Welcome to the Coatesville Dems Blog

Public Corruption in Chester County, PA

I believe an unlikely mix of alleged drug trafficking related politicos and alleged white nationalist related politicos united to elect the infamous “Bloc of Four” in the abysmal voter turnout election of 2005. During their four year term the drug business was good again and white nationalists used Coatesville as an example on white supremacist websites like “Stormfront”. Strong community organization and support from law enforcement, in particular Chester County District Attorney Joseph W. Carroll has begun to turn our community around. The Chester County drug trafficking that I believe centers on Coatesville continues and I believe we still have public officials in place that profit from the drug sales. But the people here are amazing and continue to work against the odds to make Coatesville a good place to live.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

D.A. Joe Carroll urges citizens to overhaul Coatesville.

The “Bloc of Four’s” only platform was returning the land that Coatesville acquired back to the Sahas. After the City of Coatesville won all 32 lawsuits revolving around that issue, the land issue could be settled. It was settled shortly before the “Bloc” took office and the settlement finalized shortly after they took office in 2006.

The “Bloc” accomplished that part of their platform. But I believe that there was a hidden platform; a behind the scenes effort to bring back the extremely profitable drug business that was lost during the time Paul Janssen was the city manager of Coatesville.
Jim

Joe Carroll’s press release can be found here:

http://dsf.chesco.org/da/lib/da/pdf/chester_county_district_attorneys_new_years_press_release.pdf

D.A. Carroll urges citizens to overhaul Coatesville
By Kathleen Brady Shea and Bonnie L. Cook
Inquirer Staff Writers
The Chester County District Attorney sent a New Year's message yesterday to the citizens of Coatesville: Overhaul your government.

Joseph W. Carroll issued a four-page statement that outlined his "resolutions" for the county's crime capital, warning that the city has reached a "crisis point" and urging the replacement of the police chief and at least two City Council members.

"If Coatesville continues on its current path for another year or two, recovery during my lifetime will be improbable, if not impossible," Carroll wrote, promising for the next year to "put unprecedented emphasis on the City of Coatesville."

Ed Simpson, a City Council member who was reelected in 2008 to represent the city's first ward in the western section, said he had "no clue" that Carroll's release was coming but welcomed it.

Simpson said he has "absolutely" been frustrated by the council's failure to move decisively on the escalating crime rate in Coatesville.

"The city of Coatesville will never prosper until the streets are safe," he said.

Council president Karen Jorgenson could not be reached for comment.
More at:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/36920424.html

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Change is coming to Coatesville

From the Daily Local News
http://www.dailylocal.com

‘Legree, 55, died of natural causes on Dec. 21. He was a Coatesville power player who served as a constable and often took a behind-the-scenes role in city government. He had a heavy hand in getting four city council members elected in 2005. These council members later made big changes to city administration and hired a police chief that Legree is thought to have hand-picked.”

"I would be on the phone with Richard Legree three times a day," said Coatesville City Councilwoman Patsy Ray. "Whenever I needed advice or whenever something needed to be done in the city, he was there."

“He will not be buried until early next week because there is a chance that his son, Richard Legree Jr., will be temporarily released from federal custody to pay his final respects. He is awaiting sentencing for drug offenses.”

Legree’s son is not just awaiting sentencing, his testimony is needed. I think that he is in virtual solitary confinement in the SDU mostly for his own protection. It would take extraordinary security for Legree Jr. to “pay his finial respects”. – Jim Pitcherella


________________________________________

The very first thing that Paul Janssen did was to make the streets of Coatesville safe for ordinary people and off limits to drug dealers. In my view the streets of Coatesville have now been returned to the drug dealers.

I suppose that a lot of people thought that the 2005 City Coatesville Council Elections were about a farm in Valley Township. In my opinion it was over a loss of behind the scenes control of the city and regaining that control.

In my opinion we have had an extraordinary growth in over all crime in Coatesville and especially drug related crime since the new city council took office. Lesser known is what I view as allegedly letting scofflaw slumlords off the hook in Coatesville and allegedly discouraging certain developers interested in the city while encouraging selected developers.

It is a shame that Legree Sr. can’t testify. I think that many people in Chester County are greatly relieved that he cannot testify.
Jim

See the articles in today’s Daily Local below:

________________________________________
The Daily Local (dailylocal.com), Serving Chester County, PA
Mourners recall Legree Sr. as larger-than-life presence
A polarizing figure in local politics, he was considered a guiding hand behind the scenes
Sunday, December 28, 2008 9:16 AM EST
By DAN KRISTI COATESVILLE — Friends and family remembered Richard Legree Sr. as a larger-than-life character who was fiercely loyal to those he liked.

And while some people either loved or hated Legree, he was just as polar in his judgment of others, they said.
More at:
http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2008/12/28/news/srv0000004368075.txt

The Daily Local (dailylocal.com), Serving Chester County, PA
2008 in Review: Execution-style slayings shock city
Sunday, December 28, 2008 9:48 AM EST


Authorities continue to investigate the murder of a woman and her boyfriend who were gunned down this summer execution style inside a Coatesville home.

