Month: April 2018

And they “sniffed the reeking buns of Angel acted like it was cocaine”……

Stealing a post title from 2011, Slabbed is going to tell you the story you won’t hear in the local media about the new Opportunity Zones, which made the news this past week locally. For those so interested in catching up, the Sea Coast Echo ran this press release based account of the Hancock County designation along with a picture of the smiling Bill Cork of Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission. Likewise WLOX ran a similar story plus acted the part of cheerleader in an editorial which was completely devoid of substance. But first here is the reaction from our local politicos as recounted by those media outlets linked above:

Blaine LaFontaine, president of the Hancock County Board of Supervisors, said, “We are grateful not one, but two census tracts in Hancock County were selected for this opportunity. We hope that private investment and incentives will help provide long-term investments to decrease poverty and increase per capita incomes in our community.”

Here LaFontaine correctly repeats the theory behind the program as did Bill Cork in his remarks. Here is some more reaction:

Waveland Mayor Mike Smith said, “Waveland is very excited to be a part of the opportunity zone which offers tax relief to investors. It will be the shot in the arm that our community needs to spur development and create very needed jobs.”

Glenn McCullough Jr., executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority, said global companies know the advantages of the state’s productive workforce coupled with our superior business climate. “By adding Qualified Opportunity Zones, investing in Mississippi becomes an even more logical business decision for companies looking to locate or expand in our state,” he said.

As we read those last two remarks everyone began to giggle behind the scenes here at Slabbed. Here in Mississippi the MDA is more well known for its multi-million dollar boondoggles and by linking the tax relief Opportunity Zones offers investors with job creation both Mayor Smith and McCullough stepped out in a big way because there is no such linkage between jobs and investment in the program. In fact one naturally wonders if Mayor Smith actually saw the map of the designated area because Waveland was largely EXCLUDED from it. Here is a screen capture of the map of the local Opportunity Zone area: Continue reading “And they “sniffed the reeking buns of Angel acted like it was cocaine”……”

Other Voices | Tom Callaghan: “Jew Haters” and Other Words to Kill Debate

Posted on April 26, 2018

“Jew Haters.” Nasty language, right? Absolutely.

But it can get worse. How about “Jew hating anti-semite?” The double-whammy. That’s the language that came out of the mouth of Morton Klein, President of the Zionist Organization of America.

Klein directed that language at Barack Obama. Obama’s offense in Klein’s addled mind? In 2016, then President Obama had abstained on a UN Security Council vote that criticized Israel for expanding settlements in the Israeli occupied West Bank. The measure passed 14-0. One would have to assume that Klein’s opinion of the leaders of the 14 countries that voted to criticize Israel, including Theresa May of the UK, was something worse than a “Jew hating anti-semite”… whatever that might be.

How about charging someone with “betrayal and anti-semitism?” Sounds like a pretty nasty individual that would warrant that description. It happens to be the language used by Menachem Begin, former Prime Minister of Israel, to describe President Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Reagan, for Pete’s sake…are you kidding me?

What could Reagan, of all people, have done to incur the wrath of the Prime Minster of a country, Israel, that, at that time and now, is the recipient of the lion’s share of US Foreign Aid? Reagan wanted to do what American Presidents are supposed to do…manage the foreign policy of the USA.

Specifically, Reagan wanted to take a step towards normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia by selling unarmed advanced radar equipped aircraft called AWACS to the Saudis. To close the deal, Reagan had to win a vote in the US Senate. Continue Reading……

Brawling Prosecutors Visit the Coast???

I was greeted with a tip on my first day back from a long four day weekend in the North Georgia Mountains that Mississippi’s Prosecutors do not just fight crime, they evidently fight each other with last week’s brawl spilling out onto the Golden Nugget’s gaming floor. According to Slabbed’s sources it started with a Prosecutor from North East Mississippi and went down hill from there.

The Prosecutor Training Division of the Attorney General’s Office identifies, develops and implements training and resource programs for prosecutors within the State of Mississippi and their supporting personnel. In addition, this Division monitors criminal law as it develops in our State Legislature and alerts District Attorneys, City and County Attorneys, Youth Court Prosecutors and Special Assistant Attorneys General. Two major conferences and several customized training classes each year provide prosecutors with resources and information that are needed to help prosecutors protect the rights of our citizens who are victimized.

The 2018 Spring Prosecutors Conference offers Prosecutors twelve hours of continuing legal education, including one hour of ethics.

Speaking of how this started, word has filtered out in the legal community:

Sounds like someone got handsy after taking in the nice salt air down on the coast. In any event, anyone wanting to share everything they know about the fighting prosecutors is highly encouraged to do so in comments. For my friends in the media, I have been told arrests were made by the Biloxi PD so there is certainly a documentary public record on the incident.

Nothing good ever happens after the FBI raids your lawyer’s office

And folks trust me on this because I once worked a criminal defense matter where the accused lawyer was raided along with the accused and they had the ‘privilege’ of answering major criminal charges together.

F.B.I. Raids Office of Trump’s Longtime Lawyer Michael Cohen ~ Matt Apuzzo

The F.B.I. on Monday raided the office of President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, seizing records related to several topics including payments to a pornographic-film actress.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan obtained the search warrant after receiving a referral from the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III….

Speaking of privilege, how does this impact the Attorney-Client variety? Apuzzo ends his story with this:

The seized records include communications between Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, which would likely require a special team of agents to review because conversations between lawyers and clients are protected from scrutiny in most instances.

The taint team sounds good but under these circumstances my experience is Attorney Client privilege may well be moot in this situation depending on the circumstances:

The crime-fraud exception cannot be used to pierce the attorney work-product privilege without the required showing that the work product was actually used in furtherance of the purported crime or fraud. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit clarified that, without more, even compelling evidence of a crime or fraud is insufficient to invoke the exception.

And that Stormy Daniels mess that Trump now finds himself? Beyond being a heathen that grabs the pussies of ladies he finds attractive, there is a problem with being a serial liar and Trump is certainly that, always concocting a story to fit the moment. Harry Litman, former US Attorney explains: Continue reading “Nothing good ever happens after the FBI raids your lawyer’s office”