Jackson Jambalaya

Bet you are now.

Part 2
Part 3

Must-watching. National Georgraphic video.

This little action by you in the last year to make it much tougher for a homeowner to rent out his house in Madison is going to backfire on you.

What are you going to do when homeowners in Madison are forced to lose their homes in foreclosure because you made it too difficult or expensive for them to rent out their house?

I mean, you are aware of what foreclosures can do to a neighborhood, aren't you? You do realize what they can do to property values? I'm going to find it very funny when these same Madison residents that screwed their neighbors so they could keep their precious property values so high see the same values nosedive when more foreclosures take place.

Oh, and by the way, lenders will not allow foreclosure sales to be used in appraisals, which will further depress the property values.

Hope your little tantrum was worth it.

Stuart Varney of Fox Business News blasts Obama, claiming he is seeking ultimate control of the banks as he refuses to allow banks to repay their TARP funds. Obama should welcome such repayments. However, control is more important to Obama than fiscal responsibility:
"I must be naive. I really thought the administration would welcome the return of bank bailout money. Some $340 million in TARP cash flowed back this week from four small banks in Louisiana, New York, Indiana and California.....
Keeping them TARP-stuffed is the key to control. And for this intensely political president, mere influence is not enough. The White House wants to tell 'em what to do. Control. Direct. Command.
It is not for nothing that rage has been turned on those wicked financiers. The banks are at the core of the administration's thrust: By managing the money, government can steer the whole economy even more firmly down the left fork in the road......... Obama refuses TARP paybacks

One bank saw the handwriting on the wall and tried to give the money back:
"Here's a true story first reported by my Fox News colleague Andrew Napolitano (with the names and some details obscured to prevent retaliation). Under the Bush team a prominent and profitable bank, under threat of a damaging public audit, was forced to accept less than $1 billion of TARP money. The government insisted on buying a new class of preferred stock which gave it a tiny, minority position. The money flowed to the bank. Arguably, back then, the Bush administration was acting for purely economic reasons. It wanted to recapitalize the banks to halt a financial panic.

Fast forward to today, and that same bank is begging to give the money back. The chairman offers to write a check, now, with interest. He's been sitting on the cash for months and has felt the dead hand of government threatening to run his business and dictate pay scales. He sees the writing on the wall and he wants out. But the Obama team says no, since unlike the smaller banks that gave their TARP money back, this bank is far more prominent. The bank has also been threatened with "adverse" consequences if its chairman persists. That's politics talking, not economics..."

My prediction? Obama will further villify bankers while throwing sweetheart deals to certain banker friends (Geithner did this recently and AIG was used to funnel money to Obama's banker friends) as he practices crony capitalism. First he moves to control most of the American auto industry. If Hillarycare and Obama's words mean anything, at some point he will attempt a takeover of the American healthcare system. The federal government is now the mortgage bank for the country as its almost impossible to get a mortgage not backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or FHA.

It is in Obama's interest to control the banking industry as his plans will require unprecedented levels of money for his schemes. At some point he will follow Congressman George Miller's lead and move to remove tax breaks for 401k's and other private retirement accounts and force Americans to put this money into government retirement accounts (Argentina seized private retirement funds last year when it needed the money to fund its liberal programs). The stock market does not mean as much to Obama as it does to other politicians because when the stock market falls, typically investors place their money in treasuries and other bonds as they are thought to be "safe", which will put some downward pressure on yields. Such downward pressure on yields lowers the costs for deficit spending. Obama is not being accused of trying to wreck the stock market but it should be noted there IS a financial incentive (to Obama) for the stock market to underperform.

As Obama moves to cement his control of the banking system, he will place conditions on banks. Bans on political lobbying will prevent bankers from donating to Republicans or other political opponents. Claims of housing discrimination will be used to force banks to pour money into his pet special-interest groups such as ACORN. Further controls will be placed on hiring, layoffs, and pay. Under S. Dakota v. Dole, the government can place any conditions on receipt of government money (I warned about this when TARP was passed last year.) It is no secret Democrats are doing exactly that right now. However, Geithner is going further and asking for the power to take over any financial entity if it somehow "harms" the economy. Such power has already been approved by the Supreme Court in Wickard v. Filburn (A farmer was prevented from growing his own wheat for his own consumption as it kept a purchase of wheat from the market, thus having a negative impact on the economy).

Mark Twain wrote "principles have on real force except when one is well-fed". What is becoming clear is that Obama, who never discussed such outmoded concepts as liberty and freedom while he was a candidate, is following Rahmbo's advice to never waste a crisis. While everyone worries about how the Democrats will fare if the economy continues to go south as they assume Obama focuses on improving the economy.

What people fail to realize is Obama is playing by a different set of rules and seeks to convert America not to a European model but instead more of a Mexican-type government. A government dedicated to one-party rule. A government that will control the media while preaching "fairness". A government that seeks to criminalize its opposition (See Leahy's crusade). A government that practices a combination of crony capitalism and national socialism where it allows its corporate friends to loot freely while forcing their competitors to submit to its will. Unfortunately for banks trying to escape the noose, it is probably too late as once they took government money, they became government slaves and are seeing exactly what the fate of a slave is under Obama.

