Doing the WRONG thing

Citi goes to court to SPEND YOUR MONEY to STRIP other taxpayers of their STOCK so they can have Wachovia.

CNN - "A judge has temporarily blocked Wells Fargo's acquisition of Wachovia, according to a news release by Citigroup, which previously had a deal with Wachovia."

New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos issued the order, saying that Citigroup and Wachovia must appear before him on Friday, the news release said.

Want to call your congressman about something? Try calling him or her about THIS. Point out that Citi wants to spend FDIC insurance dollars to rob Wachovia stockholders of their equity. Here's a legitimate market solution involving no expense to anyone and the Feds want to be in the middle of it spending money for no reason. TO ROB PRIVATE CITIZENS OF THEIR MONEY.

More →

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Feds Panic Move not Necessary, Wachovia finds Romance with Wells

While we were being told the sky was falling and a forced marriage was being arranged for Wachovia, with CitiBank, Wells Fargo wooed and won Wachovia. It seems Wachovia was worth something after all. Wachovia lives on and does not fail, Wells expands to the east.

The Wall Street Journal - "Wells Fargo's deal on Friday marked a stunning turn of fortunes for Wachovia, the nation's fourth-largest bank in market value as recently as last year. Wells Fargo had been among the leading suitors for Wachovia during a tense period of negotiations last weekend that ended, in the wee hours Monday morning, with a government deal to sell most of Wachovia to Citigroup."

Is this who we want running things? The Federal Government? The Feds, who gave us the $700 Billion "Bailout" on the heels of faux bank failures like Wachovia, which turned out NOT to be a failure and turned out NOT to need FDIC participation for it to survive? More and more the economic "crisis" looks like a replay of the Perils of Pauline, with us as Pauline, tied to the railroad tracks. The villian is our own government.

"The Citigroup deal, which included a provision for the government to possibly absorb hundreds of billions of dollars in future Wachovia losses, was warmly received by Citigroup shareholders but nearly wiped out Wachovia's. Now, in forcing Wachovia back into play, Wells Fargo sets the stage for one of the most dramatic takeover battles in recent memory, pitting against each other the No. 3 and No. 4 U.S. banks in terms of stock-market value."

You want "Corporate Welfare?" There it is, with the US Government as Robber Barons, stealing the equity of Wachovia shareholders and lining the pockets of CitiCorp shareholders. This is the kind of bumbling idiocy we will get over and over again with career bureaucrats executing political agendas with OUR MONEY. The WSJ put the subheading on the story of "Deal Avoids Need for Taxpayer Cash." The Journal goes to echo another point your Modern Pharisee made yesterday.

"The Wells Fargo offer provides a glimmer of support for the fundamental value of troubled U.S. banks: It signals that there is still a market, albeit limited, for private takeovers of these institutions, one that does not place taxpayer dollars at risk. It is also significant because the new buyer, unlike Citigroup, asks for no government assistance."

Citi is in the position of arguing for destroying the equity of Wachovia shareholders, and tapping the pocket of every taxpayer in the United States. They should bow out gracefully, and show they have morals. It's something sorely needed in this time of lies. There is also the issue of all the jobs it saves. Citi also proposes to put a lot of people out of work, who now have their futures back.

"Meanwhile on Friday, at Wachovia's headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., where 20,000 employees had anticipated draconian cuts, there was elation in the hallways. 'Even in bull markets, I've never seen people this happy,' said one Wachovia employee."

One wonders, was WAMU really in that much trouble? It seems there is bravery at both Wells and Wachovia. Such courage may not have been present in the golden parchute equipped offices of other institutions. Maybe if WAMU's CEO didn't become an over night multi millionaire on failure, things would have been different. More →

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Another Curious developement or two in the Warren Jeffs case.

The state of Arizona contends Warren no longer has capacity as a representative of the FLDS Church, thus no standing.

The Deseret News - "Additionally, since the defendant relinquished his role as leader of the FLDS while in Utah custody, he cannot now assert that he was in control of the YFZ Ranch as the leader of the FLDS at the time of the search on April 6, 2008," Smith wrote. "It is settled law that one has no standing to complain of a search or seizure of property he has voluntarily abandoned."

This is based on recordings of jailhouse conversations with other members of the FLDS visiting Jeffs. I suppose Warren could contend that his "resignation" had not been accepted. Similar issues exist in unemployment compensation cases. Believe me, I know. I've had people quit verbally and unemployment compensation entities in a state I shall not mention have insisted that the employee couldn't be held responsible for outbursts and had to be confronted with the consequences of such outbursts and given the chance to contemplate the consequence of such and outburst. In other words, knowing that you'd lose your salary and unemployment compensation had to be told to that employee by the employer for their resignation to be valid and they had to be allowed to "cool off." Warren could probably argue he was under stress and overwrought and assume the reigns of FLDS command again. Maybe.

"Search warrant affidavits do not represent the end of a criminal investigation, in which contested issues of fact are resolved by a jury in determining guilt or innocence," he wrote. "Rather, search warrant affidavits are presented in support of investigative tools that are used as part of a criminal investigation to determine whether criminal violations have occurred."

This last quote seems to imply that there was an ongoing criminal investigation and that entry via the warrants was just an event in the timeline of that investigation. This implies some murky other cause(s).

If that is the case, though not a lawyer, I've never heard of this legal justification before. Arizona is saying that Texas and/or possible other entities had ample unspoken justifications for entering that they could have used but choose instead the vehicle of the abuse of the fictional Sarah. They also seem to imply that the could use any cause once they made up their minds to go in because of those unspoken other causes, EVEN IF THEY KNEW that those causes are shown to be wrong because of all the other valid causes they were investigating.

Hmmmm. To sum up, they seem to be playing up to the idea that something was found once they were in YFZ (eventually) so they could make up a cause or didn't need a cause. The support for this argument will be what they did find probable crimes via the Grand Jury and their indictments. I personally think it's bunk, but this will be interesting if they are in fact claiming it. It amounts to asking to bust down a door because we all know something is going on, and busting down the door and shouting "See?" More →

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Arizona is not using YFZ evidence against Warren Jeffs

In an interesting development, Arizona is trying to counter Warren Jeffs motion by saying he can't move to quash evidence they're not using against him in the form of charges originating from that evidence. Arizona says they have the evidence, but aren't charging Warren with anything as a result of that evidence so Warren's objections are irrelevant.

The Deseret News - "As of the date of this filing, the state of Arizona has not charged the defendant with any crimes arising from evidence seized during the execution of the search warrants at the YFZ Ranch," Smith wrote. "This obviates standing to raise the issues the defendant asserts in his motion to dismiss."

So far in Texas, the state has said the people making the motion to dismiss the evidence seized don't have standing, and the FLDS has agreed, apparently waiting until there is such a situation to challenge the seizure. In Arizona they're saying "What? We haven't used it against you!" It would seem that no one in possession of the evidence wants to say they're using it, for fear it will be shown to be tainted.

In addition, parents can't get anything in discovery with the CPS and Texas. If they can't find it, don't need it, and arent' charging anyone with anything as a result of gaining that evidence, exactly why do they have it? More →

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Riddle me this Bailout Proponents.

If we're in a credit crunch, a "liquidity crisis," why is it that Wells Fargo wants Wachovia so bad, that it doesn't need FDIC help to acquire it?

CNN Money - "Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), which offered $2.2 billion for Wachovia's banking operations Monday, demanded that Wachovia and Wells Fargo terminate the proposed transaction. In a statement, Citigroup said the Wells Fargo merger would break an exclusivity agreement it had with Wachovia.

Unlike the Citigroup-Wachovia deal, Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) intends to absorb all of Wachovia's assets including its vast deposit network, its massive brokerage business and investment management division.

Wachovia shareholders would receive 0.1991 shares of Wells Fargo common stock in exchange for each share of Wachovia common stock in the transaction, valuing the deal at roughly $7 per Wachovia common share, or approximately $15.1 billion."

Did the Federal Government through the FDIC reject a BUYOUT to subsidize a takeover by CitiCorp? Was this done to scare us into the "bailout?" More →

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Nailing our Boy Barney

Self explanatory. More →

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304 Nonsuited Children

According to the NCCPR Child Welfare Blog, the total of Nonsuits is now 304. This is confirmed by the Deseret News. Assuming they're using the same methodology as the Deseret News, and I do suppose that Nonsuits are Nonsuits and are an absolute number at any given time, then we're now at 304 out of 439.

