"I guess we who call ourselves Republicans haven't done a very good job of explaining what it is we really want for the people. Maybe we've been so busy trying to fight against programs of the government because we don't think they'll solve the problem that that we haven't taken the time to explain that we DO want the problems solved."
Ronald Reagan in letter to Lucinda Williford, 1980 from Reagan: A Life in Letters, p.37
Triumph of the Will. The best propoganda movie ever made yet a perfect example of evil on display. I found a complete version on Youtube. Set aside an hour or so this weekend and watch this movie. This will show you how the Nazis came to power and how people can follow a demagogue like Hitler. For so long we have been conditioned to see him as a buffoon that many are mystified as to how he was supported by the German people. The Hitler Youth rally in particular is very chilling to watch. This film, directed by Leni Rhifenstal, won several awards when it was released. 1 hour, 45 minutes long.
Millionaire, eh? Frank asks for more time to find a lawyer, then says he has found one and has to finalize um, his terms of payment. Meaning he needs more time to come up with some cash in the same week he had to come up with the money to redeem his home from a tax sale. Of course, he is still delinquent on his taxes on his Texas home. I keep telling you people, he really is broke. http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080830/NEWS/808300360/1001/news
Madame DeLadd just can't restrain herself as she freaks out over McCain choosing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin:
"Give feminists some credit, for God's sake. This woman is no replacement for HIllary Clinton. It's an insult to her supporters to pretend that she is." http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/mccain_chooses_alaska_hockey_mom_as_running_mate_082908/
Hillary's resume includes:
1. Firing and prosecuting the White House Travel Office employees so she could enrich her friends.
2. Breaking the law on her cattle futures deals as she engaged in insider trading.
3. Having Bill pardon convicted Puerto Rican terrorists to get votes for Hillary in New York.
4. A record of shenanigans in the Whitewater deal which sent the Governor of Arkansas and numerous other people to jail.
5. Trying to reverse the American Revolution with her health care plan (would have given the Labor Department the authority to raise taxes on workers with NO approval from Congress and no limit would have been placed on the tax hikes either.)
6. Her health care task force was fined $250,000 for meeting in secret and violating government opens meetings laws.
You are absolutely right Donna, GOVERNOR Palin IS no Hillary Clinton. Thank goodness. Is this what you call factchecking?
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/03/possibile-mccain-vp-nominee.html
Never doubt Kingfish.
Over in Fondren, our friends at The Jackson Free Press can't help themselves as they use the excuse of an approaching hurricane to bring up some of the more questionable aspects of the Barbour administration:
"Barbour’s nephews, Henry and Austin Barbour, also received Katrina funds. They are lobbyists in Jackson’s Capitol Resources LLC, representing Government Consultants, Inc., which advises both Mississippi and Louisiana on bond issues. Government Consultants’ bond fees ran about $2.4 million in 2006, including nearly a half-million from Katrina-related issues. That same year, the company’s fee income was up 125 percent over the 2004, the year it hired Henry Barbour. Henry’s personal lobbying fees rose from $150,000 in ’04 to $379,000 in ’06.Rosemary Ramirez Barbour, owner of Alcatec LLC and wife of another nephew, Charles Barbour, was a beneficiary. Alcatec received nearly $27 million in federal contracts to manage FEMA trailers.
Earlier in 2007, The Center for Public Integrity reported that “27 percent of FEMA’s $8.4 billion in Katrina and Rita contracts were cost-plus-fixed-fee, accounting for nearly 21 percent of the EPA’s $212 million and 36 percent of the Air Force’s $167 million in contracts awarded through Jan. 31, 2007...." http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/hurricane_green_082708/
There is clearly a problem when those close to the Governor are enriching themselves over hurricane recovery contracts through a no-bid process. However, it must be pointed out the same sleaziness took place in Louisiana under Blanco's watch, particularly where The Shaw Group was concerned. Power corrupts, regardless of party. One would think Ms. Ladd and her staff of self-proclaimed, good-government advocates, have a problem with Jim Hood's awarding of lucrative state contracts to his major campaign donors such as Scruggs, Langston, et al. However, the JFP staff sees no problem with THAT corruption as Jim Hood and his friends are part of The Cause:
"Another thing I find interesting are the efforts by political enemies of Jim Hood and Mike Moore to connect them to all this—because Scruggs game them money (and just about everyone else of both parties) and because they did work with Langston. See this comment under that Ledger article:
"I can't wait to see who's next, Hood and Moore have got to be involved somehow. Does anyone know or has anyone seen anything on the web about Lott and a young male, or did I dream that one."
OK, I'm not up to speed on every aspect of this case. Can someone tell me why Hood and Moore "have got to be involved"? Is there any evidence of that that anyone knows about? If you have something specific, please e-mail me directly so we can check it out. We will report it if it's true, but if it's just political maneuvering, that needs to be exposed, too, for what it's worth.
If the reasoning is simply because they took money from the indicted and gave them state contingency contracts—where would that leave people like Robert Smith and Frank Melton, who are so close to Ed Peters?Evidence, folks. Let's find it and provide it.
posted by ladd on 01/14/08 at 06:30 PM" http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/former_hinds_da_ed_peters_accused_of_1m_bribe/
or better yet in the same thread:
"I'm not naive about Hood, AGamm, or anyone else. It's just that everything I've seen about his involvement with the bribery scams is so evidence-free that it sounds like a witchhunt...."
Barbour relatives landing no-bid Katrina contracts is sleazy. Hood giving no-bid multi-multi- million dollar contracts to his largest campaign donors who are convicted of breaking the law on these cases is fine because there is "no evidence" and it "sounds like a witchhunt."
All that matters is The Cause, truth and principles be damned.
Bill Chandler, local illegal-immigration advocate, whines about the recent ICE raids that nailed Howard Industries:
"Basically they (ICE) create a major humanitarian crisis for families and spouses and children," Chandler said. He said in some cases, both parents had disappeared in Monday's raid and other families were left without breadwinners.
"The question is what they are doing with people when they are arrested," Chandler said. "It's an immoral, very anti-human, anti-family act. They split families and create terror in the Latino community. They go in, shake down the plant, put people in shackles and chains, carry them to jail, have them arraigned and often they are put in jails with real criminals," Chandler said...." http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008808260379
These are real criminals. They all knew they were entering the country illegally. They gambled and lost. Unfortunately, they involved their families in their mistake, causing untold suffering to wives and children who are truly frightened.
However, this is part of what happens when one is arrested. Whenever a friend of mine has gotten a DWI, the police didn't call his family to tell them where he is, let them know he was safe, made sure he got home, and kept him out of jail because it was "anti-human". I don't remember the police worrying how the family or "community" was affected by his sudden absence due to his arrest. These workers broke the law and are being treated like everyone else who is arrested for a suspected criminal act. In other words, they are being treated like Americans.
One further question: When are some charges going to be filed against Howard Industries?
Cold war is over, right? We don't have to worry about Russian nukes anymore so Russia shouldn't be a problem and everyone knows our military would whip Russia in short order. Not so fast. Gabriel Schoenfeld of Commentary magazing argues that Russia has a superior nuclear force to America's:
"But there may be another major, overlooked element: Has a shift in the nuclear balance between the U.S. and Russia helped embolden the bear?
Under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which went into force in 1994, both the U.S. and the USSR made radical cuts in their strategic nuclear arsenals -- that is, in weapons of intercontinental range. The 2002 Moscow Treaty pushed the numbers down even further, until each side's strategic nuclear umbrella was pocket-size.
Yet matters are very different at the tactical, or short-range, level. Here, the U.S., acting unilaterally and with virtually no fanfare, sharply cut back its stockpile of nonstrategic nuclear warheads. As far back as 1991, the U.S. began to retire all of its nuclear warheads for short-range ballistic missiles, artillery and antisubmarine warfare. According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, not one of these weapons exists today. The same authoritative publication estimates that the number of tactical warheads in the U.S. arsenal has dwindled from thousands to approximately 500.
Russia has also reduced the size of its tactical nuclear arsenal, but starting from much higher levels and at a slower pace, leaving it with an estimated 5,000 such devices -- 10 times the number of tactical weapons held by the U.S. Such a disparity would be one thing if we were contending with a stable, postcommunist regime moving in the direction of democracy and integration with the West. That was the Russia we anticipated when we began our nuclear build-down. But it is not the Russia we are facing today.
Not only has Russia retained a sizable nuclear arsenal, its military and political leaders regularly engage in aggressive bluster about expanded deployment and possible use, and sometimes they go beyond bluster. Six months ago, Russia began sending cruise missile-capable Bear H bombers on sallies along the coast of Alaska....."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121928439171059051.html
This is the abridged version of "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West". Embedding is disabled for the full-length version. Here are the links for it:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMLJJEDDDGc&feature=related
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bev054pNzI&feature=related
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bJE6bIiXps&feature=related
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J61r-NRHPtQ&feature=related
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jwL_GefwUE&feature=related
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l17LmCEp1QI&feature=related
Part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l17LmCEp1QI&feature=related
Part 8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLXZpOG4VCI&feature=related
Part 9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDPzPgkr4vk&feature=related
Part 10: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lioOCOalPao&feature=related
Clarion-Ledger Executive Editor Ronnie Agnew finally mentioned the fact the Gannett newspaper laid off several employees. (This news was reported by WLBT and The Jackson Free Press.):
"I love the profession that I have chosen, even as I know that it is in perhaps its most transformative phase. Layoffs abound, including here at The Clarion-Ledger, where a souring economy forced us to say goodbye to 20 wonderful people. As much as I would wish it, I'm not sure that the transformation is complete. The economy is still too rattled.
It may be weeks or months away, but the day is coming when the economy will work its way out of its funk and newspapers will once again put to rest the idle talk about their demise. We perform a public service that cannot be duplicated. The public has an expectation that we will be there for them. And we will."
Effective leaders take responsibility when problems inevitably occur. Unfortunately for the employees and readers of The Clarion-Ledger, Mr. Agnew has chosen to abdicate his and instead blame the economy. His weak excuses are symptomatic of bad management, which rarely involves critical self-examination. Contrary to Obama's wishes, there will always be a business cycle and effective leaders know how to deal with it.
The management of The Clarion-Ledger violated several fundamental principles of business as they became a fount of red ink for Gannett. It's no secret the public is getting more of its news from the internet. The Clarion-Ledger, as did other newspapers, committed suicide when it decided to offer their entire online content FOR FREE.
What other business survives by offering a better version of its product FOR FREE to compete with its weaker version for sale? On the newspaper's website, one can read stories, view .pdf files of court documents, photo galleries on ONE story, video coverage, and comments by readers. If I buy the print edition, I am buying a newspaper with almost none of these features. Why should I pay for an inferior product when there is a better free version? What ivory-tower idiot ever thought of that scheme? Yet Mr. Agnew chooses to blame a "rattled" economy for their problems.
The Clarion-Ledger should instead move to a subscription-based online model as newspapers in Little Rock and Lake Charles have done. Charge $5-7 a month or $50 a year for online subscriptions. Follow the lead of The Wall Street Journal and offer some free content but place all the bells and whistles on the subscription side. A reader wants access to photo galleries, .pdf files, and the other media toys, make him pay if he wants to play. As Blackberries and I-phones become more advanced, people will read the news more and more on these devices. Why should it be free when the newspaper is spending money creating a mobile-based edition for their convenience? While some people will shriek over their perceived right to enjoy free newspapers online, such a strategy will probably stop the bleeding now taking place in two areas: a website that is costly to run and a declining print-subscription base.
The Clarion-Ledger also misses other opportunities because of its poor business model. The CL should allow its sportswriters to offer personal blogs with real inside "scoop" on the college football teams they cover. College football fanatics will spend a great deal of money on Rivals, Scout, and team websites. The newspaper gets NONE of that huge stream of revenue. The beat writers for each time could be true revenue generators for The Clarion-Ledger, if Gannett would allow it (and heaven forbid they should actually allow the reporter to make, gasp, MONEY, as a percentage of Ole Miss or USM blog subscriptions sold. Give the beat reporter a financial incentive to grow his personal Ole Miss blog and provide better coverage than Rivals and the message boards.) Each beat writer for a college team should be allowed to operate a blog that requires its own subscription. Offer it at the same time as a single subscription or as part of a higher-priced overall package. Guess what Ronnie? Sports nuts are no different than hunting nuts: regardless of how badly the economy is, they will STILL spend money.
An improved business model however does not hide an inferior product. The repeated and frequent errors in coverage, basic rules of grammar, and other areas have been pointed out by this blog, The Jackson Free Press, and other media sources. The Heather Spencer story showed how stories are constantly rotated among reporters (FIVE different reporters covered that story). Thus the story does not receive good coverage as the reporter fails to acquire true subject matter knowledge, as the story is constantly handed off to someone else who must start from scratch. The editorial page, instead of leading and offering true, informed opinion, follows a model of giving more room to reader feedback. Only one national column is offered per day, placing the newspaper on the level of those in Vicksburg, Hattiesburg, and other burgs. The ad rates are very expensive, driving away potential customers. Restaurant reviews are written by the restaurant owners as critical words are rarely offered. If the Clarion-Ledger is to survive, it must quit looking at the economy and instead start looking in the mirror.
It's sad to see many good employees at The Clarion-Ledger lose their jobs. As someone who has worked for large corporations, I can imagine the tension existing among the remaining employees. Unfortunately, Mr. Agnew's blaming the economy will only ensure more of the same will continue. Someone should remind the ostriches that crabs, notsolutions, are found in the sand.
Related story: http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?s=8800961
Advocacy journalism, http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/breaking_mississippi_supreme_court_censors_dissenting_opinion_082208/
versus the objective journalism model,
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008808230349
In honor of Solzhinetsyn's life, I am posting from time to time excerpts from his writings and speeches. This is from his famous address at Harvard in the 1970's.
"In today's Western society, the inequality has been revealed of freedom for good deeds and freedom for evil deeds. A statesman who wants to achieve something important and highly constructive for his country has to move cautiously and even timidly; there are thousands of hasty and irresponsible critics around him, parliament and the press keep rebuffing him. As he moves ahead, he has to prove that every single step of his is well-founded and absolutely flawless. Actually an outstanding and particularly gifted person who has unusual and unexpected initiatives in mind hardly gets a chance to assert himself; from the very beginning, dozens of traps will be set out for him. Thus mediocrity triumphs with the excuse of restrictions imposed by democracy.
It is feasible and easy everywhere to undermine administrative power and, in fact, it has been drastically weakened in all Western countries. The defense of individual rights has reached such extremes as to make society as a whole defenseless against certain individuals. It is time, in the West, to defend not so much human rights as human obligations.
Destructive and irresponsible freedom has been granted boundless space. Society appears to have little defense against the abyss of human decadence, such as, for example, misuse of liberty for moral violence against young people, motion pictures full of pornography, crime and horror. It is considered to be part of freedom and theoretically counter-balanced by the young people's right not to look or not to accept. Life organized legalistically has thus shown its inability to defend itself against the corrosion of evil.
And what shall we say about the dark realm of criminality as such? Legal frames (especially in the United States) are broad enough to encourage not only individual freedom but also certain individual crimes. The culprit can go unpunished or obtain undeserved leniency with the support of thousands of public defenders. When a government starts an earnest fight against terrorism, public opinion immediately accuses it of violating the terrorists' civil rights. There are many such cases.
Such a tilt of freedom in the direction of evil has come about gradually but it was evidently born primarily out of a humanistic and benevolent concept according to which there is no evil inherent to human nature; the world belongs to mankind and all the defects of life are caused by wrong social systems which must be corrected. Strangely enough, though the best social conditions have been achieved in the West, there still is criminality and there even is considerably more of it than in the pauper and lawless Soviet society. (There is a huge number of prisoners in our camps which are termed criminals, but most of them never committed any crime; they merely tried to defend themselves against a lawless state resorting to means outside of a legal framework)..." http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/solzhenitsyn/harvard1978.html
I drove by Harborwalk yesterday. There is NOTHING happening at that site. I think the Valencia sign grew some algae and that was about it. This project is not going anywhere. If you read the coverage, you will notice that Mr. Burwell constantly changes his story almost every time he is interviewed. Unless something happens soon, its probably safe to assume Harborwalk is dead.
Related posts:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/10/harbor-walk-here-we-go-again.html
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/10/harbor-walk-finally.html
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/06/harborwalk-follies.html
Back in the late 1980's there was a scandal involving the making of pornographic videos using underage girls from the Reservoir. The Clarion-Ledger naturally reported on this scandal as it also involved local attorneys. The Jackson daily newspaper reported how there were going to be some prominent names mentioned and those involved were using these girls in a combination of a prostitution and teen-porn ring. Unfortunately, the case mysteriously disappeared and nothing ever happened. Hmmm...... well-connected attorneys in Jackson avoiding prosecution. Imagine that. However, there was ONE lawyer whose name was mentioned in the paper in connection with this scandal and it wasn't because he was not representing anyone in the case: James McIntyre. Is your memory stirring now?
I remind you of this case because Mr. McIntyre was disbarred by the Mississippi Bar recently:
"One of the state's most prominent lawyers has been disbarred following a misconduct trial over allegations he commingled, or mixed, his personal and business funds with the funds of his clients.
James McIntyre appeared in June before a complaint tribunal appointed by the Mississippi Supreme Court.
The tribunal on Aug. 13 filed with the court its opinion, finding that McIntyre "systematically and deliberately ... commingled client money and appropriated it for his own purposes..."
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080822/NEWS/808220366/1001/news
The CL also reported that the sleazy lawyer had been suspended for a year once by the Mississippi Bar for similar actions. Apparently an old dog can't unlearn old tricks as Mr. McIntyre just couldn't keep his hands out of his clients' money.
This state is better off if McIntyre can no longer practice law. I've personally seen him in the courtroom and can say he was a complete joke. I remember his botching a case for someone I knew so badly that I am in complete awe of Lisa Milner for the miracles she worked in salvaging that case after he was fired. McIntyre was completely unprepared in court. He didn't know the law on a straightforward custody case. He didn't know basic procedures. He had the clients spending money on experts that could not be used in court. Mr. McIntyre could barely handle a simple question of jurisdiction and spent half the day trying to keep his client's case from getting tossed for that reason as he was flummoxed by that line of questioning. Chris Tabb completely took him to school that day, giving him an old fashioned butt-whupping that made one want to scream for someone to stop the fight. However, I digress.
