Conrad Black media hack

Former newspaper mogul and Canadian native Conrad Black is now a convicted criminal.The United States District Court in Chicago , Illinois and Judge Amy J. St. Eve felt that Mister Black's and his insider gang that committed a thirty two million dollar fraudulent heist of the assets of Hollinger International, was worthy of a six and one half year term for his part , six and one half million , in the plunder. Yet another case of corporate evil in America? Wait a minute , this scoundrel Black is not even an American citizen. Shades of the NatWest Three , see previous post NatWest Three. Fraud and obstructing justice. The obstructing justice part of his conviction resulted from Mister Black's removal of boxes of documents from his Toronto , Ontario office. This caper resulted in the capture of Mister Black on videotape , smile felon! , and resulted in a mere fine of $125,000. Prosecutors had hoped for a sentence of 24 to 30 years for the crimes committed by Mister Black , who will of course appeal this decision. At one time Mister Black's newspaper holdings were the third largest in the world. Moral of this story is trust your local newspaper and it's contents as if a convicted felon was at the helm. In this case Mister Black was , and his felonious behavior gives an already suspect news source a larger ethical black eye. Now Mister Black the media hack will be kept in check by a variety of prison guards referred to in common prison slang as "hacks". .........Might as well enjoy those fine meals that lavish dining via the expense account now provides while you still can. Look for massive layoffs in the financial centers of commerce after the disastrous earnings and under performance of the banks and associated industries. Trim the fat from the fickle corpse of a dying nation of debtors. My pal Slim has the right idea downstate when it comes to setting a table. Pick a long table , set your clients down , and after forging about locally for some prime and affordable victuals , provide them at an affordable price point and prepared just right. The only business that open and close quicker than book stores are restaurants. Put on your thinking cap and let your mind roll back a few years , and you will not be surprised to find that many of your previous favorite nosh spots are caput. This is not news as much as a sad fact of life. Tastes change , and one either adapts to change and survives or perishes while holding forth in an obdurate fashion to the old ways. I will list some old deceased favorites at a later time. Send me yours...... Simple is best , and I will give you a great antidote for the winter blahs that rapidly approach. A unique recipe for split pea soup. Take six quarts of water , and bring to a boil , while adding three pared and cut into pieces of carrots , a hand full of peeled fresh garlic , a few onions peeled and whole , tops of a bunch of celery , fresh parsley , black and white peppercorns and a dried red chili pepper are optional, leeks if available , and some chicken bouillon or Minor's ham or chicken concentrate. If you have fresh stock replace the six quarts of water with the stock. Add two pounds of washed and sorted split peas and one piece of ham hock or smoked pork to the liquid and vegetables and reduce to a strong simmer. The top of the water should ripple about it's contents. Cook this for about two hours or until the peas are cooked , skimming the top of the water and stirring the pot so the peas do not stick. When done , remove from heat and remove the cooked vegetables and ham hock to a bowl. Take the cooked peas and strain them through a fine sieve until you have the essence of legume captured in a bowl or dish. You may wish to chop the carrots fine and add them back to the soup. I usually discard them with the spent vegetables , preferring to add fresh cooked carrots diced fine , and finely chopped well cured Parma style ham along with croutons as garnish. You can use potatoe water and even add a cooked potatoe when putting the peas through the sieve if you care for a richer and denser soup. Feed the scraps of ham hock to your favorite quadraped , a bit strong for bipeds. A sure cure for the cold weather blues. Turn those blues split pea green. Book Selling Time! A nifty volume on fine cooking on the cheap is our offering for the day. ECONOMY GASTRONOMY , A First of its Kind Collection ; A Gourmet Cookbook for the Budget Minded by Sylvia Vaughn Thompson. Not to mention the introduction by Slim's old pal M.F. K. Fisher. Plus the books title closely resembles an early Pink Floyd song if you pronounce it quickly. A free volume of our choice to the first client who can name this Pink Floyd tune correctly and send it via email. Good luck! Best wishes to all my Family and freinds at this festive time of year.

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NatWest Three meet the Pipestem, West Virginia Three

Both trios share some loose ethical space , and managed to rob seven million dollars plus from American concerns. The Pipestem , West Virginia Three? Yet another trio of American thieves from Liberty Township , Ohio who were apprehended with the 7.4 million dollars stolen from AT Systems , of Youngstown Ohio. Roger Lee Dillon , aged 22 years was formerly employed by AT Systems , which is in the business of transposing bucks to banks. Dillon and his 24 year old girlfriend Nicole Boyd holed up in a trailer owned by Dillon's mother Sharon Lee Gregory in Pipestem , West Virginia , where they were apprehended by a SWAT team. Mister Dillon appears the main culprit and stands charged with bank larceny. Boyd and Gregory face charges of aiding and abetting. Dillon after hours used the access his previous employers provided to abs comb with the 7.4 million , and did not show up for work the following day. Note that no violence or weapons were used in this heist. 7.4 million versus the 7.3 million that the NatWest Three plundered from Enron. Do the math! What's a mere one hundred thousand dollars when scheming to separate people from money? We will monitor these two cases closely in the months to come to see which of these two non violent " inside jobs" , both involving banking and larceny draw the harsher penalties for the criminals involved. My sincere hope s that justice is served in an equal fashion in both cases....................................While we are on the subject of banking , it appears that the current crop of United States banks business practices are less than prudent. In the past decade United States banks profits are at all time highs. It seems then that the folly and atrocities committed by the banks involved in the current sub prime freeze should be prepared to give back willingly some of these massive profits recently accrued. The onus probundi of these sub prime loans gone bad are based on the greedy desires of the banking industry to write and sell over two million sub prime loans to borrowers with lousy credit backgrounds who could not afford them. Foreclosures followed , with more to come. The dire effects of these sub prime loans are now bouncing back hot potato fashion into the laps of the banksters , leaving a depressed and uncertain United States housing market and a possible worldwide recession.Time has arrived to regulate these banksters. Gut this greedy bunch of cheap suited thieves out , and reform this sordid mess and the k-street gang that deliver's the banksters requests to our elected officials. Yes , it does take two to tango , and many of the home owners who borrowed against their futures from some of the banksters are not without fault. In the cases of the banksters selling " undocumented loans" to clients who could plainly not afford them , let the mantle of proof fall on the banksters corner. Remember , these same banksters considered it fair business practice to peddle credit cards to incoming collegiate freshmen at near usurious rates and string out the frosh's with debt for their student careers. Do not forget as well that this same industry has managed to provide enough credit cards , many at near usurious rates , to American consumers , that it results in a $12,000 plus credit card debt per card holder today. Again it takes two to tango , so why did the banksters need to hire the likes of the k-street gang to radically alter our Federal bankruptcy laws , tipping the bankruptcy consequences of these imprudent credit card loans more to the sucker, er I mean consumer who the banksters fleeced and busted out by charging eighteen percent plus vigrish , er I mean interest. Banker? Loan sharking Gangster? Unfortunately for the American consumer these two businesses share far too much space. Perhaps we can use the Federal Governments RICO program and apprehend and prosecute more of these white collared criminals................ Sports time . Former Cleveland Indians General Manager Gabe Paul was not elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Yes ,Virginia there is a "sanity clause". My old pal Dan Oak asked me via e-mail to comment on the Cleveland Browns , who are known here as the Oranges due to their unsightly orange uniforms sometimes worn . What can one say about these Cleveland footballers? The original Browns team was sold off by the previous owner who was in debt due to bad gambling habits. The new football team was orchestrated locally by some politically corrupt alpaca farmer , and has cost us our Lakefront access and our beloved Cleveland Municipal Stadium. In it's place we received a former mob lawyer from Youngstown to run affairs , a bankster owner , and a pug ugly new stadium , used perhaps ten times per year , in place of the old stadium. As usual we citizens get screwed , others get rich , and the rubes that really believe that the sports book in Las Vegas has nothing to do with the outcome of nfl games deserve to follow professional football today. I will stick with collegiate football, minor league hockey , and any well played hoops or baseball instead of the uninteresting sports folly that is pro football today. Go Oranges! Perhaps if we are fortunate The Oranges will leave in the middle of the night for Las Vegas! Book selling Time! It is as cold as a bankers heart outside , so we must think positive and warm thoughts to survive this frosty day. We will turn then to the fine illustrations of Maxfield Parrish and the text of Louise Saunders who conspired in 1925 to complete this over sized and highly prized example of 20Th Century Illustrated Children's book THE KNAVE OF HEARTS. Remember kids , it was not the banksters who stole the hearts . Not literally as of yet , though if it would prove profitable the bankster might face a conundrum of sorts.Though the banksters sure did break a lot of human hearts by imprudent and criminal business practices. Our best wishes for a speedy recovery to former Liberty Township Ohio sheriff Orlando " Orley" DiLullo who is currently recuperating from a illness . Best wishes to my Family , the DiLullo family , John and Kim.

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NatWest Three

deserve the ball and chain treatment for their trans Atlantic collusion and involvement in the criminal sacking of Enron Corporation in 2002. These three British bankers ; Giles Darby , David Bermingham , and Gary Mulgrew just now pleaded out to guilty for one count of wire fraud apiece , instead of the seven counts per they stood accused of, in Federal Court in Houston , Texas. They faced 35 years per man at seven counts , and it looks like they will skate with just 37 months per. This is a travesty of our justice system , and it is time to set a stern example to those not citizens of this country just what dire consequences white collar crime committed against citizens of the United States will hold! These three criminals are English citizens , and in the year 2002 conspired with former Enron chief financial officer Andrew S. Fastow , who is now serving six years in Oakdale Louisiana for his part in the Enron swindle. These three Brit Bankers flipped a phony Enron shell company for a quick 7.3 million dollar personal profit with the assistance of Mister Fastow. The comparison between bankers and confidence men is a long standing reality. These three pinstripe gangsters , all the age of forty five years , deserve a diet of bread and water and the hard labor that a chain gang provides for their crime on our soil. Ultimately the Enron rank and file workers and stockholders suffered economic hardships , lost jobs , and terrible consequences from the criminal activity of these three banksters. Let the punishment fit the crime. The NatWest Three harmed a multitude of good American citizens by there criminal actions , let them pay a stiff price for their greed! Send your letters to the Federal Court in Houston , Texas expressing your desire to see these limeys get their due! While we are at the subject of banksters in America , do not forget that the largest lobby in Washington, D.C. belongs to the banking industry. Yes , the same banking industry whose greed plays a major role in the current loan business resulting in both the credit meltdown , and housing foreclosure travesties that curse American economy today. Time has come to scrap out k street , and dole out a severe policy curtailing the mixing of bank bribes to our elected politicians for the purpose of influencing our laws and increasing their profits.Let these three pay mightily for the crimes they have committed! ................. We honor the kind request of Matthew Lewis who has asked us to post via this site the notice for the First meeting of the GK Chesterton Club in Cleveland's first meeting on December 2 , 2007 at 2:00 p.m in the John Carroll University Library . I will be unable to attend due to a previous appointment , though I do wish this GKC Club the best of luck and recommend your attendance!............... This is it for November musings , so lets leave it were we began on the sunny side of the street. In this case the street is Payne Avenue just East of downtown Cleveland and the attractions to this most international of all Cleveland neighborhoods. Plenty of Oriental flavors here . Today I will recommend those at the intersection of East 37Th street and Payne. Great unique sweet and savory buns and festive bubble teas and other treats daily at the Koko Bakery. No shnecken , but do not miss the barbecued pork bun , or the raisin filled sweet " Mexican Bun". Most of these treats are under one dollar per , and serve as a great treat after having lunch at the Garden Cafe next door. The Garden Cafe is your standard Mom and Pop Oriental Restaurant , with nice box lunches and a full Oriental menu towards dinner time. Clean , freshly prepared , and generous servings the rule here! Across the street is the Seoul Hot Pot Restaurant , a Korean establishment that gives you the feel of sitting in the kitchen of a friends home. Cleveland has only a handful of Korean Restaurants and the SHP is in a converted pizza parlor , which still bears the interior signage of the previous red sauce regimen. Do not be put off by the lack of ambiance. This food is real , the service is a bit slow but steady, and certainly always worth the wait................. Book selling Time! G.K. Chesterton remains a unique and large literary and Religious figure of the first half of the Twentieth Century. A large man in girth as well, 6'4' , 290 plus pounds , and perhaps is best known today for his great Father Brown mysteries. Gilbert Keith Chesterton was a prolific writer of diverse scope , eighty plus books published, and the kindest compliment that I can pay him is that his works remain challenging and refreshing to this day. Let us not forget salable as well! John Carroll University in it's wisdom has a fine private collection of Chesterton materials in it's special collections at Graselli Library. Attend the December 2ND meeting and enjoy a tour of this important and unique collection . We offer his 1932 volume of COLLECTED POETRY for your enjoyment.......

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