Soul Snatcher Productions ™ & Law Library ****************- Democracy Wall -***************

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.

PM2.5 particles kill–the black death and its executioners was only just turned away from the City of Shelton, ‘gateway’ to the Olympics. Now the enemy within, Simpson, has become its surrogate while our local elected officials continue to permit raping and pillaging the environment like the 2nd Coming was only a week or two away.

Shelton: Gateway to Industrial Blight

The following article appeared in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ):

New York and 10 other states filed a lawsuit Friday designed to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue new regulations on soot pollution.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan comes after the federal agency failed to meet a statutory October deadline to revise soot standards. Soot is produced by diesel vehicles and power plants and has been linked to chronic respiratory disease, impaired lung function, heart disease and asthma. [Uhh…not to mention DIABETES]

“Every day, air pollution, from soot risks the health of more than one-third of Americans, including our most vulnerable — children, the elderly and the sick,” Schneiderman said in a prepared statement. “These risks are simply unacceptable. The EPA must take prompt action to reduce pollution now, and safeguard the health of the public and the air we breathe.”

The other states in the lawsuit are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

In 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled for New York and 15 other states that challenged the national air quality standards for soot. The court returned the standards to the EPA for reconsideration and the agency said it would revise soot standards as part of its next five-year review under statute by the Oct. 17, 2011 deadline, according to the attorney general.

Schneiderman said the agency never proposed revised soot standards.

“EPA is continuing to work on proposing the PM 2.5 standards,” said Betsaida Alcantara, an EPA spokeswoman based at headquarters in Washington.

Soot is also known as particulate matter that is 2.5 microns or smaller, or “PM 2.5.”

Environmental groups applauded the move.

“The science is overwhelming that EPA should set tougher new standards to limit the amount of deadly fine particle soot in the air,” said Frank O’Donnell, president of the environmental advocacy group Clean Air Watch. “All the studies have been completed and reviewed. But the Obama administration is dragging its feet.”

—Copyright 2012 Associated Press

Consider the following link for a breakdown analysis of the disposition of all felonies filed in every Washington State Superior Court since 2006.

Democracy must be part of the Judiciary

As you can see, a small fraction of 1% of all felony filings result in acquittals, without regard to whether they end up bench or jury trials. .

Around 80% of those charged plead guilty. So justice is being served a filet-mignon or are we tossing the baby out with the bathwater? The tiny portion of acquittals suggests either our prosecutors and police detectives are god damned geniuses at ferreting out the culprits or our justice system has an insidious persistent problem. Prosecutors routinely inflate/invent charges to provoke fear/panic and precipitate baseless guilty pleas to lesser offenses.

Serving Justice

Most judges have never met a cop they didn’t like and too many jurors think one ought to convict if the defendant PROBABLY did it! The beyond reasonable doubt standard suffers an agonizing death in the bargain. Save your probability speculation for civil proceedings, not criminal where life and liberty hang in the balance. Better yet, recall democracy has a place, even when the monarchists hide in the judiciary. If you, as a juror, believe the law itself is unjust or is being applied unfairly, ACQUIT!  The judge will punish any attorney who even hints at the fact jury nullification is perfectly legal–sometimes necessary to curb tyranny. It may have been Ben Franklin who said, “When the people are afraid of the government, that’s tyranny. When the government is afraid of the people, that’s liberty!” Right on, Ben.

Justice NOW! Freedom NOW!

Today, RCW 9A.76.180 makes it a class B felony to threaten or intimidate a public official. Unfortunately, no parallel law makes it a felony for public officials to threaten/intimidate a citizen. Go to court on any random day to watch the judge presiding over the criminal calendar swap spit with the deputy prosecutors while directing pro se defendants to remain practically beyond earshot and excluded from the calendar scheduling fraternization resulting in trial dates, briefing schedules, and omnibus hearings. Even defense attorneys are generally accorded respect in this regard. But woe to the pro se litigant who judges consider pesky interlopers in their mini-kingdom. These overseers of human misery, much undeserved, are more concerned about maintaining tight control over their courtroom, scheduling, and docket than they are about ensuring justice is available to the pro se defendant or meaningful access to the courts and due process. Lots of lip service will be handed out extolling these virtues, but common sense and their actions belie this hypocrisy.

Most of the public who’ve advanced much beyond puberty know what cesspools the judiciary has become, but like belling the cat, few are willing to do anything about it. These sinecured apparatchiks exhibit annoyance with citizens too poor to hire lawyers who advocate they should spend every dime they can lay their hands on toward (who else) the very professional services the attorney offers with little or no meaningful oversight/accountability.