Carnell Parker, 24, and his girlfriend, Shontae Peterson, 21, of Valley, were shot July 6 in Parker's dining room in the 200 block of Charles Street. No one has been arrested.

The double homicide happened in the midst of several armed home invasions that occurred this year in the city and surrounding area.

More at:
http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2008/12/28/news/srv0000004329696.txt

The Daily Local (dailylocal.com), Serving Chester County, PA
2008 in Review: Troubling crime plagues city
Sunday, December 28, 2008 9:54 AM EST
Coatesville saw a rash of crime spread through the city in 2008, including numerous shootings, troubling arsons, a spate of armed robberies and several crimes directed against Hispanic residents.

In 2008, 15 people were shot here and two people were killed by firearms. All are still under investigation. Authorities have said the shootings are all drug related.

The city is also investigating a robbery ring that has targeted businesses and people on the street. This year, Coatesville police have received 40 reports of armed robberies. Last year, the city handled 25 cases, up from 19 incidents in 2006 and seven incidents in 2005, according to Pennsylvania State Police Uniform Crime Reports.

Additionally, the city has experienced over a dozen arsons, one of which took the life of a Holocaust work camp survivor. This month, police made three arrests related to the arsons that were set, for the most part, in the west end of the city.
More at:

http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2008/12/28/news/srv0000004368075.txt



Jim Pitcherella

“For as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on earth is my story even possible.”
Barack Hussein Obama

Monday, December 22, 2008

Do you wonder what you can do with a DSLR Nikon D90 and a DSLR Cannon EOS 5D mkII in video?

Watch Guardian photographer Dan Chung’s videos produced on both cameras.

Although the lenses used were sometimes very costly the Nikon D90 costs about $800.00 and the Cannon 5D mkII about $2700.00. The point is that they both produce video that at least on a small screen looks like it was done on a Hollywood type camera.


Nikon D90 in Tibet from Dan Chung on Vimeo.



There are several videos shot with each camera. There is one combination time lapse sequence video shot on a Nikon D700 and video shot on HV 20 with two photojournalists.


Beijing job fair Nikon D700 video from Dan Chung on Vimeo.
For all the videos go to:
http://vimeo.com/1810729

Printed news with ink on paper may be near the end of its cycle.

The “Guardian” is what I would call an up to date newspaper.

Journalists have just begun to experiment with new tools and technologies.

Sony is experimenting with high definition cell phone video.

I think that we are at a new dawn of journalism. We may be “reading” something like a newspaper but more like a high definition video screen on a flexible screen that we can fold up and carry - watch and listen.

The main obstacle is not talent, or digital capture technology. It is the delivery; the lack of universally available high output broadband and wireless broadband coupled with the present need to almost be a computer nerd to be able to see it. The current crop of internet providers is falling over the obstacles that they put in each others way to gain a monopoly and in the process bringing the whole industry down.

Wireless broadband can only be marginally successful with a limited audience. Hopefully the Obama Administration can build up our wireless broadband and bring it to everyone.

Jim Pitcherella

“For as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on earth is my story even possible.”
Barack Hussein Obama

Saturday, December 20, 2008

What happened to the checks for polling place election officers in Chester County?

They usually arrive in mail boxes about a month after Election Day.

This time the election officers added because of unprecedented turnout allegedly created a mini-budget crisis. There was allegedly not enough cash in the budget for the extra checks.

The “perfect storm of events” was apparently straightened out at last week’s County Commissioner’s meeting.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Will Georgie two shoes hide out in a bail out financed mega yacht?

Don’t expect any restrictions on the bonuses of the mega thieves leaving their bankrupt companies.

Do you wonder why the mega-yacht industry is ramping up production and the training of new crews? Is the $350 Billion give away going to pay for 90 foot plus yachts cruising the Mediterranean? Maybe W plans to hide out on one of those mega-yachts safe from the shoe hurling public.

Washington Post
Executive Pay Limits May Prove Toothless
Loophole in Bailout Provision Leaves Enforcement in Doubt
By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 15, 2008; A01
Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation and penalizing firms that break the rules.
But at the last minute, the Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to the provision, congressional aides said. The change stipulated that the penalty would apply only to firms that received bailout funds by selling troubled assets to the government in an auction, which was the way the Treasury Department had said it planned to use the money.
Now, however, the small change looks more like a giant loophole, according to lawmakers and legal experts. In a reversal, the Bush administration has not used auctions for any of the $335 billion committed so far from the rescue package, nor does it plan to use them in the future. Lawmakers and legal experts say the change has effectively repealed the only enforcement mechanism in the law dealing with lavish pay for top executives.
"The flimsy executive-compensation restrictions in the original bill are now all but gone," said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), ranking Republican on of the Senate Finance Committee.

