"Soft Treatment?" Bitter women continue their Anti Polygamy "Tour."

I try to ignore my neighbor(s). Living in close quarters such as we do in Montpelier, you pretty much have to. Or not. Let's just say it's better to ignore your neighbor(s) when it comes to the little everyday things they do that annoy you, but don't seem to annoy them. I find that if I ignore them in fact, and let it go internally, I very quickly forget, roll over, and go to sleep.

For instance, the neighbor to the right of my apartment chose to have a party a few weeks ago. I can't even tell you the day because I forgot about it, rolled over and went to sleep. It was only when the neighbor to the left of me pounded on my wall for the second time in a month (perhaps less) that I recalled that instance. Not even of my own accord, the landlord mentioned how noisy they had been and then I remembered. You see? I forgot. So with that set up and apparent digression I move on to Flora (et al) and the recent "Tour of Hate" towards polygynists, complaining of "soft treatment" of the FLDS, by the press. Eh?

The San Angelo Standard-Times - "(K. Dee) Ignatin said Americans should not be fooled by what she says is the media’s incorrectly favorable portrayal of the polygamist lifestyle. The women’s tour was prompted in part by featured treatment of the YFZ Ranch group on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

'It’s true of the Taliban and it’s true of the FLDS,' Ignatin said. 'Every instance of polygamy in any culture always forces women and children into poverty, restricts women’s choices, travel, and education, leads to the molestation of both boys and girls, and results in child brides.'

Ignatin said she sees no difference between a burqa — the body-covering garment worn by Muslim women in Afghanistan — and a prairie dress, the trademark garb of the FLDS women."

You know K. Dee, I don't see any difference between a burqa and a "prairie dress" either, except you can't go anywhere in some countries without one, and you, Flora and your traveling companion Kathy Nicholson aren't wearing them. And you're in San Angelo. Some "force," some "restriction." By comparison it's no force and no restriction at all. Every member of YFZ had a chance to "escape" over the last year, and to my knowledge, none of them have.

So back to my wall banging neighbor. It strikes me that she is remarkably similar to these three. She can hear what's going on to a limited extent in my apartment, mostly when I do the dishes. Yup, big oppressive male, dominating his mousy wife, preaching polygyny and even practicing it in the past, waling away on the dishes, sometimes as late as midnight. She can hear the dishes hit the edge of the big iron sink and it bothers her. Bottom line is that she doesn't want me doing the dishes past 10pm because she's an author that likes to work in the morning. I'll spare you the details because I'm trying to accommodate her but I sometimes work late.

"Shannon" as I'll call her, doesn't like the way I'm doing things. She's let it slip that she's "intimidated" by me even though I've been nothing but pleasant to her in the few personal encounters we've had. She followed her first "wall banging" communication with an immediate trip to the "Government" (the apartment manager) giving me no chance to employ corrective measures and prompting a "talk" from the manager who wishes to keep the peace. Apparently, keeping the peace is entirely my job and the dishes piling up in the sink is the price I must pay to keep my neighbor happy, which in turn keeps the apartment manager happy, which in turn, by implication, keeps me happy. Except it doesn't. Here we have the problem.

"Shannon" and the Three Shrews/Fates are not really much different. They all want to reach into someone else's space and meddle with what's going on there. It has been suggested that I do the dishes early in the morning because "Shannon" is up then, but then I'm doing the dishes when my wife is sleeping. No problem to them that we're inconvenienced, so long as we're doing things the way they would want it done. The issues are larger, but it's really very similar. Flora, Kathy and "K. Dee" have their bed shoved right up against the wall of my kitchen just like my neighbor, they can hear what's going on in there, and they CANNOT STAND IT.

Gals. Move the bed to the other side of the room, put the headboard up against the other wall, get an extra pillow and SHUT UP. It is none of your business. Leave me alone, leave the FLDS alone. I had enough of women in life who hover near something that bothers them or press their ears up against the wall straining to hear the sounds of that which bothers them and then complaining about it. That's all that's really going on here.

K. Dee's complaint along with her two companions is that society cannot stand the noise of poverty coming from YFZ. Excuse me? Must we all have Nintendos? XBoxes? Cell Phones? A lot of prominent people started poor. Definitions of poor vary.

Restriction of choice? Ladies, that is the definition of life. I wasn't born into the Kennedy family. I was dragged overseas with my missionary parents, I was forced to go school in someones house or in a school basement. I was cruelly sent to boarding school at age 13, I moved all over the world, I constantly had to make new friends. It was awful. Or not, or was. It doesn't matter, that was the hand dealt to me, it is the hand dealt to the children of the FLDS. It's LIFE. You start where you are and go from there. Someone has to raise you. Every choice restricts your next choices. Unless you propose we are all raised in some sort of Lebensborn program or "Skinner Box" so that we're all raised exactly the same was so as to not "restrict" our choices. Really what's being said here is that the three want to tell us what our children's choices should be. Lebensborn. Skinner Boxes. It's ok to restrict choices as long as the choices are evenly restricted, and the choices that the three "Fates" choose.

The Three Fates then descend into the usual litany of big lies. Molestation of Children. Molestation of Girls. Molestation of Boys. Never mind that the incidences of "molestation" at YFZ were confined to the hated practice of "Child Brides," all of whom are old enough now to make up their own minds and have made up their minds to stay with the program so to speak. Never mind that the molestation of boys was not discovered at YFZ and is purely confined to the anecdotal stories of ex members. Never mind that the practice of "Child Brides" was widespread in this country as recently as the last 50 years. Never mind that President Grover Cleveland met his bride when she was an infant, and he was an adult. Never mind that he was her guardian. Never mind that Lorretta Lynn was married at 13 and a mother 4 times before she was 18. It's now horrible abuse, sick and twisted. Pedophilia. Rape. Evil. Lock the FLDS up, throw away the key. All for simply not "advancing" at the same pace that the rest of us are. We've changed, in our lifetime, and they haven't. Buy Lorretta's records. Go to her concerts, shoot Warren Jeffs like a dog in the street.

Or....

These three "Fates" can just move the bed across the room. Face the headboard to the other wall, bury their head in the pillow, and go back to sleep. It's really none of their business and we all have to put up with neighbors, and what our neighbors are doing might really not be so heinous after all.

There's nothing to see here.

Move along.

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Brave Government Thugs in Iran shoot another woman.

Did I miss the "outrage" of other Islamic nations?

Hat tip to the Gateway Pundit, who is all over this.

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Gerry in Overtime? FLDS Evidence response overdue?

Gerry Goldstein hasn't filed his argument in the FLDS evidence suppression hearing, and by my reckoning, he had until about the 17th or 18th of this month, at the latest to do so.

From what I'm hearing, some conversation has been going on between Goldstein and Walther's court and it involves all 12 defendants coordinating. From the linked article in the San Angelo Standard Times, I'm not sure if Texas had three weeks and Goldstein 30 days, or if they ran back to back or if one filed first and then the other. If they ran concurrently, time is officially up. If the State filed first, Gerry had three weeks from about the 17th or so, and that would make it all come together around about week of July 6th. Next week. Roughly.

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The Phuture Pharisee

There's the Modern Pharisee of today, and there's the Pharisee of the Phuture, or is there?

I'm at a decision point for what happens next. There are a number of things on my plate, and some that had been removed. Right before the YFZ raid debacle kicked into the absolute mess and disaster that it turned out to be, and still is, I contemplated the apparent failing of God's leading in my life. Not the real failing of God, as God never fails at anything, and is successful in all he plans, but the failing from my perspective. The fact that I can't understand where God is going, though at times it seems obvious.

