My parents took great pride in being able to vote. They may have disagreed with your
choice, but they would fight for your right to make that choice known. I, like many others
am guilty of going many years without voting, but today I wouldn't think of it. Although this
message is mainly to encourage women to get out and vote,......I would encourage everyone
to let your voice be heard with your ballot !
My theory is very simple,....if you choose not to vote, you no longer have the right to BOOGEDY !
Remember,....whether you vote or not the people who disagree with you the most will be
voting for something or someone you are not in favor of. If you haven't registered,."git-
er-done",....then let your voice be heard on election day,.......or just keep shut about the
outcome and live with the choice of others !!!!Not only have our forefathers fought and died for our right to vote, and our young people
still fight and die for our freedoms, but below is a reminder of what women went through
to let their voice be heard.
LET NONE OF US TAKE OUR RIGHT TO VOTE LIGHTLY,......OR FOR GRANTED !!!!!
..............................Dan
Subject: WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE....a gentle reminder....
Message for all women
THIS IS MOVING. HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET.....IF ....WE EVER KNEW......
WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE
This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago.
Remember, it was not until 1920
that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.
The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed
nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking
for the vote.
(Lucy Burns)
And by the end of the night, they were barely alive.
Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing
went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of
'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'
They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above
her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping
for air.
(Dora Lewis)
They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her
head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate,
Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.
Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging,
beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.
Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917,
when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his
guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because
they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right
to vote.
For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their
food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.
(Alice Paul)
When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks
until word was smuggled out to the press.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/
prisoners.pdf
So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because-
-why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work?
Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?
Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new
movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle
these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling
booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.
All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the
actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote.
Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege.
Sometimes it was inconvenient.
My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history,
saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk
about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought
kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said.
'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use,
my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just
younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The
right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'
HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history,
social studies and government teachers would include the movie in
their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere
else wom en gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing,
but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think
a little shock therapy is in order.
It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.
The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'
Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know.
We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so
hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.
History is being made.
Read more:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp
/tactics.html
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp
/brftime3.html
This is a complete copy of a email I received. Any thoughts??
More Missourians shopping at farmers' markets
Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 10:25 PM
By
Aurora Meyer
The state Agriculture department said more Missourians are going to the local farmers' market for produce instead of the nearest mega store.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said our food travels an average of 1,500 miles from the farm to the grocery store.
State Department of Agriculture Marketing Specialist, Lane McConnell said food sold at Farmers' Markets travels a maximum of only a hundred and 50 miles.
"People are realizing now where their food is coming from," she said. "A lot of the produce that we get in grocery stores in certain areas isn't from Missouri. It isn't even from the United States, it's shipped in. And people are realizing the freshness and the value of buying local produce."
McConnell said prices at farmer's markets often rival those in grocery stores.
"What consumers have to remember that when they're shopping at a farmer's market even if the price is a little bit higher they're paying for that freshness and they're supporting their local economy and their local communities," she said.
McConnell said another reason to shop local is that eighty cents of every dollar spent at a Farmers' Market stays in the community.
This article came fromMissourinet.com. You can log in there for further information on your local farmers markets.
This article was published in the Insurance Journal on line on July 14, 2008.
Blogs Can Get Insurance Clients 'SLAPP'ed!
By Christopher J. Boggs, CPCU, ARM, ALCM
July 14, 2008
A Dade County, Florida real estate developer in January 2008 filed a $25 million lawsuit against a real estate blogger alleging, among other charges, defamation of character based on the blogger's opinion published solely on his blog (MiamiCondoInvestments). Hollo v. Lechuga may serve as a landmark case in this relatively new debate over a blogger's legal liability for alleged personal injury arising from the contents of a blog.
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Blogs contain a mixture of commentary, opinion, advertising, marketing, facts and sometimes even news. Creators and contributors become citizen "journalists," subject to the same legal liability and responsibility placed on publishers.
Blog Suits
Blog-related personal injury suits have produced judgments ranging between $7,500 and $11.3 million. The largest against a mother/blogger for defamatory statements ("crook," "com artist" and "fraud") blogged about a firm she hired to help remove her son from a boarding school in Costa Rica (Scheff v. Bock in Florida Circuit Court, September 19, 2006). But pronouncements of blogger guilt are rare.
As of July 1, 2008, thirty-nine (39) states have seen 149 personal injury lawsuits and 11 criminal suits filed against bloggers. Forty-two cases are still pending and 18 suits were resolved through pre-trial settlement. Only seven lawsuits have resulted in judgment against the defendant blogger. Nearly 77 percent of ALL civil cases were found in favor of the blogger or saw the charges dropped by the plaintiff. And 92 percent of blog-related suits making it to trial end in blogger triumph (additional information availble at Media Law Resource Center). Odds at trial are overwhelmingly in the blogger's favor, but there is no guarantee that this propensity towards blogger victory will continue.
