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LEGGO MY EGGO...SERIOUSLY
John Sez: A warning to all you folks who have a hankering for those toaster crisped tasties known as EGGO waffles: stock up now, as you might be hard pressed to get your fix in the near future.

Two of the major plants that make the frozen yummies have closed down indefinitely – one due to storm damage and the other for a major overhaul. As a result, according to Kellogg, there will be a nation-wide shortage of EGGO waffles for the foreseeable future.

Just when I thought the world couldn’t get any worse.

Story from CBS:

Kellogg Warns of Eggo Waffle Shortage

Dear Kellogg: Leggo my Eggo!

Kellogg Co. says there will be a nationwide shortage of its popular Eggo frozen waffles until next summer because of interruptions in production at two of the four plants that make them.

The company's Atlanta plant was shut down for an undisclosed period by a September storm that dumped historic amounts of rain in the area. Meanwhile, several production lines at its largest bakery in Rossville, Tenn., are closed indefinitely for repairs, company spokeswoman Kris Charles said in an e-mail.

It will take until the middle of 2010 before shelves around the country are stocked at pre-shutdown levels, Charles said.

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John Sez: I profiled this story a little ways back. A Maricopa sheriff rifled through a defense attorney’s paperwork (while her back was turned and she was addressing the Judge); he then removed a document, hands it off to another sheriff (who quickly scuttles away, apparently to make a photocopy) while the defense attorney is trying to let the Judge know what the officer had done. Then the second sheriff replaces the document (again, while the attorney’s back is turned). One might think the story fantastic, but it was all caught on the courts camera (see previous post on this story for the video).

The officer has now been given the following sentence: apologize or go to jail. This is an incredible light sentence; if this fellow was anything other than a cop he would have been immediately jailed for contempt (among other things).

To make matters worse, the sheriff’s boss (the infamous Joe Arpiao) has stated that his officer will not comply with the court order.

Given the reaction of the Judge who’s watch this happened on, the Judge who handed down the sentence, Joe Arpiao, and the officers who were involved, it’s a safe bet that the rule of law, proper protocol, attorney confidentiality privileges, and the Constitution have no place in the legal system of Maricopa County.

Story from Law Scholar Jonathan Turley’s blog:

Court Rules Against Arizona Deputy on Swiping Lawyer’s Note — Arpaio To Defy Court

There has been a ruling in the Arizona case where an officer, Officer Adam Stoddard with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is clearly shown on this videotape reading and then swiping the confidential papers of defense attorney Joanne Cuccia in court. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe found against Stoddard and ordered him to either apologize or report to jail — a remarkably light sentence. However, his boss is Sheriff Joe Arpaio who has said that his officer will defy the order.
Stoddard swiped the papers while defense attorney Joanne Cuccia was addressing the court on behalf of her client, Antonio Lozano. The response of Judge Lisa Flores was remarkably understated and restrained given the horrific breach of confidentiality.

Before Donahoe, Stoddard’s explanation only magnified his misconduct. He claimed that he saw the words “going to,” “steal,” and “money” on a handwritten sheet of paper sticking out of Cuccia’s file, which led him to believe that Lozano posed a security threat. This confirms that he read the document as opposed to a cursory review of material for contraband or weapons. It is also ridiculous that such words would cause an officer to remove confidential notes — written by an attorney — in a criminal case. Most of the attorneys in that courthouse are representing people with records and have notes including such nouns and verbs

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John Sez: Although the title above sounds silly, it briefly sums up a situation which has been brewing in Danvers High School in Massachusetts.

Apparently, the story goes something like this:

School principal, Thomas Murray, came across some information on Facebook which led him to believe that his students had planned a conspiracy to ‘mass-meep’ in one part of the school building. Murray seemed to think that such an action could be a huge detriment to his school (wars have been started for less, right?), so he took immediate and decisive action and notified the parents (via automated phone message)of all students who attend his school that the punishment for uttering the dreaded syllable would be grounds for an immediate suspension.

