note: steve coco is currently a rapides parish police juryman representing district "g." his interests include running the cenlanews.com website/blog.excerpt:
The ominous trend of falling sales tax collections continues for Rapides Parish.
Total tax income for January was DOWN 902-thousand dollars. Most of those funds came from business in December... ~ read more
here are a couple of comments we thought were pretty clever that the youtuber mrrandom1999, left at our video of garrett hartley's game winning kick: URGENT WEATHER ADVISORY: Hurricane "WHO DAT" is scheduled to make landfall in Miami, Florida on Sunday, February 7th at 6:25 eastern time.
It will be bringing STRONG BREESes and SHOCKEY WAVES.
CAUTION: This violent hurricane has already sunk a Viking ship!!!!!
Contact "WHO DAT NATION" for further advisories!!! ~ here's a similar version. ====
C-ount
O-n
L-osing
T-he
S-uper bowl
Posted by jwengerEXTERNAL LINK
January 29, 2010, 3:54PM
will forstall be next????? hope so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wheaux dat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the following letter has been submitted for publication to the editor of the era-leader, (washington parish, la.) as well as the 2theadvocate, the times-picayune and other newspapers:
Dear Editor,
Louisiana is continuing to pay a convicted felon millions of dollars a year while facing budget shortfalls and a struggling economy.
Michael L. Thompson a convicted felon and Washington Parish Reservoir Consultant was convicted of a Federal Crime on Jan 20, 2010 involving corruption at Poverty Point Reservoir.
Thompson continues to be paid $100,000 dollars a year per Reservoir for Reservoirs in Washington, Allen and many other Parishes. Thompson is currently under contract with D.O.T.D and political subdivisions of Washington, Allen, and many other Parish Reservoir Commissions.
Mike Thompson is the Brother of Sen. Francis C. Thompson, Creator of reservoirs in many Parishes and Legislation (ACT 523 in 2001) allowing sale of Land taken by Eminent Domain at Reservoirs.
Legislator Developer Sen. Francis Thompson is currently selling Lakefront lots as CYPRESS COVE AT POVERTY POINT LLC.
Mike Thompson and Reservoir Engineer Terry Denmon of Denmon Engineering face more Federal Indictments of corruption involving Property at Poverty Point Reservoir.
Denmon Engineering also continues to receive millions from many Reservoirs in La.
Washington Parish Reservoir was created by Sen. Ben Nevers in 2003.
Sen. Nevers and Francis Thompson highly recommended and promoted Mike Thompson as the man for the job.
Was Sen. Nevers and his Commission misled and duped by the Thompsons or have other reasons for his selection?
Does the relentless pursuit by the Reservoir Commission for a permit involve reasons for personal gain?
Should the State continue to spend millions for Unwanted and Unneeded Reservoirs ?
A convicted felon should not continue to be paid by the Washington Parish Reservoir Commission or the State of La.
Under LOUISIANA REVISED STATUTES 39 CHAPTER 17. LOUISIANA PROCUREMENT CODE R.S.39:1672.Authority to debar or suspend; The causes for debarment include the following:
On January 22, 2010 I contacted about 20 people with D.O.T.D Concerning D.O.T.D's Existing Contracts and Distribution of funds to Reservoir Consultant Mike Thompson.
(2) Conviction under state or federal statutes of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, receiving stolen property, or any other offense indicating a lack of business integrity or business honesty which currently, seriously, and directly affects responsibility as a state contractor;
I have not received a reply to my Emails.
After Thompson's Sentencing on May 24 will the state mail his checks to Federal Prison?
In light of recent developments, and as a show of good faith Sen. Ben Nevers should stop wasting State Money, dissolve the Reservoir Commission and repeal the Legislation creating the Reservoir.
Taxpayers need a complete Investigation and Audit of all Reservoirs and Reservoir Commissions that the Thompsons were involved with in the State of Louisiana.
The State needs to stop wasting money and paying "Convicted Felons" millions of dollars a year to continue to run a Reservoir scam.
James Moore
via wide eye cinema
Israeli director Yoav Shamir embarks on a provocative – and at times irreverent – quest to answer the question, “What is anti-Semitism today?”
Does it remain a dangerous and immediate threat? Or is it a scare tactic used by right-wing Zionists to discredit their critics?
