Texas Roadkill Target Coming This Month…

Bubba, go polish up that front grill on your F350, cause she’s back and helpin’ us out with a golden opportunity!!

Yep.  Ending a whirlwind 864-hour “retirement”, everyone’s favorite Moron is back in the blabbery saddle.  Swindly Sheehan has returned and will be waltzing from Crawford through the South then up to New York and Washington in a “Walk for Humanity.”

Shoot me now.

After dashing the hopes of so many nice folks living around the Bush Compound for a quiet, traffic-free Summer, my best guess is that Cindy and Co. will be “walking” a few minutes each day (then hopping back into the caravan after the photo ops) from Crawford into Waco to Marlin, South into College Station, then east on US 290 into Houston.  From there, she’s bound to trek along I-10 until she hits  the Fraud Capitol of the Bible Belt…also now known as (drumroll, please) our newest Crime Capitol of the US. 

By the by, Houston is getting sick and tired of those lazy refugees…  But I digress…

Then she’ll terrorize Fort Benning in Columbus, GA before turning north to protest before the U.N.

Boys and girls with horse and cattle trailers, this is a golden op to hit the roads first and leave a deposit or two for these folks to trek through…if you get my gist.

By the way, Cindy’s swarm has been busy.  Remember when they lost their non-profit status for their Crawford Headquarters for not providing the State of Texas Comptroller with vital reporting?  Well, someone’s finally remitted the required paperwork and the Crawford Texas Peace House is now in good standing.  Probably getting ready to sell the place.  At least I can hope.

I offer my kind regards and best wishes to Texas Senator John Cornyn, whom Cindy has threatened with a sit-in at his Washington Office at the culmination of this journey.

Hell of a time for it finally, FINALLY to stop raining around here.

A June Update on Michael Devlin; Corlija Draws Former Client’s Wrath

Nothing has hit the airwaves recently regarding Michael Devlin or any of his cases in Franklin, Washington and St. Louis counties in Missouri.  But I take that as good news, since it means everyone is keeping their mouths shut and getting down to business.

Devlin’s next court appearance will come next week, on Thursday, June 21, when his attorneys file an appearance before their fairly newly appointed judge in Franklin County, The Hon. Stanley Dale Williams.  (I noted the change in judges and a few other minor updates last month.)

The appearance hearing should be fairly quick, but  I imagine Mr. Ethan Corlija will present his Defendant’s Request for Change of Venue and perhaps others.  We’ll see.

Speaking of Mr. Corlija, he has apparently raised the ire of a former client.  In a lengthy post three days ago (June 12th) to RipoffReport, “Lisa” titles her complaint, “Ethan Corlija …lawyer will lie and deceive to take your money, then provide little or no defense Clayton Missouri.” 

As they say, “Hell hath no fury…”

Just in case that page mysteriously disappears, allow me to offer it here, in its entirety, for posterity’s sake:

“…

Ethan B. Corlija of the law offices of Hogan, Sokolik, Corlija And Kielty located in downtown Clayton missouri practices fraudulent and deceptive practices by making false promises regarding criminal defense cases. He will lie about the ‘connections’ he has in the Saint Louis County Court system by name dropping and using his prior employment at the facility as a selling point to attempt to steal your money. DONT BUY INTO THIS!

He was a level 4 prosecutor in Saint Louis County, the lowest in existence. He only worked there for approximately 1.5 years and has no pull with the staff whatsoever. He will accept a small retainer for his services and if, on your date in court, you do not have the remanding balance he will tell you to ‘get it now, or I will go tell the judge I want off your case’.

He will lie to you about your release date/probationary period end date by knowingly incorrectly informing you of the Missouri DOC parole schedule and/or the County Jail’s ‘Good Time’ system.

For instance, he told me that on a 120 day shock sentence that I would be out in 90 days. Untrue, you must do the whole 120 days. He told me on a 3 year backup that I would be paroled in 6 months. Untrue, on an assault charge you must do 33% of your sentence or 1 year at a minimum. He stated before my court date that ‘you aren’t going to jail, I don’t make money by having incarcerated clients’. Untrue, most of his clients are in jail or have had to do some period of incarceration.

If you want a good lawyer you would be well advised to call the offices of RSRG. I had to do so just to have the mess Mr. Corlija got me in cleaned up. It cost me ten’s of thousands to do so.
Lisa
University City, Missouri
U.S.A.

…”

Personally, I think this gal is a Class A spook.  She is obviously enraged that she couldn’t walk away from her “assault charge” and has blamed Corlija in witless detail for having to serve her full sentence, which she clearly understands was mandatory as noted above in her own words.  A lot of attorneys attract the ire of clients when things don’t go as well as the clients hoped.  But most clients are not stupid enough to post such a long and easily identifiable rant as Lisa has done.  Of course, committing an “assault charge” could be fairly strong proof of that, with the disclaimer being I know nothing whatsoever about her case.

