Glenn Beck - I Had A Dream or Did I Have a Night Mare
LIMON CO (IFS) Well Mr. Beck, I guess you had a great meeting and so many of your friends did show-up to give you a wonderful rally and you did change American history for yourself. I hope that you sold a lot of books and t-shirts, and helped your television show gain so many more new viewers.
What's this about a "bullet proof vest" at a prayer meeting? Well, well, you created this night mare and you had the vest on the wrong part of your body, it should have been on your foot, because that's where the bullets did land.
We tried to tell you along time ago, what was going to happen to you. We told you that you had better put on the brakes, and repent and change your direction, but you did not listen to us. You had your television show to rely on, and of course you were the only one listening to your own voice, plus the left overs from the election who were going to take back our country. What I could not understand, where were you going to take our country back too?
Every few years, a person like you comes along and has a vision that the masses are going to follow, and you believed in your own publicity!! Fox News and their organization shows how much influence they have on the American public - not much would you say?
The real Americans are the silent majority. They let the "squeaky wheel" get the grease, they sit back and observe and make up their minds in the most heated battles of the talking heads. They very seldom call into a radio show or even participate in a television show -- but they watch with both eyes and they are all ears. When they make a decision, it's usually a very quick decision and they are usually right. The real Americans are not just sitting on the fence, they have an agenda. And when they vote, they shake up the country.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Google's GMail to Video
By Kenneth Howard Smith,
(IFS) SDCOG News-Gazette
LIMON CO (IFS) - Skype is going to take a large hit when Google's GMail goes to Video in the next few months. Google's telephone service that has been operating for the past several years teaming with the video conferencing features will put Google over the top and drive Skype to the back seat of the online video/telephone services. What the future will bring for both Google and Skype is only speculation, but the videoing-phone writing is on the wall with Skype being pushed to the side lines.
By Kenneth Howard Smith,
(IFS) SDCOG News-Gazette
LIMON CO (IFS) - Skype is going to take a large hit when Google's GMail goes to Video in the next few months. Google's telephone service that has been operating for the past several years teaming with the video conferencing features will put Google over the top and drive Skype to the back seat of the online video/telephone services. What the future will bring for both Google and Skype is only speculation, but the videoing-phone writing is on the wall with Skype being pushed to the side lines.
MYSPACE IS GREAT RECORDING COMPANY, LITTLE ELSE
By Kenneth Howard Smith,
(IFS) SDCOG News-Gazette
LIMON CO (IFS) - It's just a matter of time that Myspace will only be used by musicians, as it continues to loose 20,000 subscribers a week. The lure of Myspace in the early days was just a social networking site, then came the music industry that really makes Myspace the great digital recording label designed by the earlier poineer J-Bird Records that invented the digital online recording label concept.
When its comes to the art of social networking, Facebook is adding news users and former Myspace members at approximately 1,000,000 new subscribers per week worldwide. This not so suttle expandion by Facebook is causing Rupert Murdock alot of heart burn, as the Fox News subsidairy continues to crash and burn.
One could blame it on the practices of Mr. Murdock's News Corporation's parent company and Fox News producers that has lead to it's loosing ground and causing users to abandon their accounts and go to someone else that is not so political with their hands and fingers in everything from degrading the president - to it's partners with Arabic sheiks.
At the present rate of subscriptions, Mysapce will only be a recording label for new music, other then that, it's useless as a networking site.
By Kenneth Howard Smith,
(IFS) SDCOG News-Gazette
LIMON CO (IFS) - It's just a matter of time that Myspace will only be used by musicians, as it continues to loose 20,000 subscribers a week. The lure of Myspace in the early days was just a social networking site, then came the music industry that really makes Myspace the great digital recording label designed by the earlier poineer J-Bird Records that invented the digital online recording label concept.
When its comes to the art of social networking, Facebook is adding news users and former Myspace members at approximately 1,000,000 new subscribers per week worldwide. This not so suttle expandion by Facebook is causing Rupert Murdock alot of heart burn, as the Fox News subsidairy continues to crash and burn.
One could blame it on the practices of Mr. Murdock's News Corporation's parent company and Fox News producers that has lead to it's loosing ground and causing users to abandon their accounts and go to someone else that is not so political with their hands and fingers in everything from degrading the president - to it's partners with Arabic sheiks.
At the present rate of subscriptions, Mysapce will only be a recording label for new music, other then that, it's useless as a networking site.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Dr. Laura's Rant on Race Begs the Question:
Just Who Needs a Doctor?
by Dr. Mary C. Curtis
National Correspondent
What kind of doctor is this woman, and why is she still on the radio?
After scrubbing her show's website of the foul rant that prompted outrage -- and lives on in audio and transcript form on Media Matters for America -- Laura Schlessinger apologized. "I articulated the N-word all the way out -- more than one time," she said. "And that was wrong."
Show's over; time to move on? I don't think so.
Professional to professional, Dr. Laura, let Dr. Mary explain why, as offensive as it was, saying the N-word is the least of your problems.
A young black woman calls into your show to get some actual advice about a specific problem: her white husband's family and friends insult her using racist terms and epithets. "My husband ignores those comments, and it hurts my feelings," the caller says.
So, of course, Dr. Laura, you start talking about -- President Barack Obama.
Dr. Laura"Without giving much thought, a lot of blacks voted for Obama simply 'cause he was half-black," she said. "Didn't matter what he was gonna do in office, it was a black thing. You gotta know that."
Not only do you ignore the caller and change the subject to get to something that's obviously on your mind and in your heart, Dr. Laura, but you also insist you know the motivation of millions of black voters.
It's not the first time I've heard this ridiculous canard that black people voted for the president based simply on skin color. It assumes that only voters who aren't African-American use logic, reasoning and rational thought before reaching a conclusion. Maybe, just maybe, most African-American voters preferred the policies in the Democratic Party's platform. Did they vote overwhelmingly for Bill Clinton because they liked his smile? Did Al Gore -- another popular candidate with black voters -- wave shiny beads before their faces to mesmerize them? And, of course, Dr. Laura fails to mention that others might have voted against Obama for the same reason.
"We've got a black man as president, and we have more complaining about racism than ever. I mean, I think that's hilarious."
Yes, Dr. Laura. A black man is in the White House, so black folks should just stop complaining when people call them names, ridicule them and discriminate against them. Like you, I just can't stop laughing.
Once you get that out of your system, you return to the young woman, who asks what you, as an advice maven, think about the N-word.
"Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO, listen to a black comic, and all you hear is..." And you don't stop there, Dr. Laura. As everyone knows by now, you then launch into an N-word litany, using the word often, leisurely, lovingly, without hesitation. Judging how trippingly it rolls off your tongue, I don't think it's the first time you've said it. Most people I know of every race can't say the word out loud -- it sticks in their throats. You, on the other hand, take a commercial break, come back and say it some more.
You don't seem to understand why people are shocked and disgusted by your behavior. Perhaps it's time for a history lesson.
This is the word that people with ropes used as they lynched men and women for an afternoon's entertainment. This is the word craven politicians shouted to stoke racial fear. This word has been used as background music to terror, which someone of your age and education must know.
Yet, you, Dr. Laura, are upset that this is one word that you cannot utter. For more reasons why, I recommend you listen to the anti-racist writer and activist Tim Wise, who says in response to that very question that "as a white person I will not bear the consequences of whatever decision black folks make about when, if and how to use the word."
"The history of that word in the mouths of white people is not a mixed history." Wise asks, is there a double standard, before answering yes. "History has been a double standard," he says, so you better get over it.
