HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE $1,500 PER SECOND?

For all of us who are scraping by trying to fill our gas tanks, who were a bit shocked the first time our credit card cut the pump off at $75, who can remember better days when we first had our driver's license, read this and weep.


Exxon posts profit record
World's largest publicly traded oil firm makes $11.68 billion in the quarter, but misses forecasts.
By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: July 31, 2008: 9:57 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter.
That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second.
That barely beat the previous corporate record of $11.66 billion, also set by Exxon in the fourth quarter of 2007.
But Exxon (XOM, Fortune 500) profit fell short of Wall Street estimates.
Analysts predicted the company, the world's largest publicly traded oil firm, would make $12.1 billion in profit on $144.4 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.
Exxon shares fell about 2% in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Excluding money set aside for a recent damage award related to the Valdez tanker spill back in 1989, Exxon made $11.97 billion in the quarter.
Pricey oil cuts both ways
Exxon was both helped and hurt by high oil prices.
As an oil producer, the company makes a lot of money when crude prices rise. Exxon made $10 billion from selling oil in the latest quarter, up nearly 70%.
But as a refiner, it must also buy crude oil to turn into gasoline. Exxon actually buys more crude than it sells.
Profits from its refining business totaled $1.6 billion in the quarter, less than half of what they were last year.
"Record crude oil and natural gas realizations were partly offset by lower refining and chemical margins, lower production volumes and higher operating costs," Exxon said in a statement.
While oil prices in the quarter were nearly twice as high as the same time last year, gasoline prices only rose about 30%.
That's one reason why the stock of major oil companies - such as Exxon, Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) and BP (BP) - that both produce and refine crude has been relatively flat over the last year, despite the runup in oil prices.
Meanwhile, shares of companies that mostly produce oil, like Anadarko and Apache, have soared in the last year, while shares in refiners like Valero and Sunoco have tumbled.
Where the money goes
Exxon spent $7 billion in the second quarter finding and producing more new oil, up 38% from last year. Still, oil and natural gas production from the company fell 8%. Even excluding special events such as a labor strike in Nigeria and seizure of fields in Venezuela, production slipped 3%.
The company returned $10.1 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks, 12% more than last year.
On an earnings-per-share basis, Exxon made $2.22. That was still lower than analysts had expected, but 24% higher than last year, a gain Exxon attributed to its aggressive stock buyback plan.
The big international oil companies have been criticized for plowing much of their profits back into stock buybacks and other programs to benefit shareholders, as opposed to exploring for more oil which could bring down the price of crude for everyone.
"While oil companies are earning record profits and gas prices are soaring, the largest oil companies have invested more resources in stock buybacks than U.S. production," said Congressional Democrats in a press release shortly after Exxon announced its earnings.
Other critics charge the oil companies with deliberately restricting production in an attempt to keep prices high.
The industry says it's investing as much as it can in finding new oil, but is having a hard time given the shortage of workers and equipment in the sector.
Recent efforts by countries such as Russia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan to gain greater control of their own domestic oil resources have also hampered the ability of international oil companies to increase production.
In addition to making hefty profits, Exxon also had a hefty tax bill. Worldwide, the company paid $10.5 billion in income taxes in the second quarter, $9.5 billion in sales taxes, and over $12 billion in what it called "other taxes."
Political backlash
With Americans paying nearly $4 a gallon for gas, oil company earnings have been political fodder of late.
Congressional Democrats said they are having a conference later in the day to call for an end to tax breaks for big oil firms.
Several bills have been introduced in Congress to enact a "windfall" profits tax on these earnings, or at the very least eliminate manufacturing tax exemption oil companies now enjoy. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama wants to tax oil companies at a special rate every time crude goes over $80 a barrel.
Most plans would either use this newfound tax money to fund investments in renewable energy, or give it to low income Americans struggling with high energy prices.
But so far those efforts have been blocked - mainly by Republicans - who say raising taxes on oil companies will only discourage investments in finding new oil and raise the price of crude.