That "failing" was an attempt to buy the Polebridge Mercantile on a wing and a prayer. I would have been investing the savings of my son and all of my time in running an out of the way bakery/general store that is parked on the North West entrance to Glacier Park. Another couple made a similar wing and prayer attempt about a year later, and accomplished exactly what I and my wife did not. Just a year later. With them. Not us. Their plan went precisely like we had planned, only they did it and we did not. I truly wish them well, but that finally and completely closes the door on me and my plans, unless Stuart and Flannery fail, which I cannot really hope to happen. That would be ugly. So cross that off the list, I'm not a young man and I don't have any reason to think I'll have another chance at that dream. It continues to be hard to have a plan, a plan that you think will work, and see someone else do exactly what you wished to do, on the same time table, only it wasn't you. There is the strong temptation to feel cheated.

Up until last week, the Mercantile was my backup plan in case things didn't work out in my latest non profit venture, the legalization of polygyny. Just as the Mercantile failed to materialize for me, things are not developing on the Polygamy Advocacy front. Just as with the Mercantile I've taken the first steps towards being really serious and then what happens next is the equivalent of driving into deep mud. For any of you who have done that you go from 50-60 miles an hour to zero very quickly and then you're stuck. So it's Deja Vu all over again. I went in the direction God clearly led me in, and find another dead end or at least what looks like one.

To be clear (as I hope I was last year) God does not take us down the Candy Aisle because we're going to get candy. That may look to be the goal, but being led clearly down the Candy Aisle may not mean that I reach out and get a handful of Candy, it may mean I'm on the way to the Broccoli instead, and the Candy Aisle was the shortest way to get there. From the spiritual child's perspective I'm filled with anticipation at the prospect of getting what I want or think I'm supposed to get and the next minute I'm wailing in fury because my parents didn't stop and give me the treat I was expecting. But this just keeps happening and I just keep not going anywhere.

I'm in Vermont. I'm far away from every one of my children. In my chosen profession I'm not exactly succeeding but I do have a job which I am thankful for since quite a few "F and I Guys" don't have any work at all right now. It's paying he bills, but only just barely. I'm in a boarding house. My RV is in Montana. I can't afford to go get it so that I can stop paying rent and live in the small space that I do own, and so on. Stuck in the mud, again, going nowhere.

Up until the the Mercantile sold I harbored the notion that if my attempt to legalize polygamy in the North East failed, I could say that I'd done my time in the service of the cause and could head back to Montana and take another swipe at that dream. It's not going to happen. I am painted into this corner of the world, sink or swim.

The status of my polygamy (actually polygyny) fight is as follows:

I have been seeking to join my church for a variety of reasons. Within the "Reformed" community, there is what I think amounts to an undue emphasis on formal church membership. A written list. People that have passed an examination by the elders and are on the formal voting roll for church business. Unless you are on that roll, you're not really in the eyes of any conservative reformed denomination, "One of Them." The church is aware of my polygyny stance and now seems to be taking the position that I'm not really a Christian, even though there is nothing in their membership requirements that says a belief in monogamy is a "core belief." They're also stonewalling me ferociously on the issue of membership. There are five questions for membership, most of which relate to who and what you believe in for salvation, and the last section is this:

" 'Do you agree to submit in the Lord to the government of his church and, in case you should be found delinquent in doctrine or life, to heed it’s discipline?'

Q. What does it mean to 'submit in the Lord' to the government of this church?

A. It means that you heed the teaching and admonishment of the elders as long as they are teaching what the Bible teaches (1 Thes. 5:12ff). No one, including church leaders, has the right to make any requirements that go beyond those given in the Word of God.

Q. If you ever have a disagreement with the leaders of the church or any other member, how should you handle it?

A. If you believe it is important, you should go directly to the person(s) involved and talk it through. Never gossip, but get appropriate people involved if necessary to help bring peace. God commands us to 'make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace.' (Eph. 3:3)."

In short, there is a way to disagree, to resolve disagreement and to "agree to disagree" all embedded in this section of the membership "exam." I qualify easily on the first portion of the membership test, I even qualify on this last portion, as long as I handle it in the way described above. I would then become a member who disagreed with the denomination on a "non core" issue. The local church would doubtless not have me teach Sunday School, or become an "elder" but I would be a communicant member. I would then fall under the authority of the church from their perspective, and if they thought my "teaching" was wrong, outside the church, they could approach me to deal with that issue. They'd have to prove their case formally though.

Suffice it to say we've reached an impasse where from my point of view, it's the church that knows it cannot really refuse me membership based on the way their requirements are framed, but the church doesn't want me because of what having an otherwise theologically conventional polygynist on their rolls would mean. I will have achieved partial legitimacy for the practice, and I am in the middle of New England where Same Sex Marriage is passing through State Legislatures like a freight train. Vermont and New Hampshire both have Same Sex Marriage laws, Maine will if it does not reject it's law through a "people's veto" and New York seems poised to pass their own law.

I will say without fear that I am the most public and widely read advocate of legal polygyny in this country. I am probably the only one in the Reformed Community. This probably makes me the most articulate one as well by virtue of the fact that I might be the only one. This laughably makes me the most inarticulate one as well. I'm a sort of theological/political "snail darter" or "Last of the Mohicans" so it's not hard to be both things at once. I am physically placed in an ideal position to push the issue in all the New England States that have passed an Same Sex Marriage law, being literally in the State Capital of Vermont, less that 160 miles from Albany NY, 120 miles from Concord NH and 190 miles from Augusta Maine. Same Sex Marriage is legal in Massachusetts as well and Boston is only 180 miles away. The whole North East is going in the SSM direction, most by act of their freely elected legislatures. Without trying to call too much attention to where I go to church, this territory is almost identical to the Presbytery of my local congregation. It's really hard for a good Calvinist not to say the discussion, bare minimum, was ordained for both church and state. Since all things only work together for good for the saints, it's also logical to say this discussion is for the good of the church. I don't presume to declare it's outcome.

There then is the "family front." Among professing polygynists who are not necessarily practicing polygynists there is generally disagreement between husband and wife over the practice of polygyny. Usually most of these men, of whom I am one, come to a realization polygyny is acceptable after they have married under what is probably a traditional (read monogamist) set of vows. Usually the wives accept that polygyny is legitimate but it almost always seems counter intuitive (to them) that they might be at least as well off if not better off in a polygyny so they resist. I've gotten vague clearances from my wife regarding the practice of polygyny, most of which involve a quantum leap in wealth so as to not put her in direct contact with an additional spouse. If I had made that quantum leap, I'd already own my dream business and I'd have never moved to Vermont, so you can guess how much progress I've made on that front. This by the way would be one way of legalizing the practice, the easiest way, that being me trying to marry another woman in Vermont to set up a court challenge.

There's the problem though of wanting to marry again for the same reasons I'd want to have gotten married in the first place. Love, Sex, Children, Godly Companionship. "Just to make it legal," is not one of the things on the list. It's even more difficult to arrange for marriage the second time because I lack none of the preceding things. I have Love, Sex, Children and Companionship. I would still marry for all of those reasons but there's no rush as I have those things. There's also no one on the horizon and I'm not exactly looking for someone, like I said, legalization is just to utilitarian. So I'm "looking" but only in a philosophical sense. You add to that the cautious requirements of marriage I now place on the table such as Chastity and Parental Permission and that seems to be a small set of persons exceeded only by my dubious classification as the Reigning Reformed Advocate of Acceptable Polygyny.

