Wall Street nearly collapsed last year, American's 401k plans were decimated, the housing market crashed, the unemployment rate is nearly ten percent and the Democrats picked up where Bush left off and are now giving us trillion dollar deficits. So how exactly are they going to get more money? The Wall Street Journal gives us a clue:
"With federal budget deficits soaring, policy makers and other advocates are eyeing the huge sums that could be raised as a way to cover the costs of new initiatives.
Labor unions, in particular the AFL-CIO, have proposed a financial-transactions tax as a way to defray costs of a health-care overhaul... Liberal advocates are pushing the tax to pay for new stimulus spending.
This week, the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute floated the idea of a national transaction tax that would raise $100 billion to $150 billion a year. The tax, at a rate of 0.1% to 0.25% of the value of the trade, would be levied on all financial transactions such as stock trades, but not on consumer transactions such as with credit cards...." article
Great. lets pull more capital from the economy or chase it to foreign markets. One would think everyone saw what happens when the economy is deprived of capital. Apparently that doesn't include the Government.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Democrats at it again
Saturday, October 10, 2009
The Mafia in New Orleans
Here is one from the archives. This link is a pretty good history of the Mafia in New Orleans. Its a loooong read so pour yourself a drink first then enjoy it.
Click Here to Read More..
Friday, October 9, 2009
Hezbollah reveals what Muslims think of Israel
Nothing like someone's own words to show you what he really thinks. Hezbollah's Secretary General issued the following statement on its website:
"First: Historic Palestine, from the sea to the river belongs to the people of Palestine and to the whole nation.
Second: It is impermissible for anyone and no one has the right, whoever he may be, whether Palestinian, Arab, Muslim or Christian, no matter who it is, regardless of the claims of representation anyone makes, whether representation claims of historic legitimacy, revolutionary, popular, legal or constitutional, no one in this world is entitled to give up a grain of soil from the land of Palestine, nor a drop of water from the waters in Palestine, nor a single character from the name of Palestine.
Third: the ‘Israeli' entity currently existing on the land of Palestine is a usurper and occupation entity, aggressive, cancerous, illegitimate and illegal presence.
Fourth: It is impermissible for anyone, whoever they may be, to recognize this entity, grant it legitimacy or recognize an existence for it.
Fifth: Collaboration and normalization with ‘Israel' are forbidden sins. All scholars, Islamic reference authorities are in consensus about this, and anyone that says otherwise, let him step forward and present his case.
These principles and constants are unalterable by time, circumstances, conditions, strengths or weaknesses at all...
This is our nation, for more than sixty years the whole world is pressing us into recognizing ‘Israel', to collaborate and normalize relations with ‘Israel' (so what) yet none has been able to impose that upon us.
Even the states that signed so-called peace treaties with ‘Israel' have not been able to force their people to hold relations or work with the Zionists, or to normalize relations with them.
Hence this is possible...
At the far end of vulnerability and helplessness, we are able not to recognize ‘Israel', nor give in to it or at least not to sign anything over...."
Text of speech
Did anyone notice any Muslims authorities or leaders condemning this speech?
Tehran Times coverage
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Fed ignoring the Dollar
Santelli calls out the Fed at the end.
If no video appears and you are in Firefox, switch to IE. Sorry.
Keyes wins JJ Poll
JJ conducted a poll here on the website asking on who the Republican Presidential nominee should be. Alan Keyes and Ron Paul were the top two vote-getters, showing why these online polls should be taken with a grain of salt. They consistently do well in the online polls but somehow never seem to get any votes on election day.
Bobby Jindal | 23 (6%) |
Ron Paul | 51 (14%) |
Alan Keyes | 54 (15%) |
Sarah Palin | 37 (10%) |
Tim Pawlenty | 26 (7%) |
Mike Pence | 5 (1%) |
John Boehner | 2 (0%) |
Colin Powell | 22 (6%) |
Haley Barbour | 36 (10%) |
Mike Huckabee | 25 (7%) |
Dick Cheney | 4 (1%) |
Newt Gingrich | 9 (2%) |
Jeb Bush | 5 (1%) |
Rudi Guiliani | 9 (2%) |
Mitt Romney | 35 (10%) |
Mitch Daniels | 1 (0%) |
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
StilettoGOP on The Auditorium
StilettoGOP went to The Auditorium recently for dinner. I asked her to write a li'l ole review of her experience. Anyone that reads her comments knows she is going to be quite candid.
The other night I was in my usual quandary about where to eat. I'm sick of the "welcome to Bonefish, your table will be ready in an hour" type greeting. Nor do I like a place to be empty. I like a happy medium. I'd only had drinks at The Auditorium before, so I thought I would try it for dinner. I was NOT disappointed. Trust me, as someone who eats out at least twice a week, I could write some pretty nasty reviews on a few places around here. So this little "FYI" piece about my Auditorium experience comes with complete honesty.
I went on a night with no scheduled concert, and at first I was bummed to see that they still had live music. I'm a person who likes to actually HEAR the person I am sitting with at dinner. However, I was pleased to see that the live jazz entertainment was tucked away at a perfect distance for you to enjoy the music, as well as your date. The atmosphere is unusual. Think, historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville turns restaurant, but more metropolitan. The restaurant has soft lighting, vibrant abstract jazz art, and a few bears thrown in for playfulness (you'll see.) The mood was light and fun, yet you still get a fine dining vibe. There were two tables of celebrations going on, and both groups seemed to be having a great time. The owner's obviously don't seem to mind if you bring in your own balloon bouquets to add to your festivity.
As I sat down, I instantly liked our server. I could tell he'd be one of those helpful, yet not annoying servers. I was right. He was fabulous in describing the cocktail choices. I went with the Pimm's Cup because he used the word "refreshing", and mentioned the cucumber in it. That sparked my curiosity because I immediately thought, hey, spiked spa water! And that's what it tasted like. So now you can skip the spa and have a Pimm's Cup and some jazz instead.