The Auditorium Restaurant's website has been added to the Jackson Jazz sidebar (a collection of local links). I haven't been but look forward to going as I've heard many good things about it already.

And if Emily is your waitress, tip her well.

Here it is. Fire away.

Got to love government in action. We STILL have a bunch of non-working sirens in Hinds County:
"Hinds County has yet to replace any of its 51 warning sirens that either do not work or are outdated.
A year ago, several of the sirens didn't go off before tornadoes touched down in parts of Hinds County and Jackson.
The county in November got a $550,000 disaster-mitigation grant from the state to replace 10 of the sirens, some of which date to the 1950s..."

If you think that is all there is to THIS cluster, guess again. Larry Fisher shows why Hinds um, leads the state in, well, you know:
"Emergency Management is responsible for the sirens and tests them at noon on the first day of every month. But the county wouldn't know if one isn't working unless someone calls it in, Emergency Operations Director Larry Fisher has said"

In continuing the tradition of current and past chiefs of JPD, a JPD officer was arrested for domestic violence. Check out his name: Cazinova Reed.

Yes, I know about the Zata poll and about Mac endorsing Crisler. I'll comment about those two items later.

Marshall Ramsey has a great cartoon about Frank. Unfortunately, there is too much truth in his humor today.

No updates on the Irby case, as everyone anticipates the D.A.'s presenting the case to the Grand Jury.

This case is over on the Mississippi Court of Appeals website and is very um, interesting to say the least. Ware v. Ware was sealed at the trial court level but it was released by the Court of Appeals and has been passed heavily among high-falootin' Jacksonians during the last year. It's rather interesting and having a drink in hand while reading it is definitely recommended.

Jackson recorded its 13th homicide this year. Jackson is thus on pace to have only 52 homicides, a decrease of more than 20 from last year. Apparently production has fallen while managers blame the recession, when actually homicide production should increase during tougher economic times. Clearly Jackson needs to get its act together.

Here is a blast from the past at Y'all Politics as Brad Chism's past polls are called into question, as it's quite clear they are not truly scientific polls but instead violate most basic principles of accurate polling. It's a good thread to read and today would have qualified for a "Food Fight!" post on JJ.

Mish has a great post on how much the government has been forced to adjust its numbers on unemployment in the negative direction as unemployment is much worse than initially reported. Did I mention unemployment is currently 8.5% and Obama's budget is based on an 8.1% rate? Does anyone think it will decrease in the next year?

Want some more proof Geithner and Obama are helping their banker friends? The Washington Post reports they want their Daddy Warbucks buds to escape any scrutiny by Congress, you know, we the people, that good government sort of thing, when it comes to bailouts.

This has to be a record of some type at Mississippi College. Five of my classmates at MCSOL have been in trouble:

Edward Benson: permanently disbarred for embezzling on real estate closings.
Kyle Sadler: disbarred for embezzling from escrow account.
Kristie Smith-Miller: The Shoot-out at the Krystal on County Line Road.
Laura Kuns: Front page of the newspaper for having an affair with Justice Diaz
Correction: Now disbarred
Dwayne Deer: permanently disbarred last week for real estate fraud.

Now George McCranie, IV, who went back to Georgia to practice law, just got himself indicted by the feds for allegedly trying to exort a judge. A copy of the indictment , News story

What WAS it about the Ethics classes at MCSOL?

Tune in to Kim Wade at 5:10 PM CDT today as he and I will have as our guest Miki Dickoff, an award-winning film producer who recently completed Neshoba. The film will be presented this weekend at the local, highly-respected Crossroads Film Festival.

The film will premiere in Jackson tomorrow at 3:00 PM at Parkway Place Theatre.
Crossroads Schedule

It has won numerous awards. Projack reported on his blog: "Neshoba won Best Documentary at the 2008 Boston Film Festival, the 2008 Indie Memphis Film Festival and the 2008 Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival. Neshoba also won the Best Political Documentary & Best Directors awards at the 2008 New York International Independent Film and Video Festival."

Think the housing crisis can't get any worse? Buckle your seatbelts as mortgage insurance is no longer guaranteed. Housing Wire reports:
"Imagine paying full premium for an insurance contract, and receiving only 60 percent on any claim you make — that’s the unsavory situation now being faced by both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as a bevy of private-market lenders, on their mortgage insurance contracts with troubled mortgage insurer Triad Guaranty Inc.
The insurer, which put itself into run-off and ceased writing new mortgage insurance policies in the middle of last year, said late Wednesday that it had received a corrective order from its regulator, the Illinois Director of Insurance, limiting its payout on claims to 60 percent. The remaining 40 percent of a claim will essentially take the form of an IOU, or a deferred payment obligation (DPO), meaning the lender/investor will not immediately be able recover the full amount of its claim.
Which means one thing: get ready for loss severities to go up, as servicers recover less on a growing number of bad loans. Especially so if other mortgage insurers are eventually forced to follow Triad’s lead, as some analysts say they expect..." Housing Wire story

This is very bad news for the housing industry. Although Triad was the smallest remaining mortgage insurance company and a minor player, the mere fact that a state regulator is ordering them to not pay claims in full will cause tremors for lenders. Imagine paying your premiums on your car insurance, getting in a wreck, and then finding out from your carrier that it can only pay for half of the repairs. That is the situation facing Fannie and Freddie as defaults continue to increase. Mortgage insurance claims were expected to cover some of their losses, now they are told they are lucky if any will be covered by Triad. It should be noted that the other mortgage insurance companies are in trouble as well.

It happened so long ago most of us don't really know what happened in the Yom Kippur War when the Arabs tried to Pearl Harbor Israel on one of their holy days. This is a pretty good program on the war. Its also another example of what happens when politicians micromanage a war as Sadat's general planned and executed a very good strategy knocking the Israelis on their heels only to have Sadat fire him and start making decisions, decisions which led to his army being cut off as the Israelis prepared to take Cairo. Sharon could have annihlated his army. Here are the rest of the videos:

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Update on the Colson fraud story posted yesterday:

Another family apparently was victimized by Colson's alleged misdeeds:
"GAUTIER — After pumping nearly $100,000 into the purchase and renovation of a house, members of a Mississippi family now fear problems with the title company they used means they don't legally own the place.
Their title company is one of four owned by Stephen Colson — which includes Mobile-based Prestige Title of Alabama — that have been targeted by a federal lawsuit filed by a title insurance underwriter.
Donna and David Anderson, who have lived in Gautier for 18 years, helped their daughter, Destiny Anderson, and her fiancé, Christopher Peterson, purchase a house in the city's Point Clear subdivision Feb. 5.
The Andersons used a certified check for $82,000 to purchase the house, Donna Anderson said, but learned later that the check from her title company was returned by Countrywide, the mortgage holder.
"Now we're not even sure if we really own the house, and we've already put $15,000 into fixing it up," she said. "Our agent told us that the title company we used is being sued and that the check came back because the owner's accounts were frozen."......"

Unfortunately they are not alone as the Mobile Press-Register reports there might be more victims:
"Kenny Smith, who owns four Coldwell Banker realty offices in Jackson County, said he's received calls from about 12 clients so far.
"I've never heard of this before," Smith said. "There'll be others probably."
Smith said his offices are telling clients to hire attorneys and contact Fidelity National Corp., which owns Lawyers Title Insurance Corp. and is handling the claims. "That's all we can really tell them at this point," he said........"
Mobile Press-Register article

Please tell me we are not getting to the point where real estate attorneys are going to have to start paying in cash instead of checks.

What is also sad for my LSU brethren is Colson apparently represents several former LSU players currently in the NFL. His website lists: Andrew Whitworth, Stephen Peterman, Kendrick Allen, Rodney Reed, and Bennie Brazell. The rumor on the Coast is his clients had approximately $2 million with him that is probably gone. Prestige Sports Management website

Well, Mac is gone, replaced by Tyronne Lewis. Hopefully Mr. Lewis has learned a few things about ethics since he was disciplined for breaking the law when he allowed his son to make money throwing parties at the police academy. Unfortunately for Jacksonians, JPD is a dysfucntional organization as it averages a new Chief every 18 months. There is simply no way any organization can function properly with such turnover despite the BS that Thomas and Vance gave in the newspaper today. Here is a repost from last summer:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/08/lets-really-shake-things-up-at-jpd.html

By the way, am I the only one who thinks Mac resigned for reasons having nothing to do with the election?

I've added two new websites to the link lists in the sidebars. http://www.mslitigationreview.com/ is attorney Phillip Thomas's blog about legal issues in Mississippi. It was added in the media and blogs list on the right side of the page.

I've also added the website of local freelance photographer Daphne Nabors to the Jackson Jazz section. Her website is http://www.daphnephoto.com/. Feel free to check out her work or contact her if you need a photographer.

Well, Mac is gone, Tyrone Lewis is in. Why? Crisler? Time to move on? Frank and Mac don't like each other? Is this a Trent Lott moment? Other reasons?

Updated post: http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2009/04/update-to-colson-fraud-case.html



Expect to see more of these cases as the housing industry continues to implode. Title insurance company Lawyers Title is suing prominent coast lawyer Steve Colson in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, alleging he and various companies he owned misappropriated funds intended for Lawyers Title and others. The plaintiff seeks $10 million in damages. Colson's assets were frozen as it was alleged he kept money that should have been disbursed from his escrow account to Lawyers Title, sellers, and other parties to the tune of several million dollars

Copy of lawsuit

Mr. Colson has owned over the years, several mortgage companies and title insurance companies. Typically a lawyer such as Mr. Colson will act as an agent for the title insurance company and keep a "split" of the title insurance premium while closing loans for lenders and consumers. Lawyer's Title claims:

1. Colson lied to Lawyer's Title by hiding the fact he his relationship with another title insurance company had been terminated.
2. Misrepresented his financial statements to Lawyer's Title (Such companies generally require a specified amount of reserves in the escrow accounts.
3. Delayed paying mortgage payoffs, creating an inflated float in his accounts.
4. Funding accounts had a shortfall of $4.8 million dollars in October

Lawyers Title seeks to terminate the relationship while asking for $10 million in damages, punitive damages as determined by the Court, and attorney's fees. The plaintiff also asked the Court to freeze all accounts of the defendants as it claimed they would try to move, conceal, and dispose of funds that Lawyers Title claims belongs to them.

Such claims are usually easy to prove as there is a paper trail for everything involved in such a case. Mortgage fraud and similar crimes rarely go to court because they are so hard to defend. Bank statements don't lie when compared to each other. The Sun-Herald reported some homebuyers were hurt by Mr. Colson's conduct. One home even has two mortgages on it as the Mr. Colson allegedly did not pay off the seller's mortgage when he received the funds to do so at closing:

"Monica Harris and Philip Kreiser didn’t make money when they sold their Ocean Springs home last month, but at least they were rid of it. Or so they thought.
Now, after a real estate closing was held, money changed hands, and they have already bought another home in Texas, the married Air Force couple has discovered that a check from a title company intended to pay off their $140,000-plus mortgage did not clear.
For them, however, the bottom line is clear enough. Their mortgage company, Wells Fargo, tells the couple they still owe on the house they already vacated and sold on Old Walnut Road in Gulf Park Estates.
Now they are turning to a lawyer after dealing with the bureaucracy of mortgage and title companies.
Harris and Kreiser, both career non-commissioned officers, are not wealthy. But they owe $180,000 on their new Texas home and another $140,000-plus for the Mississippi home they thought was sold.
“There’s no way we can do that,” Harris said. “This has been so stressful on us.”

One hopes such victims can obtain relief without any damage to their credit. Mr. Colson is involved with many companies. A listing compiled from several websites reveals:
STEPHEN R. COLSON, Registered Agent, PRESTIGE TITLE, INC.
STEPHEN R. COLSON, Director, PRESTIGE TITLE, INC.
STEPHEN R. COLSON, Manager, MERCURY TITLE SERVICES, LLC
STEPHEN R. COLSON, Member, STANDBY POWER SUPPLY, L.L.C.
STEPHEN R. COLSON, Member or Manager, GULFLAND DEVELOPMENT, LLC
STEPHEN R. COLSON, Member or Manager, ROSEWOOD DEVELOPMENT, LLC
STEPHEN COLSON, Member, VIC'S CHOPHOUSE OF MISSISSIPPI, LLC
STEVE COLSON, Vice President, SDSS, INC.
STEVE COLSON, Registered Agent, HOME MORTGAGE INC. OF MISSISSIPPI
STEVE COLSON, Registered Agent, S. H. ANTHONY, INC.

The case grows more complex as more parties intervene in the case. Mississippi Litigation Review reports Adams Homes was allowed by the Court to intervene in the case as Adams claimed the defendants owed them over $600,000. Order Philip Thomas provides further details of his website on the legal wrangling involved between Lawyers Title, Wachovia, and Mr. Colson.

On a further note, this is unfortunate for some of my LSU Tigers as Mr. Colson also represented some former players such as Andrew Whitworth and was partners with Stephen Peterman in El Tigre. He was also prominent in the LSU Alumni Association.

My prediction is the plaintiffs will obtain a judgement against Colson and divide up what little monies were obtained by the Court. Considering real estate fraud is increasing as the housing crisis worsens, there will probably be more of these cases reported in the next few years in Mississippi.

"a recent report provides a description of an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) that can strike carriers and other U.S. vessels at a range of 2000km.
The range of the modified Dong Feng 21 missile is significant in that it covers the areas that are likely hot zones for future confrontations between U.S. and Chinese surface forces.
The size of the missile enables it to carry a warhead big enough to inflict significant damage on a large vessel, providing the Chinese the capability of destroying a U.S. supercarrier in one strike..." https://www.usni.org/forthemedia/ChineseKillWeapon.asp

A little bird told me Judge Houston Patton was not too happy when he found out the county insurance carrier wouldn't cover him in the lawsuit filed against him by James Jennings. Considering the lawsuit claims the learned and esteemed Judge committed an intentional tort against Mr. Jennings, it's not too surprising the carrier takes that position.

Earlier post and copy of suit

"As IBM was firing thousands of American workers last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published Big Blue's application to copyright a computerized system that calculates how to offshore jobs while maximizing government tax breaks..."
IBM story

Well, well, well. Recio is claiming another trial will ruin him financially:
"He has been suspended as a police officer and is on a leave of absence," Cynthia Stewart of Madison wrote in the letter. "He draws only the base pay which is barely above the poverty line, has a wife and three children and is three months behind on his house payments. Foreclosure is next."
Earlier this month, during a teleconference with U.S. District Court Judge Dan Jordan, Stewart said Recio's home already was in foreclosure.
Prosecutors have not responded to Stewart's letter..."
Clarion-Ledger Story

Just one problem with this article. According to Hinds County Chancery Court records, there are NO foreclosure proceedings pending against Mr. Recio's home. His mailbox might be stuffed with warnings of foreclosure, but as of now, no foreclosure actions have been filed on his home.