Frankly, though my wife is not head of the household, I have a concern for my wife's desires out of love for her and out of obligation placed on me by God. She's not precisely enamored at the moment of gaining another companion wife, she can't see where all of this is going as far as advancing the McBryde Family Plan which is about 10 years from retirement age and that gets the fingers to drumming and the foot to tapping and the brow to scowling. She is my concern and I have to think along the lines of how long do I at least seem to ignore her concerns while I tilt at what appear to her, to be windmills. It's a question of allocating resources and I'm not a young man. We don't even own a house. We haven't, for over fifteen years.

I've also learned that the domain name "Polygamy.com" is also for sale. It's a bit pricey as you might imagine. I'm sure I could do a lot with it just as I was sure I could do a lot with the Mercantile. It's certainly less pricey than the Mercantile was, and I can do a lot more with it in my spare time trying to advance "the cause" but again, it's out of my reach. I hadn't said anything about this for fear I'd mortgage any small chance I had at buying it, just as I had kept quiet on the Mercantile, but I'm really developing a "what the heck" attitude about such things. It'll happen, or it won't, and it probably won't. I really don't care any longer if I tip off a competitor to the opportunity. I'm just describing the landscape.

In short, as I regularly but infrequently point out it's a money thing. To date I have gotten $70.00 in donations in my Pay Pal bucket all coming from only one donor. $60.00 went as promised to register as a lobbyist in Vermont. I've earned but not received $88.59 in ad revenue from "Google Ads" and won't get of that revenue until a month after I earn $100.00. The bottom line is that I've made $10.00 off of being a Blogger.

Luther, who was a (grudging) polygyny advocate, had his patron. Such revolutionary pursuits are usually quite thankless. You end up like Jan Hus if you don't have backer, to a greater or lessor degree. The organized Church won't touch the subject until they have to, at literal gunpoint. The polygyny advocates and practitioners are largely a collection of the "Gamma Delta Iota" fraternity (in other words no collection at all) and would rather do what they do independent of any church accountability (which I think is bad) in a quasi legal informal way, which is always dangerous. Ask the FLDS. I don't see how it is a witness to anybody if you have to hide what you do so that you can survive, and if you can't gather publicly without calling dangerous attention to yourself. It's OK to separate into communities to maintain some sort of religious discipline, but you can't be perceived to be far outside the law, our you're going to end up with tanks in your front yard, the guest of honor at a barbecue or both.

Polygynists need to go legal and I've been volunteering as ideally placed, right minded and ready to rumble now for a while. I'm getting no response at all. The thing is, I know you're out there. Christian. Polygynists. People who would benefit from polygyny being legal. There is still a window now. There is a rather well oiled minority of polyamorists out there waiting to define the law in their way and recent trends suggest they will get what they want. I still insist that we can protect forms of marriage that are Biblical now, legally, both monogamy and polygyny if we act to help frame the next version of legal progression. If we don't, we're going to get something that will make both groups vulnerable.

I'm only in this portion of the public debate until the precedent is set, then I'm probably out. Once the trend towards "open marriage" is started it will be defined increasingly without our input and to our detrement. Without support I'm faced with simply wasting my time, aggravating my church, exhausting my family and rolling the dice with my only form of gainful employment who won't at some point want a notorious polygyny advocate on their payroll who gets more time in the spotlight as a polygyny advocate, than as their employee.

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Iran Election Fraud Proof.

100% of the vote? All those people in the streets and in 38 districts Ahmadinejad got 100% of the vote? NOT ONE VOTE FOR ANYONE ELSE? President Obama KNOWS this is a fake, but maybe he doesn't mind rigged elections.

Hat tip to Medius Oriens which is turning out to be one of the better English language blogs on the subject of Iran. The writer is growing into the topic and makes some mistakes which are owned up to but seems to be doing the research in the Farsi blogs to bring stuff to the forefront.

The graphic and research comes from "Ayande News."

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Oh, I like this one...

And there's more. I Own The World.

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Mark Sanford gets King David wrong.

Governor Sanford, respectfully, you have it wrong. You have not committed a sin against your wife unless it is the breaking of a promise, you haven't broken your "marriage vows." Your sins, if any, are not in the same league as that of King David.

To review, King David offended God in two sins, adultery, and murder.

King David committed sins against Uriah, again, murder and adultery, the latter he committed with Bathsheba.

King David, if you recall Governor Sanford, says this of his sins with Bathsheba against both God, and Uriah:

"Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment."

He leaves out Uriah, because Uriah is dead, he has no family in Israel because he is a Hittite. This is why Uriah is a "poor man" in Nathan's complaint. He has no inheritance. There is no family, and no "avenger of blood."

He leaves out his wives Governor Sanford, because David does not sin against his wives. Please note that David has several wives at this point in his life, not one.

If you sinned Governor Sanford, it is in telling falsehoods, and probably swearing falsely to your wife that you would not take other wives and remain "faithful" to her in the Western Cultural sense.

That is what you have done. What you should do now is embrace your "lover" as a wife, and not abandon her. You have made a commitment with your body that you should keep.

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Michael Jackson Dead, so is Farrah Fawcett (UPDATED)

I mourn one, and raise the eyebrow at the other.

The Los Angeles Times - "The circumstances of Jackson's death remain unclear. Law enforcement sources said that Los Angeles Police Department robbery-homicide detectives have opened an investigation into the death, though they stressed there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. The detectives plan to interview relatives, friends and Jackson's doctors to try to figure out what happened. The L.A. County coroner's office will determine a cause of death."

So, Liz Taylor outlives him, and Farrah doesn't. I regard the death of Neda as more newsworthy. Jackson died a Hollywood death. It's only too typical. So "Elvis." Farrah's death was more touching, Ryan O'Neal, a man at her bedside. UPDATE: "Car Lust" chose to eulogize Michael and Farrah by showing car commercials, (in Michael's case a scooter commerical) that they appeared in. Separately of course. Michael has now been sliced and diced, twice.

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The Iranian Streak, "La Dolce Vita" protest?

There is plenty more in the way of gore from Iran. In this case a woman is choosing to make a conscious and life threatening political statement, by baring a little skin and not very much by our standards. Apparently she knows what really gets under the Ayatollah's skin. It could very well get her killed.

It may be coincidence, but it seems our daring woman is a Fellini fan.
It's hard to say what's on her mind but she could have watched "Under the Tuscan Sun" as well.

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Neda's Family Kicked Out

What happens when your daughter is heartlessly and purposely shot and bleeds out in 20 seconds and dies in your arms as the result of Government action in Iran?

The Guardian - "Neighbours said that her family no longer lives in the four-floor apartment building on Meshkini Street, in eastern Tehran, having been forced to move since she was killed. The police did not hand the body back to her family, her funeral was cancelled, she was buried without letting her family know and the government banned mourning ceremonies at mosques, the neighbours said.

'We just know that they [the family] were forced to leave their flat,' a neighbour said. The Guardian was unable to contact the family directly to confirm if they had been forced to leave."