HOW I'M SPENDING MY TIME

Met an old listener when I was out the other afternoon and he wanted to know how I've been spending my time off while I sit out this non-compete period of my old CBS contract. It occurred to me this question keeps coming up in run-ins or emails, etc., so I thought I'd address it here and tell you what I told that guy. So there I was, sittin' on this bar stool watchin' the 12 o'clock news, talkin' like a damn fool, OH! and by the way I watched a lot of tv those first few months but by now I'd given up hope on those afternoon soaps and a bottle of cold brew. So I say to the guy, "Is it any wonder I'm not crazy? Is it any wonder I'm sane at all?"

Thing of it is is I'm so tired of losing and it feels like I've got nothing to do and all day to do it. Sometimes I go out for a drive, you know, out for a cruise, but I've no place to go and all day to get there. Is it any wonder I'm not a criminal? Is it any wonder I'm not in jail? Is it any wonder I've got too much time on my hands, it's ticking away with my sanity. I've got too much time on my hands. Hard to believe such a calamity. I've got too much time on my hands and it's ticking away from me.

Well, I'm a jet fuel genius, I can solve the world's problems without even trying. I have dozens of friends and the fun never ends...that is as long as I'm buyin'. Is it any wonder I'm not the president? Is it any wonder I'm null and void? Is it any wonder I've got too much time on my hands. It's ticking away at my sanity. I've got too much time on my hands, it's hard to believe such a calamity. I've got too much time on my hands and it's ticking away from me.

Too much time on my hands. Too much time on my hands. Too much time on my hands.

And there you have it...how I'm spending my time.

ASS CLOWN MAYOR STRIKES AGAIN

Check this out from today's Free Press! I've highlighted Kilpatrick's lawyer's quote about halfway down the story because I find it so laughable. This clearly happened, so the lawyer's next move when he can't outright deny it is to try to spin it and pretend like the mayor in some genteel fashion escorted them off the porch. LOL HAHAHAHAHA Come on!!!!! This mayor should have his bond rescinded and be placed in jail awaiting trial. This stupid prick thinks he's Marsellus Wallace straight out of Pulp Fiction. Mr. Mayor, every time you think you shouldn't resign and let this city have a chance, remember, that's just pride fuckin' with you!


Mayor faces new probe for run-in with officers
Deputy says he was pushed, but Kilpatrick lawyer says there was no roughness
BY M.L. ELRICK, JIM SCHAEFER, BEN SCHMITT and JOE SWICKARD • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • July 25, 2008


