POLITICS; WHY BOTHER:The Texas Ethics Commission voted five to three to allow state officials who receive cash as a gift to categorize it as “currency received” – no dollar amount has to be reported. “What the Ethics Commission has done is legalize bribery,” said the leader of the Texas Citizen, a political reform organization. The decision makes it “perfectly legal to report the gift of a wheelbarrow without reporting that the wheelbarrow was filled with cash,” said one state district attorney. In a previous ruling, the commission held that two checks for $100,000 could be simply described as “checks”. (San Antonio Express-News) Why even bother with an ethics commission?ANOTHER REASON TO QUESTION “INTELLIGENT DESIGN:”Larry Severson, age 52, of Mountain Home, Idaho, is seeking part of the settlement from his deceased wife’s $200,000 life insurance policy. His lawyer, Jay Clark, is taking the case to the Supreme Court. Here’s the glitch (or two): His wife named his mother as the beneficiary; second, Severson killed his wife with a poison by combining sleeping pills and a drain cleaner. The attorney said he’s helping Severson because he hopes part of the settlement will go toward his legal fees for defending him in the murder trial, which he lost. Narcissism is alive and well in prisons and law offices.www.thisistrue.com