Most black people I know hate the word and never use it. The NAACP, which you managed to turn into a derogatory verb during your rant (nice trick, that) symbolically buried the N-word several years ago, so corrosive is its power. The late, great Richard Pryor, an early practitioner in his comedy routines, stopped using it after a trip to Africa. "To this day I wish I'd never said the word," he said. "I felt its lameness. It was misunderstood by people. They didn't get what I was talking about. Neither did I. . . . So I vowed never to say it again."
In the face of all this evidence, I wonder, Dr. Laura, how you've come to the conclusion that comedians on R-rated cable television shows set the tone for polite interaction between the races. How many doctors and lawyers -- of any color -- grocery clerks, teachers and nurses have you heard using the words you just used on the radio? Just who are you hanging out with? On second thought, Dr. Laura, I don't think I want to know.
By this time, the young woman who called you must be pretty sorry she turned to Dr. Laura for advice. (Remind me never to come to you when I have a problem.)
When you get back to her and her specific issue of dealing with her husband's white friends and family members' use of racial insults in her presence, your solution is -- to make it her fault.
"You know what? If you're that hypersensitive about color and don't have a sense of humor, don't marry out of your race. If you're going to marry out of your race, people are going to say, 'OK, what do blacks think? What do whites think? What do Jews think? What do Catholics think?'"
Now Dr. Laura, I am an African-American woman married to an American of Norwegian, English and Irish descent. When our large and diverse families get together on, for example, Thanksgiving, we eat turkey, watch football and tell jokes, though never the ones that ridicule or single out blacks, whites, Italians, Jews, Catholics, Poles, homosexuals or any other group. And you know what, Dr. Laura? We have a lot of fun.
But then, that's just us.
Just Who Needs a Doctor?
by Dr. Mary C. Curtis
National Correspondent
What kind of doctor is this woman, and why is she still on the radio?
After scrubbing her show's website of the foul rant that prompted outrage -- and lives on in audio and transcript form on Media Matters for America -- Laura Schlessinger apologized. "I articulated the N-word all the way out -- more than one time," she said. "And that was wrong."
Show's over; time to move on? I don't think so.
Professional to professional, Dr. Laura, let Dr. Mary explain why, as offensive as it was, saying the N-word is the least of your problems.
A young black woman calls into your show to get some actual advice about a specific problem: her white husband's family and friends insult her using racist terms and epithets. "My husband ignores those comments, and it hurts my feelings," the caller says.
So, of course, Dr. Laura, you start talking about -- President Barack Obama.
Dr. Laura"Without giving much thought, a lot of blacks voted for Obama simply 'cause he was half-black," she said. "Didn't matter what he was gonna do in office, it was a black thing. You gotta know that."
Not only do you ignore the caller and change the subject to get to something that's obviously on your mind and in your heart, Dr. Laura, but you also insist you know the motivation of millions of black voters.
It's not the first time I've heard this ridiculous canard that black people voted for the president based simply on skin color. It assumes that only voters who aren't African-American use logic, reasoning and rational thought before reaching a conclusion. Maybe, just maybe, most African-American voters preferred the policies in the Democratic Party's platform. Did they vote overwhelmingly for Bill Clinton because they liked his smile? Did Al Gore -- another popular candidate with black voters -- wave shiny beads before their faces to mesmerize them? And, of course, Dr. Laura fails to mention that others might have voted against Obama for the same reason.
"We've got a black man as president, and we have more complaining about racism than ever. I mean, I think that's hilarious."
Yes, Dr. Laura. A black man is in the White House, so black folks should just stop complaining when people call them names, ridicule them and discriminate against them. Like you, I just can't stop laughing.
Once you get that out of your system, you return to the young woman, who asks what you, as an advice maven, think about the N-word.
"Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO, listen to a black comic, and all you hear is..." And you don't stop there, Dr. Laura. As everyone knows by now, you then launch into an N-word litany, using the word often, leisurely, lovingly, without hesitation. Judging how trippingly it rolls off your tongue, I don't think it's the first time you've said it. Most people I know of every race can't say the word out loud -- it sticks in their throats. You, on the other hand, take a commercial break, come back and say it some more.
You don't seem to understand why people are shocked and disgusted by your behavior. Perhaps it's time for a history lesson.
This is the word that people with ropes used as they lynched men and women for an afternoon's entertainment. This is the word craven politicians shouted to stoke racial fear. This word has been used as background music to terror, which someone of your age and education must know.
Yet, you, Dr. Laura, are upset that this is one word that you cannot utter. For more reasons why, I recommend you listen to the anti-racist writer and activist Tim Wise, who says in response to that very question that "as a white person I will not bear the consequences of whatever decision black folks make about when, if and how to use the word."
"The history of that word in the mouths of white people is not a mixed history." Wise asks, is there a double standard, before answering yes. "History has been a double standard," he says, so you better get over it.
Most black people I know hate the word and never use it. The NAACP, which you managed to turn into a derogatory verb during your rant (nice trick, that) symbolically buried the N-word several years ago, so corrosive is its power. The late, great Richard Pryor, an early practitioner in his comedy routines, stopped using it after a trip to Africa. "To this day I wish I'd never said the word," he said. "I felt its lameness. It was misunderstood by people. They didn't get what I was talking about. Neither did I. . . . So I vowed never to say it again."
In the face of all this evidence, I wonder, Dr. Laura, how you've come to the conclusion that comedians on R-rated cable television shows set the tone for polite interaction between the races. How many doctors and lawyers -- of any color -- grocery clerks, teachers and nurses have you heard using the words you just used on the radio? Just who are you hanging out with? On second thought, Dr. Laura, I don't think I want to know.
By this time, the young woman who called you must be pretty sorry she turned to Dr. Laura for advice. (Remind me never to come to you when I have a problem.)
When you get back to her and her specific issue of dealing with her husband's white friends and family members' use of racial insults in her presence, your solution is -- to make it her fault.
"You know what? If you're that hypersensitive about color and don't have a sense of humor, don't marry out of your race. If you're going to marry out of your race, people are going to say, 'OK, what do blacks think? What do whites think? What do Jews think? What do Catholics think?'"
Now Dr. Laura, I am an African-American woman married to an American of Norwegian, English and Irish descent. When our large and diverse families get together on, for example, Thanksgiving, we eat turkey, watch football and tell jokes, though never the ones that ridicule or single out blacks, whites, Italians, Jews, Catholics, Poles, homosexuals or any other group. And you know what, Dr. Laura? We have a lot of fun.
But then, that's just us.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
LIMON CO (IFS)- Gee Dr. Laura, I used to listen to you every night, and I did like your short lived television show. What has happened to you? Forgot your meds, did we? Well, I'm not going to beat you up or anything like that, but it is time that you hang up your radio microphone and call it a career.
Dr. Laura and the N-Word: No, It's Not Okay for You to Say It!
By Jam Donaldson on Aug 13th 2010 12:52PM
I'm starting to believe there is a condition called the "N-word meltdown," where white folks just go crazy and start repeating it over and over for no reason.
Well-known conservative talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger (pictured) went all Michael Richards on a caller who reached out to her for help regarding her interracial marriage.
The caller wanted the good doctor's advice on whether to confront her husband's friends, whom she believed were making racist comments about her.
During the exchange on Tuesday's show, Schlessinger said the woman, who called herself Jade, was being too sensitive for complaining about her husband's friends. When the woman asked if the N-word was offensive, Schlessinger said, "Black guys say it all the time," then went on to repeat it several times.
"I articulated the N-word all the way out -- more than one time," Schlessinger said in comments from the opening of her radio show that she posted on her site.
Translation: she put the dreaded "er" on the end instead of the "ga."
When will white people just accept the fact that black folks can use the N-word, but they cannot. Why is this such a complicated life rule for them?
