They eat their own

This week has been cabal cannibal carnage. The appetizers were soooo tasty. 4 star, really. I wonder who the main course will be?






We gleefully witnessed the breakup of the Taft/Gilbert alliance, and today, a crowded town council meeting witnessed the town mismanager sent home on administrative leave. Buh bye!

Marty the Bagger commits political suicide

Quartzsite Town Attorney Martin Brannan filed a petition for a Temporary Restraining Order this morning ostensibly on behalf of the Town of Quartzsite (plaintiff) against the Town's elected officials! (Town Council,defendants). So, in effect, Mr. Brannan is suing the Town on behalf of the Town! (Interestingly, he is suing his own clients, to whom he gives legal advice.)

It appears the motive for this bizarre move was to protect his job, since the Town Council was to consider firing the Town Manager and Asst Town Manager, who hired and sustain Mr. Brannan. (Mr Brannan has been the subject of numerous Bar complaints, still pending, according to the Arizona Republic newspaper.) Mr. Brannan claims such firings would be illegal. But 1) if true, it wouldn't be the first time the Town acted illegally. The old Town council has routinely held illegal meetings, as the State AG has already ruled. Mr. Brannan never filed a TRO to stop those illegal meetings. And 2) a TRO is supposed to be issued only after an ac, when actual harm is alleged. Not before.

Surprisingly (or not, considering his track record for the town), La Paz County Superior Court Michael Burke signed off the TRO, which this reporter believes fails the 4 basic legal tests for a TRO at every point. (If nothing else,ignoring Mr. Brannan's obvious conflict of interest, Mr. Brannan lacks standing to sue the Town Council on behalf of the Town. Clearly, the Town Council did not authorize this suit against them.) In essence, what Judge Burke has done is akin to barring the Arizona Legislature from voting on SB 1070 because it might be unconstitutional. A TRO is not ripe until a law or act has been ratified. You can't get a TRO because of what someone "might" do. There has to be actual harm.

Now Judge Burke has created a constitutional issue, a violation of Article III, Distribution of Powers clause in the AZ Constitution, because the Judicial is telling the Legislative what it can and cannot do.

Hopefully the Arizona Attorney General will step in with an emergency appeal to the Arizona Court of Appeals to overturn Judge Burke as it has done a few times already.
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"A party seeking injunctive relief must show that they are likely to succeed on the merits, that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in his favor, and that the injunction is in the public interest."

At minimum, it is hard to see how it is not in the public interest for elected officials to do their job.

Earthquakes reach Quartzsite

Since 9:30 PM PDT, there have been sixty earthquakes strike the Brawley, CA region, near the Mexican border.

The depths have been less than 20km below the surface and of modest magnitude.

Does this foretell of a major event?

Quite possibly. However, the best gauge of any future event would be a continuing of the events, or a spread along the San Andreas fault.

MAG UTC DATE-TIME Lat Long Depth Location

3.4 8/26/2012 20:20 33.026 -115.543 11.9 5 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

2.4 8/26/2012 20:19 33.007 -115.523 14.9 4 km ( 2 mi) NNE of Brawley, CA

3.5 8/26/2012 20:16 33.012 -115.564 12.7 5 km ( 3 mi) NW of Brawley, CA

3.5 8/26/2012 20:16 33.029 -115.535 10 6 km ( 4 mi) N of Brawley, CA

2.4 8/26/2012 20:14 33.03 -115.539 14.7 6 km ( 4 mi) N of Brawley, CA

2.1 8/26/2012 20:13 33.007 -115.662 18 5 km ( 3 mi) SW of Westmorland, CA

2.2 8/26/2012 20:12 33.011 -115.547 10.4 4 km ( 2 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.5 8/26/2012 20:04 33.008 -115.559 9.6 4 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.3 8/26/2012 20:01 33.016 -115.542 12.3 4 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

3.6 8/26/2012 19:58 33.025 -115.541 13.6 5 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

2.8 8/26/2012 19:57 33.01 -115.541 9.8 4 km ( 2 mi) N of Brawley, CA

3.4 8/26/2012 19:50 33.007 -115.586 12.8 5 km ( 3 mi) SE of Westmorland, CA

2.8 8/26/2012 19:48 33.021 -115.558 24.8 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

3.3 8/26/2012 19:43 33.018 -115.53 9.1 5 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

5.3 8/26/2012 19:31 33.016 -115.564 9.4 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.6 8/26/2012 19:30 33.035 -115.536 10.2 6 km ( 4 mi) N of Brawley, CA

3.4 8/26/2012 19:28 33.023 -115.561 13.7 6 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

3.4 8/26/2012 19:28 33.021 -115.564 12.5 6 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.2 8/26/2012 19:27 33.018 -115.558 11.4 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

3.5 8/26/2012 19:21 33.003 -115.546 11 3 km ( 2 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

4.6 8/26/2012 19:20 33.019 -115.545 13.1 5 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

4 8/26/2012 19:16 33.026 -115.547 13.8 6 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

1.9 8/26/2012 19:07 33.013 -115.552 4.4 4 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.5 8/26/2012 19:06 33.024 -115.541 13.4 5 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

2.5 8/26/2012 19:06 33.027 -115.542 13.3 6 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

2.3 8/26/2012 19:04 33.026 -115.546 14.3 5 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

3 8/26/2012 19:03 33.027 -115.538 14.5 6 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

3.1 8/26/2012 18:58 33.024 -115.546 13.5 5 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

2.6 8/26/2012 18:55 33.008 -115.56 12.2 4 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

1.5 8/26/2012 18:43 33.014 -115.565 8.9 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

1.8 8/26/2012 18:38 33.006 -115.539 8 3 km ( 2 mi) N of Brawley, CA

1.4 8/26/2012 18:37 33.004 -115.562 1.4 4 km ( 2 mi) NW of Brawley, CA

2.4 8/26/2012 18:20 33.008 -115.549 10.2 4 km ( 2 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.7 8/26/2012 18:11 33.014 -115.56 12.7 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

1.9 8/26/2012 18:03 33.009 -115.543 9.2 4 km ( 2 mi) N of Brawley, CA

1.9 8/26/2012 17:50 33.022 -115.541 16.1 5 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

2 8/26/2012 17:47 33.021 -115.547 11.7 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

1.8 8/26/2012 17:43 33.025 -115.546 10.8 5 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

2.6 8/26/2012 17:37 33.011 -115.551 12 4 km ( 2 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2 8/26/2012 17:28 33.017 -115.555 14.3 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.2 8/26/2012 17:22 33.017 -115.551 12.6 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.6 8/26/2012 17:18 33.01 -115.556 12.2 4 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.5 8/26/2012 17:17 33.017 -115.556 12.2 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

3.3 8/26/2012 17:16 33.023 -115.549 13.4 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.9 8/26/2012 17:13 33.017 -115.555 12.7 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

1.6 8/26/2012 17:13 33.008 -115.542 0.9 3 km ( 2 mi) N of Brawley, CA

2.2 8/26/2012 17:09 33.016 -115.55 9.9 4 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2 8/26/2012 17:08 33.014 -115.551 13.9 4 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.2 8/26/2012 17:06 33.023 -115.547 14.9 5 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

3.9 8/26/2012 17:02 33.022 -115.552 14.2 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

1.8 8/26/2012 16:40 33.01 -115.554 11.5 4 km ( 2 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.5 8/26/2012 16:18 33.018 -115.555 12.4 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

1.7 8/26/2012 16:00 33.006 -115.556 9.9 4 km ( 2 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

1.8 8/26/2012 15:59 33.004 -115.55 1.5 3 km ( 2 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

1.8 8/26/2012 15:57 33.014 -115.553 13.8 4 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.2 8/26/2012 15:55 33.021 -115.545 12.4 5 km ( 3 mi) N of Brawley, CA

1.6 8/26/2012 15:53 33.002 -115.554 5.7 3 km ( 2 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.5 8/26/2012 15:48 33.01 -115.548 12 4 km ( 2 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2.5 8/26/2012 15:33 33.015 -115.552 12.5 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

1.8 8/26/2012 13:53 33.018 -115.555 12.9 5 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Brawley, CA

2 8/26/2012 4:33 33.002 -115.557 10.2 3 km ( 2 mi) NW of Brawley, CA

Read more: http://www.prepperpodcast.com/sixty-quakes-strike-cal-16-hours/#ixzz24gdv0VHs

Alert - shifting alliances

Well, clearly I can't leave town, even for a few days.

First, Gibert and Garcia were placed on administrative leave for reasons unknown, per the Quartzsite Police Policy Manual. Sgt. Schultz was anointed to run the department and the locks were changed both at the cop shop and clown hall. Then, a special meeting was called for this afternoon, by the clown council. It seems they were poised to fire Ms. Graft, the clown mismanger and reinstate the Chief Nazi. Reportedly, the clown clerk refused to post it without the Bagger's permission, forcing  a member or members of council and accomplices to post the notices around town while someone from clown hall followed at a safe distance and tore the notices down. Then, a press release was posted to the clown website, attributed to the bagger, prompting a rescheduling of the special meeting. Next, Ms. Goldenshowers posts that Graft, not the Bagger authored the propaganda peice.

The town is buzzing with as of yet unconfirmed rumors, including that  the Bagger personally threatened Orgeron, that  Herr Gilbert will be criminally charged for something thus removing him from the equation anyway, and that Graft is throwing him under the bus in order to promote her lover  to the position of Police Chief so that they may rule QTown together. The only thing that seems clear on all of this, is that the cabal alliances are shifting more than the desert sands.

Suspect pleads "not guilty" in death of County Supervisor's son

32 year old Loren Tahbo of the Colorado River Indian Tribes plead "not guilty" to the August 10th stabbing death of Daniel Pierce, 32, of Parker. Pierce is the son of Kenneth M. Peirce and District 1 La Paz County Supervisor Sandra Pierce. According to District 2 County Supervisor John Drum at last night's "meet the candidates", the stabbing was "drug related". Tahbo is in tribal custody. The FBI is taking over the investigation.

This morning's Ad Hoc ethics committee

My dying wish is that I never know how it feels to perform with Alex Taft's fist up my...but the council can't seem to make a move without her! See for yourselves: