Latest Rozita Revelation started with this: Was she a NARC?

The latest Round of Rozita Revelations started with my friend "Toes," after one of our brain storming sessions. I updated a speculative post that was primarily written to tweak press interest which is typically pointed in other directions:

March 30, 2009 - "The owner of the MySpace page has made a convincing presentation that she is not a close friend of Rozita, but a passing acquaintance. For that reason I am at least for now, removing references to her home page and her name. What is odd is that this paints a portrait of a young woman trapped in the idea that she is still in High School, and hanging out with High School students in Colorado Springs, pretending to be one of them.

It has been suggested to me by a friend that this is what a 'NARC' does. It's a totally wild speculation, but could it be that Rozita was such a person, employed by law enforcement to befriend High School students, as if she was one herself?

Right now, I caution, that's just wild speculation, under the heading of "What if?' "

Trying to follow Rozita has always been very difficult. Her associations, aside from that claimed by former foster mother & GLBT rights advocate Mary Catharine Nelson, and a probable foster parent in Idaho have always been glancing at best. Rozita often claims strong ties by implications or actions with persons whose memory of her is fleeting. Either that or their memory of her is strong and they view her now as radioactive and lie about it.

The above quote is an edit from the original speculative post which was based on the fact that one of Rozita's two known "My Space" accounts was claiming to be moving, and the other was claiming to live in Ontario. As a now "put off" trial date approached, it seemed as if Rozita was saying she was leaving the country. The flurry of associations around Rozita led to a woman now no longer in Colorado Springs (or the west for that matter) that seemed to know Rozita well, based on what Rozita was saying about her. According to that woman, who I still believe, or at least want to believe, she barely remembers Rozita.

I believe her because of what she insisted was true about Rozita. That she was part of another group of High School students that hung out at the same bowling allies. She saw her, heard her name, and knew of her, but associated her with that "other High School" group. Why does one woman remember another woman she doesn't know in another group of High School students? The most credible reason is that the woman I mention that gave me this information is a lesbian. Rozita would seem to be one herself, and hung out with a group of lesbians in that time frame, in Colorado. Perhaps this unnamed person found Rozita attractive, at any rate, she remembered Rozita, but didn't really know her and claimed she was on the periphery of her activities.

This is what my tipster saw. The tipster has inside information that I have verified first hand. The tipster began to search the internet for terms like "Rozita" and "NARC" and found me. The tipster was concerned and increasingly agitated about the free pass Rozita was getting and claimed to know why.

Why?

Because "Tipper" alleged that Rozita was employed by Lt. Magdalena (Maggie) Santos of CSPD and her lesbian life partner who also works closely with Maggie at CSPD. Lesbians. Again.

I verified that the two individuals DO in fact work for CSPD. They are often mentioned together in CSPD and association literature. They own or recently owned a home together in in the Colorado Springs area and the other woman whom I've called "Beta" has been "outed" as a lesbian, by name. It makes sense to assume that she and Maggie are a "couple."

So on Saturday, I got an email from "Tipper."

"The interesting part about this is that during the interview of Becky Hoerth at Colorado Springs Police Department she stated she meet Rozita through friends Maggie Santos and **** ****(Beta) these two individuals are both Sargent's with CSPD who happens to be a Lesbian couple.. Rozita use to be there nanny! Very Interesting, right? For someone who claims to be LDS is surrounded by lesbians does not make sense. I was also told that Maggie Santos has a hand in the investigation with Terry Thurmston who is also a female. Does this not seem odd? Why would you not remove yourself from a case when you have a relationship with the individual involved? It's all shady to me but what do I know."

A subsequent interview with Maggie, which led off with me asking for "Rozita" after calling Maggie on her cell phone had Maggie immediately claiming that the relationship was 20 years old (Rozita was 14 and in Nashville TN). I discounted that as unlikely (frankly nearly impossible) and Maggie retrenched at 1995 being the date, after being confronted with the date of 1997. Maggie's recollections were alternately wrong, vague or specific based on what served her best. For that reason I do not believe Maggie. She has changed her story and Tipper has not. Maggie would not clarify and promised to swear out a criminal complaint if I contacted her again. All of this started in very friendly fashion but in less than 12 hours descended into threats and claims that I was "blackmailing" her. I would not publish her name until after she refused to clarify and after she cut off communication and after her story was called into question. I had kept her name out of the story because it would be wrong to name her if she just had a passing relationship with Rozita once. It now seems it was not a passing relationship. Back to Tipper, paraphrased and redacted ever so slightly so as to hide Tipper's identity:

"Page 1/50 of the discovery under Becky Hoerth Statement says:

'Ms. Hoerth stated she met Rozita in 1997 through a mutual friend at the Colorado Springs YMCA. She stated at the time Rozita was doing day care for Maggie Santos and **** ****(Beta). She stated the two of them have been friends and that Rozita has helped her out when ever she needs it. She stated she had just recently moved back from Wisconsin and due to financial reasons is staying with Rozita."

This cannot be disputed as it is in the discovery."

I stress that this document simply exists, or does not. "Beta" and Maggie are close enough to the situation to verify this, but Maggie will not. CSPD or El Paso/Douglas County officials can verify it too. I'm either wrong, or right about the existence of this statement, which is worded almost exactly as I have presented it above. There is even a page reference. Back to Tipper:

"Some of (Maggie's) statements to you are incorrect also; such as (Rozita) worked for her longer. (It was hoped that) if either one of them spoke with you that they would be honest this. My concern (is that Maggie) is hiding something. One of the problems is it's affecting the case against Rozita (for Rozita's benefit) since Maggie didn't recuse herself 3yrs ago. The only reason she pulled out was because Becky outed her and Beta in her statement so she was forced to pull out."

Again, this is ever so slightly redacted and paraphrased for the purposes of concealing Tipper's identity.

Since nothing Tipper has said to me has been contradicted by the facts and Maggie has already owned up to getting one critical detail wrong, I'm going with Tipper for now. Tipper has not had to retract one bit of the story so far. Much of it has been independently verified.

So when did Rozita start getting into trouble with the law on phony tips?

"ABC News - Colorado Springs police said Rozita Swinton had made calls in February (2008) in which she pretended to be a girl locked in a basement, claiming abuse and calling authorities for help. Swinton has a record for making similar calls in 2005."

2005? That fits with "3 years ago" when it is said that Maggie was forced out of the case, forced to recuse, as opposed to doing so voluntarily. If this is the case it would call entirely into question everything that Maggie said, such as details like not knowing what part of the south Rozita came from (Tennessee) or unverifiable (at this time) details like exactly when and how long Rozita worked for Maggie, or that Maggie and Beta both employed Rozita together.

So how do we speculate at this point?

Was Rozita at one time, "locked in" Maggie's basement? This is a fair question to ask. Unlikely, but nonetheless fair. As I have said to Maggie and many others, lies tend to contain elements of the truth. I would guess from what Rozita said, she'd been locked up somewhere once, by somebody and it really bothered her. Not exactly a surprise.

Was Ms. Swinton's relationship with either Beta or Maggie ever sexual? If a male police officer had a long ongoing relationship with a female suspect in and out of trouble with the law that required rescuing, it had better be a relative, or the department will eventually ask "are you doing her?"

Was Ms. Swinton a snitch? A confidential informant? A "Narc?" Stories from one of my other sources (now unnamed) says she may well have been. At the time she was in Colorado, she was in her 20's and apparently was viewed as another High School student and "hung out" with them.

Was Ms. Swinton a convenient warrant factory? Can't get into some residence? Need help? Maggie has a nanny that can fake an abused kid's voice and you're in the door, no problem! Rozita at 33 convincingly passed herself off as 15. To several people.

These last two speculations gains more weight when viewed with how quickly CSPD was said initially, to have ID'd her. Texas calls. There was a lot of back channel chatter off the record as well. We were asked to believe that they said "Oh yeah, those are Rozita's numbers." If most lies do indeed contain an element of truth, what if CSPD really knew who Rozita was by the phone numbers she used? Texas calls. "No problem, we know that gal."

