Cynical Nation

LOL, Ok Barry...wha'happened?

Stupid question, I guess! lol

I'm gonna buy the 2' umbrella table-top Christmas tree, with lights included for 12 bucks...THERE! Shove it...UP! ...for 12 days...then back in the box for another 12 months.

Can't beat that for ya bang for ya buck and stop the...bahhh humbug! crowd.

Clap-on Clap-off..when I walk in the door. NO LED lights to worry about!...GEt ya 2' tree with all fixtures and fittin's in a box.

THAT's wha' I'm talkin' about!

Well, almost never burn out, then.

May that forever be the biggest problem you ever have, and here's wishing you a happy holiday (Bang! Take that! Another shot fired in the war on that holiday whose name escapes me at the moment) and may your whiskey river never run dry and your powder never get wet.

Whiskey River take my mind,
Don't let her mem'ry torture me.
Whiskey River don't run dry,
You're all I've got, take care of me.

Whiskey River take my mind,
Don't let her mem'ry torture me.
Whiskey River don't run dry,
You're all I've got, take care of me.

I'm drowning in a whiskey river,
Bathing my mem'ried mind in the wetness of its soul.
Feeling the amber current flowin' from my mind.
And warm an empty heart you left so cold.

Whiskey River take my mind,
Don't let her mem'ry torture me.
Whiskey River don't run dry,
You're all I've got, take care of me.

Instrumental break.

I'm drowning in a whiskey river,
Bathing my mem'ried mind in the wetness of its soul.
Feeling the amber current flowin' from my mind.
And warm an empty heart you left so cold.

Whiskey River take my mind,
Don't let her mem'ry torture me.
Whiskey River don't run dry,
You're all I've got, take care of me.

Man wants his $400K back from the FBI

LIMA — Two robbers who broke into Luther Ricks Sr.’s house this summer may have not gotten his life savings he had in a safe, but after the FBI confiscated it he may not get it back.

Ricks has tried to get an attorney to fight for the $402,767 but he has no money. Lima Police Department officers originally took the money from his house but the FBI stepped in and took it from the Police Department. Ricks has not been charged with a crime and was cleared in a fatal shooting of one of the robbers but still the FBI has refused to return the money, he said.

“They are saying I have to prove I made it,” he said.

The 63-year-old Ricks said he and his wife, Meredith, saved the money during their lifetime in which both worked while living a modest life.

A representative of the FBI could not be reached for comment.

During the fatal shooting incident inside the house June 30, Ricks and his son were being attacked by two men and his son was stabbed. Ricks broke free, grabbed a gun and shot to death 32-year-old Jyhno Rock inside his home at 939 Greenlawn Ave.

Police originally took the money after finding marijuana inside Ricks’ home, which Ricks said he had to help manage pain.

“I smoke marijuana. I have arthritis. I have shingles, a hip replacement,” he said.

Ricks, who is retired from Ohio Steel Foundry, said he always had a safe at home and never had a bank account.

American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Legal Director Jeff Gamso said Ricks has a tough road ahead, not impossible, but tough to get back his money.

“The law of forfeiture basically says you have to prove you’re innocent. It’s terrible, terrible law,” he said.

The law is tilted in favor of the FBI in that Ricks need not be charged with a crime and the FBI stands a good chance at keeping the money, Gamso said.

“The law will presume it is the result of ill-gotten gains,” he said.

Still Ricks can pursue it and possibly convince a judge he had the money through a lifetime of savings. Asking the FBI usually doesn’t work, he said.

“The FBI, before they would give it up, would want dated receipts,” he said.

If the FBI does keep the money, it would be put toward a law enforcement use, if the city of Lima does not fight for it because the city discovered it, Gamso said.

Lima Law Director Tony Geiger said he has not been asked to stake a legal claim for the money.

Man wants his $400K back from the FBI

LIMA — Two robbers who broke into Luther Ricks Sr.’s house this summer may have not gotten his life savings he had in a safe, but after the FBI confiscated it he may not get it back.

Ricks has tried to get an attorney to fight for the $402,767 but he has no money. Lima Police Department officers originally took the money from his house but the FBI stepped in and took it from the Police Department. Ricks has not been charged with a crime and was cleared in a fatal shooting of one of the robbers but still the FBI has refused to return the money, he said.

“They are saying I have to prove I made it,” he said.

The 63-year-old Ricks said he and his wife, Meredith, saved the money during their lifetime in which both worked while living a modest life.

A representative of the FBI could not be reached for comment.

During the fatal shooting incident inside the house June 30, Ricks and his son were being attacked by two men and his son was stabbed. Ricks broke free, grabbed a gun and shot to death 32-year-old Jyhno Rock inside his home at 939 Greenlawn Ave.

Police originally took the money after finding marijuana inside Ricks’ home, which Ricks said he had to help manage pain.

“I smoke marijuana. I have arthritis. I have shingles, a hip replacement,” he said.

Ricks, who is retired from Ohio Steel Foundry, said he always had a safe at home and never had a bank account.

