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Nationally Syndicated Political Cartoons

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These nationally syndicated cartoons are sponsored by Guthries Pharmacies




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Beware of the Tomato Tamperers

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Jim Hightower, Progressive Syndicated Columnist

Some people are too smart for your own good.
Food geneticists, for example. These technicians have the smarts to tinker with the inner workings of Momma Nature’s own good foods — but not the smarts to leave well enough alone.
In fairness, much of their scientific tinkering has been beneficial. But during the past half-century, too much of their work devolved from tinkering into outright tampering with our food. This is mostly the result of money flowing to both private and public research centers from big agribusiness corporations that want nature’s design altered in ways that fatten their bottom lines. Never mind that the alterations created by these smart people are frequently not good for you and me.
Take the tomato, truly a natural wonder. Agribusiness profiteers, however, wanted it to do unnatural things, so — voila! — the genetic tamperers in the 1960s and ’70s dutifully produced the Amazing Industrial Tomato. It’s a techno-marvel made to endure long-distance shipping, be harvested while green and then artificially ripened to appear tomato-y red and last an ungodly amount of time without rotting.
But taste? Forget it. There’s more flavor in the carton. This led to the “Upchuck Rebellion” — a grassroots movement of consumers, small farmers and local food artisans. In the last couple of decades, they’ve spurred phenomenal growth in farmers markets and stores that offer nature’s own locally produced and heirloom varieties untouched by the smart ones.
But, look out, the tomato tamperers are back in the lab! They’ve discovered that a mutated gene they had bred into the corporate tomato switches off other genes that would cause the fruit to develop flavor. The answer, they say, is not less technology, but more. By artificially re-engineering the DNA structure of the plant, they can bypass that naughty mutated gene and switch on some of the flavor genes. But do we really want to eat genetically engineered tomatoes?
Still, you can expect them to push the latest alteration of nature’s marvel. I can just see the agribusiness ad: “Buy our industrial tomatoes — Now genetically flavored!” Better yet, buy the local tomatoes, which don’t need a smart geneticist or an ad to deliver real flavor.
Unfortunately, it’s not just tomatoes they’re tampering with. For instance, if you are parent you may be worried about the plethora of highly questionable bio-engineered organisms that the profiteers have quietly been slipping into everything from snack foods to school lunches.
Well, perhaps your own children can put your mind at ease, for science teachers around the country have been assigning a book called “Look Closer at Biotechnology” to the kiddos in their classes. It’s filled with colorful images, friendly cartoon faces, puzzles and more!
The very first page makes clear that the scientific wonder of genetically engineered foods pose no worries at all. “Hi, kids,” it begins. “This is an activity book for young people like you about … a really neat topic.” Why is it so neat? Because, say the authors, “as you work through the puzzles in this book, you will learn more about biotechnology and all the wonderful ways it can help people live better lives in a healthier world. Have fun!”
Fun? With genetically engineered food? That’s not fun, it’s serious business — and look who’s behind this book of fairy tales: the Council for Biotechnology Information.
Exactly what and who is CBI? It’s a PR and political front for the biotech industry, financed by such multibillion-dollar giants as Monsanto, Bayer, DuPont and Dow. It’s also now funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars into the industry’s deceitful political campaign to kill a California “Right to Know” ballot initiative that finally would require food giants to label all products containing genetically engineered organisms.
This raises an obvious question for those of us who prefer food from nature, not from engineering labs: What are we to do about corporate powers that are so avaricious and arrogant that they’re willing to tamper with our food supply, our kids’ minds and our basic consumer rights? Defeat them, that’s what!
Here are three good sources for information and action: JustLabelIt.org, NonGMOShoppingGuide.com and OrganicConsumers.org.
To find out more about Jim Hightower, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

Colbert’s Campus Coddlers

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This article, written by nationally syndicated conservative columnist L. Brent Bozell, is sponsored by OXFORD MORTGAGE, EVANSVILLE, IN. SCOTT KLUEH, PRESIDENT. CALL (812) 476-9740.

