Bossier School Board Investigates missing $$$$

A small investigation into some missing money has become a major investigation for the Bossier Parish School System.
The case started after $1,400 was missing from a safe at the Bossier Parish School Maintenance Department.
The investigation is now looking into how the school district spent millions of dollars on air conditioning work.
Click on the story title for the link to KSLA

Shreveport Judge-elect insists on Racial Segregation

Pamela Lattier, who was recently elected to a Shreveport City judgeship, has requested that City Marshal Charlie Caldwell provide her courtroom with only black deputy marshals.
When asked about it, Caldwell said 'I guess I didn't really think nothing about it because I'm black. I really didn't'.
If a white judge had asked for only white bailiffs he would be out the door - fast.
In light of her racism, the logical question is whether she can be fair to white defendants.

Over 1,000 at Haynesville Shale Job Fair

Hundreds of people stood in line Wednesday at the Bossier City Convention Center waiting for a chance to strut their stuff for companies like Chesapeake Energy, Parker Drilling and Trinidad Drilling.
The crowds gathered there for the oil and gas job fair connected with the Haynesville Shale natural gas deposit. More than a thousand people attended the job fair, event organizers said.
The line was so long at Chesapeake's booth that it started to snake around the room. Chesapeake is the largest natural gas drilling company in the country. The company has the largest presence in the Haynesville Shale with 14 rigs.
"It's been like this since 10 a.m.," said Sarie Joubert, public affairs manager for Chesapeake. "It's been nonstop. The line has stayed exactly the same."
Joubert said people were looking for jobs of all types — roustabouts, tool pushers, supervisors and truck drivers. People were dropping off resumes and business cards as well as filling out applications.
The Times

Former Caddo Deputy Clerk of Court arrested

Wonder if the Inquisitor will report this?
A Shreveport woman was arrested on two counts of theft after North Shreveport Swim Club members noticed an unusually large check was written on the club’s account, and a freezer came up missing, according to a release.
Lisa Copeland, 43, who was hired to run the club’s pool, is accused of cashing a $2,099 check from the club’s account.
Caddo sheriff’s detectives reported Copeland used the money to pay her bills.
The missing chest freezer was sold by Copeland for $175, the release said.
The Times

Copeland is a former Caddo Parish Deputy Clerk of Court who went to work for The Inquisitor after leaving the clerk's office.

Plot to Kill Obama

UPDATE: Feds skeptical about plot
From NBC Investigates
Senior federal officials tell NBC News that the Feds are skeptical about whether there ever was a well-conceived plan to attack Sen. Barack Obama by two alleged neo-Nazi extremists in Tennessee. The officials say that there is no evidence at this early stage of the investigation that the two men, Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman, had ever taken the plan beyond the talking stage.
Federal officials arrested the men Thursday in Tennessee, and unsealed an an arrest complaint about them today.
According to the court documents, Cowart, 18, and Schlesselman, 20, are white supremacists who met on the Internet a month ago and began discussing a violent plot to kill African Americans, including Sen. Obama.
Investigators say the men admitted to discussing "killing 88 people and beheading 14 African Americans." They wanted to generate money for their plot by robbing houses and a local gun dealer, to get weapons for a "killing spree." A law-enforcement official says the two described themselves as Nazis and had swastikas and other Nazi-related symbols painted on their car.
The men were in possession of a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, the complaint states. And they had discussed using a .308 cliber rifle "to facilitate their attempt to assassinate Obama," the document adds.



More from The Smoking Gun.

Thanks to We Saw That for the tipoff on this.

David Treen endorses Mary Landrieu

Former Governor Dave Treen has endorsed Mary Landrieu. Treen, the first Republican governor of the state since Reconstruction, said he was backing Landrieu because of her bipartisan record.

"Louisiana cannot afford to lose Sen. Landrieu's effectiveness in Congress," Treen says. Treen is one of 27 Republicans to endorse Landrieu, her campaign says.

Landrieu faces Democrat/Republican John Kennedy in the November 4 election.

New! My Bossier Forum

In an attempt to make My Bossier more interactive, we have set up a new discussion forum. You simply assign yourself a member name (doesn't have to be your name) and comment on discussions already posted or post your own.
Discuss all things Shreveport/Bossier or for that matter, anything that comes to your mind!
You will have a page of your own to set up and post things of interest, photos, videos etc.
You also have a comment space on your page where people can leave comments for you. You can receive email from other members at your discretion.
You also can blog on things that interest you.
You can also list events of interest for all to see. Check it out today.

My Bossier Forum

Haynesville Shale: 'Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered'

For those of you who missed it, KSLA Channel 12 ran stories last night and tonight about leasing in the Haynesville Shale. In this video Eric Clarke played portions of a recently recorded conversation between some Haughton residents and leasing agents with Baton Rouge-based agency Mark A. O'Neil, which represents Chesapeake Energy in negotiations for natural gas trapped two miles underground and locked inside rock known as shale.
It is revealing of some of the tactics used in negotiations.

