Tag Archives: Atlanta

Blue Tarp Village: My Recollection of the Great Dunwoody Tornado of 1998

13 Tuesday Sep 2016

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Yesterday I wrote a commissioned piece about surviving tornadoes. I suppose it will get published this week or next – no link as of yet. I survived a tornado and I briefly included my experience in the story. Here, in greater detail, is what I remember.

It was the late evening of Wednesday, April 8, 1998. I lived in Dunwoody, just outside Atlanta. I was returning from a date with a pretty girl in neighboring Gwinnett County. I was rather happy, blissful even, otherwise I might have heeded the weather. There was nothing wrong per se but I should have noticed the strange signs of a storm approaching.

The sky as I recall was an electric neon color. The night sky in any big city has an artificial glow but this one was different. There was an odd pink/purple hazy too it. There was also a strange, near ominous feeling in the air. That I take was the barometric pressure. I paid no attention at all and drove on.

I got home around midnight. Being young and all that I decided to stay up late (as usual) so I cracked a beer and settled in for a little Idiot-vision. It was beginning to rain at that point – hard. Then the power went off. I took that as my cue to go to bed.

I lived in an upscale mid-rise apartment complex just north of I-285. My bedroom had a huge picture-window which looked out upon a small alley, across to a line of younger pine trees, and then beyond to a fire station. Beyond the fire station was a home for invalids and then a nice, large residential neighborhood.

As I lay there trying to fall asleep I did take note of the driving rain and the wind, which was beginning to howl. However, it was the lightning that got me up. It was constant like a strobe-light. The thunder melded together into a nearly solid roar – yes, like an approaching train. I ventured to the window.

Looking out, through a gray wall of horizontal, swirling rain, I saw the line of trees bent over at almost a right angle. Everything was well illuminated by the lightning flashes. Erie, I thought.

Putting these things – the wind, the lightening, the roar – together I should have immediately descended into the concrete underground garage below my apartment. Yet being young, stupid, blissful, and tired I merely went back to bed. I put a pillow over my eyes to block the flashes. So it was that I slept (rather well) through the Great Dunwoody Tornado of 1998.

I woke up on time and everything seemed well. The power was still out so I skipped coffee and took a cold shower in the dark. I dressed for work and headed out. Outside there were signs of a bad storm all over the place – tree limbs, leaves, shingles, trash everywhere. I STILL thought nothing of it.

It was only when I got to the complex entrance and found it blocked by the fire department and the National Guard that I realized something was wrong. They were in the street and were busy setting up tents and command posts across the way in a school parking lot.

I asked a police officer on site what had happened. He said a tornado passed through the nice, large residential neighborhood. Things were very bad. All the streets were blocked for about half a mile and I wasn’t going anywhere that morning. The power was out in a considerable portion of the city. Worse, or luckily, the storm had passed within 500 – 1,000 feet of my alley window and I was lucky to be alive.

The phones were out too. Even my ancient, analog cellphone was of no use as several towers were collapsed in the night. I found a pay phone that did work. I called my boss. No answer. I called my boss’s boss. No answer. I called the president of the company. He was thrilled to hear I was alive. No-one it seemed would be working that Thursday. I called my dad and said, “I’m okay.” 150 miles away he wasn’t sure what I was talking about.

With nothing to do I went home and mulled about in the dark. The power was off all day. Eventually I ventured out again. A few of us banded together and decided to go walking to see how bad it was. My neighbor a few doors down was a police officer. His uniform got us a bit further than we might otherwise been permitted.

The scene was shocking. Our place, the school, the fire house, the invalid home, and the neighborhood park had all sustained minor damage. Trees were down all over. But the houses in the neighborhood were in terrible shape – the ones that were still standing.

It looked like a war zone. Trees lay on or in houses. Roofs were missing. Debris was everywhere. As we walked and talked with survivors and rescue workers we learned that a man had died. He was in bed when a tree fell through the roof and crushed him in his sleep. I think someone else also died nearby. Very few others were injured. That’s a miracle considering the devastation.

I got a much better look a few days later. I flew over the area in my (rented) Cessna 172 out of PDK. The strong EF2 had been about a mile wide. It cut straight through town making a giant rough swath of destruction as far as the eye could see – even from 3,000 feet.

By then insurance adjusters, GEMA, FEMA, and some contractors had been out. *I learned from this – as an aside – to never trust FEMA.* Maybe a thousand homes had been hit. Many were sporting blue plastic tarps on their roofs. The Neighborhood was called Fontainebleau. I renamed it Blue Tarp Village.

