the 9-29-5 Penny Press

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See Analysis Page 3
PHOTOGRAPH
BY
CARL
JUSTE/MIAMI
HERALD NEW ORLEANS, LA — Members of
a law enforcement task force consisting of
members of the FBI , Louisiana State Police
and New Orleans Police Department search
the W.B. Cooper Apartments in New Orleans
on September 16, 2005, looking for guns,
fugitives, looted items and drugs
THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 2
www.pennypresslv.com
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Publisher and Editor:
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The Penny Press is published weekly by
5010 Productions, Inc. All Contents © Penny Press 2005
Contributing Editors:
Brent Jordan
Al Thomas
Doug French
Bill Here
Brent Jordan
Pat Choate
Joyce Meyer
Bob Jennings
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16 PAGES
VOLUME 3 NUMBER 1
SEPTEMBER 29, 2005
2nd Amendment Even Protects Geraldo
By FRED WEINBERG
Penny Press Publisher
If you have ever wondered why
James Madison started the debate
Analysis
in 1789 which eventually added the
Bill of Rights to the Constitution in
1791, the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina serves as a living lesson.
Simply put, the first amendment
protects Geraldo’s microphone and
your right to know things.
And the second amendment protects your right to protect yourself.
Both were at stake this past
month.
There was some jerk at FEMA
(the Federal Emergency Management
Agency) who told the media that
they would not be allowed to shoot
pictures or video of dead bodies.
That lasted as long as it took
CNN to waltz into a Federal Court
and read the First Amendment to a
judge.
A more ominous problem surfaced when New Orleans Mayor
Ray Nagin ordered his police department to confiscate all guns in the
city which weren’t owned by law
enforcement.
Now picture this.
The most corrupt city in the
most corrupt state in the nation had
descended into an almost cinematic
condition of complete lawlessness
aided by the fact that a significant
portion of that corrupt city’s Police
Department simply cut and ran or,
worse, joined the looters.
Those remaining property own-
The Conservative Weekly
Voice Of Las Vegas
Inside:
Brown Not To
Blame For Katrina
See Editorial Page 6
ers who had the foresight to own
firearms for protection were safe—
or at least had a chance at selfdefense, right?
Wrong.
Nagin, who today is strutting
around like he wasn’t the cause
of almost every death through his
incompetence and indecision, told
his cops to pick up the guns of law
abiding citizens.
If there were ever a better explanation of the reason we needed a
Bill of Rights (or at least the first
two amendments) than Hurricane
Katrina, we must have missed it.
Fortunately, in the biggest news
story which most of the media
never told you about, the Second
Amendment Foundation and the
National Rifle Association filed suit
against the City of New Orleans, its
mayor and its now departed police
Penny Wisdom
Freedom is our fortune and
honor is our saving grace.
—Charlton Heston
superintendent and last Thursday,
Federal Judge Jay Zainey signed a
Temporary Restraining Order and
Preliminary Injunction forbidding
New Orleans from taking guns from
law-abiding citizens and ordering
them to return the guns that were
taken.
That was a central focus of
last weekend’s Gun Rights Policy
Conference in Los Angeles, hosted by the Second Amendment
Foundation with keynote speeches
from the NRA’s Wayne La Pierre
and Idaho Senator Larry Craig.
“When someone,” said La Pierre,
“talks about how the second amendment is outdated today…
“Remember New Orleans!”
Craig told conferees that the
new buzz word in Washington about
the rebuilding of New Orleans was,
PAT CHOATE
FRED WEINBERG
DOUG FRENCH
BILLHERE
AL THOMAS
DIANE GRASSI
JOYCE MEYER
BRENT JORDAN
PET OF THE WEEK
Continued on page4
PAGE 5
PAGE 6
PAGE 7
PAGE 8
PAGE 10
PAGE 11
PAGE 12
PAGE 14
PAGE 15
THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 4
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Your Gun Rights Protect A Lot Of Other Rights, Too
Continued from page 3
“local control”.
“The most corrupt state in the union spending Billions of your tax dollars?
“This is a city which pays its starting police officers $17,000 a year and
tells them to make it up on the streets.”
Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb pointed out that
the lawsuit may not be over.
“We hope they decide to challenge the order,” said Gottlieb. “Because if
they do, maybe we can get a case up to the Fifth Circuit which has already
ruled that the Second Amendment confers gun ownership as an individual
right.”
One has to wonder why a Second Amendment court ruling this significant—issued at a time of national emergency—was a news story in only
three newspapers.
Only the Washington Times, the Austin (Texas) Statesman and the Ft.
Worth Star Telegram gave the story any space.
The television networks, all engaged in Hurricane Rita coverage and
with complete access to the story ignored it.
And the anti-gun groups maintained a stony silence.
But for now, Judge Zainey’s order is law in the Fifth Circuit and your
right to defend yourself should your surroundings turn lawless in an emergency appears intact.
That was a pretty good day’s work for those folks who have been working for years to defend your right to gun ownership.
And, ultimately, for those who live and die on the first amendment as
well.
Because if there’s nothing to back up your right to free speech and freedom of the press, even Geraldo’s microphone can go dead in a New Orleans
minute.
And as irritating as it might occasionally be, protecting Geraldo’s freedom of the press protects your freedom of speech, too.
THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 5
Commentary: Pat Choate
Arms From
Abroad
George Washington would have
imprisoned most of the people running the Pentagon today as being
traitors. No sane person, he would
reason, would make the nation
dependent on foreign countries,
including likely future belligerents,
for the arms and materials needed to
safeguard the United States. Only a
traitor would put the country in such
jeopardy.
Washington knew for he almost
lost the Revolutionary War because
the young country lacked the weapons it needed and had to depend on
suppliers in France and Holland.
After the war’s end, he and the other
Founding Fathers vowed that this
country would never again depend
upon others for the weapons needed
for its defense.
Since 1989, however, U.S.
defense policy has changed.
Beginning in the Administration of
George H.W. Bush, the U.S. has
sought out its military supplies
and weapons wherever they can be
obtained at the lowest cost. The
Clinton Administration took the matter even further in 1995 asking that
foreign suppliers be given a preference in certain circumstances.
Thus, when the U.S. went into
Iraq and needed two-piece protective suits to guard against biological
The Penny Press Tips Its Cap To:
District Judge Donald Mosley who stepped up and killed two birds with
one stone by sentencing Tamara Schmidt to at least four years in prison for
neglect of her crippled daughter, Brittney Bergeron, and her dead daughter,
Kristyanna Cowan. We had another judge trying, over the objections of
Brittney, trying to "re-unite" the mother and daughter and this sentence
should put an end to that nonsense. In case you were on another planet, the
girls were assaulted by another couple of creeps Schmidt was doing a drug
deal with.
Nevada's drivers. We're finally not leading the league in drunk driving
fatalities. Now we're just average.
The Penny Press Sends A Bronx Cheer
And A Bouquet of Weeds To:
Community College of Southern Nevada President Richard Carpenter for
insisting who insisted that the public have access to his personnel evaluation. “Everything I do, I’m going to be transparent with,” he said. That
makes him totally unlike other university personnel who forget all the time
exactly where their paychecks come from.
weapons the Pentagon had to go to
overseas to get all the parts.
The next generation of Army
spy plane is being made in Brazil.
A consortium of Italian and British
producers will make the next set
of Presidential helicopters. The
Washington Post reports that twelve
of the biggest weapon systems used
in Iraq, including the drones and
Tomahawk missiles, could not be
built without foreign parts.
This is what we know. What
we do not know is even scarier.
The Pentagon keeps track of its
first and second tier of suppliers
and where they produce their goods.
They do not track the many lower
level suppliers and that is the problem. These suppliers are buying
their components off the commercial
shelf wherever they can get a deal,
and that means China, Taiwan, or
South Korea.
If we have another major war,
the only likely opponent is China.
Certainly, China is building an
ocean-going navy and modernizing
its Army and Air Force. They have
repeatedly said that when they are
strong enough, they will either bluff
Taiwan into submission to take it by
force. In recent months, the Chinese
have angrily dealt with Japan. Isn’t
it the height of foolishness to depend
upon China for the arms and materials we need to defend ourselves?
Unless the Pentagon has forgotten, the U.S. has treaties that
require us to go to Japan’s defense
if it is attacked and a succession
of Presidents, including George W.
Bush, have pledged to go to Taiwan’s
aid should it be attacked.
Do our military planners really
think that they will be able to get
critical items out of China during a
time of war, or even out of Taiwan,
Korea or Japan ? It is about as likely
as the Iranian revolutionaries getting spare parts from the U.S. for all
those F-4 jets we sold them in the
early and middle 1970s.
America won World War I and
II because we had the industrial
and technological capacity to be the
arsenals of democracy.
The global search for cheap parts
and inexpensive weapons by this
and the past two Administrations
has greatly reduced the safety of
the United States. In time of war,
assured supplies, regardless of cost,
is the difference between victory and
defeat.
If President Bush and his DOD
appointees cannot be made to
understand the necessity for assured
supplies, Congressional action is
required, including enactment of
Buy American provisions in all the
defense procurement acts that it
funds. And if the foreign suppliers
don’t like this change in U.S. policy
and complain, I say to hell with
them. Our security is more important than their profits.
PAT CHOATE
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OPINION
THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 6
From The Publisher...
Posse Comitatus 101
Over 40 years ago as a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol’s Peoria
(Illinois) Composite Squadron, I and a fair number of other
13-year olds spent a lot of time filling up sandbags and shoring up the banks of the Mississippi River during flood season
near Moline.
powers. And while most of them won’t come right out and say
it, their argument is that government officials in Louisiana are
so corrupt, incompetent or both that the President should have
known that and called what was happening in New Orleans an
insurrection and simply Federalized the whole situation.
The next year, I was in charge of a group of 14-year olds who
were deployed a number of times as a ground search and rescue unit—even though we had to be driven to the locations we
were searching by our adult senior leaders because we weren’t
old enough to drive ourselves.