Some other questions that need answering are among others, is there some sort of accessible database on which Rozita and her number were already published. We know that since 9/11 there has been an effort to coordinate and consolidate information between various law enforcement agencies. Would it be possible for the FBI in Texas for instance to type in Rozita's number and it comes back with "PAID SNITCH, ROZITA SWINTON - CSPD?"

Would you type in the number and it says "NUMBER IN CASE IN COLORADO SPRINGS, PERP ROZITA SWINTON?" This was the goal post 9/11. Is that possible in this case and if so, was it done?

More "out there" but deserving of consideration as well is the idea that someone was calling around looking for a decent actress to play a part. Does this lead to Maggie and "Beta's" warrant machine Rozita? Does someone need to be checking into cases investigated by Maggie and her department for the veracity of the information or informants used in gaining warrants in Colorado Springs?

I've fed all this information to the press and their reaction? Meh. As a matter of fact, I mentioned on Brooke Adams blog at the SLTrib that there was a relationship between Maggie and Rozita. Her reaction? She didn't publish it. I didn't link, as I recall. I did not characterize the relationship with anything other than that which Maggie has willingly confirmed to me personally. Brooke comes on today, makes a comment herself, but won't publish that cold hard simple fact.

Why?

PS: As of this post I am making it official. If you post at this blog, you're going to have to make sense. Ranting this and ranting that and blindly ignoring evidence will only get you published here if it is a great example of how idiotic you are. Other than that, you're going to get rejected. Jam's last post is not published, but not because it was stupid. It was not published for reasons Jam knows.

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UPDATED (again): Rozita. Source says: Lt Maggie Santos untruthful.

Since nothing essentially, that my source has told me, has been refuted, I will publish the source's response to Lt. Maggie Santos.

"Some of 'Alpha's' statements to you are incorrect. Rozita worked for her longer. I am concerned Alpha and Beta are hiding something. The problems is it is affecting the case against Rozita in ROZITA's FAVOR. Alpha DID NOT RECUSE 3 yrs ago. Alpha pulled out was because Becky Hoerth outed Alpha and Beta so they were forced to pull out." (this is a paraphrase)

This is getting VERY interesting.

Alpha is CSPD Lieutenant Maggie Santos.

Maggie's rebuttal to this information is the following:

"I have nothing to add, feel free to pull CSPD reports. If your source has a complaint they are welcome to file a complaint with IA (internal affairs)."

And:

"If your source has more information ask her."

Please note that I have not identified the gender of my source, nor will I be tricked into doing so now. I have disclosed nothing to Maggie about the identity of my source:

"Smells like blackmail."

Lt. Santos has had every opportunity to clarify and refuses to do so. I cannot evaluate the truthfulness, ultimately, of either party, but more of what my source has said, checks out, as opposed to that which Maggie has said. I note that Maggie was truthful that Rozita was her Nanny, but her explanation of time frames stretches credulity to the breaking point.

An invitation to file a complaint with internal affairs is an invitation to go public. I would greatly prefer to have Maggie's greater insight into this matter, but she does not give it.

The Modern Pharisee does not take the position that Maggie is untruthful. The Modern Pharisee does not take the position that the source I employ is truthful. I present both sides and point out that so far, more of what the source has said, checks out.

Maggie also says she will change her cell phone number tomorrow, which means that she no longer wishes to comment. Her last communication to me by email:

"I am requesting you not contact me again, by phone, email or in any other format. As I explained to you on the text, at this point any information you want should be done through CSPD. I have notified my chain of command that you are becoming creepy and I am concerned about the safety of my children (whom you are now bringing up). You have access to my personal cell, email and may have access to my address. Any further communication I will consider harassment and I will also consider filing this criminally."

This is what is known as a "non-denial denial."

I got Maggie's phone through a publication where she published that phone number. I got her email the same way. I have published neither. I believe that I have her address but I am not interested in revealing it. I will not do so. She has requested that I no longer communicate with her, and I will not. I asked her to clear up the time frames, and she would not. None of my communications will show that I have even hinted at revealing anything but her name. I will also point out that I have NOT identified "Beta."

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Allen Steed? He seems to be winning.

Again, with the disclaimer that I ain't no lawyer. Read it yourself.

Allen moves to have the charges dismissed, part deux.

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Update on Rozita, she did work as a nanny for CSPD officers

She did indeed perform services as a "Nanny" in the rough time frame of 1995-1997, perhaps earlier for employees of the Colorado Springs Police Department.

I spoke with one of the officers involved and confirmed their occupation, relationship, and that Rozita was their nanny. I will call this officer Alpha. I am keeping their names out of the story, as it does not appear yet, nor do I suspect, that the relationship was anything other than I have been told, by officer Alpha. Officer Beta was not interviewed. The relationship of officers Alpha and Beta is professional and personal.

When Rozita was about 20 according to Alpha, she worked for a short time (months) for Alpha and Beta as a nanny. She was terminated quickly for being unsatisfactory. Alpha is very hawkish when it comes to protecting children. Alpha could not confirm aspects of Rozita's claimed background, and discharged her. Alpha says that Rozita was referred to Alpha by a "friend" that Alpha no longer keeps close contact with, though Alpha knows that this friend is in the Colorado Springs area, still. Alpha would not give me the name of this "friend." I have offered to email Alpha so if Alpha feels it appropriate to pass this information along, Alpha can do so.

The only disturbing aspect of the story was that Alpha tried to claim that the relationship was "20 years old" which is untrue. Rozita was not of age at that time, she was 14. When pressed, Alpha said the relationship was in the 1995 time frame or earlier. This begins to seriously encroach on the time frame during which we know Rozita was with Mary Catharine Nelson in the Nashville TN area. It is disturbing that this sort of distancing is taking place since it suggests there might be something to hide. In other words, this portion of the story does not match.

Becky Hoerth is said to have testified in "discovery" regarding Rozita, on a "page 50" of that document, that she was introduced to Rozita by Alpha and Beta. Alpha says that they were in the same circle of friends, but was vague. When asked about Becky's LE connections, Alpha says she thinks Becky was "in corrections."

Alpha also offered this intersting observation. "Dana Anderson" is an alias used by Rozita. It is a combination of "Gillian Anderson" and "Dana Scully," of the actress and the character portrayed, on the "X Files."

Alpha also offered that they recused themselves, when Rozita was arrested by Alpha's department. Alpha claims not to know David Foley, ex the El Paso county prosecuter, who now represents Rozita Swinton.

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$250 Million in Clunker Payments Rejected

Doubtless some will be eventually accepted. In the end? Millions of Dollars will be paid out and not paid for, by the Government, no, wait, by your local car dealer.

Can you say "unseen tax?" Sure you can. I knew you could. Of course, the rich fat cats of America's franchised dealers can afford it. Right?

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No to the Bailout!

There is no need to prop up any segment of the media.

The Hill - "Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced S. 673, the so-called 'Newspaper Revitalization Act,' that would give outlets tax deals if they were to restructure as 501(c)(3) corporations. That bill has so far attracted one cosponsor, Cardin's Maryland colleague Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D).

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had played down the possibility of government assistance for news organizations, which have been hit by an economic downturn and dwindling ad revenue."

I too mourn the passing of the traditional News PAPER. Heck, I was a paperboy delivering for the "Daytona Beach News-Journal" in 1968. Let's get real though, hard print news media has been in decline for years, the only thing buoying them up being the increasing population. The clue is in the very names of our newspapers. Once in Daytona Beach there was a "News" and a "Journal." They merged into one. Daytona Beach is vastly larger than it was when there were two papers, but there is only one now. Similarly you can find evidence of that in Orlando with their paper being the "Sentinel Star."

" 'I haven't seen detailed proposals yet, but I'll be happy to look at them,' Obama told the editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade in an interview."

Look, but don't you dare touch you dingbat. If the Apocalypse comes and we lose our electronic media, new newspapers will spring up overnight. Like mushrooms. All we need is the freedom to publish them. See now? In that very quote you have the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette," yet another evidence of the merger of two papers.