It's actually quite simple. Jews can say things about other Jews that non-Jews can't say. Gays can say things about gays that straights can't say. Latinos can say things about Latinos that non-Latinos can't say. I have an Asian friend who referred to new Asian immigrants as FOBs (fresh-off-the-boats). But she probably would have kicked my ass if I had referred to them that way. And I respect that. You can talk about your own mama, but no one else can. It's really easy, white people.
Schlessinger said on her Website on Wednesday that she was wrong in using the word for what she called an attempt to make a philosophical point.
Why are white folks so intent on rationalizing their use of the word? You can't use it, period. Get over it.
When the caller objected, Schlessinger replied:
"Oh, then I guess you don't watch HBO or listen to any black comedians."
I don't know what black comedians Dr. Laura listens to but I can't remember any using "nigger" in their acts. Moreover, should a woman tolerate a bunch of people in her house using the N-word in a way she finds offensive because they do it on 'Def Comedy Jam'?
Look, white folks, I'll break it down for you: Black folks don't call each other "nigger"; we say "nigga." And whether you accept it or not, there is a huge distinction.
As an African American woman, I can't ever remember using "nigger" in my life in referring to another black person. Though, on a bad day at my DMV, I may say "nigga" in my head several times.
Dr. Laura and other white folks who put forth this "well, black people use it, why can't I" argument seem so tied to their own supremacy that they just can't accept that there are things we can do that they can't -- and it bugs the hell out of them.
In all fairness, Schlessinger did not direct the epithet at the woman but said she used it to suggest how often she hears it, and that it should not automatically be a cause for offense, which is also the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It's about context, Dr. Laura. Who's saying it, why, how and in what environment? Who are you to say what should offend this woman?
This is not a debate on the infamous N-word. Some people say no one should use it; others say it's fine. Frankly, I couldn't care less. Either way, this is not about that.
It's about respecting a culture's right to its own intracultural norms. If your use of the word offends me, that's really all you need to know.
We don't have to explain why you can't say it, we don't have to defend our use of it and we don't have to tolerate you saying it. You just can't. It's like family. You can talk about each other, but no one else can. And as long as everyone remembers that, we should get along just fine.
Dr. Laura and the N-Word: No, It's Not Okay for You to Say It!
By Jam Donaldson on Aug 13th 2010 12:52PM
I'm starting to believe there is a condition called the "N-word meltdown," where white folks just go crazy and start repeating it over and over for no reason.
Well-known conservative talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger (pictured) went all Michael Richards on a caller who reached out to her for help regarding her interracial marriage.
The caller wanted the good doctor's advice on whether to confront her husband's friends, whom she believed were making racist comments about her.
During the exchange on Tuesday's show, Schlessinger said the woman, who called herself Jade, was being too sensitive for complaining about her husband's friends. When the woman asked if the N-word was offensive, Schlessinger said, "Black guys say it all the time," then went on to repeat it several times.
"I articulated the N-word all the way out -- more than one time," Schlessinger said in comments from the opening of her radio show that she posted on her site.
Translation: she put the dreaded "er" on the end instead of the "ga."
When will white people just accept the fact that black folks can use the N-word, but they cannot. Why is this such a complicated life rule for them?
It's actually quite simple. Jews can say things about other Jews that non-Jews can't say. Gays can say things about gays that straights can't say. Latinos can say things about Latinos that non-Latinos can't say. I have an Asian friend who referred to new Asian immigrants as FOBs (fresh-off-the-boats). But she probably would have kicked my ass if I had referred to them that way. And I respect that. You can talk about your own mama, but no one else can. It's really easy, white people.
Schlessinger said on her Website on Wednesday that she was wrong in using the word for what she called an attempt to make a philosophical point.
Why are white folks so intent on rationalizing their use of the word? You can't use it, period. Get over it.
When the caller objected, Schlessinger replied:
"Oh, then I guess you don't watch HBO or listen to any black comedians."
I don't know what black comedians Dr. Laura listens to but I can't remember any using "nigger" in their acts. Moreover, should a woman tolerate a bunch of people in her house using the N-word in a way she finds offensive because they do it on 'Def Comedy Jam'?
Look, white folks, I'll break it down for you: Black folks don't call each other "nigger"; we say "nigga." And whether you accept it or not, there is a huge distinction.
As an African American woman, I can't ever remember using "nigger" in my life in referring to another black person. Though, on a bad day at my DMV, I may say "nigga" in my head several times.
Dr. Laura and other white folks who put forth this "well, black people use it, why can't I" argument seem so tied to their own supremacy that they just can't accept that there are things we can do that they can't -- and it bugs the hell out of them.
In all fairness, Schlessinger did not direct the epithet at the woman but said she used it to suggest how often she hears it, and that it should not automatically be a cause for offense, which is also the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It's about context, Dr. Laura. Who's saying it, why, how and in what environment? Who are you to say what should offend this woman?
This is not a debate on the infamous N-word. Some people say no one should use it; others say it's fine. Frankly, I couldn't care less. Either way, this is not about that.
It's about respecting a culture's right to its own intracultural norms. If your use of the word offends me, that's really all you need to know.
We don't have to explain why you can't say it, we don't have to defend our use of it and we don't have to tolerate you saying it. You just can't. It's like family. You can talk about each other, but no one else can. And as long as everyone remembers that, we should get along just fine.
How Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel Played Themselves
by R.L. Nave Posted Aug 16th 2010 1:00PM
With all of the problems facing America, congressional Democrats need a couple of high-profile ethics probes like Rihanna needs another misspelled -- or not? -- tattoo. But U.S. Representatives Maxine Waters and Charles Rangel are still sitting in ethical hot water and here's why.
Washington's latest political drama involves U.S. Reps. Maxine Waters and Charles Rangel Democrats representing Los Angeles and Harlem, respectively. To put their situation in cinematic terms (and give a shameless BVX link, sue us), like Ice Cube's character Craig in the classic 'Friday,' longtime legislators must go up against a powerful thug (Debo = the U.S. House Office of Congressional Ethics) and risk losing their street cred (manhood x a shot at Nia Long = Democratic control of the House).
In July, a U.S. House investigative committee filed 13 charges of wrongdoing against Harlem's Rangel. The most serious accusations were that Rangel, a 20-term congressman, failed to pay taxes on a home in the Dominican Republican, neglected to report hundreds of thousands of dollars of income, got several apartments in New York City for far less than market rate, and used official letterhead to solicit money for a school that bears his name.
The Office of Congressional Ethics also charged U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles in August with three counts of unfairly using her influence, including helping a bank where her husband held stock get a $12 million government bailout.
Both lawmakers have denied doing anything wrong -- Rangel during an ill-advised 30-minute soliloquy on the House floor. They have both also asked that their hearings take place before the November election despite reports that high-ranking House Democrats are more than happy to put them off until later this year.
Their punishments could range from censure, which is essentially a very public slap on the wrist, which is all that happened to Bill Clinton for his ethical abuses of Monica Lewinsky's blue dress, to removal from office, in which case each of their seats will wind up going to another African American.
From looking at the facts, it seems less a clear-cut case of shady politicians run amok than a pair of lawmakers -- with 60 years of public service between them -- who got careless and broke the rules at a time when the public's sensitivity to anything with so much as a whiff of corruption is heightened.
Take Rangel's situation: Does anybody really think that at 80 years old, he sits down every April with all his receipts and a copy of the House Rules for Conduct and does his own taxes? Waters' case gets even fuzzier. Yes, it's true that she and her husband owned stock in the minority-owned bank that received bailout funds, but as chairwoman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, it could be argued that she was simply doing her job. After all, how many black banks could there be?
But we might not even be here had Rangel not himself asked the the House Ethics Committee in 2008 to determine whether his use of congressional stationary for a fundraiser was improper or if public outrage over bank bailouts hadn't prompted such close scrutiny of Waters' involvement with OneUnited.
