By Tom Purcell

I am 8 years old. Some of my friends say there IS a Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in the Communist Party paper Granma, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, El Presidente. Is there a Santa Claus?

– Virginia O’Hanlon 

Dear Virginia:

Your little friends are wrong. Of course there is no Santa Claus. Did your papa not tell you that I banned all likenesses of Santa, a symbol of Yankee capitalist greed, in 1959?

Did your papa not read the 1959 Time article that explained how I required all Christmas decorations to be made of Cuban materials, with traditional Cuban scenes – that American-style Christmas trees had to be replaced with Cuban palms?

Does he not remember that I, the world’s most successful Scrooge, canceled Christmas altogether in 1969 – that millions of Cuban children grew up without any sense of a Christmas tradition – and that I only eased the ban in 1998 when Pope John Paul II visited our country?

Believe in Santa Claus, Virginia? You might as well believe that freedom exists – as foolhardy American pigs do. Their freedom opens the floodgates to everything that is bad in the human heart – greed and vanity and dishonesty.

Only a benevolent dictator like Fidel can stop such freedom. Only I can open the floodgates to everything good in the human heart, such as generosity and selflessness and integrity. Those who refuse to embrace these traits will be beaten, jailed or sent to the firing squad!

I laugh when I read the various estimates of the political opponents I sent to their deaths – between 4,000 and 33,000. Even Fidel has lost count. But I had to whack these troublemakers. They stood in the way of the revolution. They didn’t know that only with absolute power could I help my people, in particular the poor.

All the world knows I am a great champion of the poor. I love poor people so much, in fact, that I created millions of new ones.

I gave them education – I’m proud to say my country has the best educated janitors, maids and garbage collectors in Latin America!

I gave them free health care – albeit not very good health care. It’s not my fault most of our doctors, in their greed, fled to other countries to enrich themselves with the livable salaries our communist country can never pay them.

My intentions are good and – as the progressive left in America will tell you – isn’t that all that matters?

It’s true that as my people have suffered – the average income in my country is $20 per month – I have lived a lavish life.

Forbes estimated my net worth at just short of $1 billion. Had I been a ruthless capitalist pig like America’s president-elect, I, too, would be a billionaire many times over. But Fidel didn’t do too badly as the dictator of a small communist island.

But getting back to your question, Virginia, of course there is no Santa Claus.

Look, Virginia, the most real things in the world are only those things that Fidel sees. Did Fidel ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not. Fidel only sees the good life that the revolution has brought to Cuba – including the finest fleet of rundown ’58 Studebakers in all the world!

Alas! There is no Santa Claus, Virginia.

And now that I have answered your question, Fidel has a question for you: What are the names of these little friends who have been telling you lies about this Santa Claus?

– Fidel Castro

The VHS is hosting an adopt-a-thon of epic proportions on Friday & Saturday, December 16^th & 17^th. It is an event not to be missed.

 

For the second year, the Vanderburgh Humane Society will be hosting an “Empty the Shelter” event with 100% waived adoption fees on all shelter animals. This includes dogs, cats, and rabbits. The event will kick off at 10:00 am on Friday, December 16^th. VHS will have extended hours on both days, opening early (10:00 am instead of noon) and closing late (8:00 pm instead of the normal 6:00.) All hands will be on deck for this event, including all staff members and a host of volunteers.

The obvious well-meaning concerns that many individuals have are that people who cannot afford to pay an adoption fee, cannot afford to have a pet. One is inclined to believe that those who get “free” animals are much more likely to abuse them, abandon them, or return them to the shelter once the excitement wears off.

The ASPCA has done extensive research into these very issues. They recently conducted a study at the Edmonson Humane Society analyzing 344 cat adopters. 138 families paid adoption fees, and 206 did not. What they discovered was that paying the adoption fee seemed to have no bearing on whether or not the cat received follow-up veterinary care, and it also did not affect retention. Both groups had families who did provide their cats with vet care, and families who did not. More than 80% of the fee-waived families indicated that they valued their cats and would adopt again.
– MORE –

A 2006 study conducted by ASPCA Senior Director of Shelter Research and Development, Emily Weiss and Shannon Gramann, ASPCA Manager of Shelter Research and Development, compared “the attachment levels of adopters of cats — fee based adoptions vs. free adoptions.” These were their results, which were published in Vol. 12 Issue 4 of the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science.