Reform? Some would argue it’s much too late for that. The 3rd branch of our government is essentially anti-democratic and in need of a revolution, not a patch job. Absolute judicial immunity, sovereign immunity, and qualified immunity are all intended to put any accountability that might otherwise be levied against these brazen oligarchs beyond the reach of average citizens. In contemplation of the Arab spring and Occupy movements, all oppressed people, especially those who live in the belly of the beast, must rise up–you have nothing left to lose but your chains!

Take back our Country. We *ARE* the People!

“If we don’t exercise our rights, we will lose them.” -David Sohappy-

Administrator for the Court Felony Case Reports

We *ARE* the Media!

They can’t turn the lights off now.

Roslynne Throws Hat into Ring for County Commissioner District 2 spot

Roslynne Reed, a Mason County native and member of the Skokomish Tribe, has decided to run for Mason County Commissioner, District 2 (northern). She has experience as a political candidate, is well educated and a regular attendee at Mason County Commissioners meetings. She is sensitive to quality of life issues and responsible land use policies. As a Democrat, she has popular support among the party faithful, but it remains to be seen if she can gather enough independent votes to go the distance. Personally charming and soft spoken, she is invariably respectful of others. Her candidacy will be a test of how well educated local voters are willing to become regarding their elected officials.

Bob Sauerwein is a self described Constitutionalist running for U.S. Congress in the 6th District of Washington State, an area that includes much of Mason County, part of Kitsap as well as Pierce. Bob discusses his views and platform with an eye toward specific solutions for problems facing the electorate. More as the story of his candidacy develops.

Bob Sauerwein for Congress (6th District) interview

013112 Bob Sauerwein for Congress – 6th District… by pinbalwyz

http://www.bobsauerwein.com

Some conversation ensued following the interview wrap which eventually moved from the Shelton Timberland library to the Pinetree restaurant downtown. Bob engaged the citizens present in political dialogue, the highlights of which will be offered here as the notes/audio of the exchanges are edited/digested. His campaign manager, Jack Miles, expressed concern/disapproval over the issue that he presumed the political discussion with area residents in the dining area was either ‘private’ or off the record. The tension between a campaign manager protecting his candidate and a reporter’s natural goal to get all of the story, particularly a Congressional candidate’s unguarded genuine views on matters of public policy remained unresolved. The ‘press’ in this instance, remained unbowed.

Questions arose from citizens regarding whether Obama was a ‘Christian’, whether he had placed his hand on a Bible during the administration of his oath of office, and whether he behaved in an obsequious/unbecoming manner when dealing with Muslim heads of state while abroad. It was debated whether the founding father’s intended for America to be a Christian nation or what they meant by separation of Church and State. Mason County’s advocate for the homeless discussed issues surrounding how they were ‘criminalized’ for being poor and having lost their homes. The discussion was wide ranging and lasted for over 1.5 hours as Mr. Sauerwein attempted to address the concerns of voters in depth. He spent much of his time listening. An important part of his agenda appeared to be working for the defeat of President Obama in the next general election and reversing the recently passed national health care reform.

Donald Ray Phillips, Sr. (Shelton Police report #:12-S00719; Shelton Municipal Court criminal citation #2Z0123690) is a transient with a long history of ‘misunderstandings’ with the law.  Recently he claimed Shelton’s Brewer Park was ‘private’ and threatened a photojournalist for merely explaining it wasn’t and the 1st Amendment was in full force there. That ‘conversation’ and the consequences of criminal harassment/assault are posted here for the edification of the homeless and citizens who feel intimidated by these dangerous elements of our local underclass. Many are difficult/impossible to reason with for mental health reasons, but they’re healthy enough to understand that flashing blue light. Like some welfare/SS fraudsters, many of the homeless have a misplaced sense of entitlement. There *are* reasons why being homeless is so dangerous–this clip portrays some of them and why many public officials have crafted deliberate policies to discourage men’s shelters and pockets of the homeless:

Phillips’ Folly:

A glance at Donald’s rap sheet reveals the following:

Becky Penoyar and Kerry Olsen show their stuff

Bob Drewett’s Worst Nightmare

Bob Drewett is a security guard here at the FJC (Thurston Family & Juvenile Courthouse) who is a bit thick headed and doesn’t take his job seriously enough to learn about the limits of his authority. He’s also made specious attempts to limits 1st Amendment activity in a public area he disingenuously claimed was his ‘office’–following juvenile probation officer Sara Dotson’s lead, no doubt. This is a classic example of why friends don’t let friends/family enter these dens of corruption and prevaricating officials alone. Once there, do NOT let them separate you or speak to them anyplace that isn’t public. When you do, document/record it–you don’t need 2-party consent where there’s no expectation of privacy, such as in a public area.

Interference w/investigation & news gathering?

Chilling the 1st Amendment

Marquez argues 'permission' trumps 1st Amenment in public area

Our rights: Use them, or lose them!