Neda Agha Soltan's family are now suffering for their daughter's purposeless death, beyond just the death part, the dying in front of you part, the dying in gory startling horrifying part. They couldn't go to her funeral (important for a Muslim) and they've been kicked out of town. Any thought that those who rule are legitimate tends to fade with actions such as his in the face of world scrutiny. Clearly, Iran's leaders think they can do and get away with anything. Hat tip to Medius Oriens.

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Now Iranian diplomats can't come, Obama Bolts the Door.

In a classic case of "you can't quit you're fired," the Obama administration has rescinded the Fourth of July invitations to Iranian diplomats. Why?

They weren't coming anyway. Obama bolts the door, after the horse is gone.

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If Guantanamo Prisoners Rights are Important President Obama

Why aren't the rights of Iranians?

You keep telling us, that we are showing what we believe to the world by how we treat prisoners. So why is it that you do not care about the Iranian people?

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Oh PUH LEEEEEZ (Governor Mark Sanford) UPDATED

Why not just let them have three or four wives? I'm sure we could find the understanding women. He says his wife has known about it for five months. She's complicit. These politicians need the outlet.

Fox News - "Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admitted (today) to being 'unfaithful' to his wife during a press conference meant to account for his mysterious week-long absence.

'I've let down a lot of people. That's the bottom line,' he said. 'I've been unfaithful to my wife.'

Sanford, who just returned from Argentina, said he developed a 'relationship with what started out as a dear, dear friend from Argentina.'

The governor 'apologized' profusely to his family, his staff and the people of South Carolina.

The first-hand account was meant to settle mounting questions over the governor's whereabouts.

Confusion only intensified Wednesday morning after The State newspaper reported that Sanford had just returned from Argentina, even though his staff claimed the disappearing governor was hiking on the Appalachian Trail a few hours away from the state capital."

Frankly, I don't know what we're fooling ourselves about. You show me one couple who has stayed chaste during their courtship, married, had sex after marriage, never had sex with others before their marriage, and stayed faithful to one another throughout their marriage and never divorced and lasted 30 some odd years or more.

Yes, I know you'll find them and I'll find 19 others that didn't do that, at least. Who are we fooling? We are not MONOGAMOUS. The affair has been going on since last year. He's involved a lot of people in his deception. He probably only admitted it because he was about to be outed.

More here: The New York Times and The Buenos Aires Herald.

PS and UPDATE at 6:00 PM EST. I think it will be eventually admitted that the Governor is Bipolar. He sure is acting like he is, BTW, her name is "María Belén Chapur." Since María has worked as a "journalist," I'm sure it was "professional courtesy" that prevented her being named originally. If it were a member of my family, I'm pretty sure they would have just named her right away and put her picture out there.

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Bastards

Hat tip to "Balouch" blogspot.

Two men that I can count are weilding a "Sap" or "Truncheon" while at least the porker on the motorbike has the decency to slap with his open hand. Decency? At least he will feel the pain he inflicts to some extent. It looks like he's had experience, at home.

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Allen Steed, delayed again.

Brooke Adams is reporting Allen Steeds "resolution" hearing has been put off, until next month.

In her blog report, Brooke alludes to a "plea" deal, and there may in fact be one in the works, except that this was said last summer, and it never materialized. A few court moves were made, and we're now a year from the last hint of a "deal." Keep in mind that a "resolution" hearing is very open in nature from what I have been able to discover. Basically both sides show their best offers to the judge without prejudice. The judge hears how far Allen might be willing to go as far a a guilty plea, and the prosecution reveals how far it is that they will move down in charges to get a conviction.

If for instance Allen says he might plead to some form of minor sexual charge short of rape, and the prosecution says they'll plead down to some form of misdemeanor charge of non sexual physical violence or threat of violence, or maybe kidnapping of some kind (you never know) then the judge knows there can be a deal. He doesn't tell either side what the best offer of the other is, but he does tell them they have hope of a deal. As far as either side knows their best offer is the other side's limit. All they know is there is room to deal.

Some of the signs going into this "deal" is that suddenly Elissa has made a low dollar amount offer to settle to the UEP trust, and Steed has hinted at some sort of deal, but it must not be much of one, in terms of his guilt. If there is no overlap in the highest crime that Allen will plead to and the lowest charge the prosecution will agree to, then there will have to be a trial. A trial that the prosecution seems to fear.

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What Took You So Long? Obama Edges towards support of Iranian People

What exactly has to happen before you give a rip Mr. Obama? You're not too busy to sign anti smoking bills while you puff away yourself. What TOOK YOU SO LONG?

Yeah, that would pretty much be my question too. From "Townhall," Major Hat Tip to Mr. Garrett and "Real Clear Politics."

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I wonder what the King is doing today?

While he signs the "Stop ME because I CAN'T STOP MYSELF" smoking bill, one wonders what is going through the Smoker in Chief's mind.

While one of the most remarkable revolutions in history is occurring half way around the world, Obama tries to staunch Neda's fatal wounds with an anti smoking bill.

"I wonder what Barack is signing today?
What Cigarette is the Prez a-lighting todat?
The smokers at the court, they never burned as bright.
I wonder what Obama is up to today?
How goes the final signing
As he sees his finest hour
Slipping slowly and finally away?
Well, I'll tell you what the Barack is doing today:
He's SCARED! He's SCARED!"

If you can't remember the tune, here's some help.

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He's not a 16 year old girl, but he's just as dead. Parallels to YFZ and Waco.

A snapshot into the final instants of another life and it's just as ugly. While he may not have the shock value of a beautiful 16 year old girl, on the doorstep of her future, this young man is every bit as dead. Again, hat tip to the Gateway Pundit, and the Iran Press.

There is a parallel here between Iran and my favorite blogging topic, the FLDS. This is not far away for us. We have failed to, as a nation, align ourselves with the FLDS when their rights were trampled. In failing to do so we invite such thuggery in our own nation and it really won't take long to get to that place.

It is strange that the Ayatollah Khamenei referred to Waco and an indictment of our own nation, and he is completely right to do so. Strange though, because he then goes on to use police state tactics on his own people. It was like he was trying to give himself a special dispensation for his own brutality. We should listen to him though, even though he may not be around very long himself. We have this problem here. I find myself wishing he was more up to date, and had mentioned instead, YFZ.

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We've seen Neda after, see her before.

From the Iran Press News, hat tip to the Gateway Pundit.

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Mousavi's open letter to Obama?

Mousavi calls out Obama.

From the Office of Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi

To the President of the USA, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama:

Dear Mr. President,

In the name of the Iranian people, we want you to know that when you recently made the statement “Achmadinejad or Mousavi? Two of a kind,” we consider this as a grave and deep insult, not just to Mr. Mousavi but especially against the judgment of the Iranian people, against our moral conviction and intelligence, especially those of the young generation that comprises a population of 31 million.

It is a specially grave insult for those who are now fighting for democracy and freedom, and an unwarranted gift and even praise for Mr. Khamenei, whose security forces are now killing peaceful Iranians in the streets of every major city in the country.

Your statement misled the people of the world. It was no doubt inspired by your hope for dialogue with this regime, but you cannot possibly believe in promises from a regime that lies to its own people and then kills them when they demand the promises be kept.

By such statements, your administration and you discourage the Iranian people, who believe and trust in the values of democracy and freedom. We are pleased to see that you have condemned the regime’s murderous violence, and we look forward to stronger support for the rightful struggle of the Iranian people against the actions of a regime that is your enemy as well as ours.

Hat tip to Medius Oriens.

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Iran's Voice Vote

You may have noticed that I have added a few blogs, in Farsi.

Can I read Farsi? I most certainly cannot. The sites have added have a large amount of photo of video content and are worth the visit because of what they highlight.

I have no love for Islam which is the predominant faith even of the protesters in Iran, which is why there is so much green in the protests. In sympathy for Iran, I have added green to my blog header for the time being. I have no faith that if the protesters overthrow the current regime, that it's successor will be a friend of this country or the West in general, I am not rooting for a "pro western" Iran.

What I do know is this. Iran invited elections. They made a compact with their people just as any democratically elected leadership does. They owe their people a fair accounting of those votes. The current regime has not done that. I invite you to do the research that reveals the duplicity practiced by Iran's rulers. They were not believed.

Iran is now conducting a Voice Vote, similar to a call for a voice vote in a legislative chamber. It would appear that with regard to the current government, it's being shouted down. The "nays" have it. We should back them. It's what we as Americans, are all about. Government of the people, by the people, for the people. Iran will never get there denying the will of the people.

This is why I have concentrated in the Iran issue this weekend. I've added a few blogs and sites with the hope that my slightly higher than average internet profile will help boost those sites to greater prominence in this time of uncertainty in Iran. When the AP reports as of this moment, that only one person is dead in the protests in Iran, and I have posted videos of two shooting deaths, the unfortunate "Neda" being one of them, getting the information out, is key in keeping the Iranian Revolution alive. Too many of the traditional big media outlets are compromised. As a citizen of this country I am much more content to deal with the popularly elected Government of Iran, whatever form that may take, than the fraud that now holds power there.

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Neda was (UPDATE-27, NOT 16 WARNING-VERY GRAPHIC)

CNN reports that the Iranian girl who was shot dead, was named "Neda," which means "Voice." Do not click "more" if you are squeamish.

That will be her name symbolically if it is not actually her given name in life. 20 seconds before this still, Neda was alive. It is pronounced "neh DAH."

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Iran Man Down

Just standing there, and then he's dead.

Hat tip to Gateway Pundit.

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The Hear No, See No President

From John Cox.
Who knew we would actually need a Cowboy President?

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Boots on the People

From Nik Kowsar's Nikahang Blogspot.

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And now I lay me down to die

How long does it take to give your life for the Revolution? About 30 seconds. How long will this image last if you watch it? It will invade your dreams. Graphic and sad. She's shot. She sits down. She lies down to die, and does.

Hat tip to madyariran.net and Mojtaba Saminejad. "Rotten Gods" just picked it up.

Her candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh says he is ready to die, and may have to.

Gateway Pundit has a different angle, literally, on the death of this young woman that is bloodier, but far less touching. Yes, she's dead.

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The Ayatollah Khamenei is afraid.

He fears his own people.

My wife an I have been watching ont C-SPAN, the frightfully boring "Friday Prayers" sermon (ramble) of the Ayatollah. What he says, is greatly outweighed by what he does not say.

At least in the portion that I have endured listening to and watching, Khamenei does not name a domestic enemy. If, as he claims, Ahmadinejad got about 60 percent of the votes, he should be unafraid. They are outnumbered. If however he is wrong, and as some say the second place finisher polled three times the votes of Ahmadinejad, he dares not name Mr. Mousavi or Mehdi Karoubi as enemies, because he will be vastly outnumbered by the supporters of either, or both men together.

He did mention Waco.

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Well that's a relief! Governor Perry Vetoes SB 1440

So the long dark night, doesn't start tonight.

Texas Legislative Update AUSTIN, Texas – We have just received word that Gov. Perry has vetoed SB 1440, which would have allowed Child Protective Services expansive new power to search and seize children and their medical records without consent or notice to parents, without a court hearing, and without “good cause”, in direct violation of a recent federal court of appeals decision.

“We applaud Gov. Perry for standing for parental rights, and sending the message that our Constitutional rights cannot be cast aside by unverified, uncorroborated anonymous tips.” said Jonathan Saenz, director of legislative affairs and constitutional attorney at Free Market Foundation (FMF).

I did not weigh in on the bill, since I do not live in Texas, but it stank.

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This. Is. Funny.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Murder in the White House - Fly Widow Interview
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Stephen Colbert in Iraq

The Colbert Report.

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The patterns of Chaos?

The galley of doomed Air France Flight 447, largely intact.

Looking at something as strange as this floating galley, strong enough to support a man, it's possible to speculate that somehow, someone (God Willing) could have survived whatever disaster befell the Airliner, had that person somehow been with or near this particular part of the plane.

Flesh and cabinetry are not the same things though. It's still amazing. Another view.

From "The Daily Mail."

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Was Iran's Election Stolen? Brazenly it would seem.

The top two vote getting candidates, were not Ahmadinejad it would seem, who was beaten by a margin of almost 4 to 1 by Mousavi and by more than 2 to 1 by the second place finisher, Mehdi Karoubi. This would account for the overwhelming belief among the populace that Ahmadinejad did not win. Figure it this way, the average Iranian voter knows five opposition voters, for every one voter for Ahmadinejad. Six, if he or she voted for Ahmadinejad. This is also why a larger number of people are not taking to the streets and beating the crap out of protesters. They're vastly outnumbered.

The Telegraph - "The statistics, circulated on Iranian blogs and websites, claimed Mr Mousavi had won 19.1 million votes while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won only 5.7 million.

The two other candidates, reformist Mehdi Karoubi and hardliner Mohsen Rezai, won 13.4 million and 3.7 million respectively. The authenticity of the leaked figures could not be confirmed."

These statistics are NOT official as the story points out, but it's hard to argue that 6 out of 7 Iranian voters, feel cheated.

When does our impotent President realize it's time to get behind the people of Iran? If he doesn't do it soon, he will appear to be a supporter of Ahmadinejad to the Iranian people.

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The Tribune Switches Sides?

Sensing (perhaps) that there is a big story about to be told without them concerning the UEP trust, the Salt Lake Tribune goes from the studied every so subtly "anti FLDS" detachment of Brooke Adams, to the outright advocacy of Rebecca Walsh. The following appears in today's edition of the Salt Lake Tribune, in the Polygamy section:

"This week, the attorney general and lawyers for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints working on a settlement discovered Wisan's $360,000 fire sale of cow flesh in a footnote filed in court. Wisan's last-minute deal smells bad."

I'll say. But for years it's been merely reporting the claims of the FLDS and their attorneys that Wisan was a thief, now with the carcass of his bad deals showing up undeniably in court, the Tribune finds a voice and chimes in, clearly on the side of the FLDS. It makes you wonder, when will someone move off the fence in the case of the raid? Must there be an Island Pond smoking gun discovered? Flora Jessop meeting with David Doran, Bruce Long, Barbara Walther, Becky Hoerth and Rozita Swinton and Flora saying: "Now, here's my plan..," all on video tape?

"Attorney for the FLDS Rod Parker believes Wisan is trying to derail the settlement to keep his expensive gig going. Meantime, he says, the trustee is cannibalizing the FLDS assets.

'It's gotten to the point where the fiduciary's not answerable to the attorney general anymore. He's vastly outpaced his mandate,' Parker says. 'If the FLDS had sold $360,000 of cattle under the table, there would be hell to pay. There should be hell to pay for the fiduciary.'

At the same time, Wisan is fighting charges of trespassing in Arizona after his employee entered two homes in Colorado City without the residents' permission.

White (Wisan) knight unmounted."

It's good to see the Tribune reporting (finally) but what ever happened to the reporter that went out and found a story, as opposed to the cheerleader reporters we have now, that call the game forensically, from the sidelines?

There's sufficient evidence out there to ask the questions and tell the story of what really happened leading up to the raid. If reporters wait until it's presented as an exhibit in court, we can all kiss our freedom goodbye.

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The Revolution Will Be Photoshopped

I'm not an expert, but after my initial attraction to this fetching Islamic Lass who stood up so bravely for her cause I started to study the image which I set as my desktop background. There's nothing a radical likes better, than a radical chick, it's the ultimate in radical chic, right?

This picture appears over at "Rotten Gods" and is attributed to "Getty Images." Closer inspection reveals an unusually glossy sheen to the green ribbon tied around her right wrist, and the note she's carrying looks vaguely superimposed, or at least the English message on it does.

It seems a shame to fake things (if my amateur assessment is correct) that have plenty of basis in fact.

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How the raid happened, now proven.

There was a written plan, long before the raid, that was followed. Yes, it was a conspiracy.

"I have written several papers explaining the causes and effects of the Raid on the Church Community where children from a common religion were seized by the state for alleged child abuse. We now know that the State of Vermont fell in line with a written plan devised by (a) renowned anti-cultist. Critical to (the) thesis is that cults are a social menace and deserve to be destroyed and his plan provides the steps just how to do it. With the groundwork laid by anti-cult operatives, the linchpin of the whole plan was to get the authority of the state behind it in order to be able to actually execute the raid. The plan, devised coordination between state agencies, law enforcement and the media who coordinated to execute a 'grossly unlawful scheme' with the explicit purpose of 'destroying the group' and serving as a prototype for use with other minority religious groups in the future."

So is this a claim of a "foil hat" wearing wacko like me, as some claim?

It is the opening paragraph of a comparison paper, between the "Island Pond" raid in Vermont in 1984 (where I now reside) and the YFZ raid, a little over a year ago. I've deleted a few words from the paragraph so as to hide the giveaways that it is largely a claim about the Island Pond raid. When it is said that those who support the idea of a Government "Conspiracy" are loons, it would be good for those doing that pointing to remember, that Island Pond was eventually discovered to be just that. An organized, planned, written conspiracy. The author of the paper is Jean Swankto Wiseman of Chattanooga TN and she goes on:

"Even the basic requirements of the law, the Constitution and state procedures are not followed and there is no doubt that the legitimacy of the states' actions cannot be upheld. Whether or not the state action is legal and sustained, the net effect of demonizing the group and creating 'moral panic' gets accomplished. The anti-cult motive to dissolve and diminish non-mainstream religions, perceived as a threat to mainstream religions, is nevertheless satisfied."

More:

"In both cases the obvious reality was that these two raids were massive and had been planned for months, well before any presenting emergency. Basically the claimed emergencies were a ruse (a clever trick or plot used to deceive others) for a long-anticipated action to search for evidence inside these communities."

And:

"When social workers have no legal grounds for entry and cannot meet the necessary standard, pressure, direct or indirect, can be applied to judges to issue a warrant anyway in the hopes of finding the necessary or desired evidence once inside. Such an approach is illegal. Seizing people or evidence on this basis is called 'investigative detention' and it is unlawful in this country under the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the state constitutions of Vermont and Texas."

And:

"Both cases were premised upon the argument that a particular religious belief is bad for children, but it is a right of parents, protected by the Constitution, to make that call."

There are 84 footnotes, and I'm not even one of them. The "Plan" to destroy the group in Island Park, is also included and compared to the raids on Waco and YFZ. There is also this fascinating little tidbit:

"Interestingly enough, the evidence shows that Flora Jessop is linked to some of the very same anti-cult organizations that proved unreliable in the Island Pond case."

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Ultrabrown, on Iran - “140 characters are a novel when you’re being shot at.”

Tweeting the Revolution. The Iranian army has moved into Tehran. What does our impotent President have to say? Not much. But like UB says, a few characters (with courage) speak volumes.

"Alireza Sedaghat confirmed that there's no Google or Yahoo accessible in Iran. The women's rights lawyer Shiva Nazar-Ahari has been arrested and there's news floating of atrocities and shortage of blood and another peaceful pro-Mousavi meeting is being planned for Wednesday June 17. From bloody pictures to secondhand reports, it's all here on the internet. There are also tweets reporting that protesters are being taken to Evin, a high security prison. BBC painted its website green in support of the protesters in Iran and America's State Department requested Twitter to reschedule its downtime because of how important Twitter had suddenly become to protesters in Iran. Thousands of people have added a green tint to their profile pictures and gone to the Settings button and changed their details to show they are in Tehran ever since BoingBoing.net came out with its Cyberwar Guide for Beginners."

Remember Mumbai (Bombay)? UB did a great job keeping track of what was going on. Ultra Brown is closer geographically and philosophically to the problem in Iran.

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My Son, under Hostile Fire

Today my son came under enemy fire.

In this country. He's an Army Recruiter. I am not joking. He says he'd be safer, in Iraq.

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"What Fascism Looks Like"

More video on Iran. I'm starting to wonder what the differences are, between Barack and Jimmy Carter. Is it just skin color?

Why compare Barack to Jimmy Carter? Stilted speech patterns? Big Ears? Liberal policies? Friendliness to the enemies of Israel? Possible failure in Iran?

Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Dish.

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How is the UEP trust like YFZ's children?

Because after much strife, many dollars and lots of accusations, the state of Utah is going to give UEP back to the FLDS.

The Dallas Morning News - "(T)he proposal returns control of most of the trust holdings to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

An arm of the church, the United Effort Plan Trust holds most of the land and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., the twin towns where most church members live, and a church enclave in Bountiful, British Columbia.

The Utah courts seized the communal trust in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement by Jeffs. Under the oversight of a court-appointed fiduciary, the communal religious trust has been converted into a secular entity."

This is the state of Utah's plan. So remind me. Why did they take control of the trust in the first place? Never mind...

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Us. Them. Iran.

I don't pretend to know the state of Iranian politics, but it's clear that the opposition is sufficiently large and sufficiently different from the incumbency that they feel deprived, wronged and desperate. The incumbent powers? Desperate. It always ends up looking like this, when it gets this far. The images of violence are graphic, but it's hardly the worst I've seen.

Hat Tip to "Young Americans."

Hat tip to Gary's Choices, by way of Mitchieville.

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Wally Was Wasted

Even if it is eventually shown that undue attention is being paid to attorneys representing the FLDS, Wally copped a plea and admitted that he was on the police blotter, because he was blotto.

The Salt Lake Tribune, June 12th, 2009-Utah News Section - "Walter 'Wally' Bugden, the attorney who represented polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs on charges of being an accomplice to rape for arranging an underage marriage, has agreed to a plea deal on charges of public intoxication.

Bugden was charged with a class C misdemeanor after Ivins police arrested him for intoxication on Feb. 7.

A clerk with the 5th District Justice Court in St. George on Friday said a pretrial hearing scheduled this week for Bugden was canceled after he agreed to a plea in abeyance on April 16 and paid a court fee of $182."

The case of Mindy Montford may not go as easily for Law Enforcement. It appears that for whatever reason the police showed up in Wally's case, he was Publicly Plastered.

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Allen Steed shows up on the Calender

He's officially on the docket, though we were told he would be a while ago.

