There's been something of a teapot tempest over charges that an advance team of US Secret Service agents dallied with ladies of the evening prior to the arrival of POTUS Barack Hussein Obama in Cartagena, Columbia recently. The objections to this alleged behavior is that it's illegal under US law, which is doubtful, and that it might compromise the safety of the anointed one, also doubtful, provide an opportunity for Russian espionage and disgrace the US government.
First of all, there isn't any federal law banning prostitution with the exception of the Mann Act, which makes illegal the transportation of females across state lines for an immoral purpose. The US doesn't get to enact the laws for Columbia, at least not yet. A secret service agent sharing affections with a stranger probably doesn't endanger the POTUS as much as the possibility that he might be hit by an errant golf ball. (How many secret service agents accompany the POTUS on a round of golf? Are others allowed to play the course while he's out there? Or are they all secret service agents representing golfers? If so, are the taxpayers on the hook for their greens fees, too? Do they form a human shield around BHO when some heavy hitter tries to play through? For sure the Russkies would infiltrate the Columbian prostitute pool on the off chance that one of their agents could pull her Mata Hari act on a gullible secret service agent but what could she get out of the guy, in information, at least? Would the Russians exploit some hitherto unknown BHO weakness and maybe poke him with a poisoned ball point or something? The disgrace of the US government is probably the critical failing. The government of a country that indiscriminately bombs various areas in Asia Minor would certainly lose standing in the international community if some of its super cops were caught enjoying themselves.
Of course, it's all bullshit.
The real issue here is this: highly paid US government functionaries attempted to steal something. Refusing to pay a hooker is the equivalent of shoplifting. As crimes go, it's pretty low on the totem pole of transgression. You might not enjoy your stay in the slammer if the other guys in the cell block find out that you stiffed a whore. Across the world, few people would be upset to learn that traveling government officials indulge in subsidized hanky-panky. They would, however, look down on big shots that don't pay their bills.
That really is the issue here. A very well-paid appartchik that has all his expense covered by the taxpayers is too low class to bite the bullet and pay what he owed. In fact, none of this would ever have come to light if he had followed through on his end of the deal. The lady wouldn't have gone to the local police and they wouldn't have investigated the crime, which was non-payment for services, not prostitution. The agent and his co-workers would have moved on to the next glamour spot on the BHO re-election tour and taken their pick from the available love laborers. He deserves worse than termination, he deserves the disgust and derision of all red-blooded Americans.
A former merchant seaman has a similar take on it.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
I can see the Maldives from my house.
POTUS Barak Hussein Obama brought up the islands that were the scene of a short war between Great Britain and Argentina in 1982 during a speech he gave in Cartagena, Columbia on April 16. Unfotunately, instead of referring to them as the "Malvinas", as the Argentines do, or the Falklands, as the British do, he called them the "Maldives", a group of islands off the coast of India.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
What Can We Learn From This?
This article from the Manchester Union-Leader in New Hampshire provides some of the details of another bizarre incident from Law Enforcement Planet. When three people are killed on a normally quiet Thursday night in small-town America it's a bona fide tragedy. How does such a thing occur?
First of all, both parties to this fiasco were soldiers, maybe, in the "War on Drugs". For sure the police officers were, perhaps the others were in the other army. Can we possibly imagine that if the penalties for possession and distribution of drugs were less draconian that offenders would still shoot it out with the cops? A confrontation the alleged criminal is inevitably destined to lose? We seldom hear of gunfights over speeding tickets but there would probably be lots of them if a conviction for speeding meant 10-15 in the joint.
Speaking of armies in the war on drugs, soldiers that mess up an attack or a defense pay the price, sometimes with their life. These cops were supposed to be professionals. How on earth did they manage to screw up an investigation like this? They have to be expecting resistance of some sort, they're wearing armored vests, they're armed, they outnumber the person of interest. Yet they still create a tragic incident. They're personally and institutionally incompetent.
On the human interest side of the story, the sympathetic part, it's pointed out that the police chief was days from retiring. It's also pointed out that he was 48 years old. That should have been a headline story even if no shoot-out occurred. A public employee was eligible for retirement at age 48! That's truly mind-boggling. It would also be interesting to revisit the 4 surviving cops tens years or so into the future and see what kind of financial arrangements they will be enjoying.
Evidently 26 year old Brittany Tibbetts was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her death is truly the saddest part of a sad story. In many states an accessory to a crime, the driver of the getaway car in a liquor store robbery for instance, is just as guilty of murder if the clerk is killed as the actual shooter. In this particular incident, even though Miss Tibbetts may have been killed by the resident of the home, the police themselves set the disaster in motion and bear responsibility for her death. They were negligent in not determining if another person was in the building. Natually, they were careful to examine the premises hours later with a robot to make sure that no more policemen would be put in danger. The safety of Miss Tibbetts never entered the equation, then or earlier. No matter, she, too, is just as dead as police chief Maloney and for the same reasons. No flags will be flown at half-staff for her, however.
First of all, both parties to this fiasco were soldiers, maybe, in the "War on Drugs". For sure the police officers were, perhaps the others were in the other army. Can we possibly imagine that if the penalties for possession and distribution of drugs were less draconian that offenders would still shoot it out with the cops? A confrontation the alleged criminal is inevitably destined to lose? We seldom hear of gunfights over speeding tickets but there would probably be lots of them if a conviction for speeding meant 10-15 in the joint.
Speaking of armies in the war on drugs, soldiers that mess up an attack or a defense pay the price, sometimes with their life. These cops were supposed to be professionals. How on earth did they manage to screw up an investigation like this? They have to be expecting resistance of some sort, they're wearing armored vests, they're armed, they outnumber the person of interest. Yet they still create a tragic incident. They're personally and institutionally incompetent.
On the human interest side of the story, the sympathetic part, it's pointed out that the police chief was days from retiring. It's also pointed out that he was 48 years old. That should have been a headline story even if no shoot-out occurred. A public employee was eligible for retirement at age 48! That's truly mind-boggling. It would also be interesting to revisit the 4 surviving cops tens years or so into the future and see what kind of financial arrangements they will be enjoying.
Evidently 26 year old Brittany Tibbetts was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her death is truly the saddest part of a sad story. In many states an accessory to a crime, the driver of the getaway car in a liquor store robbery for instance, is just as guilty of murder if the clerk is killed as the actual shooter. In this particular incident, even though Miss Tibbetts may have been killed by the resident of the home, the police themselves set the disaster in motion and bear responsibility for her death. They were negligent in not determining if another person was in the building. Natually, they were careful to examine the premises hours later with a robot to make sure that no more policemen would be put in danger. The safety of Miss Tibbetts never entered the equation, then or earlier. No matter, she, too, is just as dead as police chief Maloney and for the same reasons. No flags will be flown at half-staff for her, however.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Meet Jamie Galbraith!
Jamie Galbraith is the son of John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian popular economist and author of the influential The Affluent Society. Somehow he inherited his father's genetic disposition to coming to erroneous conclusions about economic affairs and carries on the family tradition at the University of Texas, where he teaches and also leads the University of Texas Inequality Project. In watching this video you may wonder what other aspects of human existence men like Galbraith wish to control. I do as well.
Monday, April 9, 2012
The IRS Decides Who's an Employee and Who Isn't
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner explains:
IRS forces city to alter Clay Street Cemetery maintenance arrangement
by Dorothy Chomicz/dchomicz@newsminer.com
Apr 08, 2012
FAIRBANKS — An arrangement in which the city paid a local man several thousand dollars per year to maintain the Clay Street Cemetery has come to an end thanks to the Internal Revenue Service.
According to Tony Shumate, human resources and purchasing director for the city, the IRS conducted an independent audit of the city’s vendors and found Frank Turney does not meet the criteria for being an independent contractor.
“They have established that we have behavioral control over him, and that says that he is an employee,” Shumate said.
The IRS says behavioral control means the business has the right to direct or control not only what work is done but how it is done.
Since the city can no longer hire Turney as an independent contractor, the only other option would be to hire him as a temporary employee, something that would have created a separate set of hurdles, according to Shumate.
“All of our temporary employees are normally coming out of the unions. He could join one, but that doesn’t mean we would have a right to call him in, because he would have to get on their hiring list and he’d be low guy on the totem pole,” Shumate said.
As for Turney, joining a union was not a viable alternative.
“Tony mentioned to me, ‘Well Frank, you’d have to join the union.’ Well, Frank Turney is not going to join no government union. That’s out, that’s completely out,” Turney said.
