"The Official Portrait of Miss InDiana"

"The Official Portrait of Miss InDiana"
aka "Miss Victory"

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Open letter to Mayor Ballard from Paul Ogden

I do hope Mayor Ballard is paying attention. The Mayor works for THE PEOPLE, not Barnes & Thornburg.
--Melyssa for HFFT


August 28, 2008

Mayor Gregory Ballard
Indianapolis City-County Building, 25th Floor
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Re: Selling City Property; Venture Real Estate Deal

Dear Mayor Ballard:

First of all, I want to let you know how much I wish for your success. As a Republican, I am deeply proud of the campaign you ran and the commitment you expressed for a more open and ethical city government.

It is exactly for that reason that many people are troubled by the Venture Real Estate deal. Giving a private company a profit motive (commissions) as to what is supposed to be the rendering of objective advice about selling city property, creates a major conflict of interest. It is likewise a conflict for one of your top advisors to also represent John Bales of Venture in negotiating the contract with the city. I have no doubt this advisor and his law firm will also earn fees on the legal work every time a piece of city property is sold or leased pursuant to the Venture deal.

Since this story broke, many Republicans, including those who worked directly on your campaign, have expressed concerns you have surrounded yourself with political advisors more interested in using their positions to profit financially than giving you sound advice. They believe, and I agree, that you received poor advice as to the Venture deal. Mayor, if your administration is going to be a success, you need to give those advisors their walking papers and replace them with people who will make your success the No. 1 priority.

Aside from the Venture deal being a bad political move, it is not clear consideration was given to the legal requirements that must be followed when selling city property and park land in particular. First, the sale of any city property requires a professional appraisal (IC 36-1-11-4) and notice and a public hearing. (IC 36-1-11-3). The selling agent has to take bids. (IC 36-11-11-4). The sale of any city property over $50,000 has to be approved by the City-County Council. (IC 36-1-11-3). The sale of any park land, regardless of value, has to be approved by the council and the sales proceeds paid into the parks department budget or used to buy new park land. (IC 36-10-4-8). We would expect that Venture follow all these requirements.

Sincerely,

Paul K. Ogden

Unrelated: A stock tip for a calorie burning energy drink

FROM A VFC's NEWS HOUSE:
Celsius, The World's First Energy Drink That Burns Calories Gaining in Popularity

Celsius, the no-carb, no-sugar energy drink that burns calories may be heading for large-scale distribution in the near future.

Celsius is already offered in five great flavors, Wild Berry, Cola, Ginger Ale, Lemon Lime and Orange and a launch of the Celsius calorie burning Green Tea is due any day.

Click HERE to read my latest entry at VFC's Stock House for the latest news regarding Celsius. Big things may be coming with the addition of a high-rolling financial backer who has legendary status in the nutrition and supplement industry. Evidently Carl DeSantis met a waiter who happened to work for Celsius Holdings and after being turned onto the product, he became the biggest financial backer of the company. Mr. DeSantis stated he was turned onto the fact that Celsius was proven to burn calories in a number of completed studies.

The problem with Celsius has been a lack of advertising and nationwide distribution, but all that could be changing which spells good things for the company and it's stock, CSUH.OB.

For those still wondering if it really does work, here's an excerpt from our good friend Q who recently emailed me to thank me for turning him onto Celsius:

Take care and I forgot to tell you that I have been using Celsius and I lost 9 pounds already since I have been back. That stuff does work.

I got turned onto Celsius from our friend Karlton when I was looking for an alternative to the four or five diet cokes I was drinking a day. Celsius, as well as burning calories, is full of vitamins and nutrients, and that's what sold me on it. You get the carbonation of a soda, the energy lift of an energy drink, just without all the sugars and carbs that are the makeup of most energy drinks.

For VFC Celsius is a healthy alternative to soda and other energy drinks; give it a try if you haven't already.

Click the links that are HERE to order a case!

Saturday, August 30, 2008

HOPE! Governor Sarah Palin, Vice President of the United States of America


The PUMA's made a You Tube tribute to V.P. nominee Sarah Palin
on behalf of 18 million Hillary supporters

Governor Palin put Alaska's checkbook online -- Enough said!

Here's REAL hope for America ! Alaska's checkbook on line. Full accountability to The People!

McCain could not have picked a better VP choice in Governor Sarah Palin!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Obama's campaign tries to shut down free speech

This is outrageous!

On the very date Obama accepts his party's nomination, his campaign vigorously tries to stop respected Chicago talk show host, Milt Rosenberg (WGN) from interviewing Steve Kurtz.

Please, if you care about the preservation of free speech and open debate in America, you must educate yourself on what his campaign is doing. Turn off your TV and read.

Senator Teresa Lubbers' strange bedfellows

Steve Keltner boasted he was the only person who had members of other political parties working on his campaign to be our state senator for district 30. It is true that Steve is getting a lot of campaign help from republicans, democrats, and independents. Steve even has a democrat CPA as treasurer.

But...Keltner is way wrong about being the only one!

I just learned that Senator Teresa Lubbers met with challenger Todd DeGroff and begged him to stay on the ballot. Evidently there are issues in Todd's life that are causing him to reconsider staying in the race as her challenger.

So does that mean that republican Teresa Lubbers is now a campaign advisor for democrat Todd DeGroff?

This is Keltner's plan for property tax reform. Teresa does not have a plan for taxpayers. In fact, when I called her she didn't know what was going on with the summer study session for repeal even though her own neighborhood of Meridian Kessler is suffering greatly from horrific property tax increases.

Who is Travis DiNicola of Art of The Matter?

I would like to retract something I wrote about Travis DiNicola of WFYI's Art of The Matter.