In an interview with the Salem News, Murray said the matter should be a ‘wake-up call’ to parents about what their kids are up to on social networking sites; to that end he is planning a school forum for parents on the pitfalls of face book.

But wait, there’s more.

New York based attorney, Theodora Michaels, got wind of the story and sent the following letter to administrators at the school:

An open letter to Principal Murray of Danvers High School (MA):

Meep.

Sincerely,
Theodora Michaels

The response from the school was fast and furious. According to Ms. Michaels, she received a reply from Assistant principal Mark Strout which informed her that her ‘meep-mail’ had been forwarded to the Danvers Police Department. In an excerpt from an article about the meeping situation posted on her site, she mused:

“LOLwut? That simultaneously annoyed and amused me enough to write this article. (Plus, my train was late.)

First, apparently this school doesn't know how email works. If they don't like getting emails that say "meep" -- and I'm assuming they got others before they got mine -- it should be a simple matter for the school's IT person to set their email program to filter all external emails that say meep and send them straight into the trash. Then there'd be no need to even look at them, let alone reply to or forward them.

Second, apparently they don't know how the law works. I haven't researched Massachusetts law, but I'm assuming there's no law that would prevent me from sending a single, non-commercial email, containing a single nonsense "word" (but impliedly relating to their work as school officials) to adults at their publicly-posted work emails. And if there were such a law, it would not survive a constitutional challenge. So I don't understand the point of Mr. Strout's email, unless he's hoping to scare me into -- what, not emailing "meep" ever again? Or more generally not criticizing his performance as a school official?

Gee, I'm scared -- maybe the Danvers police will come to NYC to arrest me! I guess they'll also try to extradite people who (I'm guessing) sent emails from other countries. We can be charged with . . . what, first degree meeping? Yeah, good luck with that.

Third, and most important, Messrs. Murray and Strout don't understand human nature. People -- especially teenagers -- don't like following pointless rules. To the point where they'll go out of their way to rebel against them (and I took five seconds out of my busy day), even if said rebellion itself is rather pointless. I get nothing out of saying meep. But I will vigorously defend my -- and others' -- right to say it.”

To say that the whole thing seems absolutely and childishly ludicrous on its face would be an extreme understatement.

I fully understand that school administrators face a great many challenges on a daily basis, ranging from finances, human resource issues, academic issues, and so on. It’s not an easy ship to run, so to speak, and any successful school owes a great debt of gratitude not only to the teachers but to the administrators who oversee the process of education as well. I am also fully aware that sometimes a principal is required to make some decision which may proove unpopular with the student body; the principal is well within his bailiwick to do what is necessary to both protect his students (and teachers) as well as make sure that there is no disruption in the educational process.

With that being said, I am hard pressed to find any grounds to agree with the administrators of Danvers High School. With all the problems that a school can have – drugs, violence, academic underachieving, and so on – this apparently harmless high school prank has been blown way out of proportion. What this principal (who appears to be more than a tad over his head in his position or has a severe case of little-man syndrome, in my opinion) is doing is showing the students that the law of the land is made up of nothing more than arbitrary decisions by men in suits and ties with no questioning or recourse for any decisions made. That’s simply not the way it is or should be, both in or out of school.

And if the principal thinks that this conspiracy to meep is worthy of a lesson to parents on the pitfalls of their children’s use of social networking sites, then my reply is that the principals understanding of the possible dangers of the internet in general are woefully shallow and inadequate for him to make such a broad assumption. While I applaud the fact that he has taken it upon himself to utilize the same technology as his students in order to keep abreast of what is going on with the student body, I have to say that his conclusions are clearly indicative of someone who has only a slim grasp of real and serious concerns over teenagers and the web. And if he is using this argument simply to cover his ass, then he is intentionally marginalizing a subject which should be take very seriously by educators, school administrators, parents as well as students.

Additionally, concerning the threat of ‘law enforcement action’ against Ms. Michaels, this is a clear indication that the administrators are themselves hard pressed to defend their actions  and have to rely on an legally empty threats in order to cajole or frighten someone who decided to let them know that their heavy handed approach is more than a little uncalled for. Additionally, by sending this e-mail on to the local PD, time that could have been spent going after people who have actually broken a law is instead spent on, well, foolishness.

