12/31/13

Woster: Governor's pheasant hunt "wanton waste"

Imagine a dumpster full of pheasant carcasses with just the breasts cut out. That’s what my friend found after the governor’s hunt back in October, behind the processing place in Fort Pierre that handles the birds. [Kevin Woster, Outdoors in Keloland]
You have to admit Hani Shafai has balls. Of course he was invited to Governor Daugaard's pheasant killing contest. Shafai, a Rapid City Muslim, criticized Walid Shoebat, a converted christian, after Shafai learned of a speech at a Rapid City terrorism conference:
I don’t think it is right for anyone in any organization to generalize about these types of issues,” Shafai said. “Every group of society, regardless of its religious or cultural backgrounds, has good and bad.” [David Montgomery, Al-Qaida not a fringe opinion among Muslims, speaker claims, Rapid City Journal]
Recall the slush fund called the Governors Club: Shafai appears with Doyle Estes, who donated polluted swamp land for a soccer complex. Also appearing on that list is Roger Tellinghuisen, now managing cash resources for the complex. He enjoyed a $75,000 legal services contract after being attorney general for the state.

Richard Benda, the now-dead GOP apparatchik, appears on at least one list with Shafai.

Why, yes: Shafai DOES remind me of Gustavo Fring.


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12/30/13

2013 cannabis gains banked

Too bad Stan Adelstein doesn't smoke.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has announced that he wants to find ways to learn more about the medical properties of cannabis. Last month The Nation published a series of articles on the topic. An excerpt:
Cannabis and the unique chemical compounds produced by the plant, called cannabinoids, have been at the center of one of the most exciting—and underreported—developments in modern science. Research on marijuana’s effects led directly to the discovery of a molecular signaling system in the human brain and body, the endocannabinoid system, which plays a crucial role in regulating a broad range of physiological processes: hunger, sleep, inflammation, stress, blood pressure, body temperature, glucose metabolism, bone density, intestinal fortitude, reproductive fertility, circadian rhythms, mood and much more [Martin A. Lee, The Nation].
Maybe Gov. Hickenlooper will tap the state's EB-5 funding after submitting a $24.1 billion dollar budget. Colorado is home to Cannabis Science.

I think I saw Gov. Hickenlooper at Ojo Caliente yesterday.

Stock in Cannabis Science gained 25% today on a volume of over 17 million shares: it is just one company posed to make even further profits on the cultivation and sales of legal cannabis. Michigan-based Creative Edge Nutrition is ready to distribute in Canada through its subsidiary, CEN Biotech. CEN markets 24 strains to outlets in Uruguay, The Netherlands, Israel, Mexico, Colombia, Iran, and North Korea. CBIS is just one publicly traded US company: Endocan Corp., GW Pharmaceuticals, GrowLife, and Medical Marijuana, Inc. also trade.

Disclosure: I am long CBIS and PHOT, which gained over 7% today.

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12/29/13

FBI: violent crime doubles under Rounds, Daugaard

Under Republican governors Rounds and Daugaard, South Dakota has become an increasingly dangerous place especially to raise children:
A recently released FBI crime report shows violent crime in South Dakota rose 96 percent between 2005 and 2012. State statistics put that figure at 44 percent. Krista Heeren-Graber, executive director of the South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault, agreed that prevention can be difficult, especially with “limited” funding for prevention programs and crisis servicing. The number of meth labs and arrests also has been growing at an alarmingly high rate, authorities say. [Mark Walker, Sioux Falls Argus Leader]
Hardly surprisingly, South Dakota is being led into the dustbin of history by Republicans:
The crime rate has increased in only five states since 2007, the FBI said. The situation is getting worse in New Hampshire, where the rate is up 17 points in the last five years, and South Dakota, where crime is up 20 points over the same period. [Reid Wilson, Washington Post]
As a rule, religionists get pilloried at interested party.