The Mississippi Bar, which has caught hell from me (as if they care ;-) ), did the right thing in recommending disbarment (The Mississippi Supreme Court sets the final punishment. The CL once again botched basic procedures) for Mr. McIntyre. Add one more bad apple to the Bar's harvest this year.
WAPT tonight reported Mayor Melton is STILL delinquent in paying his taxes: http://www.wapt.com/video/17260985/index.html. According to Hinds County property tax records online, the Mayor owes over $6500 in taxes and penalties. If the account is not settled by Monday, his home on 2 Carter Grove Circle will be subjected to a county tax sale. If the taxes are not redeemed within two years, then the buyer of the tax lien(s) can take possession of the house. http://www.co.hinds.ms.us/pgs/apps/real_property_billing_roll_detail.asp?ID=05720190000&IDYear=2007
Unfortunately, WAPT did not bother to check on his OTHER home he owns with his wife in Tyler, Texas. The Mayor owes $8687.06 (including $1,206 in penalties) in unpaid property taxes on THAT house. http://tax.smith-county.com/tax/details.jsp?accountNumber=176135000100001000&rollYear=2007&statementNumber=2007127287
It is also worth remembering Mayor Melton lost another Texas property in foreclosure proceedings several years ago and there is a five-year balloon mortgage due on his Jackson, MS home in December which probably has a balance of several hundred thousand dollars.
Earlier posts:
Texas foreclosure: http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/03/mayor-and-his-taxes-mortgages.html
Tax problems: http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/02/mayor-and-his-taxes.html
Mortgage problems: http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/02/mayor-and-his-mortgages.html
JPS Superintendent Earl Watkins gets a sweet severance package:
"His new contract shows he will draw a monthly salary of $18,181.82. The agreement will be terminated with a $36,364 final payment if he takes a full-time position elsewhere.."
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080820/NEWS/808200361/1001
Yes, he cost JPS close to a million dollars, including the lawsuit settlement and his pay. However, this is nothing compared to what you Rebels, Bulldogs, and Golden Eagles pay your football coaches when you fire them. A football coach gets a severance package of a million or more dollars for him to sit on his arse for a few years and everyone thinks that is ok. Let an educator, even a scumbag like Watkins, get a couple of hundred thousand dollars for a year and everyone wants to raise hell about it.
Anyone see a problem?
Over at the Jackson Free Press, Madame DeLadd opines:
"Baquan, the Melton administration never takes responsibility for anything. Personally, I believe no one in leadership under Melton should be retained. No one.
posted by ladd on 08/20/08 at 12:52 PM"
Hmmm..... does that include your buddy Sheriff-Chief McMillin?
Some local government officials apparently have not received word the Mississippi Public Records Act changed on July 1, 2008. A request was filed in July with the City of Jackson for a copy of the initial police incident reports for the murder of Heather Spencer and kidnapping of Elizabeth Hall by George Bell, III.
Read the rest of the post at:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/08/city-of-jackson-denies-requests-for.html
"Community activist and radio show host David Archie has organized protests today and Thursday in front of J&S Food Mart. "For a case of beer, a man's life has been taken," Archie said. "We can no longer afford to sit back in silence and watch the violence that is destroying our community."
Archie said Tuesday that black customers are treated differently than customers of other races at Indian-owned and operated businesses. Archie is black, as was Hawthorne...."
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080820/NEWS/808200358/1001/news
This shows EXACTLY what is wrong in Jackson. Jackson has close to 50 homicides this year. Crime is spiraling out of control. A person literally can't go to McDonalds, the post office, the bank, or restaurant without getting robbed. Carjackings are crazy. Friends of Frank get slaps on the wrist. JPD is woefully understaffed and has squandered millions of dollars in federal grants. JPD officers become a regular embarrassment in the media. Small children are murdered. Parents let their 3-year old children wander the streets at night. Teenage boys get mad at the bus stop, beating up and shooting at their female classmates.
Do Mr. Archie and his cohorts protest any of this? Hell no. What makes them mad is a lone store clerk, probably working alone, freaked out because of the current madness in Jackson and shot someone who STOLE from his store.
If the rest of Jackson supports Mr. Archie's antics, then it deserves the crime problems it currently faces. These idiot protesters don't care about Jackson because if they did, they would've been even more outraged over the crime epidemic instead of some poor guy who overreacted. And you wonder why people laugh at Jackson as they flee to the suburbs.
Look at what Russia is up to in the Ukraine:
"Mykola Stretovych, an MP with Ukraine's ruling orange coalition, claimed that Russia was engaged in a massive operation to hand out passports in Sevastopol, home to 400,000 people, many of whom have historic ties with Russia..."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/2575421/Russia-distributing-passports-in-the-Crimea.html
Same trick the Russkies pulled in Georgia, the Baltics, and in other formerly independent countries before they invaded them.
Never let it be said The Clarion-Ledger strays too far from its corporate roots. Last Sunday, it promoted Petsmart's new pet hotel, giving it a huge write-up in its print and website editions. The CL made it seem as though a pampered pet hotel was something new to the Jackson area. I'm sure Petsmart appreciated the free publicity it received from its fellow large corporation. http://search.clarionledger.com/sp?eId=100&gcId=28369670&rNum=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.clarionledger.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcs.dll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D2008808170344&siteIdType=2
However, the Clarion-Ledger once again doesn't get it right as a luxury pet hotel is nothing new for the Jackson area as The Snooty Pooch has been open in Madison for quite some time. Their website address is: http://www.thesnootypooch.net/. I have used them a few times and can testify to their terrific service.
At The Snooty Pooch, your dog is kept in a very spacious kennel. You select his pillow. Yes, his pillow. You choose his food and treats. He is walked on a regular basis and there is playtime for friendly dogs. The kennels are not kept in the back as shown in the Petsmart photos but instead are right there by the front door by the desk when you first enter (as you will find out when your dog sees you from his cage when you come to pick him up. Whenever I would pick up Sophie she would go bonkers as she saw me the second I opened the door.).
The kennel rates are similar to those at Petsmart while the accomodations and service are much nicer. The Snooty Pooch is operated by small business owners who truly care about what they do, not some minimum wage hourly employees working off hangovers on a Sunday afternoon. They also sell higher quality dog foods and other products. My Cavalier King Charles Spaniel has to eat the Fish & Sweet Potato blend offered by Wellness or Natural Balance. Neither brand or anything comparable is offered by Petsmart. You will find such to be the case with other products as well.
Check out The Snooty Pooch. Pampering your pet is a lifestyle at The Snooty Pooch, not an entry on a corporate balance sheet.
Note: There is no truth to the rumor that the Madison Chamber of Commerce is holding a rally to get a Petsmart in Madison.
A thought crossed my mind yesterday while writing about the George Bell, III case and it should scare the hell out of you.
HOW WAS GEORGE BELL, III ABLE TO GET ON A FLIGHT FROM OKLAHOMA AND FLY TO JACKSON WITH AN OUTSTANDING WARRANT FOR HIS ARREST?
After 9/11 you would think that Homeland Security would have made it impossible for a terrorist with outstanding warrants to get on an airplane.
So much for the "Do not fly list". Now back to frisking Grandma.
WLBT will report George Bell, III is no longer at Parchman and has been transferred to a PRIVATE prison in Wilkinson County.
A quick check of Mississippi Department of Corrections' Records confirms this report:
http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/InmateDetails.asp?PassedId=135892
The prison has a website:
http://www.correctionscorp.com/facility/21/
WLBT Video: http://www.wlbt.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=2814962&h1=Convicted%20Killer%20George%20Bell%2C%20III%20Moved%20from%20Parchman%20Prison&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=37766&LaunchPageAdTag=Search Results&activePane=info&playerVersion=1&hostPageUrl=http%3A//www.wlbt.com/Global/SearchResults.asp%3Fvendor%3Dwss%26qu%3Dbell+wilkinson&rnd=11857592
"Musgrove Takes Illegal Campaign Donations
Adam Lynch
The Mississippi Link
June 25, 2003
Elections in Mississippi don't come cheap. According to information from the Secretary of State, this year's gubernatorial campaign by June 16 had racked up a total of 51,200 for Republican Mitch Tyner, 3.2 million for Republican Haley Barbour and about 4 million for incumbent Democrat Ronnie Musgrove.
With these kinds of figures pouring in, it can be difficult keeping track of it all, as Musgrove campaign headquarters has recently discovered.
Musgrove's campaign office recently soaked in about 5,000 from Cortez Byrd Chips, Inc., 2,500 from JAV, Inc. and a total of 2,000 from Southern Industrial Contractors, Inc. While donations from businesses during gubernatorial campaigns is certainly nothing new, donations over 1,000 from single businesses in Mississippi is a definite no-no-overshooting the legitimacy of the Cortez corporations of about 4,000, JAV of about 2,500 and Southern Industrial to the tune of 2,000.
Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Jim Herring pounced the figures June 11, calling on Musgrove to explain why his campaign had accepted contributions exceeding the 1,000 cap.
"Mississippians expect their elected officials to follow the law," Herring said. "I call on Governor Musgrove to explain why his campaign accepted these illegal contributions and to refund the money immediately...." [Full-Text (PDF)] http://www.nrsc.org/nrscwebimages/2008citations/ronniemusgrove/20030625_MississippiLink.pdf
Well, well, look what one of the members of the Jena Six is up to:
"The Associated Press JENA, La. – Money donated for the defense of the Jena Six will partly pay for the youngest defendant to attend a college prep boarding school in Connecticut.
