The Empty Barrel

When Stupidity is a Pre-existing Condition...

Jeffrey P. Morris — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:34:52 GMT

Oh, this is beautiful. Is the Solicitor General just an idiot, or is he deliberately trying to sabotage this case? They said his presentation was weak, but now it appears totally incompetent.

My favorite part, however, is the comment at the end by Michael Carvin, representing the National Federation of Independent Business (apparently another group of jackasses). According to him, wellness, preventive and contraceptive coverage are "all kinds of things a 30-year-old would never need." Really? Well, sure! When you're 30, you don't need to stay well, or prevent illness, or prevent pregnancy. Being 30 is all about being sick as a dog and not caring whether you live or die, even while you're popping out babies left and right. It's the American way!

Supreme Court misunderstanding on health overhaul?

RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

From Associated Press

April 11, 2012 9:50 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A possible misunderstanding about President Barack Obama's health care overhaul could cloud Supreme Court deliberations on its fate, leaving the impression that the law's insurance requirement is more onerous than it actually is.

During the recent oral arguments some of the justices and the lawyers appearing before them seemed to be under the impression that the law does not allow most consumers to buy low-cost, stripped-down insurance to satisfy its controversial coverage requirement.

In fact, the law provides for a cheaper "bronze" plan that is broadly similar to today's so-called catastrophic coverage policies for individuals, several insurance experts said.

"I think there is confusion," said Paul Keckley, health research chief for Deloitte, a major benefits consultant. "I found myself wondering how much they understood the Affordable Care Act. Several times the questions led me to wonder how much (the justices') clerks had gone back into the law in advance of the arguments."

Monthly premiums for the bronze plan would be lower, and it would cover a much smaller share of medical expenses than a typical employer plan.

"Bronze is a very skinny product," said Keckley.

Starting in 2014, the health care law requires most Americans to obtain health insurance, either through an employer, a government program, or by buying their own policies. In return, insurance companies would be prohibited from turning away the sick. Government would subsidize premiums for millions now uninsured.

The law's opponents argue that Congress overstepped its constitutional authority by issuing the mandate, while the administration says the requirement is permissible because it serves to regulate interstate commerce. The scope of the mandate was one of several key issues argued before the court.

"If I understand the law, the policies that you're requiring people to purchase ... must contain provision for maternity and newborn care, pediatric services and substance use treatment," said Chief Justice John Roberts. "It seems to me that you cannot say that everybody is going to need ... substance use treatment or pediatric services, and yet that is part of what you require them to purchase."

That may be true, but the law's bronze plan isn't exactly robust coverage. It would require policyholders to spend thousands of dollars of their own money before insurance kicks in. That's how catastrophic coverage works now.

It means anyone — particularly younger, healthy people — can satisfy the health care law's insurance requirement without paying full freight for comprehensive coverage they may not need.

Solicitor General Donald Verrilli did not highlight the bronze plan in his defense of the law, an omission that may prove significant.

"I would definitely say that if you listen to the court proceedings it would be easy to come away with the impression that the health care reform law was requiring people to buy Cadillac insurance, which is certainly not the case," said Larry Levitt, head of the Kaiser Family Foundation's Initiative on Health Reform and Private Insurance. The foundation is a nonpartisan information clearinghouse.

The health care law does impose a minimum set of "essential health benefits" for most insurance plans. Those benefits have yet to be specified, but are expected to reflect what a typical small-business plan now offers, with added preventive, mental health and other services.

On the surface, the minimum benefits requirement does seem to mandate comprehensive coverage. But another provision of the law works in the opposite direction, and the two have to be weighed together.

This second provision allows insurance companies to sell policies that have widely different levels of annual deductibles and copayments. A "platinum" plan would cover 90 percent of expected health care expenses, but on the bottom tier a bronze plan only covers 60 percent. Employer plans now cover about 80 percent.

"The minimum that people will be required to buy under the health reform law is clearly a catastrophic plan," said Levitt.

In return for taking on more financial risk, you'll pay lower monthly premiums for a bronze plan, making it easier to budget for. You'll be covered for the same kinds of treatments as everybody else, but your plan won't pay the hospital bill until you've spent a good chunk of your own money out of pocket.

A Kaiser study estimated that the annual deductible for a bronze plan could range from $2,750 to $6,350. The deductible is the amount a policy holder must pay directly before insurance payments kick in.

