Columns Old

Corruption:  breaking the public trust.  The people depended on him and he failed them.

From the Chicago Tribune:

“As bad as you think it is, it gets worse with this guy,” Mendoza said. “You need to make an example of people who misuse their position like that.”

And:

Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk said the “verdict is a stark reminder that no one is above the law.”

And:

“Rod Blagojevich abused the office of governor and made every attempt to capitalize on his public office for personal and political benefit,” Brady said. “His overwhelming conviction today should serve as yet another reminder that public officials are in office to serve the public and not their own personal interests and ambitions.”

Time Magazine

One from The Post:

“Now the greedy and obscenity-prone governor faces up to 300 years in prison — longer than the lifespans of Kipling, Tennyson and Elvis combined. This would seem to be the end for the disgraced Democrat whose primary public service has been the entertainment of a nation for nearly three years.”

Another from the Washington Post;  and the LA Times;

I have much more reading to do as obviously this story is all over the best news outlets on the web.  The key:  he had a higher responsibility and his selfishness hurt others.

(Unrelated, but a long one on Amanda Knox.  Today was a fairly big day in her ordeal:  Rudy Guede denied telling other inmates she was innocent.  Biased journalism, for the defense, and videos, here.)

Called them at 9:40 this morning.  The young (seemingly) woman was nice and said she wanted to have “someone/her boss” call me back.  This leads me to believe this is not the first complaint they have received.

I complained about the noise.  I said I wanted this to be a friendly call and did not wish to argue or be contentious.

I told her some 7-8 years ago I called the sheriff’s department and wrote the owner a letter.  I was promised a letter in return and never received one.  I mentioned the owner/Ms. Gosh chased me down the street.

The woman said:  “we are a kennel and there is going to be noise”; “Are you new here?”; “We have been here for fourteen years.”  Again, she wanted to have someone call me back.

I said:  you do not have the right to disturb me on my property; it is very loud and I can hear it in my house and on my property; if I hear it again I will call the sheriff’s department; I never received a reply to my letter (promised to law enforcement; lying to law enforcement); I do not wish for anyone to call me back; last time Ms. Gosh was extremely rude and uncooperative; if I had such a business I would do things differently, i.e., there are solutions, such as not accepting problem dogs, building soundproof facilities, transferring difficult animals elsewhere, etc.  I said something along these lines:  to me it is not smart/good business to be a neighborhood disruption and I would expect my customers to understand that (i.e., I would tell them/operate my business that way.)

“She Painted Pictures”
Written by Liam Pickering
Performed by Liam Prout
Courtesy of Lavolta Records
under exclusive license to Sony BMC Music Entertainment (UK)
Limited by arrangement with Sony BMC Music Entertainment

http://askville.amazon.com/song-Suburban-Girl-Sarah-Michelle-Gellar-Brett-finds-office/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=70808832

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428579/soundtrack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-5TmDQUxHo&feature=related

A Flock of Seagulls – Space Age Love Song

http://vlex.com/vid/notice-requiring-statements-returns-19210499

http://www.taxalmanac.org/index.php/Internal_Revenue_Code:Sec._912._Exemption_for_certain_allowances

http://docs.law.gwu.edu/facweb/jsiegel/Personal/taxes/JustNoLaw.htm

http://ca.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20100301_0002909.ECA.htm/qx

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar01.html

http://www.tax-freedom.com/termination.htm

http://www.asktaxguru.com/1309-irs-announces-standard-deductions-will-increase-2009-a.html

EDIT 4/5/12 –http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6012

http://www.halexandria.org/dward294.htm

Brian Cook is an above average blogger–sometimes he is good and sometimes he is…

Let’s Argue With The Devil

Yes, the main character is the prosecutor.  Is she innocent or guilty?  The fact is the case was/is weak and she should not have been convicted.  Very likely the U.S. legal system would not have allowed it.

http://rantsofapublicdefender.blogspot.com/2011/06/amanda-knox-and-serial-killer.html

http://ordinary-gentlemen.com/burtlikko/2011/06/14/italian-injustice/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2004335/Five-inmates-including-convicted-mobster-testify-Amanda-Knox-innocent-British-students-murder-appeal.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

http://seattlest.com/2011/06/15/amanda_knox_update_unhinged_prosecu.php

update 6/18/11

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43449997/ns/world_news-europe/?GT1=43001

http://blog.seattlepi.com/dempsey/2011/05/26/11-italian-politicos-say-investigate-amanda-knox-prosecution/

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/italian_prosecutor_says_he_cant_place_amanda_knox_in_murder_room/

By Dan Wetzel:

For Ohio State, it was another form of the cover-up Tressel started nine months prior. This is college sports’ highest-paid AD (Smith), highest-paid president (Gee) and arguably most-powerful person (Delany), millionaires one and all, making a mockery of the very NCAA statutes and procedures they create, enforce and claim to hold dear.

In one purposefully weak internal investigation, they managed to put the proud Ohio State football program directly in the NCAA crosshairs, debased decades of honor from former players, coaches and fans and all but begged for sanctions even more crippling than the Trojans received.

Hope that win over Arkansas was worth it, guys.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/amanda-knox-family-sees-glimmers-hope/story?id=13590719

Google videos

http://www.hulu.com/watch/219422/lifetime-movies-beyond-the-headlines-amanda-knox

This was a huge week for news given the implosion at Ohio State and two (almost three) new commits for the Wolverines.  As usual, the granddaddy of Michigan blogs, mgoblog, led the way thanks almost entirely to its forum.  News is posted there within minutes of its occurrence and Brian Cook’s greatest achievement is 1) the following the blog receives and 2) forum posts/news on the front page.  The Jim Tressel resignation was posted and discussed ad nauseam, as was the escalating arrogance and alleged violations of Terrelle Pryor.  Regarding OSU, despite Tressel’s seemingly forced/encouraged resignation, leadership still hasn’t shown the ability to get out in front of the massive indiscretions by cleaning house and espousing compliance.  As for Pryor, it appears he may have played his last college game and, this too can be blamed on the former coach’s massive flaws and misbehavior.

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