Jackson Jambalaya

The Market Ticker argues GE is under attack:
This insanity is caused by the CDS feedback loop; here's how it works.
I buy a CDS on GE (a few weeks ago) for a couple hundred basis points ($200,000 per $10 million)
The SELLER of that CDS protects against possibly having to pay by shorting whatever he can against that short credit position. This means he buys PUTs, he shorts the common, he does whatever he needs to in order to lay off that risk. He does this because if GE goes bankrupt their stock would presumably go to zero; therefore, if he has a potential $10 million exposure on the CDS he will short $10 million face value of the common stock, or buy enough PUTs to pay him $10 million if the stock goes to zero.
The PUT writer (assuming he buys PUTs), being a market-maker, will in turn short the common to lay off the risk as well.
This hammers the stock price which then reflects into the pricing models for the CDS, driving them higher.
This cycle repeats; unfortunately credit rating models include market cap as one of their inputs, which causes a credit downgrade (eventually.)
That in turn adds more pressure.
This cycle is repeated until the company is destroyed.
Why is this not a problem with options and straight short sales?
Because with both straight short sales and PUT purchases the short side is required to post margin every night, and if the price goes the wrong way they get an immediate margin call and are required to buy that position back at a loss. That in turn puts pressure UPWARDS on share price and arrests the slide.
As such the people selling short (whether stock or listed options) do not dare short in unlimited amounts, because if they get caught on the wrong side of a squeeze they are dead.
The enforcement of risk against the people betting on a bankruptcy through regulated instruments puts a natural limit on their activity and prevents an unwarranted "death spiral".
But in the CDS world there is no mark-to-market margin supervision, because there is no central counterparty supervising exposure and demanding it.
As a consequence it is only the counterparty and the written document that can demand collateral posting and usually that is either on an infrequent schedule (monthly, quarterly, annually or on an "event") or in some cases not at all provided the writer maintains some specific credit rating criteria themselves!
Without nightly margin supervision on CDS short positions these vehicles have turned into the means to launch monstrous focused attacks on specific companies; the buyer has limited risk and virtually unlimited reward.
This is exactly like me buying fire insurance on your house, and in addition I can name the amount of insurance I want to buy, even exceeding the house's value!
How nervous will you get if I buy $10 million in "fire insurance" against your $100,000 bungalow and then start stacking up gasoline cans in my driveway?
As a direct and proximate cause of this ability to distort the market it becomes possible to create self-fulfilling prophecies almost on demand, with the people doing it profiting handsomely - at the expense of American workers and otherwise-sound companies.
This form of exploitation of the market must stop.
As I have repeatedly noted "The Bezzle" will be removed from our financial system one way or another. The problem with what we're doing now - refusing to address this issue - means that we will see companies dismantled one-by-one using this "tool" until huge parts of our corporate structure are laid waste, whether they deserve it or not.
Had CDS been "common" during the 2000-03 tech wreck Cisco and many other sound firms (Amazon anyone?) would not now exist as a public company as they would have been driven to zero by this very same vehicle.
President Obama: You can stop this with the stroke of a pen. Issue an executive order today that says:
"Naked", that is, CDS that are not insuring an actual bond, which are not traded on a public exchange with nightly margin supervision, are uncollectable as contrary to the public interest.
ALL CDS, covering a bond or not, are uncollectable six months hence unless they are traded on a public exchange with nightly margin supervision.
This will force all CDS onto a public exchange and stop OTC dealing in these instruments. It will stop dead the writing of these instruments without the capital behind them to pay. It will stop the speculative attacks right now, resolve most of the AIG issue immediately, and within six months put a stop to all abuse of the CDS marketplace."
Read the rest of the Ticker

Karl will be on Kim Wade's radio show Tuesday at 5:10 CST.

Meet Republican State Senator Joey Fillingane. He was one of four senators who voted to kill voter ID. He recently voted to kill a bill that would have opened up public records to Mississippians. Even though he is from the Hattiesburg area, he authored a bill last year that would have established a "green zone" in downtown jackson, doubling criminal penalties for all crime in downtown while not allowing for any parole. Translation: If you were raped or robbed in Northeast Jackson, you wouldn't get the same justice if you had suffered the same fate in downtown Jackson.

For all of these votes, the state senator has earned his merit badge from Tool Academy because when it comes down to it Senator Fillingane, you're just a tool.

Note: What should the Senator's name be while at Tool Academy?

Congratulations to Gino's for winning the "Favorite Restaurant in Jackson" poll this week. Gino's, a slice of Italian heaven. Arancine for an appetizer. Lawrence Bread. Chicken Agrigento or any of the other dishes (Best lasagna I've ever had). Cappucine flavored with Nocello. no wine list but a wine book. An owner who is an 80 year-old woman from Sicily, not even five feet tall, and still runs the kitchen. Its on Bennington in Baton Rouge. Here are the poll results:

Basils 24 (15%), Walkers 19 (12%), Ticos 12 (7%), Keifers & Pizza Shack 10 (6%), Bravo! & Nicks 9 (5%), Little Tokyo 6 (3%), AJ's Seafood & Grill, Jerusalem Cafe, Olga's, Shapleys, &
Char 4 (2%), Amerigo's, Pig Out, Juleps, Sal & Mookies, & Kathryn's 3 (1%), Parker House, Elies, Panasia, & Brent's Drugs 2 (1%), Nagoya, Fanin Mart, Two Sisters, Bonsai, China Bell, Ichibans, Sal and Phils, Peaches, Ginos, Rochez, Hickory Pit, & Steamroom Grill 1 (0%)

While it is true Basils got the most votes, this is my poll and my site so therefore I am declaring Gino's the winner. Congratulations to the Marino family.

As for this Jindal fellow, who quite knows what to think? In the more colorful days of my youth I took quite a shine to the mystics of the East Indies, not to mention that culture's astonishingly encyclopedic catalogues of sexual positions. As teenagers in 1968, my chalet mate Kloonkie Von Wallensheim and I took a sabbatical from our studies at Swiss finishing school for a stint at a Punjabi ashram, to learn Accidental Transgression or similar hippie era hooey from Yogi Rama Booboo, or somesuch fakir who now fades from memory; although, I recall now in my maturity that was mostly a flimsy excuse we concocted to our manservants for the chance to indulge in hallucinogenic benders with John, Paul, George and Ringo. As a result I have a special fondness for the subcontinent, and so was understandably intrigued when I first heard about this young Hindu chap on the hustings in Louisiana. It has long been my conviction that conservatives need to reach out to the duskier demographics, and so I was eager to see how he incorporated sitars and the Bhaghavad Gita into his State of the Union response. But then I heard the fellow open his mouth and let forth a non-stop torrent of the very same tired, twangy trailer park taxophobia that placed the GOP into its current predicament; y'all this, and it's yore munny that, more redolent of some ghastly hillbilly bar-bee-cue stewpot than the exotically intoxicating curries and saffrons I was led to expect. Where were the hypnotic entreaties to Krishna? Shiva? Ganesh? The appeals to Universal consciousness and the Bramin castes? Nowhere, I'm afraid, just the same old hackneyed hayseed Hayekian Hee Haw delivered by a man who obviously hasn't the slightest clue how to leverage a pigmentation advantage. The deluded lad has ignited his birthright on a pyre, sent it down the Ganges, and reincarnated himself as just another Bayou Babbitt. One need only look at the blandly average ethnic composition of his audiences to realize that, as an effective parry to the Democrats' brilliant racial strategems, Mr. Jindal is most certainly a bust.