That's 70%. The next barrier to pass on Nonsuits will be the 3 to 1 barrier. To get there CPS needs to nonsuit 22 more children. Have we any doubt that this will happen? More →

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On Solving the Lobbyist problem.

My wife (she likes "Adorable Wife" better) likes to watch Jeopardy. In truth, so do I though it seems that I knew a lot more of the answers back when I was 25 than I do today. Today I know that if I think about it for a while, I probably know the answer, or that I knew the answer, at one point in the past. There's a lot of "I KNOW this" going on when I watch the show.

Today I was reminded by the show that when the original House came into being, 1 member of the house represented 30,000 people. With all due deference to history and the size of our legislative chamber, let's PLEASE go back to that.

Imagine trying to BRIBE all those people. Imagine the personal responsiveness each representative would owe to their constituents. Imagine how much work it would involve trying to "Gerrymander" districts. Imagine trying to MANAGE all those representatives for the party. Imagine the birth of NEW parties that would come from the more personal politics of a small constituency.

So we have over 10,000 representatives. Who do they belong to? The party? More like they would belong to us. It might also make the whole issue of the electoral college less the controversy as they are based on the number of representatives, both Senators and House members, the basis for a State's electoral votes. More →

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FLDS Action quickens pace. Warrant issue looms despite being dropped, for now.

The operative words are highlighted.

The San Angelo Standard Times - "District Judge Barbara Walther formally vacated Wednesday a hearing that was to determine the admissibility of evidence alleging underage marriages at a polygamous sect's Schleicher County compound - ending, at least for now, what could have been the ultimate showdown over the validity of search warrants executed at the YFZ Ranch in April."

Here's the reasoning;

"FLDS attorneys said that because their clients are not among the nine defendants indicted thus far by a Schleicher County grand jury in the case, they have no need for the hearing to take place. The motion, released by the court Wednesday, seems to leave the door open for attorneys representing any of the indicted men to file a similar motion and begin the process again."

I do think that this allowed FLDS attorneys to get a "sneak peek" at Texas CPS strategy. Maybe I'm ascribing too much to their planning. They also may have been anticipating that by this time one of their clients MIGHT have been under indictment. Perhaps Texas delayed indicting one of those people so as to avoid confronting the issue now. They're going to have to confront it someday though.

While to some it may have seemed that the superficial signs were that the FLDS were lying down and dying, there was this development.

The Deseret News - "Attacking Child Protective Services' case that the children were removed en masse from the polygamous sect's Eldorado property because they were in immediate danger of abuse, (Robert Gibson Jr.) said the agency still hasn't made its case for his client's 2-year-old.

'DFPS and its attorneys knew or should have known that at the time they filed this suit that such an allegation was frivolous, unreasonable and without foundation and that it continues to this date to be frivolous, unreasonable and without foundation,' he wrote."

This is a reload of the warrant argument to some extent. This is the second time that I've heard a rumble that Texas KNEW at the time it went in, in one way or another, that there was no basis. Now that echo shows up in Gibson's action. Naomi Johnson, his client, is alleging "wrongful misconduct" against DFPS.

" 'At all relevant times prior to the filing of this lawsuit, DFPS was not aware of any facts and did not have any facts within its knowledge which indicated, in the slightest degree, that (Naomi Johnson) had perpetrated or had allowed anyone else to perpetrate any physical or emotional abuse towards the child,' Johnson's attorney, Robert Gibson Jr., wrote in court papers filed here."

This is where I hear the echo of the warrant argument again. It insists that at no point was there any cause against Naomi Johnson. The truth is there is cause now against the FLDS men indicted by the Grand Jury but up until the point that they began collecting evidence seized in the initial part of the raid, there was no cause against them either, just as there was never any against Naomi Johnson.

It is axiomatic that if there was no cause at any point against Naomi Johnson, there was no cause against anyone else in the FLDS either. Texas would have to drop the whole idea of an "environment of abuse" to have any hope at all that the warrants were valid, if Naomi wins her action. There will be a hearing next month on the 19th.

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Just Say No to the "Bailout."

Courtesy of Michelle Malkin, this is a list of Republican Lawmakers in the United States House of Representatives. The advice of your humble Pharisee is that if one of these legislators is YOURS, that YOU call them NOW and specifically state that you are in their district and express just how much you DO NOT WANT the bailout.

If you're asking the Modern Pharisee's advice, it's not necessary. The bailout, that is.

ALL AREA CODES ARE 202...

(by the way, don't feel like you can't call your DEMOCRAT legislator, I just don't have that list)

Aderholt R AL legislator No 225-4876
Akin R MO legislator No 225-2561
Alexander R LA legislator No 225-8490
Bachmann R MN legislator No 225-2331
Barrett (SC) R SC legislator No 225-5301
Bartlett (MD) R MD legislator No 225-2721
Barton (TX) R TX legislator No 225-2002
Biggert R IL legislator No 225-3515
Bilbray R CA legislator No 225-0508
Bilirakis R FL legislator No 225-5755
Bishop (UT) R UT legislator No 225-0453
Blackburn R TN legislator No 225-2811
Boustany R LA legislator No 225-2031
Broun (GA) R GA legislator No 225-4101
Brown-Waite, Ginny R FL legislator No 225-1002
Buchanan R FL legislator No 225-5015
Burgess R TX legislator No 225-7772
Burton (IN) R IN legislator No 225-2276
Buyer R IN legislator No 225-5037
Capito R WV legislator No 225-2711
Carter R TX legislator No 225-3864
Chabot R OH legislator No 225-2216
Coble R NC legislator No 225-3065
Conaway R TX legislator No 225-3605
Culberson R TX legislator No 225-2571
Davis (KY) R KY legislator No 225-3465
Davis, David R TN legislator No 225-6356
Deal (GA) R GA legislator No 225-5211
Dent R PA legislator No 225-6411
Diaz-Balart, L. R FL legislator No 225-4211
Diaz-Balart, M. R FL legislator No 225-2778
Doolittle R CA legislator No 225-2511
Drake R VA legislator No 225-4215
Duncan R TN legislator No 225-5435
English (PA) R PA legislator No 225-5406
Fallin R OK legislator No 225-2132
Feeney R FL legislator No 225-2706
Flake R AZ legislator No 225-2635
Forbes R VA legislator No 225-6365
Fortenberry R NE legislator No 225-4806
Foxx R NC legislator No 225-2071
Franks (AZ) R AZ legislator No 225-4576
Frelinghuysen R NJ legislator No 225-5034
Gallegly R CA legislator No 225-5811
Garrett (NJ) R NJ legislator No 225-4465
Gerlach R PA legislator No 225-4315
Gingrey R GA legislator No 225-2931
Gohmert R TX legislator No 225-3035
Goode R VA legislator No 225-4711
Goodlatte R VA legislator No 225-5431
Graves R MO legislator No 225-7041
Hall (TX) R TX legislator No 225-6673
Hastings (WA) R WA legislator No 225-5816
Hayes R NC legislator No 225-3715
Heller R NV legislator No 225-6155
Hensarling R TX legislator No 225-3484
Hoekstra R MI legislator No 225-4401
Hulshof R MO legislator No 225-2956
Hunter R CA legislator No 225-5672
Issa R CA legislator No 225-3906
Johnson (IL) R IL legislator No 225-2371
Johnson, Sam R TX legislator No 225-4201
Jones (NC) R NC legislator No 225-3415
Jordan R OH legislator No 225-2676
Keller R FL legislator No 225-2176
King (IA) R IA legislator No 225-4426
Kingston R GA legislator No 225-5831
Knollenberg R MI legislator No 225-5802
Kuhl (NY) R NY legislator No 225-3161
Lamborn R CO legislator No 225-4422
Latham R IA legislator No 225-5476
LaTourette R OH legislator No 225-5731
Latta R OH legislator No 225-6405
Linder R GA legislator No 225-4272
LoBiondo R NJ legislator No 225-6572
Lucas R OK legislator No 225-5565
Mack R FL legislator No 225-2536
Manzullo R IL legislator No 225-5676
Marchant R TX legislator No 225-6605
McCarthy (CA) R CA legislator No 225-2915
McCaul (TX) R TX legislator No 225-2401
McCotter R MI legislator No 225-8171
McHenry R NC legislator No 225-2576
McMorris Rodgers R WA legislator No 225-2006
Mica R FL legislator No 225-4035
Miller (FL) R FL legislator No 225-4136
Miller (MI) R MI legislator No 225-2106
Moran (KS) R KS legislator No 225-2715
Murphy, Tim R PA legislator No 225-2301
Musgrave R CO legislator No 225-4676
Myrick R NC legislator No 225-1976
Neugebauer R TX legislator No 225-4005
Nunes R CA legislator No 225-2523
Paul R TX legislator No 225-2831
Pearce R NM legislator No 225-2365
Pence R IN legislator No 225-3021
Petri R WI legislator No 225-2476
Pitts R PA legislator No 225-2411
Platts R PA legislator No 225-5836
Poe R TX legislator No 225-6565
Price (GA) R GA legislator No 225-4501
Ramstad R MN legislator No 225-2871
Rehberg R MT legislator No 225-3211
Reichert R WA legislator No 225-7761
Renzi R AZ legislator No 225-2315
Rogers (MI) R MI legislator No 225-4872
Rohrabacher R CA legislator No 225-2415
Ros-Lehtinen R FL legislator No 225-3931
Roskam R IL legislator No 225-4561
Royce R CA legislator No 225-4111
Sali R ID legislator No 225-6611
Scalise R LA legislator No 225-3015
Schmidt R OH legislator No 225-3164
Sensenbrenner R WI legislator No 225-5101
Shadegg R AZ legislator No 225-3361
Shimkus R IL legislator No 225-5271
Shuster R PA legislator No 225-2431
Smith (NE) R NE legislator No 225-6435
Smith (NJ) R NJ legislator No 225-3765
Stearns R FL legislator No 225-5744
Sullivan R OK legislator No 225-2211
Terry R NE legislator No 225-4155
Thornberry R TX legislator No 225-3706
Tiahrt R KS legislator No 225-6216
Tiberi R OH legislator No 225-5355
Turner R OH legislator No 225-6465
Walberg R MI legislator No 225-6276
Wamp R TN legislator No 225-3271
Westmoreland R GA legislator No 225-5901
Whitfield (KY) R KY legislator No 225-3115
Wittman (VA) R VA legislator No 225-4261
Young (AK) R AK legislator No 225-5765
Young (FL) R FL legislator No 225-5961 More →