South Dakota representative and Sioux Falls pastor, Steve Hickey has been sounding more like a progressive than a member of the earth hater party lately: he posted some questions for his dying red state at his blog. Lifted from Voices Carry:
Many economists agree it’s only a matter of time before America faces the consequences of decades of the devaluation of the Dollar, unsustainable spending, irresponsible consumption and unbridled debt accumulation. Regardless of whether or not we agree a day of reckoning is inevitable, it is the responsibility of our state elected officials to do more than wait and see if and when for example, the Dollar ceases to be the World’s Reserve Currency.
Hickey dislikes video loottery even as I hate it: it destroys through class warfare and discriminates against a single income base contributing to addiction, desperation and crime. Capitalism relies on coveting, after all.

South Dakota's governor has proposed drug courts for persons caught possessing less-than-felonious amounts of cannabis: a measure clearly meant to reduce costs of law enforcement, overcrowding in state facilities, and the associated burdens to society. Legislation being prepared is apparently designed to address addiction but stigmatizes and shames persons for whom the use of cannabis should be as protected as it is for carrying a firearm.

Rep. Hickey laments the state's reliance on the dole from the feds as he fails to embrace the obvious revenue possibilities of the responsible cultivation and consumption of a relatively safe adults-only pastime, not to mention a renewable source of protein, and some likely pending industrial ag wet dream like Monsanto GMO cannabis.
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12/28/13

North Dakota claims responsibility for river silt

The North Dakota Supreme Court has ruled that the state owns the minerals in his navigable rivers to the 'normal' high water mark.
Unless appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, this ends a years’ long dispute while oil revenue that would normally have been paid out was withheld in special accounts. The loser in this opinion are dozens of individuals, the city of Williston and Williams County who claimed minerals between the low- and high-water marks along the Missouri River in the Williston region, or what’s called the “shore zone” of the river. One company involved in the legal dispute is Brigham Oil, now Statoil Oil and Gas, which joined the litigation so the court could sort through the conflicting claims on its oil wells. [Lauren Donovan, Bismarck Tribune]
The Army Corps of Engineers fee for surplus water within the Missouri River system is in the news. Recall that North Dakota's Lake Sakakawea will be first to be drawn down.

Rep. Kristi Noem (earth hater-SD) added an amendment as part of the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill preventing the corps from using any money in the bill to issue rules or regulations related to charging a fee for surplus water.

The state does not own this water it merely warehouses it at federal expense. The Lewis and Clark allotment (long overdue in fruition) also part of this bill cut water allocations promised to downstream states whose rights predate South Dakota’s.

So who is responsible for millions of cubic yards of sediment in the main stem dams? If the dams were dredged there wouldn’t be enough water in the system to generate the power now happening: why would Rep. Noem want to deny the Corps that revenue? South Dakota receives zero dollars for hydropower generation but eminent domain forces transmission lines to be built: how is that in the state’s best interest?

Silt deposits are the responsibility of the state. AG Jackley should sue the mining and ag industries for that runoff. The state took a severance fee: why should it be held harmless? How is this different from taking a tobacco settlement after having levied taxes on said product?

South Dakota doesn’t own the 2.5 trillion dollars stored within its borders for Citibank and Wells Fargo so why isn't it being charged for that surplus? Because Bill Janklow created that by sheer force of will. Remember ETSI? Since when is interstate commerce controlled by the states?

That would be in the butt, bob.

Mrs. Noem has sold out her own children's clean water future as an ag producer having decimated groundwater supplies and is now using the Environmental Protection Agency clean water rules while those in her party rail against the EPA. It's pork: Noem's amendment shifts $25M to a rural water program from spending $15 million for efficiency, renewables, and reliability.

Mr. Obama: tear down these dams.
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12/27/13

Can christians be smart?

The emotional reaction to the question generally hinders a rational discussion on the subject. Still, it is a legitimate question.

Yep, they're up to their areolae.

Sometimes it's difficult to watch ranchers lose the family ranch; sometimes it's a freakin' blast. This auction notice appeared in the Rapid City Journal:
Former state senator and gubernatorial candidate Gordon Howie plans to auction 2,500 acres, or about half of his Pennington County ranch, on May 17 to pay off his mortgage debt and back property taxes on several dozen area properties. In the spring of 2010, when he ran for governor, it was estimated Howie owed the county $60,000 in property taxes on more than 40 properties. “The negative press I’ve gotten from the Journal has people thinking I’m some sort of tax-evading derelict. This is an opportunity to paint a different picture,” he said.
Aaawww...