L. Brent Bozell, Conservative Syndicated Columnist

On July 9, Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi composed a puff piece to honor Stephen Colbert, “fake news” commentator and satirical fake conservative. It turns out Colbert is becoming an “obsession in academia,” with a new collegiate submersion in “Truthinessology.”
Let us agree that he can be very funny. Let’s also agree that his satire being taken seriously by academia says something about the state of academia.
It also says something about those in the press who agree. Farhi winked in his story that this obsession is a problem, but then unfurled a long list of academic tributes. Parents are now paying tens of thousands of dollars each year for their children to skateboard around boring old Aristotle and Locke and instead immerse themselves in the study of smirking liberal TV wise-crackers.
Colbert, we are told, is a television icon already, like CBS legend Edward R. Murrow. This would be more upsetting if Murrow weren’t in reality one partisan hack in a long line of truth-mangling CBS News partisan hacks.
Professor Geoffrey Baym proclaimed, “I’m sure there are still a lot more books out there on CBS News and Edward R. Murrow, but you could argue that the emergence of satire news at this level is an important phenomenon that I don’t think we still completely understand.” Baym wrote a book titled “From Cronkite to Colbert: The Evolution of Broadcast News.”
Maybe we don’t understand because it’s nonsensical. I get it that liberals believe in evolution, but do they really think journalism is growing more profound by transforming from long-form documentaries on migrant workers to Colbert’s self-promotional, punchline-packed congressional testimony on migrant workers?
Apparently, they do.
This is Baym’s dustcover Colbert-smooching: “‘From Cronkite to Colbert’ makes the case that rather than fake news, those shows should be understood as a new kind of journalism, one that has the potential to save the news and reinvigorate the conversation of democracy in today’s society.”
Translation: We had to destroy the news in order to save it.
Baym noted that there are “still a lot more books” on Murrow and CBS, but Amazon will quickly assemble for its consumers a wagonload of fake-news flattery oozing out of supposedly sober academe:
— “The Stewart/Colbert Effect: Essays on the Real Impacts of Fake News” (with Jon Stewart and Colbert on the cover);
— “And Nothing but the Truthiness: The Rise (and Further Rise) of Stephen Colbert” (Colbert on the cover);
— “The Daily Show and Rhetoric: Arguments, Issues, and Strategies” (Stewart on the cover)
— “Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era” (Colbert on the cover);
— “Entertaining Politics: Satiric Television and Political Engagement” (Stewart and Barack Obama on the cover).
This is a partial list (one mostly different from a Post list of treatises). Farhi reported, “The college crowd says Colbert is worthy of study because his single-character political satire is unique in the annals of television. His character, an egomaniacal right-wing gasbag, connects him to a long Western satirical tradition going all the way back to the Roman poet Horace and the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles.”
Obviously, these educators wouldn’t insult the ancient Romans and Greeks to make comparisons to a conservative topical comedian like Dennis Miller. Professor Don Waisanen analyzed Miller after his turn to the right and lamented that he was “disoriented” and his humor was destined to “neuter socio-political action.”
Professors, being professorial, add gravitas to the unbearable lightness of their comedic heroes by applying jargon, explaining that Colbert and Stewart ably employ “parodic polyglossia,” “satirical specificity” and “contextual clash” to evoke both laughter and social change.
Farhi even found one super-fan: Penn State Professor Sophia McClennen. McClennen compares Colbert to Ben Franklin and Mark Twain as one of the greatest satirists in our nation’s entire 236-year history and argues that “our democracy is in a tough spot now, when corporations are exercising increasing power over government, and that Colbert captures this moment as they did.”
I bet even Colbert laughed at that.
As much as liberals claim to treasure irony, McClennen didn’t grasp that Colbert is “exercising increasing power over government” through a large media corporation called Viacom. This corporation’s greedy devotion to the bottom line led them to spit on those obsessed academics who watch Colbert and Stewart via satellite on DirecTV. Viacom not only cut off 20 million subscribers to DirecTV after a failed attempt to wring an estimated $1 billion in additional carriage fees, but they removed online streaming of full episodes on the Comedy Central website.
After all, applying “parodic polyglossia” to promote progressive politics is only worthwhile if a corporation is maximizing their profits. That is certainly a “contextual clash” the academics were not expecting.
L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center. To find out more about Brent Bozell III, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

Evansville’s Role in Federal Gun Running Operation

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By: Robert Farago

I just got off the blower with Brent R. Weil of Kightlinger and Gray, LLP. The Evansville, Indiana lawyer represents the [as yet unnamed] gun store that sold firearms to ATF-enabled straw purchasers. “The ATF told my client to let the sales go through,” Mr. Weil told TTAG. “He later told me that the guns went to Chicago gangs.” In one case, a straw purchaser failed to pass the FBI’s NICS [National Instant Check System] background check . . .

The dealer called an ATF agent in the parking lot; the agent told the dealer to let the sale go through. The ATF arrested the so-called straw purchaser after he walked out the door. In every other instance, however, the ATF did not apprehend the buyers immediately after purchase.

In one case, a buyer and his associate left the store and smashed their vehicle into a police car on their way out. (Seriously.) The driver was charged with the traffic incident, and the weapons were taken by the local police pending proof of ownership. The guns were never reclaimed.

Mr. Weil also threw some cold water on the theory that Mexican cartel members in Indiana purchased the guns with the ATF’s blessing as part of an anti-Los Zetas quid pro quo. “The buyers were black and caucasian,” Weil said. Also, the gun store in question initiated the contact with the ATF.

The new information doesn’t rule out the possibility that the Indiana gun store “sting” involved criminals affiliated with the Sinaloa or La Familia cartels (whom the ATF armed during Operation Fast and Furious). But that possibility seems a whole lot less likely.

Nonetheless, the Indiana intel reveals that the ATF was allowing known criminals to purchase firearms. The
crucial question: did they lose track of the guns accidentally on purpose, as they did during Operation Fast and Furious?

And if the guns purchased in Evansville ended up in The Windy City, the ATF’s heir apparent—Chi-town Bureau Chief Andrew Traver—must have known about the policy. What did Andy know and when did he know it?
As Ralph points out below, we’re still left wondering about the scope, scale and final destination of all ATF-enabled firearms. How many vicious thugs bought firearms with the ATF’s help? How many of those were recovered and/or recovered from crime scenes?

Meanwhile, rumors are swirling that the Carson City killer used an ATF-enabled AK-47 during his murderous rampage. The attacker, Eduardo Sencion, was Mexican-born (with an American passport) with no criminal record.

There’s no firm evidence establishing linking Sencion with the ATF. The fact that anyone would even think of that possibility reveals the corrosive effect of the ATF on the public’s respect for the federal government and the primacy of the rule of law. It’s yet another reason to deep-six the ATF—after we find out what they’ve been doing with our tax money.

Source: TheTruthAboutGuns.com

Earthcare Makes Another Interest Payment, Stays Current on $200,000 Loan

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The City County Observer has confirmed that Earthcare Energy has made another interest only payment of roughly $380 to remain current according to the terms of the $200,000 loan that was made by the City of Evansville to Earthcare at the beginning of March.

This loan was not brought before the Evansville City Council for approval and was made from federally sourced loan funds managed through the Department of Metropolitan Development. It was approved in a sparsely attended meeting of a politically appointed board that included GAGE president Debbie Dewey who was also in charge of vetting the project.

The Winnecke Administration after considering all information that was made available after this loan was funded and an additional $4.8 Million loan was approved in a contentious 5 – 4 vote by the City Council, decided to abort the deal on the grounds that a DOE loan guarantee had not been secured and that an exclusive license had not been secured to the Langson Energy intellectual property that was to be commercialized by Earthcare in the old Whirlpool building. Private vetting efforts revealed that no patent had been issued for this device.

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

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This feature is sponsored by Chris Walsh For Vanderburgh County Clerk. Chris Walsh is a veteran county administrator that strongly supports our local law enforcement professionals . Chris is a candidate that possess a non-partisan attitude with a consumer friendly demeanor. Chris also stands against unification of city and county governments.

This ad paid for by the committiee to elect Walsh Clerk, Kelly Walsh, Treasurer.

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

Evansville, IN – Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday, July 12, 2012.