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BTV before the tarps went on. NWS.

That episode was nearly 20 years ago. Time flies by like pine trees in a storm. I had mostly forgotten the event until I wrote that other article. I don’t care to ever relive such a story. But I did live through it.

If you find yourself in a similar situation late one night don’t put a pillow over your head. That’s not taking adequate cover. Pay attention to warning signs. There will be plenty of them and they are quite obvious. If not, well, I hope your date was that blissful too.

BLM and My ATL SJW Experience, LOL

22 Monday Aug 2016

Posted by in News and Notes, Other Columns

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Years ago, new into my legal career, I was eager to help as many people as possible. I was also active in a wonderful church. I consider a particular church “good” if it: is faithful to the Gospel and the early traditions of The Church; is led my a personable yet strict priest, and; is composed of decent parishioners. These things usually go together but not always. Sometimes they are all lacking – a bad church.

Anyway, I volunteered constantly in a variety of ways, to include a little pro bono legal counseling when necessary. My success and happiness led me to contact Catholic Social Services of Atlanta. I thought that there, with them, I could help the maximum number of people. I wasn’t just thinking law either.

By telephone I spoke with a director of something, a jovial enough seeming woman. We agreed to meet one afternoon and discuss what they were doing and how I could help.

We met at a fast food place somewhere between Marietta and Woodstock; I can’t remember exactly. At first the meeting seemed to go well as she told me about what she did and the organizations needs de jure. I then took the opportunity to explain my philosophies and what I thought I could do to help.

Some of our brief conversation centered on race and how a large portion of Services clients were lower-income blacks in the city. I took that as a cue for me to speak my mind on the subject. I said something along the lines that Dr. King had wanted to raise everyone up together – all races improving in harmony to accomplish new wonders. That is what he wanted, his dream.

I then noted how the government and various interests had done everything possible to give the appearance of integration while insidiously conspiring to lower all people down past the current lowest denominator. That was how you could have black mayors, city councilors and legislators (no Barack at that time), and black celebrities and executives and still have a hopelessly mired black underclass. Worse, I went on, the system was dragging down whites and everyone else.

Helping everyone shake off oppression and rise up was my goal, I told her. It was obviously the wrong thing. I said some other stuff but I had lost her. It was clear that I did not, would not, fit the agenda.

I’m guessing she was an SJW – a shrieker interested in prolonging problems in order to keep her job and to have something to shriek about. The thought of actually solving the problems horrified her as did my criticism of the government and the “system”.

I know now that CSS is an SJW organization. Sure, your local office may be honestly interested in helping society. But the big city branches and the national front are only interested in advancing a liberal, anti-American, anti-freedom agenda. They are deep into a host of social problems including, but not limited to, importing radical Islam into America and the West. It’s as big a scandal as the sex abuse cover-ups. It needs to be rooted out.

Heck no, I wasn’t a good fit. Our meeting ended awkwardly. They never returned my calls. I suppose we were better off without each other.

Then, today, I read about a racial attack in Cleveland, Ohio. It brought the above back to memory.

It seems that a group of seven young white men were walking the street when they were attacked by a gang (also of seven) who chanted “Black Lives Matter!” The gang beat down the walkers and then robbed them and ran off. The chant was a mere cover call for robbery – nothing to do with social justice at all.

Interestingly, the gang was interracial – five blacks and two whites. See their mug shots (six of the seven have been arrested):

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News 19, Cleveland.

How wonderful! Black and white thugs coming together! Post racial America at its finest.

This is exactly what I was talking about twelve (?) years ago. Thirteen? (Long time). Instead of coming together for something positive, too often the races unite for debased criminality. This incident is not anomalous. It is pathetic.

I also find the success of a numerically even odds encounter a little strange. I suppose the victims were seven modern American men – weak. Then again, maybe they were all surprised. Maybe weapons were involved. Still, I’m not entirely sure I could have taken the whole gang alone but I know I could have at least made a dent in them.

Wouldn’t it be great if people would wise up and act civilized? Just act it if they can’t be it. Wouldn’t it be great if decent people fought back? I’m done with trying to “help” through corrupt organizations. Now I will just bring stories like this to your attention. Those who can make good out of it will. I’m helping.

In the near future (soon, soon, I promise) I’ll have my personal anti-terrorism book out. The main title is, for now, Fight Back! It will cover protecting oneself from ISIS agents as well as from street thugs like the above-pictured ramble.