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Happy Birthday Conrad Dobler

Conrad Dobler, who has the reputation of being the "Dirtiest Professional Sports Player" of all time, depending on who you talk to, is 58 today. Merited or not, his reputation made Conrad a "lower than life" figure during his time.

Today Conrad is said to be 90% disabled from injuries suffered in the game, so he took it as well as dished it out. Unfortunately his wife was injured at home and is now a quadriplegic. I haven't heard him complain of his hard times anywhere. More →

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There is a FLDS Fugitive. The Ninth Man?

I missed one.

The San Angelo Standard Times - "A ninth FLDS man remains at large despite being indicted on two undisclosed charges months ago, said Schleicher County District Clerk Peggy Williams."

Merril Jessop I presume? This will probably involve a perp walk. More →

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The Political Pharisee weighs in on Choice, Third Party Candidates and "Staying Home."

I have been in Church for most of my life. This means I've heard sermons since before I was old enough to remember them. I don't remember any sermons on the last three chapters of Judges.

From our perspective they're pretty gruesome and thus no pastor wishes to tackle them. Between idiom, changing values (in my view, not to the better), murder, gang rape and a weak "hero" figure, it's just too much.

Perhaps that should instruct us because the ENTHUSIASM with which Israel backs up a weak man's complaint that after he surrendered his concubine to sexual abuse to the point of death, they arise as one man to go avenge her. Contrast that with today, where various blogs (Don Surber) I read have authors that complain that McCain isn't a good enough candidate so they will either "stay home" or write in people like Ron Paul or vote for Bob Barr.

While I don't exactly recommend the method, I'm with "Get Drunk and Vote for McCain." Grit your teeth and do what's necessary. Next time get involved in the primary phase and pick a better candidate. There is no place to lay the blame for the selection of John McCain, than at your own feet for having something better to do, or being to stuck up and self righteous to pick one of the flawed men offering themselves for our leader. You picked John either actively or passively, now your griping about it.

In a war, there are only two sides ultimately, and by the time we get to the Presidential Election, we're down to the surviving two. If you're an Evangelical or a Catholic or LDS can you REALLY rationalize Barack Obama? We'd like to think we pick the battle, the battleground and the issue to champion, but we don't. Quite often we're stuck with lousy men to champion and lousy causes. Let's go after them with the enthusiasm that Israel did. Let's also remember this;

Judges 21 - "What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly. For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there. And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children. And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man."

In so doing Israel exacted a worse punishment on Jabeshgilead than on the tribe of Benjamin with whom they went to war. The tribe whose members had either gang raped and murdered the woman and those who had shielded their relatives from the punishment for those crimes were the cause of bloody civil war in which tens of thousands of men and women died. Benjamin lives through the affair, those that sat on their hands at home, did not.

Pick a side. There are only two. Go to war with steadfast enthusiasm. Don't stop until it's over. More →

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The Economic Pharisee's Thought of the Day

I already knew it wasn't the BIGGEST loss in the stock market, but thanks to Steve Ducey at FoxNews, I know just how big it wasn't.

Yesterday's drop was only the 17th largest percentage drop in the market. The market if you want to look at it this way, is the WHOLE PIE.

16 times in the past, someone has come along and taken a much bigger bite of the pie. Even in human terms there still isn't enough to worry about. Of course in Godly terms, we know he controls all. It's a storm, it just really isn't that big a one.

(Ok, I'm going to worry you again.)

Yet...... More →

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Press Starts to Admit Truth About Texas "Underage Marriage."

As far as I know, I was the first blogger or reporter to go to Texas' website and actually look at the stats (May 5th) and find proof that Texas did in fact marry young girls off, even after the passage of the Hilderbran bill. I'm totally cool with the idea that someone else saw it first, but as far as I know, I was first. Nevertheless, now the press is starting admit publicly that Texas DOES marry underage girls;

The Houston Chronicle - "Keith Dutson was listed as being in a monogamous union with a 16-year-old. The document, which the state says it seized from the ranch during a raid in April, indicates Dutson was 22 at the time.

Abram Jeffs was listed as having five wives, including one who was 16.

Texas law prohibits sex between an adult man and a child 16 or younger, except in very narrow circumstances."

Now that's different. Up until this point I have seen no public admission in the press that Texas ever allowed "underage girls" to marry. What's significant about that? The press has played along with Texas in perpetrating the fraud that if you see a pregnant teen, you see evidence of a crime. Clearly, the answer to that is no. They hedge their bets with the qualifier that it is under "very narrow circumstances," but they're admitting what most of us on the FLDS side of the issue have been hollering all along.

A Pregnant Teen is NOT prima facie evidence of a crime.

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As usual, FLDS indicted surrender.

And they are not 50 year old sweaty men bending over teenage girls;

The Deseret News - "Abram Harker Jeffs, 37, and Lehi Barlow Jeffs, 29, surrendered Monday morning at the Schleicher County Sheriff's Office in Eldorado, where they were booked on charges of sexual assault and bigamy. Keith William Dutson Jr., 23, was also booked on a sexual assault charge."

The "brides" in question were Dutson's, who at age 22 had a 16 year old "wife" in March of 2007 and "assaulted" her in August of 2006. Abram Harker Jeffs "assaulted" his 16 year old "bride" in May of 2006 and Lehi Barlow Jeffs (AKA Lehi Barlow Allred) supposedly "assaulted" his "wife" in October of 2005.

" 'They came in, they booked in and were released on bail bonds,' Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran told the Deseret News.

Abram Harker Jeffs and Lehi Jeffs each posted $110,000 in bond. Dutson posted $100,000. They were accompanied by their attorney, who met Texas Rangers and representatives from the Texas Attorney General's Office at the sheriff's office, Doran said."

So it looks as if everything was negotiated beforehand.

More →

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Whose Economy Are We Bailing Out Again?

Oil Prices are down (hat tip Drudge).

The Dollar has risen to 15 year HIGHS vs foreign currency.

Just whose economy are we bailing out again? The point is that our economy seems to be better off in relative terms than other economies, so remind me..... More →

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If marrying young against their will is bad...

Hat tip to "Freedom and Separatism;"

The ABA Journal - “When the kids start crying when their mother leaves, you feel one way,” Golder says. “Then when you think about 13- and 14-year-old girls being placed in a marriage relationship, without a choice, you feel different. I’m usually a pretty decisive person, but this is one where honestly every day I have a different feeling.”

Now contrast this popular sentiment that most of us on the outside have felt at least once, with this result;

“They were lovely people who had the coffee going at 6 in the morning and fed us breakfast,” Hays says. “I was amazed at how well-organized things were.”