American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Legal Director Jeff Gamso said Ricks has a tough road ahead, not impossible, but tough to get back his money.

“The law of forfeiture basically says you have to prove you’re innocent. It’s terrible, terrible law,” he said.

The law is tilted in favor of the FBI in that Ricks need not be charged with a crime and the FBI stands a good chance at keeping the money, Gamso said.

“The law will presume it is the result of ill-gotten gains,” he said.

Still Ricks can pursue it and possibly convince a judge he had the money through a lifetime of savings. Asking the FBI usually doesn’t work, he said.

“The FBI, before they would give it up, would want dated receipts,” he said.

If the FBI does keep the money, it would be put toward a law enforcement use, if the city of Lima does not fight for it because the city discovered it, Gamso said.

Lima Law Director Tony Geiger said he has not been asked to stake a legal claim for the money.

Merry Christmas, dude...

"Two robbers who broke into Luther Ricks Sr.’s house this summer may have not gotten his life savings he had in a safe, but after the FBI confiscated it he may not get it back.

"Ricks has tried to get an attorney to fight for the $402,767 but he has no money. Lima Police Department officers originally took the money from his house but the FBI stepped in and took it from the Police Department. Ricks has not been charged with a crime and was cleared in a fatal shooting of one of the robbers but still the FBI has refused to return the money, he said.

“They are saying I have to prove I made it,” he said.

"The 63-year-old Ricks said he and his wife, Meredith, saved the money during their lifetime in which both worked while living a modest life.

"Police originally took the money after finding marijuana inside Ricks’ home, which Ricks said he had to help manage pain.

“I smoke marijuana. I have arthritis. I have shingles, a hip replacement,” he said.

"Ricks, who is retired from Ohio Steel Foundry, said he always had a safe at home and never had a bank account.

"American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Legal Director Jeff Gamso said Ricks has a tough road ahead, not impossible, but tough to get back his money." (Stupid)



Hey stupid (I hope you don’t mind me calling you by your proper appellation), Mr. Ricks’ money was confiscated because he was/IS SUSPECTED of a crime - marijuana possession WITHOUT a valid prescription for same. The Feds apparently suspect that some, or all of that $400,000 came from the illicit and illegal sale of said marijuana.

NONE of Mr. Ricks’ Constitutional Rights were violated. His self defense claims have apparently been accepted, and apparently rightfully so.

When the government (ie. both local and federal police, treasury agents, etc) come in contact large amounts of cash at a crime scene (Mr. Ricks’ house was indeed a crime scene) they routinely take it in and voucher it as “evidence” and they subsequently release it, so long as the claimant can show the money was rightfully his/hers.

What if the Ricks were indeed doing a little "harmless income boosting" by selling some of the marijuana they kept, over the years for a little profit?

THAT'S an ILLEGAL criminal enterprise and the government rightfully wants to know how the Ricks can account for that large sum of money being held in their home.

On the street, one drug dealer can kill another (in self defense) and still be charged with a variety of OTHER crimes (ie jay-walking, spitting on the sidewalk, resisting arrest, etc) and in the process, will have whatever cash is on him vouchered and to reclaim it, the "victim" drug dealer (the one who engaged in self defense) will have to prove how he came to possess that money.

In places like NYC, thugs routinely walk away from large sums of money like that. Back in 1997, one "suspected drug dealer" in Washington Heights (NYC) walked away from $85,000 in cash found in his car because he couldn't account for how he earned that money.

There’s NOTHING at all new about any of that. It’s been the law previous to the 1930s! That’s how the Dept of the Treasury was able to convict Al Capone of tax evasion – they demanded legitimate proof of how he earned the money to pay for the huge homes and lavish lifestyle he lived.

That’s been done to many, many other gangsters and criminals in the decades since Capone...and it has nothing to do with either the RICO statutes or the Patriot Act.

Why should Mr. Ricks be treated differently than that "suspected Washington heights drug dealer" mentioned above?

Because he owns a house?!


I hope this information has been helpful to you, as it's been offered in the spirit of "Better to light a candle than curse the darkness."

P.S.

And Stupid, the RICO Statutes pre-1990 WOULD HAVE allowed the Ricks' home to be seized by the government because of that "illegal substance" (marijuana) being found on their property.

Of course, RICO has been overhauled, once in the late 1980s and I believe at least twice in the 1990s. Ergo no home seizure in cases like this.

If the government had seized the Ricks' home as per RICO, I'd agree with the ACLU-types who'd see that as an outrage, BUT I fully support the government looking into how a family, apparently living paycheck-to-paycheck was able to sock away over $400,000....while also stashing marijuana in that home ostensibly for "medicinal use."

I'm hopeful that you're aware that the "medicinal use" of marijuana has become that substance's version of the "I only used steroids and HgH because I had an injury that wouldn't heal," excuse.

If the Ricks can account for how they legitmately "earned" that $400,000, it'll be returned...if they can't, then it would be stupid for anyone to defend them.

A reminder that the 12 days of Christmas end on Sunday, January 6th. Please move down your Christmas post by Monday morning. ;)