Guest Post by Loki

There has to be something done regarding tort reform in this country. Congress keeps ignoring the problem or protecting the lawsuit lawyers depending on your point of view.
Granted, some people are wrongly injured and need to seek redress in the court system. And without the threat of lawsuits large companies would never compensate deserving victims.

But the court system is being abused today. Many companies will settle frivolous lawsuits out of court just to avoid the costs of a trial in a form of legalized extortion. And you can not watch TV today without seeing a commercial saying that if you saw a doctor or took a pill you won the lottery and you can sue. I swear it seems there are more lawyers suing companies than there are different pills on the market.

The class action type of lawsuit is one of the worst. Lawyers gather hundreds of people into one lawsuit and use large numbers to threaten the companies. The whole process of a class action suit is extremely expensive and the lawyers on both sides get rich while the victims get the leftovers. This type of lawsuit is very lucrative to the lawyers bringing the suit. Their compensation will be millions of dollars while the victims might only get a couple of hundred dollars.

This brings us the stupidity of safe operating instructions on our products. Read some of the instructions that come with the things you buy today. Hair dryer instructions that tell you not to use them in the shower to motor home instruction telling you that cruise control does not mean you can leave the drivers seat to take a bathroom break.

The whole process is driving up the costs of everything we spend our money on. Your new car to your doctor bill will all cost you more. Lawyers hide behind the victims claiming without them the companies will win. So congress does nothing afraid of the fight. It is time we start demanding congress does something.

Loki

Could it be that the Republican race for Montana’s open governor’s seat is getting more crowded by the minute? Looks like Senator Ryan Zinke (R-Whitefish) may be testing the waters as a prelude to joining an already crowded field. Rumors about a possible run started winding through the capitol hallways about midpoint in the session, and floor speeches ZInke made in the waning days of the often contentious and mind-numbingly partisan debates were decidedly statesmanlike and often as conciliatory as could be found this year.

Folks from the Flathead area have been telling us to keep an eye out for Zinke for a while now. He’s a very bright guy and obviously has been tested and found capable as well as worthy of being a member of one of this country’s elite military groups. That certainly brings some credibility to a possible candidacy.

It will be interesting to see what develops in the next few weeks. There’s a long way to go until November, 2012 – or more precisely June, 2012. I didn’t follow his votes all that closely, so a little research is in order.

But, damn, you do have to look twice at a guy in a U.S. Navy uniform.

Yesterday I attended the symposium hosted by the non-profit media organization, Montana Watchdog. Billed as a crash course on citizen journalism, one of the major themes of the day was that bloggers must take great pains to check their facts in order to increase their credibility.

Pot meet kettle:

I’m quite sure that the table decorations were done by very sincere volunteers on behalf of an organization that is dedicated to conservative principles based on the Constitution. It just strains their credibility when they don’t know the difference between the ARTICLES of the Constitution and the AMENDMENTS to it.

Guest Post by Loki

This weekend is Easter Sunday. The legislature is taking a four day holiday and the L&C Library will be closed. I am slightly confused. Why are they taking off for a holiday that does not exist?

The rest of the government does not get this holiday. There is no overtime pay associated with this weekend. No schedule changes or extra compensation for emergency personnel. Water production and sewer plant operators are not given the day off or extra pay. As far as I know people regularly scheduled to work this Sunday are not given extra compensation.

So do library personnel take vacation time to take a holiday for Easter? And why do they get the day off? Maybe someone knows if our legislators get paid days off.

Loki

Guest Post by Loki

I’m sorry I just do not understand the media’s obsession with the upcoming wedding of Prince William. It is like the media is desirous of having a monarchy in the US. They act jealous that we do not have our own monarchy. They even created the fake monarchy of JFK and an American Camelot. One would think that the media wants the US to have its own monarchy (a liberal one of course) so they could make daily reports on what the royal family might be doing.

There are stories on every little piece of minutia for the coming nuptials. The amount of time being spent reporting on the wedding is getting beyond dull. I for one think the coverage looks like an obsessed sycophant fawning at that which they can not own. From the amount of coverage one might think that the wedding was taking place in the US and President Obama was hosting at the White House,… what,… he was not invited, … hmmm?

We are indeed good friends with Britain. And I think it is wonderful that a young man and woman have fallen in love and are getting married. But we fought for our freedom from the monarchy and I see no need to now be a loving subject. Send the couple a nice card and get on with reality.

There are many things going on in the world an even in the US that are of far more importance than this wedding. It is too bad the media does not spend a little time on real stories that matter to the US.

I just finished watching the two videos of the work session of the PSC from yesterday. If it weren’t for the costuming, the whole thing could have been an episode of The Borgias. Drama! Intrigue! Character Assassination! Greed! Envy! Power Plays! And now we know – Travis has the biggest one and can piss the farthest. Wahoo. Long live the king. Not.

Quite frankly that was the most disgustingly obvious power grab since Brutus slipped the knife into Caesar’s ribs. As painful as it must have been for Bill Gallagher to have had to sit through that farce, I would venture to guess that the loss of the gavel is probably more welcome than not; his only regret being that he didn’t have the opportunity to use it to whack some sense into Travis Kavulla’s thick skull.

For those of you who thought that we might finally have a responsible conservative commission – sorry. Travis has sold his soul for the chairmanship – whether he realizes it or not. And I suspect not. Yet. He is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democrat minority. For any of you who have not yet had the opportunity to watch the proceedings for yourselves, you don’t have to take my word for it. The fun starts towards the end of Session 1 and continues through Session 2. Be advised – this is neither short nor sweet.

