Maxfield Parrish illustration

Knickerbocker's History of New York (1899)

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The Irascible One

What planet is she on? --- Unbelievable. This is more than just being in denial, this is crass stupidity, and proves once again that today's politicians simply are out of touch with the general populace. Kathy Augustine is running for State Treasurer. "Vote for me, I won't steal again" might be her campaign slogan. The lady needs to wallow in some mud and go to work for a used car genius.

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What planet is she on, #2 --- Hello? Hello? Line's busy, no one's home. Janet Moncrief had serious ethics violations, and was voted out of office by her peers. Guess what, Red Ryder? She wants to be Lt. Guv.

Will it never end?

It is impossible to put these two items into perspective without just saying, oh well, it's Nevada. Following the biggest corruption scandal to hit the state in more than 100 years, with $kindustry figures, former county representatives, even former cops about to do hard time in a federal pen, these two haven't seen the light. There's no tunnel, it's bright as hell out there, and they can't see that we are fed up to here and more with criminal shenanigans being played by corrupt politicians.

Kathy, Janet, get a life.

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No ethics violations here --- His politics may not be mainstream, and who is to say that's wrong, at least Fallon's Stanleigh Harold Lusak hasn't been brought before the Ethics Commission. Lusak filed as a Republican for the office of governor, but puts his own philosophy to the word Republican. "I'm a constitutionalist, America first Republican," he says.

He says all the current and past office holders are members of the New World Order, not Democrats or Republicans. Lusak says, "There's not a flea's difference between New World Order Bush, New World Order Clinton, or New World Order Kerry." Was that Bill or Hillary?

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Take a seat, Senator --- Even a dense individual can understand that the high cost of fuel has not been caused by Hurricane Katrina; it's the greed of the corporate heads, few of whom are Americans. Most fuel distribution companies are international corporations with headquarters outside the U.S. Don't act surprised by that statement, pleas. Now comes State Senator and Gubernatorial candidate Bob Beers who wants to take it out on us.

Besides federal money, that is taxes that we have paid, there are state monies, that is taxes paid by us that help build and maintain our roads and highways. We pay $0.1765 in gas tax per gallon to the state for highway funds and Beers wants to do away with that tax.

The next time you drive (creep slowly) around southern Nevada, the next time you are clogged up at the Spaghetti Bowl in northern Nevada, try to remember that. No new highways, but gas is a little cheaper.

Won't work, Senator.

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Psst, want a green card? --- A recent report on illegal immigration has Nevada with the next to highest ranking in the nation. The figure is percentage wise, not numbers wise. There are more than one million employed persons in Nevada according to the state employment division, and the national report says that slightly less than 10 percent are illegal immigrants. More than 100,000 of Nevada's employed are here illegally, and that means that one hell of a lot of employers are just as guilty as those they employ.

In California, third ranked by the report, almost nine percent were in the state and working illegally. Arizona topped the list with more than ten percent of the workers in the state illegally.

Are they here because it's so hard to get a job? Are they flocking here because our businesses are so adept at finding people with illicit green cards and Social Security numbers? Gee, I wonder....

There is a bit of a caveat to this, though. It seems, according to Dawn Gibbons currently leading the race for Congressional District Two, that it is more than difficult to check on someone's legal status. When she was looking to hire a person for her business a while back, she did what she thought was the right thing and went to the INS to check on the person's status. He had a green card and Social Security card, but INS told her it was illegal for them to say whether the person was here legally or otherwise. "Puts a whole new twist on the question," she told us.

That's one of the reasons there is a large and efficient industry that distributes false credentials including green cards, Social Security cards, driver licenses, and other forms of identification. As much as we want to blame someone for the current immigration mess, it still comes down to the government not working to keep the border secure.

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Some don't understand open government --- They've been chastised, they've been threatened with lawsuits, they've been castigated in Nevada's free press, and they still don't understand. Certain members of the University Board of Regents want to do away with Nevada's Open Meeting Law. It's a never-ending battle with these people that insist that government business should be conducted behind closed doors.

Pay attention and repeat after me: We pay for this government, we have every right to know how it is handled. If you want to work in secret, go to work for an oil company.

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At least it's not radios this time --- Highway Patrol officers may not be able to talk to HQ from many places in Nevada, but at HQ it appears the talk isn't proper. A Patrol Captain has filed sexual harassment charges against the top two in the division.

Colonel David Hosmer, he's the Patrol Chief, and Major Robert Wideman, number two in northern Nevada have been put on administrative leave pending the outcome of the charges. Captain Jacquelyn Sandage is director of the Patrol's training center, and she filed sexual harassment charges against the two. She trains 'em, should know.

Because it's a personnel matter we don't get to know the juicies until the court hearing if there is one. Right now it's a division investigation.

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