Schleicher County whining that it will go bankrupt.

In the Deseret News. Now they're arguing over who picks up the tab. Classic.

"The tiny county that has been the eye of the storm over the raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch says it could go bankrupt if the state of Texas doesn't indemnify it against millions of dollars in bills.

Schleicher County recently passed a resolution declaring that it has limited financial resources and its taxpayers are burdened beyond their means by the raid's extraordinary costs. The resolution says Texas Child Protective Services instituted 'a costly procedure without the knowledge of Schleicher County against residents,' and county officials have no way of controlling it.

'They're the ones that initiated the proceedings,' Schleicher County Judge Johnny Griffin told the Deseret News on Monday. 'There's costs sent to us that we didn't initiate and the county didn't authorize.'"

Aw, and they just put the hurtin' on the biggest taxpayer in the county, what a shame.

"The state has verbally agreed to pick up the tab, but Griffin said they would like to see it in writing. Nearby Kerr County passed a resolution last week supporting Schleicher County's request for indemnification."

And they never lie.

More →

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Edith Carlsmith, June 6, 1907 - April 18, 2007

Edith Mattson Carlsmith, widow of Carl Wendell Carlsmith, died at her home in Panama City Panama in the afternoon of April 18th, 2007. She came to Hawaii in 1929 and was a school teacher for several years following her marriage. She had three children, Donn Wendell, Carl Duane, and Edith Gayle. She is survived by the latter two. She was an enthusiastic gardener and artist. She did oils, watercolors, ceramics, silk screens, and photography.

Her son C. Duane Carlsmith is a regular reader of this blog in Panama. He was embroiled in a custody dispute over Edith for several years. As a favor to one of the Pharisee's loyal readers I am publishing her tardy obituary here. I am told there wasn't one published in Hawaii. Edith Carlsmith is from a legendary and ancient Hawaii family that founded that state's oldest lawfirm. More →

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Patting my own back, THE PHARISEE NAILS IT, Natalie Malonis CONFESSES.

On THURSDAY I outlined a strategy in which Texas would use the Testimony of various FLDS moms to GET THE KIDS;

"I wouldn't put it past them. The prosecution GRANTS immunity to the FLDS women, who either then TESTIFY or are held in contempt. All the children then whose fathers did not show up to submit DNA evidence and have had their parental rights terminated are out of the picture.

Mom is now in JAIL. CPS comes to get the kids. They could get most of the kids back that way."

Thursday, PLUS THIRTY MINUTES, Natalie Malonis proposes almost EXACTLY the same strategy. The EMAIL that Brooke Adams got came to her at 12:30am Friday Morning. I was so concentrated on one part of the answers, that I missed ENTIRELY the thrust of another part of Natalie's answer.

"Then suppose the girl is subpoenaed to testify about those circumstances, and if she lies to protect her husband it will be viewed as an inability to protect her children. It will be seen as a preference to protect her adult husband over her defenseless children. Suppose also that her husband is nowhere to be seen and although there is DNA and a baby that prove what happened, the alleged perpetrator still will not come forward to take any responsibility.

At the same time, the alleged perpetrator and various other trusted and powerful members of the community keep reinforcing the idea that the girl is a traitor to her community and her faith if she tells the truth. The 14 year old girl has internalized the teaching that to betray the church means being shunned and ostracized. She feels as if her very survival is on the line, so she refuses to testify for fear of the consequences.

She knows that she may be taken into detention and she may lose custody of her children if she does not testify truthfully, and she ignores the small voice in her head that tells her that if her husband would come forward and tell what happened, she and her children would not be in this position. Not a word from her husband. She does not even know where he is, and she knows it is not her place to ask or question."

Is this not in fact that very strategy? Isn't Natalie threatening EXACTLY that? The state will used YOUR TESTIMONY to show you an unfit mother? Why AIR such stuff? The answer is only that Natalie is acting in CONCERT with the state of Texas to threaten the mothers of the FLDS. "Don't testify and you will LOSE your children." The FLDS Mom's and Teresa Jeffs (almost certainly NOT a mom) apparently took the 5th. Let's review what my proposed strategy was again. My clarifying comment on that post from Thursday.

"Theory: Texas is playing rock and hard place.

It has been floated that those fathers that will not come forth will have their parental rights 'terminated.' I have always wondered why the state of Texas viewed that as a threat.

With Fathers TERMINATED, mom is offered IMMUNITY from what ever the crime they are pleading the 5th for. The object of taking the 5th is because they don't wish to incriminate themselves. The purpose of taking the 5th is not to testify at all. With prosecution threats removed from Moms, they are COMPELLED to testify.

Moms still of course DO NOT want to testify because they may endanger friends or husbands. They now MUST do so or face contempt.

Mom Goes to JAIL for Contempt, stays indefinitely. State takes "abandoned" children.

Variations. Children cannot leave the state. Dads come to be with, their parental rights have not been terminated. Dads are arrested and DNA tested. Children are deemed again to be in unsafe environment for whatever reason. Children taken. State gets dads DNA."

Is this not almost exactly that strategy? More →

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Natalie Malonis claims all her public stories about Teresa, are not about Teresa.

Natalie Malonis, who is apparently the poster at Brooke Adams blog has now said her stories to Brooke in answer to her questions are "hypothetical." I rather expected this. She's trying to use a claim of speculation for insulation against telling the contents of her privileged communications with her client. It goes like this, "I only told a story, the story is like yours, the story is not yours."

If she makes it sufficiently wrong, or unlike Teresa's story, she can then go on to claim she's broken no confidence. But then, why is she telling the story? Her star client is Teresa Jeffs. Teresa Jeffs is sure the story is about her, and Teresa Jeffs doesn't appreciate the story being told. The other factor that makes the story to be a substantial representation of Teresa by her attorney is the fact that Natalie has said that if Teresa KEEPS talking about their communications, she (Natalie) will be forced to testify by Barbara Walthers since Teresa will have broken the attorney client privilege herself.

So Natalie is LYING. Pure and simple. About what we cannot be sure but she's lying. I have posted the following to Natalie (assuming it IS her) at the Plural life.

"Actually Malonis, that's a 'NON DENIAL' denial. You said the 'hypothetical is not about Teresa' that the 'hypothetical does not match her circumstances.'

This only means you've woven a speculation or two about your client into the narrative that you know doesn't match her circumstance, thus making the hypothetical, in totality, NOT about Teresa.

Teresa though has written PUBLIC letters to you asking you to SHUT UP. This means you are identifying major portions of the story as matching up to her. Teresa's problem is that she does not agree with that narrative and is in fact calling you a liar.

Yet you CANNOT shut up about it. Why? Why would you go spin yarns in front of the public that match in large part, or seemingly large part, the life story of your client? Why would you wish the PUBLIC to believe that certain aspects of that story are Teresa's story?

How about THIS counselor? You tell us what parts DON'T match. That will go a long way to solving Teresa's problem."

By the way, I went back and counted, in the HYPOTHETICAL that us MORONS are supposed to know is NOT about Teresa, Natalie Malonis uses Teresa's name FIVE TIMES and her mother's name once. More →

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Natalie Malonis answers YOUR questions? Hurry On Over to Brooke Adams BLOG right NOW.

No kidding. A commenter by the name "Malonis" is answering questions and defending themselves over at Brooke Adams blog "The Plural Life." If it's REALLY her, it doesn't GET any better than this.

UPDATE: If the poster is to be believed, and the words are that of Natalie Malonis, I say THIS to Natalie;

"Horse Manure Malonis. A 'reasonable man' would construe it to be about Teresa Jeffs. If you are who you seem to be, you have invited the world up the skirt of your minor client.

I don't know if YOU dropped trow before 16, but perhaps your client has not, and it is NONE of our business frankly, if she has.

Your concern for her honor and privacy as her attorney should be foremost. Clearly you care about other aspects of the case in front of the concerns of your client.

Hypothetical MY HINEY Malonis. We all know who you are talking about."

To which she says;

"The hypothetical is not about Teresa. The hypothetical does not match Teresa's circumstances."

Well GREAT, I'm glad we can all clear that up now. ODD, Teresa Jeffs thought you were talking about HER. I thought you were talking about her. If you're not talking about her WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, and better yet, WHY ARE YOU EVEN TALKING? More →

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Silence at the San Angelo Standard-Times on Carey Cockerell

(Cockerell, back to the Camera, testifies before Lawmakers April 30th, 2008.)

As the largest closest Newspaper to the FLDS story, the San Angelo Standard-Times has been a go to paper for breaking details and news on a number of occasions. They clearly act at times as if they wish the story would go away and at times, I am sure they are a bit understaffed when it comes to covering stories not on the streets of San Angelo. So I gave them a break when it came to reporting Carey Cockerell's resignation. After all it is the largest closest paper but the story did come out strategically timed on a Friday afternoon in the middle of a stock market sell off. You have to give them a break, they are only large by local standards.

But it's SUNDAY. A lot of smaller papers blow past a weekend edition when it comes to content. Saturday's paper usually get's the shaft. Sunday bulks up for leisurely reading, advertising and opinion. In Kalispell the "Daily Interlake" doesn't publish a Saturday edition, opting instead to come in late, and put out a Sunday edition, late Saturday evening.

