text:
Crews Control
Bobby Green's SUV offers high clearance and excellent visibility—the better to spy on companies that spurn black workers.
by John DeVault May 14th, 2004 August 29th, 2020
Bobby Green bursts into his small office with a cell phone, as usual, parked at his right ear.
"What are you doing promoting that motherfucking company?" he asks. "What are you doing fucking with my goddamn company?…Tell me why you're trying to knock a brother out."
Green listens. A tinny male voice on the other end of the line can be faintly heard across the room—tones of strained, deliberate calm.
"Why shouldn't I use profanity with you?" The screech is taking over—in the small office, the sheer force and volume of the voice are almost physical, a nice pairing with Green's 6-foot-2, 350-pound frame. "That's a soul brother, man."
Tirades featuring such language spill easily from Green, 39, who is the D.C. chapter head of the National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC), a 35-year-old national nonprofit that promotes the interests of mostly small and midsize minority contractors—especially black ones—in the construction trades. The office is located in a small building on a leafy street off Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE. The chapter has approximately 65 members.
The very notion of minority contracting in the District summons a history of rhetorical emptiness and substantive failures. For decades, D.C. officials and activists have lamented the absence of disadvantaged D.C. residents on construction job sites across the District.According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, the D.C. unemployment rate for construction trades was 11.6 percent in 2002.
Over the years, elected officials from Marion S. Barry Jr. to David Catania have supported contracting initiatives and regulations to shore up black representation in this key sector. Trouble is, the resulting regulations haven't gotten a substantial number of minority District residents into actual construction jobs. Sometimes the problem is the way the regulations are written. Although the law's intent is to help "local, small, and disadvantaged business enterprises" (LSDBE), a lot of companies that barely qualify under any of those criteria have somehow qualified under the law, leaving little preference for what Green and others consider "real" local black firms.
And like many laws in D.C., the rules governing minority hiring at construction sites suffer from lax enforcement. The statute that promotes a goal of 35 percent LSDBE participation on a given project is in most cases just that—a goal.
Nor has the development-friendly administration of Mayor Anthony A. Williams pushed businesses on minority-hiring rules. "This lands at the Williams' administration's feet," says Greg Leroy, founder of Good Jobs First, a group that lobbies cities to promote local jobs through contracting.
So local jobs activists end up being the ones to make the case for small minority contractors. But from the folksy attitude of Cardell Shelton to the inflammatory rhetoric of William Lockridge, few have had the clout to make a real mark on the construction landscape. Every move Green makes these days is meant to end the futility.
Outburst over, Green drops the phone from his ear and pockets it. "Why didn't he hang up?" he asks. "If a motherfucker was using profanity like that to me, I'd hang up on him.
"He knew I had the goods on him," Green continues. "He knew he had to chill that shit out. I've got the motherfucker by the balls."
On the receiving end of the foul language, says Green, was an official with the D.C. Office of Local Business Development. Earlier, Green had received a call from one of his members, he says, letting him know that the official had called to, in effect, warn him away from hiring a second NAMC member on a job, because the company hadn't yet gotten in its official LSDBE paperwork.
Later that day, Green pulls out his BlackBerry and sends out an e-mail complaining to the official's boss. He also cc's the complaint to Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham—with whom Green has recently succeeded in cementing an alliance of sorts—and a couple of other senior District officials who have started to put Green on their call-back lists.
A few days later, Green will get word that his member has safely landed the contract.
On a rainy Monday in early May, Graham is leading Bobby Green up the debris-littered stairs of the Tivoli Theatre, the centerpiece and anchor of a $37.5 million development project under construction just up the street from the Columbia Heights Metro station. Graham at this time is a hot political player, having announced in February an exploratory committee to challenge incumbent Councilmember Harold Brazil for his more powerful at-large seat this fall.
On the way up, the hands-on councilmember points out detail after detail, from the stairs—"This was all marble; the marble is coming back"—to the restoration work on the Gala Hispanic Theatre's new 250-seat home, spectacular even as a bare-bones concrete shell. Graham even has the skinny on a dim, blue-tiled vintage bathroom. "The urinals have been removed," he says. "But the originals will be reinstalled."
"All of this was at risk," he says. But Graham helped get $1.8 million in city money for the restoration, along with $2.5 million from Metro, an agency for which Graham recently served as board chair.
Anchored by the restored theater, the Tivoli redevelopment also includes new retail and commercial space and construction of 40 condominium apartments, eight of them "affordable." And as Graham energetically points out, the Tivoli is just one piece of an ambitious neighborhood-revitalization project to go up over the next five years.
The new construction will include a senior-citizens' apartment building and dozens of officially designated "affordable" apartments and town homes, along with hundreds of units of new market-rate housing. There will be a new home for the Dance Institute of Washington and a (still unconfirmed) Target store anchoring a big retail center. Looking out a window of the Tivoli, Graham describes the vista as "a view of the future." He sounds as if he's campaigning for something.
Green steps forward and puts his arm around Graham. He's not as preoccupied with the stairs, the urinals, and the subsidized housing as he is with the laborers who will work on them. "Councilmember Graham…has done more for my members getting jobs than any other councilmember in this city," says Green. Graham beams.
And then, beefy arm still around Graham's shoulder, Green exemplifies the difference between a desperate minority-contracting activist and the slick, never-slight-an-elected-official lobbyists who roam the Wilson Building. "Harold Brazil chairs the Economic Development Committee on the council, but he has done nothing for us compared to this man," Green says.
As Graham tries to look noncommittal, Green swipes at Brazil's reputation for favoring big downtown development—and developers—over helping ailing city neighborhoods. "You can't work on one side of the city but not the other," he says.
And he condemns Brazil's well-documented penchant for strategic vote-counting on the council dais: "Harold's one of these guys who watches which way the wind is blowing, and then he makes a decision. He's not a leader, and we need a leader on these issues."
For Graham, striking an alliance with Green was a family affair. For his first council run in 1998, he won the support of Bobby Green's father, Robert Green Jr., a founder of an active Georgia Avenue business group called the Nile Valley Business Association.
A former firefighter and small contractor, and now the owner of an office supplies store, the elder Green helped Graham earn credibility in Ward 1's mostly black and Hispanic east side.
So an alliance with the younger Green might help the councilmember win the same credibility with minority voters across the city: Graham is looking at his first citywide race and needs allies in every ward of the District.
The pair first met in March, after Green e-mailed Graham complaining that he'd heard blacks weren't getting many jobs on the explosion of development now racing across the ward. Graham says Green came "barreling at me by e-mail at about 100 miles per hour. I said, 'Whoa!'"
The Ward 1 rep has been in politics long enough to calibrate the risks of ignoring a guy like Green. The last thing he needed was a loudmouthed guy standing up at public meetings, yelling that black workers couldn't get fair treatment in Ward 1. Or the NAMC picketing job sites, as they did last year at the troubled Henson Ridge site in Southeast.
So Graham signed up for a one-on-one meeting with Green.
For Green, it was a welcome embrace from officialdom, a sign that his incessant agitating might finally have brought him a partner in the city who could give him some leverage with the Williams administration.
Green spent most of last year in a bitter fight over hiring at Henson Ridge, a $100 million city- and federally funded housing project. In the course of the fight, he bombarded administration officials with letters and e-mails and stalked community meetings, demanding that the city enforce the applicable local and minority hiring regulations. In the end, one major housing contractor, Beazer Homes, left the job largely because of Green's pressure. But the campaign exhausted him, he says, and left him looking for smarter ways to fight.
At the Tivoli, Green makes it clear that Graham has offered him what he considers real help. "Jim was the first councilmember who invited us into the Wilson Building," Green says.
Graham put together a meeting between the NAMC and some big Ward 1 construction powers: the developers Donatelli & Klein and Jair Lynch, and the general contractor Donohoe Construction Co., all of which will be major players in area projects for the next decade.
Even better, Graham got Green a meeting last month with Ted Carter, executive director of the National Capital Revitalization Commission (NCRC), the city's premier urban-redevelopment entity and the prime mover behind the Columbia Heights projects. Green, a former plumbing contractor, was especially impressed with Sandra Fowler, an NCRC official with 30 years of construction-industry experience. Green now admiringly calls her "my girl."
The NCRC handshakes could lead to more NAMC hammers flying elsewhere in the city. As Green happily points out, the NCRC is stirring pots all over. Fowler and Green are already talking about possible roles for Green's outfits at both the National Wax Museum and Skyline Terrace—major NCRC-led projects still in the planning stage in the East End and Ward 7, respectively.
"And Jim got us that," he says.
Green did have some reservations. He was wary of the Graham campaign's using him as its black face in appeals to African-Americans. "I don't want to be a poster child," he was heard to grumble.
And the potential public alliance with Graham upset some of the NAMC's approximately 65 members. How could an organization dedicated to minority rights spurn a black politician in favor of a white one?
"They say to me, 'Bobby, what you doing preferring a white man to Harold for?'" he says.
"But goddamn, I haven't been able to get Harold Brazil to return a fucking phone call in three years!" he says. "This is a motherfucker who hasn't lifted a finger to help you in his life!"
It's a sunny Thursday afternoon in late April, and Green is cruising down Mississippi Avenue SE behind the wheel of his Ford Expedition. Later, he plans to drop by a city-financed building site, where he's heard that not many local workers are getting jobs. But for now he's starting a day at the office.
A call comes in from a local plumbing contractor new to Green. He wants to join the NAMC. Green claims that NAMC membership has been picking up lately, perhaps spurred by word of his recent coups starting to spread among local contractors.
"Are you the ones in those white trucks with the red stripes? Yeah? You a black-owned company? Yeah? Sure you can come in," he says warmly. "I do some plumbing and air-conditioning work myself," he adds, then jokes, "Someday you're gonna be giving me a job."
That's how Green does business—from the front seat of his SUV; he heads to his office only for the occasional sit-down negotiations. "I got to be out here in the street, keeping an eye on these job sites," he says. "That's what I do, cruise around the city staying in touch with these jobs and with my people out here." And using those bits of news to lobby with developers and general contractors for his members.
His mobile-communications center features three key pieces of technology. There's a Nextel combination walkie-talkie/cell phone for NAMC members. A plain old Sprint cell phone, which is his designated line to D.C. government officials. "I've got 4,500 minutes per month on Sprint, and I go through it every month," he says. "Last month, I hit 5,000. And I'm not talking to girls. I'm talking to D.C. officials, contractors, developers, subs."
And he calls his BlackBerry 7510, which a few months ago replaced his laptop computer, "the best piece of equipment I ever had." It's loaded with e-mail addresses, including those of every D.C. councilmember, Green says.
All these gizmos enable Green to execute his ambush-style activism: He pulls up to a construction site, completes a demographic survey, and makes some calls. "I can tell 'em, 'Don't tell me there are any Negroes down here. I'm sitting across from the fucking site.'"
A call comes in from someone in his network of sympathetic District officials—the loose affiliation of quiet support he calls his "underground railroad." Green starts in with a gripe about how he can't get his member companies onto sites funded by the city's Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
The agency often partners or participates in projects with the D.C. Housing Finance Agency and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, and has numerous affordable-housing projects ongoing in the eastern part of the city.
DHCD Director Stanley Jackson, says Green, takes pains to keep him at arm's length. "He never had me into his office," says Green, noting that their encounters have always been elsewhere. "You know if they meet you on the street or in some little conference room down the hall, that means they don't want to deal with your shit.
"I go over [to the DHCD], I cry a little bit, we talk," he adds. "And then I go over to East Capitol and there's not a nigger to be seen."
The East Capitol project, like Henson Ridge, is a partly DHCD-funded redevelopment of an aging former public-housing complex. Green spends most of his time on projects with local tax dollars in them—because those are the ones with legal obligations to hire small minority contractors.
After first checking out the East Capitol job, says Green, he got on his BlackBerry and sent out a slew of e-mails to councilmembers and people on Capitol Hill. The message: The DHCD wasn't looking after his people.
"And I hear from Stan Jackson, and he's all, 'Bobby, why you doin' like this to me?'" recalls Green. "And my black side comes out and I start thinking, Aww, shit, maybe I ought to back off the fucker a little bit."
(A DHCD spokeswoman says Jackson has no comment on the subject.)
Green hits a familiar refrain: "Hell, man, I'm out here doin' their job for 'em—just trying to make sure some D.C. contractors get hired for these jobs that got all this District cash in 'em."
Recently, says Green, Graham has arranged a rapprochement with Jackson, and the two have exchanged cordial emails.
As Green continues his rounds, a call comes in from David Anderson, owner of Anderson Fire Protection, a home and light-commercial fire-sprinkler-installation company with 25 employees in suburban Elkridge, Md. Anderson is just now ramping up his business, and he recently became an NAMC member.
One of Green's services for his members is handling paperwork that gives them official recognition as LSDBEs. It's a service that Anderson needed yesterday, from the sound of his conversation with Green. "Yeah, man," says Green. "I got a little behind on that. I'll have Mario"—his document runner—"get on that right now."
Then Green turns to other NAMC value-added services. "But listen, I got two public schools for you. And I got that Newseum job—that job with Turner Construction." Turner is an NAMC member, a large nonminority contractor that agrees to hire NAMC firms as its subcontractors when it can.
Anderson still sounds worried about his paperwork. "I'm on it, man," says Green. "But I want you to get that Newseum job. That's gonna be a sweet one."
Anderson, who's white, runs his firm in partnership with his wife, who's Hispanic. He does the hands-on stuff; she handles billing and runs the office. She's got 51 percent of the business, he the other 49.
A week later, Anderson is still awaiting word on his paperwork. "I think Bobby is constantly going in more directions than I'd like to be," he says. "So yeah, sometimes he loses a bit of focus."
One beneficiary of Green's activism is Steve Griffith, president of ADG Services, a small construction company. ADG has had a $350,000 contract for the past year at Henson Ridge, doing sodding, picking up trash, and troubleshooting. His four employees at the project are all from the District, indeed all from the neighborhood. "I feel the essence of the LSDBE program is to hire from the community," says Griffith, who is black.
The primary goal of the NAMC, says Green, is getting work for African-American firms—in the coming year, he wants a black NAMC general contractor to lead a major D.C. project. Despite its focus on black contractors, however, NAMC's membership includes Latino-, Asian-, and, controversially, white-owned companies.
But there's a reason Green welcomes such white-owned contractors as Hamel Builders, based in Elkridge, Md.: Big white companies often do the hiring for the smaller plumbing, electrical, sprinkler, and excavation companies that are the heart of Green's base. The general contractors—of whatever ethnic ownership—pledge to hire other NAMC members whenever feasible.
"You can come into my kitchen, but you gotta sit down and eat," says Green, articulating the principle that NAMC membership comes with strings attached for white companies.
And by letting Green bring to the table not only an ethnically diverse array but also a balance of experienced general contractors who can run a job from the top down and the smaller outfits needed to fill out the site work, the whites-too strategy gives the group's business credibility a big boost. Graham was impressed with the NAMC's ties to the construction establishment. "They had brought two major companies to the meeting who clearly had major projects under their belts," says the councilmember.
And in truth, Green relishes confounding the expectations of good-ol'-boys-network white developers.
"You walk in there, and these white guys are all ready for you, with these looks on their faces like they just know you're gonna start shouting, 'Black, black, black!'"
"But then they see the lineup I brought, and to watch their faces is beautiful."
Green grew up in Congress Heights, a stone's throw from his offices. His father operated his own radiator-repair shop not far from the address on Georgia Avenue NW where his store stands today. "The largest radiator-repair shop in the city," Green says. "He had contracts with Amtrak and Greyhound."
Of his father's parenting style, he says, "I was raised old. With Pop, if you had one drink, you're an alcoholic, if you had one cigarette, you're a drug addict. He installed values in me very young."
After high school, Green got into plumbing, which he describes as his "passion": "I liked being able to diagnose a problem and solve it."
Another attraction was that plumbing wasn't seen as a black industry, he says. "People said plumbing was a white man's trade, an Italian's trade." If blacks did manage to get plumbing work, he says, it was for apartment and service work. But, as he quickly learned, "The key thing is new construction. And blacks couldn't do that.
"My dad told me, 'You can do anything.'" These days, that means sticking up for people who face an updated version of the discrimination that he encountered.
In an outing in his SUV, Green arrives at a job site on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue—the renovation of a community center. It's not a huge job, but Green has driven by numerous times in the past few months and says he's never seen a black worker. Time to walk in, maybe light up the general contractor.
But nobody's in the makeshift office. Looks like no fireworks today.
Green saunters onto the work site—a couple of big empty rooms with dusty concrete floors, the wall studs showing, aluminum beams stretching across the unfinished ceiling.
Three Hispanic guys stand far up on ladders doing welding work on the ceiling.
Green peers out a door frame into a dirt yard under excavation. A white man operates a backhoe at one end of the yard, while at the other end two black laborers are pulling up orange earth with a shovel and a pickax.
Over the noise of the backhoe, Green calls out to the laborers, who walk over.
He asks if they're from the neighborhood. Both of them live nearby. Both decline to give their names. One man, 46, has been on the site since work started about a year ago. The other, beefier and 36, has been here since October. Both have worked as laborers on various phases of the job.
No, there are no other black workers right now, they say, though last year during demolition, there were four other black laborers, on a crew that has never exceeded about 20.
Green seems a little disappointed that the job's local black representation isn't more inadequate. But his main concern is black contractors, so he asks if the men have seen any working at the site.
Maybe one, the windows guy, the older man thinks. No, says the younger man, he was just a worker for the windows contractor, not the owner.
Green shakes his head as though expecting the news. He walks back out to the SUV and hits the BlackBerry, composing an e-mail to the general contractor, Total Management.
"Total Management has not hired one contractor…D.C. minority contractor…" he reads out as he works the PDA, siting behind the steering wheel. "DHCD has given the project in excess of $600,000…" he types. He's done his homework.
A Total official says that Total and the project's sponsor, United Planning Organization, tried but failed to find African-American contractors to perform the required work.
Green has a special passion for small municipal projects. This spring, for example, he pushed the NAMC's agenda at the so-called Town Hall Education, Arts and Recreation Center (ARC) on Mississippi Avenue SE. When finished, the $23 million arts and social-services complex will create a Southeast base for tenants such as the Levine School of Music, the Boys & Girls Club of D.C., and the Washington School of Ballet. The DHCD has $3 million in the project, and the Department of Parks and Recreation has contributed $500,000.
William C. Smith, developer of ARC, helped set up the nonprofit corporation that is organizing the project, and he helped raise the private funds to get it off the ground.
In early March, Green says, he parked his Expedition for hourslong stretches over two days across from the ARC site. Green concluded from his surveillance that William C. Smith Co., the developer, was employing few black workers and fewer black contractors, and he sent off a flurry of e-mailed complaints to DHCD chief Jackson, with copies to 23 other officials and reporters.
Wrote Green: "I want to know why DHCD keeps giving [Smith Co. President] Chris Smith D.C. Tax Dollars, and letting him do [what] and hire who he wants on publicly funded Development Projects? I want to know why I had to sit across from The Arc Project for the past two days and see only one Black Contractor and maybe one Black Resident working?"
He also fired off a Freedom of Information Act request to the DHCD, asking the
agency to give him a list of all the subcontractors at ARC, the dollar amounts of their contracts, and a tally of which of them were LSDBE contractors.
And then he made a discovery: The general contractor that was the leading candidate to build the condos at the Tivoli job in Columbia Heights was Smith, too. He says some of his members called him, balking at submitting bids to subcontract with Smith.
His alliance with Graham was freshly minted, and he knew the Tivoli was Graham's special concern. So he sent off another burst of e-mails to Graham, Carter at the NCRC, and others, protesting Smith's possible role on the job.
"I knew it was going to turn ugly when I sent off that e-mail," he says
He was right: Within days, Green got a letter from Smith's attorneys at Holland & Knight, threatening to sue him if he continued agitating for Smith's removal. Green claims the threat didn't especially worry him. "I figured as big as they are, if they were going to sue, they'd just file papers on me."
And in fact, he soon found out he'd won. A government source he won't identify phoned him and gave him the word: Smith wouldn't get the Tivoli job.
William "Skip" McMahon, head of Smith's ARC construction team, acknowledges that Smith withdrew from Tivoli under outside pressure. "It was a mutual decision" between Smith and the development team, he said. "We said, 'If some people are uncomfortable with this, let's just move forward.'" (Graham says he knows nothing about Smith's role.)
The DHCD documents that Green requested confirmed his suspicions: Only four of the 23 subcontractors hired by Smith on the ARC project were LSDBE-certified—17.4 percent of the total. If LSDBE participation is calculated by dollar amount, the percentage goes up to 25.9 percent, still well below the 35 percent target.
Green's guerrilla tactics had gotten the attention of the big boys. By late April, he had met with Smith. The adversaries settled their differences and got down to talking about getting NAMC members a seat at bidding sessions for future Smith jobs, notably the enormous Camp Simms development on Alabama Avenue SE. (Smith declined to comment for this story.)
"Bobby has been aggressive about the way he's come to us with his issues," says McMahon. "He injects himself in a job or a process in a way that's real direct— 'I need this. I need that,' 'You need to get some of my people on this job'—rather than ask for drawings, go through the process the way most people would go through."
Green's sometime tendency to substitute passion and ambition for detail does seem to trip him up sometimes—especially in his dealings with the professionalism-first Williams administration.
In early March, City Administrator Robert Bobb helped him get a meeting in the mayor's offices at the Wilson Building—"The Mountaintop," as Green says—with Deputy Mayor Herb Tillery, Office of Local Business Development chief Jacqueline Flowers, and other officials. By Flowers' account, Green arrived unprepared.
"We wanted a list of jobs he was interested in. We wanted to make sure of some of the names of small companies he's representing," she says. "We believed he would come in with information, but he came in with no information."
Green says he was expecting only an informal powwow with one or two officials, his preferred type of meeting. But he admits the meeting went badly. "They kicked my ass," he says. "After that meeting, I just went down to that little wall behind the Wilson Building and put my head down and cried."
On May 5, a news flash shakes Green's world: Jim Graham has surprised everybody, including his own campaign manager, with the news that he won't be challenging Brazil for the at-large council seat after all.
Before getting the news, Green was assembling NAMC members to gather at the Wilson Building for the big announcement—as
Graham had asked supporters to do. He'd worked with his father's shop to print up a large 3-by-8-foot "NAMC Supports Jim Graham" banner for the ceremony.
About an hour after Graham's announcement, Green sounds a bit like a politician himself. "I'm not angry with Jim," he says. "I'm still coming out for his announcement tomorrow.
"At the end of the day, Jim's still working with us, spearheading this way for us that I think is going to be very beneficial to the NAMC."
It's barely an hour since word spread, and he's busy building his team at the Wilson Building.
"Well, it looks like I'm on Kwame's trail," he says. Kwame Brown is an already-declared candidate for the seat; he heads the Maryland/D.C. Minority Supplier Development Council, which sometimes works with the NAMC.
"I sure as hell ain't getting behind Harold," Green says.
"I got to get by Fenty's office tomorrow. And Chavous. I've got to get with [those councilmembers] tomorrow. They're on the Economic Development Committee, too." CP
Art accompanying story in the printed newspaper is not available in this archive: Photographs by Darrow Montgomery.