Even if we chalk Waters and Rangel's faux pas up to political senility, there's a real danger in letting ethics violations slide. All public officials, at some point in their careers, will feel themselves crossing a line that they never intended to cross. When they do, to paraphrase a line, that line vanishes and then they're nothing but another dirty politician joke.
This is the very moment that people start to grown distrustful, or even worse, apathetic, about the idea of a government that works for its citizens.
by R.L. Nave Posted Aug 16th 2010 1:00PM
With all of the problems facing America, congressional Democrats need a couple of high-profile ethics probes like Rihanna needs another misspelled -- or not? -- tattoo. But U.S. Representatives Maxine Waters and Charles Rangel are still sitting in ethical hot water and here's why.
Washington's latest political drama involves U.S. Reps. Maxine Waters and Charles Rangel Democrats representing Los Angeles and Harlem, respectively. To put their situation in cinematic terms (and give a shameless BVX link, sue us), like Ice Cube's character Craig in the classic 'Friday,' longtime legislators must go up against a powerful thug (Debo = the U.S. House Office of Congressional Ethics) and risk losing their street cred (manhood x a shot at Nia Long = Democratic control of the House).
In July, a U.S. House investigative committee filed 13 charges of wrongdoing against Harlem's Rangel. The most serious accusations were that Rangel, a 20-term congressman, failed to pay taxes on a home in the Dominican Republican, neglected to report hundreds of thousands of dollars of income, got several apartments in New York City for far less than market rate, and used official letterhead to solicit money for a school that bears his name.
The Office of Congressional Ethics also charged U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles in August with three counts of unfairly using her influence, including helping a bank where her husband held stock get a $12 million government bailout.
Both lawmakers have denied doing anything wrong -- Rangel during an ill-advised 30-minute soliloquy on the House floor. They have both also asked that their hearings take place before the November election despite reports that high-ranking House Democrats are more than happy to put them off until later this year.
Their punishments could range from censure, which is essentially a very public slap on the wrist, which is all that happened to Bill Clinton for his ethical abuses of Monica Lewinsky's blue dress, to removal from office, in which case each of their seats will wind up going to another African American.
From looking at the facts, it seems less a clear-cut case of shady politicians run amok than a pair of lawmakers -- with 60 years of public service between them -- who got careless and broke the rules at a time when the public's sensitivity to anything with so much as a whiff of corruption is heightened.
Take Rangel's situation: Does anybody really think that at 80 years old, he sits down every April with all his receipts and a copy of the House Rules for Conduct and does his own taxes? Waters' case gets even fuzzier. Yes, it's true that she and her husband owned stock in the minority-owned bank that received bailout funds, but as chairwoman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, it could be argued that she was simply doing her job. After all, how many black banks could there be?
But we might not even be here had Rangel not himself asked the the House Ethics Committee in 2008 to determine whether his use of congressional stationary for a fundraiser was improper or if public outrage over bank bailouts hadn't prompted such close scrutiny of Waters' involvement with OneUnited.
Even if we chalk Waters and Rangel's faux pas up to political senility, there's a real danger in letting ethics violations slide. All public officials, at some point in their careers, will feel themselves crossing a line that they never intended to cross. When they do, to paraphrase a line, that line vanishes and then they're nothing but another dirty politician joke.
This is the very moment that people start to grown distrustful, or even worse, apathetic, about the idea of a government that works for its citizens.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Sarah Palin Confronted By Alaskan: “When Cash Was Waved In Front Of Your Face You Quit”
Sarah Palin was taping her television special for TLC, the one she’s doing with Kate Gosselin, where she was “thousands of miles away from DC out on a commercial fishing boat, working my butt off for my own business, merely asking the Democrat politicos and their liberal friends in the media: ‘What’s the plan, man’?” according to Shannyn Moore who reported on the incident.
…one Homer woman made a sign in her shed. She then took the 30-foot-by-3-foot banner out to the boat harbor. It said “WORST GOVERNOR EVER”. Kathleen Gustafson is a teacher married to a local commercial fisherman. She felt like Sarah Palin had let the state down by becoming a dollar-chasing celebrity and ignoring the oath of office she’d sworn on a Bible.
Billy Sullivan, who has a business there, helped Kathleen put up the sign, and used his phone to photograph what ensued. Gustafson didn’t anticipate an actual conversation with the former governor.
At one point, a Palin daughter chanted, “You’re just jealous.” Kathleen told Sarah she was disappointed that she dropped her responsibility to the state to became a celebrity. Palin said incredulously, “I’m honored. No, she thinks I’m a celebrity!”…
[Sullivan] was even told by one of the Palin daughters, “You’re an A-hole”. Charming family values.
The exchange included one of the Palin daughters.
Gustafson: You swore on your precious Bible that you would uphold the interest of this state, and then when cash was waved in front of your face, you quit.
Palin: Oh you wanted me to be your governor! I’m honored!
Gustafson: I wanted you to honor your responsibilities. That is what I wanted, and to be part of the political process instead of becoming a celebrity.
Palin: That’s what I’m out there fightin’ for America to be able to have a Constitution protectin’ us so we can have free speech…
Gustafson: In what way are you fighting for that? In what way?
Palin: Oh my goodness! To elect candidates who understand the Constitution to protect our military interests so that we can keep on fightin’ for our Constitution that will protect your freedoms…
Gustafson: By using your celebrity status.
Palin: How am I a celebrity? I’m honored that you think I’m a celebrity.
Gustafson: You’re certainly not representing the state of Alaska any longer.
Palin daughter: She’s representing the United States.
Gustafson: Yes, I know, you belong to America now, and that suits you just fine.
Palin: What do you do?
Gustafson: I’m a teacher…
Palin: (eye roll)
Gustafson:…married to a commercial fisherman.
Palin: So am I. We probably have a lot in common…I’m honored to meet you, I really am, and we both agree on the freedom of speech
Gustafson: Yes we do.
Shortly after that Gustafson’s sign was ripped down by someone in the Palin party.
Sarah Palin was taping her television special for TLC, the one she’s doing with Kate Gosselin, where she was “thousands of miles away from DC out on a commercial fishing boat, working my butt off for my own business, merely asking the Democrat politicos and their liberal friends in the media: ‘What’s the plan, man’?” according to Shannyn Moore who reported on the incident.
…one Homer woman made a sign in her shed. She then took the 30-foot-by-3-foot banner out to the boat harbor. It said “WORST GOVERNOR EVER”. Kathleen Gustafson is a teacher married to a local commercial fisherman. She felt like Sarah Palin had let the state down by becoming a dollar-chasing celebrity and ignoring the oath of office she’d sworn on a Bible.
Billy Sullivan, who has a business there, helped Kathleen put up the sign, and used his phone to photograph what ensued. Gustafson didn’t anticipate an actual conversation with the former governor.
At one point, a Palin daughter chanted, “You’re just jealous.” Kathleen told Sarah she was disappointed that she dropped her responsibility to the state to became a celebrity. Palin said incredulously, “I’m honored. No, she thinks I’m a celebrity!”…
[Sullivan] was even told by one of the Palin daughters, “You’re an A-hole”. Charming family values.
The exchange included one of the Palin daughters.
Gustafson: You swore on your precious Bible that you would uphold the interest of this state, and then when cash was waved in front of your face, you quit.
Palin: Oh you wanted me to be your governor! I’m honored!
Gustafson: I wanted you to honor your responsibilities. That is what I wanted, and to be part of the political process instead of becoming a celebrity.
Palin: That’s what I’m out there fightin’ for America to be able to have a Constitution protectin’ us so we can have free speech…
Gustafson: In what way are you fighting for that? In what way?
Palin: Oh my goodness! To elect candidates who understand the Constitution to protect our military interests so that we can keep on fightin’ for our Constitution that will protect your freedoms…
Gustafson: By using your celebrity status.
