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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Oh, Goody, A New Blogsite So Sewerites Can Go Squable Over All Things Los Ososish and Sewerish



Aaron Ochs (Ed Ochs & "The Rock") has started a blog at http://ochsnation.blogspot.com/ and first up to bat a very odd but interesting coloquy between Ed and CSD Candidate Maria Kelly over words on yard signs.



Yee-haw!



Question Of The Year

President Bush spoke to the nation last night. I didn't waste my time tuning in. I mean, who in their right mind would bother to listen to what that guy had to say on anything, let alone . . . on the economy? So, did he tell the nation that yellow-cake was discovered in the offices of Lehman Bros so we HAVE to bail out Wall Street IMMEDIATELY or else we'd soon be seeing a mushroom cloud over the Empire State Building? Or maybe he told Americans that we'd better give carte blanche to his guy, Paulson, RIGHT NOW WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED simply on his say-so? Like Bush knows what's going on with the economy, instead of merely acting like a groundhog who pops up to get scared of his shadow then zwoop! pops back into his hidey-hole?



And, of course, it's such an EMERGENCY that Senator McCain HAS to suspend his campaign, cancel Friday's presidential debates, so he can RUSH back to the capital and SOLVE the problem (publicly, microphones in place, cameras running, not that's any of this is . . . political, no, no, perish the thought), thereby SAVING the country. This from a guy who told reporters that, frankly, he didn't know that much about economic stuff. (And when you have so many houses you lose track of them, you can afford to not know much about econcomic stuff.)



It was an interesting move because, on the surface, it was framed as Mr. Don't Know Much About The Economy, Mr. DeRegulator , Mr. Keating Five Bail Out The Savings & Loans Deja Vu McCain Rushing To Save The Republic while Mr. Hates America Obama Wants A (yeeech) "Political" Debate To Go Forward While The Nation Burns To The Ground, O Mah Gawd!!!



On the other hand, the reality was likely very different. Why would the various econcomic experts (who apparently don't know what's going on either and have no idea what these proposals mean or will mean, very clever folks who are proposing America buy a pig in a poke) want some I Don't Know How Many Houses I Own Guy stomping in to play Lady Bountiful Come to Save The Nation (where's the cameras?) and because of his lack of expertise in things economic, ends up putting a political monkey wrench into what's bound to be a very delicate deal?



Or, having this politically honed announcement leaving a whole lot of people asking, Can't McCain walk and chew gum at the same time? If not, uh, don't think he's up to the multi-tasking job of Prez. And if McCain can't multi-task, think what would Moose Mamma One Heartbeat Away From The Oval Office be able to manage? I mean, put lipstick on a moose, it's still a moose, and flying to a fancy hotel in New York to meet some heads of state does not constitute foreign policy experience.



And, most important of all, why is the President (and McCain) in such a rush? Does that have a familiar ring to it? Naomi Klein, who wrote "Shock Economics" thinks she's seen this all before -- create chaos and in the panic, steal the silverware before anyone has a clear head and can deal with things properly, hurry-hurry-hurry!



Well, America, you'd better pray that there are sufficient people in Congress who DO know a whole lot about economics, people with very, very cool heads, who know a re-run when they see it, and have a keen eye on the nation's silverware. And before Bush's cronies scamper out of the room with the swag, they'll make sure the Taxpayer has at least some grip on the assets before they're fleeced . . . . again.



And in additon to praying, I'd suggest you call your Senator & Congressperson and tell them to take their time, do the deal properly, secure the assets, put into place proper checks and balances and regulations so we don't have to go through this Shock & Awe Economic Grand Larceny . . . once more.

11 comments:

franc4 said...

Great column, Ann!
You said it all....."what's the rush?"
Every time I have written large corporations, asking why the top executives are paid such "gigundish" salaries (stock options and stuff), I get (when they bother to respond at all),"in order to attract good people we must offer a compatable wage for their service." Yeah, right!
Did you happen to see what the "big guns" of Fanny and Freddy were earning? I haven't seen,yet, what top execs. at the other failing Corps....Wall Street, Lehmans, et al are stealing.
Suppose the CSD could get a bail out?

Richard LeGros said...

Ann,

As you are a named party in the PZLDF lawsuit, I am wondering why you as yet have not announced, orcommented on, the Judges ruling to throw the lawsuit out with only minor points being allowed to be amended.