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In my last article, I talked about My Condo Renovation, and how much I learned from the Reno. I also showed you guys some before and after pictures. I hope you guys like the look. I love how it all came out.
Yesterday was my one-year anniversary of buying the condo. It took about 7 months to finish the reno, so I been living here for 5 months. I know you guys been waiting for the numbers so here they are.
Here are recently sold units in my complex.
My condo was originally going for $110,000, but the owner dropped it by $10k to $99,999. I then sent an offer of $84,000 and the owner counteroffer with a price of $86,000. I accepted that offer and the rest is history.
Also, I am currently renting the other bedroom and bathroom. This is where my rental income comes from. I am renting the other room and bathroom for $700 a month.
How do you guys like them apples?
I do not plan to buy any more homes. Hopefully, my next home will be an RV or a rental unit somewhere around the world.
Do you have a rental income? Love it or dislike it?
I'm in the process of trying to rent out my spare apartment. I've been hesitant for a long time because some of my friends have had negative experiences renting out their places.
The person that is renting it is a freidn that i know for a few years. So far he is great. Pay on time and is very quiet. Best of luck on finding someone.
The person that is renting it is a friend that i know for a few years. So far he is great. Pay on time and is very quiet. Best of luck on finding someone.
Your condo looks amazing! Sounds like you put a lot of work into this rental property, and the return rate is definitely great!
Thanks!! it was a lot of work and I learned a lot. it was definitely a great experience and I am glad everything worked out with the income.
Your condo's value doubled within only one year.
Great job you did !
May I know which city your condo located ?
You are a smart man in investing !
Thanks for the kind words! It's in south Florida.