Palin: How am I a celebrity? I’m honored that you think I’m a celebrity.
Gustafson: You’re certainly not representing the state of Alaska any longer.
Palin daughter: She’s representing the United States.
Gustafson: Yes, I know, you belong to America now, and that suits you just fine.
Palin: What do you do?
Gustafson: I’m a teacher…
Palin: (eye roll)
Gustafson:…married to a commercial fisherman.
Palin: So am I. We probably have a lot in common…I’m honored to meet you, I really am, and we both agree on the freedom of speech
Gustafson: Yes we do.
Shortly after that Gustafson’s sign was ripped down by someone in the Palin party.
Saturday, August 07, 2010
LIMON CO (IFS) - It was only this month in 1992, that American History rings out like a shot in the dark. Remembering the "Siege at Ruby Ridge" where the Government went crazy and very wrong. But it didn't stop there, it went on to Waco, TX and to Miami, FL with the Gonzales issue. It's not that I think or believe that these acts of violence against American Citizens are justified with use of extremely deadly force, but these examples of the government going after people with a hammer attempting to kill a fly on a window glass pane was a little over the top and very extreme.
RANDY WEAVER: SIEGE AT RUBY RIDGE
Government Gone Wrong
Ruby Ridge cabin, aerial view (AP)
In August of 1992 Americans tensely watched as events began to unfold on a remote ridge in Northern Idaho, involving a white separatist family and the FBI. Eleven days after it had begun, a 14-year-old boy, a 42-year-old mother, a federal marshal, and one yellow Labrador retriever had all been shot dead.
The incident ultimately led to one of the most intensive and controversial investigations in recent history. The FBI faced widespread resentment and Attorney General Janet Reno established a Justice Department task force to investigate what had happened. National debates on the case were said to have fueled anti-government sentiments, which eventually played a role in the Waco, Oklahoma City, and the Freemen conflict. Timothy McVeigh's bombing of the government building in Oklahoma City is said to be at least partially motivated by revenge for what happened at Ruby Ridge.
Prior to the incident, the Weaver family had moved to the remote mountaintop to escape what they viewed as a sinful world. Randy Weaver lived with his wife and four children in a cabin he himself built on Ruby Ridge, just 40 miles south of the Canadian border. The cabin had no electricity or running water. According to friends, the Weavers simply wanted to be left alone as they awaited Armageddon. While many may have viewed their intent as unusual, it appeared to be quite harmless to most who knew them.
Almost a decade later many questions remain: What went wrong at Ruby Ridge? Why did over 400 members of the FBI, military and local law enforcement converge on the mountain? Why did so many have to die? These and similar such questions are not easily answered, however; some answers may lay hidden within the details provided.
Friday, August 06, 2010
KIT CARSON CO (IFS) - If you were really hungry and wanted something to eat while you traveled in the Kit Carson area, the "Trading Post Restaurant" was the place to go. The food was great and the service exciting and quick. As we made another stop there as we have for many months while researching our subject matter for publication, August 5, 2010, was a very sad day in the short history of the eating establishment.
The place was just in chaos.
The food which we loved was terrible and the kitchen help just stopped preparing food. The food that did come out to the customers was over cooked, no seasonings, the food was cold, and the service just fell in the toilet.
As for me, this will be my last stop there. I'll drive the extra 50 miles to Hugo or Limon. It's not worth your time or money to stop at this place anymore.
The place was just in chaos.
The food which we loved was terrible and the kitchen help just stopped preparing food. The food that did come out to the customers was over cooked, no seasonings, the food was cold, and the service just fell in the toilet.
As for me, this will be my last stop there. I'll drive the extra 50 miles to Hugo or Limon. It's not worth your time or money to stop at this place anymore.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
LIMON CO (IFS) - On July 17, 2010, A celebration of love for Dad and Mom Gilchrist will be held at the Lions Club House, 417 Lincoln Avenue, Woodland, CA 95695, starting at 2:00 pm in the afternoon. You are invited to a celebration of love for our parents, the Reverends Roosevelt and Louise Gilchrist, as of June 15, 2010, our dad will celebrate 90 years and on July 22, 1010, our mother will be 88 years young. We are blessed to have them in our lives and we just want to celebrate their contributions to our families, our church families, our extended families and the communities that they have served faithfully for many years. Our parents are still active in the ministry and look forward to teaching and ministering the word of God every opportunity they get. Because they have helped so many in their lifetime, we know that money of you would like to be at this celebration. Please RSVP by July 4th as space is limited. Please send a love note and please include a picture. You may also a video or DVD message to our parents for their scrapbook. We will have a money tree for those of you who would like to share with them. There are several hotels in the surrounding areas that can be accessed by looking on line for Woodland, CA. We are looking forward to this time of celebration and hope to see you there. Send all correspondence, check and RSVP to Sandra L. Williams, 884 Ruth Drive, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 or email twosisterschat@yahoo.com.
LIMON CO (IFS) - I just had to revisit why some women hate Gov. Palin. Then I remembered this post from a couple of years ago. After shooting wild live from helicopters, and saying that the white grizzle bear IS NOT endangered as the glacier packs retreat and these animals are dying because of their hunting grounds being melted away, Palin now wants to be remembered as a "Mama Grizzle?" because she is going to run for the presidency in 2012?? As Dana Carey would say -- "Ain't that special". I do not like Former President Dick Cheney, and he's not even backing Palin. Maybe Palin and Cheney should go hunting together and shoot elk and bears from their helicopter as they talk about an endorsement party for the Mama Grizzle. I don't want a bear in office. Do You? One thing for sure, it will keep Tina Fey in a job.
Some polls are suggesting that after gaining an initial bump, McCain's campaign is being hobbled by Sarah Palin's vice-presidential candidacy. The voters who are deserting her fastest, some of whom are even calling on her to withdraw, are mostly women.
Ah, women, the consistently, tragically underestimated constituency. What the Democrats learned during the primaries and the Republicans might now be finding out the hard way, I learned at my very academic, well-regarded all-girls high school: that is never to discount the ability of women to open a robust, committed, well-thought-out vat of hatred for another girl.
Women are weapons-grade haters. Hillary Clinton knows it. Palin knows it too. When women get their hate on, they don't just dislike, or find disfavor with, or sort of not really appreciate. They loathe — deeply, richly, sustainingly. I do not say this to disparage my gender; women also love in more or less the same way.
When men disagree, the steps to resolution are reasonably clear and unsophisticated. Acts of physical violence are visited upon one another's person or property, and the whole thing blows over. Women? Nu-unh. We savor the discord. We draw it out. We share our contempt with our friends, like a useful stock tip, or really good salsa. And then we all go hate together: a mutually encouraging group activity for when the book group gets quiet.
The hatred women have for Sarah Palin, and others had for Hillary before her, is not necessarily about politics. Anybody can run the numbers on how many people Palin's pro-life, pro-gun, socially conservative policies will seduce and how many they will alienate. Rather, the test that the McCain campaign failed to put her through was the Abbotsleigh Ladies College test. (Named after my high school. Go, green and gold!). It's a simple three-point pass-fail exam: Will the other girls like her?
Here's why Palin doesn't make the grade:
1. She's too pretty. This is very bad news. At school, pretty girls tend to be liked only by other pretty girls. The rest of us, whose looks hover somewhere around underwhelming, resent them and whisper archly of their "unearned attention." So, if everyone calls your candidate "hot," you're in a whole mess of trouble. If the Pakistani head-of-state more or less hits on her, well, yes, she'll get a sympathy vote, but we're in Dukakis-in-the-tank territory. It's an admiration vaporizer. (Of course a candidate can't be too ugly, or it will scare the men, who are clearly shallow as a gender.)