If anything she has written is not true, moreover not provable…

Lisa, meet libel per se:  “broadcast or written publication of a false statement about another which accuses him/her of a crime, immoral acts, inability to perform his/her profession, having a loathsome disease (like syphilis) or dishonesty in business.  Such claims are considered so obviously harmful that malice need not be proved to obtain a judgment for “general damages,” and not just specific losses.”   (Emphasis mine.)  Yet malice is obvious in her post.

Mr. Corlija and his team are likely up to their hair follicles in trying to defend Devlin against citations in three Missouri counties and the Feds, as well.  So this one may have escaped his radar, but I doubt it.   I’m sure Lisa’s rant is the least of his concerns right now.

I readily admit I feel for this fellow and his firm.  They landed a business coup with the Devlin case, but unless Devlin has a benefactor, Corlija is expending huge sums in operating capital from his firm and may or may not recoup.  He is up against a fifty-foot wall of tough evidence, tough prosecutors, a set of very tough state statutes, even tougher opposing resources, overwhelming public preconviction of his client, and near insurmountable victimization by Devlin of what will be the two star witnesses at trial in Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby.  Corlija’s only possible strategy is to attempt to discredit overwhelming evidence, while trying to evidence that Devlin is less of a monster than we all believe him to be.  That takes a lot of money…

In my opinion, the trade-off that Corlija, et al, hope for will come in the future if they are able to gain any compromise or (miracle required) somehow manage to reduce Devlin’s legal exposure.  If he can do that, his name (and the tremendously enhanced reputation of his firm) among criminal law circles will be written alongside the greats in history.  After all, thirteen years later, who doesn’t recognize the names, “Johnny Cochran,” “Robert Shapiro,” and (my favorite) “Barry Scheck.  I can personally guarantee you the quip, “Scheck Happens!” is still stated regularly in law firm war rooms.

Personally, every cent of my money is on the cadre’ of multi-jurisdictional prosecutors.  And I wish them God Speed.

A Little Larceny Lagniappe

Democratic US Representative William “Dollas Bill” Jefferson from lovely Louisiana has finally been indicted on 16 counts of fraud, racketeering, soliciting bribes, money-laundering and obstructing justice (among other charges) stemming from the fed investigation that found $90,000 in cold, hard cash in the congressman’s Capitol Hill condo freezer back in August 2005.

“The FBI’s sting operation, the first of its kind since the Abscam probe targeting corrupt members of Congress in the 1970s, has already sent two former Jefferson associates to prison. Both acknowledged taking part in a scheme to funnel money to companies controlled by the nine-term congressman and his family in exchange for his help in promoting a telecommunications business in Nigeria and Ghana.”

Classy.  Like most politicians in Louisiana.  So glad to know Speaker Nancy Pelosi had so much faith in this crook that she placed him on the House Homeland Security Committee.  After all, what kind of risk could he pose there?

Geez.  This guy was a corruption overachiever, forming 25 dummy corporations and using two of his children to help him in his scheme.  Read the 94-page, inch-thick Federal Indictment here.

Jefferson started his fraud early. Read about how he got his nickname of “Dollar Bill” Jefferson in the early 1970s.

An Irony of Epidemic Proportions

Finally, my preaching to the fiance’ all day and night yesterday about the huge medical implications of this Atlanta fellow traipsing all over Europe with extremely drug-resistant Tuberculosis has been underscored by today’s proper fury in the media.

The amazing irony is that this fellow, the first person quarantined in the US under these circumstances in 44 years and who has contaminated many hundreds of people on two continents, is a 31-year-old personal injury attorney.  Wow.

That’s handy, since he probably faces a large number of personal injury lawsuits to come internationally, as well as domestically, when some of the 1,500 or so folks he has personally potentially infected finally test positive in a few months.  Heck, I doubt they wait that long.  Of course, if he is worth his weight in salt as an attorney, his assets are well shielded and his judgement exposure would be low. 

Since you can’t sue the Federal Government, the CDC, Homeland Security, the TSA are all safe, regardless of whether they bungled this case or not. 

But the airlines…  If they failed to restrict this fellow from travel and possessed the No-Fly lists with his name on it, ouch.  I’m sure we’ll see suits filed regardless.

What I don’t know (yet) and am curious about is whether there are international laws governing travel with known infectious diseases.  The US can restrict people entering our country if they are known to be diseased or if they haven’t received certain immunizations and the like.  I’m betting some, if not all of the affected sovereignties have similar regulations.