At one time papers that are now one, that used to be two were "Morning" and "Afternoon" publications. You got one to see what happened yesterday. You got the other in the afternoon to see what happened in the morning. You sat down to dinner to watch Walter Concrete and see what happened while they were printing the afternoon paper (and what to think about all of it) and you maybe went to bed watching the evening news at 10 or 11 with the wife, who probably thought she was the news, not what was on the tube.

It's all different now and we don't need these various papers, that's why they're asking for a bailout. With copy machines, email, faxes and PC's there will always be news publication and dissemination. There is no need for a bailout.

Saturday I mentioned why cars were important and why a domestic car industry was important to all of us. A domestic paper press? It's only as important as we want it to be, and if you want it to be important, buy the paper. If you don't, let 'em die. Until we're deaf, dumb and blind, and DEAD, there will always be news, and it will always get out. Somehow. Just let me keep my 1st Amendment, and we'll never need a bailout. Talking is not going to go away.

What's really going on? Democrats are propping up mouthpieces that are favorable to them. Even if this was not the case, how "objective" would media that most go to the hand it just thought about biting, to get the operating cash it needs to continue? Doesn't that question answer itself?

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Rozita Again. Something new. UPDATED

I thought I would be done with this story, except for the forensic aspect of it.

The Modern Pharisee is now in possession of information, given to him unsolicited. Unsolicited in the sense that I did not go research and find the lead, the lead came to me. Not unsolicited in the sense that I have put a lot of work into this subject and anyone possessed of information about Rozita, and wondering what to do with it, would probably find, and consider turning that information over, to me.

UPDATE:

This information has now been confirmed, click on the UPDATE above to go to the new post.

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So like a Republican (or any conservative)

To be frank, I both get it, and don't get it. I have refrained for the most part from blogging on the subject of the auto industry bail out. There have been a few posts, but not a lot. My livelihood depends on the domestic auto industry and so I have been restrained.

Now I'm going to say it. The attitude displayed here by the American Voting Public is just plain stupid:

"My Mustang aside, the greatest automobile in the history of the world may have been the ‘57 Chevy. It liberated the nation to see the USA in their… well, you know the rest. The common man had what the rich man had — without Eisenhower Motors.

Now GM is on the ropes thanks to decades of stupidity on a scale seldom seen outside of Congress.

Rasmussen polled the people and found the voters think the government has helped GM enough.

Rasmussen polled the people and found the voters think the government has helped GM enough."

'If GM requests more money to stay in business, only 16% now think the federal government should provide it. Sixty-one percent (61%) say no more taxpayer money should be given to the automaker,' Rasmussen reported. 'Interestingly, those who currently own GM cars are more strongly opposed to any further bailout of the company than are non-GM owners.'

"Over the years, I have owned an Oldsmobile, a Buick, a Chevy… no complaints. I just like the Mustang’s look."

'Most Americans (58%) still say Ford, the company that didn’t take a government bailout, is the Big Three automaker that has the best chance of surviving and becoming profitable again,'

(Found at Don Surber.)

I've finally condensed down to something relatively short, what the problem with the car industry in the United States has been for probably 20 years or more. Collectively the "Big Three" couldn't afford to shut down their assembly lines for 2 months. Their fixed costs included compensation to too many people not working and still getting paid. That's the short form of it. Rephrased, the US Auto industry was bankrupt a long time ago if it had to shut down the plants for 60 days.

In other industries, salaries and wages are variable costs and as draconian as it may seem, an industry could survive in hard times to pay you another day, by closing it's plants and turning out the lights. Stinks to be you if you're a wage earner, but when they opened again, you had a job. That ceased to be a strategy for the US Auto industry years ago, so they kept plants open, losing money on making cars and discounting them in slow times. Why? Because they lost more money paying people to do nothing.

I'm not prepared to argue with anyone (without wanting to explode at the same time) how it got that way. Let's just say there is blame to go around and it doesn't all settle on Auto Industry Fat Cats, the convenient location both those on the right and left like to place most of the blame. We have a new Little Three left over, and Ford's problems are the same as those of GM's and Chrysler's prior to both going bankrupt. All were losing money. 67% of the US auto industry going down the tubes with one remaining almost assures that the next time we're having this discussion (and there will be a next time), 100% of the Auto Industry (Ford) would be on the chopping block.

In the highly regulated environment of selling cars in the United States, emissions, safety, warranty concerns and fuel economy, the entry level costs are too high for anyone to get into the business any longer. Ask Tucker. Ask DeLorean. Essentially you have to set up shop simultaneously in 48 states and produce a product that passes the scrutiny of the Feds, several big states such as California and the insurance industry.

Are you going to buy that car if and when someone tries to do that? Probably not. It probably will not happen. Tesla is TRYING, but right now they are not making cars for ma and pa. Tesla's are expensive and custom ordered. I do not count them as automobiles in reality. You might as well say that Checker, when they made cars, was an American car company. Checker is said to have gone out of business in June of this year. Did anybody notice? By the time they went, they were so insignificant a player that not of us cared. What's left of Checker seems to be owned by the Canadian company, the "Narmco Group. Their website says they're still there, as a stamping plant.




What's my point? You don't want an America without an domestic auto industry. They are a strategic industry. Try to go to war with the country you're BUYING cars and trucks from. See how that works. I am not a trade protectionist, but if you figure you're going to take out your rage on the auto companies that took Federal help by driving them out of business through lack of patronage, you might as well put a gun to your head.

Similarly you figured you'd "show us" when you didn't like John McCain, and you put the Obama/Acorn/Democrat/Liberal gun to our heads in the last election.

How's that working out for you?

Is the satisfaction (schadenfreude) of seeing those guys get theirs enough comfort for you when you cut the rope we are all clinging to, to see them fall?

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Rebecca Musser to be deposed September 30th

So ordered and signed by Judge Steven Conn.

The depositions will occur at the offices of Wright Stanish & Winkler, 300 South Fourth Street, Suite 701, Las Vegas, NV 89101

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Large number of notices at Mohave County Court site RE: Warren Jeffs.

My apologies, I am at the emergency room with my wife who has a foot injury. You'll have to read them yourselves.

Follow the link.

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Where has Mary Travers Gone?

Peter, Paul and now, no Mary. She has died, at age 72, in Danbury Connecticut of complications of leukemia. I had the pleasure of seeing Paul Stookey in concert in Orlando FL and of meeting him later, but never had the pleasure of seeing all three together. No one ever will again.

"Mary Travers passed away today. After successful recovery from leukemia through a bone marrow/stem cell transplant, Mary succumbed to the side effects of one of the chemotherapy treatments.

We all loved her deeply and will miss her beyond words."

Statement by Peter Yarrow:

"In her final months, Mary handled her declining health in the bravest, most generous way imaginable. She never complained. She avoided expressing her emotional and physical distress, trying not to burden those of us who loved her, especially her wonderfully caring and attentive husband, Ethan. Mary hid whatever pain or fear she might have felt from everyone, clearly so as not to be a burden. Her love for me and Noel Paul, and for Ethan, poured out with great dignity and without restraint. It was, as Mary always was, honest and completely authentic. That's the way she sang, too; honestly and with complete authenticity. I believe that, in the most profound of ways, Mary was incapable of lying, as a person, and as an artist. That took great courage, and Mary was always equal to the task.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of my relationship with Mary Travers over the last, almost, 50 years, is how open and honest we were with each other, and I include Noel Paul Stookey in this equation. Such honesty comes with a price, but when you get past the hurt and shock of realizing that you're faulted and frequently wrong, you also realize that you are really loved and respected for who you are, and you become a better person. The trio's growth, our creativity, our ability to emerge over the years completely accepting of one another, warts and all, was a miracle. This gift existed, I believe, because of the music itself, which elicited from each of us the best of who we were. When we performed together, we gave our best to each other and to the audiences who came to hear us.

