Day: February 20, 2013

Is there really such a thing as being judgment proof from Uncle Sam? Discuss.

I would submit not unless one truly has nothing to lose as we again welcome Hugh Sibley and Danny Bechnel Jr. to Slabbed. (Click to nab the entire pdf)

USA v Sibley and Bechnel IRS Tax Suit

“Prescient”

The above was the subject header of an email I received this morning which contained the following quotes:

Mathews said, “One of the fundamental changes in the newsroom is our reporters and photographers no longer live in a print world. They are competing in the digital space in ways we’ve never done before.”

Added Amoss, “Our goal as journalists is to focus on our audience, to engage with them, to respond to them. That requires a culture change on the part of everyone in the newsroom.”

The inside joke is the appearance that Slabbed scooped the Poynter Institute one day before the Key (Newspaper) Executives Conference which concludes today in New Orleans with my post on Sunday on the same general topic, the response to which has absolutely floored me. I was not invited, probably because I’m not a newspaper executive but I do have a piece of wisdom to share with Jim Amoss:

To get the audience to respond the blogger must exhibit personality. It is the secret to success online. It can be done without compromising the mission. You can thank me later Jim.

Those wanting to know the dynamics between the timing of my post Sunday and this conference should click here to order the book.

I do have a bit of advance knowledge on the Tranny case but that was only because I checked my crystal ball. 😉 Stay tuned.

Conducting the peoples business in the shadows: JEDCO case illustrates how business is conducted in Jefferson Parish

That’s right folks, in proverbial smoke filled rooms paid for by the taxpayers but for which serve the self interest of the politically connected. I mention this because Paul Purpura has the skinny on Judge Glenn Ansardi blowing a bunch of smoke about whether private citizens using public accommodation such as email servers to conduct private and potentially illegal activities is somehow exempt from the Louisiana Public Records Statute. It is the biggest bunch of BS I’ve heard in quite some time outta the Gretna Courthouse, now nationally infamous in the aftermath of Operation Wrinkled Robe and the Impeachment of Tom Porteous as one of the worst cesspools of corruption in the country.

Worth noting is Fred Heebe’s legal team is representing Henry Shane trying to keep these specious communications secret, while simultaneously suing multiple people associated with the Heebe prosecution  for defamation just one Parish over.  What the public will find are that the two most abusive Jefferson Parish School Board members, Pat Tovrea and Michael Delesdernier are Henry Shane tools who used JEDCO to push their campaigns for office according to sources speaking with Slabbed on the condition of anonymity.

Not mentioned by Paul is the fact that some of those 9000 apartments and at least one Shane condominium are here on the coast so if he is buying politicians in Louisiana it is a safe bet he’ll export the model here as well.  It should be lost on no one that when these self interested misers are done screwing up their communities in Louisiana they inevitably end up over here on the coast because no one wants to live in the cesspool, not even the ones that created and financially benefited from it.

Now Paul did something I was asked not to do several months ago and he threw a nice hat tip to the gang up on 7 at the Yenni Building so I sense opportunity:

Broach initially sought the e-mails from JEDCO. After JEDCO declined, Broach sought them through the parish and filed a public records request with the parish attorney’s office. Assistant Parish Attorney Kenneth Krobert concluded the e-mails were releasable but gave anyone else with interest time to object. That’s when Shane intervened.

I’ll add Ken is one heckuva nice guy and a consummate professional possessive of a temperament well matched to the trade. He is a Kenner guy made good that is well respected by the Slabbed legal team and this despite the fact he came from an insurance defense firm. He was kind enough to share some of those older experiences with me which was nice as Slabbed’s initial focus was the post Katrina policyholder court battles with insurance companies.  In return the gang got to see life through the eyes of a new media guy on a mission. Continue reading “Conducting the peoples business in the shadows: JEDCO case illustrates how business is conducted in Jefferson Parish”