In the future the principal (and his staff) need to take a closer look at the potential aftereffects of their actions. While I don’t expect that a school administrator make all of their decisions with one eye behind them watching their own backs, this napoleon-like posturing (which seems to be little more than an exercise in “Look at me, look at me – I am in charge, look at me!”) has done nothing more than disrupt the student body, made the administrators involved look more like major power-mongering fools concerned with enforcing the respect of their station and less like serious minded educators who have the best interest of the school as their first priority, and have clearly set the stage for an adversarial ‘us vs. them’ attitude between the staff and the students – something that can only become a detriment to the education process for all concerned.

(Thanks to Constitutional Law Scholar, Jonathan Turley, for bringing attention to this story)
 
 
HEY FOLKS, THE SHOP WILL BE OUT OF COMMISSION AS I MOVE MY MUSIC OVER TO A NEW RETAIL VENUE. CHECK BACK IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS AND IT SHOULD BE UP AND RUNNING AGAIN.

YOU CAN STILL PURCHASE SOME INDIVIDUAL TRACKS AND LISCENSE
MUSIC  WITH THE yOULISCENSE WIDGET ON THE SHOP PAGE.

THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE!
 
 
John Sez: Cover tunes are a fun way for a musician to stretch out and pay homage to their influences (or make some money, in the case of wedding and event musicians or when a record company thinks that a band’s original music on a given album isn’t strong enough to create a buzz). I’ve heard some great cover tunes over the years, and I’ve caught a few on Youtube as well – two of which I will share at the bottom of this post.

One of them is a cover of a tune called “Entangled” by Genesis which simply blew me away. The video is very well done and the music is absolutely sublime. I’ve done a symphonic version of the same song so I know how tough it is to put together properly (not that its overly complicated as far as prog rock goes, but it does have a certain intangible ‘feel’ that’s challenging to capture), and the folks who did this one absolutely nailed it. It’s definitely among my top favorite covers on Youtube and well worth the listen.

Another is a cover of UK’s ‘Time to Kill’ by a Japanese group called UnKnown. Now the vocals are a tad off key in places and Asian accented (which only means they speak at least one more language than I do) and the sound on the clip isnt exactly high-fidelity, which might draw some criticism from musical snobs. But there is no denying that the tune is a tough one to conquer musically, and the band does a great job of pulling it off (live no less).

Here are the videos for both tunes. Check ‘em out and ENJOY!
 
 
John Sez: Our government has been ratteling sabers at Iran for the better part of two years, doing everything they can to piss off Iran enough to have them make some sort of ‘first move’ to justify a retaliatory attack. The attempt in the UN (and in the news media) to demonize Iran as some sort of Nuclear nuthouse about to explode in the direction of the US failed because anyone who pays attention (and doesn’t have their head stuck up their butt) knows that Iran has followed ALL guidelines according to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; this includes the so-called ‘secret’ facility that the TV news was stammering about a month or so ago. Don’t take my word for it, READ THE TREATY.

Russia has already come out and said that it will back Iran if the US attacks – no surprise considering that Russia and Iran have very stable trade agreements in place. Additionally, the only country that has any nuclear weapons in the region is Israel, who DID NOT sign on to the Nuclear Non-proliferation agreement, yet we haven’t seized any synagogs or properties owned by the Jewish State, and we still give them millions out of our tax dollars.

Let’s ask these questions:                                                   

What has Iran done to us that we want to start a war with them right now (and, no, the hostage situation with our embassy doest count – that was 30 years ago and only happened after a bloody revolution against the US backed and installed evil dictator, the Shah of Iran)?

Does Iran have any reason to trust the US at its word at this time (Look at a map. Find the countries that we lied ourselves into a war in. Look between them. Ahhhh….now you get it!)?