I have no idea what it will be like to have no Mary in my world, in my life, or on stage to sing with. But I do know there will always be a hole in my heart, a place where she will always exist that will never be filled by any other person. However painful her passing is, I am forever grateful for Mary and her place in my life."

Statement by Noel Paul Stookey:

"As a partner...she could be vexing and vulnerable in the same breath. As a friend she shared her concerns freely and without reservation. As an activist, she was brave, outspoken and inspiring - especially in her defense of the defenseless and, as a performer, her charisma was a barely contained nervous energy - occasionally (and then only privately) revealed as stage fright.

Sometimes frustratingly dismissive, I seldom heard her say she was sorry, yet she often displayed an immense generosity that would surprise even herself. Witty, politically savvy, she was the master/mistress of the cutting exit line. Once I was attempting to defend Ronald Reagan's educational policy. She interrupted me with 'Oh, for heaven's sake, do your homework!" turned on her heel and walked away. Need I say it turned out she was right?

As the relationships in the trio continued to shift and grow, Mary's insights and evolving comfort onstage drew her into the role of societal commentator and satirist; her genius revealed especially poking fun at the tumbling chaotic communications technology expanding around us.

Her illness softened her outlook considerably. Her work, her life and friends became more and more precious and friends, especially women friends, closed ranks in the later years, returning in kindnesses so much of that which Mary, their powerful feminine matriarch, had given them.

I am deadened and heartsick beyond words to consider a life without Mary Travers and honored beyond my wildest dreams to have shared her spirit and her career."

All of this is found at the Peter Paul and Mary website, including this:

"In lieu of sending flowers, for those who would like to contribute to a particular charity in memory of Mary, that information will be posted tomorrow after the family has an opportunity to make a decision."

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New "Texas Monthly" FLDS Article (The "Sex Bed" is baaaaack...)

I've read through it. The article is incomplete and somewhat one sided. You might want to as well.

"Less apparent in the tranquil setting was a powerful undercurrent of joy: Merrianne Jessop had arrived the night before. There was no 'Welcome Home' banner, no party; such theatrics would have been out of character for these humble, quiet people. But the feeling was there all the same. 'Right now there seems to be a little bit of relief in the air,' said Willie Jessop, the unofficial FLDS spokesman (Jessop is a common surname in the FLDS), as he drove me around the 1,700-acre spread outside Eldorado. Merrianne, a spunky fifteen-year-old with red hair, was happy to be back with her family on the ranch. She was quick to joke, rolling her eyes every now and then for laughs, tossing her head as a light West Texas breeze ruffled her lavender prairie-style dress.

The past year had been an ordeal. In the spring of 2008, the ranch was raided, and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services had removed 437 children, including Merrianne, after a local domestic abuse hotline received a call from someone claiming to be a sixteen-year-old FLDS member. The caller’s report of underage marriage and sexual abuse triggered a massive investigation that led to an epic child custody battle, the largest in U.S. history. The Third Court of Appeals ruled that the removal of the children had been unwarranted, and a chastened DFPS returned the kids to the ranch, though the department continued to investigate the cases. Merrianne’s was the last to be settled.

Her mother, Barbara Jessop, and her new court-appointed guardian, Naomi Carlisle, who is also an FLDS member, seemed giddy as they looked at her. All three of them were confident that the Lord was on their side and that the state had had no right to intervene, never mind the mountains of evidence obtained during the investigation, some of which plainly showed that the FLDS had married young teenage girls to much older men. Never mind that the church’s prophet, Warren Steed Jeffs, was himself in prison for being an accomplice to the rape of a fourteen-year-old. Never mind that criminal charges, including sexual assault and bigamy, were still being brought against twelve men from the ranch. When asked about the upcoming trials, which start on October 26, Merrianne shrugged. 'The truth will prevail,' she said."

The Texas Monthly. There is this interesting allegation, for which I can find no basis in real evidence:

"A document that (Charles) Childress had not seen but was obtained by TEXAS MONTHLY appears to be instructions for the construction of a similar bed. It describes a bed 'covered with a sheet, but it will have a plastic cover to protect the mattress from what will happen on it.' It also described 'padded sides that can be pulled up that will hold me in place as the Lord does His work with me.' What in the world was going on here?"

I have never heard this allegation before, and if this document was found with the bed, why was it not entered into evidence? There is a serious matter implied here, and the even more serious question of why would evidence "obtained" by the Texas Monthly NOT be in the possession of the state?

There is this indictment of Governor Rick Perry:

"Childress wasn’t terribly impressed with the state leadership’s understanding of the situation. 'Going up to the governor, none of them had any idea what was going on,' he says. 'They had no clue.' As he worked through the cases, he says, all the department saw was numbers. ' "The department is losing two hundred some-odd cases!" That’s what was all in the news,' he says. Nonsuits were not 'losses,' a subtlety overlooked in most accounts. Having formed a clearer picture of family structures by way of DNA testing, the DFPS was identifying the individual circumstances of each family and coming up with specific tasks that needed to be done, such as psychological evaluations or parenting classes. By mid-September (last year), more than 250 children’s cases had been nonsuited."

The article seems to be written from the point of view of Mr. Childress. Charles also seems to reflect the attitude I have ascribed to Barbara Walther, and all those on the prosecution side of the issue. Just get this in front of a "West Texas Jury."

"As the months wore on, Childress went down to Austin to attend several meetings and explain his approach. One meeting included Albert Hawkins, the Health and Human Services commissioner; one included representatives from the attorney general’s and governor’s offices. Childress said he wanted to take some cases to trial. 'They’d ask, "Well, can you guarantee us it will win?" "No, there’s no such thing as a guarantee in a jury trial," I said, "but I’m pretty doggone certain that a West Texas jury hearing what all these people have been doing the last ten years is gonna be real reluctant to send these kids back to be raised by Warren Jeffs," ' Childress says. 'I didn’t get any feedback . . . I think they just frankly lacked the courage.'

And so, on October 23, Childress quit."

The article never touches on the evidence challenge. If it's lost, all the evidence Childress worries about is irrelevant from a legal standpoint and he has no cases. It sounds like Rick Perry seems to know that.

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Why go after Acorn?

"After (Hannah) Giles proposed the ACORN video-sting idea, (James) O'Keefe -- who started making the videos while a student at Rutgers University -- pounced on it. 'Why go after ACORN?' Giles asked. 'Because I love America, I love God, and corrupt institutions don't help that.' "

At the New York Post.

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FLDS Hater Wheels Coming Off?

Bill Medvecky seems to have an insider.

"Judge Conn has Ordered Dan Fisher and Sam Brower to Salt Lake City to be deposed again. It seems that neither one can get their stories straight, and so Warren’s Lawyers have to figure out how many counts of perjury they can file."

Bill has had information like this early, before. Nothing as of yet is on the Mohave County Site.

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Bwwwahahahaha ! (The Daily Show on Acorn) UPDATED, "Suspends Operations"

The Washington Times:

"ACORN, calling the actions of some of its employees 'indefensible,' has suspended advising new clients as part of its service programs and is setting up an independent review to see what happened.

ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said in a written statement that she was 'ordering a halt to any new intakes into ACORN's service programs until completion of an independent review.' "

More Coverage at Fox News.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Audacity of Hos
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

Hat tip? Instapundit.

Big Government.

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Racism? Jimmy Carter doesn't want to tell us the Real Reason.

Yawn. Yeah, I'm the racist.

AP/My Way News:

"Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst to President Barack Obama during a speech to Congress last week was an act 'based on racism' and rooted in fears of a black president.

'I think it's based on racism,' Carter said in response to an audience question at a town hall held at his presidential center in Atlanta. 'There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president.'

The Georgia Democrat said the outburst was a part of a disturbing trend directed at the president that has included demonstrators equating Obama to Nazi leaders."

Really Jimmy? Or is it that you don't want another Democrat with Big Ears that's failing in Mideast Military policy and the Economy to be a one term President?

Nevermind, no one wants to stand next to you anyway. White boy.

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Acorn Employee expert on Prostitution, offers her experience as Murderess

Unbelievable. Except, it's real. The Acorn employee is named Tresa Kaelke.