• Attachment to cats adopted from the study facility was not decreased when adoption fees were eliminated
• Eliminating adoption fees does not devalue the animals in the eyes of the adopters
• Free adult cat programs could “dramatically impact the lives of thousands of shelter cats who would otherwise reside in a shelter for months or be euthanized.”

HERES WHATS ON OUR MIND TODAY!  

Todays “READERS POLL” question is: Do you feel that our city officials told the truth concerning the real status of unpaid city employees medical bills for 2015 and 2016?

POSTED BELOW ARE THE LINKS TO BOTH OF THE STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS AUDIT REPORTS FOR 2015 THAT OUR CITY OFFICIALS DECIDED NOT TO MAKE PUBLIC 

POSTED BELOW IS THE LIST OF THE THOSE WHO ATTENDED THE SBOA EXIT CONFERENCE:

 The contents of these reports were discussed on October 25, 2016, with Lloyd Winnecke-Mayor; Russell G. Lloyd Jr-City Controller; Jenny Collins-Chief Financial Officer of Utilities; Allen Mounts-Director of Utilities; Steve Schaefer-Chief of Staff; Missy Mosby-President of the City Council; Jonathan Weaver- City Council member; Dan McGinn,-Finance Chairman and City Council member; Anna Hargis-CPA-City Council member; Dr. H. Dan Adams-City Council member and Marty Amsler-President of the Board of Public Works.

 FOOTNOTES:  Posted below are the links of the final the State Board of Accounts 2015 Audited Financial Statements for the City of Evansville that was quietly released to our city officials at a meeting on October 25, 2016.

A)  One thing you need to know is that the post employment Health Care Benefit liability went from $234,000,000 to $281,000,000.  This was an increase of over 20% in just one year.

B)  You should also notice that zero funding to Employee Health Care Fund occurred in 2015.  What is most disturbing is the failure of the SBOA to disclose in the audits that Mayor Winnecke failed to fund the Hospitalization Fund by $5,000,000 during the same year.

C)  No reference were made that the General Fund transferred of $12,500,000 without the official authority of the City Council from the Riverboat fund to the General Fund.

D)  If the $5 million dollar transfer had properly occurred and the illegal transfer of $12.5 million dollars had not occurred, instead of the General Fund showing a balance of $6.5 million dollars to the positive, it would had been negative by over $11,000,000.

E)  We believe that the failure to disclose the above transactions makes the City’s financial statements misleading to the taxpayers of this community

THIS IS THE MAIN AUDIT REPORT  LINK CONDUCTED BY THE SBOA FOR THE CITY OF EVANSVILLE FOR 2015

http://www.in.gov/sboa/WebReports/B47235.pdf

THIS IS THE SUPPLEMENTAL AUDIT REPORT LINK CONDUCTED BY THE SBOA FOR THE CITY OF EVANSVILLE FOR 2015

http://www.in.gov/sboa/WebReports/B47236.pdf

The officers, Mark Decamps, Marcus Craig, Nick Henderson, and Sergeant Kyle Kassel were suspended after allegedly using force while arresting Mark Healy. They filed documents saying Healy fought with them during his arrest, but the body camera footage shows that was not the case.

Police Chief Billy Bolin recommended that Craig, Decamps, and Henderson be fired and Sergeant Kassel be demoted.

Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Nick Hermann says his office will dismiss the charge of resisting arrest against Healy.

Charges will not be filed against any of the officers involved in this case. The Police Merit Commission will determine if the officers will be terminated and demoted.

