Journaling on estrip is easy and free. sign up here

Libertad's Journal

libertad
My Podcast Link

11/29/2006 15:30 #25858

Getting away with arson
There was an article today in the Buffalo News re: Coffee & fire
See
for background info.

Fine imposed in case of Elmwood Ave. fire
By MATT GRYTA
News Staff Reporter
11/29/2006
    Former Buffalo businessman Lon Coldiron was fined $5,320 Tuesday but spared a jail term in connection with the mysterious fire that destroyed his Elmwood Avenue coffee shop and killed his dog two years ago.

Erie County Judge Timothy J. Drury, however, denied a request from Travelers Insurance that Coldiron pay $283,500 in restitution.

Coldiron, 40, was found guilty in May of attempted grand larceny. A jury that deliberated four days couldn't reach a verdict on a felony arson charge.

Michael McCabe, chief of the district attorney's Arson Bureau, told Drury that prosecutors would not retry Coldiron on the arson charge.

Drury pointedly turned down Travelers' request for compensation from Coldiron for the amount it had paid to Ramesh Chainani of Amherst, who had leased the three-story Buffalo building to Coldiron.

Both the judge and prosecutor noted the insurer "cannot lawfully request" restitution because Coldiron, recently fired from a trucking industry job, was not convicted of setting the fire.

Drury ordered Coldiron to perform 100 hours of community service over five years while on probation, pay $320 of his court fines within a month and begin making $500-a-month payments until the full court debt is covered.

David G. Jay, Coldiron's attorney, told the judge the case was his client's first involvement with the criminal courts.

Noting that Coldiron had taken the stand in his own defense, Drury said he agreed with probation officers who found the former businessman to be "a good candidate for probation."

Coldiron was rescued from his third-floor apartment above his business during the early morning fire.

After sentencing, Coldiron said he will appeal his conviction, contending he never attempted to collect insurance.

"I still say that I'm innocent of the charges of which I was convicted. I am a good guy," he said.

He noted no flammable liquids were found linking him to the fire.

Coldiron said Chainani, his former landlord, had sold the property at 718 Elmwood for about $180,000 shortly after the arson in addition to collecting the full insurance coverage.

He also claimed arson investigators ignored "evidence of a door jammed open" that he said suggested intruders had torched the building.

On the witness stand in May, Coldiron denied any involvement in the arson and told the jury he had been receiving threatening telephone calls for weeks before the fire.

Prosecutors presented evidence that the state Department of Taxation and Finance had been hounding Coldiron for $24,000 in overdue sales tax payments. He also had casino gambling debts, had only $800 in the bank and took out insurance policies a month before the fire, prosecutors said.

Coldiron insisted his landlord had forced him to obtain the insurance and said he never attempted to collect on those policies.

He also insisted he had expected to work out his tax problems with the state and had been confident the coffee shop would have become very successful.



I'm so angry that the arson investigators never contacted me and this guy is lying through his teeth. Things possibly could have been different if I had testified. Yet even after trying to contact them, they never questioned me once.
mike - 11/29/06 22:29
insanity..pure insanity. Stupid Lon.
joshua - 11/29/06 17:40
If he wasn't convicted guilty of arson, how is it that he needs to pay over $5,000?

That thing stunk from day 1. Did this guy do it or didn't he, and if he did, how is it that got away with it?

I have to admit - I'm curious about your connection Libertad and how your testimony could have changed things. Did you know this guy and hear things?
vycious - 11/29/06 16:38
worst part is, that stupid fire burned down my barbers shop. you may have heard of him, chik. that man is awesome.

11/27/2006 16:21 #25857

Grammy speaks out against being a honky
Today I got this email from my Grammy in response to the email from my Great Aunt I posted previous to this one. She also sent a bunch about Latinos taking over the country, but I only posted one.

I just want you all to know that I am disappointed in these recent
e-mails
my sister, ******, sent out to the family. I just wanted you to know
that I
don't like this type of e-mails.
Mom



I love my Grammy and Grandpa. Isn't it cute she can do emails too?

Here are some quotes from urbandictionary.com that I find amusing re Honky

"You stupid honky bitch!"

"Man, dat honky got no ass!"

"Go back to your trailer and fuck your cousin some more, you goddamn honky."

"Honky' is just as vulgar as the n-word and should not be used by anyone"

(Sorry this will be the last time I speak Honky tonk)


jason - 11/27/06 17:54
Oh and by the way I read the many definitions for Honky, and they are HILARIOUS HILARIOUS. Right? How about the definition claiming that Honky was coined by George Jefferson? I laughed so hard I almost peed a little. Great site Libertad!
jason - 11/27/06 17:04
Latinos taking over the country? LOL. With what? That's kind of a silly worry don't you think? Sure, illegals march the streets and demand the same rights as Americans, but in the end if that were even the case they would still need tons of money, and tons of guns, and tons of support to do that kind of thing.

I'm as white as they get and I'm not afraid of a Latino "takeover" of America. I'm not even sure what that is supposed to mean. As long as they come over here legally, can speak the language reasonably well and don't cause trouble they are welcome here. This ain't Europe fer Chrissakes!

11/26/2006 23:23 #25856

I'm white American and damn proud of it!
Yup thought that title would grab your attention, it sure got mine. I thought it must be a joke, because I got it from a family member. Here is the email.

I received this email and thought it made some interesting/valid points, I did however hesitate to send it onto anyone. I don't like to stir controversy but I just couldn't shake some of the truth that the original author speaks of. So I pass it on to you for consideration.




There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, Native Americans, etc. And then there are just Americans.

You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction. You Call me "White boy," "Cracker," "Honkey," "Whitey," "Caveman" and that's OK.

But when I call you, Nigger, Kike, Towelhead, Sand-nigger, camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink you call me a racist.

You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you, so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?

You have the United Negro College Fund.
You have Martin Luther King Day.
You have Black History Month.
You have Cesar Chavez Day.
You have Yom Hashoah
You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi
You have the NAACP.
You have BET.

If we had WET (White Entertainment T elevision) we'd be Racists.
If we had a White Pride Day you would call us racists.
If we had White History Month, we'd be racists.
If we had any organization for only whites to "advance" our lives, we'd be racists.

We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce. Wonder who pays for that?

If we had a college fund that only gave white students Scholarships, you know we'd be racists. There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US , yet if there were "White colleges" that would be a racist college.

In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race and rights, you would call us racists.

You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and you're not afraid to announce it. But when we announce our white pride, you call us racists.

You rob us, car jack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white Police officer shoots a black gang member or beat s up a black Drug-dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.

I am proud. But, you call me a racist.

Why is it that only whites can be racists?

There is nothing improper about this email.

Let's see which of you are proud enough to forward it.



I'm ashamed that someone from my family would forward something like this. I feel that if I don't respond in some manner that this person would believe that I share the same thoughts. I'll have to spend some time thinking this over before I send anything in response. It will have to be carefully worded and all considering who it is. This topic seems to be coming up an awful lot lately. Maybe that is good, a chance to grow? Suggestions are welcome.
metalpeter - 11/27/06 16:12
I will firstly admit that the e-mail does make some good points that I have heard lots of times before. Somepeople would stongly agree and disagree about those points. But the thing to remember is that it is a chain e-mail and maybe nothing more then just that. Not really sure if you should advance it or hit reply back and give your own thoughts on each of the lines.

My general thoughts are this. The chain letter is flawed in that it dosn't address Historical power of the ruling class. In other words it dosn't mention the government and other industries are mostly run by whites. It also dosn't mention privlages whites have and the power that goes along with that.

The other flaw is that the letter assumes blacks and others arn't racist. That is not true at all. I have heard stuff come out of blacks, puerto ricans and whites that is racist. I can remember this spanish Bus Driver and white guy on the bus joking around about there where no cats in the Neihboorhood as they would go past a Vietamse store on Niagara st. They didn't even have the sterotype right. Some blacks think that they can't be racist and that is incorrect. Just because someone is opressed dosn't mean that they can't oppresse someone else.

Not sure if what I wrote helps at all but maybe it does.
matthew - 11/27/06 13:29
hasn't this person ever heard of a "european american"? i thought that was the "proper" term for us craker-folk!
jason - 11/27/06 09:07
And, anyway, it's okay to be proud of who you are, no matter what color your skin is.
jason - 11/27/06 09:06
Whoever got the thing forwarded to them should know that what one person says or does has no bearing on what YOU say or do.

If you're going to talk to your family member about it, I wouldn't recommend doing anything that would only strengthen their feelings of, cough, white persecution.

11/25/2006 17:59 #25855

I can't stop myself
After going to Rochester and back, my car brakes are failing. I checked the brake fluid and saw that it needed some. After buying a bottle I refilled it using almost the entire bottle. Still, the brakes aren't working properly. I'll check them again tomorrow by moving it back and forth on the street. This is annoying because I had a leak before and they replaced the brake lines. I got it done at Meidas when I got home from Cuba, after my car had been sitting in my Dad's Driveway for four months. Meidas was the closest service station to my dad's house. Of course they didn't put the cap back on the brake tank and I was understandably upset. Brake fluid shouldn't be exposed to air or dirt. When I was refilling my windshield washer fluid two weeks later I noticed the cap to the brake fluid sitting on the battery! I got them to agree to drain the fluid and replace it...if they actually did it I'm not sure. So now less than a year later, there is a leak again.

I have no $ for a tow let alone to fix this. Maybe I'll call the Meidas. I'll have to see if there is a guarantee or something. Problem is they are in Rochester, but they replaced my fluid after the mistake in Buffalo. Finding a good mechanic is like finding a good Dr. Any suggestions? I need a primary care physician that takes Aetna too.
ladycroft - 11/26/06 14:11
oy. i think everyone here can vouch for me when i say 'i know what you're going through'. aqua mouse gave me a lot of grief and an empty wallet. i hope your problem is still under warranty!
uncutsaniflush - 11/25/06 21:05
Before you drive again, you should look underneath your car. If you are losing that much brake fluid, most likely you should be able to see a puddle of brake fluid underneath your car. It's possible that a physical connector has corroded on one of the wheels.

Good luck.

11/20/2006 23:50 #25854

Fish, Frog, Rabbits and the Dark Side
Thanks (e:jenks) for taking my fishies and frogy. Sorry the frog has a tumor on his knee, but maybe it will go away in your tank cause you have smoother rocks. I feel less guilty giving them away knowing that they are in a good place. I'll feel even better when my friend gets the tank and her goldfish will have a bigger home.

The bunnies in her basement are soo cute. It was nice to see two bunnies together for the companionship. I bought them some purple cabbage that they had never seen before. They inspected the foreign object before deciding it was edible and then devoured the pieces. The space that they are in is nice. They are being well cared for. Even got the idea of getting straw mats for Coco that he could sit on and eat. Rabbits are hard work. Think twice before getting them! And what is that saying...something like fuck like rabbits? Luckily they are probably both female. Maybe they can be lesbian rabbits, that would be convenient. They can get artificially inseminated or something and they can both mother the babies.

I was thinking today about how we all have the ability to affect another person's day and how this continues as a chain reaction. It makes me ponder the influence we all have on one another. Maybe our fundamental darkness is not believing we can positively affect the world. Or maybe it is also that we don't believe that what we do can negatively affect the world. I think this darkness is easy to fall into for all of us. We all got a dark side right?




oda - 11/21/06 22:30
i'm glad you were thinking about how we all have the ability to affect another person's day.
maybe our fundamental radiance allows us to know that we can positively affect the world. i think this radiance is easy to fall in to for all of us. we all got a bright side, right?
metalpeter - 11/21/06 19:09
It would be interesting to get them mats. I wonder what it would be like for who ever's rabits they are. "Um I wonder why this rabit isn't eating so much" "Wait I don't remember having mats for them". "I wonder who found them hope they don't say anything to the landlord" (unless of course they are his). I like what you said about what if they are lesbian rabits. At least there are two of them. I would think one rabit alone in the basement would be verry lonely.
jenks - 11/21/06 15:50
:) thanks for the fish, and for visiting the wabs. Will give you updates.
ladycroft - 11/21/06 15:47
right.

and i'm sorry for missing the meeting. i wrote it down in my book as this friday, not last. my bad. i miss you.