Rest of the story

Melton's young soljah, Michael Taylor, is out on PAROLE! Remember Michael? He was the thug who discovered sports like armed robbery and carjacking while living with Frank Melton. An earlier post provided details of Taylor's history:

"Although 17 years old, he has lived a life filled with adventure, and well, also alot of trouble. Young Mr. Taylor was reported by the Clarion-Ledger as being "held in the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond since Nov. 18, 2006, when he was arrested on a carjacking charge while on bond for a previous armed robbery charge." (http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007706250343)
Such a nice young man as I'm sure he is just completely misunderstood. He also was one of the youths that Mayor Melton directed to take sledgehammers and destroy the infamous "crack house" on Ridgeway Street in Jackson last year. WAPT further reported that Mr. Taylor "had 15 criminal charges as a juvenile, including carjacking, drug possession and burglary."

After Mr. Taylor carjacked the victim, he was reported to have threatened her family according to WAPT: "The victim's sister said in court Friday that she text messaged her sister's cell phone -- which was still in the car -- and told the driver to call her and return her sister's vehicle. She said that within five minutes, a man who would say only that his name was Michael called her and demanded $300 to return the vehicle. "He threatened to have sex with me and hurt my children and husband and kill us if I got the police involved," she said."

The Clarion-Ledger reported last June:
"In a plea agreement, Michael Taylor, 18, pleaded guilty Friday in Hinds County Circuit Court at the Detention Center courtroom in Raymond.
On the recommendation of special prosecutors in the case, Circuit Judge Swan Yerger sentenced Taylor to 10 years in prison with seven years suspended and three to serve.With credit for time served, Taylor could be out in less than two years."

Carjacking a woman, threatening to kill her family and rape her, then trying to extort the victim for her car only earned Taylor three years in jail. Unfortunately, Taylor was paroled last November, a bare five months after his guilty plea. His parole is listed on the Mississippi Parole Board website. The Parole Board confirmed his release took place in November, 2008. The parole was granted after an automatic review of his sentence, a review that could have been prevented (according to the Board) if Judge Yerger had placed in the sentence a clause stating that Taylor was not to be considered for parole. Judge Yerger, however, chose not to issue an order preventing such a review.

Taylor's parole is an outrage. Both Melton and Yerger should be punished for letting this thug out on the street. Does anyone think this early release isn't something they cooked up together? Melton and Yerger have done everything possible to turn this criminal loose. When Taylor was held on a $250,000 bond, he was somehow set free and was returned to jail only after a public outcry forced a reversal. However, Taylor got the last laugh on the public as he once again got over because of Frank's special interest in him. (See note below for a listing of previous charges for Michael Taylor. They include manslaughter.)

More outrageous is the charge listed for Taylor on the MPB website: "Extortion", leaving one to wonder if he was convicted of carjacking even though the media reported he was (WAPT):
"JACKSON, Miss. -- A Hinds County judge sentenced Michael Taylor to 10 years, with seven years suspended, for carjacking a woman in 2007.
Taylor pleaded guilty Friday to carjacking the woman and to using a cell phone he found in her car in an effort to extort money from her.
Taylor once lived with Jackson Mayor Frank Melton and at one time worked for the city repaving roads.
As part of Taylor's plea agreement, he is required to get a GED and to attend anger management and alcoholism classes." WAPT Story

How was he convicted of carjacking and extortion yet paroled for only extortion? Did the media get it wrong or was his conviction for carjacking somehow erased? If such happened, there should be an explanation as well as hell to pay. Yerger, Fortenberry, and Newton should be forced to explain why they conjured up a deal that they knew would set Taylor free in only a few months. While people gripe about prosecutors who make plea bargains favorable to criminals, it is judges like Yerger who approve them and thus bear ultimate responsibility for such deals. Yerger has shown he is going to help his friends come hell or high water, the public be damned, with his eagerness to help such thugs as long as they are a Friend of Frank (His brother gave a nice sum of money to Frank's campaign for mayor. Hint: 5 figures). Instead of Taylor's being set free to terrorize Jackson once again, Michael Taylor, Frank Melton, Fortenberry, Newton, and Swan Nero should be in a jail cell. This case is just more proof there are different standards of justice in Hinds County as justice here only belongs to those with the most money or bullets.

Earlier posts on Taylor:
Taylor gets a light sentence
Melton's young soljah turned loose
Media coverage on Melton's young soljah
Melton's young soljah

WAPT stories:
Taylor released from jail, taken back into custody
Taylor out of jail
Taylor denied bond

Note: Here ia an WAPT story that lists past charges against Taylor:
"JACKSON, Miss. -- Should Michael Taylor be out of jail?
It's a question that officials with the Jackson-area criminal justice system can't seem to answer.
Taylor, 17, is awaiting a grand jury hearing in August on armed carjacking and extortion charges. His prior charges include two burglaries, two counts of drug possession and a murder charge that was bumped down to manslaughter.He also had photos posted on his MySpace page that showed him holding guns. Taylor is living with Jackson Mayor Frank Melton and working for the city.
When police arrested Taylor in connection with the armed carjacking, his bond for a previous armed robbery charge was revoked. He was sent to the Raymond Detention Center.
The armed robbery case was then sent back to youth court. A judge ruled he could not be tried as an adult because he was not armed during the robbery.
The case was resolved, and Taylor was released May 29.
It appears, however, there was no hearing for the armed carjacking charge, so no bond was set.
The district attorney told 16 WAPT it's the first time she's seen something like this, saying the municipal court system should have handled the situation."

"It was all very careless and confused.
They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and
creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast
carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other
people clean up the mess they had made. . . ."

Are the Treasuries Obama is using to finance his deficit spending of the short-term or long-term variety?

Ron Paul lectures Bernanke last week:



Watch the CNBC anchors freak out as they can't handle the truth.

Casimir Pulaski Day is very important day to Poles. In honor of them, I'm posting this video.

Karl received the 2009 Reed Irvine Award for Grassroots Journalism from Accuray in Media last week. This is his acceptance speech at the awards banquet Thursday night. His weekly radio show will be today at 3:30 CST (see link below). Its been my pleasure to get to know Karl over the last few months and learn from his expertise on economics and finance. I think this award is just the start of more such things for Karl in his future.

Who is skewing the poll? There is NO WAY Basil's should be leading the poll? I eat there alot myself and like the place but the favorite? Over Ticos, Walkers, and Little Tokyo? Come on.