And this one;

“I’m a feminist, and I was apprehensive about what I was going to be defending,” she says. “The second I met my clients, I wasn’t worried. They are very independent women who are very assertive and very capable of explaining what they love about their lifestyle.”

“Well, my mother’s not too young, so why am I here?” the girl asked. “This one,” (Mary Noel) Golder says, “I don’t worry about.”

And;

“Five kids in a duplex on a busy road where the kids can’t play didn’t last long,” says (Susan) Hays, who was impressed with the ranch. The multiple-story log structures, where many members live in a somewhat communal style, reminded her of condominiums in Aspen, Colo.

“There were also allegations that the children didn’t know how to play, and that’s just BS,” Hays says. “The children are quite playful. They just don’t have unnecessary things.”

If this pervasive pattern of male dominance (which the article mentions) coupled with their control and pervasive patterns of "underage marriage" produce this sort of result, remind me again, what was the problem? Exactly what kind of "damage" is occuring if the women are strong, independent and love their lifestyle and the kids are happy and know how to play without excessive amounts of material things? These people are even tollerant of behaviors they abhor;

"Hays, who grew up in nearby Brownwood, eventually told her client’s mother about her work facilitating legal abortions for teens. The woman had no reaction. 'Having grown up in west Texas, that surprised me,' Hays says.

'Here are these very pious people—who do not smoke, they don’t drink, they do not cuss—and you’ve got a bunch of lawyers representing them who hang out in bars and cuss like sailors. And they’re fine with that,' says Hays, adding that her client’s mother was surprised that Hays had never married or had children."

Intolerance is the problem all right, but it's coming from the outside, not the inside of YFZ.

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Punching Out

I'm sure a lot of you have seen "The Right Stuff" in which Chuck Yeager is featured prominently. One of his exploits was to take the third of three NF104 "Starfighters" to the limit (21 miles high) and destroy it, after 40 days of operational life. Chuck is pictured here less than a week before "Punching Out" at high altitude and turning the 104 into twisted burning scrap at the bottom of a crater.

Chuck lived.

One would hope that we will as well.

The image that constantly comes to mind when thinking about the current "economic crisis" is that of General Yeager pushing his NF104 to the limit, past the limit, and living through it. The wreckage was not pretty.

The official explanation of the cause?

"The crash was a spin that resulted from excessive angle of attack and lack of aircraft response. The excessive angle of attack was not caused by pilot input but by a gyroscopic condition set up by the J79 engine spooling after shut down for the rocket-powered zoom climb phase."

Paraphrased? An unpowered high speed cockpit attached to a still spinning turbine has a tendency to tumble. No power is worse than no control as the twitching dead thing in back of you throws you in directions you didn't want to go.

Economies are like that. When you demand too much performance out of the economy it can do quite well for a while, until somewhere past or at the limit, it flames out and then drags you down. This is going to be a record high altitude bailout. Let's hope the favor of God that smiled on Chuck that day, smiles on us. More →

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Rule ? !

Jim Lehrer just asked how the candidates would RULE the country. I'm sorry, but I thought this was a Presidential election, not the selection of a Monarch. More →

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Does Malonis give it up to Walther?

I have come to the conclusion that Barbara Walther's rejection of Laura Shockley as an attorney gives us more insight into the relationship of Malonis and Walther.

They talk.

Malonis is ratting out her client to Barbara Walther or some other entity that would be seen as the opposition by the FLDS. That is why Walther won't let Shockley be the attorney. She expects, just as she had done, that Shockley will serve as a conduit between the various parties Walther does not wish to communicate with one another. More →

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Another plan to bankrupt the FLDS

Buried in articles are often the most fascinating bits of information, that are just tossed off and nothing more said;

The Deseret News - "As of Monday, Barbara Jessop had started paying child support, undergone a psychological evaluation and had a social study conducted on her home. However, she has refused to sign a family service plan that outlines the steps she must take to be reunited with her daughter."

Now multiply that by over 400 children. The original plan of attack against the FLDS had their property trust being attacked (it still is) and plundering their wealth in that way. What I ignored, and should not have, was the effect of the child custody cases in terms of Child Support.

Your child is taken from you, it's not just the legal cost of trying to get that child back. You have to PAY for their captivity, much as the families of the crew of the Titanic were in some cases ordered by Whitestar Lines for their dead loved ones lost uniforms.

Were the children still in CPS custody, all FLDS parents would be bled through child support right now, along with the legal costs of their predicament. More →

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The FLDS Conflict of Interest, um, conflict...

What was mud becomes a bit clearer. With attorneys representing attorneys that want to be someone else's attorney, it looks like a tangle that even Alexander could not solve with a sword.

The Deseret News - "(Laura) Shockley, who represented some of the 'disputed minors' that turned out to be adults, also represented some children early on in the FLDS custody battle — including a 5-year-old boy whose mother is one of Annette Jeffs' sister-wives, and CPS alleged, a sister-wife to Barbara Jessop's 14-year-old daughter.

'Every individual, as Americans, are free to choose who they want to represent them,' countered Kirby Roberts, a lawyer hired to represent Shockley, a Dallas-area attorney.

Appearing in court together, Annette Jeffs and Barbara Jessop both said they were willing to waive any conflicts to have Shockley represent them. But under questioning, both women refused to answer questions that underscored the perceived problem.

'As a mother of a child, do you see a problem with an attorney representing you, the mother of an alleged victim, and a parent of an alleged perpetrator?' CPS attorney Jeff Schmidt asked Annette Jeffs.

'I'm going to stand on the Fifth,' she replied.

She invoked her right against self-incrimination to nearly every question about her daughter's alleged marriage at age 15 to Raymond Jessop. In civil court those non-answers can be used against her."

CPS doesn't want an attorney opening up an avenue of communcation between those it has barred from contact. In short, CPS doesn't want Willie Jessop talking to Teresa Jeffs in a closed communication channel that they cannot monitor.

This whole "victim-perpetrator" forumulation is only important to the CPS, the FLDS simply don't see those people in those roles. This also explains a bit the extension of Barbara Walther's restraining order and Natalie Malonis' recent shrill stage protests.

Barbara Jessop also is not calling her daughter, it would seem, despite the colorations of reports made by CPS that she is misbehaving;

"A CPS caseworker testified they put a halt to notes being passed to the girl, but allowed siblings to visit alongside her mother. When CPS had documentation of dozens of phone calls between the two, Jessop explained that it was her daughter who would call her."

It would seem that CPS doesn't want us to know that Merrianne Jessop is as distressed as she really is, in CPS custody.

More →

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Tony Alamo now under arrest.

Well, it's no longer "The Fugitive, Tony Alamo;"

The Signal - "Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested church evangelist Bernie Hoffman, aka Tony Alamo, in Flagstaff, Ariz. at approximately 2:45 p.m. Central time, according to an FBI official.

Agents arrested Alamo, founder and leader of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, in connection with raids at his compounds in Saugus and Arkansas over the weekend, said Laura Eihmiller, FBI spokeswoman."

I do not think it will go well for Tony. Still, this has to be an open and shut case, in view of what he's been charged with. Either there is porn, or there isn't porn. This case is still young, so it could get even weirder.
More →

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The Teleprompter President?

I don't know what to make of Obumble's speech. Some say his teleprompter hung up. I'm watching him on FoxNews. Other news channels may have had applause interrupting him. I've rarely seen such an amusing display. Tragically, this might be our next President.

When you speak to the nation, you deliver your message. Like Bush did, in and out in 13 minutes. Back to your regularly scheduled programming. You don't come out and make a speech designed for applause, listening to the applause while trying to talk to the whole nation. What a rube.

Or, it could have been his teleprompter. It's only a question of how big an idiot he is. More →

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The Presidents Address

If what the President is selling us is roughly truthful, it's something we have to do and it's also not going to cost the taxpayer money, or at least, much money. The problem comes in accountability.

President Bush is proposing to buy sub prime mortgages at pennies on the dollar. Essentially, the corporate bail out involves corporations taking their losses square on the nose, up front. The overall loan portfolios of the various banking and mortgage institutions thus rise in value because they clear out their bad loans, sell them (at a discount) to the Government and then they can sell off their loan portfolios that have been purged of bad loans. Our financial institutions own too many mortgages in portfolios of investments that are simply NOT diverse enough. Until they sell them, there's not enough money moving around in our system.

The reason for this is the Government is a Big Check Writer. Namely, it can write the check, if for no other reason than it can print the money. So far, actually, so good.