Now on with the show-- the food. The menu is Southern with a few unique twists. Instead of the usual crab cake appetizer you see all over town, The Auditorium offers a sweet potato crawfish cake with a creole honey mustard. I ordered it and found it was as good as it sounds. Mine could have stayed in the pan a smidge longer, but the flavor was definitely there. For my entree, I chose the pan-broiled delta catfish, with smoked Gouda grits, topped with roasted corn-tomato salsa and a Tabasco butter sauce. Anything that says "Tabasco", I'm in. It actually wasn't even that spicy, but I appreciated how it gave a usually bland catfish some flavor without drowning it in butter and garlic (ahem, AJ's). Some restaurants around here should pay attention to this as they are becoming one trick ponies with their fish. However, the star of the dish was the corn-tomato salsa. The texture of the corn with the creaminess of the grits and cheese was really, really good. It was more than I could eat as they weren't shy on the size of the portion. There was also a pretty pickled okra garnish that quietly reminded you you were in the South. The whole dish was beautiful: the reds of the fresh tomato, yellows of the corn and cheesy grits, white flaky fish in its sauce... hungry? ;-)
Anyway, I thought it rocked. I'd go back just for the atmosphere alone, but when the food was that good too, I thought I'd let you guys know about it. And I'm not even getting paid!
I wouldn't turn down a complementary Pimm's Cup, though.
M&F Bank tries to collect from Fish & Fisher
Seems as though someone listened to The Kingfish about Fish & Fisher after all. Back in June, the local firm won a $1.3 million arbitration award against Toyota. I wrote in my post about the award that the Fish & Fisher creditors should "GET YOUR MONEY WHILE YOU CAN" as I documented there were nearly $2 million in liens and judgements held by close to thirty individuals, businesses, and government agencies (These were completely omitted by the media.). Post about Fish & Fisher's troubled record.
Merchants and Farmers Bank filed a complaint on July 10, 2009 in Hinds County Chancery Court a Complaint for an Injunction, Declaratory Judgement, and for Other Relief against Fish & Fisher, Renna Fisher, Jaqcueline Williams, and L & T Construction for collection of $607,028 in defaulted notes and seeking a portion of the $1.3 million award. Copy of complaint
The complaint states M&F has a claim on the award and that "as shown by the correspondence attached here to as Exhibit "F", Fish & Fisher, Inc. apparently intends to put the arbitration award proceeds to something other than full payment of Bank's debt." Copy of exhibits. "F" is on page 43. Included in exhibits are copies of notes. M&F asked for an injunction to keep Fish & Fisher from spending or transferring any of the money without court approval until the "Bank's debt has been paid." Fish & Fisher is represented by Jackson attorney Precious Martin.
The complaint was removed to federal court as there was a federal question (the arbitration part of the promissory notes are apparently governed by federal law). Notice of Removal Meanwhile, an Involuntary Petition for Bankruptcy was filed (Chapter 7) in the Bankruptcy Court on August 7, 2009 by M&F Bank and other creditors ($693,450 in claims). Petition for Bankruptcy. The Court issued an Order for Relief in an Involuntary Case on September 23, 2009, stating the debtor was "served on August 26, 2009 and has failed to file any timely defense or pleading to the petition as required..". Thus Fish & Fisher was forced into bankruptcy.
Fish & Fisher filed Motion to Dismiss in the Bankruptcy Court claiming it was never served and that "it is not insolvent" and that the petition was an attempt to "circumvent" the case filed in Chancery Court in Hinds County. Eileen Shaffer represented Fish & Fisher. the Service of Process was filed with the Court on August 31, 2009 and stated a copy of the petition was mailed to Fish & Fisher on August 26, 2009.Copy of Service of Process filing.
There are currently other lawsuits pending against Fish & Fisher in Florida and Tennessee. They repeat the same pattern as the other suits and judgements mentioned in earlier posts. Contracts are made with Fish & Fisher. Fish is paid and either is accused of not doing the work or keeping money meant for others. Fish rarely responds in court to any of these complaints. Hence, judgements and liens are issued against the firm and the creditors stand in line with everyone else waiting for a Fish & Fisher to come into some money as they did in the arbitration award so they can attach it. Meanwhile the media takes up Fish & Fisher's cause against Barbour and Toyota while ignoring all of the businesses and individuals it stiffs.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Meredith Whitney on the upcoming credit crunch
Meredith Whitney writes in the Wall Street Journal the economy is going to slow down even more due to the credit crunch:
Since the onset of the credit crisis over two years ago, available credit to small businesses and consumers has contracted by trillions of dollars, and that phenomenon is reflected in dismal consumer spending trends. Equally worrisome are the trends in small-business credit, which has contracted at one of the fastest paces of any lending category. Small business loans are hard to find, and credit-card lines (a critical funding source to small businesses) have been cut by 25% since last year......
Why do small businesses matter so much? In the U.S., small businesses employ 50% of the country's workforce and contribute 38% of GDP. Without access to credit, small businesses can't grow, can't hire, and too often end up going out of business. What's more, small businesses are often the primary source of this country's innovation. Apple, Dell, McDonald's, Starbucks were all started as small businesses.
What's especially disturbing is how taxpayer dollars have supported "too big to fail" businesses yet left small businesses unassisted and at a significant disadvantage. Small businesses do not have the same access to government guarantees on their debt. After all, most of these small businesses don't issue public debt....
I believe that we are only in the early stages of the second half of this credit cycle. I expect another $1.5 trillion of credit-card lines to be removed from the system by the end of 2010. This includes not only the large lenders reducing exposure but also the shuttering of several major subprime credit-card lenders....
The next phase will likely be credit-line cuts as lenders race to pre-emptively protect themselves from regulatory changes associated with the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, passed in May of this year, and the 2008 Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices Act..."
What Ms. Whitney does not mention is that the expiration of the Bush tax cuts will also hurt small businesses as most small business owners file on their personal tax returns. No credit, no bailout, higher tax rates for 50% of the country's workforce. Green shoots.
Pogue & Dedousis families sue Irbys for $60 million
Copy of lawsuit
A $60 million dollar wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in Hinds County Circuit Court against Stuart and Karen Irby by the relatives of the deceased Dr. Daniel Mark Pogue and Dr. Lisa Dedousis for the wreck that killed the two residents on February 11, 2009. The lawsuit seeks $10 million each in compensatory damages from Karen and Stuart Irby as well as $40 million in punitive damages. The plaintiffs allege Karen Irby drove while intoxicated in a very reckless manner and that Stuart M. Irby, Sr. "negligently entrusted" Mrs. Irby with the use of the 2006 Mercedes he owned.
