeps one's mouth shut. It looks professional. Ah, I recall a Feynman story.... but it's not for here.... Summary, though: to look like a total genius, say almost nothing when you don't understand what is in front of you. Then, at some point, as a suspicion appears of something, ask about it, casually.

5) This individual seems to have an extensive and credible professional work history in technical fields. Does this have any relevance to this saga?
Well, he is an independent consultant. That is a fancy name, sometimes, for "unemployed." My guess is that his hour rate would be somewhere in the ball park of $100. To Rossi, willing to pay $30,000 per month to maintain the appearance of a "customer," trivial. He could have had full time staff there, moving random crap in and out.

Quote

6) Can anyone find any connection, even a loose one, to Johnson Matthey?

Of course. Evidence in a case called "Rossi v. Darden." Johnson and Rossi asserted it before the plant was moved to Doral, according to IH. Then the first invoice had that tag line about "Advanced Derivatives of Johnson Matthew platinum sponges." and "platinum sponge," is an actual Johnson Matthey product.

Directly, James A. Bass himself? I very much doubt it.

Quote

6) Can anyone find any connection, even a loose one, to Johnson Matthey?

The lawsuit is for 89 million. Not a trivial amount. I wonder if Johnson Matthey, if they have never been involved with Rossi at all, would send Rossi a "cease and desist" about making any claims related to them? I guess if they are involved, it will come out in court. Also, technically, perhaps the name Matthew versus Matthey is enough to leave them out of the picture?

This truly is a more interesting drama than what is on TV!

Quote from Bob

6)

The lawsuit is for 89 million. Not a trivial amount.

You noticed.

Quote

I wonder if Johnson Matthey, if they have never been involved with Rossi at all, would send Rossi a "cease and desist" about making any claims related to them? I guess if they are involved, it will come out in court. Also, technically, perhaps the name Matthew versus Matthey is enough to leave them out of the picture?

I am not sure that Johnson Matthey would bother, so far. The original representation was private, verbal. That "invoice request" was also private. My guess is that IH has, in fact, contacted them.

No, the prior verbal claim sets the context for that letterhead, and "Johnson Matthew platinum sponges" very clearly connects with the real company, even though there is a spelling difference.

I just googled it. Google corrected the spelling and came up with, first hit, http://www.platinum.matthey.co…-of-platinum-group-metals.

Insisting on the original spelling comes up with pages about Rossi v. Darden and ... some pages from Johnson Matthey as well, because "platinum sponges" still connects to them.

There are actually two spelling errors. "Sponge" is in this case a collective noun, it refers to powdered material. So the plural could be an error as well.
The plural form does exist, however, probably referring to varieties of platinum sponge. So it is not necessarily wrong, maybe JMP was working with various platinum sponges, not just one.

The whole charade seems phenomenally clumsy, not designed to withstand any serious scrutiny. Yes, I can understand why those who support Rossi can then think that "fraud" here would be so totally stupid that it is implausible. After all, Rossi doesn't seem to be a gibbering idiot.

Until we look at the evidence. In theory, Rossi could still pull a rabbit out of the hat. He has not answered the counter-complaint yet. That is where he can submit piles of evidence, as IH did in their own answer to his complaint.

Anyone who has done any deep reading on cold fusion would immediately recognize "Johnson Matthey." That company loaned the palladium to Pons and Fleischmann, created helium-ion-implanted palladium for use in the Morrey helium collaboration, etc. They are a big part of the Cold Fusion Story.

For an example of made-up BS on this, see Sifferkoll's blog: http://www.sifferkoll.se/siffe…atthey-chemical-products/ -- and the comments.

As they say, "not even wrong." Like most of what he writes.

Quote from Shane D.

IH should be going for the jugular on this if they have some solid proof. Even the Third Parties (Johnson/Bass/JMP) seem to tacitly admit they are not who they claimed, by saying in their filing to only be a: "company in Miami with a need for low temperature steam", or something like that. In IH's shoes I would be all over this.

They are. They have created a prima facie case. I expect the Johnson motion to dismiss (now part of Doc. 69) will generally fail. IH has not responded yet, "Responses due by 11/7/2016."

In general, expect parties to take as long as possible to respond. There is generally no cost to this, and maybe they will think of something else before filing, or new evidence may become available. New evidence is generally not relevant to an MTD, because such are decided on narrow legal grounds, not "truth," but there is still the issue of taking maximum care in pleadings.

One more point: JM Products has not said that they were a "company in Miami" etc. The only document filed so far is a Motion to Dismiss, which will be entirely based on alleged legal defects in the complaint, not on any factual matter, unless it is established by the counter-plaintiff's own filing or exhibits. Rather, their recitation of the claim has been seen as an admission or acceptance. An MTD generally accepts nothing. The MTD postpones the time for Answer, for obvious reasons. Their Answer(s) will show what they accept and do not accept. Once the MTD pleadings are complete -- they are not yet, IH can reply and I think that the mover can then attempt to rebut --, expect the Judge to take some time, perhaps weeks, to rule.

Popcorn, anyone?

Quote from LENR Calender

The letterhead was actually “Advanced Derivatives of Johnson Matthew Platinum Sponges.” , which while it does "connect" with Johnson Matthe(y), only implies that Johnson Matthey is a supplier.

If a bar bills you for a Rum and Coke, it doesn't imply that they are linked to The Coca Cola Company. Other than a supplier-client relationship.

This is correct; however, the letterhead did not show up in a vacuum. IH claims that Rossi and Johnson made the claim of connection with Johnson Matthey, verbally, when they met in North Carolina, when the Terms Sheet was negotiated and when Johnson signed that declaration of non-ownership.

Quote from Paradigmnoia

I would not doubt that Johnson Matthey would immediately send a cease and desist letter to anyone appearing to infringe on their name for business purposes if they heard about it.
How long do you think one could sell McDonald Big Max burgers for before lawyers sent one a letter?

As LENR Calender points out, they were not selling their own product, claiming to be Johnson Matthew. It is even possible that, in North Carolina, they said something like what was on the letterhead, and this was interpreted by Vaughn and others there as claiming affiliation or ownership.

Rossi, in fact, is famous for making statements that have some obvious ordinary interpretation, but later the reality is something else, but there is plausible deniability with respect to the original claim. Rossi can say "I didn't mean that!"

However, there is a substance here, that is not so easily avoided. Was there an independent company, or was JMP controlled by Rossi? What is going to be fascinating, if it becomes public, is where the money came from to pay IH the plant rental. Did IH actually invoice and collect? We don't know. But if they did, then ... follow the money!

Quote from LENR Calender

I did not know that IH claims that Rossi claimed a connection to Johnson Matthey. Might be hard to prove if it was verbal.

This is a common misconception, assuming that there must be some "objective proof," like a document or recording. In fact, all testimony in a trial is ultimately verbal (at least attested under oath); however, when there are documents, it is stronger. Basic legal principle: testimony is presumed true unless controverted. Notice that Rossi's case for fraud is founded in alleged verbal statements made to him by Darden and Vaughn that actually contradict the signed agreement, but if Darden and Vaughn actually made those statements, and if they were as represented -- two different issues, because human memory is plastic and we tend to remember our interpretation of meaning over the actual words -- there might be a case, and that is why the Judge didn't toss it on a Motion for Dismissal.

In this case, I assume that Darden and/or Vaughn and/or someone else present is prepared to testify to what Rossi and Johnson said. They can deny it, risking a possible perjury charge -- if they did actually say it and somehow this is more definitively shown, which can happen, sometimes -- , and then a jury would decide who was more believable, if it matters. This is why testimony must generally be in person, so the jury can see the witness and assess their impression of probity. Again, if this goes to trial, probably an overall picture will be assessed, and details like the Johnson Matthey issue and the James A. Bass issue will be pieces in a picture. The jury will then not necessarily decide on each individual issue, but rather questions put to the jury as supervised by the Judge. The basic question is if there was fraudulent representation involved in the setup of the Doral "sale of power" -- likely IH claim as to what it was -- or the "test" -- the Rossi position.

(Mispelling of LENR Calender corrected).