Everybody gets a section of the paper on Sunday, kids fight over the comics and parents read the news and opinion columns, with Dad probably competing with teen sons over the sports section. So you save the "good stuff" for when people will pay attention.

There is nothing on the Carey Cockerell resignation. Nothing at all. Not a PEEP in the Standard-Times. The last story involving Mr. Cockerell is two months old.

This mirrors a major media silence on the story now that it's gone sour for them and by sour I mean, they don't have their "sex-beds" and their pregnant teens anymore so now they want to take their kleig lights and go home. If this had been the Scooter Libby resigning, or getting subpeoned they'd have been all over it. I grant you it's an election year and the FLDS story is not national election politics, but it is the LARGEST CHILD CUSTODY CASE IN US HISTORY, and it's no longer being covered. Carey Cockerell was a full on participant in the lies told by CPS against the FLDS, intoning before a Texas lawmaker's committee that 41 cases of broken bones "some among very young children" was a "cause for concern." Every other lie he might have been able to pass off on subordinates, but that one he should never have uttered. That one the MSM all eagerly repeated. As goes Cockerell so goes the MSM? More →

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Another WHY for the argument "Why Should We Legalize Polygamy"

A while back (2006) I pointed out that the war with terrorists is a RELIGIOUS war. As a consequence, the ideology we are war with MUST BE DEFEATED. There is no negotiation, it is much the same as in the movie "Independence Day" where our fictional President asks the alien creature what they want us to do. The answer is "DIE." There is no negotiating. The most we can ask of a religion is that they keep it in their own yards, and out of ours, if this is not so, they must DIE.

Similarly there is no negotiating with the FLDS. Behind all their fine words about protecting the children, the Marci Hamiltons, the Governor Perrys of the world, the Flora Jessops, the Barbara Walthers all know exactly what they're trying to do. They are trying to defeat a religion. It's a religious war. To their credit they at least know how to fight it, wipe them out.

But they failed. On and on and on they go about child abuse, about how impossible it is to defeat the idea that a woman's salvation is dependent on being a wife, and on top of that, a polygynous wife. They're right. They can't defeat the FLDS faith unless they strike at it's very core beliefs, causing it to become something else or causing it to go away.

So we as a country have a decision to make. If a group wishes to teach that polygyny is a core religious value, what are we to do? The group I described above has an answer, it is "get rid of them, no quarter." What should our answer be? Do we REALLY wish to wipe out a religion with all that entails?

I submit to you that the answer is no. Not only will we not succeed, but we will endanger the practice of our own beliefs. As mentioned before my beliefs, if examined by the outside world contain some noxious ideas. How does the world accept my idea, shared by many in the Reformed world of Christianity that those who are saved were chosen from before the foundations of time, having done NOTHING whatsoever to merit that salvation? That even the CHOICE they make is scribed in stone. The time of it, the place of it, the very words that fall from our mouths confessing Christ, all authored by God Almighty beforehand. On the other hand, you, if you are lost, have had that deadness, that lack of faith, all authored inflexibly from before the foundations of time.

Other "horrible" ideas that I hold that would be considered "abusive" by Marci Hamilton and her ilk. Homosexuality is wrong. I would cease to speak to a child of mine if found homosexual. I would, if King, wipe them from the face of the land. Homosexuality is an abomination. I have no tolerance of it in the body of believers. Now, before you run off shrieking you need to know that I am not King, do not expect to be made King and thus have utterly no interest in meddling in the affairs of homosexuals. They may do as they like. This is not a theocracy or a theonomy, it is a secular state and if God appoints for us rulers that are tollerant of homosexuality, so be it. But what implications does that have for me and my relationship as a religious person with the state?

Already Canada is attacking pastors for preaching from the pulpit that homosexuality is something God hates. It's "Hate Speech." We'll be sued for expelling them from congregations. We'll be imprisoned for "inspiring" acts of hatred and lawlessness towards homosexuals just as Warren Jeffs was for telling Elissa Wall or his own daughter that her salvation lay in marriage and the production of children. We'll be accomplices to murder because one day a man will be found among us who hears a sermon against homosexuality and goes and kills a homosexual, or an anti abortionist goes and kills a Doctor because he heard a sermon that was pro life.

Thus even if monogamy only advocates we must be on the side of the FLDS. They believe what they believe, and we must realize that we allow them to do that, and practice their beliefs however strange they may seem to us, or we must establish a state religion, and all the bloody war that goes with it. We must live with them, and let them live, or they MUST DIE. There is no middle ground. More →

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Compare.

Take a look at both of these pictures and tell me what's similar about them. I'll give you my thoughts later. Both are mug shots, so that doesn't count. More →

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Natalie Malonis answers Brooke Adams' questions. Baits Teresa Jeffs. The Pharisee asks HIS questions, gives his answers.

In response to this question: "That Annette will be charged with failure to protect her daughter and be jailed?," Natalie had the following to say. I will take portions of her lengthy answer.

"Can we all assume that it is not in a teenage girl's interest to be married at 14 or 15 to a stranger who is more than twice her age?"

No. Is Natalie saying a 17 year old does not act in her best interest to marry a 35 year old? An 18 year old does not act in her best interest to marry a 37 year old?

"It is illegal after all."

No, it's not. It's illegal for a teenager to be married to a person twice their age when that person is already married (legally) to another. An example. A legally unmarried 50 year old man goes to Mexico and impregnates a 13 year old girl there, also from this country. He returns to his home in North Carolina, and marries the girl. That's LEGAL. It is another discussion entirely as to whether it's morally right or wrong. Law is not morality. The acts I described are legal and will accomplish the marriage legally.

"If Willie were influencing young women to keep quiet so that the church can get away with criminal acts against teenage girls, can we not all agree that Willie's influence is not in the girls' interests?"

Fallacy of complex question. This is; "has Willie stopped beating his wife?" It's almost three months now since the raid, there are no indictments or charges or arrests or crimes found.

"Who has more motivation to improperly influence Teresa, Willie Jessop or me? Willie is protecting the Church, not protecting Teresa."

If theirs is the true faith, aren't these goals 100% compatible? Who decides then Natalie, what true faith is? YOU?

"If he were truly interested in protecting Teresa (and Annette for that matter) don't you suppose he would counsel Teresa to testify truthfully rather than subject her to this enormous strain?"

He HASN'T done that counselor? Are you not divulging the content of your discussions with Teresa? Are you not breaking NOW the attorney client privilege? If this is a question YOU ask, you answer other questions you should not.

"Don't you think he would encourage the alleged perpetrator to come forward and speak to authorities so that the women and children do not have to bear the entire burden?"

Alleged perpetrator? OF WHAT? Who would come forward? You ask them to prove the NEGATIVE if in fact there is no Crime. WHAT CRIME Natalie? ARREST SOMEONE! YOU are an OFFICER OF THE COURT!

"Just suppose that the reports of underage marriages and child-bearing are true, and I'm not speaking about Teresa here, but speaking generally."

Let's suppose the reports of their being pictures of Natalie Malonis having sex with a barnyard animal are true.....Oh wait, there are no such reports. Ok, Rumor time, let's suppose Natalie Malonis (fill in the blank). Let's suppose Barbara Walthers is embezzeling. Let's suppose she is in collusion with Mary Catharine Nelson to send Rozita Swinton to make false reports about the FLDS. There is in fact far more basis for supposing THAT, than the existance of "underage marriages" and "child abuse" at YFZ.

"Suppose a girl is taught her entire life that plural marriage is the only path to salvation, that the word of the prophet is the word of God, and perfect obedience to men is the way to glorify Heavenly Father."

What if it is? I'm a HYPER Calvinist Natalie. That means I believe there are those destined to hell by the planning of God from before the foundations of time, from before they were created, from before they had a chance to ACT. Is what I believe horrid? It doesn't matter, it's what I believe and it is the right of parents to teach children and instruct them in religious belief. Too bad. Every religion has it's spooky side to those on the outside.

"... and suppose the prophet tells that girl at age 13 that she is to be married that night to a stranger who is close to her father's age, and Heavenly Father is honored by the sealing."

Have we found any of these acts at YFZ?

"Suppose the girl, having never had a discussion about sexual relations, becomes pregnant and has a child when she is 14 years old. That 14 year old girl would tell you she chose to marry and she chose to enter a sexual relationship and bear children. That 14 year old girl would tell you that she is happy and doing what she wants to do. She would tell you that she has never been abused and she has never been forced to do anything."

Yah, yah, and suppose that I am the Queen of England. Monkeys flew out of my butt. Suppose I was on the moon. Was a member of the Beatles. That I caught the biggest fish.

"Then suppose the girl is subpoenaed to testify about those circumstances, and if she lies to protect her husband it will be viewed as an inability to protect her children. It will be seen as a preference to protect her adult husband over her defenseless children. Suppose also that her husband is nowhere to be seen and although there is DNA and a baby that prove what happened, the alleged perpetrator still will not come forward to take any responsibility."

That's a lot of "ifs" there sister. Again you propose the contents of your priveleged discussions with Teresa, and in so doing you break the confidence or just flat out LIE about her. In any case you impugn her character.

"At the same time, the alleged perpetrator and various other trusted and powerful members of the community keep reinforcing the idea that the girl is a traitor to her community and her faith if she tells the truth. The 14 year old girl has internalized the teaching that to betray the church means being shunned and ostracized. She feels as if her very survival is on the line, so she refuses to testify for fear of the consequences."