I am disappointed in Travis. I was very impressed with him when I met him a year ago January and was delighted when he won last November. He is an extremely intelligent and articulate young man. But I have to agree with Chairman Gallagher, he is immature and lacking in character and integrity. Maturity will come. The other two traits are not assured. Mores the pity.

Yesterday was not a particularly good day for Montana politics except for one thing: Travis Kavulla proved that the 62nd Legislature isn’t the worst political joke of the year.

Heavy is the head the wears the crown – or in more colloquial terms – You asked for it, Travis – you got it!

Ed. Note: A couple of weeks ago I posted a piece from a guest and mentioned that I had originally intended to share this soapbox, although no one had taken me up on the offer. Well – it turns out there’s another blogger wannabe out there. Below is our first contribution from Loki. Please make him feel welcome in this corner of the blogosphere.

Tonight on NBC we will have a two hour ‘Law and Order LA’ show. The hoped for resurrection of the original ‘Law and Order’ series. This may be the final death throes of what once was a great TV series.

What happened to bring this TV series to its’ knees. Did the public get tired of the series, did the story line get too tiresome? Or was it something else. One has to ponder did the series collapse because of its’ creators and the Hollywood bias. From the first show L&O had a novel approach. The crime, the investigation and the prosecution. It was not a star driven series as shown by the various replacement characters through the years. Every character from the original show was replaced and yet the series continued. But falling ratings forced a revision by the show’s producers. They dropped not only all of the present characters but even the city of New York and moved the show to LA hoping for a revival. And yet the viewership continued to fall.

Tonight they will change the characters around and bring back one of the prosecutors from the New York show in a final bid to resuscitate the show.

But I think it is the viewers who have changed. They have grown tied of the continuing liberal bias of the show. At first the viewers may not have recognized the liberal bias. But through the years the bias has not only continued but become more blatant. Business corporations were a frequent target as were the rich. Right wing Christians were attacked as well as those opposed to abortion. The liberal simplistic view of all conservatives as stupid bigoted blind faith following Christians was amply portrayed as killers of the peace loving liberals. After 9/11 a few fanatic Muslims were portrayed but far more attacks of peace loving Muslims by white Christian bigots were shown. Minorities were frequently the victims of white bigots. The final show twists were no more unexpected but boring regurgitations of liberalism.

So the producers did what all Hollywood liberals do. They asked all their friends what they think and having no conservative friends they doubled their efforts to please those they know and increased the bias. From the very first episode of ‘Law and Order LA’ the show went farther to the left. And moderate Americans and conservatives abandoned the show from boredom. Instead of taking the stories from the headlines and adding a twist they took their storylines from their own biased thinking and added nothing.

It is sad. Even with the bias it was once an enjoyable show. But the producers and NBC blindly followed their own bias and killed the show. Now one has to wonder if NBC will follow the same path with their falling ratings into the same trash bin where ‘Law and Order’ is headed.

Tonight we will find out.

Loki

Two weeks ago I shared an essay from the “Friday Good News” collection with you. These delightful pieces have been weekly treats for many of Rusty’s family, friends and co-workers and now you, too, can start your weekends with a smile. Or a chuckle. Or frequently, laughter so intense that tears stream down your cheeks. Most of these posts should come with a warning – that you should never try to drink anything you don’t want sprayed on your computer keyboard or monitor while reading.

Consider yourself warned.

You should probably save “Friday Good News” in your favorites. Everybody needs a friendly giggle at least once a week.

In case you were too busy to keep up, now you’re busted. News Busted, that is…

When you step into the political arena you have to learn to ignore the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, as it were. Because once you acknowledge the attack has hit its mark, you lose. Such is the fate of our very own junior senator, Jon “Number 52” Tester.

You’ve got to concede that the guy is wedged pretty tightly between a rock and a hard place poll and a vote here. When 57% of the electorate thinks that his 52nd vote for Obamacare was a really bad move, the good senator doesn’t have a lot of viable options for mitigating the PR disaster. Generally speaking, however, whining about the details is not the recommended technique. It’s even worse when you send your minions out to do the cowardly deed.

The voters really don’t care whether Jon-boy was the first vote, the 52nd vote, or the 60th vote – the point is he voted for the biggest Obamanation to be visited on the American people since King George III got all wee-weed up over a few tea leaves in Boston Harbor. He clearly told us by his actions that he really doesn’t give a hot damn about what the majority of Montanans want – as long as he could do his part to shove the Obama-Reid-Baucus-Pelosi agenda down our throats in the middle of the night. Montanans just don’t seem to be too impressed by his free-spending ways with their money.

Ok – so whining won’t pull his fat out of the fire. And blaming the minions isn’t a great plan either. What can a fella do when his career prospects start looking a touch dimmer than a 5-watt light bulb?

Maybe the big guy should probably just suck it up and tough it out – admit he screwed up big time and…. Nope – that won’t work either. ‘Cause it isn’t just that one vote. There’s the wilderness bill, the stimulus bill, confirmation of two unpopular Supreme Court Justices and a whole passel of other Administration appointments, the budget, the debt, and all the other votes that Jon “Number 52” Tester has made over the last five years that are killing his chances for re-election.

When a guy gets stabbed to death in the Senate who can say which cut was the deepest – the last one – or the 52nd one? Et tu, Bubba.