From his boyfriend's website:
Patriots from in and around Rapid City, South Dakota spent last weekend brushing up on their American history and knowledge of the Constitution, thanks to several events sponsored by the Family Heritage Alliance, BigHorn Canyon Ministries, the Life/Liberty Group, and the South Dakota Tea Party Alliance.
The BigHorn Canyon Ministries? That's the shell group masquerading as a religious organization Howie founded to dodge taxes. Or as perennial War Toilet commenter grudznick calls it, "overgodded."

And the family ranch? Stolen from tribes. If only the proceeds of the sale would go to pay some tiny fraction of the Cobell settlement instead of going to equally complicit Pennington County.

Look at the bags under Gordon Howie's eyes and you can begin to appreciate the need for physician-assisted suicide.



I am so prescient:

RT @attackerman: The only thing that can stop a bad fetus with a gun is a good fetus with a gun.


Has anyone ever seen these two earth haters in the same space?
I've known Mike Verchio for 25 years but haven't spoken to him in 20, and have never met Ed. Are they the same person now? Mike is catholic: did Ed leave the Church to join some other cult?

Verchio suffers from intense oral fixation:
Theoretically, oral-stage fixations are manifested as garrulousness, smoking, continual oral stimulus (eating, chewing objects), and alcoholism. Psychologically, the symptoms include a sarcastic, oral sadistic personality, nail biting, oral sexual practices (fellatio, cunnilingus, analingus, irrumatio), et cetera.
Ed's writing certainly presents the same symptoms.

I don't bite my nails.

What is womb envy? Why faster, baby, faster?

One gets the sense that Don Kopp believes readers are as stupid as he is:
The railroad-equivalent of this single pipeline would be a train of 75 2,000-barrel tank rail cars every day. One also needs consider the tremendous amount of damage incurred in northern states to our highways by truck traffic, particularly during the spring breakup. It is unfathomable to me why this project is being held up.--from Never Never Land in the Rapid City Journal
Of course, none of this environment-crushing crap should even be extracted let alone altered so it will flow, refined using precious water resources, sold to the highest bidder then loaded onto supertankers at terminals in the Gulf of Mexico.

South Dakota, another red state attempting to nullify federal health care law and where Republican legislator Kopp confuses federal scientists' findings on climate change with ass-trologic forces, the hubris in eliminating state-sponsored public comment on in situ uranium extraction while the GOP is actively smothering the EPA, is nothing short of stupefying. Powertech has been suing state legislatures as a matter of course while flouting the reports of fracking disasters in the natural gas industry.

Scott Munsterman: even his name suggests zombie.

Lee Schoenbeck wrote:
There are some aborations [sic] in those results, and a couple really stick out. Frank Denholm, retired sheriff and FBI agent is quite a bit more conservative than that would indicate. Relativw [sic] to the field, Jim Abdnor and Karl Mundt belong farther to the right. The way votes are scored an [sic] weighted affect any of thee [sic] systems. there [sic] is no such thing as a biasless [sic] way to make subjective decisions about the political philosohy [sic] that drives a vote. [comment, The politics of SD’s representatives in Congress since 1971, Political Smokeout.]
This guy purports to be a lawyer. More on his links to the Church of the Holy Roman Kiddie Diddlers and the National Rifle Association here.

The earth hater South Dakota legislature is gearing up. My prediction for the first bill submitted? Every white English-speaking foetus over 20 weeks must be fitted with a sidearm regardless of the health of the mother.
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12/25/13

South Dakota kills child for the holidays

The Division of Criminal Investigation is reviewing procedures at a Black Hills 'boot camp' after another child died while in the custody of South Dakota 'Corrections.' Brady Folkens of Brookings was 17.
Folkens’ mother, Dawn Van Ballegooyen, said she went to Custer to visit him Saturday and was told he was ill when she arrived. She talked to her son, who said he had been sick for a few days and had thrown up. Medical staff told her he had liver blockage. “He was awake, and he was a little yellow,” she said. “But he was my same Brady.” Corrections spokesman Michael Winder said Folkens said he felt ill beginning Thursday. Shortly after his mother’s visit, Folkens was flown to Sioux Falls. Van Ballegooyen followed in a vehicle, and had her sister meet Brady at the hospital. But by the time she arrived at the hospital in Sioux Falls, her son had died, and staff were working to revive him. [Beth Wischmeyer, Sioux Falls Argus Leader]
Flown from the Custer Airport to Sioux Falls, about 350 miles: a flight of at least two hours in a state plane? Why was he not helicoptered to Rapid City about fifteen minutes away? Why was Brady admitted to the State Treatment and Rehabilitation (STAR) Academy and not screened for hepatitis C?

Ms. Van Ballegooyen drove at least 450 miles back to Sioux Falls: she should sue the state into bankruptcy.

The state has a history of poor choices made by state employees: fourteen year old Gina Score died after a forced run in 1999.

After he used a Taser on an 8-year old girl, a Pierre police officer was recently exonerated by the GOP-dominated investigative agency. Her parents are expected to sue.

In 2010, a young unarmed American Indian man was killed after a Pennington County deputy shot him five times.
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12/24/13

Netanyahu: Merry Zionist Christmas, Gaza












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12/23/13

Pierre pork pending

South Dakota's extremist legislature is gearing up for another session of denying residents their civil, reproductive, water and property rights. Infrastructure in the state's isolated capital is breaking down and Pierre's mayor is up to her areolae in red state problems.

Want to read between the political lines? Some snips from KCCR's daily news cast:
Pierre city crews are working again today on repairing a water service line that has left about 25 customers without water.
Pierre city commissioners tonight are expected to consider approval of contracts with unions that represent two sets of city employees. Mayor Laurie Gill said at last week’s meeting, the city had finalized contracts with the unions that represent the civilian employees and the employees at the Pierre Police Department. Those contracts do not include those employees classified as management. The city’s contract with the union representing the city’s electrical department employees is in the middle of a two year contract and does not have to be renewed at this time.
A subcommittee of the Public Facilities Task Force met last Thursday to consider the issue of space needs for the city and the county. Both governmental entities are using old buildings that would need extensive renovation. While a consultant says he understands that the public wants to know if there is support to build a recreation-events center in Pierre, he says the process is not at that point yet.
The state's disgraced economic development bureau just announced that a company cited by U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for its record of workplace violations is opening a division in South Dakota. Not surprisingly, the state's junior senator is condemning OSHA for trying to keep children safe.

South Dakota: Land of Infinite Bridges to Nowhere.
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12/22/13

Joy of sects: RWNJs diss Dixie Chicks, defend dipshit


South Dakota's governor and his rotund life partner love the homophobic, racist teevee program that will likely be cancelled after its patriarch exposed himself before a nationwide audience.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. It wasn’t when the Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines faced backlash after saying she was ashamed that George W. Bush was from Texas and it’s not with Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson facing criticism for comments about gays and blacks in a interview with GQ magazine. [editorial, Seguin (TX) Gazette]
Like wipin' yer ass with a hula hoop: it's endless.
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12/20/13

Tester rings in new year with solstice message

Overcoming Partisanship to Build a Stronger Montana


Dear Larry,

 The holidays are a time to gather with friends and family. They are also a time to reflect on the past year and look ahead to the next.

 It’s been a contentious year in the U.S. Senate, but that didn’t stop me from getting work done to improve Montanans' quality of life, to reduce our deficit, and to strengthen our economy.


Republicans and Democrats were able to come together this year to pass one of my top priorities: the Violence Against Women Act. Thanks to the re-authorization of this critical bill, more resources will be available to keep women and children safe.

 We also need to defeat the growing problem of drug abuse in the Bakken oil region. That’s why this summer I brought the government’s top anti-drug official to Glendive to get a first-hand look at the problem and start to take steps to address it. One result of that meeting was a community effort to dispose of unused prescription drugs to keep them out of the wrong hands.

 When it comes to Montana's economy, I also worked with the Blackstone Foundation and the Montana University System to open two new centers that will help young Montana entrepreneurs put their small business ideas into action.

 Montana was recently rated the number one state in the country for small business start-ups, and these centers will put local entrepreneurs in contact with the people and resources they need to get off the ground.

 And when it comes to our debt and deficit, I recently supported the two-year budget agreement because – while no compromise is perfect – we must move beyond the non-stop cycle of Washington-caused crises that are holding back our economy. This deal cuts the deficit by $22 billion and brings more certainty to our economy so Montana businesses can grow and create more jobs.

I will keep working with my colleagues to take the necessary steps to make sure the bill works for Montanans, but it’s long past time to pass a budget that gives Montanans the stronger economy that we deserve.

 Looking ahead to 2014, I will continue to visit with Montanans across our state to share ideas about the best ways to grow our economy and reduce our deficits to move our state and country forward.

 We must pass a Farm Bill that saves taxpayers money while strengthening the safety net for Montana's family farmers and ranchers.

 And we need to move forward with a bipartisan overhaul of our housing finance system that makes sure taxpayers aren't on the hook for another financial crisis, while protecting the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

 I'm also going to keep working with Montanans to get my Forest Jobs and Recreation Act across the finish line to restore the health of our forests and get folks back to work in the woods. My bill just passed the Senate’s Natural Resources Committee this week, moving it one critical step closer to final passage.

 Finally, I plan to use my position as the leader of the Governmental Affairs subcommittee to streamline government and save taxpayer dollars, while making sure we live up to the promises we make to veterans and our fighting men and women.

 All of these initiatives will move Montana and our country forward.

 But the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision that allowed corporations and a few wealthy individuals to secretly spend millions of dollars to influence elections continues to produce a partisan climate that is holding our country back.

Earlier this year, I made good on a promise to Montanans to introduce a constitutional amendment clarifying that corporations are not "people."

 My fight against Citizens United will not stop until the court decision is overturned, because the best way to elect good leaders and make progress on the issues that matter to Montanans is to get special interests out of our elections.


It is an honor to serve you in the United States Senate. Please do not hesitate to contact my staff if there is any way I can be of service.

 From Sharla and myself, a pleasant holiday season to you and yours,
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Minnesotans punishing Holy Roman Kiddie Diddlers

Joe Schmidt's church can count on him this year for a Christmas donation. His generosity, however, won't reach the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He plans to send only $1 to Archbishop John Nienstedt's annual Catholic Services Appeal, which helps run the archdiocese. Michael Darger, who attends St. Frances Cabrini in Minneapolis, says his family decided to stop giving directly to the archdiocese. [Tom Scheck, MPR]

Some in Minnesota want to convene a grand jury as more cases of sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy emerge amid cover-ups by the Church hierarchy.
Archbishop John Nienstedt, leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has voluntarily "stepped aside from all public ministry" while police investigate an allegation that he touched a boy on the buttocks in 2009. The actions came after an ongoing MPR News investigation found that church leaders — including Nienstedt — protected abusive priests during their tenures. [Tom Scheck, Laura Yuen, Mike Cronin, Minnesota Public Radio]
Nienstedt is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the University of St. Thomas where Sioux Falls Bishop Paul Swain serves on the Institutional Advancement Committee. They are standing together in the front row in the above photo.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Paul J. Swain as the eighth bishop of Sioux Falls on August 31, 2006 and he was consecrated as Bishop of Sioux Falls on October 26, 2006. Bishop Swain previously served as a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People.--bio, Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls.
Catholic congregations and South Dakota's legislature have engaged in obstruction of justice for decades.

One of their American brethren, Roger Mahony of California, accused of covering up decades of child rape and abuse attended the erection election of another old man as Vicar of the Church.

Mahony is a frequent witness in court according a piece in the LA Times:
Meanwhile, a Catholic organization Saturday delivered a petition with thousands of signatures asking that Mahony recuse himself from the conclave in Rome. The group, Catholics United, collected nearly 10,000 signatures making "a simple request" that the former archbishop of Los Angeles not participate in the process because of the priest abuse scandals that happened under his watch, said Chris Pumpelly, communications director for Catholics United.
The International Criminal Court is preparing a case against the fuckers.

Mary Garrigan revealed in the Journal that the Church of the Holy Roman Kiddie Diddlers, Rapid City Branch, greased the anti-civil rights movement in Minnesota with a thousand simoleons:
Bishop Robert Gruss said Wednesday that the donation was made at his discretion after it was requested by Minnesota bishops. "Sometimes it takes money to stand up for worthy causes," he said.
Former legislator, pious Catholic, and one of the richest men in South Dakota, Lee Schoenbeck confessed in the online edition of South Dakota Magazine:
Through the sponsorship of organizations like Avera, Tessier’s and Muth Electric, the hunter’s registration fees and proceeds of the banquet auction, the Bishop’s Hunt generates funds. Initially the funds went to the support of the Catholic elementary school in Huron, and later the general mission of the Catholic Foundation. More recently, the funds have had a more focused purpose.
Not surprisingly, Schoenbeck sits on the board of the Catholic Foundation and represents the diocese as legal counsel.

Makes you want to puke, doesn't it?

Separation of church and state is just so bothersome in the chemical toilet, especially when litigation hurts donations.
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12/19/13

Duck Dynasty dogging Daugaard

Denny is circling the wagons.

Governor Dennis Daugaard has chosen Kim Malsam-Rysdon as a senior adviser and as a member of the Governor’s Executive Committee. Malsam-Rysdon, having been the Department of Social Services secretary for six years, will again replace Deb Bowman after replacing Bowman as department secretary in 2011 when Bowman joined Daugaard’s staff.

The feathers are flying as hate exposes a popular teevee program for what it really is.

A Halloween tradition in Pierre is for local kids to go trick-or-treating at the governor’s mansion, to get treats from the governor and first lady. Gov. Dennis Daugaard has been a good sport, not just participating but dressing up. Daugaard is Phil Robinson [sic], the duck whistle entrepreneur and patriarch at the heart of the show. Linda Daugaard is Phil’s wife Kay Robinson [sic]. [stolen under artistic license from David Montgomery's Political Smokeout]
Stupid state.


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Baucus to China, Schweitzer in Iowa


Montana: you're It.

Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), is expected to be named Ambassador to China by President Barack Obama.
Baucus was thought to be facing one of his most difficult political races. His poll numbers had plunged since he guided the Affordable Care Act through the Senate on behalf of the Obama administration. He said he believed the health law “is going to be well-appreciated down the road.” [Chuck Johnson, Lee Newspapers of Montana]
WBUR's On Point is discussing China this morning.

In a smart political move, Montana's Democratic Governor Steve Bullock is expected to name Lieutenant Governor John Walsh to finish Baucus' term. Yet to be known is whom Bullock will name to replace Walsh.

Democratic former Governor Brian Schweitzer addressed the 2013 Progress Iowa Holiday Party in Altoona yesterday:
Visits to Iowa from Democrats eying the presidential race have been sparse this year, with many hopefuls watching to see whether former Sen. Hillary Clinton decides to run. The former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state would be the leading contender for the Democratic nomination if she got in. But Iowa Democrats said that even if Clinton is in the race, voters will want to consider their options, and that could provide an opening for someone like Schweitzer, who has little name recognition in the state. [AP, Billings Gazette]
Schweitzer isn't a progressive by any stretch of the imagination.

Sen. Baucus had to shut down a rant from the disrespectful Sen. don Juan Thune (earth hater-SD).
The matter involves a relatively small segment of the insurance market -- the 5% of Americans who buy individual policies, unlike the vast majority who get their coverage through their jobs or government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and others. While only a sliver of the overall market, it still involves 12 million people, including more than 1 million who have received letters from their insurers telling them current policies are being discontinued. [CNN]
Thune would rather boost funding for a bloated military, one that enjoys free birth control and abortions no less, than ease medical insurance burdens on those least able to pay.

Montana political scientists David Parker and Robert Saldin teamed up for a piece in the Washington Post. Discuss.





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12/18/13

Sioux Falls cleric attended retreat, shares post with pederastic archbishop

Some in Minnesota want to convene a grand jury as more cases of sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy emerge amid cover-ups by the Church hierarchy.
Archbishop John Nienstedt, leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has voluntarily "stepped aside from all public ministry" while police investigate an allegation that he touched a boy on the buttocks in 2009. The actions came after an ongoing MPR News investigation found that church leaders — including Nienstedt — protected abusive priests during their tenures. [Tom Scheck, Laura Yuen, Mike Cronin, Minnesota Public Radio]
Nienstedt is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the University of St. Thomas where Sioux Falls Bishop Paul Swain serves on the Institutional Advancement Committee. They are standing together in the front row in the above photo.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Paul J. Swain as the eighth bishop of Sioux Falls on August 31, 2006 and he was consecrated as Bishop of Sioux Falls on October 26, 2006. Bishop Swain previously served as a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People.--bio, Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls.
Mary Garrigan revealed in the Journal that the Church of the Holy Roman Kiddie Diddlers, Rapid City Branch, greased the anti-civil rights movement in Minnesota with a thousand simoleons:
Bishop Robert Gruss said Wednesday that the donation was made at his discretion after it was requested by Minnesota bishops. "Sometimes it takes money to stand up for worthy causes," he said.
Former legislator, pious Catholic, and one of the richest men in South Dakota, Lee Schoenbeck confessed in the online edition of South Dakota Magazine:
Through the sponsorship of organizations like Avera, Tessier’s and Muth Electric, the hunter’s registration fees and proceeds of the banquet auction, the Bishop’s Hunt generates funds. Initially the funds went to the support of the Catholic elementary school in Huron, and later the general mission of the Catholic Foundation. More recently, the funds have had a more focused purpose.
Not surprisingly, Schoenbeck sits on the board of the Catholic Foundation and represents the diocese as legal counsel.

Makes you want to puke, doesn't it?

Separation of church and state is just so bothersome in the chemical toilet, especially when litigation hurts donations.

President Barack Obama paid a campaign debt today.
In a major step toward fully implementing the historic Cobell settlement, the Department of the Interior announced today that it has sent initial purchase offers to consolidate ownership of highly fractionated trust lands. Working closely with the Oglala Sioux leadership to facilitate the Tribe’s priorities, owners of fractionated land interests at the Pine Ridge Reservation are the first to receive purchase offers under the Department’s Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations. The Pine Ridge Reservation is among the most highly-fractionated locations in the United States. In Pine Ridge alone, there are approximately 6,028 tracts with 195,862 purchasable fractional interests. [Press release, US Dept. of Interior]
The Oglala Sioux Tribe was a vocal critic of and not a party to the Cobell suit.

The Native American and Indigenous Studies Association has joined the academic boycott of Israel.

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12/17/13

Jackley donor busted for bribery

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley is up to his areolae:
In a major departure from industry practice, GlaxoSmithKline, the sixth-largest global drug maker, announced Tuesday that it will no longer hire doctors to promote its drugs. It also makes the diabetes drug Avandia, which was subjected to tough restrictions from the FDA in 2010 because of concerns about heart risks. The FDA recently eased those restrictions after reconsidering the risks. In July 2012, Glaxo agreed to pay $3 billion, a record, to settle criminal and civil claims “arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of certain prescription drugs, its failure to report certain safety data, and its civil liability for alleged false price reporting practices,” the U.S. Justice Department announced. Glaxo also agreed to plead guilty to two counts of introducing misbranded drugs, Paxil and Wellbutrin, into interstate commerce and one count of failing to report safety data about Avandia to the Food and Drug Administration. [Charles Ornstein, ProPublica]
But, South Dakota's top cop is too busy covering up the misdeeds of his political party to intervene in the offal from his donors.
Utah will get $8.5 million from GlaxoSmithKline for defrauding the state’s Medicaid program through allegedly false and misleading marketing of Avandia. [Paul Sakuma, Associated Press, Deseret News]
So, Marty negotiated behind closed doors with GSK to lower its settlement to South Dakota? How conservative.

From the Guardian:
Chinese newspapers said travel agencies working for GSK would invent meetings that required travel but use the money to bribe doctors to prescribe GSK drugs. "Each doctor had a credit card from the company. The kickbacks were transferred to the cards the day after the drugs were prescribed," one newspaper alleged. [Rupert Neate, GlaxoSmithKline 'the big boss' in £300m bribery scandal, China says]
Marty Jackley is the beneficiary of GSK's profits and litigated a case against it; he got wads of dough from Monsanto and BNSF Railway, too.



Huh: Zoloft, Prozac, Effexor, Ritalin and Paxil all seem to weave through gun violence. They all love the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), too.

There have been movements afoot in red state legislatures to limit lawsuits against medical providers and the pharmaceutical industry usurping the power of end-users to sue for damages caused by their products: the gun industry is already immune to such class actions even as they collude in violent deaths.

Is this a great country or what?



Kristi Noem's ALEC handlers are putting the screws to her.
Helping middle class families take advantage of the benefits of the health care law, like ensuring millions of seniors and people with disabilities have access to more affordable prescription medications and free preventive services through Medicare, should be a top priority for lawmakers in Washington. Yet instead of working to fix the law, Congresswoman Noem and her tea party friends have voted to repeal the health care law more than 40 times. They even shut down the government to prevent new benefits, like saving seniors money on prescription drugs and preventative services, from taking effect. [South Dakota Democratic Party]

South Dakota joins New Mexico, Iowa, Wyoming, and Kentucky as states where animal abusers get off easy according to the California-based Animal Legal Defense Fund:
The full report, including a rankings map, chart, and details about each state, is available at aldf.org/staterankings. ALDF’s complete “Animal Protection Laws of the U.S.A. and Canada” compendium, on which the report is based, is available at aldf.org/compendium. ALDF was founded in 1979 with the unique mission of protecting the lives and advancing the interests of animals through the legal system.
A former South Dakota governor is behind in his fundraising goal:
Round[s] has built his fundraising lead with donations from retirees, commercial banks, insurance companies, securities and investment firms, and Republican senators. He said he is an outspoken advocate for the industry, including the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. In addition, he said his father was a former director of the South Dakota Petroleum Council, so he has connections in the industry. [Daniel Simmons-Ritchie, Rapid City Journal]



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12/16/13

Mercer: South Dakota eating its young

Marion's Gardens in Fort Pierre held a contest of lights and cash prizes awarded in various categories:
*** Brightest: First Place, Jim Seward residence.
South Dakota Game, Fish, and Plunder tortured then slaughtered a cougar in the home of Wall Drug owned by the Hustead family. They brought Catholic clergy to the Wall area who then abused and exploited American Indian children and have given generously to the state's Republican Party.




Scientists are learning that the Yellowstone supervolcano is about two and half times as large as once believed.
We’re headed toward a generational cliff. We don’t have enough young people to replace the retiring people. That’s especially true in the ranks of professionals and craftsmen who make our economy go. You see it on our Main Streets and dairy farms too. The population segment with the greatest growth is young American Indians. But the academic gap is deep, and we have blown through another generation without addressing it. Our Republican administration in state government refuses to expand Medicaid to cover lower-income workers. Money, excitement and nice apartments are great attractors for many young people. Are we sending any messages about those things? [Bob Mercer, Pierre Capital Journal]
Great sentence about Benda-gate from Cory at Madville Times:
For Jackley to imply that he can't look into questions about state Grant #1434 because the money ultimately ended up in the hands of dudes administering the federal EB-5 program is like saying he can't investigate my stealing money out of his pocket because I used that money to bribe an IRS agent.
Rewild the West.

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