Why Bloggers Win
Blogger's higher-than-average winning percentages are due almost exclusively to First Amendment protection and/or state anti-"SLAPP" legislation. Freedom of speech and opinion are valued rights for journalists. But a blogger's status and protection as a "journalist" in the legal sense is not wholly settled. An April 2008 finding by a Maryland court declared that a blog publisher was not protected under that state's law shielding reporters from defamation lawsuits (Webster v. Albero).
Protecting Free Speech Rights Requires A Responsible Blogger
First Amendment protection requires, among other standards, bloggers, like journalists, to practice and prove due diligence in the gathering and reporting of "factual" information. Bloggers must also prove that no actual malice was intended by statements or information ultimately found to be incorrect or untrue. Opinions, stated as opinion and not fact, published by bloggers are also potentially immune from charges of libel under the First Amendment since there is no such thing as a false opinion.
"SLAPP'ed" Into Submission
"SLAPP" means strategic lawsuit against public participation. Winning is not necessarily the intent of the individual or entity filing the SLAPP; fear, defendant exhaustion and intimidation are the main goals.
"Short of a gun to the head, a greater threat to First Amendment expression can scarcely be imagined," New York Supreme Court Judge J. Nicholas Colabella said of SLAPP suits. Even if the plaintiff loses, they win by scaring others away from the debate. And if the SLAPP perpetrator can stretch the case over a long enough period of time, the defendant, even if innocent or with a meritorious defense, may be financially forced to settle or concede the fight according to Colabella. A SLAPP is an assault using the legal system as the weapon of choice.
Individuals, corporations and governments file SLAPP suits packaged to look like civil suits alleging defamation, invasion of privacy, nuisance, malicious prosecution and other personal injury charges intended solely to embezzle the "offender's" time and finances by means of legal wrangling and continually mounting legal costs. Most individuals and small businesses do not have the time or the financial resources to invest in their defense choosing rather to end the publication or protest. Not only does this remove the primary thorn from the plaintiff's side, but this tactic produces sufficient fear to keep others from voicing their beliefs.
Anti-SLAPP statutes make such suits illegal. Twenty-seven states* currently have anti-"SLAPP" statutes on the books. Defendants in these states proving a SLAPP suit generally prevail in court, provided all other standards of journalistic responsibility have been satiated.
(*These states are: Ark., Calif., Colo., Del., Fla., Ga., Hawaii, Ind., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Minn., Mo., Neb., Nev., N.M., N.Y., Okla., Ore., Pa., R.I., Tenn., Utah, Wash., W. Va., and Wis.)
Employer Liability
Blogs can subject the blogger's employer to a civil suit and charges of personal injury. In Hollo v. Lechuga, Tibor Hollo, the developer/plaintiff, did not limit the lawsuit to the blogger; named also was Lechuga's employer EMW Realtors.
EMW Realtors' liability for the alleged defamation is questionable at best, even from a vicarious viewpoint. The publication giving rise to the suit was made on Lechuga's personal blog not promoted or sanctioned by EMW and the post was made PRIOR to Lechuga's employment with EMW.
No reasonable connection appears to exist between blog and the course and scope of Lechuga's employment by EMW. To further distance itself from the accusations and any appearance of ratification, EMW fired Lechuga immediately following its receipt and review of the suit documents.
Regardless of EMW's apparent lack of liability, time and financial resources must be expended to defend itself against the actions of an employee committed before he became an employee. It is worthy to note that EMW Realtors is owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Group, so "deep pockets" may be a motivating factor in bringing EMW in as a defendant.
Blog Risk Management
With legal trouble and the resulting expenses potentially just one mouse click away, individuals and business entities creating, sanctioning and/or hosting blogs should apply basic risk management to the posting of a blog. Following are a few questions that every blogger should ask of the content contained in their blog:
• Do readers consider the blog a credible source of information and depend on it for up-to-date information (a matter of opinion that can be judged based on analytics and comments)?
• Is information in the blog accurate or is the blog rife with mistakes and misstatements?
• Have facts been checked (as required by due diligence standards) or have they simply been accepted as heard or read elsewhere without further verification?
• Have facts been attributed to the original sources?
• Are information sources reliable?
• Are rumors and gossip printed as fact?
• Are opinions labeled as such?
• Are comments in news and opinion pieces fair and based in fact or could they be considered malicious, libelous or defamatory?
• Is the information original work or plagiarized from another person or entity?
• Has permission been secured to include content or photos found online (leads to the possible charges of copyright infringement)?
• Are paid advertisements clearly separate from news and editorial content?
• Are procedures in place to allow quick response if someone demands correction, retraction or removal of information?
• Is the source of the blog clearly decipherable or is it written anonymously (hiding behind anonymity brings the veracity and intent of the blog into question)?
Beyond these questions, consideration must be given to the employer's potential liability for or harm caused by employee-maintained blogs. As in the Hollo suit, employers can be pulled into personal injury suits even if they did not direct or sanction the employee's blog. Additionally, employees may post information or opinion harmful to their employers, such as trade secrets or defamatory statements that could harm the employer's reputation in the community or lead to employment related practices type suits from other employees.