2. She's too confident. This also bodes ill. Women have self-esteem issues. But they also have other-women's-esteem issues. As almost any woman — from the head of the Budgerigar Breeders association to Queen Elizabeth — can attest, it's almost impossible to get confidence right. Too timid and you're a pushover. Too self-aggrandizing and you're a bad word unless it's about a dog, or Project Runway's Kenley. Or Michelle, my best friend until 9th grade, after she won that debating prize and got cocky.
3. She could embarrass us. History is not on Palin's side. Every time a woman gets a plum job, be she Hewlett-Packard's ex-boss, Carly Fiorina, or CBS's Katie Couric, there's always that whispery fear that people will think she got the job just because she's a woman. So if things don't go well — and a couple of YouTube clips have suggested that they're certainly not going well for Palin — women are the first to turn on her for making it harder for the rest of us to louse up at work.
The fact of the matter is once a female decides it's over with another female, it's like an end-stage marriage. No matter how seemingly benign, every attribute becomes an affront: the hair, the voice, the husband, the moose-shooting, the glasses, the big family, the making rape victims pay for their own rape test kits.
I know, I know. With all this extra baggage a female candidate has to bear, the chances of finding a woman whom other women won't hate seem skinnier than last year's jeans. But don't despair, if all else fails, we could just do what we always do and just vote in some guy. It's worked so well for us in the past.
See photos of Sarah Palin on the campaign trail here.
Click here to see Sarah Palin's rise to power.
Watch Sarah Palin, queen of YouTube here.
Thursday, Oct. 02, 2008
Why Some Women Hate Sarah Palin
Some polls are suggesting that after gaining an initial bump, McCain's campaign is being hobbled by Sarah Palin's vice-presidential candidacy. The voters who are deserting her fastest, some of whom are even calling on her to withdraw, are mostly women.
Ah, women, the consistently, tragically underestimated constituency. What the Democrats learned during the primaries and the Republicans might now be finding out the hard way, I learned at my very academic, well-regarded all-girls high school: that is never to discount the ability of women to open a robust, committed, well-thought-out vat of hatred for another girl.
Women are weapons-grade haters. Hillary Clinton knows it. Palin knows it too. When women get their hate on, they don't just dislike, or find disfavor with, or sort of not really appreciate. They loathe — deeply, richly, sustainingly. I do not say this to disparage my gender; women also love in more or less the same way.
When men disagree, the steps to resolution are reasonably clear and unsophisticated. Acts of physical violence are visited upon one another's person or property, and the whole thing blows over. Women? Nu-unh. We savor the discord. We draw it out. We share our contempt with our friends, like a useful stock tip, or really good salsa. And then we all go hate together: a mutually encouraging group activity for when the book group gets quiet.
The hatred women have for Sarah Palin, and others had for Hillary before her, is not necessarily about politics. Anybody can run the numbers on how many people Palin's pro-life, pro-gun, socially conservative policies will seduce and how many they will alienate. Rather, the test that the McCain campaign failed to put her through was the Abbotsleigh Ladies College test. (Named after my high school. Go, green and gold!). It's a simple three-point pass-fail exam: Will the other girls like her?
Here's why Palin doesn't make the grade:
1. She's too pretty. This is very bad news. At school, pretty girls tend to be liked only by other pretty girls. The rest of us, whose looks hover somewhere around underwhelming, resent them and whisper archly of their "unearned attention." So, if everyone calls your candidate "hot," you're in a whole mess of trouble. If the Pakistani head-of-state more or less hits on her, well, yes, she'll get a sympathy vote, but we're in Dukakis-in-the-tank territory. It's an admiration vaporizer. (Of course a candidate can't be too ugly, or it will scare the men, who are clearly shallow as a gender.)
2. She's too confident. This also bodes ill. Women have self-esteem issues. But they also have other-women's-esteem issues. As almost any woman — from the head of the Budgerigar Breeders association to Queen Elizabeth — can attest, it's almost impossible to get confidence right. Too timid and you're a pushover. Too self-aggrandizing and you're a bad word unless it's about a dog, or Project Runway's Kenley. Or Michelle, my best friend until 9th grade, after she won that debating prize and got cocky.
3. She could embarrass us. History is not on Palin's side. Every time a woman gets a plum job, be she Hewlett-Packard's ex-boss, Carly Fiorina, or CBS's Katie Couric, there's always that whispery fear that people will think she got the job just because she's a woman. So if things don't go well — and a couple of YouTube clips have suggested that they're certainly not going well for Palin — women are the first to turn on her for making it harder for the rest of us to louse up at work.
The fact of the matter is once a female decides it's over with another female, it's like an end-stage marriage. No matter how seemingly benign, every attribute becomes an affront: the hair, the voice, the husband, the moose-shooting, the glasses, the big family, the making rape victims pay for their own rape test kits.
I know, I know. With all this extra baggage a female candidate has to bear, the chances of finding a woman whom other women won't hate seem skinnier than last year's jeans. But don't despair, if all else fails, we could just do what we always do and just vote in some guy. It's worked so well for us in the past.
See photos of Sarah Palin on the campaign trail here.
Click here to see Sarah Palin's rise to power.
Watch Sarah Palin, queen of YouTube here.
- Find this article at:
- http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1846832,00.html
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Arvada Fireworks - July 4 2010
July 4, 2010, fireworks by the City of Arvada, Colorado in the rain. ; Very few duds, and lots of people to observed the festivities, including Kenny and Chaya Finton of the international renown singing group - the Fintons.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
LIMON CO - (IFS) I could not resist. It had to be done. Going to my Facebook page, I get this posting from Gov. Sarah Palin. It appears that the Palinites have been working overtime to drum up support for the governor. I believe all of the links are live, and if you care to, you can use this form of her's to make a decision as to her running in 2012 or not? Again, I could not resist the urge. -- KHSSarah Palin for President in 2012? | ||||||||||||
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The Ties That Bind - Railroads of the Colorado Eastern Plains with Barbara Louise Holmes
A treaty had been signed in Washington and a reservation set up at Sand Creek. ; Water was an issue then and water is an issue now.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
LIMON CO (IFS) - Speaking with Novelist Barbara Louise Holmes about General Stanley McChrystal's Situation, she had this to say, ". . .McChrystal's no fool, and there has to be a good reason for his name calling, and I would not be a bit surprised if there would be a political agenda to his words. Holmes places him among one of the "brightest" generals in the history of the United States, and as such, this error in judgement was done for a reason. Holmes, whose father was a naval officer during World War II, who saw duty in the Pacific theater of operations, gives her an understanding of the military mindset, as with her own years of service in the military, especially in the legal departments, she understands the responsibility of command of what can and can not be said between the civilian and the military side."
Holmes, starts off the conversation, like this . . ." A Hole of His Own Making - is the cry among the military leaders. McChrystal wanted away out of the box, and to establish himself as 2012 elections as a true leader, as he has worked for the administration, and they did not listen. So Tea Partiers, this is your moment in history, a handsome young white man, four star general, with a voice of defiance for authority, and a true leader for the party, I give you 2012 Presidential Candidate Stanley McChrystal" - this June 23, 2010, Barbara Louise Holmes.
Barack Obama has an easy choice to make: fire a general who has established a culture of insubordination and indifference toward civilian leaders and partners in government or defer yet again to a general who acquires power like medals every time he outwits or outmaneuvers the White House.
General Stanley McChrystal went over clear lines in the debate about the surge into Afghanistan with freelance comments he made in London. Recently, McChrystal stated that the move into Kandahar would slow and threw into doubt confidence in a July 2011 drawdown start date. He didn't consult with anyone before a public redesign of US strategy.
And now in this Rolling Stone report, "The Runaway General" (pdf), McChrystal and his team are reported ridiculing Joe Biden, Richard Holbrooke, Jim Jones, just about everyone not in their groove on strategy.