We also need to fight back against those who have actively worked to retard society and lower all groups into helpless victim-hood and misery. They’re as bad as ISIS or worse.

 

Why Did They Shoot Me?

02 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

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Many years ago I was in court for various criminal hearings. During a break in the injustice I chatted with the court reporter. She was complaining about the assertions of the defendants of their several legal rights. This unnecessarily slowed the process in her opinion. “People have too many rights!” she screeched.

Too many rights. This sentiment is as common in modern American as it is atrocious. The good news for the rights haters is that our natural rights are steadily eroding. That’s bad news for the rest.

All across the country on almost a daily basis one may read of summary rights deprivation by the state – of the militarized police gunning down unarmed citizens. The haters still assert the police are protecting us from ourselves. If people don’t want to be killed, they shouldn’t break the law, they say. Obey the law. Too many rights. Sieg heil! and all that.

Consider, if you will, if you can, the following tale are martial woe:

On Monday evening Chris and Leah McKinley were enjoying a television movie in the living room of the Atlanta area home. Their family time was interrupted by gunshots in the kitchen. Uninvited, three criminal gang members broke into the kitchen and proceeded to shot the McKinley’s dog. When Chris investigated (unarmed), the intruders shot him also. For good measure the criminals shot one of their own too.

The burglar suffered a serious wound but should recover. Chris McKinley’s injury was, luckily, minor. The dog died in the kitchen.

The horrible but all too common twist to this story is that the McKinley’s attackers were police officers.

Shortly after 7:30 p.m. Monday, three DeKalb County police officers were dispatched to a burglary call on Boulderwoods Drive, just off Bouldercrest Road, about a mile south of I-20. Derek Perez, the man who made the 911 call, wrote on Facebook that he’d told police about a possible burglar outside of “the farthest house at the end of the street.”

The officers, however, stopped at Chris and Leah McKinley’s home — the second house on the street — because it matched the “physical description” given, according to a release from the GBI.

AJC.com.

The officers went to the rear of the home, onto the screened-in porch and through a “reportedly unlocked rear door,” the GBI said.

According to neighbors, that’s when Chris McKinley — who’d been watching a movie called “Serendipity” with his wife and 1-year-old — walked into the room with his dog. Authorities said two of the officers opened fire after they “encountered a dog.”

Id.

McKinley, 36, was shot in the leg, and his dog, a female boxer, was killed. One of the officers — identified Tuesday afternoon as Travis Jones — was shot in the hip by a colleague, the GBI said.

…

“Are we perfect?” DeKalb director of public safety Cedric Alexander said. “Absolutely not. But when we find a mistake, we own it. We own the fact that we were at the wrong house. We didn’t hide it. We didn’t mismanage it. We were at the wrong location based on information that was given to us.”

Id.

This is as close to a real apology as the police give for these incidents. They will not be prosecuted for their misdeeds. The taxpayers may suffer should the county pay some settlement to the McKinleys.

ChrisMcKinley

Chris McKinley, survivor. AJC.

Lloyd

One of McKinley’s assailants. AJC.

This shooting was mild compared to some others in the news lately. In other circumstances McKinley might have been killed. Or, he could have been framed with the officer’s shooting or some fictitious type of resisting or obstructing. Chris McKinley (and his dog) broke no laws. He did not “resist” the police. He did nothing wrong. He didn’t need protection from himself. He was minding his own business.

“Why did they shoot me? Why did they shoot my dog?” McKinley asked a neighbor who came to his aid.

Why did they shoot Chris McKinley? Maybe it was a tragic mistake. Maybe it’s because he has too many rights.

Hades’s Deposition

27 Wednesday Mar 2013

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A long time ago I participated in a complex civil litigation case which involved a construction project gone wrong.  The details do not really matter.  I represented the plaintiff in the matter.  The case was difficult enough but my client’s expert’s deposition added a new level of complexity I had not contemplated.

Depositions are factual statements taken under oath as part of the discovery/information process.  It’s a preview of the other side’s cross-examination of a witness at trial.  There are several reasons to depose a witness: first, it provides a oppourtunity to confirm what you know about a case; second, it gives you an idea of what the other side knows and if there any problems on the horizon; third, it sometimes provides a chance to settle a case without further expense.  The other side in this case had to depose our expert in order to assess where we all stood, pre-trial.