Bobby in Benton

Governor Jindal held a short Town Hall meeting at the courthouse on Tuesday afternoon; he said a few words, got on the news and had pictures made with a group of students.
It is not his first visit to Bossier's Parish seat and won't be his last. Bossier Parish, after all, is one of only two parishes in the state with more folks registered as Republican rather than Democrat. If you would like to see the registration in each parish here is a link to the Secretary of State's website.
Here are Bossier's numbers:
Total Voters 66,331
Democrat 24,359 36.7%
Republican 25,264 38.1%
Other Party 16,708 25.2%
While I have hardly been a Jindal fan, I believe that John McCain did himself a disservice by picking Sarah Palin over Bobby Jindal as his running mate. Jindal has a much better grasp of the issues and is a better communicator.
Frankly, he comes across as smarter than Sarah Palin.
In any event, he is headed to Iowa next month. Policiticans don't visit Iowa by accident; it is a clear sign that he is looking ahead to 2012 and is starting to develop his prospects.
A lot of blogs and commentators are already mentioning Jindal for President in 2012. Don't look for a Palin/Jindal ticket, however. He isn't going to play second fiddle.

Mike Craig, Judge Bolin speak out

The Times published an article this morning regarding the recent judge’s election and quoted Mike Craig as saying that he is not the DA’s man.
“It was a general perception that was fed on by my opponent ... It was meant to be portrayed as negative but there’s no truth to it,” Craig said. “I’ve only been employed by Mr. Marvin (District Attorney J. Schuyler Marvin) since 2005, so it certainly got blown out of proportion by the media ... Everyone in the legal community knew it was bunk.”
The issue that keeps popping up is whether or not Schuyler Marvin used this race, with or without Craig’s complicity, to increase his own power base.
“I do know some issues have arisen between the incumbent (Burchett) and myself regarding sentences handed down that I was more than displeased with,” Marvin told The Times in September. “I was even quoted by the media as being publicly disappointed in some of his sentences and, for that reason, my name keeps coming up.”
Well, that and the fact that Marvin donated $1,000 to Craig’s campaign and attended a campaign fundraising event, plus general knowledge that his employees were very actively campaigning for Craig.
I recently posted an article entitled Term Limits for District Judges? in which I noted that
“Recent events have created a lot of uneasiness among members of the legal profession in Bossier and Webster Parishes. Talk to some of them and you can sense the feeling of discontent and apprehension.I’m referring, of course, to the race for District Judge in which Mike Craig defeated 20 year veteran Dewey Burchett. It was more than a hard-fought race; it was a bitter race to the end. The DA’s influence definitely came into play. I’m not saying that he ‘ran’ Mike Craig in a move to increase his own power base, but it cannot be denied that Schuyler Marvin has some stroke with the voters. Burchett supporters are wondering what treatment they will receive in the courtroom. The other judges realize that they could be next. Other parish officials are sitting on the sidelines taking notes.”
I was accused by a commenter of ‘fearmongering’, but that was not the case. I was just writing what I have seen and heard daily. Apparently my observations are not imaginary.
Judge Bruce Bolin was the only judge to respond to The Times requests for comments. He said “It’s not fair, whereas I felt the district attorney was allowed to be wide open and support people, spend money, influence, we can do nothing. I really am kind of afraid to say anything to you — it’s that bad — other than say we’re very disappointed (on the way Marvin’s office contributed to the race).”
Bolin later submitted an e-mail reply for clarification, which read in part: “The system will not work if judges allow any particular group, whether it’s the plaintiff lawyers, defense lawyers, or the district attorney, to pressure judges into deciding cases for immediate political gain.”
I also wrote "I believe that when Mike Craig becomes Judge Craig, he can do a lot to allay the fears and to restore equilibrium to the process, and I am confident that he will."
I think that he is attempting to do this, but he should drop the line that "it certainly got blown out of proportion by the media ... Everyone in the legal community knew it was bunk." Everyone in the legal community, and more importantly, in the general public, does not know this. He needs to be content with saying "there’s no truth to it".
Mike Craig needs to realize that a lot of people are troubled, that these anxieties are real, and whether fair or unfair, only he can put a stop to it.
Again, we have confidence that he will.

Successful Haynesville Shale well just south of Benton

Southern Star Energy, a fast-growing E&P company with reserves and production from leases located in northern Louisiana, today announced that it has successfully drilled and logged the targeted Haynesville interval in its Atkins-Lincoln 17-2 Well with positive results. The well reached a total depth of 11,300 feet on October 14, 2008. This well is strategically located in the center section of the Company's Sentell Field in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. The Atkins-Lincoln 17-2 is the second well in the Company's 2008 development program and the first of two Haynesville Shale vertical test wells in the Sentell Field planned for 2008.
Wireline logging and mud log shows indicate the Atkins-Lincoln 17-2 Well encountered 205 feet of highly laminated, silty, and naturally fractured shale zone with cross plot porosities ranging from nine to 12 percent. Mud logs indicated abundant gas shows throughout the interval, ranging from 400 to 600 units with trip gas as high as 3,000 units. This interval exhibits the characteristics of the Lower Bossier Shale. Immediately below this laminated section, the well encountered approximately 185 feet of quality dark black organic rich shale. In this zone, gas shows ranged between 1,100 and 3,000 units. This lower interval exhibits all of the characteristics that the industry classifies as the Haynesville Shale. The wellbore is suspended with 7-inch intermediate casing through the Cotton Valley Formation at 9,500 feet in order to preserve the Company's options to complete the well as a vertical producer, or to re-enter the wellbore for horizontal drilling pending the development of completion techniques.

Complete story at News Blaze

Are Property Asessments too high for today's market?

