Portland, Ore.

Six men who alleged they were sexually abused by an Oregon Boy Scout leader in the 1980s have settled their lawsuits against the group’s national organization for undisclosed amounts, the plaintiffs’ attorney said Wednesday. The men alleged they were abused by Timur Dykes, a former Boy Scout leader and a Mormon Sunday school teacher.

The settlements include the case of one man, Kerry Lewis, who was awarded nearly $20 million in damages from Boys Scouts of America in a trial that ended in April.

It was believed to be the largest such award in history against the national organization.

The original lawsuit also named the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because the Mormons acted as a sponsor for the local Boy Scout troop that included the victim.

But the church had settled its portion of the case.

A jury found the Texas-based group negligent for allowing Dykes, former assistant scoutmaster, to associate with Scouts after he admitted to a Scout official in 1983 that he had molested 17 boys.

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For only the second time in my adult life, I am not ashamed of my country. I want to thank the hard working American people for paying $242 thousand dollars plus additional expenses for my vacation in Spain . My daughter Sasha, several long-time family friends, my personal staff and various guests had a wonderful time.

Honestly, you just haven’t lived until you have stayed in a $2,500.00 per night suite at a 5-Star luxury hotel. We only booked 70 rooms for our friends, staff and family. Thank you also for the use of Air Force 2 and the 70 Secret Service personnel who tagged along to be sure we were safe and cared for at all times.

Air Force 2 only used 47,500 gallons of jet fuel for this trip and carbon emissions were a mere 1,031 tons of CO2.

It costs only $11,500 per hour to operate Air Force 2 and each additional plane for the other members of our party group. These are only rough estimates, but they are close (who’s counting?). That’s quite a carbon footprint as my good friend Al Gore would say, so we must ask the American citizens to drive smaller, more fuel efficient cars and drive less too, so we can lessen our combined carbon footprint.

I know times are hard and millions of you are struggling to put food on the table and trying to make ends meet. I do appreciate your sacrifice and do hope you find work soon. I was really exhausted after Barack took our family on a luxury vacation in Maine a few weeks ago. I just had to get away for a few days. Will write more from Martha’s Vineyard where we will spend our sixth vacation this year with more of our family and friends.

Cordially,
M. Obama

A lawsuit has been launched against the sheriff’s office in Marin County, Calif., over an episode in which deputies barged uninvited into a 64-year-old man’s home and shot him three times with a Taser, screaming “stop resisting” while the incapacitated victim writhed in pain on the floor.

The sheriff’s version of the episode was that watching “selected” video segments of the events may mislead people.

The incident was reported by KGO-TV in San Francisco, which posted a video:

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Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears first broke the story this time last year.

She was in the courtroom this week when the judge called the cop out.

“The judge didn’t find you credible, he didn’t find your witnesses credible and he actually called some of your testimony laughable–saying it didn’t pass the laugh test. What should you tell citizens, being that you’re a police officer, about what the judge found?” Spears asked Metro Officer Lourdes Smith as she walked out of the Henderson courthouse late Tuesday. “You have nothing to say at all?”

Inside the courtroom, Smith had an earful for her neighbors, for Henderson cops, even on the stand in her own defense.

Once found guilty, though, she clammed up.

“Her credibility is completely out the window,” says her former neighbor, Victoria Trice.

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“We really at this point do not know where we are in the process,” said Garwood, who lives in Pinckney, Mich. with her husband. “We have no clue. We haven’t even heard from Chase bank in three weeks.”

The Garwoods may have had a lucky spin in the game that industry analyst Sean O’Toole calls “Foreclosure Roulette.”

Banks don’t want to recognize losses by having to put homes on the market at foreclosure-sale prices, but they don’t want to encourage borrowers to quit making payments either, so, O’Toole believes, they randomly foreclose on some people to prevent widespread “moral hazard.” The rest are left hanging with the help of the government’s “extend and pretend” approach to the collapse of the housing bubble.

“We just don’t have the political appetite to bail homeowners out,” said O’Toole, CEO of ForeclosureRadar.com. “On the other hand, we don’t have the political appetite to kick them out.”

