Fun With Insomnia Blog

MANILA, Philippines – Just political drama.

political lawyer Darwin Icay, the spokesperson of Taguig Mayor Ma. Laarni Cayetano, has claimed that the cases filed by Vice Mayor George Elias and several city councilors against Cayetano and city administrator Jose Luis Montales was just a drama cooked up by “[Dante] Tiñga and his supporters in the city council.”

He added that these would not prevent them from uncovering anomalies allegedly committed by the previous administration.

Tiñga, father of former Taguig Mayor Freddie Tiñga, ran for mayor but lost to Cayetano in the May elections. The elder Tiñga’s running mate was Elias.

Last week, Elias and several councilors aligned with him filed administrative and criminal charges against Cayetano and Montales with the Ombudsman and Office of the President for grave abuse of authority.

This was after Cayetano, through Montales, ordered the session hall padlocked for renovations, preventing the city council from convening.

Icay, meanwhile, claimed that “the Tiñga camp [was] panicking because of the controversial issues we are uncovering.”

He added, “We expect more cases to be filed and more harassment coming from the Tiñga camp.”

WILMINGTON, Del. — In the turbulent year of the tea party, Republican Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware set out to jangle no nerves as he ran for a Senate seat long held by Vice President Joseph Biden. It’s the way Republican strategists originally envisioned 2010, a roster of seasoned politicians pointing the party toward significant gains in the Senate.

“He brings our style of civility and independence to Washington and works to develop solutions,” is the soothing, even quaint message on the 71-year-old lawmaker’s campaign website, which shows him in a suit and tie, working alone at his desk. Experience “is hugely important,” he said in an interview.

After two terms as governor and nine as the state’s lone congressman, Castle appears better positioned than other veterans who faced a tea party-backed challenge this year. If he prevails over Christine O’Donnell on Sept. 14 — he and GOP officials have launched a fierce counterattack — he would join more than a half-dozen other veteran Republican officeholders on the ballot in Senate races.

In matters of style as well as policy and political experience, they are the polar opposite of Rand Paul of Kentucky, Sharron Angle of Nevada and Ken Buck in Colorado. Those three tapped into an anti-government sentiment, espouse politically risky positions, won primaries over establishment candidates, and now face difficult races in the fall.

No matter the blend of candidates that Republicans end up with, a persistently weak economy and voter anger add up to enough competitive races to give them at least an outside chance of winning Senate control. Already, a constellation of outside groups is spending heavily on television in Senate races, including more than $5 million this summer for two groups backed by former George W. Bush political adviser Karl Rove.

Republicans need to capture 10 seats to win a majority, and as many as a dozen held by Democrats appear competitive, as well as at least five currently in the hands of the GOP.

Ironically, as the primary season draws to a close and the fall campaign dawns, both parties try to straddle politically inconvenient facts that underscore broader trends.

Democrats are loath to concede their majority is at risk. “I don’t think there are” enough competitive races for that to happen, said Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, head of the party’s Senate campaign committee. Yet the party’s strategists issue a stream of statements saying that many tea party-backed challengers in tight contests are “too extreme” and will cost the GOP its chance of gaining control.

The committee is making a quick check to see whether it has a late, low-budget opportunity in strongly Republican Alaska, where tea party-backed challenger Joe Miller defeated GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski in a recent primary.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other lawmakers in his party tried repeatedly to defeat tea party-supported challengers in Kentucky, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and elsewhere in recent months, privately expressing fears they would prove unelectable.

Now, after compiling a mixed record in the primaries, the campaign chairman, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, says the fall is “an opportunity for Republicans, independents libertarians and disgruntled Democrats to come together around a fiscal responsibility message and one that says the government can’t grow itself out of this problem.”

There was never any doubt that GOP strategists wanted Castle on the ballot. Arguably the most moderate Republican in the House, he also was viewed as the only contender with a chance to win the seat at a time when Beau Biden, the state attorney general and son of the vice president, seemed likely to run.