Now that the real estate bubble has burst, or in our case, is bursting, and the economy and markets are in a downward spiral, quite a few people are questioning the increased property assessments they received a couple of months ago. A lot noticed a pretty hefty increase in their assessed values.
How does the Bossier Parish Tax Assessor arrive at these amounts?
From their website:
Different states use different levels of "fair market value" to arrive at an assessed value. One state may use 100% of value while another may use 50% and still another may use 30%. Some states even use different levels of assessment for different types of property. Louisiana uses the following levels of assessment:
Land 10%
Residential Improvement 10%
Commercial Improvement 15%
Personal Property 15%
Public Service 25%

The guidelines for assessment in Louisiana are set forth in the State Constitution and the Revised Statutes of the State of Louisiana. The criteria for determining fair market value can be found in RS 47:2323.
Property tax is an ad valorem tax, which means that a tax levy is apportioned among taxpayers according to the value of each taxpayer's property. The value is determined by three different approaches:

The Cost Approach – Cost to replace new less years of depreciation.
The Sales Comparison Approach – the value that similar properties of similar construction and of like age are selling for.
The Income Approach – the present worth of future benefits arising from the ownership of a property.

Data is gathered throughout the parish to assist the assessor's office in determining all three approaches to value. For example, sales of homes in your neighborhood are collected and compiled for future use. Likewise, cost to construct new homes is collected and compiled. On income producing properties records of income and expense are gathered and compiled. The size of your house and the year it was constructed, plus many other factors, are on record in the assessor's office to assist in placing a value on your property.

To be more specific, this is what RS 47:2323 says:
(1) In utilizing the market approach, the assessor shall use an appraisal technique in which the market value estimate is predicated upon prices paid in actual market transactions and current listings.
(2) In utilizing the cost approach, the assessor shall use a method in which the value of a property is derived by estimating the replacement or reproduction cost of the improvements; deducting therefrom the estimated depreciation; and then adding the market value of the land, if any.
(3) In utilizing the income approach, the assessor shall use an appraisal technique in which the anticipated net income is processed to indicate the capital amount of the investment which produces the net income.

Fair market value is one of the criteria on which your assessment is based. What do you believe the market value of your property is today, more or less than it was at this time last year? Where do you think it will be a year from now?
The Bossier City Council addressed the increases in August when they agreed to rollback the city's millage rate from 23.37 Mils to 21.69 Mils in a move to offset an increase in property assessments. The rollback means property owners will pay approximately the same amount of property taxes this year as they did in 2007. Had the City Council chosen not to rollback the rate, property owners would have had to pay an addition $1.7 million in total taxes this year due to the rise in property assessments. This gave some financial relief, but did not address the basic question.
Since a lot of the economic problems, although foreseen, did not come to fruition until very recently, there may not be a lot that can be done about assessments until next year.

This is also addressed in the Assessor’s website: Each year during the last part of August and the first of September the assessment rolls are open for inspection and for discussion of the assessment with the assessor's office. This is the time to discuss your assessment. It also is the time that the taxpayer can legally file a protest to the assessment if we cannot settle our differences as to assessment. Several taxpayers wait until the tax bill is sent around the first of December to discuss their assessment. We will discuss your assessment at that time but you cannot legally file a protest at that time.

Hopefully the economy will rebound and this will not be a question in 2009. If, however, market values decrease it will be interesting to see if the assessor makes adjustments accordingly. It will also be interesting to see if local governing bodies seek to increase millage rates to account for the difference in revenue if that does occur.

A lot of people have seen their IRAs and other retirement plans lose value in the past month. That, on top of decreasing property values and increasing assessments, combined with overall financial anxiety, has a lot of folks worried.

While we are pointedly not criticizing the Assessor for doing his job, perhaps he and some of our other public officials will address these questions.

Colin Powell endorses Obama

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for president on Sunday, criticizing his own Republican Party for what he called its narrow focus on irrelevant personal attacks over a serious approach to challenges he called unprecedented.
Powell, who for many years was considered the most likely candidate to become the first African-American president, said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was not supporting Obama because of his race.
He said he had watched both Obama and his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, for many months and thought “either one of them would be a good president.”

KSLA reports Fortress/Chesapeake leases null and void

excerpt:
It now appears the gold rush mentality has crashed into the Haynesville Bust, at least for the 100 or so property owners told Thursday night (10/16) that their signed leases are worthless.
Those property owners had no idea what to expect for a hastily called meeting at a Keithville church. Once there, their lease negotiators delivered the bad news, that their 20-thousand dollar an acre lease contracts are 'null and void,' which led to anger.

Video

John McCain Addressed ACORN Rally in 2006

"What makes America special is what's in this room tonight."

John McCain recently said that "The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, “must be investigated.”
“No one should corrupt the most precious right we have. That is the right to vote,” he said to applause.
His campaign later issued a statement highlighting Barack Obama’s past legal work for the group, saying “he has a litany of concerning associations that should be fully examined.”

Well, let's examine those associations, as well as McCain's.
Above is a picture of McCain giving a speech at an ACORN rally in Miami in 2006. Below is a video of the meeting.

Congressional Candidate Gerard Bowen on the Issues

Access to your Congressman
I feel a Representative should be accessible to the people he represents, not just to deep-pocket contributors. Not only will I run a grassroots campaign, but I will run a grassroots office. I will be approachable and available to concerned citizens. I will continue to visit neighborhoods as much as Congressman as I do as a candidate and I will return phone calls.
The Budget
When I was in the Navy, toward the end of each fiscal year, if we had money in our budget that we hadn’t spent we were told we had to find a way to spend it or else we would get less the next year. That is absolutely ludicrous and it infuriates me that our hard earned tax dollars are being spent with this mentality. I will work towards the government using a zero-based budgeting process where you can’t spend any more money than you have just like all of us must do at home. Also, the merits of programs should be considered before funding them rather than just funding them because they were funded in the past. If a program is not working to produce the intended results it should be cut out and efforts should be made to encourage saving our money, not throwing it out the window. If there is a program worthy of us investing in we should cut back on one that is not working (of which there are many) to free up money for the new one. I will work towards balancing the budget and getting out of debt, but do it through spending less, not taxing more.
The Constitution
I believe our charter documents were not arbitrary, our founding fathers who created our charter documents were inspired and guided by God. The 10th amendment basically says that the federal government can’t just assume any power unless it is granted to the federal government by the states or by the people through the constitution. Whether they think can or not, the facts are in black & white that can not and should not restrict our rights to bear arms, free speech, and free practice of religion. In every vote I make in Congress, I will vote in a manner that upholds the constitution intentions of our founding fathers.
The Economy
The steps I outlined in my Budget discussion above would have a tremendous domino effect throughout the economy. Lower national debt would mean a stronger dollar. The price of gas is tied directly to the value of the dollar and the price of food is tied directly to the price of gas. Then with less debt they wouldn’t need to tax us so heavily and we could keep more of our money. If we keep more of our own money and things cost less we could better afford our own health insurance and our own retirement savings without the government interfering.
Family Values
While schools, teachers, coaches, church leaders and others act as influences on our children, I believe the family is the single most important unit in the development of the future moral core of our children and our nation. Children should be raised by a man and a woman who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. As such, I pledge to always act accordingly in my personal life and to promote measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.
Healthcare
I will support H.R. 1846: Medicare Access to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Services Improvement Act of 2007, because currently the government is restricting the choice of the Physician to decide which licensed medical professional is most appropriate for your physical medicine needs by restricting Medicare reimbursement to certain licensed medical professionals. This in turn is preventing people who need the services from having access to it and is putting other licensed medical professionals who provide these services out of work. This bill would expand payments to other licensed medical professionals who are qualified to provide these services and take the government out of the medical decision process of your healthcare needs and put it back into the hands of the Physician by allowing reimbursements to the licensed medical professional that your Physician feels is most appropriate for your condition. Social Medicine – How much would they take out of our check to pay for it and how much would they waste in the process? Too much! If they lower our taxes we could better afford our own health insurance.
Immigration
I am all for legal immigration. We all have ancestors that came from other countries in pursuit of the American dream. I hear people say of illegal aliens “they are hard workers and law abiding citizens”. Well by definition, if they are here illegally they are NOT abiding by our laws and therefore are criminals and should be treated as such. Immigration should not only be allowed, but be encouraged, but it should be done according to our laws, at our pace, without putting a strain on our infrastructure and economy, and with respect for our culture and traditions.
Taxes
It is my opinion that the government should only take enough taxes to do the things for us that we can not do for ourselves. Military, national defense, and border security are the most obvious. Beyond that there isn’t much that the government can do for us more efficiently than we could do for ourselves. For example: Social Security - Have you ever known anyone to receive more from Social Security than they put in? Who keeps the difference? It goes to red tape, government inefficiencies, and who knows what else. I am paying $100 per pay period to Social Security. If we could keep that money to invest in our own retirement, in 30 years at an average of 12%, which is the average annual gain of the stock market in its history, it would grow to $627,000. Do you think I will see anywhere near that amount by investing in the government’s retirement plan? We need to gradually phase out the current system so no one in or close to retirement gets cut off from needed benefits, and gradually replace it with a system more like a 401(k) or Thrift Savings Plan. This will allow people control of their own investments and retirement. I will always try to lower the tax burden that is on us. As such, I will work toward the adoption of the FairTax Plan. Currently there are many ways people avoid paying income taxes. Some of these include not reporting tips, not reporting moneys earned from illegal activities (drugs deals and prostitution), loopholes, and simply not paying it because they don’t want to. I want to revamp the system so that we pay federal sales tax instead of income tax. By charging tax on sales, no one can hide from it and everyone will pay their fair share. That will lessen the burden on those of us already paying more than our fair share.
To learn more details about the FairTax Plan go to http://www.fairtax.org/
To learn more about Gerard, click here: BOWEN FOR CONGRESS

National Republicans throw Kennedy under the bus

UPDATE October 18:
Committee reinstates ads
The Advocate article

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has decided to pull its television advertising out of Louisiana, a decision that drastically reduces the party's chances at its lone takeover opportunity in this election cycle.
The ads, according to buy information obtained by The Fix, will end next Tuesday -- two weeks before the Nov. 4 election between Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) and state Treasurer John Kennedy (R).
NRSC communications director Rebecca Fisher offered no comment when asked about the move to pull down the ads.
The decision to stop advertising in the race against Landrieu reflects a recognition by the NRSC of the stark financial reality it faces in the fall campaign. The Republican committee has been consistently outraised by its Democratic counterpart and, as the political environment has worsened for the GOP in recent weeks, several Republican senators that appeared safe -- Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) to name two -- have suddenly appeared more vulnerable.
Washington Post