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Finding Olga's Voice
A Good Daughter Solutions – Health Care advocacy, care solutions, peace of mind.
Guardianship: A Broken Trust
Posted on September 28, 2016 by Finding My Voice
This was posted in: THE PALM BEACH POST By John Pacenti – Palm Beach Post Staff Writer and Updated: 6:26 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016
Because in all the years I've spent in Elder Care Management within Palm Beach County, this really article really got my interest. Interesting read for those in the field.
Circuit Judge Martin Colin's tenure as a probate judge is over in the wake of The Palm Beach Post's investigation into the the veteran jurist and his wife in guardianships of incapacitated seniors.
But it remains to be seen whether he still has a role in guardianship through a mediation program he helps coordinate. Palm Beach County Chief Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath, with little fanfare, posted Colin's transfer on the judicial circuit's website on Tuesday, moving him from the Probate & Guardianship Division in Delray Beach to the Civil Circuit division in the central courthouse in West Palm Beach.
He is also no longer hearing Family Division cases and will instead hear civil disputes and hold jury trials involving disputes in amounts of more than $15,000. The move was buried on the circuit's website and not readily seen without searching an announcement section that appeared blank on the home page.
Circuit Judge Jaimie Goodman will take Colin's place, hearing guardianship, probate and family cases in the South County Courthouse. Colin assumes Goodman's docket as of Monday in the circuit civil division. Colin said he will not seek re-election following The Post's series, Guardianship: A Broken Trust.
Colin's transfer comes just as the Florida Senate approved legislation that would give Florida its first regulatory authority over professional guardians. The bill – along with one passed this past year – is in response to complaints of guardians bilking the savings of the elderly as appointed officers of the court. Many of these elderly seniors — called wards — suffer from Alzheimer's disease or some other form of dementia.
Colbath did not respond to a request through his spokesperson to comment. He also would not answer repeated queries about whether Colin will continue in his role coordinating the court's elder care program, a mediation program for guardianship disputes, where many former judges work. Chief Judge Colbath's father, for example, former Chief Judge Walter N. Colbath Jr., is listed as a mediator for a local company.
Also, it appears that Colbath is not taking any direct action regarding Colin's wife, Elizabeth "Betsy" Savitt, a professional guardian who has taken tens of thousands of dollars from the life savings of incapacitated seniors prior to court approval in guardianships and in follow-up probate cases.
The couple's finances improved substantially after Savitt became a guardian in 2011 after years of foreclosures, liens and unpaid loans to private individuals. As a court-appointed professional guardian, Savitt takes over the lives of seniors and other adults who no longer can care for themselves, managing their finances, medical care and whether they can remain in their homes. She has access to hundreds of thousands of dollars. She was a tennis pro before she became a guardian.
The families of these seniors, backed by reams of court documents, say that besides taking fees without court approval, Savitt double-billed, funneled money to relatives of the ward who are suspected of financial — and even physical abuse. In numerous cases, she was accused by families of creating unnecessary litigation in order to generate more fees for herself and the cadre of attorneys who represent her.
Those attorneys regularly appeared in front of Colin, sometimes seeking his approval for generous fees in other cases. When The Post started investigating, Colin started shedding their cases: 115 recusals from July 1 to Dec. 31.
Colin's colleagues on the bench presided over his wife's cases. Currently, she has at least two guardianships but has also been involved in managing special-needs trusts and as a personal representative of estates. Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald Kogan told The Post for its series that Savitt's role as a professional guardian created an appearance of impropriety for Colin that put him in jeopardy of violating the state's judicial canons.
Savitt and Colin have denied any wrongdoing. Colin didn't hear Savitt's cases, but his colleagues – particularly Circuit Judge David French, a friend who once planned a cruise vacation with the both of them. French, for now, appears to be staying put in the Probate & Guardianship Division. Earlier this month, Colbath announced a five-point plan that directed all "current" south county judges to recuse themselves from Savitt's cases so it is uncertain whether Judge Goodman will be hearing Savitt's cases.
Colbath's plan also includes training for probate judges and their staff, standardization of billing practices and a wheel system to provide random assignments of guardians to cases. Dr. Sam Sugar, who has led the charge for legislative reform in Florida as head of Americans Against Abusive Probate Guardianship, said Colbath has not gone far enough.
"The response from Judge Colbath is an outrage and reinforces the widely held and growing perception that the Florida court system does not deserve the trust of the people," he said.
"Years of blatant conflicts of interest, looting of innocent people's entire estates, self serving protection of rapacious guardians and lawyers has resulted in no discipline, no consequences, but every indication that this egregious system will continue." For Skender Hoti, Colbath's actions smack of a whitewash.
Hoti is the restaurateur who in February 2012 watched as Savitt – assisting a family guardian — tried to seize possessions from one of his homes using an order by Colin. Hoti claims he is still missing cash, jewelry and other possessions. Hoti cared for Gwendolyn Batson for decades before the senior's brother sought to find her incapacitated and seize her assets.
While we have seen guardianship problems in the past, this is one from the wife of a Judge? Unbelievable…….What can we expect next?……
Olga Brunner, A Good Daughter Solutions. Please feel free to comment below. Thank you.
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text:
Globe Live Media > Latest > SNAP: How much is the most recipients will receive in 2023?
SNAP: How much is the most recipients will receive in 2023?
Dallas Reports 893 Covid-19 Infections and 4 More Deaths
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is calculated each year by cost of living adjustments (COLA), which meant an increase of 12.5% for this 2023
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known to many Americans as the food stamp program, is calculated each year so it doesn't lag so far below inflation, which is why benefits will increase by 2023.
Since the cost of living adjustments (COLA) were released, which the vast majority of Americans find affects Social Security benefits, they also apply to the SNAP program. In fact, unlike Social Security, these adjustments take effect on October 1 of each year, so you don't have to wait until the next (in this case, 2023) for your beneficiaries to receive more money.
While the COLA for Social Security was set at 8.7%, the COLA for SNAP this year was set at 12.5%. This was because, as the SNAP program focuses on support for the purchase of food, the prices of food at home increased 13% year over year, according to the report from the State Bureau of Labor Statistics. States (BLS) September 2022.
For fiscal year 2023, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service increased allocations for 48 states and Washington DC, as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands. Resource caps and limits were also raised to reflect inflation.
According to the USDA, the maximum SNAP allotments for a family of four have increased as follows, according to the USDA website, and will be available until September 30, 2023:
• 48 states and DC: $939 dollars
• Alaska: from $1,172 to $1,819 dollars
• Hawaii: $1,794 dollars
• Guam: $1,385 dollars
• US Virgin Islands: $1,208 dollars
The maximum asset limits have increased to $4,250 for households with at least one family member age 60 or older or disabled and up to $2,750 for all other households. If your household income changes by more than $125 per month, you must report that change.
The resources of the SNAP program are deposited in an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card, where the beneficiaries receive their payments and can use them in different establishments where they can buy groceries.
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Can You Apply For SNAP And Supplemental Security Income Benefits At The Same Time? - Globe Live Media says:
[…] If you want to know what are the maximum income you can have to qualify for the 2023 SNAP program, you can visit the following link. […]
Colorado creates program to grant benefits to undocumented unemployed
McDonald's, Starbucks and other companies spend millions of dollars to prevent wages from rising fast food workers in California
Shooting in Los Angeles leaves at least three dead and four injured
Man who attacked police officers in assault on the Capitol receives 80 months in prison


text:
Obama Administration to Use Fed Dollars to Backstop Derivatives Clearinghouses: Oh My!
wendydavis 2012-05-26
26 May 2012 wendydavis
Note: Obey (below) says I have this utterly wrong, and that I'm leading you astray. Also note that he's a real doctor, and I am not. You can read Ben Bernanke's speech in April, 2011 about the reasons to declare clearinghouses dealing in massive amounts of derivatives as 'systemically important' at the link.
The Wall Street Journal (behind a paywall) reported on May 23 that in a secret meeting the day before that as per one part of Dodd-Frank's Title VII, those 'transparent clearing houses' that could be deemed 'systemically important', or are, in parlance: Too Big To Fail.
(courtesy of matthewnstoller via flickr.com)
The language had been created initially by Chris Dodd in 2010, was inserted into the worse-than-useless (it now turns out) Dodd-Frank Pretend Regulation Bill, and was apparently left open to final tweaks as recently as this week.
Here's how Mary Shapiro, head of the SEC claimed it would work, twelve cool rule proposals that would be designed to keep the OTC derivative trading clean, safe and transparent. But oh dear, when the SEC/CFTC were just finalizing the regs, the Big Banks swooped in, and..well, fiddlesticks; ya might think they own the place.
Cool. Obama had made great theater this month claiming that boy, howdy, would his team make sure that nothing like Jamie Dimon's $X-billion debacle ever happen again, nossirree. We got yer backs, taxpayers! Vote fer us! We're for the 99%!
From the WSJ via gota.org (most complete reprint I could find):
"J.P. Morgan's recent trading loss and the resulting Washington blather about tighter regulation have grabbed headlines.
Little noticed is that on Tuesday Team Obama took its first formal steps toward putting taxpayers behind Wall Street derivatives trading — not behind banks that might make mistakes in derivatives markets, but behind the trading itself. Yes, the same crew that rails against the dangers of derivatives is quietly positioning these financial instruments directly above the taxpayer safety net. [snip]
Specifically, the law authorizes the Federal Reserve to provide "discount and borrowing privileges" to clearinghouses in emergencies. Traditionally the ability to borrow from the Fed's discount window was reserved for banks, but the new law made clear that a clearinghouse receiving assistance was not required to "be or become a bank or bank holding company." To get help, they only needed to be deemed "systemically important" by the new Financial Stability Oversight Council chaired by the Treasury Secretary.
Last year regulators finalized rules for how they would use this new power. On Tuesday, they began using it. The Financial Stability Oversight Council secretly voted to proceed toward inducting several derivatives clearinghouses into the too-big-to-fail club. After further review, regulators will make final designations, probably later this year, and will announce publicly the names of institutions deemed systemically important."
We're told that the clearinghouses of Chicago's CME Group (read the amount of derivatives trading they do and weep) and Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange (same here) were voted systemic this week, and rumor has it that the council may even designate London-based LCH.Clearnet as critical to the U.S. financial system. "
Oh, yes. And London/Paris-based Clearnet:
"…clears approximately 50% of the $348 trillion global interest rate swap market, and is the second largest clearer of bonds and repos in the world, providing services across 13 government markets."
(Do read the more of the WSJ reprint for the cool history on CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler, who's in the thick of all this derivatives 'regulation'. Sad, sick, funny; your call.
Bloomberg News was far more sanguine about it all, at least on Monday before the meeting (suckers!).
Yeah; when Bloomberg News took receipt of the documents they'd demanded under FOIA, and discovered the Fed had secretly (bailed out) made emergency loans to foreign banks and multinationals to the tune of $1.2 trillion (cool graphics), no or low interest, no strings loans, you ranted. Now it's the clearinghouse-moral hazard.
I thought: Oh, Barack Babee; you're… killing me softly with your song…mmm…oooh…my goodness…aaah….aahhooooommmmm….
The Great American Foreclosure Story - Book Salon Preview, Kouril Hosts
Regulator Indifference Seen at JPMorgan Chase, Ally Financial
wendydavis


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Warranty: 18 months parts-and-labor warranty provided by Vendor.
Seemed like a nice quick unit but no battery detectable. Could only use power cord option. Did the trouble shooting suggested from hp and researched for a couple hours but no luck. Disappointing. Returning.
I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box. The computer is in nice condition, free from scratches etc. It booted up quickly, connected to Wi-Fi quickly, and went right into the set up without trouble. The problems started when I attempted to enter my e-mail address during set up and found that the period/dot key doesn't work. The comma key doesn't work either. I attempted to re-boot but couldn't get it to reboot without simply turning off the power which I don't want to do during the set up process. I just put it aside for now and will likely return it if I can't get it to work on my own.
looks brand new. fast and efficient. I'm able to run my online business with ease.
Laptop works great. The real check will come in 90 days. It's easy. It currently has 90% processing power vs new when running a speed latency test.
Unfortunately, several keys on the keyboard did not work, making the entire machine unusable. I have just sent it back for a refund. The greater disappointment is that a refurbished computer by a reputable seller should include testing the machine before it is approved. This was a glaring set of errors.
All the keys on the keyboard did not work.


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Below is the table contains color information of Gifts For Dad Amazon What S Ing To Netflix Hulu And Amazon Prime In March 2018 – Variety.


The complexity of the task facing Telstra in disentangling its complex IT systems has been highlighted by a nine-month extension granted to Telecom New Zealand for its operational separation.
The complexity of the task facing Telstra in disentangling its complex information technology systems has been highlighted by a nine-month extension granted to Telecom New Zealand for its operational separation. Telecom was expected to finish unscrambling shared IT systems by the end of this year, having agreed to an operational separation in March 2008 that will split its business into three units - retail, wholesale and network.
But the telco requested an extension, granted on Friday by New Zealand's Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Steven Joyce, because it was unable to meet deadlines for system changes and integration testing.
The systems contain confidential customer information, which the separation would prevent Telecom's retail and wholesale units from accessing. Telecom has until September 30, 2010, to complete the split.
It is reported to have spent $NZ170 million ($135 million) on operational separation during its last two financial years. It had previously estimated total project costs at $NZ200 million over five years.
Telstra is discussing structural separation with the Rudd government after Communications Minister Stephen Conroy threatened to stop the telco buying next-generation wireless spectrum unless it came to heel.
Chief executive David Thodey has been much more open to negotiations than Telstra's previous management, but last month voiced strong opposition to the government's proposed amendments to telecoms legislation.
Telstra claimed that the bill, which is designed to force separation and make the telco sell its infrastructure assets into the national broadband network, would delay the government's "NBN vision".
But Senator Conroy won a key vote in the Senate at the end of last month to proceed with the debate, in effect trampling on Telstra's delay tactics.
If Telstra is forced into structural separation, it has estimated IT costs at between $500 million and $1.2 billion. Former chief information officer Fiona Balfour, who has also held the top technology job at Qantas, has warned that potential disruption to customer service would be an even bigger concern.
"In telcos, or indeed any large corporate, there are always consequences when you change customer-facing systems," she said.
"Even a change that you know is for the best can have a negative impact on customer experience. It's really easy to move assets around from one balance sheet to another - the hard bit is unravelling the logic and dealing with customers."
Telstra is already well aware of the minefield that accompanies major technology changes. Chief technology officer John Stanhope used the company's annual general meeting in Sydney last month to apologise for the "painful journey" some customers endured as a result of the company's four-year IT transformation program.
Costs associated with that project blew out by more than 60 per cent to reach $3.9 billion.
• Telecom NZ has missed its operational separation deadlines.
• It has already spent $135m on the costly and complex project.


text:
Project Canterbury
George Congreve, SSJE
Two Addresses Given to the Associates of the Association of S. John Baptist, at Zonnelbloem, on Their Anniversary, June 26, 1893, within the Octave of the Nativity of S. John Baptist.
Cape Town: Printed at the College Press, Zonnebloem, 1893.
Christian Life: A Response with Other Retreat Addresses and Sermons.
London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1899.
The Sacrifice of Christ.
Oxford and London: A.R. Mowbray and Co., 1899.
Preparatio or Notes of Preparation for Holy Communion, Founded on the Collect, Epistle and Gospel for Every Sunday in the Year.
London: Longmans and Co., 1901. [External link]
My Communion: Twenty-six Short Addresses in Preparation for Holy Communion.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins: Addresses Given in Retreat.
Oxford: Mowbray, 1905.
The Spiritual Order.
Sisters: Their Vocation and Their Special Work.
London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1908.
Christian Progress.
Orient Leaves.
London and Oxford: A.R. Mowbray, 1915.
[Editor]
Letters of Richard Meux Benson, Student of Christ Church, Founder and First Superior of the Society of S. John the Evangelist, Cowley.
Oxford and London: A.R. Mowbray and Co., 1916. [External link]
The Third Year of the War and the National Mission: A Sermon Preached in the Church of S. John the Evangelist, Oxford, on August 6th, 1916.
London: A.R. Mowbray, 1916.
[Preface]
The Book of the Craft of Dying, and Other Early English Tracts concerning Death.
London and New York: Longmans, 1917. [External link]
The Fourth Year of the War, Hope through Suffering: A Sermon Preached in Oxford, on Aug. 5, 1917.
London and Oxford: Mowbray, 1917.
Treasures of Hope for the Evening of Life.
London and New York: Longmans, 1918.
Of Advance in Lent.
London: Mowbray, no date.
The Being of God: Addresses at a Quiet Day.
Oxford: Society of S. John the Evangelist, no date.


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text:
Coco Bandicoot és un personatge fictici de la sèrie de videojocs Crash Bandicoot. És un personatge secundari, germana de Crash i Crunch Bandicoot.

Descripció
Té 14 anys i, en contrast amb l'aparició física d'en Crash, la figura de la Coco és més esvelta i prima. En totes les seves aparicions, es mostra com un personatge ingeniós i imaginatiu. Té el pèl ros, generalment lligat en una cua de cavall. La seva altura és similar a la del seu germà,encara que no té la seva corbada columna; igual que la resta dels Bandicoot, el seu to de pelatge és ataronjat, a més de ser molt bonica.

Des de la seva primera aparença, la Coco vesteix una camisa blanca, un lleuger peto de texà blau amb una corretja descordada i unes sabates roses. A la Coco se la pot veure amb aquesta vestimenta en la trama de videojocs Crash Twinsanity. En partits posteriors, la Coco porta pantalons vaquers i una samarreta blanca amb un símbol vermell d'estel i duu el cabell sense cua. En "Crash of the Titans", la vestimenta de la Coco és molt similar a la de Crash Tag Team Racing. La Coco ja no porta el seu pèl en una cua de cavall sinó que porta una flor en comptes del pèl solt, portant una banda blava.

Personalitat
En la seva primera presentació, Coco demostra una actitud manaire. Aquest comportament reapareix en Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back en manar a Crash a buscar bateries noves per al seu ordinador portàtil o en Crash Tag Team Racing, joc en el que Coco mostra un misteriós odi cap a Nina Cortex en acusar-la de robar peces importants que necessita per als seus vehicles.

En altres moments dels videojocs, la Coco mostra un temperament més afectuós. En Crash Bandicoot: La venjança de Cortex i Crash Twinsanity, Coco mostra preocupació per en Crash quan aquest està en el perill visible, i, en l'últim, es veu com ataca físicament a Cortex perquè creu que ha raptat a en Crash.

Habilitats
Malgrat ser una bandicoot com en Crash, la Coco és capaç de parlar fluidament, possiblement diversos idiomes, i se suposa que està en relació amb serveis d'intel·ligència. També fa gala d'altres comportaments com enamorar-se. En un episodi recent de la sèrie es menciona que té un quocient intel·lectual de 164 punts.

Amb aquesta intel·ligència, la Coco és capaç de crear diversos sistemes informàtics avançats, inclosa la càmera de teletransport de Crash Bandicoot: La venjança de Cortex, i una computadora capaç d'engrandir planetes sencers en "Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure".

També té la destresa informàtica d'un hacker, com es demostra en Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex contraataca, en el que usa aquesta capacitat per il·legalment en els arxius de Cortex i descobrir a en Crash les seves veritables intencions. A part de la seva intel·ligència superior, la Coco és també capaç de valer-se físicament per si mateixa, sobretot en les edicions posteriors dels videojocs. Per exemple, coneix arts marcials, sap pilotar diversos tipus de vehicles, alguns dels quals són de la seva pròpia invenció.
Un exemples seria Crash Bash, Crash:la venjança de cortex i Crash mind over mutans: on mostra les seves habilitats i condició física molt similars a les del seu germà Crash.

Principals aparicions
Al principi Coco apareix com a personatge secundari, però a poc a poc va adquirint protagonisme.

A Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Contraataca
En aquesta part de la saga la seva col·laboració és important, però indirecta, ja que informa a Crash dels veritables plans de l'enemic, el Doctor Neo Cortex.

A Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
Aquí el seu personatge és una mica més actiu, encara que solament actua en alguns nivells, en els quals no lluita físicament: ho fa sobre Pura, una moto d'aigua i una avioneta. També usa una nau espacial per derrotar a Dr. N. Gin.

A Crash Team Racing
Aquí actua com la resta dels personatges, competint en les carreres.

A Crash Bandicoot: La venjança de Cortex
En aquesta entrega és on fa menys aparició, ja que no participa en les batalles de cap de nivell, solament en insignificants nivells a diferència de Crash Bandicoot 3 on lluita contra N.Gin. Lluita físicament amb les seves arts marcials i es defensa físicament igual que en els jocs Crash Bash i Crash Mind Over Mutant. La càmera de teletransport que utilitzen els germans bandicoot és obra seva.

A Crash Nitro Kart
Aquí actua com la resta dels personatges, competint en les carreres.

A Crash Twinsanity
En aquesta ocasió, la seva tasca és de context més negatiu: Cortex la deixa inconscient en començar el joc i després, la Coco ataca i espatlla la porta interdimensional de Cortex, tornant a quedar insconscient. En aquest joc, la Coco es preocupa per en Crash. Per tal de protegir-lo, s'uneix a en Crunch.

A Crash Tag Team Racing
Igual que la resta dels personatges, la Coco encarrega a Crash missions per aconseguir nous cotxes. Una cop s'obté un vehicle, es pot emprar per a competir en carreres. En Crash també pot comprar-li el vestit de princesa. Cal destacar la seva actitud contra Nina Cortex.

Referències

Personatges de videojocs

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Media graduates are invited to revisit campus, make vital industry connections and hear from fellow former Edge Hill students at the Media Alumni Networking Event.
Join us for an afternoon of inspiring discussion with women at the forefront of technology.
Edge Hill University Performing Arts Department present Making Performance Season 2016. Vexed Theatre presents perfinis devised by Calen Griffin. Suitable for age 16 years plus.
Edge Hill University Performing Arts Department present Making Performance Season 2016. Reflections & Light is a dance double-bill by Natalie Deen and Paul B.Taylor.
The Internationally acclaimed Pearl of Africa Children's Choir return to the Arts Centre with with an evocative mix of traditional Ugandan songs, music, and dance.
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Head Land is the debut publication by Edge Hill University Press, a celebration of the unique Edge Hill Short Story Prize. Guest speakers are Adam Marek, Carys Bray and Robert Shearman. Tickets are FREE for this event. Advance booking recommended.
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text:
Warren wants to get rid of Electoral College
TNR / March 19, 2019
By Whitney Tipton
Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced Monday at a CNN town hall in Mississippi that she wants to get rid of the Electoral College.
"Every vote matters, and the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting, and that means get rid of the Electoral College," she said at the town hall hosted at Jackson State University. Warren announced her bid for the 2020 presidency on February 9.
"Come a general election, presidential candidates don't come to places like Mississippi, they'll come to places like California and Massachusetts because you're not the 'battleground' states," Warren said, explained her reasoning.
Those who oppose getting rid of the Electoral College argue that future elections would be decided in a handful of populous states like California and New York, permanently disenfranchising voters in smaller states.
"The Electoral College preserves federalism," explained Julia Shaw at The Heritage Foundation. "It requires a presidential candidate to win simultaneous elections across 50 states and the District of Columbia."
Mississippi, a smaller state population-wise, ranked 31st for total votes (1,206,357) in the 2016 presidential election. The top 15 states generated more than 90 million, well over half of the 136 million nationwide total. Warren did not elaborate how leaving the Electoral College in favor of a popular vote would make Mississippi more attractive for presidential campaign visits.
Warren also spoke of other policy proposals during Monday's open forum, including the relocation of Confederate statues to museums and "a constitutional amendment that protects the right to vote for every American citizen and makes sure that vote gets counted."
Warren also talked about reparations, pledging support for a commission to study the issue "so that our nation can do what's right and begin to heal."
The senator did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation's request for comment.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Tim Pierce
March 19, 2019 in U.S.. Tags: Elections
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9 thoughts on "Warren wants to get rid of Electoral College"
Electoral Collage isn't the only thing the pandering squaw is squawking about. I unfortunately
watched a few mins of her campaigning on one of the Demotard propaganda channels and
she was spewing the "Reparations" bullcrap. She never did come out
and say payola was on the docket even after the interviewer prompted her for that answer.
Only thing she said was we need a commission and we have very knowledgeable people
in this area, yea right.. race baiters you mean.
That's the extent of the Demontard clown show, all pandering all the time.
So how can you win an election, keep changing the rules or get rid of the ones you don't like.
So just think about it, our founding fathers had the foresight years ago to see is one or two
large groups could sway an election……… there turning over in their graves, listening to this
educated idiot Elizabeth Warren.
New York or California ……..want a win, don't let it happen !!
Dennis Angiono says:
Just another devious liberal who conveniently leaves out the fact that without the electoral college the presidential election will be decided by New York and California. If this happens you will never again see anyone but democrats be president ever again.
For a collage prof she sure comes off a dunderhead. The title UNITED "STATES" of America would not be united if rulers were only elected from high population areas eg NY, CA. These area's show their ineptness in picking true leaders as shown by their bankrupt city's and non caring of actual citizens promoting criminals and criminal activity. If that were to become the case we would also have to change our
title to United States of $hitholes which I don't like as much as the one we have now.
I think they need to establish an electoral collage in the State of Vermont. That would stop Burlington, Montpelier, Bennington and other populist towns from controlling the State.
Elizabeth Warren is just another Bernie that screams and yells to get attention. Lost souls
The electoral college has been in place for many years to prevent states like California and New York from taking over the US.
Both parties and the US political stability has benefited from it.
She wants California and NY you elect POTUS
anne hilliard says:
Of course she wants to change the rules; change the goal post. The Democrats are on the losing side of history these days.
Of course she does, she wants us to be democracy, a form of government our for fathers abhorred for justifiable reasons. It's called mob rule and is the preferred transitional government to socialism/communism,oligarchy, take your pick.


FintekNews is pleased to offer our weekly feature column "3 Questions". Each week, we feature a thought leader within a unique sector of fintech and ask them to answer just 3 questions for our audience in their vernacular. This week, we'd like to introduce you to David Haber, CEO & Founder of Bond Street, a startup transforming small business lending through technology, data and design. Bond Street offers entrepreneurs one to three year term loans of up to $1,000,000 with interest rates starting at 6%.
I first became interested in fintech while working in venture capital at Spark Capital. I focused primarily on marketplace and financial services, and led investments in companies like Orchard, Plaid and Quantopian, all of which offered a lot of early exposure to the space.
Ultimately, what drove me to leave Spark to start Bond Street was the need I saw in the market from a large number of amazing, fast-growing small businesses who were struggling to raise bank financing. At the same time, I saw many of the financial software companies were beginning to launch APIs which I understood would make data collection and underwriting a more seamless experience from the staid, paper-driven processes at the banks.
In the online lending world, I think you're going to see a shift from simply focusing on an individual transaction (be it refinancing, working capital or a growth investment) to companies building technology to create a longer-term and more engaged relationship with their customers. You're starting to see this—though it's still very early—with Prosper's acquisition of Billguard, now Prosper Daily, as well as Affirm's acquisition of Sweep. In my mind, the way that valuable brands are going to be built in this space over the long run is by competing not just on rate and speed, but also in leveraging technology to provide value to customers beyond the loan.
In Bond Street's case, we collect so much information across our portfolio; there are many compelling ways to surface those insights to our borrowers to empower them to make better financial decisions and ultimately growth their businesses more strategically. We're actually in the process of building a software to do exactly that.
David Haber is co-founder and CEO of Bond Street, previously worked as a venture investor at Spark Capital where he focused on marketplace and financial technology investments. Before going into VC, David co-founded Locus Analytics, a startup asset management business.


Austria is investigating possible spying during nuclear talks between Iran and world powers, a spokesman said after Swiss authorities confirmed they were probing similar claims.
"Investigations are ongoing" regarding the Palais Coburg hotel, the location of numerous rounds of the talks including discussions this week, interior ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundböck told AFP.
On Wednesday, Russian-based IT security firm Kaspersky has said that malware dubbed Duqu, which is a sophisticated spy tool that was believed to have been eradicated in 2012, appeared to have been used to spy on the nuclear negotiations.
The Swiss attorney general's office confirmed it had launched an investigation on May 6th and conducted a raid six days later, seizing computer equipment, due to "suspicion of illegal intelligence services operating in Switzerland."
It did not specify if hotels were targeted in the probe.
Karl-Heinz Grundböck said that at present there was no clue as to who was behind the alleged cyber espionage.
However, Austria's Kronen Zeitung tabloid reports that there has been speculation in Israeli media that the cyber attacks bore "the hallmark of Israeli intelligence operations".
Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely has rejected any involvement. "Foreign reports about Israeli participation are baseless", she told Israeli army radio on Thursday.
June 30th is the deadline for a historic agreement between Iran and world powers on curtailing Tehran's nuclear programme in return for relief from punishing sanctions.
"The Iranian negotiators have always taken account of the possibility and the significant risk of listening and spying and have always acted with caution" during the talks, said the unnamed official, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.


Villa Glicina is an exquisite, 12-acre luxury estate set on the hills looking down the glitzy bay of Portofino. This property offers wide open views of the sea and total privacy, yet is just a few minutes walk to the centre of town with its shops and restaurants. Villa Glicina embraces the quintessential coastal life. Enjoy the private panoramic swimming pool and ever green park where to escape the summer heat, the white-glove service of the house staff, always ready to please you, but most of all, the view of the Bay from your dinner table…priceless! This villa accommodates 8 guests, in 4 en-suite bedrooms and an extra bedroom en-suite for 10 guest at extra cost.
The elegant sitting room with fireplace and high ceilings with traditional wood beams, together with another expansive living room that opens onto the stunning terrace, offer a world of luxury and relaxation. The formal dining room with vaulted ceiling and large windows with breathtaking views of the harbour delivers a stylish atmosphere. Handsomely furnished with antiques and modern pieces, Villa Barbara prides itself with outstanding service.
Fully equipped kitchen and guest WC complete this floor.
A King size bedroom with en-suite bathroom.
Queen size bedroom with en-suite bathroom.
2 further twin bedrooms each with en-suite bathroom (1 with bath and 1 with shower).
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Four different outdoor dining areas are present on the estate, including a pretty vine-covered gazebo on a plateau. From here you can enjoy unrivalled views of the sea while eating, and the near saltwater swimming pool offers a bar carved out of the rocks, perfect to serve you your favourite drink at the right temperature.
The surrounding private park is a tranquil oasis above the glitzy town.
This waterfront luxury villa, features a unique access from the road, walk 200 meters inside a tunnel carved in the rock, than take an elevator which bring you to the villa entrance. The outdoor furnishings with plush white cushions give a very cool feeling during those hot summer days.
The closest beach is 15 minutes walk away. Experience the intimate beauty and the timeless elegance of this hideaway, where the romantic lights of the port in the distance at night will transport you in a dream.


Include click-to-chat or text buttons as calls to action on mobile banner ads. Google's data shows that click-through rates improve 6-8% for mobile ads with click-to-call functionality. Click-to-chat (or text) offers even more convenience, especially to shoppers who simply can't call at that moment.
Add these buttons to your mobile websites, third-party ad listings and social media to capture any questions that pop up while shoppers view your inventory.
Be more available to talk with shoppers by using mobile chat apps (offered by chat providers). You don't have to stay in the office to respond to these leads!
Don't annoy shoppers (or abuse their privacy) with text blasts. Use an inbound texting solution that lets the mobile shopper text you questions for response.
Technology aside, it's the quick, real-time conversations as they're researching that mobile shoppers crave. Such conversations can influence their end auto purchases…and there's just no app for that. Are you willing to make the change?
Go ahead, right now…check your cell phone. How many unread text messages do you have versus emails?
You can learn more about creating that live, 24/7 presence with live chat and mobile text over on the CAO blog.


After some serious unskewing, a new poll of Vancouver and Washington drivers reveals a big problem with the $3.5 billion funding plan for the Columbia River Crossing: Most say they will steer clear of Interstate 5 tolls.
Let's say the controversial interstate span is built. Some 52 percent of Portland drivers and a whopping 77 percent of Clark County drivers would likely use the I-205 Glenn Jackson Bridge rather than pay tolls, according to poll results released by Seattle-based PEMCO Insurance.
Of course, for whatever reason, that's not how PEMCO is spinning the survey results.
The company's PR firm sent out a sanguine release titled, "One in three drivers undeterred by Columbia River Crossing tolls. "
PEMCO's poll summary starts by noting 33 percent of the region's drivers say they won't change their commuting behaviors, including opting for different route, carpooling, moving residence or riding the bus more often to avoid paying tolls to cross the CRC.
I sent PEMCO spokesman Nick Stubberfield of Firmini + Associates a quick email to clarify things: "So, two-thirds of drivers would change their habits, right?"
Stubberfield's response: "It is fair to say that two-thirds would change their habits, and those two-thirds would change their habits in a variety of ways."
So, in other words, a solid majority of Portland Vancouver drivers would probably be toll dodgers. By the way, it's unknown how much the crossing toll would be.
Ironically, the funding plan to replace the two aging Interstate Bridge spans across the Columbia is counting on tolling for at least one-third of funding.
The states and the federal government would pay for the rest. In addition to interchange improvements and a separated bike and pedestrian route, the project calls for MAX light rail into Vancouver, even though that city's Clark County's voters recently rejected the idea.
About 41 percent of Portland respondents said that even with a toll, they would use the CRC just as often. By contrast, 65 percent of Clark County drivers "who currently use the I-5 bridge more often than their Portland neighbors" say they'll use the crossing less often with tolls.
According to the poll, tolls won't necessarily make commuters more thoughtful about the environment or fighting congestion either. Only 12 percent said they would consider carpooling and 9 percent said they would take the bus.
PEMCO polled only 400 Portland metro residents and 52 in Clark County, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 points in the Portland area and plus or minus 13.9 percent for Clark County. Not exactly a solid sample.
Still, the survey's results aren't exactly a bright spot for a project that has had its funding plan and traffic-prediction models pulled apart by critics in recent months.
PEMCO's website offers a summary of the range of responses.
PEMCO spokesman said Jon Osterberg the insurance company wonders if shifting congestion patterns would eventually change the minds of respondents who say they would try to avoid the tolls.
"With so many drivers saying they'll divert their route, it's likely that I-205 would become congested," Osterberg said. "Perhaps more drivers will choose convenience over savings and end up joining the 33 percent who plan to stay their course despite the toll. We'll continue to track opinions as the project continues."


text:
Hello Boys! I'mmmm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!
Ye Olde Intrepid Reporter is back from a long assed hiatus and is still somehow alive and kicking despite the ways of the world....
WHOOOOOOOLE Lotta changes in this here world... Especially my own.
Looking back, I can't believe that I haven't been on here since late 2009. Changes in life to include Insanity, a Near Death Experience (tm), Cancer, followed by a stint in Asscanistan, Divorce, ANOTHER trip to insane-ville, New Love Found, New Love Lost and a WHOLE bunch of shit....
Well, when we last left the Intrepid Reporter, his blog had been hijacked by the nefarious no-goodniks of God-Knows-Where... Apparently -someone- had hijacked Ye Olde Intrepid Reporters site and was squatting on it. It was locked down and what with posting from The Saddam-A-Go-Go being as difficult as it was, (what with hinky sat-time and bandwidth issues) I decided taking a break was allowable... It was just too damned hard to prove that I was I as it were, (or is it I is me? Or is Me is I? Fuck it... as Daffy would say "Pronoun Trouble!") as I was saying... too much hassle b/c my IP was pinging from Iraq, the Blog Admins were saying that it couldn't be me as I had started it in the states, and yadda yadda... so.... I took ye olde long assed break til I could square things away...
Iraq was winding down as it were, the Dirty Haj (tm) were just waiting for us to leave, and...
Then, well... shit went weird.
Now make that "On Year 10 of Going On Ops..." and you sort of kinds get the idea....
Needless to say Big Countrys Mental fi'ness had kinda sorta... well... degraded pretty substantially.
As in I started going balls-out insane with paranoia and some other shit. (10 years of continual deployments will do that to a dude amiright?)
Yepper... Ye Olde Wigg was shall we say flipped? I essentially lost it. Ranger J, my boss of the time and a great friend, noticed and called back to the head orifice and told the none-too-happy Head Shed that the "Loggie has fucking lost it." They were, from my understanding, none too thrilled that that late (August 2011) that The Old I.R. had gone a bit bananas.
Side Note: The employer's reaction? Not that they gave two flying fucks about me... No..nononono! They just didn't want to have to find or ship a replacement. In fact they had the audacity to ask if I could 'tough it out' with my 'cookie crumbling' so to speak... Corporate America... work 'em til they die I suppose.... bastards....
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………./'/…/…./……./¨¯\ Yeah, Dats what I think 'bout dat! How 'bout DEM apples?
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So... Ranger J went to the wall and pretty much told them I was actually a significant danger to both myself AND the Ugandan guards at that point.
To whit: As things started to fall apart and shut down in Iraq, the "Gan-Gans" who were hired as perimeter security and on-base security started running scams to buy up all the shit (TVs Vehicles...anything) that the Americans were going to be leaving behind. Now mind you, I had already worked a deal with my local Haj, a guy named Ibrahim... he had been a fair-dealing haj with me for a number of years... like 6 or 7... never really screwed me, and I had it all in place to sell ALL my shit, a 60 in plasma, my SUV "Godzilla" a whooooole lotta other shit. He was offering me a pretty damned good price all things considered... but as time went on, I figured 'shopping around' wouldn't hurt as The Haj (tm) are known for screwing over as many individuals as possible... as badly as possible... especially us "Kaffirs" (Infidels)... it's literally a religious edict to screw us when then can... So lo and behold, when the local Gan-Gan contingent showed up at our compound, and told us they were shopping around, I (mistakenly) let these subhumans in.
They came around and started telling us how that they were "good Christians" and that we should sell to them as the godless Haj didn't deserve such a bounty. I told 'em flat out: "Money Talks, Bullshit walks."
They then went around and started making obscenely lowball prices for all my shit... I mean INSULTINGLY low prices... my 60 inch plasma they told me that they could only afford $20 bucks for it... for what retail new at the time was a $1200.00 screen new, and that Ibrahim was going to give me $300.00 for... they then offered me $500.00 bux for my truck... a 2004 Suburban full size with the contractor light uparmor package as seen below:
A measly $500 bux... ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME? Once I got over the brazen audacity of these fucktards, I quickly threw their black asses out of the fucking compound.... Told 'em flat out I'd prefer to sell to the Godless Dirty Haj than get screwed over by 'supposed' "christian" child soldier maybe-fucking-cannibals. Told them "fuck you very much, don't come 'round here no more" and left it at that.
I went to Ibrahim to insure our deal was still solid, and relayed the encounter with the Gan-Gans, and he started laughing his balls off. I was like "Que?" and he related that they weren't working FOR him per se, but were freelancing to get the stuff we were leaving behind at totally discount rates, using the "we're poor Christians from Apefrica" to get the lowest price possible to buy, and had a deal to sell to my towel headed friend at the going market rate... which only pissed me off more... What a fucking scam right? Fuckers played the "we're poor, sell to us b/c we're Christians," lowball the fuck out of the Americans, then turn right around, and sell to the Haj for a profit. Now mind you, I can appreciate a good deal / screwing... but NOT when it's made under these particular circumstances... it was fucking a piss-me-off... and when I threw the child-soldiers out of the compound, many vile oaths were passed between us... they were pissed that I wouldn't sell to them, and I was pissed that they tried to lowball me... hell, if I had known they had already brokered a deal aforehand, I would NEVER have allowed their cannibal asses INTO the compound to begin with...
The pencil necked editor is once again waving his fucking hand and calling me out for calling them "Cannibals..." said I'm being "Raaaaaacist!" Jesus on a crutch... Even after 7 years I can't get rid of this guy... OK Poindexter... just google "Uganda Cannibalism" and you get about 121 THOUSAND entries in the first point .5 seconds. Fuckers like to eat human flesh OK? Hell, their former leader Idi Amin was a well known eater-of-long-pig: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin ... nuff said there... they're NOT civilized, and from what I saw, barely that nowadays. Soooo anyways...
Shortly thereafter, the harassment started.
It started small... air let out of my tires. Literal human feces thrown at my hootch over the wire... then it started accelerating. Tires slashed. Paint keyed. Windshield cracked with a rock. At which point I KNEW who and what the fuck was going on. We had the exterior and interior of the compound wired with 2nd Generation Night Vision security cameras, and I SAW these apes fucking with my truck. Problem was on a NVG, as horrible as it sounds, one Gan Gan looks like another on the video. I nonetheless went down to the employer of these wayward cannibals, (I'll NOT say who they worked for, to avoid the obvious libel charge) but nevertheless, they pretty much had an attitude of "Well, we barely keep them from eating each other... what do you want from us?"
Well... I told the Bwana, the Great White Bossman to pass on that over the next few days I'd be sitting in the hide on the roof of one of the buildings at night, and ANYONE I saw close to the compound I was going to terminate with joyous prejudice. I also added since we WERE a secure comms facility, that any action taken by me was considered to be fully allowable to 'secure' our compound... after all, even the fucking MPs couldn't come into our A.O. (area of operation) without at least a General Officer signing off on it... we had "double secret protection" in that respect... and I told Bwana that if he didn't want to have to tell the head orifice just WHY a member of the Comms Team up the street had gunned down some of his child-soldiers, he'd get his assholes in a row and under control... lest I come back.
Well it stopped. But the seed of paranoia was planted. Add on some mortar attacks outside of the norm, a few close calls and some serious flack I was taking from the now-Ex-Household Six, and I started to unravel.
See... I wanted to come home. Anyone who's followed this blog, or even new readers can go back and read it, but I had been on continual combat ops in one form or another since 2004. I had a guy a few years back 2012 I think who had calculated my time in country/in a war zone and he came up with (not including the year in Asscanistan) as almost 2209 days. To give an idea of how long that is, World War Two was -only- 1341 days long... from December 1941 to August 1945 (Pearl Harbor to VJ Day)... I was in "the zone" 2200 plus days at that point... or at least until I left on September 7th, 2011. Any wonder why I started to crack the fuck up? Well, XHH6 didn't see it that way... I won't go into it all, but she was firm that she wanted the $$$ to keep coming in, and continue her non-working lifestyle, even if it meant me coming out in a body bag... at the time I didn't see it that way, but hindsight is 20-20.
I'll get into more about the XHH6 after a while, but the final straw came one day as I was leaving a car wash outside of base. The Haj had set up numerous businesses catering to the US Contractors and troops, one of which was a full service detail car wash. After leaving Godzilla was doing well, however, there was a 'shimmy' in the rear end that hadn't been there before. I wasn't up to normal speed as I had heard some noise back there during my earlier running around, so I was being cautious. That's when it happened. The left rear wheel suddenly locked on me unexpectedly, and lurched the whole big assed monster truck into what should have been oncoming traffic. Thankfully, there was none. I wrestled the damned thing, cursing the truck, the maintenance and life in general, off the road, dragging a dead frozen wheel off the road, and called for a tow once I got Godzilla safe.
Come to find out a 'forensic' check that -someone-had sabotaged the rear end... I was meant to have the wheels lock up when I was at speed... and if it had done so, the car would have done a flip-and-barrel roll leaving the old IR as scattered parts with the scattered parts of my truck alllll over Route Irish....
So now it was a whooooooooole new game... minor annoyances aside, these fuckers were playing for keeps... Attempted fucking murder? Oh yeah... this put a new level of paranoia in that, looking back, well it showed I wasn't exactly wrapped too tight. I figured it was time for some payback of sorts... as in I lost my shit and was about to go perform "The Harvest of A Thousand Heads" or that thereabout... My Boss, Ranger J, found me in mid-preparation, sharpening my panga and decked in Ninjawear, ready to go out and 'have a good killin'" My plan, (not well thought out of course, but at this time I was full on fucking bonkers) was to go out and jump some Gan-Gans and behead them, collect the nuggets, and stack 'em up pyramid style in front of the fuckers corporater HQ....
Needless to say I was on a plane within 48 hours of this little "incident" with an annotation from Ranger J saying essentially "The Loggie done lost his shit FOR REALZ and stick a fork in 'im, he's done."
So thus ends the first installment of the IR headed home (sans sleeveless sport-jacket, although I was headed in that direction) and I'll update again in Part Two: "The IR gets hit... AGAIN!"
Until then, I remain, batter but yet unbowed, the Intrepid Reporter, Big Country
Posted by BigCountryExpat at 5:57 PM No comments:


Sometimes I get so caught up in trying to find the latest and greatest music, that I forget to come back to the classics in my library and give them proper attention.
Despite this, It amazes me that I have yet to feature Bonobo, perhaps my favorite artist on my very own music blog!
I had a hard time choosing what song to feature first, but eventually I decided on Kiara. Even though it is not my favorite work of Bonobo's (I prefer the more lyrical, slow paced and instrumental works) I chose Kiara because it is the first song that got me to start listening to Bonobo, as well as it is likely his best known song.
It is a very glitchy and exiting song that layers well violins with chopped vocals. Please give it a listen.
I will be feature more of Bonobo's work soon, but if you want to get a head start, i highly recommend the albums: Black Sands and a Days to Come.


Lincoln Medical Education Partnership (LMEP) has recently revamped its Stepping Stones (www.steppingstoneslincoln.com) for Families program by giving it a new name, a new look, and adding expanded services and insurance plans. Stepping Stones is an outpatient substance abuse treatment center, providing alcohol and drug assessments and counseling services. Stepping Stones accepts Blue Cross Blue Shield, Midlands Choice, Nebraska Total Care, Wellcare of Nebraska, United Healthcare Community Plan, and Medica.
Stepping Stones now offers Safety Sensitive Education and counseling for those in Safety Sensitive positions under the Department of Transportation (DOT) covered entities. To participate in Safety Sensitive Education, an individual must have completed a Substance Use Evaluation with a DOT qualified Substance Abuse Professional and have a recommendation for drug and/or alcohol education. Sessions can be held individually or in a group setting.
At one convenient site (4600 Valley Rd.), LMEP is able to offer families the tools to achieve good health and to become self-sufficient. To make an appointment or learn more, contact Shannon Miller at (402) 488-6511 / kmadcharo@lmep.com, or visit Stepping Stones' website at www.steppingstoneslincoln.com.