Michigan State Police are investigating whether Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick assaulted a deputy trying to serve a subpoena at his sister's house Thursday -- an incident that could lead to additional criminal charges against the mayor.
In court today, prosecutors could present testimony about the incident in a bid to prove Kilpatrick violated the bond set after being charged with eight felonies stemming from the text message scandal the Free Press first reported in January.
The mayor is due in court at 8:30 a.m. to learn whether Detroit 36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles will release new text messages, including messages prosecutors say show the mayor lied about extramarital affairs in addition to the one with his former chief of staff Christine Beatty.
Kilpatrick's latest troubles began around 4 p.m., when a Wayne County sheriff's deputy and an investigator from Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's office went to Ayanna Kilpatrick's home in Detroit to serve a subpoena on Bobby Ferguson. Ferguson, a controversial city contractor, is one of the mayor's best friends. His cousin, Daniel Ferguson, is married to Ayanna Kilpatrick.
"The officer alleges that the mayor pushed him with significant force to make him bounce into the prosecutor's investigator," Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans said at an evening news conference. "We don't know at this point exactly what we have."
Evans said the two officers "wisely" left Ayanna Kilpatrick's property and returned to their office to report on the incident. He said the mayor was with his police bodyguards.
"There were armed executive protection officers. My officers were there armed. And all of them had the consummate good sense not to let it escalate," Evans told reporters.
He stressed repeatedly that he did not know more than the broad outlines of the incident.
"Anytime one of my deputies is assaulted," he said -- stressing "if" he was assaulted -- "it's a big deal to me."
Sources told the Free Press that Kilpatrick pushed Deputy Brian White, who takes witness statements, serves subpoenas, arranges interviews and helps locate witnesses. Bobby Ferguson is listed as a prosecution witness in the Kilpatrick case.
Evans declined to say if he believed the mayor committed a crime, saying that was a decision for prosecutors.
Under Michigan law, a person assaulting or obstructing an officer "or duly authorized person" trying to serve court papers could face a felony with a maximum two-year prison term and/or a $2,000 fine.
Evans, whose daughter works for the mayor, said that because of the "politically charged nature" of the event, the incident has been transferred to the Michigan State Police to investigate.
James Thomas, the mayor's lawyer, said Kilpatrick merely told a process server Ferguson was not there and asked him to leave.
"He gently took him by the arm and escorted him off the porch," Thomas said.
Thomas said he did not know why Kilpatrick did not ask his police bodyguards to handle the matter.
Thomas said there is no reason to bring criminal charges.
"There was no altercation, there was no pushing ... no one got hurt," he said.
Asked if Worthy's officers acted professionally, Thomas said of their visit: "I think that it was perceived to be harassing. ... I don't think that anybody has a license to stay on anybody's porch when they're asked to leave."
Jim Parkman, another one of the mayor's lawyers, said one of Worthy's officers inquired about a truck registered to Ferguson parked at the address.
"When a process server is told he has the wrong house and that the truck is just registered to Ferguson's business but driven by someone else, that should be the end of it," Parkman said.
Thomas said the mayor was at his sister's house just west of the New Center area on LaSalle visiting when the officers arrived. The house is next door to the home of the mayor's mother, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick.
But sources said Kilpatrick acted aggressively.
One source said an initial conversation with Kilpatrick's police security was cordial. The people inside the home then told Worthy's officers Ferguson was not there.
One source said the officers then heard someone shout, "Who the (expletive) is that?"
The mayor then charged out and shoved one officer backward into the other, the source said. The officers left.
Tensions between the mayor and Worthy have heightened in recent days. Kilpatrick accused Worthy earlier this week of inflaming racist sentiment to win a conviction.
Defense lawyers have argued that the prosecutors want to taint a jury pool if there is a trial. They further claim that prosecutors broke federal laws to get the messages and the release would violate legal privileges protecting communications with attorneys and spouses and about some official city deliberations. The mayor also has not admitted that he wrote the messages, and in fact has questioned their authenticity.
Prosecutors counter that the messages were legally obtained.
Ferguson has been one of the mayor's best friends for a decade. His personal troubles have occasionally caused public embarrassment for the mayor.
In 2005, Ferguson pleaded guilty to a charge that he pistol-whipped an employee.
Ferguson Enterprises Inc. came under scrutiny in April after the Free Press exposed text messages indicating Ferguson got favors from the mayor's office to gut the Book-Cadillac Hotel.

BOOBS AND BOOBS

The boobs at the F.C.C. were slapped down a few pegs today over their decision to fine CBS more than half a million dollars in the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident. Click on this link for the full story.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/21/entertainment/main4276970.shtml

Some are saying this is a big win for broadcasters. Personally I feel it is a small win, but a victory nonetheless. When the government gets completely out of the business of morality and lets the marketplace decide what stands and falls, that would be a win.

