I'm a liberal pagan living in West, Texas. Yes. That West, Texas.

Showing posts with label $25 million. Show all posts
Showing posts with label $25 million. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

I HAVEN'T COME ALONG WAY....AND I'M NOT YOUR FUCKING BABY



















You know you have way to much time on your hands if when you are eating a bowl of alphabet soup, you search around looking for letters so you can spell out 'fuck you'...I swear to the Goddess, I did this today at lunch..I even took a picture of it and when I get the 2-3 rolls of film developled I will put them on the blog so you can see and say.."Yes, she has waaaaaay to much time on her hands."
Today's post boys and girls is going to be weird..not so much what I am posting about, but my take on it...lets see...where shall I start..oh I know...Willie has a new album out and it looks like it could be a fucking classic, if you are a old country and western fan..It's called 'Last of the Breed.'...with Merle Haggard and Ray Price..just how cool is that..? "Heartaches by the Number,""Pick Me Up on Your Way Down,", "Why Me,"(one of my favorites),and "I love You a Thousand Ways.".....sigh..I want this one...Which reminds me..I have to rewire the speakers on my $99 special(20 years old) record player...I have been hankering to listen to some of my old records..
Ok, this is one of the articles that made my mind sort of go off in different directions ...
Chiquita admits paying terrorists...Banana company Chiquita Brands International Inc. admitted in federal court Monday that it paid Columbian terrorists for years to protect its most profitable banana-growning operation..
The company pleaded guilt to one count of doing business with a terorist organization. The plea is part of a deal with prosecutors that calls for a $25 million fine and does not identify the several senior executives who approved the illegal protection payments. Prosecutors say the Cincinnaati based company agreed to pay about $1.7 million between 1997 and 2004 to the United Self-defense Forces of Columbia.
The group has been responsible for some of the worse massacres in Columbia's civil conflict and for a sizable percentage of the country's cocaine exports. Chiquita has said it was forced to make the payments and was acting only to ensure the safety of its workers.
So here's my take on it..This is an American company that is working in a country that exports cocaine, a country that is out of control because of the drug cartels and our country can't pump enough money in there fast enough to 'help' this country...and to ensure that their company employees aren't kidnapped and or killed, Chiquita pays $1.7 million dollars over a 7 year period..and to punish them...they fine them $25million...! Fuck the only difference between the drug cartel and the government is we didn't use the threat of kidnapping and murder to get the money...and we got more money than the bad guys did..So what happens to the $25 mil?...What will happen to the employees of Chiquita now that there is no payoff? What happens to the $25 mil?...Why don't they take the $25mil and use it to help get security for the workers of Chiquita Banana?...Am I nuts?...well, that's besides the point..Does this smack of Bush Administration logic...one of our countries is being blackmailed for security reasons in another country..so lets fine them 25 times the amount they were paying and cut them loose...It made better sense when I was picking through carrots and peas looking for a u for 'fuck you.'...sigh*
Now..this is the good one...you all know I love my stupid state even if it is full of stupid red necks toting Bibles in one hand and a 38 special in the other...right?
Well...here is the latest in my series of "only in fucking Texas'...
A self-defense bill opposed by prosecutors across the state breezed through the House on Monday and is expected to be on the governor's desk by the end of the week..(we all know Good Hair Perry will sign that sucker into a bill in a New York City second.)
The legislation, pushed by gun-rights advocates in several states, will allow ANY...I REPEAT..ANY law-abiding(yeah right) citizen who feels threatened by someone to kill that person without first trying to get away, prosecutors say....Just in case you didn't grasp this...anyone any time anyfuckingwhere can shoot to kill, anyone if they feel like they are being threatened...The bill is an extension of the current "castle doctrine" in Texas, under which a homeowner has the right to shoot an intruder to protect himself. The new legislation extends taht to :anywhere a person "has a right to be," according to the bill.
Prosecutors say tht means cars, jobs, parks, malls, street corners or anywhere else a person might feel threatened. Lawmakers say that interpertation is too broad. ya think? The bill makes three major changes to current law. First, it extends the "castle doctrine" beyond the home. Second, it protects a person from being sued by his attacker-or the attacker's family-for injuries if the shooter was found to have been acting in self-defense.And it creates a "presumption of self-defense" much like the presumption of innocence, but applied in deadly-force cases.
It's the third part of the bill that supporters say is most important to protect law-abiding gun owers(oxymoron) who aren't afraid to use deadly force. That's also the part that worries prosecutors and gun-control advocates.
The bill would require a jury to presume that a defendant who has hurt or killed someone was acting in self-defense as long as the defendant wasn't breaking the law at the time, didn't provoke the attack and had reason to believe tht the other person wanted to rape, kidnap, kill or rob him.
Sponsors say the bill is intended only for people who are in their homes, cars or businesses-or their loved ones are-and who use deadly force to protect against someone who is "unlawfully" and "forcibly" trying to enter the car or business to hurt them.
But prosecutors point to this section of the bill as having the potential for uninteded consequences, such as gang-style murders tht leave no witnesses and trigger-happy peole who kill a panhandler for approaching them on the street with his hand in his pocket.
They say that prosecutors rarely file charges on someone with a clear case of self-defense but that the new bill will make it easy to beat a murder rap and, in some cases, impossible to convict.The law is restoring a right Texans had 40 years ago, said Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland(gee, a republican...what a surprise...wonder how much the NRA is puttin in his pocket?)and it doesn't stop police and DA's from investigating and building cases against murderers, carjackers, and even trigger-happy motorists with road rage.
"What the prosecutors are saying, they're just whining," Mr. Driver said. "They're not reading this bill. They're reading comic books or something....If you're driving down the road adn your're afraid someone's going to shoot you, and you shoot them, they know they can prosecute."
(wow, that was clear and concise, huh?)
Well, I don't know whether to shit or go shoot someone..
"But your honor, she was yelling and screaming and calling me a fucking republican, I had to shoot her...I knew she was one of them left wing tree hugging pagan Democrats, and was a threat to my way of life."

fuckme till my powder's dry.