01:30 PM (June 25th, 2009)SPEC SET RESOLUTION HEARING S27 071501596 State Felony
STATE OF UTAH ATTY: BELNAP, BROCK R
FILTER, BRIAN G
VS.
STEED, ALLEN GLADE ATTY: BRADSHAW, JIM C
OTN: 19095116 DOB: 05/12/1981
F1 - RAPE - 04/14/01

I'll be surprised if Allen's attorneys agree to any plea bargain with a charge of a sexual nature. Maybe if Utah offers something like misdemeanor assault or something along those lines he'll take it.

I've been surprised before though. We'll see. The above is from the St. George court calender in Washington County Utah.

The fact that Elissa Wall is suddenly willing to settle is interesting. Wouldn't you settle now if you knew your case was about to get, um, shaky? How likely are you to get damages based on a foundation of being raped, when you turn out to not have been raped?

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Mindy Montford's arrest to cover up for Rick Perry's accident?

Just seeing if you're paying attention.

"At approximately 7:30 p.m. tonight Gov. Perry broke his right collarbone and received a minor abrasion to his right elbow due to a mountain biking accident near his residence. He was taken to the emergency room at Seton Medical Center Austin where he was treated and released."

So that's why they arrested Mindy Montford! A distraction! (cough)

I guess the Governor now has an excuse not to veto SB 1440. He has a gimpy wing.

It is rumored that Mindy conspired to let the air out of Gov. Perry's bicycle tires, with "King Willie, the Thug." Montford was grilled through the night on her involvement, King Willie is still being sought for questioning.

Feel free to comment and choose your own adventure.

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Bring on GM, Bankruptcy didn't kill Chrysler

Chrysler as "Guinea Pig" is now over, or as Han Solo in Carbonite.

The Automotive News - "The Supreme Court cleared the way for a government-backed sale of Chrysler LLC to a group led by Italy's Fiat S.p.A., a victory for the bankrupt U.S. automaker and the Obama administration. The high court rejected a request from Indiana pension funds and other opponents of the transaction to delay the deal while they challenged Chrysler's sale."

Right or wrong, that's over. Only faith from the LORD can pull you through something like this, or at least me, through something like this.

GM, which is next in the chute and already moving towards the "thrills and spills" portion of the ride, knows that they will survive. Thrill Ride. Carbonite. Lab Rat. Whatever. The experimental process doesn't kill.

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Did Obama leave Money on the Table?

This is getting to be increasingly like a car deal.

Agence France-Presse via "Industry Week" - "Fiat said on June 9 it will stick with plans to forge an alliance with Chrysler after a U.S. Supreme Court decision put a temporary freeze on the transaction. "Fiat is committed (to a tie-up with Chrysler) even after June 15," a Fiat spokesman said. The company is entitled to pull out of the deal after that date if Chrysler's recovery plan has not been fully approved."

When you withdraw and offer, and the customer doesn't walk, it means they will pay more. It's one of the fundamental truths of negotiation, something you learn quickly or die in the car business.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg seemed the wrench throwing Supreme "wench" when she put a stay on the Chrysler Fiat marriage yesterday, but not, Fiat says they'll stick with the betrothal.

So are the bondholders who played high stakes poker with their whole pile of chips finding out they were right? There WAS more money on the table? It sure looks like it.

This is nervous for me in that I work for a Chrysler dealer, one that made it through the cut down and after last week it sure looked like everything was sailing towards salvation. Their were Bond Holders that realized that Chapter 7 Chrysler wouldn't pay out the return that Chapter 11 Chrysler would, even though they could snort and stomp about the unconstitutionality of the whole process, it seemed thy would warm to the idea of an equation that said "Lose $14,000,000.00" or "lose twice that much." That's pretty much the choice they were offered.

The Bond Holders seem to have come to the table and called the bluff saying "we think you'll pay more," Fiat's answer? "Maybe," which almost certainly means "yes." It's a short step then to "how much?"

In a game where union workers won't have anything, a job included, Fiat has expressed a willingness to pay more, and the Bond Holders say they WANT more, I'm guessing there just may be a move shortly after SCOTUS rules in favor of the bond holders to pay them more, which means the Union may get less or Fiat may pay more, or both. Of course if SCOTUS says "take what you got" to the bond holders a dangerous precedent looms for the rest of the secured debt world and Fiat apparently gets a steal. (UPDATE-that's the way it went down) That's the way I read it now.

Obama, any the way this turn(ed) out, is shown to have been so in love with the deal, that he made a bad one.

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Chrysler Sale to Fiat hits Bump

And her name is Ruth Ginsberg, of all people.

The Automotive News - "The U.S. Supreme Court will delay the sale of Chrysler LLC's assets to a new automaker run by Italy's Fiat S.p.A. while the court reviews the constitutionality of the bankruptcy sale. The court agreed today to consider the case after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reviewed a petition to the top court by three Indiana pension funds."

Doh!

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Update on David Carradine, Conspiracy Nuttiness begins.

Since Wikipedia continues to be dialed in on the whole business, I'll quote them.

"On Friday 5 June, the Carradine family lawyer Mark Geragos spoke on Larry King Live and dismissed claims of suicide, stating instead that David Carradine could have been murdered by a 'secret sect of kung fu assassins,' after it was revealed that Carradine had been attempting to uncover groups working in the martial-arts underworld."

It's always a gigantic headache to find or allege a conspiracy, because frankly, most of them are beyond nutty. Now we have a "Secret Sect of Kung Fu assassins." True or untrue (more likely the latter) this will never go away, particularly because it absolves the extreme fan of having to deal with the kinky sex life of their hero. In ways I'm sorry I got "roped" into this (cough). Now that attorney for the wacky (Mark Geragos) has elbowed his way in, things are really getting out of hand.

I mean no harm to the grieving family of David, but how long is it until you start making jokes about a situation, that had it not resulted in death, would have been a late night talk show topic for months? What if David had been found gagged and bound like that, but alive? It brings to mind all of mom's admonitions about clean underwear because you might get hurt, or die or be found unconscious with skid marks, or worse. Certainly the dead no longer care for their own reputations, but I'm pretty sure they would have preferred to leave their loved ones with less of a mess to clean up.

With that, I put to bed the whole business (I hope) unless something truly earth shattering turns up. His death circumstance looked weird to me when it broke. It quickly got very weird and now it's gone to "Twilight Zone" weird with the fog of rumor and PR wars taking over. The only reason I'm writing about it now is to follow up on a sort of nostalgia obit for an old man in Hollywood, that died, then turned out to have died weird.

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Walther Uses the Power of the Purse

How can you tell who's doing the Master's bidding? How they get paid. If you had any doubt that Natalie Malonis was doing exactly what she was told to do, and probably still is, read this.

From "Free the FLDS Children." Anything in parentheses are items I've substituted for Bill's rather blunt evaluations of certain persons in the story, and their character.

"According to Civil Employee’s in (Judge Walther's) Court who don’t like the way she is handing out pay slips to certain AAL’s and GAL’s, but not those who questioned her authority or rulings for the FLDS, we seem to have a very selective process going on in San Angelo.

While MOST vouchers submitted are nickel and dimed to death by the (Judge), those favored are showered with as much money as they ask for.

Natalie (Malonis) for example received her (payment) from (Barbara Walther) at the end of March, which contained every single dime she asked for; SIX FIGURES WORTH! Not a bad annual haul by the (lawyer) as her fellow counselor’s keep begging for travel reimbursement.

Since last MAY, 2008, Texas has frozen the publicly acknowledged cost of the attack on the Mormons in Eldorado. With (Judge Walther) handing out the State’s money like confetti to her selective friends, I wonder what Department the State is hiding the expenses since last May. If we believe Texas [And Santa Claus], the State hasn’t spent a dime since last year, a very commendable achievement wouldn’t you say Barbie?"

The only time I have trouble taking Bill Medvecky seriously is when he blurs his signals over whether he is posting hyperbolically or satirically and when he is posting angry. In the later case his information is spot on reliable, in the former cases, he is making fun. Bill is a terrific dose of fun. He's also burrowed in tight where he can pick up little tidbits and does a lot of great reporting as a result. Sometimes it's stuff he's on weeks in advance of the press. In some cases we will have to wait for someone's book years latter to confirm that Bill was right all along. I suspect strongly that the is totally right about this.

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What happens on a Friday afternoon? News you want to hide.

All that bluster about not taking the payment "under protest."

KIFI/(AP) - "A court-appointed fiduciary has reversed a decision to reject a check for past-due housing fees from a southern Utah polygamous church.

Bruce Wisan initially rejected the Monday payment of $192,600 made "under protest" by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The fees are half of what's owed in occupancy fees on homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. The homes are held in the church's United Effort Plan Trust."

Bruce did get his pound of flesh, a statement saying that the FLDS didn't plan to sue.

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Carradine "Gasper" theory confirmed.

So it's true. The Bangkok Post (warning, graphic)

"American actor David Carradine might have died from auto-erotic asphyxiation, Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) director Porntip Rojanasunan said on Friday morning.

The 72-year-old actor's body was found inside a closet in his suite in Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel about 11am on Thursday.

One end of a shoelace was tied around his penis and the other end fastened around his neck, while his hands were bound with a cord which was also tied around his neck.

He could have been be trying auto-erotic asphyxiation and may have suffocated during the act, Kunying Porntip said.

She said other evidence supporting this theory included a penis shrine inside his room.

She did not believe anyone else was involved, but admitted she could not be 100 per cent sure.

Carradine arrived in Bangkok a few days ago to star in a new movie, Strand."

Of course with the way the story has trickled out piece by piece, the notion that David was alone when he died, should not be entirely trusted. Murdered? Maybe. Accidental death with a participant? Also a maybe. In my book someone who flirts with death for a thrill gets what they bargained for. What a legacy to be remembered by.

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David Carradine a "Gasper?" (UPDATED)

Someone or several someones continue to aggressively, and apparently correctly update "Wikipedia's" David Carradine page.

"On June 4, 2009, Carradine was found dead in his room at the Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel on Wireless Road, near Sukhumvit, in central Bangkok, Thailand. A police official said Carradine was found hanging by a rope in the room's closet. Meanwhile, the Bangkok Post reported that his body was found curled up in the wardrobe with a shoelace tied around his penis and neck.

Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunand, a Thai forensic pathologist and Director of Forensic Science Institute, stated the incident met four of the criteria for accidental death involving Autoerotic asphyxiation. Pol Lt Gen Worapong Chewprecha, Commander of the Metropolitan Police, remarked that the closed circuit television installed within the hotel supported the theory that no other persons were involved with the death. Carradine's representative and family members told the press that they believed the death to be accidental and not a suicide.

Carradine was in Bangkok to shoot his latest movie, Stretch, but the film crew were aware of his absence when they went to dine out at a restaurant on June 3."

This continues to be interesting because very little of what appears new on the "Wikipedia" page has turned out to be false, if any of it has. It has been updated regularly and to my knowledge, as I said, accurately.

So if David's death was NOT a suicide, but accidental. how did he end up wrapped in curtain cords and naked/half naked, hanging in his closet with no signs of a struggle, dead?

The only answer I know of is Erotic Asphyxiation, something I alluded to earlier but tried to stay away from. The initial reports of David's death, if scanned and combined together, including information found at the Wikipedia site all suggested a kinky something that was being hidden. Relatives claiming that a man "hanging" in his closet half to fully naked and wrapped in the cord that killed him are pretty much saying that David was into this kind of abnormal sexual gratification.

It just about shouts too that someone else was there, and something went wrong. It's hard to wrap yourself up in a rope and hang yourself accidentally. It sounds like people in his family kind know what went on in David's life.

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David Carradine found hung in Bangkok, Suicide? Probably (UPDATED)

He apparently probably killed himself. CNN just put it on breaking news.

David was found dead in a hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand. The TV Series "Kung Fu" defined his public persona. He was sort of the "Spock" of the martial arts. He was 72. Wikipedia has already updated his page with a date of death being yesterday. This means Mr. Carradine probably died over 24 hours ago and the news of his death is being "managed." That's because he was found hanged. This was a suicide, or something pretty disgusting. The Wikipedia entry is (now) as follows

"On June 4, 2009, Carradine was found dead in his room at the Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel on Wireless Road, near Sukhumvit, in central Bangkok, Thailand. The initial police report indicated that Carradine had committed suicide by hanging himself; he was found by a hotel maid sitting in a wardrobe with a cord around his neck and body. Carradine was in Bangkok to shoot his latest movie, Stretch, but the film crew were aware of his absence when they went to dine out at a restaurant on June 3."

Clearly, since the article dates his death to June 3rd, the coroner established his time of death as the preceding day. The Wikipedia page changes by the minute and seems at the moment to be a better source of breaking news. In the evolving CNN story it says:

"(Personal Manager Chuck) Binder said (today) that the death is being investigated but could provide no other details."

This could get very ugly. My advice to those who die, don't do it (if you can) in a place with a reputation for the extremely kinky and shady.

UPDATE 11:13am EDT - Fox News has this story:

"The Nation said Carradine had been staying at the hotel since Tuesday but could not be contacted after he failed to appear for a meal with the rest of the film crew on Wednesday. His body was later found by a hotel maid at 10 a.m. Thursday morning. The name of the movie was not immediately available.

It said a preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a cord used with the room's curtains. It cited police as saying he had been dead at least 12 hours and there was no sign that he had been assaulted."

There are only three alternatives left, unless the story about his "hanging" is a completely staged story.

David Carradine hung himself to extinguish his life. I find this harder to believe if he is making a movie but it could easily be true. For the record, let's put the probability of this as over 50%. UPDATE (4:50pm EDT) Suicide is now more like a 90% (70%? Weird, Wikipedia mentions a cord around his body) probability:

Fox News - "(D)espite an enthusiasm for his work, the actor had openly discussed his battle with suicidal thoughts. In a 2004 interview, Carradine said: 'I remember one time sitting at the window of the third or fourth floor of the Plaza Hotel for about an hour, thinking about just tipping off.'

He also said he had considered shooting himself.

'Look, there was a period in my life when I had a single action Colt 45, loaded, in my desk drawer. And every night I'd take it out and think about blowing my head off, and then decide not to and go on with my life. Put it back in the drawer and open the laptop and continue writing my autobiography or whatever. But it was just to see.' "

David Carradine hung himself as part of some other process. I will not go into gruesome detail but there are reasons, other than suicide, for someone to hang themselves. Many of those reasons are sexual. This was Bangkok. The story is being carefully managed. There are details we are being screened from knowing. This is supported by the fact that he was found "half naked." That usually doesn't mean with "with his shirt off."

David was murdered and method of death could have been strangulation. This could easily fit partly into the second scenario. The last two theories easily overlap at some points.

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