2006-03-11
news briefs
• International War Criminal Slobodan Milosevic is dead! His supporters claim he was poisoned. His detractors bemoan that he won't pay for his crimes. I wonder what Pat Robertson will have to say about this. Of course, if one believes in Heaven and Hell... If you are interested, here's The Hague's Files on the war crimes tribunal against Milosevic.
• Dubai Ports Deal dead as well. Clearly, the Dubai power elite have the resources to build their own palaces, so they don't need the money they'd make from running USA ports. But... now that they are out of the picture, how is it that Halliburton is considered a likely vendor? And by none other than Charles Schumer? For shame! Given this "choice" what's your verdict on who should run the US Ports?
• Petty shoplifter and Assistant to President G W Bush for Domestic Policy Claude Allen has resigned to "...spend more time with the family". I loved the unvarnished version of this news report. Now for the details: Busted for a low-end scam by a Maryland Target store, Allen is charged with practicing a form of shoplifting called "refund fraud." According to official sources, Presidential Aide Allen was paid a $161,000 yearly salary. Mr. Allen has also been an outspoken advocate of abstinence education, supported anti-gay initatitves, was instrumental in censoring HHS websites that advised people engage in safe sex. Once an Aide to former Senator Jessee Helms. Now arrested [and caught on video camera] for shoplifting less than $500 at a time [though repeatedly] from a Target Store Maybe he ought to have practiced abstinence from shoplifting.
• "Thomas Kinkade is famous for his luminous landscapes and street scenes, those dreamy, deliberately inspirational images he says have brought "God's light" into people's lives, even as they have made him one of America's most collected artists.
But it's not his "luminous paintings" putting in the news these days. Rather it's his sleazy [and decidedly un-Christian] business practices.
Scary ¶ 18:06
• International War Criminal Slobodan Milosevic is dead! His supporters claim he was poisoned. His detractors bemoan that he won't pay for his crimes. I wonder what Pat Robertson will have to say about this. Of course, if one believes in Heaven and Hell... If you are interested, here's The Hague's Files on the war crimes tribunal against Milosevic. • Dubai Ports Deal dead as well. Clearly, the Dubai power elite have the resources to build their own palaces, so they don't need the money they'd make from running USA ports. But... now that they are out of the picture, how is it that Halliburton is considered a likely vendor? And by none other than Charles Schumer? For shame! Given this "choice" what's your verdict on who should run the US Ports? • Petty shoplifter and Assistant to President G W Bush for Domestic Policy Claude Allen has resigned to "...spend more time with the family". I loved the unvarnished version of this news report. Now for the details: Busted for a low-end scam by a Maryland Target store, Allen is charged with practicing a form of shoplifting called "refund fraud." According to official sources, Presidential Aide Allen was paid a $161,000 yearly salary. Mr. Allen has also been an outspoken advocate of abstinence education, supported anti-gay initatitves, was instrumental in censoring HHS websites that advised people engage in safe sex. Once an Aide to former Senator Jessee Helms. Now arrested [and caught on video camera] for shoplifting less than $500 at a time [though repeatedly] from a Target Store Maybe he ought to have practiced abstinence from shoplifting. • "Thomas Kinkade is famous for his luminous landscapes and street scenes, those dreamy, deliberately inspirational images he says have brought "God's light" into people's lives, even as they have made him one of America's most collected artists.But it's not his "luminous paintings" putting in the news these days. Rather it's his sleazy [and decidedly un-Christian] business practices.
Some reports indicate a "...far more selfish portrait of the artist emerges from legal action brought by former gallery owners against Kinkade, Media Arts Group Inc. - the public company he has since taken private - and some who helped build it into a $250-million-a-year retail juggernaut before its sales flagged and its stock tanked.I don't know what it is about gullible people. Is it really enough to put fish symbols on the back of one's car and aggressively spout scripture to convince them that someone is righteous? Seems that way.
Ex-dealers allege that the artist used his faith - and manipulated theirs - to induce them to invest in Thomas Kinkade Signature Galleries, independently owned stores licensed to deal exclusively in his work. They also contend he sought to devalue the company before buying it back two years ago for $32.7 million, renaming it Thomas Kinkade Co".
Scary ¶ 18:06
