Legalectric

Running for office, assuming office, is asking people to believe in you, to believe in your vision, to believe in your principles and values — a compact with the people. And what if what you say isn’t who you are? What if you ascribe to Marxist theory (Groucho): “These are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have others!” What if you have strong moral standards for everyone, and different moral standards for yourself? Or if you believe that where it’s convenient or desired, the basic rules of conduct simply don’t apply? The impact ripples so far beyond Zimmerman. What does this mean for his supporters and for the Green Party?

Zimmerman indicted on four counts:

In the St.PPP: Former Minneapolis City Council member indicted

The indictment alleges that Zimmermann, a member of the city’s zoning committee, accepted $5,000 from the developer of the Chicago Commons condo and retail complex, who was seeking a change in zoning rules to allow more retail space.

It also alleges that twice in August of 2005, Zimmermann took $1,200 and $1,000 in cash from the same developer in exchange for help with any zoning issues that might arise in the development of a retail mall catering to the local Somali community.

The indictment also alleges that in October 2004, Zimmermann said he would sign off on some required papers for the newly constructed Franklin Station Townhomes development if that developer would build the retaining wall. When that developer declined, Zimmermann allegedly asked to be given the materials for free so he could build the wall himself.
…

If convicted, Zimmermann faces a maximum potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine on each count. U.S. Attorney Thomas Heffelfinger declined to say what sentence his office would recommend if Zimmermann is convicted.

In the STrib: Former Minneapolis City Council Member indicted for accepting cash

Edina: Weapons protesters get a break they don’t want
The protesters at Alliant Techsystems say an Edina ordinance stifles their dissent. The city says it’s only trying to save money and streamline the courts.

From today’s STrib:

“It’s impossible to get into jail,” fumed protester David Harris, a 71-year-old surgeon from Red Wing, who fulfilled his court-ordered penalty from a previous trespassing conviction by publicly holding a sign that said simply, “Community Service.”

and this choice snippet:

Rachel Carlson, a research attorney at the League of Minnesota Cities, said it’s common for cities to enact trespassing ordinances to address property issues associated with snowmobiling, skateboarding and hunting. She knows of no other Minnesota city that adopted a trespassing ordinance to address war protesters, however.

Here’s the entire article.

The new Edina ordinance – nope, the STrib’s link isn’t working…

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And here’s more on NSA spying from the New York Times, very scary indeed:

Spy agency data after Sept. 11 lead F.B.I to dead ends

In the anxious months after the Sept. 11 attacks, the National Security Agency began sending a steady stream of telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and names to the F.B.I. in search of terrorists. The stream soon became a flood, requiring hundreds of agents to check out thousands of tips a month.

But virtually all of them, current and former officials say, led to dead ends or innocent Americans.

F.B.I. officials repeatedly complained to the spy agency that the unfiltered information was swamping investigators. The spy agency was collecting much of the data by eavesdropping on some Americans’ international communications and conducting computer searches of phone and Internet traffic. Some F.B.I. officials and prosecutors also thought the checks, which sometimes involved interviews by agents, were pointless intrusions on Americans’ privacy

…

“We’d chase a number, find it’s a schoolteacher with no indication they’ve ever been involved in international terrorism – case closed,” said one former F.B.I. official, who was aware of the program and the data it generated for the bureau. “After you get a thousand numbers and not one is turning up anything, you get some frustration.”

And from aol.com “news” yesterday:

Gore Assails Domestic Wiretapping Program
Former Vice President Says Bush Repeatedly Broke the Law

Can someone explain to me why this is a question?
And what good is a “poll” about this when most people don’t even recognize the Bill of Rights when it slaps them upside the head? Or when it’s taken away?

From Madison’s Capitol Times, they can’t see it when it’s right under their noses:
FBI missed internal signs of espionage

We need to know that shakedowns are occuring — yet I hesitate to publish something like this, and I’m not about to say how it got in my inbasket. Land of the free…

This is an example of where we’re headed — where we are. Let’s all call up DHS and schedule appointments so we don’t have to wonder when they’ll come knocking on our doors.

—–Original Message—–
From: La Voz de Aztlan [mailto:aztlan_.news@aztlan.net]
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 3:15 PM
To: La Voz de Aztlan Subscribers
Subject: DHS: “La Voz de Aztlan has raised eyebrows in Washington”

DHS: “La Voz de Aztlan has raised eyebrows in Washington”

by Hector Carreon
La Voz de Aztlan

Los Angeles, Alta California, January 12, 2006 – (ACN) On the morning of
December 22, 2005, I noticed a business card that was left at the door
of my home. The card was from the US Department of Homeland Security and
had a handwritten note that said “Please call”. That afternoon I called
Los Angeles and spoke with the special agent whose name was on the card.
The DHS agent said they wanted to speak to me about “The Aztlan
Movement” and my organization. I answered, “Do you mean La Voz de
Aztlan?” I added, “La Voz de Aztlan is a news and information service.”
The special agent wanted to come to my home to speak to me personally on
the following day. We made a 8:30 a.m. appointment.

The knock on my door came at precisely 8:30 a.m. on December 23, 2005 as
my family was making final preparations for Christmas Day. On the other
side of my glass door were two gentlemen dressed in professional
business suits. I opened the door and we introduced each other. I
escorted them to my living room and introduced the two special agents to
two of my family members that were present. We all sat down and the lead
government agent began the conversation.

Among the first statements said by the special agent in charge was, “La
Voz de Aztlan has raised eyebrows in Washington”. He proceeded to ask
numerous questions about Aztlan. He said that he was not from the area
and wanted to know as much as possible about the “Aztlan Movement” and
my organization. I reiterated that “La Voz de Aztlan” is not an
organization per se but merely an Internet news service for Mexican and
Mexican-Americans in the US Southwest and in Mexico. I added that La Voz
de Aztlan, however, had attracted readership and subscriber from around
the globe.

He asked what Aztlan meant to me. I answered that Aztlan has many levels
of meaning. I said that “Aztlan” in the name of our news publication is
mostly symbolic. I gave both special agents the historic and cultural
basis for “Aztlan” . I mentioned that there exists historical Mexica
documents and old Spanish maps that point to an actual region called
“Aztlan” that existed in pre-Columbian times near the “four corners”
area of the US Southwest. I mentioned that according to ancient Mexica
(Aztec) lore, they were to migrate south to establish the great city of
Tenochtitlan (present day Mexico City) at a place where they were to see
a “sign”. The sign would be “An eagle on top of a cactus with a serpent
in its beak”. One of the special agents immediately recognized this
“sign” as being part of the Mexican flag.

At this point the conversation turned into “Aztlan” being a separatist
organization and whether I believed that the Southwest should separate
from Washington and become
part of Mexico. I said that there are many youths of Mexican descent
that believe in such a possibility but that my personal beliefs are more
in line with those of Professor Armando Navarro of the University of
California and of Professor Charles Truxillo of the University of New
Mexico. The special agent asked me whether I believed in the armed and
violent overthrow of the US government. I answered “no” and that I
believed in making social and political changes through the “ballot
box”.

The lead special agent also asked questions concerning a news report we
had on a legendary Iraqi sniper that our troops have nicknamed “Juba”.
The report included a link to a video on the server of “The Internet
Archive” at www.archive.org. “The Internet Archive” is funded by the US
Library of Congress but the video appears to have been produced by
Al-Queda. We have now removed two reports on “Juba” because of the
concerns communicated to us by the DHS.

There were numerous other questions concerning my education, employment
and military record with the US Army 2nd Armored Division. They asked
what kind of weapons I own and where in the house I kept them. They
asked whether I had friends and who were my associates. They asked about
Ernesto Cienfuegos, Roberto Cruz and my association with Dr. Armando
Navarro. They also asked how I got along with my neighbors.

At about this point, the second special agent got up and approached me
with a clip board and a document. He requested that I print my name on a
line at the top and sign at the bottom. I ask what it was for and he
answered that it was permission for them to examine my computer. All
this time the special agent in charge was in constant radio
communication with someone at a remote location. I had to decide on the
spot whether to grant permission or insist on a court warrant. I decided
that it would be the best course to continue to fully cooperate with the
federal agents and I sign the document. Right after I signed, the lead
agent radioed someone and within five minutes two more special agents
arrived to my home with suitcases of electronic equipment. The lead
agent asked me to escort them to my computer room where they spent two
hours copying the hard disk of my computer. I do not know what else they
did down there because I was kept busy by the other two agents upstairs
answering additional questions.

It was clear to me that the Department of Homeland Security had
conducted previous surveillance and investigations because they already
had much information on myself and our news publication “La Voz de
Aztlan”. The special agent in charge gave me the distinct impression
that they were acting on high level orders from Washington. We suspect
Congressman Tom Tancredo, the AIPAC or both. We are presently preparing
a “congressional inquiry” in an attempt to find out who was behind this
frightening invasion of privacy and government action that has “chilled”
our constitutional freedom of speech and of the press.

http://www.aztlan.net/homeland_security_incident.htm

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* La Voz de Aztlan
Website: http://www.aztlan.net

DHS Truck – Check out “>www.cryptome.org

Excelsior Energy has submitted a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to the Public Utilities Commission for approval and Comments on the procedure for the Docket are due NEXT WEEK! Not much time, lots of reading, so get busy.

It’s not a typical PPA. Here’s the catch — they’ve not agreed with Xcel on a PPA, it’s not a signed PPA. Excelsior is asking the PUC to order it under the terms of the 2003 Prairie Island bill.

(old photo of PUC, Greg Scott on left is gone, that’s a whole ‘nother story)

This is the Mesaba part of the Prairie Island bill and below is the part of Minn. Stat. 216B.1694 that mandates a PPA with Xcel:

(7) shall be entitled to enter into a contract with a public utility that owns a nuclear generation facility in the state to provide 450 megawatts of baseload capacity and energy under a long-term contract, subject to the approval of the terms and conditions of the contract by the commission. The commission may approve, disapprove, amend, or modify the contract in making its public interest determination, taking into consideration the project’s economic development benefits to the state; the use of abundant domestic fuel sources; the stability of the price of the output from the project; the project’s potential to contribute to a transition to hydrogen as a fuel resource; and the emission reductions achieved compared to other solid fuel baseload technologies;

This drives me batty: Why don’t people understand that the fact of a mandate is proof that WE DON’T NEED THE ELECTRICITY? Why don’t people understand that if we have to give them every perk in the book and even make up some new creative ones (I never said Micheletti isn’t shrewd!), so far they’ve gotten $55 million in grants, why, oh why, oh why don’t they understand that this project is not economically viable? Folks, this is transmission engineering, it ain’t rocket science!

Anyway, here’s the link for the PPA Petition and all the exhibits, it’s delightful reading. CLICK HERE.

COMMENTS DUE JANUARY 20.
The PUC is taking PROCEDRUAL comments on this, and comments must be received by 4:30 p.m. Friday, January 20, 2006.”

The scope of Comments is narrow, THIS IS IMPORTANT, be on point:

Parties wishing to comment on the appropriate process for the case, including whether it should be set for contested case hearing and what the scope of any such hearing should be, should file written comments with the Commission by 4:30 p.m., Friday, January 20, 2006.

Here’s a hint: Look at the statutory quote above, particularly the bold part, and from there, figure out the scope of the hearing, what all should be included to address the points listed.

PUC staff on this Docket (E-6472/M-05-1993) are Susan Mackenzie (651) 201-2241 or Janet Gonzalez (651) 201-2231.

To look up this docket, go to www.puc.state.mn.us and click on “eDockets” and plug in the “05-1993” in the Docket number spaces.

Here’s the Docket at the agency formerly known as the EQB.

Here comes Mesaba. Do ya think that anyone cares that in the MISO study, G477, only 90MW of all that Mesaba output gets to sink? Go here and search for 477…. think of the transmission upgrades in our future!

Remember Spot, the anonymous pooch in Edina? Here’s his “retiregeoffmichel” site (retiring him is obviously a good idea), and another too! He had this to say earlier and when I was off on a scenic tour of Iowa, so now that I’m fully recovered from officing at the Flying J, I relay this comment WITH PERMISSION. He claims his paws are not suited to the comment system I’ve got. Oh, pshaw…

Earlier when I’d objected to anonymous blogging, as I did in a recent post here, wishing the anonymous bloggers would just own their opinions, and Spot had this to say:

Oh, you think that Spot is a nom de tail? (plume, tail, get it?) Spot had intended to reveal his alter ego’s identity after he got started blogging, but people seem to be having a lot of fun with the dog persona, addressing email to Spotty, sending him dog pictures (ahem), etc. So, Spot will probably keep it up for a while.

There are many people who know Spot’s identity, or have figured it out. Your assignment, should you decide to accept it, is to find one of these people.

Spot is pretty careful with his facts; inferences, as a matter of opinion, are something else. Spot is also a useful literary device (and he means that in the most charitable scope of that term), because Spot can engage in conversation with his alter ego.

Competing for attention for a blog is difficult, and Spot is always reminded on those immortal words from Gilbert and Sullivan: He who’d make his fellow creatures wise should always guild the Philosophic Pill.

And after the Big Blois Blog Bluster and Blather he was quick to point out the differences between himself and MDE:

One very significant difference between MDE and me is that the facts that are referred to in Spot’s blog all come out of the newspaper or other public information sources like legislative proceedings, etc. Most of the time, these references are cited. Spot does not rely on confidential tipsters; he is way too far out of the loop to have any. Anyone, not only registered users, may comment on Spot’s blogs.

Incidentally, I do think that anonymous blogs with anonymous sources are bad. When the media, including a humble blogger, publish information from a confidential source, the media substitute their credibility for the source, saying, in effect, you can trust me and believe the source is accurate. That is why Judy Miller no longer works for the NYT.

There have been only a couple of times when readers forwarded information to Spot. In each and every case, it was to call his attention to something already in print.

Spot has never held a party or campaign position, nor acted as any kind of paid political consultant. Spot sees no reason to give up the pastoral life.

And later he bravely admits: “Spot spent his puphood in Iowa.”
and “PS. FYI, Spotty is gloriously unaltered.”

Oh well, altered, unaltered, that’s pretty non-responsive — I still regard anonymous blogging as utterly ball-less. As do my ball-busting bitches:

Feel free to discuss it with them! See Spot Run! Run Spot, Run!

And Spot, if YOU’RE not going to run, at least help cultivate a PROGRESSIVE, not just a yellow dog, District 41 candidate, someone who knows a thing or two about state issues! Sen. Geoff Michel has to go, but Andrew Borene is wrapped up in federal issues and isn’t talking about the state issues that would earn votes for state Senate. There’s plenty of state issues clamoring for attention. Maybe someone from the DFL can send him some issues cheat sheets? What has Michel done that’s so awful, and why vote for Borene? Pretty basic, let’s get down! A veteran inherently understands the meaning of “campaign.” Get to work! Now’s the time — we’ll see what he does!

Vote for me! I’m for EDUCATION! I’m for HEALTH CARE! I’m for JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!