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1st Amendment? Welcome to the "Silent Hill"

It's starting to sound like an insurance policy, that doesn't cover anything, what with all the exceptions.

Chairwoman Louise M. Slaughter, US House of Representatives Committee on the Rules Majority Office.

Under section 370 of the House Rules and Manual it has been held that a Member could:

* refer to the government as “something hated, something oppressive.”
* refer to the President as “using legislative or judicial pork.”
* refer to a Presidential message as a “disgrace to the country.”
* refer to unnamed officials as “our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs.”

Likewise, it has been held that a member could not:

* call the President a “liar.”
* call the President a “hypocrite.”
* describe the President’s veto of a bill as “cowardly.”
* charge that the President has been “intellectually dishonest.”
* refer to the President as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.”
* refer to alleged “sexual misconduct on the President’s part.”

Sure you have free speech, just don't use it here.

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Warren's "Creative" Rape Conviction to go before Utah's Supreme Court

We're one court reversal away from this house of cards beginning to fall apart.

The Deseret News - "The hearing will be Nov. 4 at the J. Reuben Clark School of Law on the BYU campus. The Supreme Court routinely visits BYU and the University of Utah so students can see how the high court operates, but the business that is conducted during these visits is not the mock-trial variety, but genuine appeals."

Hat tip to "Sore Toes and a Bleeding Heart."

Allen Steed is claiming a statute of limitations issue, and has yet to be tried on top of that. Warren is appealing his conviction, and Barbara Walther continues to foot drag on the evidence ruling in Texas. It will be 30 days this weekend since the state and the defense were "all in" on the issue with the judge.

Could it be there is some "persecution" angle that is real in these cases and eventually the smell will become to large? I have always believed the constitutional basis for the evidence collected at YFZ and the conviction of Warren Jeffs to be creative, to put it politely. The higher these decisions go, the more likely some judge or group of judges will be to reverse them altogether.

Remember, the history of this string of persecutions is not good for the persecutors. "Toes" worries about the venue. I worry only about the time frame it takes to reverse this nonsense.

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The Short Form of the Acorn Controversy

I've made boring long winded speeches to my wife who no doubt prays I'll shut up about it. This is the best summary I've seen.

Found at "I Own The World."

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How Does This Develop?

I've done my share of obits, and by no means do I make light of Patrick Swayze's death, but I have to question this at Drudge:

Patrick Swayze Dies... Developing...

We all knew, unfortunately, that Patrick was losing his battle with cancer. He's dead. What's to develop? He beat the odds just as Senator Kennedy did, living longer with his form of the deadly illness than most do. It was horrible at times, I am sure.

Of his movies, I liked "Road House" and "Red Dawn" the best. Both were flawed films with contrived plots. I really want to watch his last series, "The Beast," but have not had the opportunity. Patrick made it knowing he was dying, and he was in pain. But he acted. If it was that important to him I'd like to see the work he thought he'd leave behind, as his last. Patrick also had a part in "Powder Blue," a film released this year.

Perhaps Patrick regarded personal life as more important than "meaningful" film roles. He left behind his wife of 34 years; Lisa Niemi.

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Washington (Baghdad Bob) Gibbs

Robert Gibbs, as "Baghdad Bob."

At Gateway Pundit, of course. I seem to be serving of late, as an advertisement for them.

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Why do we need ObamaCare?

Some people have forgotten to pick up after themselves. It's the left (above), and they want the right to do it for them (below).

Hat tip to Six Meat Buffet.

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True Fish Story

"The Ludington Daily News has learned that what appears to be a new world record brown trout was caught in the Manistee River this morning.

Grand Rapids area resident Tom Healy caught the 41-pound, 7.25 ounce monster on a crankbait while fishing with Tim Roller’s charter service. Michigan DNR fisheries biologists Mark Tonello and Todd Kalish weighed the fish after leveling the certified scales and determined the weight. It is the new record hold for Michigan. Upon the second weighing with the scales leveled, the weight was determined to be 1 pound, .75 ounces heavier than originally determined. The fish was 43.75 inches long.

The fish is 1 pound, 3.25 ounces heavier than the reigning world record German brown trout, a 40-pound, 4-ounce fish caught in Arkansas in 1992 by Howard “Rip” Collins who used an ultralight rod and 4-pound test line to catch that fish. Healy will have to apply for certification to be declared the world record holder.

The state record German brown trout until today weighed 36.81 pounds and was caught in Lake Michigan in Benzie County in 2007. The next three places in the state record books were held by Lake Michigan browns caught in Manistee."

There was a follow up story in the paper Thursday. Since he is a resident of Grand Rapids, The Press did one as well, with a nice picture.

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CNN admits in a left handed way, Tea Parties have GRASS ROOTS.

According to CNN, the Tea Party movement has anger, but no "dominant leaders."

Isn't that what a movement is? Isn't that the very definition of "grass roots," provided of course, you delete the word "anger?"

CNN - "Deborah Johns is the angry conscience of the tea party movement.

'Question everything your government is doing,' she tells a crowd of about 100 from the bus's stage in the parking lot of the Winners casino in Winnemucca, Nevada."

More quotes:

"The men and women in our military didn't fight and die for this country for a communist in the White House," she says, and the crowd erupts in a chant of "U-S-A, U-S-A!"

Typical "Dark Mood" stuff:

"The crowd is its own sideshow. Tea partyers are a creative lot, and many in the crowd express themselves by way of their clothing and signs.

'Obamacare Condense Cream of Crap soup' reads a sign in Sparks, Nevada. In Dallas, Texas, a darker mood prevails. A homemade sign with 'Obama Lies' features a bold, black swastika."

Hey, CNN! Could you turn out the lights on your way out? By the way, on occasion, one should be angry. I wouldn't define what you now admit to be truly a grass roots movement, by anger.

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Human Carpet Teaparty in Washington DC. Who is this group? AMERICANS

"The White House on Friday claimed it was unaware of the planned rally.

'I don't know who the group is,' White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters with a shrug.

But a House leadership aide has warned fellow Democrats that up to 2 million demonstrators could turn out." (FoxNews)

Sleeping Giant, Silent Majority, whatever you want to call them, they're not happy. Forget your million man march. Look at what's going down. Instapundit. I don't think Barack or his spokesman "get's it." Do you?

" 'It looks like Saturday's event is going to be a huge gathering, estimates ranging from hundreds of thousands to 2 million people,' Doug Thornell, an aide to Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., wrote in a memo obtained by FOXNews.com.

But conservatives believe the memo is ploy to inflate expectations for the turnout anticipating that it will fall short.

'It's an old political tactic to get out in front and make wild projections and when they're not met, claim their opponents don't have the juice,' said Pete Sepp, a spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, one of the organizers of the rally."

White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs claims NOT to know "who the group is." Robert. They're AMERICANS.

Don Surber's "Too funny" take on it is Butch and Sundance:

From the movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”:

Butch Cassidy: How many are following us?
Sundance Kid: All of ‘em.
Butch Cassidy: All of ‘em. What’s the matter with those guys?

Is it me, or is the coverage from NBC a bit snarky?

"The forecast for Saturday's first-ever Taxpayer March on D.C. is cloudy, wet and a bit cold.

The organizers behind the march seem to think otherwise. 'The day is expected to the HOT (82), HUMID (66%) and BRIGHT (UV index 7),' according to the 09.12.09 March on Washington web site, in its aptly-titled article, 'How to be prepared for Saturday.'

Actually, that looks more like Sunday's forecast, but hey, who are we to protest?

Encouraged by conservative commentators such as Fox's Glenn Beck and organized virtually on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites, FreedomWorks -- the main organization behind the event -- predicts the march will constitute 'the largest gathering of fiscal conservatives ever,' according to USA Today."

CNN says "Tea Party Movement has anger, no dominant leaders. Well, sort of CNN. Witless ones. That's why they call it a MOVEMENT.