This particular case was very fact intensive with reports, statements, and other information in great quantity.  We had to associate an expert to evaluate all of the facts and condense them into a citable report.  The expert hired was a tier one professional who did not come cheap.  He spent days reviewing material and preparing his summary.  He also generated many questions, all important to our legal position.  These questions necessitated the client’s active participation in their answering.  For several months the expert requested this participation and was largely rebuffed.  The client was not unwilling to help rather, he always seemed to drift to other subjects and find excuses for delaying his responses.  We scheduled several (expensive) all day meetings intended to get the client on the same page with the expert.  The meetings never answered some questions.

Thus, the expert was left to guess at some factors and to do his best to assess the facts on his own.  He did a great job overall.  His report served as an excellent basis to proceed in the case.  At his deposition, he defended his positions with great skill, confident his findings supported the plaintiff’s position.

My role was to “defend” the expert during the deposition.  The other side was represented by two attorneys who both took active roles in the examination.  These gentlemen were extremely professional and the expert was not at his first rodeo.  Thus, my job should have been fairly simple.  In such sessions the defending attorney usually requests question clarification when necessary and objects for the record if some questions over-reach the allowable scope of discovery.  The questions may still be asked and answered, the objections take effect if called for later at trial.

Out of professional courtesy, everyone agreed to depose the expert at his metro-Atlanta office, several hours away from mine.  I arrived extra early to confer with the man and plan for any expected troubles.  We had a good meeting and agreed things looked pretty good.  The client was supposed to meet with us in a last-ditch effort to reveal misplaced information.  He showed up with little time to spare, along with the other attorneys and the court reporter.

The opposing side had read and were familiar with our expert’s preliminary report.  Their questions were efficient and run of the mill.  However, my client began at once to exhibit overly odd behavior.  He was restless, talked to himself, talked to me (interrupting my train of thought), and interfered with the questioning to the point that I politely requested a break to speak with him in private.  He then agreed to calm down.

It did not last.  After interrupting several more times, the questioning attorney directed his attention to my client’s disruption.  I once again took him aside for a talk.  It did not take this time.  The client seemed concerned that the expert was not answering certain questions sufficiently as those questions required the information the client was supposed to deliver to the expert but never did.  He was suddenly concerned that the expert did not have all facts.  I reassured him things were going well and asked if he had the additional information, even at the late hour.  He did not.  I cautioned him not to interrupt again and back we went.

Then, during the ordinary course of the questioning, the client went berserk.  He began to only talk (about the questions and other things).  He snatched my note pad and began writing me cryptic notes I did not understand.  I ignored him at this point.  Then he began to pace around the room like a tiger in a cage.  He stopped and talked behind the expert.  He looked over the other attorneys while they spoke.  He talked to the court reported.  I felt a little sick. 

At some point one of the opposing lawyers requested a break so I could attempt to regain control of my client.  I should have told him to leave or threatened to quite myself.  Instead, I pleaded with him to keep from getting himself held in contempt or somethingfor interference. 

We resumed after lunch and went on for the rest of the afternoon.  My client at least remained seated for the most part but he was of no help to me whatsoever.  Usually, a lawyer will ask a present client some questions in order to assist his understanding of the present matter.  I knew it was a lost cause.  I did request that we have a meeting immediately after the session, a get with Jesus prayer meeting, if you will.  He agreed.

However, after the deposition ended the client disappeared.  This did give me a few minutes to apologize to the other side and the reporter.  I assumed man-tiger had gone to his car for something.  I ended up in the expert’s executive office talking about the merits of the matter and the oddity of the day’s event.  Neither of us had ever seen anything like it.  After about an hour we realized our client had not joined us.  I got up and looked for him but found no sign of him in or outside of the office.  Honestly, I was a little relieved.  However, back in the expert’s office a few minutes later the client called.  He reported he was almost back to my office and that he knew where the missing facts were located.  I guessed that he did not, in fact, know anything about the facts and that he must be driving over 100 miles per hour.

My partner later reported to me that the client did stop by a little more than one hour after the deposition was finished.  He rushed in yelling and frightened several other clients.  He ransacked his own files and left muttering to himself.  No facts ever came forth.

Around this time the sun was setting and the expert and I were tired, numbed, and hungry.  We decided to get dinner and drinks.  I called a friend in the area and we all met at a local pub.  There I attempted triage of my mind via single-malt scotch.  It worked and after sobering up I made the long drive home.  By the time I was in the car my brain was dead and I probably would not have passed a road-side sobriety test even if I had not consumed anything.  I didn’t care at the time and, fortunately, there was no incident on the highway.  I stopped in the office after midnight and wrote myself a memo detailing the unusual circumstances of the day.

