State of Corruption: Compromised Judge Shafts Joe Miller in FNSB Case

In yet another dubious move by the Alaska Court System, Judge Stephanie Joannides awarded the news blog Alaska Dispatch an inordinate sum totaling almost 100K in legal fees from the Miller v. FNSB court case. Joe Miller was ordered to pay 85K, this despite the fact that the majority of the fees were billed either before Miller intervened in the case or after they were a relevant party to the case.
 
The Alaska Dispatch remained party to the case long after the Anchorage Daily News and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reasonably withdrew, and had agreed not to petition the court for legal fees. 
To any remotely objective observer, the Dispatch had no legitimate reason to remain party to the case outside of the source material they may have been able to gain through first-hand observation of the Borough depositions, a raw profit motive, or perhaps prurient interest.

In fact, Dispatch attorneys even admitted that they had no reason to be in the case, given that Mr. Miller had filed no action against them. Yet they still sought fees long after the case was decided in their favor, and from actions they had unilaterally undertaken, dating all the way back to Sept. 2010, weeks before Miller intervened in the case.

How is Miller responsible for expenses accrued by the Dispatch's lawsuit against the Borough before he chose to intervene? Or for the debts accumulated long after they ceased to be a relevant party to the case?

Following is the breakdown of the fee schedule stated in Mr. Miller's appeal:

“According to Alaska Dispatch’s counsel, he billed 123.1 hours of attorney’s fees from September 9, 2010 through October 19, 2010, when Mr. Miller intervened in this lawsuit; 34.6 hours from October 20, 2010 through October 26, 2010, when Alaska Dispatch obtained its relief; and 291 hours after October 27, 2010, while the cross-claims and third-party claim between Mr. Miller and FNSB/Whitaker were being litigated.”

Equally troubling is how Judge Joannides was assigned to the case in the first place, and subsequent revelations that she had a financial relationship with a Dispatch employee.

Under normal circumstances a judge would be assigned through a random selection process. However, in the FNSB case, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court intervened and hand-picked Judge Joannides. This is a very rare move, perhaps unprecedented outside of this particular case.

Moreover, Judge Joannides had rented her basement apartment to an Alaska Dispatch employee, but claimed that the fact was irrelevant to the case. This begs the question of whether it was a random coincidence. Does the Judge have further relationships with other folks at the Dispatch?

The Benghazi Lies

There was an evacuation of the Benghazi consulate and as such there are protocols that deal with an evacuation.

There were statements made that indicate either protocols had been broken or lies are being told.

While everyone is concerned about the talking points over the excuse of a video as cause for a demostration, there are protocols that were in place that involve the Secretary of State, the Department of Defense and the President.

The players were Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and of course President Obama.

Through a September 14th, 2012 e-mail it was stated that threats and attacks had been carried out against other foreign intrests.

So it would stand to reason that the U.S. consulate may come under the same attack.

However, unfortunately an attack occured with timelines outlined by the Department of Defense here.

And an evacuation of the consulate took place.

By 1:40 a.m. EDT Sept. 12, the first wave of Americans left Benghazi for Tripoli by airplane, with the second wave, including the bodies of the fallen, following at 4 a.m. A C-17 aircraft, under Africom direction, flew the evacuees from Tripoli to Germany later that day, the official said.

As the timeline makes clear, the official said, the evacuation took place before the FAST platoons or special operations forces arrived, although all were converging on Libya -- noting repeatedly that DOD leaders lacked a clear picture of enemy, civilian and American positions in the area.

In testimony to Senator Ayotte, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta stated the following:

Panetta said to Senator Kelly Ayotte, that President Obama left operational details for Benghazi 'up to us' - implying that the situation was under the control of Panetta and General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

'Did you have any further communications with him that night?' Senator Ayotte asked.

'No,' Panetta replied.

'Did you have any other further communications? Did he ever call you that night to say how are things going, what’s going on, where’s the consulate?' she followed-up with.

'No,' Panetta said in response. 'But we were aware as we were getting information about what was taking place there, particularly when we got information that the ambassador, his life had been lost, we were aware that that information went to the White House.'

The protocols of an evacuation plan of non-Department of Defense personel are found here.

b. Authority.

(1) Executive Order (EO) 12656 (Assignment of Emergency Preparedness Responsibilities) assigns specific responsibilities to various federal agencies during national security emergencies, to include overseas evacuations and subsequent repatriation operations.

(a.) Sec. 1301. Under the direction of the President and in consultation with the Secretaries of Defense (SECDEF) and Health and Human Services (HHS), the Secretary of State (SECSTATE) is responsible for the protection or evacuation of all U.S. citizens abroad, including DoD noncombatants. This authority does not extend to military personnel of the Armed Forces, including Defense Attache Systems and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) personnel assigned to the Embassy, unless otherwise agreed. DoD is also primarily responsible for the protection and evacuation of U.S. citizen noncombatants at the U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo, Cuba.

