Posted by Carol Rose, On Liberty  August 30, 2011 11:05 AM

Carol Rose analyzes privacy, freedom & law

LINK to “On Liberty”

Also see: Jean v. Massachusetts State Police and the Right to Record the Police

The First Circuit Court of Appeals–the highest federal court for New England just below the U.S. Supreme Court–last Friday handed down a ground-breaking decision defending our right to videotape the police and other public officials as they engage in their official duties–including when, as in this case, the cops appear to be beating a man on the Boston Common.

The FREE RIDE is over! Tax the poor.

“That’s the trouble with the poor…they still have some of their skin!” –Jon Stewart–

It’s been said old age isn’t for sissies. But the young sometimes are curious about what life looks like as the end nears. One old wit suggested stuffing cotton in your ears, smearing Vaseline on your glasses, and putting gravel in your shoes to find out. But that doesn’t really get to the psychological dimensions. Perhaps Marcel Marceau’s “The Box” better illustrates this principle as the remaining space seniors have to explore grows ever smaller:

THE BOX

Getting Away With Torture

As written, the above linked article seems fuzzy, and its conclusion is vague, like a sentence that trails into “ah…”.

One can draw a different conclusion from the Cheney whooping and hollering about how vindicated he is by Obama’s policies (and he certainly is). It’s the conclusion that Cheney broke our laws so bad that they no longer work. We are now a nation of rule by fiat. Don’t like what the courts do? Toss the accused to a military tribunal and make up what’s permitted as you go. Government uses the secrecy privilege to shut down legal challenges and hide criminality. Hell, we even execute people we know are innocent to avoid the embarrassment of admitting a mistake. Once, criminals in government had the decency to be embarrassed about it and deny it. No longer. The mechanisms of the state no longer must obey the law, and the defiant sneering lips of Dick Cheney are the symbol of this transformation.

He didn’t do it alone, though. He had lots of help from Democrats and Republicans both, including Obama.

Our leaders – those in government and those with vast sums of money who are by default their bosses – have become impatient with the rule of law. Those pesky absolutes codified in law are just inconvenient, y’know? Cheney was the harbinger of a new era in governance: he was the man who dared say “screw it, we’ll write some get-out-of-jail-free legal babble and do whatever the hell we want.”

Obama was right to hesitate to prosecute crimes committed by the previous Administration. He was right to fear the fallout, because when one party – which may install the next President – is so thoroughly committed to discarding the law and doing whatever the hell it wants, then Obama can be certain that whatever they hell they want will be revenge, if he prosecutes them now. His hands aren’t clean; he has continued many of the exact same illegal policies invented by Cheney.

Obama does not want to spend his twilight years in a Federal prison. And he will, if Cheney is dragged before a court to face criminal charges. Count on it. Right wing heads will explode; and the next time they capture the Presidency, they’ll get him. Any pretext will do.

That’s the kind of nation we are now.

But Cheney is worse than Hitler in this respect. Even Adolf (unlike Bush & Cheney) didn’t cozy up to torture PUBLICLY and defend it in front of the media no less. The lessons of Nuremberg have been lost on this generation when 38% of Americans believe torture, secret prisons, extraordinary rendition, etc. are OK so long as we (in Bush’s words) needed to ‘know what they were thinking’. In the end, I’m left wondering what was the point of beating the Nazis only to become just like them? For those curious as to how Hitler became acceptable to the German people, now we know–we have 2 examples staring us in the face.

The financially-strapped & mismanaged U.S. Postal Service is proposing to cut its work force by 20% and withdraw from the federal health and retirement plans because it believes it would lower costs.

The layoffs proposed would be achieved in part by breaking labor agreements…an ominous portent for the right to collective bargaining. In fact, the USPS seeks to have federal law altered to attenuate collective bargaining rights by its unions altogether.

The plan would require Congressional approval but, if successful, could be precedent-setting, with the ripple effects of losing 220,000 jobs throughout the government and economy being incalculable.

During the past four years, the service admits it lost $20 billion, including $8.5 billion in fiscal 2010. Instead of getting with new 21st century technology to remain competitive as the publishing industry has had to, it whines about the use of e-mail replacing 1st class mail, its traditionally most profitable class. Rather than capitalizing on its assets and scope to generate greater revenue, it proposes diminishing its services to kiosk style outlets. The lack of imagination, critical problem solving skills, and initiative at the highest levels of postal management couldn’t be more stark.

As the nation’s largest employer with a larger workforce than even the US military, postal officials propose a RIF (reduction in workforce) of 220,000 employees…exhibiting a hostility to career personnel seldom seen in a business so dependent on worker dedication, ability, loyalty, honesty, and dependability. The nuances in its language being circulated in documents on Capitol Hill seethe animosity toward career employees, collective bargaining rights, labor agreements, pensions, health care benefits, and unions…all this in an economy where finding work to support a family is increasingly difficult in America.

Readers may find the cute phrasing of terms like “right sizing” in the following blueprint of how to eliminate those pesky career employees telling as a form of ‘goodspeak’ in this brave new world of the unemployed.

Draft Proposal on ‘Right Sizing’ postal workforce, breech of labor contracts, abandoning pensions/health care plans, eliminating collective bargaining rights

A couple of examples of the fat needing to be trimmed being most concentrated in the skulls of upper postal management follows:

This afternoon at the main Shelton post office, an entirely too tolerant woman provided her debit card to purchase 3 postal money orders totaling about $550. The clerk submitted it to the card reading machine which dutifully accepted it and immediately debited the money from the customer’s account. The next step was to provide the woman the 3 postal money orders she had purchased. But the integration of the two steps was flawed…the printer would not complete the transaction. After a call to the bank, it was determined the charge could not be reversed and she would need to file a time consuming (weeks) ‘charge back’ to have the funds returned to her account. This all took over an hour as the line of other customers waiting to be served grew out the entrance of the building. Naturally the postmaster blamed the clerk(s) (who do NOT program the computer systems), though neither he or any other supervisors (including their tech support hotline) could remedy the situation.

Lesson learned?:  Do NOT purchase money orders from the post office with anything other than cash (they won’t take a check or credit card) which you can demand be returned immediately in the event they cannot provide the service/item you purchased. Besides, if the money orders total over $500 and are being sent overseas/abroad or to relatives back in Mexico, some of the more ‘dutiful’ postal employees will report you.

Lesson 2:  Some years ago (this is not an atypical story), a Shelton postmaster named Sue once from the Aberdeen office was disciplined in a fashion for some sexual peccadillo by being sent to the Shelton office, it having a reputation of being a remote hardship assignment. The commute was long and Sue bridled but needed the job. It did provide her with a private office in the public works era historical building. And postmasters don’t have to punch time cards like their blue collar underlings. So Sue would habitually show up 2+ hours late every day and leave 2+ hours early. The amount of work she actually performed in the intervening 4 hours remains speculative. But, being in the public sector, she received her full paycheck just the same. Other area postmasters (including Olympia’s) and the supervisors were taking long lunches (sometimes 3 hours) or seen in one another’s company at casinos during working hours.

So now the post office is at risk of failing due to its inability to meet its obligations (cut Saturday deliveries is now one of its mantras) while whining about the meat in the sandwich instead of the lard. Instead of shedding the fat, it proposes amputation for those blue collar workers who do the heavy lifting.

Thank You all who supported me in my bid for Re-election to the Port of Shelton as Commissioner. Though I was disappointed in placing 2nd in the Primary, I was not surprised. I’d predicted a 30% voter turnout that night; it tallied 32%.

I congratulate Mr. Taylor for the support he received, though I’m surprised at his overconfident response when he assured me he would take me down in the November General Election. I suggested given only 3,500 Port of Shelton District residents had cast a vote of the registered 13,128, his confidence was premature. Dick received 52% of the votes cast, or 10% of the electorate.

I believe Mr. Taylor received most of his votes from local Veterans due to a few engaged in a smear campaign to confuse those Veterans by questioning my military discharge without providing the reason why. In fact, the circumstances and motives were honorable based on my adamant belief all physically and mentally able Americans of character should be allowed to serve their country without discrimination.