I learned several things from this affair.  Most importantly, I learned to identify disturbed clients before agreeing to represent them.  I also concluded that all clients needed extensive preparation before depositions with adequate warnings about proper conduct.  In cases like this one I decided the absence of the client would be in the client’s best interests.  I also reflected on the fact that people are not perfect and that patience is a virtue. 

In the end, thanks to the expert’s hard work, the deposition was a success for us.  I also came away a better attorney.  Subsequent depositions, no matter how arduous, didn’t seem that bad by comparison.  I hope you learned a little something from this story.  Maybe not.  Maybe I just needed to vent.  Anyway, always follow paid professional advice, keep quiet when necessary, and keep your speed reasonable.  My head hurts now…

It Depends…

16 Saturday Mar 2013

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On any given day I receive requests for legal advice – from clients, friends, and strangers.  Half of the time I am not truly familiar with the subject and usually not that interested.  Lawyers are trained to qualify any response they give to such questions as to their lack of specific knowledge.  They can be sanctioned for malpractice for giving advice which is incompetent.  Thus, I usually make it known that any answer is largely my off the cuff opinion, that I am not giving official advice unless retained to do so, and that any further explanation will require research.  This generally gets rid of most inquirers.  Usually their questions aren’t important enough to spend money answering.

My civil procedure professor in law school told us the answer to any legal question, initially, is always, “it depends.”  As a first year student, in a class that doesn’t begin to make sense until the end of the semester, this statement was perplexing.  It is entirely correct though.

confused

(Uhhhhh…weeeellll.  Google Images.)

“It depends” is a fancy, professional way of saying, “I don’t know.”  Most attorneys don’t know the answer to most legal questions, even in areas they specialize in.  To begin with, the law is such a vast, confusing, and constantly changing field, it is completely impossible to know everything about anything.  That senior lawyer with the “encyclopedic knowledge” of the law from the Tom Hanks’ movie, Philadelphia, resides on the silver screen and nowhere else.  Next, the facts presented by a particular person’s circumstances may differ from any other set of facts conceivable.  Think of laws as wrenches and facts as pipes; a lawyer is like a plumber, applying different wrenches to different pipes.  Most importantly, cases in court will ultimately have conclusions which cannot be foreseen, let alone guaranteed.  Any lawyer who guarantees an outcome is a liar and should be avoided. 

I have won cases I knew I was going to loss.  I have lost cases when I should, by all rights, have won.  Judges are as fallible as any other human beings and juries are like living roulette wheels.  Jurors are often influenced in their decisions by things completely unrelated to the case they’re reviewing.  As a prosecutor I once lost a DUI case just because the jury did not like the way my arresting officer presented himself on the witness stand.  They agreed the law applied to the defendant and the defendant’s actions qualified under the law as clear indications of guilt.  However, the officer kept yawning on the stand and the jury felt he wasn’t interested in the case and didn’t try to convince them of the State’s position.

Jury-Images-1

(Not a good day in court.  Google Images.)

That particular officer was well-seasoned and knew his job.  Unfortunately for me, he had just come straight into court from the night shift and was focusing most of his energy on staying awake.  I did not foresee that and there was nothing I could do about it.  As a consolation prize, I did win on the related minor parking charge.  The judge informed the very happy defendant he had dodged a bullet.  Chance leads to many dodged bullets in the law, and bullets that sometimes find innocent victims.

Usually an experienced attorney, once familiarized with the case in full, has a pretty good idea as to what will happen.  The attorney can relay this confidence to his client.  However, for the reasons I just gave, no attorney should ever declare even the most trivial matter a slam dunk.

In my article Legal Education I noted that law schools primarily teach worship of court decisions and legal research methods.  While it’s impossible to know all the law, it is quite easy for a skilled practitioner to look up and educate himself on any given subject.  I’ve had clients call, upset about “research” charges on their bill.  I always stand by these fees, so long as they are reasonable for the given case.  Doctors do extensive research before they cut a patient in surgery.  Lawyers are no different.

Like doctors, lawyers sometimes feel the need to associate expert counsel to assist with a really complicated area of the law.  Once a client came to me in a tizzy over a copyright infringement case which had been filed against him in federal court.  As the case was in a district where I do not normally practice, and after a cursory review of the maze of intellectual property laws, I concluded justice required me to hire another attorney from a giant Atlanta firm for assistance.  This was a very costly decision for the client.  In the end, though, the money was well spent.  I would draft the responsive pleadings to the best of my ability and with the client’s in-person co-operation.  Then I would email the drafts to the expert for touch-up and filing. 

As a result we were able to re-open the case and have a default judgment set aside as unjust.  Then, we removed the case to my area (where the client lives and operates his business).  There’s something to be said for home-field advantage.  We even got the “foreign” district judge to issue a scathing censure against the opposing counsel for his obnoxious behavior in the case!  That had the dual effect of making me and my expert look good and it took the slimy steam out of the other guy.  He was fired shortly thereafter.  In the end, we wrangled out a terrific settlement for pennies on the dollar out of the whole ordeal.  It was good work of which I am still proud.

Don’t be taken aback if your attorney reveals she isn’t familiar with the topic you present.  Such revelation is the mark of honesty.  Be ready to spend time and money on an investigation which may end up disappointing you.  It’s better to be told your case does not have merit or is unwinnable in the beginning, rather to discover such at a trial.

Remember, the advice I’ve given here is merely legal education for the lay audience, not exact legal advice.  If you have a specific case, you should consult a specific attorney.  Based on the subject and how your facts fit the law the outcome may be difficult to predict and will require some degree of research and work to resolve.  As for what I could tell you right now?  It depends.

A Successful Sunday

10 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

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Today I spoke to the Augusta, GA Libertarian Party about citizen-police encounters, especially when the citizen is armed.  What a great group!  You can view my presentation materials here: https://perrinlovett.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/march-10-2013-libertarian-party-event-bullett-points/.  It’s a shortened version of How to Interact With the Police, https://perrinlovett.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/how-to-interact-with-the-police/. I think How to Interact may be one of my most popular posts yet.  After the great reception today and some of the feedback I got, I think a follow-up of some sort may be in order. 

I decided to where a suit and tie to the event today. 

0310131318

(Who the hell is the thin dude???)

Unless they’re Christmas ties, I generally do not like ties.  They remind me of upside-down silk nooses.  I only don ties when I go to court.  In fact, today when I revved up I ditched the tie and jacket.  But, I had to wear them.  You see, for many years I have had a closet full of really nice suits I couldn’t fit into.  I think the one above is an Austin Reed, if that means anything.  Thanks to my exercise program and diet, which I think I will patent and hawk on TV, not only do those suits fit – they’re a little loose!  My fat suits may need serious surgery.

0310131319

(Me.  Thin.  In a suit.  With no cigar or beard…  Yes, really me.)

I brought my daughter along for the fun.  She did great until I went on a little too long – she got up and told me it was time to leave…  Thank you, sweetie!!!  We had strawberries and a visit to her little friend’s house as a reward.

0310131321

(Daddy’s little helper.)

I love talking to and with libertarians, big or small “l.”  They are the few who prefer liberty, as Sallust suggested 2000 years ago.  And, as a rule, they are informed, engaging, and very very nice.  Today was no exception.  I fielded questions throughout the presentation, questions that greatly contributed to the overall topic.  I also discussed the possibility of addressing other groups.  I even offered to “debate” any communist or other hack they could dig up at Augusta State (GRU U) on the subject of gun control.  It seems there is still doubt as to what the Second Amendment really means, even after Heller, Parker, and MacDonald, and a slew of other cases.  I intend to write a clarifying post soon – particularly as to what part the people play with relation to the militia and where the militia stands with regard to the Imperial military (totally different birds).

I always learn something at these types of events, even when I’m the presenter.  Speaking of the militia, today I learned that federal and state law enforcement, in conjunction with the MARINE CORPS!, has been conducting hypothetical war games in our area – against the Georgia militia!  These exercises take place next door in South Carolina.  I think I will write both governors and the interloper in the White House and ask if they would like the Georgia Militia to actively participate!  I will lead the effort, if mr. Deal will allow it and appoint me as a Colonel or General or something.  Men, I may be calling on you soon.  If nothing else, I will demand to know why the USMC is drilling against the people of our state.  Have they killed off all “tha taaarrists”???

The news:

Maybe we are the terrorists now.  According to Washington’s puppet, Hamid Karzai, the U.S. is colluding with the Taliban.  Remember them?  They were our allies in the 1980s, who betrayed us on 9/11 and now, after 12 years of war, have become our allies again?  I’m confused too.  Kind of like al-CIA-da – the terror group developed by Washington during the cold war, who became our enemies in 2001, only to get our help in Libya, Syria, etc.  Foreign entanglements, gotta love em.

In other news, Atlanta is now being called the “Detroit of the South” – that can’t be good.  More and more suburbs are seceding to get away from the crime, corruption and financial burdens of the Big Peach.  I have heard rumors that northern Fulton County may split and reform Milton County or whatever it was called 90 years ago.  Peachy.

More rumors – the RepubliCONS, all hyped up on something, are vowing to budget Obamacare away sometime in the future.  I have a shiny nickel that says they don’t.

That’s all for now.  Many thanks again to Amanda, Rocky and my gracious hosts today.  They even gave me a trio of books I have not read before – one about Bastiat!  This looks to be a great week.  I’m planning some terrific columns and maybe a site upgrade or two.  See you tomorrow!

Slavery in America, Part II of III

05 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Legal/Political Columns

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Continuing  from Part One…  In 2003, the beautiful, talented, and aptly named Star Parker wrote a book called Uncle Sam’s Plantation, http://www.amazon.com/Uncle-Sams-Plantation-Government-Enslaves/dp/1595552235 (revised 2010).  In this work she relates her previous experiences in and working her way out of “welfare.”  I call it “welfare” because her subject matter is what most people think of when they think of welfare – giving money, food, ect. to poor people (deserving or otherwise). 

Her book is excellent and serves as a good starting point.  However, most welfare in America is not directed towards the poor, rather it consists of monies given to all segments of society through mandatory “entitlement” spending programs like Social Security and Medicare as well as massive subsidies and favors to various corporate interests.  These illegal programs eat up the vast majority of the federal budget and, likely, the budgets of the States as well.  None are found in or allowed by the Constitution.  Remember the Constitution?

I will comment on these corporate welfare programs a little later.  All you really need to know was said by the late, great George Carlin: “It’s a big club.  You ain’t in it.  You and I are not in the big club.  By the way, it’s the same big club they use to beat you over the head…”  See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dBZDSSky0, (comic genius)(warning: some strong language and even stronger truths).

Ms. Parker has addressed some of this “big club” in her book.  She wrote a column explaining how the banks are now on the plantation, http://townhall.com/columnists/starparker/2009/02/09/back_on_uncle_sams_plantation/page/full/.  However, she misses the point that Carlin nailed.  It’s the club members – the big banks (The Federal Reserve “Creature”), the big corporations, the super rich, and the ticks – that run the plantation.  Really, the biggies own it and Uncle Sam is more of an overseer. 

rockerfeller

(This says it all.  Google Images.)

This may sound offensive to some of you – I sincerely hope so.  It is one of the most offensive things facing modern Americans today.  Sadly, many or most of our citizens either take the system for granted or take advantage of it.  Heck, we are all involved like it or not.  I detest the concept of fiat money, for example, yet I usually keep one or two of those Federal Reserve Notes in my wallet at any given time.  The Big Club has rigged the system so you have to acquiesce, or else you can’t be a member of modern society.

Back to “the poor” slaves Ms. Parker wrote about.  Millions of Americans are hopelessly dependent on government welfare payments to live and eat these days.  At the end of 2012, more than 47 million of our citizens were on food stamps, up from 36 million in 2009.  http://reason.com/blog/2012/11/21/why-are-a-record-number-of-americans-on.  Before the last recession, which never really ended, the number was around 17 million (in 2000).  http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/show-this-to-anyone-that-believes-that-things-are-getting-better-in-america.

Many of these programs have racist origins, just like our gun control laws.  However, in keeping with never-ending government expansion, today they can entrap and enslave anyone and everyone.  In the old days, the theory worked like this: black people will someday inevitably be granted full civil rights in society.  Therefore, let’s us Big Club members subjugate as many of them as we possibly can now so that when they do arise, most won’t be able to take advantage of their opportunities.  Black schools were frequently sub-standard by white standards.  Welfare programs infringed on the benefits of gainful employment and lead to the destruction of the black family unit.

Young black men, poorly educated and without any hope of finding meaningful work, turned to alternative careers – like selling drugs.  The Club, in its Baphometian wisdom, instituted the “war” on drugs to put as many of these poor men as possible in chains and behind bars.  The result has been an explosion in the drug trade and drug addiction, increases in related crimes, a further evisceration of the black community, and a ridiculous number of people in jail for non-crimes.  The U.S. now has the highest prison population in the world, by percentage of the population and by raw numbers.  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23iht-23prison.12253738.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.