Chesapeake to cut back on leasing, drilling

excerpt:
Chesapeake Energy Corp cut its cash outlook for the next two years and said it will further reduce spending in response to the global financial crisis and lower natural gas prices, a regulatory filing on Wednesday showed.
Chesapeake has cut its budget for the acquisition of new acreage in 2009 and 2010 and has trimmed the amount it plans to spend on drilling, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange commission.
The highly leveraged U.S. company had planned to spend as much as $2.3 billion acquiring drilling rights next year.
This is the third time since Sept. 22 that Chesapeake has adjusted its financial forecasts and announced plans to cut capital spending.
Energy companies like Chesapeake that have outspent cashflow and relied on capital markets to finance acreage acquisitions and drilling programs have been hit hard by the credit crunch as sources of financing are harder to find an more expensive.
A 50 percent drop in natural gas futures from July highs has not helped the outlook for U.S. onshore exploration and production companies, some of which ramped up drilling plans to capitalize on high commodity prices.
Chesapeake said it now expects total cash inflows of about $7.8 billion to $9 billion in 2009, down from its prior forecast for about $9.9 billion to $11.5 billion, the SEC filing said.For 2010, the company is forecasting cash inflow of $8.2 billion to $9.5 billion, down from $9.2 billion to $10.8 billion.
From The Guardian

Grand Jury refuses to indict Daryl Gold

A Caddo Parish grand jury has refused to indict attorney Daryl Gold, who was accused of financial crimes.
The grand jury issued a no true bill after hearing testimony in the case investigated by the Caddo-Shreveport Financial Crimes Unit.
Gold was accused of obtaining credit using his ex-wife’s name and Social Security number. He was charged with identity theft. His arrest happened in July after he argued a motion in a pending capital murder case in Coushatta. “The Louisiana Attorney General’s office and the Caddo district judge who signed his arrest warrant felt like we had enough to pursue the charges,” said Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator in a news release. “But the grand jury felt like there wasn’t enough; therefore, the system worked like it is intended to work.”
The Times

Welcome to the Socialist USA

How the Socialist Swedes cured a banking crisis in 1992
A banking system in crisis after the collapse of a housing bubble. An economy hemorrhaging jobs. A market-oriented government struggling to stem the panic. Sound familiar?
It does to Sweden. The country was so far in the hole in 1992 — after years of imprudent regulation, short-sighted economic policy and the end of its property boom — that its banking system was, for all practical purposes, insolvent.
Sweden did not just bail out its financial institutions by having the government take over the bad debts. It extracted pounds of flesh from bank shareholders before writing checks. Banks had to write down losses and issue warrants to the government.
That strategy held banks responsible and turned the government into an owner. When distressed assets were sold, the profits flowed to taxpayers, and the government was able to recoup more money later by selling its shares in the companies as well.
“If I go into a bank,” said Bo Lundgren, who was Sweden’s deputy minister of finance at the time, “I’d rather get equity so that there is some upside for the taxpayer.”
The New York Times

The American Socialist Cure
President Bush today announced a $250 billion plan by the government to directly buy shares in the nation's leading banks, saying the drastic steps were "not intended to take over the free market but to preserve it." (Say what????)
Nine major banks will participate initially including all of the country's largest institutions, he announced, in a move that sent stocks soaring on Wall Street.
Some of the nation's largest banks had to be pressured to participate by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who wanted healthy institutions that did not necessarily need capital from the government to go first as a way of removing any stigma that might be associated with banks getting bailouts. "We regret having to take these actions," Paulson said. "Today's actions are not what we ever wanted to do — but today's actions are what we must do to restore confidence to our financial system."
Call it what you will, it is partial nationalism of the country's largest banks.
Boy, I’ll bet the conservatives won’t put up with this for a minute! But wait, these ARE the conservatives. If this is what conservatives do, then those nasty liberals must be absolutely giddy.
Socialist Sweden only spent 4% of its GDP for its socialist cure. The Socialist US proposes to spend upward of 5%.
Nationalizing the banks was suggested to FDR after he took office in the great depression, but FDR had no intention of taking such a radical step. Instead, he declared a "national bank holiday," closing all banks, purportedly in order to give inspectors time to review their solvency. FDR declared that only those banks in sound financial health, those which had passed inspection, would be allowed to reopen.
Say that again . .
FDR declared that only those banks in sound financial health, those which had passed inspection, would be allowed to reopen.
We have precedent for the problem and precedent for the solution. We are not following it because that would cause inconvenience for people and could possibly cost the major parties to lose whatever small shred of credibility they retain.

Term Limits for District Judges?

Recent events have created a lot of uneasiness among members of the legal profession in Bossier and Webster Parishes. Talk to some of them and you can sense the feeling of discontent and apprehension.
I’m referring, of course, to the race for District Judge in which Mike Craig defeated 20 year veteran Dewey Burchett.
It was more than a hard-fought race; it was a bitter race to the end.
The DA’s influence definitely came into play. I’m not saying that he ‘ran’ Mike Craig in a move to increase his own power base, but it cannot be denied that Schuyler Marvin has some stroke with the voters.
Burchett supporters are wondering what treatment they will receive in the courtroom. The other judges realize that they could be next. Other parish officials are sitting on the sidelines taking notes.
I believe that when Mike Craig becomes Judge Craig, he can do a lot to allay the fears and to restore equilibrium to the process, and I am confident that he will.
Marty Carlson expresses similar sentiments in The Forum. Carlson says:
“Allegations flew both ways in this race. Craig does have significant tax debt; Burchett has made a number of questionable rulings. But a good deal of insignificant minutiae also tainted both political campaigns, none of which was pertinent to the qualifications of the candidate.”
The Times has suggested that appointed judges are the answer. Carlson suggests that perhaps term limits would be the more suitable answer.
I like her idea better, although it will take a lot of thought to get it right.

