Monday, August 19, 2013

Open Blog - Monday


Hunker down.
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18 comments:

legal stranger said...

Off to the races again and first out of the box.
A trifecta in the making.

SEE you real soon!

August 19, 2013 at 12:04 AM
OrbsCorbs said...

Is there some way to hunker up?

Bring on the world, but, first, bring on the caffeine.

August 19, 2013 at 12:26 AM
BL Basketcase said...

I will be happy with placing....
Sleepless in Naples. Got so much on my Mind
And am tossing and turning! I can't seem to turn off my mind,

Plus spirits are talking to us. The picture keeps falling off the wall,

August 19, 2013 at 12:30 AM
lizardmom said...

Monday already?..
long week ahead and getting alot of sleep going in to it was needed yet didn't happen, just couldn't sleep. Hopefully tonite will be better

August 19, 2013 at 1:36 AM
Anonymous said...

Mean Monday?

School hasn't even started yet!

I'm going to sleep in all day tomorrow.

The Dickert Disaster Redux

UPDATED! *WARNING* Not for the sensitive viewers or children.

Racine Exposed

August 19, 2013 at 3:43 AM
Anonymous said...

Forbes Magazine

Profligate Son

Drive into Racine, Wis. from the north and the first thing you notice are the cheap strip malls and dilapidated houses. Between fast-food joints, Cigarette City sells discounted Marlboros. Almost every storefront on State Street is boarded up. Kids on push bikes hustle passersby for coins outside a Walgreens.


But, like every company town, Johnsonville (as Racine is sometimes called) has its dark alleys. In February, without warning, eldest son Curt Johnson resigned as chairman of Johnson-owned Diversey, an industrial-cleaning firm doing $3 billion in annual sales. In March the 56-year-old was charged with”repeated sexual assault of a child” over a three-year period, involving a young girl he’d known well since she was a small child. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison. Curt pleaded not guilty in April. Racine is holding its collective breath for the trial to begin, probably some time next year. Much stir though the scandal has caused, few Racinians are willing to talk openly about it. Lurid fascination is tempered by fear of who might be listening in.

The criminal complaint against Curt Johnson makes for a distressing read. Between 2007 and 2010 he is alleged to have molested the same young girl up to 20 times. She was 12, between the sixth and seventh grades, when it started, she told a forensic interviewer at the Racine Child Advocacy Center. The complaint veers toward the graphic, but its printable portions describe Curt as having a”touching problem” and a”sex addiction.” The child is quoted as alleging that Curt”molested” her and that”she finally told her mother about what was happening to her because she wanted to protect her younger sisters.”

The Johnsons have a family history of addiction. Sam was a very public alcoholic. He revealed his lifelong battle with the disease in a 2001 documentary; his candor was surprising enough that the Wall Street Journal ran a story on his coming-out. Sam’s mother was also a problem drinker. Her alcoholism led to the demise of her marriage.

Some locals contend that Sam protected Curt up until his death in 2004, first by sending him to Mexico, then by allowing him to run Diversey without the responsibility of representing the parent company or the family, leaving those tasks to the capable Fisk and the likable Helen.

“When you’re a parent with substance abuse issues who sees a child with the same ones, you try to help the best you can,” says a Racine resident working closely with the courts.”Then Sam dies. I can’t imagine it’s been easy for Helen and Fisk.” Six months after the criminal charges there is still no trial date. Johnson’s next court appearance is a motion hearing, perhaps to suppress evidence. His defense attorneys have already been successful in having some sections of the criminal complaint redacted, just a day after the charges were filed, claiming they jeopardized his doctor-patient confidentiality. Sources in Racine’s small legal community say the redacted portions of the complaint revealed that Curt’s young alleged victim did not turn him in. Instead, they say, he implicated himself to a staffer at an Arizona rehab center earlier this year. Health workers are legally bound to tell authorities if they suspect patients of sexually abusing a child. Curt’s defense team refuses to confirm this suggested chain of events.

August 19, 2013 at 3:48 AM
kkdither said...

Good morning, Irregular friends. I have happy, good news to report! Baby watch has ended. She is beautiful and healthy and I am walking on air!

August 19, 2013 at 8:00 AM
OKIE said...

Congratulations KK! It is a beautiful day for you and yours.

Have a great day everyone.

August 19, 2013 at 8:09 AM
Tender Heart Bear said...

Congrats Kk we are do happy for your family.

I hope everyone has a great day today.

August 19, 2013 at 10:22 AM
jedwis said...

Good job Grandma KK, let the spoiling begin...

Over the weekend I entered 10 puns in a contest to see which one would win...No pun in ten did...

Everyone go out and be P & P

August 19, 2013 at 10:48 AM
Toad said...

KK, I am so happy for you. I probably have not paid enough attention to know, but Is this your FIRST Grandchild? If so, you can join the club of spoil. Perhaps the BEST part of parenthood, Is Grandparenthood. I must also say, my 3 Grandsons are special, and I love them with all of my heart, but SOMETHING about baby girls, Is just EXTRA special. I think It's because they are ALWAY'S and forever ATTACHED to Mom, and Grandma, and It's a beautiful thing to see. If this Is your first, you will never be the same. God bless Baby, Mom, and Grandma.

August 19, 2013 at 11:24 AM
BL Basketcase said...


Congrats Kk! Now the fun begins!

Dick H. Very interesting reading on the Johnson Empire!
I plan on posting on your site soon! I just have to finish my research on Barbie dolls.

August 19, 2013 at 11:29 AM
OrbsCorbs said...

Congratulations, grandma kk. As others have stated, I hear that being a grandparent is great.

August 19, 2013 at 6:53 PM
OrbsCorbs said...

"Over the weekend I entered 10 puns in a contest to see which one would win...No pun in ten did..."

Ouch.

August 19, 2013 at 6:55 PM
Toad said...

Orb's, You did It again.

August 19, 2013 at 7:27 PM
BL Basketcase said...

I'll bet Bedtime Games is a baby item.

August 19, 2013 at 8:38 PM
kkdither said...

Thanks for the well wishes, guys. It is much more nerve wracking to have an impending grandchild pregnancy, than it is to have your own. I'm so relieved it all turned out well. And yes, Toad, it was the first.

August 20, 2013 at 12:12 AM
Toad said...

As most Grandma's do, did you witness the event? I stood outside with a friend of my daughter, and just lost It, and I didn't even see It. It's somehow so different when It's a Grandchild. I guess It kind of means you have kind of filled your bucket list as a parent?

August 20, 2013 at 10:50 AM

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