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PRO LIFE activist killed (Jim Pouillion) "Fuoss Gravel" President Mike Fouss also shot dead in Michigan (UPDATED DOUBLE MURDER)

While most major media are saying "unknown" with regard to identity, one blogger is saying who:

Blogging for Michigan - "I'm getting reports that Jim Poullion, the Owosso 'sign guy' has been shot and killed outside of Owosso High School.

Jim has been an anti-abortion activist for over a decade. He is known for his very confrontational manner and his extremely graphic signs which are supposed to depict aborted fetuses.

I haven't had any official confirmations on the shooting. ABC 12 is reporting that one person has been shot and killed at OHS. The news on Facebook and the Shiawassee forums is that he was shot 4 times and has died from his wounds."

Conventional name deleted politically correct coverage can be found here.

UPDATE: Conventional media is now confirming what "Blogging for Michigan" already told us early in the day:

"WEYI-TV NBC 25 - At approximately 7:20 a.m., Jim Pouillon, a prolife activiest [sic], was shot and killed at Owosso High School. The shooter then drove to Fuoss Gravel where, around 8:17 a.m., President Mike Fuoss was also shot and killed."

If there are more dead, it is not being disclosed yet. Rumors persist at "Blogging for Michigan," that there may be.

"Approximately 45 minutes after the shooting, police apprehended a suspect. At this time, NBC25 does know the name of the suspected shooter and will hold the release of his name. Police are not releasing the suspects name until warrants have been issued. The Shiawassee County Sheriff's Department says the suspect himself and witnesses are being interviewed."

***A 3:00PM PRESS CONFERENCE IS EXPECTED AND WE WILL UPDATE AS SOON AS DETAILS WARRANT***

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8 years later

Are you September 10th, or September 11th?

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The Gift of Beer

Mrs. Pharisee and I are trying to cut back. The problem is, we've cut most of what we can cut.

Today we had half a day off together, and went to Colchester VT to the Costco.

I don't enjoy driving in Vermont. I consider the drivers to be dangerous, rude and aggressive. Pedestrians too. If you ever come to Montpelier, drive very defensively. Pedestrians don't look, they just streak from sidewalk to crosswalk without warning. It doesn't get a lot better in other parts of Vermont.

Most of the Costco stores I have been to out west are very neat, clean and spacious. There aren't a lot of stray shopping carts laying about in the parking lot. Quite the opposite is true here. There were 3 shopping carts adjoining the space I parked in. Cars and pedestrians came from all directions. There was no semblance of order or obedience to traffic rules.

Inside there were people cutting in line at the food court. It's hard to navigate as well, people cut you off in the store just as they do on the highway.

Since I seem to be coming down with a cold/sore throat/nameless reperitory ailment, I was a little thin skinned anyway. Shopping around I turned down coffee, beer on sale, and settled on one luxury item, a bunch of new socks instead of beer or coffee or extra soup to stock up on for the next few weeks.

Coming out of the store, the line of carts next to my car had grown by one and I started to hold forth on the general rudeness I see in the people around here. And so in this state of mind I began to pull away from the parking spot and saw it.

The inconsiderate lout that had parked the cart so close to my car, left something underneath the cart.

Beer.

Free Beer.

24 12 ounce bottles of Long Trail Amber Ale.

Thank you rude Vermonter who parked his shopping cart so close to my car I needed a can opener to get in. You made my day.

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Acorn a Pimp?

You really ought to watch this.

And you really really ought to be careful these days, as cameras are very small.

At Big Government.

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Obama lies about lies (Joe Wilson calls him on it) The MILITARY is our most effective Government Health Care Plan

President Obama. My first statement to you, is that you are saying you intend to cut the military, to pay for your health care plan.

THE MILITARY IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT SAFEGUARD FOR OUR HEALTH. It keeps other people from KILLING US. More blogging about the health care speech, "below the fold"->

Obama dismissed a "Lie" by lying about it, and got jeers. Good for the cat callers. The Senator Representative who yelled "YOU LIE" is from South Carolina, Joe Wilson.

He's making a claim about a large number of States with small numbers of companies. The problem is, I'm betting, without checking, that those states have mandated coverages that drive companies out of the state, like this one, Vermont.

He's claimed it is a lie, that there were death panels, but it is a lie to say there weren't.

Obama claims that "executive compensation" is the claim. He's selling anti Capitalism. We get better companies with better management, but better management wants something for that service.

Question? Does he HAVE many Republican friends? If so, I want to know who they are.

By the way, hasn't Obama been told that any MUTUAL company providing service is already a Co-op?

BIG LIE. "I will not sign a plan that will add one dime to our deficit, now, or in the future."

By the way, to keep that, he has to cut something else. The military, the most EFFICIENT guardian of our HEALTH, is the target.

He has proposed malpractice reform, but I don't believe him.

Pollyanna. If we are able to reduce the grown of the health care costs by one tenth of one percent? YOU CANNOT DO THAT. You do not CONTROL that.

Obama threatens to "Call out" inaccurate detractors.

(PICK ME, Oh, oh, oh, PICK ME!!!)

He predictably tries to call up Kennedy's ghost from the grave.

He's preaching the virtues of limited Government. Oh please, do NOT believe this man.

He's done, he made other strange claims, such as making bankruptcy seem as bad as death. He laid on the "both parties" theme and he doesn't need both parties.

Capping out of pocket expenses doesn't allow me to buy a plan I might want. One that allows me to pay most of my health care costs.

He got derisive laughter at the "details needing to be worked out."

Someone with the resources will have to fact check him.

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Rozita's Pre Trial and Trial Dates (UPDATED)

In Colorado Springs, a Pre Trial Conference on October 28th.

Trial is set for November 10th. This places the trial probably after rulings on YFZ evidence and quite probably after a decision is made on Allen Steed's claim that Elissa didn't report her "rape" in a timely fashion. (Since Allen's date is now set for December 3rd, I smell another delay.)

I continue to think that her attorney plays this so that no one looks bad, if she's simply turned loose with some sort of deferred prosecution. What Rozita did is not that bad (in terms of legal classification) but Texas refuses to prosecute her for her false reporting there, and mostly likely will not. Colorado doesn't know that though, and doesn't want to be shown as letting her off easy. David Foley, her attorney, knows that if all the FLDS cases are progressing without impediment, he can probably just get her turned loose.

The San Angelo Standard-Times -
Following is the schedule for trials:
* Raymond Merril Jessop, Oct. 26, sexual abuse of a child.
* Allan Eugene Keate, Dec. 7, sexual abuse of a child.
* Michael Emack, Jan. 25, 2010, sexual abuse of a child.
* Merrill Leroy Jessop, March 8, 2010, sexual abuse of a child and bigamy.
* Lehi Barlow Jeffs, April 26, 2010, sexual abuse of a child and bigamy.
* Abram Harker Jeffs, June 7, 2010, sexual abuse of a child and bigamy.
* Keith William Dutson, July 26, 2010, sexual abuse of a child.
* Wendell Loy Nielson, Sept. 7, 2010, three counts of bigamy.
* Frederick Merril Jessop, Oct. 11, 2010, conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor.
* Leroy Johnson Steed, Dec. 6, 2010, first-degree felony sexual assault of a child, second-degree felony bigamy, third-degree felony bigamy and third-degree felony tampering with physical evidence.

I have included a trial schedule update to show how Rozita's trial coincides with that of the FLDS defendants. As you can see, Rozita has a pre-trial conference scheduled two days after it should be known, at the latest, how Walther will rule on inclusion of the YFZ evidence. Rozita's trial is sandwiched in between Raymond's and Allan's.

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Dragnet, Obama, Healthcare at HotAir

It's all over the blog world but it's too good not to repeat.

First found here.

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No, it's not important to get into the "What is Legal Marriage" fight.

Because it doesn't affect you, right?

I have repeatedly stated that I am not FOR the legalization of "Same Sex Marriage" but neither does it bother me overmuch if the law blesses their relationship in some way and calls it marriage, but we're LOSING all the battles, or most of them, when it comes to fights with homosexuals, and their rights.