McChrystal has gone over too many lines.
Obama needs to fire him. If he doesn't, McChrystal's brand will be validated and the environment of insubordination and unprofessional conduct will be reinforced.
If McChrystal survives his White House encounter, then Obama will be diminished.
That is what this has come to.
-- Steve Clemons directs the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note, and is editor-at-large at Talking Points Memo
General Stanley McChrystal went over clear lines in the debate about the surge into Afghanistan with freelance comments he made in London. Recently, McChrystal stated that the move into Kandahar would slow and threw into doubt confidence in a July 2011 drawdown start date. He didn't consult with anyone before a public redesign of US strategy.
And now in this Rolling Stone report, "The Runaway General" (pdf), McChrystal and his team are reported ridiculing Joe Biden, Richard Holbrooke, Jim Jones, just about everyone not in their groove on strategy.
McChrystal has gone over too many lines.
Obama needs to fire him. If he doesn't, McChrystal's brand will be validated and the environment of insubordination and unprofessional conduct will be reinforced.
If McChrystal survives his White House encounter, then Obama will be diminished.
That is what this has come to.
-- Steve Clemons directs the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note, and is editor-at-large at Talking Points Memo
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Limon CO (IFS) - We apologize for the misstatements of British Petroleum's Mr Svanberg, he just fell out of an oil carrier to earth a couple of days ago. Oh those wee little people who his company is built upon and the gasoline gun he places to our wee little heads and charges us insane amounts of money to buy his products. Well this writer has stopped all purchases of any BP products. They will never get another cent out of me wee little pockets. On Wednesday, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg told reporters in Washington: "I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or don't care, but that is not the case with BP. We care about the small people." Is BP chairman Carl-Henrik Svanberg out of his depth as the firm fights the Deepwater Horizon disaster, or is his lack of comment tactical? How is Svanberg, now inextricably shackled to the Deepwater Horizon disaster going to spend the remainder of his career defending the court cases, and will be otherwise unemployable.
BP will have to restructure, to contain all of the losses and find a totally new image. The oil industry business models are now being rewritten. It would be a great change of heart if all of the oil companies would ban together to help in this issue and change their image as well. But they are a greedy bunch and will fall on the sword one by one as if like maggots on a corpse, they scramble to pick over the bones of BP's falling market shares. Svanberg, who is going to have to act on these issues, is doing well to distance himself while he can for he will be among the members of the little people in a very short time.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Danish Company Sells U.K. Supermarket Unit to Wal-Mart’s Asda
June 01, 2010
American-owned U.K. retailer Asda Group Ltd. announced Thursday that it had reached an agreement with Dansk Supermarked A/S to purchase its subsidiary, Netto Foodstores Ltd., for $1.1 billion. The deal is subject to regulatory approval in Britain, but Asda said it expects to finalize the transaction later this summer and to complete the transition of the Netto stores by the middle of 2011. The transaction will enable Asda to convert Netto’s U.K. locations into Asda stores and integrate them into its new supermarkets division for units with fewer than 25,000 sq. ft. Averaging 8,000 sq. ft., the 193 Netto stores in the United Kingdom will continue operations under existing management until Asda receives official approval.
June 01, 2010
American-owned U.K. retailer Asda Group Ltd. announced Thursday that it had reached an agreement with Dansk Supermarked A/S to purchase its subsidiary, Netto Foodstores Ltd., for $1.1 billion. The deal is subject to regulatory approval in Britain, but Asda said it expects to finalize the transaction later this summer and to complete the transition of the Netto stores by the middle of 2011. The transaction will enable Asda to convert Netto’s U.K. locations into Asda stores and integrate them into its new supermarkets division for units with fewer than 25,000 sq. ft. Averaging 8,000 sq. ft., the 193 Netto stores in the United Kingdom will continue operations under existing management until Asda receives official approval.
Friday, May 28, 2010
LIMON CO (IFS) - Well Mr. President, this writer wants to thank you for taking the fall for the oil disaster. Heck, we all know who is the blame for this terrible "Drill Baby Drill" chaos and it's not you.
With the "Buck Stops Here" policy, we know that the oil corporations are in charge of this country and your hands are tied in knots, and you have no powers. We also know that the Bush Administration gave all of its power to these tyrants and they all should go to jail.
It is over the top, that since the Supreme Court has declared corporations as "people", then British Petroleum should be in prison; as they have violated many states three strikes laws.
Please place these crooks in prison.
Monday, May 24, 2010
LIMON CO(IFS) - This is totally a HATE CRIME by Superior Court Judge David Yaffe. If only the tables were turned around and Yaffe was placed in jail for a long time, his treatment would be very different. Los Angeles County and City judges are not the best people to work with. Along with their counter-parts in Ventura County, I'd pray that the Department of Justice would take them over and place all of them in prison. I always pray for the down fall of these two counties, when the day comes that the San Andreas Fault will wash them to the bottom of the ocean.
Ex-lawyer jailed 14 months, but not charged with a crime
By Abbie Boudreau, Emily Probst and Dana Rosenblatt,
CNN Special Investigations Unit
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Former Beverly Hills lawyer has been in solitary confinement for 14 months
Richard Fine, 70, is not charged with a crime; he's being held in contempt
Supreme Court decides Monday it won't hear the case
Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Once a dapper Beverly Hills attorney known for his bow tie, Richard Fine has been held in solitary confinement at Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail for 14 months, even though he's never been charged with a crime.
Fine, a 70-year- old taxpayer's advocate who once worked for the Department of Justice, is being held for contempt of court.
Superior Court Judge David Yaffe found Fine in contempt after he refused to turn over financial documents and answer questions when ordered to pay an opposing party's attorney's fees, according to court documents.
Fine says his contempt order masks the real reason why he's in jail. He claims he's a political prisoner.
"I ended up here because I did the one thing no other lawyer in California is willing to do. I took on the corruption of the courts," Fine said in a jailhouse interview with CNN.
More details on the Special Investigations Unit's blog
For the last decade, Fine has filed appeal after appeal against Los Angeles County's Superior Court judges. He says the judges each accept what he calls yearly "bribes" from the county worth $57,000. That's on top of a $178,789 annual salary, paid by the state. The county calls the extra payments "supplemental benefits" -- a way to attract and retain quality judges in a high-cost city.
While the practice of paying supplemental benefits is common in California, most high-cost cities elsewhere don't hand out these kinds of benefits. Judges in Miami, Chicago and Boston receive no extra county dollars.
Judges in Los Angeles County not only have the highest state salaries in the nation, they also get tens of thousands of dollars in county benefits. These payments, Fine says, mean judges are unlikely to rule against the county when it is involved in a lawsuit.
In the last two fiscal years, Los Angeles County won all but one of the nine trials that went before a judge, according to Steven Estabrook, the county's litigation cost manager.
"The reason I'm here is the retaliation of the judges," Fine says. "They figured they're going to throw me in jail and that way they feel that they can stop me."
Fine's decade-long crusade against the judges eventually led to his disbarment last year. Joe Carlucci was the lead prosecutor for the California State Bar. Carlucci says whenever Fine lost a case, he would appeal and argue the judges were corrupt.
"What he ultimately did was to delay proceedings, to level false accusations against judges," Carlucci says. "All of those lawsuits were found to have been frivolous and meritless."
Judge Yaffe and county officials refused to comment on Fine's case while it's still pending.
"Fine holds the key to his jail cell," Kevin McCormick, one of the court's attorneys, pointed out in a court filing. In other words, Fine will go free once he hands over the documents the court seeks and answers the judge's questions.
The technical term is "coercive confinement" -- jail-time until a person follows a judge's order.