Why are we so dogged about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, but Israel (again, the only nuclear power in the region and who did not sign on to the nuclear non-proliferation agreement, and is currently embroiled in a scandal over war crimes they committed in Gaza) gets a pass?

Do we really want to go toe to toe with Russia right now, considering how beaten up and thinned out our military is?

Is there really any justifiable reason to do so?

If you answer these questions (or knew the answers already), then you’ll understand why this is a bad idea and totally unjustified, and perhaps gain a new perspective (and an excellent starting point for further research) into what is going on in the region. Now it’s your job to figure out why.

If you choose NOT to answer these questions, and are still gung ho about a confrontation with Iran (and Russia) then you are a moron and need to take yourself out of the conversation – this one is for the grown-ups only.

Story from Cnews:

U.S. moves to seize 4 mosques linked to Iran
By Adam Goldman

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors Thursday took steps to seize four U.S. mosques and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper owned by a non-profit Muslim organization long suspected of being secretly controlled by the Iranian government.

In what could prove to be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, prosecutors filed a civil complaint in federal court seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets of the Alavi Foundation and an alleged front company.

The assets include Islamic centres in New York City, Maryland, California and Houston, more than 100 acres in Virginia, and a 36-storey office tower in New York.

Seizing the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which has been accused by the U.S. government of bankrolling terrorism and seeking a nuclear bomb.

A telephone call and email to Iran’s UN Mission seeking comment were not immediately answered.

It is extremely rare for U.S. law enforcement authorities to seize a house of worship, a step fraught with questions about the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

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John Sez: Folks, read this story VERY carefully; language similar to this was included in the ‘climate’ bill passed by congress a few months ago. So this is for US as well as folks across the pond.

And note that in the story this is downplayed as only potentially affecting bankers and rich people. Really? How about cab drivers, private pilots, people with large families, farmers, and just about anyone who owns a small business? This is nothing more than another scam to try to suck money out of people who, considering the current financial climate, have nothing left to give.

And just how is such a carbon tax going to help the planet when the industries who are doing the most polluting can simply buy more 'carbon credits' and continue thier business in the same way that they have been?

More of that tasty change we can believe in.

 Story from the London Telegraph:

Everyone in Britain could be given a personal 'carbon allowance'

Everyone in Britain should have an annual carbon ration and be penalised if they use too much fuel, the head of the Environment Agency will say.

Lord Smith of Finsbury believes that implementing individual carbon allowances for every person will be the most effective way of meeting the targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

It would involve people being issued with a unique number which they would hand over when purchasing products that contribute to their carbon footprint, such as fuel, airline tickets and electricity.

Like with a bank account, a statement would be sent out each month to help people keep track of what they are using.

If their "carbon account" hits zero, they would have to pay to get more credits.

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John Sez: I’m so incensed about this story, I ‘m not even sure where to begin. These deputies stepped WAY over the line holding down a child who was scared of getting a shot. It was not their place to do so and it was way beyond their job description.

 Some might say that the kid was over reacting to getting a shot…maybe so. But let me ask: how would YOU feel if 2 armed and uniformed thugs held down YOUR frightened child for a vaccination?

Story from the Intellengencer:


Deputies Hold Boy Who Fled Flu ShotStudent refused; was held down for vaccination

By SHELLEY HANSON Staff Writer

WHEELING - It took the strength of two sheriff's deputies to keep a middle schooler still enough to receive a shot of the swine flu, or H1N1, vaccine at a recent clinic.

During a regular Wheeling-Ohio County Health Board meeting Tuesday, health department Administrator Howard Gamble told board members about the student's attempt to flee Wheeling Middle School during a vaccination clinic held there last Friday.

He noted the boy's mother could not bear to watch the scene and left the gymnasium. Out of apparent fear of receiving the injection, the student ran out of the building. The school's resource officer, Ohio County Sheriff's Deputy John Haglock, coaxed the boy back inside. Once at the shot station, however, Haglock apparently needed some help keeping the boy still, and another deputy assisted.