Why do we have more criminals than China, which has three times our population?  Are we all a bunch of scofflaw degenerates?  I work in the criminal Just-Us system and I have seen poor person after poor person locked up for nothing.  When I worked as a prosecutor I stayed in a state of permanent depression.  It was my job to railroad people into guilty pleas (too easy to obtain) or convict them (too easy too) for no wrong-doing.  I finally had to quit one day.  Quitting was better than being a party to injustice.  In my area of the country I estimate 90% or more of all criminal charges stem from non-crimes which have no victims.  Each case, federal or state, comes with a statement of “victim impact.”  Usually, the statement reads, “no victim.”  Without victims how the hell can you say a crime has occurred?  I bet the situation is similar wherever you live.  The real victims are the falsely prosecuted persons; they are turned into slaves.

This all means that 90+% of our criminal “justice” resources are wasted.  That leaves the other 10%, or less devoted to stopping or punishing actual crime.  Why are the survivors of real crimes and their families always so frustrated with the laxity of the system?  It’s because the system is designed to put away as many people as possible, guilty of not.  There is little incentive to actively investigate and pursue murders, rapes, and other dangerous felonies.  An elected prosecutor looks better to the idiot electorate by keeping a high conviction rate – which the current system guarantees. 

As I said, this BS was originally aimed at black people.  However, three key changes have occurred over the past decades which have altered the scheme for the universal worse.  First, after the passage of the civil rights act in the 1960’s and the end of legal segregation, many black ticks were elected to office and power all across America.  Atlanta has a black mayor.  Detroit has a black mayor.  Blacks are elected to the House and Senate.  In 2008 a black man was elected President.  Oddly, the system has not changed and hope seems ever fleeting.  This is because black ticks, like all others, are more than willing to oppress anyone in order to keep their beloved power.

The second big change was the change in American demographics after the 1965 immigration reform law was passed.  Whereas America was about 90% white and 10% black in 1960, today the country is a true melting pot of all races and cultures.  All of the added people of various origins have provided additional opportunities for the ticks to run wild on our freedom.

The third change has been due to the nature of government programs themselves.  Once instituted, a program or scheme never goes away.  It grows by leaps and bounds, sucking in as many victims as it can find.  The Club members know this and have tailored their machinations accordingly.  At some point they figured out they would have more control over us if they included all of us in their slavery operations.  Conversely, they do everything in the considerable power to keep people divided into classes – the whites, the blacks, the poor, the old, the gays, the Southerns, etc.  It’s easier to control multiple groups if you pit them against each other over trivial nonsense.  Each group spends its time preoccupied with suspicion of the other groups and forgets about who is ultimately whipping them mercilessly.  The group members are slaves.

Their plot goes far beyond “welfare” programs, poor education, and institutionalized criminality.  It touches on just about every facet of the lives on people who are not ultra-wealthy and well-connected.  If you bother to vote, you’re pre-sorted into groups, usually Republican versus Democrat.  Off the bat, your choices are limited to those of the party’s choice – the partys have a hierarchy to make sure rouges like Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are minimized.  They can’t risk anyone telling the truth or actually representing the People.  You are a slave to those choices.

If you are lucky enough to have a job these days, you are taxed on what you earn.  You pay those income taxes in addition to sales taxes, property taxes, “sin” taxes and multiple other taxes.  You also indirectly pay the taxes of corporations who pass their financial burdens on to you.  You pay for government debt spending.  You are pay the hidden tax of inflation, caused by the incestuous relationship between the government and the illegal, monopolistic Federal Reserve.  You’re real tax rate isn’t 10% or 25%, it’s more like 50 – 60%, as a percentage of your income.  By comparison, under King George in the 1700’s, the average colonist paid an effective rate of about 1% of their income (again, factoring in all forms of taxation and set against income).  Maybe old George wasn’t the bad guy we made him out to be?  He never openly advocated the slavery of his royal subjects.

Today, if you want a house, a car, or an education, the banks will happily strap you with 5 to 30+ years of debt servitude. “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is the servant of the lender.” Proverbs 22:7. That means you are a slave.

DjangoUnchainedWallpaper-1c733

(I haven’t seen Django, but I understand it involves slaves revolting as they should.  Google Images.)

In Part Three I will further discuss the constituent members of the Big Club and their control over you and me.  I will also discuss ways to possibly emancipate ourselves from these monsters.  Stay tuned and stay angry!