Again, that's either divulging the contents of your discussions with Teresa, and privileged, or a series of lies. You are impugning her character in any case.

"She knows that she may be taken into detention and she may lose custody of her children if she does not testify truthfully, and she ignores the small voice in her head that tells her that if her husband would come forward and tell what happened, she and her children would not be in this position. Not a word from her husband. She does not even know where he is, and she knows it is not her place to ask or question."

Wow, I hope I never have such an attorney. Like I said, either she's lying, or telling the truth. Either way she's telling you what she wants you to believe transpired in conversations between her and Teresa Jeffs. Either way it's NONE of our business. What next? Does she offer NUDE PHOTOS of Teresa to Playboy? She might as well do so. Even if there are no such photos EVERYONE WOULD BELIEVE that there were after the offer. Just as in this case where anyone who now reads her reply believes that Teresa Jeffs has lost her virginity, been pawed over by an older man, has a child and has been abandoned by that man.

Or it could be that Teresa Jeffs is a virgin and is furious for precisely the reasons that Teresa has outlined in her letters. In any case it is no more my business than naked photos of Teresa, or Natalie or Barbara Walthers. Whether those photos exist, or not. You cannot speculate the existence of such photos as a basis for going to look for them. You have to have evidence.

Let me be clear, I believe Teresa, not Natalie. There is no child. Teresa is a virgin. She is a chaste maiden in her father's house. Natalie feels free to say what she wants and the threat to Teresa is, "IF you REPLY to me publicly, I WILL DIVULGE our PRIVELEGED CONVERSATIONS." Personally I think Natalie is BAITING Teresa. There is something Natalie WANTS to tell Barbara, or has already told Barbara that neither of them can act on. It is PROBABLY a "Spiritual Marriage" to someone. We don't know though. That hardly means that Teresa has consummated that relationship. Whatever it is, Natalie thinks it is material to Barbara's ongoing crusade and wants to tell. The more public the exchange, the more they edge closer to Natalie's threat that Barbara will ask her to testify, and that Natalie will testify to what has been said between her and Teresa. More →

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Marci Hamilton thinks Texas RIGHT to take kids, STILL.

A portrait of an elitist, as a Law Professor. I know, that's not terribly hard to believe, what is terribly hard to believe is someone could be so hard headed, so CLOSED MINDED. There have now been TWO Grand Jury sessions. DNA tests on every mother and child. The raiding of EVERY sock drawer at YFZ and still, no arrests, no indictments, no warrants, no crimes discovered.

Marci Hamilton, like the Texas CPS, has drunk their own Kool-Aid. They believe their own hubris.

The Salt Lake Tribune - PHILADELPHIA - "By sending the children in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints back home, Texas has opened the doors to groups who want religious protection for abusing children, a leading church and state scholar said Saturday."

She says this in the context of the above remarks I have just made. The door apparently is open to abuse from her point of view, but something has restrained the members of YFZ from ENGAGING in abuse, and what distresses Professor Hamilton is that it isn't a busybody state with laws crafted by her sensibilities. It is a "Polygamist Cult." As we all know Polygamy is abusive by it's very construction, the FLDS a noxious cult, so a POLYGAMIST CULT should abuse children, right? Given the freedom to practice their own methods which Marci despises, the FLDS produce no busybody Law Professors, but they turn out great mothers and happy children who grow up in a stable environment.

"When you add yesterday's decision to FLDS, the state of the Texas has just sent out an engraved invitation to any group who wants to abuse children," Hamilton said. The two decisions make "Texas a very dangerous place for children."

Phenomenally, she ignores the CPS record DURING the raid that took the children. Interrogations, sleep deprivation, withholding medications, terrorizing children, dehydrating children, LOSING children. She ignores this effect, and relies instead on the intent and purpose of the agency she favors instead of Religious Cult Polygamists, who are later shown to be doing a great job. Since it is her intent to do BETTER than these people, she has to take the kids, because her intent means she WILL do better.

The differences between liberals and conservatives are many, but boil down in a lot of cases to managing by result or managing by lofty goals. Liberals have noble goals and refuse to see that perhaps most conservatives do as well. A conservative though is willing to scientifcally test methods against one another by the result. We want happy healthy kids. How do we get the LARGEST number of them? The liberal says "Oh my, there are some abused kids, how do I eliminate abuse completely?" Superficially the liberal seems more moral, until you put plans into action and the repressive cultic polygamist religious group spits out more healthy happy kids than does the liberal state run foster care system or than society at large.

"At the Philadelphia conference Saturday, Hamilton said placing the children into state custody 'put them in really terrible straits.'

'They had to eat pizza. They had to learn to ride bicycles,' Hamilton said. 'They had to live in a universe where abuse is not normal. They saw a window of information they would have otherwise not gotten.'"

As the Pharisee has pointed out before, when you have weak arguments, string them together and deliver them machine gun style. While you are formulating your retort, ratatatatat come the other unfounded arguments. The power of the podium and their sheer number distract from the flim flamery.

By the way, has ANYONE seen a fat YFZ child? I've seen a few adults packing a little extra weight, but by and large the kids are fit, healthy and the women slender and attractive. Maybe that's why they looked so "young."

They don't have bicycles? I don't know what she bases that on, but it wouldn't be the end of the world, THEY CAN CLEARLY CLIMB TREES.

And the "Window of Information" Marci. What would that be? No one can experience everything, not even in the small world of YFZ. Is it that they don't see what YOU want them to see? Their choices are not VD, ABORTION, FAST FOOD, PORNOGRAPHY, BICYCLES and PROMISCUITY? God forbid that we should construct an environment that sheilds people from such things, because after all, it's their right to choose, right? I mean if we're going to take away fast food, it has to be the governing elite that says it's time, not PARENTS.

I would agree that ultimately it is a child's right to choose, and that in fact, at some point, they do choose and you can never stop that. The child grows up. But if what we are saying is that few FLDS members become Budhists or Topless Dancers or Astronauts, I'm sorry, that's not the end of the world. When it comes to opening one door or window, a child is distracted by what's available behind that door or out that window and fails to see what was through another door or window. Every such opportunity minimizes other opportunities. The idea that we make free choices based on a muliplicity of different views is silly. There is always something forgotten. What Marci WANTS is to be the person that determines the content and menu of choices, she doesn't want parents to do that, or religious leaders.

"FLDS elder and spokesman Willie Jessop blasted discussion of the group at the conference focused on cults. He said it's stereotyping."

You tell 'em Willie.

Let's face it. It's a struggle for control of who gets to call the shots when it comes to our children. This is viewed as a key battle in that war, by both sides. By the Marci Hamiltons of this world who see it as a slap to their claim to decide, and by the parents of this world, who see it is their right, not that of the state.
More →

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The Cockerell Resignation from both sides

There are only two ways to look at it and either way is not good for Governor Perry. One is that Carey Cockerell was forced to resign, the other is that Cockerell did indeed decide to retire on his own, and that he was begged not to.

In the simple and most obvious analysis of the first case, someone must fall on the sword. Carey, the head of the department, ever the political loyalist discusses things with Governor Perry, one of them floats the idea of that "retirement he's been talking about" and Cockerell gets that "wrong" answer. I lost a job once and knew it was coming because I floated a trial balloon. When it was responded to with eagerness, I know something was up. Carey then "resigns" to save face, all so very oriental.

The second way of looking at it is Carey DID resign on his own, and WAS begged not to do so. Why would the begging occur? Because it would look precisely like the first case scenario and that's the way it would be taken. Fortunately for Governor Perry the sleeping Main Stream Media has continued to snooze. There was no deadly serious Brian Williams intoning ominously about the "widening scandel" in which "heads were starting to roll", on the Nightly News. That may be because the resignation was timed to come out when another big story was on the agenda, the stock market slide. Hold that resignation, hold that resignation, STOCK MARKET STORY! (slip it out boys).

If Cockerell did resign of his own will he did so KNOWING that it would look bad, as I said above. This means that he snubbed Governor Perry. That means there was a disagreement of some variety, a severe one that Carey could not resolve with the Governor. Carey gives up and resigns in protest. The only deals made over the resignation are timing and description. Carey does the "no comment" thing and gives a "B" list reason, the most cliched of "B" list reasons, that being "spending more time with his family."

In such dire circumstances as Texas is now in over the FLDS, if Cockerell had a legitimate reason to resign he would have given it. "About to be a grandfather" ISN'T it. He could certainly take a little time off for that. The grand kid wants mama more anyway at this particular cycle, Carey could have waited. If he had cancer, he would have said so. The high level political loyalist does not get to their station in life by not covering their bosses butt. They SAY "I've been diagnosed with malignant so and so therefore I wish to spend more time with my family." They issue a statement. They release their Doctor from confidentiality so as to describe the condition to everyone's satisfaction. Carey Cockerell did not do this. He was forced out, or he quit as a form of protest. Either way is not a good thing for Governor Perry. Scapegoat or man of conscience. More →

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The Official News Release

NEWS RELEASE

Albert Hawkins
Executive Commissioner

Date: June 27, 2008
Contact: Stephanie Goodman, 512-424-6951

Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner to Retire

AUSTIN – Carey Cockerell, commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services, will retire on Aug. 31 after overseeing a reform effort that led to dramatic declines in caseloads, an increase in adoptions, and improvements in training and technology for caseworkers.