Jesse Ray Beard, 17, worked with a coach at the Canterbury School in New Milford, Conn., this summer and was invited to apply.
Money donated for his defense was available and will be used to partly cover the $40,000 tuition, said C. David Utter, director of the Juvenile Justice Program of Louisiana. The program held the money for Mr. Beard...."http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-jenasix_17tex.ART.State.Edition2.4d9f4c5.html?npc
Hopefully Mr. Beard will see this as an opportunity to get an education he probably couldn't receive in Louisiana and do something positive with his life instead of just playing football and beating up his classmates.
Previous post on money controversy:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/11/apples-dont-fall-far-from-tree.html
Other previous posts:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/10/is-this-real-story-of-jena-6.html
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/10/nice-to-see-media-is-catching-up-with.html
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/10/beat-student-up-get-red-carpet.html
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/search?q=jena
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/09/what-is-truth-here-thugs-or-theologians.html
Bill Minor wrote about the current Senate race between Musgrove and Wicker:
"In his current TV attack ads, Wicker lambastes Musgrove’s governorship and says that Musgrove’s “ethical conduct was an embarrassment to the state.” Asked by a reporter for Jackson TV station WAPT what “ethical conduct” he was talking about, Wicker sputtered that he “wasn’t sure,” and that “I’m not familiar with that part of the commercial.” Yet, at the opening of the TV spot he says, “I’m Roger Wicker and I approve this message.”
Certainly he couldn’t have meant Musgrove’s no-fault divorce in 2001 from his wife of 24 years. Not in the same league with Kirk’s “Fordice follies!”
http://gwcommonwealth.com/articles/2008/08/14/opinion/columns/column01.txt
Bill, do you REALLY want to bring up this issue? Perhaps we should discuss a former campaign official of the former Democrat Governor who became an official of his administration and then went to work for an agency that had a nice contract with an auto manufacturer that operates a plant in Mississippi at the same time he was going through a divorce.
You're right Bill, it wasn't in the same league. Especially when she was married (at least during the campaign against Mike Parker. Oh well, her husband never struck me as being too bright). Go ahead Bill, I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. Maybe the stroke HAS affected your thinking. Start bringing up the marital issues. There is PLENTY to go around on BOTH sides.
Some local government officials apparently have not received word the Mississippi Public Records Act changed on July 1, 2008. A request was filed in July with the City of Jackson for a copy of the initial police incident reports for the murder of Heather Spencer and kidnapping of Elizabeth Hall by George Bell, III.
Under the new law, the government must make available to the public a copy of the police incident report. The report must include the names of the persons involved (excluding certain classes of victims or undercover agents), the charge, and a narrative description of what occurred.
Unfortunately, my request was rejected by Monica Joiner, Deputy Attorney for the City of Jackson. Her letter of denial stated:
"Our office has reviewed the public record requests you submitted on July 25, 2008. for the
following information:
1. Copy of initial police incident report on the kidnapping of Elizabeth Hall by George Bell, III, on September 11, 2007.
2. Copy of initial police incident report of homicide of Heather Spencer on September 11, 2007.
Section 25-61-12(2)(a) of the Mississippi Code Annotated (1972). as included states in part,
"when in the possession of a law enforcement agency, investigative reports shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter." In response to your requests specifically, the reports you seek contain information beyond the scope of the matters contained in an incident report and are therefore categorized as investigative reports, thus, exempt from disclosure pursuant to Section 25-61-12(2)(a)..."
http://jackson-jambalaya.googlegroups.com/web/city%20response.pdf?gda=96UbAEcAAABBPCGKKHsFd4R_qX3yHujKn8EwgzStZZWaKYQo0yfPmYRiI9BPzYXe3g6lirW1fvZhmrMR3uGvvPr01Poh-10xeV4duv6pDMGhhhZdjQlNAw
Frankly, I expected the City to find some reason not to comply with the law, given the history of this case. The reasons stated by Ms. Joiner are completely at odds with the statute, as there is a subsection (c) to section (2) that ALSO states:
"(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to exempt from public disclosure a law enforcement incident report. An incident report shall be a public record. A law enforcement agency may release information in addition to the information contained in the incident report." http://www.ethics.state.ms.us/ethics/ethics.nsf/PageSection/A_records_entire_pub_rec_act/$FILE/Public%20Records%20Act.htm?OpenElement
"Shall" MEANS "Shall". That is a mandate. Period. What is also interesting is how Ms. Joiner said I was asking for more than what was written in the incident report after admitting all I was asking for was an incident report.
One must wonder if the City is not familiar with the law, as one would hate to think the law is being deliberately ignored, given the controversial nature of the case. After JPD unilaterally reduced the charges against George Bell, III for his June 2007 beating of Ms. Spencer and the subsequent doubts raised in the case, one would think a more transparent policy in compliance with the law had been adopted. Unfortunately, such is not the case, as the attorneys for the City of Jackson once again are working to ensure the public is denied access to public records as mandated by the legislature.
Copy of denial letter:"Some hospitals is asking a Hinds County judge to stop Gov. Haley Barbour’s latest Medicaid funding proposal.
It’s the latest development in an ongoing legal battle over how to pay for the health care program that serves almost 600,000 low-income Mississippians......"
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080815/NEWS/80815040
Can you spot the error?
Identical Jackson Free Press post in 3....2.....1......
Update : In the interest of being fair, here is a link to an editorial in The Northside Sun, written by its publisher, Wyatt Emmerich, discussing Entergy, Mr. Fisackerly, and the common complaints about the sharp rise in fuel prices as well as Entergy's plans to build a nuclear plant:
http://www.northsidesun.com/articles/2008/08/14/news/09.txt
Original post: Hmmmm......... this is very interesting. Apparently there are some family connections between Entergy and Mississippi's First Family. The Delta Business Journal reported in its most recent issue that Haley Fisackerly, when fresh out of college and looking for a job in Washington:
" bumped into Haley Barbour and conveyed to Barbour his interest, too. (Fisackerly and Barbour are related and share the same middle name “Reeves.”) Barbour wrote a letter to Thad Cochran advising the Senator of Fisackerly’s interest in moving to Washington..."
http://www.deltabusinessjournal.com/dbj_august_08/august1.html
So the head of Entergy Mississippi is Governor Barbour's cousin. Governor Barbour's nephew ran for a position on the Public Service Commission last year (He was defeated by current commissioner Lynn Posey). Mr. Fisackerly "served as vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs for Entergy Nuclear since June 2007" before his recent promotion to President of Entergy Mississippi. http://entergy.com/News_Room/newsrelease.aspx?NR_ID=1190
No accusation of unethical or illegal conduct is being made in this post and friends that know Mr. Fisackerly speak very highly of his abilities and character. Its just very interesting that the Governor's cousin is the President of Entergy Mississippi while his nephew tries to become a Public Service Commissioner (thus responsible for approving Entergy's rates) and the Governor signs into law a bill that allows Entergy to increase our rates for a nuclear plant with no guarantee it will be built.
By the way, while Entergy is reducing its fuel adjustment somewhat, it is enjoying record profits. WAFB reports:
"A review of Entergy records for the first six months of 2008 show Entergy profits are up 25 percent compared to the same time last year.From January 1, 2008 to June 30, 2008, Entergy took in $6.1 billion dollars in revenue, records show...
And Entergy is forecasting its profits will be even bigger in the second half of 2008, Entergy Chairman J. Wayne Leonard said in a message to stockholders. That would be another 25 percent increase on top of profits in the first half of 2008.
While the company showed dramatic increases in profits so far this year, actual residential sales of electricity during the second quarter rose only two percent. That includes what Entergy calls a "weather adjusted basis."
http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=8837480
Note: It was asked of me why I posted this information as some of the post looked like an attempt to smear people based on family relationships. I can assure you such is not the case. This is Mississippi, which at times seems like an extended family and relationships more often than not do mean something. Several friends of mine know Mr. Fisackerly quite well and have made it clear he is a very talented individual as well as being a great guy (as one put it) and someone with strong pricinciples and moral character. The information reported above was published by the Delta Business Journal and has been discussed by radio talk show hosts on their programs. Its out there. However, many times blogging on politics is about connecting the dots, something that reporters too often do not do. The point of the post was to show the relationships involved in an issue that has drawn the interest of many Mississippians. Frankly, if I had to make a bet, I don't think the Haleys cooked up something. Now if you told me a certain relative of Haley's ran for Public Service Commission because saw what he thought was a possible opportunity to take advantage of these relationships, especially when his wife is the subject of an FBI investigation and was also the subject of some controversy over her obtaining FEMA contracts, I would be more inclined to believe that scenario as every large political family tends to have a loose cannon. However, when Entergy is the subject of much debate, I do think that pointing out the relationships is appropriate and can be done so tastefully. One can only imagine what a certain publication in this town would have written on this subject and how far they would have gone in their histrionics.