Indiana’s King, Miller Win Gold Medals at World Championships

WINDSOR, Ontario – Indiana University had another golden night at the 2016 Short Course World Championships in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Indiana’s Lilly King and alum Cody Miller won gold with Team USA in the mixed 200 medley relay. In the evening final, King split a 50 breaststroke of 28.74 to help the Americans post a Championship record winning time of 1:37.22. In the morning prelims, Miller clocked a 50 breast time of 25.82 to help Team USA qualify first for the final.

The gold medal is the third for King at the World Championships this week, as the IU sophomore took the titles in the 50 breaststroke and women’s 200 medley relay on Wednesday.

In the women’s 100 IM semifinals, King tied for eighth overall with a time of 1:00.05, setting up a swim-off for the last spot in the final, but King withdrew from the swim-off to participate in the mixed 200 medley relay.

Earlier on Thursday, IU junior Kennedy Goss just missed qualifying for the final of the 200 backstroke, finishing ninth overall with a time of 2:05.41 for Team Canada.

The 2016 Short Course World Championships will continue on Friday in Windsor, Ontario, with prelims beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET and finals beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Be sure to keep up with all the latest news on the Indiana men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams on social media – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Mixed 200 Medley Relay
1. Lilly King – 28.74 (Team USA – 1:37.22)
1. Cody Miller – 25.82 (Team USA – 1:38.82)

Women’s 100 IM
9. Lilly King – 1:00.05

Women’s 200 Backstroke
9. Kennedy Goss – 2:05.41

Court Abused Discretion In Letting Public Defender Withdraw Appearance

Olivia Covington for www.theindianalawyer.com

An attorney seeking a motion to withdraw appearance had to prove there was justification for his withdrawal and provide sufficient notice to the party he represented before the motion could be granted, the Indiana Court of Appeals found Thursday.

In July 2014, M.G. and Je.G. filed a petition for adoption, alleging that Je.G. was the natural father of two children, A.G. and Ju.G., and that M.G. was married to him. The children’s natural mother, A.R., asked the court to deny the petition and asked for a civil public defender to be appointed to her for the proceedings. William Byer Jr. was appointed as A.R.’s civil public defender in the case.

But in November 2015, the Madison Circuit Court granted a motion to withdraw appearance for Byer, who argued that A.R. had failed to cooperate or communicate with him. A.R. asked in December if she could request another attorney, telling the court that she learned of Byer’s departure immediately before being taken to jail for an unrelated matter.

The trial court chose not to appoint replacement counsel for A.R. A court entry from Dec. 17 read, in part, “Because (A.R.) offered on (sic) satisfactory explanation for Byer’s withdrawal, no new PD will be appointed. However, the record will be left open until 12/29/15 to provide (A.R.) with an opportunity to privately retain counsel…” A.R. never had counsel during the proceedings.

An amended decree of adoption was issued Feb. 11, 2016, and A.R. appealed, arguing that the Madison Circuit Court abused its discretion in granting Byer’s motion to withdraw appearance that did not comply with local rules. Further, A.R. said the Indiana Court of Appeals requires the appointment of counsel in an adoption case. But Je.G. and M.G. argued that A.R. invited the error by failing to cooperate or communicate with Byer and that the denial of replacement counsel was harmless.

Judge Elaine Brown, writing for the unanimous panel on Thursday, said that people whose parental rights are in jeopardy have the right to counsel, whether retained or appointed. Further, Brown pointed to a Madison County local rule that requires attorneys seeking to withdraw to meet certain conditions and to give 21 days’ notice to the litigant of their intent to withdraw.

Byer’s motion did not state that one of the required conditions – the presence of another attorney to litigate the matter, a discharge of the attorney by the litigant or the litigant’s acceptance of the withdrawal – was met. Further, the motion did not state whether Byer had met the 21 day notice requirement.

Thus, Brown wrote, the trial court’s decision to grant his motion to withdraw appearance was an abuse of discretion in violation of Local Rule LR48-TR3.1-26. The case of In Re the Adoption of A.G. & J.G. A.R., v. M.G. and J.G., 48A02-1603-Ad-709, was remanded for further proceedings.