Cody Alire Possession of a Synthetic Drug – Class D Felony
Trafficking with an Inmate – Class A Misdemeanor

Scott Auger Child Molesting – Class A Felony (Two Counts)
Incest – Class B Felony (TwoCounts)

Amy Norris Resisting Law Enforcement – Class D Felony
Theft – Class D Felony
Unlawful Possession or Use of Legend Drug – Class D Felony
Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Endangering a Person – Class D Felony
Resisting Law Enforcement – Class A Misdemeanor

Iren Outlaw Receiving Stolen Property – Class D Felony (Habitual Offender Enhancement)

Miranda Richards Theft – Class D Felony

Zachary Robb Possession of a Controlled Substance – Class D Felony
Receiving Stolen Property – Class D Felony

Timothy Smith Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury – Class D Felony

Kevin Trent Dealing in Methamphetamine – Class A Felony

Ronald York Operating a Motor Vehicle After Forfeiture of License for Life – Class C Felony

For further information on the cases listed above, or any pending case, please contact Carly Settles at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at csettles@vanderburghgov.org.

Under Indiana law, all criminal defendants are considered to be innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.

SENTENCE CHART

Class

Range
Murder
45-65 Years
A Felony
20-50 Years

B Felony
6-20 Years

C Felony
2-8 Years

D Felony
½ – 3 Years

A Misdemeanor
0-1 Year

B Misdemeanor
0-180 Days

C Misdemeanor
0-60 Days

Joe Wallace’s California Innovation Hub Featured in Going Organic Magazine

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By: Ronald H. Cosby, Publisher

Joe Wallace

Wallace, editor and sometime columnist for the City County Observer’s Renewable Energy Innovation Hub located in Palm Springs is the feature article in the Summer issue of Going Organic Magazine.

The article is all about the 12 technology companies that have located in the iHub since Wallace became the founding director in January of 2012. For those who are interested in how “organic” businesses are grown in the Coachella Valley iHub and how a former Evansville resident is making positive progress click on the following link. The article begins on page 14.

http://velodea2.com/_test/flipbookqa/Going_organic_guide_summer2012/

IS IT TRUE July 13, 2012

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The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE July 13, 2012

IS IT TRUE in a separate article today guest author Jordan Baer pays his respects to Evansville Mayor Hank Roberts at the Oak Hill Cemetery?…while doing so he was appalled at the level of havoc that negligence and time have wreaked upon this public cemetery?…as others have begun to notice the cemeteries of Evansville look more like the front yard of the Munster’s or the Spook House at Disneyland than a working cemetery that took people’s money through a perpetual care contract?…Locust Cemetery is in the same state of neglect as Oak Hill is?…human beings tend to mentally paint out things that are unchanging and part of their everyday life?…that means after driving by a pile of filth every day for a couple of years most people will lose the awareness of the pile of filth?…we humans do the same thing with beautiful things too?…it seems that which is familiar is not impressive for long unless of course it changes?…more people from Evansville need to start seeing the city vistas as they are to outsiders?…we can and should start with cemeteries and parks which are in absolutely pitiful condition?…our cemeteries and parks are the combed hair and brushed teeth of any city?…one would bet that Evansville would show up for a job interview with bed hair and yellow teeth and then be at a loss for why there was no job offer?…the City of Evansville may do that but that not many people would?…we all need to start treating our public spaces as our own because in truth they are?

IS IT TRUE the last crumbs and morsels of Roberts Stadium are being counted and tagged for the August 4th auction at 10 am at the old arena?…for those who wish to have some artifact from Roberts this will be the last chance to get on in a legitimate manner?…that if Roberts Stadium could talk it could tell us about the zenith of the City of Evansville’s relevance in this world and all about the slow but slippery slide into mediocrity that has occurred during the 57 years since it was opened?…Roberts has hosted the absolute cream of the crop in entertainment and been the home stadium of 5 NCAA basketball champion teams of the University of Evansville?…that in 57 years if the Ford Center can be seen as having racked up the accomplishments of Roberts Stadium then maybe, just maybe it will have been worth the $127 Million plus interest?…it will be a sad day when the wrecking ball hits the building soon after the auction?…the CCO is still disappointed that no investor group came forth to make a deal to do something prosperous with Roberts as has happened in some other cities with older stadiums?…we still think that the last auction of the day should be for the stadium itself and the 37 acres surrounding it as a city that can’t take care of what it has does not have any business building a new park that will probably fall into chaos and disrepair as the others have?

