Soul Snatcher, Productions ™ Democracy Wall

The following depositions were taken in Tumwater & Olympia, WA. on 3-6-12 at ~11:15am and ~2:00pm respectively. Amy’s was recorded on 3-22-12 @ ~2:30pm in the TCTV Studio. They contain eye witness or fact witness statements material to a 3 minute incident in the Thurston FJC (Family & Juvenile Courthouse) on 9-27-11 wherein juvenile probation officer Sara Dotson and her courthouse pals trumped up charges to target/persecute a Good Samaritan providing accommodation to a disabled young mother on that day @ ~10:30am. The videotaped depositions speak for themselves.

030912Saradep by pinbalwyz

Hair dresser Sara Hooker confirms defendant’s reputation as a passionate opinionated but dutiful and helpful non-threatening community activist, photojournalist, and paralegal. She also belies Sara Dotson’s poor memory as to defendant’s ‘scary’ weight, hair & beard length on 9-27-11.

3-9-12 Keith Schacher Deposition 1/3 by pinbalwyz

Keith Schacher testifies about lying public juvenile official, probation officer Sara Dotson, in #11-1-01711-1 as an instance of prosecutorial misconduct wherein her courthouse pals engage in malicious prosecution on her behalf to punish a Good Samaritan for accommodating a disabled young mother on 9-27-11 in the Thurston FJC courthouse public hallway.

3-9-12 Keith Schacher Deposition 2/3 by pinbalwyz

3-9-12 Keith Schacher Deposition 3/3 by pinbalwyz

3-22-12 Amy Cunningham Deposition 1/3

Amy Cunningham recalls the denial of accommodation, abuse, perjury, intimidation, and coercion at the hands of Thurston County juvenile probation officer Sara Dotson and DSHS Children’s Services apparatchik Heather Reid on and subsequent to 9-27-11 at the Thurston Co. Family & Juvenile Courthouse (FJC).

3-22-12 Amy Cunningham Deposition 2/3

3-22-12 Amy Cunningham Deposition 3/3 

Recent Port of Shelton Commissioner Jack Miles/Strickland was convicted of DUI (Driving Under the Influence of alcohol) after a disputed breathalyzer test registered 0.10+; the legal limit in Washington State is presumed 0.08. He was represented by Bruce Finlay, esq., the husband attorney of Mason County Superior Court Judge Amber Finlay. District Court Judge Victoria Meadows presided over the jury trial and sentencing. Patricia Small, a Tacoma resident commuting to Shelton, was the young Mason County deputy prosecutor handling the case.

3-6-12 DUI Sentencing of Jack Miles/Strickland by pinbalwyz

The Judge’s courtroom demeanor was sterling as was the deputy prosecutor’s. Judge Meadows’ sentencing was proportionate and consistent with that handed out to others convicted of similar offenses in her Court. She revealed no discernible bias or hostile attitude at this hearing. She was cordial to all of those in her courtroom. Ms. Small handled her caseload quickly, efficiently, and publicly gave a measure of respect and consideration to all defendants who approached her while openly negotiating plea bargains with them.

Mr. Miles did not appeal to the Court for leniency when given the opportunity to address the Court before sentencing was passed. Patricia Small, DPA, argued for an imposition of 5 days jail time based on Mr. Miles’ history and her assertion the conviction involved a ‘collision’. Mr. Finlay asserted there was none and successfully argued for the statutory minimum, 1 day in jail. Judge Meadows suspended 364 of a 365 day sentence based on completion of the terms of the judgment including a 5 year probationary period, a total combined fine of almost $5,000, no law or similar violations, a proscription against consumption or presence of alcohol including bars and parties to be re-evaluated after 1 year, and a payment schedule of $75/mo. over the course of 5 years probation until paid in full.

