Class Action? Cival Rights? What the Heck!

GenRolly Speaking:Political insights by columnist Paul Rolly.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Class Action?
The Utah Republican Party has long had its problems with the "fringe" element and those constant complainers who want to spend hours in party caucuses and conventions debating the finer points of GOP rules and regulations.But when that intra-party sniping began to clog up the courts with frivolous lawsuits, at least one federal judge, a long-time Republican operative himself, was not amused.U.S. District Judge for Utah Ted Stewart recently dismissed a lawsuit filed by Republican activists Jim Decker, Ella Duke-Baxter and Maxine Barney, who claimed their civil rights were violated because the Republican Party "interfered" with one person's participation in its convention and a state district judge issued a restraining order against another Republican, even though none of the plaintiffs were the affected people in those alleged wrongs.The defendants in the case were "Utah State Republican Boss Hogs, Mark Towner and Honorable Sandra Peuler."Peuler granted a restraining order against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Ridgway, banning him from getting close to Towner, a Republican rival.After pointing out the ambiguity of the plaintiffs' claims ("In response to the question: Was the defendant acting under the authority or color of state law at the time these claims occurred? Plaintiffs responded: Possibly.") Stewart concluded the plaintiffs made "no allegations that these defendants took any actions and list no causes of action." He also noted the plaintiffs have no standing to demand that federal law enforcement officers be compelled to accompany a person, someone other than the plaintiffs, to a political convention."It appears that plaintiffs seek to challenge an injunction issued by a state court against a non-party," the judge wrote. "This does not state a claim for a violation of the plaintiffs' constitutional rights."No wonder it takes so long for litigation to wind its way through the federal courts.Cheers,Paul Rolly
12:46 PM 0 comments

Foley Timeline and events

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/washington/FOLEYTIMELINE_GRAPHIC.html?currentcasetype=crucial

Click on the above link. This is incredible

A new Ogden plant and the A-700 jet Adam Aircraft

A new Ogden plant and the A-700 jet propel Adam Aircraft
By Steven Oberbeck The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:10/17/2006 11:34:10 PM MDT


High above the crowd gathered on the outskirts of Ogden's Hinckley Airport, the Adam Aircraft A-700 jet soared into the clear morning sky. Its passage above the crowd of dignitaries gathered late last week at the Kemp Ogden Gateway to mark the groundbreaking for Adam Aircraft's manufacturing facility was noticeably quieter than the small prop-driven planes taking off from a distant runway. The dignitaries, who included Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Rob Bishop, hailed the beginning of construction on the company's assembly plant as a major step forward for the state's aviation/aerospace indus- try. "We're seeing it right before our eyes, the creation of an aerospace [industry] cluster [of companies]," Huntsman said, noting that those businesses include composite fabrication, jet engine makers and enterprises that provide support for Hill Air Force Base. Adam Aircraft expects that the 96,000-square-foot facility, which is scheduled to be completed in May, eventually will be the company's primary assembly point for the A-700 light jet, which is in flight testing and expected to receive Federal Aviation Administration certification by late 2007. "Once this new plant is fully operational [in 2008] we're expecting it to be assembling 10 [A-700 jet] planes per month," said Craig Johnson, chief operating officer of the Colorado-based
Adam Aircraft. Adam Aircraft already has a smaller parallel plant at the Kemp Ogden Gateway Center that is assembling its A-500 twin-engine piston aircraft. The first A-500 produced in Utah is expected to roll off the assembly line in December. "Ramping up our operations here in Ogden is a top priority for us," Johnson said, noting the company expects to employ about 50 to 75 workers by year's end and quickly increase that number until it reaches approximately 300 workers by late 2008. steve@sltrib.com

WE ARE GOVERNED BY IDIOTS...

October 17, 2006
WE ARE GOVERNED BY IDIOTS....Jeff Stein has an op-ed in the New York Times today in which he recounts his adventures asking various mucky mucks if they know the difference between Shiite and Sunni. It was amusing, but I was going to skip blogging about it because it's the kind of gotcha game that probably tells us less than we think. But then Attaturk pointed to a passage I had skimmed over. This is Rep. Terry Everett (R–Ala) after admitting he didn't know the difference:
To his credit, he asked me to explain the differences. I told him briefly about the schism that developed after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, and how Iraq and Iran are majority Shiite nations while the rest of the Muslim world is mostly Sunni. “Now that you’ve explained it to me,” he replied, “what occurs to me is that it makes what we’re doing over there extremely difficult, not only in Iraq but that whole area.”
If you don't know the whole Ali/Hasan story from the 7th century, that's one thing. But if you literally don't know that there are different sects of Islam that form majorities in different regions, and that conflict between these sects is as defining as the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland — and you're the vice chairman of the House Intelligence committee — then we're doomed. As Attaturk says, we are governed by idiots.—Kevin Drum 11:37 PM Permalink Trackbacks Comments (55)