Last year the Garwoods tried to modify the mortgage on their Pinckney, Mich. home under the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program, which is supposed to put eligible borrowers into a three-month trial period before making the modification “permanent” for five years. The Garwoods’ trial period dragged on for nine months before they received a letter of rejection in March. They’ve been waiting anxiously since then for the day they will finally lose their house.

It may be a while. The average foreclosure now takes 469 days, according to Lender Processing Services, whereas it took 319 days at the beginning of 2009. Many industry analysts say that is due to the Troubled Asset Relief Program, HAMP, and federal accounting-rule changes.

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Seriously. This is a real offer. In fact, you really can’t turn me down, as you’ll come to understand in a moment…

Here’s the deal. You’re going to start a business or expand the one you’ve got now. It doesn’t really matter what you do or what you’re going to do. I’ll partner with you no matter what business you’re in – as long as it’s legal.

But I can’t give you any capital – you have to come up with that on your own. I won’t give you any labor – that’s definitely up to you. What I will do, however, is demand you follow all sorts of rules about what products and services you can offer, how much (and how often) you pay your employees, and where and when you’re allowed to operate your business. That’s my role in the affair: to tell you what to do.

Now in return for my rules, I’m going to take roughly half of whatever you make in the business each year. Half seems fair, doesn’t it? I think so. Of course, that’s half of your profits.

You’re also going to have to pay me about 12% of whatever you decide to pay your employees because you’ve got to cover my expenses for promulgating all of the rules about who you can employ, when, where, and how. Come on, you’re my partner. It’s only “fair.”

Now… after you’ve put your hard-earned savings at risk to start this business, and after you’ve worked hard at it for a few decades (paying me my 50% or a bit more along the way each year), you might decide you’d like to cash out – to finally live the good life.

Whether or not this is “fair” – some people never can afford to retire – is a different argument. As your partner, I’m happy for you to sell whenever you’d like… because our agreement says, if you sell, you have to pay me an additional 20% of whatever the capitalized value of the business is at that time.

I know… I know… you put up all the original capital. You took all the risks. You put in all of the labor. That’s all true. But I’ve done my part, too. I’ve collected 50% of the profits each year. And I’ve always come up with more rules for you to follow each year. Therefore, I deserve another, final 20% slice of the business.

Oh… and one more thing…

Even after you’ve sold the business and paid all of my fees… I’d recommend buying lots of life insurance. You see, even after you’ve been retired for years, when you die, you’ll have to pay me 50% of whatever your estate is worth.

After all, I’ve got lots of partners and not all of them are as successful as you and your family. We don’t think it’s “fair” for your kids to have such a big advantage. But if you buy enough life insurance, you can finance this expense for your children.

All in all, if you’re a very successful entrepreneur… if you’re one of the rare, lucky, and hard-working people who can create a new company, employ lots of people, and satisfy the public… you’ll end up paying me more than 75% of your income over your life. Thanks so much.

I’m sure you’ll think my offer is reasonable and happily partner with me… but it doesn’t really matter how you feel about it because if you ever try to stiff me – or cheat me on any of my fees or rules – I’ll break down your door in the middle of the night, threaten you and your family with heavy, automatic weapons, and throw you in jail.

That’s how civil society is supposed to work, right? This is Amerika, isn’t it?

That’s the offer America gives its entrepreneurs. And the idiots in Washington wonder why there are no new jobs…

Dear Mr. Hansen:

We are honored to have you appear on the Steve Wark in the Morning Show on 670 AM here in Las Vegas.

We have you scheduled for Friday, September 3 at 7:00 am. We will be calling you at 596-9538 at 6:50 AM. The segment will be roughly 20 minutes long.

We have found that your appearance can be most successful with our audience by letting all of your contacts know that you will be appearing on the show. If you should need a blanket email that announces your appearance, I would be more than happy to assist. It will also be very beneficial if you are able to have a familiar person call in during your segment to ask you a question. By having a familiar person call in and ask a question, this sparks community involvement.

We also have a podcast of each show that becomes available online in the afternoon of the segment. Below I have listed the studio call in number, and the link to the podcast. Please feel free to contact me if you should need me to send the blanket email, announcing your appearance.

Studio Call-in: 702-866-6700

Podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-wark/id372780700

Sincerely,

Brittany Whitesyrdahl
Field Producer
Steve Wark in The Morning 670 AM
(702) 682-8300
www.670theq.com