If Stewart made that claim to the judge, she is lying and should be dealt with in an appropriate manner. Mr. Joyner should be called on the carpet for engaging in sloppy reporting when a quick phone call to the courthouse would have verified Stewart's claim.

Recio's property: http://www.co.hinds.ms.us/pgs/apps/landroll_detail.asp?ID=4854-204-380

While I look for stuff for my open thread, here is something for your viewing pleasure:

You can't make this up:
"Palestinian authorities disbanded a youth orchestra from a West Bank refugee camp after it played for a group of Holocaust survivors in Israel, a local official said on Sunday. Adnan Hindi of the Jenin camp called the Holocaust a political issue and accused conductor Wafa Younis of unknowingly dragging the children into a political dispute. He added that Younis has been barred from the camp and the apartment where she taught the 13-member Strings of Freedom orchestra has been boarded up.
Advertisement
"She exploited the children," said Hindi, the head of the camp's popular committee, which takes on municipal duties. "She will be forbidden from doing any activities.... We have to protect our children and our community." Its all Israel's fault

Over on the right sidebar, I've added a new section containing a list of links for local and state government databases. Want to look for a judgement on someone, a campaign finance report, or some other document that IS available online, simply go to that part of JJ instead of fumbling around with a google search and digging through a website. I'm leaving it in its current spot for now and next week will move it down below Trollfest and current posts.

Zero Hedge shows how AIG, with Geithner's blessing, scammed us yet again:
"AIG, knowing it would need to ask for much more capital from the Treasury imminently, decided to throw in the towel, and gifted major bank counter-parties with trades which were egregiously profitable to the banks, and even more egregiously money losing to the U.S. taxpayers, who had to dump more and more cash into AIG, without having the U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner disclose the real extent of this, for lack of a better word, fraudulent scam.
In simple terms think of it as an auto dealer, which knows that U.S. taxpayers will provide for an infinite amount of money to fund its ongoing sales of horrendous vehicles (think Pontiac Azteks): the company decides to sell all the cars currently in contract, to lessors at far below the amortized market value, thereby generating huge profits for these lessors, as these turn around and sell the cars at a major profit, funded exclusively by U.S. taxpayers (readers should feel free to provide more gripping allegories). (Kingfish note: Even more plain English: I have car lot. My inventory of cars has worth 2 million dollars. I sell it all to you for 1 million dollars. You then sell them for 1.5 million dollars, making a huge profit. The taxpayers send me a check to cover my losses.)
What this all means is that the statements by major banks, i.e. JPM, Citi, and BofA, regarding abnormal profitability in January and February were true, however these profits were a) one-time in nature due to wholesale unwinds of AIG portfolios, b) entirely at the expense of AIG, and thus taxpayers, c) executed with Tim Geithner's (and thus the administration's) full knowledge and intent, d) were basically a transfer of money from taxpayers to banks (in yet another form) using AIG as an intermediary...."
http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/03/exclusive-aig-was-responsible-for-banks.html

Judy Garland performance. You might recognize the host.

He wasn't just a cop-killer but also a child-molestor:
"Authorities say a day before the shooting the 26-year-old fugitive parolee was linked by DNA to the February rape of a 12-year-old girl who was dragged off the street at gunpoint." Animal POS

Kim Wade will love this one.

Mortgage Implode-O-Meter, a mortgage industry website, scoops the media on a possible cell found in Illinois:

"2009-03-27 — ml-implode.com
A maintenance firm contracted to work on an abandoned and foreclosed home in Illinois owned by Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. made a startling discovery while draining the flooded basement: pipe bombs and tear gas grenades were uncovered when the water had been removed, leading the surprised workers to notify both Countrywide and local authorities. Police were reported to have responded to the scene at 3245 203rd St. in Lynwood (Chicago Heights), IL.
The Village of Lynwood Police Department would not acknowledge there had been a response to that address when we called. Apparently shrouded in secrecy, Police Report #1633 is not for release to any newspaper or online news agency. According to a Police spokesperson, "the release has to be approved by the Chief" and he is not around for a week.
Bob Cripe and Andy Steinbrecher were the two subcontractors who made the discovery. The pipe bombs "appeared to be hand-made" according to their observation. Other persons on the site were said to have determined the "handful" of grenades were likely tear gas based on the "blue sheen" of the containers. Contractor Paul Julian of Paul Julian Inc. told us authorities removed the ordnance by hand, and work on the house later resumed.
Neighbors told our sources that the prior owner, who was believed to have been employed at the National Guard facility in Lynwood, IL, was arrested and jailed some time ago for charges unknown. The owner's two sons had reportedly been using the residence before it was abandoned, and Countrywide later foreclosed on the property. With the electricity off, a sump pump in the basement was not functioning and water had filled the lower level. Countrywide had enlisted a field services company to remove the water in an effort to preserve the building." Explosives and tear gas found

The following comment concerning Karen Irby was on the Clarion-Ledger's website:

msmomofboys wrote:
Replying to foresthillreb:
"Ticked off, when the suspect is in the hospital for a long time as she is, usually in other jurisdictions the police will have the doctors flag the file so they notify the police when she is close to being released. It makes no sense to keep police in their 24/7 for 3 months."