“For many years, Commissioner Cockerell has dedicated himself to protecting those who cannot protect themselves,” Gov. Rick Perry said. “At a time when there were reports of cases being closed too quickly and children and the elderly being left in dangerous conditions, Carey helped our state refocus protective services to its vital mission ― protecting Texas’ most vulnerable. I thank him for his tireless service and effective leadership, and wish him well in his future ventures.”

Cockerell joined the agency in January 2005, just months after Gov. Perry had issued executive orders directing review and reform of the state’s protective services programs. During the 2005 legislative session, state lawmakers approved a $248 million Child Protective Services reform plan to add 2,500 caseworkers and support staff, strengthen management of the program and improve caseworker training. The Legislature also approved additional staff and resources for Adult Protective Services.

“Carey took on one of the most difficult jobs in state government and achieved significant improvements in just a few short years,” said Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins. “His thorough and thoughtful approach made real reform possible, and he quickly earned the respect of staff and caregivers across the state as a leader deeply committed to protecting children and vulnerable adults.”

Under Cockerell’s leadership:

• Child Protective Services began an aggressive hiring effort to fill new positions and reduced investigation caseloads by 41 percent, from a daily average of 43.2 cases per worker in fiscal year 2005 to 25.3 cases in 2007.

• The number of residential child care inspections almost doubled, going from 4,590 inspections in 2005 to 8,839 inspections in 2007.

• With the addition of more than 200 new staff, Adult Protective Services caseloads fell 31 percent, from a daily average of 52 cases in 2005 to 36 in 2007.

• Adoptions of children in the Child Protective Services system increased 27 percent.

“I’m proud of the improvements we made in our programs, but I’m even prouder of the thousands of caseworkers and other staff who made it all possible,” Cockerell said. “They really came together and supported the rebuilding of the agency into one that was stronger and better equipped to protect Texans.”

Cockerell said he’s been thinking about retirement since late last year.

“I’ll soon be a grandfather, and I’m looking forward to a lot of quality time with my family after four decades of working in state and local programs.”

Before joining the Department of Family and Protective Services, Cockerell was director of Juvenile Services for Tarrant County. He served in that role from 1984 through 2004, and he pioneered the first Texas youth advocacy program using paid mentors to work with youth. He also established an education program for expelled middle school students that became a statewide model for mandated juvenile justice alternative education programs.

Hawkins said the selection process for a new Department of Family and Protective Services commissioner will begin quickly.

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The Dallas Morning News Reports on Cockerell's Resignation.

Brace yourself.

"Department spokesman Patrick Crimmins said Mr. Cockerell is departing for personal reasons. The release said Mr. Cockerell will soon be a grandfather and wants to spend more time with family.

'There is no connection between the Eldorado operation and the commissioner’s retirement,' Mr. Crimmins said"

Hehe...

Ho ho...

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....!

(medic! I think I broke a rib..)

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"Scoop" Shultzke breaks another one. "No Comment" the order of the day at the Texas Permanent Commission.

It is standard procedure to allow comment. Comment cards were filled out in large number, no comment was allowed today a the "Texas Permanent Commission." See "I Perceive." More →

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Heads start to roll, Cockerell Resigns

I told you (on June 4th), when I found out Perry was keeping up, BUT NOT BY EMAIL, that people below him would go. Cockerell resigns. The buck stops a few rungs lower than the Governor.

The Salt Lake Tribune Posted: 1:25 PM- AUSTIN, Texas - "The head of the Texas agency behind the seizure of more than 400 children from a polygamist group announced Friday that he is retiring.
The news release announcing Carey Cockerell's retirement as commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services offered no reason for his departure, but he said in the announcement that he had been thinking about stepping down since late last year.
'I'll soon be a grandfather and I'm looking forward to a lot of quality time with my family after four decades of working in state and local programs,' said Cockerell, 61."

Oh yeah, spend more time with the family. If I were the Grand Jury, I'd forget about meeting again. I'm on the road, so I'm hardly following this closely, but, there it is.

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Malonis threatens to blab? Texas levers Teresa Jeffs

Most of us know of course that Natalie Malonis refuses to step aside as Teresa Jeffs attorney. This may move may let Barbara Walthers see privileged Attorney-Client communications. I'll let Natalie explain;

The Deseret News - "Malonis said it was her obligation to refuse to testify.

'The client has to be able to communicate with an attorney and know that those communications are kept confidential,' she said.

She did worry that by making her e-mails public, Jeffs may be waiving attorney-client privilege.

'That's what I'm afraid of,' she said. 'If that keeps happening, at some point the judge will compel me to testify.'"

Natalie thus says to Teresa; "Shut UP, or I'll testify" and perpetuates the situation where Natalie operates in collusion with the State to make it appear that Teresa is "seeking" state protection when she is not.

If Teresa fights Natalie, eventually she will testify and probably what she will testify to is that Teresa is "spiritually married" to someone, probably Raymond Jessop. This line may have in fact already been crossed in Barbara Walters mind and Barbara was just waiting for more evidence to bolster her case that Teresa is talking, thus so can Natalie. Part of what happened in the Grand Jury proceeding seems to have been the effort to document Teresa Jeffs supposed "spiritual marriage" to Raymond. This would then become the salacious detail that would be trumpeted in the press, probably along with the now infamous "kissing" pictures of Warren. The headline would be "Convicted Cult Leader/Rapist Jeffs forces sex on his own daughter with Older Man." They could then propose he is an accomplice to the rape of his own daughter.

Texas has been pretty good at the "rock and hard place" strategy. Sign this service plan or don't see your children. Get on this bus or don't see your children. Go to this battered woman's shelter or don't see your children. I propose they are manuevering now for at least two other rock and hard place choices. That being "testify or go to jail" to the FLDS women who took the 5th Wednesday and then the consequence is not just jail but probably removal of their children while they are there. The other is to Teresa Jeffs which is "serve as our poster child for abused girl needing state protection" OR "Help us build the case that your father is an accomplice to your own rape."

I don't think Teresa has lost her virtue. It's entirely possible that she is "Spiritually Married" to Raymond Jessop. If the former is true, the latter is hardly anyone's business. Anyone can probably get "enagaged" at 50 to a girl of 12 as long as they wait 6 years to touch their prospective bride. As long as Teresa is a virgin, which it would appear from certain statements that she is, there is no basis for presuming she has been molested by the state's definition. Documenting however that she WAS "spiritually married" would start the public distress and hand wringing of the CPS and the restart of their "child abuse" strategy that would almost require a live "on air" gynecological exam with expert commentary. That would be the only way Teresa could prove Texas wrong.

One of the reasons I air these speculations is to prevent their uses as strategies. Texas in the person of Barbara Walthers has been very good at forcing choices, manuevering pieces on the playing board so as to give FLDS members two choices that serve the state, one good, the other better from the perspective of Texas. If the FLDS know what might be coming and if we do, they might avoid it.

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A new disturbing thought on CPS strategy.

I wouldn't put it past them. The prosecution GRANTS immunity to the FLDS women, who either then TESTIFY or are held in contempt. All the children then whose fathers did not show up to submit DNA evidence and have had their parental rights terminated are out of the picture.

Mom is now in JAIL. CPS comes to get the kids. They could get most of the kids back that way. More →

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Some FLDS women take the 5th?

In scanning around for some insight into the Grand Jury proceedings, I came across this story from Lisa Sandberg at the Houston Chronicle;

"(Rod Parker) said state prosecutors failed to provide written assurances that witnesses engaged in polygamist unions would not be tried later on bigamy charges, either here or in places outside their jurisdiction, like Utah or Arizona, where the FLDS has its stronghold.

'I think the whole thing fell apart because (state prosecutors) failed to offer the necessary immunity,' Parker said. 'There are Fifth Amendment issues here.'"

I think that the Grand Jury was anticipating longer testimony and therefore expecting to meet longer than just yesterday. It would appear that one, probably more FLDS women took the 5th. I base that on the fact that a number of witnesses came and went in regular cycles of about 40 minutes and Rod here virtually says at least ONE of them plead the 5th. The pattern suggests that perhaps all of them did. It also suggests that the state of Texas has no recourse but to offer immunity if they hope to have them testify. That in turns suggests they have taken the month off to figure about who among the FLDS women they plan to give that immunity.

This also suggests that if they do give them immunity and they don't testify, the state of Texas faces the unattractive prospect of jailing women indefinitely for contempt. The very people they say were being abused and were without any real strength of will. More →

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Staring into the pit and trusting on the LORD.

A job prospect I had been counting on, blew up on Tuesday. It seemed to get a little life back on Wednesday and then nothing could revive it. It ended in the oddest of ways. A way in which the hand of God was clearly evident. This one would have kept me in the "Flathead", a place I clearly wish to live and moreover a place my wife clearly wishes to live in. It is quite normal for me to be concerned with things that please my wife.

It involved going back to work for someone I had worked for before, who was buying another dealership with a partner who was moving from out of state. The purchase has been in the works for a year and would have involved going to work for one of the "Big Three" franchises, the kind of work you want even in these changing automotive times. In truth I would have gone to work there as just a salesman. It would have been a good job even at that level. A major domestic franchise with no established clientele offers the ground floor salesman the chance to sell anybody, without stepping on toes, I would have been content.