A separate study by the foundation found that people buying individual health policies in the current insurance market end up paying an average of 35 percent of their medical costs out of their own pockets, in line with the 40 percent consumers with a bronze plan would face.

While the bronze plan is available to anyone, the law also provides for another level of catastrophic insurance limited to people under age 30, and expected to be even skimpier.

Such nuances were seemingly lost before the Supreme Court. One of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, Michael Carvin, asserted during the arguments that "Congress prohibits anyone over 30 from buying any kind of catastrophic health insurance."

Verrilli did not challenge Carvin's characterization, but it is raising eyebrows among insurance professionals.

"I don't think that's exactly right," said benefits lawyer Mark Holloway of the Lockton Companies, a major insurance broker serving mid-size companies. "It depends on what you call catastrophic coverage."

Carvin says he stands by his statement in court that the law prohibits anyone over 30 from buying any kind of catastrophic insurance.

"The bronze plan is not catastrophic coverage," said Carvin, who represents the National Federation of Independent Business.

"It's got all the minimum essential benefits in it," he added. "It's got to have wellness, preventive, contraceptives — all kinds of things a 30-year old would never need. It's not remotely catastrophic."

Ohio Paper Manages to Cite "Debate" Among Meteorologists

Jeffrey P. Morris — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:17:10 GMT

No need to panic, people. Let's wait until we have absolute, conclusive, irrefutable proof that we are causing this. Pay no mind to all the data that have already confirmed we are causing it, or all the models and projections based on those data. Those are mere conjecture, based on "conclusions" reached by "scientists" who can only "guess" at what is going on. After all, there is no way to know completely for certain that something will happen until it happens. Only then can you observe that it has happened—and even then, it will take years of study to determine whether what appears to have happened has in fact happened, and longer to confirm what caused it to happen. Because we can only know So Much. Everything we think we know, from the "law" of gravity to Einstein's theory, are just that: theories. We can never know everything with complete certainty, and we're certainly not going to start now, when it's bad for business. So let's frame a report from the feds in the context of "debate" among meteorologists. Meteorologists! You know, the guys who, whenever they report the latest weather disaster on TV and ask one of them a question about "what is causing all this crazy weather?" manage to deflect and/or totally ignore that question and instead talk about the symptoms, rather than the cause. Know why? Because meteorologists are uniquely unqualified to say anything about climate change. All they know is weather. But that won't stop us from asking the wrong people the wrong questions...

La di da...

MIDDLETOWN (OHIO) JOURNAL

NOAA report: Global warming a factor in March record highs

By Steve Bennish, Staff Writer7:49 PM Monday, April 9, 2012

March high temperatures that broke century-old records were in part fueled by global warming from human activity, an early analysis from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

In a draft report dated April 3 from NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division, federal scientists examining Upper Midwest and Ohio Valley Region conditions estimated that human-caused global warming “contributed on the order of 5% to 10% of the magnitude of the heat wave during 12-23 March.”

The report, which contemplates predicting similar events in the future, added that there is an increased “probability” of heat waves as global warming progresses.

The hottest March on record has set off a debate among meteorologists about contributing factors. Some cite the weather phenomenon La Nina. One factor for the March highs was the position of the jet stream. Typically, it takes a flatter line from west to east. But in March, the jet stream dipped far south and rose north to the Great Lakes bringing in masses of hot air from the Mexican and U.S. deserts, Mike Pigott, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather, said.

“It was a spectacularly warm March across the Plains, Midwest and East,” Pigott said. “It is a cause for concern if you look back over the years, there have been a large number of record warm temperatures set, rather than record cold events. The numbers are skewed toward record high temperatures.”

The NOAA report added that there can always be “random events.” It does contain qualifications due to the complexity of the task.

The draft noted that it is “an evolving research assessment and not a final report.” It doesn’t “represent official positions” of federal agencies including NOAA. A telephone call to the author of the report was not immediately returned Monday.

In a separate report released Monday, NOAA said that March weather highlights included 223 preliminary tornado reports in a month that averages 80 tornadoes. The majority of tornadoes occurred during the March 2-3 outbreak across the Ohio Valley and Southeast, which killed 40 and caused damage exceeding $1.5 billion, NOAA said.

Record and near-record breaking temperatures dominated the eastern two-thirds of the nation and contributed to the warmest March on record for the lower 48 states, a record dating to 1895, NOAA said.