Mortgage crisis won't be getting better any time soon if Countrywide's portfolio is any indication of what lies ahead. Housingwire (feed is on sidebar on right side of page) reports:
"Countrywide held $25.4 billion in pay option mortgages at the end of June; a full 12.4 percent of those loans were 90 or more days delinquent. Want to know more? Get ready to cringe: 83 percent of the portfolio was underwritten via low-doc or no-doc programs, and 72 percent of those borrowers still paying on the loans elected to make less than a full interest payment in June.
Average original LTV of 76 percent had increased to refreshed LTV of 95 percent — that’s the average for the entire portfolio, folks — by the end of April. What to know still more? Despite a severe delinquency rate well into double-digits, Countrywide’s own recast projections suggest that the worst of the portfolio’s recasts won’t hit until sometime in 2011 ($6.96 in projected recast volume, net of repayments).
All of which means that 90+ day delinquency figure really only has one direction to go from here. And Countrywide knows it, too; the company, like other lenders with significant option ARM exposure, has been aggressively looking to restructure loans for borrowers stuck in pay-option mortgages, to the tune of $1.2 billion in troubled debt restructuring this year alone...."
http://www.housingwire.com/2008/08/13/at-countrywide-option-arms-woes-mount/
Update: Plagiarism? http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/wlbt_mary_hawkins_butler_rallies_at_starbucks_081208/
Update: From the Madison Chamber of Commerce Website:
8/12/2008
9:00 a.m.
We want to take the Madison Starbucks off the "To Close List" for some 600 Starbucks locations. By increasing the sales volume and making Starbucks part of our weekly routines, we can make it happen. Starbucks offers a good assortment of nutritional drinks in addition to their high quality of coffees. People desiring to lose weight and to eat and drink healthier can incorporate Starbucks as part of their overall health plan. Starbucks has been an outstanding corporate citizen. By keeping the store open, everyone wins!
Location:
Madison Starbucks
1903 Main Street Madison, MS 39110
For more information, please contact:
Madison The City Chamber of Commerce
1239 Hwy 51 N, Madison601-856-7060"
http://www.madisonthecitychamber.com/events.asp?eventid=294
Original post:
The Starbucks location on Highway 463 in Madison might close. In what can only be seen as a slap to locally owned and operated coffee chains Cups and Seattle Drip, the Madison Chamber of Commerce has scheduled a rally for tomorrow to keep the Starbucks franchise open.
From the Madison County Herald:
"Closer to Mississippi 463, the Starbucks in Madison is open, but for how long, we're not sure. The store is one of many in the U.S. and seven in the metro Jackson area targeted for closure.
So far, I've gotten at least a couple of letters to the editor on the subject, both pleading with readers and I suppose with me, too, to order up some coffee at Starbucks in hopes that increased sales will keep the shop alive.
The Madison the City Chamber of Commerce is planning on rallying to the cause of keeping the Starbucks on Mississippi 463 open by holding a rally there Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 9 a.m.
Chamber leaders say they're not just talk when they say they support local businesses and note that they would come to the aid of other businesses if needed..." http://www.mcherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080807/OPINION/808070304/1005
When Cups closed after Starbucks opened its store in Madison, I don't remember the Chamber organizing a rally to keep it open, even though Cups operates a warehouse in Madison or the Chamber helping Madison-based Seattle Drip when it moved into the Cups location. Did Fusion that was in the bookstore get any such rally as it closed?. However because it is Starbucks they get the red carpet treatment from the Chamber.
Note: If you want to read a letter that will make you sick as it is so cheesy, read this:
http://www.mcherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080807/OPINION/808070307/1005
http://www.wapt.com/video/17139875/index.html
Don't expect any help from JPD. My advice to you is simple: set up an ambush. And be sure you shoot to kill. Although you might want to hit them in the knees first before you fire a head shot. Make them suffer for a few minutes.
Oh, and use a shotgun. I bet Cliff Gargill will be more than happy to give you guys some instruction.
The publisher of The Jackson Free Press takes The Clarion-Ledger to task for not reporting its own layoffs:
"FYI...GannettBlog is taking the C-L to task for reporting layoffs of 25 employees at Ameristar in Vicksburg but for not mentioning their own woes.
posted by itodd on 08/08/08 at 02:07 PM"
Of course, while The Jackson Free Press had federal tax liens of over $55,000 for 18 months worth of unpaid taxes, he nor any of his employees mentioned any such problem.
Do as I say, not as I do.
Click on the link, better video coverage. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-mayor0807,0,4563211.story?page=2
Frank Melton will have an orgasm watching this video while the Ridgeland PD will use this as a training video of how to conduct a raid. Simply disgusting. Tim Kalich of the Greenwood Commonwealth: THIS is why you have civil rights protections by the federal government.
"When the shooting stopped, two dogs lay dead. A mayor sat in his boxers, hands bound behind his back. His handcuffed mother-in-law was sprawled on the kitchen floor, lying beside the body of one of the family pets that police had killed before her eyes.
After the raid, Prince George's County police officials who burst into the home of Berwyn Heights' mayor last week seized the same unopened package of marijuana that an undercover officer had delivered an hour earlier.
What police left behind was a house stained with blood and a trail of questions about their conduct. No other evidence of illegal activity was found, and no one was arrested at Mayor Cheye Calvo's home in this small bedroom community near College Park.
This week Prince George's police arrested two men for orchestrating a plot to deliver marijuana to the addresses of unsuspecting recipients -- among them, Calvo's wife, Trinity Tomsic.
In this undated photo provided by Cheye Calvo, he and his wife, Trinity Tomsic, walk their Labradors
Yet neither county Police Chief Melvin C. High nor Sheriff Michael A. Jackson have apologized to him, his wife or her mother, Georgia Porter, for the raid that traumatized the family and killed their black Labrador retrievers, Payton and Chase.
Thursday, Calvo called on the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division to investigate the raid and other similar actions by Prince George's law enforcement. He said officers burst into his house without knocking or announcing themselves, in violation of the warrant they had.
"Trinity was an innocent and random victim of identity theft. Apparently, so were four or five other county residents whose names and addresses were stolen and used as addresses on drug packages," Calvo said at a news conference outside his house, near a garden of tomatoes and strawberries.
"However, Trinity and our family have not been treated as victims of a crime. Instead, our home was invaded. Our two beloved Labrador retrievers are dead. My mother-in-law and I were tied up for nearly two hours," he said. "We were harmed by the very people who took an oath to protect us."
Prince George's County police arrested two men involved in a scheme to transport marijuana. Once packages were dropped off by a deliveryman, a suspect would pick them up -- with the addressee oblivious to the plot. Police seized a half-dozen packages that contained about 417 pounds of marijuana, including the 32 pounds delivered to Tomsic, the Associated Press reported. ....
Last Tuesday, the mayor arrived home from his full-time job as an executive with SEED Foundation, which establishes urban public charter schools. He took the unopened package inside and placed it on a table near the door. He changed clothes and walked the dogs, waving to the men and women sitting in cars near his home. He did not know they were police.
He returned and went upstairs to get dressed for an event. As he changed clothes, SWAT team members darted across the fenced-in lot. Porter, 50, was cooking artichokes in the kitchen and screamed when she saw the approaching masked men with guns.
The door was kicked in and gunshots rang out, Calvo said. Police killed one dog, Payton -- named for football running back Walter Payton -- even though Porter was standing next to him.
Police have said the dogs "engaged" officers. Calvo confirmed that Payton probably moved toward the door but would have ultimately done nothing more than lick them.....
Chase was shot while running away from sheriff's deputies, Calvo said....
Calvo, 37, who has been mayor since 2004, was told to walk backward down the stairs with his hands in the air. He was wearing only boxers and socks. Police handcuffed him and placed him in the living room. His mother-in-law was also cuffed and made to lie on the kitchen floor next to Payton's body.
Police said they were allowed to enter the house without announcing their presence because Porter screamed and because they had a "no-knock" warrant. Calvo and his attorney, Maloney, say that is not true. ..."
WAPT scrutinized an ad by the Roger Wicker campaign: http://www.wapt.com/video/17125777/index.html
The report was a serious effort at determining how true the ad's claims were. Ms. West's reporting had some memorable moments. Props to her for nailing Mr. Wicker with that question about what was wrong with Mr. Musgrove's ethics. Mr. Wicker's confusion was priceless. However, there are still some parts of the story that need to be clarified.
The Wicker ad claims Ronnie Musgrove ran state government at a deficit. Technically, there was no deficit as the law requires the budget to operate in the black. However, since Ms. West is 25 or so and going to sorority rushes and swap nights when Musgrove was in office (I'm picking on her in good fun), I'll add a few facts to the story. ;-)
During Musgrove's term, the economy slowed down, causing tax revenue to decrease. Musgrove submitted a budget to the legislature every year that estimated tax revenue growth of around 1%. Unfortunately, the Governor's office is very weak as the legislature holds most of the power under the Constitution of Mississippi. During Musgrove's term, the legislature repeatedly steamrolled over him, ignoring his tax revenue estimates. The DEMOCRAT-CONTROLLED legislature drove state finances into the ditch as it based ITS budget EVERY YEAR on a completely unrealistic tax revenue increase of 3-5%. The legislators would pat themselves on the back and go home, crowing about their balanced budget. At some point during the fiscal year when the projected revenues failed to materialize, Musgrove was then forced to make substantial cuts in the budgets of all state agencies (Musgrove should grow some backbone and point this out when challenged on the deficit issue).
So technically, there was no deficit on the budget presented to and signed by the Governor. In actuality, the state ran at a deficit throughout the entire year and Musgrove was forced to cut the budgets just to keep the state from shutting down. Musgrove did make some mistakes such as broadly expanding Medicaid, causing Medicaid to have a budget deficit of around $300 million, but most of the blame rests with the legislature, not Musgrove. Wicker's ad is true about the deficit but so is Musgrove's defense. That should've been pointed out to the audience.
As for the ethical claims, I'll go out on a limb here. There was this thing called the Beef Cattle Plant that went bust, costing the state $54 million. Some of the people involved made contributions to Musgrove if I remember correctly, thus providing the basis for such a claim in a political ad. No one in state government was ever held accountable for this fiasco. Attacking Musgrove on this issue, if that is indeed the basis for the attacks on his ethics, is indeed predictable but Wicker should have been much better prepared for this question and known what the hell his campaign was putting on the airwaves instead of looking as dumb as he did. His campaign will undoubtedly release information supporting the ad's claims about Musgrove's ethics.
Of course, if we want to really discuss Musgrove's ethics, one can always look at the case of the former female campaign worker who worked for his administration then for a business that had a contract tied to Nissan while he followed the tradition started by Fordice in divorcing his wife while Governor. However, while that is great for the chatter at the cocktail circuit of Char and Bravo!, it obviously has no place in a political campaign or on tv so nothing will be made of that.
Kudos to Megan West again for nailing Wicker with that question as reporters live for those moments and they are fun to see.
Damn. Dog fighting rings. Mullet-haired tatoo-wearing child molestors on the loose. Gangs from Chicago. That county is becoming dangerous. Getting to be where you get scared every time you go east across the Pearl River. I think I'm going to stay in Jackson more as Rankin County is just not safe like it used to be.
Othor Cain's blog got me thinking about who should replace Mac when he does retire. Robert Graham crossed my mind and I'm liking the thought more and more. JPD experience. Understands the politics on the Board of Supervisors. Will have budget experience that no other candidate will have. The last year at JPD has shown us what happens when the leadership of a law enforcement agency has no clue about budgets, managing OT, and handling millions of dollars in grants. Graham will probably have a huge advantage in experience over almost any other possible candidate in the county.
What do you think?
The Clarion-Ledger continues to bungle the Heather Spencer murder story in its latest coverage. Perhaps this should be expected as the newspaper has rotated this story among FIVE different reporters: Goldstein, Joyner, Gates, and two others whose names I can't remember. What a nice way to cover stories: transfer them from reporter to reporter to that no one develops any true knowledge on the subject and the reporter is always scrambling to develop new contacts on research.
The Cl reported recently:
"Linda Francomb of Leelanau County, Mich., filed the lawsuit against George Bell III and Robbie Bell on behalf of her daughter, Mary Heather Spencer.Spencer was raped, beaten and strangled on the night of Sept. 10, 2007. Her body lay in Robbie Bell's Jackson home for hours before being discovered the next day.The lawsuit, filed June 2 in Hinds County Circuit Court, states Robbie Bell should have known her son, George, had "severe personal and emotional problems," including a history of drug addition and violence.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, says Robbie Bell was home the night of Sept. 10 and that if she or George Bell III had called for medical attention or law enforcement, Spencer would not have died.
George Bell III held officers at bay on Sept. 11 at a Jackson gas station for more than four hours with a gun to his head and his mother by his side before surrendering. He pleaded guilty to capital murder and was sentenced in February to life in prison without parole.
Robbie Bell was charged with accessory after the fact. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said his office later dropped that charge because there was a lack of evidence in the case."I think certainly Linda hopes to obtain some justice and wants to know what happened," said Eric Stracener, Francomb's attorney.
Attorneys for Robbie Bell and George Bell III could not be reached for comment.
To comment on this story, call Blair Goldstein at (601) 961-7034."
There are several problems with this story. When Ms. Goldstein wrote this story, it was her FIRST week working at The Clarion-Ledger. Nice work guys. Assign this story to a brand new reporter. I mention this because it explains some of her errors, which were probably upsetting to the family, to say the least.
The first error occurred when she reported Ms. Spencer was strangled. There was no strangling. period. The autopsy never once mentions strangled. The FIRST time the word "strangling" ever appeared was by George Bell, III in his guilty plea. See previous post on the case:
"I just saw something that caught my eye on the WJTV website:"Bell admitted to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and then beating and strangling his girlfriend, Heather Spencer, to death. " http://www.wapt.com/news/15211732/detail.html
This very interesting for several reasons. This is the first time a possible strangling was mentioned. All other media coverage has omitted that word as it has been consistently reported Mr. Bell beat the late Heather Spencer to death and sexually assaulted her. It is strange suddenly today, Mr. Bell said under oath that he strangled Ms. Spencer.
If Ms. Spencer's death was caused by strangling, that would mean she probably died during Monday evening, not Tuesday morning. This is VERY important since Mr. Bell's mother, Robbie Bell, was indicted for being an accessory as the media reported it was possible Ms. Spencer died Tuesday morning, not Monday evening. Such a scenario would provide Ms. Bell with a possible defense as she would probably not at home when the attack occurred.
There is just one problem with this defense and it is the fact the autopsy established a time of death, and it supposedly was on September 11, not 10. Either she died earlier of strangulation, which would shut off the oxygen to the brain or she died of the beating. This is important as it has been alleged Ms. Spencer did not die for several hours. The coroner's report will state the cause of death and if the allegations are true, consequently, there remains a strong possibility a conspiracy between Mr. Bell and his mother exists and his statement he strangled Heather (the family was outraged when they heard this, one of the relatives started shouting it was a lie in the courtroom) is his attempt to get Robbie Bell off the hook." http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/search?q=strangled
What Ms. Blair did was read her little archives, probably just the story reporting on the guilty plea, saw the word "strangled", and ran with it, not bothering to talk to other reporters that covered the story or examine their research.
The second error was when she reported Ms. Bell was in the car with George Bell, III as he held a gun to her head for several hours. Um, no Ms. Goldstein. If you had bothered to read the archives or examine the video, you would have seen immediately such was not the case. She was outside of the car for the whole ordeal. The only person George Bell, III pointed a gun at in the car was himself. There has been no testimony that a gun was held to her head. Nice try to build false sympathy for the defendant in this lawsuit.
"Kingfish, you're being a little hard on this reporter." Not really. After the newspaper referred to Robbie Bell as Robbie Spencer and refused to apologize for it after being notified of the outrageous error, they get no breaks from me and don't deserve any. Their reporting on this story has been sloppy and they have often gotten the facts wrong. At times one wonders if the conspiracy theories about the CL helping Ms. Bell because she is in the media are true or if the reporting and editing is that bad. I'm inclined to believe the latter is true. See additional Heather Spencer posts on the bottom right hand side of the page.
Sometimes they make it too easy over at the Jackson Free Press. This time Madame DeLadd is in a snit over the media's reporting on the Stephen Hayne case:
"Here's WLBT's story:WLBT has learned Dr. Steven Hayne will no longer be doing medical examinations for the state of Mississippi. Hayne has conducted 80% of all criminal autopsies in Mississippi for more than 20 years.
We're told Dr. Hayne performed his last autopsy early Monday morning and received notice of his termination via fax at his Brandon office at noon.
Hayne has come under fire from the Innocence Project, which investigates cases of people wrongfully convicted of crimes.
WLBT should have credited Reason for Radley's work on this story. The state's media barely touched him for many years. We were tipped several years back to investigate him, but didn't get around to it.
A big ole hat tip to Radley and Reason for doing what state media could have, and should have, done a long time ago.
posted by ladd on 08/04/08 at 09:36 PM "
Soooo...... you had were tipped to the story years ago, didn't follow up on it, yet are going to criticize the rest of the media for doing the same thing you did? I don't think any comment is necessary.
Perfect example of what happens in domestic violence cases is taking place in New Orleans. State Senator Derrick Shepherd has been indicted by the feds for a few things and decided to take it out on his ex-girlfriend. Shepeherd was:
"arrested Saturday night, accused of punching his ex-girlfriend and stealing her cellular phone and $100, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office reported.
Shepherd, D-Marrero, was arrested around 6:45 p.m. Saturday and booked with unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, simple battery and theft over $500.....
Shepherd was arrested at his residence in Stonebridge. The sheriff's office said there were two women in the house, one of whom appeared to be performing a lap dance on Shepherd, who was on a sofa.
At a press conference Sunday afternoon, Sheriff Newell Normand reported that deputies responded to a call of aggravated burglary at the home of Thaise Ashford, 29, early Saturday. Deputies later learned that Ashford and Shepherd had a romantic relationship that ended in 2005.
Ashford told police that she had earlier ignored phone calls she believed were from Shepherd. About 15 minutes after the last call, someone began throwing rocks at her bedroom window to get her attention. Ashford said she later responded to the disturbance by going to the rear door of her home, where she found Shepherd.
According to Ashford, Shepherd then forced himself into her home on Cameron Drive just outside of Gretna and punched her in the stomach after they argued, Normand said.Ashford told police that she had grabbed a small board to defend herself and locked herself in a rear room on the second floor of her home. Shepherd then followed her into the room, damaging the door.
When Ashford tried to flee, Shepherd locked her outside. After asking to be let back in, Ashford again entered the home and shoved Shepherd outside. Moments later, she went to her bedroom and dialed 911.
Ashford said Shepherd fled then. She later discovered her cellular phone and $100 missing from her home, Normand said. The phone was later found at Shepherd's home when he was arrested.
Ashford sustained abrasions to her left wrist and her lower abdomen, Normand said. ....'
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/sen_shephered_arrested_in_jeff.html
Unfortunately, Ms. Ashford hurt domestic violence victims everywhere as she tried to get him off the hook, recanting her testimony in court (Sound familiar?):
"During Tuesday's three-hour hearing, Thaise Ashford recanted domestic abuse claims she filed with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office on Saturday. She initially told police that Shepherd, whom she described as a jilted lover, bashed in her door while she was sleeping, became violent, left her with bruised arms and stomach, and stole her $589 Blackberry Pearl and a $100 bill.
In court, Ashford said she and Shepherd are still intimately involved. She said she manufactured the story for police out of frustration that Shepherd paid her a visit after 3 a.m. instead of at 10 the previous night as they had planned.
Explaining the missing phone, she said she and Shepherd were "fussing" with each other over trust issues and agreed to exchange cell phones to demonstrate that neither was being unfaithful. She explained away the broken door frame by saying it was previously damaged.
Ashford, 29, the transportation coordinator for the New Orleans Recovery School District (She works for the state government, he is a state senator, figure it out), according to a state Department of Education Web site, testified that she yanked Shepherd's shirt at one point, igniting a scuffle inside and outside the house. When he eventually drove away, she threw a rock at his car window and called 911 to report that he had stopped by unannounced and hit her.
"I was angry, and before I even thought about it I did it, " she said.
Attorney John Reed, who called Ashford as a defense witness, asked her directly several times whether Shepherd had attacked her.
"Did Derrick Shepherd punch you?" Reed asked.
"No, he did not, " she said.
"Did he hit you?" he repeated.
"No, he did not, " she said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Magner suggested that Ashford was bowing under great pressure by Shepherd, with the lawmaker going so far as to arrange for Gretna lawyer Bruce Netterville on Monday to draw up an affidavit recanting her report to deputies (Just like Heather Spencer did). He said Shepherd violated a state judge's earlier order to stay away from Ashford by putting her in touch with Netterville, and in turn violated his federal bond requiring him to abide by all federal, state and local laws.
In arguing that Moore should revoke Shepherd's bond, Magner also asked the judge to consider Ashford's testimony part of a common, but troubling, trend in domestic abuse cases...." http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/do_not_publish_3.html
The publisher of The Jackson Free Press posted the following remarks from another website on the drilling for oil issue:
"Drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and on the Outer Continental Shelf could help lower gas prices quickly. FALSE. It would take almost a decade before significant oil production could occur in either place, and even then it would have a marginal impact. Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, for example, would only shave 4 cents off a gallon of gas by 2026, or $23 per year for the average driver, assuming that other conditions affecting gas prices remain the same. And that's at maximum benefit! Likewise, it would take many years for the oil from new offshore wells to go into production, and even at peak, the additional supply wouldn't reduce energy prices significantly. These numbers are all according to the U.S. government's own estimates. A June 2008 Congressional report makes it clear: "The argument that more drilling means lower gasoline prices ... there is simply no correlation between the two."..."
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/haley_barbour_you_gotta_admire_obamas_nerve_073108/
Um, he DOES understand how commodities and futures markets work, doesn't he?
One of the true heroes of our lifetimes died yesterday, Alexander Solzhinetsyn. In honor of one of the bravest men who ever lived, Jackson Jambalaya will periodically post passages from his writings. Here is one that caught me eye today. Just amazing to me how he writes with such clarity and power.
Solzhenitsyn said at Harvard in 1978:
"A Decline in Courage may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West in our days. The Western world has lost its civil courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, each government, each political party and of course in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling groups and the intellectual elite, causing an impression of loss of courage by the entire society. Of course there are many courageous individuals but they have no determining influence on public life. Political and intellectual bureaucrats show depression, passivity and perplexity in their actions and in their statements and even more so in theoretical reflections to explain how realistic, reasonable as well as intellectually and even morally warranted it is to base state policies on weakness and cowardice. And decline in courage is ironically emphasized by occasional explosions of anger and inflexibility on the part of the same bureaucrats when dealing with weak governments and weak countries, not supported by anyone, or with currents which cannot offer any resistance. But they get tongue-tied and paralyzed when they deal with powerful governments and threatening forces, with aggressors and international terrorists.Should one point out that from ancient times decline in courage has been considered the beginning of the end?" http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmNvbHVtYmlhLmVkdS9jdS9hdWd1c3RpbmUvYXJjaC9zb2x6aGVuaXRzeW4vaGFydmFyZDE5NzguaHRtbA==
Check out the website dedicated to the memory of Heather Spencer, Heather's Tree. http://www.heatherstree.org/index.php
Linda Francomb, the mother of Heather Spencer, created the website to preserve the memory of her daughter as well as help the fight against domestic violence. The site has a newsletter, a gallery of photos of Heather, links to resources on stopping domestic violence, and other information.
Friday, the House Republicans started a protest after Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the House on a five week vacation without allowing a vote on offshore drilling, which would probably pass.
"At the stroke of 5:00 on Friday afternoon, House Republicans ended their half-day protest on the darkened chamber floor with a round of “God Bless America.”
That capped a wild day in the chamber, where Republicans, aides and tourists broke all manner of House protocols to protest the Democrats' decision to leave Washington for the five-week August recess without voting on a measure to open new land to domestic oil and gas exploration.
The uproar began shortly before noon, after members cast their votes along party lines on the question of whether or not to adjourn for the day..."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12252.html
The protest continues today as Politico reports "Continuing with their guerilla tactics from last week, House Republicans will be back on the floor Monday to talk gas prices, even though Congress is in recess, and they may stay there all week..." http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0808/House_Republicans_to_go_back_on_the_floor_Monday_to_talk_gas_prices.html
Before Mississippi Republicans get too caught up in the heat of the battle as it rages in Washington, perhaps they should ask where their Congressman is. While Congressman Pickering was there Friday, a phone call to his office confirmed that he flew back home and will not be in Washington helping other conservatives in their fight to lower energy prices.
It's not surprising, as the Congresman said being in the House was no fun anymore after the 2006 elections when he announced he was not running for re-election. Hopefully Gregg Harper will show some more fire in the belly and lust for combat when it is needed on Capitol Hill. It's a shame the Third District can't be represented as well by its new Representative as is the First District.
Note: Politico also reports
"In an urgent memo sent to GOP Members and staff Saturday (“A Call to Action on American Energy”), Republican Leader John Boehner (R-) and Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) hailed Friday’s action, and encouraged House Republicans to return to the Capitol beginning Monday morning to help keep the historic effort going," said a press release just released by Minority Leader Boehner's office....
Update - Neither Boehner nor Blunt are expected to be in attendance at Monday's talkfest, and its unclear if they will show up at any point during the week, according to GOP leadership aides.."
This is a perfect example of how screwed up the Republican leadership is, if it can be called that. Leaders LEAD. By example. NOT memos. Boehner and Blunt are REMF's. Perfumed Princes sending everyone else to take the Hill while they avoid the combat. Even when the Republicans do something right the leaders figure out a way to screw it up as they are not real leaders. If the Republicans have any sense after the elections, they will dump these clowns and elect Pence and Shadegg to the top positions. Conservatives need leaders, not REMF's.
Othor Cain, WJSU News Director, recently penned a column in The Clarion-Ledger which pulled no punches in expressing his frustration with the crime problem in Jackson as well flaws in JPD:
"Contrary to media roundtables and popular belief, crime isn't a perception in downtown, south, north, east or west Jackson - it is a sad reality and the leadership of the JPD had better heed the warning....
Also insane is entertaining the notion of reducing the number of beats within the precincts. Most precincts are comprised of at least 13 beats; however, reducing the number of beats to eight - thereby expanding the coverage area for a patrol officer and reducing the need to pay overtime - is being discussed...
When I learned that money within the Jackson Police Department's budget had been found to purchase hats and that the hats would be a mandatory requirement, I almost laughed myself into a fit. I thought: Is this 1960? Has Sheriff/Chief Malcolm McMillin had a flashback to when he was a JPD officer? These hats are not only archaic but are an extreme waste of taxpayers' money....
I recently learned the internal affairs department is planning to make spot checks to ensure the hats are being worn. While the uniformed hats make for professional attire, they do little to aid in crime-fighting and even less in terms of putting money in these officers' pockets....
Before McMillin became chief of police for the city of Jackson, his management style had gone virtually unnoticed. Little attention was paid to his day-to-day running of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department..."
Mr. Cain makes very good points, but the problems at JPD run deeper than Mac's management style. JPD has been a dysfunctional agency for decades, as JPD drama has constantly dominated the news since the late 1980's.
Merge JPD with the Hinds County Sheriff's Office
Leadership starts at the top and any smoothly functioning organization must have stability in its management. Such as not been the case at JPD. For the last TWENTY years JPD has had a new chief on average of EVERY OTHER YEAR. Black, Newell, Johnson, Walker, Wilson, Coleman, Anderson, McMillin. During Harvey Johnson's tenure, the department was run by an interim chief for nearly a year after the stooge whom he chose to replace JPD's best chief in twenty years with stepped down in a cloud of scandal. Instability has been the rule, not the exception.
No business or organization can function properly when the top job is a revolving door. The problem will continue as we elect a Mayor in 2009. Assuming Frank does not get re-elected, there will be yet ANOTHER police chief. Unfortunately, fighting crime is such a basic and necessary function of government, that Jackson simply can not tolerate this way of doing things any longer. We should seriously examine removing JPD from the control of the Mayor's office and merging it with the Hinds County Sheriff's office. We can't afford to wait another twenty years to fix JPD.
It is clear Jackson's political culture will not allow for a police department which is stable and only makes headlines when it makes arrests. The current system allows for LESS accountability for JPD, as it is buffered from public criticism by the Mayor and City Council. If JPD merges with the Sheriff's office, the chief law enforcement officer would be answerable DIRECTLY to the public, as well as the Board of Supervisors and one assumes the Jackson City Council. The head of the agency would have to go to the voters every four years, defending his record and taking criticism. He will not be able to hide behind the Mayor or his council cronies. Jackson will also be assured of more stability, as at worst, the chief would only be replaced every four years. As long as Jackson's political culture is run by buffoons like Frank Melton and Kenneth Stokes, and its best and brightest such as LeRoy Walker and Beverly Hogan choose not to run for office, the damage the clowns can do must be minimized, and removing JPD from their control will be a step in the right direction.
Stop Promoting from Within JPD
The other problem is JPD is a family created by inbreeding and incest, as virtually none of the leadership comes from other jurisdictions. A basic tenet of Management 101 is to bring in management periodically from outside the organization. New ideas are introduced. Unhealthy relationships are kept to a minimum. A dysfunctional culture has less of a chance to take root and flourish. Unfortunately, JPD resembles a large family from the hills of Arkansas and has for quite some time.
Look at the leadership of JPD: Mac. Tyrone Lewis. Gerald Jones. Lee Vance. Ron Sampson. All JPD officers before they assumed their current positions. For too long, the practice at JPD has been to promote JPD officers to leadership positions. Although he was an outsider it must be remembered he was a JPD officer for years before he became Sheriff. It is no surprise JPD is so screwed-up when it continues to merely hire from within the department. Any reading of Othor Cain's blog, http://www.othorcainreport.com/b2/, will show the discord existing among the police force. The police department is currently made up of different factions, each answerable to its own little satrap holding a leadership position.
Leaders such as Lewis and Sampson get in trouble, are demoted, then reinstated a few months later as if nothing ever happened. Millions of dollars in grants are unspent and wasted because the leadership has no expertise in handling grant money. The leadership is clueless on how to deal with what is a common practice for law enforcement agencies : releasing police reports to the public. The Assistant Chief's first thought is how to keep information about his department from getting out, not serving the public. The same official has been at JPD for a long time, thus showing where his true interests lie. New blood and ideas are rarely introduced into JPD.
Mac should cease the practice of hiring from within and instead start recruiting from outside the deparment (preferably outside of Mississippi) for candidates for leadership jobs when they become available. If that means running ads and hiring headhunters, so be it. There is a greater need for hiring competent leadership from outside JPD than there is for purchasing a bunch of hats. Until outside leadership is brought into JPD, expect more of the same drama which has plagued JPD for twenty years.
It is easy to get caught up in dealing with the regular aspects of fighting crime while avoiding the bigger picture. The media and our leaders have failed to ask if Jackson is best served by its current law enforcement structure and hiring practices. Crime has been a severe problem in Jackson for twenty years now and a major factor in driving Jacksonians to the suburbs. While some say under past administrations crime was better, it must be said to them three feet of flood water is better than ten feet of flood water but you are still flooded and Jackson has been flooded with crime for quite a while. Jacksonians should take crime-fighting away from the politicians and tell the current leaders to quit using good ole boy networking and start acting like real managers. Until then, expect more of the same crime problems in Jackson.
Robbie Bell files answer in wrongful death action:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/07/robbie-bell-files-answer-to-wrongful.html
Development Idea for Northeast Jackson:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/07/after-downtown-whats-next.html
Mother of Heather Spencer files wrongful death suit:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/07/mother-of-heather-spencer-files.html
Perfection:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/07/perfection.html
JFP Story on Heather Spencer and its miscues
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/07/jfp-story-on-lawsuit-against-george.html
Monticello Mayor: Hypocrite or Double-Dealer:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/07/monticello-mayor-opposes-two-lakes-plan.html
Killer Cop off the Hook, Clarion-Ledger blows it:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/07/killer-cop-off-hook-clarion-ledger.html
Barbour and McCoy: They fight, We suffer:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/07/barbour-and-mccoy-they-fight-we-suffer.html
BROKE?:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/07/broke.html
The Clarion-Ledger reports today:
"In Jackson Public Schools, cell phones are on the same list as yo-yos and illegal drugs: They're not allowed. Unlike Hinds County and Madison County schools, the district doesn't give students the option of paying a fine to get their cell phones back..."
yo-yos? What the hell is wrong with a yo-yo?
Over on The Jackson Free Press website, Todd Stauffer reports on layoffs at The Clarion-Ledger:
"Editor and Publisher magazine is reporting the contents of a memo circulated by the Clarion-Ledger's current publisher, Larry Whitaker, to his staff. The memo was leaked earlier in the day to Romenesko, a media "insider" blog hosted by the Poynter Institute.
The memo suggests that the reasons for the layoffs include slowdowns in both print and web advertising. Whitaker writes: The economic downturn affecting much of the country is taking a heavy toll on the local economy. To be direct, it will lead to significant changes in the way we do business at The Clarion-Ledger. In nearly every advertising segment, our customers are reporting difficult times for their businesses. They are cutting back on print and online advertising, which has a direct impact on our business. These economic forces, which are out of our control, make it necessary for us to reduce our workforce..."
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/c_l_to_lay_off_20_staffers_080108/
When I posted the fact that the alternative weekly publication had approximately $45,000 in upaid federal tax liens earlier this year (which HAVE been paid since initially reported), I made the comment that if a similar situation existed at The Clarion-Ledger, The JFP would not hesitate to report on it. Like Keith Olberman taking a shot at Bush, Mr. Stauffer just could not help himself.
As for the Clarion-Ledger's problems, I think one of the main reasons for them is because they are Gannett-owned. I've talked to more than a few employees there and they know what the problems are and some of them have pretty good solutions. Unfortunately, Gannett sucks every dime it can out of that paper, making it harder for the management to invest in the publication and its reporters as well as a top down management. For several years now the newspaper has been "dumbing down" its stories and coverage as it thought that would attract more readers when such has obviously not been the case. The reporting and editing has been very sloppy (See coverage of the Scruggs and Heather Spencer stories. See note below). Many businesses don't advertise in The Clarion-Ledger because the rates are so high.
If I were running the CL, I would take a serious look at charging a subscription to read most of the online newspaper. It makes no sense to virtually give away the content you are charging money for in print. The newspapers in Little Rock and Lake Charles both have gone to subscription-based content and there is no reason why The Clarion-Ledger can not do the same. Instead of charging a fee for archives, imitate the Wall Street Journal and charge monthly and annual fees while including free access to the archives in the services provided.
When you give away your product, don't be suprised when you don't make a profit. However, unless some radical changes happen at the Jackson daily and in Gannett's corporate philosophy, expect more of the same downward spiral.
Note: The CL referred to Robbie Bell as "Robbie Spencer" earlier this year. Despite a phone call and email to Ronnie Agnew AND the reporter, nothing happened until 5:00 PM that day when I reached Ms. Simmons on the phone, who went to the website, saw the error, and changed it. There were no apologies to the Spencer family on the website for this outrage and Mr. Agnew and the reporter never responded to my attempts to contact them. Multiply that kind of behavior a few times and its not hard to see why more people are alieanated by the local newspaper.
The Clarion Ledger reports today on how various law enforcement agencies are dealing with the changes in the Open Records Act which went into effect on July 1, 2008 mandating they make initial police incident reports available to the public. Some such as the Meridian Police Department are putting them on the web for free. Want to guess which one is the stick in the mud? JPD of course. JPD's attitude is expressed by Assistant Police Chief Lee Vance:
"Assistant Police Chief Lee Vance has said he was worried that if JPD gave out the reports, it would make the department vulnerable to lawsuits..." http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080801/NEWS/808010361/1001/news
The police are like any other bureaucracy in that they don't like accountability. Mr. Vance ignores the fact making reports available helps the public in numerous ways and the reports can be subpoenaed in a lawsuit anyway. He is only throwing up roadblocks to keep law-abiding citizens who are sick of crime from learning exactly what is going on in their communities. If you think the police are your friend, remember, they could have CHOSEN to make these reports available to you for years under the old law. What is troubling (and expected) is under the new law, some such as Mr. Vance are still trying to find ways to deny the public information readily available in most other states. I admit I am being a little hard on Mr. Vance but frankly, it's about time the police were reminded they work for US, not the other way around, when all they can worry about is protecting their gluteus maximi. Mr. Vance should take a more proactive role and assist the public on this issue.
Chuck Asay Creators Syndicate Inc. Dec 20, 2009 |
Jimmy Margulies The Record Dec 19, 2009 |
