West Virginia Political Sweatbox

I'm not going away.

2011-02-12T16:01:00.002-05:00

I'm just moving my stuff over to:

http://wvpoliticalsweatbox.wordpress.com

Feel free to comment on any of the old threads (or new?) there.

Good Time Furlip.

2009-07-27T16:18:00.010-05:00

Evidently, our very own Chicago Furlip, right wing radio ranter non-extraordinaire, Michael Agnello, got busted for DUI over the weekend. Evidently, Good Time Furlip thinks it's ok to down a few, then get behind his car and swerve all over the interstate.

I didn't hear his first admission, when he started the show at 3pm talking about his latest dealings with the criminal justice system. But, I started listening to his show after being notified of the Gazette story you can see by clicking on the title of this thread. However, the callers I heard, all called in to somewhat "support" him, including Wanda Carney. Of course, Wanda's former employer, Mike Clifford, is his attorney (also a frequent guest on Agnello's show). Eventually, Agnello repeated his statement he made earlier in the show, and basically said he's "going through the process" and then began talking about how he's done this and that in the community and with his show. And of course he follows that up with a "But I'm not making excuses." Then why mention it? Either you blew a .17, TWICE, indicating a blood alcohol content over twice the legal limit (.08) or you did not. There is nothing left to discuss, especially not the dealings you have had with other public figures dealing with DUI charges in the past. What does that have to do with his recent behavior? I'll tell you. It has NOTHING to do with his DECISION to drive drunk, and potentially kill any number of innocent drivers on the interstate.

One caller in particular that was strange, said to Agnello, "It happens to the best of us?" Really? The "best" of us blow 2x the legal limit? I'd like to consider myself one of the "best of us," and I have never been busted for DUI. So how exactly does it "happen to the best of us?" This wasn't some "accident" or some freak thing. He got drunk, evidently stating he "had a few drinks," and then decided to get behind the wheel, making himself a danger to everyone on the road.

Of course, the fact that Prosecuting Attorney Mark Plants is a frequent visitor to Agnello's show (and also a republican right winger nutjob like Furlip), is a bit troubling. It will be interesting to see how Agnello is dealt with by the Prosecutor's Office, considering his buddy Plants is in charge of the office that will be handling the case.

Also somewhat troubling, evidently Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper, on his weekly appearance on 58 Live made some comment to the effect of "Don't worry about this Mike. You have lots of friends." Now, this could be taken that he's got lots of friends who will support him if he needs anything, while the criminal justice system doles out the same treatment you or I would get in the same situation. Or it could also mean that his "friends" might help make this thing go away, with some kind of treatment that average Joe Schmoes don't get, because we aren't a talk radio host. Maybe Carper was referring to Plants as a "friend" of Agnello like I mentioned above? In West Virginia, this would not surprise me one bit.

If you spend three hours a day, polluting the airwaves by railing against everyone who disagrees with you and your holier than thou, sanctimonious, ignorant warped little view of the world, when stuff like this happens, I don't have a lot of sympathy for you.

When you talk the talk, you better walk the walk. Or drive the sober drive.

Listen up, you anonymous commenters on the Sprouse posts.

2009-06-22T22:25:00.003-05:00

I'm getting tired of seeing 20 "anonymous" posts all saying the same things. So, because I can see your ip addresses and know that there's only about 4 or 5 of you, I have to start making rules, because you can't be trusted to act like semi-adults.

First, you can start by using a fucking name, so there's not 50 straight messages by "anonymous," all saying basically the same thing cluttering up my email box.

Second, while Slick Vic is a straight up slimeball, if you are going to post crap about him or his current relationship status, at least put something substantive in it. And just in case you are unsure, "She's a bitch" or "She's a skank" or "She's a phony" or whatever, is not the least bit substantive. We know those things already. You've told us that umpteen times. Plus, it's Vic we are talking about. It only makes sense. If you don't have something useful to post, save the bandwith and go look at porn or play online poker or something.

Lastly, you don't have to go back and post basically the same message on EVERY Vic post I ever made, dating back 5 years. Nobody is reading those posts, but you.

I hear a rumble.

2009-03-26T22:11:00.003-05:00

It might be time for a new post in the very near future.

Distress

2008-05-30T23:49:00.006-05:00

Are they finally turning on each other?

2008-01-29T18:55:00.001-05:00

Ok, I can't let this go any longer. The whole "Heathergate," Heather Bresch, Manchin, WVU EMBA scandal would be something that the ol' Binger would normally be commenting on daily. But I just can't devote as much time to this as I would like. But, for a quick primer, for those who've been living under a rock for the past month here's a quick "get up to speed" lesson. Just go over to the Fifth Column, and read the posts and comments there over the last month or so.

That will give you all the details, and links to those details, to get a good idea of what's going on.

But, as this whole thing is sort of quieting down, in that the "panel" has been picked and are going to start their investigation soon, there are going to be little dribs and drabs, slipping out. Like in today's Daily Athenaeum, where the cracks in the already shaky WVU official position, start to get a little bigger.

Sears, the Business school dean (who did a hilarious "ants in my pants" impression on Bray Cary's Decision Makers show a couple weeks ago), says he resolved this degree discrepancy, based on information given to him by Professor Paul Speaker, and EMBA Program Director, Gerald Blakely.

Now, it appears, that Sears had his mind already made up, when he asked Blakely for the information. In the DA article, Blakely said he provided a summary of the evidence, but it wasn't all developed in his office, to Dean Sears regarding the information on Bresch's coursework. "It was prepared to support his (Sears') conclusion that she had met all the requirements,” Blakely said.

Even more interesting, Speaker said he never spoke to Sears about this. Again, after Sears referred to "consulting with and relying on" evidence from Speaker, AND Blakely.

Blakely quickly denies any part of making the call Bresch earned her MBA, on behalf of himself AND his department. He appears to lay the "call" at Sears, and seems to assert Sears did it, with evidence that was questionable.

Blakely also says, "My belief is that the University panelist is the proper place to find out what’s gone on." To find out “whether Dean Sears is right or wrong or what’s gone on.”

Could they finally be turning on each other? Who's going to start blaming who? Who's going to blow the whistle, to save their own skin?

This is how things unravel. This is how the original "gate" snowballed, and became a part of our lexicon.

We can only hope the same result happens here.

We deserve it.

WVU deserves it.

And most importantly, legitimate WVU graduates deserve it.

Maybe Hoppy needs to re-evaluate his observation skills.

2007-04-11T22:54:00.001-05:00

47 to 5. Take that, Garrison fanboys. The faculty Senate at WVU sent you and your posterchild for all things bad about West Virginia politics, a nice big fat steaming cup of "HELL NO." They voted 47 to 5 to support Nellis for the President's position. That's a resounding defeat. They weren't even close to supporting Garrison. Good for them. Faculty were getting the blow off on the whole selection process anyway, and were smart enough to see what was really going on here. Maybe the fact they got railroaded when Davey Boy became president, caused them to take a little more action this time. They at least get kudos for getting themselves more organized this time.

The reality of this whole situation is probably still already decided, however. The Selection Committee will still pick Garrison, and that will be the choice the Faculty have to live with. It was interesting to see in the Gazette's article on this, that the Student Government reps on the Selection Committee are for Garrison. Well, of COURSE they are. They know that if they support the done deal choice for Garrison, Garrison will be more apt to help those little climbers in a few years when they need a good suckass job in government, or with one of Garrison's business contacts. And the Gazette didn't disappoint in that it spent more time talking about how the student reps were dazzled and wowed by Garrison, as opposed to the actual reasons why the faculty senate voted the way it did. Garrison spoke glowingly of how he thought he had the students' support, but surprisingly lost his voice when asked about the faculty senate vote. The Gazette's preference for Garrison has been well documented by Hippie Killer over at the Fifth Column.

The faculty can make Garrison's life a little more difficult with this vote if the outrage over Garrison is sustained. Or more likely, the outrage over his selection will eventually flame out and he'll coast along, making 300 grand with a house, car, expense account, etc., for a job he's not remotely qualified for, but more than connected enough for. I'd call that par for the course for West Virginia. That's what happened with Davey Boy. Joe Simoni and some other faculty tried to fight the Hardesty selection in the courts at the time, but were rebuffed every time and eventually the hubub died down, and Dave has led the University to........ uh.......... um........now. If there were massive improvements to WVU's academic standing in the last 12 years, I'm pretty sure I've missed it.

Then again, maybe this will be an instance where the politicos and ruling government class will take note of what the people want, and re-examine their search process. That would be the best outcome. But I'm not betting on it.

But the real story here is, how this situation is almost in verbatim conjunction with this blog's stated purpose, going back to my very first post over two years ago where I stated:

In the realm of talk radio, Hoppy Kercheval's Metro News Talkline is probably the most important talk radio show on West Virginia politics, but again, he's a bit too cozy with some of the political elite on occasion.
Hoppy, for almost a solid week now, has done nothing but pimp for Garrison, while in the next breath immediately professing he doesn't have any inside information, and tries to come off as "impartial."

The most egregious act of pimpage, however, came yesterday in Hoppy's column. He fawned over how "well" Garrison did at his Q&A session with the faculty. Oh yes, he managed to handle "every" question with the perfect answer. Let's review Hoppy's column.

Garrison was at his fortress best yesterday afternoon as he stood before over 300 WVU faculty, staff and students and took questions and comments for 90 minutes.

Finally, The Fortress was on his turf, answering the criticisms and questions about his qualifications for the WVU Presidency.

According to Hoppy, who was at the Q&A session, Garrison was at his "best," answering the questions (Hoppy nicknamed Garrison "The Fortress" during his days in the Wise administration).

On his modest academic accomplishments: “I have a different background.”

Well, no kidding. What a BRILLIANT answer. And this is what Hoppy classifies as handling himself well? Saying “Uh, you are right, I don’t have the same education background as almost every other higher education president in the country but I should get this job anyway because of who my friends are,” is a good answer? How is that addressing the issue? Admitting he’s not got the background that faculty is looking for (and is the accepted background in all but a few similar positions in the whole country) you are looking for, is somehow a “good” answer? Hoppy, come on. Don’t patronize us.

On his age, 38: “I have the energy level, the passion, the fire in the belly” to do the job.

Well, there you go. Slam dunk. He says he’s got the energy to do this job. That’s a clincher.

On his connections to the search committee and the Board of Governors: “There is no conflict of interest.”

Who knew that Garrison would use the Jedi Mind trick on the audience? Stunningly brilliant. More telling, however, is that it apparently worked on Hoppy. He should have followed this up with “These aren’t the droids you are looking for.” Obviously, if he says there's no conflict of interest, there isn't one. Who knew it was that simple?

On his priorities: Number one, more pay for faculty and staff.

No shit? He wants more money for faculty and staff pay? He probably wants world peace too. And puppies for everyone. Just how is he going to acquire more money for faculty and staff? Last I checked, he was running Wise’s administration when 10% budget cuts were the yearly norm for Higher Education. With friends like him, I doubt Higher Ed in West Virginia can handle too many more enemies. And I don’t recall any Fanny Seiler columns when he was Tax Commissioner telling everyone how he managed to jack up the salaries of Tax Department employees. Based on this record of acquiring funds for salaries while he was in charge, if I were an employee of WVU, I’d hold off on spending my raise just yet. I know, call me crazy.

On the ever-expanding University: “Growth for growth’s sake is a mistake”

Really? Did he get that off the back of a fortune cookie? Nice soundbite. I’m sure he practiced it over and over in front of the mirror before he took the podium. He probably even believes it. Well, at least we know he won't allow growth for "growth's sake." Whew. That's a relief. I'm sure that was a big concern the faculty had.

Yes, Garrison held his own, not with soaring vision or excessive higher education speak, but with a cool, collected demeanor that showed he has confidence he can do the job, even if some academics think otherwise.

So, “cool, collected demeanor” trumps substantive answers? Cliches and soundbites trump specifics? Jeez, Hoppy, you sure are easy to please. How about, “I just want to give 110%.” Or “We have to play them one game at a time.” Or “We are going to work hard, and do our best.” I guess that would be “holding his own” too?

Garrison was helped by the fact that during the limited time frame some of the faculty questions were self-absorbed monologues that lacked punctuation and purpose. By the time a couple of the questioners finished their painful posturing it was a relief to listen to Garrison, even if he had nothing substantial to say on the subject.

So, some of the faculty questions were self absorbed monologues, and that is bad, but Garrison answers with nothing substantive, and 100% clichéd and political “rah-rah” answers, and that’s good? This is example A of why this State’s media is pathetic. Hoppy lets EVERY SINGLE FREAKING politico on his show give those “self absorbed monologues” as the answers to HIS questions, and then he NEVER challenges them. Hoppy will ask a straightforward question, and the politico gives the equivalent of a “self absorbed monologue,” as their answer, and then Hoppy takes it and moves on. He NEVER pins them down, and they KNOW they can get away with softball answers on his show. Why? Because Hoppy’s livelihood DEPENDS on his access to them. If they don’t go on Hoppy’s show, because Hoppy calls them on their bullshit, then Hoppy has no show. Hoppy knows this, so he never calls them on their bullshit. And he’s going to need access to Garrison if he’s the next President (and Hoppy knows he’ll be the next President, regardless of what he says on his show), so he gobbles up his bullshit too, and prints glowing, fawning, puff pieces on him on Metronews’ website.

A few faculty members said afterward that Garrison won them over, or at least they were not as worried about him as they were before they heard from him. When it was over, most of his critics' cannon shots had whizzed by The Fortress or, if they made contact, barely caused a splinter.

"They whizzed right by, or only caused splinters?" A 47-5 vote in the WVU Faculty Senate would indicate otherwise. Some of them, apparently, landed squarely in his wheelhouse and exploded. Nice job, Hoppy, you completely misread (or misrepresented) the faculty response to the Q&A session. But hey, don't let that get in your way of your constant pimping for Garrison. We know you need access to him for your livelihood. It's just a shame you can't put that aside, once in a while, and give us the straight story, and call "Bullshit" on occasion.

“Uhhhhhhhhh, Mr. Garrison, I have just one more question.”

2007-03-29T21:35:00.001-05:00

Ok, by now, everyone knows that Mike Garrison will be the next President at WVU. Everyone knows it. Garrison has been angling for this job ever since he first shoved his head up Alan Hammock and Bowtie Bob DiClerico’s collective ass. He’s been student body president (yay, WVU student government elections have a such a pathetic voter turn out, you can win if you can manage to get half of your dorm floor buddies to vote for you – and you can easily accomplish that with a couple cases of free beer), he’s been this scholar or that. He’s been to Oxford (though according to comments at The Fifth Column, he dropped out – to me, that makes him a quitter). He’s been a smarmy law student who was on Moot Court, and now evidently, according to HK over at the Fifth Column, he’s playing somewhat fast and loose with his resume about whether he graduated with “honors” or not. You can agree or disagree, but stretching the truth, wouldn’t be something I’d put past Mikey.

So, he now gets out of law school, and goes to work for one of the smarmy defense firms, but quickly latches on as Tax Commissioner under Bob Wise. What the hell? Tax Commissioner? What the hell did he know about taxes? He got that job purely because he knew Wise. But he was surely qualified to be Tax Commissioner. Oh yes, he was so qualified he held that job for all of about 10 seconds, before being bumped up to Chief of Staff. Oh yes, he’s just quite the little political climber. But, let’s not stop there, noooooooo. Wise then appoints him to the Higher Education Policy Commission. I’m kind of surprised WVU mentions that. I would be afraid it might set off a fatal case of déjà vu, considering the bullshit maneuver that got Hardesty got the job in the first place. For those who don’t remember, Hardesty was on the Board of Trustees – the precursor to the Policy Commission – and they picked the new president. Of course, Hardesty stepped down as a BoT member, when he applied, but obviously, he had quite a few buddies on that Board. He made it to the top three choices (he and two other no-names, who both had infinitely more experience in higher education than Dave). But the BoT decided to simply sit on the selection, until the other two candidates eventually withdrew their names (after they took other employment) and then said, “Well, I guess we have to go with Dave, he’s the only candidate left. What a coincidence too, because he’s the one we would have picked anyway”

So, we have Garrison as the lock now. That’s really no surprise. Hell, I figured this out about 10 seconds after Hardesty announced his resignation back in August. But, that’s backroom politics as usual in West Virginia, we shouldn’t be surprised.

The other two candidates on the short list, are what one would call “traditional” or “old school” type candidates. Candidates who have spent long chunks of their careers, dealing with the ins and outs of higher ed life. They’ve been in the trenches, and done the dirty work, and knows what actually goes on in a university. One is currently the Provost (ie, the 2nd in command) at Kansas State, and previously served as an academic Dean at WVU. He’s spent 25 or so years in higher ed. The other is also a lifelong higher education guy. He’s been a Dean, a teaching fellow, and is currently a university president. He’s spent 30+ years in higher education administration. These two guys are imminently more qualified to run WVU. They know infinitely more about a university, and it’s primary goal of academics, than Garrison ever will hope to know in 10 lifetimes.

But the REAL insult in this whole mess is more subtle, and totally exposes the “selection” for the total sham this thing is, if you just think about it for a second. Everyone knows Garrison is going to get the job. People like Hoppy Kercheval say stuff like “Oh, well, I don’t know who’s going to get it,” and he’s lying right through his teeth. Then people like Hoppy will hedge their bets by following it up with, “Well, you know the job of a university president isn’t the same as it used to be. It’s more about fundraising and schmoozing, and dealing with the legislature, and blah blah blah.” Maybe so. Maybe that IS the new breed of university presidents. No more working your way up through the ranks of faculty, to a dean’s job, to a provost, and then to a president. No, now all you have to do is be the right politician’s buddy, and viola, instant president material.

So, let’s assume that’s true, the job description now doesn’t lend itself to the “old school” type presidential candidates. And that “new” type of job description is what makes Garrison sooooooo attractive as a candidate, that the selection committee will most certainly use that as their justification for picking Garrison. So, now we come to what I’ll call the “Columbo moment.” For those who are too young to remember, Columbo was this TV detective who would investigate murders or crimes or whatever, and talk to all these people, and then he would go to the main “suspect” and talk to him as if Columbo was convinced the guy DIDN’T commit the crime. And as he got ready to leave, Columbo would then stop and say, “I have just one question……” and this question would invariably be the one question the suspect couldn’t provide an adequate answer to, and prove beyond a doubt that Columbo knew the guy did it and could prove it in court beyond a reasonable doubt.

So, we come to the Garrison “Columbo moment.” Ahem. In my best Peter Falk voice, with my rumpled trenchcoat on and a half-burnt cigar in my hand.

“I’m sure you’ll make a fine president, Mr. Garrison, and the search committee has obviously done its job well. They see in you all the qualities that are now needed as a university president. You are the epitome of the “new” breed of university president, much more suited than the “old school” type presidents to respond to the demands of running a university in today’s world. I’m sure this was an open, and honest search, and you are clearly the best qualified candidate. I wish you luck.

“Oh, I have just one question before I go. If the search committee knows the new trend in university presidents are the same type of candidates as you are, and this is the most important quality for a university president in today's world, why are the other two finalists, old school presidents, and not the same type of “new breed” university president as yourself?”

See, if they truly were wanting someone with the same background as yourself, you’d think they’d have more than one candidate in the entire candidate pool. And then they’d have more than one of those types of candidates in their final three. That is, if they truly had an honest search.”

This whole episode is a perfect example of why West Virginia is a joke.

The Legislature wants to give themselves a pay raise.

2007-02-05T23:27:00.001-05:00

...........And that's all I gotta say.

Since I did get some publicity in this week's Sunday Gazette Mail in their little "Outlook - Personal Technology" extra section in an article about blogging, I figured the least I could do would be give the few hardy souls who managed to find this blog a new entry. Even though the article got the address wrong, if you are reading this, you managed to find it in spite of that, so give yourself a pat on the back.

In last year's hysterically funny HBO Special, "Red White and Screwed," Lewis Black is riffing on the politicians. This is about 2 or so months after Cheney shoots his friend while quail hunting. At one point during his act, Black simply says, "Dick Cheney," and the crowd erupts in laughter, knowing immediately the absurdity of the Dick Cheney quail hunting episode. Black shrugs his shoulders, and says, "And that's all I gotta say." The crowd laughs even harder [check out the clip on Youtube, here].

Black illustrates the pure absurdity of simply mentioning Cheney's name, and the audience is immediately in on the joke. The joke doesn't even have to be said. The mere mention of Cheney's name is both the lead up and the punchline of the joke, all in one.

That is the identical situation with the WV Legislature even considering giving themselves a pay raise. You don't even have to explain the reasons why it is beyond ridiculous. You just have to simply say, "The WV Legislature is thinking about giving themselves a raise," and hilarity ensues. Every person who isn't related to some clown in the legislature, knows immediately the outrageousness of even considering the thought of a legislative pay raise.

But, just like Black, I can't leave well enough alone. He then goes on to do a bit about the actual hunting trip, and it just gets more hilarious. So, I guess I'll have to indulge the Delegate John Doyle's of this world, and reply to their idiocy of giving themselves a raise. Doyle (and many others in the Dome, including Papa Joe Cheerleader himself) will pollute the airwaves with several arguments in favor of the raise. For instance, you'll hear "You have to pay legislators better, because you need to get and keep qualified people in the legislature." So, since the pay sucks now, does that mean the current crop of legislators, aren't qualified or good candidates? I mean, with pay this low (if you buy their nonsense), obviously we aren't going to attract good, qualified candidates. So, what does that say about the quality of the jokers already in there? I'd say it means their quality is already suspect, if you believe their argument for giving themselves a raise. And if their reply to that is, "Well, no, the quality of the legislators now is pretty good." Then the obvious reply to that would be, "Well then, pay must not be much of an issue, if these good qualified candidates signed on for their terms with the pay as low as it is. I see no reason to raise it."

And, let's assume the pay IS too low. I don't see a huge exodus of these "good and qualified" legislators from the Legislature, on their own volition. No, the only time they leave, is a) they get a better gig (i.e., J.D. Beane, and countless others), b) they get beat in an election (which rarely happens), or c) they "voluntarily" step down (so they can run in some other election, i.e., Chris Wakim). Hell, even people like Bob Kiss don't "voluntarily" step down, even though that's how it's portrayed in the media (and nobody in the media has the guts to call him on it to his face - but not here at the Sweatbox). He was essentially forced out, because of the potential flap about his residency issues. Nobody leaves the legislature because of low pay, and for anyone to imply they do, is an insult to yours, mine, and every West Virginian's intelligence.

So, without some evidence of a huge exodus of these great and wonderfully qualified legislators, I can't see how pay would be a problem. It's obviously not bad enough for them to be leaving in droves of their own volition, so again, we are back to "Well, it must not be too bad." Hell, they act like having some turnover in the legislature would be a BAD thing. Hell, we should be thinking of ways to INCREASE the turnover, if their past performance in running this state, is any indication of what's to come. Hell, take away their pay entirely. Maybe more of them would leave.

They'll also trot out the "Well, this IS a full time job, blah blah blah," and "We do so much work during the session, and then we have interims and we are always taking constituent calls 24/7." Uh, last time I checked, nobody held a gun to their heads, and FORCED them to run for office. If they expected this "job" (and I use that term, with the utmost sarcasm I can muster) to be some sort of "60 days, go home, see ya' next year" type thing, then they are morons for not adequately determining the job's demands before they took it. Plus, they TOOK that job, KNOWING what it paid. If they didn't, well, then they are they are bigger morons than even I give them credit for, and they deserve nothing less than a nice little public tarring and feathering for their ignorance.

And lastly, if their pay (like everyone else's on the planet) is somehow tied to performance of their job duties, one only has to look at the current economic state of West Virginia under their leadership and immediately conclude that we might actually be better off just buying some monkeys and letting them run around the Capitol and throw their poo at each other. Hell, it couldn't be any worse than it is now. And it would be infinitely more entertaining.

I mean, there is just NO way to adequately defend their position. That's why the entire joke, start to finish, is simply "The Legislature wants to give themselves a pay raise."

Oh, I just couldn't stay away any longer.

2006-11-30T21:34:00.001-05:00

Hmmmm. Where to start. There's so much I could write about over the last 3 months, so I'll just throw out some short comments on a couple different things.

Let's go with some shots at our old pal Chicago Furlip (Mike Agnello) on 58 Live. Oh, how I loved to hear him squak and squeal like a little baby who got his toy taken away after the mid term elections. I guess they don't teach you how to be a good loser in Chicago. They must teach you how to be just a loser. Oh, yes, Don Blankenship and company were going to come in and clean house. Oh yes. Newsflash. Don's boys, along with Republicans in general got, to quote our very own President, "a thumpin'!!" And Furlip was just all up in arms about this complaint and that. For instance, he complained that Carrie Webster took some unfair shots at her republican opponent. Well boo hoo, freaking, hoo, Furlip. You want to play in the pigpen, don't complain about getting dirty. Yeah, I know, this is so three weeks ago, but I felt I had to comment.

Second, another thing Furlip and company have really done lately, is they are turning 58 live, what used to be a political talk show, into some version of the community bulletin board. Sure, their political views were infuriating, but still, there was an crumb of intelligence involved in that we could at least count on Furlip and company to actually take the right wing talking points memo off the email and read it on air. They now spend more time talking about this canned food drive, or this spaghetti dinner, or this christmas concert, than anything substantive. And it's almost always connected to some church, or some minister is on there shilling for his latest shindig. I have no problem with religion. If you want to practice it, by all means, pray your little heart out, and sing all the songs you want. But please spare me the minute details on a daily basis. I don't bore you with the details of my conversations with the Almighty, why don't you try the same. This has gotten so bad, I'm listening to those two Marshall idiots (along with moronic Delegate Danny Wells) on 1240AM sports in the evening, because at least they talk about the day's relevant sports issues, as opposed to simply shilling the next covered dish dinner and 580AM remote broadcast for 2 hours.

Also, in keeping with this, has anyone heard Furlip's little holiday greeting on the radio of, "Merry Christmas, and Blessed New Year?" See, this jackass can't even do it normal, like everyone else. I've never heard anyone ever say that. It's always, "Merry Christmas, and a HAPPY New Year." But no, Furlip has to revert to his past as a tent show evangelist and throw "bless" in there, which, one can only assume is short for "God Bless." No, Furlip can crow on and on about the "war on christmas" but he has no problem changing his little "holiday" saying to be even MORE religious. If I want to be preached to, I'll watch that guy scream at me on Monday nights from 8 to 8:30 on that local access tv channel.

And lastly, oh, how the whines came fast and furious the other day when Papa Joe suggested tying the table games to seniors' in home health care costs. That way, if you are a legislator against table games they can paint you as against senior citizens. Ohhhhhhh, how Furlip whined and bitched and moaned about "Oh, that's just crap. That's not fair. If you want to argue the merits of table games, just say they'll bring in good paying jobs, we need the money, it'll spur other businesses like hotels and restaurants, etc., and then we can debate that." What a bunch of crap. Agnello doesn't want any debate on table games, beyond, "Gambling's bad, we shouldn't have table games." His plea for a "debate" on the issue is even more disingenuous than Manchin's tying table games to seniors' home health care costs. I hope table games passes and every time I play blackjack at Tri-State, I'll think how much that will piss off Furlip. Hell, I'd play almost for that satisfaction alone.

Oh, who's next. Let's go with Slick Vic Sprouse. First, he can't even man up on his not seeking the minorty leader post. On his own blog, he claims the biggest reason for him not seeking it this term, is because he's not sure if he wants it or not. Are you kidding me? I guess we shouldn't really expect any sort of honesty from Sprouse. He wants it the post. But he knows he's a liability to the party because of his personal life's shenanigans. So much a liability that his party's senators can't vote for him in good conscience. But according to Sprouse himself, that's not the main reason he's stepping down. Riiiiiiiiiiiight. I guess that type of bullshit is about par for the course, for Slick Vic. Honesty and humility, are about last on his list of concerns. He also goes on about "and I don't think I have the votes, either" as another reason for his quitting. Well, he's at least right about that. He doesn't have the votes. None of Republicans in the Senate can vote for him without taking a beating from their own constitutents who think Sprouse is a scumbag.

And then, he has another post on his blog about how Wanda Carney and Betty Jarvis (two recently convicted criminals) aren't really guilty of anything. Well, the public record begs to differ with Sprouse. But Sprouse is the type of guy who also doesn't see anything wrong with not recusing himself from the Senate vote on his fiancee, Ms. Lanning, being appointed to the State Board of Phyiscal Therapy, either, so, I guess you have to again (unpleasant as it may be) consider the source. Ethics is definitely not Vic's strong suit.

Hmmmmmm, we've cracked on several republicans, let's smack the Democrats around. I think I heard Clinton say right after the election, the democrats have a chance, not a mandate, after the midterm elections. He's dead on about that. Another example of how astute a politician he is. I just hope they use the next couple years to pass some meaningful legislation, and not just turn this into a democratic witch hunt for what's left of the current administration. Then again, they are politicians, so I guess expecting them to act like adults is a pretty tall order. Maybe if they screw up too, a viable third party will emerge. But I doubt it. Oh, and please, for God's sake, don't run Hillary for president in '08. You've got some potentially winning candidates if you'd just pay attention. If you are going to run Hillary, just run that loser Kerry instead, and you can at least save money on reprinting campaign signs and just use the ones left over from his last presidential disaster.

What's worse than being greedy? Being ungrateful AND greedy.

2006-08-10T19:05:00.001-05:00

This story has been kicking around for about a week, and not getting too much coverage, beyond a few little news items in the papers.

The Charleston Area Alliance, some sort of non-profit (today's codeword for "scam funded partially by you and me through "grants" of our tax dollars") pro-business facilitator group, hired this Patricia Bradley Pitrolo chick. Not only did they hire her, they created a position specifically for her, and then hired her in at $44,000 in May of 2005. Evidently, the Alliance has money to burn, if they can just create 40+ grand positions on a whim. Of course, this is only a couple months after her husband, Jim Pitrolo, waltzes in with Papa Joe Cheerleader to be his legislative director. Evidently, wifey needed something to do here in Charleston. So, The Alliance, a group that gets a ton of government money to promote "economic development" (I can't begin to tell you how much I hate that collossally overused, cliched, and completely devoid of any real meaning term, so I think I'll just call it ED from now on since ED also means something else - think "Check with your doctor if something lasts more than four hours") creates a position specfically for her. $44,000 isn't a bad salary, especially for someone who's not got the greatest track record when it comes to being honest. From the July 29, 2006, Gazette:

In 1990, Pitrolo, a former delegate from Hancock County, was charged with failing to report on her taxes that she accepted money from a lobbyist representing Tri-State Greyhound Park.
Before accepting a $376 payment, which helped cover expenses for a vacation, Pitrolo had supported a law that would have allowed Tri-State and other racing tracks to get a bigger share of the money wagered by bettors. She was convicted of a misdemeanor, paid a $1,000 fine and served two years’ probation.

The Gazette also said that The Alliance's Executive Director, Bill Goode was unaware of her conviction when he hired her. So, this whizbang Alliance wheels and deals for ED, hoping businesses will spend millions here, and it wines and dines and kisses their asses. Millions, maybe tens or hundreds of millions are possibly at stake. But its Executive Director, hires someone off the street into a position that was created specifically for that person, but he doesn't even know enough about that individual, to know they have a misdemeanor conviction for what appeared to be close to a bribe taking incident on their record? That sounds like the same ridiculous obvliviousness that got Putnam General in its current hot water. Unless it's a lie.

But anyway, $45,000 isn't enough for the former disgraced legislator convicted of shady dealings. No, she needed more. So, within a year, she is making $58,000. In just over a year, she had her salary increased by approximately 33%.

You'd think, that after a place CREATED a position just for you, AND increased your salary by 1/3 after a year's work, the least you could be is content. I know, I know, $58,000 yearly salary isn't enough money to make you secure for life. But the average West Virginian would probably be supremely content with that kind of dough.

But not Patty. Nooooooo, she had to actually quit in a little huff over the fact some of the administrators made more than she did. One evidently was hired in recently at about $90,000, and she felt she was gettin' dissed, yo. Awwwwwwwwww. Poor baby. 58 grand is dissing you.

She abruptly turned in a letter detailing WHY she is quitting. Of course, The Allliance then immediately (and showing its true colors - yellow) hides behind "Oh, we don't have to disclose that letter, it's a personnel matter." Never mind this group evidently gets money from you and me. It gets 150 grand a year from the County, and the City and the State probably kick in some too to help promote ED too (they also get $$ from businesses who are "members" who pay yearly dues - the point here is that they DO get 150g's a year from the county, and like I said, probably some state and city money too).

Cry me a freaking river.

It's not enough her hubby is probably pulling down close to 100 grand. It's not enough that because her hubby is Papa Joe's buddy she got the job created for her in the first place. It's not enough in a year, her salary jumps by 1/3.

No, none of that is enough to make Patty happy. She has to complain she's not getting enough of the free taxpayer money. It's like she found a 20 dollar bill in her winter coat the first time she puts it on one winter, and then she bitches because it isn't a 50.

But what's even more disgusting, is the support she is getting from Worker Tax Danny Jones. Oh, he can't stop raving about how great she is, blah blah blah. He even had a personal meeting with her to see if he could find any way to keep her from quitting. Of course, this is also the same guy who has done nothing but pass his little cash grab and pay his buddies big bucks at city hall, all while claiming the city has no money. And Dave Hardy, the County Commission's rep on The Alliance's board was also quite muted in his criticism of her, same with Kent Carper.

Let her quit. That's 60 grand a year The Alliance can use to hire someone else. If this chick is so freaking good at what she does, and is so freaking invaluable to kissing ass or whatever the hell it is she does, why is she still in the boonies of WV? She should be running some national fundraising campaign or something. WV should be small potatoes for her.

Unless, like I said, her only qualification is who she's married to, and nobody outside WV gives a crap who she is.

Ungrateful and greedy. Just the type of people we need running the show here in WV. With this type of leadership, we deserve to suffer.

I'm still cynical, but.........

2006-06-22T19:32:00.001-05:00

This guy has been on the radio, newspaper, etc. lately pushing this book. Dr. Allen Loughry evidently is a clerk for Justice Elliot "Spike" Maynard. Of course, Maynard is big buddies with Don Blankenship. He didn't finance his campaign, like he did with Justice Brent Benjamin, but evidently, Blakenship and Maynard have at least had dinner at the Chop House together. That alone is normally enough to raise the red flag of cynicism, at least in my book.

But, "Don't Buy Another Vote, I Won't Pay for Another Landslide" appears to be fairly evenhanded (at least at first glance) in its accounts of the scumbags, thieves, clowns, and incompetents of the political arena that have feasted practically unfettered on the citizens of West Virginia. I haven't read the whole thing, in fact I've just started sifting through it, but it does appear to be somewhat non-partisan. It also seems to have at least a small bit of outrage (we love outrage here at the Sweatbox) at the political crap and shenanigans we are constantly exposed to. If you get it (and I do give it the preliminary "thumbs up," subject to change after I read more of it - you can pick it up at Taylor Books) I suggest quickly turning to the later chapters, dealing with the most recent cast of political crooks and clowns (including many that are still in office or at least still on the scene).

For example, the Bob Wise stuff is kind of neat. Ol' Bob even gets a bit salty with his language in an interview with Loughry on page 363 when talking about his own little scandal.

Just prior to Wise's 2005 departure from the Governor's office, I interviewed him at length about West Virginia's politics. I asked him specifically whether he felt that events in a politician's life which create negative attention to State politics and amounts to violations of the public trust, create further apathy among voters. I have to admit that I was glad this was my last interview question for Governor Wise, because his tone changed dramatically. He said, "Quite frankly, I think that's bullshit." He said, "Nobody has come up to me in a year and a half and said anything other than sympathy. But what they're mostly concerned about is am I getting the job done." He then said, "If that's the situation, then talk to Bill Clinton, talk to Rudy Giuliani, talk to a whole bunch of people. I had the press on me a lot more than I had the voters. That's not to any way soft-pedal what I did, it was wrong on a personal basis, but in terms of voter apathy, I think that's crap."