Speaking with an array of people from across the political spectrum (including the head of the Anti-Defamation League and its fiercest critic, author Norman Finkelstein) and traveling to places like Auschwitz (alongside Israeli school kids) and Brooklyn (to explore reports of violence against Jews), Shamir discovers the realities of anti-Semitism today.
His findings are shocking, enlightening and – surprisingly – often wryly funny.
Intent on shaking up the ultimate 'sacred cow' for Jews, Israeli director Yoav Shamir embarks on a provocative - and at times irreverent - quest to answer the question, "What is anti-Semitism today?" ~ the internet movie database
excerpt:Bob Dean and Hospitality Initiatives Partnership have reached an agreement in principle for the sale of the closed Hotel Bentley in downtown Alexandria.
Alexandria Mayor Jacques M. Roy announced at Tuesday's City Council meeting that "on or around Jan. 19" the two sides "arrived at a purchase price" for the Bentley, which is owned by Dean, a Baton Rouge real estate developer. The historic hotel has been shuttered since December 2004.
"They have arrived at a price and to my understanding have signed an agreement," Roy said. ~ read more
we just received an email from scribd which tells us that some of the documents we had uploaded there this weekend had some sort of "event" in which they were marked as private instead of public.
one of the documents inadvertently set to private by scribd is the vikings at saints game/stat sheets we had embedded in our previous post. we've reset it to public and regret the mix-up.In response to an event that occurred the weekend of 24-25 January 2010, the following documents have been made private and are only viewable by you.
If you intended these documents to be viewable to the general public, you can easily make them public by clicking the links below and changing the visibility from "Private - keep this document secret" to "Public - anyone can see this document":
Thanks,
The Scribd Team
the royal channel:Prince William opens New Zealand's Supreme Court on behalf of his grandmother The Queen and gives a speech.
kristen gisleson palmer is the candidate for new orleans city council district c that we somehow wound up on her election committee's email list.
we're posting this press release because her election committee was kind enough to include in its email a new photo for us to use.
cafe negril, 606 frenchman street..
what a coincidence, it also ties in with our post that mentioned the spotted cat, also down frenchman street at 623.
ms. palmer will be meeting orleans voters at the spotted cat and cafe negril tonight thursday 21 january 2010 from 7:00 pm. and asks "please bring your friends and family to meet the candidate and staff."
old chap had a fifi and ethel moment. on second thought what do the english know about food?Television chef Jamie Oliver was reduced to tears during his latest efforts to convert an Amercian community to healthy eating.
The usually upbeat good food crusader broke down after he met serious resistance while shooting scenes for his new series, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.
More than half the residents of the country's fattest city, Huntington, West Virginia, are obese but most were blatantly uninterested in the chef's advice.
[...]
Some members of the local press warned him to steer clear of their community.
One radio presenter blasted: 'We don't want to sit around and eat lettuce all day. ~ read more
UPDATE-3 8:27 pm cst drudge: coakley just conceded by telephone to brown.
By Andrew W. Griffin
Oklahoma Watchdog, editor
LAWRENCE, Mass. — At the Essex Towers senior public housing, voters are being allowed to vote despite the poll warden not showing up.
According to a poll watcher for Republican candidate Scott Brown, a Lawrence Police Department officer unlocked the ballot box.
This was observed by Americans for Limited Government, and Brown and Martha Coakley poll watchers.
The poll warden had taken a child to school, according to one observer.
The police later opened a polling machine for a handicapped man.
There was still no evidence of a poll warden one hour after the polls opened.
Andrew W. Griffin is the editor of Oklahoma Watchdog. ~ source
excerpt courtesy of cenla light via everythingcenla.comTHE OTHER NIGHT I ATTENDED A REVIVAL AND A MINISTER FROM ANOTHER CITY PREACHED ON SPIRITUAL WARFARE OUT OF THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS AND HE CAUGHT MY ATTENTION WHEN HE SAID THAT HE WAS CONVINCED THAT THERE WAS A SPIRITUAL ATTACK ON THIS CITY AND THERE WAS SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES.
HE STATED “BE CAREFUL WHO YOU VOTE IN OFFICE BECAUSE THEY CAN AND DO CONTROL YOUR CITY.
EVEN IN PAUL'S DAY WHEN HE SPOKE ABOUT THE POWERS THAT BE. PAUL WAS SPEAKING OF THOSE THAT OPERATED GOVERNMENT AT ALL LEVELS.