BAD MEDICINE

My aunt Virginia lives in Pennsylvania. She's 77. Her husband died young. She's raised 3 kids on her own. Overall she's had not the greatest life. Worked hard. Always paid her bills, including her insurance premiums. She's been having heart problems. After a lot of suspicious medical care, doctors finally gave her surgery this week for a pacemaker. I'm getting details second hand so I apologize if some of this is inaccurate, but a family member tells me normally a pacemaker is placed under the skin, but she's lost so much weight, she's skin and bones, they had to cut through the muscle to place it deeper. The healing process for muscle is a lot more painful I'm told. So this was on Monday morning. Two days later she had to be taken back to the hospital with difficulty breathing and a lot of other problems. They found out a wire from the pacemaker was mispositioned or had come loose, and that they had to do the surgery all over again the next morning. So just 3 days after the surgery, she was being sent in for another surgery. That second surgery was delayed all day; they didn't complete it till about 3 that afternoon. Then...THEY SENT HER HOME. I was horrified that a 77 year old woman could have two surgeries three days apart and be sent home four hours later. I don't know if this is an insurance mandate. I don't know if this is a bad hospital policy of revolving door medicine. All I know is by 11 pm that night, she was back in an ambulance being rushed back to the hospital with slurred speech, confusion, shortness of breath, you name it. And this morning they still don't know what's wrong. I just can't believe how quickly they throw you out of the hospital. I imagine everyone has a story like this.

THE PROBLEM WITH ATHLETES AS HEROES

Check this out from ESPN.



Wednesday, July 16, 2008Report: NFL to review tape for evidence of on-field gang signs
ESPN.com news services

The NFL has hired experts to study game footage to determine whether players are displaying street-gang hand signals as part of their on-field celebrations, the Los Angeles Times reports.
"There have been some suspected things we've seen," said Milt Ahlerich, the league's vice president of security, according to the Times' report. "When we see it, we quietly jump on it immediately, directly with the team and the player or employee involved to cease and desist. Period."
Gang signs in pro sports gained a higher profile during the NBA playoffs, when Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce was fined $25,000 for making "menacing gestures" toward the Atlanta Hawks' bench during a game.
Pierce was contrite at the time, saying in a statement "I 100 percent do not in any way promote gang violence or anything close to it. I am sorry if it was misinterpreted that way."
"We were always suspicious that [gang-related hand signals] might be happening," said Mike Pereira, the NFL's vice president of officiating, according to the report. "But the Paul Pierce thing is what brought it to light. When he was fined … that's when we said we need to take a look at it and see if we need to be aware of it."
Ahlerich said he does not believe the problem is widespread, but added that the league has spoken to some players -- whom he declined to identify -- about their use of hand signals, according to the report.
First-year players were counseled on gangs at the league's recent rookie symposium, and a video on the dangers of gangs was required viewing for every player in the NFL last year, according to the report.
But differentiating between a gang sign and something less menacing can involve some guesswork, according to at least one player.
"Guys come from all over the country, and who knows what they're really doing?" Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Dennis Northcutt said, according to the Times' report. "People have got signs for their kids, signs for their fraternities. How do you differentiate who's really throwing up gang signs?
"This is a gang sign," he added, touching his index finger to his thumb to form a squished version of the hand sign for OK. "But at the same time, it's a sign for a personnel group."

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM JEFF DEMINSKI
REGARDING THE EMOTIONALLY CHARGED COMMENTS OF THE LAST POST


CLICK HERE FOR SPECIAL MESSAGE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMfr2CgIPhg

BIKERS SUCK

By that I mean bicyclists. Just wanted to give my old Harley ridin' buddy Box a start there. I have never noticed it more than this summer. Has some new crazy cult of self-entitled bicyclists taken root in Michigan? I swear to God at least once a week I've been seeing bicyclists indignantly confronting motorists over what the bike-pants-wearing-flamers regard as some transgression. This whole bicyclist mantra of "bicycles have the same rights to the roads as cars do" wears a little thin when the dickhead on the bike does 16 miles per hour in a 25 zone and defiantly rides dead center lane so you can't drive around him. If I'm in a car going 16 mph I'll do it with my flashers on and as close to the curb as possible for courtesy sake. Not these moronic zealots with their save the world I'm better and greener than you bullshit. But what really gets me is what I've been seeing mostly from the asshole bikers screaming at drivers is they're not even where THEY'RE supposed to be. If you go by "same rules as cars" thing, then how do you ride your bike on the sidewalk against traffic then take the crosswalk AGAINST the light and scream and shake your head at the driver who made a left in front of you with a legal right of way? I swear to God I'm not kidding when I say I've seen stuff like this about 8 or 9 times already this summer. One fat bitch on a bike she was obviously new to from her size screamed at me the other day. I'm waiting to make a right turn onto Woodward out of a side street. I see her come up ON THE SIDEWALK AGAIN MIND YOU from my right, so she's traveling on the sidewalk against the direction of Woodward traffic, and while I'm waiting for an upcoming break in traffic I see her make eye contact with me then stop dead, feet come off the pedals, indicating to me she sees me and is waiting till after my turn. So I look back to my left for like two seconds until the break comes and I start to pull out. She hasn't left the sidewalk, but screams at me as if she's on fire, "LOOK BOTH WAYS!!!!!" I really felt like turning back and doing a Grand Theft Auto on her relief map ass. What a bitch. So seriously...what is it? Have bicyclists always been this nasty or is this something new? Stupid thing to be upset about but when Shamu on a Schwinn is giving me mixed signals it becomes problematic.