Loughry then thinks to himself the next logical question is, "Are you really that naive?" He doesn't ask it, but he doesn't really need to at that point. Wise's answer is sufficient to show his complete disconnect to average Joe West Virginian. Especially in light of the previous couple of pages where Loughry writes about Wise's reaction to the Clinton scandal, or how the same situation (two married individuals having a fling, one an employee of the other, and using company $$ to facilitate their trysts) would be looked at with extreme disapproval (or worse) in the private sector.

If this is any indication of what the rest of the book contains, I'm sure his chapters on Moore, Wally Baron, et al. (and there's Vic Sprouse stuff in there too), are also equally compelling, and unfortunately, probably quite comical in a tragic sort of way.

I'm still naturally cynical, but maybe, just maybe, this Loughry guy is one of the few who "gets" it.

Do as I say, not as I do. Again.

2006-06-01T19:41:00.001-05:00

Well, the Vic Sprouse thing has reared its ugly head, again. Back in March, in one of my all time favorite posts, "Hoppy to Vic: Lay off the sauce, dude," I reported on the Vic Sprouse marital problems issue. If you don't know, Vic Sprouse the Republican Minority Leader in the State Senate is now going through divorce number three. That in and of itself, is no big deal. However, when you are the legislative leader of the party that is constantly espousing all kinds of bible banging, right wing, FAMILY VALUES rhetoric, to have your leader constantly in relationship trouble, is a bit awkward, especially when it appears chronic marital infidelity is an issue. Supposedly, he left wife #2 for wife #3. Wife #3 is the former Amy Mckinley, daughter of former Republican Gubernatorial candidate, David McKinely. [EDIT: I also now have it on good authority that Sprouse and wife #2 were separated, albeit apparently only briefly, when he began seeing Ms. McKinley, but that other affairs were in fact the reason for the ending of marriage #2. While there is always a bit of "he said, she said/every story has two sides" to these things, the overall point of the post still stands, namely that Sprouse has a chronic maritial infidelity problem while he operates as the leader of the "family values" wing of the senate.] And evidently, he left her for some other local gal just over a year ago. What makes all this even more scandalous (and actually more accurately, just simply sad) than that he just bailed on Amy, he did it while she was only a couple months pregnant with his son.

But the story doesn't end there. When their son (Maxwell) was born, he was born a couple months premature, with CHARGE syndrome, a rare condition that has many associated physical, and developmental obstacles for Maxwell to overcome. When Mrs. McKinely-Sprouse was pregnant, but separated, she moved to Washington State to be near her sister, and Maxwell was born out there last summer. She has documented her experiences with Maxwell and about CHARGE syndrome on her blog (which was mentioned in the Charleston Gazette the other day), and interspersed in her blog entries are several comments about her current dealings with Slick Vic regarding their upcoming divorce hearing. Evidently, (according to Mrs. McKinley Sprouse) Slick Vic only wants to pay what the court requires him to pay. Needless to say, the medical costs for Maxwell are in a word, staggering. You can read all about the physical, emotional, and financial struggles surrounding Max and Amy on her blog. I don't need to reproduce them all here. But I will say some of the comments on her blog lead one to believe that Slick Vic feels that Maxwell's extraordinary medical costs shouldn't be his burden, and that somehow, governmental aid, or welfare type programs should pay for his son's medical costs. That's awful convenient, considering Slick Vic can't ever seem to shut his trap about cutting this tax, or that tax, or reducing government, or cutting this program or that. The Fifth Column nailed it. He's the epitome of the "I got mine, you get yours" republican.

But, back to the "scandal." Who exactly is the "new woman" in Vic's life? According to some comments posted in another local blog, the trail leads to Lesleigh Lanning, who apparently is connected to the legislature. Of course, I'm going waaaaaaaaaay out on a limb here, and this is all based on information gleaned from another blog's comment section. If this information is incorrect, I'll be more than happy to take the information down, and issue a very heartfelt public apology to Ms. Lanning. But based on the information I have available at this time, it's pretty solid.

So, you ask, "Bing, aside from all this gossip, how the hell does this relate to West Virginia politics?" It's like this. When you have people who are supposedly running the State, like Sprouse, and they are constantly talking the talk to the everyday peons, they better damn sure be walking the walk, too. It's the same crap you had in the Rick Staton and Lisa Smith situations. You have the politicians telling the public they need to do this, or need to pay that, or act this way, or not do that. And then you find out, the legislators themselves, are doing just the opposite. And some of the loudest, and most shrill lecturing comes from the republicans on stuff like "family values." If this whole "famliy values" line of rhetoric is so damn important, and respecting "family values" is such a great way to go through life, why in the hell, is the leader of the party that can't shut up about "family values" constantly bed-hopping on his wives? Here you have one of the legislative leaders of the party, doing the complete antithesis of what he's telling everyone else they should do. That kind of blatant, rank, outright hypocrisy, is a direct insult to the public, or at least it should be. I know it sure as hell pisses me off.

We are talking about Sprouse, who's a republican, in this post. But, the democrats do it too. So all you repubs, before you go firing off your hate emails and cluttering up the comment section with your "but, but, but the democrats........" crap, read the "And the NIMBY of the year award goes to...." post and figure in crap like how Dianne Feinstein is adamantly pro gun control, but has a concealed weapon permit. That kind of shameless, brash, arrogance and hypocrisy should be insulting enough to the public that these idiots get their asses thrown out of office, regardless of party. This "do as I say, not as I do" crap doesn't play when everyone is an adult. Maybe the voters will finally decide they don't like constantly being told to sit at the little kids' table, when Vic is up for re-election again. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until 2008 to see.

Mollohan the Albatross, Mrs. Microphone, and other assorted odds and ends.

2006-04-24T23:02:00.001-05:00

Well, again, there's just so much stuff that needs mentioned, I'd feel like I was doing myself a disservice if I limited myself to just one issue. And even then, there's more deserving targets, than I have time to adequately address. Maybe I'll give you a bonus entry later this week.

So, let's start with Nowhwere Man's (Alan Mollohan) recent decision to step down from the House Ethics Committee. I just love how when this story broke, he refused to do this, and said all kinds of crap about how it was all trumped up, wrong info, politically motivated, blah blah blah. The amount of indignation shown by Nowhere Man, far outstripped the amount of substantive defensive comments, other than "Hey, we got lucky in real estate." And now, amazingly, he decides to step down. I forget where I read it (I think it was the NYTimes, when this story first broke, but I can't seem to find it right now), but the gist was that Mollohan on the ethics committee was an albatross around Nancy Pelosi's neck. And this was just a day or two after the story broke. And now he decides to step down? Maybe there was some truth to the baggage this was creating for Minority Leader Pelosi.

Is Chris Wakim the answer to Mollohan? Who knows? Maybe he's a gangster or something; he’s got big ties to the gambling industry and/or video slots (which, has never really bothered me - we need more gambling, not less, in this state). So, he might be a crook too. Those businesses always seem to be slimy. But at least he'd be a different crook. Mollohan has been there for 20 years, and as far as I can tell, besides funneling federal dollars to companies that don't seem to do anything other than pay his buddies and campaign contributors hugeass salaries, he hasn't done anything. He's a poster boy for term limits.

Moving right along. Betty Ireland. We had her seemingly daily check in with Chicago Furlip (Michael Agnello on 58Live) on Monday to tell everyone how great a job she's doing (I swear I think Ireland has a microphone bolted to her chin, because she's always talking into one) with training everyone about these new voting machines. Which, now we find out, aren't quite all squared away. King Kent Carper is all wound up and outraged as evidenced in Phil Kabler's article in Sunday's paper. Evidently, the place that sells these machines (ES&S) is in trouble in several states, for missing deadlines and errors in their product, and its delivery of machines and/or applicable software to the states. Of course, all the states are under the gun to comply with the federal legislation aftermath of the Florida 2000 idiots who couldn't read a ballot, and as usual, some states are cutting it close getting their stuff from ES&S on time. Plus, there appears to be some problem with the ability of disabled people to use the current machines in the current "early voting" phase, for some reason. It was funny to hear Ireland squirm when Milquetoast Johnson on Furlip's show point blank asked her if WV was in compliance with some new federal law (maybe it was the Help America Vote Act - HAVA, I forget). Ireland said she "believes" that anyone who wants to go vote in early voting will be able to do so. She didn't simply say, "Yes." That was more telling than anything else she blabbered about the whole time. Johnson even asked her again, point blank, and she gave the same clichéd, careful, and purposefully ambiguous answer. There's only one word for her constant media whoring: Pathetic.

And we also have an indictment against Wanda Carney and Betty Jarvis. The background is here, here , and here. Well, there evidently is enough evidence to charge them with a misdemeanor, so says the Mingo County Grand Jury. Of course, Wanda's lawyer, Jason Huber was publicly commenting how this is all some sort of witch-hunt, and the fact it's "only" a misdemeanor is telling. We'll see. In other Wanda Carney news, the recently "settled" lawsuit that Carney had with the City of Nitro that she was publicly trumpeting not too long ago as some sort of "victory" for her, was a joke. She didn't win anything. I saw a copy of the final order. The City of Nitro essentially doesn't admit to anything AND, the only "real" thing that is agreed to by the City is to pay her lawyer's (Huber, again) fees. But to hear Wanda on the radio, you'd think this was the second coming of Brown v. BOE Topeka.

And lastly (as it's getting late, even for creatures of the night), let's look at the Democratic State Senate race between Dave Higgins and Erik Wells. Higgins was a big supporter of Danny Jones' Worker Tax, as a Charleston City Councilman. That's a death sentence as far as I'm concerned. And he's for a NASCAR track in Kanawha County? He should just change his name to Pan DerMan. I wonder if he wins, will he immediately proposes a dollar per week tax on everyone who works in WV to help pay for that NASCAR track?

Of course, the fact that Erik Wells needs to go out and get a real job before he runs for anything, doesn't make him a guy I'm going to feel comfortable with either. Plus, he's married to Natalie Tennant. Call me a pig, but I just can't vote for anyone remotely related to the only woman Mountaineer Mascot at WVU. I don't want to see guys in the WVU Pom Squad, and I don't want to see a female WVU Mountaineer. The WVU students knew how to properly show their "support" to Tennant when she was the Mountaineer. She was showered with cups, ice, paper, and a healthy chorus of boos whenever she approached the student sections at basketball or football games. Plus, she's related to some past WV political bigwigs somewhere, and I think she's been mooching off the state in some politically appointed flunky position since they both had to quit their "read the teleprompter" jobs, and she couldn't beat Ken Hechler for the right to take on Betty "Where's the nearest microphone" Ireland in 2004.

This is just too good.

2006-04-09T22:49:00.001-05:00

I don't have time for a big, normal sized entry about this topic (but one is in the works), but I'll just throw this one nugget out there, because, well, it's just too good, and you should be able to get the point in with a minimum of ranting.

According to recent reports, our very own Nowhere Man, Alan Mollohan, allegedly is funneling federal money to several non-profits in West Virginia. The allegation is, in short, that those non-profits then somehow funnel some of the cash back to him, in the form of campaign donations or in some sort of related business deals. It was all in the Wall Street Journal last Friday. I'll dissect all the details later, but this is just too good to pass up.

The supreme irony here is that one of them is The Institute for Scientific Research (ISR). The ISR was in the news back in the fall for the exorbitant salaries that were/are being paid to their top corporate officers. Look at that name: The Institute for Scientific Research. Do you think the employees at a whizbang, techie type place such as ISR, use email? I'd bet my meager paycheck they do. Hell, my mother has email, and she can barely figure out how to turn on the pc.

Yet, Mollohan is supposedly a big supporter and helps acquire federal grant funding for the ISR?

Alan Mollohan's Wikipedia entry states that he has the distinction of being the only member of Congress, without an email address.

Only in West Virginia, folks.

Scattergun return.

2006-04-06T19:58:00.001-05:00

Well, as you can see, I haven't updated in almost two months. For some reason, I just didn't have the outrage I normally do. Maybe it was the weather. However, now that the weather is heating up, I've noticed a change in my outrage level. So, with that, I give you a scattergun approach to several little items over the last couple months that have pissed me off, but not enough to warrant a full entry.

Let's start with Betty Ireland. How many more damn times do I have to hear about her having the voting machines on display for people to use and get used to. I mean, for Christ's sake, it's a bubble-in sheet, or a touch screen. They act like it's some sort of space shuttle launch. I don't care if some 80 year old is scared they can't understand it. If they have enough brain cells to read and punch a stylus on the punch card systems, they can figure out the bubble-in sheets. And if they can't, well, they shouldn't be voting.

Ireland was at the WV Power game Thursday, all over the radio again, with her demo voting machines, blah blah blah. I just hope, that after the election, we don't have to constantly hear about what great work she's doing educating the public on how to fill in a scantron sheet, or touch a computer screen. If she spent one-tenth the time she does crowing about how she's educating the people on these new machines, on actually cleaning up the elections in WV, we'd all be better off. Give it a rest, Betty. You'll strain your arm patting yourself on the back every day.

Moving right along, let's take a look at what Papa Joe Cheerleader was doing last week. Oh, that's right, while he was up in Morgantown, celebrating Randall McCloy's release from the hospital, the state complex's elevators were all shutting down. I haven't commented much on the mine disasters, but the absolute, total, grandstanding by Papa Joe during the Sago thing, was absolutely disgusting. And to then go up there with a specially made West Virginia road sign, called "Miracle Road" to give to Mr. McCloy? Are you kidding me? Could this BE any cheesier? Methinks not. He has absolutely no shame whatsoever. Get a TV camera there, and Papa Joe will be front and center.

While Papa Joe was "signing," the capitol complex workers were climbing. Papa Joe gets an F for effort there. Yeah, I know. Big surprise.

Hmmmmm. Let's see. Oh, the elections are coming up. Dave Higgins running for State Senate wants to build a NASCAR track in eastern Kanawha County? I wonder if he can't get any money for it, will he look to create legislation to impose some new sort of worker tax to fund it? In case you didn't know, Higgins, on Charleston's City Council, was a staunch supporter of Dannyboy's Worker Tax. Yeah, he needs more access to statewide taxpayer money. Like I need a hole in my head.

Logan's Law. You have got to be kidding me. To all you clamoring for Logan's law to be passed "to protect the children," let me just say, that even if Logan's Law was in place, little Logan would not have been protected. It would have not prevented what happened to him. So, if you want to just jack up the sentences on people who hurt kids, just say so. I don't have any problem with that. Don't give it some cutesy little name, that implies that to not pass it, would not protect children. That's cheapass, election-year rhetoric. You hear that, Sprouse? If you truly are concerned about protecting kids, maybe you should clean up your own mess before grandstanding on Logan's law.

And the other big issue that gobbled up a huge chunk of the legislator's time was the parental notification bill. For crying out loud. It's never enough with the pro-life crowd. They got their Lacy Peterson bill passed last year (another example of stupid cutesy naming of legislation, because the proponents think the masses are too dumb to understand the law). And this year, they spent seemingly weeks debating the parental notification bill. We should just change our motto to "West Virginia: We’ve taken re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, to a whole new level."

However, one good thing comes from the legislature on an election year. They typically have a do-nothing session. That means they generally can't screw up as many things as they do during a non-election year session. They should just cancel the sessions in election years, and save the taxpayers the cost of them spending 2 months doing nothing.

Oh, and Shelly Moore Capito took money from Jack Abramoff? No way!!! A West Virginia politician named Moore engaged in receiving money from questionable sources and a felony conviction somewhere in the mix? I think Yogi said it best. It's deja vu all over again. The apple does not fall far from the tree.

And the latest shenanigans from the Mingo County DOH office? Supposedly (according to the Gazette) Truman Chafin didn't like the way some bridges and roads weren't getting done, so he orchestrated the re-assignment of the DOH supervisor over to Logan county, supposedly until after the election. I'm sure that's the first time that's ever happened in Mingo County.

Truman also got a case of the ass over the cheesy lawyer ads? Hell, those are some of the funniest damn commercials on TV. Truman needs to back the hell off. The State Bar doesn't need to be wasting time, and its seemingly infinite resources worrying about whether some lawyer's radio jingle is "in good taste." I wonder what kind of "taste" it takes to orchestrate the removal of a DOH supervisor, because he won't pave your buddy's road, or build a bridge to his house, ahead of previously scheduled projects. Truman complaining about lawyer jingles is like a serial killer complaining about cartoon violence on TV.

The Charleston Crybaby.

2006-02-12T21:42:00.000-05:00

Well, there's just been sooooooo much activity over the last 2 weeks, It's almost hard to know where to start.

For today's post, let's just go with Thornton Cooper v. Danny Jones and the Charleston worker tax. I think Danny Jones should try out for some pro wrestling circuit. He could be nicknamed The Charleston Crybaby. On Jerry Waters' radio show the other day, he had Thornton Cooper on to discuss Dannyboy's worker tax. The wrangling over getting this thing on a ballot, has been absolutely ridiculous. I guess if Dannyboy had done his job the first time, and followed the proper procedures, we wouldn't be worrying about it. But he didn't. He tried to ram through his little cash grab extortion scheme, and whoops, evidently, he's not a dictator. He's got to jump through some hoops. I know this will come as a complete shock to Dannyboy, but thankfully, we have the courts to keep an eye on these jackasses.

The current state is that the Charleston residents get to vote on the user fee ordinance, but Danny is trying his best, to make that as difficult as possible. He keeps saying "well, we'll have to have a special election and that will cost all this money." Well, I go back to what I said earlier. If he had followed the rules to begin with, we wouldn't need a special election. Any extra taxpayer dollars that are spent (including all the lawyer fees Charleston paid to their lawyers), are having to be spent ENTIRELY because Jones didn't do his job. The extra dollars expended for this, are nobody's fault, but Jones'. But he'll be on the radio and tv and in the newspapers whining that it's Cooper's fault for bringing the lawsuit. Well boo hoo hoo. Imagine that, a politician has to follow the rules.

But the best part is the absolutely disgusting show of immaturity and petulance by Jones after Cooper was on Waters' show. He then called in and complained that Cooper was "a freakshow" and "a jailhouse lawyer." So, the mayor of the state's largest city, is reduced to 3rd grade name calling to try and defend his dictatorial actions? He then proceeded to chide Cooper for being a government employee (Cooper retired from the Public Service Commission as an attorney), stating something along the lines of "well, thank god for state government so Cooper could have a job and suck down a government pension." And what the hell had Jones done in his life? He's been Sheriff (sucking off the government teat). He's been in the House of Delegates (sucking off the government teat). He's been Regatta Director (sucking off the government teat). He's been "sanitation director," where he got lots of press for riding around on a garbage truck, like he's some sort of blue collar guy (who happens to have been born wealthy, and never really needed a job in his life). And now he's Mayor. At least Cooper got a job and managed to hang on to it, instead of jumping from job to job. And I bet Jones will get a government pension too, before it's all over. Every one of you state employees that live in Charleston, should remember what The Charleston Crybaby said about Cooper.

Jones simply personally attacked Cooper. Jones derided him for working for state government because Cooper sued the city, and actually won his case on a procedural point showing that Jones didn't do his job.

Now, about getting the issue on the primary election ballot. We now have the optical scanner vote machines. And evidently, Cooper wants to put the entire ordinance on every ballot. But, evidently, we can't do that. We can't print the 5 pages or whatever, of the ordinance for every ballot. But, we've got all these new high tech whizbang voting machines. And yet, we can't vote the way we are supposed to. Here's a thought. If it's not actually possible to add 7 pages to the ballot, just give you an EXTRA ballot for the user fee ordinance. A paper one. With 2 boxes on it. One box for "yes," one box for "no." You make an X in the one you choose. You could count those ballots by hand, in just a couple hours. I don't mind waiting until 10 or 11 pm to find out if it passed. I don't need election results at 8pm. Our country worked damn fine, for a couple hundred years, not knowing the actual results of the elections for sometimes WEEKS after the election. But Kent Carper and others have lamented that if we do that, the paper user fee ballots might not get counted for an hour or two afterwards, and the possibility for tampering exists. Are you kidding me? We now can't have ballots wait an hour or two to be counted? How the hell did we stop tampering before now? Did the possibility of tampering not exist before the optical scanner machines? Don't insult my intelligence, Kent. Put them in a locked room, and leave them there until you can count them. This isn't rocket science. Hell, I don't care if I go to bed that night, and not know the answer. I can find out in the morning.

All this "oh, but we can't DO that on these new machines," crap is hysterical. Well, guess what? If you can't do that on the "new" machines, your "new" machines, suck.

The top 6 reasons why West Virginia is pitifully last in just about everything.

2006-01-27T00:52:00.000-05:00

From left to right:

That big black hole is Congressman Alan Mollohan. He basically became Congressman when his dad vacated the same office. Gotta love that free name recognition (especially in a state where we elect people like Glen Gainer Auditor). His new nickname should be "Nowhere Man." He doesn't actually exist on the internet as his Wikipedia entry points out (and is backed up by his House webpage - check out how to contact him), he's the only member of congress who doesn't have a public email address.

Next to Nowhere Man, is our illustrious Governor, Joe Manchin, aka Papa Joe Cheerleader. Known for tirelessly cheering the State on, in the face of overwhelming (or maybe more appropriately, oblivious to) facts to the contrary. Of course, where would he be without the tutelage of his late Uncle A James, the most famous wearer of fireman hats in West Virginia's history? I know where the rest of us would be - about 300 million dollars to the good from where we are now.

Next to Papa Joe Cheerleader, is our very own, Robert "Sheets" Byrd. Who knows how much money he's salted away in his 60 plus years in Washington for himself? Pretty good for a guy who spent the 1940's being a member of the KKK. Of course, he says he's no longer a racist. He just likes to still use the "n" word from time to time, he voted against the only two black US Supreme Court nominees in history, and has said the KKK basically gets a bad rap.

And next to Sheets, is our very own (well, once he came here from New York and bought his way into politics) Jay Rockefeller. He's got more money than he'll ever be able to spend in 100 lifetimes, thanks to his family's ownership of Standard Oil. Evidently he couldn't hack politics in his home State of New York, so he went somewhere he knew he could simply buy his way to the top.

And next to Jayboy, is our very own Shelly Moore Capito, who is still closely advised in the background by her convicted felon, bribe-taking father, Arch Moore. I'm sure he's given her lots of advice like "Don't do money exchanges at gas stations," and "public money is yours to steal as you wish" and "before you say anything, always make sure they aren't wearing a wire," and lastly "Never, ever, under any circumstances, show any remorse for anything you've done. Even if you are convicted."

And lastly is our very own, Nick Rahall. He seems to think there's nothing wrong with his sister being the chief lobbyist for the country of Qatar, where she's paid $15,000 per month to look out for their interests. I wonder how much of that money ended up in Nicky's pockets. Nicky is also a chief enemy of anything that even appears to be pro-Israel. He was the lone US Congressman voting against a resolution calling for the end of the Arab boycott of Israel. He also met with Bashar Asaad and with Saddam prior to the invasion of Iraq, among other questionable actions regarding terrorism. He's got all the time in the world to hang out with some of the world's most disgusting dictators and terrorist supporters, but he can't be bothered to defend the lone democracy in the middle east?

Now, with these 6 jokers in our deck of cards, is it any wonder we keep going bust?

We get exactly, precisely, what we deserve: a nice big fat kick in the nuts.

2006-01-11T23:17:00.000-05:00

The latest federal indictment of former State Senator Lisa Smith for tax evasion, filing false election reports, and mail fraud, is just another example of exactly why this State's government, is a complete, and total joke.

What do the following incidents have in common: Lisa Smith's indictment, Greg Stowers' indictment and guilty plea, Logan Mayor Tom Esposito's indictment and guilty plea, the rest of the southern West Virginia politicos recently indicted and their pleas, Jerry Mezzatesta's ethics violations from 2004, Hank Marockie's nonsense, Arch Moore's conviction, and most every other political scandal we have had?

Does anyone notice a trend here? The trend is, that they all end up in FEDERAL courthouses. Nobody ever brings state criminal charges against these clowns, and when they do, it's a complete joke (like the Mezzatesta crap, where he wont' even pay his ethics fine). It's always the feds who try and clean up this mess. Why do we always complain about our State government being corrupt, when we elect the idiots who are supposed to be enforcing the laws on the corrupt officials?

There needs to be an independent agency, who's sole job it is, to investigate these types of political shenanigans. Forget the "ethics commission." They are even more pathetic than the jackasses they are supposed to be watching. The legislature could, if they wanted to, create a truly independent investigation wing, with some real teeth. They could do it. Hell, they created the Turnpike Authority, and gave it independence to the point it can raise the tolls, and the legislature and the governor run around saying, "Well, there's nothing we can do, they don't have to run that stuff past us. They are independent."

We can't even police our own crooks. Our politicians sit back and act impotent, and the only time anything gets done, is when the federal government gets involved. We act like we are supposed to be taken seriously as a state, and shed the barefoot hillbilly image, but our government is so corrupt, the only time anyone gets their head cracked, is when the feds step in. We are essentially 100% dependent on the Feds to make sure we have a decent and clean state government.

If the legislature can create something like the TA, they could sure as hell create an independent "SBI" (State Bureau of Investigations) or something. I know they are leery of giving the Attorney General's office prosecutorial power, because he's a politician too. That's why it needs to be done in some other independent agency (I guess the ethics commission is an attempt at that, but it's so pathetic, it's actually an insult to the average West Virginian it's so impotent). The Legislature and the Governor could do this, if they had the political balls, a backbone, and a real desire to provide good government to the people. As it is, they show themselves for what they are: gutless, pandering, pathetic, cowardly pigs simply gorging themselves at the public trough.

When Bill Charnock was elected Kanawha County prosecutor, the Mezzatesta thing was still kicking around. I remember Charnock talking about how he was going to go after "political corruption." He hasn't done squat. He's run around busting meth labs (and don't get me wrong, they need busted), and talked about what a great job he'd done (while, simultaneously, being caught for running his prosecutor campaign on the state's time and dime - so I guess we really shouldn't be surprised at his less than stellar record regarding political corruption). Why hasn't Charnock filed charges against Smith for filing those false reports? She must have filed them in Charleston, with the Secretary of State, so that'd be in his jurisdiction. Why hasn't he done anything about it?

Manchin was Secretary of State from 2000 to 2004. What did he do with regard to the election shenanigans in southern West Virginia? One of his moves was to eliminate his office's election fraud investigator. How in the hell, can you take an individual seriously about their desire to be tough on corruption, when that person takes action that directly removes the resources used in combating political corruption, especially when individual's main job responsibilities, is to ensure free, fair, and clean elections? Former Senator Lisa Smith filed those false campaign reports (see "Fatal Accountability" below) on Manchin's watch as Secretary of State. Why didn't he catch them? How is it the feds are able to ferret this stuff out, but State officials are seemingly more impotent than Bob Dole before the invention of Viagra when it comes to political corruption?

Betty Ireland, has been on the radio umpteen times the last year talking about the "new" voting machines. Jesus Christ. Do we need the Secretary of State spending all her time reassuring us of the "new" machines? Hell, we had crooked elections with the punch card ones, and it didn't have anything to do with the technology. What on earth, does the "new" machines (touch screen, optical scanner, whatever) do to protect us from the Greg Stowers and the other political vote buying scumbags in WV? Why doesn't she spend more time ferreting out the vote buyers, and quit wasting radio airtime and my tax dollars, telling me umpteen hundred times about the fabulous advantages of the "new" voting machines. I had no problem using the punch cards, I'm pretty sure I can touch a computer screen, or bubble in a circle on a piece of paper. Hell, I'd be happy to mark an "x" in a box, if I knew the Ireland was out there, cracking heads of the vote buyers. But, she doesn't do squat about them. Sure, she doesn’t have prosecutorial powers, but the local prosecutors do. And she could be working up the investigations, and then turn the results over to the prosecutors.

The same thing goes with this "legislative auditor" crap that's been kicked around in the media lately. When they find some state worker has been falsifying overtime sheets, there doesn't need to be some formal presentation of the audit findings to the legislature. Take that crap straight to Charnock's office and tell him to start slapping the cuffs on some people. Remember, he's all jacked up for going after political corruption, he said so in his campaign.

When I heard that Smith was charged with all these Federal crimes, the thought came across my mind that "damn, that federal courthouse is getting pretty busy." And then I caught the use of the word "federal." Why no "state" courthouse perp walks for these jackasses (Smith, Stowers, Adkins, etc)? I became curious. For instance, I wondered why Smith was being charged with all these federal crimes, and no state crimes. Hell, I even looked in the WV Code. And you'd be amazed at what I found. I know I had to read it about 5 times to make sure I was understanding what I read, it was so bizarre. It's not complicated, it's just so, ridiculous. Of course, with our legislature, nothing's out of bounds as far as something to protect their own asses, but this was almost too strange to be believed.

In the WV Code, I went looking for the tax crimes section. Usually crimes are in Chapter 61. I didn't find anything there in my cursory examination. I then started poking around in Chapter 11, where the tax stuff is. And this is what I found. The State Tax Department HAS a "Criminal Investigation Division." But its jurisdiction is sort of strange.

§11-9-2a. Criminal investigation division established; funding of same.
(a) Criminal investigation division. -- A criminal investigation division consisting of no more than twelve investigators, of which one investigator shall serve as division director, plus necessary support staff, all of whom are exempt from the classified service, is hereby established in the state tax division for the purpose of assuring compliance with laws and rules pertaining to the taxes, fees or credits administered under article ten of this chapter, including, but not limited to, the provisions of articles twenty, twenty-one and twenty-three, chapter forty-seven of this code, but not including income taxes, imposed on individuals by article twenty-one of this chapter.
(b) Special audits division. -- A special audits division consisting of no more than eight tax examiners, plus necessary support staff, all of whom are covered by the classified service, is hereby established in the auditing section of the state tax division for purposes of assuring compliance with laws and rules pertaining to taxes, fees or credits administered under article ten of this chapter, including, but not limited to, the provisions of articles twenty, twenty-one and twenty-three, chapter forty-seven of this code, but not including income taxes imposed on individuals by article twenty-one of this chapter.

The guys who are supposed to be investigating tax fraud, can't investigate for income taxes. Are you freaking kidding me? The TAX Department's criminal investigators, can't investigate personal income tax cases? Hell, it's no wonder Smith hasn't been charged with state income tax evasion. Nobody can investigate her for that. Can you believe that? Wouldn't that be like saying the IRS can't investigate income taxes? It makes no sense. Unless, you are the legislature, and don't want them poking around the legislators' income tax returns. In which case, you'd catch the Lisa Smiths (and Rick Statons) of the world.

Until the electorate starts electing people who respect the rule of law, apply it regardless of what their friends are doing, and aren't part of the political corruption in the first place, this state is going to continue to be nothing but a bastion of corruption. And until the electorate wises up and starts holding some of these clowns accountable, we are going to continue getting just what we deserve.

A nice big fat kick in the nuts.

Fatal Accountability.

2006-01-11T22:27:00.000-05:00

Well, again, it's just like shooting fish in a barrel here in the Sweatbox. These clowns can't even make it somewhat challenging for the ol' Binger. Former State Senator Lisa Smith, along with her husband, have been indicted on 16 federal (see above blog entry for a further discussion of the relevance of this) charges, ranging from mail fraud, to tax evasion, to filing false campaign reports. Smith rode the anti-gambling wagon to the State Senate by defeating Oshel Craigo for State Senate in 2002. Craigo voted for the Promise scholarship (and therefore, legalizing the video slot parlors), and Smith beat him over the head with it. I just love it when the shrill and sanctimonious, get caught doing exactly the type of shenanigans that they berate others for doing.

Smith attacked Craigo (who's certainly no saint either, but that's for another post) for being pro-gambling. Smith got the bible banging gambling lobby squarely behind her and made a furious campaign, and probably used some smear tactics right at the end on Craigo, to win that seat.

And now we find out she's been ripping off every law-abiding citizen in the State of West Virginia. She failed to pay her taxes, and evidently, had trouble even paying her employees, if the reports in the last 6 months or so have any truth to them. But while she was in the Senate, supposedly handling your tax dollars, she wasn't paying any of her own, or her businesses' taxes either. Again, it's this "I can tell you what to do, and how much tax to pay, but because I'm a politician, the rules don't apply to me" mentality that we so often see here in West Virginia, that really shows how much contempt our elected officials have for the everyday West Virginian. To be able to dictate to the public, how we don't have enough public money for this program, or enough public money for that program, or that we need to pay more taxes to fund this, or fund that. And all the while, they aren't paying what THEY are supposed to be paying. And this very same criticism applies to people like Rick Staton too, so this isn't some anti-republican post, so all you rightwinger republican fanboys out there can just cool your jets. Staton is just as guilty (well, maybe not of the mail fraud, but he's certainly guilty of the failure to pay his taxes part). For her part, Smith is looking at more than 100 years in prison and 4 million dollars in fines. She won't get all of that punishment, but she'll probably get some sort of sentence out of this.

But even better than the mere fact she was ripping off the taxpayers, she was doing it, so she could further her political career by funding her campaign with that money. Money that should have gone into state coffers so the pothole outside your house could get patched, or to buy new textbooks with for your kids, or to provide you with parks and recreational activities, or any number of other public uses, was being used by Smith, to make sure she got a State Senate seat. She stole from you, to make it possible for her, to then tell you what to do with your money. If that is not approaching the epitome of arrogance, I don't know what is.

Why doesn't Smith just come out and say "Let them eat cake" while she's at it?

You know, generally, the French are idiots as far as government goes. They are on something like their 5th Republic since 1800. They never seem to know exactly what they want in the form of government. They make good wine and cheese, but their government is usually just this side of a complete train wreck. However, sometimes, they do manage to get something right. 210 years or go, they knew how to deal with politicians like Smith.

We'll just call it "Fatal Accountability." We are more civilized than that (and now so are the French). Now, we give people like Smith a starchy new wardrobe, and cramped living quarters courtesy of the state.

I think orange might look good on her.

Your Secretary of Tax and Revenue, John Musgrave: "Gimme two scoops, please!"

2006-01-09T21:44:00.000-05:00

Today the Daily Mail (and supposedly the Gazette too, but it wasn't online) exposed a problem that was basically mentioned 3 weeks ago. Remember where you heard it first, right here (if you haven't read that blog entry, I'd strongly suggest reading it now, to help you get up to speed). Papa Joe Manchin is paying his top "executives" monstrous salaries, for state workers, by leaving them in "acting" positions, in clear violation of state law.

The Daily Mail reported, just as a certain blogger did a couple weeks ago, that "acting" Tax Commissioner Virgil Helton was making more than the statutorily required salary, because he was "acting" Tax Commissioner, and he was able to keep the higher salary of the two positions (Tax Commissioner or Deputy Lottery Director of Finance, which has since been filled by a guy making $79,000 per year - so technically, Helton has no "old" job to go back to). However, Helton's boss, "acting" Secretary of Tax and Revenue, who prior to being acting Secretary, was the Lottery Director, was not just getting the "higher" of the two salaries, he's getting both salaries, for a grand total of a $150,000 per year (for the last 2+ years, he was appointed in October of 2003 by Wise).

Now, I'm sure Secretary Musgrave is a nice guy. Hell, he might even know a thing or two about running the Lottery. But, does anyone but me think it's pure ignorance, to be paying this guy for TWO supposedly 40 hour per week, full time positions in state government? If he's working 80 hours a week, pulling 16 hour shifts, 5 days a week, by all means, give him both salaries. But I'm willing to bet a week's pay that he's not spending 80 hours week at the Capitol and down at Lottery HQ. He supposedly would have been doing this for over two years, non-stop.

This brings up a couple of issues. First, if neither job is so essential, that they can be effectively done by some guy essentially working each job half of the time, then why are we paying them 75,000$ per year for each position, regardless of whether it's one guy, or two? If some guy can do both of these jobs adequately in one 4o hour week, there's no need for two FULL TIME positions for these jobs. Just make them one position, or do away with one position.

Secondly, if these jobs are so easy that one guy can handle both effectively at the same time, then they aren't that difficult to begin with, and as such, they wouldn't warrant even the exorbitant (as far as state employees go) salary of $75,000 each. They evidently aren't so difficult some guy can't handle them in 20 hours per week, each. Hell, pay some poor schmuck working for 30k an extra 15 or 20 grand and let them do it. Average Joe Schmoe State Worker making 30k per year would be ecstatic to get a 20 grand raise. Remember, the job isn't so tough you can't do it in 20 hours. Otherwise, Musgrave wouldn't be doing it in the first place. If he had to truly work 80 hours per week to keep on top of both jobs, he'd say "no thanks, I'll just stay Director of Lottery."