Mr. Finlay announced he would be appealing the conviction based on several factors including alleged prosecutorial misconduct during the jury phase of the trial when the State, in an apparent attempt to impeach Mr. Miles, falsely and recklessly asserted/questioned his “dishonorable discharge’ from the Marine Corps. Besides the fact this assertion was absolutely false (Mr. Miles received a stipulated ‘less than honorable’ discharge as a resolution of his refusal to inform on his fellow soldiers as to whether they were ‘gay’ at that time–an issue that has since become moot pursuant to Presidential Order) resulting in the Corps taking the disciplinary action against him for his refusal to testify against his comrades, even had the prosecutor’s false allegation been true, it was misconduct by the prosecutor requiring a mistrial. Mr. Finlay objected at that time, demanding a mistrial be declared, but his objection was overruled–a basis for appeal because of the resulting denial of a fair trial where the jury was not prejudiced by introduction of evidence having absolutely nothing to do with whether Mr. Miles was actually guilty of the State’s charges.

Outside the courtroom, Mr. Miles protested the weight of the fine and declared it was tantamount to a State run ‘racket’, i.e. all about the money! Mr. Finlay confided the defense had excellent grounds for appeal for not only the above cited reasons, but the irregular/questionable use of a breathalyze instrument by an inexperienced  arresting officer who failed to follow prescribed protocol in its application.

Mr. Miles vowed to return to Arizona. His disappointment after a disheartening lack of community reciprocity following his championing its protection was apparent. Jack bridled at the thought of paying off a fine he argued was unjust. It’s uncertain if/when local residents will see another elected official running the political risks Jack undertook to champion their cause.

In the following courtroom audio clip from Thurston County District Court case #AH11-0208 (a civil anti-harassment petition brought by Dotson), juvenile probation officer Sara Dotson can be heard swearing, under oath, to the fact Thurston Deputy Prosecutor Jennifer Lord and Detective Weiss (by reference therein) coached, influenced, and tampered with the State’s complaining witness in a private civil action in order to setup their agenda in a concocted Thurston Superior Court criminal proceeding: #11-1-01711-1

Despite the fact Lord was the State’s attorney, not Dotson’s, and Weiss was the State’s investigator, not Dotson’s, they engaged in the barratry of urging  the State’s complaining witness to act against her own interests at the expense of the defendant, at least according to Dotson’s sworn statement, the core of which can be heard 35 seconds into the audio stream.

This is an apparently typical MO of Thurston County prosecutors and how they ‘develop’ witnesses. In this instance, Dotson was not even the one who initially contacted the Sheriff’s office, it was Tim Morgan, a long time  nemesis of the defendant’s. All defendants in Thurston County should be warned of this kind of corruption/conflict of interest in that County Prosecutor’s office.

Click on the audio link below to hear Sara Dotson’s sworn admission she had been influenced, coached, and advised on what to say/do by Thurston County deputy prosecutor Jennifer Lord.

District Court AH11-0208 audio of alleged witness tampering in sworn statement

Dead Dad Exposes Corrupt Thurston Juvenile Probation Officer

By Tom Carter 3-3-12 (wsws.org)

A bill passed Monday in the US House of Representatives and Thursday in the Senate would make it a felony—a serious criminal offense punishable by lengthy terms of incarceration—to participate in many forms of protest associated with the Occupy Wall Street protests of last year. Several commentators have dubbed it the “anti-Occupy” law, but its implications are far broader.

The bill—H.R. 347, or the “Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011”—was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate, while only Ron Paul and two other Republicans voted against the bill in the House of Representatives (the bill passed 388-3). Not a single Democratic politician voted against the bill.

The virtually unanimous passage of H.R. 347 starkly exposes the fact that, despite all the posturing, the Democrats and the Republicans stand shoulder to shoulder with the corporate and financial oligarchy, which regarded last year’s popular protests against social inequality with a mixture of fear and hostility.

Among the central provisions of H.R. 347 is a section that would make it a criminal offense to “enter or remain in” an area designated as “restricted.”

The bill defines the areas that qualify as “restricted” in extremely vague and broad terms. Restricted areas can include “a building or grounds where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting” and “a building or grounds so restricted in conjunction with an event designated as a special event of national significance.”

The Secret Service provides bodyguards not just to the US president, but to a broad layer of top figures in the political establishment, including presidential candidates and foreign dignitaries.

Even more sinister is the provision regarding events of “national significance.” What circumstances constitute events of “national significance” is left to the unbridled discretion of the Department of Homeland Security. The occasion for virtually any large protest could be designated by the Department of Homeland Security as an event of “national significance,” making any demonstrations in the vicinity illegal.

For certain, included among such events would be the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, which have been classified as National Special Security Events (NSSE), a category created under the Clinton administration. These conventions have been the occasion for protests that have been subjected to ever increasing police restrictions and repression. Under H.R. 347, future protests at such events could be outright criminalized.

The standard punishment under the new law is a fine and up to one year in prison. If a weapon or serious physical injury is involved, the penalty may be increased to up to ten years.

Also criminalized by the bill is conduct “that impedes or disrupts the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions” and “obstructs or impedes ingress or egress to or from any restricted building or grounds.” These provisions, even more so than the provisions creating “restricted areas,” threaten to criminalize a broad range of protest activities that were previously perfectly legal.

In order to appreciate the unprecedented sweep of H.R. 347, it is necessary to consider a few examples:

 A wide area around the next G-20 meeting or other global summit could be designated “restricted” by the Secret Service, such that any person who “enters” a that area can be subject to a fine and a year in jail under Section 1752(a)(1) (making it a felony to enter any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so).

 Senator Rick Santorum, the ultra-right Republican presidential candidate, enjoys the protection of the Secret Service. Accordingly, a person who shouts “boo!” during a speech by Santorum could be subject to arrest and a year of imprisonment under Section 1752(a)(2) (making it a felony to “engag[e] in disorderly or disruptive conduct in” a restricted area).

 Striking government workers who form a picket line near any event of “national significance” can be locked up under Section 1752(a)(3) (making it a crime to imped[e] ingress or egress to or from any restricted building or grounds).

Under the ancien regime in France, steps were taken to ensure that the “unwashed masses” were kept out of sight whenever a carriage containing an important aristocrat or church official was passing through. Similarly, H.R. 347 creates for the US president and other top officials a protest-free bubble or “no-free-speech zone” that follows them wherever they go, making sure the discontented multitude is kept out of the picture.

The Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act is plainly in violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which was passed in 1791 in the aftermath of the American Revolution. The First Amendment provides: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (The arrogance of the Democratic and Republican politicians is staggering—what part of “Congress shall make no law” do they not understand?)

H.R. 347 comes on the heels of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was signed by President Obama into law on December 31, 2011. The NDAA gives the president the power to order the assassination and incarceration of any person—including a US citizen—anywhere in the world without charge or trial.

The passage of H.R. 347 has been the subject of a virtual blackout in the media. In light of the unprecedented nature of the bill, which would effectively overturn the First Amendment, this blackout cannot be innocent. The media silence therefore represents a conscious effort to keep the American population in the dark as to the government’s efforts to eviscerate the Bill of Rights.

The bill would vastly expand a previous law making it misdemeanor to trespass on the grounds of the White House. An earlier version of the bill would have made it a felony just to “conspire” to engage in any of the conduct described above. The bill now awaits President Obama’s signature before it becomes the law of the land.

What lies behind the unprecedented attack underway on the US Constitution and Bill of Rights is a growing understanding in the ruling class that the protests that took place around the world against social inequality in 2011 will inevitably re-emerge in more and more powerful forms in 2012 and beyond, as austerity measures and the crashing economy make the conditions of life more and more impossible for the working class. The virtually unanimous support in Congress H.R. 347, among Democrats as well as Republicans, reflects overriding sentiment within the ruling establishment for scrapping all existing democratic rights in favor of dictatorial methods of rule.