Another irony is that all of the people on these two trans-Atlantic flights that can be found are being contacted right now by other personal injury attorneys and being informed of their legal options now and in the future.

Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Andrew Harley Speaker, duly licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia on October 27, 2004.   He joined his father, Theodore A. Speaker, Esq. in his personal injury and family law firm soon after receiving his juris doctorate from the University of Georgia, and after a very brief stint as an assistant district attorney in Fulton County.

 Here is his bio on the website for The Speaker Law Firm in Atlanta (currently besieged with unprecedented web hits…):

Andrew Speaker is a licensed member of the State Bar of Georgia. He attended the United States Naval Academy and went on to receive his undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of Georgia as well as his law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law. After working with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and the Oconee County District Attorney’s office, he chose to go into private practice so that he could represent injured people in personal injury cases. He concentrates his practice in personal injury litigation and family law.

Special Recognition
• Shepherd Spinal Center Junior Committee Volunteer of the Year Award – 2001
• American Bar Association National Criminal Mock Trial Champion – 2003
• American Trial Lawyers Association Regional Finalist – 2003 Inn Of Court Representative for University Of Georgia School Of Law
• American Trial Lawyers Association Nominee for University of Georgia Law
• University of Georgia Mock Trial Competition Finalist

Speaker’s bride, by the way, is Sarah Spence Cooksey, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Robert C. Cooksey of Roswell, GA.  Here is their Engagement Announcement from April 24, 2007 that mentions their upcoming May wedding in Santorini, Greece and European honeymoon. 

The irony in this story only grows greater!  Dr. Robert C. Cooksey is a microbiologist who works with Dr. Moises Hernandez, et al, in the Tuberculosis Laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA.  No kidding.  He wrote this paper on Microbacterium cosmeticum sp. in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, if you care to meet some heavy, but quick reading.  

Wow.  Double-Barreled Wow!  Gee, I wonder if he knew about this young man’s disease? 

When this story of this couple’s trans-Atlantic exposures first broke yesterday, the then anonymous traveler, who described himself as an educated man, claimed that his physicians never told him he couldn’t travel with his disease.  And that is when I started preaching to the fiance’ that there’s something very, very wrong there.  I knew that couldn’t be the case.  Based upon my medical experience and knowledge of TB cases as a nurse, anyone diagnosed with tuberculosis, moreover its extremely virulent and deadly mutant child XDR-TB, has been clearly briefed with very specific cautions, precautions and basic rules of living henceforward, however latent their disease may be.

Today’s story from The Atlanta Journal Constitution relates Speaker’s initial downplaying of the instructions given him by physicians, as well as offering statements suggesting he bloody-well KNEW not to travel, but did it anyway so they could have that Greek wedding and honeymoon tour of Italy they’d been planning and had paid for.

Think that deliberacy, that choice (if proven) that was made to ignore medical advice and international law will go unnoticed or unpunished?  One of two scenarios must be true:  either Sparks intentionally ignored medical advice, or his doctors are guilty of malpractice in not clearly stating the precautions he must take to protect others.

If this young attorney hasn’t single-handedly begun an epidemic, only God can be thanked for His grace.

Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death in the world, especially among third world countries, infecting more than 9,000,000 annually, of whom more than 2,000,000 die each year.  Of those 2,000,000 annual deaths are 100,000 children.  We have witnessed a tremendous decline in this disease in the US over the last 50 years with our modern, clean living, great healthcare and immunization requirements. 

The CDC has stringent requirements for physicians and hospitals and health departments to report any and all cases they diagnose and/or treat.  In 2005, there were less than 14,000 cases in total.  Of those, 6,376 cases were reported in people who were born in the US.  A larger number of  7,656 TB cases were reported in people born outside of the US and more than half (56%) of these foreign-born cases were reported in persons from Mexico (1,930), the Philippines (826), Vietnam (526), India (563) and China (389)  See the entire statistics from the CDC in their annual report on the Trends in Tuberculosis – United States, 2005 

In the United States, in my personal and limited experience, Tuberculosis pops up most typically in our public schools and is usually in high schools at that.  A Fort Worth suburb is testing 500 students and teachers at Bowie High School right now, who were exposed “earlier in the month.”  

Since the incidence rate of tuberculosis is relatively very low, tests are not required by law for school children.  Only if there has been an exposure or fear of one are children administered tuberculosis testing.  However, before just about every college in the land will let you in their doors, students must have a PPD test using the Mantoux technique.   As for adults, every one must have tuberculosis tests ever ten years if they are county, state or federal employees, work anywhere in healthcare, daycare, elderly care, food preparation and many other industries.