What happened though shows me that clearly, God did not want me to take the job. When the closing day came, it became evident that the person or persons with which the new owners were dealing, could not make the deal. Not WOULD not, but COULD not. The parties were not empowered to sell the franchise. Zap. Just like that, job over. It's not like the prospective new owners KNEW either. They had formed a corporation, purchased equipment, gotten a dealer license from the State of Montana and they were ready. When God wipes out the EMPLOYER through actions you have utterly no control over, no influence over, you have to say God is saying "Don't Go There."

Like bowling pins other jobs blew up this week. One employer I have been wooing for in excess of five years had their manager decide not to retire. Another suddenly beset by a tightening budget has put off hiring indefinitely and yet another job I might have been able to get, it seems I have had a bad phone interview and they are now not so interested. I questioned that employer closely since I had other prospects and the market was extremely small. At the time that I began to see real potential in the job, the employer seemed to take offense from the same question and that door is now shut.

The most devastating loss was that of the now "Non Franchise" that couldn't be closed. That I would have taken a lower level position that I am sure I could have had. This leaves me absolutely floundering. Combining this with the fact that my wife quit a job so I could take the job that lasted only one week, and the rate of descent has now accelerated greatly. Whereas I was in a steady but slow and controlled glide before, now I can see the ground rushing up to meet me.

I have not endured the trials of Job, but all trials are similar and Job is instructive because God took EVERYTHING from Job including his health. I have had similar trouble in the past, and I lost all but my children and my health. Arguably I lost my children as well since they are largely estranged from me and I am closer to my step children than I am my own.

What's the point? God can and does reserve the right to take any and everything from you any time. It can be in just retribution for things you should not have done or it can be in spite of our relative righteousness in the world. We have no promise of "do well and prosper" from our God, all of those promises were given to his LITERAL people Israel, and they forsook those promises. The modern day Christian has no more assurances than Job did. Job in fact got things back in the end, for me it would appear that I am going down again and at a most inopportune time.

Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. If he does not save me, I will serve no other God. Not that my severity is as extreme as Luther, but nonetheless, Here I stand, I can do no other.

Job is instructive too because if we learn anything from history, it's that we don't learn from history, which is in truth a repackaging of "there is nothing new under the sun." So I do not seek council from friends, because in the end most friends either don't know what to say, or offer bad advice. I wait on the LORD to see what he will do.

At this point I'll do anything that pays the bills that isn't immoral. At my age and my total lack of resource there isn't a lot that I can think of in the way of career jumping but I'm game because I have to be. More →

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The Grand Jury Final Report for June? No Indictments?

With this confusing story it seems that the Grand Jury is done for the month, and won't meet again for another month. There were no indictments. My UNDERSTANDING is that the Grand Jury has to be empaneled to issue the indictments, and if they're done, and there are none, no one knows even now who to indict and for what. That is frankly amazing. Alan Futrell seems as confused about it as I am.

The San Angelo Standard-Times - ELDORADO - "With today's meeting of the Schleicher County grand jury at an end, no indictments have been issued and the panel has agreed to meet again July 22.

Alan Fatrell (sic?), the criminal defense attorney for the 16-year-old daughter of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs, told reporters earlier in the afternoon that the grand jury would call one more witness before recessing until July 22. However, he said he did not know whether the continuation means the panel will not issue any indictments until that date."

Unless a Grand Jury can have a PHONE conference and issue indictments this turned out to be one big wet firecracker. That in and of itself should be a major news story across the country in the MSM. They can't even get a Grand Jury in their own home town to tell them what they think might have happened, when they are SPOON FEEDING them the "Evidence." My only guess is they were trying to gather evidence against Warren Jeffs, otherwise unless and indictment comes out, Walthers looks like a complete moron and hack.

UPDATE: It's probably fair to say we don't like each other much but I have no reason to think that "Texas Blues Man" over at "Coram Non Judice" is SUBSTANTIALLY wrong about this one, so I'll pass his answer along to you about Grand Juries in Texas;

"Hugh, the GJ is still technically in session, and they serve for the term of the court. In this case, the term ends on September 30th, so a quorum (9 jurors) can meet at any time between now and then.

If they decide to indict, the DA will prepare the indictment and the foreman will sign it.

Conceivably, the GJ could have indicted some today, and it is merely waiting for the copy for the foreman to sign, but more likely it will be ready for signature in July.

They can meet at any time until the end of the term, but usually will meet once a month or so - more often if needed.

Also, the term of the GJ can be extended for 90 days if needed.

Finally, if the indictments were sealed, they could already be issued and they are just waiting to serve them."

There were no indictments today, signed or unsigned by the foreman. That is unless news reports are wrong and about such technical details they usually are not in this case. I have no reason to suspect that the San Angelo Standard-Times got it wrong. This does mean that Barbara can call a quorum of the GJ at any time including tomorrow and get an indictment issued. The last time the GJ met they handed down 18 sealed indictments right away but the indictments were said to have nothing to do with the YFZ case so I doubt that there are any sealed indictments.

IMHO the failure to hand down any indictments in this case indicates it's extreme weakness. It would sound like the DA and the Judge were trolling today, trying to find something on which to build a case.

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I Perceive indeed.

Kurt is an attorney, and attorneys talk to him. As a consequence he is doing some of the first real investigative journalism on the story. I speculate, I dig up a few lousy crumbs, Kurt scoops. (By the way, I think my speculation is pretty dang GOOD speculation, but it's not the good stuff, yet.)

Have your remaining reservations laid aside about the FLDS. Read it all. More →

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Teresa Jeffs wins something after all. Alan Futrell is her REAL attorney.

Two things seem to have come out of the Grand Jury. One is that I may have been to hasty to say that Malonis and Walther won. They engaged in the face saving move of declaring that Malonis was still Teresa Jeffs attorney, but Malonis clearly was not. Another is that they have not been quick to issue indictments, though I am certain some will come. As loose as Grand Jury proceedings are that's almost a certainty. The Grand Jury knows the prosecution wants indictments, and is inclined to give them out. It is significant that the next meeting will be July 22nd. We may get to hear from Rozita Swinton at least before the next Grand Jury meeting unless there is another convienient "delay." I doubt that Allen Steed will have his next court date before then, as his next date is more variable.

The San Angelo Standard-Times - ELDORADO - "With today's meeting of the Schleicher County grand jury nearing an end, no indictments have yet been issued and the panel has agreed to meet again July 22, one attorney said.

Alan Fatrell (sic?), the criminal defense attorney for the 16-year-old daughter of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs, told reporters this afternoon that the grand jury would call one more witness before recessing until July 22. However, he said he did not know whether the continuation means the panel will not issue any indictments until that date."

Alan is apparently for all intents and purposes Teresa's attorney. It may be that officially Natalie Malonis is, but it's apparently not working that way.

"Malonis and the girl spent practically no time together, the attorney usually staying inside the courthouse or on the steps, with her client several yards away with other sect members and their attorneys."

So not really her attorney after all.

The Deseret News has this interesting quote;

"San Angelo attorney Brad Haralson represents several mothers.

'I can't say a thing,' he told reporters as he walked to his car. 'I don't know if there's really a schedule. They're just doing it. No agenda was sent out to anybody.'"

This suggests the Grand Jury proceedings are a show on a schedule, not a proceeding with a legal goal of finding the truth. "We're just going to do this" would seem to be the operative phrase, the same sort of train wreck justice that applied to the custody hearings, and "service plans" also presided over by Walthers. I can't hold it back any longer, Barbara Walthers is a political hack. She may be good at manuevering people that way, but she's not a legal mind or a good judge. She's a politician.

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Natalie Malonis drives Teresa Jeffs literally up a tree.

(Photo by the Deseret News)

You want stress? Try being Teresa Jeffs. The Deseret News;

"'I don't want to do it,' Jeffs said outside of court. 'It's weird.'

While waiting to testify, Jeffs decided to climb a tree, amusing some spectators.'

I'd say she really wants to get away.

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NEWS FLASH! "Polygamy is ACCEPTABLE UNDER THE LAW" - The San Angelo Standard-Times

If you read every article thoroughly, little tidbits drop out. This one is great because it reveals to the public what the press and law enforcement have always known but would not admit to publicly. The most they will do is let people like Rod Parker or Willie Jessop say it, and quote it, but they will not ACKNOWLEDGE it. Here the press doesn't put the words in someone else's mouth, and the stroke their chin in doubt, they actually admit it;

"The (FLDS), which split decades ago from the mainstream Mormon Church, practices a form of polygamy with spiritual unions that, when conducted between consenting adults, is acceptable under the law. Malonis alleges the girl was spiritually married at age 15 to an older man; the girl in letters, e-mails and interviews has denied being abused."

Well DUH, FINALLY. No, it's NOT illegal.

Furthermore it would seem that a lot of time the "spiritual marriages" of the FLDS amount to betrothal or go unconsummated for a variety of reasons. The law can only concern itself with sexual congress or sexual behavior and the issues of whether or not marriages are legally registered. This all changed when the Supreme Court of the United States struck down cohabitation laws. Essentially those laws say that if you draw your blinds and you are an adult or of "consenting age" you can have at it.

Free speech laws say you can SAY what you will as well. So Teresa Jeffs can go around saying she's "married" to someone else, if in fact she has done that. Bishops of the FLDS faith can declare her "married" if they choose to and unless she drops trow and does the "horizontal mambo" or a little fondling, in the eyes of the law, NOTHING HAS HAPPENED. When she turns 17 in Texas, she can do all of that, and in the eyes of the law, only her consent is required.

So now we're waiting for that "other admission." The admission that in this country, Free Speech is still a right. Yes, Polygamy if practiced with people of consenting age or with adults it is not ILLEGAL in this country. The next admission we need from Ms. Malonis, is that being "spiritually married" in the eyes of the law amounts to nothing as well. Unless the "spiritually married" that are underage are caught "en flagrante" or such a relationship is proved with a person too old in the eyes of the law, they can say what they want.

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Matching Time Frames. The FLDS Fiasco to be over before school starts.

Friday I said it would be 60 days and Texas would make their move to get the kids back. Probably not all of them, but certainly some of them. With Willie Jessop being "restrained" from being near Teresa Jeffs, and her apparent "star witness" status at the Grand Jury, I continue to believe that is true. Wherever Teresa is, Willie cannot be for 90 days. I figure the Judge gave herself a little leeway as to time, perhaps things will take longer than July and August. Who knows? They may concoct a reason to get him into jail by then. The Deseret News;

SAN ANGELO, Texas — "A temporary restraining order, banning Fundamentalist LDS Church member and spokesman Willie Jessop from having contact, intimidating or coming within 500 feet of 16-year-old Teresa Jeffs, has been extended for 90 days."

There's really no reason for this except to isolate and intimidate witnesses and create the impression in the mind of the general public that Willie did something wrong. He hasn't.

"Salt Lake attorney Jim Bradshaw, who represented FLDS member Allen Steed in his Utah rape trial, was in Texas Tuesday and told reporters after the hearing that the ruling is not an indication that Jessop did anything wrong.

'I want to make it very clear Willie Jessop has done nothing wrong,' he said. 'He has no concern or desire to direct Teresa to what she does or doesn't do. All Willie wants to do is get a lawyer to represent her interests.'"

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Predictable Result, Malonis & Walther win.

No Recusal. No change of attorney. Willie Jessop barred from Teresa Jeffs for 90 days.

The Salt Lake Tribune - "Malonis was prepared to present more evidence about why she wants Jeffs's mother to keep the girl away from Jessop, including apparently e-mails they exchanged. But, as urged by Walther, attorneys avoided a hearing by negotiating an agreement that extends a restraining order issued Friday for another 90 days."

Apparently the compromise that resulted involved the following;

"Walther granted Malonis' request that Jeffs be reunited with her mother and siblings under special restrictions, making her the only child governed by such an order.

The order says Jeffs may have no contact with her father or a man named Raymond Jessop. She also is prohibited from living at the YFZ Ranch - and today Walther also turned down the girl's request that she be allowed to spend the night at the ranch before making her grand jury appearance.

Jim Schmidt, an attorney for Texas Child Protective Services, said that doing so would be 'counterproductive for what we are trying to do' and not in Jeffs' best interest. Instead, Jeffs and her mother stayed at a hotel. "

Is it just me or does it seem to you that it's OBVIOUS they don't care about the "child?" It's "COUNTERPRODUCTIVE FOR WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO?" I thought this was about the children.

"Afterward, on the courtroom steps, Malonis said: 'Life goes on. I'm happy. I'm just exhausted.'"

Who cares if YOU'RE happy? Putting this teen through this torture should tear you up, even if you ARE right you IDIOT. (I was temped to use another word, but I restrained myself.)
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No indication the Walther-Malonis Team has adjourned for the evening. It's a full on Smoker?

Fight club is it? Maybe I'm reading it wrong but every news report I can get my hands on says the hearing is still in progress. If that's NOT the case, let me know. All I can say is Annette must have picked a great attorney. Barbara NEVER misses the dinner bell. More →

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Annette Jeffs attempts to have Judge Walther Recused

Predictably it didn't work and I guess their still at it;

The Salt Lake City Tribune - "On Friday, Walther approved and signed a temporary restraining order Malonis sought to block contact between Teresa Jeffs and FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop. The order instructed Annette Jeffs, the girl's mother, to keep her from Jessop and set a court hearing in the matter for Tuesday afternoon.

But the hearing was temporarily halted after Annette Jeffs sought Walther's recusal. Her motion pointed out that security was placed around the judge's home after Texas law enforcement circulated dossiers that alleged Jessop was an enforcer for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.

The motion questioned whether, given that security, Walther could be impartial in a case involving Jessop. Malonis alleges that the girl's push for a new attorney was due to coercion from Jessop."

This is so wrong. More →

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The Teresa Jeffs Saga - It gets better

She's almost 17, The San Angelo Standard-Times;

"This is an almost 17-year-old girl who has an extremely poor relationship with her lawyer," (Rod) Parker said. "It's the girl reaching out to Willie, and not the other way around."

It would be useful to know what month her birthday falls in and amusing to know if it turned out to be July or August. The hearing is at 2pm this afternoon CDT. More →

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Where's the Fence?

Apparently the Border Fence was hung up in court. Apparently no more. Build the Fence.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON - "The Bush administration's controversial fence along the Southwest border escaped a potentially devastating legal roadblock Monday as the Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge by environmental groups and more than a dozen members of Congress.

Without comment, the justices refused to consider pleas that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had overstepped his constitutional authority by waiving laws and regulations in order to expedite construction of 670 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border."

I really don't think McCain or Obama will build it. Do you?

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Upgrade! Now I Get It.

I'm an idiot blogger when it comes to the Tech stuff. I kept wondering why this wasn't easier. I had an old template that Blogger kept asking me to upgrade. I'd try, it would take me to "Template selection" and I'd look and, well, I had the one I wanted so I'd save it and continue.

Nothing new.

This has been going on for MONTHS and I couldn't figure it out.

Recently I visited "Sphere" and it had a widget to install to give out site feeds and it warned that if I didn't have the NEW Blogger, it wouldn't work. I says to me, "SELF, you've upgraded your template about five times that you can remember, so you should be able to do this." Me and myself couldn't do it. So I got suspcious that perhaps I had not upgraded my template after all.

So I plunged back into the cyber forest again tonight, closed my eyes, and selected that same template I was using and SAVED IT........

Shazzam. This time it worked because I actually saved the template that LOOKED like mine but was an update of the one I used to use. Now I'm a NEW blogger and playing with the format is in fact infinitely easier.

In the process I lost my paypal button but no one left money in the tip jar anyway so I'll figure out how to get it back. I also lost my blogflux feed and a few other things. I'll bumble my way through putting them back in and it's off to the races, in the blogger format of the Future. More →

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Dobson takes on Obama

I'm not an Obama fan, to say the least, and I'm certainly not voting for him, but does that mean I have to end up in bed with this lightweight? The Rocky Mountain News;

"'I think (Obama is) deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology,' Dobson said."

And you're not Dr. Dobson? Get me onstage with Dr. Dobson and I'll prove it. More →

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Malonis-Walther-Brower Tag Team vs Teresa Jeffs

I don't think she stands a chance, because they won't listen to her. Nonetheless if it were on merits and sincerity, I'm sure Teresa Jeffs would whup 'em all. You go girl, be brave.

The San Angelo Standard-Times - (There is a) "2 p.m. hearing in the Tom Green County Courthouse will determine whether a temporary restraining order against Willie Jessop issued Friday by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther should be extended.

On Wednesday, the Schleicher County grand jury is expected to meet and hear evidence presented by the Texas Attorney General's Office in the case, which was sparked by a weeklong raid begun April 3 raid on the sect's YFZ Ranch near Eldorado."

(So it's going on right now.) CORRECTION, it will be TOMORROW. Pray for Teresa, I don't know if she's there or not but she should be. The Standard-Times is continuing the fiction that Teresa not be named because of allegations.

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The San Angelo Standard Times may be FINALLY "Getting It."

By printing a column authored by Kurt at "I Perceive" and now printing THIS column, we have evidence that those near the problem may finally start to GET the problem. Go there, read it all, it's good. Johana Scot and Richard Wexler writing in the San Angelo Standard-Times. I'll highlight what I think are the best points in this lengthy excerpt.

"A major national study of foster care 'alumni' found they had twice the level of post-traumatic stress disorder of Gulf War veterans and only 20 percent could be said to be doing well. That same study found that one-third of the children were abused in foster care - other studies show similar results. The record of institutions is worse, and most of the ranch children were institutionalized. The hideous record of Texas institutions, in particular, was documented in two scathing reports from former State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn. Indeed, had the leaders of the YFZ Ranch really wanted to abuse children with impunity, they should have labeled their compound a residential treatment center, which would guarantee that CPS would turn a blind eye to anything happening there. All this means that had this dragged on long enough, at least 100 children who never were abused on the YFZ Ranch probably would have been abused in Texas foster care.

Another study of 15,000 children found that children placed in foster care consistently fared worse than comparably maltreated children left in their own homes. Foster children were more likely arrested as juveniles, more likely to be unemployed, and more likely to become pregnant as teenagers.

None of this means no child ever should be taken from her or his parents.Rather it means that foster care is a toxic intervention that must be used sparingly and in small doses. Instead, Texas decided to treat this slow-moving infection with mega-doses of foster care.