This sentiment was most directly expressed this week by Wyoming Republican legislator David Miller, who recently introduced a bill into the state legislature that would give the state the power, in an “emergency,” to create its own standing army through conscription, print its own currency, acquire military aircraft, suspend the legislature, and establish martial law. “Things happen quickly sometimes—look at Libya, look at Egypt, look at those situations,” Miller told the Star-Tribune in Casper, Wyoming. Repeating arguments employed by every military dictatorship over the past century, Miller declared, “We wouldn’t have time to meet as a Legislature or even in special session to do anything to respond.” Miller’s so-called “doomsday law” was defeated in the Wyoming legislature Tuesday by the narrow margin of 30-27.

Trial Tactics sanctioned by Jerry Spence, esq.

Links to the audio files analyzing those tactics are listed at the end of this article.

Sometimes there’s simply no substitute for excellence. Jerry Spence is possibly the best criminal defense trial attorney in America, if he’s still alive. He  successfully defended Randy Weaver, Imelda Marcos, and represented the estate of Karen Silkwood. It’s said he never lost a case.

These trial tactics are intended for those indigents too poor to afford an attorney, too knowledgeable to allow a public defender to shut them out of some of the most critical decisions affecting whether Jail time is in their future, and for those who want to participate in the process determining their fate. These audio files are intended to give the poor, the dispossessed, the disenfranchised, and the oppressed the tools to defend themselves who insist on that right. They are not a SOP or a substitute for a lawyer, but they are a first step to help those described try to avoid the mire that’s now our judicial cesspool.

What’s asked in return is commitment to the proposition we do not force our friends, family, and neighbors to go to court (especially in criminal cases) or ANY other government institution alone. We will lock arms in solidarity with a band of brothers and sisters determined to seek justice in the belly of the beast. Without this commitment, you (no matter how radical or much of a community/political activist you might be) are NOT welcome to these files or the community of legal activists willing to make such a pledge. You are excluded just as you exclude others in their hours of need before a prison-industrial-judicial complex that eats its children.

Those who are able & willing to assume their civic duty in this cause are urged to enlist others of similar faith. We must hang together or we will all hang separately! Do not allow those being flung into the maw  of this abattoir to become separated/isolated and disposed of. A Hive intelligence needs every member, and for each to remain in close contact/communication with the rest. Separated, the Hive will die as will each of its members! Separation can take many forms besides the physical. The beast can attempt to cut/control communication links. Official propaganda can corrode the spiritual, ethical, and social solidarity of the Hive. It can try to terrorize the Hive by making examples of its various participants. It can seize the assets (common strategy) of its participants through fines, fees, and foreclosures leveraged against the liberty of its patriots. It can instill fear of loss through the raw brute police power of the state imposed against the individual. Instilling panic, it promotes a reaction of ‘Devil Take the Hindmost’. Discipline and faith in a future without repression of inalienable rights must be an abiding presence in the Hive. The passions of those within can defeat the machine.

Audio Links:

Trial Tactics 1/12, Trial Tactics 2/12, Trial Tactics 3/12, Trial Tactics 4/12, x-Trial Tactics 5/12, x-Trial Tactics 6/12, x-Trial Tactics 7/12, x-Trial Tactics 8/12, advx-Trial Tactics 9/12, advx-Trial Tactics 10/12, advx-Trial Tactics 11/12, advx-Trial Tactics 12/12

The judicial cesspool in which citizens find themselves mired has reached unprecedented proportions in the depth and breadth of public officials’ perjury. The corruption the Occupy activists protest extends to all 3 branches of our government, but is particularly galling in the judicial branch where hearings/trials are supposed to be searches for the truth. In fact, the Court system  has become so petty and intrusive, it invites perjury and does little/nothing about it in almost all instances.

Anti-harassment actions (RCW 10.14) typically involve the most petty of disputes often involving the mentally unstable and hysterics to the vindictive and naive. Some critics suspect the entire circus where most litigants (over 90%) are pro se is designed to distract the body politic from its social ills while fighting among themselves for the most trivial of reasons.