Turney feels the city should pay him for the work he would have done this year.
“Well, why not? They’ve already appropriated the money in their budget. I would have just hoped they would have lived up to that contract. I’m not responsible for the city and the IRS. That’s their problem, not mine,” Turney said.
The Clay Street Cemetery was established in 1903 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Maintenance of the cemetery will now be done by the city’s Department of Public Works.
Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - IRS forces city to alter Clay Street Cemetery maintenance arrangement
IRS forces city to alter Clay Street Cemetery maintenance arrangement
by Dorothy Chomicz/dchomicz@newsminer.com
Apr 08, 2012
FAIRBANKS — An arrangement in which the city paid a local man several thousand dollars per year to maintain the Clay Street Cemetery has come to an end thanks to the Internal Revenue Service.
According to Tony Shumate, human resources and purchasing director for the city, the IRS conducted an independent audit of the city’s vendors and found Frank Turney does not meet the criteria for being an independent contractor.
“They have established that we have behavioral control over him, and that says that he is an employee,” Shumate said.
The IRS says behavioral control means the business has the right to direct or control not only what work is done but how it is done.
Since the city can no longer hire Turney as an independent contractor, the only other option would be to hire him as a temporary employee, something that would have created a separate set of hurdles, according to Shumate.
“All of our temporary employees are normally coming out of the unions. He could join one, but that doesn’t mean we would have a right to call him in, because he would have to get on their hiring list and he’d be low guy on the totem pole,” Shumate said.
As for Turney, joining a union was not a viable alternative.
“Tony mentioned to me, ‘Well Frank, you’d have to join the union.’ Well, Frank Turney is not going to join no government union. That’s out, that’s completely out,” Turney said.
Turney feels the city should pay him for the work he would have done this year.
“Well, why not? They’ve already appropriated the money in their budget. I would have just hoped they would have lived up to that contract. I’m not responsible for the city and the IRS. That’s their problem, not mine,” Turney said.
The Clay Street Cemetery was established in 1903 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Maintenance of the cemetery will now be done by the city’s Department of Public Works.
Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - IRS forces city to alter Clay Street Cemetery maintenance arrangement
Friday, April 6, 2012
Levi Johnston's Girlfriend is Pregnant!
But it's not Bristol Palin. Get this, the media keeps us informed of the reproductive peccadilloes of the 21 year-old ex-boyfriend of the daughter of the woman that unsuccessfully ran for the position of vice-president of the US four years ago but they still haven't been able to give us the name of one girl that now president Barak Hussein Obama dated in high school or college.
Florida Embarrassment
Gopher defenseman Ben Marshall cuddles up to BC winger Johnny Gaudreau while Kent Patterson makes the save.
The Minnesota Golden Gopher hockey team's 2012 renaissance ended with a hard-fought but ultimately humiliating loss to Hockey East power Boston College 6-1 in the semi-finals of the NCAA national tournament in Tampa, FL on Thursday night. Unlike professional sports, where there is little reluctance on the part of the media or fans to criticize individual performance, college coaches, rather than players seem to get the blame for failure. While everyone is quick to justifiably credit BC goal tender Parker Milner for his part in the impressive win, the fact remains that the Gopher defensive crew failed to show up for the game. Ben Marshall in particular played poorly and the normally reliable Nate Schmidt had several lapses as well. BC forwards were able to cruise down the slot as Gopher defensemen failed to force them to the outside and were then unable to clear the puck.
Rather than accept defeat with class, the Minnesotan captain, Taylor Mattson, committed a blatant slash at the 11:10 mark of the third period and team mate Nate Condon was given a 5 minute major penalty and game suspension for hooking the head of a BC player in the melee that followed. A sad ending to what had been an exciting and positive season for Gopher hockey.
The 2003 Gopher victory in the national championship game resulted in serious student misbehavior and vandalism in the Dinkytown business district adjoining the Minneapolis campus. Authorities were ready this time. Even though it was a Thursday night, with the dedicated student body preparing for the grind of classes the following day, and the game itself only a semi-final, squad cars from both the Minneapolis Police and the University Police were on every block. Five helmeted cops on horseback rode down the street in formation, dallied at the intersection of 14th & 4th street, and then ambled off. The only cops seen on foot were two that double parked with their emergency lights on while they went in to buy cigarettes. There was no disturbance, probably because they were there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)