IT IS GOVERNMENT THAT KEEPS PEOPLE IN BONDAGE.HE STATED THAT THIS CITY LIVES WITH A SPIRIT OF DECEPTION AND PEOPLE CAN CONTROL YOU AS LONG AS THEY ARE IN CONTROL.
WE ARE KEPT IN DARKNESS HE SAID. HOW? BY KEEPING INFORMATION FROM YOU, LIKE GRANTS, BIDS, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS. WE GET INFORMATION AFTER ALL DECISIONS HAVE BEEN MADE.
WHAT HE STATED IS THAT YOU DON’T NEED TO SIT HERE AND COMPLAIN YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE A WARDROBE FOR WARFARE GET DRESSED.
IF YOU DON’T LIKE WHAT YOU ARE GETTING FROM YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS, WHY DON’T YOU VOTE THEM ALL OUT OF OFFICE? THE ONLY WAY TO GET CHANGE HE STATED IS TO GET THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN OFFICE.
IF WE WANT TO SEE TRUE CHANGE, DO WHAT YOU HAVE NEVER DONE IF YOU WANT TO GET WHAT YOU HAVE NEVER HAD AND THEN WHEN THE RIGHTEOUS RULE, THE CITY WILL REJOICE BUT WHEN THE WICKED RULES THEN THE CITY WILL MOURN BECAUSE LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WILL LIVE IN POVERTY.” LOOK AROUND US ARE WE REJOICING? ~ read more====
a lot of people are down on the martin luther king, jr., holiday. they say that it honors a communist and an agitator and a plagiarist and philanderer and so forth. to us its just another day, no different from the other 364 or 5 days in any year.
one thought that does always come to mind on this day, is the memory we have of our physical education teacher (a black man) at peabody magnet (a majority black school) who one day told his class that there would be a national holiday to honor elvis presley, before there would ever be one to honor martin luther king. he was proven wrong just a few short years later.
the martin luther king, jr., holiday became law [public law 98-144] through H.R.3706 a bill sponsored by rep. katie hall of indiana, to amend title 5, united states code, to make the birthday of martin luther king, jr., a legal public holiday.
H.R.3706 had 108 co-sponsors including louisiana's own lindy boggs, gillis long and billy tauzin.
prominent rino's like newt "the hoot" gingrich and jack kemp supported it too. this blog has a list of representatives and senators who voted against H.R.3706.
via: rense
excerpt:Within hours of publishing our article on Utah Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Kilpack's DWI arrest, the Senator did a complete "about-face" and resigned his seat.
[...]
I believe that this story would have been sanitized and the Senator would still be Senating if it were not for the vast readership of this blog, which includes most politicians in Utah and tens of thousands of their constituents.
I also believe that State Highway Patrolman, UHP Sgt. Jeff Nigbur, would have been forced to change his story, or would have mysteriously disappeared for his heroic actions by the psychopaths that run Utah's politics. ~ read more
excerpt:BAKER, LA (WAFB) - An alleged hate crime has some parents in an uproar. Five black Baker teenagers were charged with felonies after a vicious fight broke out at a local park.
"One of them referred to one of the children as a beaner," said Lt. James Broussard with the Baker Police department. He says that statement set off a series of events that lead to a knock-down, drag-out fight. ~ read more [video].
shoe on the other foot: "i'am really hurting you know, i'am really scared because they charged these kids with these crimes that you would have to actually look over your back for." katrina franklin whose two daughters were among the teens arrested
wafb just gives the names and not the exact statutes that the five were cited for violating so we had to search around and try to find them. by the way, babcock law firm has a copy of the louisiana revised statutes that often comes up at the top of searches making it a lot easier to find the actual statute on legis.state.la.us.
anyway, the two 17 year olds are broderick ford and trenisha franklin charged with felony second-degree battery, hate crime, disturbing the peace and contributing to the delinquency of juveniles.
while the three juveniles were also booked on hate crime, disturbing the peace and second degree battery.
according to the human rights campaign: louisiana's hate crime law is at R.S. 14:107.2. it came into being by ACT 1479 passed by the 1997 regular legislative session.