Also, what information do you have regarding the billing of legal services by the PZLDF's attorney, S. Sullivan? PZLDF, as they are contrctually obligated to pay 75% of the legal costs, needs to clarify that the remaining 25% stake the LOCSD has paid is correct and proper. The money paid by the LOCSD is public money; and as such the community has the right to oversee such expenditures.

-R

Richard LeGros said...

Hi All,

At this time I wish to make a correction to my last several postings; and an apology.

First, the News Release and Demure sent to me, and which I posted, is over a year old, dating to last Septmeber, 2007.
It is not the most recent ruling, which has not yet been released; and the PZLSF lawsuit is still pending until the court issued its next ruling.

Second, I apologize to Ann, PZLDF the LOCSD and the reading public at large for this oversight on my part. I offer no excuse other than I erred.

Sincerely, Richard LeGros

Unknown said...

Richard... It is still important that the CSD and PZLDF show that the legal fees being paid from our CSD District tax monies do not exceed the 25% as contracted...

To-date there has been no public accounting...but then what's new...??? Lisa would stonewall all attempts to get an honest accounting out to the community and how many word changes can that woman make to try deflecting blame from the poor decisions of this CSD...

It is also important to note that there was no ceiling on just how much the CSD was going to shell out in this legal crusade and what appears to be another frivelous and poorly prepared lawsuit...

If the PZLDF lawsuit and the appeals finally are declared done and failed, will the PZLDF reimburse the CSD...???

Shark Inlet said...

I would think that the LOCSD would require a safeguard before writing a check. Something like seeing the canceled checks from PZLDF to Sullivan should suffice.

Otherwise it could just be a big shell game with Sullivan sending out a large bill to PZLDF and PZLDF forwarding that bill to the LOCSD and then, once the LOCSD pays their 25%, Sullivan writes off the remaining 75%.

Simply put, we don't believe that Gail has already written checks for $600k to Sullivan. At $200 per hour, this would equal ... um ... 4000 billable hours. If the PZLDF suit has been going on one year since the LOCSD signed on, that means that Shauna has been pulling 80 hour workweeks and doing nothing else. Based on the quality of the documents submitted, I rather doubt that she's done that much work. After all, shouldn't at least some of the arguments against the CDOs have some merit? If not, it seems as if she's selling PZLDF and the LOCSD a bill-o-goods on how likely they are to win.

Shark Inlet said...

About Moose Mamma One Heartbeat Away From The Oval Office ...

Anyone who charges their boss a per diem for staying at their own home is in my mind someone who ought to be fired because they have shown a great disregard for basic integrity I would expect from any employee. That the employer is the State of Alaska and that the rules allowed for this sort of bad behavior doesn't excuse it in my mind.

As Jesus says in Luke 16:10 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."

If Palin is willing to try to pull a fast one on the good people of Alaska just to make a few extra bucks, do you really want to trust her in a much more important position?





ps - I don't want to sound overly harsh ... but I can't even imagine a reasonable excuse for doing this sort of thing.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

It seems the current make-up of the board has no will to change the reporting on the PZLDF suit. They, after all voted to take on the suit in closed session, with the date on her contract predating public comment. Hiring her was not even on a closed session agendar. Just how much the CSD was willing to pay toward it has become very fuzzy. They have already stated that they won't report on the allocation of legal charges between PZLDF and the CSD. Lisa, Chuck and Steve are in tight with Gail. So until the Board majority changes, (and I don't mean electing Karen Venditti - Gail's helper) we are stuck with PZLDF and whatever means it has to extract money for the legal bills. Transparency. Hah.

Unknown said...

Karen apparently wants the voters to "Trust" her...but she is so alighned with Gail McPherson and Lisa Schicker for so long, that she may ask for "trust", but she has not shown anything approaching "HONESTY"... Like Schicker, we can't trust what she says because she has too many hidden agenda's... How many lawyers will she want to hire and what government agency will she want to sue next....???

Bev. De Witt-Moylan said...

Sam Blakeslee's yard sign reads "Leadership We Can Trust." We have seen this slogan before in other contexts. Having already a couple of years as an official decision-maker in a leadership position, however, Sam may be the only candidate in the yard sign discussion legitimately to claim the slogan in context. Voters can agree or disagree with the slogan and vote or not vote for him based on their perception of his leadership record.

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Good morning bloggers.

I just wanted to clarify that the Ochs Nation blog is my own blog and it's not associated with The ROCK. It's pretty much my thoughts, observations and opinions unfiltered.

Churadogs said...

Thanks Aaron. I posted The Rock by way of association since folks might remember that. I'd suggest anyone go to the site and check out Aaron's posted biography. Happy reading.