Bank Robbing Grandma Sentenced to Prison

(Grand Rapids, MI) Margaret Ann Thomas-Irving, a 58-year-old grandmother, robbed four banks, two savings and loans, two restaurants and two Dunkin' Donuts shops before she was arrested. Yesterday, District Judge Gordon J. Quist sentenced her to 70 months in prison for robbing two Michigan banks while on a trip to visit her son..

"I've been incarcerated for almost a year and I've thought a lot about what I did and I feel very ashamed of it," she said at her sentencing hearing.

Probably also feeling some shame is her son, an officer with the Bath Township Police Department.

Levi Strauss Selling Dockers Brand

(San Francisco, CA) According to this report, Levi Strauss and Co. is suffering financially. The company is $2.2 billion in debt and has experienced seven consecutive years of decreasing sales and cost cuts resulting in thousands of layoffs. To inject some health into their sick balance sheet, the San Francisco-based company has decided to sell its Dockers brand of casual clothing.

The reasonableness of this decision is questionable since it appears it is only being done to provide a one-time infusion of revenue at the cost of losing a generally successful and productive division of the company. A substantial 25% of Levi's revenue will disappear by the sale of Dockers for no other reason than cash. Understandably, cash is nice, but it offers no apparent promise of future revenue generation. There is also no reason to believe that the problems which are at the root of Levi's financial troubles would be corrected or mitigated by the sale of Dockers.

Through many good and some bad years, the company appears to have become compartmentalized to the extent that individual departments don't communicate well with each other resulting in an ongoing inefficient and noncompetitive management style. All aspects of the business have been affected. Poor market forecasting, poor inventory control, manufacturing difficulties, supply chain problems, ineffective demand replenishment systems, and other weaknesses have all been blamed on the lack of information being available to Levi's executives. The net result has been an increase in the cost of doing business to a level whereby Levi's competitors have an advantage. Personally, I know people who quit buying Levi's years ago. There are many comparable products available for significantly cheaper prices.

The inefficiencies in management communications have caused a product price structure that is much greater than necessary or desired, however, there are other areas that contribute to the high cost of doing business. One is a glaring weakness in financial accounting and reporting. In fact, the recently announced financial results for last year specifically acknowledges the weakness.

"It was a tough year for the company, with both weak operating results and financial reporting missteps," said chief financial officer Jim Fogarty. "However, we have sufficient liquidity in the business, we are taking steps to improve our financial reporting, and our work with Alvarez & Marsal is well under way to strengthen the company."

Without accurate and timely financial data, company management is hindered from doing the best possible job. As a result, Levi Strauss executives have committed to strengthen the discipline.

The company is taking several actions to address this issue [material weakness in internal controls], including recruiting individuals with greater expertise in tax-related financial reporting and improving our internal communications.

Given that the success or failure of any business is determined by the counting of beans, Levi's promise to get better bean-counters is encouraging.

One other area that has a significant, albeit not easily quantifiable, impact on cost is Levi's business plan which de-emphasizes the selling of profitable products by putting strong emphasis on social programs and reforms. They do this within the company, within the community, and internationally. It's understandable and generally expected that any large multinational corporation will conduct business like a good neighbor, ethically and morally. In that regard, Levi's does a superb job. However, Levi's goes much further than being just a good neighbor. According to their Global Sourcing and Operating Guidelines, Levi Strauss mandates specific and strict requirements on about 600 contractors in more than 60 countries. Conditions are imposed on hiring, working conditions, the environment, working hours, health and safety, discipline, union associations, education and apprenticeship programs, and more. Whether Levi Strauss should or should not be functioning as an international social reform organization is a question for the stockholders to answer. Agreed, some level of sub-tier vendor control needs to be established, but I doubt there would be general concurrence on the necessity to implement social reformation in foreign countries. Nonetheless, right or wrong, Levi's international social reform plan is expensive. Quite expensive. As a result, Levi's has put itself at a competitive disadvantage to companies that don't inflate their product prices to pay for social reform programs.

In summary, Levi Strauss and Co. has been performing poorly for a number of years due to management and financial/accounting deficiencies and expensive social initiatives. To improve performance, Levi's will sell one of its most successful product lines, the Dockers brand. Good idea? Hold all tickets until the results are tabulated.

Court Order to Avoid Conception Challenged

(Columbus, OH) In 2002, Sean Talty was convicted of not supporting three of his seven children by five women and sentenced to five years probation by Medina County Common Pleas Judge James L. Kimbler. According to a report in The Repository (reg. req'd), Talty was also directed to pay $150 weekly in back child support and to avoid fathering more children. Since procreation is considered a right protected by the US Constitution, the court's decision was appealed and subsequently upheld by the 9th Ohio District Court of Appeals in Akron.

Now the Ohio Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of the judge's decision to curtail the right of procreation for parolees and probationers. A ruling is expected by fall. Already, concerns have been voiced by members of the court.

"How in the world would a judge enforce this?" Justice Evelyn Stratton asked.

"Isn't the judge really trying to legislate morality?" Justice Maureen O'Connor said a few minutes later.

This is a tough situation for many judges deciding on cases of nonpayment of child support. If the court puts a deadbeat dad in jail, he can't pay child support. Alternatively, if the court sentences the deadbeat to probation, he can work and pay child support, however, he can also irresponsibly produce more children. Judge Kimbler opted to put Sean Talty on probation with instructions not to procreate.

Interestingly, a precedent was established in October 2002 by the Wisconsin Supreme Court when it held that the "no procreation" ruling is constitutional. It remains to be seen how the Ohio Supreme Court will decide.

A mention needs to be made of the fact that the "no procreation" ruling brings the justice system inches closer to the day that a court may impose forced sterilization as a sentence.

Congress Proposes Cell Phone Camera Law

A bill (S. 1301) has been proposed and passed by the US Senate to make it a federal crime to use a cell phone camera for "video voyeurism." Although secretly photographing or videotaping someone is illegal in many states, the variety of laws among the states sometimes allows perpetrators avoid prosecution. Officials believe a federal law will provide more effective protection for the public.

"No one should have to go through the embarrassment of being secretly taped by an electronic peeping Tom, or seeing those pictures turn up on the Internet," said Rep. Mike Oxley, R-Ohio, a former FBI agent who is an advocate for the bill.

Convictions under the law would be punishable by a fine and a possible one year in jail. The bill now goes to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration.

John Ramsey Running for Office

(Lansing, Michigan) The father of slain child beauty contestant, JonBenet Ramsey, wants to be elected a Michigan State Representative. John Ramsey has filed papers to run as a Republican candidate in the Aug. 3 primary election.

"It's most unusual to have a celebrity -- however you want to characterize that -- running for the state Legislature in Michigan," said Craig Ruff of Public Sector Consultants, a Lansing think tank. "The national media will have a field day. So will state media."

Ramsey has been invited to hit some softballs on the Larry King show tomorrow night (CNN, 9pm EDT). Annotate your DayTimer accordingly.

Child Prostitution Ring Busted

(Oklahoma City, OK) Yesterday, federal law enforcement agents identified 19 individuals and charged them with child prostitution, sex trafficking of children, and pimping.

Pimps allegedly transported girls as young as 13 from Oklahoma to cities in Texas, Florida, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Arkansas for prostitution, said U.S. Attorney Robert McCampbell.

"The prospect of a 13-year-old prostituting is not a hypothetical," McCampbell said. "It's been happening here in Oklahoma City."

McCampbell said pimps recruited young girls, many of whom were runaways, and then controlled them through violence, threats and intimidation.

Only scum would commit these crimes against children.

Chiquita Subsidiary Funding Terrorists

(Cincinnati, OH) According to a report in the Dayton Daily News, Chiquita Brands International Inc. informed the US Justice Department yesterday that its Colombian banana producing subsidiary made payments to foreign terrorist organizations. The company said it is cooperating with the Justice Department investigation. No information is provided concerning the connection between bananas and terrorism.

Million Mom March

(Washington, D.C.) Since the volume of news reports probably outnumbered the marchers, it's safe to assume that everybody has heard of the Million Mom March held yesterday in the nation's capitol. Estimates vary, but 2,500 seems to be the general consensus on the upper limit of attendees. The march was against guns. They don't like guns and they want everybody else not to like guns. Yada-yada-yada.

My question concerns the fact that there is no way to fudge the arithmetic to justify naming the event the Million Mom March. 2,500 is 0.25% of 1 million which is not even close. Now, agreed, this is not a major issue but, repeated often enough, someone will come to believe that a million moms showed up. So, why doesn't the media point out the obvious disparity? I don't know exactly, but it does appear the media generally gives liberal causes a pass on their estimates. For example, estimates of homeless populations, of date rapes, of homosexual populations, of abusive husbands, and many other groupings, frequently seem to be gross exaggerations when examined. No doubt that in many cases exact figures are unavailable but, even so, any ridiculous over or underestimation should be pointed out to news readers. Not doing so gives the outlandish number some credibility. That's wrong.

As a caveat, this inattention to arithmetic detail doesn't seem to apply when the media reports on human disasters. In those instances, there seems to be a blanket policy of reporting figures with disclaimers stating that they are unconfirmed or unverified.

Nevertheless, it seems the prudent posture is to be highly skeptical of any unsupported or unverified numbers reported by the media. Since public opinion and public policy are often influenced by the numbers reported, it's irresponsible for the media to report outrageous figures without question or comment. It's also sad. Too often, when arithmetic is involved, the media are not society's watchdogs.

African Clawed Frog Invasion

(San Francisco, CA) This report indicates that there will be no ethical treatment for the African Clawed Frog. With their large tongueless mouths, they'll eat anything, even birds. They also breed "like crazy" and spread quickly.

"They are a threat," said Dr. David Wake, an emeritus professor of integrative biology at the University of California-Berkeley. "They change the environment quite profoundly."

Another problem is that the African Clawed Frog exhibits a level of invulnerability to varying environmental conditions. It can live under ice, in salty water, and burrowed in the ground.

The frogs have been outlawed as pets, however, they are used in biological and medical experiments. It's theorized that researchers released the animals to the environment to save them from destruction.

I'm surprised that the Animal Liberation Front and PETA haven't weighed in on this situation. The frogs are animals used in gruesome and cruel experiments! Don't they have rights? Plus, it's said they're also cute. Where is PETA? Where's the ethical outrage? Where are the protesters?

To digress, some cartoonist should be putting together a Saturday morning animated program idea where African killer bees saddled on African clawed frogs are defending an imaginary kingdom. It would be a hit.

ALAN KING, 1927-2004

Yesterday, comedian and versatile entertainer Alan King died of lung cancer in a hospital in New York. Rest in peace.

I personally enjoyed watching King, seeing him both in drama and comedy, and even met him once about twenty years ago on a trip to Las Vegas. I thought he was likable. My wife thought he was a jerk. Of course, we also disagree on the Three Stooges.

More SUV Killings

(Bangor, Maine) Here's another tragic story about SUV killings. Seven people died when the speeding SUV turned sideways, hit some trees, and flipped over. The SUV was a Ford Explorer and, according to the report, the killer.

My take is that there should be some action by society to remove the driverless killer SUVs off the road. It's kind of odd, though, that I've never seen an SUV on the road without a driver, but, somehow, news reporter after news reporter writes of accidents caused by the killer SUVs.

We should, however, thank the media for alerting us to the danger. I guarantee that if ever I see an SUV going down the road without a driver, I'm calling the cops.

Cat Dissection

(Santa Fe, New Mexico) The tree-hugging animal rights extremists at Santa Fe High School have convinced the rest of the student body that cats used in dissections for science classes are "stolen from the streets and even embalmed while still alive." Therefore, future cat dissections will be done by computer simulation.

Cats are definitely coming from the streets. According to this story, about 2,000 a year in the city of Akron, OH, alone. It's incorrect to say they are stolen, though. They're strays. And they're not embalmed, just killed and incinerated.

In mapping communities of knowledge, it seems that Santa Fe High School is located somewhere in the smoky suburbs of truth.

Unnamed Fetal Americans

(Little Rock, Arkansas) Here's a scenario to ponder. A pregnant Korean woman enters the United States on a visa, overstays the visa and decides to stay in the country permanently. At that point, the unviable tissue mass in her womb automatically becomes an unnamed fetal American, with all the rights and privileges of citizenship. The mother, however, remains an illegal alien.

Does this make sense? Not to me, but apparently the Arkansas Department of Human Services understands since it recently instituted guidelines defining citizenship in exactly that manner. I think.

In any event, we'll probably soon see a Fetal-American political lobby defending the rights of the unviable. Abortion advocates are already concerned.

Hat tip: Cracker Barrel Philosopher

The Foreign Vote

David Janes posts on an International Herald Tribune report that Europeans are overwhelmingly anti-Bush and are frustrated by the fact that their support for John Kerry won't be translated into votes. From a Spaniard, speaking for others,

"People say, 'I'm very frustrated that I can't vote in the U.S. elections, because these are the ones that affect my way of life more than anything else,'" Ken Dubin, a political scientist at Carlos III University in Madrid, said in an interview.

My take is simple, Mr. Dubin. Just wait your turn. Efforts are in progress to get children the right to vote in California and we all have heard about dead people voting in Chicago. The motor-voter law was implemented to help put ballots in the hands of non-citizens and stories abound on how busloads of Mexicans frequently help in border state elections. I suspect some enterprising liberal politician is currently working on a way to have foreign nationals vote in US elections, either legally or illegally.

Ninja-style, Steven Den Beste chimes in on the subject with customary sage comments.

Religious Bias

(Chicago, Illinois) Emergency medical technician Stephanie Adamson, 30, has filed suit against her former employer claiming religious discrimination because she was fired after refusing to transport a woman to an abortion clinic. Superior Ambulance Services in Elmhurst dispatched Adamson to Mt. Sinai Hospital to pick up a patient for transport to a nearby clinic for an elective abortion.

"I just felt really strongly it was something that I couldn't do," said Adamson, a devout Christian who is adamantly anti-abortion. "It would be against everything that I believe in and everything that I support."

The American Center for Law and Justice filed the suit in U.S. District Court on Adamson's behalf.

This type of case creates a significant dilemma for businesses. They face lawsuits if they discriminate based on religion during the hiring process AND they face lawsuits if they fire people for not doing their jobs based on religious beliefs.

Of note is that the circumstances of Adamson's case are very unusual. Since her employer provides emergency services, incidents entailing the transport of patients to clinics for elective abortions have to be extremely rare. Given that, Superior Ambulance probably overreacted towards Adamson.

Nonetheless, even though the conditions of Adamson's case are unique and rare, I suspect there are many other similar instances in society where religious beliefs conflict with job responsibilities. A recent example occurred in New York where a Sikh police officer was fired for refusing to remove his turban while in uniform. In that case, a judge ruled that the firing was religious discrimination and ordered the officer reinstated.

I foresee a future with heaps more headaches for businesses and society while the trial lawyers explore a whole new universe of paydays. Let the lawsuits commence.

Judge Dismisses 51 Traffic Charges

(Washington, Pennsylvania) According to a report by Joe Smydo in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, E. Ronald Salvitti II had accumulated a 24-page record of driving citations and related violations from 1983 to the present.

By November 2002, Salvitti had been cited for speeding 20 times -- four times for traveling 80 mph or faster. His record showed 18 citations for driving with a suspended license and one citation each for following another vehicle too closely, a red light violation, driving too fast for conditions and driving without a license. His record included 48 instances of failing to respond to citations.

Salvitti's record of troubles indicates that his driving privileges are suspended until March 2031. However, it doesn't appear that any punishment for his irresponsible and criminal behavior has been effective. Salvitti continued to drive and commit additional violations while his license was suspended.

Since the justice system has been incapable of effectively dealing with him, Mr. Salvitti had his lawyer, Chester Dudzinski, petition the court to make everything go away. The court did. How nice!

Washington County Judge Paul Pozonsky, with agreement from District Attorney John C. Pettit, dismissed 27 citations and 24 failure-to-respond violations. Salvitti is only required to pay court costs and do community service. Astonishingly, according to Mr. Smydo's report,

Pozonsky and District Attorney John C. Pettit said no special treatment was shown Salvitti, son of eye doctor and philanthropist E. Ronald Salvitti.

[ ... ]

Pozonsky and Pettit said Salvitti was given the same consideration as any defendant seeking a sentence modification.

Unbelievable!

Only a moron would buy that any defendant with 51 charges against them can walk into the Washington County Courthouse and walk away without even a slap of the hand. Schools should use this case as the quintessential example of the "appearance of impropriety." I suspect that there are lawyers who have been disbarred because of less offensive courtroom buffoonery.

In summary, Salvitti has been ignoring the law for over twenty years, dodging effective punishment, and now he's going to regain his driving privileges while the judge and prosecutor state that this is the way any defendant is treated in Washington County. Believable?

I don't think so. There must be other elements to this story that haven't been thoroughly pursued. For example, what impact is there on the administration of local justice when the defendant's daddy spends time being a local philanthropist?

Rewards Leads to Sasser Worm Creator

Informants provided investigators with the leads necessary to apprehend an 18-year-old unnamed German resident of Rotenberg for the creation of the Sasser worm. The worm is estimated to have infected millions of computers running Microsoft Windows. The arrest is considered to have resulted because of the large reward program offered by Microsoft.

Brigitte Bardot on Trial

(Paris, France) According to this report, Brigitte Bardot's best-selling book Islamicization of France has angered some people and she is now defending herself on charges of inciting racial hatred. The book discusses mixing of races and the "infiltration" of France by Islamic extremists. The 69-year-old legendary sex goddess said she didn't mean to hurt anyone, however, if she's convicted, she faces a possible one year in jail.

This case appears to be an act of political correctness. Islamic extremists are incited to racial hatred as a lifestyle. As long as the nonbelievers are breathing, they are hated by the extremists. As for the Islamic extremists, they incite hatred towards themselves by their actions. Does anyone think they are lovable for killing thousands of innocent people by homicide bombings? I don't.

With regard to Bardot's book, I don't think it could incite hatred when it already exists. She probably just wrote about it and that's politically incorrect.

Group of Eight Summit, Sea Island, Georgia

(Brunswick, Georgia) Mark your calendars! The G8 Sea Island Summit is only a month away and already security is tight. Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies have started patrolling sea, land, and island areas, questioning all individuals within a general security zone. Full security is to be implemented on June 5th for the June 8-10 summit. Under consideration is a plan to close all beaches and waters surrounding the island. Local citizens are also participating.

Police have asked the community to be their eyes and ears, and to report people and activities that seem suspicious. At the top of their list are people who photograph areas and structures that are not typical tourist attractions.

Even with extensive security, law enforcement officials are anticipating many arrests from a large number of aggressive protest groups. It's known that the Internet is being used to notify and recruit participants in planned demonstrations in Savannah and Brunswick. Accordingly, almost all city and county facilities will be used as staging and retention areas by law enforcement agencies during the G8 Summit.

Of note is that the usual protest groups will probably be less successful in recruiting participants than is customary due to the somewhat remote location of the summit this year and, also, due to the timing. For those habitual protesters that have jobs, this year's summit is inconveniently scheduled during the week so they'll have to take time off work. Also, the summer protest tour has another event scheduled on the West Coast at the same time as the G8 Summit. Scheduled for June 6-9, the BIO 2004 Annual International Convention in San Francisco will surely attract the bulk of summer protest fans from the western states.

As host, President Bush will ask the leaders from Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia to come to agreement on the issues of global terrorism, security, trade liberalization, freedom and democracy, and economic prosperity.

Due to restricted access to Sea Island, the protesters and the media will chiefly congregate in Savannah and, to a lesser extent, Brunswick, so there's promise that this year's summit will occur with minimal disruption.

Man Wants Prison

(Yakima, WA) Ruben Ramirez robbed the downtown branch of the Wells Fargo Bank and then waited for police to arrest him. He wanted to be sent to prison and, since he thought the robbery would be his third strike, he expected to get a life sentence. Sadly for him, Yakima County Superior Court Judge Susan Hahn only sentenced him to 8 1/2 years for the crime.

Clearly, Mr. Ramirez needs some counseling.