DEFINE 'WHORE AROUND'

From today's Free Press, a story on why it will be so hard to make additional charges stick on Kwame. This is pretty funny stuff. Remember Bill Clinton saying, "It depends what your definition of 'is', is." This will depend what one's definition of 'whore' is. Nice, lol.





TEXT MESSAGE SCANDAL
New claim that mayor lied hangs on 1 word
His answer on affairs can be debated
BY M.L. ELRICK and JOE SWICKARD • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • July 9, 2008

The prosecution's hopes of expanding perjury charges against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to say he lied about affairs with several women hang on a fleeting exchange during a police whistle-blower trial last summer, the Free Press has learned.
On Aug. 29, Mike Stefani, the attorney for two cops suing Kilpatrick and the city for retaliating against them, asked the mayor a series of questions under oath.
"You said you don't whore around on your wife?" Stefani asked.
"Yes," Kilpatrick replied.
That exchange appears to be the only time during Kilpatrick's several hours on the witness stand that he issued anything close to a blanket denial of infidelity.
Legal experts said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy may have a difficult time proving perjury based on that answer alone.
"Ooh, boy," said Peter Henning, a former federal prosecutor and perjury expert who now teaches law at Wayne State University. "The question is ambiguous."
Attorney Len Niehoff, who teaches evidence at the University of Michigan Law School, said the exchange could lead to a courtroom debate over one colorful term in particular.
"The definition of 'whore around' is likely to be a contentious point," Niehoff said.
"Perjury cases are litigation over language. So the more precise the language is, the easier the prosecution," he said. "The less precise the language is, the harder the prosecution is."
Kilpatrick already faces several felony charges, including perjury, growing out of his court testimony last summer. Most notably, he is charged with lying to jurors when he denied repeatedly under oath that he was sexually involved with his then-chief of staff, Christine Beatty. The affair became known when the Free Press published excerpts of text messages between the mayor and Beatty establishing the affair.
In March, Worthy charged Kilpatrick and Beatty with multiple felonies, including lying about their affair. The pair deny the charges, and their lawyers have raised questions about the authenticity of the text messages.
Prosecutors said Thursday that they are preparing to expand that perjury charge to say Kilpatrick also lied at the trial about affairs with other women. Prosecutors have not detailed how they know about other affairs, but Worthy has obtained more than five years of text messages from the paging devices of 20 or more people, court records show.
On Tuesday, Kilpatrick and Beatty's lawyers reacted with incredulity to the court testimony Worthy's office is relying upon.
"That's it?" asked Meyer Morganroth, who is defending Beatty. "I read the transcript, and I was puzzled about what they were talking about.
"This? It's nothing."
James Thomas, one of several lawyers defending Kilpatrick against eight felony counts, said: "That exchange -- and all the meanings it could have -- is like a law school exam.
"I'll just say it's certainly not the type of case I'd like to try."
Morganroth said the back-and-forth between Stefani and Kilpatrick is so poorly phrased "that it could mean he does whore around."
"If you read the question, it asks if this is what he says. Well, maybe he does say that he doesn't whore around," Morganroth said. "Maybe he's answering truthfully because that's what he goes around saying."
Kilpatrick had publicly denied cheating on his wife. At trial, he also denied having an affair with Beatty. And he testified that he did not have an illicit liaison with an unidentified Jamaican woman at a west-side barber shop.
In any case, Morganroth said, "whoring around" is an imprecise term: "Go into court with this and people will say, 'Are you kidding?' A judge will look at this and laugh at them."
Morganroth said raising the possibility of additional philandering might be an attempt to split the defense team.
"Maybe they hope Christine will get mad at him," he said. "It's not going to happen."
Henning said prosecutors may be taking a risk.
Pushing a weak issue "could generate sympathy if it looks like all you're trying to do is paint the mayor as a bad guy," he said. "It could backfire."
Worthy charged Kilpatrick and Beatty with perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office after text messages showed the pair lied on the witness stand about their relationship and whether they tried to fire Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown. Brown said he was poised to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by members of the mayor's inner circle that might have exposed Kilpatrick's affair with Beatty.
Contact M.L. ELRICK at 313-222-6582 or mlelrick@freepress.com.