Here are the facts.
By the time I was 15, I had flown many hours as an observer in
a CAP single engine aircraft as we ran grid searches for missing
airplanes and missing people.
The Civil Air Patrol is a civilian auxiliary of the United States
Air Force and among the first things that they taught us back
then was about something called the Posse Comitatus Act of
1878. The reason they taught us those things was that back
then most of the CAP’s deployments dealt with state and local
emergencies and our leaders took the position that as a agent
of the federal armed forces, we could do nothing until we were
asked to by the state.
Strictly speaking, the Act actually forbids the use of the military in any sort of a domestic law enforcement capacity absent
extreme conditions, but in 1965, we had never thought of alQaeda and the Russians were our enemies. So, we went by
the strictest interpretation of the law which our adult leaders
determined kept us on the sidelines until we were asked in as
part of an emergency.
With that background and plenty of intervening experience,
I can tell you that the members of the House Committee
which excoriated former FEMA director Michael Brown should
be ashamed of themselves, as should House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi who called for Brown’s replacement on the basis
of pure partisan politics.
It would appear that the only thing Brown was guilty of was
perhaps inflating his resume a bit. And if we were to fire
everybody in Washington who did that, we’d be missing half
of Congress, one or two Supreme Court Justices and tens of
thousands of staffers.
Left totally unsaid by any of these idiot savant congresspersons was the fact that under Brown’s tenure, FEMA had successfully worked over 150 incidents including two of the five
largest hurricanes ever to hit the United States.
The problem here is that most people in Congress don’t understand the concept of a first responder and they assume that
the Federal Government is always supposed to be there.
Well, it is.
But not first.
And it is not the responsibility of the Federal Government to
evacuate large cities.
When you get right down to it, Brown is being pilloried for
not anticipating how incompetent and corrupt one single state
was.
You didn’t hear complaints from Florida about FEMA during last
year’s hurricanes.
You didn’t see any evacuation problems from Houston last
weekend.
For starters, the fault for New Orleans lies squarely in one location. New Orleans.
And Governor Haley Barbour seems to have Mississippi under
control.
The Mayor, Ray Nagin, is without a doubt the least competent
individual who ever had to play such a role on the national
stage. As disasters go, Nagin is one himself. And the second most incompetent individual is the Governor of Louisiana,
Kathleen Blanco.
Truth be told, I don’t know whether or not Brown was a great,
good or mediocre administrator.
Essentially, the Democrats in the Hate George Bush movement
who don’t want the FBI to have the authority under the Patriot
Act to check library records now seem perfectly willing to let the
Federal Government violate the bulwark of the separation of
And that may be the way they do things in Louisiana and
Washington DC, but the rest of us have a higher standard.
But he’s getting blamed for things which simply aren’t his
responsibility.
FRED WEINBERG
THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 7
Commentary: Doug French
UNLV Department Chair Wants
You To Pay More Taxes!
The chairman of the UNLV economics department, Stephen M. Miller,
was given an editorial page platform in the Las Vegas Review Journal
recently to advocate for a windfall profits tax on oil companies as a solution
to the nations oil dependence. Despite the article’s title: “Gasoline Prices:
Don’t mess with the market” the professor advocates for just the opposite.
Miller’s piece was in response to State Senator Bob Beers’ proposal
to temporarily lift Nevada’s state gasoline tax. Professor Miller (not to be
confused with NPRI policy director Steven Miller or ex-city councilman
Steve Miller) is against the Beers proposal because temporarily lifting the
gas tax will not, in his view, lower the price at the pump, but will, again in
his view, only serve to increase “big” oil company profits. Instead of the
state of Nevada having those millions to pay his salary to shape the minds of
young impressionable college kids, the money would instead flow into the
coffers of private enterprise. That thought evidently offends the sensibilities
of the department chair.
Miller rightly contends that higher gasoline prices “rations the product
to the best use on a willingness to pay basis.” Plus, he identifies a couple of
reasons why gasoline prices are high—increased Chinese demand and the
lack of refinery construction constricting supply.
Then strangely, the professor frets about the oil industry’s image if the
price of gasoline doesn’t fall if the taxes are stayed.
But he isn’t too worried about “big oil,” thinking that government
should “take action to put a dent into those extraordinary profits.” But, how
will this help the consumer at the pump?
Where Beers wants to really give market forces a chance to help the
consumer, Miller proposes a higher state gasoline tax that “could reduce
the excessive profits of gasoline profits of gasoline retailers if their profits
appear excessive.”
Obviously Professor Miller is less concerned about consumers than he
is about “excessive” profits. And, by the way, just who does Miller think
should be the judge of “excessive”? Government, of course. “Government
can impose a windfall profits tax to absorb as much of the current profits of
big oil that the government deems excessive,” Miller writes.
In fact, if gasoline prices were to fall without the tax, Miller believes
that this “corresponds to precisely the wrong policy recommendation.”
The higher the price at the pump, the more that demand slows: consumers will buy less. Big oil companies sell gas on a wholesale basis to their
retailer customers based upon the demand from those retailers irrespective
of what state taxes happen to be. Most retail sellers of gasoline keep their
prices as competitive as possible in order to attract customers to their properties to sell them other higher margin products like beer, cigarettes, food
items, and video poker play.
Although Miller is correct that the higher costs of production didn’t
increase prices, demand has; consumers are now cutting their consumption,
thus it is possible that lifting the tax might lower the price at the pump a few
pennies as retailers attempt to recapture previous sales. Besides, perhaps
Professor Miller hasn’t heard, state government is flooded with taxpayer
money at the moment.
Also, just where does Professor Miller think oil companies will get the
money to find more oil or increase refining capacity if profits are sent to the
government to be wasted?
The late great Murray Rothbard wrote about “excess” profit taxation in
his book, Power and Market: “Attacking profits ‘doubly’ disrupts and hampers the whole market-adjustment process. Such a tax penalizes efficient
entrepreneurship.”
Rothbard goes on to make the point that it is times of crisis like now that
the “more important it is not to tax ‘excess’ profits, or any form of ‘excess’
revenue for that matter; otherwise, adaptation to the new conditions will be
blocked just when rapid adjustment is particularly required.”
The anti-profits Professor Miller believes the correct policy “does not
try to lower the price of gasoline.” He wants consumers to pay more and
the government to get more through an excess profits tax. But, as Rothbard
wrote about the excess profits tax; “It is difficult to find a tax more indefensible from more points of view than this one.”
DOUG FRENCH
THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 8
The Best Vegas Calendar BAR NONE!
By Billhere
The FREE, e-mailed, VegasResource.com Newsletter and complete index of
Las Vegas coupons for shows, buffets and attractions is available on the internet at:
http://www.vegasresource.com/FreeVRC.html
SEPTEMBER, 2005
29-Oct. 1= Ann-Margret - Stardust.
29-Oct.5= Howie Mandel - MGM Grand.
30= Trisha Yearwood - Las Vegas Hilton.
30= Blue Man Group opens in the Venetian in a new custom built
theater, where the old C2K Nightclub was originally located.
30-Oct.1= Wayne Brady - Mirage.
30-Oct.1= Classic Rock All-Stars-Cannery.
30-Oct.1= Trisha Yearwood - Las Vegas Hilton.
30-Oct. 1= Wayne Brady - The Mirage.
30-Oct. 2= Rich Little - Suncoast.
OCTOBER, 2005
================
1= Air service starts from Palm Springs,CA - America West.
1= Taekwondo Championship - Cashman Ctr.
1= Dolly Parton - House of Blues Mandalay Bay.
1= Andre Agassi’s Grand Slam For Children with
Mary J.Blige,Celine Dion, Duran Duran, Glenn Frey, Robin Williams
- MGM Grand Garden Arena.
1= Styx & REO Speedwagon-Orleans Arena.
4-9= Elton John - Caesars Palace.
6= Green Day, Jimmy Eat World - Thomas and Mack.
6-19= Tom Jones - MGM Grand.
6-19= George Carlin - Stardust.
7= Billy Ray Cyrus - Boulder Station.
7= First Friday huge arts night 6-9 p.m. - Downtown Arts
District:
http://www.firstfriday-lasvegas.org
7= The Killers - Hard Rock.
7-8= Damon Wayans - The Mirage.
7-9= Grand Sumo Championships - Mandalay Bay.
7-9= Maxxis Motorcycle U.S. Open - MGM Grand.
8-9= Mötley Crüe -The Joint in the Hard Rock.
8-10= Al Martino - Suncoast.
8-Nov.6= Professional Bull Riders Championship - Mandalay Bay.
9= Maynard Ferguson - Santa Fe Station.
11-16= Elton John - Caesars palace.
14-15= The Black Crowes -Hard Rock The Joint
14-15= David Spade - The Mirage.
14-16= Juan Gabriel - Las Vegas Hilton.
14-16= Mr.Olympia Contest-Orleans Arena.
14-16= Roger Williams - Suncoast.
15= Eagles - MGM Grand.
15= Grand Funk Railroad - Texas Station.
15-16= Gun & Knife Show - Cashman Center.
15-17= The Letterman - Suncoast.
16= Paul Rodriguez - Mandalay Bay.
17= Alice Cooper - Hard Rock The Joint.
18-23= Elton John - Caesars Palace.
18-25= . STATION CASINOS. Free Conference Call at 1-800-6201687.
20-23= Don Rickles - Stardust.
20-23= Frankie Avalon/Bobby Rydell-Orleans.
20-24= Dennis Miller - MGM Grand.
21= Nazareth - Boulder Station.
21-23= Home Show - Cashman Center.
21-23= Smothers Brothers - Suncoast.
22= Jimmy Buffett - MGM Grand.
22-24= Jose Feliciano - Suncoast.
25-Nov.9= Howie Mandel - MGM Grand.
26= Entertainment Expo - Golden Nugget.
26-29= Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme - Stardust.
27-30= Pointer Sisters - The Orleans.
28= Basketball.Lakers vs. Kings-Thomas & Mack.
28-29= Ray Romano - The Mirage.
28-Nov.6= Professional Bull Riders Finals - Mandalay Bay.
28-30= Antique Arms Show - Mandalay Bay.
28-30= Air Supply - Suncoast.
29= Jimmy Buffett - MGM Grand.
29-31= James Darren - Suncoast.
30= Move clocks ahead one hour.
30-Feb.7= Danny Gans show closed - Mirage.
31= Halloween.
?Oct.?= La Bete nightclub closes for four weeks and will have a
multimillion dollar renovation, new management and a new name
- Wynn Las Vegas.
++++++++++
====================================
Please e-mail errors, omissions and additions to:
[email protected]
THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 9
Trucks And Guns
Bob Jennings/Penny Press
The Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosted its annual NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Race last weekend. It wasn't a great weekend
for the local guys as the Orleans Racing Team was out early.
In Los Angeles, the Second Amendment Foundation hosted its
anual Gun Rights Policy Conference. Wayne LaPierre of the NRA
(left) gave the keynote speech.
THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 10
Commentary: Albert Thomas
China’s Wal-Marts May Sell
America To Chinese People
This week I was watching a TV program about Wal-Mart and its spectacular operations world wide. One part was about the stores they opening
in China and there was one particular sentence by a young local Chinese
“associate” (employee) that caught me and opened a whole new way of
thinking about the possible change that might occur in US/Chinese relationship.
Each Wal-Mart store could be a center for the dissemination of better
understanding by the Chinese about the USA. Though not intended each
store’s “associates” would be U.S. diplomats.
In the USA Wal-Mart has been misnamed as the Chinese outlet. Look
again at many hundreds of products in any of your favorite stores. Products
are not only made in China, but in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and
a host of other Asian countries. The quality is fine. The reason they are
made there is because the cost of production is so low that products can be
shipped 12,000 miles to your backyard at a price you find irresistible.
Fingernail clippers or lawn mowers – it doesn’t make any difference.
The workers in those Asian countries are producing and BUYING those
products from American companies IN their own country. Every yen or
yuan sold to them is profit for an American company. Wal-Mart is planning
2,000 stores in China by a company Sam Walton started in Arkansas – and
they still have their headquarters there.
The anti-Wal-Mart sentiment is promoted by a very small group of local
and union people and in many cases funded by outside interests. As a kid I
can remember the opposition to the A&P food stores similar to what we are
seeing against Wal-Mart today. They said it would cause the local grocery
stores to close. They were right. Now answer this. Do you want to shut
down your Albertson’s, Piggly Wiggly, Winn-Dixie, A&P, etc. and go back
to the corner grocery store? I don’t think so.
Who has benefited most from these huge changing marketing operations? YOU, the consumer.
What was that one sentence that young Chinese said to the head of Asian
Wal-Mart? Approximately, “Working here gives you a better understanding
of other people”. This is very profound as it indicates a new thought pattern
about “other people”, namely the U.S.
Here is a way that might change the thinking of the Chinese about
America. Imagine what 2,000 Wal-Mart stores could do for international
understanding and world peace. Am I too bold in this extrapolation? Maybe,
but it can give the USA a chance to reach down into the basic fabric of
Chinese culture to the people.
Let the diplomats deal with the higher Chinese officials and hope that
some of the change of heart of the “associates” will seep out to their customers and then upward to the leaders.
AL THOMAS
Al Thomas’ best selling book, “If It Doesn’t Go Up, Don’t Buy It!” has
helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his
simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter and receive his market letter
for 3 months at www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he’s the man
that Wall Street does not want you to know.
THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 11
Commentary: Diane Grassi
Contracts For Hurricane Rebuilding
Require Keen Oversight
Hurricane Katrina was the first and greatest blow to the United States
Gulf Coast region when it set down on August 29, 2005, but it was subsequently followed by failing levees in the greater New Orleans, LA area,
only to be hit again by Hurricane Rita some four weeks later, leaving New
Orleans, southern Louisiana, southern Mississippi and now southeast Texas
in dire need of emergency assistance. All three episodes combined have but
complicated the clean up and restoration of a vital region of the country, a
major U.S. port. In addition, over 300,000 homes were permanently lost
with at least 200,000 families requiring federal housing, not to mention the
loss of thousands of jobs.
The U.S. has a challenge on its hands, like no other, in terms of
the expanse of uninhabitable land and infrastructure which is has been
destroyed. In that effort, local, state and federal governments along with
the private sector have been urged to proceed cautiously and as equitably as
possible, according to numerous government officials and business leaders
hit hardest in the communities most badly hurt.
Congress has thus far approved appropriations of over $62 billion for
the emergency financing of Hurricane Katrina. Figures for Hurricane Rita to
date are just now being discussed so there will be more emergency funding
for it as well as President Bush is expected to ask the Congress for a third
special appropriation within the next three weeks. Of concern however, is
how the money will spent, which contractors will be the recipients of these
monies, how much the local communities will be able to have a fair chance
of partaking in the restoration process and the essential oversight to alleviate
waste and fraud.
The Government Accounting Office (GAO) which monitors public
spending on behalf of the Congress is expected to audit the contracts won
by U.S. firms. Contracts have so far been secured for repairing the New
Orleans’ flood levees, rebuilding naval facilities, providing temporary
housing and mobile homes, providing trucks, ships, buses and planes and
the immense task of removal of debris and hazardous materials. Contracts
were awarded by the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA. More than
15 contracts exceed $100 million with five worth $500 million or more.
Additionally, more than the 80% of those contracts executed by FEMA were
no-bid contracts or with limited competition in addition to guarantees that
contracts will be given a certain profit.
“You are likely to see the equivalent of disaster profiteering,” according
to Danielle Brian, Director of the Project on Government Accountability, a
non-profit government spending watchdog group. Richard L. Skinner, the
Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, overseeing
Hurricane Katrina contracts said, “When you do something like this, you
increase the vulnerability for fraud, plain waste, abuse and mismanagement.”
Skinner’s comments were in reference to two major contractors, also
no-bid contracts, utilized in Iraq as well. One is Kellogg, Brown & Root
(KBR), a subsidiary of Halliburton, now represented by Joe Allbaugh,
President Bush’s former campaign manager, former Director of FEMA and
friend of recently resigned FEMA Director Michael Brown. KBR is repairing damage to three naval bases as well as damage assessments, repairing
roofs and restoring power. Skinner also said, “Bills have come in for deals
that apparently were clinched with a handshake, with no documents to back
them up.”
The other contractor to which Skinner refers is the Shaw Group, also
represented by Allbaugh. It is a Louisiana construction firm which won a
$100 million contract from FEMA for housing and support services and a
$100 million contract from the Army Corps of Engineers to pump floodwa-
ters out of New Orleans. Additionally, AshBritt, Inc., a Pompano Beach, FL
company, was awarded a $568 million contract for clean up in Mississippi
as part of an ongoing contract with the Army Corps of Engineers, signed
in 2003. In addition, Ashbritt was a client of the former lobbying firm of
Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi.
Also of concern is the track record of recent work done in Iraq by KBR,
including a five-year oil infrastructure contract instead of the standard oneyear contract. Whistleblower, Bunnatine Greenhouse, was the chief contracting officer for the Army Corps of Engineers, and has since been demoted
after her protest to what she saw as unethically awarding such a contract to
KBR. In addition, KBR was cited for lost property and equipment in Iraq as
well as leaky pipelines, necessary to carry water to the oil fields which still
are not working properly, thus delaying the production of oil to date. KBR
also was responsible for rebuilding a pipeline network in Northern Iraq but
could not complete the project for non-specified reasons. A government
audit is presently in play regarding that project. Iraqi officials also have
been critical of KBR for using foreign contractors and shoddy equipment,
overseen by U.S. officials with little experience in the oil industry.
Given the risk of graft and the need for accountability, Richard Skinner
has just appointed Mathew Jadacki to the new Office of Hurricane Katrina
Oversight. Jadacki was a former FEMA auditor. The Department of
Homeland Security is one of 13 different agencies and departments to have
inspector generals auditing hurricane contracts. President Bush recently
said. “We’ll make sure your money is spent honestly by sending a team of
inspector generals down there to review all expenditures.” The Congress
also is drafting additional legislation in this oversight effort and also to
investigate what went wrong with both Hurricane Katrina preparedness and
its aftermath.
The Office of Management and Budget wants its say in oversight too as
well as the various local and state governments in the Gulf region. However,
due to the potential for more bureaucratic overkill, resident businesses of
the affected communities may get lost in the mix. While all government
contracts supposedly require the preference for work going to the affected
communities, many small businesses feel they simply cannot compete with
multi-billion dollar corporations with contracts already in place.
Will Nelson of the National Association of Minority Contractors, a nonprofit trade association, said that he went to Biloxi, MS two weeks ago to
submit a bid on behalf of minority contractors and was shut out by local
officials. “The door was slammed in our face,” he said. Additionally, access
to key government personnel for small contractors in the region is nearly
impossible for those left only with toll-free phone numbers to call. It will
be largely left to the discretion of the large corporations to subcontract with
those most in need who have the capability to work and to hire local workers, in an effort to get back their livelihoods.
And it will take a great deal of perseverance and integrity on the part of
all levels of government, agency officials and the private sector in order for
hurricane contracting oversight not to become as entangled and as unwieldy
as the relief effort itself. What is of concern to many in Congress is for
proper oversight while contracts are being negotiated and not for a call for
investigations after the fact. And others in Congress are wisely calling for
revisiting pork barrel legislation recently passed by Congress for fiscal year
2006 such as the $286 million transportation bill which was cited for $24
billion in special projects or about 9% of the entirety.
There will be so very many expenses yet to be realized at this juncture
in the hurricane recovery effort which will require serious thinking on the
part of our lawmakers, not for the benefit of their political lives, but for the
benefit of the lives of the American people most tragically at a loss and for
the future health of the U.S. economy. Hopefully, many this time will be up
to the task.
DIANE GRASSI
THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 12
Commentary: Joyce Meyer
and success. This kind of average,
status quo life can lead to frustration
and a feeling of being unfulfilled.
A person who is excellent is one
who exceeds the status quo. He does
more than what is expected of him.
He goes the extra mile—getting to
work a little early and perhaps leaving a little late. He does what is right
You and I have been given a tre- even when no one else is around.
mendous gift in this life—the free- Excellence can be seen in many
dom of choice. But with that free- areas of his life. He has an attitude
dom comes responsibility. For every that says, “I’m going to take what I
choice we make, there are certain have and do the very best I can with
consequences we can expect. And it.”
whatever we pursue in life is what
God ordained a destiny for each
we will receive.
one of us, but that doesn’t mean it
I believe there are three pri- will automatically happen. He also
mary choices that are continually
set before us: the choice to be lazy,
the choice to be mediocre, and the
choice to be excellent. Although the
majority of mankind is stuck in the
mire of mediocrity, those who pursue a walk of excellence find the real
rewards. In fact, I don’t believe any
of us can really be fulfilled unless
we are striving to be the best we can
be.
I believe that cultivating a desire
to become a person of excellence
requires a clearer understanding of
the differences between being lazy,
mediocre, and excellent. Although
we may not fit into the category of
laziness or mediocrity exclusively, I think everyone has room for
improvement.
Of the three choices, laziness
is the most destructive. A lazy man
does just what he feels like doing,
which is usually nothing. He wants
everything to be easy, never difficult. He is normally not watchful, doesn’t plan ahead, and fails to
take care of things. Sooner or later,
everything—from his checkbook to
the lives of his children—winds up
in a mess. As a result, he is unhappy…and usually filled with jealousy,
envy, and resentment over what others have.
Although many people struggle
with laziness, I believe that more
often, people are tempted to accept
a “middle of the road” mentality.
This is the mindset that says, “I’m
okay—I’m just as good as anyone
else.” This mediocre type of thinking plagues the majority of our society, trapping incredible numbers of
people somewhere between failure
Lazy…
Mediocre…Or
Excellent? The
Choice Is Yours!
gave us the freedom of choice, and
it is up to us to cooperate with God
and make right choices.
Wherever you are right now in
your life, you got there through a
series of choices. I realize that as
children, other people made choices
for us that may have been unwise or
damaging. However, just because
we started out somewhere doesn’t
mean we have to finish there. God
sets the same opportunities for success before everyone—His promises are available to whosoever will
believe and obey His Word. Romans
2:11 says that …God shows no partiality [undue favor or unfairness;
with Him one man is not different
from another].
If you want your life to change,
then your choices must change, and
today is the best day of your life to
begin. I challenge you to draw a line
separating you from your past, and
make the choice to move forward
as a person of excellence. Surrender
your soul—your mind, will and emotions—to God, and let Him give you
His grace to see and choose the more
excellent ways.
JOYCE MEYER
For more on this topic, you may order
Joyce’s five-part series, Pursuing
Excellence and Integrity, which is
available by calling 1-800-727-9673
or by visiting www.joycemeyer.org.
THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 13
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THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 14
Commentary: Brent Jordan
The Weightiest
16 Pages Ever
Published?
One point two ounces.
Sixteen pages of newsprint and
soul––the Penny Press:
In my humble opinion, quite possibly the weightiest alternative newspaper ever published.
I am astounded at what has been
accomplished in those weekly 16
pages.
I believe even the publisher / editor,
Fred Weinberg himself, may underestimate what he has done.
I was reminded of the miracle of
the Penny Press, the other day when
I responded to a blog (web log) entry
by the senior editor of one of the other
“alternative” newspapers in town (it
claims “alternative” status even though
it is owned and published by Stephens
Media Group, the same publisher who
puts out the Las Vegas Review Journal.
And indeed, the senior editor in question has worked for the LVRJ and
Stephens for years).
The editor posted this: “Poor
Republicans. It seems that inconsiderate bitch Mother Nature has fouled their
plans to help the most needy citizens in
America, the wealthy. GOP leaders in
both House and Senate were all set to
come to work this week and repeal the
estate tax once and for all, cut entitlement programs, and get to work on private accounts in Social Security.
“No more.” (Steve Sebelius)
At first I thought it was parody;
a satirical look at the pathetic group
of “journalists” who have one agenda
above all others: Hate Republicans.
I admit I was shocked when I found
out he was serious.
This editor made the mistake of
posting his views online where anyone
and everyone could respond without the
censorship or editing alterations under
which he is normally protected. I, being
an “anyone,” responded by questioning
if he were truly serious in his taunting,
jeering, childish gloating and apparent glee, that because of the hurricane
disaster, the righteous agenda of returning taxpayers well-earned money to
those who earned it was being derailed.
His response not only confirmed
that he was indeed serious (as serious as
one of these people get in any case), but
took the form of an angry, defensive,
obtuse, even silly rebuttal that relied
on wild, inane assumptions, conjecture,
and a liberal dose of creative editing.
The somewhat personal attack did
not bother me (is there anything you can
say to a former career strip club bouncer
that he hasn’t already heard?), it was
the incomprehensible childlike pouting
of the man that was truly shocking. In
a subsequent retort he even resorted to
the protective “we” (Stephens Media)
when he no longer felt comfortable facing me alone on the journalistic field
of battle; (“We don’t think we misunderstood anything, and thus stand by
our response...We’re fair-minded that
way.”)
This is a supposed news editor–
–someone who puts forth and helps
form opinion––and he was letting his
overblown ego dictate and override his
logic. It was as if he were screaming;
“Who has the audacity to challenge my
word?!”
I compared this response to Fred
Weinberg of the Penny Press: When
Mr. Weinberg disagrees with something
you say in his paper, he will come
right out and tell you so. If he thinks
you are wrong, he will tell you that
you are wrong. If he thinks you are an
idiot, he will tell you that also. (I would
be disappointed with less from this
proud Southwestern gentleman.) What
he won’t do is edit out what he does not
agree with. He will allow you to express
your opinion, and if his differs, he will
write his own response telling you why.
Both side by side, for the world to see
and judge. In reality, there is no comparison.
It’s not the flaming card-carrying
liberal point of view of the typical
news editor that bothers me so much
(have any opinion you want as long
as you can back it up), as the fact that
far too often these editors have no life
experience from which to draw on for
their opinions: From mama’s lap to
high school to college to an internship
to making a living writing about other
peoples lives and experiences.
I have a great deal of respect for
formal education (I am currently working my butt off to get one myself), but
never at the expense of life-earned
education.
Anyone who speaks with Fred
Weinberg, or reads any of the writers
of the Penny Press, can discern instantly that their opinions are hard earned
through real life experiences. These
writers (excluding myself) are obviously highly formally educated also, but
it is the blend that makes their writing
so valid.
As opposed to nearly every other
publication available, Fred Weinberg
has put together an eclectic group for
his paper. All their opinions run side by
side, with equal weight and respect: A
staunch Republican beside a Libertarian
beside a Bible thumper beside an atheist beside a banker beside a former
strip club bouncer...each with differing
beliefs and opinions.
Each with an equal opportunity to
express those beliefs and opinions.
That is a true alternative. That is a
true free press.
If you can find this type of diversity
and freedom of the press anywhere else,
let me know. I would like to include in
my weekly reading.
Some papers offer a mockery of dissenting views in their “letters to the editor” section: a sentence or two here and
there that are carefully selected to be
hammered down by an equally carefully
selected deluge of counter responses. (I
once had a letter to the editor printed
in the LVRJ, and in response I was
attacked, on a personal level, by no less
than five letters over three consecutive
days in the paper. Good to know I can
illicit a response, at least.)
Does it still qualify as “free press”
if it only expresses one redundant view?
I’m not sure. It is not very interesting or
educational at the very least.
I know for a fact that there are
great people––genuine, honest editors––working in the “main stream”
media––Thomas Mitchell of the LVRJ;
a shining example. I often wonder how
much of their genuine nature and honesty is allowed to shine through.
It is a great honor to have the opportunity to express my opinions along side
the other diverse, educated writers of
the Penny Press.
It is my honor because it makes me
part of the weightiest sixteen pages ever
published.
BRENT KENTON JORDAN
Editor’s note: We should point out
that as of our 9-8-5 issue we are now
being printed on the same press by the
same company which owns Citylife and
employs the editor to which Brent refers.
In addition to owning a knee-jerk liberal
weekly which exists to gather what we
euphemistically call “adult” advertising, they are a fine commercial printer
which also prints USA Today. We’re
honored to be among their customers
but to kill any rumor before it starts, we
are still independently owned.
THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 15
Pet Of The Week
Adopt This Pet !
Allie is a wonderful
tabby and white cat.
She does okay with
other cats, however she
would enjoy being the
only cat in the home.
Allie loves to perch in
windows, and watch
what
is
happening
outdoors. She is spayed
and current on yearly
vaccinations. Allie is 2
1/2 years old.
If you are looking for a pet we will do our best to find you a pet that
fits your needs and you will fit theirs.
This is just one of the pets awaiting a loving home.To inquire about
a certain pet you can e-mail us at: [email protected]
or call 361-2484. Also, we need kitty litter and food donations.
Betty Honn founded Southern Nevada’s first no-kill, non-profit
animal sanctuary in 1968. Since then, volunteers, contributors and
patrons have made our daily operations possible.
Betty passed away in 1997, but not before saving countless
thousands of animals from needless euthanasia. Her daughter, Teresa
now continues the work, and is committed to fulfilling her mother’s
vision.For more than 30 years, from kittens to Kodiaks, Betty Honn’s
Animal Adoptions, Ltd. has provided refuge for animals.
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THE PENNY PRESS, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 PAGE 16