The renewal notice for my subscription to the Anderson Independent-Mail arrived today.

$161.99 for a year, 7 day subscription.

I have never NOT had the newspaper, from the time I was a child (when we got both papers) to now.  But I am not renewing this time.

I am very disappointed with the small size of the newspaper.  Even the Sunday paper is dismal.  If the renewals of the die-hards who have been taking the paper for 40+ years are not coming in, the newpaper is in serious trouble.

ATZ beer drinkers,
Bought some Guiness Draught in a bottle and it has plastic rocket widgets in each bottle for the perfect beer. Now how are we supposed to separate the plastic from the bottle for recycling?
Nicole

-nicole-walukewicz

You smack a quarter through the bottom and cut the can open, thus removing the too-big-to-get-out-otherwise coin and the widget at one time.  I normally do it with an unopened can, but it works with opened ones too.

EDIT: I happened to have one of those bottles here right now and the widget comes out quite easily with some small needle nose pliers.

DWade, please. I have a obligation to the members here to allow open discussion to the extent possible as administrator of this site, but I also have an obligation the courts and to the legal process. The second trumps the first. I just don't think it's approriate to discuss on ATZ legal issues directly involving this forum while those issues are actively before a judge.
     On this, I am adamant, regardless of which side of the discussion you come down on. I know you're not a very good armchair attorney, and I'm not either, but as a CPA you shouldn't have any problem with the equation "2+2= ?"
      Please let it go at that and move on.

DWade, feel free to replicate the portions of your deleted post above that deal with issues other those contained in that locked thread.

Subject: FW: Bagpiper

      As a bagpiper, I play many gigs.  Recently I was asked by a funeral

      director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man.  He had no

      family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in

      the Kentucky  back-country.

      As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost and being a typical

      man I didn't stop for directions.   I finally arrived an hour late

      and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in

      sight.

      There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.

       I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late.  I went to

      the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in

      place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

      The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around.  I

      played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends.

      I played like I've never played before for this homeless man. And as

      I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept,

      we all wept together. When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and

      started for my car.

      Though my head hung low, my heart was full.

      As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never

      seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for

      twenty years."

Title:  Hot Dog Commercial

Attachment: Hotdogcom.wmv (2138.0KB)

Title:  Tramp Stamp Remover

Attachment: TrampStamp.wmv (3555.0KB)

That recycled water from the beer works real good on a compost pile. sump'n to do with them little yeasties in it.

Oh, alright. But only if you brought the marshmallows and ain't skeered of the weird critters that come out at night in Anderson.

-jdtippett

Oh, alright. But only if you brought the marshmallows and ain't skeered of the weird critters that come out at night in Anderson.

... and the "Countdown For Perjury" is ... ummm ... NOW!

- SSHM

Aw hell Pa, lets atleast build a far and have a party. Weuns  can go home t'morrer.

I agree with you, Wayfarer, other than the point about having trounced Driver at every turn.
      Cindy Wilson acted after seeking advice from one of her attorneys (Jay Bender, whom I personally know as a great attorney and an honorable man), and that alone was all the Ethics Commission needed to rule in her favor. (What has been told since then to Jay by way of clarification of his opinion will have to remain a matter of speculation.)
      This one's over, folks. Go back to your homes. There's nothing to see here.

Okay folks.  Cindy won this round.  If my attorney tells me its legal to do something I would hate to think I would be convicted of wrong doing because of it, unless it is something that common sense tells me is clearly illegal. 
 
We have trounced the Driver crowd at every turn.  We have also chastised them and predicted that no matter how a ruling comes down they will not accept the verdict.  Let's not do this ourselves and become like them.  Take the high road and you will never regret it.

I've done my best to stay away from anything that could be characterized as a "rocket widget" (I didn't live this long by accident, you know), but if it keeps the beer fresh and tasting good, the greenies will just have to get over it and settle for the fact that at least we all recycle the water from the beer ... sort of.

Wyatt,

Sorry I didn't state the obvious but beyond shattering glass, who thought this was a good idea?

Nicole

PS: Sorry, other than Guiness, who thought this was a great idea?

Ohh-ohhh-ohhhh!   Wait, hold the presses!
Edwin held out till the last possible second to deliver his sworn statement!  Good boy Ed.  Open and Honest, thats our motto.

http://www.independentmail.com/news/2010/mar/18/lawyer-says-moore-has-submitted-affidavit/

* Lefora note:  the time ain't changed with Daylight savings time folks!

Here's the proof  that medication should be a staple in the diets of the radio crowd:

March 18, 2010 7:10 p.m.

Bubba writes:

THEY CLEARLY STATED: "“The State Ethics Commission has determined based upon a PREPONDERANCE of evidence that Respondent M. Cindy Wilson is NOT in violation of Section 8-13-1348,” Wednesday’s ruling says."

Time to apologize folks. Cindy has been demonized more than anyone in the history of this county BECAUSE she dared to question the dictator during his reign here. Her courage led to the fall of Joey Ray's corrupt administration that ruled our county with the blessing of Larry Greer, Michael Thompson, Bill McAbee, Gracie Floyd and Ron Wilson, council members that were pledged to look out for the taxpayers that elected them, and failed miserably.
Rest tonight, Lady Cindy, you have earned it. And I hope that you will collect millions from those that abused you and invaded your privacy by having county employees tail you, video you, record every word you said, every place you and your family went and even set up a library inside our courthouse to house the books of hate about you.
My pledge of $500.00 remains. I will donate to a statue to the lady that exposed the corruption in our county that will bring about justice on behalf of the taxpayers of my county.
My pledge also remains to donate a yellow jumpsuit to Joey Ray after his trial on public corruption. I may donate five more yellow with pink stripe jump suits for his gang of five.

I haven't laughed this hard since yesterday afternoon around 5:00 pm!

So, the final ticks of the clock ran out.
  Did Mr. Moore sign zeee papahzzz???

Personally, I would think he will hedge his bets and say it's private/unavailable/county propriety information or some bullcrap like that. 

break the bottle?

ATZ beer drinkers,

Bought some Guiness Draught in a bottle and it has plastic rocket widgets in each bottle for the perfect beer. Now how are we supposed to separate the plastic from the bottle for recycling?

Nicole

Rowhoe, for a trial w/ $350,000 at play, you don't need expert witnesses.  I, nor I don't think P-N was saying in the Hunter trial, as an example you needed a jury of all financial professionals that would completely understand all the details of the issue.  But you need people that can listen to the evidence and grasp what is going on.  And, you need people that can remember the details as evidence is being presented.  Unfortunately, not every jot and tittle that is testified to is entered into evidence. 

I served on a jury where someone was charged w/ two counts of Criminal Domestic violence. It was clear the person was guilty of both, based on the testimony and the police reports completed by the officer, detailing injuries on both.  One of the reports was admitted into evidence for the jury to review.  The other was not.  The person that was attacked, in being questioned was asked about the 2nd report and the contents of the report was reviewed by the County attorney in questioning, noting the injuries. 

The final result was the person was convicted on one count but not the other (a second CDV would have been a felony).  4-5 of the people I served w/ on the jury were 75 years old or greater, and not one of them could remember what was testified to regarding the report that was not entered into evidence (a mistake by the County attorney).  I did as did another juror, and based on that, we tried to convince them to convict on both counts.  Because they could not recall the facts testified to, and the report was not entered into evidence, they would only agree to one count. 

If you had an expert witness, but not some jury members that could understand the content of the expert witness, what good would that do?   

Indeed it has been updated and the allegation she violated any law has been removed.

The article has been updated and the phrase saying that she violated state law was removed.

http://www.independentmail.com/news/2010/mar/18/ethics-commission-finds-wilson-did-not-violate-sta/

What kind of back room favors is this woman doing to always come out smelling like a rose. (I know that is a disgusting mental picture.) I find it funny this just happens to come out the day after one of her supporters get's spanked in the courtroom. Just like a bunch of school children on the playground. "He hit me first so I hit him back!!!" What I found a little contradictory was the fact that it was found the she did indeed use campaign funds to pay personal legal bills which conflicts with state law, but yet she was found to not have violated any state ethics laws. What is wrong with that picture? I guess that goes along with knowing drug users, oh excuse me, ex drug users, and ex CONVICTED illegal arms dealers and not being judged for that either. WOW I wanna be her when I grow up. Wait a minute what am I thinking? Did you see that picture of her? Is it too late to change my mind? 

dwade, we have expert witnesses we don't need a expert jury too. The pool is to be made up of local citizens, not local citizens that have PHDs for the super smart defendants, not citizens that are barbers for the hairdresser group nor a jury made up of police men and women to try a cop. Boy you know the outcome of that trial, the cop would walk. Lets keep it just the way it is.