OUT OF WORK?

If the endless applications and interviews get you down, maybe these supposedly true stories will make you feel better...


Excuse Me?Candidates' Amusing Answers

Interview candidates' responses during the interview process can be creative and clever -- or unintentionally revealing. Here are a few beauties submitted by Monster members.


One time, during the interviewing process, I had to tell a candidate that, unfortunately, we would not be able to offer him a job, even if he qualified for the position, his drug test came back positive, and our company is a drug/alcohol-free environment. He sadly said, "Oh, that is too bad." After thinking for a few minutes he looked up at me and said, "Can you tell me which one showed up on the test results?"


Years ago and far away, a large state agency for which I worked received an application with the following answer:
Sex: Once at Mexia Lake


On a warehouse job application:
Emergency contact and phone number: 911


We recently interviewed an applicant, and after inquiring about his strengths, we followed up by asking about his weaknesses. He said, "women!"


While reviewing an applicant's resume, I noted that she had included the usual list of references -- but noted that one was now deceased!


Recently we had phone and face-to-face interviews with someone we wanted to hire for a customer service position that would begin May 15. Upon receiving the information from our background check, we found out that he would need a work visa to stay in the US, and our company does not provide that sponsorship. We told the candidate that we cannot hire him at this time without authorization to work in the US, and he responded, "I can get married by May 15." He was dead serious.


Reaching the end of a job interview, the human resources person asked a young applicant fresh out of business school, "And what starting salary are you looking for?"
The applicant said, "In the neighborhood of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package."
The interviewer said, "Well, what would you say to a package of five weeks' vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50 percent of your salary, and a company car leased every two years, say, a red Corvette?"
The applicant sat up straight and said, "Wow! Are you kidding?"
And the interviewer replied, "Yeah, but you started it."

KWAME

So check out this b.s.. Apparently Kwame is back to his "it wasn't me" defense. (In honor of this I've included this lyric link to Kwame's theme song http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/shaggy/itwasntme.html) I realize this might only be about suppression of evidence with arguments about the legality by which it was obtained. But I remember a few months ago plenty of talk from Kwame's camp concerning whether 'hizzoner' was really the author of the texts. Give me a break! I really have to wonder if this will be brought up again somewhere in these lame arguments. It continues to amaze me this man who claims he loves the city is this irresponsible in not stepping down. Here's the story on this from today's Free Press. Take a good hard look at Jim Parkman's quote.


DETROIT
Kilpatrick renews attack on texts
His team of lawyers aims to prove scandalous messages 'not authentic'
BY JOE SWICKARD and JIM SCHAEFER • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • July 3, 2008

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's lawyers have taken aim at the explosive text messages, hoping to shoot them down in motions to be filed today, the attorneys said at a news conference Wednesday.
They say they can discredit the messages at the heart of the perjury charges against Kilpatrick and his former aide Christine Beatty.
How they'll challenge the messages remains a secret.
In other developments Wednesday, a Court of Appeals ruling allowed a Detroit 36th District judge to continue to hear the early stages of the Kilpatrick-Beatty perjury cases -- and deal with the crucial defense motions.
The appellate court rejected a move by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to disqualify every judge in 36th District Court. The panel said Worthy must show evidence of actual bias by the court's judges, and not just that the mayor's personal and political ties created an appearance of impropriety.
Worthy specifically challenged Judge Ronald Giles because he donated to Kilpatrick's campaign and the mayor attended a high school graduation open house for Giles' daughter.
That decision means Worthy has failed in four attempts to oust Giles or his fellow jurists in favor of a visiting judge.
The decision "is extremely disappointing," Worthy said in a prepared statement. "If you cannot recuse a judge on these facts, then you cannot ever recuse a judge."
Mayer Morganroth, Beatty's lawyer, said, "The important thing is that prosecutor isn't going to get her way in picking their own judge."
The case began when the Free Press discovered text messages showing Kilpatrick and Beatty committed perjury during a whistle-blower lawsuit last year. The validity of the text messages will now be an issue in the trial, Kilpatrick's attorneys said.
"Remember that the burden, of course, is not on the defendant," Jim Parkman said. "But we have evidence that we hope will prove they are not authentic.
"To be authentic, evidence has to be real and trustworthy. We can prove our position on one of the two points. Just which one and how, though, I'm not going to say just yet."
Spokeswoman Maria Miller said the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office is confident the text messages will withstand a challenge: "Everything we have was obtained legitimately. We believe it competent evidence, and its admissibility will be argued in front of a judge."
Parkman said defense motions in the criminal case also will ask that the messages be suppressed for alleged violations of the Constitution and federal laws covering electronic communications.
A hearing on motions is scheduled for Sept. 2. The preliminary examination to determine whether Kilpatrick and Beatty will stand trial is set for Sept. 22.
Kilpatrick and Beatty were charged with perjury and misuse of office after the Free Press published text messages from Beatty's pager showing they lied under oath and tried to mislead jurors in a police whistle-blower trial.
Also Wednesday, Parkman criticized Worthy for getting text messages from 14 people besides Kilpatrick. Parkman, who did not identify the people, said Worthy improperly obtained search warrants to order Mississippi-based SkyTel to turn over five-and-a-half years' worth of text messages from those people.
Parkman said he believed Worthy wants to use the text messages to help bolster the authenticity of the Kilpatrick and Beatty messages.
In another ruling, Wayne County Circuit Chief Judge William Giovan said Giles' handling of a May 20 in-camera session was baffling and ordered the transcript released.
"I'm at a loss why anyone would want it secret," Giovan said. "I have not read a more innocuous secret hearing."
Outside court, Kilpatrick's lawyer James Thomas said he was fighting to protect the mayor's right to a fair trial.
The Free Press appealed Giles' secrecy order to Giovan, saying Giles violated constitutional requirements to keep courts' actions open to public scrutiny. "We cannot conceive of a more important issue for transparency when we have allegations of public corruption," Herschel Fink, lawyer for the Free Press, told Giovan.
Free Press Executive Editor Caesar Andrews said it was the right ruling.
"This decision validates the principle that open courts work better than unnecessary secretive procedures hidden from the public," he said. "This is a victory for citizens."
The May 20 hearing dealt with handling of evidence, especially the text messages exchanged between Kilpatrick and Beatty. It was agreed prosecutors would not share the messages outside court and would give the defense 48 hours' notice before any release.
Giovan said it was proper to close the meeting because the text message contents might have been discussed, but instead, the meeting focused on legal questions.
Contact JOE SWICKARD at 313-222-8769 or jswickard@freepress

IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS YET...

Check out this viral ad for Budweiser. It's @#$& ing awesome...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifjMgEWDoWQ