Greg's Stack-of-Stuff

[Greg]

Village milkman's secret sex shame

http://icsurreyonline.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200surreyheadlines/tm_objectid=16598619&method=full&siteid=50101&headline=village-milkman-s-secret-sex-shame-name_page.html

Jan 18 2006

A FORMER village milkman who sexually abused two boys has been jailed for nine months.

John Hunt, 67, molested the lads over an 18-month period while he was working in Sharpthorne, near Forest Row, in the late 1980s.

Hunt, who is now retired, admitted two counts of indecent assault on the teenagers at Lewes Crown Court on Monday.

Prosecutor Christine Laing said that one of the youngsters had met Hunt, when he was working as the village milkman.

She said: "The defendant was working as a milkman. The defendant told bawdy stories and swore a lot and so the defendant was very impressive to a young lad."

She said the abuse had started "in a fairly innocent way" but had later taken a "more serious turn".

The court heard the lad would become upset and sometimes cry during the abuse but that did not have any effect on Hunt.

The abuse only came to light years later when the boy, now an adult, contacted police. The second victim was then traced by the police.

The second victim told officers that Hunt had told him during abuse that it was "things he would need to know as an excuse for why this was happening".

Defending, Dianne Chan told the court that at an earlier hearing Hunt had offered a public apology to his victims and their families.

She said: "Mr Hunt is now 67 years old. Aside from these charges he is a man of good character. There is no suggestion that anything had happened before these incidents.

"He still does not understand why he had these feelings which revolt him as much as anyone else.

"He said the feelings stopped and life carried on as normal. It was placed into a box and packed to one side."

Hunt, of Alders Avenue, East Grin-stead, admitted two counts of indecent assault.

Sentencing him to nine months', Judge David Rennie said: "Each of these two boys felt what you did to them was so distressing they were reduced to tears.

"You were unmoved by their tears, motivated by what you felt you needed to do."

Hunt's name was also ordered to be added to the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years.


© owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2006

 

[mlk_man]

Greg, mind if I ask what this thread has to do with "retirement planning"?

Thanks and good luck,

M_M

 

[mlk_man]

Ah, okay thanks..........

 

[Greg]

Tennessee woman says foot her husband's, lawman says

Tuesday, January 24, 2006
By DAVID BREWER

SCOTTSBORO - Authorities are trying to determine if a foot found on an island near Scottsboro Saturday belonged to a man who fell from his boat during a fishing trip two years ago at Nickajack Dam near New Hope, Tenn.

Chief Investigator Chuck Phillips of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department said the wife of Jerry Leon Killian, 58, of Altamont, Tenn., is 95 percent sure the boot containing the decomposed foot is her husband's.

Phillips said Killian and his 23-year-old son were in a boat fishing on Jan. 1, 2004, when the Tennessee Valley Authority opened the floodgates at Nickajack Dam. The turbulent water caused them to be thrown overboard, he said.

The son made it to shore, Phillips said, but his father was never seen again. He said Killian was wearing a lifejacket, but it was not zipped.

The Marion County Sheriff's Department is having the foot DNA tested to determine the identity.

Two duck hunters found the foot inside a boot on a Tennessee River island north of the B.B. Comer Bridge in Scottsboro. The site is about 20 miles south of Nickajack Dam.

© 2006 The Huntsville Times

 

[Greg]

Winchester production to cease in the U.S.

By Thomas Mulligan
Los Angeles Times
Published: Tuesday, January 24, 2006

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - In one of the final scenes of the Western ``Big Jake,'' John Wayne could have been talking about the Winchester rifle as he reflected on the passing of the Old West.

``Well,'' says Big Jake to his Apache sidekick, ``times change - usually for the better.''

The sign of changing times for the Winchester - the ``gun that won the West'' and the brand most closely associated with Wayne's long film career - is that it will no longer be made in America.

After years of losses and dwindling sales, U.S. Repeating Arms Co. announced last week that it would close its New Haven factory by March 31, idling 186 workers. The Winchester brand will continue, but with firearms made in Japan and Europe.

In New Haven, an old-line industrial city, the main surprise is that the ax didn't fall sooner. The low-slung, modern Winchester plant - built with state, city and bonding support in 1994 - produced no more than 80,000 guns last year, about one-fourth of its capacity, according to Mayor John DeStefano Jr.

``It's ironic that an icon of America is going to be made overseas,'' DeStefano said.

The relative handful employed by the plant today is a far cry from the peak production period of World War II, when Winchester's sprawling old brick factory employed 19,000 people who turned out rifles for the war effort. At that time, nearly every worker was a New Haven resident; today only 40 percent of the plant's employees live in the city.

A symbol of the forces behind last week's announcement is the black-yellow-and-red flag of Belgium that flies between those of the United States and Connecticut just outside the plant. Belgium is home to the Herstal Group, which owns U.S. Repeating Arms as well as Browning firearms.

``After 10 years of desperately trying to make that facility profitable, our owners said, `Fix it,' '' said Scott Granger, spokesman at Repeating Arms headquarters in Morgan, Utah.

For years, Herstal has manufactured some Winchester shotgun models in Belgium and assembled them in Portugal, Granger said. A number of 19th-century Winchester rifle models, sold mainly as collectors' items or for use in the fast-growing sport of cowboy action shooting, have been made in Miroku, Japan, he said.

The Miroku guns are well made, said William H.D. Goddard, a weapons historian in Providence, R.I., but the New Haven plant closing may cause some gun enthusiasts to turn away from Winchester.

``The American population that still hunts and shoots and collects is by and large more conservative and has a great reverence for things that are American made,'' Goddard said.

About 150 of the 186 workers in New Haven are members of International Association of Machinists Local 609. Everett Corey, business representative of IAM, said the union some time ago negotiated exclusive rights for the New Haven plant to produce the Model 1300 pump shotgun and two American classics, the bolt-action Model 70 and the lever-action Model 94.

U.S. Repeating Arms plans to retire the Model 70 and Model 94, although Corey said the union was hoping to generate some interest from another manufacturer to resume production in New Haven.

 

[Greg]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-vote1906jan19,0,7391879.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state

Voting bill takes aim at hunters

'Shooter Voter' plan also targets Florida's anglers and trappers for voter registration.

Jason Garcia
Tallahassee Bureau
January 19, 2006

TALLAHASSEE -- First there was "Motor Voter," a law that allows people to register to vote when they get their drivers license.

Now get ready for "Shooter Voter."

At the request of the National Rifle Association, Florida lawmakers will consider a proposal that would allow people who are getting hunting, fishing and trapping licenses or permits to register to vote at the same time.

Backers say the idea is simply another way to make it easier for people to participate in democracy.

"The bottom line is convenience: to make it more convenient for working men and women to register to vote," said Marion Hammer, a lobbyist for the NRA.

But others think the Republican-controlled Legislature's real aim is to sign up more GOP-friendly voters before Election Day. After all, pollsters say, hunters and anglers are much more likely to support Republican candidates.

The measure, which the House Ethics and Elections Committee will take up next week, would become law just months before Florida voters go to the polls to elect a successor to Gov. Jeb Bush, replace at least two members of the state Cabinet and decide a U.S. Senate seat.

About 2.3 million people purchased sports licenses or permits in Florida last year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"It's rather transparent as to what they're trying to do," said House Minority Leader Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale.

The legislation (HB 125 and SB 208) is nearly identical to a law that the Georgia General Assembly passed two years ago, when it was dubbed the "Shooter Voter" bill. It is modeled after the federal National Voter Registration Act -- commonly known as the Motor Voter Act -- which requires states to let people register to vote by mail or when they renew their drivers license or apply for welfare or disability benefits.

Under the Florida proposal, any place people can buy fishing, hunting or trapping licenses and permits would double as a voter-registration site. A store that did not offer a customer the chance to register could be slapped with fines as high as $2,500.

Fish and Wildlife officials say about 680 businesses throughout the state -- from Wal-Mart and Sports Authority to riverside bait-and-tackle shops -- sell permits and licenses, along with about 250 local tax-collector offices. Hammer, the NRA lobbyist, said people who buy licenses by telephone or online also would be offered the chance to register.

The idea surfaced in Tallahassee last year as an amendment offered by Rep. Will Kendrick, a conservative, pro-gun Democrat from Carrabelle, in the Panhandle. But Republicans embraced the concept this year.

The sponsors in the House and Senate -- Rep. Greg Evers, a Panhandle farmer from Baker, and Sen. Carey Baker, a gun-shop owner from Eustis -- are Republicans. An additional 12 GOP lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors, as has Kendrick.

"The purpose is to get folks more active and get folks more involved," Evers said, adding that supporters are still trying to figure out how to ease the extra workload the proposal would create for businesses and local elections offices.

Such a law, however, could also be a boon for Republican candidates come November.

Analysts say hunters and anglers are natural allies for the Republican Party. Making it easier for them to register should help the GOP expand its base, said Jim Kane, a Fort Lauderdale-based pollster.

"Those types of voters who do get hunting licenses are more likely to vote Republican," Kane said. "I'd say the odds are probably well over 60 percent."

About 3.9 million people in Florida are registered Republicans, according to the Division of Elections. Slightly fewer than 4.3 million are registered Democrats.

Of course, Kane and other pollsters say registering voters is one thing, getting them to vote is another.

They point to Motor Voter, which many Republicans feared would help Democrats in much the same way. But while the federal law led to dramatic gains in voter registration, it did not have the same impact on turnout in elections.

Still, the Republican Party prides itself on a powerful get-out-the-vote machine. The party turned President Bush's 537-vote victory in Florida during the 2000 presidential election into a nearly 400,000-vote win in 2004, in large part by rooting out natural supporters who had not been voting.

Supporters insist the idea has nothing to do with partisan politics.
"Personally, I don't care what party they register with," Baker said.
Hammer called such concerns "silly." "Anybody that would attempt to prevent any other citizen who has a legal right to vote from being able to conveniently register, I would be suspect of their motives," she said.
Smith, the House Democratic leader, said it would be hypocritical for Democrats, who have led calls in the past to expand voting access, to oppose this plan.

He also noted that the legislation could be the perfect opportunity to expand voter-registration sites even further -- such as at legal-aid clinics.
"It's a great bill to do some amendments on," he said.

Copyright © 2006, Orlando Sentinel

 

[Greg]

More at Stake for Workers Than the 2007 Pay Raise

By Stephen Barr
Sunday, January 29, 2006; C02

Within the next two weeks, the White House and Congress will start setting priorities, and federal employees will have a stake in how some play out.

One of the top agenda items will be the Bush administration's recommendation for the 2007 pay raise. President Bush will make his pay recommendation in his fiscal 2007 budget, scheduled for release Feb. 6, and Congress will take it up during the spring and summer. Federal pay raises have averaged more than 3 percent annually in recent years.

Administration officials plan to renew a push for changes in the government-wide pay system. The plan would abolish the General Schedule by 2010 and move federal employees into more rigorous systems that would link pay raises to job performance. The proposal, however, has not found a congressional sponsor.

Other pay systems also may get scrutiny this year. House members, for example, are interested in reviewing federal judicial salaries and the pay of administrative law judges. Pay and retirement benefits of federal law enforcement officers also are up for renewed discussion.

Legislation that would add a real estate investment fund to the Thrift Savings Plan is under study in the House. The bill's backers have met with TSP officials on the proposal. Congressional aides also are looking into whether TSP rules could be changed so that bonuses could be counted as retirement contributions.

Except for the pay raise, Congress seems likely to move slowly on all civil service issues this year, aides to senators and House members said.

The deployment of troops in Iraq, the recovery and relief efforts in Gulf Coast states devastated by Hurricane Katrina, the president's fiscal 2007 budget recommendations and efforts to tighten lobbying laws will draw the most attention in Congress, including from the House and Senate committees that oversee the civil service.

The investigations into the government's tardy response to Katrina may lead to recommendations to revamp management practices across government, according to House aides. The rush to revamp lobbying laws to address corruption issues raised in the case of a former GOP lobbyist could spill over into the executive branch, affecting senior executives and managers.

Federal retirees may face another year of frustration on three legislative issues.

A bill that would allow retirees to pay for health insurance premiums on a pretax basis, known as "premium conversion," appears stalled in the House Ways and Means Committee.

Bills that would repeal or modify parts of Social Security law, called the government pension offset and the windfall elimination provision, also seem to be on the back burner this year. Many retirees contend that the offset and provision unfairly reduce, and sometimes wipe out, government annuities for their surviving spouses or for themselves. One House bill has broad support (292 co-sponsors), however, and retiree groups plan to keep pushing for passage.

Other legislative issues that could affect government employees include efforts to overhaul operations at the U.S. Postal Service, to increase telecommuting in the federal workforce and to encourage wider use of electronic medical records and health savings accounts, which offer tax advantages, in the federal employee health insurance program.

Congress probably will also revisit efforts by the Bush administration to contract out federal work, which has been stoutly opposed by federal unions. In the House, a debate is underway on whether to authorize a special task force to study a proposal that would consolidate employee complaints and disciplinary cases, handled by at least five agencies, into a "federal employee appeals court."

Lobbyists for employee groups, including unions, say they will be watching on the Hill and at the White House for any proposals that would reduce federal benefits. A group of conservative House members, the Republican Study Committee, called last year for savings in federal retirement benefits and for reducing health benefits for retirees with relatively short federal careers.

The ideas won scant support but could return in coming months as Congress and the Bush administration look for ways to reduce federal spending.

Diary associate Eric Yoder contributed to this report.

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

 

[Greg]

Uncle Sam to G-Fund Investors: Thanks for Loaning Us Your Money

Uncle Sam to G-Fund Investors: Thanks for Loaning Us Your Money

By Ralph Smith
2/17/2006

How much control do you have over your investment in the G-fund in your Thrift Savings Plan? Perhaps not as much as you might think.

The Federal Government has a problem that will have a short-term impact on some investors in the Thrift Savings Plan.

The government needs money--or perhaps it needs to cut down on expenses. Of course, most people think the government could cut back on any number of expenses and the nation would be better off. The federal debt is projected to reach $423 billion in 2006 . But, for now, Uncle Sam is hard pressed for cash and needs to come up with it quickly. The problem is the federal government is up to the debt ceiling authorized by Congress.

This is a short-term problem because Congress will eventually pass a new limit. But, while it will undoubtedly do so in the future, Congress has not yet acted. For the government to spend money, it has to borrow more and it can't do this without Congressional authorization. No doubt, politics and political strategy is lurking in the background.

And that is where you come in. It may surprise some readers to find that investors in the G-fund will be donating some of the money.

The G-fund is a big pot of money. Right now it has about $65 billion just sitting there. By using some of this money-- the super-safe investment vehicle of choice for a large number of federal employees through the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)--the debt ceiling problem goes away. Anyone, including the federal government, can do a lot with $65.266 billion. By withdrawing investments from the G-Fund, the Treasury is able to avoid hitting the debt ceiling.

Treasury Secretary John Snow is urging Congress to raise the debt ceiling by the middle of March. Right now it is limited to borrowing 8.18 trillion .

"Once I am able to make the G-Fund whole, the effect on the G-Fund and its beneficiaries will be the same as if this temporary action had never taken place" Treasury Secretary Snow said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN).

This same event has occurred before and for the same reasons--the federal government's authority to borrow money was expiring. Most employees will never know the difference since, as Secretary Snow indicated, the people giving up the money for a short time will be made whole including any interest that may be due.

Still, if it was my money in the G fund, I would want to know what was happening to it. And, for a short time, it is being used to prop up the daily spending for your employer. It's a patriotic gesture--but you really don't have any choice.

© 2006 FedSmith.com

 

[Greg]

Legendary sportscaster Curt Gowdy dies

2/20/2006

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) - Curt Gowdy, one of the signature voices of sports for a generation and a longtime broadcaster for the Boston Red Sox, died Monday at 86.

He died in Palm Beach after a long battle with leukemia, Red Sox spokeswoman Pam Ganley said.

Gowdy made his broadcasting debut in 1944 and went on to call the first Super Bowl in 1967 as well as 13 World Series and 16 All-Star games. He also called the famous "Heidi" game in 1968.

In 1951 Gowdy became the main play-by-play voice on the Red Sox broadcast team. He left the Red Sox in 1966 for a 10-year stint as "Game of the Week" announcer for NBC. He also was the longtime host of the "American Sportsman" series.

"He's certainly the greatest play-by-play person up to this point that NBC sports has ever had," NBC Universal Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said Monday. "He literally carried the sports division at NBC for so many years on his back. ... He was a remarkable talent and he was an even more remarkable human being."

Gowdy brought a warm feel to the broadcast booth, his commentary always full of good humor and enthusiasm. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig called Gowdy "one of the legendary broadcasters of our game."

"His distinct voice was a comfort to a generation of baseball fans in New England and throughout the country," he said.

In his 1960 essay "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu" published in The New Yorker, John Updike said Gowdy sounded like "everybody's brother-in-law."
George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN and ABC Sports, said Gowdy was a "pioneer in our business and set the highest of standards for everyone in sports broadcasting."

"His many contributions to ABC, as host of "American Sportsman" and other ABC Sports' programs, are indelible," he said.

Red Sox player John Pesky, speaking from Red Sox training camp in Fort Myers, remembered Pesky as "a peach of a guy." Pesky said Gowdy was always in the clubhouse before games and always eager to talk.

"He was really easy to speak to," he said.

The award-winning broadcaster began his career in Cheyenne, Wyo., in 1944 standing on a milk crate, giving a football play-by-play in subzero temperatures. By 1949 he was calling games for the New York Yankees and two years later he began calling games for the Red Sox.

Gowdy has been honored with dozens of awards. He was inducted into the broadcast wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, the American Sportscaster's Hall of Fame in 1985. The Curt Gowdy State Park was established in Wyoming in 1971.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press.)

 

[Greg]

Milkman arrested for fibbing about robbery

http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=4533283&nav=1sW7

 

[Greg]

Evangelist's fiery words turn funeral into family fracas

Monday, July 1, 2002
By GARRY MITCHELL, Associated Press

LOXLEY, Ala. — Orlando Bethel moved his big tent and evangelical work from Miami to rural Alabama about 18 months ago, settling onto land in his wife's family. When her uncle died, he was asked to sing at the funeral.

He did — experiencing a revelation in the process, he says — and that's when all hell broke loose in the Greater Pine Grove Baptist Church.

Bethel, suddenly preaching over the microphone to about 100 mourners in the sanctuary, told them they were "fornicators" and "whoremongers." And he said the deceased, Lish Devan Taylor, had gone to hell.

The microphone was abruptly disconnected. The church pastor wanted Bethel stopped. When Bethel reached into a gym bag, some thought he was going for a gun — it apparently was a bullhorn — and about half the crowd fled their seats, with a few dragging Bethel unceremoniously out a side door.

"Those boys picked him up when the preacher said he wanted him out of there," said Glenita Andrews, a cousin of Taylor.

Stephen Taylor, who came from California for his uncle's funeral, said it appeared Bethel had planned the denunciation of Taylor and his family.

Rather than Bethel getting a revelation from above, Andrews said she suspected it stemmed from a dispute over the property inheritance of Bethel's wife.

"The Taylor family is large. Orlando and Devan had some problems," Andrews said.

According to witnesses at the June 14 funeral, Taylor, who died of prostate cancer at 56, was eulogized fondly by other ministers before Bethel commandeered the microphone. They said Taylor had gone to "a better place."

"They were lying," Bethel said recently.

Bethel, in his 30s, acknowledges that he made statements about fornicators and hell during the funeral. He said he spoke words that "the Lord revealed to me."

"God is the final authority," said the tall, lanky Bethel, who held a hand on a Bible as he was interviewed sitting at a picnic table outside his camper home. He and his wife, Glynis, live in two campers beside their big, blue-striped gospel tent off U.S. 90 in the Ellisville community.

They said they have no plans to erect a church building on their acre of land, which she inherited from a grandfather and which is fenced off from a pecan grove and a herd of cattle.

Mrs. Bethel said her deceased uncle had run-ins with the law and was "so mean he would toss shotgun shells into a burning fire and yell, 'Run!'"

She defends her husband, saying he was mobbed by "unbelievers," one of whom followed Bethel from the church back to the gospel tent and tackled him on the sandy road. Both Bethels contend they've been denied justice because no one has been arrested.

Loxley police Chief Cliff Yetter said Friday that he's still investigating, but no one has been charged. He said three officers went to the church between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. in response to the 911 call on June 14.

He said some people were questioned, but the evangelist said no one was arrested because officers declined to enter the church while the funeral continued. Bethel said he wanted to point out those who allegedly assaulted him, but the officers declined "to call them out."

Yetter said Bethel's only apparent injury was a scrape on his shoulder. Bethel was examined at a hospital emergency room five days after the incident, but was not admitted.

The church pastor, the Rev. Tim Amey, had complained that a glass door was broken in the ruckus, but police said he decided against pressing a charge against Bethel.

Anger over the funeral lingers in this farming community just south of Interstate 10 on the main route to Alabama's beaches.

"If you're going to criticize, criticize before they're dead. And when you pray, pray in silence," said a furious Charlesetta Thomas, sitting with a group of friends under a shade tree after working crops in a field.

Thomas isn't a preacher, but she had a sermon for the Bethels. She said she had helped care for the ailing Taylor in his final days.

The Bethels, she said, should have been "up there giving him a drink of water and a bath."

Copyright © 2002 Naples Daily News.

 

[Greg]

Editorial from The Tampa Tribune

Dear Hillary: Don't Run

Published: Feb 25, 2006

Dear Hillary:

We'd like to welcome you to Tampa for your fundraiser today, and thank you for your long service to our country and your party.

We expect that after your re-election this fall as junior senator from New York, you will dedicate yourself to seeking a higher office. But you're a pragmatist, Hillary, so we urge you to be satisfied with the Senate.

If you run for president, chances are good that you'll secure your party's nomination. But realistically, how do you think you can win the White House? You are the most polarizing figure in the Democratic Party, and your negatives among likely voters are prohibitively high. Many people simply don't trust you. You may share your husband's name, but what people liked about him is not transferable to you.

You are not the person to help define a party that needs to convince voters it can govern from the vital center.

Even yellow dog Florida Democrats express profound reservations about your presidential ambitions. They worry that you cannot attract moderate and independent voters and that your presence will hurt the election chances of other Democratic candidates up and down the ballot.

They fear, Hillary, that you would doom Democrats to impotence for decades. Republicans might relish that prospect, but on reflection, they would acknowledge the importance of a strong two-party political system.

Should the Democratic Party be crippled, the Republican Party is likely to become complacent, uninspired and unaccountable.

Fair or not, you are identified with the far left, and you are not the person to convince voters that Democrats have ideas for keeping families safe and the country secure.

You are not the one who can assure Americans they will have a chance to get ahead.

You may be a champion for women's rights and a strong advocate for children, but you are too much the Washington insider to convince voters you would fix a political system that seems remote from everyday life.

If you run, you'll position yourself from the center, knowing full well that even if you alienate your base, they'll support you, because they have no one else to turn to.

But even if you moderate your positions, you do so at some political risk. When you suddenly support a constitutional amendment to ban flag-burning, your changing position seems superficial and self-serving. Hillary the "moderate progressive" candidate would be a hard sell.

Although you apparently work well with your Senate colleagues, your candidacy would remind voters that you are not a consensus builder. Your health care plan failed during your husband's first term because you were largely tone-deaf. You shut people out, and when things went awry, you blamed the media.

By the time George Bush leaves office in 2009, this country will have had 20 years with either a Bush or Clinton at the helm. Citizens want a break from that White House tradition.

Think, Hillary, not about what you want, but what's best for your party and country.

Please, don't run.

TBO.com is Tampa Bay Online 2006 Media General, Inc.

 

[KAPLOWD]

All she has to do is win Ohio or anyone of the battle states.

 

[Birchtree]

A chance to get a head

Ya, I think Bill was the one that got all the head - please not again.

 

[Greg]

Hillary Clinton wears many faces, but none a winner

By Jonah Goldberg
TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
Article published Jan 31, 2006

Liberals are sizing up Hillary Clinton for the umpteenth time, and they don't like what they see.

To be honest, I never understood what they saw in her in the first place.

The amazing thing about Clinton is that she's so unappealing. She isn't a particularly gifted speaker. She's smart, but in a conventional and lawyerly way. She doesn't connect well with audiences. Her idea of improvisation seems to be leaping from the prepared text to prepared note cards.

However, she has defied the rules of nature and gotten better looking over the years, which, along with her soap-opera marriage, probably explains some of her success with supermarket checkout-aisle publications.

Indeed, her greatest success has been at exploiting expectations others have for her. For some fans, she was the struggling career woman who could bring home the bacon. For some detractors, she was ''Lady Macbeth,'' cold and calculating in an obviously political marriage. She was also the apotheosis of the 1960s, for friends and foes alike. For the Children's Defense Fund crowd, she was the baby boomer idealist who worked her way through the system. For the American Spectator gang, she was the former Black Panther sympathizer and acolyte of Chicago radical Saul Alinsky who finally achieved power. After the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Hillary - who was no stranger to her husband's weaknesses - suddenly became the victim in a culture with a fetish for victims.

At every turn, Hillary Clinton's Zelig-like public persona has been a fabrication - either by her fans, her enemies or herself. One telling episode came when she published her massively successful autobiography, ''Living History.'' The book tour was nothing short of a coronation, confirming her gravitas and commitment to ''the issues.'' She portrayed herself as resigned to the fact that she'd have to answer Barbara Walters' questions about her personal life, but she always made it seem like she'd rather wrestle with the hard issues of public policy.

But when The Washington Post actually tried to ask her about something other than how she cried over her husband's sexcapades with an intern, the senator from New York ''declined to be interviewed about the political content of her book.''

Hillary Clinton's latest reinvention paints her as a moderate, even an Iraq war hawk. Few people buy it. Reporters regularly assume her motives are opportunistic rather than sincere, focusing on how every pronouncement will position her for the 2008 presidential race.

Some liberals have had enough. ''I will not support Hillary Clinton for president,'' wrote Molly Ivins, the voice of conventional thinking on the left. ''Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone.'' The segment of Democrats who sanctified Cindy Sheehan can hardly countenance a presidential candidate who unapologetically voted for the war and positioned herself to the right of President Bush on foreign policy.

The New Republic offers perhaps an even more devastating critique of Clinton for Democratic pragmatists: She can't win. Marisa Katz dismantled the myth that Clinton can appeal to ''red state'' voters because she won in upstate New York. Turns out former Vice President Al Gore and Sen. John Kerry each did better in upstate New York than she did. And Gore, a Southerner, couldn't even win his home state of Tennessee. Meanwhile, a recent Gallup poll showed that 51 percent of Americans won't even consider voting for Clinton.

Hillary Clinton's success over the last decade and a half has been in pretending to be her own woman while really playing one part or another for the benefit of the media, her husband or various feminist constituencies desperate for a role model to confirm all of their comfortable stereotypes.

That's why there's something oddly satisfying in the possibility that Clinton being herself is politically disastrous. And, if she's really just playing one more role according to some classically Clintonian political triangulation, there's something equally satisfying to the prospect that even her fans aren't falling for it anymore.

Copyright ©2006 Tallahassee Democrat.

 

[Greg]

Civil rights icon tapped to defend Wal-Mart

Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:34 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Civil rights leader and former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young will become the public face of a Wal-Mart-backed group whose aim is to combat criticism of the world's largest retailer, the group said on Monday.

Young, who was an aide to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights protests of the 1960s and served as ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter, will serve as chairman of Working Families for Wal-Mart's national steering committee, the group said in a statement.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was among the financial backers of Working Families for Wal-Mart, a group of people "who understand and appreciate Wal-Mart's positive impact on the working families of America," according to its Web site.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer has stepped up efforts to counter criticism from unions and other groups who say the company pays poverty-level wages, discriminates against women and drives competitors out of business.

Image has become increasingly important for Wal-Mart as it reaches out to wealthier shoppers and grapples with growing opposition to its expansion, particularly into urban areas.

"The critics have it wrong," Young said in a statement. "For those who care about the poor it is time to step up, speak out and join this national discussion."

Wake Up Wal-Mart, a union-backed group critical of Wal-Mart, called on Young to use his position to push for changes at the retailer.

"Ambassador Young is now in a unique position to reach out to Wal-Mart and CEO Lee Scott and urge them to change," Paul Blank, campaign director for Wake Up Wal-Mart, said in a statement.

© Reuters 2006.

 

[Greg]

Tampa, not Richmond, to host 2012 General Conference

Written: 2/17/2006

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - The United Methodist Church's top legislative assembly won't be meeting in Richmond, Va., in 2012, as announced last fall, but will convene in Tampa, Fla., instead.

In making the change, the United Methodist Commission on the General Conference cited a church policy regarding meeting in cities that are home to professional sports teams with Native American names.

The 2012 General Conference will be held April 25 to May 4 in the 600,000-square-foot Tampa Convention Center.

At the time of the initial selection, commission members were unaware that Richmond is home to the Richmond Braves, a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Atlanta Braves.

"We reviewed many issues when considering the finalists, but the name of the minor league sports team never came up in our discussions," said Gail Murphy-Geiss of Centennial, Colo., chairperson of the Commission on the General Conference. "We had earlier eliminated Atlanta from consideration because it was home to the major league baseball team, the Braves.

"When the minor league Braves issue was quickly brought to our attention after the original announcement, we believed we were obligated to revisit the issue.

"We are sad for the great United Methodists in Virginia who were excited about hosting the General Conference but are pleased to take a strong stance against teams with offensive names. However well intended, sports teams named after Native Americans demean the heritage of native peoples. They perpetuate unhealthy and unfair stereotypes."

Murphy-Geiss said the commission is working with the Rev. Alan Morrison, the business manager of the General Conference, to develop detailed written procedures and policies to help the commission consider future sites of the General Conference, including reviews of cities' major and minor professional sports team names.

Tampa was a finalist in the original search process for the 2012 General Conference. When the commission reopened its search, negotiations resulted in Tampa offering the strongest proposal, Murphy-Geiss said.

In addition to the 1,000 or so delegates, the 10-day gathering is expected to attract about 4,000 other people to the Tampa area and will generate about $20 million in anticipated direct spending.

Tampa is part of the Florida Annual (regional) Conference, which is third in membership size, behind Virginia and North Georgia. It has 728 local churches and a total membership of more than 329,000.

*This report was adapted from a press release by the Public Information Office at United Methodist Communications.

 

[Greg]

Five Tampa Police officers in hot water

Feb 16, 2006
By: Sara Dorsey

Tampa, Florida — Thirteen pages of documents sum up why female officer Martha Gearity asked for a transfer out of her all male street anti-crime last August, even though it's one of the most elite teams to work for at the Tampa Police Department.

"To be involved in this type of behavior the behavior is outrageous it's highly unacceptable it's unbecoming a police officer and it's a sad day at TPD that we're even standing here discussing it."

The behavior according to the investigation includes constant flagellation, belching and excessive sexual joking by male officers. It says quote "officer Gearity said that they talked about anal sex, they watched pornographic movies at work, talked about their sex lives in the open, made reference to her menstruation, joked about having homosexual relations with one another in graphic detail and took pictures of a penis with a camera phone."

Those involved include Officer Gregory Cotner, Officer David Duncan, Officer Ryan Sigler, and their superiors Corporal David Watt and Sergeant Gene Strickland.

"We immediately disbanded the members of this squad and then launched our own investigation and then we learned about the sexually charged and offensive environment of the squad."

In the documents Officer Gearity recalled Officer Cotner simulating as if he was grabbing her behind. Gearity goes on to say, "Officer Sigler was simulating that, like he was grinding me like having sex."

The sexual harassment isn't the end of it. Both the Corporal and Sergeant were found guilty of carrying and firing unauthorized weapons on duty and violating the responsibility of supervisors for letting a traffic stop escalate out of control.

It was also found the team did not have jurisdiction when it went into Hillsborough County to arrest Eugene Betts in that case Sergeant Strickland was struck in the ankle by cross fire.

"The discipline that these officers will face will certainly reflect the disappointment that this department feels."

The Sergeant has been moved to desk duty and the three officers and corporal are on patrol under strict supervision while the disciplinary process moves forward. Tampa police say an advisory board will recommend to the chief what actions should be taken, but the chief has the ultimate say.

All the men face anything from suspension to demotion to termination.

Sara Dorsey, Tampa Bay's 10 News

 

[Greg]

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[Greg]

Tampa Officer's Gun, Gear, Car Stolen

By VALERIE KALFRIN vkalfrin@tampatrib.com
Published: Jan 31, 2006
TAMPA - A Tampa police officer lost his 9 mm handgun, Taser, laptop computer and gun belt when someone stole his patrol car from his Manatee County house this weekend, officials said.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office speculated Monday that whoever stole Tampa police Officer Roderick Glyder's car and gear also swiped a patrol car belonging to a Sarasota police officer, who lost an AR-15 rifle that was in the car. Manatee deputies recovered both cars, although not the equipment, within a few blocks of each other, Manatee sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow said.

The FBI was not aware of the thefts Monday afternoon, an agency spokeswoman said.

The thief most likely will not be able to access criminal records, driver registrations and other databases on the Tampa officer's computer because of multiple passwords, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

The department recommends officers take belongings inside at night. Investigators are not sure why Glyder did not. McElroy said Glyder left the state before the theft because of a family emergency and has not been interviewed.

Glyder, 40, has worked for the Tampa Police Department since 1994. His wife reported the patrol car stolen about midnight Friday, officials said.

Manatee deputies found the car about 11:50 a.m. Saturday, parked in the 6700 block of Tuttle Avenue in Bradenton, a few miles from the officer's home, Bristow said.

The car was not damaged. Bristow would not say how investigators think the thief entered the car.

About 9:30 p.m. Saturday, a patrol car parked at the home of Sarasota Officer Leeylvester Scales vanished, Bristow said. Manatee deputies found that car about 2:30 a.m. Sunday - with the engine running and a window broken - on Tuttle Avenue near where the Tampa car was abandoned.

Allowing officers to take cars home is common. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, St. Petersburg Police Department and Pinellas County Sheriff's Office allow it.

There are some restrictions. Pinellas deputies who live outside the county must leave the car locked at a sheriff's district station or substation or at another location designated by the sheriff, officials said.

Tampa police officers may take cars home if they live in a county adjacent to Hillsborough, McElroy said. Those who live in a county farther away, such as Hernando County, must park the car overnight in a safe location at the county line, such as a toll plaza, she said.

Even with the commute, parking the car overnight and during the officers' days off reduces wear and tear on the vehicles, according to a study conducted for the Tampa police, McElroy said.

In addition, having the cars allows officers to respond to calls quicker when traveling to and from work, and they act as a crime deterrent in neighborhoods.