The Associated Baptist Press - "The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 31 that a lawsuit filed by taxpayers to end state funding of Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children -- now known as Sunrise Children's Services --can move forward.

It overturned a decision by a lower court last year to dismiss the case following a Supreme Court ruling that narrowed taxpayers' rights to sue over allegations of state-sponsored religion.

The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is Alicia Pedreira, who was fired from her job as a family specialist at Spring Meadows Children's Home after her employers found out she was a lesbian. Her termination notice said she was fired because her 'homosexual lifestyle' was contrary to the agency's values. A later policy announcement cited KBHC's 'Christian values.' "

Hat tip to "True Discernment."

That's not exactly a "Gay Marriage" issue, I know, but that's the foot in the door. Activist organizations don't just get a foot in the door, they also push all the way in and then kick you out. It's important to know where to fight the battle. Not knowing where to draw the lines on marriage means not being able to tell people what they do is sexually moral or immoral. Not being able to prevent them from "marrying," legally, means we must define it morally. We won't win the battle on "traditional marriage" because as Christians, we don't define marriage "conservatively," we already define it "progressively." Marriage includes polygyny as part of the traditional spectrum. You think you can draw the line culturally. Mostly because you don't even think you're defining marriage culturally. But you are, and you're going to lose the whole fight. That is, if you're a monogamy only advocate.

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Trina is a Keeper

One perpetual survivor on my Blogroll is Trina. Without Trina, the Modern Pharisee wouldn't be where the Modern Pharisee is.

Trina helped me format the blog so it was more readable and people's behavior while at the blog, could be more easily deciphered. Do you stay? Do you go? Do you read anything while here? Was it interesting to you? Trina's got a great little list today. Ok, not so little. It's a fun read.

"I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die."

And:

"Bad decisions make good stories."

Blog more Trina.

"Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles..."

Hmmmmmm, never thought of that.

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Cut Down Day

Are you useful to the team? I take my cues from Miami Dolphins Coach Tony Sparano and Jeff Ireland, in their front office. "Blogroll" links are like players on a football team and if ultimately, there is no foreseeable future for you, you're outta here. Today's Cutdowns are:

Church of God and Messianic News. Reason for the Cut? They retired.

The Naz. A quirky Iranian ex-patriot artist who blogs infrequently. I can explain her being on the blogroll for no other reason than I found her attractive, in art, etc. She's not contributing though. Buh bye.

Medius Oriens. Great Blog. No blogging. For that reason Medius Oriens other blog, "Neda's Voice" are outta here.

Nova Scotia Scott, RPM, and I am Simon Jester. All much loved, all gone for the same reason Medius is.

PUP list (Physically Unable to Perform): Pro Libertate. He's still here but when he gets well, maybe William should think "Link Back."

More cutdowns may take place, and roster additions. To stay on the Pharisee's blogroll, these things are really important. BLOG!, Think, Be Honest, LINK BACK.

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Spin, Spin, Spin goes the Media

It really doesn't matter which side of the Warren Jeffs/FLDS oppressed, Warren Jeffs/FLDS foundationally evil you fall on, this is classic spin.

Without linking to, or providing a copy of the actual order, Jim Seckler and the Mohave Daily News spins the coverage marvelously, portraying a complete and utter defeat for Rebecca Musser and Texas as only marginally positive for Warren and his attorney Michael Piccarreta.

"(Steven) Conn granted Piccarreta's motion Wednesday to formally interview Musser. The judge did not address a request for the county attorney's office to pay for Piccarreta's expenses to travel to Texas if the deposition is held in that state."

The judge's language from the bench was indeed grumpy. He reserved a little backhanded slap for both sides, dismissing any idea that he was interested in the back and forth and then jumping with both feet on the notion that anyone could ignore his previous order for Rebecca to be deposed without formal request. Having eschewed such formal request to his order, the judge then becomes as mightily grouchy as you can get from the bench and still maintain the Court's decorum. At this point, Judge Conn embodies the Court, and he is offended. In other words, Judge Conn doesn't care about this at all:

"Musser was to have been deposed in April but according to prosecutors, Musser who lives in Idaho, had back surgery."

WHY did the court not address the issue of travel expense? Michael Piccarreta does not have to travel:

"The Court will not address in the defense counsel's Reply the request that the State be ordered to pay expenses to go to Texas to depose Ms. Musser because the deposition will take place at a time and place of (Michael Piccarreta's) choosing."

The Court does not care if Ms. Musser had back surgery. The Court also does not care to pay travel expenses because essentially the Court stated that Rebecca would have to come to Michael Piccarreta's office, if that is the venue that Michael Piccarreta chooses. Michael also gets to pick the time. If Rebecca doesn't like that and Texas doesn't like that, oh well. Of course if you read the Mohave Daily News article, you'd think he was bound to go where it was that Rebecca wanted him to go.

To expedite things there may be another compromise on venue and who is present. There's the whole issue of Jurisdiction, but the Court in no way approved of Rebecca's bad behavior, and insofar as it was possible for the Court, they made that clear. Rebecca had better not travel into Judge Conn's jurisdiction, without complying with the Court's order.

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Cannabalism part of Health Care Reform? Soylent Pink?

Obama Care is People! Or Eating People.

The Ventura County Star - "After a fight that lasted only a few seconds, Bush said, he heard Rice say, “He bit my finger off,” and he saw a stump.

Bush said he later found the roughly 1-inch piece of Rice’s finger next to the traffic island about 20 feet away."

The truth is often stranger than fiction and 2022 isn't that far away. Code Pink and Moveon.org were there. "Mitchieville" beat me to it.

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Sheri Lynne Zimmerman Klein

She passed away Sunday leaving a newborn, a daughter approximately three years old and of course, her husband.

The Deseret News - "Sheri Lynne Zimmerman Klein 1976 ~ 2009 Sheri Lynne Zimmerman Klein, 33, of Lolo, Montana, died of complications (eclampsia) of childbirth, on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009, in Missoula. She was born to Scott and Beverly Burrup Zimmerman on Sunday, March 21, 1976 in Ithaca, New York. She graduated from Orem High School in 1994 and attended UVSC and BYU-Hawaii. She served an LDS mission to the Montana Billings Mission from 1997 to 1998. She married Eric James Klein, on August 7, 1999, in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. She graduated from Brigham Young University in April 2001, with a BA in English. She was a national management trainee with Sears, a call center manager with CitiCorp in Boise, and was currently working as a manager for the DirecTV Call Center in Missoula. Sheri loved to read and always wanted books for her birthday and Christmas. She had a wonderful sense of humor, a contagious laugh, and a winning smile. She loved visiting Zion and Glacier National Parks. She was active in the LDS church and was serving as a teacher in the Relief Society. She is survived by her husband Eric, Lolo, MT; and her two daughters Abbey Lynne Klein (age 3) and Ava Lily Klein (newborn); her parents; her brothers Steve Zimmerman (Julie), Cary, NC; Brent Zimmerman (Rita), Layton; Russell Zimmerman (Erin), Orem; her sisters Suzanne Harris (Gehrig), Columbus, GA; Andrea Paxman (Nathan), West Point, UT; Melissa Haglund (Marshall), Orem; and her in-laws Jim Klein and Janet Seethaler and family. A memorial open house will be held in Lolo on Thursday, September 3, 7-9 p.m., at the Lolo LDS Ward chapel, 6501 Mormon Creek Road. Funeral services will be held Saturday, September 5, 11:00 a.m., at the Ercanbrack LDS chapel, 2168 S. 140 W. Orem. A viewing will be held Friday evening from 6-8 p.m. at the Walker Family Mortuary, 646 E. 800 N., Orem, and Saturday morning prior to the services from 9:45-10:45 a.m. at the Ercanbrack chapel. Garden City Funeral Home and Walker Mortuary assisted the family with arrangements."

My wife used to work with Mrs. Klein, and my daughter works at the Hospital where she died and was on duty that day.

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Steven Conn to Rebecca Musser: Oh yes you WILL comply with the order of this Court.