Well, only FOUR times, but thats okay for our LOCAL GOVERNMENT USE

Ethics panel said Cindy did not break the law.

Whoa, whoa, WHOA!   Are we actually debating the Orenthal J. Simpson/Nicole Brown/Ron Goldman case here???

Man, I "lived" through that debacle when I lived out west.  You talk about a devisive, racially-tense case!  I surely don't want that being brought back to life here.  There's enough drama in this 'burg already.

"But DW...
apparently we arent tired of that system, since we DO keep paying those ticket prices.
As far as that attorney commanding $300-$800/hr being satisfied...
thats like telling the athlete that he should be satisfied with the $8,000,000/year he is currently receiving, and not entertain offers from another team for $15,000,000.
If an attorney can get a jury settlement for $100,000,000 that nets him $30%...why would he be satisfied with "only" $500/hr in fees?
Really, the problem with just settlements isnt the settlements....or the attorneys..
its the juries themselves. We need to change th elaws not to regulate the awards, but to regulate the juries. We are allowed, as a constitutional right, to be tried by a jury of "our peers". The way they define "peer" is what is so wrong any more. Anderson County and preston lost the lawsuit to Hunter because a jury of low income people was allwoed to decide the case.
If it had been a jury of financial and managerial types, which would have been "peers" to both Preston and Hunter, had decided that case.....
how do you think it would have turned out????"

P-N, I believe you are EXACTLY right in terms of the makeup of that jury.  Granted, attorneys get a certain # of strikes each in picking the jury, but, and this is no slam on Anderson, but just reality, but you probably could have tripled the # of strikes the County's attorney got in the case as the defendant against Hunter and still wouldn't have ended up w/ 1/2 the jury selected understanding the issues of him being a poor performer and the impact of the County getting qualified audits, and the additional costs and risks that brought to the County.  And, the reality of it is, even though the County lost this suit, they lost short-term, but won long-term b/c they got an incompetent person out of that role and dramactically improved the Finance function, and over the years, I suspect have recouped that $$$ multiple times.  Having incompetent/negligent people in important roles can be about as bad as having dishonest people......both cost you $$$ and reputation, in particular in Finance roles.

P-N, I didn't say the system had changed and people were no longer willing to pay $50 - $100 or more per ticket to a game or race.....I simply said I wish the market would send them a signal they are tire of paying that much and result in prices coming down.  However, in sports, w/ our economy in the shape it is in, you are beginning to see teams, etc. struggle a little.  NASCAR is struggling to fill seats at its venues and losing sponsors.  When in the past do you recall Bristol having to advertise right up to the race (saw one this week) to attempt to fill the seats for this week's race?  For many years, it has been a waiting list sort of deal, as I understand it.  Up the road, the Bobcats are losing millions upon millions (why Jordan was eager to sink a substantial portion of his cash in the Bobcats is beyond me, other than maybe he's not too bright).  There are rumblings the Panthers are going "cheap", b/c they are struggling a bit.  There are quite a few franchises in pro sports that are beginning to struggle, and maybe you will see wasteful spending on washed up players and ticket prices come down to fill up seats. 

Attorneys........the really, really good ones get to choose whether they enter a deal w/ a client to be paid on the hour, or on contingency, or have an arrangement where they get paid their high hourly rate, and if the settlement is more than their hourly rate, language is included in the agreement the attorney gets paid his 1/3 or 1/4 share (whatever the agreement says), less hours fees already paid by the client....so if a client has paid $70,000 to the attorney and they settle a case for $300,000, the attorney gets his 1/3 share ($100,000) by taking $30,000 more out of the settlement amount to bridge the gap.  Those attorneys are more like the elite athletes of attorneys.....i.e. the Drew Brees, etc. guys.....and then you have the Jake Delhomme's of attorneys, and of course, the ones that are like journeyman players and D-League guys. 

The issue you raise w/ "peers" in terms of a jury is exactly right....for it to be fair, to both sides, in the interest of justice, they have to have the capacity to understand the issues.  That's the problem our state has w/ Commissioners that get appointed to the likes of the Employment Security Commission (which is trainwreck, compared to other states, such as NC) and our Public Service Commission.....those are political appointments and many of those guys and girls do not understand the issues they are being asked to make decisions on.  That issue goes beyond our court system, but you are exactly right.