(b.) Sec 801. The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the heads of Federal departments and agencies, is responsible for providing assistance to U.S. citizens or others evacuated from overseas areas, including DoD noncombatants. Their plan relies on state and local government to carry out the operational responsibilities of repatriation.

(c.) Sec 502. SECDEF shall advise and assist the SECSTATE and the heads of other federal Departments and Agencies, as appropriate, in planning for the protection, evacuation, and repatriation of U.S. citizens in overseas areas.

Accordingly, there are protocols assigned to the Secretary of Defense, Health and Human Services and the Secretary of State when there is a threat against civilian personel as was in the case in the attack against the Benghazi consulate.

3. EXECUTION.

a. Concept of Operation.

(1) At the onset of a crisis situation in an overseas country, Department of State (DoS) will hold senior level interagency meetings with DoD and other Federal Agencies to discuss the potential evacuation. If it appears that DoD will assist in the evacuation, the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) will authorize and direct the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) to issue an appropriate warning order to the supported Combatant Commander. The Secretary of State’s formal request, when approved by the President, will generate the Execute Order directing NEO. If CONUS has been declared the safe haven, the magnitude of the operation and composition of evacuees (DoD, AMCITs, host nation personnel, TCNs, etc.) will determine DoD’s involvement in the repatriation operation.

(2) During an evacuation when an official Repatriation Site is established, availability of air and/or surface transportation will be determined by the DoS and/or USTRANSCOM in coordination with the supported Combatant Commander upon receipt of the warning order. The actual number of evacuees arriving in CONUS (to include Alaska and/or Hawaii) will vary daily, based on transportation scheduling in coordination with the overseas theater.

(3) HQDA, G-1 will coordinate and direct the repatriation operation as well as the assistance provided to other eligible DoD families who are unable to enter the subject country due to the stop movement order.

(4) CDR FORSCOM and CDR USPACOM, as the executing agents, will assist the designated Repatriation Site(s) during the execution of the repatriation operation as ordered by HQDA, G-1. They will provide assistance to the Repatriation Site in their planning and coordination efforts with other DoD agencies, the Military Services, Federal, state and local agencies as required.

(5) The individual Military Services/DoD Agencies will provide necessary support to effectively receive and process respective families, both evacuees who enter through designated Repatriation Sites (see Annex O) and also eligible families who are unable to process through these sites (stop movement personnel or those who come out via commercial air). Under HQDA oversight, the Services/DoD Agencies will assume follow-on responsibility for their respective family members throughout the family’s safe haven period (see Annex D; JFTR, Volume 1,Chapter 6; JTR Vol 2, Part A, Appendix 1 and Entitlements Messages).

(6) Evacuations also may occur when no repatriation site is established.

                    (emphasis added)

The responsibilty in the execution of an evacuation of the consulate rests on the shoulders of the president. The Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was responsible to make a request for an evacuation and the president would sign an evacuation executive order.

It seems Panetta was not being truthful on how involved the president was in the decision making process.

What takes place when there is an actual attack of a consulate?

Editor's note: The previous question will be answered in the next update.

Part Time President Barack Obama = Part Time Jobs

In October of last year, we saw a drop in the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate dropped from 8.1% to 7.8%.

I wrote about it here.

Just last week, new unemployment numbers were released and the Left were having a love-fest over the drop in unemployment numbers. The unemployment number dropped to 7.7%.

What the Left forget is, part time work is on the rise, defalting unemployment figures.

One wonders who will Progressives blame the failing economy on?  More Than One In Five U.S. Workers Is Working Part-Time

Think Obamacare will be blamed? Ask David Frum.

Silence of the Lamb: A Twitter Chit-Chat With @Whitehouse on @WHlive

Elections are a funny thing - Politicians are known to come up with zingers during the election. But when one gets elected, well that is when the interesting zingers manifest themselves.

During the 2012 presidential you had Romney talking about the 47% who wouldn't vote for him, then you had Obama talking about the 1-2% and the rich.

I could have sworn that "Obama iPhones" where the talk of the town but alas wee Hobbits - you are about to become a sacrificial lamb along with the 2%.

I had a little twitter Chit-Chat with a White House official on The White House twitter account @WHlive.

I had sent a tweet asking who would pay 4 the debt crisis - nothing - then I tweeted this:

Hence the title "Silence of the Lamb." The silence didn't last long.

So we get to the real truth after the election - POTUS believes we need shared sacrifice, i.e. tough cuts in programs many families rely on + real revenue from top 2% #WhChat

Tough cuts in programs many famlies rely on - like maybe $200,000.00 from the Stone Soup Group; money that helped military families with disabled children.