In Favor of gunowners rights

Great Example of the need to protect the 2^nd amendment

From Boston Legal

Suspect Tasered; Police Stunned

Shreveport Police Officers got a pretty big shock when the woman they thought they were arresting turned out to be a man. The suspect was wearing a dress, fishnet pantyhose and heels. Police say they noticed a vehicle driving down the 800 block of Rutherford Street around 2 a. m. with its lights off. The officers initiated a traffic stop, and while they were trying to make contact with the two people in the car, one person ran off.
Officers say the person who remained began to struggle with them and they had to use the taser at least once to shock the suspect into compliance.

From KSLA

New Format

For you regulars, you will notice that My Bossier has a new format. I plan to add a couple of new things and wanted less wasted space.
We have a great new search feature for the blog, just put in a word or name and it will take you to that blog entry.
We have added online crosswords and a link the The Times obituaries.
We have added live news feed - just click on your choice of Bossier, Shreveport, Louisiana, Sports, LSU sports.
My Bossier is now on Facebook. Link to Facebook and sign up as a friend.
We also have live feed from various blogs.
Check it all out, and if you have any suggestions for the blog, please feel free to comment.
Thanks for reading My Bossier.

Haughton man asks deputies to kill him

From the Bossier Press Tribune

A Haughton man has been arrested for sixth offense marijuana possession, two counts of battery on a police officer with injuries, two counts of resisting arrest and for having a defective license plate light.
According to the Bossier Sheriff’s Office, Christopher Shaun Campise, 29, of the 3200 block of Pinehaven Lane, was taken into custody Wednesday night after he was stopped on I-20 for having no license plate light. A search of his vehicle yielded a bag of marijuana.
When Bossier Sheriff’s deputies attempted to handcuff Campise, he pulled away and tried to run. He shoved the deputies, refused to obey verbal commands and yelled that he wanted to die and wanted deputies to kill him.
Eventually, he was taken to the ground and handcuffed, but during the altercation, depuies received cuts to their hands, elbows and knees. Campise was not seriously injured.

The Haynesville Shale: Chesapeake in trouble

THE BAD NEWS
Chesapeake Energy, the big player in the Haynesville Shale, is in trouble. The Wall Street Journal reported today that
"Chesapeake Energy Corp. is scrambling to sell assets and cut costs as falling energy prices and tightening credit threaten to derail the company's dramatic growth.
The Oklahoma City company has spent aggressively and borrowed heavily to fuel its climb this year to become the largest U.S. natural-gas producer. Its efforts were supported by natural-gas prices that leaped to a high of $13.577 per million British thermal units in July before fears of a supply glut sent prices plunging. Natural gas settled at $6.825 Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange."

Chesapeake issued a news release today announcing that Aubrey McClendon had to sell virtually all of this Chesapeake stock. The stock has fallen from almost $70 this summer to close at just under $17 today.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) today disclosed that its Chief Executive Officer, Aubrey K. McClendon, involuntarily sold substantially all of his shares of Chesapeake common stock over the past three days in order to meet margin loan calls.
Mr. McClendon commented, "I am very disappointed to have been required to sell substantially all of my shares of Chesapeake. These involuntary and unexpected sales were precipitated by the extraordinary circumstances of the worldwide financial crisis. In no way do these sales reflect my view of the company's financial position or my view of Chesapeake's future performance potential. I have been the company's largest individual shareholder for the past three years and frequently purchased additional shares of stock on margin as an expression of my complete confidence in the value of the company's strategy and assets. My confidence in Chesapeake remains undiminished, and I look forward to rebuilding my ownership position in the company in the months and years ahead."

Borrowing money to buy stock on margin loans can significantly increase your profit - and your losses. McClendon bought high and sold low, and in the process kissed hundreds of millions of dollars goodbye.

THE GOOD NEWS
Although leasing is coming to a screeching halt in Northwest Louisiana this week, the good news is that the thing that created all of this excitement is still intact. The gas is still below us and the demand for it can only increase.
Not as much drilling will take place in the near future as expected, and leasing will be non-existent for a while. A guess would be that by next summer both will pick up again. Will we ever see the large sign-on bonuses we saw this year?
Only time will tell.

The Louisiana Senate Race: Tweedle-de-de or Tweedle-de-dum

I am so unexcited by the Louisiana Senate race that I haven't posted anything about it yet. Mary Landrieu has 2 terms under her (ample) belt and has built up some deep support throughout the state.
John Kennedy. How can you trust anything he says? He was all for Kerry in 2004 when he was running against David Vitter and was actually considered more liberal than Landrieu. Now, he says he is a mavericky Republican like John McCain. I can think of better adjectives than 'maverick', but I won't use them here.
Check their websites and make up your mind, none of my sage advice in this one.
The Fourth District Congressional race is in full swing. Runoffs will be held on general election day, November 4th, for the Republicans and Democrats. The election itself will be held in December. On the Republican side, Chris Gorman has just released an ad decrying the $700,000,000,000 bailout plan in this video:


This seems to be in contradiction to the wonderful words he had for Jim McCrery:
"Louisiana’s Fourth District has been honorably served by Congressman Jim McCrery for many years. At the same time we honor him for his service, we look to the future and the opportunities that await us. I am a conservative Republican and I plan to bring our shared Louisiana values to the United States Congress."