IS IT TRUE Evansville City Councilman John Friend, CPA is now calling for an audit of the Ford Center construction project?…as the Ford Center is finished and hosting events it is truly time to take this responsible step?…that another mid-sized American city has voted to seek bankruptcy protection?…this time it is San Bernardino, CA that has found itself incapable of paying its bills?…the case of San Bernardino is a bit of a departure from how Stockton and Vallejo came to bankruptcy?…that San Bernardino’s debt load is only 4% of its budget?…that the troubles in San Bernardino are traced to rapid growth and runaway housing prices in the mid 2000’s?…while other cities may have squandered their solvency on arenas, new city halls, opera houses, etc. what San Bernardino has is a large number of homes in foreclosure due to the housing bust that are not paying their taxes?…that San Bernardino grew from 91,912 people in 1960 to the 99th largest city in America (Evansville was 100th in 1970) of 209,924 in 2010?…that today houses are still at roughly 50% of their peak, unemployment is well over 12% and the city coffers that expanded to serve the growth are empty?…that cities have the responsibility to remain solvent but it is becoming apparent that the habits of the cities that mimic the federal government are catching up to them and rendering them insolvent?…we are lucky that Mayors do not have a printing press to make money or we would have seen this long before?

Parks Board Meeting and Agenda

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BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS

REGULAR MEETING
KEVIN WINTERNHEIMER CHAMBERS
ROOM 301, CIVIC CENTER COMPLEX
WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2012
12:00 NOON

AGENDA

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. MINUTES July 2, 2012

3. CONSENT AGENDA
a. Request Re: Approve and Execute Land Use Permit with E-DOG for Central Bark in
Kleymeyer Park. – Johnson/Jennifer Wigginton

4. OLD BUSINESS
a. Request Re: Award and Execute Agreement with Mr. Fence for Wolf Exhibit Fencing at
Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden. – Beck
b. Request Re: Approve and Execute Change Order for Restroom Renovations at Igleheart
and Lamasco Parks. – Boberg

5. NEW BUSINESS
a. Request Re: Review Proposal from USI Outreach & Engagement to Build a Shelter at the
Shirley James Gateway Plaza/Mead Johnson Trailhead. – Boberg/Ann Statham
b. Request Re: Any Other Business the Board Wishes to Consider and Public Comments.

6. REPORTS
a. Denise Johnson, Executive Director

7. ACCEPTANCE OF PAYROLL AND VENDOR CLAIMS

8. ADJOURN

INDIANA RIGHT TO LIFE PAC ENDORSES TERRY WHITE

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Indiana Right to Life PAC endorsement statement
July 12, by Mike Fichter} PAC chairman

On behalf of the Indiana Right to Life Political Action Committee, I am pleased to make today’s announcement regarding our endorsement in state senate district 50. We believe this district should be represented by a state senator who shares the pro-life values of Southwest Indiana, and who believes that taxpayers should be protected from having their tax dollars help to underwrite businesses that do abortions in Indiana. We believe the candidate who shares those values is Terry White.

Today, we are pleased to announce our endorsement of Terry White for the state senate. Terry’s opponent in this race is Senator Vaneta Becker, who is easily the most liberal Republican
member of the Indiana Senate. In 20111 when the Indiana Senate passed historic pro-life legislation that protected pain-capable children at 20 weeks, increased the quality of informed consent information that women receive when contemplating an abortion, and opted Indiana out of abortion coverage in state health exchanges required under the new federal health law, Senator Becker was one of only two Republicans in the Senate who voted against the bill.

Frankly, we believe that most local voters assume that Senator Becker is a conservative because she is a Republican. The truth is that in her entire political career, she has rarely faced a serious challenger who could point out just how liberal she really is on issues like abortion. Terry White’s pro-life values will provide a stark contrast in this race, giving voters a clear choice on election day.

Indiana Right to Life is pleased to endorse Terry White for state senate, and we look forward to working with him at the Statehouse to advance legislation that will protect the unborn and provide women with greater access to positive alternatives to abortion in Indiana.