And let's just operate on the assumption he's NOT spending 80 hours a week working for us poor taxpayers (in my opinion, pretty fair assumption to make). If that's the case, then he's flat out stealing. He's essentially collecting a paycheck, for work that he isn't doing. He's being paid to be in two places at one time. That's physically impossible. He's taking money, state money, for work that he's not doing. And not only is Manchin not outraged, he's evidently, supportive of this, according to his mouthpiece, Lara Ramsburg. Doesn't anyone but me see something that's just flat out wrong, with giving state employees one paltry raise in 3 or 4 years, that barely covers their cost of increased insurance premiums, while this guy is essentially getting paid for an entire positions he's not even doing? This guy is stealing state money, for a job he's not doing, Manchin sees nothing wrong with it, and State Auditor Glen Gainer knowingly signs the checks for this clown every two weeks. In my opinion, they are both guilty of ripping off me and every other taxpayer in West Virginia.

However outrageous that is, what is potentially even MORE outrageous, is the ambivalent response of Senator Shirley Love (a guy who's previous claim to fame was he hosted a local tv "rasslin'" show on WOAY Oak Hill TV - and you wonder why this state is FUBAR) to this problem:

"It seems to have been a trend in the past. Other governors have done the same thing. I assume he's doing this because they're qualified, overqualified in some instances."

Love then goes on to defend Manchin's plan to pay his top suckasses more money:

"It would give the governor some flexibility in recruiting for those positions. Someone in private industry can make a lot more than in state government. But if you take someone who manages a major company in this country, it's no different than managing one of our departments."

Are you kidding me? The old "well, in private industry......." argument? These people need freaking locked the hell up. That argument is so pathetic, it makes me want to puke every time I hear it. Aren't we always hearing that "well, we can't pay public employees what the private sector pays them." Then why the hell does that logic never apply to the top-level suckasses? And the very same legislators who adamantly oppose any state employee pay raises have no problem finding this kind of extra jack for suckasses like this Musgrave character or an assistant band director at WVU that needs a few extra hundred thousand dollars?

And Senator Love thinks we have to have these kickass, overqualified private sector success stories coming in and running these agencies? Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised from what comes out of a guy's mouth who announced "rasslin'" matches. Remember what I said above. One guy is effectively doing both jobs, in one 40-hour workweek. If these jobs need such specialized private sector hotshots doing them, don't you think they'd each be a little more time-intensive than something you could do in essentially half a workweek?

You want to get rid of the food tax? Demand Papa Joe Cheerleader and company start cutting some of this waste in state government that ends up in the hands of their suckass buddies.

I actually think I saw this Musgrave clown in Kanawha City the other day. I was at Baskin Robbins and the guy in front of me said "Gimme two scoops. I'm a double dipper."

Greg Stowers: Vote buying turncoat extraordinaire.

2005-12-27T19:41:00.000-05:00

In previous posts (here, here and here), I had mentioned the vote buying scandals in southern West Virginia. One of many defendants (like Mark Hrutkay, "Hound Dog" Adkins, Tom Esposito, and probably a couple of dozen more I'm forgetting, and all of who, should be summarily hung from the highest tree we can find) entangled in the sordid pathetic excuse for legitmate government found in southern WV, was Greg Stowers, of the Lincoln County Stowers clan. He was the Lincoln County Clerk. Evidently he was involved in buying votes. In the comments section of the above mentioned posts, I had all sorts of comments by Stowers' supporters defending him, calling the government crooked, the prosecution politically motivated, etc. One even said we'd be surprised by the outcome of the investigation. Oh, we had all kinds of protestations of his innocence. Nick Casey was out immediately after this story broke back in the spring lambasting everyone for these trumped up charges. Stowers' supporters were calling everyone (including me) some sort disgruntled Stowers' hater (I've never even met the man, and probably won't ever, seeing as how I don't hang out in prisons, and that'll be about the only way I'll get to meet him in the future).

Well, evidently Stowers' fans meant we'd be surprised how fast Stowers would turn snitch on his scumbag friends, when he is looking at some prison time. Evidently, Stowers, and Lincoln County Assessor Jerry Weaver (and two others) are all now going to plead guilty, presumably in exchange for their cooperation (ie, testimony) in ongoing investigations.

Not only did Stowers basically spit in every West Virginian's face by purposefully corrupting the one supposed thing Americans do right, namely govern ourselves freely and lawfully, he's too much of a sissyboy to actually own up to what he did and take the punishment. Given the chance to rat someone out to save his worthless hide a couple more years of being some drug dealer's pin cushion in the slammer, he can't sign himself up quickly enough. And the same goes for Weaver and all the other defendants who've cut plea deals. Evidently, the government's evidence is pretty strong, if all these guys are copping pleas on the eve of their trials. Maybe it wasn't such a politically motivated witch hunt, as some of the comment posters on the above entries suggested. Maybe, these guys are just exactly what everyone thinks of them. Lying, thieving, scumbags, who had and continue to have, absolutely, positively, not one single iota of integrity in their entire cheat-filled existence.

And yet somehow, they keep getting elected.

I put people who violate the public trust, only marginally above child molesters. Only because technically, we can throw the bums out in 2, 4, 6 or however many years their terms are. The public trust, and public office gained by free and fair elections is something that wasn't simply given to the American (and West Virginian) public. Blood had to be shed to be able to engage in this exercise of self governance. And for greedy little punks like Stowers and the others mentioned above to insult those who fought and gave their lives for the chance for this nation to be truly governed by the people, by something as pedestrian and cheap as buying votes, is just this side of a capital offense, in my opinion. And I hope to God, that the next time someone runs for office, and their last name is Stowers, or Esposito, or Moore, or Weaver or whoever, the public remembers how that name, tried to subvert and negate the legitimate right of every citizen to pick their elected officials. And these jackasses did it for just a few dollars, and solely because of their own disgusting greed and primal lust for power.

If these jokers think someone's vote and therefore by extension, the entire free and fair democratic process along with the millions of Americans who've died protecting that process, is priced at just a few dollars, and they are motivated to subvert the process for something as primitive as their own greed, how in the hell can you expect them to respect anything, let alone the public's trust?

"The practices of the past are no longer acceptable. And by that I mean, they are totally acceptable."

2005-12-14T23:18:00.000-05:00

Well, Papa Joe Cheerleader (our illustrious Governor, Joe Manchin) has responded to the latest gutter level scandal of state contract bidding shenanigans, and General Service Division workers falsifying timesheets to steal thousands of dollars of overtime pay. Yes, Papa Joe has responded. Oh, he made it clear, that the "practices of the past, are not acceptable in his administration." Yes, Papa Joe has come in and cleaned up the scum pit that is state government waste and old boy, backroom shenanigans. We are open for business.

However, a quick little examination of a couple facts shows that not only is it still business as usual (in direct contradiction to what he claims in soundbites to the media), it may be that Papa Joe is making it part of his policy.

I noticed in the news today that Troy Body (I think that was his name) resigned his post as "acting" Director of Culture and History. He gave as a reason for moving on to some job in Kentucky, that he'd been in that position for 18 months, and he was still "acting." Evidently, he felt he should have been given the full post. That jogged my memory about something I noticed the other day. I had been poking around on some local news sites, and I was rereading the "I Team" report about sexual harassment in state government on the WOWK-TV website. I noticed, that Tax Commissioner Virgil Helton, is listed in that article as currently the "Acting" Tax Commissioner. It was kind of odd, because that story also involved a letter he had written in regards to that sexual harassment case, way back in the spring, as "Acting" Tax Commissioner.

So, I checked, and sure enough on the State Tax Department's website, he's the Acting Tax Commissioner, being appointed to that post on January 17, 2005. It also says he used to be Deputy Director of Finance and Administration at the Lottery Commission. So, I went to the Lottery website and was poking around looking for his name there, and managed to find a news release just last month where some guy was appointed to fill the Deputy Director for Finance and Administration position that was held by Virgil Helton before he was named Acting Tax Commissioner in January of 2005. This guy's name is James Toney. Well, thanks to the wonders of the State Auditor's Office, you can find out any state worker's salary.

I asked the Auditor's office how much Mr. Toney was making. Mr. Toney makes $72,000 per year. I then asked how much Mr. Helton makes. He makes $80,208 per year. However, I remember hearing one time that agency heads and super secretaries' salaries are set by statute. I thought they were like even numbers or something, so the "208" part of his salary seemed weird. I also thought I remembered some rumblings about these top level administrator's salaries last spring when the judges got their pay raise. I seemed to remember some of the agency heads and other top-level administrators were in line to get raises in some of the judge's pay raise proposed legislation. So, I went looking for that code section. It's code section 6-7-2a. It lists the salaries of about a zillion different agency heads and super secretary positions. Funny thing is, that the tax commissioner is required by statute to be paid $65,000. But, Mr. Helton, is making $80,208, over $15,000 more than the law stipulates. One can only assume the $80,208 is what Helton was making at the Lottery. Because his current post has a salary of $65,000, required by law.

So, I thought, I'd poke around in the code and see what the deal is on these "acting" directors/commissioners/whatevers. The "real" directors/commissioners are supposed to be "confirmed" by the senate. I knew that much. But I wondered if there was some sort of time limit or something on the "actings." I didn't find anything in the code, but I took a shot and tried the WV Constitution, and low and behold, there it is, in Article VII, section 9. Recess Vacancies. The Governor appoints someone to a vacancy, as he did with Helton, while the Senate is in recess. When the Senate has it's "next meeting," the Governor SHALL (i.e., he MUST) make a nomination for that position, and the Senate has to give it the thumbs up or down. Why is Helton STILL acting? The Governor does not have any discretion here. The constitution is clear.

I wonder why he didn't nominate anyone? Why didn't the Governor send Helton's name to the Senate for confirmation during this year's regular session? Or during one of the umpteen special sessions we've had this year? I wonder if his theory is, that as long as Helton is "acting" he can continue to collect his $80,203, and not have to take a $15,000 pay cut? Usually, those "acting" positions are so that they can have someone step "up" and fill it, and if they eventually choose an outside person to be the REAL commissioner/whatever, the "acting" can go back to his "original" job, at his "original" salary. But, Helton doesn't have an "original" job to go back to. That's been filled by James Toney at the Lottery Commission.

So why is he still being paid his "original" salary of $80,208? He should be making $65,000, as required by the law in 6-7-2a. The Governor is directly ignoring the law, and it's costing the taxpayers of WV an extra $15,000, for just one position. And there are several of these "acting" directors/commissioners/whatevers around state government. Helton is just one of them. That Body guy was another. In my quick research I found there's also two "co-directors" of the PEIA, and an acting Director of the Division of Personnel. I didn't do anywhere near a comprehensive search, and some of the positions don't have much info about them on the web, so there may very well be other (in fact, I'd bet on it) "actings" out there.

Sure, the practices of the past, are just not acceptable to this administration. They appear to be mandatory

David Molgaard, City Manager Extraordinaire (or so he says....).

2005-12-09T00:08:00.000-05:00

Well, Charleston City Manager David Molgaard has been on the job approximately 3 years, and now is asking for a raise. Evidently, he's SO good (coughbullcrapcough), that other cities around the country are now clamoring to give him a huge raise if he would only come and be their city manager. In last Friday's Daily Mail, there was an article about this, but aside from that, it seems to have slipped under the radar.

Yes, we have another instance of a top government official trotting out the "but in OTHER states (cities in this case) they pay someone like me X dollars." Of course, that logic never seems to apply when the government workers are the actual workers, like cops, or firemen, or office workers, or whatever. Nooooooooooo, you can't use that logic to justify higher salaries for those types of workers. But when a top-level suckass wants a raise in WV, they immediately drag this argument out without any hesitation. And even more disgusting is, Danny Worker Tax Jones' response. He's all FOR paying Molgaard more money. According to Jones, "Losing Molgaard is not an option," and that Molgaard manages Charleston, "into surplus after surplus each year."

Are you kidding me? Danny Jones thinks the surplus is Molgaard's doing? What about the freaking worker tax that was basically a 2 million per year windfall the last two years? What exactly did Molgaard have to do with that aside from lugging bags of money into city hall from the user fee account? Last I checked, the City Manager didn't have a damn thing to do with it. Danny says, "Hey Dave, guess what? I just soaked the poor working schmucks in Charleston for 2 million per year, have fun spending it." And the surplus is HIS doing? Hell, give me half that additional revenue, and I'd have Charleston in a surplus too. And if we've got all these surpluses, that are evidently Molgaard's doing, then I don't see where there is a burning need to raise revenue, in the form of the worker tax. Dannyboy can't have it both ways. He can't trumpet the great job Molgaard is doing by leaving surpluses, and then cry poverty to get the worker tax, and the hotel motel increase (and remember, the hotel tax indirectly caused the cell phone fee to double too). Either the city's got extra money, or it doesn't.

Molgaard makes about $79,000 per year, but other "comparable" cities pay their managers sometimes twice that much. Danny Jones' chief leg-humper, Rod Blackstone, was quick with the facts and figures to support giving Molgaard a raise:

Wilson, N.C., which has a population of 45,921, has posted its city manager's position at up to $130,000 to start. Durham, N.C. advertised last year that they would pay its manager up to $145,000. The city of Frankfort, Ky., with its population of 27,741 -- a little more than half of Charleston's -- in a city manager posting listed the salary as $100,000, Blackstone found. In all, 40 southern cities smaller than Charleston all pay their city managers more. The median salary for city managers in the south for cities the size of Charleston is $143,365. The city of Hurricane hired Ben Newhouse as its manager on a $58,000 salary, which works out to be $10 per resident. Molgaard's salary equals about $1.49 per resident, Blackstone found.

Oh, and Molgaard won't come forward with the cities' names that have contacted him about stealing him away. But, Danny and his chief leg-humper don't need any specifics. Just the mere possibility that someone may have spoken to Molgaard (and the only one we can trust for this information, is Molgaard himself - how convenient) about being their city manager, will suffice for a full court press to pay Molgaard what other cities will pay theirs.

Of course, when you have basically an unlimited cash reservoir such as the worker tax, also known as taxation without representation, I guess squeezing an extra 15 or 20 thousand dollars out of the budget for Molgaard, won't be such a problem. But if some actual city worker asked for a raise? "Noooo, we don't have any money," would be Jones' answer.

And in keeping with something I mentioned in the Rick Staton entry the other day, this crap about politicians are sacrificing for the public good, has GOT to stop. The Daily Mail article implies that Molgaard left his 15 year law practice to become city manager, and its salary of $79,000 . And as far as I can tell, Molgaard didn't have ANY experience as a city manager before he was hired 3 years ago. I bet there are few (if any) city managers around the country that would be hired in to manage a city the size of Charleston, without any previous experience. And now he wants more money? Well boo freaking hoo. Nobody was putting a gun to his head. He knew what the salary was when he took that job. Besides, everyone is always talking about what out of control government benefits employees get? Well, Molgaard gets those too. Figure them in on top of his salary, and I bet Molgaard makes well over $90,000 per year, if not over $100,000.

That's the same line of crap the politicians use when any of the lower tier government workers use the "but employee x in state y makes more than me....." Molgaard knew the salary when he signed on. If he's got a better offer (and, again, the only one claiming that at this point, is Molgaard himself - how convenient for Molgaard), he should take it, and not try some phantom extortion scheme on the taxpayers for more money. If he can't hack it on $79,000 per year in WV, he probably shouldn't be Charleston's city manager anyway. I say good riddance. There's Greyhounds leaving for North Carolina every day. Be on the next one, Dave.

Do as I say, not as I do.

2005-12-07T21:50:00.000-05:00

Well, well well. Lookee what we have here. Not hardly a blip about this on the local talk radio scene (that I was able to tell).

Wyoming County Delegate Rick Staton, seems to have a bit of a problem paying his taxes and is going to have to declare bankruptcy. He doesn't have any problem spending YOUR tax money, but just can't seem to find any extra at the end of the day, to pay his own.

How convenient. And typical. Remember, Wyoming County is the same place where Bob Graham likes to spend your tax dollars building himself hot tubs, and paying Senator Billy Wayne Bailey 25 bucks an hour to spoon out oatmeal to the Wyoming County Senior Citizens. That is, when he's not driving around in his brand new SUV, purchased for him by the Wyoming Senior Citizen, er, I mean, you and me. And don't forget those new $10,000 roofs that keep getting put on the center every couple of years. I know my parents' house has had 2 new roofs in about 30 years. I wonder why Bobby needs a new one every 5?

It looks like Staton is making about $4,000 per month (take home pay). That's $48,000 take home pay, per year. And he has to pay about 6 grand to his ex-wife per year. So, he gets to keep about $42,000 per year, for himself. I know a ton of hard working West Virginians that manage to live on a lot less than $42,000 (take home) per year. And they also manage to pay their income taxes. Something that Ricky doesn't seem to have the time or the money to do. He owes the state about $1500 in personal income taxes, and owes the Feds about 25 grand in income taxes (personal and business). Funny, he never seemed to have any problem raising my taxes or spending MY money that I paid to the state. I always hear stuff about how people need to live within their means. Hell, I even remember Papa Joe saying that state employees need to learn how to shop at Gabe's, if they don't have enough money to live on. Maybe Ricky could take Papa Joe's advice, and learn how to live a bit more frugally. I know he doesn't seem to mind that everyone else has to tighten their belts, thanks to his actions in the legislature.

But, maybe even MORE disgusting than this scofflaw's blatant disregard for the very laws he votes on, is the fact that his buddy, Bob Kiss (or evidently, any other legislators), doesn't really see any problem with not paying your taxes. In Phil Kabler's column the other day, Kiss stated: “It’s certainly something that’s not unusual among large cross-sections of society.” Kiss then goes on to state, that it's not really a big deal, because when businesses get in trouble, the first thing they decide to skimp on, is their taxes. He then goes on and gives the Mullens' flood of both Staton's house, and law office in '01 as the reason for his getting behind. While that IS a tragedy, he's still taking home, over $40,000 per year. And he still has the time to serve in the legislature? He ran for re-election twice, in 2002 AND 2004, after the July 2001 flood. If he's so strapped for cash, that he's going to declare bankruptcy, maybe he should have stepped down from the legislature, to concentrate on his finances and actually work for a living instead of sucking off the government for his legislative paycheck (not to mention all the expense checks he got for food, lodging, and mileage, that aren't even part of this income analysis). Besides, how can the rest of us be sure he's giving his full attention to his legislative duties, if he's in such horrible financial trouble? I know it would sure as hell worry me to death, to the point I couldn't concentrate on anything else.

And Kiss later gives us this little gem: “In some ways, it’s indicative of the financial sacrifice many make to serve in the Legislature.” Kiss means Staton works more than 3 months a year for the legislature, and therefore, loses all those billable hours in his law office. Well, like I said above, that's easy enough to remedy. DON'T RUN FOR OFFICE. Stay home and get your finances in order. Hell, it's not like someone is standing there with a gun to his head MAKING him run. PLUS, let's not forget, that for the 3 months or so he spends in the legislature, he GETS PAID (plus expenses). So, it's not like the time he's in Charleston, he's doing it out of the goodness of his heart. So Kiss can take this "oh, us poor, poor, legislators are making such a financial sacrifice" crap and stuff it where I'd like to stick Danny Jones' Worker Tax.

This "who cares?" attitude by the number 1 guy in the House of Delegates, is pretty disturbing, along with the lack of outrage from the other members. I'm sorry Staton's run into hard times because (partly) of the Mullens' flood, but the cold fact of the matter is this. These guys are sent to Charleston to supposedly, "do the right thing." And they have absolutely NO hesitation in sticking a gun in my ribs for increased hotel motel taxes, or cell phone fees, or allowing Danny "Worker Tax" Jones to slap a tax on working people who can't even vote on the matter, but they can't even get their OWN financial obligations to the state taken care of? Staton should at the very least be removed from his leadership position as Majority Leader, if he owes the State delinquent taxes.

Like I said, I guess it's just another case of "do as I say, not as I do." I hated it when my parents said that to me growing up, and I sure as hell shouldn't have to take that crap from "my" elected officials. And neither should you.

Did I say mugs? No, no, no. I meant mugs AND pens, AND magnets, AND souvenir seals, AND paperweights, AND rubber wristbands.

2005-11-29T19:16:00.000-05:00

*Sigh*

It's just too easy in this state to hammer State officials. It's like they WANT to be looked at as greedy, scummy, ignorant, buffoons. The really sad part is, that the ignorant electorate in this state keeps sending the same greedy, scummy, ignorant, buffoons back to Charleston.

Betty Ireland was in the news last week over accusations she put her name on some mugs she handed out at some County Clerk's meeting. Evidently, the price of these mugs was about 1300 bucks. Who cares? She gave the mugs to the people at that meeting, as a gift. In all honesty, it's probably wrong to do it. But, was she really hurting anyone? Probably not. I'm not for spending one DIME of taxpayer money on name recognition stuff, but I also know that de minimus stuff is going to occur. This is what I'd call "de minimus."

However, Ireland couldn't simply let it go. She had to quickly defend herself by saying "you know, the PREVIOUS Secretary of State had all KINDS of trinkets with his name on them." Quickly, she pointed out that he had pens and paper and letterhead and other kinds of other crap with Manchin's name on it. She should have said, "You know what, it's probably not a good idea, and I was wrong." And left it at that.

Why should she have said left it at that? Because she wouldn't look like such a complete scumbag hypocrite now. Evidently, she paid about 15 grand for her OWN trinkets (and remember, she's only been in office, about 10 months). According to the Daily Mail, she ordered this stuff within the first six months of her term, and approved the orders herself. She knew about this stuff, last week when she was criticizing other officials for doing the same thing.

I was willing to give her a pass on the mugs. I didn't mention it when it happened last week. But nooooooooo, Ireland couldn't leave well enough alone. She had to go and play politics with it, and say, "Well, the democrats did it." Hell, I even left THAT alone.

Until it was revealed she spent 15 grand of my money on her own trinkets.

If there's a one of you out there that doesn't recognize that D's and R's are both out to stick it to you, and would cut your throat if it would get them elected, please, just take your own life now. For the sake of the rest of us.

What's Papa Joe's take on this? Well, since he has presumably TONS of crap with his name on it, his press hack Lara Ramsburg says it's not his responsibility to crack down on this, it should be the legislature's responsibility. Thanks, Joe. Thanks a ton for your great leadership. He can simply invalidate a law, like the gas tax increase, with an executive order (and we haven't heard the last of that little issue yet - mark my words), but he's helpless to crack down on "electioneering?" Please, don't insult my intelligence.

But there's something even MORE disgusting than this "electioneering." Probably the most disgusting thing about all this, light years beyond Ireland's hypocrisy and Papa Joe's sudden impotence to tackle something like this, is that the Ethics Commission, won't even RULE on whether this "electioneerring" is an ethics violation. They don't even have the guts to rule one way, or the other.

Does anyone else but me remember that about 2 seconds after being sworn in, Papa Joe called a special session to get that snazzy new jackhammer ethics law passed to help give the Ethics Commission some teeth? Did I just dream that whole special session, or did it actually take place?

Ohhhhhhhhhhh, now I remember. They HAD the special session, passed a completely useless ethics update, and Manchin swore he would "fix" the law in the regular session.

We are still waiting, Papa Joe. Why don't you do something other than blow sunshine up our ass? It's been 10 months now.

"I burned down the house, and covered up the body."

2005-11-29T18:18:00.000-05:00

Well well well. Looks like Walter Harmon, Jr., copped a plea. Evidently he DID help dispose of the body of Carla Collins, a federal drug informant. Remember, this is former Kanawha County School Board member Betty Jarvis' nephew (previous blog entries on this here, and here if you want the background). This is also the same guy who is (was) being represented by Mike Clifford, and that is how Wanda Carney, founder of West Virginia Wants to Know, got her nose dirty in this mess. She was allegedly involved in poking around in another defendant's apartment to find evidence that would help Harmon's case. She and Jarvis both got charged with crimes in this Mingogate.

Evidently, that evidence wasn't really so valuable, since Harmon's copped a plea. Evidently he did the things he was accused of. He burned down Collins' house, and threw leaves on Collins' body in an attempt to hide the body and cover up her murder. Collins was helping the Feds in the investigation of a cocaine ring in Southern West Virginia. Harmon is now looking at 20 years in federal prison; sentencing is set for February 17, 2006.

That is all pretty much factual and not too controversial. How this was received by the media in the area, was quite muted. In fact, 58Live and Chicago Furlip (Mike Agnello) didn't utter a peep about it. No, they spent the day talking about the absolutely mesmerizing issue of the 2 dog limit per household proposed in Charleston. They spent the day talking about Secretary of State Betty Ireland and her spending state money on trinkets (see the entry directly above, for a discussion of that issue). Not a word (except from the guy reading the news during the breaks) about ol "Burn 'em and Bury 'em" Harmon. This is actually not surprising given the previous attitude shown by 58 Live, and Agnello in particular, regarding this issue. Furlip previously tried to downplay Harmon's part in this, along with the whole "well, this is all politically motivated" shtick and basically defended Wanda Carney's actions, and Harmon himself to a lesser degree.

Well, now we know Agnello backed the wrong horse in this race. His guy did it. And admitted it in open court. And, predictably, Agnello stood silent on this issue today. This from a radio show that pumped up a Wanda Carney interview a couple months ago, as breaking news (only to have Carney call in and say basically, "Nothing happened, nothing to report"). The station that can't worship Wanda Carney enough basically ignored pretty big news on a case directly involving Carney. If this doesn't show you faithful readers that Agnello is a fraud, I don't know what would. I'm working on another post on this, stay tuned.

Bill Charnock, and his interesting campaign donors.

2005-11-21T21:49:00.000-05:00

Well well well. Look at these strange bedfellows.

Carter Zerbe evidently gave money to Bill Charnock in his run for Prosecutor.

November 19, 2004

Mr. Carter Zerbe
16 Arlington Ct
Charleston,WV 25301

Dear Mr. Zerbe

The 2004 election is past and, thanks to the help of you and
others, I am the·prosecutor-elect of Kanawha County.··This
is, of course, an exciting time for my family and me. We offer
you·sincere thanks for the confidence you placed in me. Your
trust and support·were key components of my victory.··On
December 3, 2004, I will participate in a ceremonial
swearing-in ceremony.·The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. in
Courtroom Number 4 at the Kanawha County·Courthouse.
Refreshments will be available after the event.··As one of my
supporters, I ask that you join my family and me for
this·occasion. It will be a great opportunity to renew our
friendship and look·forward to 2005.··Again, thank you for
your past support. I hope you can join my family and me·on
December 3. I look forward to seeing you again.·

Sincerely,

Bill Charnock

Carter Zerbe just also happens to be the same exact guy who defended Jack Whittaker in his DUI case here in Kanawha County (you know, the one where all the evidence against Whitaker was thrown out). And after all the evidence against Whittaker was thrown out by some podunk magistrate (who doesn't even have to be an attorney), Charnock said he couldn't believe the magistrate threw out the evidence. According to him, it was an extremely odd ruling, and he couldn't see how the magistrate came to that conclusion. However, in all of Charnock's outrage (feigned?) he never even mentioned the word "appeal." I'm pretty damn sure, that the prosecutor's office could have appealed the magistrate's ruling zapping all the evidence to Kanawha County Circuit Court. I don't really see how an evidentiary ruling by a lowly magistrate in WV that could trigger double jeopardy, couldn't be appealed to Circuit Court. But Charnock never even mentioned it. And Whittaker's attorney just happens to be a Charnock "supporter?"

My, my, my. How the same peoples' names keep showing up over and over in this whole mess is just plain mystifying.

Or is it?

Here's something for everyone.

2005-11-20T11:49:00.000-05:00

There should be something for everyone in this post. Republicans, I take shots at some democrats, and democrats, I take shots at republicans. I'll probably end up making both sides at least a little mad. If so, I'll feel just like Bush landing on an aircraft carrier, with a nice big "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" sign in the background.

Well, well well. Mr. Bill Charnock seems to have gotten tripped up by all those confounded laws against political corruption. I guess, running your campaign, your sister's, and your brother's, all out of a state office, using state equipment and money, is a no-no. Is anyone really surprised? I know I'm not. However, the old Binger will admit, that he did prefer Charnock over whomever the Cult of Kent Carper would have pulled out of their ass, had the dead guy won the election. And even the dead guy, in his current state, would have been an improvement over the previous incompetent to hold that office, Mike Clifford.

But, let's get back to Billy Boy. The legislative auditors found some improprieties. Evidently, he was using his state computer to send campaign emails. Evidently, he was using the printer and other equipment at the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorney's Institute to help run his campaign. Evidently, he was using the web designer/computer guy for the Institute to create his website (and it was also used for his brother's and sister's campaigns). Evidently, he tried to do his best Tom Delay imitation with campaign contributions from Kasey Warner. I'll even give a shout out to the crew over at the Fifth Column for getting on the "Charnock is a crook" bandwagon long before it was fashionable (looking back, there's some pretty accurate comments posted on that blog entry).

Billy Boy was also involved with a little problem with his state issued cell phone. This came to light shortly after he took office last year. I guess Billy Boy racked up about a grand's worth of cell phone charges. I guess he gets a pass on that, because he paid them back. Of course, he only paid the state back, AFTER someone blew the whistle on him. But still, there appears to be a pattern here. Billy Boy seems to think the state coffers are his own personal cash reservoir, to use as he sees fit, federal and state law, be damned. I hope they come down on him like a ton of bricks.

Well, Billy Boy's response to this was originally, "I didn't do anything wrong." Of course, he later waffled and went on every radio station he could find to plead his case. He even went on Jerry Waters' show. You know a politician's nuts are really in a vice when they even go on Jerry Waters' show to plead their case. He then issued a statement, and had a press conference (with the now mandatory at a political scandal press conferences, his supporting wife standing at his side). He then backtracked and said, "Oh, well the CRIMINAL charges are without merit." I guess he's asserting that he did in fact violate state ethics commission laws, but nothing criminal. Which, is still a big step backward from what he initially said. Now, he's just an unethical prosecutor. He's not a criminal, but he admits he's unethical. Great.

Another thing. This crap about politicians holding press conferences to "own up" to what they did. Just once, I'd love to see one say, "Hey, you know what? I screwed up. It was my fault. I knew what I was doing was wrong, and did it anyway." Hell, if they had the balls to do that, they'd at least get my respect for being honest. But no, Billy Boy said he used "bad judgment" interspersed with lots of "it's just a political witch hunt" crap. Bad judgment? So, he knew what he was doing was wrong, WHEN he did it. He KNEW the law, and broke it anyway? This isn't stuff that is in any gray area. Using the state pc and the state copier and the state printer and state work time to run not only your campaign, but that of your two siblings as well, is CLEARLY stuff you know is not only unethical, but illegal as well. To argue that he thought it was some sort of gray area, is just nonsense. It wasn't bad judgment at all. It was just plain greedy, slimy, backroom dealing, blatantly unethical, political activity.

Then the saga continues. He claims that people looking at his emails at work (you know, his STATE ISSUED computer) is like someone putting a listening device in his bedroom, and that someone looking at his work emails is "creepy?" WHAT? Is he engaging in cybersex or something at the office? This guy is beyond being an idiot, or he's just feigning outrage. He knew damn well, that his work emails would be fair game for the State to uncover. Hell, why'd he ask his computer guy if he could delete them, if he didn't already know this?

Then, he says they didn't have subpoenas for the stuff they took. Again, WHAT? The state has to subpoena its OWN records and equipment? This guy thinks you have to subpoena your OWN records? And he's the chief law enforcement officer in Kanawha County? You have GOT to be kidding me.

But, in my opinion, the WORST part of this whole deal is that he apparently was absent from work for months prior to the election, and didn't take vacation time, and ostensibly, still collecting a state paycheck.

Well, now it looks like the Secretary of State, AND the State Police are investigating his sorry ass, and I hope they drop the hammer on this jackass. Drop it on him hard.

But, the BEST part of this, is the howls of pain emitted by Slick Vic Sprouse, and the other republican mouthpieces, like our very own Chicago Furlip (Mike Agnello). Of course, Slick Vic claims it's all political, and that everyone does it, and the legislature is just picking on Charnock because he's a republican, and he openly challenged them on some worker comp legislation a couple years ago. These howls of pain are worth the price of admission to this sideshow, alone. They argue that Darrell McGraw (and every other democrat) is "more guilty" of this than Charnock. Well, this is garbage for this reason. McGraw (and any public office holder) has a certain amount of duty to inform the public. Sure, Darrell drives around those vans with his name on them and the consumer protection division. Sure, he probably hands out trinkets with the phone number (and his name) on them. But, the thing here, is that there IS a purpose OTHER than politicking to this. It's not PURE campaigning. You can at LEAST make that argument with a straight face. It's clearly a damn weak argument, but, an argument that you can at least make legitimately. Charnock can't argue the email to Kasey Warner asking for $, was anything other than pure campaigning. Charnock doesn't need to advertise that he's the Executive Director of the WVPIA. The only people, who need to deal with him, are the local prosecutors. Joe Blow citizen has no need for the WVPIA. Joe Blow citizen DOES need to know who the Secretary of State is, or the AG, or the Treasurer, or whatever.

So Charnock, spare us your sob story. You got caught, being a scumbag. Admit it, don't push the blame on someone else, don't complain, "Everyone else does it," and tell your buddies like Slick Vic to shut the hell up about it being "political." Quit being a scumbag, keep your mouth shut, play the game correctly and by the rules, and don't trot out your wife at the press conferences to try and curry favor with the public. In short, be a man, and accept responsibility for your scumbagginess.

Whew. That ended up being longer than I planned. I actually had part of that written the day the story broke, but decided to wait and see some of the fallout before finishing it. Then the story dragged on for a couple of days, and I kept thinking I should just wait until I see what shows up tomorrow, and hence, here it is Sunday, and I'm just finishing it.

Anyway, on to slapping around the Democrats.

Robert Byrd hates West Virginia. He wants to bankrupt the state. That's right. He wants to take a gigantic size bite out of the state budget. You see, this whole severance tax case that is in front of the WV Supreme Court (US Steel, et. al v. Craig) that is worth about half a billion (yes, I said billion) dollars is being brought by Byrd's Campaign Manager, Herschel H. "Ned" Rose. Rose is doing this for his own, pecuniary, personal gain. He wants to take about 500 million dollars out of the state budget, immediately, and give it back to the coal companies. Of course, Rose will take a cut and put it in his pocket. If Rose takes the "standard" lawyer's cut of 30%, that'd be 150 million dollars. Right into his pocket. This 500 million is what the state would have to pay immediately, on the refund claims the state is holding. That also doesn't even count the money the state would lose each successive year (probably in the order of 120 million dollars or more, per year) in lost severance tax revenue. A loss in this case will create a financial crisis, practically unheard of in this state (and we've had MANY big financial crises). This would be even bigger than A. James Manchin's little stock market fiasco 15 years ago.

This dovetails nicely with the issue of the state having to already pay back about 20 million dollars because one of its lawyers missed a filing deadline. Evidently, this lawyer no longer works for state government, but from the way I read it, the REAL culprit here is the Judge who greenlit the refund request in the first place. I've read the briefs at the WV Supreme Court's website, and I can say with certainty, that the legal argument behind Rose's theory, is in a word, pure bullshit. But some dumbass administrative law judge originally greenlit the refund of 20 million dollars to some of Rose's clients. The state lawyer evidently missed the appeal time limit for filing the state's appeal. If the lawyer who missed the deadline got canned (as was implied in the news), the administrative law judge should get his ass fired also, for being completely incompetent, especially, when it comes to dealing with a refund request of 20 million (plus untold millions in the future) dollars that is based on a completely bogus reading of the Constitution and the subsequent case law. So, the reality is, Byrd's campaign manager has already gotten around 6 million (if he takes roughly 30%), simply because the state missed a deadline. He didn't even win that 6 million on the ultimate issue, he won it because of a procedural deadline was missed.

[And I heard Vic Sprouse say later on the radio "well, we would have lost that case anyway," which is also wrong - Sprouse doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. The 20 million dollar case is identical on the underlying issue of severance tax, to the 500 million dollar case.]