"He's probably done more time than most burglars, robbers and dope dealers," says Sterling Norris of the public-interest group Judicial Watch.
Norris says Fine's confinement has gone on too long.
Norris won a case in 2008 that found county payments to judges unconstitutional. The California Legislature swiftly passed a bill that enabled counties to continue paying the extra benefits.
"I think it's a lack of judicial integrity to say enough is enough," Norris says. "We've got a man, 70-year-old attorney, in jail for over a year on coercive confinement and that is way beyond the pale. No matter what else he may have done, that is improper."
Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, calls the length of Fine's contempt confinement an "anomaly."
Fine's jail cell could be used for a more violent offender, Whitmore added. In fact, Los Angeles County's jails have in recent months released hundreds of inmates before their terms were up due to budget constraints.
Fine took his pencil-and-paper fight from solitary confinement to the U.S Supreme Court, which ruled Monday it would not hear the case. The court offered no explanation.
Meanwhile, Fine's family stands behind him -- even in the face of home foreclosure.
"My husband has always been the straightest arrow, hardworking, very successful attorney, and for this to happen to him is unbelievable," says Maryellen Fine, his wife of 27 years.
"I'll look back with tears with all the time I might have missed with the family," Fine says tearfully just before he is handcuffed and walked back to his cell.
"We don't know what is going to be next," says Fine's daughter, Victoria. "Every day is just one more day where I think maybe I'm going to get a phone call that says dad's coming home."
I guess Mr Fine really pissed Yaffe off; and there must be an element of truth to his accusations. This kind of vindictive and hateful treatment by those within by US legal system hierarchy is generally reserved for those without money, and whose complexions are darker than Mr Fines.
Posted: 09:57 PM ET
When I hear the term “contempt of court,” I right away imagine one of those courtroom dramas on TV, where some guy is yelling at a judge, the judge gets mad, and screams out from behind the bench, “I find you in contempt of court!” The belligerent person screams some kind of obscenity back, and is then handcuffed and hauled away by a bailiff. On TV, he’s let out of jail a day or two later when tempers have calmed down and egos have been set aside. But that’s TV. It’s a much different scenario for Richard Fine who has been held in contempt of court for 14 months now.
Fine is not a criminal – he’s a 70-year-old former Beverly Hills attorney, once known for his bow-tie.
I met him at the L.A. County Jail. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and was handcuffed.
He considers himself a “political prisoner.” He’s been held in solitary confinement for more than one year (jail officials say that’s because other inmates could harm him), and he says he’s only been outside for about nine hours since he’s been locked up.
According to court documents, Fine is in jail because he refused to produce financial documents and answer questions when ordered to pay the other side’s attorney’s fees. That’s when Judge Yaffe put Fine in contempt of court, until Fine decided he wanted to give the court what it requested.
Well, so far, Fine is not in the mood to cooperate. Fine believes he is being held in contempt for a very different reason. He says Judge Yaffe, and other L.A. County Superior Court judges, have accepted what he calls “bribes” from the county. Fine argues the “bribes” create a conflict of interest for judges in cases where the county is a party to the lawsuit. He feels the judges should be disqualified from those cases.
L.A. County judges really do receive extra benefits from the county on top of their six-figure state salary. It’s a practice common in California that was retroactively made legal, after a 2008 case against L.A. County found the payments unconstitutional.
The county says the extra cash is a type of “supplemental benefit” that helps to attract and retain quality judges in a high-cost city. Fine doesn’t buy that argument, so for the past decade, he’s been going after judges and has tried to expose what he considers a “corrupt judicial system.”
But for the purpose of this blog, let’s put the details of his history aside for a moment, and just focus on why court officials say he’s in jail. It’s because he doesn’t want to hand over his financial records or answer questions. He is being held in what is called “coercive confinement.”
That means, unless he does what the judge wants him to do, he will remain in jail – in his case, indefinitely. It’s like the world’s longest timeout. Fine does not want to cooperate because he says he will lose his chance to appeal his case against Judge Yaffe, if he ever gets out of jail. But when does this stop being productive and start becoming a waste of everyone’s time?
Of course, we tried contacting Judge Yaffe. And of course, he said he did not want to talk to us about this case since it’s ongoing.
What will happen if Fine refuses to cooperate, and Judge Yaffe doesn’t put an end to this? Could this go on for another year, or maybe even more? At what point does “coercive confinement” become nothing more than an indefinite jail sentence.
Oh, and one more thing. In the last couple of months, L.A. County Jail released about 200 inmates before their terms were up because of budget shortages. A spokesman for the jail told me they sure could use Fine’s cell for real criminals.
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Filed under: Abbie Boudreau • Special Investigations Unit
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
LIMON CO (IFS) - So the GOP's new leader is Dr. Rand Paul, and he doesn't like people with disabilities. He's against the 1965 civil rights act, that was passed for the future minorities, yet he's a doctor that practices medicine and many of his patiences are on Social Security, and they vote for this guy in the Tea Party Movement "taking back their country"! Can we say "mixed messages?" One comment from an ABC News member. . . "What Rand Paul calls "taking back America" is really stepping back to the days when angry men shot it out on main street at high noon and anyone who wasn't a bonified-white-person would have to walk in the street and eat only at selected restaurants. Also, in their drive to cut taxes, the Tea Party seems to forget that the police, firemen, military, teachers, and so on, are all paid by taxes. Cutting taxes means dumbing down our children and their children, watching your house burn down because no-one is around to drive the truck, streets full of criminals, and no way to protect ourselves from fifth world countries like North Korea."
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Rand Paul Says He's Being 'Trashed Up and Down' by 'Democratic Talking Points'
Kentucky GOP Senate Nominee Responds to Critics After Civil Rights Act Comments
By JONATHAN KARL and DEVIN DWYER
WASHINGTON, May 21, 2010—
Rand Paul, the Tea Party's rising star from Kentucky who won the state's GOP Senate primary this week, says criticism of his views on the Civil Rights Act and other pieces of anti-discrimination legislation are "red herrings" and Democrats' attempt to "trash" his campaign.
"When does my honeymoon period start?" Paul asked George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" today. "I've been trashed up and down. ... This is a lot about politics."
Paul's comments came amid a firestorm of criticism sparked earlier this week when he appeared to question the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which he said went too far in banning discrimination by private companies.
In an interview Wednesday with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Paul was asked whether he believed private businesses should have the right to refuse service to African-Americans.
"Yes," Paul said. "I'm not in favor of any discrimination of any form. & But I think what's important about this debate is not written into any specific 'gotcha' on this, but asking the question: what about freedom of speech? Should we limit speech from people we find abhorrent? Should we limit racists from speaking?"
Paul's comments drew a rebuke from the White House Thursday, with press secretary Robert Gibbs telling reporters, "a discussion about whether or not you support those I don't think has a real, shouldn't have a place in our political dialogue in 2010."
Republicans also seemed to distance themselves from Paul's views. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele made it clear the GOP supports the Civil Rights Act, whatever its Senate nominee in Kentucky says.
The controversy has revived suggestions by Tea Party critics that there are racists in the movement, an allegation Paul says is dead wrong.
He says he abhors racial discrimination but he doesn't believe the government has the right to tell a private business who they have to serve.
Paul clarified his views in a statement Thursday, saying whatever concerns he may have had about parts of the Civil Rights Act, he has not -- and has never -- called for repealing it.
"Even though this matter was settled when I was 2, and no serious people are seeking to revisit it except to score cheap political points, I unequivocally state that I will not support any efforts to repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964," Paul, 47, said.
Paul Supports Civil Rights Act
"Let me be clear: I support the Civil Rights Act because I overwhelmingly agree with the intent of the legislation, which was to stop discrimination in the public sphere and halt the abhorrent practice of segregation and Jim Crow laws," he said.
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