What we, the voting public and taxpayers need to realize is that it's Government. With them, THERE IS NO ACCOUNTABILITY unless WE demand it by constantly watching Government. Once Government OWNS the loans they become immediately attractive to investors that will try to carve them out of Government hands at even steeper discounts than they were purchased for.

Look at this way, spread around $30,000,000.00 in political favors to various lawmakers and they'll pass a bill that will let you buy $1,000,000,000.00 in securities for half of that. That's a bargain. If you thought you'd seen graft in Washington before, wait until about 280 men and women are all that stand in between you and a bargain like that. 280 men and women that can and will be bought, CHEAP.

So the problem is not that the basic outline of the "bailout" (which really isn't one) is a boondoggle. The problem is that it opens the door to the most incredible boondoggles that could ever have been imagined in Washington history.

We're going to get some version of this bailout. It's a sort of Heimlich maneuver for our financial markets that are choking on too big a bite. If you vote one political party or the other to blame one or the other and then go back to sleep, you'll be robbed blind over the next two to four years by the biggest parade of carpetbaggers and scalawags in United States History. More →

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Shocking Ruling from Walther

Ok, not a surprise;

The San Angelo Standard Times - "District Judge Barbara Walther today extended a restraining order designed to keep FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop from communicating with the now 17-year-old daughter of sect leader Warren Jeffs."

Again, Walther is never wrong, all her rulings are perfect and so much so they need to be renewed. OF COURSE a 17 year old can't have the attorney she wants. Of course she can't talk to the people she wants to talk to. What were we thinking? More →

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None dare call it Treason !

I've heard a whole host of economic doomsayers lately. There's the usual crew of depression/disaster merchants out there predicting economic Armageddon and trying to sell a book, or some secure investment like gold. I'm not talking about them.

I'm talking about prominent economic doomsayers like Alan Greenspan, who, if he really believes what he's said about the economy lately, is a traitor. He's not alone.

If in fact we teeter on the brink of financial ruin, then SAYING we're teetering on the brink of financial ruin when you're in a position to know is insanely destructive. Think. What could possibly be the effect of such a statement? Would it be that people BELIEVE you?

And what if they did? The effect of such belief would be to act on it, by taking money out of this sector of the economy, or that sector of the economy, or delaying across the board a number of economic boosting investments, resulting in what? Pushing the teetering rusting wreck of our economy past the point of no return. An economy that could be saved, would be destroyed and with it the whole world would slide into depression, spawn dictatorships, and ultimately, war.

Thus it is treasonous to discuss the economy in such a fashion if it is really in such dire straits. That leaves you with few choices when you hear a prominent politician say we are in a recession (which hasn't happened yet) or that the economy has been "mismanaged" (I'll get to that part later).

The politician is an idiot in the one case. He or she is a dangerous fool that should be let nowhere near political office. The politician is pandering to our fear. He or she is a dangerous liar, more dangerous than the average politician, and again, should be let nowhere near public office. The politician is a traitor, willing to destroy the economy to be sitting on top of it's smoking ruin. He or she is willing to rule hell and make hell on earth, than to be a doorkeeper in paradise. He or she should be let nowhere near public office.

The idea that McCain promotes by "suspending" his campaign and "delaying the debate" suggests in a sort of Pollyanna fashion that at best he subscribes to the idea that Washington CAN manage the economy and ought to. One sort of presupposes the other. Hopefully, that's really his primary motivation. Otherwise he's in one of the above groups (Obama is already there in my estimation) and neither should be let anywhere near new public office, certainly not the Presidency. That would make McCain the best of bad choices. A really bad choice as opposed to a criminally evil choice.

God destines all. Normally when you see storm clouds, there will be rain, but not always. We could make the most disastrous of political choices this November, and still be rescued by the hand of God. We are to make choices within the destinies God has planned for us, it reflects on us in terms of accountability before him. For this reason I appeal to everyone to turn away from the nonsense and embrace the truth. The truth is a Republican President can't do anything to manage the economy for good or ill, with an intransigent congress controlled by the other party, yet we stumble towards the election with the ever increasing signs that we will blame George like he is a monarch, and elect a true monarch to replace him. Barack Obama, the most liberal of all Presidential candidates in modern history, to head an all liberal congress for the next two years.

Hopefully there will be at least 41 Senators in that case, to filibuster, but the Dems can always change Senate rules to suspend debate with simple majorities. This will be their best chance at social engineering since Johnson and Roosevelt. More →

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Three More FLDS Targets

According to the "Fort Mills Times" it's three entirely new FLDS men that have been indicted. This is corroborated by the website of the Attorney General of the State of Texas.

"The names of those charged were not immediately released, but the three members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who were indicted Tuesday are in addition to five others, including jailed sect leader Warren Jeffs, previously accused of sexual assault of a child."

Other reports have established that the indictments are against male members of the FLDS. More →

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Mud Slinging Continues, Tony Alamo still NOT arrested.

The Tennessean headlines their article this way: Flamboyant ex-con evangelist Tony Alamo makes headlines again, and then leads with the following;

"Rhinestone-clad evangelist Tony Alamo, who once funneled millions of tax-free dollars through a Music Row church and ran a high-end clothing store on Lower Broadway, is back in the news.

It isn't pretty. But then, it never was with Alamo (pronounced A-LAH-mo, not like the place in San Antonio). Alamo's complex in southwestern Arkansas was raided over the weekend by 100 federal and state police. Six children have been taken into custody. The investigation is into child abuse and porn."

But we're not coloring the story. I stress again that I am not a Tony Alamo supporter in any way but nonetheless, this is looking more and more like a shaky operation for the FBI. The word "Polygamy" has come up several times. It would seem that Tony thinks it's not a good idea, but not a sin.

Polygamy again is the keyword.

This begins to worry me a bit, since it would be very clear now that the FBI has a pattern, one very similar to the one used at YFZ, when it comes to those either excusing Polygamy or promoting it.

Raid first, investigate forever.

More →

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3 FLDS members, Five Indictments

As reported by the Deseret News. Their link is busted though, at the moment, so I can't get details. As far as I know, no one new has been charged but it would make sense that there is at least one new indictee amongst the group of three.

UPDATE:

"Schleicher County Clerk Peggy Williams said she would not reveal who was indicted until the wanted individuals either surrendered or were taken into custody."

Which is the usual pattern. I keep thinking that Texas strongly desires to drag someone off kicking and screaming but so far that hasn't happened. I think they will try to stage such an event before this is all over, however the FLDS keep cooperatively turning themselves in. More →

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Something Going on at the Plural life

I don't know what the single day posting record is at Brooke Adams blog, "The Plural Life" but they're sure pegging the meter today over in Salt Lake. Some quotes, regarding Polygynists, by those who oppose it's legalization or decriminalization;

"Because no one lives in a vacuum, you live in communities and what you do affects your community."

Which means she has the right to tell me how to live, more thoughts from the same poster who is apparently from Mali, where the Muslim faith is predominant and Polygyny is common. I have a contact in Mali who says that the Polygynies there are very harmonious, and that accounts for her interest in them;

"Social problems associated with polygyny world wide:

Burqas and other extreme restrictions on women's clothing, lower levels of education and health care for women, more physical and sexual abuse of women in general and less redress for same, honor rapes, honor killings, genital mutilation, arranged marriages, 'temporary' marriage, under aged marriage (sometimes for both genders, but usually for the female), trafficking in women to solve the math problem, bands of single men."

But apparently she is FOR gay marriage;

"Laws against gay marriage were ruled unconstitutional partly because of prohibitions against discrimination based on sexual orientation. I do not think there is wording in the constitution that could be construed to include multiple marriage partners as a demographic group that is protected in that way."

More;

"Sex and money are the two power points in any marriage. You have a monopoly on at least one of those. Whether or not you chose to be fair, any one of your wives does not have the control on the situation that you have. If you can't see that, you are not particularly compassionate."

Another poster seems to think lawsuits doomed Polygamy as a legal practice;

"If the government is going to have to rule on it, it is, in fact, the government's business. Where do you think we got the current marriage law from? Centuries of law suits."

Sad religion;

"The way I read that is that the central element of your religion is the oppression of women. That's sad and ugly. Does it make you feel important?"

As always, the fascination with 12 year olds;

"No one in secular society is going to be content with leaving people alone who allow 12 year old girls to marry."

The fact that though uncommon, there is provision in THIS society to do just that, doesn't impress such people.

"You folks think this is all about some hippies experimenting with free love, but it's not. It's about creating a culture that makes women into slaves."