The only real saving grace in this whole mess is, as much as I think the WVSC is a bunch of idiots sometimes, I honestly *think* they understand this issue (having heard the oral arguments a month or so ago - that webcast thing at the WVSC is awesome), and will ultimately rule for the State (though, nothing is a given). You know this is case is a big deal, when Papa Joe had all the government officials in the audience during this oral argument.

But if they rule against the state, all this potential money (along with the 20 million already given back to the coal companies and Rose because of a late filing) that is going to have to be made up in the state budget somewhere (either massive spending cuts, or massive tax increases, take your pick), is all because Robert Byrd's campaign manager wants a few extra dollars. I find it extremely hard to believe, someone who owns as many buildings in WV as Byrd does (I see his name on about every third building in this State) would not be able to reign in his campaign manager from trying to bankrupt the state. I find it hard to believe, someone who is constantly, publicly professing his love for the great State of West Virginia, and all its good, honest, hard working people, as Robert Byrd does every chance he gets, would want to subject those same, good, honest, hard working people, to a tax bill of an additional 500+ million dollars, just so his campaign manager could make a few bucks.

Unless Robert Byrd wants to see the State of West Virginia go bankrupt.

Supreme Court showdown over Danny Jones' extortion scheme.

2005-11-01T22:18:00.000-05:00

Well, at least he tried. Thornton Cooper tried his best (not really saying much, but still....) to get Danny "Worker Tax" Jones' little dollar per week extortion racket thrown out today at the West Virginia Supreme Court. I can't really fault Cooper much. He tried. He was doing this on his own time and without compensation (the most he could get would be like 100 bucks plus a year's worth of interest - maybe like 12 bucks?). Danny "Worker Tax" Jones hired Charlie Lorensen (at probably a couple hundred per hour - on the city's dime, I'm sure) to defend his little extortion scheme. To say the deck was stacked in favor of the racketeers, is an understatement of the first order.

The saddest part of listening to the arguments (which, anyone can watch/listen to by simply going to the WVSC's website), was that several times, the Justices served up softballs to Cooper, and he missed just about every one of them. He could have really taken the ball and ran with several of them and put Lorensen squarely on the defensive, if he had just been paying attention. I think it was Starcher (Donny Blankenship's new target) who basically said to Cooper, "Isn't this really just a tax on those people who are unable to vote against it?" Cooper, instead of simply saying, "Yes, it is. That is exactly what it is, your Honor," went on some long-winded explanation that by the time he got to the end, you had almost forgot the question. This was just indicative of the way the arguments went. The Justices would ask him a softball question extremely favorable to his argument, and he'd try and play lawyer, instead of simply answering the question. This was repeated over and over.

So, Bing's official prediction (and one that if I am wrong about, I'll be even more happy than if I was right)? Danny's little money grab will be upheld. So, not only will Charleston, Huntington, and Weirton workers continue to get raped every week, get ready everyone else in West Virginia. No matter what city you work in, there's a good chance you'll be getting dinged for a couple bucks too in the not too distant future. I bet by this time next year, there'll be at least 8 total cities in West Virginia with some form of a worker tax, and countless others considering the idea.

Cooper didn't hammer home, that the UNEMPLOYED, or the RETIRED, or the INDEPENDENTLY WEALTHY in Charleston (none of which "work") get off without paying the fee at all. Even though, they may use the city services more, often MANY times more, than some guy who's working in Charleston from 8 to 5. Or that the people who come in to Charleston to shop, or go to church, or go to ballgames, or whatever, don't pay it either, even though, they use the services. He could have said, "If a guy lives in Nitro, but buys season tickets to the WV Power, he'd be using the city services like roads, and Charleston police protection around the stadium 60+ times a year, without paying the fee." Cooper could have really hammered on this type of argument, but he hardly mentioned it.

And what would a post be without some commentary on our resident idiot of the airwaves, Chicago Furlip (Micheal Agnello)? After opening the phones up to callers today, he began getting some callers not too happy about his conservative (more accurately, republican) commentary. Agnello replied that he was not simply a Bush apologist, and that he had things he disagreed with Bush on. For one, he disagrees with Bush's increased spending (he didn't list any other issues he disagreed with). But, the best part, is that Agnello then turned around (and I mean in a span of about 30 seconds) and DEFENDED Republican Danny Jones' Worker Tax. Agnello's idea is that "Well, a buck a week is not bad, and I feel that I'm getting my money's worth." Well, either increased spending is bad, or it isn't. If it's bad for Bush, it should be bad for Jones (who, has increased NOT ONLY the worker tax, BUT also the hotel/motel tax - and that can't even be used for city expenditures - it has to go to "promote tourism" - which is codeword for paying Jones' cronies at the Visitor's Bureau more money, and sending them on trips to conventions around the country). This is why Agnello is such an easy target here at the Sweatbox (that, and he's just plain annoying). He's not consistent, in the least. If a republican raises taxes, Agnello's for it. If a democrat raises taxes, he says they are irresponsible spenders.

Another instance of inconsistency? Abortion. The other day (Monday, or maybe it was Friday), Johnson (in a rare moment of clarity and insight) questioned Agnello if abortion is murder, and you are against it, then you should be against it even in instances of rape or incest. Either it's murder, or it's not. Agnello couldn't bring himself to go that far. Why? Because he knew people wouldn't like the all or nothing choice. Many people who "oppose" abortion, only oppose it on pure "choice." In instances of rape or incest, many pro-lifers get a bit wishy washy on it. And it's a valid concern. If you are going to preach to the pro-choice crowd that abortion is murder, against God's will, blah blah blah, amen, then there IS no excuse for EVER doing it. Agnello couldn't go that far on the radio (though, he wanted to), because he knows the position is indefensible. Agnello quickly tried to change the subject, and again, to Johnson's credit, he wouldn't let him off easily. Agnello actually squirmed a bit. It's the same hypocrisy Agnello and cronies pull on the death penalty. Agnello is all for dropping the hammer on true scumbags. Even though, it's murder. It's still taking a life, and man making a conscious judgment to take that life. Why does Agnello not have a problem with capital punishment? Because he's simply a Republican Party errand boy.

If you have a true philosophical aversion to "murder," and are vehemently pro life on abortion, then you must also be equally vehement in your criticism of capital punishment. Same thing with the democrats. They are pro choice, but get squeamish on capital punishment. This is where both parties suck bigtime.

I have no problem with people who are against something for philosophical reasons. I DO have a problem with people who support positions, SIMPLY because "their party" tells them to. And that is Furlip to a "T."

Well, well, well. Look who's back.

2005-10-27T20:21:00.000-05:00

Hello, faithful readers (if there are any of you left). I sincerely apologize for my lack of attention to the blog. Other things have simply gotten in the way of ferreting out all the crap that goes on in this State. Believe me, my lack of posts, certainly wasn't due to a dearth of material. I actually had a couple of posts typed up since my last entry, but they just didn't seem to be working out, so they ended up in File 13. Maybe I'll drag them out later and try and get them squared away. Either way, I promise, I'll attempt get back to some semblance of regular blogging, if any of you out there care. So let's get to it.

First up, let's go with talk radio's incessant obsession with all things irrelevant. Hoppy, and then Chicago Furlip (Mike Agnello) and company on 58Live, had what seemed like HOURS of coverage of Betty Ireland's decision to NOT run for Senate. Why the hell is this even news? And more importantly, why is this news of the magnitude that she has to come on the radio, on multiple shows and talk about the decision to not run for US Senate? Talk about wasting airtime. So, the net effect is, the very same people who were/are running for US Senate today, were/are the same ones who were running yesterday. Yet we had to listen to Betty Ireland drone on and on about how she'd run a great campaign, IF she actually ran? Betty, shut the hell up and quit being such a media whore. And Hoppy, show some backbone, and kick these time wasters off your show, even if she's the Secretary of State, if they have nothing of value to say. You are supposed to be more than just a paid PR outlet for these jokers. She had nothing of value to say. Of course Chicago Furlip, was just a gushing fan of Ireland's, because she's a Republican and therefore (according to Furlip Logic 101) just this side of a saint. But, 58Live is such a pathetic excuse for a show, with basically no journalistic credibility (unlike Hoppy's show); I guess that's about par for the course with them. It was enough to make me want to puke.

Let's move on. How about that Dave Hardesty? Man, does he know how to work the system or WHAT? He already gets a quarter million dollars per year, a free house, a free car, a nice big fat expense account, and yet, he somehow, still needs MORE money? To the tune of 10% raise? The WVU Board of Governors approved a $25,000 raise for him? And this is for a guy, who didn't even get the job fair and square in the FIRST place. And yet, the faculty only get the $900 crumb the legislature threw down? Dave and company better watch out. You piss off enough faculty, and they can make life a bit rough for the administration, and I'm betting that time can't be too far off.

And on top of that, you have the normal shills out there saying, "Oh, but there's nobody but Dave, who would DO this job for what little bit we pay." To that, I simply say "bullshit." If Dave is such hot stuff, that he's worth all this money, why hasn't he moved on to bigger and better universities? Oh, that's right. They wouldn't hire him. Aside from being WVU's president, he doesn't have any experience in Higher Education (aside from being an appointed Yes Man to the Board of Trustees). No self-respecting university outside of WV would hire him, because he's a joke as far as academia is concerned. Hell, the guy from Marshall a couple years ago moved on to the University of Tennessee, and DOUBLED his salary. If Dave was such a hotshot kickass president, you'd think Ohio State, or Penn State, or some other bigtime institution would be beating down his door. But alas, that doesn't seem to be the case. Nobody wants Dave (rightly so), but we are stuck with him. The only people who think Hardesty is worth a $25,000 raise, are people who are already part of the problem.

And he also now makes an additional $70,000 for being a figurehead for Consol Energy, to boot? A coal company thinks he's a great guy, but no bigtime colleges are lusting after him to come right their listing ships? Yet, he's running the flagship institution in the state and worthy of these big raises? It's no wonder WV is last in just about any category that matters.

But, let's move on. How about Hoppy having Jill Bentz, chief industry shill for the insurance companies in WV explaining all these great rate reductions on his show on Thursday? I know my rate went down a whole 5 bucks a month. Wow. A whole extra 60 bucks a year. I guess I can apply that to my rising gas bill, and now only have to come up with another couple hundred dollars to square that up at the end of the year. Yeah, give up consumers' right to sue insurance companies for bad faith, for an extra 60 bucks a year. That wouldn't even pay for 15 minutes worth of work for an insurance industry lawyer (like Bentz) on a case. I especially love how Bentz kept belaboring the point that she was also looking for "affordable" insurance, and this removal of third party bad faith suits was a great law. She's married to a hospital CEO and she's an insurance defense lawyer. I'm sure her definition of "affordable" probably equates with "outrageous" for the rest of us. Please, Jill, spare us the poverty stories about how you can't acquire "affordable" insurance.

Moooooooooooving right along. Anyone remember this post about Raymond Richardson? Raymond's part is down at the end of the post. Just remember, you heard it here, way back in February. Well, Ray evidently likes to drive around on an expired license, and without insurance, but he never forgets to leave home without a dead girl in the back seat. I bet Albright, McGraw (wherever he is now) and Starcher still sleep real well at night, knowing they cut a WVSC worker's kid some slack on his 30 year prison sentence. Raymond's made such a fine contribution to society with what amounts to about his 5th chance now.

Lately, if you've been paying attention, you'll notice our boy Donny, "Leave me alone and I'll give you all the flat land you want" Blankenship has been rumbling about going after Larry Starcher the same way he went after Warren McGraw last election. I wouldn't be surprised if Raymond Richardson doesn't begin appearing nightly on your tv alongside Tony Arbaugh in Don Blankenship financed ads sometime around 2008.

I've got more stuff, like the Lincoln County vote buyers, Danny "Worker Fee" Jones demonstrating his amazing automobile accident reconstruction abilities, Papa Joe hanging with the Right to Lifers, and being a little too cozy (for the rank and file Dems) with Bush, and a Mingo County Watergate update, but that should be enough ranting for now. We'll get to the others soon enough. They aren't going anywhere.

Special Session, Sales tax, and Robin Capehart's new course schedule.

2005-09-07T20:16:00.000-05:00

Well, we see the long awaited special legislative session has begun. I'm almost half afraid to start wading into this cesspool.

Let's go with the big issue first.

State employee pay raises. After judges, magistrates, and family court judges just got nice FAT raises (some in the neighborhood of 50% of their previous salary) last spring, the rest of the state employees get to pick over the leftover scraps of the state budget, for their first raise, since a gallon of gas was half the price is it now (roughly five years ago, if I remember correctly). Papa Joe Cheerleader has come forth with a whopping 900 dollar per year raise. Wow. That will ALMOST cover the public employees' raises in health care premiums that are set to rise TWICE in the next 10 months, AND the increased cost of utilities, and gas. If a state employee manages to come out of the next 10 months, with the same, or more, take-home pay in their paycheck than they have today, they should count themselves extremely lucky. Forgetting the increased deductions on the immediate horizon, that 900 bucks will equal about an extra 25 bucks per paycheck that goes into the employee's pocket (after withholding). That's a 31 cent per hour raise. Once every five years. That equals a 6 cents per hour raise, per year (if I'm incorrect, and they had a raise four years ago, it would be about 8 cents per hour - but we'll just continue to use 5 as the basis). It would take 17 years to raise your salary by a dollar an hour. Just think, by the time a state employee's kid is almost ready to graduate from high school, Daddy will be taking home a whole dollar per hour MORE than he did when Junior was born.

Hell, I worked at a grocery store as a kid, doing a job that a brain dead monkey can do, and got more of a regular raise than 6 cents per year. And that was a loooooooooooong time ago. Hell, if my employer offered me an extra 25 bucks per check, after my first five years of work, I'd just tell him "No thanks. If that's all you can afford to give me as a raise, once every five years, you need it more than I do." 25 bucks a paycheck once every five years, is in a word, insulting.

Only in West Virginia, can the politicians slap themselves silly on their backs and call a small deduction a "raise," in the sense that it wasn't actually a bigger deduction. And on top of that, Senator John Unger and the other eastern panhandle jackasses, want to ram through locality pay for the eastern panhandle employees next regular session? You have GOT to be kidding me.

Sure, teachers, troopers, prison guards, and child case workers got a 1350$ per year raise. And the teachers got some increased longevity pay scale. According to Papa Joe, all this is because he did a full evaluation of all the salaries, and determined that those positions were more underpaid. Or something. And, the teachers got some sort of mythical promise or something, about future raises. Yay. Whoopee. Call out the Brink's trucks. The state employees will have to use them to lug their one extra roll of quarters and one extra roll of dimes home every 2 weeks.

Ok, on to the next topic. And it won't be near as long. Sales tax on food.

Papa Joe wants to roll it on back to 5% so he can say he lowered the food tax, supposedly with the idea that it can gradually be phased out. The republicans, like Slick Vic Sprouse, want to eliminate it. Like yesterday. Because its regressive. Oh, the horror. They are right. It is regressive. It hits the poor, the people the least able to afford food in the first place, the hardest. Please, let's do away with this horrible, horrible, regressive tax. You've heard that non-stop from every republican (and some democrats, who actually are republicans, if the truth were known). Slick Vic, Robin Capehart (more about him below), Charlie "Cokeglasses" Trump, and a plethora of others have done nothing but harp on the sales tax's horrendous regressive nature for the last 2 weeks as the chief reason to kill it.

Fine. Do away with it. Kill it dead. And since it was so regressive, and republicans are obviously against regressive taxes, let's jack the personal income rates up on the highest income earners. That certainly would be the epitome of the anti-regressive tax. You make more, therefore you can afford to pay at an even higher rate than now. So, I'm guessing Slick Vic and company would be first in line to sign on the dotted line for that bill, right?

Unless all their harping about the food tax being regressive was simple demagoguery. Sadly, when any of these bozos are on Hoppy's show (MetroNews Talkline), or Chicago Furlip's show (58Live), neither of hosts are smart enough (or honest enough, or both) to ask them about that, and most of them are too chicken to even go on Jerry Waters' show.

The only thing more disgusting than the republicans' demagoguery on this issue, is the democrats' fear of being voted out of office for showing some spine and standing up to them.

Last item. Back in the spring, I posted about Robin (I refuse to call him "Rob") Capehart and his new job as head of the republican party. I also posted about how he seemed to be on the talk radio circuit when he should have been teaching his classes at Marshall University. Well, he was on the talk show circuit again today, and with classes back in session, I did a little check. It appears all his classes, except one (a 2:30 to 3:45pm M-W class or something like that), are now night classes. He can now pretty much blabber on the airwaves with impunity, and not be accused of snatching a state paycheck while he's out being the chief republican mouthpiece. Good for him. It will now be interesting to see how many Republican meetings and dinners and parties and gatherings he manages to make it to in the evenings, though.

Don Blankenship. Whatta guy!!!

2005-09-06T00:59:00.000-05:00

I'm sure we've all heard the now proliferating ads from Blankenship advocating all forms of tax relief. Reduce the sales tax on food. Reduce the gas tax. If he has his way, he's going to give the average West Virginian about an extra 200 bucks per year.

But he doesn't mention, he also wants an additional 500 million bucks for him and his friends, including refunds (and don't forget the interest).

Why do I feel the need to scrub msyelf with Chlorox every time I hear Blankenship talk?

The Anti-9/11.

2005-09-05T16:38:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged for a while, mainly because life has been, well, life. And this won't be WV related. Of course over the last week, like many Americans, I've been glued to the TV trying to get a grip on the Katrina stuff. I've listened to a lot of spin, a lot of shucking and jiving. A lot of conflicting reports on this and that. A lot of begging and pleading about this and that. A lot of statistics about how many bottles of water are being sent by so and so and how many tractor trailer loads of food and diapers have been sent to the ravaged region.

In reality, all of that is really just noise. I'm not going to rant about the pictures coming out of New Orleans, or the other places affected. We can all see them, and anyone with half a brain understands what they mean. There is something deeper going on here, and we haven't even begun to realize it. Kind of like how we haven't even begun to understand the true economic impact Katrina will have on our economy for potentially years to come.

We have to come to grips with the reality, that our government, the one thing we like to hold over everyone else's heads in the world as the epitome of how to run a country, failed miserably in its chief responsibility, and that is its duty to protect its citizens. As humans forming a social contract, we give up some of our basic natural rights in favor of society and government. Our founding fathers recognized these natural rights are not something to be taken lightly. In fact, to the founding fathers, they were the very essence of man.

The term "social contract" isn't just some random word picked to describe this institution. It truly is a contract in the most basic sense of the (legal) word. Both sides have to give consideration. Some of our natural rights are relinquished in exchange of allowing the government to provide certain services we could otherwise provide for ourselves in the absence of a government. And when citizens are voluntarily giving up something as precious as their natural rights, the government better damn well hold up its end of the bargain. The first, and by far, most important service, is the protection of its citizens. If citizens can not be certain of security, the rest of our rights are pretty much irrelevant. Winston Churchill once stated: "The responsibility of government for the public safety is absolute and requires no mandate. It is the prime object for which governments come into existence."

David Brooks, one of the chief apologizers for Bush at the NYTimes, came out with an amazing editorial yesterday, and at the risk of simply violating copyright laws, I'll reprint it here (because after a time, you have to pay to read it at the Times, plus you have to register to even read it for free for the first 2 weeks or whatever). Brooks gets the anti-9/11 moniker from Ross Douthat's blog, The American Scene. Brooks goes into the political analysis about conservativsm and neoconservatism and he goes into a bit about how this tragedy will affect the political winds of the country and what effect it will have on those ideologies as they shape the political realities of the post-Katrina US. Douthat goes into even more detail about conservatism, neoconservatism, and even now, paleoconservatism and the Katrina tragedy.

But a simpler version of it without all the political pontificating and postulating, is Hurricane Katrina was the Anti-9/11.

As Ross Douthat oberserved on his blog, The American Scene, Katrina was the anti-9/11.
On Sept. 11, Rudy Giuliani took control. The government response was quick and decisive. The rich and poor suffered alike. Americans had been hit, but felt united and strong. Public confidence in institutions surged.
Last week in New Orleans, by contrast, nobody took control. Authority was diffuse and action was ineffective. The rich escaped while the poor were abandoned. Leaders spun while looters rampaged. Partisans squabbled while the nation was ashamed.
The first rule of the social fabric - that in times of crisis you protect the vulnerable - was trampled. Leaving the poor in New Orleans was the moral equivalent of leaving the injured on the battlefield. No wonder confidence in civic institutions is plummeting.

And the key fact to understanding why this is such a huge cultural moment is this: Last week's national humiliation comes at the end of a string of confidence-shaking institutional failures that have cumulatively changed the nation's psyche.

Over the past few years, we have seen intelligence failures in the inability to prevent Sept. 11 and find W.M.D.'s in Iraq. We have seen incompetent postwar planning. We have seen the collapse of Enron and corruption scandals on Wall Street. We have seen scandals at our leading magazines and newspapers, steroids in baseball, the horror of Abu Ghraib.

Public confidence has been shaken too by the steady rain of suicide bombings, the grisly horror of Beslan and the world's inability to do anything about rising oil prices.

Each institutional failure and sign of helplessness is another blow to national morale. The sour mood builds on itself, the outraged and defensive reaction to one event serving as the emotional groundwork for the next.

The scrapbook of history accords but a few pages to each decade, and it is already clear that the pages devoted to this one will be grisly. There will be pictures of bodies falling from the twin towers, beheaded kidnapping victims in Iraq and corpses still floating in the waterways of New Orleans five days after the disaster that caused them.

It's already clear this will be known as the grueling decade, the Hobbesian decade. Americans have had to acknowledge dark realities that it is not in our nature to readily acknowledge: the thin veneer of civilization, the elemental violence in human nature, the lurking ferocity of the environment, the limitations on what we can plan and know, the cumbersome reactions of bureaucracies, the uncertain progress good makes over evil.

As a result, it is beginning to feel a bit like the 1970's, another decade in which people lost faith in their institutions and lost a sense of confidence about the future.

"Rats on the West Side, bedbugs uptown/What a mess! This town's in tatters/I've been shattered," Mick Jagger sang in 1978.

Midge Decter woke up the morning after the night of looting during the New York blackout of 1977 feeling as if she had "been given a sudden glimpse into the foundations of one's house and seen, with horror, that it was utterly infested and rotting away."

Americans in 2005 are not quite in that bad a shape, since the fundamental realities of everyday life are good. The economy and the moral culture are strong. But there is a loss of confidence in institutions. In case after case there has been a failure of administration, of sheer competence. Hence, polls show a widespread feeling the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Katrina means that the political culture, already sour and bloody-minded in many quarters, will shift. There will be a reaction. There will be more impatience for something new. There is going to be some sort of big bang as people respond to the cumulative blows of bad events and try to fundamentally change the way things are.

Reaganite conservatism was the response to the pessimism and feebleness of the 1970's. Maybe this time there will be a progressive resurgence. Maybe we are entering an age of hardheaded law and order. (Rudy Giuliani, an unlikely G.O.P. nominee a few months ago, could now win in a walk.) Maybe there will be call for McCainist patriotism and nonpartisan independence. All we can be sure of is that the political culture is about to undergo some big change.

We're not really at a tipping point as much as a bursting point. People are mad as hell, unwilling to take it anymore.

Today, and for the foreseeable future, while hundreds of thousands are without homes, jobs, money, and essentially, lives, I really don't care who said what to whom on what day (although, I'm keeping mental notes on a few key potential players to watch over the next few months). I don't care what official fumbled what job. There'll be plenty (and I do mean plenty) of time for headhunting, the likes of which this country hasn't seen since god knows when (I've got a feeling the headhunting we saw during Watergate will be child's play compared to this). That will all come in due time. And I'll be right there with my hand happily on the rope of the guillotine's blade. And if the blame should go right on up the chain to Bush himself, that's fine with me. Right now, we have to fix the immediate problems. Food. Water. Shelter. Mecial treatment. Fix levees and pump water out of New Orleans. Cleanup the Gulf Coasts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Begin tallying up the damage and begin reconstruction.

All of that is going to take enormous amounts of generosity that only the American public can provide, and I have no doubt we'll rise to the challenge. It is in our nature, and I urge everyone to donate whatever they can to one of the reputable charities involved in straightening this whole thing out.

But when that is all well underway, the political establishment (on both sides) better look the hell out.

This horrible disaster may very well have presented us with our last best chance for a while (at least since Ross Perot had the political establishment freaking out in 1992) to really put not the fear of God, but the fear of the People back into our elected officials. Like Brooks said above, we rallied around our elected officials during and immediately after 9/11.

This time, we may demand a few of them for human sacrifices.

Darwin vs. The Idiots. My money is on Darwin (and The Idiots probably don't jive with gambling, either).

2005-08-24T18:24:00.000-05:00

Listening to Furlip (Michael Agnello on 58Live) today, I heard him state that Dr. Joseph Mastropaolo, a creationist kook, is going to be on either Thursday (or maybe it was Friday's show, it was kind of a bad reception, I couldn't tell for sure).

I love how they call him "Dr." and try to give him such credibility in the area of evolution. He is a professor of kinesiology. He is a glorified PE teacher. He has no degrees in biology, microbiology, or any other real "life" science. "Dr." Mastropaolo has a masters in kinesiology from the University of Illinois. Their "kinesiology" degree is granted by their school of "Movement Science." They don't even have an actual "kinesiology" degree anymore; it's been morphed into "Movement Science." A quick look at the degree synopsis from the U of I site shows that the "kinesiology" degree, really isn't that much of a "science" degree. It is certainly not the equivalent of a biology degree, or an anthropology degree, or something remotely related to studying what is the theory of evolution. In fact, the master's degree requires only require 1 semester of biology as a prerequisite. Hell, I have bachelor's degree in a social science, and I took TWO semesters of biology. I guess I'm twice as qualified as Mastropaolo on the topic of evolution. I'm sure the theory of evolution is just discussed ALL the time in the classes that are in the degree requirements of Mastropaolo's master's degree program.

MVSC 500 Research Methods in Movement Sciences (3)
MVSC 452 Advanced Exercise Physiology (3)
MVSC 460 Advanced Exercise and Musculoskeletal Function (3)
MVSC 545 Adv Exercise Programming and Assessment (3)
DHD 520/MVSC 520 Disability and Physical Activity (3)
One course in Marketing or Management (3)
MVSC 597 Project in Movement Sciences (6)
OR
MVSC 593 Internship in Movement Sciences
Plus one additional elective (6)
Special Projects/Elective Coursework (8)
(at least one course in a cognate area)
Exercise Biology -
MVSC 500 Research Methods in Movement Sciences (3)
MVSC 501 Current Research in MVSC (1) x 3
MVSC 523 Exercise Biology in Health & Disease (3)
MVSC 529 Exercise Genomics (3)
MVSC 598 Master's Thesis Research (6)
OR
MVSC 597 Project in Movement Sciences (6)
6 hrs. approved cognate electives
8 hrs. Independent study/elective coursework
Motor Control and Learning -
MVSC 500 Research Methods in Movement Sciences (3)
MVSC 501 Current Research in MVSC (1)
MVSC 472 Movement Neuroscience (3)
PT/MVSC 571 Biomechanics of Normal and Abnormal Movement (3)
MVSC 572 Psychology of Motor Control and Learning (3)
PT/MVSC 574 Instrumentation for Motor Control Research (3)
MVSC 598 Master's Thesis Research (6)
OR
MVSC 597 Project in Movement Sciences (6)
6 hrs. approved cognate electives
4 hrs. Independent study/elective coursework

Check out that list of degree requirements. I don't see much on there, that would even remotely relate to anthropology or evolutionary biology. I mean, Marketing? Psychology of Motor Control and Learning? Yeah, those look like real biology intensive classes.

The best part is this. Mastropaolo is hooked up with another certifiable kook, local math teacher, Karl Priest. Priest claims that he can teach middle schoolers that evolution isn't possible using statistics and math. If there ever was a situation where competency testing for teachers was required, Priest should be the first one on the list to get his head checked. Yes, Priest can teach 7th graders that a scientific theory that has been widely proven and accepted by some of the greatest biologists in the history of the world, is false, in just a matter of minutes. And I also have a bridge I would like to sell you. It's in this little place up north called Brooklyn.

If all it takes to be a certified evolution expert (or in Mastropaolo and Priest's case, certified evolution critic) is to have their educations, there's a TON of evolution experts out there.

I bet Furlip doesn't have Mastropaolo take any calls, or if they do, they'll be screened to eliminate anyone who has an iota of understanding of evolution. And Mastropaolo will pontificate and give bizarre and sweeping generalizations about stuff that he "claims" will disprove evolution. When in fact, many, if not all of his generalizations, if given enough scrutiny, don't stand up against the slightest criticism. In fact, most, if not all of his "evidence" folds like a cheap suit, with just a modicum of examination. But Mastropaolo will go largely uncontested, because the actual scientific explanation of what he claims as "evidence" doesn't lend itself well to 20 second explanations that will fit in between Furlip's stations commercials, and Furlip's own gushing suck-upness to Mastropaolo.

I'm also willing to bet there'll also be lots of "I didn't come from no ape!!!" callers.

Well guess what? If they had clue 1 about what evolution actually stated, they'd know that Darwin never said that we came from apes, either.

And the NIMBY Of The Year Award goes to.... May I have the envelope please.....

2005-08-17T19:44:00.000-05:00

I usually don't post on stuff that's not West Virginia related, but this caught my eye on the NBC Nightly News Wednesday. There is a guy who wants to build 130 windmills (yes, I know that's the Free Republic, but just read it for the facts about the windmills, and ignore the partisan rhetoric) out in the ocean, off the shore of Cape Cod. These windmills would provide electricity to a bunch of homes on the Cape, and there'd be no pollution. It looks as though these windmills would be of the same type as those up around Parsons, WV. Evidently, the area off the shore where he wants to put these windmills is sort of unique. It's shallow enough they can put the bases in without much trouble (as far as building huge windmills go), and more importantly, the wind averages like 19 mph there, and the windmills need at least 8 mph wind to be effective. So, this area provides a better than average spot for these windmills. These windmills would still, however, be so far offshore they'd only seem to be about 1 inch tall if you looked at them from the shore. Hardly what I'd call an "eyesore."

One would think that Massachusetts, home of liberal heroes like John Kennedy and John Kerry, and countless other titans of liberalism would be the perfect home for this new, pollution free energy source. However, you'd be wrong. Leading the group OPPOSED to building those windmills, is none other than, environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Click on that link and take a look at what Kennedy does. If you are too lazy, here's just a snippet:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal actions: prosecuting governments and companies for polluting the Hudson River and Long Island sound; winning settlements for the Hudson Riverkeeper; arguing cases to expand citizen access to the shoreline; and suing sewage treatment plants to force compliance with the Clean Water Act. "He's a pioneer as an attorney in the area of municipal and government responsibility for environmental problems," says Hudson Riverkeeper John Cronin.

He's an attorney for both the National Resources Defense Council, and for the Hudson Riverkeepers. Heck, he's even referred to as an "eco-warrior."

Kennedy, along with a bunch of other millionaire/billionaire muckety mucks, like Walter Cronkite, and author David McCullough (who's recent book "1776," is excellent, by the way) are vehemently fighting the construction of this pollution free energy source. Why? Because they would be visible from their multi-million dollar beach homes on the Cape and they don't want to ruin their pristine view of the ocean. So, they are willing to demand everyone else clean up their rivers, and not pollute this and not pollute that, but when it comes to someone making pollution free electricity, RFK Jr.'s response?

"I'm all for that and think it's a great idea, but NOT IN MY BACKYARD."

And for this display of elitist greed and hypocrisy, we at the West Virginia Political Sweatbox, hereby award our first ever NIMBY Of The Year, to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I'm sure his father would be proud. [Golf clap]

All joking aside, this is why people dislike "limousine liberals." People who are quick to condemn your lifestyle, under the guise that they know what you need, better than you. But, they don't often practice what they preach, as in the instant example.

And it cuts both ways too, the bible banging Republicans do the same thing, just from the other side. See: Intelligent Design/Creationism/prayer in schools/ten commandments in the courthouse/and a thousand other things I'm forgetting right now. So, please, no emails from the Dems saying "But what about the Republican so and so who did x, y and z?" I'll save you from the time and bandwidth constructing your email. Yes, that Republican is a scumbag too.

I guess the main difference is that the bible bangers do (mostly) live what they preach (the obvious exceptions excluded, Jim Bakker, Swaggert, et al). That doesn't mean I agree with them, in fact, I think most of them are quite daft and I put creationism and ID proponents (more about them in the next few days here at the Sweatbox, keep watching for those fireworks) and the like only marginally above used car salesmen on my respectability meter. You just don't get the "limousine liberal" effect you get with the true believer Libs. But still, the shrillness from both sides is extremely irritating. And we here at The Sweatbox hate jackasses of all political persuasions with equal venom as stated in our very first post. We truly try to be an Equal Opportunity blog here, so D or R, lib or conservative, old or new, black or white, if you are being a jackass, we do our level best to call you on it.

And congratulations again, to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on this evening's award!! You are the envy of NIMBY's everywhere.

Stop the presses!!! Our economy is booming...........NOT

2005-08-16T23:25:00.000-05:00

WV doesn't have an booming economy. Severance taxes are up, because the price of coal is through the roof (coal prices go as oil prices go). Just a couple years ago, coal was around 25 bucks per ton. Now, it's around 60. And guess what? When coal is worth 60 bucks per ton, you can afford to mine more of it. If it costs 30 bucks a ton to mine it (because of low quality, or difficulty in physically mining it or whatever), it doesn't get mined when you can only sell it for 25 bucks per ton. But that 30 dollar cost coal can be mined when you can sell it for 60. And so, more coal is being mined, and thereofore, more miners are working. So, income taxes are up a bit too. However, I'm tired of listening to Furlip (Micheal Agnello - Hello, search engines) and company bleating like sheep about how the economy is turning around and it's happy days are here again. It's largely an illusion, and not indicative of anything other than increased coal prices.

I know of no new industrial manufacturing plants springing up. I don't see any new Toyota plants or Cabella's (and I don't really consider Cabella's "development" it's just a Walmart on steroids). No matter what happens, Joe Manchin (Papa Joe Cheerleader) can't take credit for anything this economy is doing. He's just the lucky recipient of increased severance tax revenues, that are essentially driven by the global market. This is why we should put the brakes on the rush to cut the sales tax on food, or whatever tax rollbacks the boneheads are spouting off about now. This surplus is not the result of Papa Joe Cheerleader doing anything other than being in the right place at the right time. I sure hope he doesn't strain his arm patting himself on the back. The surplus could be gone in a heartbeat if the price of coal drops, and then where would we be? Again, we are at the mercy of the coal industry. Shocking, I know. It's like in the Godfather III. Every time we think we are out, they pull us back in.

Oh, and did anyone see the Gazette on Tuesday? There was a letter to the editor about Furlip being an unprofessional jackass. Classic.

My very own Nuclear Option.

2005-08-10T21:33:00.000-05:00

I've written some long posts before. But this may be the longest yet. But, if you can manage to get through it, I think you'll find it well worth the length. If not, well, what do you want for free.

I pick on Chicago Furlip, Mike Agnello of 58Live, quite a bit. Of course, he is an easy target. A target who should, by virtue of his position in the media, try and restrain himself from being a jackass. A target who should, by virtue of his position, show a bit of objectivity and consistency in the issues he discusses, because the public, has a right to hear these issues debated properly, and God knows our politicians do a pathetic job of keeping the public informed.

However, the events of the last week or so, have increased the idiocy that comes out of Agnello's mouth, by about a magnitude of ten, or maybe a hundred. From his dogged defense of Wanda Carney, to his pushing (again) of the Fairtax.org plan, to his constant harping on lowering the food tax with the surplus, to his reticence of supporting state employee pay raises (while unabashedly supporting the judge's pay raise, that would directly benefit his buddy, John Hey), the past few days have been some of Furlip's most ridiculous. It is with this increased level of idiocy, that I feel the need to bring out my nuclear option. I've had the information I'll share below for quite some time, but because I decided that to actually use it, would be the equivalent of climbing in the gutter and simply slinging mud. I tried to limit my criticism of Furlip to what he said on the radio, and limiting it to the issues at hand, and I think I've done at least a fair job in those regards to this point.