Though the families now have been reunited, they were separated long enough to traumatize some children for life, particularly the youngest, who perceive time as passing far more slowly than do adults. The onerous conditions imposed on the families, conditions far in excess of what is needed to conduct an investigation, will only exacerbate that trauma."

That last bit I pointed out back on April 21st. You can't tell a four year old it's only going to be four more weeks. That's like saying "you're going to be IN HELL FOREVER." Pictures suggest this sort of ripping apart was most devastating to the boys who held their heads down rather than be photographed after returning to the ranch, and expressed the desire to throw rocks at people with cameras. There is so much more to this article. I couldn't just reprint all of it, I suggest you go where it is printed and read it yourself.

While you're at it, stop by "Trenthead" and read this. It's EXTRAORDINARY. I've read it now several times. If I don't stop I'm going to foul and corrode the key board with salt.

"After a while the three boys walked off and climbed back into the family’s van. I thought I should go talk to them. The Deseret News photographer beat me to it. I don’t know what he said, but when he was done I left my cameras on the grass and went over to the van. The boys wouldn’t look at me as I thanked them for coming out and talking to us. They asked why I wanted photos of them. I said something like, 'Well, because we want to show people that you are home with your family now. There are people who want to take you away from your family and…'

'People DID take us away from our family,' the oldest boy interrupted.

Again I thought, this boy is quick and smart. I said, “You know boys, you are going to remember today, the day you came home, for the rest of your lives. I am going to send each of you a photograph from today and I hope you keep it to help you remember the day you came home to your parents.”

They still weren’t looking at me, but I continued. 'Now you don’t have to do this, but if you want to come out and take one picture where you are all smiling with your family, you can. I’m going to go back over there and let you decide. But you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Thanks for letting me take your picture.'

I walked back to Edson and Zavenda, who were talking to the writers and playing with their young daughter. We sat for a while and then it was time to go.

As we got up to leave, the three boys walked over from the van and stood by their parents. They wanted the family picture."

I won't publish the pictures, they're Trent's. See them there.

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The Third Pregnant Girl?

Is apparently Teresa Jeffs. Don't get me wrong, she isn't pregnant. She hasn't been. She is the last great lie it would seem of the CPS and she's about to be exposed as being chaste, virginal and not a victim of abuse.

So another theory has to be advanced if she is not a smokescreen or if that is only one of the purposes that Barbara Athaliah Jezebel Walthers has by using her in this way. One of her purposes may be CONCEALMENT. By using Grand Jury proceedings Jezebel Walthers can possibly enjoin her from speaking. At some point after the serving of the subpeona and the beginning of testimony Teresa may legally have to shut up. In which case she has about 48 hours to say her say or she won't be able to until the Grand Jury's work is over. Either that, or she already is in contempt.

Concealment also involves pixelating Teresa's face and not publishing Teresa's name though this virtuous maiden wishes now to shout from every rooftop and every street corner that her reputation is wrongly sullied, and her virtue intact. Texas by method of this concealment, preserves the ability to lead the press willingly around by the nose pretending there is a 3rd pregnant underage teen when there is only a 16 year old that has never known a man.

A number of people have approached me and asked what I'm going on about with the 3rd girl and told me it is Teresa. I have rejected up until this point that claim based on an article I read, but now cannot find in which it was said the "girl" in question was going to give birth this month. I cannot find that article. I thought I had linked to it. If it exists anywhere else but my aging geriatric mind, someone who knows please direct me to it. I can't find it any longer. If the third girl is Teresa, the state has a lot of explaining to do. They have essentially abused a virtuous young girl for the purposes of hiding the fact that they never had a cause for the second warrant, which is based on "seeing" a pregnant underage girls.

If this is the case, Texas now stands as not only an abuser, but a hostage taker and it's agents have obstructed justice. Those obstructing justice would be primarily Barbara Walthers and one of her prominent henchpersons would be Ms. Malonis, the attorney ad litem for Teresa Jeffs. I suggest they both be arrested.

If you want to read Teresa's letters yourself, they are published at "Free the FLDS Children." More →

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Will Barbara Pay? The Judge meets Warren Jeffs' Daughter in a steel cage match.

Barbara Walthers 11th hour move on Friday, similar to her walk out before signing custody back over to FLDS parents may blow up in her face this time. This is local politics playing out on a national level with the attention that comes with it.

A 16 year old may get the best of her, complaining bitterly and publicly that she doesn't want her attorney, she may just get her wish, and in so doing, blow up Barbara's Grand Jury. We'll see. More fireworks later today. Go get her Teresa! More →

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Is Teresa Jeffs just a Smoke Screen?

There, I went and said it. I used her name. I promise that I will take it down if her family contacts me and says "take it down." (UPDATE: Brooke Adams and the Salt Lake Tribune just named her at 9:22pm MDT) I sincerely believe this is just a publicity stunt on the part of the CPS and their allies. Teresa will not testify to anything that will help them. It is not necessary for Willie Jessop to intimidate her for her testimony to favor the FLDS. So why would they do it then? Is Texas THAT stupid? I contend that they are not. I'll start at the end of the Deseret News article;

"'It is my own dear feelings and doings. Right now I am just at home, sitting on my bed. Does it sound like I have dissappeared (sic)? To tell you the truth, I havn't (sic) tried very hard at all to dodge this subpoena. Of course I am not just going to go running for it! I know how to think for myself, if you can believe it!' she wrote. 'This is how I feel and I just thought I would let you know.'"

I have no doubt these are Teresa Jeffs sincere opinions and I have little doubt that Judge Walthers knows that and the Attorney ad Litem (Malonis) knows it as well. So why do it?

One reason is to create the headlines that it does, and which few people read past. First came the rumor mill naming Willie an "enforcer" and "intimidator" or "King Willie the Thug." Then comes this order over a girl that will not testify in favor of the CPS, and they get to have headlines like "Judge's order shields FLDS girl from harassment," in the San Antonio Express-News and "Sect chief's daughter seeks order against FLDS official" in the Houston Chronicle. You have to admit from the stand point of headlines and their PR value going into a dead dry news weekend for the FLDS Fiasco, it's a pretty good move.

Cynical? Yes? Immoral? Certainly. Effective? Quite.

The Texas CPS and Judge Walthers have slipped right back into the rumor mill but now are using restraining orders to falsify the news. Even Ben Winslow the reporter at the Deseret News treats the email alledgedly from Teresa with suspicion and goes through the protocol of not using her name. Teresa also says;

"'Oh, Natalie, please don't make this case harder,' the e-mail says. 'Shut your mouth up and quit calling me a victim of sexual abuse. I am so sick of being called that when I am absolutely not a victim of sexual abuse and you have no evidence to prove that I have ever had sexual relations. The most help you will be to me now is for you to step aside and let me get a different lawyer that I feel like can help me.'"

Early in this conflict, about the time Rod Parker DARED Texas to come up with a "pregnant underage girl" I made the choice to believe the FLDS whenever there was a conflict of fact between them and the Texas CPS. Why? I am on record as not approving of the FLDS religion and seeing it as a perversion of the True Christian Faith but there was one thing that was CERTAIN about the proceedings up to that point. The FLDS did not LIE. CPS was regularly being proven to have lied. In using the FLDS/Truth CPS/Lie model I have NEVER been dissapointed. I go by experience. The FLDS whatever else they are, are not liars. Thus I BELIEVE this to be a genuine unforced letter from Teresa Jeffs. I don't think Judge Walthers disbelieves it either.

So Judge Walthers has succeeded in painting Willie as a horrible disgusting ogre right before the Grand Jury proceedings. He will be watched like a hawk if he shows up, if he coughs there will be a big show of dragging him out of the court room. It's all a show for the media. It's also an eleventh hour distraction not unlike the "Raid, part Duex" in which CPS officials went back to the ranch right before the Order was issued to return the children, seeking more children. Their case was collapsing and they sought to disrupt the FLDS logistically and it worked. People poured out of the courthouse in San Angelo in panic because they thought it was happening all over again. The article starts this way, without mentioning Teresa's name;

"16-year-old (Teresa Jeffs, who is) at the center of a legal fight has finally been subpoenaed to testify before a Texas grand jury investigating members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church.

The girl's mother was given a subpoena on Saturday, the girl's court-appointed attorney told the Deseret News. It orders the girl to show up this week to testify in Eldorado before a grand jury considering criminal charges stemming from the raid on the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch."

It proves two things. That the CPS is completely willing to use and abuse those who it says it is there to protect, and that the flight risk is none at all. They knew RIGHT where to find her. They also regard her mother as her agent, because they served her. Texas will drag this girl into court and traumatize her or traumatize her by actually forcing her to take the stand and answer invasive questions and paint her as a slut before the whole world.

A virgin. At 16. Persecuted for not having sex and being married underage. This is for you Teresa;

Proverbs 31:10: "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies."

You are that woman.

Barbara. You should be ashamed of yourself. Torturing a child to get to her father and to her friends. Cynically using her to tar the reputation of your enemies. You Jezebel. Athaliah.

UPDATE: If you want some amusement and don't mind kicking up his stat counter, go visit the blogger (Texas Blues Man) over at "Coram Non Judice" and watch him get his blues kicked.

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Elissa Wall's 30 pieces of silver.