from whatever of this mess we can tell, for hate crime liability to attach its presumed that the violator firstly violated one of these so called underlying offense(s):first or second degree murder; manslaughter; battery; aggravated battery; second degree battery; aggravated assault with a firearm; terrorizing; mingling harmful substances; simple, forcible, or aggravated rape; sexual battery, second degree sexual battery; oral sexual battery; carnal knowledge of a juvenile; indecent behavior with juveniles; molestation of a juvenile; simple, second degree, or aggravated kidnapping; simple or aggravated arson; placing combustible materials; communicating of false information of planned arson; simple or aggravated criminal damage to property; contamination of water supplies; simple or aggravated burglary; criminal trespass; simple, first degree, or armed robbery; purse snatching; extortion; theft; desecration of graves; institutional vandalism; or assault by drive-by shooting. ~ subsection a
it says that if the underlying offense is a misdemeanor you may be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.
if the underlying offense is a felony then the convict may be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than five years, or both. these are in addition to the penalty for the underlying offense. but
a conviction under either the misdemeanor or felony underlying offense calls for the hate crime sentence to run consecutively to the sentence for the underlying offense.
if wafb is correct then in this case the presumptive underlying offense for all five would be second degree battery, R.S. 14:34.1 a felony see R.S. 14:2. disturbing the peace and contributing to the delinquency of juveniles are not hate crimes "underlying offenses."
somehow the underlying offense to which hate crime liability mysteriously attaches is in your selecting your victim because of actual or perceived race, age, gender, religion, color, creed, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, or ancestry of that person or the owner or occupant of that property or because of actual or perceived membership or service in, or employment with, an organization: and then as you saw above goes on to list just about every crime in the book. ~ subsection a
this law doesnt make any sense because 14:107.2B and C begins by stating: "if the underlying offense named in subsection a..." but subsection a doesnt distinguish that long list of crimes as being underlying offenses. it begins:"it shall be unlawful for any person to select the victim of the following offenses..." also nowhere in the law is it spelled out when, why or how these offenses become underlying offenses.
this law must be unconstitutionally vague as hell. even the criminal and civil federal rico statute requires showing from another shopping list of "underlying offenses," or predicate offenses to choose from -- how they work together (the enterprise) in order to kick in a rico charge.
we wanted to see how the state supremes reasoned their way through an opinion dealing with hate crimes law. so, we did a simple search of the state supreme court website for R.S.14:107.2 - the hate crime law.
we were much surprised when that search only returned two instances of it being cited. the opinion and the dissent from: state of louisiana v patrick palermo consolidated with his brother frank palermo's case. decided on 31 may 2002.
the two brothers had been convicted under R.S. 14:54, placing combustible materials, also a hate crime underlying offense.
frank palermo had also been convicted of violating the hate crime law. his brother patrick was charged as well but was found not guilty of that, but guilty of violating R.S. 14:54..
one way or another, the supreme court declared R.S. 14:54 to be unconstitutional so the palermo brothers conviction including frank's hate crime conviction and sentence was vacated and set aside. the supremes didnt address the hate crime law -- noting at the bottom of a page that consideration of it wasnt before them.
associate justice bernette j johnson wrote a pretty tersely worded dissent complaining that the court missed its first opportunity to affirm the hate crimes statute. but we wonder what sister girl would say now that all these blacks got charged with these hate crimes?
who knows, maybe with this case justice johnson will get her wish. if the baker police department and the prosecutors office stick to their guns and hopefully the defendants will get help from some brilliant, hardworking criminal defense attorneys this law could possibly get struck down. good.
we're only saying that the hate crime law should be struck down. not that the accused should totally get off should they be found guilty of violating one of the legitimate charges.
a search of the third circuit court of appeal website doesnt return any hate crime references.
ACT 1479 started out as SB 914 by senators cox and johnson and representative murray. it passed the senate without nary a nay vote. in the house it was 61 yeas to 37 nays. randy wiggins voted no and we certainly thank him for that nay. on the other hand, david vitter, rodney alexander, charlie dewitt, israel "bo" curtis and dianne winston are the names of some who voted for hate crimes.
it probably should be noted that in the senate old fake preacher b.g. dyess voted for it twice. on final passage and to concur.