I hate to tell Mr. Gorman, but McCrery voted for the bailout. The man he is praising is one of those big spenders he talks about in the video.
The race between Gorman and Dr. John Fleming promises to get very nasty.
Democrats also face a runoff between Paul Carmouche and Willie Banks, but this one will be milquetoast compared to the Republican race.
There are also two independents on the ballot in December, Gerard Bowen, Jr. and Chester Kelley. My choice is Gerard Bowen, Jr., who says "If we keep sending the same kind of people to congress, we will keep getting the same results".
Think about it.

"Done Deal" is undone: No Cyber Command at Barksdale

The Air Force has announced their intention to modify plans to stand up a separate Cyber Command, instead concentrating cyber units under a new numbered air force.

The cyber command mission will be taken over by Air Force Space Command which is located at Peterson AFB in Colorado.

You will recall that last fall Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker said that Air Force Cyber Command at Barksdale was a 'done deal'.

The done deal has been undone.

Despite warnings from Washington defense analyst John Pike, founder of GlobalSecurity.Org, that 'not all military information warfare initiatives have blossomed on the civilian side,' local officials pushed hard and raised $100,000,000 from the state, parish and city to build the Cyber Innovation Center and to establish the Cyber Research Center on Hwy 80.

Construction has already begun on the CIC.

Senator Mary Landrieu, who is engaged in a heated battle to retain her senate seat, still says that 'Barksdale remains the best positioned facility to ultimately play host to the Air Force cyber operation'.

Take that with a grain of salt. She is running for re-election, what is she going to say - forget it?

A more realistic view came from Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Peyton Cole, former 2nd Bomb Wing commander, who said 'This thing is about as firm as trying to nail Jello to the wall'.

It is time for local officials, particulary Mayor Walker and Parish Administrator Bill Altimus, to wake up and smell the coffee. Take a long hard look at the CIC and come up with some reasonable alternatives to keep it from becoming a total boondoggle.

Complete story on the command shift in The Times.

812 Democrats, 1 Prohibitionist, 10 Socialists and 4 Republicans

What do you have when you put together 812 Democrats, 1 Prohibitionist, 10 Socialists and 4 Republicans?
The Voter Registration of Bossier Parish in 1910. *
So what happened? The Prohibitionist probably died of loneliness and the Republicans and Democrats took over the platform of the Socialists, making them obsolete.
A lot has happened in the last 100 years. For the first half of the 20th Century the ‘solid south’ referred to the hold that the Democratic Party had on the region.
In 1948 a group of Southern Democrats walked out of the National Convention and formed the States Rights Party, commonly known as the Dixiecrats.
Their grievances were fired when Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey gave a speech proposing an anti-segregationist plank be put into the platform. When President Truman supported the idea, delegates from Mississippi and Alabama walked out of the convention.
In the election, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina refused to put Truman on the ballot, replacing him with South Carolina governor Strom Thurmond. Thurmond carried all four states.
By 1960, Louisiana was back in the fold, voting to elect John F. Kennedy president.
Then came the events of November 1963, Lyndon Johnson and the Civil Rights bill of 1964.
Although the civil rights act had been proposed by Republicans for years, Johnson was the first southern Democrat to give it support. This infuriated most Southerners, and in 1964 Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama gave their support to Barry Goldwater.
In 1968, the same states supported George Wallace.
Along came Richard Nixon with his ‘southern strategy’. Nixon realized that southerners were still unhappy over the civil rights act and he began to lure them to the Republican Party, just as Johnson had lured blacks from the Republican Party.
You could say that it was a trade-off: southern whites for blacks across the country. In the coming years, more and more southerners aligned with the once-hated Republicans. The boll-weevil Democrats held sway in the congress for several years, led by Bossier’s own Joe D. Waggonner. When the last of the boll-weevils left congress, the south began voting Republican and Nixon’s strategy was complete.
The southern Democrats ran away from home for a ‘conservative’ utopia that turns out not to be conservative at all. We ran away from home and the old house burned down. What we are left with is a choice between John McCain, hardly conservative by any standard, and Barack Obama, a liberal, so in other words, two liberals. Witness the $700,000,000,000 + bailout bill that was just passed with support from both parties and both candidates. The last Republican congress spent more than any congress in history, saddling us with enormous debt.
But these are our choices. What can we do? For one thing, cut the head off the snake – only congress can appropriate money.
If we keep sending the same type of people to congress, we will keep getting the same results.
Stay tuned for solutions.

*The History of Bossier Parish by Cliff Cardin

Judge Burchett's Fish Fry

The Times published photos of Mike Craig's celebration party, so I thought My Bossier would publish pictures of Judge Burchett's Fish Fry, celebrating 20 years of service to the people of Bossier/Webster. I arrived and left early before the crowd got there so I could live blog the election results.

Bossier Clerk says reporting problems are solved

I'm sure that anyone who was keeping up with election results Saturday night was aware that the totals from Bossier Parish were the last to be posted. Just when Caddo and Webster Parishes had reported all precincts, the first Bossier result went up on the Secretary of State's website.

I met this morning with Bossier Clerk of Court Cindy Johnston and asked her about the problem. She reported that they had a computer problem in transmitting results to Baton Rouge and had been aware of it all day. In fact, a representative of the Secretary of State was at the Bossier Courthouse most of the day attempting to fix the problem.

Finally, two hours after the polls closed, they got it ironed out and were able to get the numbers posted.

Cindy assured me that everything went very well with the voting and with getting the totals from each precinct, and that she expects the November 4th election to come off without a hitch.

Fourth District Congressional Race: The runoffs

Everyone has had an eye on the battle between Dr. John Fleming and Chris Gorman in the 4th District's Republican Primary. It has been very nasty so far, but you ain't seen nothing yet. As the two face off for the November 4th runoff battle, it is likely to get a lot worse.
Not suprisingly, it was a close race. Dr. Fleming received 14,500 votes to Gorman's 14,070. Jeff Thompson wasn't too far behind with 12,693. I believe that Thompson started too late and that Jim McCrery's endorsement on the day of his announcement probably drove away more supporters than it attracted. Look for Thompson to throw his support to Dr. Fleming.
On the Democratic side Paul Carmouche received 36,930 votes to runner-up Willie Banks' 17,620. This will be a clean runoff, with none of the acrimony that the Republicans are displaying.
I have pointed out before that the 4th district is a conservative Democratic district. These numbers prove the point. Paul Carmouche received more votes in the Democratic primary than both of the Republicans combined. Col. Banks received more votes than either.
Some of those Republican votes will go to Paul Carmouche in the general election.

There he goes again
Republican blogger Associate Professor Jeffrey Sadow, ever fearful of anyone who claims to be a conservative Democrat, is already warning the Republican candidates to go the extra mile to prove they are conservative:
"Therefore, the GOP nominee must be a solid conservative who won’t give ammunition to a negative campaign about themselves that will throw them off the message tying Carmouche to his liberal Washington masters."
Ah, those liberal Washington Masters. I think Associate Professor Sadow must have nightmares about them, his fear is so palpable. He wasn't, however, able to provide a photo of Carmouche hugging Barack Obama at a secret conclave at Bohemian Grove while the two were plotting to overthrow the government and the American Way of Life. I'm sure it wasn't from lack of trying.
My Bossier, however, has managed to get a photo of Nancy Pelosi waiting to show Paul Carmouche just who is in charge.

DISCLAIMER: I support none the of the above named candidates. My support goes to independent Gerard Bowen, Jr, about whom we will be sharing more in coming days.

One last post on the Judge's Race

The race for 26th JDC District Judge is over, and the people have chosen Mike Craig to serve.

Dewey Burchett has served the people well for 20 years, and I regret that it ended in this way. Craig's tactic of portraying Judge Burchett as easy on sex offenders apparently worked. I found it interesting that the people of Webster Parish, where this case was tried, did not buy the hype; they voted for Judge Burchett.

Everyone involved knew that DA Schuyler Marvin was behind Craig's run. I also find it interesting that his home parish of Webster did not support him in this.

There is an old saying that goes something like "All change is not good, and all progress is not forward." We will see if that applies in this case.

Mike Craig won; I do not like the way that he did it.

To borrow the words of Forrest Gump, that is all that I have to say about that.

Election Results

ALL PRECINCTS IN: CRAIG DEFEATS BURCHETT

11,683
48.96%
Dewey E. Burchett, Jr., D

12,181
51.04%
Michael "Mike" Craig, R

CARMOUCHE, BANKS IN DEM RUNOFF
FLEMING, GORMAN FOR REPS


Juvenile Court - Shonda Stone wins
Shreveport City Judge - Pam Lattier wins
City Marshal - Charlie Caldwell wins
DA - Charles Scott
ALL CADDO PARISH RESULTS HERE
ALL BOSSIER PARISH RESULTS HERE

Channel 3, The Times report on Craig tax lien

Channel 3 just reported on the 6 o'clock news about the latest tax lien against Mike Craig. Yesterday, The Times ran a story on it.
The IRS filed the lien for $35,384.93 on September 16th. The state filed a lien in July, just after Craig qualified for the judge's race. He has since paid it off.
Perhaps the $59,000 loan should have been used to pay off his taxes rather than purchasing ads labeling Dewey Burchett a 'Liberal Judge' and using sensationalism and spin to call a couple of his rulings to question.
The Judge apparently has his priorities in good order. He pays his taxes in a timely manner as directed by the law. After all, a judge's job is to interpret and apply the law.

KTBS
The Internal Revenue Service has a filed a tax lien against Mike Craig, a Bossier City attorney who is a candidate for Bossier-Webster district judge. The IRS says Craig owes them $35,384.93.
The lien was filed late last week in Bossier District Court, seeking payment for unpaid taxes for 2006.

The Times
A Bossier-Webster district judge candidate has been issued his second tax lien this year, this time by the Internal Revenue Service.
The IRS filed the lien Sept. 16 against Michael Craig for $35,384.93 in federal taxes owed for 2006. Craig recently paid off two other liens for state income taxes — one filed in July for $17,228.40, the other filed in July 2002 for $6,530.12.