THE CHAMBER OF HORRORS.

Karl Rove had a horrible, Grinchy, ugly idea.  Supreme court judges are prohibited from spending more than $5,000 to run for re-election in some states. Why not outspend them and get rid of "liberal" judges?

John Grisham wrote a book on just how it could happen.  It was fiction and being a fan, when I read it, it was a scary prospect, IF it could really happen.

In real life, could a well-financed shadowy,  group,  get an ordinary judge, one who made decisions for people suing for redress from corporate neglect, be replaced by a corporate leaning judge?  They began their push in the Southern States of Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas which is how they caught the attention of John Grisham.

Grisham appeared on LINK public television, along with members of Public Citizen and explained that it is happening all over the United States.  The Chamber of Commerce funds these power grabs,  attacking judges who make decisions in favor of ordinary people and replaces them on the bench with corporate friendly judges.

Here is how they did it to Judge Oliver Diaz of Oklahoma.
The Chamber spent $19 million dollars distorting his reputation, using decisions he made for a defendant, and dishonestly twisting the results in the newspaper.  When Diaz tried to buy ad time on television in his area, the Chamber used all the ad time and squeezed him out.
 He borrowed money from an attorney friend, Paul Minier, to defend himself with ads in the newspapers. The Chamber of Horrors immediately filed suit against him claiming that he made decisions in favor of this attorney. He was suspended from the bench. But, he had recused himself every time his friend came before his court. The case got thrown out after the opposition pulled delay after delay after delay. Then they filed suit against him for tax evasion while he was still in suspension. Again, delay, after delay and the phony suit was thrown out, costing the judge a million in defense, and three years off the bench.
 When he finally got back on the bench, he lost re-election to Keith Starret because people believe, where there is smoke there is fire. There MUST have been something shady going on.

There was. The Chamber of Horrors.

Chamber CEO Richard Bush has turned the Chamber of Commerce into the leading lobbying group for removal of judges and tort reform, which is another avenue of attack on ordinary citizens in favor of corporate rule. (More about that tomorrow.)

If a defendant has his leg cut off by a piece of farm machinery that was defective and goes for a jury trial and wins in court. The court has the power to reverse the decision, lower the amount, or throw it out and the defendant has to start over again.  Corporations win over 90% of the time against people suing for redress. This is the only weapon the people have against corporate neglect and we are losing our ability to fight because corporate money is strangling the life out of our democracy.

Make your vote count. Vote for corporate regulation and protect judges in your community. Support every measure you can to keep money out of politics.

TO STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES.

While I was in Oregon working on the house, Doug would ask me, "Mom, are you having any fun yet?  Taking a day off?"  The answer was always "NO".  In Calaveras County, our community is so lopsided and still in shock with 547 families burned out. Displaced people with their lives on hold, their future uncertain.  My friend, Nancy Stehura told me about a benefit dinner for fire victims at Prospector Brewing Co. on Main St. Murphys.  Nancy told me on the phone, "I know so many people who would love to have YOUR problems."  Touche'

So Jan and I decided to stop and smell the roses, put any personal issues aside and go have dinner.


We left her place and the sky above was a painting of puffy orange clouds.


At the Prospector Brewing Company, we told the bartender we had come for the benefit dinner. He said, "We don't serve dinner here. We aren't having a benefit dinner." The big question mark was on my forehead, how could this have happened two nights in a row? He pointed to a bin on the bar asking for lightly used clothing for fire victims. He handed us a beer and wine menu with a list of appetizers we could order. So, we ordered a drink and a bucket of unshelled  peanuts.


The band set up and got going. If the sign on the wall is correct, they are the Samba Breeze and there was a donation box set up to benefit Jules and Sean Koopman.  Hmm.


Not long after, Nancy arrived with about seven families who had burned out in the same neighborhood. The young girl and her mother, and the woman in blue, who I met later, Sue Koopman, burned out. Sue got up and made a speech from the band stand to support fire victims with donations. I couldn't hear. In fact, sitting next to each other, Jan and I shouted our conversation over the music. But we got the gist of things and put money in the box and many other patrons did the same.


My friend Nancy with her son. He is so tall, she fits under his arm. He burned out in Mountain Ranch and is bunking in with his mother in San Andreas, temporarily, part time. Someone, I think it was Nancy,  told me the ground was heated with the fire, the rains came and bulbs that normally bloom in the spring, are now poking shoots up through the ashes.


Jan having a conversation with Sue, about the level of devastation, and the difficulty of finding places to rent, especially if people have pets. Jan offered her acreage to place a trailer on and the offer was accepted. Sue knows someone who does massage and Jan has a table in her house.  I'm cogitating how I can do the same thing. The trouble for most of the victims, is their jobs and connections are on the far side of the county, or like Sue, in Amador County. Too far to drive everyday.