The average temperature of 51.1 degrees was 8.6 degrees above the 20th century average for March and .5 degrees warmer than the previous warmest March in 1910.

More salt, Peter? I mean Raymond.

Jeffrey P. Morris — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:53:33 GMT

This is just plain wrong. 89 years old? What? How? Why? So many questions...

^{89-year-old arrested on sex charges}

By Skip Weaver, Staff Writer

5:15 PM Monday, April 9, 2012

An 89-year-old Franklin man has been indicted on multiple sex charges involving three females ages 13 and younger, according to Warren County assistant prosecutor Gary Loxley.

Raymond A. Terrill of the 8700 block of Alyce Street was arrested on Feb. 16 after one of the victims reported his conduct to school authorities, Loxley said.

Terrill has six charges related to one of the victims, according to Loxley, including one count of rape and one for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, which are digital penetration by force, three gross sexual impositions and one importuning, which is soliciting sexual conduct with payment of money.

Loxley also said Terrill is charged with three gross sexual impositions, which is touching of the breast by force, with a second victim, and with one gross sexual imposition and one attempted gross sexual imposition with a third victim.

Loxley said the victims were not related to Terrill, who is facing a maximum of 29 1/2 years in prison.

Terrill is scheduled to be arraigned in Warren County Common Pleas Court at 8:30 a.m. on April 27.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2852 or Skip.Weaver@coxinc.com.

Find this article at:

http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/89-year-old-arrested-on-sex-charges-1357322.html

Does Utah have the world's stupidest cops?

Jeffrey P. Morris — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 06:01:40 GMT

After reading this story (below) and following the Trayvon Martin case, it may seem that way—with Florida a close second. But I suspect the answer is: Probably not. It's becoming clear that we're again suffering from TV Syndrome: unrealistic expectations based on fictional characters we see on TV. Granted, there have long been masterful detectives in fiction; the difference today is that with the huge number of police procedural/detective/forensic shows, the fictional universe has become overwhelming. We've come to expect that all police, and especially detectives, always manage to find the clues, the truth, and the culprit through a combination of astute observation, careful and thorough investigation, and good old-fashioned gosh darn hard work.

There are probably some cops like that, just as there are people in every profession who are good at their jobs. (The ones in Tacoma seem to be on the ball, judging from the story.) But there are also some incredible morons doing police work—just as there are some incredible morons doing everything else. Unfortunately it's pretty much a crapshoot which ones you're going to get. Though, as Americans seem to be becoming stupider and stupider, your odds of getting the good ones are probably dwindling.

In Utah, your odds are likely a lot worse. These guys should be in the dictionary to illustrate moron.

Blood found at Utah home from man's missing wife

FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011 file photo, Josh Powell, husband of missing Utah woman Susan Cox Powell, walks to a court hearing in Tacoma, Wash. Authorities investigating the 2009 disappearance of Susan Powell, found her blood on the floor at her home, raising more questions about why her husband wasn't charged in her disappearance before he killed himself and their two young sons in a gas-fueled inferno in Washington state. Court documents unsealed Friday, March 30, 2012 show that blood found at Josh Powell's Utah home belonged to his wife, Susan Powell. (AP Photo - Elaine Thompson)

MIKE BAKER

From Associated Press

March 30, 2012 11:51 PM EDT

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Authorities investigating the 2009 disappearance of a Utah woman found her blood in the family home and a hand-written note in which she expressed fear about her husband and her potential demise, according to documents unsealed Friday.

The files raise further questions about why Susan Powell's husband was never charged in her disappearance before he killed himself and their two young sons in a gas-fueled inferno in Washington state earlier this year. Investigators in West Valley City, Utah, never arrested Josh Powell or even publicly labeled him as a suspect in his wife's disappearance.

A prosecutor in Washington state who was getting a first look at the files Friday said if it was his case, he would have charged Josh Powell with murder.

"There is direct evidence. There is circumstantial evidence. There is motive," said Pierce County prosecutor Mark Lindquist. "There is everything but the body."

The documents, used as justification to search the home where Josh Powell was staying last year, detail a widespread case that investigators had built against him.

Shortly after Susan Powell disappeared, authorities found blood evidence on a floor next to a sofa and determined that it was Susan Powell's. The sofa appeared to have been recently cleaned, and two fans had been set up to blow on it.

Investigators found several life insurance policies on Susan Powell that totaled $1.5 million and determined that Josh Powell had filed paperwork to withdraw her retirement account money about 10 days after her disappearance.

The documents describe Josh Powell as unwilling to help in the investigation.

A safety deposit box used by Susan Powell had a hand-written letter titled "Last will & testament for Susan Powell," according to the documents. She wrote in that letter that she did not trust her husband and that they'd been having marital troubles for four years.

The letter also said that "if Susan Powell dies it may not be an accident, even if it looks like one," according to the documents.

Josh Powell always maintained his innocence and said he had taken their boys, then 2 and 4, on a midnight camping trip in freezing temperatures the night she disappeared.

One of the children, Charlie, told investigators in an interview shortly after his mom disappeared that she had gone on the camping trip with them but did not come back home and he did not know why, according to the files. A few weeks later, he told a church teacher with no emotion: "My mom is dead."

Investigators had found a gas can, tarps and a shovel in Josh Powell's vehicle shortly after the investigation began. Susan Powell's cellphone was also in the car, and Josh Powell "did not have an answer as to why," according to the documents. One person interviewed by police said Powell had once made comments about how to kill someone and dispose of the body.

Susan Powell's purse, keys, credit cards and other belongings were found in the couple's master bedroom.

West Valley City police on Friday refused to expand on any details revealed in the search warrant because the investigation is still ongoing, said Sgt. Mike Powell, who is not related to the Powell family.

"This case began as a missing person case and remains as such," he said. "But due to the suspicious nature ... murder and kidnapping have not been excluded."

Although police have only identified Josh Powell as a "person of interest," Sgt. Powell didn't rule out eventual charges against his father, Steven Powell.

Josh Powell moved with the boys to Steven Powell's home in Puyallup, Wash., but the grandfather was arrested and charged with voyeurism and child pornography last September. The boys were placed with Susan Powell's parents for their safety.

On Feb. 5 — a few days after incestuous images found on Josh Powell's computer prompted a judge to order him to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation — he locked a social worker out of his rental house, attacked the boys with a hatchet and ignited the home in an explosive, gas-fueled inferno. The social worker was not injured.

Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said his detectives would have arrested Powell "a long time ago" if this had been their case. He said a detective in Washington state was aware of the details gathered and local authorities had been anticipating that Utah investigators would pursue an arrest.

"Obviously, it's frustrating," Troyer said. "We were always waiting for the phone call to go arrest him."

The documents also describe how Steven Powell had an apparent obsession with his daughter-in-law. A locked cabinet in Steve Powell's bedroom contained multiple images of Susan Powell, including some of her in her underwear. Other images showed nude female bodies with Susan Powell's face copied onto them.

Another image showed Steven Powell masturbating to an image of Susan Powell.

Susan Powell wrote in her personal journals that she did not want Steven Powell involved in her life and wished that Josh Powell would sever ties with him. She described Steven Powell as a pedophile.

___

Mike Baker can be reached at twitter.com/MikeBakerAP . Associated Press writer Josh Loftin contributed to this report from West Valley City, Utah.

p.s. Also, reading stories like this can lead one to believe that there are some incredibly sick fucking monsters out there—whole families of them, in fact. There are. The question is, are there a lot more of them than there used to be, or does it just seem that way because we are hearing about them much more than we ever did before?

I'm pretty sure they are multiplying exponentially.

Wild Guess: He Opened the Door?

Jeffrey P. Morris — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:51:51 GMT

Car ends on top of another in Mass. parking garage

This Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 photo released by the Wellesley Police Department shows one vehicle that landed on top of a parked can in a parking garage in Wellesley, Mass. Police said a driver trying to stop at an office parking lot stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake, causing the car to jump the curb and land inside the nearby parking garage. The parked car was unoccupied. There were no injuries. (AP Photo - Wellesley Police Department)

From Associated Press

January 05, 2012 6:19 PM EST

WELLESLEY, Mass. (AP) — Police say a driver coming to a stop at a Massachusetts office parking lot stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake, causing the car to jump over a curb and land inside a nearby parking garage on top of a luxury sedan.

Lt. Marie Cleary says no one was injured in the Thursday morning crash in Wellesley, just west of Boston. The sedan in the parking garage was empty.

Police have cited the driver for failure to use care when stopping. Officers can't explain how he got out of his car while it was perched on top of the other vehicle.

Something Else to Make Your Head Explode

Jeffrey P. Morris — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:27:21 GMT

Another totally messed-up story. Did this 15-year-old manage to outsmart multiple government officials in both the U.S. and Colombia? Did she really run away from home for no reason? Was she really "very close" with her family, as her grandmother claims? Is she sufficiently bilingual to have functioned well and convincingly through months in Colombia and in all her meetings with Colombian and U.S. officials?

But none of that is the least bit odd compared to the name of the Dallas Police detective, near the end of the story.

US teen deported to Colombia to return Friday

This undated file photo provided by WFAA-TV News shows Jakadrien Lorece Turner, a Texas teen who ran away more than a year ago, her family said. Immigration officials say they're investigating the circumstances under which Turner was deported to Colombia after providing a false identity. She was located in Bogota by Dallas police, with help from Colombian and U.S. officials. (AP Photo - Courtesy of WFAA-TV)

CESAR GARCIA

From Associated Press

January 06, 2012 12:45 PM EST

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A 15-year-old Texas girl who was deported in May to South America after claiming to be an illegal immigrant will return home Friday, a Colombian official said.

The high-level official in the ministry of foreign affairs in Colombia who spoke on condition of anonymity because ministry policy does not allow employees to be quoted by name told The Associated Press that Jakadrien Lorece Turner was turned over to the U.S. embassy Friday morning and was scheduled to leave Colombia quickly.

It was unclear where she was heading. The State Department did not comment, and immigration officials did not immediately return messages. Turner's mother, grandmother and their lawyer did not answer calls.

The girl's family has questioned why U.S. officials didn't do more to verify her identify.

U.S. immigration officials have said they were investigating, but insist they followed procedure and found nothing to indicate that the girl wasn't — as she claimed — a woman from Colombia illegally living in the U.S.

The teen, who ran away from home more than a year ago, was recently found in Bogota, Colombia, by the Dallas Police Department with help from Colombian and U.S. officials.

According to the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the girl was enrolled in the country's "Welcome Home" program after she arrived there. She was given shelter, psychological assistance and a job at a call center, a statement from the agency said. When the Colombian government discovered she was a U.S. citizen, it put her under the care of a welfare program, the statement said.

Her grandmother, Dallas hairstylist Lorene Turner, called the deportation a "big mistake somebody made" and said U.S. officials need to do better.

"She looks like a kid, she acts like a kid. How could they think she wasn't a kid?" Lorene Turner asked on Thursday.

Jakadrien's family said she left home in November 2010. Houston police said the girl was arrested on April 2, 2011, for misdemeanor theft in that city and claimed to be Tika Lanay Cortez, a Colombian woman born in 1990.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the teen claimed to be Cortez throughout the criminal proceedings in Houston and the ensuing deportation process in which an immigration judge ultimately ordered her back to Colombia.

The ICE official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to not being authorized to discuss additional details of the case, said the teenager was interviewed by a representative from the Colombian consulate and that country's government issued her a travel document to enter Colombia. The ICE official said standard procedure before any deportation is to coordinate with the other country in order to establish that person is from there.

The girl was given Colombian citizenship upon arriving there, the ICE official said.

The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Jakadrien was issued travel documents at the request of the U.S. National Security Agency and with information submitted by U.S. officials. Colombian officials are investigating what kind of verification was conducted by its Houston consulate to issue the temporary passport.

It was not clear if the teen might be charged upon her return for falsifying her identity in a criminal process.

Dallas Police detective C'mon (pronounced Simone) Wingo, the detective in charge of the case, said the girl was located in early November. Relatives were then put into contact with the U.S. Embassy in Bogota to provide pictures and documents to prove Jakadrien's identity.

Lorene Turner said she has spent a lot of time tracking down Jakadrien, whose family nickname is Kay-Kay.

"In between customers I'd get on the computer looking for Kay-Kay, I was obsessed," she said.

Johnisa Turner said her daughter, a freshman at a Dallas high school, was experimenting with different hairstyles and clothes but "wasn't a problem kid." She was reluctant to go into any details about the deportation, saying she didn't know any specifics.

"She didn't have any reason to leave," Lorene Turner said. "She lived in a nice home (with her mother and stepfather). We were very close. I don't know why she left."

___

Garcia reported from Bogota, Colombia. Associated Press writer Linda Stewart Ball in Dallas contributed to this report.

"Did we have kids? I honestly don't remember. But thank god we saved the trailer."

Jeffrey P. Morris — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:41:51 GMT

It's only appropriate that the Elvis Museum was located in a trailer. The truly amazing thing is that the Gagnons weren't living in one too. Fortunately, they're now moving into a log cabin. It sounds like the Elvis Museum is also moving. I hope they leave it in the trailer.

Updated 12/29/2011 07:36 PM

Elvis museum remains standing after fire

By: Cara Thomas

When a house catches fire, there is a good chance the owners will lose everything inside. But Robert and Shirley Gagnon saved a very special and expensive part of their lives when their home caught on fire: Their Memories of Elvis Museum. With flames quickly approaching and millions of dollars worth of Elvis mementos inside, our Cara Thomas tells us how the museum went unscathed.

ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY, N.Y. -- Last Friday, Robert Gagnon was in his home on Newcomb Road in De Peyster watching television, when he looked out the window and saw a swirl of dust go by. Not expecting a snow storm, Gagnon went to the door to check it out when the smoke hit him straight in the face. It was only a matter of minutes before their entire home was up in flames.

"We stood out there and watched it burn. It's just, I don't know. It's gone," said Mr. Gagnon.

But they didn't lose everything. Right next door in a trailer home is their Elvis museum. Then and there, Gagnon had to make a decision whether to pour water on the trailer to keep it from catching fire or try and run in to save some of the Elvis memoirs.

He said, "Pour the water on it because there's too many people standing around and I didn't want anybody getting hurt."

Shirley Gagnon began gathering Elvis collectables when she was 14-years-old. And ever since, she and her husband go to auctions and continue to add items to their museum and the Gagnons say the museum isn't all about the price of the collectables, it's about the enjoyment Shirley gets from it.

"I can't express my thanks to them all so much for all they did and all the, everything they did to help save this place," said Mrs. Gagnon.

Mr. Gagnon said, "I'm glad they saved it. It's all she's got to hang on to now, besides me."

The cause of the fire is still undetermined. But even through losing their home, the Gagnons are grateful to have saved their beloved museum. After all, Mrs. Gagnon is Elvis' biggest fan.

The Gagnons will be moving down the road into a small log cabin and the museum will move with them. They hope to have the museum open again for the public by spring.

Mayor McCheesy says: What an auspicious way to finally start posting again after 702 days.

Jeffrey P. Morris — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:06:55 GMT

2 face indecency charges after nude McDonald's run

From Associated Press

December 30, 2011 8:56 AM EST

GALESBURG, Ill. (AP) — Two people who pulled up at a McDonald's drive-thru in western Illinois completely naked face public indecency charges.

Police in Galesburg say a 19-year-old El Paso man and a 21-year-old Galesburg woman have been released from Knox County Jail after being ordered to appear in court to face the charges.

WGIL Radio reports that the duo was still in the McDonald's parking lot when officers arrived just before 2 a.m. Wednesday. Police say the man was crouched over in the driver's seat trying to pull on a pair of pants while his passenger was covering up in a blanket.

WGIL reports that the pair told officers the late night fast-food run might not have been a great idea but that they both still thought it was funny.

So, the only people who could see this were working the McDonald's drive-thru window at 2 a.m. That's "public indecency"? (I'm more surprised the McDonald's workers had clothes on!)

Marketing 101.02

Jeffrey P. Morris — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:26:00 GMT

If I understand this correctly, the way to ensure franchising success, and entice schools and churches to become customers, is to choose a name that is an obvious reference to drug use? I was thinking of starting a plastering business... originally I thought We Get Plastered might be good, but now I think it may be too cute; after all, alcohol is legal. Trouble is, We Do Cracks might infringe on these guys' intellectual property. I should probably ask my business partner, Phil McCracken; at the very least, he has to be listed prominently as president of the company.

We Do Lines looks to franchise

By Michael C. Juliano, STAFF WRITER (Danbury, CT News-Times)

Published: 09:04 p.m., Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Ridgefield native Tom Darrow maneuvers a line-painter. He is a founder of We Do Lines, a Ridgefield-based line-painting company he and three friends founded in 2008 that has quickly grown to stripe about 60 parking lots a month up and down the East Coast. They are offering franchise opportunities to others who want to do lines. Photo: Contributed Photo / The News-Times Contributed

The owners of a Ridgefield business built on creating boundaries wants to turn it into a venture with limitless possibilities.

Ridgefield residents Tom Darrow, Chris Couri, Craig Lenehan and Dan Rella are offering franchise opportunities for We Do Lines, a line-painting company they founded in 2008 that quickly has grown to stripe about 60 parking lots a month up and down the East Coast.

"As soon as we started developing operations and saw how the company was doing, we saw that this would be a great franchise opportunity," said Darrow, the company's chief executive officer and the owner ofPinnacle Landscaping Inc. "We decided why don't we put this out there to see who else is interested."

Couri, We Do Lines' chief operating officer, runs Young's of Ridgefield garden and feed supply shop with Rella, the company's chief financial officer. Lenehan ownsSmith Ridge Properties, a Ridgefield-based home construction firm.

Since launching the franchise effort with the help of consultant Skip Barrett, requests have been coming in from Florida and California and as far away as Venezuela to take advantage of the $29 billion industry, according to National Parking Association figures cited on We Do Lines' Web site.

A major reason for their success is the venture's catchy name, which immediately put them on the top of search engines and led to line-striping contracts with the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami and LL Bean stores in Maine, Darrow said.

"We just looked at each other and thought we may not get schools and churches, but we went with it anyway," Darrow said of the business name. "Most of our first jobs were schools and churches."

The partners, who have hired three employees, are kept busy locally by maintaining about 60 lots in Ridgefield and lots in Danbury on a yearly basis, Darrow said. They also stripe all of the parking lots for Fairfield County Bank and have done work at the headquarters of Danbury-based construction firm Morganti Group and parking garages in Stamford, Bridgeport and New Haven, Darrow said.

"Now we are at the point where we're trying to figure out what to do with our day jobs," he said, adding that the company has painted lines for about 4,000 parking spaces so far. "Most of our work in Florida is doing golf-cart staging areas."

The four of them started the business by buying a Graco line-painting machine and taking lessons from the Graco sales representative, Darrow said.

"The most important thing is you have to walk a straight line," he said. "Once we figured that out, we haven't looked back."

Startup costs for a We Do Lines franchise range from $77,000 to $134,000, mainly for leasing a truck and line-painting equipment.

Setting up a franchise presents the challenge of producing an easily replicated business model, but when done correctly, it can become a powerful revenue generator for the franchisor, saidSteven Dubin, president of the New England Franchise Association in Kingston, Mass.

"You have those franchisees as your sales force," he said.

We Do Lines seems to have a viable business model that hopefully will become a successful franchise operation, said Marian Roth, executive director of the Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce.

"I wish them well," she said. "Any company moving forward in this economy is a good thing."

Breaking Sports News from Abbott & Costello

Jeffrey P. Morris — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 06:02:00 GMT

This could be the start of a new "Who's On First?" routine...

From: "CNN Breaking News" <BreakingNews@mail.cnn.com>
Date: January 6, 2010 4:07:42 PM EST
Subject: CNN Breaking News

-- NBA commissioner suspends Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas indefinitely, citing possession of firearms at arena.

Did you hear about the NBA's Arenas?

Which one?

Arenas.

Which arenas?

The NBA's Arenas.

Which ones?

Gilbert Arenas.

Where?

Where what?

Where are the arenas?

At home.

At home?

Yes.

Why?

Suspended.

What's suspended?

Arenas.

Arenas suspended at home?

That's right.

How is that possible?

Firearms.

Firearms?

Yes.

Arenas suspended with firearms?

That's right.

Where?

At the arena.

Yes, you told me. Which one?

Gilbert Arenas.

Gilbert Arenas?

Yes.

How many Gilbert Arenas?

What do you mean?

I mean how many Gilbert Arenas?

Just one!

Which one?

Gilbert Arenas.

You just said that! Which Gilbert Arenas?

The NBA's Gilbert Arenas.

I know! How is it possible?

How is what possible?

Arenas at home! Suspended with firearms!

I just told you.

Told me what?

Arenas at home, suspended with firearms.

Yes, you told me, but how?

How what?

How is it possible?

What do you mean?

I mean it just doesn't make sense!

Why not?

It just doesn't. I know arenas.

You know Arenas?

Yes.

Well, why the hell didn't you just say so in the first place?

The Silence of the Lambs, or, Who Is Scott Noren DDS, And Why Is He Saying These Terrible Things About Me?

Jeffrey P. Morris — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:21:00 GMT

Actually, Scott Noren DDS has never said any terrible things about me. I don't think Scott Noren, DDS knows me from Adam, and I don't know if that includes Adam Sandler. But apparently there is some web crawling software or something that searches for blogs with the slightest indication that they might be relevant and then submits the author's comments. I'm assuming that's why, in response to the item I posted back on September 15th, titled Breaking News from WTTI, Watertown, New York — a news story about the theft and butchering of a lamb from someone's farm that I used purely to make some totally lame (not lamb) puns — I received the following "comment". No, make that TWO comments, because Scott Noren DDS wrote so much it didn't fit in one comment submission. Which makes this all the more odd, since in order to submit the second part of the comment with the note, "(This finishes my last post)", one would think that Scott Noren DDS would have had to actually look at what he was doing. But I suppose that when you're running some kind of underdog political campaign, you have to take whatever opportunities come your way, no matter how inappropriate or bizarre they may be. Well, Scott Noren DDS, you may have inadvertently struck gold. Because I am going to give you a forum, not by approving your totally off-topic comments to the post you somehow stumbled upon (apparently only because it contained the name of a TV station and city within your frame of reference) and completely misinterpreted as some kind of serious local sounding board, but by posting it here as an entry all to itself, in its entirety, unedited, where it will reach my global audience of nearly a handful of readers, some of whom are actually in your state.

So what the heck. Here, for your edification and enjoyment, is some dentist who apparently wants to be a U.S. Senator.

Title: The demise of the political process

As I watched Steve Benen talk to Rachel Maddow today on her MSNBC show, it reiterated the fact that the media shows only what it wants,no matter what flavor.
As a US Senate Candidate that is just a peon health care provider without millions of dollars, that message rings loud and clear. We're told, Get on the ballot and then we'll maybe mention you...maybe throw you some sort of media dog biscuit. So the Leftist media ignores Progressive but fiscally conservative candidates like myself and unless we maybe win the MegaMillions, get no real chance to have our say on small issues like health care, the economy or gas drilling in Marcellus Shale for example. It's more worthwhile talking about right-wing fringers who are flocking to NY to pump up the volume in a Congressional District race in the Watertown,NY area. Hmmm...the fact that I spent half a day up in Waddington,NY looking at the problems associated with the Seagate International Bridge Crossing doesn't deserve a byline by the press there makes sense. The fact that there is major drug peddling east of that bridge that goes mainly unscathed by Federal authorities must not be important either. Thank goodness our smiling, attorney, Governor-appointed Senator "supports" a solution for the bridge issue (actually hasn't come up with a really good solution herself). I actually have a solution for this controversy that really is only important to that area and is objective, although might not be popular to all living there. Thank goodness Rachel concentrates on the really important aspects of New York politics and ignores the fact that Chuck Schumer is the #1 recipient of Insurance Lobby money in the entire US Senate and his partner is #8. That shouldn't have any real effect on why the Insurance industry will hose us with jacked up premiums through 2013 before what little if any affect the current legislation has on real health care reform.
Obviously I am being facetious, disappointed and frustrated at the fact that what little the public is informed on opposing voices within the Democratic Party is exacerbated by the liberal media that minimalizes us even further. When the expected 15% increase in monthly health premiums kick in (NY Times), the resultant increase in individual uninsured numbers goes up, and the jobless numbers increase due to layoffs because of these increased overhead expenses, bear in mind that the media has blocked candidates like me. Also bear in mind that as the real economy keeps tanking because of this and Wall Street fat cats reap millions from market manipulation, the little guy gets more and more disillusioned from this process. The thought that we won't have a Republican reversal in elections from the hopeful liberal media is premature. I for one have mild faith that the REAL Democrats like myself will rise up and eventually take back the Congress.

(This finishes my last post)

The message that this country needs a booster dose of better personal health responsibility, fiscal moderation and massive regulation of the Health Insurance Industry will eventually get out. I just hope it gets out before informed liberals and conservatives give up and start takiing their frustrations out by blindly voting for those who have never really been vetted against peon health care providers like myself.

Scott Noren DDS
Ithaca, NY
Democratic US Senate Candidate 2010