Dick Taylor’s biggest campaign donor is Port Commissioner Tom Wallitner at $500.00. Mr. Wallitner is also on the EDC (Economic Development Council) board of directors, a private corporation receiving large sums of taxpayer funds without competitive bidding or effective oversight from none other than the votes of elected officials such as Mr. Wallitner and Jay Hupp. Mr. Taylor’s anticipated independence from this kind of influence and circular arrangement can be justly questioned. Another is the Olympia Building Trades (a non-local union organization imported by Matt Matayoshi (EDC CEO) to offer testimony before ORCAA in support of the Adage project) to the tune of $300. John Dobson, executive director at the Port of Shelton, weighed in with $250.00, Fred Finn donated another $250.00, Jack Krause, $150.00, Rick Hoss, esq. for Adage contributed $200.00, Commissioner Jay Hupp, $100.00, Jay’s wife, Diana Hupp, $100.00, Jeff Farrington from Kapowsin Sports, $100.00, Kevin Cronquest (a local chamber member), $100.00, Richard Adamson (retired Court Commissioner who denied a petition for a protection order restraining John Dobson), $100.00, Patti Tupper (Chamber Member), $50.00, PUD#3 Commissioner Linda Gott, $50.00, PUD#3 Commissioner Bruce Jorgenson, $25.00, PUD#3’s Wyla Wood, $50.00, and ‘Green’ Diamond’s Patti Case for $30.00.

Acting as Dick Taylor’s campaign treasurer is Mr. Gerry Ring-Erickson, who assisted in writing current ORCAA standards for permitting air pollution and is the husband of County Commissioner Lynda Ring-Erickson. This cast of characters supporting Mr. Taylor’s candidacy appears to all be cut from the same warp & weave–all who donated to Dick Taylor’s campaign coincidentally supported the Adage proposal to destroy this community and its environment. Virtually all of these oligarchs sit either on the EDC Board or the Chamber Board. They aligned themselves, along with Dick Taylor in the Citizens for a Prosperious Mason County, created to ramrod the Adage project home. Now they hope to see Dick Taylor win this election, defeating the hard work, money, and countless hours you spent in educating your friends & neighbors about the irremedially harmful destruction and pollution Adage would have produced, the future health problems this community would have faced. These hard fought gains will all be wasted if Dick Taylor is elected as Port Commissioner. I’ve discovered at least two meetings have since taken place with John Dobson to bring in a successor company to replace the ill fated Adage with yet another Biomass proposal.

Time is short. My thoughts are this: I am holding a campaign meeting the weekend following Labor Day weekend. If you’d be interested in attending, please e-mail me (jackbroadcaster13@yahoo.com) and I will e-mail you a time, date and location.

IT’S TIME TO STEP UP AND STEP IT UP! ARE YOU WITH ME? Please help me continue to help the community.

Sincerely,

Jack Miles

(Admin Note: The above was edited for content, length, and syntax.)

“I never voted for a politician…only against.”–Randy Neatherlin misquoting WC Fields–

Though Mason County Commissioner Jerry Lingle has yet to be buried, rumors are now circulating regarding contenders seeking to be his successor appointed/nominateded by Tim Sheldon and Linda Ring-Erickson. Jay Hupp vehemently denied such rumors as did Marlene Taylor for her husband, Dick Taylor. Marlene was quaintly ignorant of who had been donating large sums to her husband’s campaign (Hupp and Wallitner) as well as woefully clueless for an ex-Pork Commissioner about the fact the EDC (Economic Development Council) was a private company receiving public funds with virtually no oversight/accountability from local politicians who sit on its board of directors and even receive campaign contributions from its employees. Mayor Tarrant (retiring) and Ross Gallagher were not reached for comment.

Al Zeimer for Pork Commissioner

Having lost the primary election for Port Commissioner, Brian Avery put his intellectual bona fides on display in a letter to the editor of The Journal urging his supporters to vote for Dick Taylor. Brian’s reasoning?  It ran something like the following:

Despite dutifully clucking about environmental responsibility during the candidates forum held at the Mason County Public Works facility by KMAS, Mr. Avery recommends the candidate (of 2 remaining) who ardently supported Adage in the recently hotly contested issue about exactly that. Mr. Avery goes on in his letter to extol the virtues of developing a tract of land south of the Shelton Airport, counter to the position taken by Pork Commissioners Jay Hupp and Tom Wallitner. At great public expense, the Pork has successfully litigated against the City of Shelton’s efforts to change the zoning of the disputed tract to allow Hall Equities to develop it in what Mr. Avery assures readers would be a responsible and economically advantageous manner. The contradiction between his reasoning and urging voters to abandon their strongest advocate on this very issue apparently escapes his ken. Likewise, Mr. Avery appears completely ignorant of the fact Commissioners Hupp and Walitner are some of Dick Taylor’s biggest campaign contributors. Though having been notably absent from Pork public meetings, Brian chooses to weigh in with his opinion on the ‘bickering’ at the Pork…suggesting voters should turn against the one Commissioner (Jack Miles) who has consistently been their strongest most unapologetic ally in protecting the taxpayer, the health and welfare of the community, and democratic principles in government.

Do we really want 3 septuagenarians sleeping at the Pork?

.

Commissioner Miles’ political paradox is reminiscent of a supporter urging President Truman during a whistle stop in his campaign to “Give ’em hell, Harry!”  Truman replied, “I never gave them hell…I just gave them the truth and they thought it was hell.”

Mr. Avery has amply demonstrated by his vacuous reasoning he didn’t have the intellectual horsepower or political sophistication to manage the people’s business in such an important elected office after being, perhaps too narrowly, rejected by the voters.

Pork of Shelton Commissioners Executive Session

80,000+ annual visitors attend this festival for which northern Mason County was a contender only a couple of years ago. The energy and revenue generated are exhilarating to behold. $9/turkey leg drumsticks, $2/pint bottled water, $135 hats, $150 bodices, vests, pantaloons, bucket boots, swords, armor, shields, adornments, daggers, vestments and regalia of every stripe were on hand from vendors/artists/designers who maintain no store fronts or website presence. Local lodgings were booked. Restaurants were bustling. The event consumes the entire 1st 3 weekends of August.

Though the venue was large, it was all needed to accommodate the numbers of guests, many of whom accepted the invitation to pitch their tents or park their RV’s overnight to take in the entire weekend of performances & displays. Parking and the festival was well organized including ample toilet facilities. Little in the way of planning appeared to have escaped the organizer’s notice. The weather was pleasant. The upper Puyallup valley was a lush agricultural portrait straight from the canvas of Norman Rockwell…in short, unforgettable.

The Washington 2011 Midsummer Renaissance Faire had hundreds of costumed performers to entertain the tens of thousands of visitors. These accomplished equestrian acrobatic virtuosos astounded the crowds with their gymnastic agility and mock medieval tournament reenactments. Many times the audience can be audibly heard holding its breath then letting out sighs of relief or exclamation. The troupe travels extensively throughout the U.S. The well trained draft horses that accompany them are exquisitely beautiful and wildly popular with onlookers. The well toned limber young riders tugged on many a young lady’s fantasies. A blonde lass recently added was equally spectacular.

2011 WA Midsummer Renaissance Faire Tournament 1/3

2011 WA Midsummer Renaissance Faire Tournament 2/3

2011 WA Midsummer Renaissance Faire Tournament 3/3

2011 WA Midsummer Renaissance Faire Equestrian Acrobatics

2011 WA Midsummer Renaissance Faire Equestrian… by pinbalwyz

In this clip, the Pirate Captain demonstrates cannon battle tactics & oversees grudge duels

2011 WA Midsummer Renaissance Faire Pirate Guns & Antics

2011 WA Midsummer Renaissance Faire Pirate Guns… by pinbalwyz

2011 WA Midsummer Renaissance Faire Queen’s Tournament-Joust

2011 WA Midsummer Renaissance Faire Queen's… by pinbalwyz

The magic of Washington’s 2011 Midsummer Renaissance Faire still hangs in the air as memories of Equestrian virtuosity and traveling mages linger.

The following short video clips are an effort to capture some of the mood of this huge venue after a rough start discovering the mike was off. The crowds were friendly and in good humor. The event was very well organized and clean. It was fantasy family entertainment at its best.

Traveling Mage

The Magic is in those who believe

The Washington 2011 Midsummer Renaissance Faire had hundreds of costumed performers to entertain the tens of thousands of visitors. Sir Edward describes his years of participation and knighthood. His daughter, Lady Jessica, accompanies him.

8-13-11 WA Renassaince Faire Sir Edward interview

This charming magician (Mathew Vanzee, traveling mage, vanzeemagicDOTcom) had a warm demeanor and affinity for the children in his audience. They were, in fact, spellbound! The magic wasn’t bad either.

8-13-11 WA Renassaince Faire Mathew Vanzee Magic Show

The magic show (19 short clips) can be imagined by clicking on the following:

1/19, 2/19, 3/19, 4/19, 5/19, 6/19, 7/19, 8/19, 9/19, 10/19, 11/19, 12/19, 13/19,

14/19, 15/19, 16/19, 17/19, 18/19, 19/19.

After an incredibly stunning performance by acrobats on these animals, the crowd admires the horse and rider.

8-13-11 WA Renassaince Faire crowd admires/loves Performer & Horse

One of the festival’s fairy princesses graciously answers questions (after a rough start with the mike) about fairyland and its inhabitants. Many young fairies in training were seen, wings aflutter.

8-13-11 WA Renassaince Faire interview w/fairy princess

The Pirate Captain explains their use of deck cannons to terrorize merchant ships into submission rather than destruction…tightly packed wadding being preferable to poundage for its fearsome report.

8-13-11 WA Renassaince Faire Pirate Guns 1/3

The Pirate’s demo (3 short clips) can be seen by clicking on the following:

1/3, 2/3, 3/3.

The Queen’s companion/courtesan cheers the crowd and roots for Her Majesty’s favorite in the tournament.

8-13-11 WA Renassaince Faire Queen’s Courtesan

Gandalf the White, the powerful famous wizard of Middle Earth is in attendance and graciously answers questions from the curious.

8-13-11 WA Renassaince Faire interview w/Gandalf the White

Knave/Rogue Harley LeQuinn charms children with the attribution of his condition to magic beans he was given by a friend named Jack. But, instead of following Jack’s instructions to plant them, Harley claims he ate them. He then confides the truth of the matter is he was stretched on the rack for alleged crimes, but only his lower limbs since half the charges were dismissed.

8-13-11 WA Renassaince Faire knave Harley LeQuinn interview

Firefox Leather & Furs vendor/owner Nisa Bacher is based in Edmonds, WA, but says she maintains no storefront or web presence for her designs/creations, though a rudimentary start appears to be underway. (catsreachDOTorg/firefox) She invites customers to call (425)787-9797 (by appointment only) to be measured and outfitted…or catch her in her booth at one of the festivals where her artistic creations can be seen. They are truly marvelous, attractive, and well made for either gender.

8-13-11 WA Renassaince Faire vendor Firefox Leather & Furs

Custom leather hat maker Victor More’ [sic?] was swamped with customers. He replaced his display of 3-corner and broad brimmed Cavalier hats over 4 times in 1 day. They ranged from $110 – $130. Victor normally prefers to cut the leather on an existing hat to the customer’s size, but will craft a custom hat from scratch upon request. He states he does not maintain a website for his business. He is based out of Seattle and can be reached at fangsbyvictor@juno.com or (206)459-9220. His creations were outstanding constructed out of heavy weight quality leather, hat decor of your choosing, and attention to detail. His demeanor was professionally affable, unlike that of a much larger competitor based in Watsonville, Calif. (headnhome hats)

8-13-11 WA Renassaince Faire custom leather hat maker Victor More’

The Washington 2011 Midsummer Renaissance Faire had hundreds of costumed performers to entertain the tens of thousands of visitors including this company of pike men which were very effective in ground combat until advances in firearms technology made them obsolete. Today, foxholes, minefields, and trenches might be considered their tactical equivalent. They served as a bulwark against cavalry and advancing infantry alike.

8-13-11 WA Renassaince Faire Pike Men demo anti-cavalry battle tactics

Astounding Horse Acrobatics

Kelly’s farm is a relatively close venue near Bonney Lake where the annual Washington Renaissance Faire is now held during 3 August weekends. In addition to jousting, pirate antics, dueling, pike company demonstrations, fairies, horse acrobatics, knights, sword duels, queens, courtiers, musketeers, clergymen, maids, ladies, knaves, satyrs, strumpets, princesses, paupers, peasants, minstrels, jesters, forest bandits, wizards, magicians, jugglers, clowns, vintage seamstresses and hat makers–all in period costumes, many faire patrons arrive in costume as well. This influx of 80,000 visitors could have been sited in northern Mason County as recently as a couple of years ago but for the maladroit handling of the venture by local county officials and its entrepreneurial proponent, leading to a chapter 7 bankruptcy when permission for the lease-purchase option secured 250 acres proposed development was denied. The economic boost such an event, et ux, would have provided to the County is undeniable.

WA Midsummer Renaissance Faire PROMO

.