More at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/14/AR2008121402670.html?hpid=topnews

Sunday, December 14, 2008

“This is a farewell kiss, you dog”

Iraqi journalist throws shoes at President Bush

Universal Theme; sex, cocaine, bribes, extortion and fraud

One thing caught my eye in this article:
“It was a plunderfest that produced a gangster culture, with dozens of high-level Interior Department employees exchanging sex, cocaine and gifts with the industry they were supposed to be doing arms-length business with…”

I believe that sex, cocaine, bribes, extortion and fraud is the universal theme that permeates the entire Bush Administration, the financial sector, and the energy sector in the United States. It’s not acknowledged at this point because most of the corruption is not yet public knowledge.


December 14, 2008
Op-Ed Guest Columnist
Final Days Fire Sale
By TIMOTHY EGAN

Imagine if President Bush, on his last day in office, invited his friends to lift the Lincoln portrait from the White House Dining Room, take the 18th- century furniture from the Map Room and — for good measure — poison the Rose Garden on the way out.

In essence, he is doing the same thing this month with land that belongs to every American — the magical redrock country of the Southwest.

Well before it was a bumper sticker and a chant at Sarah Palin rallies, “drill, baby, drill” became the overriding mission of the political hacks who oversee more than 200 million acres of public land for Bush. At a frantic pace, they have opened up to oil and gas leasing canyons of golden slickrock, mesas once known only to hunters and pronghorn antelope, and little hideaways near the open-aired art galleries of the Anasazi.

Take what you want, they said — and get while the getting is good. It was a plunderfest that produced a gangster culture, with dozens of high-level Interior Department employees exchanging sex, cocaine and gifts with the industry they were supposed to be doing arms-length business with, according to a scathing and quickly forgotten report this year by the agency’s inspector general.

At the time of the report, with gas reaching $4 a gallon, many people shrugged and said we need the oil — drill, baby, drill. Now gas is selling for a pittance, but that hasn’t stopped the fire sale. Everything must go!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/opinion/14egan.html?hp

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Unique Transparency Program Uncovers Problems with Voting Software

There are often questions about ballot counting in Chester County. Recounts are lengthy and tedious but sometimes reverse the election result. A solution like this one from California could help us here:

"Unique Transparency Program Uncovers Problems with Voting Software"

"That program, the Humboldt County Election Transparency Project, was launched by Carolyn Crnich, who has been the county's registrar of voters since 2002. She created the project with help from a dedicated group of volunteers that included former Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb, an employee of the Humboldt County district attorney's office named Tom Pinto, and three citizens, Kevin Collins, a commercial fisherman, and Parke Bostrom and Mitch Trachtenberg, two technology experts who had a strong interest in finding a way to ensure the integrity of elections. They've documented their project on http://humtp.com/ to help educate groups in other states and counties who may want to replicate the project"

More at:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/12/unique-transpar.html


Monday, December 8, 2008

Home grown terrorists

I don’t mean to muddy the waters, but what connections if any does the Alaskan Independence Party that Governor Palin’s husband is connected with have with “Lashkar-e-Taiba, or Army of the Pure”?

We already know that AIP corresponds with the Chechen Islamic Party. A link to the Chechen Separatists was on their website. The founder of the AIP was allegedly murdered because of a plastic explosives purchase gone bad. We have plenty of home grown terrorists like Timothy McVeigh and “religious” leaders like Waco’s David Koresh living among us. There are two KKK/Skinhead bomb builders from Parkesburg in Chester County now doing time in prison.

If Lashkar is looking for world wide connections we have wing nuts right here walking among us in Pennsylvania. With the right wing of the Republican Party in free fall and the political efforts of extremists stymied our home grown extremists may turn to violence.
Jim

December 8, 2008
Pakistan’s Spies Aided Group Tied to Mumbai Siege
By ERIC SCHMITT, MARK MAZZETTI and JANE PERLEZ
This article was reported by Eric Schmitt, Mark Mazzetti and Jane Perlez and written by Mr. Schmitt.
WASHINGTON — Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant group suspected of conducting the Mumbai attacks, has quietly gained strength in recent years with the help of Pakistan’s main spy service, assistance that has allowed the group to train and raise money while other militants have been under siege, American intelligence and counterterrorism officials say.
More at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/world/asia/08terror.html?hp

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Put Cheney on Trial?

I also think that you need to ask; what you are putting Cheney or any other Bush Administration officer on trial for?

The outing of a CIA NOC Officer for a purely political purpose. In the process destroying decades of work, destroying an intelligence network and jeopardizing the life of real patriots.

Spying on ordinary American citizens

Creating a torture policy

Utilizing a more or less personal mercenary army

Doing away with habeas corpus and 800+ years of very hard fought rights on a whim.

The USA is a country of laws of the people. The very first country entirely of laws of the people as opposed to laws of the king. It is "PRESERVE PROTECT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA... AGAINST ALL ENEMIES." Not trash the Constitution in a king like manner. I don't think ignoring what they did is an option.

"New York Times
Opinion | Bloggingheads
Bloggingheads: Put Cheney on Trial?

Jack Balkin of Yale, left, and Eric Posner of the University of Chicago debate whether members of the Bush administration should face trial."