And then there is this gem;

"Whenever you corner polygamist baboons with common sense they all start quoting Old Testament scriptures written by goat herders who were so backward God had to tell them to stop having sex with their animals."

There is a lot of hatred out there for Polygynists. More →

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No witnesses, only evidence at the Grand Jury

Apparently they threw a private party this time.

The Deseret News - "Jurors were escorted into the Schleicher County Memorial Building about 8:30 a.m. local time, with law enforcement surrounding the building. However, by mid-day, it did not appear that any witnesses had showed up to testify.

Attorneys representing some young women from the FLDS Church have said their clients were not subpoenaed to testify this time. Prosecutors from the Texas Attorney General's Office went into the building early this morning, taking briefcases and boxes with them."

It will be interesting to see if this produces any indictments. Apparently whatever is being done is pretty much scripted.

More →

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More on the Tony Alamo front.

The "Alamo" was on Saturday, it's Tuesday. There have been to my knowledge, no arrests. It's starting to sound a bit more like the FLDS all over again. It's also starting to sound as if a script is being employed in both cases. Allegations of polygamy and child abuse, then a raid on a place where people are in "compounds" or at church and in one place, and a collection of the most impressionable and malleable (children) for isolation and interrogation. Those kids and whatever documents are collected then become the evidence really sought in what has to be admitted is an incomplete investigation.

KSLA TV - Channel 12 - Shreveport, LA - "Alamo denies all allegations, but does say polygamy is not a sin.

'I don't see that at all. And besides if I was a polygamist, it's not a crime God sends people to hell for,' said Alamo.

When asked if he condones polygamy, Alamo said, 'God does. Are you saying God is wrong by condoning it? Moses had 3 wives.'

KSLA News 12 spoke with an FBI spokesperson in Little Rock.

He said the bureau could not comment on plans for an arrest of Tony Alamo.

The spokesperson said it's an ongoing investigation."

Now we have the "ongoing" investigation. No crime yet exists but they'll find one.

I'd like to stress several things. One is that I don't know what the initial evidence is in "the Alamo, the miniseries." There may well be a smoking gun situation that gives the invaders justification. For instance, had there been a Sarah or even a "pregnant underage teen" seen at YFZ, the FLDS would now have a much tougher row to hoe.

Tony Alamo seems confrontational. He's tangled with the government before and perhaps has been mistreated. I'm really not familiar with his group. This does show the Elephant in the room aspect of tangling with the government though, whether you bring it on or not. The Elephant is the governments long memory and eternal resentment. If they don't "get you" or have to let you go, they'll keep coming for you. Government is bureaucratic and single minded. If you've ever seen or read the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy," think Vogons.

The raid may have occurred during the "New Jerusalem Ministry's" services. They hold them every evening at 8pm. Did they raid his house while he was away or raid the whole church to catch everyone in one place at once? The second is a more alarming possibility that shows government is going to start grabbing fundamentalists which they think of as equivalent to cults, while they are gathered together in one place. The formula then becomes allege abuse, and grab all the kids and start pumping them for information.

I can count only two wives for Moses so I don't know where Tony is getting his "three" figure from. More →

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More Nonsuits, FLDS pulls out of Evidence Challenge

In a move that probably was inevitable, the FLDS Church itself has ceased to challenge the warrants.

The Deseret News - "The motion lists several reasons why they are withdrawing the challenge. Most notably, none of them have been charged with a crime.

'Accordingly, movants are not "defendants" in any criminal proceeding,' attorneys Daniel Hurley and Cynthia Orr wrote."

I'm no legal eagle so I'll take their word for it. They have no iron in the fire, even if they would like to have. The FLDS is saying they have to have standing, which they have to have, and don't. Since there are persons charged in this case, there will be a challenge since those persons do have standing. The state in it's response though, did seem to show it's entire hand, including claiming that certain entities had no standing.

At the same time, Texas nonsuits other children, bringing the "nonsuit" total to 300 out of 439. That's more than 68% of the kids (that actually were kids) taken into custody that Texas is saying have no case.

"On Monday, CPS filed to have four more children 'nonsuited,' said agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins. That brings the number of people dropped from the case to 300. The Deseret News tally includes 26 FLDS women that CPS initially believed were minors, but eventually conceded were adults."

The numbers are so confusing that intially no one could come up with an accurate account of kids in custody and some of them, 5.5 percent of the Deseret News accounting, turned out to be adults. Overall of the 465 persons initially termed kids in danger, over 7 in 10 have been "nonsuited" or dropped altogether. More →

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Anti Polygamy laws hang on by a thread.

Other aspects of this story are being covered in other blots, such as "The Plural Life" and "I Perceive." What I'd like to focus on is this statement;

The Deseret News - "Brigham Young University law professor Fredrick Gedicks questioned why polygamy itself remains criminalized, noting there are other groups more dangerous to conventional social values than polygamists.

'We do not punish membership in groups, we punish behavior,' he said. 'So if there are crimes occurring in polygamous society, then prosecute the crimes. Don't criminalize the society.' "

Really, the only crimes being prosecuted in Texas right now are a direct result of polygamy being criminal. To review, anti polygamy laws are so shakey in the eyes of every state that has the opportunity to prosecute them that they won't prosecute a "clean" polygamy case. That would be a case where there is no formal bigamy, the registration concurrently of two or more marriages with the state, and no ineligible partners. Ineligible partners would be a relative that is too close, such as a mother and daughter or a person that is too young per state law to have given consent to sexual behavior.

IF Polygamy were legal only the mother/daughter type relationships would be barred from marriage to the same man or cousins too close for state law to allow. What we find being prosecuted (and I remark on this over and over and over again) are relationships that would be legal, if only they were monogamous.

Polygamy as criminal behavior is on such shakey ground that it cannot be prosecuted. It does however create secondary crimes by preventing legal marriage between two people who would otherwise do nothing wrong. It BARS the cover of marriage that would make relationships legal. As has oft been remarked on this blog, Texas doesn't have any trouble with a 14 year old girl having sex with a 40 year old man. They just have trouble if she isn't married to him or to someone else and they don't prevent, despite what you may believe, men from marrying girls. They even don't care if she's been married and divorced already, something else that is possible.

Technically all that would be necessary for a 14 year old girl to have legal sex in Texas, with just about anyone, would be that she marry legally in some way. Then she would be free to do whatever with whomever, even if she got a divorce.

Polygamy is a legal and political hot potato. Law enforcement knows it can't prosecute it by itself, but knows they can't get themselves re-elected if they acknowledge that, so they look for salacious situations like 12 year olds spiritually married to Warren Jeffs or allegations of Child Porn with Tony Alamo and allegations of brutality and child labor with "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins. Then they claim they're after "Polygamy" and the press goes along.

More →

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Inbred Idiots

Genetic defective cousin marrying inbred animals.

The Salt Lake Tribune - "A four-year effort to improve student learning has earned national recognition for a charter school in the polygamous community of Centennial Park. The U.S. Department of Education named Masada Charter School a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School after it made gains in students' reading, writing and math skills.

It was one of four Arizona schools and 320 schools nationwide to be recognized. Three schools in Utah - Mapleton Elementary, Mona Elementary and Oakridge Elementary in Salt Lake City - made the list.

At Masada, students now score in the top 10 percent on Arizona's AIMS tests in the three subject areas and achievement has soared over the past four years - the result of 'a lot of hard work,' said LeAnne Timpson, school administrator."

One of 320 nationwide. One of 4 in Arizona. Only 3 in Utah made the list.
More →

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Bingo, Tony is said to be, "A Polygamist"

Per Brooke Adams blog.

"Prosecutors in the tax case argued before sentencing that Alamo was a flight risk and a polygamist who preyed on married women and girls in his congregation."

Now we have a connection. More →

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Still, just watching.....

The only reason I am MORE familiar with Tony Alamo (I hear his name is pronounced a LAH mo) today, as opposed to last week is that I have posted twice now about his group (and him) and on Monday of last week I would have confused him in all likelyhood with "Tony Orlando."

Fox News - FOUKE, Ark. — "State and federal authorities are investigating the possible sexual abuse of minors at a 15-acre evangelical compound run by a convicted tax evader who critics describe as a cult leader.

The Tony Alamo Christian Ministries complex in southwestern Arkansas was raided Saturday by more than 100 federal and state police, and six children have been placed in temporary state custody and are being interviewed."

This is of course, dicey stuff. Particularly when he is now being tried in the press.

"No one was arrested, but U.S. Attorney Bob Balfe said prior to the raid that he expects a warrant to be issued for Alamo, 74, who has a long history of tangling with law enforcement."

That's hardly neutral wording. Granted that it is true, but what does this have to do with child abuse? Why would someone who evades taxation, probably through the tax exempt status of a ministry or the attempted use of such status, be involved in child abuse other than coincidentally? In other words; what has one to do with the other?

It would seem that once again, law enforcement is inside the walls of a building or home via the coattails of claimed child abuse, and now looking for a crime. Unlike the FLDS story I have no feel whatsoever for the validity of the original raid. For all I know there may be a "Tony Alamo Child Porn Weekly" hand written by Tony. The authorities may already have damning evidence and went in for good cause. I'm just nervous about using kids as a pretext for gathering other evidence. With good reason.

A clue as to the validity of the investigation may be contained here;

"Alamo told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday that no child pornography was generated at the ministry but that 'consent is puberty' when it comes to sex. Alamo, who said he was in the Los Angeles area, said the government is trying to harass him."

At the very least, Mr. Alamo is sticking his foot in his mouth. More →

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Worth Watching...

6 children were put in temporary custody, AND...

Fox News - Fouke Arkansas - "No one was arrested, but U.S. Attorney Bob Balfe said before the raid that he expected an arrest warrant for Alamo to be issued later. The federal investigation centered on the production of child pornography, while state police were looking into allegations of other child abuse, he said."

This is eerily like the YFZ raid in some respects, but while I disagree with FLDS beliefs and some of their practices, Tony Alamo did weird things like keep his wife's dead body on public display claiming she would be resurrected. That's out there. As far as I know, there are no claims of Polygyny or Polygamy but I'm not familiar with Tony's group just as I am not very familiar with "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins group in Texas.

Quotes on the radio coverage I heard, sound just the same as those made about the FLDS with the community being "sure" that something is going on and "relieved" that "something has finally been done."

It's significant that no one has been arrested. I continue to have faith that in most cases where law enforcement intervenes, it is because something is really going on. There would have to be at least a high degree of probability.

A low standard of proof, it has been learned, is all that is necessary to take children and a low standard of proof is necessary to forcefully investigate supposed crimes against children and "abuse" of children.
More →

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Views on "Toxic" loans and bailouts

We're not going to stop the government from "bailing out" our failing and financially flailing brokerages, insurance companies, mortgate entities (some of which the government created) and banks.

So I have a recommendation. Instead of ranting about it how about we be practical?

The losses these portfolios generate should be offset. Those entities "bailed out" or "backed up" by the feds should be barred from political contributions until such time as the "bail out" is over or they no longer need "backing up." Employees or former employees of those companies above a certain level of managment or on their boards, also barred from political contributions.

A sinking fund need to be established for the losses if there are any and when those companies or individuals who benefited from these failed financial fiascos contribute enough to offset those losses, they can start contributing to political campaigns again.

Since the Pharisee does NOT believe in jail, I suggest death or exile for those that are caught violating the above suggestion. More →

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Help me out, why did Merrianne go back into state custody?

I'm trying to figure this out.

The Deseret News - "A 14-year-old girl (Merrianne Jessop) from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch ordered back into foster care may be reunited with her mother by next year.

That's according to a progress report recently compiled by Texas Child Protective Services and obtained Wednesday by the Deseret News. The report is being presented to a judge in San Angelo, Texas, handling the massive custody case involving children from the Utah-based polygamous sect. The girl's case is scheduled for a permanency hearing on Sept. 25."

They're allowing "unsupervised" phone contact between Merrianne and her mother.

" 'After this visit, it was discovered that (the girl) had at least 21 unsupervised phone calls with her mother in a period of one week,' the report said. 'Both presented as though they had been adhering to the monitored phone contact only. Many of the phone calls occurred in the middle of the night and some lasted in duration of longer than 30 minutes.' "

So Mom can talk to Merrianne, unsupervised in some sort of violation, and still they're going to "reunite" them next year, and mom is not cooperating with authorities.

"Barbara Jessop also is required to undergo psychological evaluations, attend parenting classes and have a social study. But caseworkers say no progress has been made."

Barbara pushes the envelope.

"Barbara Jessop first visited her daughter on Aug. 26. Since then, CPS caseworkers indicated Jessop has pushed the boundaries of her supervised visits, including bringing unapproved people with her and making unmonitored phone calls. The girl was not allowed to keep her cell phone while in foster placement, the CPS report said."

Why did they take Merrianne again? Nothing is changing. Mom is militantly resisting being "reformed," they allow Mom and daughter to talk, if only because of inadequate supervision or rebellion on the part of mother and daughter. Was this just an outburst of anger on the part of Texas and a practical example of "who's in charge here?" Or is Merrianne a hostage?

"The girl's father is YFZ Ranch leader Merril Jessop, who has been absent from custody hearings. He is believed to be under investigation in the ongoing criminal probe involving church members.

'Ms. Jessop has not provided any locating information on Mr. Jessop, although she has been asked on multiple occasions,' the report said."

It would seem that Merrianne is being held to extort information from her mother, regarding Merril.

The Salt Lake Tribune seems to thinks the reunification is NOT in the offing.

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Jeffs' Attorney argues Texas knew the call was bogus in Suppression move.

The Deseret News - "(Warren Jeffs' attorney, Michael Piccarreta) argued that the warrants were not supported by probable cause and were based on false information.

Texas law enforcement officials knew before the first warrant was served on the ranch that Dale Barlow, the object of the first warrant, was not currently living in Texas and was currently on probation in Arizona, Piccarreta wrote.

He also stated that Texas authorities were already questioning the phone call that started the raid before the first warrant was served on the ranch.

Texas authorities knew that the phone calls originated outside of the Texas area, he wrote. They traced the calls to the Colorado Springs area where local police told them that the phone number belonged to a woman who had a history of making false reports.

Piccarreta also stated that Texas authorities went through with a second warrant, even though, after three days of searching, they had been unable to find the teen that made the call or the suspect alleged to have committed the crime.

The Mohave County Attorney's Office has not filed a response to the motion yet."

This is significant because Piccarreta alleges essentially, bad faith. As highlighted, he says that they already knew the tip was bad. Jeff's attorney may have real evidence to back this. It is bad for Texas and the case against all the FLDS Four (plus Warren) if Texas deliberately entered YFZ knowing for the call was almost certainly a fake.

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What's up with Allen Steed?

Nothing continues to happen for the man who MUST be a rapist, for Warren Jeffs to be an accomplice to that rape.

UPDATE: See correction below. Allen is going to trial it would seem, discovery will occur in about a week. The "Crime" is already over seven years old.

CORRECTION:

FIFTH DISTRICT COURT-ST GEORGE                                          Page 136
G RAND BEACHAM                                                September 25, 2008
Courtroom TBD                                                           Thursday
01:30 PM      MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY        S27 071501596 State Felony
      STATE OF UTAH                            ATTY: FILTER, BRIAN G
  VS.
      STEED, ALLEN GLADE                       ATTY: BRADSHAW, JIM C
         OTN: 19095116    DOB: 05/12/1981
      04/14/2001 - F1 - RAPE

As time goes by it's going to be increasingly difficult to convict Allen of anything. If for no other reason, it will be because so much time has gone past. The prosecution of course, has to know this, yet they do not proceed. In terms of common sense, this must put Warren's conviction in question.

If there was no bank robbery, no bank robbery planned, and no one who thought there was a bank robbery in progress, how can the man who "drove the getaway car" remain convicted? It's as if they plucked a man from a parked car and convicted him of accomplice to a bank robbery he didn't know about that was NOT a bank robbery because no bank was robbed nor was there any plan or intention to rob one.

Warren can't be a rapist unless Allen Steed is. More →

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Wrong twice as often as they were "right," CPS admits failure on an ever increasing scale.

By weeks end will we even have a quarter of the kids under court supervision that originally were in CPS custody? Probably not. Certainly it will be that way soon. The ratio of mistakes admitted by CPS is now 2 to 1. 3-1 very soon, I'm sure. 4-1 shortly after that.

"On Tuesday, Texas Child Protective Services filed to 'nonsuit' four more children taken into state custody in the raid on the YFZ Ranch. That brings the total number dropped to 291, agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins told the Deseret News."