About 1/3rd of Thurston County Jail’s inmates are held for allegedly violating a TPO (temporary protection order) that was likely precipitated by the kinds of conflicts that once involved one of the parties locking themselves into their room/bathroom. Today, it has become an opportunity for even more intrusion by a government intent on assuming control over every aspect of its citizen’s lives. The typical degree of pettiness and ex parte proceedings contrasts dramatically with the original legislative intent of this law, generated out of concern for the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Elissa Tissot in a TESC cafeteria some years ago.

Professional sycophants recognize a bonanza when they see one. Gregory Gilbertson teaches law related classes at Centralia Community College and styles himself as an expert interviewer (PI) on the side, sending annual gifts to many area attorneys in a bid to curry favor for hiring his services at $60/hr. Some are less impressed with his self promotion.

Despite  the earnest assertions heard in the following interview of a defendant guilty of nothing more than accommodating a disabled woman in a Thurston County courthouse public hallway on 9-27-11 in #11-1-01711-1, Gibertson trashes the client’s relationship with his attorney by later misrepresenting the discussion with that client in his e-mail letter of demand to the attorney for payment. Both chose to scapegoat the client despite that client’s transparent notice (heard at the end of the 1-hr interview) the PI was employed by the attorney, not the client.

1-26-12 interview w/attorney’s client in the case of:

NO GOOD DEED SHALL GO UNPUNISHED IN THURSTON CO. 11-1-01711-1

Ex Parte Probable Cause Affidavit under Penalty of Perjury

SOUL ON ICE author Eldridge Cleaver wrote, “I’m perfectly aware that I’m in prison, that I’m a Negro, that I’ve been a rapist, and that I have a Higher Uneducation.”

Inside the Cuckoo’s nest

Angela Davis called it the prison-industrial complex. America incarcerates a higher percentage of its population than any other nation. Around 25% of US black males of a certain age are in prison or the probation-corrections system at any given time.

St. Peter’s Gate

Stokley Carmichael used the term ‘white nigger’ to describe the ‘hippies’ of his day and might have agreed with some of Jerry Rubin’s sentiments when the latter observed:

“We are stealing the youth of America right out of the kindergartens and elementary schools.” After some remarks about how “America’s courts are colonial courts,” her jails “black concentration camps,” he goes on to declare that “smoking pot is a political act, and every smoker is an outlaw. The drug culture is a revolutionary threat to plastic wasp america.”

Too Much Togetherness

“Who the hell wants to “make it” in America anymore? The hippie-yippie-SDS movement is a “white nigger” movement. The American economy no longer needs young whites and blacks. We are waste material. We fulfill our destiny in life by rejecting a system which rejects us.”

A Sleeping Giant

Having exhausted an industrial-manufacturing base with outsourcing and bankrupted its service economy, America turns to consuming its environment and feeding its few remaining resources to the fire including its own citizens.

Boot Camp

Accordingly, Rubin called for widespread demonstrations near jails and court houses to “demand immediate freedom for Huey P. Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Rap Brown, all black prisoners, Timothy Leary, the Oakland Seven, all drug prisoners, all draft resisters, Benjamin Spock, … . me,” etc.

Ed Meese’s dream of a more perfect society

The Movement is dead; the Revolution is unborn. The streets are bloody and ablaze, but it is difficult to see why, and impossible to know for what end. Government on every level is ineffectual, helpless to act either in the short term or the long. The force of Army and police seems not to suppress violence, but incite it… . It is the worst of times.

Trend in American Jurisprudence

It is the best of times. The wretched of this American earth are together as they have never been before, … No march, no sit-in, no boycott ever touched so many… . The subtle methods of co-optation work no better to keep it intact than the brutal methods of repression; if it is any comfort, liberalism proves hardly more effective than fascism. Above all, there is a sense that the continuity of an age has been cut, that we have arrived at an infrequent fulcrum of history, and that what comes now will be vastly different from what went before.

American Gulag

It is not a time for reflection, but for evocation. The responsibility of the intellectual is the same as that of the street organizer, the draft resister, the Digger: to talk to people, not about them. The important literature now is the underground press, the speeches of Malcolm, the works of Fanon, the songs of the Rolling Stones and Aretha Franklin.