"He tried to run. I looked over and saw two sheriff's deputies holding a kid down," Gamble said. "Mom took off, she couldn't take it. You had one nurse with the needle, two deputies holding him, one nurse is grabbing hands - because that's what they want to do, to go after the needle. And that's the last thing you want."

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John Sez: I completely understand that schools, now more than ever, have to be very creative in finding ways to fund their programs (so much for the various lotteries whose takes are supposed to go to schools, as well as the train-wreck that is ‘No Child Left Behind’) given that there seems to be very little money in the coffer marked ‘education’ (but, apparently, lots of cash in the bins marked ‘for the bankers’ and  “lets bomb the brown people’). But this one school went way, way over the line.

Think about the message this sends to the students: as long as you have money, you can buy your way into or out of anything. The parent’s advisory board that was involved in this fiasco needs to be disbanded, and the principal should never be allowed to work in the education field again. 

 Story from newsobserver:

District nixes cash-for-grades fundraiser

Selling candy didn't raise much money last year, so a Goldsboro middle school tried selling grades.

However, the fundraiser came to an abrupt halt today after a story in The News & Observer raised concerns about the practice of selling grades.

Wayne County school administrators stopped the fundraiser, issuing a statement this morning.

"Yesterday afternoon, the district administration met with [Rosewood Middle School principal] Mrs. Shepherd and directed the the following actions be taken: (1) the fundraiser will be immediately stopped; (2) no extra grade credit will be issued that may have resulted from donations; and (3) beginning Novermber 12, all donations will be returned."


A $20 donation to Rosewood Middle School would have gotten a student 20 test points - 10 extra points on two tests of the student's choosing. That could raise a B to an A, or a failing grade to a D.

Susie Shepherd, the principal, said a parent advisory council came up with the idea, and she endorsed it. She said the council was looking for a new way to raise money.

"Last year they did chocolates, and it didn't generate anything," Shepherd said.

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John Sez: Author Jeremy Scahill in a recent interview with Rachel Maddow on Obama and Blackwater poses an interesting proposition. With all the bad that Blackwater has done, ranging to bribery to outright mass murder, why are they still garnering contracts from the federal government worth billions of dollars? One would think that Nobel Peace Prize recipient Obama would put his foot down and cancel the contracts of these goons and psychopaths. One would think that, but one would be proven wrong as Blackwater is still on the job.

Scahill offers up the premise that the reason that these murderers for hire are still in business due to their knowing a whole lot of dirty little secrets about the wars we are fighting and, perhaps, knowing where all the bodies are buried so to speak. Basically his claim is that the government is being blackmailed by Blackwater in order to keep them on the payroll.

At first, such an accusation would seem ludicrous on its face. But considering what lengths Obama has gone through to protect the last administration from facing a huge variety of charges (including war crimes) and how hard he has fought to keep the torture photos from ever seeing the light of day, it makes all too perfect sense that he would do the same for the cream-of-the-scumbag crop known as Blackwater (or Xe, or whatever they are calling themselves these days), all in the name of saving the Federal government ‘embarrassment’.

I guess this may be more of that change we can believe in, eh?

Story from Raw Story:

Scahill: Obama may be afraid of Blackwater

Despite news reports that the security contractor formerly known as Blackwater has seen its contracts dry up and its influence wane, the company continues to do brisk business in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and the Obama administration may be too afraid of the firm to do anything about it, says investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill.

"You know who's guarding Hillary Clinton in Afghanistan right now? Blackwater," Scahill told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Tuesday night. "You know who guards members of Congress? Blackwater. They have half a billion dollars in contracts in Afghanistan right now. CIA, State Department, Defense Department. Why is President Obama keeping these guys on the payroll? There has never been a company in recent history that made the case that corporations are corrupt, evil organizations [better] than Blackwater."

Scahill was on The Rachel Maddow Show discussing the New York Times' revelation that senior Blackwater executives allegedly arranged for bribes of up to $1 million for Iraqi politicians in a bid to retain its contracts and silence criticism of the company in the wake of the Nissour Square massacre in 2007, in which 17 Iraqi civilians died after Blackwater guards opened fire.

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