"You will also learn by reading our blog that two arts journalists (David Hoppe and Travis DiNicola) in Indianapolis accepted $2,750 in Renewal Fellowship Grants from the arts council. Why are journalists being paid off by our arts council?"
There is no evidence that these journalists are being "paid off" and I should not have phrased it as such. I hope you all will cut me some slack as I am not paid, am not a journalist, and am a volunteer doing my best to help my community.

I would also like to point how that it feels awful when people write things about you that are not true. I am very sensitive to this because, as you know, at times real journalists have been less than kind to me and more than once reported lies about me, my motivations, and my former career. Never once was a retraction offered to me.

It is a valid concern among taxpayers when journalists receive public grants from the arts council. It is easy as a journalist to ignore sticky questions involving the inappropriate use of power and money when a journalist accepts taxpayer money. Travis wrote to me and acknowledged that he is proud he received funding.

He also corrected me and explained he received more than the $2,750 I reported. He received $5,000 in one payment and another payment of $2,750 for completing the grant.

I also would like to thank Travis for his dedication to the arts and for being forthcoming with us and admitting organizations who don't need funding are getting our dollars. We will report more later from Travis.

--Melyssa

Who is Lisa Sirkin and her PR firm, Gracie Communications?

Lisa Sirkin and her company, Gracie Communications, started the web blog "SaveIndyArts" and the resulting hysteria from the arts community of well meaning good people who deeply care about the quality of life in Marion county.

Both Lisa and her company reside in Hamilton county. Lisa Sirkin does not pay Marion county taxes, she pays Hamilton county taxes.

However, Lisa Sirkin gets paid herself by the big well funded arts institutions who are getting Marion county tax dollars. They are clients of her communcations firm.

Lisa Sirkin has absolutely no say in what happens in Marion county government. If she wants to have a say in our city, she needs to pack up and move here and start to pay her share of our tax bills.

You don’t see Marion county folks at Hamilton county city council meetings nor do you see them launching blogs to tell Hamilton county how to spend its tax revenue, do you?

You will see Marion county taxpayers at the city council budget hearing in front of the full council on Monday September 8th. And we will prepare statements in support of tax cuts for the arts and present the facts regarding where our money was spent in the past.

By googling Lisa Sirkin or Gracie Communications, you will easily learn for yourself that some of her clients are the same big well-funded arts institutions that get Marion county tax dollars. You will also learn from her social networking page on Small Indiana that she is quite cozy with the Children's Museum, an institution that received the largest Marion county taxpayer funded grant in 2006...$239,000.

The Children's Museum is an incredible asset to our city, but it is not an arts organization, nor is it struggling to stay afloat.

Don’t fall for the hysteria Lisa Sirkin started. And don't hire her PR firm, Gracie Communications. As a public relations specialist, she should be savvy enough not to create a massive public relations campaign to dictate how people outside her taxing district spend their tax revenue. She should be smart enough to avoid the PR blunder she did, afterall, her stock and trade is to be a supposed communication expert.

Presidential Candidate, Bob Barr, on Glenn Beck tonight @ 7pm on CNN

Today Glen Beck has Bob on his CNN Headline News broadcast for an hour long special. Glenn Beck Rocks! If you aren't already a fan of the show, you definitely need to start watching tonight. Glenn Beck calls it out. It will be interesting to hear how he interacts with Bob Barr.

Barr Only Presidential Candidate on Texas Ballot

From the Libertarian Party:
Republicans, Democrats miss deadline to file presidential candidates in TexasAtlanta, GA - Bob Barr is slated to be the only presidential candidate on the ballot in Texas after Republicans and Democrats missed the Aug. 26 deadline to file in the state.

"Unless the state of Texas violates their own election laws, Congressman Barr will be the only presidential candidate on the ballot," says Russell Verney, campaign manager for the Barr Campaign and the former campaign manager for Ross Perot. "Texas law makes no exceptions for missing deadlines."

The Texas Secretary of State Web site shows only Bob Barr as the official candidate for president in Texas. "We know all about deadlines," says Verney. "We are up against them constantly in our fight to get on the ballot across the nation. When we miss deadlines, we get no second chances. This is a great example of how unreasonable deadlines chill democracy."

"Republicans and Democrats make certain that third party candidates are held to ballot access laws, no matter how absurd or unreasonable," says Verney. "Therefore, Republicans and Democrats should be held to the same standards."

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Ron Paul campaign heads to Minneapolis: "We're being taxed to blow up bridges in Iraq and rebuild them, while ours are falling down."



Supporters of Rep. Ron Paul made a sizable advertising buy with a pointed message aimed at attendees of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in St. Paul.


According to Paul's Campaign for Liberty, two billboards in downtown Minneapolis and an ad campaign on the closed-circuit televisions at the Mall of America were purchased by the Hancock, Wisc.-based American Liberty Coalition PAC.


Both billboards feature quotes from Paul's book, The Revolution: A Manifesto. A 40-foot-by-40-foot billboard proclaiming "Truth is treason in an empire of lies" sits atop the Minneapolis landmark 1st Avenue nightclub. Paul's Rally for the Republic will take place across the street at the Target Center on Sept. 2.


A second billboard, 14 feet by 48 feet, located near the Metrodome reads: "We're being taxed to blow up bridges in Iraq and rebuild them, while ours are falling down." The quote references the tragic collapse of the 35 W bridge located less than a mile from the billboard's location.


Additionally, a one-minute-long video featuring a computer generated image of Ron Paul will air once every eight-minutes on 100 televisions throughout the Mall of America.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Power of the Internet: A partial list of blogs covering the Obama citizenship story