Sue and her partner, Danny, whose last name I didn't catch, have decided they are going to accept a Fema trailer and stay on the property and rebuild. Danny has a place in Hawaii, where they could move, but, they want to rebuild. It's the hard way, but we are so grateful that families are staying.  There is another benefit coming up for 5 firemen who lost their houses while they were fighting to save their neighbors.
Yes, it really is time to stop and smell the roses, be thankful, and find the green shoots coming up in our lives.

THE MAGIC BANK ACCOUNT

I’ve been absent this page for weeks and I’m still engaged in time consuming commitments. Much of it has to do with the building project in Oregon and some time out for friends and appointments, and downsizing here at home, before heading back on the road with Jim. Downsizing my email was also on the list. I’ve got at least three months of emails unanswered or waiting to be deleted. Aha! Light at the end of the tunnel. I ran across this email that I received from a friend and thought it worth blogging.

It is called The Magic Bank Account:
The author is unknown. It was found in the billfold of Coach Paul Bear Bryant, Alabama after he died in 1982.

Imagine, a magic bank account that you had won; the prize in a contest:  Each morning, your bank would deposit $86,400 in your private account for your use. However, this prize has a set of rules:

#1. Everything that you didn’t spend during each day would be taken away from you.

#2. You may not simply transfer money into another account.

#3. You may only spend it.

#4. Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400 for that day.

#5. The bank can end the game at any time and say “game over”. It can close the account without warning and you will not receive a new one.

What would YOU personally do?  You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right?

Not only for yourself, but for all the people you
love and care for. Even for people you don’t know, because you couldn’t
possibly spend it all on yourself, right?

You would try to spend every
penny, and use it all, because you knew it would be replenished in the morning, right?

ACTUALLY, This GAME is REAL
Shocked ???
YES!

Each of us is already a winner
of this *PRIZE*. We just can’t seem to see it.

The PRIZE is
*TIME*

1. Each morning we awaken to
receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life.

2. And when we go to sleep at
night, any remaining time is Not credited to us.

3. What we haven’t used up that
day is forever lost.

4. Yesterday is forever
gone.

5. Each morning the account is
refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time WITHOUT WARNING…

SO, what will YOU do with your
86,400 seconds?

 Those seconds are worth so much
more than the same amount in dollars.  Think about it and remember to
enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than
you think.

“DON’T COMPLAIN
ABOUT GROWING OLD.

SOME PEOPLE DON’T GET THE
PRIVILEGE!”

GOTTA GO. HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS ADVICE AS MUCH AS I DID.

BEGGING POLITICIANS OUT IN FORCE.

It is that time of year when politicians are out in force begging for money to keep themselves elected. That money keeps the television and radio stations richer than rich, our elected officials remain greedy, powerful and corrupt, and nothing much changes in government. What a sham. Read columnist Charlie Reese's take on the situation from a few years back. As true today as then.

545 vs. 300,000,000 People
-By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations.
The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.
The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House?
John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan ...
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

If everyone of us printed this article out and sent it to every senator and representative in our districts, it might wake them up. But, don't bet the rent.

REACHED HOME SAFELY.

We left Lake Minden north of Sacramento yesterday and arrived in Murphys at about 1:30. I walked the lake the night before without my camera and missed some great shots of two big catfish surfacing, mouths open, holding above water long enough for a photo. Dang. I should always carry my camera, I know that. So, I told Jim, we had to walk the lake again before we left in the early morning-with camera. Reflections on a “glass” surface.


Clear and beautiful.


The fish were feeding, and jumping and biting, but just try to get a photo.


A fish would surface, grab an insect and be under before you could snap the photo. I have multiple pictures of gray shadows in the water.


It is a pretty place, and peaceful here. Jim gets exhausted driving with one eye impaired. He has to concentrate so hard that we move very slowly. So, it was a lovely last night on the road.


I got home to my usual pounds of mail and then made the mistake of looking at the news.  What mediocrity we call news. Everyone is incriminating Obama because he saluted the flag with a cup of coffee in his hand. There are life and death issues to deal with and the news focuses on a cup of coffee?


Did the “newspapers” ever make a fuss about Bush saluting with his dog?  What crap passes for news. I used to give Jim a bad time about getting rid of his news feeds. I don’t any more. It is mostly garbage and good luck trying to tell the truth from the lies. Lies have become standard and accepted. Money to both parties is like a river, while very little work gets done by the people we elect TO SERVE US. What shame that we have entrusted our fate to legislators that  govern from where their largest donations come from. Corporate interests.