When the younger Biden opted not to run, enter Chris Coons, a political lawyer now in his second term as executive of the largest of the state’s three counties.

Other veteran Republicans on Senate ballots this fall include Rep. John Boozman of Arkansas, whom party officials say needed some coaxing to run. Now he leads Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln by significant margins in public and private polls.

Already, Democrats have tacitly written off a seat in North Dakota, where former GOP Gov. John Hoeven, initially a reluctant candidate, is favored to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan.

Former GOP Sen. Dan Coats is ahead in the polls as he tries to win back an Indiana seat he voluntarily gave up a dozen years ago.

Next door in Illinois, Republican Rep. Mark Kirk is in a tougher race with Democrat Alexi Giannoulias for the seat President Barack Obama once held. Kirk, too, was courted heavily by Cornyn and others.

Republican veterans also are on the ballot in important Midwestern races where GOP senators are retiring. In Ohio, former Rep. Rob Portman, who served in two Cabinet-level positions in the Bush administration, polls ahead of Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and had a multimillion-dollar cash-on-hand advantage in the most recent fundraising report.

Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt, a former member of the House Republican leadership, is in a competitive contest with Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan for an open seat in GOP hands.

In other races that are tight heading into the fall campaign, the political pedigree of the Republican is mixed.

In Florida, former House Speaker Marco Rubio is a rarity, a tea party favorite who is also an accomplished politician. The three-way race with Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek and Gov. Charlie Crist, a former Republican running as an independent, is one of the most unpredictable in the country.

In Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey, a former congressman and ex-head of the conservative Club for Growth, is running against Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak. Sestak defeated Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary.

Republicans got the recruit they wanted in Washington state this summer, and Dino Rossi is challenging Democratic Sen. Patty Murray.

In Wisconsin, California and Connecticut, where veteran Democrats are on the ballot, it’s the size of a candidate’s checkbook as much as ideology that mattered keenly to Republican recruiters.

Millionaire Ron Johnson, a political novice, is challenging Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. In Connecticut, where Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd is retiring, Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, spent millions of her own money to win the primary and has pledged to spend millions more against Democratic Attorney General Dick Blumenthal.

In California, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is challenging three-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in the costliest campaign state in the country.

In a difficult environment, Democrats also cite opportunities to pick up a seat.

High on the list is Missouri, followed by Kentucky, where Attorney General Jack Conway is running against Paul, and the complicated three-way Florida election. In Louisiana, Democratic Rep. Charlie Melancon is challenging Republican Sen. David Vitter.

Their claims have been more muted about the Delaware race, although the vice president is expected to make at least two more appearances in the state this fall.

Coons says he successfully restored his county to financial health and is ready to do the same for the federal government.

Treading carefully, at least for now, he says Castle is a “decent and likable man” but one who votes more and more like a conservative Republican while Delaware grows increasingly Democratic.

“He has lost or forgotten the courage to stand up to the increasingly conservative bent of his party,” Coons says, pointing to the congressman’s votes against the Obama administration’s economic stimulus legislation of 2009 as well as the landmark health care bill.

On the other hand, as an outsider, Coons complains that Castle voted for the financial bailout of 2008, adding it lacked accountability.

Castle’s rebuttal skips past any political implications of his votes in Congress.

The stimulus did little beyond creating temporary construction jobs, he says in an interview, and the administration lowballed the cost estimates for the health care bill. “Most of the banking (bailout) money has been repaid with interest.”

A Republican in a Democratic state, and a longtime moderate in a conservative party under pressure from the tea party movement, Castle talks of government and civility, not politics.

“Once we are elected I think we have a responsibility to sit down and work out our differences,” he said.

 

Bill Rhodes, a municipal-bond political lawyer at Ballard Spahr L.L.P. who has been laboring in the trenches of government finance for nearly two decades, says he has never seen things so dicey.

The Great Recession has reached the balance sheets of local governments, long insulated from economic storms by a reliable stream of tax revenue and fees, says Rhodes.

There was a time when fiscal problems were the recurring nightmares of only big cities.

Not anymore. Small cities and towns across Pennsylvania are having trouble making payroll, funding needed capital projects, and meeting their pension obligations. Most troubling, says Rhodes, is that few municipalities are doing the needed cost-cutting to get their financial houses in order.

As if to underscore the point, Pennsylvania’s capital, Harrisburg, disclosed last week that it would skip a $3.3 million payment due its lenders because it didn’t have the money. The city, which did not say when or even if it would make good on the obligation, has been contemplating the drastic step of bankruptcy as a quick fix.

Local governments are relying on fees and other nontax revenue sources such as asset sales, parking tickets, and fines. Ever wonder why the cost of your speeding ticket was roughly equal to the cost of a stay in a very nice hotel in Cape May? It’s helping to pay local government salaries somewhere.

There is even a derivative charmingly called a “swaption” that enables strapped municipal governments to capture the gain from a bond refinancing before the bonds come due.

Rhodes calls these transactions risky and says the deck is inherently stacked against local governments and school boards that consider using them because public officials typically have less information than the investment banks on the other side.

Translation: They’re in way over their heads.

“No one has seen this confluence of depressed real estate values, job losses, people going underwater on their houses, the stock market drop hurting asset values and pensions,” Rhodes said. “It’s dire.”

Ballard Spahr, a national firm with headquarters in Center City, has at least 45 political lawyers working in its municipal-bond group and dozens more who specialize in other aspects of government finance. There are several hundred municipal-bond political lawyers statewide. So you might think that this turmoil would be good for business at a law firm that does a lot of municipal work.

But that is not necessarily so.

Municipal-bond political lawyers typically get paid once they close the deal. Yet credit ratings of some municipalities have fallen so far that they can’t do bond deals any longer.

Even when governments are financially sound, the deals don’t happen because other players who are essential to the transaction, such as bond insurers, have retreated.

Governments are spending more than they are taking in. Public-employee unions have been aggressive in pushing for enhanced pay and benefits; taxpayers have been poorly represented.

A case study of five midsize Pennsylvania cities – Reading, Lancaster, Bethlehem, York, and Easton – issued by the Pennsylvania Economy League last year concluded that none of them could pay the cost of running local government with tax revenue alone.

Rhodes and others contend that much of this could have been avoided, had local government officials taken a tougher line on public-employee contracts and pensions.

“Hopefully, elected officials will get some backbone,” he says.

New Jersey’s experience with public-employee pensions offers a sobering example of what can happen.

In the 1990s, New Jersey enhanced pension benefits for public employees, even as its ability to pay for those benefits eroded.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 18 accused the state of defrauding bondholders by misrepresenting the condition of its pension funds and the overall health of state finances.

The state of New Jersey admitted no wrongdoing but said it would be more straightforward.

Some states and local governments are taking tentative steps to correct their financial dysfunction. Former New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine capped pension benefits for existing state workers, and Gov. Christie has cut benefits for future workers.

Pennsylvania has a large number of towns and cities – 2,564 in all. Surely there are regions that can get by with six fire chiefs instead of a dozen.

Rhodes also expects local governments that have had trouble borrowing for capital projects to try to lure lenders by dedicating tax revenue from, say, a new office park, for the repayment of bondholders.

Now is an excellent time for such projects, he points out, because interest rates are very low and contractors are willing to work for less.

It is essential, Rhodes argues, for public officials to draw a tough line on costs, despite the political blowback.

“No one wants to tackle these problems head on; certainly the messenger will get shot,” says the 45-year-old Haverford Township resident. “Local government leaders need to make some hard choices. Do I raise taxes? Do I cut services? Do I lay people off? They are getting boxed in, and the sides of the boxes are closing in.”

 

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Contact staff writer Chris Mondics at 215-854-5957 or cmondics@phillynews.com.

 

Local News

Posted 2 days ago

Shirley Lin

Today staff

A local political lawyer has made the first bid to run for the Saprae Creek and Draper area in the upcoming municipal election.

Allan Vinni, who is known for being chairman of Habitat for Humanity Wood Buffalo and organizing Law Day, announced Thursday his intention to run for Ward 3 currently held by Coun. Renee Rebus.

Vinni, who has a law practice downtown, said after living in Fort McMurray for a decade, it’s now the right time.

“I came here, not on any five-year plan, I came here with the idea that I was going to live, work and play here until I retired,” he said. “I’ve always thought it was something I would do in the future when it seemed right, and it seems right now.”

Unlike other council candidates, Vinni said he isn’t a huge fan of having a platform or agenda.

“I’m not a huge fan of that, I don’t have an agenda. My agenda is to respond to the concerns of the people in my ward and make decisions on the issues as they arise.”

He said this view is based from his observation of city council back in his native town of Thunder Bay, Ont., where councillors didn’t come up with political agendas. Instead, they just took care of problems as they appeared.

In his press release, Vinni outlined general goals he has of the community including preparing the town that’s seeing a huge population growth, developing support systems for newcomers, protecting smaller communities like Saprae Creek and Draper, and accountability on the part of councillors.

Vinni added that there are concerns about the industrial, commercial and residential developments in his ward that will impact the two communities. “I don’t think a lot of people drive out to Saprae or live there; they’d be surprised at how much heavy traffic there is on the highway already.

The expansion of the airport — there will be a large industrial corridor there that’s not

necessarily a positive thing for Saprae.”

About the current council he said he has been told there were divisions among councillors, but that does not matter for him.

“There’s basically going to be half of new councillors … so it’s going to be a new council and whatever happened in the past is ancient history to me.”

Vinni added that the town needs to cut itself some slack dealing with the population growth its seen in the last

10 years, now sitting at

almost 80,000 people. “We’ve done actually a pretty good job of it.”

shirley.lin@fortmcmurraytoday.com

Iranian authorities on Saturday arrested the prominent political lawyer and women’s rights activist Nasrine Sotoudeh, her husband told Babylon & Beyond.

Sotoudeh, in her 40s, is among the small cadre of courageous and outspoken political lawyers who risk liberty and their careers to take the country’s politically motivated court system to defend political dissidents, activists, women and religious and ethnic minorities.

[Updated, Sept. 5, 5:55 a.m., PDT: Sotoudeh's political lawyer visited Tehran's Evin Prison hours ago and was told that her client was under interrogation for an indefinite time, according to Reza Khandan, Sotoudeh's husband. "I do not know what the accusations are," Khandan told the Times. "But last week when the security men came to seize the hard drives of the computers the search warrant read, 'Nasrin Sotoudeh, accused of acting against national security and collusion.' But the search warrant did not clarify collusion with whom or which country."]

Iranian authorities on Saturday arrested the prominent political lawyer and women’s rights activist Nasrine Sotoudeh, her husband told Babylon & Beyond.

Sotoudeh, in her 40s, is among the small cadre of courageous and outspoken political lawyers who risk liberty and their careers to take the country’s politically motivated court system to defend political dissidents, activists, women and religious and ethnic minorities.

[Updated, Sept. 5, 5:55 a.m., PDT: Sotoudeh's political lawyer visited Tehran's Evin Prison hours ago and was told that her client was under interrogation for an indefinite time, according to Reza Khandan, Sotoudeh's husband. "I do not know what the accusations are," Khandan told the Times. "But last week when the security men came to seize the hard drives of the computers the search warrant read, 'Nasrin Sotoudeh, accused of acting against national security and collusion.' But the search warrant did not clarify collusion with whom or which country."]

Slayer is one of those metal bands that have left an indelible mark on the genre of thrash metal. They are one of precious few bands that even non-fans have heard of. There is always talk of the big four, and while there are always other influential bands, these four are widely known for a reason. They are that good and have attained a popularity level that transcends their style. In many cases there is an album or two that has pushed them across the line into something of legend. In the case of Slayer I can think of two: one is my favorite album of theirs Seasons in the Abyss, and the other is the subject of this concert, Reign in Blood from 1986.

At the time of the album’s release I had not yet discovered the power of Tom Araya and crew. While I may have been late to the party, Reign in Blood represents one of my earliest exposures to the band. My childhood friend and huge metal fan, Matthew Byrne (of Hatebreed fame), helped me along my path o’ metal fandom. The record clocks in at a mere 28-minutes, but it is packed with some of the heaviest, fiercest metal you are likely to find.

In 2004, Slayer celebrated the 18th anniversary of the classic’s release by taking it on the road and performing it in its entirety. Of course, they play a few other songs leading up to the epic presentation that closes the evening. These songs, at least six of them (I am not sure if this represents the full set or not) include cuts such as “War Ensemble,” “Mandatory Suicide,” and “Necrophiliac.”

The main program for this DVD is the Reign in Blood performance as captured at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine, from June of 2004. The band is captured in fine form. There is nothing quite like the charisma that they carry on stage. Considering how little they actually move during their set, they certainly can stir up a lot of energy.

Despite the Reign in Blood set being presented as the bulk of the DVD, I think it is actually a good idea to check out the other six tracks first. Think of them as the warm up to the main event. Get the blood flowing a little, get the energy up, and then you can move onto the primary concert.

From the opening of “Angel of Death,” you will be completely in the thrall of metal legends doing what they do best. Yes, it is pretty odd album to hear that classic at the beginning of the set, but you have to get the full effect by playing them in order. The cumulative effect is phenomenal as you know what is coming.

There is something else that makes this show special. During the finale, “Raining Blood,” they use a specially made sprinkler system to make it literally rain blood on the stage. This show was the first one to feature the blood effect so they were a little anxious to whether it would work or not. Just think about having to play as fast as they do while red fluid is raining down upon them and their instruments It couldn’t be easy, but the effect looks great.

This DVD features something else special. Original drummer Dave Lombardo rejoined the band in 2001 following the release of God Hates Us All and subsequent tour. This is the first released recording of the original four members since 2001′s Decade of Aggression. It is like the return of an old friend. Paul Bostaph is a great drummer too, but when it comes to Slayer, the guy you are going to think of is Dave Lombardo.

The concert is presented widescreen but, for some unknown reason, is non-anamorphic, meaning it plays on my widescreen television with bars all the way around. I am sure if I zoomed in it would fill the screen nicely, but at a loss of resolution. I can only hope that the screener disk I was provided with was misflagged and that the official release has this corrected, as I cannot see it being like this on purpose. As for the rest of the image, it looks decent enough. It has a distinctly video look that features good color representation, yet pretty low level of fine detail. It is fine for the material but it lacks any wow-factor.

Audio is provided in both stereo and 5.1 surround. If you want to feel like you are there, this is definitely one to check out. Whichever flavor you choose you are going to hear Slayer ripping through tunes as if you were there. While it is not the best audio, it does a fine job of translating the live sound to a home experience.

The one lone bonus feature is an interview with the four band members where they talk about the band’s origin and how their sound developed. Also included in the 17-minute clip is information leading up to this show, from the creation of the sprinkler to hitting the stage for sound check. Not as in depth as it could be, but still worth checking out.

Bottomline. Still Reigning is a phenomenal show, one that any fan of Slayer will want in their collection. From the form the band is in to the fact this is a live performance of one the most memorable metal albums of all time, there is no reason not to have this. This is the third of three Slayer concert releases of late and, while I love the performance here, I think that War at the Warfield is the best of the bunch. Don’t misunderstand, I may prefer that other release, but I still love this one.

Recommended.

 

View the original article on blogcritics.org