However, after today, Furlip clearly opened the door for me to use the nuclear option below. He read an email on the air today, from someone criticizing him for not being a "compassionate conservative." The email, as read by Agnello, seemed a bit disjointed in its attack on Agnello, and it seemed hard to understand the actual specifics of the email, partly because Agnello stumbled his way through reading it on the air. Maybe the email actually was disjointed and barely coherent, but it wouldn't change what I'm going to do below. One of the attacks it leveled against Agnello was (as I could understand it) that a "good" Christian wouldn't be advocating some of the positions that Agnello does, and that his ethics and morals as a Christian should be called into question based on these positions. The email tried to take him to task on things like simply rah-rah-ing the President's positions and positions of other Republicans. And in this regard, the email has a point. Agnello is loathe to criticize anything the Republicans do. Never mind, that a Republican should be appalled by the borrow and spend policies that the President has implemented. Agnello sees no problem with this, AND he tries to spin ANY news, in a light most favorable to the Republicans. He is a Republican apologist, who acts like he's objective. And in being so, he does a complete disservice to the public.

But, in responding to what he said was an attack on his ethics and/or values as a Christian in that email, he became even more sanctimonious, even more self-righteous, even more condescending, even more bombastic, and even more insulting that he normally is. I know, I didn't think such a thing could be possible, either. It is with this in mind, that I feel compelled to bring out what I've been holding as my "nuclear option" with regard to Chicago Furlip.

I came across this little gem, tucked away in an old issue of Graffiti. It's an article about 58Live and Agnello (spelled "Agnelo" in the article) by Micheal Lipton. Because it was in Graffiti, I'm pretty sure many out there didn't see it. It's so old, the actual page doesn't exist, but Google has cached it. The weird part is, that if you search for "Michael Agnello," you won't find it, because for some reason, Lipton, refers to him as Michael Agnelo.

If your ideologies lie anywhere left of Attila the Hun, listen to talk radio - across the dial and across the country - and it won't be long before your blood pressure's on the rise. Let's face it, the "liberal-controlled media" is now officially just a convenient myth that gives the Limbaughs of the air one more topic to rail about.
West Virginia - and its capital city - are certainly no exception. If you listen to talk radio in Charleston (let's see... what are the other choices?), you've most likely heard Michael Agnelo and his cohort Rick Johnson on WCHS 58, tagteaming, mocking and trivializing anyone that dares question the motives or deeds of the Bush regime.
In particular, Agnelo, who seems to have wrested the reins from Johnson and who, as they say, "ain't from around here," is blessed with a voice so naturally condescending, he can make you despise him in a matter of seconds.

Evidently, he picks up on the condescension, and foreigner status I've alluded to before with regard to Furlip also. Maybe I'm not far off the mark.

Day after day, he's an unabashed apologist for everything the Republican administration does, and a bush league (so to speak) Limbaugh wannabe (as are most conservative talk radio hosts) who does little more than parrot the master's bluster - sans his radio savvy.

Gee, where have we heard that that before?

Not recalling his history (more about that later), I presumed Agnelo, not a particularly eloquent speaker, was a lawyer who simply enjoyed the vanity of spouting off on-air.

This would almost be appropriate, if it wasn't so insulting to all the lawyers out there.

That, I'm sorry to say, is how Agnelo comes off on the radio.
But in person, it's a very different, interesting - and rather perplexing - story.

Now, the fun begins. Hang onto your hats, faithful readers, this is going to be wild.

Never, for example, would I have thought that the guy who scoffs and chortles at anyone who questions the wisdom or motives of the war in Iraq would support legal rights for gay couples.

Agnello supports legal rights for gay couples? I wonder how many of his faithful listeners know about this.

Nor would I have thought that he would favor the decriminalization of marijuana;

This is also kind of hard to believe, when every 15 minutes on Furlip's show, we are hearing about some new meth seminar he hosted with Mike Rutherford. Agnello is actually FOR smoking dope? I wonder if he just manages to suppress that pro-dope smoking position, as long as he's making money doing those "What's up with Meth?" seminars.

be a passionate believer in a "safety net" for those who cannot take care of themselves or say, "automatic weapons are not necessary in our society."

Yet, he rails against high taxes? He's constantly pushing for lowering the food tax. How can you have a safety net for those who cannot take care of themselves, without aggressively taxing the public to provide the money for those services? He wants government money to throw at these problems, but he doesn't want to pay any taxes? Or maybe he just wants that government money funneled to churches and other religious organizations and then let THEM provide the services. You'll see why this might be his preference below.

What's more, a few years ago, he had to weather a couple of serious work-related accidents and a gall bladder surgery without health insurance.

Yet, he was/is an insurance salesman. But he doesn't have insurance? I wonder if he'd sign on to comprehensive health care? You know, kind of like the one Hillary was in charge of 10+ years ago? Agnello agreeing with Hillary? Whodathunkit.

And being from Chicago, when he gets a chance, he likes to play blues harp.
By rights, you'd think this self-described, 53-year-old "working stiff" should be a yellow dog Democrat. Not quite.
"On talk radio, we often paint in broad strokes that may sound very firm," said longtime talk radio host Stephen Reed, who worked with Agnelo in the '90s. "But when you get into how you're going to fix these things, the solutions get more reasonable.
"Michael has a very compassionate side," he added, "but, like a lot of us conservatives, he sees runaway costs and the downside of the government having its hands in everything. But there are certain situations where you'll be glad someone was there for you. And if that someone is the government, you may have to start rethinking some of your ideas."

That means, when it comes to Agnello personally (needing health insurance, for example) he's got absolutely no problem spending YOUR money to provide it. Or like the new ballpark. Because it was for "his" area (Charleston) all those millions of economic development grant money, was an ok expenditure. Because it benefited something he wanted (a new ballpark).

Agnelo is hardly some blue blood who grew up in the insulated comfort of suburbia. On the contrary, his childhood, on the tough west side of Chicago, was peppered with violence, run-ins with the law, drug and alcohol abuse and doing his best to avoid the gangs - the Latin Kings, the Blackstone Rangers and the Latin Counts - that ruled the streets in the mid-'60s.
"It was a greaser neighborhood - leather jackets and baggy pants," he said. "But when the gangs took over, it went from fists and fights to knives and guns."
To date, of the circle of friends he hung around with as a teenager, 11 are dead.
"Out of the 13 or so guys from my group, only two are alive," Agnelo said. "One is in parts unknown and the other is in prison."
The son of a second generation immigrant from Sicily, Agnelo's dad, a decorated veteran of the South Pacific, put in 30 years with the Chicago Police Department. Still, his parents' attempts at discipline - including sending him to an all-boys parochial school - didn't quite take.
"We were on the street, drinking and experimenting with drugs," he said. "After high school, I embraced the youth movement. I had long hair and I was against the Vietnam War - I saw my friends coming back messed up mentally and emotionally and on drugs."

Sounds like he was one of them hippie, anti-war protestors to me. He probably hung out with Jane Fonda. But now, he calls her a traitor. Directly below, is where the fun REALLY starts.

Then, when he was 25, he stumbled upon Team Thrust, a ministry based in Atlanta, IL, that was working the mean streets of Chicago. It was a chance meeting that would change his life.
"They talked to me; they wanted to pray for me," he recalled.
He was intrigued enough to accept an invitation to their church later that night.
"When they prayed for me at the church, I didn't know exactly what I was saying 'yes' to," he added. "But it was life changing - like an Army field jacket came off."
A week later, he was on his way to his first Team Thrust crusade in a Puerto Rican neighborhood of New York City. Not long after his conversion, he married a preacher's daughter and had a daughter.

He finds "God" and marries a preacher's daughter, and has a kid.

For the next eight years, he traveled across the country, working in troubled, inner-city neighborhoods from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Miami.
"It was one of the more unique ministries," said Agnelo. "They were very patient and tolerant. It was a non-judgmental and loving approach - a lot of it was listening." He eventually became vice president of Team Thrust.

Sounds like he found a racket he could manage to make a living at, and he ran it to the hilt.

In the spring of 1985, while doing "special event evangelism" during Derby weekend in Louisville, KY, Agnelo appeared on a television show with charismatic preacher and televangelist Davy Joe Hissom. It was another chance meeting that would alter the course of his life.

Yes, Agnello was a televangelist. Just like Jim Bakker, or Jimmy Swaggert, except without the millions, the PTL scandal, Jessica Hahn, or being caught in cars with prostitutes. Why does the Genesis song "Jesus, He Knows Me," keep bouncing around in my head?

"It was instant brotherhood," Agnelo said. "We connected instantly."
Hissom invited Agnelo to come to his church in Charleston to help him minister at the Sternwheel Regatta. The following year, Agnelo moved to Charleston and became a pastor evangelist for Hissom's New Life Church.

I bet it was more than just "instant brotherhood." See below.

When, in 1987, Hissom and three church members were killed in a plane crash, Agnelo was in line to take over his mentor's ministry.

Peter Principle. Exhibit A.

The next decade wasn't easy. His decade-old marriage had been on the rocks for some time and, at the same time, Agnelo and Rhonda Hissom, Davy Joe's widow, had grown closer. He stepped down from the church after confessing to the congregation that he had committed "adultery of the heart"

"Adultery of the heart?" What the fuck is that? Is that like saying "I did not have sexual relations with that woman?" Or is it like saying "that depends on what the definition of the word 'is,' is?" He had an affair with Hissom's widow, while still married to his first wife. Hell, Hissom's body wasn't even cold before he essentially started his own version of "Team Thrust" with Hissom's widow. And this putz, can't just admit, "Yeah, I was unfaithful to my wife." He calls it "adultery of the heart?" What bullshit. Clinton basically pulls the same semantical gymnastics, and Agnello crucifies him on a daily basis. What a self-righteous hypocrite. And this jackass gets three hours a day, to pollute the airwaves? It's no wonder this country is about three quarters fucked up.

and, as a result, [he] was all but ostracized by much of the congregation.
He moved back to Louisville where he sought counseling, then to Chicago for a time, and then to Michigan where he fell into a painting business. All the while, he and Rhonda kept in touch.

Translation: He essentially kept up the affair after his church (or the church he inherited on Hissom's death) booted him out.

Finally, in late 1990, he moved back to Charleston and they've been together ever since.

Yay! Back in Charleston, after 3+ years of "finding himself" and now fully shacking up with Hissom's widow.

Agnelo, who had worked various jobs in contracting and sales, began his talk radio career in 1995 with WQBE (now WVTS), serving as a guest host for full-timer Jack Kane. Then, in 1997, he teamed up with fellow conservative Stephen Reed to kick off WCHS' afternoon talk show. He was let go the following year because of differences with the station's management.

Maybe the station's management was on to something.

"When Stephen and I were doing the program, we thought it was going good," said Agnelo. "Then, one day they walked in and said, 'Things aren't going the way we want - thank you for your work.' That was my last day."
Early in 2004, the station's producers asked Agnelo to give it another shot. He and co-host Rick Johnson took over the show in May.

And the current daily punishment of the valley's listeners continues.

These days, Agnelo's life has fallen into routine, albeit a hectic one. Up at 5:30 a.m., he begins his day by scanning news reports, admittedly relying on sources like the RNC, Drudge and Smoking Gun.
"I'm not a journalist, I'm a commentator. They asked me to do commentary and that's what I do. I'm limited in my education and facility," he said, adding that he never could afford to attend college. "But I really try to do my homework."

Just goes to show you, it doesn't take much to get a radio show. Another reason to not take idiots like Agnello and Limbaugh's words as the gospel.

Next stop is Ficon Insurance Agency where he works as an agent. After lunch, he heads over to the radio station to prepare for his show, which runs from 3-6 p.m.

But he doesn't have health insurance? Doesn't make much sense.

Hoppy Kercheval, host of MetroNews' statewide Talkline show, carried in Charleston on WCHS 58, recognized Agnelo's conviction. "Professionally, Michael has a lot of passion. He loves to do research, call people and turn up something that perhaps hasn't been on the air before. From listening to him, I can tell he's more conservative than I am. He's a true believer. I'm much more cynical."

Well, Hoppy's probably close to right. I think Agnello has drank the koolaid alright (ie, a "true believer") but I also think he modifies his views, to make a buck. See the anti-drug/anti-meth stuff, but he admitted to the interviewer that he's for legalizing pot.

In an effort to balance the show, Agnelo said he has called a number of people in the Democratic party, extending an invitation to appear on his show.
"I've said, 'please bring someone down.' Many of them haven't even returned my calls."

That's because they know he's a paid republican party hack, and he's ultimately got control of the show. He can frame the issues to his liking, and steer the issue to where it best suits his side. He does it all the time. Plus, after the guest would leave, Agnello can then go on unfettered, attacking (without rebuttal).

With his outspoken, on-air persona, Agnelo finds himself in a bit of a quandary. On the one hand, he invites scrutiny by being a "radio personality." On the other, he appears to be a reticent guy who, at least at this point in his life, shuns the spotlight and cherishes his privacy.

Well, here's that scrutiny.

"Most of my life has been about service to people," he said. "I've worked in flood relief and drug rehab - because I think those things are important in life. But I don't stand in the spotlight about it."
The contradictions go deeper. He's deeply concerned about not having health insurance, as both he and his partner, Rhonda, have had health problems. He also grapples with the fact that he and Rhonda have lived together as an unmarried couple for more than a decade.

I wonder if their continued "unmarried" status has anything to do with social security widow's benefits she'd receive from Hissom being killed? Or maybe there was an annuity or something Hissom had set up to provide for his wife and kid(s) if he should die, that would terminate on his widow remarrying.

He also doesn't favor other conservative platforms such as mandatory sentencing and "zero tolerance."
When pressed, his reasons for stumping for the Republicans seem to waiver, having more to do with generalities - like the pitfalls of government excess - than specifics.

Gotcha. Government excess = bad. Unless its for something Agnello wants. Then it's A-OK.

Still, he assured me, he's not simply playing to his audience when he goes on-air.
"I don't think I fit any one slot," he said. "I'm a realist, not a purist, and I try to be honest and open-minded and look beyond how each issue will affect me personally - I've never pulled the 'R' [voted a straight Republican ticket]. I identify the same problems [as a liberal] - it's the solutions on which we differ.
"Sure, part of talk radio is entertainment and sometimes we may have fun with something and exacerbate it. But I try not to be a bomb thrower - it's too easy to push people's buttons."
Listen to Michael Agnelo on WCHS 58 from 3-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri. To air your opinion, call 304/345-5858.

The hypocrisy of Agnello is mindblowing. Like I said, the decision to reprint this article was one I decided not to make simply out of spite towards Agnello. I could have done that many months ago, if I so desired. Only after he took the sanctimonious angle of "how dare you question my ethics or morals or my Christianity" did I feel compelled to call his bluff on just who exactly he is.

"He's didn't kill anyone. He just helped get rid of the body. Geez. Cut him some slack, will ya??"

2005-08-04T20:55:00.000-05:00

Well, the hubbub over Wanda Carney getting charged with two felonies over the Mingo County Watergate affair is still buzzing. I remarked in yesterday's column that it would be interesting to see how the various talk radio hosts reacted to it.

I had an email exchange with Jerry Waters, of 950AM WVTS, and he unequivocally denounced what Ms. Carney has done, as stupid, and unbelievably irresponsible. And he thinks that this may be what effectively kills West Virginia Wants to Know, at least in its current form. That's what you get with Waters; he calls a spade a spade. According to Waters, he has stated so on the air. Because I can't listen to all the shows all the time, I'll have to take his word, and have no real reason to doubt him.

Hoppy had Chicago Furlip, Mike Agnello, on his show Thursday, and basically allowed Furlip to say whatever he wanted about the case for about 5 minutes, and then Hoppy moved on to something else (he spent a good amount of time bashing slot parlors yesterday, I think Hoppy was getting paid by the anti-gamblers yesterday). Hoppy didn't really comment, other than to classify it as strange.

And that brings us to Chicago Furlip on 58Live Thursday afternoon. Furlip displayed what can only be described as a disgusting, nauseating, vomit-inducing proclamation of love for Carney. Furlip probably was hopping up and down on a couch and doing his best Tom Cruise imitation. Furlip had Carney's lawyer, Jason Huber on the show, proclaiming that these charges were all simply retaliation and vindictive because of Carney's work being a government watchdog. Huber kept proclaiming that Carney was innocent, and is anxiously awaiting her chance to prove her innocence in court. According to Huber and Furlip, everyone in Mingo County is corrupt, and has it out for Carney because she's a threat to them. First, I'm not going to argue that Mingo County is free from political corruption. However, that doesn't mean Carney wasn't effectively the getaway driver. Which is basically the only relevant fact with regard to Carney. Just because she did something good last year, doesn't mean she can get a free pass to commit crimes now. And for Huber to argue this is a total joke. He should know better.

Furlip ate it up. Every second of it. He quickly pointed out all the good that Carney has done over the years, and blah blah blah. The dumbass just doesn't get it. He just doesn't get that he sounds like a complete jackass on the radio. He must think his listeners are idiots (he may by right, to a large degree). The best exchange came around 5:30 pm. A caller called in and said, that Carney was effectively helping the drug dealers and those who killed a federal drug informant. Carney is working for Mike Clifford, who is representing Walter Harmon, charged in helping dispose of the body of Carla Collins. Harmon is the nephew of one of other ladies involved in the alleged break in, Betty Jarvis. The charge carries the death penalty or life in prison as potential punishments if he's convicted. Furlip countered with the fact that he the guy in question didn't really kill anyone, he was simply charged with helping dispose of the body. Are you kidding me? Furlip thinks there's a difference between killing someone and helping dispose of the body? I'm pretty sure those were both answers to the Jeopardy questions last week in the category "Things only a true scumbag would do." Evidently, Furlip thinks it makes a big difference. Did you get get charged with killing a girl? Yes, well, you're a scumbag. Oh, you simply helped dispose of her body? Let's get you an application for sainthood.

Furlip's dogged defense of Wanda Carney, is sickening, and I'm calling on 580WCHS radio to seriously consider firing his worthless ass. He is simply too disgusting for human consumption. He says he's convinced she's innocent. Well, I'm issuing a challenge to ol' Furlip. Put your money where your cheesy mustache-covered mouth is. If Carney doesn't walk on all charges, he should resign.

My guess is Furlip doesn't have the stones to go there.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

2005-08-03T22:20:00.000-05:00

There was a comic book that was out in the 80's, called "The Watchmen." It was about the concept of who do you trust in a society where ordinary humans are protected by superheroes. Superheroes save the world, protect ordinary humans from aliens, and arch villains bent on destruction and world domination, blah blah blah, you've heard all that before. But, in placing such trust and responsibility in the hands of a few superheroes, you have another problem. Who protects the people FROM those supposedly protecting the people?

That is certainly the question concerning the fact that Wanda Carney (government watchdog, and founder of West Virginia Wants to Know), has been charged with 2 felonies, and 2 misdemeanors, in her "investigation" of a crime allegedly committed by one of former Kanawha County Prosecutor Mike Clifford's clients. She and Betty Jarvis (former Kanawha County Schoolboard member, and who happens to be related to Clifford's client), and a third lady were all charged in connection with this "investigation." Jarvis, Carney, and the third lady were all involved in an incident where allegedly some of them broke into another individual's apartment, without that individual's permission, and removed certain items. This individual is also a defendant in the same investigation which caught up Clifford's client (who is related to Jarvis). According to Carney's previous statements in the media, she stayed in the car. Essentially, her defense (publicly) to this situation so far has been the equivalent of "But I was just the getaway driver."

[Incidentally, I've heard from several sources, that this may not be Ms. Carney's first brush with the law, but, I'd classify that information as clearly rumor. But still, I've heard it from two completely different and unrelated sources, and the information from each source was identical. I won't be more specific, until I get some more specific facts. But the information from my sources to this point, has been so consistent, and from such diverse sources, that it is at least remarkably coincidental, if not outright true.]

If Carney holds everyone else's feet to the fire, from the Nitro City Council, to Jerry Mezzatesta, to Mike Ross, to Darrell McGraw, to several other governmental units/agencies, what does the fact she is caught up, and charged, in this Mingo County version of Watergate, say about who's making sure she plays by the rules too?

Another interesting thing will be how local talk radio treats Ms. Carney now. She, along with her West Virginia Wants to Know founder, Tifney Terry, are local talk radio show darlings. Everyone from Chicago Furlip, Jerry Waters on WVTS950 AM, all the way up to Hoppy on the Statewide Talkline, are frequent outlets for Ms. Carney. The hosts rarely, if ever, criticize Ms. Carney. She stirs controversy, and that makes for good talk radio. My guess is, she'll have a bevy of defenders on the airwaves in the form of the various hosts.

A second century Roman poet, Juvenal, coined the phrase in the title of this post. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Loosely translated, it means, "Who shall guard the guardians?" In the comic book I mentioned above, they used the phrase "Who watches the Watchmen?" It's essentially a phrase that was conceived 2000 years ago, but the premise is still as valid and relevant today, as it was then, in reference to society. And dead-on relevant, concerning Ms. Carney's current legal situation.

Mayor Danny Jones. Was he the kid that always got beat up during recess?

2005-07-27T22:48:00.000-05:00

I've had this post buzzing around in my head for a couple weeks, but haven't been able to get motivated enough to actually post it. Well, for some reason, I've got an abundance of motivation today, so here goes.

A couple weeks ago, Danny Jones went on Micheal Agnello (Chicago Furlip to my faithful readers) and Rick Johnson's 58 Live talk show to "debate" local real estate magnate and developer Al Summers. Until that day, I'd never heard Al Summers talk. And, hopefully, I don't ever have to hear him speak again. To say that Al comes off as "not too bright" would actually be an insult to all the "not too bright" people in the world. Anyway, Danny and Al were arguing over a myriad of things; what to name the ballpark (evidently Al wants it named after himself), the east end grocery (0r lack thereof), some dispute that Al is having with one of the neighboring businesses to one of his buildings. As bad as 58 Live and Chicago Furlip is, this is one show, they should burn onto cd's and sell, it was that good (and Furlip being silent for a good chunk of the show, has a lot to do with its good quality)

Anyway, Dannyboy goes right into the gutter and brings up some federal tax problem Al had years ago, as if that has anything to do with the current issues. Al may very well be a criminal (I don't know, this federal tax thing was before my time in Charleston), who knows. But the relevance to the issues at hand, was not apparent, other than it was obvious Danny just wanted to get down in the gutter and sling mud. With "cellphone fee" Worker Tax Jones (yes, you can blame Danny for raising your cellphone fee, just so his buddies at the Charleston Visitors Bureau can all get nice big fat raises and go to more meetings in exotic locales), nothing is out of bounds.

At one point, Al begins to tell his side of the story, and Danny begins to interrupt him every 2 seconds with pithy little comments. This goes on for a LONG time, Al trying to talk, and Danny keeps interrupting. He probably interrupted him 10 or more times in the span of a couple minutes, and to Al's credit, he didn't complain. Eventually, it got to be distracting, and Johnson made a "generic" comment that people couldn't hear if they both talked at the same time (a nice way of saying, "shut your piehole, Danny"). Danny piped down. However, during Danny's rebuttal, Al tried to interrupt ONE time, and Danny IMMEDIATELY ran crying to Johnson, with something like "Are you now going to tell him not to interrupt ME?" It was actually quite pathetic, that the Mayor of Charleston, had to act like it was first grade and go running to the teacher when he felt someone was discourteous to him. The show ended (with Al dropping a "Goddamn" one time that got an immediate push of the panic button by Johnson), and it was clear Worker Tax Jones and Big Al, didn't like each other any more than they did when they started the show.

Then like a week or so later, Worker Tax Jones is on Hoppy's (or maybe it was Furlip's show, I forget) show, along with Denise Giardina arguing about the Massey picnic possibly coming back to Charleston. Giardina is against it because she says it fouls up the traffic patterns on the east end's neighborhoods to close down the Boulevard by Magic Island (plus other reasons). Worker Tax thinks it's ok and wants Massey to come back. They basically took shots at each other for a couple minutes, and then Jones said something, and Giardina quickly tried to correct him, and Jones stopped and said to the host "Are you going to tell her not to interrupt me?"

Does anyone else remember there was always this little kid on the playground, who was always running crying to the teacher because someone was mean to them? Usually that little kid was the one who was always getting his ass beat for being a crybaby. I bet Danny remembers.

Homeschoolers, listen up.

2005-07-11T21:02:00.000-05:00

I'm tired of listening to your incessant whining about how little Johnny Homeschooler can't play on the public high school football team. It's really annoying, and it's starting to piss me off. [This will also be a long and invovled post with a good amount Bing-ranting thrown in. You've been forewarned.]

For those who don't know, the WVSC issued an opinion the other day that said homeschooled children can't play on public school sports teams (and/or participate in extracurricular activities). In Jones v. State BOE, Justice Davis states three things. First, that the court isn't going to expand a statute beyond its clear meaning. They apply a literal reading of the releveant statute, and determine that the local schoolboard may assist the persons who will be providing the home schooling, and that does NOT include extracurricular activities in that assistance.

In plain language, this provision refers to providing resources “as may assist the person or persons providing home instruction.” W. Va. Code § 18-8-1(c)(3). Clearly, this statute pertains to providing educational resources to the person or persons providing instruction, who, in this case, was Mrs. Jones. Because the statute does not address providing resources, such as interscholastic sports, to a home-schooled student, we are not at liberty to judicially add such a provision.

Second, they state that an Equal Protection violation hasn't occurred, because other cases have held that private school students and public school students are NOT the same class and/or are similarly situated. If you have two different classes, no EP violation. Plus, they also buttress this point with the arguments from the State BOE, that they should be stressing academics over athletics (more on this, in full-on rant mode below), and the fact that homeschoolers are not used to calculate enrollment for recieving federal aid.

Lastly (mostly a procedural matter) the court rejects Jones' claim that the BOE failed to promulgate reasonable regulations regarding this matter.

Hoppy Kercheval's MetroNews Talkline show (so, some of this blame should go on Hoppy's shoulders), has had two full days of every hilljack, redneck, bible thumper, Clyde, Arley, and Imogene calling in and complaining about how "that thar Sooopreeeme Court of Wist Verginia is just out of it's cotton pickin' mind to not let little Johnny H. play fuuutballlll on the local Goosecreek Hollar High School team." Christ almighty people. Get a freaking grip. Little Johnny Homeschooler is not going to die if he doesn't play on the high school football team. In fact, a little bit of disappointment never hurt anyone. Hell, Bing's pappy used to say it "builds character." (Oh, and if anyone who knows who Clyde and Arley are, shoot me an email and you'll get a mention in the next blog entry. You'll be, like famous, or something.)

The really sad part about all this, is what it really shows about the sad state of educational affairs that is the general West Virginia populace. Like I said, on Hoppy's show it's been two full days of nothing but one long rant about how this court case is a travesty of justice, along with Randy Minor (Morgantown attorney) talking about how the legislature should get involved and protect the homeschoolers from the mean, nasty WVSSAC. Yeah, the legislature needs to stick its nose in this issue crucial to the future of our state. God help us, if Johnny H. doesn't get to play football. Toyota is liable to pack up and go home. Call in the legislature. Hell, call a freaking special session. We need to get this straightened out, and I mean NOW!! Where's all that "help" that was "on the way," Papa Joe Cheerleader?

Now, the callers into Talkline the last two days would have been grade A comedy material, if not for the fact they were so pitifully sad. They lambaste the court for being too liberal and overstepping its bounds. Hell, all they did was essentially apply a LITERAL reading of the statute. They didn't read anything into it. If anything, they were not LIBERAL enough, when you consider what Clyde and Arley wanted the court to do. This issue has absolutely burned up Hoppy's phone lines. All about little Johnny Homeschooler, not getting to play sports. It's a shame these idiot hilljacks don't have the same enthusiasm for making sure Johnny gets an actual education. You know, all that confangled book larnin'.

Kanawha County this year did away with social studies and science fairs, because of low interest and money crunches. I didn't hear a single caller outraged by this on Hoppy's show. It's a sad, sad commentary on the state of the general populace's interest in actually providing an education for their kids. Just don't stop Johnny H. from playing football.

And lastly, I have to comment on some of the homeschooling parents who called in to Hoppy's show. First, one of the reasons the court ruled the way it did, was that the potential for shenanigans increases exponentially. Public school students must have a 2.0 gpa to participate in extracurricular activities. If little Johnny can't hack it in public school, but REALLY wants to play sports, he can just become homeschooled, and viola, problem solved. The homeschoolers quickly point out that many homeschoolers actually do better on tests than public school kids, so that shouldn't be a problem. Ok, let's assume that's true. The problem of chicanery isn't with those who are homeschooled already. The potential for chicanery is in those who may homeschool in the future, to avoide the gpa requirement. So, the fact that many current homeschoolers test better (if true), doesn't mean jack. Nobody (including Hoppy) ever mentioned that to any of these homeschooler boneheads.

And secondly, this last smackdown goes out to the one lady caller who called in today to Hoppy's show and said that basically homeschooling is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Her little Johnny H. is just the greatest student ever, and she homeschools him. She defended the accusation that some of these homeschooled kids don't have the social skills necessary to deal in the real world. She stated that little Johnny got all his work done by 12 pm and then goes out and socializes and plays with the other kids. Uh, how can little Johnny go play with the other kids at 12pm? Aren't they in school? Unless Johnny H. lives where it's nothing but all homeschooled kids who get out at noon, Johnny's going to have find some imaginary friends to play with.

And to top it off, Hoppy asked this lady why she homeschooled, and if it was so she could inject religion into his education. And she replied yes, because "we didn't come from monkeys." Thank god she's got that whole Natural Selection thing down pat. It's no wonder people laugh at us with boneheads like this running loose in this state.

I now know why little Johnny is out playing at noon. It doesn't take long to do your homework when it simply consists of writing "God said so."

What does 2+2 equal? Whatever God says it does. A+

Why is the sky blue? Because God made it that way. A+

Hell, I'm ready for a phd in homeschooling.

Public use = he who can make the most $$ from it.....

2005-06-26T20:26:00.000-05:00

The USSC's decision in Kelo is frightening. And many other bloggers have probably beat the dead horse into dust by now. However, some (donutbuzz - see links at right) even take to chastizing us for our rampant consumerism fueling such government/private enterprise/big business co-mingling, and he may have a point. But, this is such a repugnant decision, I have to at least comment, and at the risk of boring you to death, it'll be brief, and probably not full of too many fireworks.

The bottom line is the effect of this decision is surely, surely, surely, something that the framers would absolutely not agree with. And before we go any further, spare me the crap about "oh, well, they also had slaves back then too."

Taking one person's property and essentially giving it to another, by way of government seizure, would be repugnant to even the most ardent Federalist in 1789. To take private property and make a road, a school, a government building, or a park even, is one thing. But to take it merely on the basis that some OTHER private individual will make more dollars with it, is absurd. Where's the line? What if my business employs three people? And someone comes in with a plan to employ FOUR? Will the mantra of economic development (I'd like to knock the shit out of the next politician who utters such a garbage phrase in my presence - but I'd settle for just knocking the shit out of anyone who works in the development office) demand that emminent domain proceedings begin immediately if one more job can be created? If not, could someone please tell me where the line is so I'll know what I'm dealing with the next time I'm considering buying some property.

I know, I know, Stevens said that this in now way limits the ability of the individual States to limit when and where ED can be used, and that Kelo essentially establishes the floor for what can pass for "public use." But it still is repugnant to the very ideals the founders had in mind when they decided to try this wacky idea of the USA 200+ years ago.

Oh, and for those who don't think this will cause the sky to fall? It's already started. We've already seen that 40 million bucks per year isn't enough to stop ED proceedings.

And when I say 10%, I really mean 5.7%, or sometimes 1.9%.

2005-06-18T11:48:00.000-05:00

I know I'm not surprised.

Remember all that hoopla about reducing our insurance rates this last legislative session? Remember how Papa Joe Cheerleader was just all jazzed about doing away with third party bad faith suits because they were so harmful to insurance companies that they couldn't possibly make a profit? Remember, this was going to translate into tangible bucks in your pocket in the form of auto insurance rate reductions?

Remember when people like Jill Cranston Bentz (insurance lobbyist and chief industry whore) were all excited about how this was just going to be sooooooo great for both the industry, AND the policyholders? Remember when the number that kept getting kicked around was a 10% rate reduction? "Eliminate third party bad faith suits, and we (the insurance companies) would reduce rates 10% to policyholders," was the battlecry from the insurance industry.

Well, they got their elimination of third party bad faith suits.

And look what seeps out of the Insurance Commission's bowels on Friday afternoon, after all the major media has gone into shutdown mode for the weekened. Nationwide ponys up to the bar, and offers less than a 6% decrease, and Geico (you know, the one able to afford umpteen gazillion tv ads with some stupid assed cartoon lizard) offers a whopping 1.7% decrease.

You know that weird feeling you are getting in your rectal regions right about now? It's not gas.

Like I said, I know I'm not surprised.

I'm baaaack. Next up on the target list, Danny Wells, Swinger 'Stache, Hoppy Kercheval, and others.

2005-06-15T20:49:00.000-05:00

As you can see, I haven't updated much in the last couple weeks. I've been lax, and will strive to do better. I had air conditioner malfunctions last week during that beastly hot spell, and it was just too damn hot to do anything, let alone blog. And once it got fixed, I was just so relieved to be back in the coolness, that I couldn't get the blood pressure up enough to need the steam release that is this blog. Now, after a few days back in the comfort zone of about 68-70 degrees, I'm ready to start smacking some people around again. There have been some very naughty people out there who need a couple hours in the Sweatbox, more than I'll be able to cover in one blog session. So I'll be fairly quick with the updates in the next few days.

Let's start with an easy one, Danny Wells. He did his usual "bash boxing" column the other day in the paper. Again, he laments that people's lives have been ruined by boxing. He even goes so far as to mention that one guy, Ruben Contreras suffered a seizure and is in bad shape after being hit, and Dannyboy goes out of his way to emphasize that the seizure was NOT related to a pre-existing condition. I wonder if Dannyboy is reading this blog, because I sort of mentioned the distinction about pre-existing conditions contributing to injuries in other sports (like football) in a previous blog entry about Wells' anti-boxing fetish.

I guess Dannyboy doesn't like to talk about all the football players whose lives have been ruined by football, like Nick Buoniconti's son who was paralyzed from a hit on the football field. Or Darrell Stingley, or any number of other football players who've been seriously injured on the field, and not just at the pro level. And that doesn't even mention those guys like Steve Courson or Lyle Alzado (and God knows how many others) who died because of what they did to play football (most likely steroid related). No, he doesn't mention any of those guys, let alone even touch on the danger that is NASCAR. Come on, Danny, show us how concerned you are about people's safety in sports. Write a column and say that NASCAR is dangerous and should be outlawed. If NASCAR was outlawed, we'd still have Dale Earnhardt Sr. with us. Instead, we honor his death (directly caused by his sport), by making state license plates with his #3 emblem on them.

I bet Dannyboy doesn't have the stones to go there, now that he needs the votes of the NASCAR lovin' West Virginians to perpetuate his sucking at the public trough.

Let's see, who's next? We haven't taken any shots at ol Swinger 'Stache Agnello lately. I know there's a couple of you out there who live for the shots I take at the ol' Chicago Furlip. Lately, 58 Live looks like it's trying to change its name to "M Radio," kind of like how we got MTV in the 80's. Except the "M" in "M Radio" stands for Meth. Every damn day, it's at LEAST a half hour about the evils of Meth and what informational meeting about meth Mr. Cheeseball is hosting or attending. I just want to know where the money for all these informational meetings is coming from, and why is Agnello pimping them so hard. I wonder if he's financially involved in putting those meetings together somehow, because he sure as hell spends a lot of time at them, and even more time hyping them up on his show. I know meth is a problem, and needs to be addressed, but for crying out loud, give it a rest once in a while and talk about something else for a change.

Plus, today he had to read the autopsy results from Terry Schiavo, basically proving that all his whining 3 months ago was unjustified. He whined her husband smacked her around, and even insinuated he caused her condition, on more than one occasion. He basically parroted the line of bullshit spewed by the Hannity's and the Limbaugh's and the other goofballs who were convinced there was some nefarious activity responsible for her condition, and blaming Hubby for it. And that she was responsive to all this stimuli and she wasn't a complete vegetable. And the autopsy report released today basically said bullshit to all that. There was no evidence of trauma. Her brain had atrophied to 1/2 it's normal size. She was also completely blind. All those videos we saw of her "responding" to her parents or music or whatever? All bullshit, according to the autopsy report.