Evil Women?…or a Tyranny?

Julius Ceasar, in one of the earliest written descriptions of the Druids, described a society where the Gods demanded a heavy toll from their earthly followers. Human fodder was needed–and who better to pay the ultimate price than felons and thieves.

Valentine’s Day

Julius Ceasar noted of the Celts: “They believe that the execution of those who have been caught in the act of theft or robbery or some crime is more pleasing to the immortal gods but when the supply of such fails, they resort to the execution even of the innocent.”

Hotel California

especially the judicial cesspool in Washington State’s capitol county, Thurston.

Indigent defendants are hurried along in assembly line fashion into the maw of its growth industry, government and jails. Even the Nisqually have opted to cash in on the private prison/jail system bonOne could easily argue a similar analogy for today’s American criminal justice sThurston. Indigent defendants ystem, anza. Those who can afford an attorney are generally tolerated until picked clean.

Hotel Hilton

Officials in Mason County obsequiously suck up to State Prison officials in a bid for their own share of the mince meat pie.

Flesh & Steel

When the Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women opens near Belfair, it will be Mason County’s second state prison. The Washington Corrections Center at Shelton has been a quiet part of that community for more than 40 years.

Hello Dolly

Currently, the medium security men’s prison is the greater Shelton area’s largest employer — 685 employees in a 2004 survey, surpassing local icon Simpson Timber Company (sixth at 418) and the newly expanded Little Creek Casino and Resort (650).

Magical Mystery Tour

In the view of Kasey Cronquist, executive director of the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce, the prison is “a silent economic engine” that seldom crosses residents’ minds. Its location on Dayton Airport Road, well away from downtown Shelton, keeps it out of the public eye.

Field of Dreams

“People move here and have no idea it exists” said Cronquist, who spent his late childhood years in Shelton and graduated from high school there.

Hotel Shelton

Cronquist said the prison “benefits the community tremendously, both in community development and economic development.”

Mason County Hotel

Not only is it the area’s largest employer, Cronquist said, but it pays “family wages” based on a state scale. A liaison at the correction center has helped local businesses fill the prison’s needs for goods and services. In the past, an inmate woodworking shop produced street benches and other projects for city use.

Prison Japanese style

Cronquist said there is another plus factor: State funds for infrastructure come to areas with state facilities. A proposed water and sewer project for the Shelton area likely will get a financial boost from the prison’s presence, he said.

The Scream

Mason County Commissioner Tim Sheldon told an informational meeting last month in Belfair that the women’s prison may be a welcome inclusion in any future sewer system along Hood Canal. The prison is four miles up Sand Hill Road from the canal.

Modern Times

Mission Creek will have 80 inmates initially and employ about 40 people, said Superintendent James Walker. A few employees who transferred from the closing Tacoma Pre-Release Center are Kitsap County, Gig Harbor or Belfair-area residents.

Doing Time

“Some are glad to be (working) closer to home,” Walker said.

Bookends

“We got a thing…going on!” -Billy Paul-

Washington is now the 7th state in the union to allow gay marriages. Governor Chris Gregoire signed the debatable bill into law on Monday (2-13-12). The signing was surrounded by much jubilation from proponents of the bill. A solid opposition promises to have it repealed

However, it will not go into effect until at least June, pending a standard enactment period. A law does not go into effect in Washington until 90 days after the state’s legislative session ends.

Opponents of the bill have said they will seek its repeal through a ballot measure in November of this year. That push could delay the law’s enactment or possibly derail it entirely. Its opposition is likely to become a rallying point for the state’s conservative politicians.

Ros Welcomes Discussion about Needed Changes

Roslynne Reed met with her Mason County Constituents Sunday afternoon, 2-19-11, in the Alderbrook golf course clubhouse. The friendly ambiance and cozy venue was conducive to any number of discussions on how to fix the corruption endemic in local politics.