Did you hear tough cuts in programs many famlies rely on from President Obama when he was campaigning?  All you will hear is silence in answer.

I showed the above tweet to a Black friend of mine who supported Obama. The look on his face said it all.

I felt sorry for him.

Russian Propoganda in the Death of a Polish President

Back in May of 2010, I wrote a post titled How to Kill a Polish President and Use Bad Weather as an Accomplice.

In a portion of the post, I linked to an article that was about the Russian who took a video of the crash site of President Lech Kaczynski.

 

As an aside to the video, there was the allegation that the videographer was murdered adding to conspiracies about gunshots heard in the video.

The allegation about the videographer being murdered proved to be a hoax. The Russian authorities allowed the person who took the video to issue a statement.

I was surprised that the burning wreckage, scattered among things, broken trees can not see at all the people. Even thought it crashed machine or military transport, and not the passenger. No bodies, no wounded, and we do not hear anyone calling assistance. I was close enough and believe me that if I heard a cry for help, I would not hesitate for a second.  (translated)

 

Given the deaths in this crash and where the videographer was, the comments made by the videographer on there being no dead bodies is suspect.

In another video published by the Polish news, a camerman had walked over to the same area where the amatuer video was, but the camerman was escorted from the area.

The area had emergency vehicles there.
Video link of camerman being escorted.

At 2:19 the camerman is looking towards the direction of the runway and where the nose of the aircraft was and at 2:47 the camerman begins to walk towards the same area the amatuer videographer was and is escorted away by Russian authorities.
 

The point of emphasis here is where the Russian states there were no bodies, no wounded and did not hear anyone call for assistance. He stated he could not see any people.

 

However in another video where a Polish T.V. crew was led away, that is the scene where the Russian had videotaped.

 

Now in newly published articles, the Polish government is outraged at the publication of the dead bodies.

 

Poland expects decisive action from Russian authorities, including an investigation and punishment of persons responsible for internet leak of drastic pictures of the presidential Tu-154 air crash victims, Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in a statement.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others, including top Polish officials, perished in a crash on April 10, 2010, as their plane attempted to land in heavy fog at the Smolensk airport in Russia.

This is Russian propoganda in the Death of a Polish President.

Update: According to We the People on the WhiteHouse website, there is a petition asking the Obama administration's support for investigating the death of the Polish president.

 

 

Our Part-tIme President Builds a Part-time Economy

The news has come in on the Jobs report - 7.8% a drop from 8.1% and President Obama is touting the figures as a positive.

You can tell our part-time president doesn't understand how people need full-time work.

When you break it down, the drop in unemployment is because of the increase in part-time employment.

Due to the increase in part-time employment, the so-called underemployment rate — which includes part-timers who’d prefer a full-time position and people who want work but have given up looking — held at 14.7 percent.

Because part-time workers are typically the first to be fired when economic conditions worsen, the gain in these types of jobs takes some of the shine off the drop in joblessness, said Neil Dutta, head of U.S. economics at Renaissance Macro Research in New York.

“It’s an employment recovery built on thin ice,” said Dutta. “If there was an immediate downturn or even a weakness heading into the end of the year, who’s going to be the first one to go?”

A question: Is Obamacare fueling businesses to hire part-time workers? Yes.

For businesses to avoid the high cost of Obamacare and avoid a penalty, businesses will have to hire part-time employees.

The major provisions of the so-called Obamacare scheduled to take effect in 2014 affect employers with large numbers of part-time and low-paid workforces. For example, beginning in 2014 employers with 50 or more full-time workers -- defined as those working at least 30 hours a week -- will be required to extend coverage to all full-time employees or face possible penalties of $2,000 per employee.

 

Many retail and restaurant employers hover around the 50-worker threshold and feel that it would make economic sense to stay small -- cut hours or eliminate worker -- to avoid triggering the requirements of the law.

 

Mercer found that about 46 percent of restaurant and retail companies said they would have to change in some way once the law comes into effect, compared with 16 percent of financial-services companies.

 

And for those part-timers who don't have health insurance - well, you get taxed via Obamacare -built by Obama and Democrats.

 

 

Is Public Policy Polling Cooking the Polls in Missouri Senate Race?

Public Policy Polling came out with a new poll in the Missouri U.S. Senate race between Senator McCaskill and Rep. Todd Akin. The poll shows McCaskill with a 6 point lead.

Raleigh, N.C.-- PPP's newest poll of the Missouri Senate race finds Claire McCaskill expanding her lead to 6 points. She's at 46% to 40% for Todd Akin and 9% for Libertarian Jonathan Dine. On our last poll of the race, in late August, McCaskill had led by only a single point.

When you look at the data from the August poll you do find that McCaskill was leading by 1 point.