Employers should undertake to learn about and monitor employee blogs. It is recommended that the employee manual contain a section addressing blogs, notifying all employees that blogs may be monitored for posts damaging to the employer or potentially subjecting it to suit. There is a delicate balance between the employee's right to free speech and the right of the company to protect its interests. A lawyer experienced in this area should be consulted regarding the proper way to set up and monitor this program.
Insurance and Blogs
The status of the blogger directly affects the insurance protection provided or available. Individuals blog at their own risk as there may be little to no insurance coverage available to finance a defense, settlement or judgment; and coverage for business entities hinge on exclusionary endorsements that may be attached to the policy.
Insurance policy provisions provided by the unendorsed homeowner's policy along with commercial insurance coverages, conditions and limiting endorsements will be the focus of the next blog commentary. Standard policy provisions will be explored as will unwanted and highly desirable endorsements to coverage.
Bloggers can be sued. Whether the communication is protected by the First Amendment or anti-SLAPP statutes is irrelevant if there is no means for the blogger to finance his defense. Agents need to know if their clients blog.
Hmmmmmm Makes you think!
De Soto man battles breast cancer
Benefit planned for Mark Baisch
Andrew Jansen Photo Mark Baisch, left, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 and is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation for spots on his lungs and spine. Also pictured are his wife Joan and son Kevin.
By Sarah AuBuchon
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 12:47 PM CDT
Mark Baisch thought breast cancer was a disease found only in women. Then in October 2004 he found a lump in his left breast.
"It started bothering me and being afraid and stupid, I didn't know what it was," he said.
At the urging of his wife, Joan, Mark went to see a doctor who set up a mammogram and chest x-ray. The results led to a biopsy, which led to a diagnosis of breast cancer.In less than a month Baisch, 53, who lives in De Soto, was admitted to St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Louis County where he underwent a mastectomy.
According to the American Cancer Society, many people don't realize men have breast tissue and can develop the same kind of breast cancer as women, albeit breast cancer in men is 100 times less common than it is in women, about one in 1,000.
"It makes me feel left out when they come on TV and tell just women to check themselves," Baisch said. "Men should check themselves too."
Since his diagnosis, Baisch has undergone rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. Doctors have recently discovered two small spots in the upper lobe of both lungs and spots on his spine. He will continue his present chemotherapy for the next two months.
Joan Baisch said the three things that have gotten them through the last four years are "faith, family and friends," and friends have rallied together once again to help.
Friends of the Baisch family are planning a benefit auction and dance from 6 p.m. to midnight April 5 at the Elks Hall at 1520 Clarke St. in De Soto.
"They're good people," family friend Butch Allen said. "They need the community to come together and help them."
Tickets for the benefit are $10 per person and can be bought in advance at the National City Bank on Main Street. People wanting to donate items for the auction can drop them off at the De Soto License Office inside Mueller Electric on South Main Street in De Soto.
Joan Baisch said one round of chemotherapy costs around $27,000. The Baisches have insurance, but they still have to pay $3,700 out of pocket for each treatment.
Allen said a trust fund has been set up for the family, and people who want to make donations can mail checks to the Mark Baisch Benefit, c/o National City Bank, 224 S. Main St., De Soto, Mo., 63020, or call JoAnn Kiplinger at 636-937-1703.
Despite all the Baisch family has been through-they lost a son in 2002 and their home was nearly destroyed by the 2003 tornado-Baisch maintains a positive outlook on life.
"I'm not giving up," he said. "This isn't just about me. I really want to find a cure."
For more information about breast cancer in men, visit the American Cancer Society Web site at www.cancer.org.
ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THIS ARTICLE WAS COPIED AND PASTED AS WRITTEN IN THE SUBURBAN JOURNAL.
I found this at missourinet.com What do you think?
Devlin: Unsafe in Missouri Prison?
Saturday, October 13, 2007, 4:52 PM
By
Bob Priddy
Convicted kidnapper and child molester Michael Devlin might be such a pariah, even among other people who have committed horrible crimes, that might have to be sent to some other state so he can live long enough to serve his life prison sentences.
The corrections department says almost-unprecedented security was used to move Devlin from his cell in eastern Missouri to the corrections department's evaluation center in St. Joseph. He is being held alone and under tight guard until he's moved to the prison where he'll die someday.
Department spokesman Brian Hauswirth says the department's responsibility is to make sure he lives...to serve life. He say the department can work with other states to house inmates whose lives might be in danger in Missouri's prisons.
The department knows Devlin will be known, no matter where he goes in Missouri. So it might take several weeks to decide what to do with him because Missouri has to work with several states to arrange alternate quarters if it is determined Devlin's life would be in danger if he's held in Missouri.
The department can announce that Devlin has been shipped out. But it will not make public where he goes.
Download Bob Priddy's story (:60 mp3)