Having scattered the flock and done their best to destroy the FLDS, the state has what it wants. What does Elissa get? Any and everything she can have her lawyers find that the state helped procure. Isn't it ODD that her sister was right at Sheriff Doran's ear urging him to enter YFZ?

The Deseret News - "Lawyers for a former child bride who testified against FLDS leader Warren Jeffs want to keep the United Effort Plan Trust on the hook for any potential damages arising from her multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit against the polygamous sect. In a motion opposing the UEP Trust's request for summary judgment, attorneys for Elissa Wall argue the UEP was intertwined with the FLDS Church and leadership."

Elissa's attorneys are even trying to pry their way into attorney client priveleged communcations. They want it all.

"The law firm has objected to the subpoenas.

'Our position is that our communications with the previous trustees are privileged,' said Rod Parker, an attorney with Snow Christensen and Martineau who is voluntarily acting as a spokesman for the FLDS people. 'As a law firm, those privileges are not ours to waive.'"

This is why I keep breathing the word conspiracy. The state hates the FLDS and wants it gone, they conspire with and use people like Elissa who in turn uses them. Everything is neatly timed to promote her book, she becomes wealthy, Flora gets her revenge, the state gets rid of pests and panders to it's monogamy only constituancy pretending they have prosecuted polygamy when they have done anything but.

Who's goals are being served and met? Follow that trail and see if it intersects with people like Rozita.

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Genocide - How Texas may have gotten what it wanted.

Victory may be hollow for the FLDS. The four Attorneys General and Texas may have gotten their way after all;

The San Antonio Express-News - "The 10,000 or so followers of the insular group are still isolated and more scattered than ever outside their Utah-Arizona home turf.

Some are in South Dakota; many remain in Texas.

They apparently don't gather for church services anymore. Jeffs called a halt to Sunday services in the group's historic stronghold, the Utah/Arizona border towns of Hildale and Colorado City, in 2003 after insisting that God had turned his back on his followers there because they were unworthy.

At the Texas ranch, the sect stopped using its massive white limestone temple after authorities searched it during the raid in early April, said the group's attorney, Rod Parker, who is not a sect member.

While FLDS parents won a spectacular court victory against the state of Texas last month, winning back every one of the more than 440 children placed into protective custody, only about half the families that lived at the Yearning for Zion Ranch have returned there, Parker said.

The rest, too fearful to return, are still dispersed across the state in a society they shun, living in apartment complexes and working jobs wherever they can find them."

Law enforcement in several states have clearly targeted the Church Leadership, and while the vacuum existed, they struck, exposing the lack of leadership and scattering followers everywhere. Apparently they knew their job, and did it well. Genocide indeed.

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My life in the car business.

If you can call that living....

I graduated from the University of Central Florida (then Florida Technological University) in 1978 with a BA in Communications with an emphasis in Radio Television. I had been working in the broadcast industry for several years having fallen in love with Radio during a class I took as an elective. Very shortly afterward, I changed my major.

The broadcast industry is largely fickle and monetarily unrewarding. I eventually moved west to Twin Falls Idaho after my overnight program at WDBO-AM was canceled in favor of overnight talk. Not wanting to be a board engineer, I took a job as Music Director and "Afternoon Drive" in Twin Falls ID. I met my first wife there, we moved to Nampa where I was named "Program Director" of KUUZ and after that, to Helena MT where I was also Program Director and afternoon drive. We bought a house in East Helena, and the industry, fickle as it was, did what it normally does and I was out of work after a little more than a year at the helm. I was replaced by a box of tapes.

Thus I joined the "Car Biz" because I needed the work. With a wife, a child and a mortgage I needed the dough and I had recently read a Popular Mechanics magazine with an article on the upcoming GM "J" car, particluarly the Chevrolet Cavalier and I applied to Prospector Chevrolet in Helena and got the job. I nearly lost that right away because I thought I knew everything. I was far too trusting. If Dick Anderson, my sales manager, had not insisted I call my first sale repeatedly, until I finally called her, I wouldn't have sold my first car, or maybe any cars. The first one was a 1981 Chevrolet Camaro with a V8. Sue was literally leaving work to go by a Pontiac Firebird from Rice Motors when I called. I begged her to reconsider. She did, I was a car salesman.

From that point on for more than a year I made more money each month than I had ever made before in my life. It wasn't dramatic increase, but it was real and steady and by the end of my first year I had started making Salesman of the Month and did so all summer long in 1982. I also made Chevrolet's "Legion of Leaders", my second child was on the way, we had a VW Camper that my wife loved and it was looking good. Then the owner decided to shake things up a bit and promoted another saleman into a newly created management position and he worked actively to get rid of every employee that worked with him as a salesperson. Oddly, it worked. He broke up the most successful sales force in Helena and eventually he was down to only me as the remaining salesperson. Three years after I had started, I was the most senior salesman on the sales force and he fired me. I successfully got hired back, he quit but the bad taste was in the mouths of management and I was gone too a month later.

So began my life as a gypsy. I moved back to Florida, took a job at a bank and worked up to "Indirect" loan officer while working on my MBA. It was hard to make ends meet on a bankers salary and eventually I faxed my resume to one of the dealers I serviced and I was back in the biz, out of business school and the Finance Manager for "Premier BMW-Isuzu-Subaru" in Ocala FL. That dealer overextended himself, that dealer switched managers and the blow out process began again. As the near lone survivor of the previous crew I remember one December evening shaking my small paycheck in owner Bill Archer's face and saying "You think I LIKE this?" I was gone shortly afterwards. Bill was bought out (fired) by his business partner and I was back on the road again.

Premier was divided up and sold and is no more. My first "dealer", he's gone too by now, he didn't get bought out, he folded, so did the second dealer.

It turns out that a long job in the car business is about two years for most employees. If you feel up to it, try a little short term experiment. Go to about three car dealers, get the names of all their salespeople, and then come back a year later. You'll be lucky to find 80% of the same people.

Along the way I've gone through one divorce, another attempt at switching professions back to radio in Sales working for a man that used to be an employee of mine. His wife ended up coaching my wife into going for a divorce. What a friend. I went back to the car biz again and have been mostly in management ever since but either can't find a lucrative job that sticks, or a sticky job that pays. Some of the lowlights of betrayal I'll now recount.

In 2001 I was working in Minnesota. I had successfully turned around a small dealer in the rural southwestern part of the state. My second wife and I had found houses to look at, we were packed up. We'd bought a trailer to stuff everything in and we were ready to move. The dealer I was working for regularly pestered me to move seeming to think I wasn't really going to do it. I finally announced to him that I had gotten rid of my house in Lewistown MT and I was moving everybody to Minnesota. His reaction? He fired me. I was now homeless and jobless at the same time. I took the first job back in Montana that I could find as Used Car manager for Bozeman Ford and we moved to Gallatin county.

Then there was the job where I was hired to be Finance Manager in Billings MT and let go about three weeks later. After I quit my job to take theirs, they suddenly started acting like they didn't need me and I waited a week to start. Then I found out I'd been lied to about how many people were working in that job description that I was supposed to occupy all by myself. I had been sold the job on the basis of the dealers expressed evangelical Christianity. He's since gotten in legal hot water for massive fraud and gone bankrupt. The summary? He delayed my start date for a week. Acted like he regretted hiring me. Fired me, hired me back, then fired me again, all in three weeks.

Did I mention the job in Helena that I took where the guy hired me, then told me he'd decided against it and I had to go beg for my old job back?

Did I mention the one where I got hired, worked three days, and then the new owner of the dealership pretended he hadn't hired me and I had to sue him to get paid? It's little comfort to know that he was gone shortly after that.

A few jobs later (it's like that, remember the 80% rule) I was out of work this spring. My wife had just gotten a job in Whitefish MT and we figured we could hold out until I found new work around Kalispell and Whitefish with my unemployment and her income. I got a job offer 135 miles away from a dealer that had (shock) kept their last Finance Manager for 16 years. He had RETIRED from the job. Not FIRED, RETIRED. I was thrilled. I was very careful in the interview to not oversell myself to the two owners. I discussed my pluses and minuses. I went to work the day after memorial day, my wife quit her job.

We'd been living out of our RV and we moved down to be near the job. Ok, not exactly Kalispell where we wanted to live, but about the next best thing in terms of scenery. I worked three days and was delivering cars like a house afire. I'd walked into the middle of a sale. They were making money and were happy it seemed, or so they said. Then the sales manager (who I had never met) started asking me questions as if I were INTERVIEWING for the job. That night I got told that the receptionist "didn't like the music" I was listening to in my office and the sales manager thought I was "Passive Aggressive." Me? Passive Aggressive? I was also told that I worked for him. Now that is a five alarm fire right there. I was not told I worked for anyone other than the owners, now I work for the Sales Manager and he has taken an immediate dislike to me. After 6 straight, long, busy days and making them a lot of money I was given my paycheck and told "it wasn't working out."

Now I'm in the middle of the longest period of unemployment in my life. I have worked only 1 week out of the last 9. This has NEVER happened to me before. I figure in about a month I'll start going so far behind that I'll have to consider going bankrupt. In two months, I will. I'm in the middle of nowhere (Arlee) and I fear my reputation as a polygyny advocate is starting to get well known enough that I might just be out of work for a long, long, long time. I'm 54. I don't like the way it looks.

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