R.S. 1407.2 has been amended twice since 1997. by ACT 301 of the 2001 regular legislative session through HB 604 by representative devillier which repealed aggravated oral sexual battery in order to revise it into oral sexual battery. R.S. 14:41.
then again in the 2004 regular legislative session by ACT 676 senator ullo's SB 659 where the lege changed the name of the offense of aggravated sexual battery to second degree sexual battery. R.S. 14:43.2.
this is just more useless law. as you can see from just the list of hate crimes "underlying offenses" there are already plenty of laws to punish offenses against A HUMAN BEING.====
related posts
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Alexandria Police Chief Daren Coutee announced today, Jan. 16, that he will retire on Jan. 24, 2010. Coutee has served as police chief since January 2004. ~ read more
====
we've noticed that the new cenla website everythingcenla.com has been doing a tremendous job with and working hard to keep their site updated.The Alexandria Police Department Narcotics agents discovered what appeared to be a drug house at 5241 Bluebird Lane and arrested three people Thursday, said Newman Bobb, Narcotics supervisor. ~ read more
the gannett/monroe news star is reporting:Defense attorney Mike Small's illness has delayed the federal trial of Mike Thompson, which was set to resume Tuesday.
Thompson, indicted in 2007, faces accusations of using public resources for his personal benefit. A jury was empaneled Monday.
Thompson is the former executive director of the Poverty Point Reservoir District. ~ source
it's believed that san mateo county assemblymember jerry hill, the east bay's nancy skinner, jared huffman and ammiano the bills sponsor and committee chair voted to report favorably. ~ source
click here to download AB 390 as amended But the vote was only a minor victory for the pro-legalization lobby. (AB 390 may very well die in the health committee.)
The real test will come in November, when voters will consider the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, which, in a nutshell, will legalize pot for personal and agricultural use. (Recent polls show about 56 percent support the bill.) ~ read more
UPDATE friday 15 january 2010: due to unforeseen circumstances on his end, rabbi weiss has rescheduled our phone chat/interview for sunday morning 17 january 2010.
This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.
EXTERNAL LINKvia what really happened
new america media
excerpt:In what is being heralded as a landmark decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently declared that police officers could be held liable for using a Taser without proper cause.
And in making their determination, the court also set new legal parameters on how law enforcement is to use Tasers, stating, "The objective facts must indicate that the suspect poses an immediate threat to the officer or a member of the public."
The federal finding substantially changes the landscape of Taser usage, and may signal the end of Tasers for law enforcement agencies who are now more vulnerable to civil and criminal action then ever before. ~ read more
click here to download twenty-two page .pdf from the ninth circuit websiteOfficer McPherson shot Bryan with a Taser X26 provided by the Coronado Police Department. The X26 uses compressed nitrogen to propel a pair of “probes”—aluminum darts tipped with stainless steel barbs connected to the X26 by insulated wires—toward the target at a rate of over 160 feet per second.We affirm the district court because, viewing the circumstances in the light most favorable to Bryan, Officer McPherson’s use of the taser was unconstitutionally excessive and a violation of Bryan’s clearly established rights.
Upon striking a person, the X26 delivers a 1200 volt, low ampere electrical charge through the wires and probes and into his muscles.
The impact is as powerful as it is swift. The electrical impulse instantly overrides the victim’s central nervous system, paralyzing the muscles throughout the body, rendering the target limp and helpless.
[...]
No reasonable officer confronting a situation where the need for force is at its lowest—where the target is a nonviolent, stationary misdemeanant twenty feet away—would have concluded that deploying intermediate force without warning was justified.
We thus hold that Officer McPherson’s use of significant force in these circumstances does not constitute a “reasonable mistake” of either fact or law. Deorle, 272 F.3d at 1286.
Officer McPherson is therefore not entitled to qualified immunity for his use of the Taser X26 against Bryan.
excerpt:
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The first woman chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court suffered a stroke on Sunday and was in intensive care.
Chief Justice Catherine "Kitty" Kimball had an ischemic stroke, underwent a successful procedure to remove the blockage and was in recovery, according to a statement from the Supreme Court that was confirmed by public information officer Valerie Willard.
The 64-year-old Kimball of Ventress has been chief justice since January 2009... ~ read more
joshua monson, a fifth grader at cascade christian schools in puyallup, washington, writes into the 07 january 2010 gannett/alexandria daily town talk, about a class project that he is involved with called the "parade of states."UPDATED 09 july 2010:
