THUNDERNEWS: Gibson Settles Wood Dispute

The Lacey Act is the culminating achievement of the art of bureaucratic triple-speak, with language that would fuse the Mad Hatter's neurons and, effectively, could be interpreted to make any company guilty of something - even when it's innocent of everything.

Only a roomful of Charlie Sheens could have produced a document to rival it for sheer lunacy. But this lunacy is the manifestation of a malevolent and destructive agenda, the intent of which is to subjugate private business to political will through acts that - if perpetrated by any entity other than the federal government - would constitute blackmail. Gibson was forced to admit guilt and pay a fine simply to avoid further government persecution. Torquemada would be proud.

Innovation and invention are imperiled by an administration to whom small business is anathema. Thomas Jefferson said: "I think, myself, that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious." Or, to quote Sam Cooke "A Change is Gonna Come." Real change.

Nicely said, Thunderman.

Part of the deal was that Gibson had to withdraw a lawsuit where it was trying to get back the fingerboard blanks seized in the raid. That's more than $260,000 worth of blanks that will be destroyed instead of being placed on worthy musical instruments.

Did your ever hear the old saying: "Can't see the wood for the tree"s?
Or how about: If you don't grow it, you can't have Mahogany fret Boards!
Someone gonna put those irreplaceable tree's back in the ground in Madagascar?
Comes to something when sensitive artists get caught up in the why's and wherefore's and don't seem to give a stuff about their world huh huh?

well what can we expect from the biggest scam artist in the world . the government. well maybe they will put that money toward the debt ,NOT