The Plaintiffs are Paul Steven Pogue (brother and Administrator of Estate), Susan Joiner (mother of Dr. Pogue), John Dedousis, Sr. (father), Madeline Dedousis (mother), and John Dedousis, Jr. (brother). The Plaintiffs demand a jury trial.
The lawsuit predictably claims Karen Irby "was, at the time of the accident, negligently operating the aforesaid 2006 model Mercedes automobile by driving carelessly, driving recklessly, driving too fast for the circumstances then and there existing, not maintaining proper control of the said automobile, failing to be alert while operating a motor vehicle on the roadway, failing to use due care for the safety of others, driving while under the influence of intoxicating alcohol and other acts of negligence per se which may be discovered in the course of this litigation."
The plaintiffs then get around to the issue of Mr. Irby's liability, accusing him of negligence as he was the owner of the Mercedes:
"as the owner of said motor vehicle, Defendant Stuart M. Irby had the sole and exclusive right to control the said motor vehicle and its use....
Stuart M. Irby is guilty of negligent entrustment of the said 2006 Mercedes to Karen C. Irby, whose acts of negligence and negligence per se in driving or otherwise operating the said motor vehicle which had been negligently entrusted to her were a direct and proximate cause (or were a proximate contributing cause) of the collision and the injuries, damages, and losses suffered by Daniel Mark Pogue and by the Pogue Plaintiffs; therefor such act of negligent entrustment by Defendant Stuart M. Irby is a proximate cause, or is a proximate contributing cause, of the collision aforesaid and of the injuries, damages, and losses suffered and sustained..."
The lawsuit also states Karen Irby was subject to blackouts and accuses Stuart Irby of letting her drive his car while knowing of said blackouts:
"Defendant Stuart M. Irby knew, or should have known, that Karen C. Irby was subject to experienceing "black outs" during which she lost consicousness and during which she would be unable to safely drive or operate a motor vehicle and, therefore, Defendant Stuart M. Irby knew, or should have known, that Karen C. Irby was incapablie of driving or operating the aforesaid Mercedes automobile safely...."
and that Karen Irby had a history of driving after drinking alcoholic beverages and driving while under the influence of intoxicating alcohol. One wonders exactly what the Plaintiffs are doing in making this claim. Mrs. Irby was arrested one time for refusal to take a DUI test (She was convicted in Justice Court, the County dismissed the prosecution in County Court). That seems a little weak to claim she had a "history" as there are no other arrests or convictions of Mrs. Irby for such violations. One can only speculate at what evidence the plaintiffs will produce to support such allegations. The complaint states Stuart Irby knew or should have known about this history and that his allowing her to drive thus constituted negligent entrustment on his part, thus making him liable to the plaintiffs for their loss.
The Plaintiffs charge the Defendants with the following Count I, Acts of Negligence, Negligence PER SE, And Intentional Acts of Defendant Karen C. Irby, and Count II, Acts of Negligence, Negligence PER SE, And Intentional Acts of Defendant Stuart M. Irby. The plaintiffs ask for $20 million in compensatory damages and $40 million in punitive damages.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Unemployment rate: oops!
The BLS released one little nugget of information in its report Friday that might cause some concern. It turns out as of March, it understated the number of unemployed by 824,000. See Table B. It won't announce the effect on the overall unemployment rate until February 2010. How convenient. The average revision has been .2%; it is .6% in this report. This of course, doesn't include job losses since March.
Click Here to Read More..
Russians helping Iran
Just more proof on how clueless or weak Obama is when it comes to placing sanctions on Iran. Going to be hard to do anything about Iran when Russia is helping them build nukes and the Chinese are constructing refineries in Iran. The Times of London reports:
"Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has handed the Kremlin a list of Russian scientists believed by the Israelis to be helping Iran to develop a nuclear warhead. He is said to have delivered the list during a mysterious visit to Moscow..... " Article
Saturday, October 3, 2009
George Bernard Shaw in his own words
He also defended Stalin's mass murder as well. H.G. Wells wasn't too far behind him either. Here is another one where he tells us in 1931 to "abolish" the Constitution.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Cast a Giant Shadow
Great scene from a great movie. Here is the female lead:
Steadivest scrum update
- Synopsis
- Travelstead Motion to Dismiss
- McCraney Notice to Remove
- Exhibits
Well, the Steadivest scrum is heating up as two of the defendants in the lawsuit have filed motions in court. The lawsuit claimed Steadivest and other defendants defrauded investors for millions of dollars in a sale of phony promissory notes. Defendant and Attorney Patrick McCraney, Jr. filed a motion to remove the lawsuit to federal court, claiming it belonged in the bankruptcy action. Fellow defendant Joel Travelstead filed a Motion to Dismiss and claimed he lost $200,000 to fellow defendant Marshall Wolfe. As this case has grown pretty complex, I've written a synopsis so that this case is easier for readers to follow.
Synopsis:
Steadivest is a "Family of companies" according to a letter written by its managing member, W. Marshall Wolfe. The family consists of Steadivest Capital, Steadivest Development, Steadivest Lending, Steadivest Properties, Steadivest Resources, and the Steadivest Contrarian Fund (Hereafter the "family" will be referred to as Steadivest.). It dabbled in mortgage lending, new construction, buying and selling real estate, renovating and flipping properties, and managing real estate portfolios for investors. It sold promissory notes to investors as well. Earlier post
Several individuals were connected with most of these companies: Marshall Wolfe, Patrick McCraney, Jr., and Jack Harrington. Patrick McRaney is listed as the registered agent for Steadivest Capital, LLC (formerly TFS, Tactical Financial Solutions) and the officer of the the Steadivest Contrarian Fund. Jack Harrington is listed as the member/officer of Steadivest Capital, Steadivest Resources, LLC and Steadivest, LLC. Marshall Wolfe is listed as the member/officer/director of Steadivest Capital, LLC, Steadivest Properties, the registered agent of Steadivest Development, LLC, and the officer of Steadivest Lending (now defunct). These individuals also were listed according to an SEC filing as the executive officers for a fund called the Investlinc/TFS Income Fund. Lee Paris was listed as a promoter of the fund and the majority owner was another company owned and operated by Wolfe. It should be pointed out this was a fund and not Investlinc Securities that is also owned by Mr. Paris.
Several investors sought a temporary restraining order against Steadivest in March. TRO post with copy of petition. Several days later Steadivest filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, thus quashing the TRO request. The investors then filed a motion in bankruptcy court as creditors asking the Court to convert the Chapter 11 filing to a Chapter 7, alleging Wolfe was only filing bankruptcy for one company (where all the debts were placed) while operating his other companies. The Court agreed and converted the 11 to a 7 and all Steadivest companies were placed under the same filing.
The investors then filed a lawsuit in Rankin County Circuit Court claiming Wolfe, Harrington, McCraney, Investlinc/TFS Income Fund, Steadivest, Justin Adcock, and former partner Joel Travelstead committed fraud and operated a Ponzi scheme with their money. Earlier post, includes copy of lawsuit. Investlinc recently filed a Motion to Dismiss and claimed Wolfe was never an employee or officer of Investlinc and that he "fleeced" Investlinc as well. Investlinc claimed "As he did with the Steadivest Companies, Wolfe deceived, betrayed, and victimized the Investlinc Fund and its investors." Post on Motion to Dismiss filed by Investlinc. Several of the investors were close to Wolfe: his next-door neighbors, childhood friends, members of his church, and members of his wife's family.
It should also be pointed out Bancorp South fired Wolfe for selling unregistered securities (promissory notes) to his Bancorp South clients for a company he was operating "on the side" in 2004. The bank then reported his actions to the Securities Division of the Secretary of State. The State fined him $10,000 and suspended his license for one year. The State also fined MTW, the "side company" $10,000, of which Travelstead was a part-owner and cited Travelstead as an active participant in the violation. Post on discplinary actions. Travelstead ceased his association with the Wolfe/Steadivest companies in 2007 and now claims he was victimized by Wolfe as well.
Jackson Jambalaya also examined the deeds for dozens of properties owned by Steadivest in Hinds and Madison counties. The deeds of trust for many of them were suspicious in nature as they showed liens placed on them by Investlinc/TFS Income Fund only a few weeks before Steadivest filed its bankruptcy petition. JJ also discovered a warranty deed for a property in the Reunion subdivision in Madison County that was transferred from Steadivest to Jack Harrington, a member of Steadivest Capital. Post on possible shell games
Travelstead's Motion to Dismiss
Joel Travelstead filed a Motion to Dismiss on September 28, 2009 in Rankin County Circuit Court in response to the lawsuit filed against him by the Steadivest investors. The Motion states Travelstead severed all ties with these companies in 2007 and the Plaintiffs make no specific allegation of fraud or misrepresentation against him and that the action against him is vague. He claims he lost $200,000 after he left the company and has the same rights as they to recovery.
Copy of Motion to Dismiss
McCraney's Motion to Remove
McCraney filed in U.S. District Court in Jackson a Notice of Removal on September 30, 2009. The Notice argues all claims made by Plaintiffs are subject to binding arbitration agreements they allegedly signed. McCraney then argues the subject of the lawsuit is a matter for the Bankruptcy Court and the Court should determine if the Bankruptcy Court is the "appropriate forum". It should be noted McCraney listed Cynthia Speetjeens as counsel along with Judson Lee. Such an association requires no further comment. Copy of Motion to Remove
The pattern thus becomes more clear: several defendants are filing motions to dismiss and all claiming Wolfe victimized them as well. Translation: Everyone is throwing Wolfe under the bus. Wolfe's home is still for sale and its listing price was reduced from $879,900 to $749,000. It was first listed last fall for over a million dollars.
Exhibits
Several commentors accused this blog of favoring one side of the lawsuit by not including all of the exhibits filed by the Plaintiffs. Several have been posted already, here are the rest.
Exhibit 1 : A document prepared by Tactical Financial Solution (TFS). TFS later was renamed as Steadivest Capital and Jack Harrington and Marshall Wolfe were listed as members, McCraney as registered agent. The exhibit is 80 pages. Page 15 gives the bios of the management team.
Exhibit 2 : another document given to investors and prospects. It is 56 pages.
Exhibit 3 : more agreements, proformas, and information for investors Click Here to Read More..
Surprise: Most readers Bulldogs or Rebels
Most JJ readers are Ole Miss and MSU fans according to a recent poll. USM, way to represent and JSU, well, we won't even mention you guys. I'm ready for tomorrow although I'm picking UGA. Until we learn how to block, our D line can actually stop a running play, and our qb quits taking five-step drops, its going to be a four or five loss season. I'm still picking Ole Miss to lose four games. Nutt is the Dale Brown of SEC coaches.
LSU | 21 (8%) |
Mississippi State | 76 (29%) |
Alabama | 9 (3%) |
USM | 30 (11%) |
JSU | 5 (1%) |
Georgia | 3 (1%) |
Tulane | 3 (1%) |
Tennessee | 2 (0%) |
Auburn | 5 (1%) |
Texas | 2 (0%) |
Florida | 0 (0%) |
Ole Miss | 84 (32%) |
Notre Dame | 1 (0%) |
Oklahoma | 5 (1%) |
USC | 3 (1%) |
Anyone Oe Miss plays | 4 (1%) |
Kentucky | 0 (0%) |
Texas A&M | 1 (0%) |
Arkansas | 0 (0%) |
Anyone Notre Dame plays | 3 (1%) |
Meechigan | 4 (1%) |
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Hey Kaze,
I saw you wrote this yesterday:
"The most exciting thing about it, though, is the new-found attitude that is washing over Jacksonians. A city that once adopted a "loser's mentality" is now thinking like a winner. Thinking big. I revel in the fact that naysayers are being drowned out by a chorus of "projacks." Blogs that used to overflow with negative comments are now being challenged, refuted and ignored by those who are tired of settling for second best.
Message to the naysayers: No one is listening to you. We have sat back long enough and let you down our city. Don't speak ill of our city and mask it as "concern." Sure, we've got issues. Sure, there are some things we could be doing better. But big cities have big-city problems, no? Everybody's on board with this Renaissance. You should be, too.
And that's the truth ... sho-nuff." Column
WHO exactly are you talking about? What blogs down Jackson? Othor Cain? Y'all Politics? Ipse Blogit? Jackson Frugalista? NMisscommentor? Exactly WHO do you mean? They haven't bad-mouthed Jackson. If you're going to throw out that little charge, why don't you back it up? Or is this something else like your little bout of plagiarism when you got caught making up things about Conservatives and passing off someone else's work as your own. If you mean by negative comments holding our leaders and media accountable, then by all means will this website be negative just as it also praises them when they do a great job. If you didn't mean this blog, then exactly who did you mean? I suspect this column was Kaze making up something in order to get a headline. Its pretty easy when as a rapper you are used to making things up as you go along onstage without actually having to get your facts right.
Sign of the times.
Well that was nice. Called Congressman Harper's Washington office to get a copy of H.B. 3200 mailed to me. I thought I'd be able to get a copy of it, as I was able to back in the 90's when Hillarycare was debated. I know, it's on the internet, but 1,000 pages online is a pain to read and much more of a pain to print. Apparently I can't get a hard copy of the bill through Harper's office as I have for years. Mr. Ty seemed happy to get rid of me as I'm sure the office hates being bugged by pesky little constituents who actually want to read these bills. Maybe I'm weird, but considering how many dollars we send to Washington and how many more dollars they are borrowing supposedly on our behalf, I think they should be able to provide us with a copy of such important legislation within reason whenever we ask for it. Hopefully this isn't a reflection on the constituent services his office provides, or maybe I was just plain spoiled by Pickering and Parker.
Click Here to Read More..
Upper Level Club sues Melton Estate, JPD, Shirlene, Melton Bodyguards
Copy of lawsuit
Sandra Moore Johnson, Tonarri Moore, and the Upper Level Bar & Grill filed a lawsuit against the City of Jackson, JPD, the Estate of Frank Melton, former JPD Police Chief Shirlene Anderson, Marcus Wright, Michael Recio, and several John Does on August 16 the U.S. District Court for the Southern District in Jackson.
The suit claims the defendants "illegally entered the Plaintiff's business without probable cause, without a search warrant, consent to search or exigent circumstances, and searched areas of the Plaintiff's business." Moore "videotaped the Defendants for protection from Defendants' illegal activity. " According to Moore, the videotaping angered the Defendants. Moore alleges Wright ordered the video taping to stop and placed Moore under arrest for doing so. The complaint further alleges "while handcuffed and in the custody of the defendants, Moore was brutally attacked by Defendants who rushed from inside the (Mobile Command) unit" and that the "Defendants made no attempt to protect Moore from the attacks." The suit further claims Melton was "intoxicated".
The suit charges the defendants with the following causes of action:
Count I: Unlawful search and seizure (federal claim)
Count II: Unlawful search and seizure (state claim)
Count III: Section 1983 claim (federal law allowing personal lawsuits against public officials)
Count IV: Freedom of Experession
Count V: Freedom of Association (first amendment federal)
Count VI: Selective prosecution (14th Amendment Equal Protection claim)
Count VII: Procedural & Substantive Due Process (14th amendment federal)
Count VIII: Procedural & Substantive Due Process (Federal Claim)
Count IX: Tortuous Interference with Contract Causation and Injury
Count X: Liability of Individual defendants
The Plaintiffs demand damages in the amount of $7,500,000 plus court costs, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorney's fees.
Schimmel's Update
More problems face Schimmels as Blue Cross filed a motion to compel payment of $3,843 in health insurance premiums on September 16, 2009. Blue Cross claims they entered into an agreement with Schimmels to provide health insurance after the filing of the bankruptcy petition. Copy of motion
The Mississippi State Tax Commission also filed on September 15, 2009 before a Response to Debtor's Objection to the Mississippi State Tax Commission's Claim. The MSTC stated "The Mississippi State Tax Commission filed a secured claim in the amount of $33,344.85, a priority claim in the amount of $52,307.10 and a general unsecured claim in the amount of $20,856.97 for withholding, sales and special city/county taxes. Please see a copy of the MSTC’s Proof of Claim filed herein as claim no. 6 on the Claims Register." The Commission states Schimmels has been making late tax payments since 2005 and is subject to a 50% penalty on late payments. Copy of Response
Clearly Schimmels is still in trouble. Hopefully the changes Mr. Schimmel is making to the restaurant will spark a rebound in its fortunes as it should be a real jewel in Fondren.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
One entity junks the interest rate swaps
Looks like Forrest County General Hospital got smart about interest rate swap agreements:
"Fitch Ratings has assigned an 'A' rating to the expected issuance of $44,990,000 Mississippi Hospital Equipment and Facilities Authority's series 2009 refunding bonds issued for the benefit of Forrest County General Hospital (FCGH). Fitch also affirms the rating on the hospital's outstanding series 2007 and 2000 bond issues. The Rating Outlook is Stable.
Bond proceeds will be used to current refund the hospital's outstanding series 2007 bond issue, fund the termination payment associated with a swap issued in conjunction with the series 2007 bond issue, and pay for costs of issuance. The bonds will be issued as unenhanced fixed-rate bond issue, on parity with existing hospital debt and secured by ageneral obligation of the hospital under the bond documents...."
Earlier this year Reuters reported "FCGH entered into both a floating-to-fixed interest rate swap agreement and a basis-swap agreement related to the series 2007A bonds for a notional amount of $46 million. As of FYE 2008, the swaps had a negative market value of $6.2 million." Article
Some are starting to wake up. Rick Hill, are you paying attention?
New at Bryant Galleries
After Church” Mixed Medium 35” x 30.5” by Kennith Humphrey $3,400
“Mississippi Autumn” Oil 30” x 48” by Melanie Atkinson $2,000
“Sky Walkers” Oil 20” x 16” by Paul Fayard $950
“Camellias in Silver” Oil 24” x 12” by Melanie Atkinson $700
"No combination of growth and taxes can fund our liabilities"
If no video appears, watch in Explorer. Some good information here.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The Madison Ark
What is the real scoop on what was going on at this animal shelter? For some reason I'm getting the idea we don't know the whole story here. By the way, here is some info on the complainant if you are interested.
Click Here to Read More..
Nathan Glenn cooks tonight at The Auditiorium
Chef Nathan Glenn cooks tonight at The Auditorium. Come see one of Mississippi's leading chefs provide a cooking show rarely seen in Jackson. The show starts at 6:00 PM. Tickets are $15.
Fannie Mae DQ's increase, Expert predicts further housing fall
Page 3, Table 9. Meanwhile, Fannie Mae finally got around to requiring all loans have a minimum 620 credit score. Press Release But wait, what about the green shoots? The NAR says things are getting better. Happy days are here again. Well, here is what some experts at Amherst Securities had to say last week:
"Recent analysis by the Amherst Securities Group indicates the housing industry will not only worsen as a delayed pipeline of foreclosed loans begins to liquidate, but that the Administration’s Making Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) will have no lasting effect on keeping delinquent loans current.
The early signs of stabilization seen among housing industry observers may soon recede as an overhang of the shadow inventory of foreclosures waits to enter the market.
The general outlook that the housing market has bottomed is “premature” optimism, according to analysis this week from Amherst."
The Fannie Mae report mentioned above bears this out as delinquincies have doubled from a year ago. Amherst's Lori Goodman said on Bloomberg this morning that their research showed there was a 95% chance of foreclosure if one house payment was missed.
"The single largest impediment to a recovery in the housing market is the large number of loans that are either in delinquent status or in foreclosure that are destined to liquidate,” analyst Laurie Goodman said in an insight report Wednesday.
Amherst estimates this “shadow inventory” at around 7m housing units, or 135% of a full year of existing home sales, compared with 1.27m units in this bucket in early 2005. The backlog is due to high transition rates, low cure rates and a longer timeline for loan liquidation — in other words, loans continue to transition into the delinquency/ foreclosure pipeline at a rapid pace, but are moving out at a very slow pace.
The loans, however, are “destined to liquidate” and will impact the signs of recovery seen in recent months by pulling down house prices through distressed sales.
“We are concerned that, in light of this housing overhang, the stabilization we have seen in home prices the last few months is temporary,” Goodman added...." Article
Latest JJ poll: Republican Presidential nominee
Vote in the latest JJ poll: Who do you support for the Republican presidential nomination. Vote early and often, no Voter ID is required.
Click Here to Read More..
NSRC: No room for uppity Blacks?
Redstate published the following post written by someone at the California Republican state convention:
"I’m writing to tell you about the loose talk here about Carly and the NRSC, emanating from the friends of Larry Elder.
You know Larry Elder: the African-American, Californian, libertarian, popular radio host and firebrand. He’s been around for a while, and he’s a solid presence on the California media-and-politics scene. Elder is a serious name and presence among California Republicans. He just wrapped up his radio show. “Why,” you might ask, “doesn’t Larry Elder run for the Senate?”
There is an answer accorinding to many of Elder’s friends at the Republican Convention — Senator Cornyn and the NRSC told him not to.
Here’s the story that is circulating at the convention: Back in the spring, Elder went to Washington to sit down with John Cornyn and the NRSC, and ask for their support for a bid for U.S. Senate against Barbara Boxer. Cornyn and the NRSC told him the following:
1. If Elder chose to run, they would not support him.
2. The NRSC was already committed to supporting Carly Fiorina
3. The NRSC expected Fiorina to lose against Boxer, but expected her to tie up Democrat resources in the meantime.
So Larry Elder came back to California and did not run. You know the rest: he’s watched the Fiorina campaign move from crisis to crisis (failure to vote, Iran sales, revelation of no self-funding, no CRP attendance, this Rasmussen poll, that website, etc.), and feeling increasingly frustrated. It’s probably too late for him to enter and Larry is hot under the collar that Cornyn gave him such terrible advice. So he’s talking to his friends — and his friends are talking to us — and I’m talking to you.
How incompetent is this? The NRSC actually told a popular African-American with statewide name recognition to NOT run? Last I checked, our party isn’t overflowing with those..." Redstate article
Results of JJ poll on The Auditorium
Ran a little poll last week about things you might like to see at The Auditorium and tried to offer a vary diverse set of choices. I was somewhat surprised by the winning choice: comedy. We haven't had a comedy venue in a long time in Jackson and that might be something that works. I wish the debate choice had received more votes as I think it would be pretty cool to have a formal debate, a la Firing Line where you could enjoy a mean and a brew while watching a serious debate about health care reform or Two Lakes. Wine tastings apparently received quite a bit of support as well and of course, concerts were a leading selection. Its about time we had such a venue in Jackson that offered the possibility of so many different events.
Art shows/exhibits | 36 (27%) |
Plays/theater | 27 (20%) |
Concerts | 43 (32%) |
Movies | 18 (13%) |
Formal debates | 17 (12%) |
Cooking shows/events | 21 (16%) |
Wine tastings | 39 (29%) |
Comedy | 43 (32%) |
Beer tastings | 36 (27%) |
Business networking events | 7 (5%) |
Speed dating events | 7 (5%) |
High school/college arts performances | 11 (8%) |
Poetry nights | 6 (4%) |
Sports forums/discussions | 13 (9%) |
Book signings/readings | 21 (16%) |
Town Halls (calm ones) | 14 (10%) |
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday Night Under The Lights now live from The Auditorium
The Auditorium Restaurant announces the Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) radio show Friday Night Under the Lights will now broadcast live from The Auditorium Restaurant every Friday night throughout the high school football season. The only statewide high school football scoreboard show in Mississippi will air from 10 p.m. until midnight in front of a live audience.
For ten years, host Russ Robinson has been giving listeners the latest scores and updates on Mississippi high school football. Robinson is joined this season by co-host Kim Tanner. Tanner is a veteran in sports broadcasting and has been the on-field reporter for the Mississippi High School Activities Association Championship football games for the last seven years.
The Auditorium Restaurant invites any high school football fan to come join the excitement by being a part of the studio. Admission is FREE and area high school teams, coaches and fans are encouraged to come and take part in this live broadcast. For a listing of radio stations where you can hear the show visit its website. The Auditorium is located in the historic Fondren District of Jackson, Mississippi at 622 Duling Avenue. For more information on The Auditorium and upcoming concerts and events go to The Auditorium's website or call 601-982-0002.
Transcript of Palin's Hong Kong speech
Sarah Palin gave a much-publicized speech in Hong Kong last week. While MSNBC and its apostles beat her up and tell you what she said, I'll follow the policy of Jackson Jambalaya and give you access to the original speech itself. Here is a transcript of the speech from Palin's Facebook page. She discusses the role of bailouts, fighting Islamic jihadism, Afghanistan, China policy, and free trade policy. Its worth reading and will give you a different picture of what she said than did the accounts provided by Time, MSNBC, and the rest of the media.
Click Here to Read More..
WSJ on future of newspapers
Peter Kann, former publisher of the Wall Street Journal, penned a column in Saturday's edition on the future of newspapers and what is wrong with the newspaper industry. Copy of column Makes some very valid points that stand out in stark contrast to this earlier statement by the Clarion-Ledger's Ronnie Agnew. Kann writes:
"Imagine yourself the proprietor of a venerable and profitable business whose success is based on the quality of your distinctive product, the brand loyalty of your customers, and the fair price they are willing to pay for the value you provide.
Then you hire some bright young managers who develop a new and improved version of your product that can be distributed faster and accessed more conveniently than the old one. The new version—essentially a repackaging since core components are the same—appeals to traditional and new customers. No mystery there, since unlike the older version, for which you still charge, the new one is given away for free.
Consequently, your total customer base grows but your revenues do not. Your profits shrink as the free version lures customers from the paid one. You begin to wonder whether there might be a little flaw in your new business model, whether perhaps you should have charged for the new and improved version, but all the experts now tell you it is too late for that...."
The obvious choice is to change the model but everyone says you can't do that because the customers are used to getting their online information for free. They can be used to it all they want, right up until the day when their online sources go out of business. Kann continues:
"a business analyst landing here from Mars logically might question why an unwieldy newsprint product, stale as soon as it rolls off the press and not updated till another sun rises, should not be free whereas the new Internet product, offering all the same news plus more and evolving as does the news around the clock, should not be worth a pretty price? An even wiser Martian might conclude that customers should be given a choice, or offered a combination, but that they should be expected to pay for both...."
Seems as though I've written this before on this website. I compare it to offering MS Office 2007 for free while selling MS Office 97 for $150. Think that would allow Microsoft to stay in business for long? Kann blames newspapers for changing their models to depend more on advertising revenue:
"If publishers were at fault here for chasing ever larger audiences, editors and even reporters all too often were complicit. The list of modern journalistic flaws and failings is long, but surely includes the blurring of traditional lines between news and opinion and news and entertainment, predatory pack journalism, an undue emphasis on conflict rather than context, pessimism and cynicism (as differentiated from appropriate skepticism and criticism), social orthodoxy, elitism, flea-like attention spans, and more. Yes, the traditional newsprint medium was becoming less appealing, but its messages also were becoming less enlightening. (Gee, this wouldn't apply to our local newspaper, would it?)
In any case, by the time Internet editions arrived, the prevailing philosophy in most publishing companies already was that customers could not be expected to pay much for content, that it was easier simply to rely on advertising. The new Internet editions were merely the ultimate extension of that trend: free news to the consumer, total reliance on the advertiser...."
This of course led to the predictable outcome: fewer paying customers and even less advertising revenue as advertising revenue derived from the internet doesn't even come close to that gained from print editions. The newspapers lost more revenue when search sites such as Craig's List and Monster.com appeared on the horizon. Kann states the WSJ faced a dilemma over ten years ago: adopt a free version or charge subscription prices for the online editions:
"At the dawn of the era of online editions this newspaper, like all the others, was faced with a free or pay choice. At the time, I was chairman of Dow Jones, the Journal's parent company, and virtually alone we chose to charge for our online content. The reasons for this have been the subject of much ensuing speculation...."
People say, "yeah, but its the Wall Street Journal, of course they were successful in charging subscriptions. Such arguments miss the point. The key to the paper's success is it offers information not published anywhere else I.e., it is a unique product. Newspapers such as the Clarion-Ledger are in similar niches as no one else publishes the local news as thoroughly as they do:
"The real threat is to the future of news—informative, relevant, reliable news of the wider world around us. And that is disappearing as newspapers, whose reporting staffs still produce most of the news, no longer can afford to do so. As their news budgets and staffs continue to shrink, the key question is what can fill that gap?
Television does not begin to fill it. To the extent broadcast networks ever tried they now have abdicated to so-called cable news channels. These, in turn, now devote most of their resources to covering celebrities, crimes and sundry social trivia and to prime-time programming that pretends to be analysis and informed opinion while mostly offering the spectacle of extremist heads yelling at each other. There are few resources and even less commitment to covering significant news beyond floods and fires.
The Internet is not filling news vacuums either. There are hundreds upon hundreds of online sites and blogs that claim to provide news, but virtually none of them even pretend to pursue the traditional news role of newspapers, which is to invest in professional staffs dispersed around a community and across the country or the globe to cover, analyze, and only then comment on, events. Actually, all they do is comment. (He is correct. Lets be honest here. The blogs in Mississippi mainly publish opinion pieces and links to news articles. This blog has made an attempt to offer some original news stories but the goal is still to provide informed commentary, whether the informed part comes from other news sources or own investigative efforts.)
As to all the free online editions of our newspapers, their business model does not begin to cover the cost of significant news reporting. So the online editions with growing audiences—largely cannibalized from print audiences—rely on the poor print editions for almost all the news they give away. Sadly, there is less and less of that, and the ultimate loser, of course, is the public."
Sunday, September 27, 2009
CNBC Food Fight
Came across this one between, surprise, Santelli and Liesman from earlier in the year. Its a pretty good one. If no video appears, watch in IE.
The Israeli attack on Iran
The Wall Street Journal published an essay yesterday that thoroughly examines Israel's military options in attacking Iran:
"One of the fundamental problems dogging Israel, especially concerning short-ranged fighters and fighter-bombers, is distance. Iran's potential targets are between 950 and 1,400 miles from Israel, the far margin of the ranges Israeli fighters can reach, even with aerial refueling. Israel would be hard-pressed to destroy all of Iran's best-known targets. What's more, Iran has had years in which to build up covert facilities, disperse elements of its nuclear and missile programs, and develop options for recovering from such an attack.
Most analyses of a possible Israeli attack focus on only three of Iran's most visible facilities: its centrifuge facilities at Natanz, its light water nuclear power reactor near Bushehr, and a heavy water reactor at Arak it could use to produce plutonium. They are all some 950 to 1,000 miles from Israel. Each of these three targets differs sharply in terms of the near-term risk it poses to Israel and its vulnerability.......
srael has fighters, refueling tankers and precision-guided air-to-ground weapons to strike at all of these targets—even if it flies the long-distance routes needed to avoid the most critical air defenses in neighboring Arab states. It is also far from clear that any Arab air force would risk engaging Israeli fighters. Syria, after all, did not attempt to engage Israeli fighters when they attacked the reactor being built in Syria. In August 2003, the Israeli Air Force demonstrated the strategic capability to strike far-off targets such as Iran by flying three F-15 jets to Poland, 1,600 nautical miles away. Israel can launch and refuel two to three full squadrons of combat aircraft for a single set of strikes against Iran, and provide suitable refueling. Israel could also provide fighter escorts and has considerable electronic-warfare capability to suppress Iran's aging air defenses. It might take losses to Iran's fighters and surface-to-air missiles, but such losses would probably be limited.
Israel would, however, still face two critical problems. The first would be whether it can destroy a hardened underground facility like Natanz. The second is that a truly successful strike might have to hit far more targets over a much larger area than the three best-known sites. Iran has had years to build up covert and dispersed facilities, and is known to have dozens of other facilities associated with some aspect of its nuclear programs. Moreover, Israel would have to successfully strike at dozens of additional targets to do substantial damage to another key Iranian threat: its long-range missiles......" Essay
Notice the essay says nothing about the use of ground troops, special forces, anti- government elements in Iran, or submarine-launched cruise missiles (Article on cruise missile capability). Given how many years Iran has been on Israel's radar, especially for funding and supporting Hezbollah, I wouldn't bet the Mossad has much better intelligence than we do about Iran. Most of the so-called analysis on a possible attack focuses on air power and ignore other factors. Few operations that have been as heavily publicized as this one follow the predicted plan.
Dear Daddy
Wanted to say Happy Birthday to you today! You are the best Papa any little knucklehead could ask for. I wove you.
Happy Birthday,
Louis XIV
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Obama watches over us
If video doesn't work in Firefox, switch to Explorer. For some reason blogger and Firefox have not been meshing well on videos lately.
Friday, September 25, 2009
The Cult of the Book?
Florence King in National Review:
"But one thing I can't forgive is their Cult of the Book (They being grassroots conservatives.). As soon as I saw the "Ayn Rand was right" signs at one town hall meeting I knew: People who rarely read one book at all were reading Atlas Shrugged. I read it when it came out in '57 and still remember groaning halfway through "OK, I get it! You can stop now!". But Rand didn't and the grassy roots didn't. Some people read fifty books a year and others read one book fifty times, and you can always tell the difference by the pile-driving insistence on reiterating their points they bring to town hall meetings."
Conservative sourpuss or elitist? I report, you decide.
Needless to say...
The Arkansas and LSU fans are having fun today. Spurrier outcoached Nutt last night. The Ole Miss D played very well and kept what should have been a blowout very close and gave the offense a chance to win the game. The offense looked sloppy and unfocused. Nutt waited until the fourth quarter to turn his best player loose then screwed the team with that stupid gimmick call at the end. Before the season I thought Ole Miss would lose four games as Nutt's teams at Arkansas tended to underachieve when they were picked to do very well and overachieved when they weren't picked to do well at all. In short, I've always thought of him as the Dale Brown of SEC college football coaches. The O Line better learn to block because Saban's defense will eat Snead alive if they play like they did last night.
I still pick LSU to lose four games. Bama and Florida are sure losses and UGA, Ole Miss, Auburn, and Arkansas probably have at least two more losses in there. A brand new starting qb (again) for LSU plus a defense that is improving but still learning new schemes and there is a certain level of intensity I'm not seeing.
Netanyahu spells it out
Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Netanyahu's speech to the UN yesterday. He doesn't pull any punches in defending Israel. Meanwhile, here is a pretty good article on the growth of anti-Zionism and the hatred of Israel written by a former Director of the Simon Weisenthal Center.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Dale Brown: "I'll show you"
Found this little gem online. I haven't forgotten what a nutjob Dale Brown was when he was the basketball coach at LSU but this article brings back some memories:
"Forty-one years passed, and Dale Brown heard the alarms ringing and the people shouting once more, this time about his conduct as LSU basketball coach. Both the FBI and the NCAA were on his campus, and the press and fans and other coaches were zeroing in on LSU and him. Where there's Dale Brown there's fire. "Everybody," says a rival SEC coach, "thinks he's cheating."
"Dale Brown is so vulnerable, they'll reopen Devil's Island if he's done anything wrong," says Al McGuire.
No longer did Brown hide when he felt threatened. He attacked. He telephoned reporters at all hours of the night to refute their stories. He cried again and again for reform of NCAA rules on scholarship athletes. He tape-recorded his phone calls and team meetings, stockpiling evidence. He threatened to reveal information that he said would buckle the country's top basketball universities.
He slapped his right biceps and demanded that the NCAA attach him to a polygraph machine in front of a roomful of witnesses. "I will resign right now if everything I've said isn't 100—ever hear a coach say this before?—100 percent honest. That's a pretty powerful statement I'm making. If the NCAA tries to nail me, I'll blow away the top 10 programs in the country. I could give them enough information [about other schools] to keep them busy for the next 2½ millennia.
See why I want to get out of coaching? I feel like I'm in the rifle scope of an assassin. I just want to be with my friends. Where else does a 50-year-old man chase a 17-year-old athlete? That's called pimpin' and hookin'. I hate it. When I go see another basketball game and watch the coach yelling at the referee and the players, I think, 'That's me. I must look like an absolute moron.' God, I'd be so happy to be in a village in Yugoslavia, sipping wine and eating bread and cheese. Why do I beat myself to death?..." Rest of article">
