Day: August 8, 2013

Magnolia Group sues over Bay Tech Building Swindle

And I am already hearing rumors additional defendants will be added to the suit. The Bay Waveland School Board, in my opinion, has wholly failed to properly discharge their fiduciary duty to the taxpayers and voters of Hancock County and if this litigation begins consuming tax dollars meant for education, Slabbed New Media will not be kind to the perpetrators. Click the pic to nab the PDF:

Magnolia Group v O'Dwyer et al Doc 1

I see from Pacer Magistrate Roper has recused himself from this case. It took me a few seconds to figure out the likely reason, which I will not share, but I will say Magistrate Roper is known as a straight shooter that calls his cases down the middle and he was absolutely right to stand down here IMHO. Continue reading “Magnolia Group sues over Bay Tech Building Swindle”

The Dog ate it: “Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb Is Pretty Much A Crook, And She

First up is Scott McKay over at the Hayride. Scott has long been a friend to the Slabbed Nation and he checks in with this must read:

Take state sen. Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb, for example, who happens to be a principal in an organization which is on the hook for some $300,000 under Kennedy’s new persnickety regime. It turns out that The Colomb Foundation is a non-profit run by her husband Sterling Colomb, Jr., and it was begun as a tribute to his mother Verna Colomb, who died of breast cancer, and his adopted sister Dene’ Colomb, who was tragically murdered by Baton Rouge serial killer Derrick Todd Lee. The foundation says its principal mission is to promote breast cancer awareness, as though nobody in the private sector is doing that without getting government dollars, and it says it puts on an annual cancer walk, an annual health fair and an annual teen summit – apparently for that purpose. We couldn’t find anything on the web site about any of those events actually taking place, and a Google search for them didn’t yield anything either. In fact, here’s a sample of what you’ll find on the site’s “calendar“ page…

Back in 2010 Jason Berry over at American Zombie coined the definitive phrase for the phenomenon Scott now describes: “Conprofit“.  Here in Mississippi let’s all join hands and say Mississippi Marine Resources Foundation three times fast. Different scam, same concept.

Next is Lauren McGaughy at NOLA Media Group: Continue reading “The Dog ate it: “Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb Is Pretty Much A Crook, And She”

Jim Brown’s Weekly Column: Do We Need to Spy on Democracy?

Thursday, August 8th, 2013
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

DO WE NEED TO SPY ON DEMOCRACY?

A few weeks ago, I began to think we had given up. There were new revelations, almost daily, about how some government agency is scooping up and harvesting all available tidbits of our personal lives. We’ve all heard about the usual suspects — the NSA, GSA, DOS, DOE, IRS, FEC, DEA, FBI, DOD, USPS, and how federal agencies know everything from your current shoe size to your last flirtatious email or phone call.

The Internet makes it so easy for government agencies to find out everything about you. That was the conclusion of a new book I read over the weekend. In Digital Disconnect, Robert McChesney writes: “The domination of the Internet by a handful of monopolists, as well as the emerging cloud structure of the Internet, is perfect for the government. It need deal with only a handful of giants to effectively control the Internet.”

It’s like one stop shopping. One letter to your telecommunications company from the FBI or the NSA, and voilà, your life becomes an open book for a litany of governmental information trackers who say that they are looking for the terrorist needle in a haystack. Unfortunately, the whole nation of more than 300 million citizens has become their haystack.

Sure, we all agree that in this new world of digital technology, the definition of just who are the real threats to our security, and how we defend ourselves has changed. But do we just ignore constitutional guarantees for the sake of security? Does the fourth amendment mean anything anymore? Has it become irrelevant, and is it being ignored on a daily basis? Americans want to feel safe and secure, but they should want accountability and some understanding of how the security system works. Continue Reading……………..

Other Voices | Wednesdays Wars: Sheldon Adelson’s Rottweiler

August 7, 2013

Ruthie Blum writes a column for Sheldon Adelson’s online daily, Israel Hayom.

Ms. Blum sees the world as divided into two groups: those who love Israel enough; and those who don’t.

To qualify for the first group, the bar is high. It requires a level of obsequiousness towards all things Israel to which many are not willing to sink.

Newt got there. He called the Palestinians “an invented people.” Sheldon recognized Newt’s love in the appropriate manner … about $10 million. Mitt got there. He said “the Palestinians have an inferior culture.” Sheldon did his part … generously.

President Obama just never did click with Ms. Blum or her boss. By her lights, when the United States did something for Israel during the Obama presidency, it wasn’t fast enough or big enough or done cheerfully enough. When he met with Bibi Netanyahu, the President didn’t seem happy enough to see him.

Well, all this has been just too much for Ms. Blum, with the President winning the election and all. On August 4, Ms. Blum posted a piece on Israel Hayom in which she referenced the Obama administration’s decision to temporarily close some embassies in the Middle East in response to intelligence assessments. Continue Reading…………………