Raleigh, N.C. – PPP's newest poll of the Missouri Senate race finds that Todd Akin is weathering the storm and the contest remains a toss up. Claire McCaskill leads 45-44, just a small change from our poll last week which found Akin ahead by a 44-43 margin.

The difference between the August poll and the October poll is Libertarian Jonathan Dine was included in the October poll. The Libertarian candidate according to Public Policy Polling takes away more votes from Todd Akin than Claire McCaskill.

Q9 The candidates for Senate this fall are Democrat Claire McCaskill, Republican Todd
Akin, and Libertarian Jonathan Dine. If the election was today, who would you vote for?
Claire McCaskill .............................................. 46%
Todd Akin........................................................ 40%
Jonathan Dine................................................. 9%
Undecided....................................................... 5%

Q10 (Asked only to Dine supporters:) If you had to choose between Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican Todd Akin, who would you vote for?
Claire McCaskill .............................................. 19%
Todd Akin........................................................ 33%
Not sure .......................................................... 48%

The August poll question was:
  

Q6 The candidates for Senate this fall are Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican
Todd Akin. If the election was today, who would you vote for?
Claire McCaskill .............................................. 45%
Todd Akin........................................................ 44%
Undecided....................................................... 11%

As you can see the question was set up differently by Public Policy Polling. So to say McCaskill is expanding her lead is misleading in that Dine was not included in the previous poll.

Moreover, the line of questioning in the October polling differs from the August polling. In August the question was asked:

Q8 Do you accept Todd Akin’s apology for the comments he made last week, or not?
Accept his apology.......................................... 53%
Do not ............................................................. 40%
Not sure .......................................................... 7%

In the October poll two leading questions were asked:

Q13 Do you consider Claire McCaskill to be ‘ladylike,’ or not?
She is.............................................................. 46%
She is not........................................................ 27%
Not sure .......................................................... 27%

Q14 Do you think women can become pregnant from being raped, or not?
They can......................................................... 93%
They cannot .................................................... 4%
Not sure .......................................................... 4%

It is evident that a majority are not sure or do not consider McCaskill to be "ladylike" while most think you can become pregnant if raped.

However, if the question on the possibility of getting pregnant from being raped was asked with the qualifier that 99% of women use a contraceptive, the results would change. The point being that the percentage or odds that a woman becoming pregnant from a rape would be low.

You can manipulate the data with qualifying questions.

As for the demographics in the October polling:

Q15 Would you describe yourself as very liberal, somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ...................................................... 11%
Somewhat liberal ............................................ 14%
Moderate......................................................... 29%
Somewhat conservative.................................. 27%
Very conservative ........................................... 20% 

Q16 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ........................................................... 47%
Man................................................................. 53%

The demographics in the August polling:

Q10 Would you describe yourself as very liberal, somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ...................................................... 8%
Somewhat liberal ............................................ 12%
Moderate......................................................... 33%
Somewhat conservative.................................. 29%
Very conservative ........................................... 19%

Q11 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ........................................................... 55%
Man................................................................. 45%

Bottom line in the Missouri race is voters in Missouri want to see the U.S. Senate change from a Democratic majority to a Republican majority, a majority think McCaskill is not "ladylike" or not sure she is "ladylike" and Romney will win the "Show Me State" but has lost some to Obama.

August:

Q3 If the candidates for President this year were Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, who would you vote for?
Barack Obama................................................ 41%
Mitt Romney.................................................... 53%
Undecided....................................................... 6%

October:

Q3 The candidates for President are Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney. If the election was today, who would you vote for?
Barack Obama................................................ 45%
Mitt Romney.................................................... 51%
Undecided....................................................... 4%

The question has to be asked why the change in demographics and the addition of Jonathan Dine?

Update: Public Policy Polling responded to this thread via twitter:

PublicPolicyPolling‏@ppppolls

@tlamb775 This one skewed too? http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_senate_elections/missouri/election_2012_missouri_senate …

 

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The fact of the matter is Rasmussen's previous poll had McCaskill up by 10 points however as it was pointed out by the folks at the Huffington Post:

 

The numbers from Rasmussen are in sharp contrast with a poll taken Monday by the Democratic firm PPP, which showed Akin still ahead by a point a day after he said women were unlikely to become pregnant from "legitimate rape."

The reply given by the folks at Public Policy Polling is odd given that the latest Rasmussen poll has Akin closing the gap to within 6 points. This trend is in direct contradiction to the trend found in the latest polling data put out by PPPPolling.

Moreover, according to RCP, the Senate race in MO went from McCaskill to toss up. The PPPPolling should be considered an outlier when you look at trends. Adding to the trend is the story that polling done by Wenzel Strategies shows Akin ahead.

So again, is Public Policy Polling cooking the books on the Missouri U.S. Senate race?