The Clarion-Ledger offers investment advice this week while reporting on the Stanford Group fraud. Read the tips they offered below and tell me what piece of advice might be missing from this list:

"preliminary steps
Interview potential advisers to learn their investment philosophy and how they are paid. Some advisers receive benefits for steering customers into specific products.
Find out if their advice for you matches how they manage their own funds.
Investigate whether the firm has received complaints by checking with the SEC and secretary of state's office.
Talk with current clients to learn the firm's style for working with customers.
Find out how accessible your adviser will be to answer questions. Find out the person's response time for answering phone calls, e-mails, etc.
Make sure your adviser answers your questions in a way you understand.
Review monthly statements. Too often people file them away without checking the balance and activity.
Be wary of high-pressure tactics to invest in a specific product or company.
Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Determine how quickly you can take out all of your money.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090301/BIZ/903010335/1005/biz
- From staff reports "

A former editor for a local alternative weekly recently made this comment about Obama's stimulus plan and the economy on the publication's website:
"Mc, your Wall Street Journal article is the most underwhelming refutation I've ever seen. All it can do is talk about how their might be inflation down the road. It can only make that argument because inflation is not a problem now. Rather, deflation is the larger threat. That is exactly what I said in my post. Do you want to try again? posted by Brian C Johnson on 02/27/09 at 01:49 PM"

His argument reveals a fundamental flaw in liberal thinking and that is the economy can be managed by the government. If the economy is going through a period of deflation, well, the government can ensure a recovery by providing the economy with the proper amount of inflation and will be able to stop inflation when it so desires. There has yet to live a ruler who could command an economy to prosperity through that kind of central planning. As Karl Denninger wrote recently, no one man is smarter than the markets.

What the re-inflate proponents fail to realize is there are different kinds of deflation. Currently we are experiencing the bursting of a bubble. Bubble's by their nature are artificially inflated. Eventually they implode and a correction takes place. The longer the correction is put off, the more severe it is. The economy over the last 15 years was fueled first by a tech bubble, then a real estate bubble. When the tech bubble burst, we couldn't handle the thought of having a recession, so we demanded our leaders do something to prevent it from taking place. Unfortunately, they kicked the can down the street as Greenspan kept rates artificially low for too long, creating a bubble in the economy as well as the housing market to some degree.

If we try to keep housing prices at a phony level of value despite what their true worth is, we will suffer even more as eventually the market will call the bluff of the bubble-heads (pun intended). Glen Beck demonstrates in this video how much housing bubble still needs to evaporate:



Still think its a good idea to do something even if it harms us? Unfortunately Obama and the Democrats do as they seek to finance their deficit spending by dumping over two trillion dollars on the markets. Obama advisor and investor superstar Warren Buffet warned of yet another bubble, except this time it is in treasuries:

"Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N) sits on $25.54 billion (17.8 billion pounds) of cash, said worried investors are making a costly mistake by buying up U.S. Treasuries that yield almost nothing.
In his widely read annual letter to Berkshire shareholders, the man many consider the world's most revered investor said investors are engulfed by a "paralyzing fear" stemming from the credit crisis and falling housing and stock prices. Treasury prices have benefited as investors flocked to the perceived safety of the "triple-A" rated debt.
But Buffett said that with the U.S. Federal Reserve and Treasury Department going "all in" to jump-start an economy shrinking at the fastest pace since 1982, "once-unthinkable dosages" of stimulus will likely spur an "onslaught" of inflation, an enemy of fixed-income investors.
"The investment world has gone from underpricing risk to overpricing it," Buffett wrote. "Cash is earning close to nothing and will surely find its purchasing power eroded over time."
"When the financial history of this decade is written, it will surely speak of the Internet bubble of the late 1990s and the housing bubble of the early 2000s," he went on. "But the U.S. Treasury bond bubble of late 2008 may be regarded as almost equally extraordinary." Reuters Article

When the treasuries' bubble pops, the yields will soar, causing interest rates on housing and other consumer credit to increase as well as making it much more expensive for the Democrats to finance more spending, assuming of course someone will buy their paper in the first place.

What is needed now is not reinflation or sustaining phony prices but letting the markets and economy correct themselves so a true recovery can begin.

Well, well, well, Lotus just knows the liberal website Talking Points Memo caught Bobby Jindal in a lie concerning his recent story about an encounter with now-deceased Sheriff Harry Lee. Smear of Jindal.

Lotus writes: "Now Harry Lee is in no position to confirm or deny — he died in 2007 — but TPMMuckraker’s Zachary Roth and a few other bloggers have woven a pretty strong fabric of documented evidence suggesting that this incident Just. Didn’t. Happen."

Actually Harry Lee HAS confirmed it as the following videos show (He is in one, another Sheriff is from New Orleans are is in the other):




Contrast that to what Talking Points Memo states:
"But there are several pieces of evidence that suggest this just didn't happen. Nothing, to be sure, that definitively proves the story was made up. But more than enough to declare it highly suspicious."

"suggests"? "Nothing...definitively proves the story was made up"? Keep reading.

"It's within the realm of possibility, just, that Lee and Jindal are talking about two separate incidents. But from the way the details line up, it's reasonable to assume they're the same."

You DO know what they say about assume, don't you? However, the asses at TPM just dig themselves deeper in the hole:
"As we said, none of this settles the question definitively. But it certainly raises a whole lot of questions about Jindal's tale. Those questions were enough for MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, in a short segment last night on the controversy, to conclude that the story is "apparently not true." TPM Smear

What slop. This is nothing but a smear job. You have Jindal and two Sheriffs state he was in New Orleans helping them with rescue efforts while these candy-ass cyber warriors at TPM and Huffington Post sit behind a computer screen smearing anyone they don't like regardless of how much they help others, proving the old adage "No good deed goes unpunished" still holds true where politics, not truth, is what is important to the so-called media.

The toxicology reports on the Irbys are complete and have been sent to JPD. Unfortunately, JPD refuses to release this information. The Clarion-Ledger reports:
"The Jackson Police Department knows whether alcohol or drugs played a role in a crash that killed two doctors but is withholding the information so it can be presented to a grand jury.
JPD investigators will turn over the information to the Hinds County district attorney's office.
"The results are evidentiary in nature and, therefore, cannot be released," police spokesman Lt. Jeffery Scott said Friday. "It is part of our policy not to release toxicology results. That's the way we've always done it, and this case is no different." (By the way, grand jury proceedings are sealed.)

Lets see if this is true or not and also how long it takes to get toxicology reports. Here are some news stories I dug up online:

"Petal 04/22/08 Woman Arrested for DUI in Deadly Wreck
A 20-year-old Madison County woman was arrested near Hattiesburg Tuesday morning and charged with driving under the influence causing death.
Shelby Leigh Brown, a University of Southern Mississippi student, turned herself into Petal police around 10:00 Tuesday morning. Brown was involved in an accident that resulted in the death Kaitlyn Bryant, 20, of Sumrall earlier this month.
Investigators say toxicology results showed that Brown was over the legal limit at the time of the accident.
Brown appeared in court, where bond was set at $100,000"
WLBT story on Hattiesburg wreck

"Starkville 04/27/08 DUI Manslaughter Charges in MSU Accident (KF Note: this was ONE DAY after the wreck)
A Starkville man faces a DUI-Manslaughter charge following a fatal crash Saturday at Mississippi State University. Joshua Buckner, 20, and three others were reportedly traveling on the MSU campus when their vehicle struck a light pole near Bryce Griffis hall.
Buckner is being held at the Oktibbeha County jail. Bond has not been set pending further investigation.
Charlesy Collins, 19, also of Starkville, died in the crash. He was a student at East Mississippi Community College.
Two other passengers were treated and have been released."
WLBT story

"Jackson 06/12/06 Man Faces Aggravated DUI Charge
A man arrested after a fatal car accident Saturday night is now charged with aggravated DUI. Kenneth Boclair is being held in the Hinds County Detention Center without bond. The wreck happened late Saturday at Highway-80 and Terry Road. Police say Boclair rear ended a pick-up truck. The truck's gas tank caught fire and its driver William Atlas was killed." (KF Note: This arrest happened TWO days after the fatal wreck.)
WLBT Story

"December 15, 2006 Raymond Woman Charged with DUI
Test results indicate the woman who crashed into two surveyors in Clinton last month had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit.
Forty-four-year-old Connie Musgrove Brewer of Raymond posted her 51-thousand dollar bond. She is charged with DUI and DUI disfigurement/severe injury. Brewer is accused of driving into Jeremiah Howard and Brian Jones on Highway 80 in Clinton, severely injuring them both. Brewer's test results show she was under the influence of isopropyl alcohol with a blood alcohol content of .03% and acetone, with a blood alcohol content of .17% A date for a preliminary hearing will be set later in Clinton municipal court." WLBT Story

"Byram 08/21/07Alcohol Detected in Driver Who Caused McGowan Wreck
Toxicology tests reveal a Jackson man had been drinking before last week's wreck that killed a Clinton firefighter and his wife.
The wreck happened August 12 in Byram. A truck driven by Christopher Spell, 26, collided with a Volkswagen occupied by Eddie and Vickie McGowand and their two daughters. The girls survived, but their parents died in the wreck.
Spell was not seriously hurt. No word yet on what his blood alcohol level was. The legal limit is 0.08. So far, no charges have been filed.
The McGowans' daughters are now living with their grandparents. A trust fund has been set up for them at BankPlus. Anyone can donate there or at the Clinton Fire Department, where Eddie McGowan was a captain." WLBT Story

"02/29/08 Game Warden Charged with DUI after Fatal Crash
A Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks officer has been charged with three felony counts of aggravated DUI related to a crash in Oktibbeha County that killed two people and seriously injured another.
Twenty-five-year-old Ryan Crick was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving injuries or death shortly after the crash on January 25th. The latest charges came on Wednesday, and he was released on a $15,000 bond.
Crick is a game warden who has been with the department for about four years. He lives in Ridgeland and works in Madison.
Crick has been suspended with pay from the Wildlife department since the accident. "
WLBT story

"Jackson 02/28/08 Man Jailed after Wreck with Sheriff/Chief McMillin
Hinds County Sheriff and Jackson Police Chief Malcolm McMillin is back at work after his SUV was totaled in a crash Wednesday night. Nobody was seriously injured, but McMillin says he's sore, and he's not very pleased about what happened to his SUV.
McMillin says it happened as he was returning to Jackson from a Mississippi State University basketball game. A white Buick Park Avenue ran a red light and sideswiped McMillin's Ford Expedition around midnight at the intersection of Southwest and Gallatin streets.
The driver of the Buick, Michael Paul Davis, 26, is being charged with DUI, reckless driving and five other charges. Davis didn't have a driver's license or any insurance. He also had an expired inspection sticker.
"I haven't checked on him," McMillin said. "I'm not concerned with his welfare."
McMillin says about five officers came to his aid after the crash. He adds that Davis walked away from the scene and came back about fifteen minutes later.
Davis is being held at the Hinds County Detention center. No bond has been set." WLBT Story

By the way, its normal for state lab to take this long. Here is an unrelated story I found on the CL online: "Lab tests key in 3 reservoir fatalitiesFebruary 1, 2000 •• 402 words •• ID: By Clay Harden/Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer The investigation of the Jan. 22 reservoir boating mishap that killed three people could languish for weeks until toxicology test results are in, officials say. Madison County Coroner Alex Breeland said Monday State Crime Lab test results could take up to two weeks to arrive. Preliminary inspections of the bodies by Breeland detected no obvious alcohol use or trauma but that lab results would be needed to confirm those findings."

I report, you decide.

Original newspaper articles:
Dew Murder News Articles I
Dew Articles II
MDOC Page of Lamar K. Phillips

I simply can not believe the Jackson Free Press published the following passage in an article about the arts community around Millsaps Avenue:
"In the ’90s, this big crime wave came through and sort of freaked everybody out,” Richardson says. “From what I heard, it was rolling along, and just, in a matter of months, it was gone—the whole art district.”“Yeah,” Young says reluctantly, “I guess you could say there was a crime wave. It seems like a long time ago, though. What happens is, you get a couple of guys breaking into buildings, but then they move out of town or get arrested, and it stops.”“
I would stay at the studio overnight and the next morning, I’d have no tires,” Robinson laments.
“Around ’93, Midtown was considered more of a ‘war zone’ than a community,” admits Habitat spokeswoman E.J. Rivers, referring to the heyday of the nation’s crack epidemic, which did not spare Jackson.
“You’d pick up the paper and people (would) be killing each other all over the place,” Miriam Weems, 13-year veteran of 121, says. “Clients would tell me they didn’t feel safe coming there.”
“Midtown reached its lowest ebb in the early-’90s,” Burks explains........
“And then there was a death in the family,” Robinson says bluntly, addressing the elephant in the room.
The facts are murky. “I’ve heard someone say, ‘My friend got murdered on Millsaps Avenue. I don’t go down there,’” current tenant Drew Davis says.“That didn’t happen anywhere in the neighborhood. It’s farce to think in those terms, so I’m not even going to discuss it,” bristles photographer Gretchen Haines.
“But (the killers’) car was spotted outside the Mosquito earlier that evening,” Robinson insists. “I think maybe it was supposed to be a robbery.” She hesitates. “It was such a painful experience for so many people.”
Documented crimes did increase in Midtown throughout the 1990s, but the collapse of the Art District can be traced to a single event. The death of Brad Dew, a Mosquito employee and Millsaps honor student, was too traumatic for the close-knit community to survive and too frightening for the patrons to ignore. His wrecked, bullet-pocked car was found one night after he closed the club and then failed to meet his friends at W.C. Dons. The story obtained urban-myth status, and even now, details are muddled.
But one undisputed fact remains: The car was found at the intersection of West and Mayes Streets, several miles north of Millsaps Avenue. The Mosquito flashed across local news anyway, “as if it had happened right out the front door,” Robinson says. And that was it for the nightclub and Gallery Restaurant..." Jackson Free Press story

"Urban-myth"? "Details are muddled?" Car was found several miles away? Supposed to be a robbery? "Farce"? The only farce is Ms. Haine's quote, as there are so many facts wrong in this story (in addition to the crassness of some of the words used). It's time to remind everyone what exactly DID happen that horrible night in 1992.

Bradley Dew was an honor student and starting linebacker on the Millsaps football team. Highly respected by his fellow students, he was just another hard-working college kid trying to make it in life. He got off work one night (The Mosquito) and was stopped at the intersection of West and Mitchell. A car with two punks, Kendrick Phillips and Cedric Morris, were alongside Dew. Phillips opened fire on Dew, riddling his truck with bullet holes and hitting Dew while chasing him down the street. The bullet entered the lungs and nicked the aorta, killing him a few moments later as his truck crashed into a house on the corner of West and Conti, which is NOT "a few miles north of Millsaps Avenue".

Phillips bragged about killing a white boy on West Street and killed someone else six days later. The idiot used the same gun for both murders. He pleaded guilty to TWO counts of first degree murder. Cynthia Speetjeens (remember her? Hint: Robbie Bell and Bobby DeLaughter) was the prosecutor for Hinds County and signed off on the deal , as Phillips was sentenced to two life sentences that were to run concurrently. The plea and sentencing were very controversial, as under Mississippi law at the time Phillips has been eligible for parole since 2003. Back then a life sentence meant one could be paroled after only ten years. THIS was the main case that caused the legislature to enact the 85% rule since life did not mean life in Mississippi.

Dr. Dew, the father of Brad, discussed the facts of the case in an interview:
"Brad was a very outstanding kid. He had just finished his junior year at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. He had been selected an all-conference linebacker and just been selected to Phi Beta Kappa. He decided to stay there and work for the summer and early in the morning of June 7 he was returning home from work. There were two young men who for reasons known only to them had decided they were going to murder the next person who came down the street. They did not know Brad. There was no previous connection. Unfortunately that next person was Brad. They chased him through the streets of Jackson taking turns shooting at him until finally he was killed instantly by a single shot. He was 21 years old. Dr. Dew on The Grief Blog

The quotes mentioned from the Jackson Free Press are simply disgusting. First of all, this was not an "urban-myth" (yes the story mentioned his murder but someone explain what they meant by urban-myth status). Such language is grotesque and very insensitive to the friends and family of Brad Dew. This reporter for the "smart alternative" newspaper reports "the details are muddled" and "murky". They are not muddled but are very clear as the murder was heavily reported. The reporter obviously did no research whatsoever as the story was reported on the front page of the Clarion-Ledger seven times, the front page of the sports section once, and was the subject of a lead editorial as well. A simple search on google using the search terms brad, dew, and Millsaps yield the story of Dew's murder in the first page of results. The newspaper articles included this post were easy to find as they only required a trip to the Department of Archives downtown at lunch today.

What this story sounds like is Ms. Ladd's minion had her little template for a story: a promising arts community is trying to make it in Jackson after being nearly wiped out by racist white people in Jackson who have an irrational fear of crime and black people. Unfortunately for the writer, there is this little matter of a liberal, progressive-type college student who was murdered for fun by two black animals in the same area, which conflicts somewhat with the premise of the story. Well, if the facts are inconvenient, just ignore them as they often do at that publication. Such tone-deafness is all too often the norm, not the exception, as they named Robbie Bell "most intriguing person of 2007", falsely reported the victim in the Jena 6 beating of hanging nooses, and ran a headline about the Irby crash while not mentioning two doctors were killed. (Mr. Irby's daughter used to work at the JFP). Ms. Ladd has herself stated people who think the leading problem in Jackson is crime are "ignorant".

I'm sick and tired of these experts on everything, who in reality know absolutely nothing, appointing themselves our moral guardians and preaching to us from Mount Olympus. No murder or death is too holy for them to use if it means they can make a point. (Remember, they bragged they covered the Heather Spencer murder better than anyone). I don't think I've ever been so angry after reading one of their stories as reading this one, as I was in school down the street at the time. Everyone in Jackson knew about this murder and was horrified by the cavalier manner displayed by these beasts who bragged about killing Dew. Many of us saw what his family and friends suffered and are outraged by the sloppy reporting and innuendos that were present in this so-called story.

Returning to the Dew's murder, it must be pointed out Phillips has been eligible for parole since 2003. The Parole Board reviews his case every 18 months and his family comes down here from Knoxville every time it's up for review in order to ensure he is not released. I've kept up with this case because when the media reported in 1993 he was eligible for parole after ten years, I promised myself I would make it a point to see if he was released when ten years had passed ,as the fact he is even eligible for parole is slap in the face of all Mississippians. The family and community has suffered enough from this murder and should not suffer from sloppy reporting and editorializing.

Note: Dr. Dew has turned this tragedy into something positive (for lack of a better word and I apologize for not thinking of one) as he wrote two books about dealing with grief: Tunnel of Light and Rachel's Cry. They can be found at Dewbooks.com

The Clarion-Ledger reports today:
"A Jackson woman who pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI in a wreck that killed a 52-year-old Missouri man was sentenced today in Hinds County Circuit Court to serve 15 years in prison.
Circuit Judge Winston Kidd heard about two hours of testimony during 23-year-old Courtney Savoie’s sentencing hearing.
Savoie had a blood alcohol level of .25, more than three times the legal limit, when she crashed head-on into the vehicle of Lyndon Bowlin, 52, of Missouri.
The collision occurred just before midnight on Jan. 6, 2008 in the eastbound lane of I-20 near the I-55 interchange. Savoie was driving in the wrong direction without her car’s headlights on when the crash occurred.
“This was a very sad occasion because the defendant had no previous criminal history but caused an untimely death of a father, husband, and a man loved by many people,” District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith said.
Kidd sentenced Savoie to 20 years, but suspended five of those years."

Found this online that is pretty interesting. Someone dug up some color pictures from World War I. http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/html/ww_i_v_1.html

L. Gordon Crovitz writes in the Wall Street Journal what he thinks newspapers should do in order to survive in these changing times. He advocates newspapers charging a subscription, something I have always thought they should do as it made no sense to me why they gave away their product. He opines:

"With newspapers in cities across the country on the brink, an old idea is being resurrected in the hope of saving them: They should charge for access to their journalism on the Internet. This is a great idea, but about 10 years late.
Time magazine published a cover story earlier this month headlined "How to Save Your Newspaper." In it, former Time Managing Editor Walter Isaacson noted how odd it is to charge for subscriptions in print but not online. "Even an old print junkie like me has quit subscribing to the New York Times, because if it doesn't see fit to charge me for its content, I'd feel like a fool paying for it. This is not a business model that makes sense.".....
For a decade beginning in the late 1990s, I was the Dow Jones executive chiefly charged with defending the paid-subscription business model of The Wall Street Journal's Web site. The skunk at every Internet-bubble-era garden party, the Journal team was often told we "just didn't get it," that information wants to be free and the paid model was idiotic.......
Conversely, when advertising fell in the early 2000s and then again more recently, having highly profitable online subscription revenues seemed like genius.
The truth is simpler: People are happy to pay for news and information however it's delivered, but only if it has real, differentiated value....
By 2007, the Journal's Web site had reached one million paying subscribers who value full access and convenient navigation to its unique business news. Another 20 million people each month read Journal articles made available free. Likewise, the Financial Times and ESPN generate significant online revenues from subscribers, along with free content. So do consumer services such as Consumer Reports and Zagat. Steve Jobs proved we'll pay up to $1 for digital songs on iTunes, and Amazon's Kindle established $10 as reasonable for a digital book. Beyond the Web, consumers pay monthly cable or satellite charges in the thousands of dollars per year.
Yet few city newspapers try to generate revenues directly from readers online, a huge problem now that advertising is so weak in print and online. Something needs to change if these newspapers and their large news staffs are to survive. The market capitalization of the New York Times Co. last week fell to the $500 million range -- what the MarketWatch Web site cost Dow Jones to acquire just a few years ago. Thus the renewed focus on new business models.
For years, publishers and editors have asked the wrong question: Will people pay to access my newspaper content on the Web? The right question is: What kind of journalism can my staff produce that is different and valuable enough that people will pay for it online?......."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123534987719744781.html

The rest of the column is pretty interesting and makes some salient points. Newspapers have fallen into the trap poor salesmen find themselves in all too often: If you don't ask the client to pay and close the sale, you'll never get the sale. Newspapers need to quit giving their product away if they want to survive. Cutting back to three issues a week or the number of stories won't earn more revenue as they are just slow walks down a dead end street. Unfortunately, too many newspapers have bought into the idea that because people expect online newspapers to be free, they should not charge online fees. Yet they wonder why they are going broke.

Got my Monday edition of the Northside Sun and thoroughly enjoyed reading its news, sports, and other features. After decades of being a weekly newspaper, its nice to see Wyatt is now publishing his paper twice a week when so many newspapers are cutting back on coverage. Hope it works out for him.

From FOLO:
"lotus says:
February 25, 2009 at 12:10 pm
mag, not having lived there since early childhood, all I know is what I witnessed decades ago firsthand and have learned here over the past 15-16 months. That said, Mississippi’s civic society sounds as close to feudalism as I know of in this country. Really uncomfortably close to it.
Apparently Alabama and Louisiana are in much the same shape, and maybe some other states are too. But I declare, if you’re not inured to it, it’s pretty stunning to see what’s passed for acceptable behavior there." http://www.folo.us/2009/02/25/donald-hodgkin-to-be-paroled/

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooook.

I've ripped the Senator from Jackson a little for not getting his bill allowing Jackson to raise its sales tax out of committee as he is running for Mayor. Well, time to throw a bouquet out for his perserverance as he was able to get a modified form passed out of the Senate and sent to the House.

"Jackson voters will decide whether to raise taxes to help fix roads and hire more police if legislation that cleared the state Senate on Friday continues advancing.
Senate Bill 3268 cleared the full Senate with 30 lawmakers supporting it and 18 voting against it. Twenty-nine votes were required for the bill to pass. It could come up for more debate before heading to the House.
The bill allows the city to seek voter support to add a 1 percent sales tax on all items except hotels, restaurants, groceries, prescription drugs and purchases of large equipment such as vehicles and farm equipment.
After a similar bill died earlier this week, supporters of the legislation added provisions intended to provide accountability as to how the revenue is spent.
The surviving legislation requires an annual audit of the revenue and establishes a commission to oversee how the money is spent. Major economic development projects also were removed from the list of beneficiaries.
Raising sales taxes would require at least 60 percent of Jackson voters' support, according to the bill. If approved, the tax hike is expected to generate $21 million per year.
Seventy percent of the revenue would be used to fix roads, and 30 percent would be used to hire more police and raise officers' pay, according to the bill.
The measure also stipulates the tax hike would disappear in five years...." Clarion-Ledger Story

Predictably, Senator Redneck, oops I meant Hob Bryan from Amory, voted against it. I call him Senator Redneck because he is a bumpkin from Amory who just happens to wield some power in the Senate and his noted for his anti-Jackson stances. His crowning achievement is when he managed to steal the music museum from Jackson (thanks in no small part to Harvey sitting on his ass) for Meridian. His concern for poor people he states in the article was strangely absent when he voted to kill a bill allowing a new hospital to open in NE Jackson a few years ago that St. Dominics and Baptist opposed. Of course, he didn't mind getting CON's for new hospitals in HIS area. However, Horhn and others were able to overcome such opposition and pass this bill out of the Senate.

Republicans in the Mississippi Senate should be ashamed of themselves as they cowered before Governor Barbour and told the public to take go jump in the lake. Senator David Blount sponsored SB# 2921, which would have shortened the time required for a government body to respond to an open records request from 14 business days (3 weeks in calendar days) to 7 business days. What stirred up the Governor against this bill was that it would have limited his ability to deny the public access to public records by demanding outrageous fees for information that belongs to taxpayers. You Republicans remember the taxpayers don't you? They are the ones who are your boss and who you claim to protect when you criticize McCoy and Obama.

The clause in question read:
"SECTION 2. Section 25-61-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-61-7. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, each public body may establish and collect fees reasonably calculated to reimburse it for, and in no case to exceed, the actual cost of searching, reviewing and/or duplicating and, if applicable, mailing copies of public records. The actual cost shall not include any amount paid to a person or any other entity who is not an employee of the public body unless there is no employee of the public body capable of fulfilling the records request; any staff time included in the computation of the actual cost shall be at the pay scale of the lowest level employee competent to assemble the response to the request or the actual cost of complying with the request if there is no employee of the public body capable of complying with the request. Such fees shall be collected by the public body in advance of complying with the request." SB#2921 text

This prevents any public official from helping his attorney friends by claiming such a request needs to be "reviewed by outside counsel" and then charging a taxpayer thousands of dollars. Shades of Buddy Newman and Governor Bilbo. Or Edwin Edwards. The vote to recommit the bill to committee, thus killing it, was supported mainly by Republicans:
"Yeas--Albritton, Brown, Browning, Burton, Carmichael, Chassaniol, Clarke, Davis D. (1st), Fillingane, Flowers, Gollott, Hewes, Hopson, Hudson, Hyde-Smith, Jackson G. (15th), King, Kirby, Lee P. (35th), McDaniel, Mettetal, Michel, Nunnelee, Ward, Watson, Yancey. Total--26."

The next time they ask you for your vote, remember what they think of you and that when push comes to shove, they are no different than the Democrats in keeping government hidden from the taxpayers. There is currently a bill still alive that has passed the House and has been referred to committee in the Senate, HB# 1048 by Norquist. It keeps the provision in place where someone requesting public records doesn't have to pay for private employees to "review" the request but unfortunately, doesn't have the requirement that such requests be answered in seven business days.

The next time the Mississippi Republicans preach to you about limited government and opening government up to the people, throw this vote back in their faces as when push comes to shove, they are just as pro-government as any Democrat in the legislature.

Economicpolicyjournal.com makes an interesting claim:
"I now believe that the United States government went into full panic mode in September, 2008 and continues in panic mode to this day. This has serious implications for the future direction of the economy. Those in government who truly understand the current situation must have serious doubts as to whether the United States financial structure will survive in any form close to what it is today.
My case for this scenario has developed as a result of a number of factors including Congressman Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania blowing the lid off the fact that there were serious runs on money market funds back in September 2008, and the fact that the government, early on, took an active hand in trying to kill this news...."
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2009/02/government-panic-of-september-2008.html

Last week JJ had an online poll: "What would cause you to completely quit reading the Clarion-Ledger?" There were 154 votes and the results were:

Charge a subscription price for the website 37 (24%)
Lay off Marshall Ramsey 28 (18%)
Cut back on number of print issues 27 (17%)
Get more liberal 16 (10%)
Raise the prices more 14 (9%)
Get more conservative 7 (4%)
Make it smaller 5 (3%)
Lay off Rick Cleveland 5 (3%)
Lay off Sid Salter 2 (1%)
Discontinuing most columnists such as Dear Abby 0 (0%)
Lay off Jerry Mitchell 0 (0%)

So charge for the website (which I still think they should), Lay off Marshall Ramsey, or cut back on the number of print issues and you will lose more readers.

By the way, did anyone notice they cut out the national columnists on the Sunday editorial page?

Karl Denninger of The Market Ticker (http://www.market-ticker.org) has his radio show online from 3:30 to 4:30 CST today and will be taking calls. If you missed the show, you can still listen to it on his website. Enjoy.

Fox40 News reported last week on how long it would take JPD to get the toxicology reports for Karen and Stuart Irby in the deadly crash that took place two weeks ago:
"FOX 40 News spoke with Lt. Jeffery Scott with the Jackson Police department who said that it could take months for the crime lab toxicology reports to come back. He said it would be unlikely for the case to close quickly. Right now JPD is still investigating the accident. FOX 40 News also spoke with with the state crime lab to see if there was any back log in the toxicology department and to see how long it normally takes them to make their report in similar cases. After talking with the crime lab FOX 40 News has learned that some of the toxicology reports in the Irby wreck have been completed and released to JPD. The technician that FOX 40 spoke with couldn't get specific but said that there is no back log at the crime lab and was irritated that JPD would say that toxicology reports could take months to be completed. The technician said that most reports are finished with in a week. When FOX 40 asked Lt. Scott about the released test he said that JPD would no longer be commenting on this particular case......
Police say it could be weeks and even months before they're investigation is complete."
Fox 40 Story

The Clarion-Ledger reported Friday part of the toxicology report was complete and sent to JPD: "The Mississippi Crime Lab has released a portion of the toxicology results from last week's crash in Jackson that killed two doctors.
But lab Director Sam Howell couldn't specify Thursday what was released to Jackson police and said it could take several more weeks before the entire toxicology report is complete...."
JPD gets part of toxicology report

Despite which story is more accurate, it is clear the media discovered JPD received at least part of the toxicology report. What is disturbing is the statement by Officer Scott that JPD will make no more comments about this case after he said the toxicology report could take "months" to complete. Months. Anyone familiar with how such reports are processed doesn't believe for one second it will take months to determine if Mrs. Irby was driving while under the influence of alcohol that horrible night.

If there is a time when JPD should not follow past cases and give any appearance of stonewalling, this is it. In 2007, the Irbys contributed $9,000 to McMillin's re-election campaign. Considering McMillin's relationship to the Irbys, it is imperative JPD handles this case in a manner that is professional and open to the public while respecting the families and the due process rights of the Irbys. If there is a time when JPD should not follow past cases and give any appearance of stonewalling, this is it. A quick examination of the campaign finance reports reveal they were his largest campaign donors or if not, they were among the leaders:

Irby State PAC 6/29/95 $500

Stuart Irby,Jr. 6/25/99 $1,000
Irby P.A.C. 6/28/99 $1,000
Stuart M. Irby 7/2/99 $250

Stuart M. Irby 1/28/03 $2,500
Charles Irby 3/21/03 $100
Charles Irby 3/21/03 $5,000
Stuart M. Irby 4/2/03 $2,500
Stuart M. Irby 4/15/03 $750
Irby P.A.C. 6/26/03 $1,000

Stuart Irby 6/13/07 $4,000
Charles Irby 6/13/07 $5,000

Total: $23,600
source: Campaign Finance Reports

It should also be mentioned Stuart Irby only gave $500 to the campaign of Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith in 2007.

One may ask why this information is posted on this website. The Clarion-Ledger is rotating this story among several reporters (four so far), increasing the likelihood some aspects of the story will not be reported properly. Message boards at various websites have exploded with accusations, hateful rhetoric, and malicious rumors while emotions run strong. Several posts have been made in an attempt to squelch some of this. The local media, in its various formats, is limited how much time it can devote to this story and, right now, is focused on Frank Melton

Everyone is hoping Mr. and Mrs. Irby survive and recover. If laws were broken, there will be a time for prosecution and further commentary. Let's not make a bad situation worse by withholding the truth concerning the condition of Karen Irby while behind the wheel. The rumors surrounding this event will be far more hurtful to her and her family. Give her the opportunity to do what is right. Don't give her a cloud of malicious lies and rumors to hide from.

Right now there are families that need prayers, confused children wondering when Mom and Dad will be home, and a medical profession now missing two pairs of healing hands. Let's make the truth known, and begin the next phase of this tragic journey. While this takes place, JPD needs to be forthcoming with information regarding this wreck and avoid certain appearances.

Better than anything Steffey has spewed or any of the so-called journalists covering the trial. About time someone called out this judge. Jury should've been sequestered when it was obvious the Melton team was improperly contacting witnesses. Melton should've been held in contempt and thrown in jail. This commentor on the Jackson Free Press's website nailed it:
"I’ve been quiet long enough. Dante Alighieri’s said that “the darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” So please indulge me as I give my analysis in the Frank Melton case:
The federal judge is relatively new to the bench. Regardless, this jury should have been sequestered. In Melton's 1st trial before circuit judge Green, she sequestered the jury and Melton pled guilty. In Melton's second trial the appointed county judge (acting as a circuit judge) didn't sequester the jury and there was an acquittal.
Robert Walker and Goldia Revies should have been sanctioned for talking with potential juror during jury selection. They should have been at least fined. First of all they should have been working, as should all the other city employees at the federal courthouse. The message to the public would have been that the court was not tolerating disrespect and disregard for the criminal justice system or the court.
Melton's tampering with witnesses should have been met with swift sanctions by the judge. Melton’s bond should have been revoked and he should have been placed in detention/or house arrest for the duration of the trial. The court should have sent a strong message to all parties and the public that he would not tolerate any illegal conduct. The judge began losing control of his court early in this trial. Check your calendar, the tampering (discussing and gift giving) with Michael Taylor took place during the time when Melton was supposedly hospitalized or resting in Texas.
When the prosecution rested on Thursday. The court should have taken motions and immediately started Defendants' case. After all, the Defendants had 2 weeks to get there witnesses together while the jury was being chosen and the prosecution was putting on their case. Even in a capital murder case, a jury is picked within the first day or so. The trial rarely goes into the second week.
When court recessed from Thursday (2/12/09) to Tuesday (2/17/09) (5 days), two things occurred. First, the opportunity for jury tampering/tainting increased. Second, it gave Defendants 5 days to increase the number of witnesses and revamp a defenseless case.Generally, the jury is read instructions, the lawyers do their closing statements and the jury begins deliberations. Nothing should come into the jury after they begin deliberations. If a judge starts late and the jury doesn't finish for the night, he should’ve sequestered the jury and start the first thing the next morning. There has been continuous interruption of the jury's deliberation. Juror must remember the testimony as best they can from open court. Trial transcript brings into the jury a court reporters note that may or may not contain what each jury heard during the trial. posted by guidryb on 02/22/09 at 09:28 AM"

Would someone please explain to me WHY he is considered to be a criminal law expert, as he has no expertise in that area of law? I should know as I took a year of constitutional law from him at MC. The only reason he even teaches criminal law is because they needed a professor to teach it, so they dumped the criminal law-oriented classes on him. This is a pattern at MC School of Law as Professor Judy Johnson teaches the criminal law and procedure classes as well, even though she is an expert in labor law and has no background in criminal law. Are there no true experts such as former judges, criminal defense lawyers, or prosecutors the local media can quote instead of someone who has a better chance of seeing a courtroom because of a traffic ticket than he would from his actual practice of the law?

Oh, and would someone also explain to me why Tricia Raymond, Executive Director of MADD, has been veeeeeeery quiet about Melton's drinking as its come out in court?

His obituary in the Clarion-Ledger:
"Dr. Daniel Mark Pogue, MD, was 35 when he was called home to be with our Lord.
He tragically died Wednesday, February 11, 2009, with his fiancee, Lisa Dedousis.
Services will be held Friday, February 20, 2009, at 1 pm from the chapel of McClain-Hays Funeral Home in Philadelphia. Rev. Bill Freeman will officiate. Burial will follow in Burkes Cemetery in DeKalb. Visitation will be Thursday evening from 5-8 pm at McClain-Hays Funeral Home.
Mark was born March 6 in Meridian. He went to elementary school in Columbus. He was an Eagle Scout at age 15. Mark graduated high school from Neshoba Central in Philadelphia in 1990. After graduation, he had several occupations, he was a mechanic, factory worker, and in construction before he decided to pursue the medical field. Mark started as a phlebotomist, as he worked his way through lab school. He graduated from Meridian Community College with a degree in Laboratory medicine in 1995. Mark worked in the lab until he decided to venture into physician practice management and recruitment. He worked at Neshoba County General Hospital as Director of Physician services until he enrolled in medical school in 2002. Mark's dream of becoming a doctor took him to the Caribbean, then England where he graduated from St Christopher's College of Medicine in 2005. Mark did his fourth year medical school training in the U.S. at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, Johns Hopkins and Habor Hospital in Baltimore, MD. He then came home and enrolled in University of Mississippi Medical School's Family Practice program. He was to graduate from UMC this June. At UMC, Mark was awarded the "Gary W. Jefcoats, DO" teaching award for residents who exemplify outstanding teaching characteristics in the areas of medical student, resident, and patient education. Upon completion of his residency, Mark planned to practice rural medicine at Dewitt Hospital in Dewitt, AR.
Mark asked Lisa Dedousis to be his wife in December 2008. They planned to wed after Lisa finished her residency in Internal Medicine at Jersey City Medical Center, NJ.
Mark was such an extraordinary person, he touched the lives of everyone he met. He will be deeply missed.He was preceded in death by his father, Mack Pogue; and grandparents, John and Helen Burkes, and Frank and Thelis Pogue.Survivors include his mother, Jane and husband, James Ray Joiner of Collinsville; brother, Steve Pogue and wife, Marsha of Olive Branch; niece and nephew, Shelbie and Nick Pogue; and uncle, Jimmy Burkes and his family of DeKalb.
Pallbearers will be Chuck Beasley, Derek Ogelsby, Aaron Morgan, MD, Jimmy Burkes, Glenn Williams, and Ollie Burkes. Honorary pallbearers are TJ McMullin, Billy Burkes, and Johnny Burkes.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the Dewitt Community Hospital Foundation. The foundation was formed in 1997 for the purpose of developing, managing, and granting charitable support to meet the health related needs of the area. Since its inception, the foundation has raised more than 4.5 million dollars for renovation and construction. Website: www.genesishealth.com/services/foundation.
Published in the Clarion Ledger on 2/19/2009"
Obituary

From a comment on the Clarion-Ledger's website:
"Jesus Mom: I attended the funeral today. It was tragic and sad. Mark was a fantastic man, good natured and great hearted. I never met his soon to be wed. The biggest part of this situation is that two doctors were taken well before their time. What could they have accomplished in life? Well, Mark would give his left hand to help someone......His patients loved and adored him. When I first met him, I didn't know he was a doctor. That is why I refer to him as Mark. I later learned of his passion for others and job. He amazed me at being the type of person that treated everyone as himself. I took video of the entire funeral today, watched it tonight on my dvd....All the comments, family, friends, colleagues......What we would consider coworkers he was considered family. He loved people and practice. One statement that he made to Pastor Bill stood out....As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord. Rest in Peace Mark......Tell Jesus I say Hi personally, since you are there...smile2/21/2009 3:36:37 AM "

Related posts:
JPD: Toxicology could take months
Remembering Dr. Lisa Dedousis
No title for this one

From Fox 40 News:
"Some Irby Lab Results Back, JPD Mum
By Stephen Peteritas
FOX 40 News spoke with Lt. Jeffery Scott with the Jackson Police department who said that it could take months for the crime lab toxicology reports to come back. He said it would be unlikely for the case to close quickly. Right now JPD is still investigating the accident. FOX 40 News also spoke with with the state crime lab to see if there was any back log in the toxicology department and to see how long it normally takes them to make their report in similar cases. After talking with the crime lab FOX 40 News has learned that some of the toxicology reports in the Irby wreck have been completed and released to JPD. The technician that FOX 40 spoke with couldn't get specific but said that there is no back log at the crime lab and was irritated that JPD would say that toxicology reports could take months to be completed. The technician said that most reports are finished with in a week. When FOX 40 asked Lt. Scott about the released test he said that JPD would no longer be commenting on this particular case.
Jackson Police blocked off a two lane section of Old Canton Road in an attempt to recreate the fatal accident that killed two medical students and severely injured two prominent Jacksonians. Police are investigating the accident. The recreation should aid them in figuring out the speed of the vehicles and give a better idea as to what happened. The section of Old Canton that police are using for the reconstruction will be blocked off for most of the working day Monday. Law enforcement officials are on scene to help traffic pass by without confusion. Police say it could be weeks and even months before they're investigation is complete."
Fox 40 News story

Anyone buying this?

Was an underwhelming episode. Too much Cylon love triangle stuff. Missed a great opportunity to have Ellen explain how the final five and the Cylons began to Adama and the rest of the leadership. It would have been fun to see the shock on their faces. Then there was the matter of giving guns to Baltar's cultists. Didn't make sense until I saw this on a board:
"I had the priviledge this evening of watching a slightly longer rough cut at a frak party I attended tonight. And there was something really, really key that they had to cut for time (the rough was 11 minutes longer): there are not enough Marines left alive on the Galactica now to handle all required police & civilian duties. At the beginning of the rough cut version, the Marines give up on the food distribution, sensing a riot. They abandon the food rations...immediately after they leave, the Sons of Aries show up, guns in hand, and take what is left. Also before the credit roll, Adama/Roslin/Lee are arguing about introducing Centurions into the Galactica to pick up the slack in security issues and policing the civvies on the ship. Adama refuses to allow it. At the end of the episode, Baltar's plea to Adama is longer -- he clearly wants his little cult-turned-militia to pick up guns in service of civilian policing and food redistribution. Use his cult, instead of Centurions.The whole plot thread became that much clearer with this extra material, and gave greater depth to the internal struggle Adama must be going through as he watches his ship become "blended."

That made alot more sense, especially when Baltar said there was no government. I think where this season is going is the Galactica is wearing out, attrition due to combat and turmoil is thinning their ranks, and the Cylon rebels and Colonialists join after some more bloodshed.