Karen is at home and has been for at least 4 days"

JJ has been able to independently confirm Ms. Irby has been released from the hospital and has been at home nearly a week.

Before some people start screaming for her arrest, I spoke to NMC and others about this issue. My understanding is if she is to be charged with vehicular homicide or manslaughter, she has to be indicted by the grand jury. If she was over the legal BAC limit, an arrest for a DUI at this time would jeapordize a prosecution on the more serious charges, as double jeopardy would apply (I am told this is a favorite trick of D.A.'s who wish to get their good ole boys off when they commit similar acts).

So far, JPD has handled this matter properly. The crime scene van was out there for several hours the next day. Investigators knocked on doors looking for witnesses. JPD spent several days recontsructing the accident. The only thing JPD should have done by now is release the BAC test results, but if they are released in an indictment, no harm, no foul. However, JPD should change its policy (one of the many reasons people don't trust JPD) and release the BAC results so as to avoid any improper appearances, which fuel suspicions of favorable treatment.

Mr. Jim Gulley, arrested last fall for assaulting some referees at a soccer game at Newell Field after a game in which his son played for Clinton High School, (Soccer Scrum), was so traumatized by the event he didn't even show up for court this week. His vacation was not unnoticed by the court as the judge fined him $1,000 and 30 days in jail with 24 of them suspended.

As I'm sure there is a warrant for his arrest, if you see this guy, take him down and bring him in.

JJ is a twitter-free zone.

This is an open thread so have at it while I review some lagniappe from the internet.

The Clarion-Ledger reported on the public financial records of the Jackson mayoral candidates. Seems most of them have had tax problems over the years. The favorite of local progressives seemed to have major problems paying his taxes (which may explain why he is liked by so many over at the Jackson Free Press):
"Documents show Horhn has been late in paying his taxes for years, resulting in the state placing liens on his north Jackson home at least 11 times since 1995.
Horhn's problems paying his property taxes on his home were equally common. Since 1996, he has been late at least 11 times, several times redeeming his property after it was sold at the courthouse.
"I'm late sometimes paying my bills. I'm sorry for that, but in the end I pay my taxes. I pay the interest, and I pay the penalties," he said."

Don't worry about any any problems now as when Horhn got caught with his hand in the cookie jar "Horhn paid his $1,185.02 property tax bill Wednesday after The Clarion-Ledger contacted him and produced documents showing he is up to date on his state income tax."

But don't worry, he says although he can't handle his money he can handle your money:
"I'm late sometimes paying my bills. I'm sorry for that, but in the end I pay my taxes. I pay the interest, and I pay the penalties," he said."

However, Mr. Horhn was not alone on the deadbeat bench as he was joined by Frankie, who has been the subject of numerous posts on this blog about his tax and mortgage problems although it was reported he was garnished for not paying a security detail for ihs protection in 2005. Alice Scott, David Archie, Jabari Toins, and Brenda Scott were on the list. Mr. Crisler was mentioned but his tax problem was a small one and happened once and was similar to what other veterans who deployed to Iraq experienced.


The Texting Ban bill made it to the Governor's desk although once must ask who do you trust more operating a computer while driving: someone who is 17 or 60?

Frankie and the Democrats carried on their food fight in court yesterday as Judge Billy Joe Landrum of Jones County fame came to town to referee the scrum and made it clear he would rather be somewhere else. After this stunt and Barbara Blackmon's Saturday night massacre, the Democrats are looking like a group who would rather shoot each other than Republicans. The Jackson Free Press published an account of the hearing yesterday while casting Hizzoner in a less than flattering light. Methinks Melton will win this one. I should probably also comment on his stupid attack on McMillin but I'm tired of writing about Melton today.

G. Gordon Liddy, move over, you now have competition for your Stacked and Packed Calendar. Barbie, Maggie, and Stephanie from WLBT decided to do some shooting.

Brent's Drugs was squeezed out by the drug goliaths. The Clarion-Ledger reports how pharmacies like Brent's was a victim of Medicare's drug plan favoring the chains. However, you will still be able to enjoy the shakes, burgers, and fries at Brents as the soda counter will be kept open. Now if I could just get my hands on the recipe for the shakes Parkins Pharmacy used to serve.

Obama should be worried right now as yesterday the bond markets gave him some heartburn. First the British had a bond market selloff and nobody came as the auction failed. The Fed began its first major buy of Treasuries (selling Treasuries is how deficits are financed.) only to see buyers turn away, pushing down the prices and forcing the yields to go higher (many consumer and mortgage interest rates follow the ten-year treasury bond). The AP reported:
"NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks lost ground after a weak auction of U.S. government debt stirred worries about how easily Washington will be able to raise money to fund its economic rescue program.
Investors gave an unexpectedly cool response to a $24 billion auction of 5-year Treasury notes Wednesday, which also sent prices for Treasurys lower."

Over at the Market Ticker, Denninger titles his post "Bond Market to Bernanke and Obama:**** You." an opines:
"Ben came into the market and bought Treasuries today, and in response yields moved.... up?
Oh, and the stock market sold off hard too, down some three hundred DOW points from where it was before these bond "operations."
A blunt, clear warning was issued by the market today Mr. President and Mr. Fed."

Barry/Timmie/Bennie are NOT smarter than the markets. Unfortunately for us, no one has told them that as they come up with more schemes that don't seem to work. Meanwhile, Citi and others are aggressively buying up subprime, Option arm, and Alt A securities at thirty cents on the dollar as they anticipate being able to sell them to each other (they are marked at their original values on their books) at fifty cents on the dollar and stick us with the loss while Obama tells us how the plan worked. Read the rest of the story. Prepare to get sick.

See what over in England some women are doing to raise money to pay for a child's autism treatment. Not safe for work.

Fire away.

One of the best fight scenes ever. Sophia Loren is pretty hot too.

Ayn Rand on the Democratic Party

If embed doesn't work, here is the link:
http://www.archive.org/details/AynRandCommentaryTheEndOfTheRoad

This is an open thread so fire away. Some news items of interest today:

Cookie Cutter News. Apparently the Solons in Mississippi have decreed the W should change its name to something else. There is nothing wrong with calling it MUW but such is not to be, as they try to run from its esteemed history. They now want to call the school Waverly as the Clarion-Ledger reports today.

WLBT reports Frankie is turning over the financial records to the city council of who is on the city payroll. While Frankie was crying about not wanting to reveal personal information, someone should've asked him how hard it could be to have some of his Wood Street Players get some markers and start blacking out SSN's. Surely after all of those years in Jackson Public Schools they did learn how to color, n'est pas?

Japanese teens are introduced to Southern culture. Wonder if they taught them about catfish grabblin' or making moonshine. Feel free to insert redneck jokes here.

Lest we go by without our daily AIG update, here ya go: Real Clear Politics reports Chris Dodd's wife served on their board of directors. Think there just might be a reason why he looked out for their bonuses and allowed them to funnel billions to other banks? Meanwhile, look at the cottage he claims is worth only $100,000.

Meanwhile, Mish takes Krugman to task for being clueless about the bond markets. Mish quotes Krugman:
"The big policy news [last] week has been the Fed’s decision to buy $1 trillion of long-term bonds, going beyond the normal policy of buying only short-term debt. Good move....
My back of the envelope calculation looks like this: if the Fed buys $1 trillion of 10-year bonds at 2.5%, and has to sell those bonds in an environment where the market demands a yield to maturity of more than 5%, it will take around a $200 billion loss.
I’m not complaining; I think quantitative easing (it’s really qualitative easing, but I give up on trying to fix the terminology) is the right way to go. But we should go into it with our eyes open."

"Mish says jumpin' jimminycrickets and points out why Krugman is wrong:
For starters the Fed cannot force long term interest rates down without committing an unlimited amount of purchases, and perhaps not even then. Simply put, the Fed cannot change the primary trend. If long-term interest rates are headed higher there is little the Fed can do about it.
Japan proved that currency manipulation does not work, and I see little reason for open intervention in the treasury market to work either....
Moreover, as long as the Fed is willing to buy assets at inflated prices, there will be an endless supply of sellers. Given enough time and enough dollar commitment, eventually no one would own treasuries but the Fed. Imagine the complications unwinding that....."

Meanwhile, England tries some Obamanomics and finds no one wants to finance it. What happens if you throw a treasury bond giveaway party and nobody comes?

Zero Hedge bursts Geithner's little bubble:
As a result of the TALF's non-recourse/non-margin nature, hedge fund X can buy Bank X's MBS Portfolio which is marked on the bank's books at 80 cents on the dollar (but has a market price of 20 cents) for the marked price with a 3% equity check and TALF filling the balance. A day later, Bank X can repurchase the portfolio from hedge fund X at the 20 cent market price, and pay hedge fund X a $5 million fee for the "trouble."......
http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/03/amazing-talf-bait-and-switch.html

Read the rest of it. It's a short read but will get your attention.

Hard to believe this is a high school production.

Nothing like watching the Democrats having a food fight. Over at Y'all Politics they are enjoying the fray: http://yallpolitics.com/index.php/yp/post/15200/#43192.

Franks and Blackmon going at it? Is this a fair fight?