While, by generalized medical statistics in the US, only 10% of those exposed to latent or active TB carriers actually develop the disease, reality screams that the incidence of contraction depends upon an individual’s age and personal health.  Young to middle-aged adults who are healthy and have no underlying medical conditions are relatively safe, while the very young and the very old, as well as anyone with any of a myriad of immune deficiencies (like diabetes, for example) are at exceptional risk.  People with HIV/AIDS tend to develop the disease through the normal course of HIV/AIDS.  They are the most vulnerable of all. 

Everything you wish to know about the clinical aspects of Tuberculosis can be found here at the CDC’s FAQs on TB. 

Read and learn well.  This non-clinical made-for-the-public text will tell you the disease is transmitted by coughing or sneezing.  That’s very true.  But the clinical reality is that talking also transmits the disease, which is an airborne virus that resides in the respiratory tract.  Simply breathing out is a potential transmission, hence the required use of specialized filtration masks by patient and healthcare workers alike.

But Mr. Speaker doesn’t have regular tuberculosis.  He has XDR-TB, which is much worse and an emerging mutation of TB worldwide.  Of the precious few drugs effective at all against tuberculosis, his type is resistant to nearly every one.  A medically renown group called Doctors Without Borders has been treating folks all over this world for decades for a myriad of infectious diseases and know tuberculosis intimately.  Please read Don’t Tell Me TB Is Under Control, because folks it is absolutely not. Not even here.

I have three questions I want answered:  When exactly and where was Mr. Speaker exposed to XDR-TB?  When was he diagnosed with XDR-TB?  And where has he been, who has been exposed in the interim and since?  I’m guessing the CDC and the governments of France, Greece, Italy, Czechoslovakia and Canada are wondering the same.

I feel sorry for this young couple.  Not a way in which anyone would see a marriage begin.  Mr. Speaker’s prognosis is dark and arduous over the next many, many months, if not a few years…if he survives, and precious few with this disease do.  And certainly no one has had the level of exposure to his disease as his bride.

I feel more sorry for all of those trusting and innocent folks exposed between Atlanta, Paris, Greece, Italy, Prague and Montreal — and many will never be discovered — who will not be able to be officially ruled as negative for the disease for several months.  And those who are found positive will face the same exhausting and debilitating treatments that are Mr. Speaker’s current worries.  The very mildest cases that develop will spend the remainder of their lives on medication and they’re to be the lucky ones.

Indeed, being a personal injury attorney is, to me, an irony of epidemic proportions.  I doubt even Tom Clancey would have conceived of this scenario.

We should all pray for this young man, his family and absolutely for the hundreds, if not ultimately thousands of people potentially impacted by their amazing arrogance and selfishness. 

I hope they enjoyed a beautiful wedding and honeymoon.  I hope the unmarried folks they exposed along the way will have that same opportunity.

You can expect to hear a TON more about this case in the days ahead.

So Long, Cindy!

Followed by, “Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.”

Today’s day after our country’s celebration of American soldiers and their families, who have paid the ultimate price in our nation’s freedom and the freedom we have fought for on behalf of other nations across the planet, comes the best news I’ve read in a while.

Premier national idiot and anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan has announced in a letter to the world that she is calling it quits from the activist stage.  Her reasoning:   Disillusionment with the Democratic Party.

“We gave you a chance,” said Sheehan in her letter, and “you betrayed us.” 

Her letter can be read Here in its entirety.  And HotAir has a moving tribute to Ms. Sheehan as “St. Cindy” here.

For those who may not know or recall, the State of Texas yanked Sheehan’s non-profit corporation status from her Crawford Peace House in the beginning of April for failure to file required income and expense statements for more than a year, despite repeated notices from the state of same.  Not only did Sheehan and the directors of The Crawford Peace House loose their corporate protections, but they will also face potentially large bills personally from Texas and the IRS from the more than $700,000 in funds raised through this entity to augment their anti-war efforts.  I wrote about the charter revocation and included links in my post on April 5.  I have little doubt that this charter revocation and the liability exposure therein have weighed heavily on Sheehan and was the ultimate impetus for her departure from activism.

While it is saddening to me that she chose to make a PR splash attempt on Memorial Day and continues to decree that her own son, Casey, “did indeed die for nothing,” I find it rather amusing that she so strongly smeared her beloved Democratic Party across the horizon.  In that regard, I gotta thank her.

Perhaps now, for her own sake, Sheehan will seek professional psychiatric care to deal with the demons in her life, certainly the greatest of which is the loss of her son.  Or so I can hope for her.

It’s a great day, indeed, with one less wacko on the airwaves….well, as soon as the networks tire of airing and reairing, ad nauseum, her departure.