Hey Agnello, I've got a nice big greasy crow sandwich for you. Get busy.

Who's next? Let's put ol' Hoppy Kercheval and a couple others on the spot for a minute. He's lately gotten on this anti-gambling kick to bash the little slot parlors that have sprung up across the state. He thinks the situation is somehow worse than it was before the slots were legalized in the commentary I linked above. I'm not sure what State Hoppy lived in during the 90's, but I know in West Virginia, you couldn't go into a convenience store or gas station anywhere, and not trip over the "gray machines." Now, at least you have to make an actual effort to actually see them by entering one of the slot parlors. There's no more machines now, than before. They just are in their own little buildings. And, you can't even actually SEE the actual machines, unless you specifically go looking for them. Somehow, he thinks this constitutes a "headache." He talks about how New Martinsville is putting a moratorium in place for new slot parlors. They don't want them to spring up in residential neighborhoods. Well, get some damn zoning laws you idiots. Hell, these businesses are (should) be paying B&O taxes to the cities, and at least employing a few people. And the cities are mad why exactly? Sounds like a lot of whining over revenue they wouldn't otherwise have. Hell, it's actually economic development, which we keep hearing politicos tout and trumpet. Now you actually HAVE some economic development, and they don't like the "kind" of ED they are getting. What a bunch of idiots.

And Hoppy mentions that many fraternals are being "hurt" by the local slot parlors. Being "hurt" how, exactly? These "fraternals" (like the Moose, Elks, etc) give money to the community, like money for new little league uniforms and stuff like that. But, if you look back over the fraternals' histories, you'll find they were HORRIBLY corrupt when it came to their bingo and raffle fundraising. Do a search on them in the newspapers from a couple years ago. By law, they are only permitted to keep up to 25% of the bingo and raffle proceeds. They are supposed to donate the other 75% to charities. Often, they just pocketed huge chunks of that 75%. In some cases, the amounts pocketed were in the realm of a million dollars or more. In fact, they were SO corrupt with their finances, the State Tax Department cracked down on these fraternals, and yanked some of their bingo and raffle licenses several years ago. It's all considered public knowledge, call the State Tax Department and see for yourselves if you don't believe me. The fraternals were flat out ABUSING their privelege to run charitable bingo and raffle games, and were pocketing the proceeds, instead of donating the proceeds to charity. And this doesn't even count the money they were taking in on their "gray machines" that they also stuck right in their pockets. So don't come and whine to us now about how the slot parlors are hurting your fundrasing and poor little Johnny's little league team will have to wear old uniforms this year. Their first priority has always been filling the fraternal's coffers. Not any sense of philanthropy.

Hoppy, get over the damn slot parlors. There's nothing wrong with the slot parlors. What could be more fair, from a tax standpoint? The only people who PAY the tax are the ones who PLAY the machines. The tax is TOTALLY voluntary. You don't want to pay the tax, don't play the machines. There is no fairer tax in the entire world, than sin taxes (booze, cigs, gambling, etc).

In conjunction with this gambling/slot thing, is another guy who needs to get a foot up his ass from us here at the Sweatbox. The Wetzel County Prosecutor, Tim Haught seems to think cashing checks, is considered extending credit. In his refusal to prosecute people who write bad checks to the slot parlors, he states that checks are credit, and therefore are prohibited by the slot machine regulations. What the hell? Didn't this idiot ever hear of negotiable instruments? Checks, properly indorsed, operate essentially as CASH, not credit, you jackass. How did this dumbshit even get out of law school, let alone pass the bar? If he wants to take a prosecutorial discretion stand and say "I know it's a crime, but I'm not going to prosecute" that's one thing, and hell, I'd at least give him credit for taking that stand. But to say he's got some legal justification to not recognize it as a crime, on the credit/check thing is just plain, flat out ignorance of the law. Someone should actually check and see if this Haught dumbass has an actual license to practice law.

Just who is State Senator Donna Boley?

2005-05-26T19:03:00.000-05:00

Ok, another issue I've recently had some reason to look into, is just who is State Senator Donna Boley? On another blog, I took issue with someone claiming Mrs. Boley was some sort of super senator. In fact, my exact words (before they were deleted by the blog administrator - in a cowardly act of censorship, the likes of which you won't see here) were that Mrs. Boley was quite possibly the DUMBEST member of the State Legislature. My opinion comes from actually dealing with Mrs. Boley on several occasions. So, let's look at her a bit closer at who she really is, shall we?

According to her bio, she's a "businessperson," and a "bookkeeper." And she went to a community college for one year. Not much of a resume. She didn't graduate from college. No listing of actual businesses she's run. Evidently, some people think that just being elected to the State Senate is conclusive evidence that someone is "smart." To those people, I say: Please. Go educate yourself. For the sake of the rest of us, please go learn something before you can do any more damage to society.

We know Senator Sprouse is an engineer, with a degree from Penn State, and owns a string of Curves outlets. Senator Mike Oliverio sells insurance, a graduate of West Virginia University and is in the army reserves. Boley doesn't list anything of the sort. Hell, does Boley even HAVE a job outside being a state senator?

Being elected to ANY office means exactly one thing, and one thing only. You got more votes than the other guy. Hell, there are some people who lose elections to candidates that are actually DEAD. And I mean "dead" as "in-the-ground/wormfood" dead. Ask John Ashcroft how that works. He'll tell you all about it. To assert that by simply being a state senator, you are somehow "smart" is absolutely one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. And, to assert that Mrs. Boley is somehow special because she was the only republican in the State Senate for a period of time, is equally a dumb comment. Hell, Boley's district is one of the few places where a republican has a shot of winning a senate seat. Pleasants County is much more republican than most other counties in West Virginia, and Wood County is almost split 50-50 on registered democrats and republicans, and votes quite conservatively. Both counties are in Boley's district. And Boley's district has been that way for quite some time. So let's just quit with the automatic imparting of intelligence to a republican who gets elected from that district. If she won from Mingo or Logan or Wyoming County as a Republican, then maybe we can talk about how smart she is. But in one of the best districts for republicans (if not THE best) in the state? Let's hold off with her Mensa application for a while.

And lastly, you have to also figure in who's actually voting for her. The same electorate who elected our current State Auditor, because his father was the preceding State Auditor, and just happened to have the same name. But the more telling thing is this. The same electorate elected his father, because he simply had the same name as the State Auditor who preceded him. And they weren't even related. They just both happened to have the same name, Glen Gainer. But in West Virginia, with our edjumacated electorate, that's all it takes to win an election, having the same name as the guy before you. So, let's not judge someone's intelligence on their ability to get elected. Hell, our current State Auditor was a tractor salesman before his dad decided to not seek re-election.

Is Robin Capehart using state work time to do his GOP duties?

2005-05-26T18:15:00.000-05:00

Ok, my last post on Rob(in) Capehart evidently ruffled some feathers (well, at least one). I have evidently offended some of his supporters with my comments in the previous post. One even referred to the whole post as "bullshit." So, I figured I'd poke around some more and see what I can find, in the way of just what exactly is going on with Robin.

Robin has been on the radio quite a bit this week after his election as the Chairman of the State GOP. He was on one of our favorite targets here at the Sweatbox, 58 Live on 580 WCHS radio on Monday afternoon. On that show, Robin remarked that he was teaching class all morning, from 9 to 12. As previously stated, Robin is a professor at Marshall University's College of Business, in their "Accounting and Legal Environment" Division. Robin talked with Agnello and Johnson about the goings on at the GOP Headquarters. Evidently the money crunch in the Party necessitated some cost cutting, so he had to let several full time employees at the party headquarters go and he stated so on the radio. No big deal in and of itself.

Then, the next day, Tuesday, Robin was on Hoppy Kercheval's show, Metronews' Talkline. Hoppy's show runs from 10AM to 12 noon. Robin called in around 10:30AM and was on the air approximately 15 minutes or so chatting it up with Hoppy. He basically covered the same ground he did on Agnello's show. He talked about having to let those employees go. He also said that a committee was being set up to oversee the current finances of the party, and this committee was going to be headed up by State Senator Donna Boley. These moves are nothing to be concerned about, and certainly aren't earth shattering. So you have to be saying to yourself, what's the point of this post, Bingmanch?

Well, the troubling thing about all this airtime for Robin is the timing of it. According to this website (scroll down to the second class listed) Robin should be teaching a summer school class at Marshall University from 10am through 12:15pm, Monday through Friday. Yet, he somehow managed to call Hoppy's show right in the middle of that class' scheduled meeting time, at around 10:30am on Tuesday. Now, how could someone who's under contract with the state, to teach a class Monday through Friday from 10am to 12:15pm, be teaching Federal Taxation, AND have the time to call a radio station and talk about being the GOP Party head? If a state worker uses a state cell phone for personal business, that's a no-no, as we have seen with the Nitro City Council stuff, and the Bill Charnock stuff lately in the newspapers. So why was Capehart using his scheduled work time as a state employee to call Hoppy and talk state GOP politics? Why was Robin using the time he's supposed to be in class teaching students and earning a state paycheck, as the same time to spend doing PR work for the state republican party? Why is the state paying him to teach from 10 to 12:15, if he's not teaching? Not to mention, teaching 10 to 12:15 (as he seems to be scheduled for), isn't "9 to 12" like he stated on Agnello's show on Monday.

Capehart appears to be playing fast and loose with his state work time.

Rob Capehart, he of the 80 hour work week.

2005-05-20T19:31:00.000-05:00

Ok, the GOP is gathering this weekend to pick their new state chief. Whoopee. Like we need more rah rah political bullshit in the state. Oh well, you have to play the hand you are dealt, I guess. Too bad you can't shoot the dealer.

Anyway, one of the front runners for the Party Chairman is this guy Rob Capehart. He used to be Tax and Revenue Secretary under Cecil Underwood. I actually heard him give several speeches out in the community when he was Tax Secretary. Too bad it was the same damn speech each time. He would start it off talking about how he'd fly into Seattle's airport and see the big Boeing plant there, huge building, that would generate a ton of tax revenue, especially property tax revenue. Then right across the street was a little building, that was Microsoft. Which made infintely more money than Boeing, but because of technology advances didn't pay anywhere near the taxes as Boeing. Blah blah blah. This schmuck couldn't even be bothered to write a new speech for his craptastic public speaking engagements.

Anyway he left when Cecil got the boot, and became a professor at Marshall, so says their faculty webpage. He also used to be called Robin Capehart, but I guess he decided the "in" part made him seem too, something or other, and now he's just "Rob." Whatever his name, he's still a pathetic hack. I'd like someone to explain to me how someone who's supposed to be a fulltime professor at Marshall University, has the time to be galavanting around the state running the Republican Party? I'd love to see how many hours this jackass really works at Marshall for his full time teaching gig, which you and I pay for. I mean, how much time could he have really spent teaching last year in January and February, if he was out campaigning for the Republican nomination for Governor? Were you and I paying his salary while he was out kissing babies? And now, if he becomes Party Chair, will he give up his full time state job? I think he should, otherwise one of those jobs is going to be done half-assed, and I bet it won't be the one where he gets to be front and center the next time Bush comes to town. No, the one that will get the half-assed treatment, will be the one you and I are paying him for.

Most college professors work hard, giving a 40 hour work week, in class, office hours, and other institutional duties like committee meetings and advising students. And they sure as hell don't get rich doing it. However, it's jackasses like Capehart that hardly do any work at the College, and suck a fulltime paycheck from the state along with PEIA coverage for their whole family, while they are off running their own business making real money or running for political office and playing party politics like Capehart is doing, that give college professors a bad name as lazy, overpaid muckety mucks.

And now, for something completely serious.

2005-05-19T22:01:00.000-05:00

I was watching the NBC Nightly News tonight. The lead story was some docs in South Korea had finally "cloned" a human embryo. I'm actually surprised it has taken this long after Dolly the sheep was cloned to reach this point. However, they did it only to harvest stem cells. Five days after implanting the egg with human dna, the stem cells are harvested, and the embryo is no longer viable. But you now have stem cells that may very well be the key to unlock the cures to countless medical conditions and diseases.

This story struck me as a seminal moment in human history. This could be the Sputnik of medicine. We now have the ability to exercise an enormous amount of power over our future. Diseases and conditions that were previously incurable, may very well be reduced to mere nuisances, if not outright eradicated. In short, the quality of life for humans, will only increase exponentially due to this technology. However, this seminal moment, occurred in South Korea. While the only legitimate superpower on the planet, the United States, has legislation that actually discourages this type of research. The bottom line is this breakthrough should have occurred here. We need to be on the cutting edge of this. Not some country that only exists because the US keeps its northern neighbor from overrunning it. Unfortunately, due to the freakish religious right, this type of scientific breakthrough is discouraged in the US, because of the pro-life movement. This is one of several issues in which I think our President has completely missed the boat.

However, all is not lost. The pharmaceutical industry rides in on its white horse and saves us. Part of the story, is that congress is not as reticent to deal with this issue, as was previously discussed a couple years ago when Bush pushed through his agenda to scale back stem cell research. Evidently, some very pro life congressmen, republicans even, are on board with opening up this type of research. Orrin Hatch was one who is now leading the charge to allow this type of research. Methinks the drug industry finally got to them and said "Hey man, we need to be in on this here in the us." Evidently there is a serious push to open up the US to this type of research. And even if Bush vetoes it, there may very well be enough support to override a veto.

And to the religious crazies who feel this is some sort of abortion or sin against god, get a grip. These embryos would have never existed if it weren’t for scientific research and the methods involved. If they want to argue that normal, created for procreation purposes embryos, should be protected from a religious/moral perspective, so be it. I don't agree with that, but I can see their point, and it has at least a basis in some sort of warped religious logic. But the petri dish embryos created solely for the purpose of stem cell research and harvesting. After only five days growth, I'm sorry, you don't have a life. You have a mass of cells that resemble NOTHING like a human embryo, except from a scientific definition perspective only.

I never thought I'd say this. Thank God for the pharmaceutical industry's greed and their influence on congress.

The airport, the air national guard, and economic development.

2005-05-12T18:36:00.000-05:00

Ok, before I go into my rant, let me just say, all things being equal, I'd hate to lose the air guard base at the airport. For no other reason, than it helps with the cleanup when the people who live along X Creek in the spring get flooded each year. If given the choice of it closing, and not closing, I'd obviously pick not closing it. But if it closes, I'm not going to lose any sleep, either.

That being said, let's look at the whole situation. We need to cut government costs, so closing some bases, would be a good idea. My personal prediction (and I could be wrong) is that the base will survive this round of cuts, and it will be a purely political decision. Bush would LOVE to stick it to Byrd. And what better way to do that, than to feign closing the base, and then let Arch-in-a-dress come in on a white horse and save the day for the base at the last minute. Bush will allow Arch-in-a-dress to take the credit, and thus allow her to use that against Byrd as she has now saved jobs. Whoopedo. Then again, I could be wrong about that.

However, let's look at how the local politicos have reacted. Danny "worker tax" Jones, Kent "I've never seen a microphone I didn't want to have sex with" Carper, the local legislators, etc. have all acted like chicken little. Holy crap, the sky must be falling if the base closes. We'll lose 1000 jobs!! Oh the horror. Whatever shall we do? [And good, old fashioned conservative loudmouth Agnello is again (surprise) against any kind of fiscal responsibility, when it comes to dollars doled out to HIS area or something he wants - that would be hypocrite example number 1,400,234 for Agnello for those of you keeping count.]

Here's a tip, kiddies. If the aforementioned political jackasses have been doing their jobs with regard to economic development, and jobs and young people were flooding into the state (God knows, we've thrown enough $$ at economic development) thanks to all the economic development projects that have been funded, we'd be able to more than compensate for the loss of those Air Guard jobs. In fact, if they have been doing their jobs correctly, the loss of 300 fulltime/1000 total jobs wouldn't even register as a blip on the radar screen. That is, if the aforementioned jackasses have been doing their jobs and got this State and region's economy on the fast track to prosperity. And remember those are job losses due to government cutbacks, NOT economic downturn. If Charlotte lost 300 air guard jobs, nobody would even notice. Hell, there'd be a rush to the pentagon from real estate tycoons to see if they could buy the base and turn it into office buildings and condos before the ink on Bush's closing order is even dry.

So, in closing, BUCK UP CAMPERS!!! Quit pouting, Danny. Keep your chin up, Kent. The new ballpark should provide enough economic development and new jobs to more than offset the loss of jobs at the Air Guard. That is, unless all your rhetoric about the economic benefits of the ballpark and other such economic development projects is all crap. In which case, I think it might be time to bust out the pitchforks and torches, and maybe a vat of tar or two and a couple bushels of feathers and have us a good ol' time.

Nick Casey claims the Greg Stowers indictment is politically motivated.

2005-05-09T21:03:00.000-05:00

Ok, I haven't really said much about the Greg Stowers indictment because, well, it's just too easy. It's like clubbing a baby seal. Sure I could do it, but does it really prove anything? I mean, would the outcome ever really be in doubt when I step off the icebreaker ship with my club just a few yards from the furry little guy?

Does it come as any surprise that there's vote buying going on in southern West Virginia? I know I'm not surprised. I'm actually more surprised the US Attorney's Office did something about it. But, I've got to give Kasey Warner credit for sticking his hand down in a big bucket of goo and not being squeamish about it.

On Hoppy's show today, I managed to hear Nick Casey, State Democratic Party hack on the radio talking about this. But before we get to Casey's line of crap, let's put it in its proper perspective. Papa Joe Cheerleader, was Secretary of State for the last four years. He's supposed to make sure the elections are square. Evidently, he was too busy campaigning for governor (his entire four year term as Sec. of State) , to make sure the rest of us, got a fair election. Evidently he was too busy signing up high schools seniors to vote, to watch the elections. Same with that old relic Ken Hechler. He was in that office for god knows how many years. And all this stuff with Stowers was going on the whole time, back to as early as 1990.

When asked for comment the other day on this mess, Papa Joe Cheerleader, was amazingly reticent. No outrage. No condemnations. No expression of disgust, or dismay that our political system may have been compromised for a few dollars or a few "swallers.". The ONE thing we pride ourselves on as a country is being free from the types of shennanigans witnessed in the Ukraine, or any number of other bannana republics around the world where democracy and fairness is just a pipe dream. WE are supposed to be the standard bearer. And yet, the system was compromised for swigs of liquor, or a couple of bucks per vote. Manchin should be DEMANDING retribution for this affront to one of the few things this country holds sacred. Yet, he was essentially silent. Where's the vim and vigor that he was going to change this State we heard during the election, and during the first couple months of his term? Sadly, it was non-existent. One would think, a "take charge" kind of guy like Manchin bills himself, would be out on the front line, demanding accountability, or at least someone's head on a platter. But instead, we got a mealey-mouthed soundbite from a Manchin flunky. (I wonder if the fact Manchin was on the "slate" in question, had anything to do with his surprising silence?)

Which leads us to Nick Casey's comments today on Hoppy's show. He did everything but answer the questions. If I were Hoppy, I'd have just shouted him down and told him he was a jackass right to his face (or whatever the applicable term would be for over the phone). Casey complained the investigation was politically motivated because US Attorney Kasey Warner is Monty and Kris' brother. Hoppy quickly pointed out that Booth Goodwin (of the Democrat Goodwins) also works in that office. Hoppy mentioned a couple of other non-republicans in that office, and Casey would have none of it. He tap danced. He denied, he deflected. He pointed fingers. He made accusations. He did everything short of telling Hoppy the indictment was actually just a conspiracy concocted by aliens and Scully and Mulder from the X Files.

To this DAY, none of the Democratic Party heads have accepted ANY fault. Even if they didn't know it was actually happening, they could have said, "It was on our watch, we messed up." It's not like the Justice Department is pulling stuff out of thin air. Logan Sheriff Big John Mendez plead guilty to vote buying. If he didn't do anything wrong, why plead guilty? Is Casey claiming those charges are also bogus and politically motivated? If so, he might want to clue in Mendez, because Mendez surely thinks he did something wrong. Casey needs to "cowboy up" and quit whining about politically motivated investigations. The Feds took down Arch Moore, and that was during a Republican's term in the White house.

Also, Casey (and a number of callers to Hoppy's show in the last few days) tried to deflect the issue to "well, the republicans did so and so.... why isn't anyone going after them." Casey couldn't get a sentence out without pointing out the Bush/Warner sign controversy and characterizing it as being some sort of captial offense, but couldn't bring himself to actually utter the words "If someone bought votes, they should be smacked." He'd just say "if someone did something wrong, they should be punished." But he went into excrutiating detail about the Bush/Warner signs every chance he got. Hell, if he was so bent about the signs, why not go whine to Manchin himself? Remember, Manchin was supposed to be ensuring clean elections as the Sec of State. Again, we are back to the fact that a) Manchin was asleep at the wheel, or b) he didn't want to draw attention to himself that his name was on the "slate." All in all, it was a pretty disgusting show of finger pointing and denial of the actual problem, from the State Democratic Party head. You could tell Hoppy was getting frustrated, but he let Casey continue with his nonsense. If I was Hoppy, I'd have taken about 2 minutes of his crap, then called him a pathetic piece of garbage, and then kicked him off my show and sentence him to about 6 months of no radio access to spew his crap.

Get a clue, Casey. Your party is struggling to hang on to the reins of power. Your continued obstinance on these types of issues, makes you look like greedy little punks, who throw temper tantrums, when you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar.

Hey, is that a dead horse over there? Gimme a stick........

2005-05-07T22:19:00.000-05:00

Ok, I was listening to the news on WSAZ Channel 3, and they were trumpeting Joanne Tomblin (wife of Earl Ray, and President of West Virginia Community and Technical College in Logan) getting a ceremonial degree from Marshall. Evidently she was there at commencment today or something. Anyway, that got me to thinking about her "situation" down there in Logan at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College. Anyone remember the hubub the Gazette and the Daily Mail created when she got the President's job at SWVCTC back in 1999? I ran her name through Yahoo, and also found this article, from the Chronicle of Higher Education (that's the bible for Higher Education issues in the US). For those too lazy to click the link, here's the highlights:

The state-college system's Board of Directors this fall voted 7 to 2 to hire Ms. Tomblin, who has a master's degree in journalism, over 39 other candidates, 37 of whom held doctorates. The board's chairman, Joseph C. Peters, voted against giving her the job, as did board member Harry C. Young, Jr.

They had supported another finalist, Ervin V. Griffin, vice-president of student affairs at West Virginia State College. Mr. Griffin holds a doctorate in community-college education and has 15 years' experience as an administrator and professor in the state's community colleges. Mr. Peters, the only African-American member of the board, says, "I believe there was racism in the board's action."

At the time, Ms. Earl-Ray only had a bachelors and masters in journalism/communications. And she miraculously managed to fend off 37 doctorate-holding candidates. Simply amazing.

But wait, there's more from the Chronicle. It gets better.

Board members who supported Ms. Tomblin, including Philip A. Reale, deny the accusations. Mr. Reale says he voted for her because she had the most-current experience in community-college education and because she "understood the people and the culture at Southern."

Ms. Tomblin prefers not to comment on whether nepotism and racism were factors. But she agrees with Mr. Reale that her familiarity with southern West Virginia gave her the edge. "The local community here absolutely supported me," she says, including the local branch of the N.A.A.C.P., which wrote the board early in the search to endorse her candidacy. The state chapter's president attributes that to "local loyalty."

"It takes people who come in from the outside a long time to understand the way people think and live here," Ms. Tomblin says.

Mr. Griffin, meanwhile, notes that he was born and raised in southern West Virginia, in a county bordering those the community college serves. Ms. Tomblin is a native of New York.

It's a good thing she didn't comment about the nepotism issue. That way she doesn't have to admit that it WAS nepotism that got her the job.

Yeah, they hired Joanne because she has a level of understanding about West Virginia that you can only get by being a native. Just like Jay Rockefeller.

With these kinds of shennanigans, is it really any wonder we're last in everything?

Indicted Lincoln County Clerk, hanging with the "www.cityofnitro.com" guys?

2005-05-07T22:03:00.000-05:00

This pic is from that "cityofnitro.com" website that apparently is run by someone other than the actual city of Nitro. Is it just me, or does the guy on the right bear a striking resemblance to indicted-for-buying-votes Lincoln County Clerk, Greg Stowers?

2005-05-07T22:01:00.000-05:00

Indicted Lincoln County Clerk, Greg Stowers....

In the immortal words of Maverick, "This is what I call a target rich environment."

2005-05-05T22:06:00.000-05:00

So much anger, so little bandwidth. As I usually post tome-like diatribes that try and stay on one topic, and usually bore most readers within inches of death, this will be a different experience. Sure, I could focus in on one of the below and crank out a normal Bing-sized entry, but there are just too many people who need to get bitch slapped that I don't want to leave anyone out. Oh, and this will probably be a bit more, ahem, "salty" of an entry because the nonsense I'm going to cover, I'm just soooooooooo fed up with and nothing can adequately convey the anger I have right now for this stuff without copious amounts of foul language. So you might want to put the kids to bed before venturing any further. This will definitely be rated "R."

We'll start with our illustrious Governor, Joe Manchin, aka Papa Joe Cheerleader. Fuck him. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. He signed into law the cell phone rip off bill, and he also signed the judicial pay raise bill. He comes in here, telling us how great he is, and how he's going to fix this state, and he's going to whip ass and square us up bigtime. And he says he wants to address the issue of state employee pay raises in a special session in the fall. Yet, he goes ahead, and signs a bill giving judges, family court judges, and magistrates nice big, fat raises, not to mention, raises to the elected officials at the state level like the governor, attorney general, etc. Some of which will get an extra 25,000 per year. WHAT THE FUCK??!! Either he wants to do pay raises in the fall or he doesn't. Either the State has the money to give raises NOW, or it DOESN'T. If they can find the money for these raises, they can sure as hell find money for the rest of the public employees. I just saw him on the news, saying, "This bill was flawed." Well why the fuck did this gutless piece of shit not veto it? That makes TWO "flawed" laws this jackass has signed. This one, and the ethics bill from the first special session of 2005. The ethics bill didn't get fixed (like he said it would - anyone remember that?), and I'll bet money the pay raise one isn't fixed either. He said he agrees they need higher judicial pay to get better people in those jobs. Does that mean the judges we have now are not competent? What a dumbass this clown is, just like his uncle A James was a complete buffoon. I was going to at least give this jackass' bond proposal a look see before I decided to vote yay or nay. Not now. I'm not even going to give it any thought. I'm voting no. Because we obviously have enough cash lying around for pay raises now, so we don't need any fucking more money. Nice job, Governor. You just saved me the time from reading your bond proposal and giving it any thought. Maybe he'll do something real stupid and get caught in some big scandal with coal payoffs or something, and we can have ourselves a nice old-fashioned lynching, like we did with Arch. That's about all this guy is good for now.

Who's next? Let's go with Danny Jones. Fuck him. This asshole hasn't done ANYTHING in his term, where he wasn't raising taxes or fees, or some other bullshit. Funny, a republican (smaller government, supposedly) like him should be against this kind of bullshit. Not Danny. He can't get his grubby little hands on enough dollars. He got his Hotel tax jammed through. Sure, it's going to stick it to out of state people, and won't hurt average West Virginians. This is bullshit for two reasons. One, the payoff was the cell phone bill that sticks a gun in the ribs of anyone who owns a cell phone. Thanks Dannyboy. The other is the hotel tax HAS to go to "promote tourism." This is bullshit. If Danny is jacking people for his little worker tax, to pave roads and hire cops, then they should be using the hotel tax for that stuff too. But nooooooooooo, the legislature won't allow that. But now Dannyboy will have a few extra dollars to stuff in the pockets of his buddies at the Charleston Visitors Bureau. I bet his flunkies get some nice big fat raises and they'll probably get to go to some really cool "trade shows" in such drab places like Florida or Hawaii. Nice job, Dannyboy. Your hotel motel tax costs every cell phone user in this state an extra 20 dollars a year.

Let's see, who's next..... Let's go with our favorite loudmouth idiot, Mike Agnello. Fuck him. Agnello went to DC last week on a PR trip for the military. I wish he'd go back to Washington DC. But this time, STAY THE FUCK THERE AND DON'T COME BACK, EVER. This supposed "conservative" (that is, until government money is going to stuff HE wants, like the ballpark, then he spends like drunken sailor) is also supportive of the judicial pay raise. He keeps on and on about how we need this raise for better judges, and he says if we'd just have given them a little raise each year, it wouldn't be such a shock. This asshole better come out publicly and say now "yeah, ALL state workers should get a 25% pay raise," because he sure is bending over backward to justify a raise for the judges. In wondering what could possibly be his agenda here, I can only come up with one thing. We all know from Agnello's biography he was some sort of bible banger with some Christian outreach type bullshit called "team thrust." I remember some time ago (a long time ago, actually), retired Judge John Hey (who has had his own very public dealings with impropriety) was on Agnello's show. Hey was advocating some sort of Christian type outreach thing he was now involved with in prisons or something. And Agnello seemed to think this was a wonderful idea. I'm wondering if that's Agnello's reason for being so unabashed for supporting these pay raises. Him and Hey are big Christian outreach guys. And remember, after all the crap Hey did, he DID get to keep his pension, a pension that will increase under this pay raise bill. There's got to be an angle Angello is working for this judicial pay raise, because he NEVER advocates spending ANY public money (like I said, unless its for something HE's got an interest in).

I'm sure glad these guys are looking out for our state. We need more help like this. Like we need a fucking hole in our head.

Danny Wells' idiocy. Take 2.

2005-04-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Danny Wells, a House of Delegates back bencher and local newspaper hack, comes back with MORE idiocy from the "ban boxing" line of thinking.

But before we get to the "ban boxing" angle, let's look at another example of his idiocy. He calls for reporters to get hot dogs in the press box at the new ballpark.

A telephone in the press box would help reporters covering the Power. And maybe a hot dog during the game since reporters don’t have time to stand in lines for food.

And then in the next sentence he calls for 5 inning baseball games.

I hereby come out in favor of raising basketball baskets a foot and putting a five-inning limit on all baseball games.

I wonder if he'd still want hotdogs in the pressbox then, or does he think the reporters could make it through five innings without starving to death?

Now, let's get back to the boxing issue. He refers to a story of 40+ years ago when some guy died from boxing injuries. He has to go back FORTY YEARS to try and make his point. The best part, is he even throws some of the blame on the referee for not stopping the fight in that case. Does he even WATCH boxing today? I'd assert that he does not. The referees today are ULTRA quick to stop fights, for the simple fact they don't want anyone getting seriously hurt. They are infintely more trained and professional than they were forty years ago. Did he see the Klitchco fight this weekend? The guy gets one punch square on the chin, goes down, pops right back up, and the ref STILL stopped the fight.

If he's truly concerned about saving lives, I wonder if he's got the balls to come out and advocate the banning of auto racing? I tried to find some comprehensive statistics on auto racing deaths, but couldn't really find any in a quick search. But I did find that from 1959 to 2001, 27 drivers died at Daytona International Speedway. That's one death every 1.5 years, at that one track, alone. People still die in that sport, and have for years. Methinks with his newfound "status" as a politician in West Virginia, Dannyboy doesn't have the guts to call for a ban on auto racing in his column.

But no, Dannyboy has to drag up stuff from forty years ago, to try and make his point about banning boxing. Danny writes "Save brains. Ban boxing."

I know of a better way to save brains. Don't read Danny's columns. I can actually feel my IQ being lowered with each word of his I read.

Democrats, Tom Friedman, and Tony Blair.....

2005-04-21T22:59:00.000-05:00

Ok, I said this blog would deal with West Virginia Politics, and inasmuch as Robert Byrd is part of the Democratic party in West Virginia, this is relevant in that regard.

One of the best columnists out there, in my opinion, is Tom Friedman of the NYTimes. Sure, you say the Times is the bastion of leftist commie propaganda. However, Friedman isn't your typical Maureen Dowd or Michele Malkin type columnist. He's not a party hack or blind political ideolouge on either side. Unlike most of the columnist hacks, collecting paychecks today, Friedman has earned his respect and has paid his dues through education (Masters from Oxford in Middle East Studies, and BA from Brandeis in Mediterranean studies), through work (he was Middle East bureau chief for the NYTimes in Jerusalem, and Beirut in the 80's) and through his writing (From Beirut to Jerusalem, is one of the best books I've ever read). He writes with substance AND flair, unlike most current hacks such as the two I mentioned above. Plus he stays within his area of expertise.

Friedman's newest column in the Times is excellent. He discusses Tony Blair's political situation in England and how the Democrats here in the US would do well to learn from Mr. Blair.

Indeed, I believe that history will rank Mr. Blair as one of the most important British prime ministers ever - both for what he has accomplished at home and for what he has dared to do abroad. There is much the U.S. Democratic Party could learn from Mr. Blair.

Friedman goes on how Blair stood up to basically everyone in England, mostly his own party and the public, who were none too supportive of his actions in Iraq.

First, you don't have to be a conservative to be a conviction politician. For years Mr. Blair was derided by the press as "Tony Blur" - a man of no fixed principles, all sizzle and no beef, who dressed up the Labor Party as "New Labor," like putting lipstick on a pig, but never really made the hard choices or changes. The reality is quite different.

In deciding to throw in Britain's lot with President Bush on the Iraq war, Mr. Blair not only defied the overwhelming antiwar sentiment of his own party, but public opinion in Britain generally. "Blair risked complete self-immolation on a principle," noted Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute, a pro-Democratic U.S. think tank.

And Friedman examines Blair's economic policies at home.

The other very real thing Mr. Blair has done is to get the Labor Party in Britain to firmly embrace the free market and globalization - sometimes kicking and screaming. He has reconfigured Labor politics around a set of policies designed to get the most out of globalization and privatization for British workers, while cushioning the harshest side effects, rather than trying to hold onto bankrupt Socialist ideas or wallowing in the knee-jerk antiglobalism of the reactionary left.

And lastly he comes to the US Democrat angle and how they could learn from Blair...

In sum, Tony Blair has redefined British liberalism. He has made liberalism about embracing, managing and cushioning globalization, about embracing and expanding freedom - through muscular diplomacy where possible and force where necessary - and about embracing fiscal discipline.

A long the way, he has deftly eviscerated the Conservatives, leaving them with only their most fringe policies - another reason American Democrats could learn a lot from him. Their own ambivalence toward globalization and the new New Deal our country needs to make more Americans educated and employable in a world without walls, and their own ambivalence toward muscular diplomacy, cost Democrats just enough votes in the American center to allow a mistake-prone Bush team to squeak by in 2004. So if Mr. Blair does win in the U.K., I sure hope that Democrats in the U.S. are taking notes.

The Demcocrats in the US have an uphill climb from where they currently are. They need to quit trying to show how "anti-republican" they are, and move back to the middle. Often, it seems their "anti-republican" stance on a given issue, is done for the sole fact that it IS anti-Repbulican, ergo, in their mind it must be the correct stance. Making Howard Dean Chairman of the Party, and having Moveon.org raise funds for Byrd, doesn't show they are the least bit inclined to move back to the middle, at least at the current time. If they can make it so the repubs are only pro lifers and bible banging, anti-fun guys, it will be a slam dunk for the Dems next time. But whether they can do that has yet to be seen. The signs, at this point, aren't encouraging.

Mike Agnello, Rick Johnson, "Hobby," and judicial pay raises.

2005-04-20T21:33:00.000-05:00

Ok, yesterday's entry about Johnson and Agnello was about half-serious. However, this entry is all serious. I said in my first entry ever on this blog, that the media in West Virginia has some serious problems with credibility. Talk radio shows, in my opinion, have a DUTY to at least be truthful about the information they disseminate to the listeners. Today, that credibility on 580WCHS 58 Live took a serious hit (I didn't know you could actually get any lower, but they outdid themselves today). In a perfect world, these types of shenanigans would get someone's ass fired from that show.

Mike Agnello and Rick Johnson began talking about the judicial pay raise bill. That bill gave raises to the judges, Supreme Court justices, and magistrates in West Virginia, some in the neighborhood of a 25%+ increase in pay. Currently, it's awaiting the Governor's signature. There is some talk that he may veto it. Hopefully, he will. In addition to raising all the above-mentioned parties' salaries, it would also give all retired judges (because their pension amount is directly tied to the CURRENT salary of sitting judges), an increase in their judicial pensions, to the tune of 75% of the increase in salary. Johnson, for once, was close to being correct; this bill is an insult to the average West Virginian. Johnson said an increase may be warranted, but not to the tune of 25%. Johnson said an increase of say 10% might be more appropriate.

There were two very interesting exchanges on today's show. First, in direct opposition to Johnson's position, was Agnello. For some reason, now Agnello has absolutely NO problem expending public money for these raises. And he bends over backward to try and justify his support of these raises. He rambles on to the effect that a 25% increase is not really that big of a deal, because the judges haven't had a raise in 7 years. And if you break it down, the actual increase would only be about 3.5% per year. He rationalizes it that if WE gave the judges just a small raise each year, then the 25% increase in this bill, wouldn't be such a "shock," because 7 times 3.5% is roughly 25%.

Now, this is the same guy, who complains AD NAUSEAM that public employees (but not judges, evidently) are paid too much, they are lazy, they get too many days off, they don't pay enough for their health insurance and on and on and on. He wouldn't support a public employee raise if the state coffers were overflowing. He'd argue that any kind of surplus like that should be given back to the taxpayers in the form of tax relief, not spent on public employee pay raises. Public employees sure as hell don't get a small 3% raise each year. And Agnello has never, and would never, support anything of sort, let alone with the vigor he supports this judicial pay raise bill.

If I remember correctly, public employees' last raise was about $1500. And that was spread out over a couple years, and that was a couple years ago (right after Wise took office, I think, was the last "bump"). I think the actual number that was kicked around was they got $750 a year for two years (or maybe it was three, and the total was a $2000 raise). If you get an extra 750 per year, that means you actually take home about 500 after taxes, and stretched over 24 paychecks, that’s an extra 20 spot per check. When your pay goes from $1000 per check, to $1020 per check, do you really notice any difference? That would be a two percent raise, for someone making $30,000 a year. A $750 raise per year, is a joke. And public employees sure as hell don't get one each year. It's as much an insult to an employee, as this judicial pay raise bill is to the taxpayers.

Yet, Agnello is adamant that judges deserve these 25% raises. Agnello argues that these judges work hard, and don't get paid much (though, they actually make 4x, or more, what the average West Virginian does), and they deserve a raise. And he harps on and on that West Virginia judicial pay is ranked 50th in the US. And he says you need to pay them well to keep attracting decent candidates for the jobs. This unabashed support for this judicial pay raise from someone who's taken the previous positions that Agnello has, can only lead to one conclusion. He has some sort of personal interest in seeing their pay increased. Someone he knows, or is close to, or is related to, has some sort of connection to the judicial system, and these pay raises would benefit them. It may even be as remote as his wife or neighbor or someone works as a secretary for a judge, and while it won't benefit her directly, it'll directly benefit her boss. But I'm betting Agnello has some sort of personal interest in seeing these raises pass. He doesn't take a stance clearly contrary to his stances on similar issues, unless he's got some angle. So, I'm saying Agnello has some sort of ulterior motive for supporting these pay raises. Bye bye credibility.

However, the second and more interesting exchange occurred around 5:30pm. A person called in (and I didn't hear the beginning of the call), and Johnson and Agnello referred to him as "Hobby" (as best as I could gather). I know the voice of this "Hobby" character. I know it instantly, because I've heard that voice in person many times. His name isn't "Hobby." They let "Hobby" talk for about 10 minutes, uninterrupted. Let me spell that out for you. U N I N T E R R U P T E D. "Hobby" went on and on about the virtues of this pay raise bill, and gave umpteen reasons why it's a good idea. He mentioned they are last in pay in the US (never mind the $80,000 they make can provide for a damn fine life in West Virginia - it's not like they have to live on Madison Avenue in New York City). He said that because attorneys give up the extra cash they can make in the private sector to be a judge, we have to pay them well. He also said "you don't want 28 year sitting judges." You want experienced attorneys to be judges, and therefore you are going to be shooting for an older demographic for judicial candidates. Therefore, you must offer the 75% retirement increase as an incentive for older attorneys to forgo making big bucks at the end of their career. Never mind, if you want experienced attorneys to be judges, just have the legislature pass a law requiring judicial candidates to have x years of experience as an attorney. There's no need to go through all the contortions of a pay raise to make that point. Just require experience as an attorney to be a judge.

Johnson and Agnello had mentioned a Supreme Court case about the retirement increase a couple of years ago, and "Hobby" quickly, and eloquently informed them that the case they were talking about dealt with the State Trooper's pension system, and not the judges, and he even quoted the holding of the case, as if he had some special, inside type knowledge of that case. After letting "Hobby" go on for ten minutes without Johnson or Agnello even making a peep, and letting "Hobby" give all his 500 reasons why judges in West Virginia need a pay raise, they both said "well, thanks, [strange little pause] Hobby." I could see Johnson and Agnello winking at each other as clearly as if I was right there in the studio with them. Because they both knew whom "Hobby" was all along. They knew as soon as he called the station, before he ever went on the air. They had been told off the air, that "Hobby" was none other than West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Larry Starcher [or Circuit Court Judge OC Spaulding]. And as a state politician, Johnson and Agnello gave him free reign for those 10 minutes. You'll find that they will allow politicians basically a blank check when it comes to airtime. Joe Blow everyday caller, however, gets about 1-2 minutes, tops, plus interruptions when Agnello feels he needs to run his mouth. But not with Hop, er, I mean, Larry [or OC]. He gets ten minutes to spew his bullshit, ANONYMOUSLY, without Agnello or Johnson making a peep.

I'm asserting that 58 Live put a Supreme Court Justice on the air, and knew exactly who he was, and let him expound on the merits of the judicial pay raise bill, under an assumed name. That way the listeners would think he's some sort of uninterested party, which just happens to support the pay raise bill. If the listeners knew the caller was an actual member of the judiciary, they might (gasp) think he was biased about the issue. So Agnello and Johnson hid that information from the public.

THAT is a breach of journalistic ethics. Just another reason Agnello and Johnson, are pathetic. Somebody there should get their FCC license yanked for this kind of crap.

It's no wonder West Virginians get stuck with idiots in political office. The media, who are supposed to INFORM them, are in bed with the politicians. Conflict of interests, and shady ethics are rampant. This place needs an enema. And it should start with 580WCHS.

EDIT: Subsquent to this post, I've had several emails from one individual concerning this matter. I won't dislcose the actual emails (as I'll keep all emails private), but I'll give a quick overview of their substance. We'll call the mystery emailer, Mr. L. Mr. L. asserts the caller wasn't Starcher, but another member of the judiciary (who would also personally benefit from the pay raise), sitting Putnam County Circuit Judge OC Spaulding. Mr. L states the radio station confirmed this over the phone when he inquired, subsequent to my original blog entry. My guess is the anonymous poster in the comment section is also Mr. L. I haven't independently verifed any of this, but that's what he claims.

Even if true, however, the point of post still stands. The radio station was purposefully and knowingly ambiguous in allowing a public official to make the comments he made, in the manner he made them, on an issue which would personally benefit said public official. WCHS was disingenuous at best, and outright dishonest at worst. In deference to Mr. L., I'll put his assertions into the above post. Even if what Mr. L asserts is true, the end of the post should read as such:

I'm asserting that 58 Live put a sitting Circuit Court Judge on the air, and knew exactly who he was, and let him expound on the merits of the judicial pay raise bill, under an assumed name. That way the listeners would think he's some sort of uninterested party, which just happens to support the pay raise bill. If the listeners knew the caller was an actual member of the judiciary, they might (gasp) think he was biased about the issue. So Agnello and Johnson hid that information from the public.

THAT is a breach of journalistic ethics. Just another reason Agnello and Johnson, are pathetic. Somebody there should get their FCC license yanked for this kind of crap.

It's no wonder West Virginians get stuck with idiots in political office. The media, who are supposed to INFORM them, are in bed with the politicians. Conflict of interests, and shady ethics are rampant. This place needs an enema. And it should start with 580WCHS.

Need more reasons to think Mike Agnello and Rick Johnson are idiots?

2005-04-19T22:22:00.000-05:00

In keeping with the Fifth Column's characterization of my penchant for making fun of the guy with the goofy swinger 'stache from 58 Live (Agnello), I just have to add this latest bit of ammo.

I meant to post this yesterday, and this has absolutely nothing to do with politics, but it just is another example of how Agnello is out of step with everything. He (and Johnson too), don't like the HBO show Deadwood. First of all, on Monday's show, Johnson incorrectly stated that the new season of Deadwood began Sunday night. Newsflash, Johnson, Deadwood's new season started about a month ago. They are already on like episode 4 or 5 this year. Maybe even 6, I forget. So, Johnson gets a big fat zero for that misinformation. Second, they said they don't "get" it. Evidently, it's over their heads. Evidently the rich characters and subtle plot twists and constant backstabbing and scheming by the characters are too much for their tiny little brains. Lastly, they attributed the fact that they use a few too many "dirty words" in it, as another reason it's not any good. Oh my!! No, we can't have any dirty words on TV. Another newsflash boys, they can use all the dirty words they want. It's not TV. It's HBO.

Ethics? We don't need no stinkin' ethics.

2005-04-19T00:49:00.000-05:00

Our state Ethics Commission needs a giant size dose of Viagra it's so impotent. I'm not knocking the Commission itself. I think Lew Brewer has done as good as job as he can do. The REAL problem (and anyone who follows West Virginia politics knows this) is that Lew and company can only do as much as the Legsilature allows them to do.

So, after a year when we had Bob Graham, Jerry Mezzatesta, and Mike Ross doing some pretty shady stuff (and, to Ross' credit, the Commission didn't find he did anything wrong - though I disagree, I can see their argument), the torches and pitchforks were getting ready to be utilized. And that's not even talking about the fine ethical tradition we have had in our government officials here in WV prior to last year (see, Arch Moore, Dan Tonkovich, Ed Rebrook, Randy Schoonover, and most of the Attorney Generals we had in the 70's and 80's).

Soooooooo, Papa Joe Cheerleader decides it's time for a serious ethics beatdown. He proposed a revamping of the ethics commission. During his first special session, he proposed new ethics legislation. It was watered down substantially in committee. Nobody in the legislature seems to know exactly who did the watering down, but it was in Jeffrey Kessler's Senate Judiciary Committee, so I'll just blame him - he's as culpable as anyone, if not more. He's even successfully evaded the question of specifically who did the altering several times in the media. He evaded it once on Hoppy's show, and if I remember correctly, another time or two on Agnello's 3 hour idiotfest. I could be wrong about this, and if anyone has any info to the contrary, by all means, shoot me an email, and if legit, I'll be more than happy to post the details and a correction.

Soooooooo, coming out of the special session, Papa Joe's Ethics Smackdown gets smacked down itself. Among other provisions that get jacked, is the Legislature institutes a gag order provision. Of course, this is a "sexy" issue, because it deals with something everyone understands, freedom of speech. So, there's a hue and cry that this is infringing on the 1st Amendment (and in ?Rhode Island? where the ethics bill is copied from, a similar gag order provision was indeed struck down as unconstitutional). The media gets all bent about this, as well they should.

However, they completely missed the point. The gag order is nothing but window dressing. The REAL coup on the Ethics bill is that the burden of proof is now raised to "beyond a reasonable doubt." Hell, the courts could fix the gag order provision if they want, so that is not the deal breaking problem that it's made out to be. The legislature didn't even need to deal with it during the regular session. They could just let the court fix it. The deal breaker is that the complaintant has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that the public official has committed the offense. The burden of proof now is the same as in criminal case. Do you honestly think, that ANYONE will be smacked down by the ethics commission now? If they have to weigh these cases to the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard, nobody will ever get hammered. I mean, unless Joe Legislator puts down in some letter "I am making this vote because I have a pecuniary interest in the outcome of this legislation" or "I'm voting for this person because he gave me campaign money," there's not going to be enough evidence to ever find an ethical violation. And while we've got some seriously dumbass legislators, I can't quite see them being THAT dumb as to reduce their outright corruption to writing for all to see. I guess the "appearance of impropriety" just disappeared for good. Unless you have Abscam/Marion Barry type video tape of some guy taking a bribe, or admitting to shenanigans, save your time and don't even file a complaint because it won't be successful.

Sure, the Ethics Commission got a nice bump in funding. But that's a smokescreen by the legislature that the extra dollars are going to equate to more scrutiny. When in fact, it's become infintely harder to file a successful ethics complaint against our public officials. Sure, the Commission has more investigative powers now, but the fact remains they now require iron clad, slam dunk cases against the scumbags, to drop the hammer on them. And the very nature of the beast with the Ethics Commission (the Randy Schoonovers, and Arch Moores of this world not withstanding - though Arch still believes he didn't do anything wrong - so take that for what it's worth), dictates you aren't going to have slam dunk iron clad cases against these scumbags. Hell, even Jerry Mezzatesta didn't plead guilty, and he flat out forged letters to cover his ass (among other things). So, you'll have to excuse me if this new, better funded, Ethics Commission doesn't exactly inspire me with an overabundance of confidence it will actually change anything. In fact, I fully expect the number of successful ethics complaints to actually drop.

Be careful what you ask for. You just might get it.

2005-04-17T23:34:00.000-05:00

This will not be WV politics related. But it caught my attention, and there's a certain amount of ironic justice at play.

While watching Sportscenter Sunday night (quite possibly, one of the greatest inventions of TV in its history), Jeremy Schapp did a story about Bobby Fischer (yeah, the chess guy). Schapp's father, Dick (an excellent sports reporter who died a couple years ago) had befriended Bobby when he was just a child chess prodigy in New York City. Schapp was sort of a father figure to him, because Bobby's dad had left when he was just a baby. Schapp took him to basketball games and stuff. He remarked that as long as Bobby was focused on a chess board, he was in his element. However, he was mentally unable to figure out how to ride the subway home.

Anyway, for those who are still reading (and more importantly, don't know the story), Fischer played a chess match against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik Iceland in the early 70's. This was a cold war sports story. US vs. USSR. All the big media was there. Fischer wins. US over the Soviets. Bobby's on the cover of Time, NYC has a "Bobby Fischer Day," etc. It's all a big deal. And Schapp is right there in the middle of it. He gets exclusive interviews first with Fischer, because of his relationship with him.

After a while, Fischer begins to withdraw from the world. He renounces his title as world chess champion. He begins living with a radical fundamentalist cult on the west coast. He starts making anti-semitic comments, and rails against the US for lots of percieved offenses. Schapp writes an article in 1984 and says he doesn't have a sane bone left in his body.

Fischer comes out of hiding in 1992 and plays Spassky in a 3 million dollar rematch in Sarajevo, against the UN sanctions against doing business in that country which was currently going through its civil war. Fischer wins again, but gets a nasty letter from the US saying "you are now subject to arrest for violating these sanctions." The IRS wants it's cut, too. So, Fischer becomes a vagabond, and simply travels the world, living in central Europe, and east asia, never returning to the US. He is eventually detained a year or so ago in Japan, trying to get on a plane to the Phillipines. They are going to extradite him to the us for tax violations stemming from his Sarajevo match under an extradition treaty with the US. Iceland, however, still regards Bobby as a hero (for, I guess, bringing the world media and probably millions of dollars to their rock in the ocean for the chess match 30+ years ago). They pass a law a couple weeks ago making Bobby an Icelandic citizen, and therefore, Japan can't extradite him to the US. Fischer rails against the US more, and says its all controlled by the Jews and other typical right wing nutjob rhetoric. They even play a clip of a radio interview he did right after 9/11, and he says stuff like "Good, the US got smacked. I hope it gets wiped off the face of the earth. Fuck the US. Fuckin' United States, they got what they deserved." Blah blah blah.

So, Japan lets him go to Iceland where they look at him as a God. Jeremy Schapp (who once met Fischer when he was only 3 years old, when Schapp's father held a party for Fischer) goes to Iceland to see Fischer and see what the deal is. Of course, there's like 200 other media types there also. The day after Fischer lands, he holds a press conference, and he keys right in on Jeremy Schapp. He remembers Schapp's dad. And says "That Jewish snake said some mean nasty things about me," (obviously, Schapp was jewish). He then goes on and on ranting about how the Jews control the US. Jeremy Schapp points out that Fischer himself is half jewish (his mother is) and Fischer essentially says he's denounced his jewishness. Fischer continues with his anti-US, anti-semitic, anti-Israel nonsense. He goes on and on with this stuff. Eventually Schapp has had enough, and just leaves.

So you ask, Bingmanch, where's this ironic justice you mentioned way back up at the top of the page? Fischer hates the US. He's a tax cheat, and an international scofflaw. The US wants to bring him to justice. Iceland sticks its nose in the issue, and puts a halt to that, doing Fischer a HUGE favor, giving him refuge from the mean, nasty, imperialistic US. Fischer ends up in Iceland and goes on his little anti-semitic rant. Now Iceland is looking at prosecuting him for his hate speech at that press conference right after he entered the country. Prosecuting him for stuff he probably could say with 100% freedom in the US thanks to our tradition of freedom of speech.

Like I said. Be careful what you ask for. You just may get it.

Senator Karen Facemyer, "I'm sorry, I don't know where I live!!!"

2005-04-14T22:34:00.000-05:00

Shame on you Karen. Got a nice little tax break there, didn't you, on jacking your mileage up over 50 miles one way? To the tune of the tax on roughly 100G's on income, as well as about 2G's of overstated mileage reimbursements. So, that's about (by my quick, conservative estimation) $30,000 you just shoved in your pocket (when you include the required changes to the her state income tax too). I especially like the part about how she acts like she didn't know any of this. She carefully states she didn't "intentionally" cheat anyone.

“Was there any intention on my part to cheat the state or the IRS? Absolutely not,” Facemyer said. “My CPA says I’m totally compliant with everything. He has no questions, no doubt.”

My money is on the fact her CPA sure as hell did know, and she probably took that deduction for living more than 50 miles away. If they truly didn't know about it, then they wouldn't have claimed it. You don't claim deductions and/or exemptions you don't know about. No claim of it, no problem. Only if they actually claimed it, will there be any question. And she sure is acting like they claimed it.

I love how these people are so smart that they can decide the fate of our state, tackle complex and brain busting issues like third party bad faith, joint and several liability, and the economic costs and benefits of casino gambling, but they act like they can't add 2 and 2 when it comes to their own taxes. And anytime anyone calls them on their bullshit, it's a witch hunt. Well boo freaking hoo.

If these bozos would just drop the hammer on jackasses like Bob Graham and Mezzatesta (check out this new link about Mezzatesta) and Harold Micheal and other similar ripoffs without the public having to resort to breaking out the torches and pitchforks, we'd probably cut them a break once in a while on stuff like this. But when they jerk us around during the session with crap like the crossbow nonsense I posted about the other day and the unborn victims of violence act, and then get caught playing fast and loose with their taxes, they don't deserve any benefit of the doubt. Oh, and they gutted the ethics act to a point that it's barely better than the impotent Ethics Commission we already have. I wonder why?

Oh well, at least she learned a lesson from Hank Marockie and didn't charge mileage from the Marriot to the Capitol.

Facemyer said that she isn’t reimbursed for driving to and from the Charleston Marriott each day during the legislative session — nor are other legislators. She said she also isn’t reimbursed when she meets with constituents.

How generous of her. Maybe she would like a cookie or something.

More gambling, less crime?

2005-04-14T22:12:00.000-05:00

So says the Police Chief of Parkersburg, Bob Newell. Funny, the hack mouthpieces Mike Agnello (and one of our new readers, Stephen Reed) like to tout as the "experts" such as John Kindt don't agree.

"With state-controlled gambling there is not as much gambling-related crime in Parkersburg or Wood County," Newell said.

Call me crazy, but I'm going to take the word of the actual cops over some out of state number cruncher paid by the bible bangers.

Welcome new readers!!!!

2005-04-11T19:56:00.000-05:00

If I got any new readers from the Fifth Column's brush with rarefied air in the Gazette this morning, welcome.

Take a while read through the posts, and by all means, throw in your .02 cents.

Hey Shirley, what Constitution do you read?

2005-04-11T00:38:00.000-05:00

Brilliant oratory from Senator Shirley Love (D-Fayette) during the final moments of the Legislature Saturday night.

Evidently, he lives in some other country, where "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and the use of a crossbow for disabled hunters are found in the First Amendment (so says Phil Kabler). Furthermore, this was in defense of his attempt to legalize crossbow hunting for "disabled hunters." Am I the only one who thinks this is just a totally stupid-assed idea? Not to mention, shouldn't one of the people who are charged with writing our laws, at least know that "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" isn't in the First Amendment, let alone the Constitution? It just goes to show you the sorry sad state of affairs that is the WV Legislature.

Look at the bill, SB575

All you have to do is basically get a doctor's note saying you are disabled.

First of all, and I know I'm probably going to get some heat for this but, I don't want disabled people hanging out in the woods with weapons, when I'm out there with my own. I'm sure they feel bad about being disabled and deprived of their ability to hunt. But, if you are too physically incapcitated to shoot a bow (including a compound one, which is amazingly easy to pull back), I'm sorry, but common sense dictates you don't need to be out tramping around in the woods with any weapon.

Second, is this the type of issue our legislature needs to be dealing with? Don't we have enough problems to worry about? I mean, if our economy was booming,and we weren't losing our best and brightest to other states, and our budget was overflowing, yeah, sure you can spend time on these issues. But now? It just doesn't seem like they have their priorities square. Then again, what's new?

Third, does anyone else see these "disabled hunters" getting the same "disabled" notes from their doc, that they do to get worker's comp? Again, if you are too hurt to work, you are way too hurt to be out in the woods, tramping up and down the sides of our mountains, or zipping up and down the side of the mountains on an ATV, with weapons, and lugging dead deer carcasses around. I've thought for quite a while that a good way to cut down on worker's comp fraud would be to cross reference the names of those who purchase of ATV's in this state, with people who are collecting worker's comp and put them at the top of the list to be investigated.

I'll be giving a more comprehensive wrap up of the session later this week. There are plenty of clowns from the last legislative session (both lobbyists, and legislators) who are going to be spending some penalty box time in the sweatbox.

Sgt. Schultz in West Virginia? I know nothing. I know nooooooooooothing.

2005-04-09T11:10:00.000-05:00

Jill Bentz, chief paid mouthpiece for the Insurance industry might just be the re-incarnation of John Banner, who played Sgt. Schultz on Hogan's Heroes. She sure does have that "I know nothing!!" routine down flat. In yesterday's Daily Mail, we get more deafening silence from the insurance industry on just exactly what the policyholders will be getting in return for giving up the right to sue with 3rd party bad faith lawsuits. I mentioned basically the same thing a couple of days ago when Bentz refused to answer the question on Hoppy's show.

Insurance lobbyists won't say whether the industry will abide by its pledge to knock up to $100 off every auto policy in West Virginia, but lawmakers say changes to Gov. Joe Manchin's proposal shouldn't torpedo the discounts.

Jill Bentz, president of the West Virginia Insurance Federation, declined to comment on the changes to the Senate bill, but said she had distributed copies of the amended legislation to her members. Other insurance lobbyists have referred requests for comment to Bentz.

Yeah, that inspires a ton of confidence in the industry reducing premiums.

Could Danny Jones possibly be a bigger crybaby?

2005-04-07T00:59:00.000-05:00

I think the answer would be a resounding "no." Today on 58 Live with Mike Agnello and Rick Johnson, he was crying like someone took away his favorite toy. He put on a crying exhibition that would make Tammy Faye Baker look like a rank amateur. He whined and cried about how "his" hotel tax bill (how and when it became "his" I have no idea - what a self involved jackass this clown is) wasn't getting enough attention from the House finance Committee. He whined and moaned about how the bill wasn't going to get passed (it later did get passed onto the House Floor on a voice vote around 5pm). Well boo freaking hoo. Why isn't it that I feel the least bit of sympathy for Danny Jones? Oh, that's right. It's because he's jacking everyone who works in Charleston with his little "worker tax" to the tune of a buck a week. So, he's going to get (if "his" bill passes) another couple hundred grand of hotel tax. Is he going to use that to pay off some of the city's debt? Evidently they need money to pave streets and do other stuff, because they passed the worker tax (I refuse to call it a "user fee" because more people than workers "use" the city's streets, fire, and police protection, but only workers have to pay it, so it's a "worker tax") about 2 days after he took office. Is the hotel tax revenue going to help offset some of those expenses? Nooooo, Danny has other plans for that new revenue source. He's going to use it to help fund the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Remember, the CVB was the organization that he pulled a little power grab on a couple months ago. He's going to use this hotel tax revenue to help "promote Charleston." Bullshit. He's going to use that money to give the political hack flunkies he now appoints to the CVB, big fat raises. Oh, they'll probably go to a couple tourism trade shows too. Probably in such dreary locales as Las Vegas, or Florida, or maybe even Hawaii. Yeah, they'll spend some of that hotel tax revenue there "promoting" Charleston.

He even went on a little crying pithy rant about how we'd have a "better ballpark" if it wasn't for (and this a quote) "that lawyer who jumped off a bridge" filing the lawsuit challenging the economic grant money (that was ruled unconstitutionally granted, in its original form - evidently the suit had merit). Well Danny, you sure are one insensitive asshole. The guy's name was Larry Harless. And while I'll be the first to disagree with a lot of what Harless did, that doesn't give Jones free rein to be a jackass about his committing suicide with such a dismissive remark. Funny, when anyone ever challenges anything Charleston does in court (like the worker tax, or the grant money, or the video lottery place), Danny cries about it on the radio ad nauseam. He cries like nobody should ever question anything he wants to do. Anyone who files a lawsuit against anything on his agenda, is just needlessly clogging up the court, and wasting his valuable time.

Well, excuse us peons, master Jones. Sorry if we want to make sure scumbag politicians like yourself are spending our money on the up and up. Maybe we should just not have asked Jerry Mezzatesta or Mike Ross or Harold Micheal, or Arch Moore, or A James Manchin, or Ed Rebrook, or Dan Tonkovich, or Randy Schoonover, or the LeRose brothers or any number of other hotshot West Virginia politicians any questions. Obviously they, like Danny, know what's best for the rest of us poor schmucks and are above reproach. This arrogant, petulant attitude of Jones' was also on display when he questioned Mark Sadd's potential appointment to the Federal bench. Jones' dislike of Sadd comes from the fact Sadd doesn't toe Jones' line in City Council. Sadd opposed Jones' worker fee. And Jones kept hammering Sadd in the media with stuff like "Well, there's a lot I won't go into, but just trust me, Sadd is a bad choice for that job." Trust him? Trust Danny Jones? What a bunch of bullshit.

He even went so far as to blame the Gazette's reporting on Harold Micheal's latest pork funneling to Hardy County as a reason the hotel bill didn't move in the House Finance committee at first. This guy is a piece of work. He then went on to DEFEND what Micheal did as just "how the system works" as if that validates it somehow. Sure, funneling millions of state dollars to little tiny Hardy County to buy new band uniforms and other such nonsense way in excess of the amounts other counties got is how the system is supposed to work. More bullshit from Jones.

Look, I could give a shit less about the hotel tax. I don't stay in hotels in West Virginia that often, and when I do, it's a business expense, so the extra tax isn't coming out of my pocket. In fact, the tax will hit out of staters and businessmen, not everyday West Virginians. So all things considered, it sounds like a good idea. But if its failure pisses Jones off, then I'm all for killing that bill.

For crying out loud, Danny, could you possibly whine anymore? Here, put some of this on your obviously sore pussy and just shut the hell up.

Did I say we'd lower insurance premiums? Nooooooo, I didn't say we'd lower insurance premiums!!

2005-04-03T02:55:00.000-05:00

One of the truly hilarious prank phone calls that you can find on the internet, is commonly referred to as the "Mark Knopfler" or "Amanda White" prank phone call. It's actually several years old, I remember hearing it on a cassette tape back in college, well before the internet. In the call, this guy calls a girl's phone number and asks for Amanda White. Another guy answers, and the caller identifies himself as "Mark Knopfler." [Knopfler is a member of the band Dire Straits] The caller then continues, "Well, Amanda told me whenever I was in town, to giver her a call, and maybe we could go out and have a few drinks. So I'm just calling to see what's up and if maybe we can get together." The guy who answered sounds incredulous, and says "You mean Amanda?" The caller then repeats himself, "Yeah, I said Amanda. You know, pretty hot girl, likes to party?" The guy who answered, begins to sound even more incredulous to the whole thing. This type of exchange goes on for a couple more seconds. Eventually, the guy who answered says "Hey man, Amanda is my wife. What the hell are you talking about?" The caller then says "Your wife?" The answer guy says "Yeah, my wife." The caller then kind of hesitates and says "Did I say 'Amanda?' Nooooooo, I didn't say 'Amanda'."

That's what the Insurance lobby said yesterday according to the Gazette. After all the hoopla we've heard for the last 3 months from Papa Joe Cheerleader about how the removal of 3rd party bad faith lawsuits will lower West Virginian's insurance rates, the insurance industry finally said "Did we say we would lower premiums? Nooooo, we didn't say lower premiums." After the week-long "Oh shit!" uttered by the Governor when a FOIA was granted on the emails between Insurance Comissioner Cline, and Papa Joe's #1 flunky, Brian Kastick (son in law of former Democratic Party Chair, Chuck Smith, anyone want to hazard a guess how he got his cushy government job), the Governor finally relented and lookee at what we found. The insurance industry evidently represented they'd lower premiums by 50 million dollars if 3rd party bad faith suits were outlawed, and their ability to drop coverages were increased, and they got some reduced liability in cases with multiple defendants in these emails. But now that they are public, the industry is backpedalling faster than PacMan Jones at the NFL combine. As the Fifth Column stated the "denial" (if you can call it that) from Dustin Foster from the Insurance Commission looks like he's trying to hide about nine elephants in the room. Foster basically said "Did they say they were going to lower rates? Noooooooo, they didn't say they'd lower premiums." Well then, what the fuck have we been hearing for the last 3 months? To be fair, the whole rate reduction stuff in the emails was conditional on the 3rd party bad faith stuff passed straight from the Senate's version of the bill. Half measures or any compromises in the house, and the whole deal (according to the insurance companies) is off. Funny, Papa Joe Cheerleader has failed to mention any of this for the past three months when constantly telling us how much cash is going to end up back in policyholder's pockets.

Earlier this week (around Wednesday or so), Hoppy Kercheval had Jill Bentz on his show. She's an insurance lobbyist (and a real pain the ass to deal with, I know this personally) and the president of some insurance trade group. She works for the law firm called Spilman Thomas, a big insurance defense firm, go figure. Anyway, she was on there, and Hoppy flat out asked her something to the effect, "How much will rates come down if you get 3rd party bad faith suits outlawed?" Her answer "I trust the Governor to get this done." What the hell does that mean? Does that mean if we get 3rd party suits outlawed, and my premium doesn't drop, I can sue Papa Joe Cheerleader for the non-reduction? Somehow, I'm guessing my answer is "no."

Now that they've gotten caught with their pants down on this "offer" it will interesting to see what happens with this issue. I also like the timing of Papa Joe Cheerleader's release of the information. Friday afternoon. That way nobody can really talk about it until Monday morning. Pathetic cowards.

More Micheal Agnello idiocy, this time on the National Sales Tax..

2005-03-31T02:58:00.000-05:00

Ok, like I stated in another post, I'm not sure what offense as a State we committed in a former life to be saddled with Agnello for punishment, but this guy just won't stop the idiocy that comes out of his mouth.

Today, amid his normal 3 hour sermon on how Terri Schiavo should be kept alive, he managed to go off on a couple tangents. One of which, was this "National Value Added Tax.," (that's a fancy name for what you and I call a Sales Tax). Agnello thinks this National Sales Tax is a great idea. He says Greenspan is on board with it, and he's even had a couple kooks from Fairtax.org come on 58 Live and do their best carny barker impression on how great their idea is. Hoppy had a guy on his show some time ago from Fairtax.org too.

Ok, here's the deal on this national sales tax. It's a joke. Complete joke. 100% joke. What the advocates of it DON'T tell you, is they are FLAT OUT LYING about the amount. The whole gist of it is this. Its advocates say a ~23% sales tax added to ALL purchases, will generate enough income for the feds, to do away with income tax. Personal and corporate. Therefore, you can do away with the irs, too. Sounds great, huh? Especially, when you look at your w2 and say, "Well hell, Bingmanch, the Feds already take out roughly 28% of my check, so that sounds like a savings of 5%. Sign me up!!!"

Not so fast, grasshopper. What Agnello and his fairtax.org idiot buddies don't tell you is this. It's NOT roughly 23%. For this to do what they CLAIM (ie, no more income tax, FOR ANYONE), it would have to be roughly 30-35%. See, their 23% comes from AFTER tax dollars. Which, incidentally, NOBODY uses to calculate a SALES tax. Here's an example of their "gorilla math" (props out to Worm - if anyone gets that reference, email me).

They say the National sales tax is ~23% [note: they'll never give you an exact number, but they'll say "around 23 to 25%"]

Widget cost 100 bucks in the store.

Tack on 35 bucks tax (remember, I said it was really more like 30-35%?). Now it costs 135. Divide the 35 bucks tax, by the total price. 35/135 = .259 = 25.9%. That's how they get the ~23% number.

Now, you, me, and every other human on the planet in that scenario would say the tax is 35%. But not if you use "their" after tax dollars computation. The 23-25% number they spew, is basically a lie. That untruthfullness right there, on such an integral part of their "plan" should be enough to deter you from giving any of the National Sales Tax bullshit any credibility. You, me, and every other consumer is not only going to make up what was OUR share of the income tax, we are ALSO going to be making up the share of income tax that PREVIOUSLY was paid by corporations. No thanks. With friends like this, who needs enemies?

Not to mention, like all sales taxes, exemptions will start to creep in. For preferred and well-greased lobbying groups, getting an exemption from the national sales tax on their widgets (widget A), will be prime goal #1. And then the rest of the non-widget A buying public will have to shoulder that burden too when they buy their other widgets (widgets B through whatever) to make up for the lost revenue from no tax on widget A. Once exemptions start to creep in, the whole system is thrown out of whack, and the burden gets shifted unequally to certain taxpayers who don't buy the exempted items.

But, boneheads like Agnello and company are just sooooooooooo enamored with how this would be a much more "fair" way to tax people, and get rid of that nasty, scuzzy, IRS. Yet, Agnello is also against gambling and table games, which, is the MOST fair tax in the entire history of mankind. If you don't want to support the gambling tax revenue by playing the slots or the table games, don't play. There's NOTHING more fair, than "sin" taxes. Booze, cigs, gambling, stuff like that, ONLY taxes those who partake of such activities, and if you don't partake, you don't pay the tax. What on earth could BE more fair? Yet Agnello is adamantly opposed to it. Just another instance of the idiocy that is Micheal Agnello. He wouldn't know "fair" if it was hiding in that cheeseball mustache of his.

Also, while everyone would want to do away with income tax, and the irs, just think about it for a moment. If you get rid of the income tax, you also reduce the federal government's ability to influence the economy with the tax code. For instance, if the feds want people to buy homes (as opposed to rent), they give an interest deduction on your income tax for mortgage payments. People buying homes is generally a good thing in society. Ownership drives our economy and way of life. Another area is, if the government wants you to save money (because maybe inflation is creeping up), they'll lower the tax rate on interest income. That gives you an incentive to save money. If they want you to spend, because the economy is slowing, they can raise the tax rate on interest income and give you a reason to NOT save. This kind of macro-manipulation of the economy is necessary at the federal level, to make sure the economy doesn't get out of control, one direction or the other. Pass a national sales tax and kill the income tax, and you remove the ability to impose those incentives.

Still not enough to convince you? You say, "Bingmanch, are there even MORE reasons the national sales tax is a dumbass idea?" Well, funny you should ask that, grasshopper, because YES, there ARE more reasons. For instance, most states have an income tax, that's based off the federal income tax (like how they tell you to do your Federal Income Tax before you do your West Virgina Income Tax). So, do away with the federal income tax, you now have no way to generate your STATE income tax. Sure, each individual state could go back and rewrite all of THEIR laws to implement it without a national income tax, but how much is that going to cost each state? Are the feds now going to give each state an appropriation to cover the costs of switching over? My bet is no. But thanks for the added cost to my state government, Fairtax.org!! Also, how is the national sales tax going to be administered? Remember, no IRS anymore, so evidently, the feds aren't going to be administering it. Are they going to now pay the states even MORE money to cover the cost of hiring additional workers to keep track of national sales tax generated in State x? Again, my bet is no. My favorite example is those states that don't currently have a sales tax. They won't even be somewhat ready to pick up the added administration. They aren't auditing anyone now for sales tax in those states, but they'll have to start. Again, don't hold your breath for federal money to implement this. Gee, if an individual state needs to raise revenue, they'll probably just raise your state sales tax 1% or tack on some more tax to your gasoline or something. Yeah, I know. Me too. I can't wait for that either.

How about even MORE reasons? I'll just give you one final reason. To implement a national sales tax, and do away with the income tax, would cause such a ripple effect on the state levels, the actual sales tax rate, to bring in the same amount of revenue as the income tax, would have to actually be around 45-50%. Yes, I said 50%. The costs of whatever you buy, would go up roughly 50%, for the tax to cover everything the fairtax.org boneheads (and Agnello) say it will, and replace the state income tax revenue lost to not having a federal income tax (that includes the lost income tax revenue to the states). But hey, if you think I'm nuts and way off base here, call the State Tax Department, and ask them yourself. I'm sure they can put you in touch with someone who'll validate what I'm saying. Their 23% just will not do what they say it will. If you don't want to call the Tax Department, just go find an accountant or some other kind of tax professional, and ask them. This idea of a national sales tax is not something new. It's been kicked around for years. And consequently, anyone who's in the know (and not some bonehead shill for some bullshit org like Fairtax) about taxes will tell you just what I did.

Don't get me wrong. I'd LOVE to not have to pay income tax. Hell, I'd love to not have to pay ANY tax. As I'm sure most of you would too. But I also don't want to be footing the tax bill to the tune of 50% on the widgets I buy.

But people like Agnello, eat this crap up, and spew it over the airwaves daily, brainwashing God only knows how many poor uniformed Mountaineers who don't have the time to figure this stuff out for themselves. That's why I'm here.

Just a quick note about the Mounties....

2005-03-22T03:26:00.000-05:00

NYTimes picks them over Texas Tech in today's edition.

No. 6 Texas Tech vs. No. 7 WEST VIRGINIA

Do the Mountaineers have any more magic left? They should. Look for W.V.U., with its intricate offense, to backdoor into the final eight.

=========

If they do manage to win, there may not be enough couches on the east coast to satisfy demand. And may God help the Morgantown Fire Department.

Good luck Mounties.

Some words about Terry Schiavo, pro-lifers, and other similar nonsense.

2005-03-21T23:25:00.000-05:00

Ok, now that Congress has stuck its nose in the Terry Schiavo thing, I feel compelled to address the issue. This won't affect West Virginia per se, but it's a big enough issue I feel compelled to comment. Hopefully this will be my last blog on this particular issue, as I feel its relevance to West Virginia is tangential at best.

Ok, I've ranted before against the pro-lifers (basically the same crowd who are demanding Terry be kept alive) before on here. Listen up. Here's the deal on abortion and pro life stuff. This is all you need to know. You can comfortably disregard every other shred of information you've ever heard, or ever will hear, on this ridiculous issue, if you just take heed of the following primer.

First, abortion is legal. The United States Supreme Court has said so. Get over it. They aren't going to overturn Roe v. Wade. It's just not going to happen. And anyone who thinks it is, is an idiot at best, and a dangerously stupid individual at worst and probably should be locked up for their own safety as well as the safety of society at large.

Second, both sides of this issue, are idiots. Pro lifers want life to begin at conception, and anything else is unacceptable. They'll try every backhanded, devious, back door, seemingly innocent way to weasel their agenda in any kind of legislation they can. See our own unborn victims act, the previously mentioned Laci Peterson bill here in WV. Pro-choicers want to be able to abort fully viable, to term, fetuses as they are being pushed through the birth canal. Everything else, is unacceptable. And likewise, they'll try every trick in the book to push their agenda in legislation.

So you say, "Bingmanch, then what is the answer?" Well grasshopper, here's the answer. MODERATION. The Supreme Court drew a line. A nice, big, fat, visible, easily distinguishable line as to what's legal, and what's not. Neither side is happy with the line. And that's a good thing. But the sides are so damn blinded by their idiotic ideology, they can't see the forest for the trees. And consequently, we are subjected to propaganda from both sides ad nauseum. I see absolutely NO problem with the status quo. Each side gets PART of their agenda. The pro lifers get no partial birth abortions and third trimester abortions are severely limited, and the pro choicers get to have abortions up to the 2nd trimester. Compromise should be the name of the game, not ideological bickering. I just wish they'd both shut the hell up. Of course, as long as one side is going to be strident in their opposition to any concessions and demands total obliteration of the other side, the other side must do so as well, to balance the issue. So we are back at square one, stuck with two petulant screaming kids, and the inability to beat their asses to get them to shut the hell up. But the main point is, the compromise we have now, is the best possible one to give EACH side a fairly equal part of the pie. So, let's get on with other more important business as a country, mmmmmmmmkay?

All that said, today on 58 Live, Agnello (does that word mean "annoying" in Italian?) had some shrill huckster from the WVFL (West Virginians for Life). Evidently, they put their pro life flyers on some cars at a church somewhere back around the election. Evidently, according to this shrew from WVFL, they only put those flyers on "pro life" churches. Well, one church they put them on, wasn't pro life and was ministered by the wife of a House of Delegates candidate. The flyer had a "don't vote for Tom Campbell" directive on it because Campbell had a 73% pro choice voting record. Campbell is the candidate in question. The Gazette covered this.

This WVFL hack, and her gushing compatriot Agnello were on the radio this evening spouting off their "position." According to Agnello, putting flyers on cars, is OK, because (get this) it's done in the parking lot, not in the actual church. Well, I guess Agnello would have no problem with people coming down to the WCHS 580 parking lot and putting flyers on everyone's cars that said Agnello is a loudmouth hypocrite? What a tool this guy is.

But the shrew was unapologetic, unaccepting of any blame that their "process" for figuring out which churches are pro life or not, screwed up. No, she said "oh, we didn't do that. That must have been some 'local' members who did that on their own." What the hell? Just say "We made a mistake." Don't pawn it off on some "locals" and disavow your own responsibility. That's the same type of nonsense that made Mark Mcgwire look like a jackass last week. He wouldn't admit to his mistake. Own up to your subordinates crap, and at least you get points for being a stand up organization, as opposed to some cheapass, pass the buck type crew who never does anything wrong (even though the facts clearly show you did).

So, the abortion rant over, back to Terry Schiavo. The problem here is, the repubs are sticking their nose in a states' rights issue. Funny, the repubs are constantly busting the feds for sticking their noses into too many areas such as, "screw the Federal Department of Education, local school boards knows what's best," and other such things.

But when it comes to the pro life issue, they can't get their nose in the states' business fast enough. This case was heard by umpteen judges over fifteen years, and the conclusion was, let this poor lady go in peace.

What's next? If I die without a will, is the federal government going to step in and assert themselves as the final arbitrars of what's the proper distribution of my estate over the past rulings of the West Virginia Supreme Court? If not (and I don't *think* they would), then they don't need to be sticking their nose in this issue. Make no mistake, this move by Congress was PURE politics. Hell, some of those guys are so dumb, they'd probably never heard of Terry Shciavo until their toadies mentioned it to them over the weekend.

Lastly, I don't want to hear any "oh but those guys on death row get a federal appeal." That analogy is so stupid, it's almost beyond belief. Uh, the defendants on death row don't WANT to die. According to umpteen judges and 15 years worth of litigation, the State Courts of Florida, determined that Terry WANTS to die. Give her her wish. Also, Agnello showed his ignorance with this issue too, in that he claimed "well, there must be reasonable doubt as to her wishes." Uh, wrong again, Mr. Annoyingici. Reasonable doubt is a criminal standard. Civil standards of proof are preponderance of the evidence, and (most likely in this case) clear and convincing. So Mikey, go back to watching your Matlock reruns or wherever you get your legal information.

House Passes Laci Peterson Bill! I'll sleep SO much better tonight.

2005-03-17T00:40:00.000-05:00

As I reported earlier, the unborn victims of violence bill (ie, Laci Peterson Bill), had serious legs in West Virginia. Because most of the Legislators are too cowardly to stand up to the pro-lifers, the House overwhelmingly passed the Laci Peterson Bill today. Papa Joe has already indicated he'd sign it. He got the backing of the pro-lifers for the election (that shows how pathetic a politician Republican Monty Warner really is), so now it's payback time. Maybe Papa Joe will double cross them and not sign it, but I'm not betting on it.

Well, at least now criminals will get a second life without mercy prison sentence, in case the first life in prison without the possibility of parole, doesn't kill them. They can now die twice in case they somehow manage to live through their first death in prison.

Our budget sucks. The State never has enough money to provide services, but has more than enough to pay political lackeys and other assorted scumbags exorbitant state salaries. Companies are moving out of West Virginia at a record pace. West Virginia is experiencing brain drain like no other State. Our median age is the 3rd highest in the nation. We have entire families in southern West Virginia receiving permanent total disability from Worker's Comp (but they can amazingly all still run their ATV's up an 80% cliff to go "four wheelin'"). We've got every little tinpot dictator in the State like Danny Jones and David Felinton zapping people who work in their cities with this illegal user fee bullshit (props to the Finance Committee of S. Charleston for telling Richie Robb to stick his user fee idea up his ass - and then Robb acts like it was a crappy idea to begin with. Richie, do us all a favor and just shut the hell up.). We've got the insurance industry getting ready to rape (yes, I said rape) the average West Virginian with the elimination of third party bad faith suits (you try and get a fast, fair settlement in a wreck if 3rd party bad faith suits get killed, and you'll be waiting a helluva long time). We've got the racetracks facing serious competition from the surrounding States, and willing to put another 2000 jobs in West Virginia for table games at the four tracks, if only the legislature will pass the table games bill. We've got an ethics bill that is a complete joke, even after the Mezzatesta and Ross shenanigans (sure, Ross got his little decision in his favor, but that thing still stinks like a whorehouse at low tide).

No, we our legisature can't fix any of those things, but by God, we have a Laci Peterson Bill that will be the envy of the entire world.

As they say on the Guinness commercials, BRILLIANT!!! (In case you missed it, that was sarcasm).

Could someone tell me how the hell these idiots got elected again? I know I sure as hell didn't vote for them.

Rick Johnson and Michael Agnello. A punishment from God.

2005-03-15T00:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, I stated this blog would do some commenting on how the local media in West Virginia is covering topics, because some of their bias is just short of blinding. Today, I'd like to introduce you to two of the biggest idiots on the West Virginia Media stage. Rick Johnson, and Michael Agnello, of 58Live, the local afternoon talk radio show on 580 AM WCHS in Charleston. Welcome to the sweatbox, boys. It's going to get real hot, real fast in here.

To be fair, Johnson seems to be the milquetoast half of this less-than-dynamic duo. He usually just whines. No real substance behind his arguments, just whining. From a debate and/or argument perspective, he's harmless. Agnello, on the other hand, is a self-righteous obnoxious loudmouth right wing nutjob (remember, I said I'd go after nutjobs on either side with equal ferocity). As a loudmouth, Agnello is usually as wrong, as he is loud. Johnson is a native Mountaineer. Agnello, however, is a "fer'ner." He's from Chicago, and it only takes about 2 seconds of listening to his accent to figure that out.

A quick perusal of the bio's listed above, shows that Agnello's claim to fame is he worked with Team Thrust for Nations. A quick internet search for Team Thrust shows what it is: an evangelical outreach group. There you have it. Agnello is a certified bible banger. And as such, he'll be treated with the respect that group deserves, which is slightly less than zero. Agnello also likes to also tell everyone how he's a "Certified Senior Advisor," and how he served on Manchin's transition team for "senior issues." In short, Agnello never passes up a chance to tell everyone how great he is. When in fact, being a "certified senior advisor" really means, "I attended (and paid for) a seminar," (see this link). It doesn't take much beyond a check for the right amount to be a "certified senior advisor." And it didn't take much to be on Papa Joe's transition team, either. You simply signed yourself up. So Mikey, don't strain your arm patting yourself on the back. It's also quite evident by listening to Mikey that he's either a) still in the insurance industry, or b) was at one time. So you figure where he's going to stand on issues like tort reform. It's not hard, if you give it about 1.2 seconds of thought.

One of the big issues these two guys really harp on is gambling. They are opposed to it. They don't even TRY and be objective. Agnello will quickly launch into how bad gambling is, and how it destroys lives and quickly bring up John Kindt, a paid number cruncher by the bible banging anti-gambling lobby who's done "studies" about how bad gambling is (studies funded by anti-gambling groups). Let's face it. West Virginia needs all the help it can get. When the biggest coup of economic development in the last 5 years, is the opening of a sporting goods store (Cabela's) ANYTHING that can get a few more jobs here (like table games at the race tracks) should get OVERWHELMING support. Yet, self-righteous bible bangers like Agnello, oppose it. There's gambling on TV several nights a week. The World Poker Tour, the World Series of Poker on ESPN, Celebrity Poker, etc., are all getting TV coverage. There are multiple shows about gambling and Las Vegas on the Discover, Travel, and History Channels. It's evidently something people like to watch; otherwise, there'd not be so many TV shows about it.

Yet, people like Agnello continue to use their media pulpit to continually knock the gambling industry. Remember, Agnello worked (or maybe still does) for an insurance company. Isn't insurance just another form of gambling? You pay a premium, hedging your bet you'll have a wreck. The insurance company takes your premium, and bets that you won't have a wreck. But Agnello is against gambling. Except for that kind of gambling that the Catholic Church does in the form of bingo. In all his anti-gambling rants, he has, to my knowledge, NEVER cracked on the Catholic Church for bingo. I guess Jesus has no problem going "all-in" for bingo. In short, Agnello is a hypocrite. He’s a loudmouth, self-righteous, bombastic hypocrite.

Another thing Agnello likes to do is, basically kiss Danny Jones' ass. It should say that in Agnello's bio. Certified Senior Advisor, on Manchin's transition team, and Danny Jones' personal ass kisser. See, Agnello likes to come off as this enlightened neocon. He's anti-gambling, he's pro-tort reform, he's a bible banger, etc. And he’s always complaining about taxes being too high, and how state employees are paid too much. Yet, today on the air, when presented with the issue of the user fees that cities are starting to impose (First Huntington, then Charleston, and now S. Charleston), he sees no problem with that. WTF? As a conservative, he should be AGAINST tax increases. And let's not bullshit anyone here with semantics, ok? These aren't "user fees." They are taxes. They are taxes on those who happen to work in those cities. Just because you "call" them user fees, doesn't make it so. But Agnello has no problem supporting this nonsense, because he needs Danny Jones to come on his show. Remember my first blog entry about how the media (like Agnello and company) are a bit too cozy with the politicians, because they need access? Here's a prime example. Agnello and Johnson have no problem using public money to build the new ballpark. A new ballpark that Danny Jones and Toast Boy Rod Blackstone now admit is over budget, and is being built to accommodate the 300 people a night (on a good night) who'll go to the games (once the newness wears off). Burn those tax dollars on this kind of crap, but pitch a holy fit when someone brings up the potential for 2000 new jobs at the racetracks, including a new revenue stream. [Note: I will give Danny Jones this, he's supportive to this point of the table games at the tracks.]

Could someone tell me just what great injustice Charleston did in a past life, to be saddled with the punishment from God that is Mike Agnello? I swear, I never thought I'd say this. I actually miss Steven Reed.

Higher Ed faculty getting the brush off from the Legislature?

2005-03-10T01:08:00.000-05:00

An issue that has received scant attention, because it’s not "sexy" enough for the rags that pass for newspapers in West Virginia to cover, is Higher Education salaries. West Virginia Higher education faculty are treated as practically non-entities by the Legislature. They get basically no attention from the Legislature as a whole. This is because of several reasons, but mainly because they don't have a strong union. The public educators (K-12) get just about everything they want. Tom Lange of the WVEA, and to a lesser extent, the AFT are constantly badgering the Legislature about public education issues, such as educator's salaries, and are fairly effective. Higher education, however, doesn't get the same treatment, though the AFT is trying to bring more higher education faculty into their fold. Also, Higher education faculty (because they are considered "true" state workers) can't serve in the Legislature. K-12 educators can, because they are considered county BOE employees. Consequently, you have K-12 educators in the legislature (hmmm, I wonder if they look out for their fellow K-12 educators), but no Higher Education faculty. .

But, even though higher education faculty ARE considered "state" workers, they don't get the same treatment as other state employees. They don't get annual increment pay. Annual increment pay is sort of a "bonus" (for lack of a better term) that is based on an employee's years of service. All state employees EXCEPT higher education faculty get this increment pay in the form of an extra check around the first of August each year. In fact, until just a couple of years ago, STAFF at higher education facilities (i.e., secretaries, custodial workers, i.e., anyone who's NOT a "faculty") didn't get this increment pay either. They managed through lobbying to get this increment pay for the STAFF only. Faculty got conspicuously ignored. Bills have been introduced this year to rectify this clear inequity (SB 212, and HB 2605), but the issue seems to be getting ignored in the House. Evidently the Senate has no problems with the issue, but the House appears to be balking.

This is not rocket science, folks. Higher education faculty deserve the same economic treatment that other state workers get. They deserve it especially when the Legislature manages to find a way to pay David Hardesty, the President of WVU (who had basically NO experience in higher ed before he was hired - he was an attorney, and former Tax Commissioner, not a higher educational professional - such as a faculty member or dean) $250,000+ per year. When asked about this exorbitant amount of pay for higher ed administrators like Hardesty (and, to assistant band director turned Chief Lackey, Dave Satterfield to the tune of well over $100,000), Legislators have absolutely no compunction immediately raising the defense of "well, if we DON'T pay them that much, we can't compete with surrounding states, and get quality people." Funny, that sort of logic doesn't seem to apply when talking about the actual EDUCATORS at those institutions.

Just another example of how your tax dollars are wasted on high paid, inexperienced administrators and their equally inexperienced lackeys, while the actual people doing the TEACHING (I know, you've probably forgot, but education IS the actual purpose of a higher education institution) can't even get the same treatment as other state employees.

These arrogant bastards! (Part 1)

2005-03-09T01:07:00.000-05:00

Ok, this post will have basically nothing to do with West Virginia politics per se. However, it will deal with how politics are covered in today's media by the blogosphere. This is Part 1. Part 2 will take a look at some dumbass bills the WV Legislature has introduced this session.

On ABC's Nightline on Tuesday, they devoted the entire program to blogging. More specifically it dealt with an interesting issue in Virginia. Several bloggers (I think they were fairly liberal, something was mentioned about one being a Dean Democrat) decided they were going to report on the goings on at the Virginia Statehouse this session. I missed the first couple minutes of the show, and so I missed some of the particulars, but I saw more than enough to understand what was being done. These bloggers decided to read every bill that was introduced during the Va. Legislative session. And this one blogger (Maura Kearney) read this bill that would have required women to report to police all fetal deaths within 12 hours if they didn't have medical assistance.

This bill was introduced by Delegate John Cosgrove (R). According to Cosgrove, it was in response to people abandoning live fetuses and having those fetuses die. We've all heard the stories, where some mother has a baby and then leaves it in a trashcan or on the side of the road. This bill required women to report ALL fetal deaths within 12 hours to the police, or face misdemeanor charges.

Of course, this idiot Cosgrove, didn't pay attention to his own bill, and it was waaaaaaaaay overbroad. In fact, it would have required a woman who had a miscarriage at ANY time during her pregnancy to notify the police, or face possible charges. Kearney even linked to the Va. State Code and the definition of fetal death and proved that the bill would in fact, require EVERY miscarriage that occurred without medical assistance, to be reported to the police in 12 hours, or the mother would face potential charges. There was nothing "incorrect" about her analysis of the bill, and it's impact (in its current form). Cosgrove even eventually admits this.

Kearney emailed Cosgrove with her concerns about this bill, and of course, Cosgrove was off galavanting around, and didn't respond to the email for several days, becuase he was away on "state business" (I don't buy that for a minute, but that's his story). After a couple days go by, the blogger puts her concerns up on her blog, along with the fact Cosgrove didn't respond to her email, and it gets noticed, and linked to around the world by other bloggers, as well as some MSM outlets. Eventually, there's tens of thousands of people looking at her blog, and the emails from these people (you got the impression from the Nightline show, it was mainly women concerned about privacy rights) start flooding Cosgrove's inbox, lambasting him for sponsoring such a draconian (or more accurately, extremely poorly drafted) bill.

Cosgrove, in TYPICAL politician jackassery style, attacks the "blogosphere" for being irresponsible. Eventually the shitstorm hits critical mass, and Cosgrove knows he's beat. He eventually withdraws the bill due to the negative publicity about it, caused mainly by the Kearney's blog. However, he contends the blogs "misinterpreted" his bill. No, they didn't. They interpreted what the bill said, dead on correctly. His defense is, "well, the bill was too broad, but we would have fixed that in committee." He starts complaining "this lady had an audience and she didn't tell me," as if you have an audience, you'll get a faster response to your email. Not a hint of "my bad" anywhere in Cosgrove's line of bullshit. Well, here's a tip, Cosgrove. She doesn't have to TELL you she has an audience. She's a concerned citizen, not a damn newspaper hack. She's not doing this for any monetary reward. She's not selling newspapers or magazines. She's exercising her right to be an active citizen with regard to politics. Maybe, if you would just admit, that you sponsored a dumbass bill that was poorly written, and you didn't scrutinize it closely enough, you'd get some credit. But you didn't, so you don't. If you don't like it, I'd suggest you quit your elected position now and go back to selling used cars, Amway products, or some other similar trade for which you could put your experience in the legislature to good use.

Hey Cosgrove, and all other politicians out there. Pay attention to the bills you introduce. In fact, why don't you actually READ them once in a while, you lazy, ignorant assholes? Don't blame the blogosphere for calling you on your own bullshit. Just because the MSM is too busy covering the Micheal Jackson trial and Martha Stewart's release from prison, doesn't mean concerned citizens aren't watching you fumble around like a monkey fucking a football. And now, thanks to the internet, your ignorance (and there's clearly no shortage of that) is going to be exposed. Stuff that you could let slide, because the MSM only hits the "sexy" issues, isn't going to fade away like before. You better straighten your asses up. Because we are watching.

Here's a link to a newspaper article about all this. Tomorrow I'll post some bills that have been introduced in the West Virginia Legislature and comment on their idiocy. Remember, these are your tax dollars at work with some of these bills.

Hoppy to Vic: Lay off the sauce, dude!!

2005-03-07T23:40:00.000-05:00

The Vic Sprouse thing has exploded. It was all over the media Monday. Both Charleston newspapers, Metronews Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval, and Hippie Killer over at Fifth Column all had coverage of it. Hippie Killer got in some particulary good shots.

However, the most hilarious episode was the "come to Jesus meeting" Hoppy had with Sprouse on Talkline. Sprouse, to his credit, went on there in a live interview and took the heat from Hoppy. I'll at least give him that. Many guys in his position would have run and hid from the media glare for a couple of days at least. He didn't. And because of that, we got some of the best entertainment that you can get for free. He did give a "no comment" to Hoppy's question of whether he's got a new girlfriend, so he did duck a little bit. Then Hoppy basically told him to straighten up and fly right, get some help, and most hilariously, suggested Sprouse maybe should lay off the booze. Hoppy alluded to his own personal situation (he's been married and divorced a couple of times). He said something to the effect, "I know in my personal situation, that part of my troubles occurred when I consumed large amounts of alcohol. After cutting back on my alcohol consumption about 95% (he says he still has a drink with dinner every now and then), many of those personal difficulties went away." And he suggested Sprouse give that a try. This was classic.

Of course, the Republican faithful came immediately to Sprouse's defense, including Monty Warner. Monty Warner has been MIA for months after getting his ass handed to him in the election. Allegations of him stiffing his campaign staff on payments are rampant, not to mention his shenanigans with using Bush's name on campaign signs (a big no-no, according to the White House), his brother Kris' shady PAC for this purpose, and the general fumbling of the ball by the party (headed by Kris) in getting more Republicans elected. In short, Monty has quite a lot to answer for right now, and he can't be troubled to address any of it, but he sure can show up on Talkline and tell Hoppy he was out of line, and that Sprouse's personal life was off limits. If I were Hoppy, I'd have asked him if he really stiffed his campaign staff. A subsequent caller also mentioned that Monty had tried to drag Manchin's personal life into the campaign questioning his medical records and his draft status, making Warner's shots at Hoppy quite hypocritical. Amen to that brother. Warner should get his own house in order before busting Hoppy's chops. If I were Hoppy, I'd not take any more of Monty's calls under the guise that Talkline doesn't take calls from people who get embarrassed as bad as Monty did in the election. I mean, the PRO LIFERS even backed Papa Joe over Monty.

There have been rumors of Sprouse having trouble keeping his pants on for years. Remember, he's now divorcing wife number 3. Sprouse also has a daughter who's 18. Sprouse is 36, so he was a dad at age 18, so, his libido has been chugging along nicely for at least that long. I've also been told by some sources beyond reproach, that there's never been a shortage of eye candy working in Sprouse's office at the Capitol. There were also rumors started by Peggy Workman, Sprouse's opponent in the last election, that Sprouse had been seeing a local TV news reporter or something. This rumor was from some affidavit from one of his previous divorces or something. If anyone out there knows more about this rumor (like who was the reporter?) feel free to shoot me an email with the details. We can never have enough salacious details here at the Sweatbox....

How about that Senator Vic Sprouse guy?? Sounds like a good time for an ethics discussion!!

2005-03-07T01:36:00.000-05:00

Hey faithful readers (all of about 5 of you), no real "update" here. I'm working on sort of a longer post, that is taking some time to get it just the way I want it. There's actually so much that needs to be said in it, that it's kind of scatterbrained, and I'm trying to get some sense of organization to it so it doesn't sound like a stream of consciousness rant.

In the meantime, the wonderfully ethical West Virginia Legislature is at it again. How about that Senator Vic Sprouse? Gets married, wife gets pregnant, and then he moves out on her and files for divorce. Sounds like a die hard family values Republican to me. Maybe, if he didn't spend all his time complaining about a video lottery place in Kanawha City, like he did all last fall, he wouldn't look like such a hypocrite. In today's Charleston Gazette, Phil Kabler details all the specifics, after talking to Sprouse's soon to be ex-father in law. There's some good reading there. If these jackasses weren't so sanctimonious and self-righteous when talking about an anti-abortion law, or their shrill rantings about the societal costs along with their religious objections to putting in casino games at the State's race tracks, maybe somebody would cut them some slack when they get caught being a slimeball.

One last small nugget while we are talking about ethics. Remember the new "ethics bill?" (Does anyone else find these idiots being charged with strengthing the ethics bill, comparable to the fox guarding the henhouse, taken to the Nth degree?). After the Mezzatesta mess (who now refuses to pay his fine from the Ethics Commission, see here for the full story), and the Mike Ross golf course scam, Papa Joe was all full of enthusiasm for pushing through ethics reform (which, no sane Mountaineer would say is not sorely needed). He even called a special session for it (along with Worker's Comp reform).

There are three major problems with the ethics bill that was passed, and then signed by Papa Joe (with the supposed understanding the Legislature would fix these problems in the regular session).

First, there was no provision for extending the disclosure provisions to spouses of Legislators. Mezzatesta's wife was involved in some shady dealings with both fabricating letters, AND her involvement in a video lottery business. This is not hard. Just add "and their spouses" to anywhere the word "public official" or "legislator" or whatever is found in the bill.

Second, they made the standard of proof to be "beyond a reasonable doubt" for the Commission to find someone violated an ethics provision. That's the same burden of proof that allowed OJ to walk away from a double murder charge in the face of a mountain of physical evidence. The burden of proof needs to be clear and convincing, or even better, preponderance of the evidence. Otherwise, NOBODY would ever be busted by the Ethics Commission, unless they basically confessed to the misdeed themselves. This is just not a realistic burden of proof for this bill to be effective at curbing the ethics violations like Mezzatesta's or Ross'.

The third big issue was the provision allowing for a gag order to be put on anyone who files an ethics complaint. Never mind, the State the ethics bill is copied from (Rhode Island? I'm not sure, but it's a New England state, if I remember correctly) had the SAME provision struck down as unconstitutional as violating the 1st Amendment. Don't these bozo's do ANY research on the legislation they are copying from other states?

Those three items need fixed for this ethics bill to be viable, and not just another piece of sham legislation. Here we are, 3 weeks into the regular session, and the ethics bill still isn't fixed. These changes wouldn't require massive rewrites of the legislation. This is not brain surgery, folks.

Then again, nobody has ever accused the Legislature of being brain surgeons.

Check back in the next day or so for the next update. It's almost finished.

Ban boxing? How about banning idiots from the Legislature instead?

2005-02-27T15:45:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a while since the last update. Things have been busy around here, and I haven't had as much time to dissect the idiocy that is the political landscape in West Virginia as I'd have liked. I promise I'll try to do better.

Here's an easy one. Danny Wells. This guy is a new member of the House of Delegates. He was a sportswriter for the Charleston Gazette. He retired from "fulltime" activities at the Gazette sometime ago. However, he still manages to pollute the media once in a while with a column in that paper. Prior to being in the Legislature, his biggest claim to fame was his constant whining like a little baby about the Charleston Civic Center not having a clock. I guess he's not smart enough to wear a watch, although, after years of constant whining, even babies sometimes get their way. The Civic Center recently installed a clock. For those who want a picture of this waste of taxpayer dollars, you can check out his bio page at the Legislature here.

I heard a saying one time that fits Danny Boy to a "T." Those who can, play. Those who can't, coach. Those who can't do either, become sportswriters. In the February 27th edition of the Sunday Gazette/Mail, Danny goes on one of his moronic rants advocating the banning of the sport of boxing. He references 12 deaths in "Toughman" contests since 1979 as his basis that it needs banning (along with boxing in general). I guess he missed this link showing 5 people died in 2002 alone, playing football in the U.S. I found that link in about 1.2 seconds of searching on the Internet. Those are 5 deaths in one year, directly related to playing football, such as violent blows to the head. This doesn't include deaths like heatstroke, or complications from natural causes exacerbated by vigorous physical exercise. Five deaths in one year for football, compared to 12 deaths in 25 years from Toughman contests. Using 2002 as a basis, that would mean there were 125 deaths in football from violent head trauma (and remember, that's not counting the other football "related" deaths like heatstroke, heart attack, etc.), while there were only 12 deaths in Toughman contests for the same time period. Where's his rant about banning football?

Maybe someone should just ban Dan.

The circus is in town along with Laci Peterson.....

2005-02-19T23:37:00.000-05:00

The circus is back in town. The West Virginia Legislature is back in regular session, along with a brand spanking new Governor, Governor Joe Manchin. If there ever was a bigger collection of idiots, I don't know where it would be. The West Virginia Legislature must be in some kind of moron competition. No other explanation can be possible for the nonsense that comes out of that political body.

We are now a little over 1 week into the session, and lets see what's been accomplished, shall we?

We now have a "Laci Peterson" bill (Senate Bill 146) that has already passed the Senate (if I remember correctly, the vote was like 34-2), and by all accounts, will probably pass the House too. This bill creates a second crime if you kill a fetus in an attack on the mother. I have to wonder, what exactly is the purpose of this bill? If you murder the mom, and get life in prison with no mercy, what extra advantage does it have in giving you another life in prison without mercy sentence for killing the fetus? West Virginia doesn't have the death penalty, so what exactly is the point of this bill? Are they going to somehow make the convicted murderer die of old age in prison TWICE somehow?

The fact that it flew through the Senate, and probably will also fly through the House, within days of the start of the session, really has to make you question where the priorities are in the Legislature. Isn't West Virginia losing population at a record pace? Isn't West Virginia basically an economic hellhole for businesses? The schools are all struggling for money, and manufacturing plants are leaving as fast as they can pack up their gear. Yet, the Legislature is concerned right out of the gate with a "Laci Peterson" bill? Thanks, WV Legislature, for wasting good legislative time on nonsense like this.

But hey, just like today's Charleston Gazette says, the Senators didn't vote their conscience, they voted out of fear for their seat at the public trough. They sure did show their yellow stripes on this issue. Don't do the "right" thing, do the thing that keeps your ass in power.

On another front, there was an article in the paper a few weeks ago, about this guy who was a real punk. Typical drug dealing, domestic abusing, violent jackass. His name was Raymond Richardson. He basically beat up his pregnant girlfriend back in like 1999. He forced her to strip naked, and he poured gasonline on her and threatened to burn her, he threatened to shoot her. He gets convicted and sentenced to 20 years with no parole. In May 2004, he got his conviction reduced to 10 years and he's now eligible for parole by the West Virginia Supreme Court. Because he had served roughly 5 years, he was eligible for parole and got out. Amazingly, however, the WVSC decided to issue this decision "per curiam" which means it comes out without any formal vote on the decision. It's very suspicious why they issued this decision per curiam, and the Kanawha County Prosecutor stated so in the media.

Just a couple weeks ago, Richardson was picked up again, after his "new" girlfriend accuses him of many of the same things that he was convicted of in 1999. However, evidently after spending some serious time with Richardson's family, she's now changed her story, and retracts many of the accusations that led to the felony charges against Richardson. The Magistrate has no option but to drop the felony charges. He's still on the hook for a misdemeanor or two, but the real serious charges are dismissed. The prosecutor's office at least alludes to the fact the girlfriend may have been pressured by the Richardson's family to change her story.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Richardson's mom works as a secretary for the West Virginia Supreme Court. Anyone have any theories why they issued the decision to let Richardson out?

And so it begins.....

2005-02-19T02:28:00.000-05:00

Greetings!!! This blog will be an attempt to shed some light on the political shennanigans and general outright thievery perpetrated on the good folks of West Virginia by their elected "officials." This blog will also focus on Charleston area politics, along with other political issues throughout the great State of West Virginia, as they are relevant. Additionally, there will be analysis and critique of how the local media outlets cover these issues.

The problem is, that most media outlets in West Virginia are beholden to the political elite for access, and therefore are loathe to really bite the hand that feeds them. Without access to the "newsmakers," you can't sell newspapers, or tv and radio ad time. Sure, you'll have the odd Jerry Mezzatesta or Mike Ross or Randy Schoonover scandal that the West Virginia media outlets will doggedly follow to conclusion. However most news items about the political hacks and professional politicians ripping off the taxpayers have a lifespan of about 2 days in the West Virginia media outlets. Consequently, the political scumbags only have to stay silent and out of the public for a couple days until the clamor dies down, and then they are back at whatever corrupt and unethical acts they were doing. And more often than not, nothing is ever done to these politicians, as most of them are part of what's generally referred to as the "good 'ol boy network."

In our society, the media is charged with riding shotgun for the public, and should ferret this stuff out. However, because of the small, tight-knit culture in West Virginia, the media often shirks their responsibility. Sure, they may report a few facts, but often, they are lacking in the appropriate amount of outrage because of either their own pecuinary interest, or sometimes because of their sheer outright ignorance. The Charleston newspapers are probably the only "real" newspapers in the State, and they do a barely passable job in reporting on graft, corruption, and ethical shennanigans.

In the realm of talk radio, Hoppy Kercheval's Metro News Talkline is probably the most important talk radio show on West Virginia politics, but again, he's a bit too cozy with some of the political elite on occasion. Lesser, more local-themed talk radio like WCHS's 58 Live, also have serious issues with their competence, and thoroughness of investigating these issues. This blog will hopefully help remedy some of these inadequacies. I am what you would consider a moderate. Hence, I dislike (and generally disdain) both Rush Limbaugh fanboys, as well as Micheal Moore fanboys. I will FREELY criticize both jackass democrats and jerkoff republicans as they warrant such criticism, and if there's one thing they can excel at, it's warranting criticism. Right wing religious nutjobs along with Feminazis and PC Thought Police will equally feel my wrath. So, this will most likely be a wild ride, I hope you are ready.