What is nuts on Blackmon's part is bringing back Ike Brown, the Black Grand Dragon. Long-time readers will remember this post from a loooooooooooong time ago where I quoted a letter her wrote to the Clarion-Ledger:
"As a result of Judge Pepper's ruling, progressive Democrats will control all statewide and local Democratic nominations; they constitute 85 percent of the party base. "Blue Dogs" like Eric Clark and Jim Hood, Sheriff Malcolm McMillin, Barbara Dunn, Jack Gordon, etc., have won their last Democratic nomination.
What is the basis for this claim is a surging black population, mainly on the eastern side of the state. In DeSoto County, minority population has increased 300 percent; south Madison has doubled; Rankin, Lee, Lowndes, Obtibbeha, Lauderdale, Harrison counties, etc., all have seen huge jumps in minority population.
What's needed is a voter registration, voter runout drive to bring 500,000 African Americans to the polls; there are more than 850,000 eligible African-American voters in Mississippi - roughly 41 percent of the eligible electorate.
As for voter ID, bring it on in the primary; we can handle it. Republicans may find it to be a double-edged sword.
Finally. in many rural counties like Noxubee, Kemper, Winston, Pike, etc., voters will have to start giving state and national Democrats some support or get out of local races entirely. Think about that.
Ike Brown
Democratic Executive Committee
Macon"

This might be fun to watch for awhile.

JJ recently asked if JPD should release the Irby toxicology reports. The results were:

Yes, Public has a right to know 100 (46%)
No, it would fuel a lynch mob 7 (3%)
Don't know 8 (3%)
No, JPD is conducting the investigation/prosecution properly 51 (23%)
Yes, we don't trust JPD or the DA's office 50 (23%)

69% voted in for JPD releasing the reports, only 26% voted for keeping them private.

Wow. The Dow was up nearly 500 points yesterday. We have reached bottom. The Bear Market is over!!! Let the good times roll.

Um, not so fast my friend. The Wall Street Journal points out a few facts yesterday:
"If the latest bear-market rally in stocks already is over, stick around: Another should be on the way soon......
Since this bear market began in October 2007, there have been several episodes of rip-roaring gains, including three S&P 500 revivals of more than 15%, including this latest bounce, according to data compiled by Morgan Stanley strategist Gerard Minack.
Such rallies are fairly typical of the worst markets. The 1929-32 bear market, with the S&P down 86%, featured nine rallies of 15% or more. The grim stretch between 1937 and 1942 was punctuated by nine 15% rallies, even as the S&P ultimately shed 60%.
What has been unusual about this bear market is the quickness of its dead-cat bounces: Rallies of 10% and 15% have lasted an average of just eight and five days, respectively, according to Mr. Minack's data. The bullish stretch from November 2008 to January 2009 was broken into two rallies, one that was short and sharp and another, longer one that wasn't quite 15%. Combining the two provides one relatively short 30-day bounce....."

Karl Denninger discussed "quantitative easing" yesterday. For those of you over at the CL business section who don't know what that means, that is the term used to describe the Fed's plan to keep interest rates low by printing trillions of dollars so they can purchase Treasuries.

One treat of the Market Ticker is the Ticker Forum: http://www.tickerforum.org
Some of those boards are literally money. A friend of mine wrote about the forums (and I agree with him): "the real value is his message board. There are numerous professionals (who are all very good) posting on that board and they all provide good insight in any number of areas. If you're into TA, the "Trader's Club" board is extremely good, as is the "Technical Analysis" board. You'll occasionally get good stuff on the rumors board - someone posted about the unusual options activity and the fact that certain investment banks weren't accepting Bear Sterns collateral literally days before it blew up. The breaking news board also tends to be extremely up-to-date on anything important that happens."

One of the knuckleheads on Tigerdroppings decided to have some fun with his boss. Clue: Annoy-a-tron.

http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/MessageTopic.asp?p=12541595&Pg=1

Enjoy

Mike the Tiger is getting big. When he was brought to LSU last year, he was only over 300 lbs. When fully grown, he will be approximately 700 lbs. Here are some recent photos of him:
http://www.murtaghphotography.com/gallery/7694823_hcdn5#P-1-16

Enjoy.

Well, time to close shop. Over at Nmisscommentor.com, Lotus was mean to me and had this to say about JJ: "Kingfish (10:43PM), I do read and appreciate your digging on some local stories, but JJ is enough of a (1) libertarian (2) titty-bar that I don’t stick around to hang on your every word. Just not into that “Back to Eighth Grade” socio-political thing ya got going on over there, you know?" http://nmisscommentor.com/?p=306&cpage=1#comment-320

Oh well, at least JJ was never considered to be a Hamas or Hezbollah hangout as her site came to be.

By the way, NMC's site is a really good one.

I posted this interview with Dr. Anna Schwartz last year. Its still as relevant today as it was six months ago. Who is Dr. Schwartz?

"Most people now living have never seen a credit crunch like the one we are currently enduring. Ms. Schwartz, 92 years old, is one of the exceptions. She's not only old enough to remember the period from 1929 to 1933, she may know more about monetary history and banking than anyone alive. She co-authored, with Milton Friedman, "A Monetary History of the United States" (1963). It's the definitive account of how misguided monetary policy turned the stock-market crash of 1929 into the Great Depression."

The interview offers some good insights and is somewhat at odds with the Fed pimps seen on CNBC and other networks.

Interview

Watch 7:00 mark. Apparently Santelli is letting it out that someone had some inside scoop on the Fed's decision to buy treasuries and moved on it.