As we approach that magic number where there are more than TWICE the number of kids "nonsuited" than there are still under formal court scrutiny, it becomes more and more pathetic to suggest that the initial action of CPS was justified in any way. Going in with guns and APC's is not how you respond to a report of domestic abuse. Taking all the neighbor's kids is not a way that you respond to domestic abuse. Since it's fair to say that this now represents a huge embarassment and black eye to an incompetent state of Texas, it's also fair to say that they would continue in their bumbling way to cover up the unsightly mess they made in the first place.

Let's put that another way. It cannot be argued to me or to any other casual observer, with this set of facts, that Texas knew what it was doing. It can hardly be argued that they were "fair" to the FLDS either. Why would we expect that they would be NOW?

The courts forced them to give the kids back, and now CPS is finding it difficult to "reacquire" them. Had the courts NOT forced CPS to give the children back, do you have any doubt that most of them would still be in Foster Care? Being unable to assert custody over more than twice as many children as they still have under court supervision is simple proof of bad judgement. They now stand by their own admission, without proof of the need to have jurisdiction over 2/3rds of the kids. Once again, that's TWICE as many that didn't need there help, as did, by their own admission, and they're NOT done "nonsuiting" the children. The fog of war is disappearing and with it any illusion of "cause." More →

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Rozita slip slides away into next year.

I'm going to say it. No one wants any evidence to come forth about what Rozita knows or did while the FLDS persecution is still in play. CLEARLY something that could come out in any trial makes someone SO NERVOUS that we can't have her in court until the FLDS is fully charged and the trials are in full swing, possibly even over.

The Deseret News - "The woman considered a 'person of interest' in the hoax call that launched the raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch has delayed her trial until next year.

Rozita Swinton, 33, appeared in a Colorado Springs court on Monday for a hearing where she waived her right to a speedy trial. She is now scheduled to go on trial in January 2009 for a misdemeanor charge of making a false report.

'She indicated to the court she will be receiving a mental-health evaluation,' El Paso County District Attorney's spokeswoman Lin Billings told the Deseret News. 'Under Colorado state law, if someone intends to introduce a mental-health defense you have to enter an evaluation.'

Swinton is accused of making a phony abuse call to police in Colorado Springs, pretending to be a drugged and sexually abused 13-year-old girl chained in a basement. The February phone call prompted a door-to-door search by police until they learned it was a hoax."

PLUS they're going to try to hide Rozita behind the veil of mental illness. Folks, she's NOT mentally ill. She's EVIL. She must be viewed as trying to kill hundreds of people in a sort of "Waco, the Sequel" scenario.

There has been plenty of time to have such an evaluation. Colorado should have asked for one in anticipation of this tactic, instead they've gone along with the lazy pace and allowed this to be put off until now, almost 6 months after the fact. This is an outrage.

Face it. It's not a conspiracy, but you'll never see Rozita testifying in court unless the FLDS drag her there. Texas doesn't want it, and neither does Colorado. Why Colorado cares is beyond me unless they don't want to aid in any way a group that is moving into their state as well.

I don't care what the reason is, there is clearly a reason and there is clearly communication of some sort going on between Texas, Colorado and whomever. It's disgusting and it's obvious. In the end they hope to keep Rozita at arms length until this is all over, and then let her go. She'll do it again too.

Strangely, "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins trial was delayed indefinitely, on this same day. Maybe he'll die before they try him.

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Smaller and Smaller. The incredible shrinking list of possibly abused children.

We're rapidly approaching the point where even Texas it admits it was wrong twice as often as it was right.

The Deseret News - "Texas Child Protective Services filed to have another child from the Utah-based polygamous sect officially nonsuited, ending court jurisdiction over their case. Friday's filing brings the number of cases nonsuited to 287.

Approximately 439 children were taken into state custody during the April raid, when CPS caseworkers and law enforcement responded to the YFZ Ranch on a phone call alleging abuse. The children were returned to their families two months later, when two Texas courts ruled the state acted improperly and the children were not in any imminent danger."

6 more kids and it will be 293 nonsuited versus 146 still under the gun. 146 x 2 = 292. How low will it go and how soon? Fairly soon we will be able to see just how many candidates there were for the "kids with kids" lie and I don't think the picture will be pretty for Texas. We should be asking questions.

How many of the remaining 152 are girls? What is the age distribution? Do any of them have children? You can believe that if there are kids with kids (we know there are not) then they are all still under court supervision.

The number is beginning to become fairly manageable. If the distribution is normal, and not weighted towards boys or girls then we have about 76 girls left. If they are distributed normally by age then we have about a third of those in child bearing range. That's about 25.

Were ANY of these remaining, approximately 25 or less girls "seen" with kids or pregnant? I believe the answer is already "no" but it can now be asked of Texas in a "manageable" way.

Are there any 13 year old girls under court supervision? The answer will be "about" 5. Are any of them pregnant or were any of them pregnant and do they have children? The question repeats itself for 14, 15, 16 and 17.

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Into the Walther Zone - Psychosis, Comedy & Horror in the theater of the real

Only in this case, only in West Texas, only with Judge Walther.

The San Angelo Standard-Times - "That created the unique situation of Malonis arguing against her own motion, which she had filed on behalf of her own client."

This is true Twilight Zone - Alice in Wonderland material. It's not surprising to then learn that Judge Walther also presides over the criminal trials of the FLDS "Felony Four" as well. How can it be that a Judge does not see the conflict a client has when that client watches their own attorney in a real life psychotic break?

The Judge lives or dies on this case. She's been left alone for the most part, aside from the Supreme Court ruling that the kids be returned. She has also been left alone so when the blame game starts, if it does, she will be the only one who hears the sound of the limb being sawed off, behind her.

I've ceased to comment on large chunks of this case. It's no longer important in my view to point out the surrealistic horror of it all. I could be here all day pointing that fact out without a new bit of news for probably a year, and not cover the same ground twice. This one just struck me as too bizarre. It also struck me that Judge Walther may be all alone some day in a real way. More →

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Rozita Swinton Pleads "Not Guilty."

As nearly as can be determined, on August 28th while Barrack Obama was dishing his liberal agenda acceptance speech (still don't know if Rozita was there) a plea was entered in the El Paso County courthouse. There was no "plea bargain" but that can always happen right up until a jury verdict.

Rozita will next appear in Courtroom "C" in El Paso County Colorado before Judge Wilson on the 15th of this month for a Pre Trial conference and again, same place, same Judge, on the 10th of October for a Trial Readiness conference and then again on the 20th for trial.

I called. No one else saw fit to do so. More →

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The Mysterious Third Girl?

With the almost complete lack of truthfulness on the part of Texas, it's hard to know what's going on, but early on in the "investigation" there were "Three Pregnant Underage Girls," according to CPS.

As has been beaten into the ground by this blogger and others, two turned out to be "of age" and fell out of the category of "Pregnant Underage Girls." A third girl whose name we have not learned (exactly) seemed to be a girl that initially refused a pregnancy test, which also would seem to place her out of "Obviously Pregnant Underage Girls."

The Deseret News - "A CPS spokesman could not elaborate, citing the ongoing child welfare investigation.

Nathan Jessop is believed to be about 40 years old, according to another search warrant affidavit that authorities used in the raid. His wife is now 17 and was due to give birth in June, when she was still 16."

Since it is now September, 5 months AFTER the raid, and since supposedly the second warrant, which can be the only warrant with a possibility of validity, is based on seeing "Pregnant Underage Girls," something that had to be "obvious" for it to have any chance of validity, is Texas now admitting that it fudged the supposed due date of the third "Pregnant Underage Girl" who now can only have been 4 months pregnant at the time of the raid? Maybe even less?

I could be having a brain spasm but I was doing the math early on when we were down to one pregnant girl, whose impending maternity depended on taking a test, making that supposed pregnancy not so obvious.

To review, a pregnant underage girl is simply not prima facie evidence of a crime in the first place as the circumstances under which she became pregnant could be entirely legal. Need I point out that Texas still marries legally girls under the age of 16? To this day?

Texas proposes that it not only SAW the age of the girls involved (something clearly disproved by the track record of getting at least two out of the three ages wrong) but that it also "saw" the age of the fathers involved, and "saw" the location on our planet where conception occurred and also saw the legal marital status of the girl. Let's not forget that a 14 year old can have sex with a man in Texas and not be married to that man.

How? She could be legally married or divorced in which case the sex could be consensual. In all cases. I can have sex with a 13 year old girl, if she verbally consents, and is or has been married.

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No more interruptions

God Willing of course. A good portion of my life has been spent with God getting the stubborn out of me. The me that likes to take credit for good things and complain to God about the bad. I'm back, and I should be blogging more regularly, God Willing. More →

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