The Judge sounds a bit miffed:

"How the issue got to this point is not real clear to the Court, although it is probably better understood by counsel. Some of the conclusions the Court reaches are based upon the following assessment of the court files. On February 3, 2009, defense counsel filed in both cases a Motion for Deposition of Witness Rebecca Musser, asserting that she was a material witness who had agreed to a personal interview but had refused in that interview to answer certain questions. The state filed on February 2, 2009, a Response which for some reason the Court can only find in CR-2007-0743 and not in CR-2007-0953. In the Response the State agreed that Ms. Musser was a material witness but asserted that she was now willing to answer questions that she would not answer previously. The defense filed a Reply in both cases on February 9, 2009, indicating that counsel would attempt to set up another personal interview and that motion could be held in abeyance. The Court entered a Minute Order dated February 12, 2009, deferring ruling in the defense motion unless requested in writing to do so.

At a hearing on March 30, 2009, according to the Minute Order from that hearing, there was discussion about a Deposition Order that had been submitted for Ms. Musser and an apparent acknowledgment that the Court had not yet ruled on the prior request for a deposition. The discussion at that hearing, however, appeared to focus not on the question of whether she would be deposed but when she would be deposed. It appears that the State had no objection to changing the date on the Deposition Order and that the Court did so and signed the Order. Inherent in that discussion would seem to be an acknoweldgement by the State that a deposition was appropriate under the rules and under the circumstances of Ms. Musser's participation in the interview process. For reasons wich the Court cannot explain, other than the fact that it bore only one cause number, that Deposition Order with amended date was filed only in CR-2007-0743 amd mpt om CR-2007-0953.

The date by which Ms. Musser was to have been deposed, April 30, 2009, has now come and gone. Although consel may disagree oin their respective assessments as to how this came to be, they seem to agree on 2 things. Ms. Musser has not participated in a further personal interview and she has not been deposed. She appears to be no closer to doing any one of these things that she was 5 months ago. The Court never amended its Order directing her to be deposed April 30, 2009 and does not recall ever being asked to do so.

IT IS ORDERED granting the Defendant's Renewed Motion for Deposition of State's Witness Rebecca Musser.

The Court will sign the appropriate Order upon presentation by defense counsel. The Court will not address in the defense counsel's Reply the request that the State be ordered to pay expenses to go to Texas to depose Ms. Musser because the deposition will take place at a time and place of his choosing. If he chooses to do the deposition in Texas, then that is his problem. The Court will address any further request for sanctions only in the event that Ms. Musser fails to appear for the deposition at the time and place tha the Court will dictate on the Order prepared by defense counsel."

Rebecca is ordered to comply.

I'd say Rebecca, has been spanked. Time and place of Piccarreta's choosing.

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A Warning about "Casting your Pearls before Swine." (LANGUAGE ALERT)

Do not, I repeat DO NOT "Press Play" unless you wish to hear common barnyard euphemisms. The language is not too terribly strong, there are references to what you find in a pasture. Unfortunately for these misguided brothers and sisters in Christ, this guy is riotously funny.

This demonstrates the total futility of approaching the unsaved and unregenerate on specific issues of morality. If I were KING, practicing advocating homosexuals would not be allowed to live, but neither would marriage breaking adulterers be allowed to live. That would be those women who are married, and engage in sex with men not their husbands, and those with whom they do this.

I say this to emphasize that I think homosexuality and adultery are grave wrongs.

I emphasize even more that I am not King, nor do I expect anyone of my persuasion to be MADE King.

Jesus Christ:

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

Saul of Tarsus AKA The Apostle Paul:

"For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person."

Go home Westboro. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. Our Kingdom is not of this world. More video, containing exchanges with Westboro's rather rebellious women, and the public, here.

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If it was so important for Gays to Get "Married," why aren't they? (And What's Craig Ferguson Doing in this Post?)

The issue has generated a lot of controversy here in Vermont, and across the nation. Vermont today became the first state to openly endorse Gay Marriage in fact, as opposed to judicial fiat, as in other states. Vermont's law is the only one that can claim to endorse Same Sex "Marriage" as a function of the will of it's people since a well funded Gay Marriage movement descended on Vermont and arguably started a process that eventually ran Governor Jim Douglas out of office.

Yahoo/AP - Duxbury - "(Vermont) became the first state to legalize gay marriage through a legislative decree and not a court case.

Some couples — including many who obtained civil unions in Vermont — plan to return to the state to get married. But most are in no rush. City and town officials say only a handful of licenses had been issued to same-sex couples in anticipation of Tuesday's start."

Maybe happy gay couples thought they couldn't get a license ahead of time, and there will be a later rush, or maybe it was just smoke. No one so far has covered this aspect of the story that I know of.

Right now there is a news void that could be filled by some intrepid informal "trigamists" or "quadragamists" stepping up to the plate and asking for a license to marry among themselves and/or each other. I am running into increasing responses to my obvious trolling for support, financial and otherwise of "I'm not political" which is then immediately countered with "well, I didn't mean it that way." What way did you mean it?

I'm running thin on patience with my polygynist brethren of all religious persuasions due to this "ho hum" attitude towards it's legalization. YFZ was invaded because the marriages in that community were not legal. Not "Child molestation," but because the marriages could not be registered. Would the FLDS have registered them if they had the opportunity? I dunno, probably not. Nevertheless.

I am regularly accused of arrogance and narcissism when I point to site stats, but they mean things. Yesterday I set another record with the Modern Pharisee reaching 286,565th world wide and more importantly broke into the top 50,000's (49,374th) in the United States (Alexa). That's not BLOGS folks (my wife often misunderstands this), that's SITES, plain and simple. In a nation of 305 million people and a world of 6,767,805,208 citizens and 25% of them ON the internet, that's not insignificant.

And still, that's 75% that aren't on the internet and no rank and file member has noticed I'm here, at church for instance. I don't publicize what I do (except to the elders), I don't lie, and I don't hide, but I don't call attention to it either. Craig Ferguson may "Google" himself, I might, but apparently we're not "Googling" or "Binging" each other very much where I fellowship. Here we have the reason for Craig being in this post. People GOOGLE each other, that's the point. If not now, eventually. Also, Craig did get married in Chester Vermont, to a "Vermonter." A female Vermonter. ("The wedding was in Vermont. They have legalized gay civil unions, and I married a woman!")

So back to why it's important to navel gaze and why it's important to legalize. It's important to do so because as long as we classify people for tax purposes by marriage status and family size, the state will want formal marriage records. Get rid of our archaic, repressive and invasive tax code, and then talk to me about "marriage being none of the Government's business." Get rid of child molestation legislation tied to age difference, and then too, it won't matter too much whether you're legally married or not, either that or get the government to accept private records as acceptable proof of marriage. Bottom line? These things are almost certainly NOT happening in YOUR lifetimes. So the Government snoop is in bed with you, taxing you more and wanting to at least have a record of how you live.

The navel gazing part? Notoriety that doesn't translate to income is infamy. It may still be infamy with income, but without it, it's just infamy. I'm sure the bum that stands on the same corner everyday on Wall Street is well known after a fashion, but only the Naked Cowboy makes money. I have more in common with the bum. The cowboy, for all his notoriety is not even as notorious as I, in internet terms. I have said I will begin to get negative inquiries. I have now begun to get them. This can't go on forever. Like a popular environmental buzzword, it's not sustainable, not in it's present form. The bum gets hauled off the stage eventually, the Naked Cowboy? He runs for mayor.

It doesn't always rain when the clouds gather, and a dreary day can turn to a sunny one. I don't know, or control the future, but I generally step out of the way of onrushing trains. Experience and observation tells me that I don't want to see what happens if I stick around. These seven lean cows of notoriety look like they want everything I have, which isn't much.

Now is the time to get behind the effort to legalize Polygamy, or not. I only know that if not it looks more and more like I tied myself to the train tracks by getting out in front of an issue. One of the paths to legal polygyny is simply going to a state like Vermont, and trying to register to marry more than one wife, which will initially fail, but may evolve into a successful court challenge.

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