Our Rugged Constitution and Bill of Rights

Attendees were impressed with Ms. Reed’s message of needed change, personal integrity, as well as independence from the kind of special interests and cronyism now sucking the life out of our community.

Warm fire, comfortable surroundings, warm friends

A cursory look at the Public Disclosure Commission’s data on the County official now holding this position (Tim Sheldon) reveals over 3/4th’s of his campaign contributors are literally corporations. Over 90% of his campaign contributions come from these special interest groups. Is it any wonder this official is so bold as to call constituents who disagree with his rapacious environmental/health policies ‘kooks’?

A Welcome Shelter in the Cool Moist Winter of a Mason County February

His coterie of public officials married to the graft embedded in the EDC (Economic Development Council), a private for profit corporation, includes Jay Hupp–a company who requests and receives huge sums of taxpayer dollars without oversight or accountability.

Institutions Created by the People to Serve Us

The same company’s minions then funnel some of that money (their salaries) back to the same officials who fed them from the public trough. Additional perks and kickbacks are polished in the form of including these very same officials on the EDC’s board of directors.

Grace and Integrity with a Purpose

Similarly, Tim Sheldon (not a native American) has been included on the board of directors of Island Enterprise, a Squaxin Island tribal for profit company that entered into a Faustian bargain with the man who virtually owns Mason County and its good old boy network of robber barons.

Explanation of the Basic Structure of Our Democracy

Like the old adage about General Motors, the incumbent believes what’s good for him is good for Mason County. While his wife professes a love for standing forests, he asserts a preference to see them horizontal. When a toxic eastern mega-corporation targeted Mason County for biomassacre, they found the incumbent had already welcomed them with open arms, greasing the skids in tandem with his boasting toady, Jay Hupp, by eliminating County height restrictions in order to allow for their massive smokestacks. The man we elected to serve residents, to protect the community, to preserve our quality of life nearly succeeded in turning Mason County into an environmental disaster akin to one of the levels so richly described in John Milton’s DANTE’S INFERNO.

Ros Charms Constituents

Belfair area residents and businesses are up in arms over the exorbitant sewer hookup fees recently imposed. The incumbent’s solution: Privatize the whole mess ASAP. Rather than fix the problem, he proposes auctioning it to the highest bidder and leaving locals at the mercy of…yep, you guessed it, another corporation! One sure to be responsive, once it has acquired this monopoly, to area residents, no doubt…one that has paid a substantial sum into EDC coffers because THAT is how business is done (if you want to do it at all) in Mason County. Resist that local tradition and watch your business model succumb to the regulatory hammer. EDC virtually advertises THEY are the means of greasing the regulatory gears of government.

Ross Gallagher

Something to Chew On

Discussion at Meal Time

Alderbrook's Wet Bar

Hospitality

Reasoned Camaraderie

Embracing the Issues and Voters

Jack Miles, a recent Port of Shelton Commissioner noted for his unflinching support of community environmental activists, will be sentenced for a DUI conviction (CR14357) in Mason District Court on 3-6-12 @ 9:30am. Mr. Miles maintains his innocence of the charge and reckons the disappointing verdict was a result of jury confusion regarding the idiosyncrasies of how diabetics may register on a breathalyzer in the hands of an inexperienced arresting officer or a breach of procedural protocol.

Bruce Finlay, the defense attorney, called for a mistrial after the jury was exposed to a prejudicial question by the prosecutor misconstruing the nature of Jack’s discharge from his service in the Marine Corps. Although the question improperly invited the jury to convict or deprecate Jack’s testimony by suggesting he was a ‘bad’ person rather than render its verdict based on the facts/evidence presented in the case, Judge Meadows overruled the objection. An appeal is planned.

Jack greets constituents

Jack greets voters

Jack awaits the Voter's verdict on election nightt

Hosted by the Mason County League of Women Voters, the Occupy Shelton coalition is holding an open house presentation titled “What’s It All About” on 2-21-12 @ 11:30am in the Shelton Olympic College campus library located near the Alpine Way retirement center. All are welcome.