The Hackenblog

“With 10 states and territories left to vote, Clinton can definitely pull ahead. Never mind all the ‘Who shot John?’ arguments over the DNC’s screwball decision to penalize those two crucial swing states for moving their primaries up (although New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina were permitted to do so ). The fairest solution would have been a re-vote, but Obama supporters have prevented that from happening. Tell me again what a ‘transformative figure’ he is, because on this score the politician Obama most resembles is George W. Bush. Wilentz also points out that if the Democrats used the state-by-state, winner-take-all standard used in Republican primaries and the general election, Clinton would now have approximately 500 more delegates than Obama and have the nomination locked up. That’s because she’s won almost all the big, Democratic and swing states necessary to prevail in November. Finally, there’s this puzzler: Evidently, it’s hunky-dory for Massachusetts superdelegates like Sens. John Kerry and Ted Kennedy and Gov. Deval Patrick to pledge their votes to Obama, even though Clinton won the state’s primary decisively. How, then, can Obamaphiles call it an anti-democratic outrage for other superdelegates to support Clinton, even if she wins their states, too? See what I mean? Let the voters speak, then decide.”
Let Obama-Clinton contest play itself out, by Gene Lyons, April 9, 2008

I don’t care who wins, just Get. Us. Out. Of. Iraq. Now.

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“But as strange as that is, a stunning revelation came from a very senior Japanese executive, who sent these notes from a meeting with a top Japanese financial official:

The depth of the problems at Bear Stearns which led up to the buyout are not clear. Mr. X wondered why they did not try to use committed credit lines before agreeing to the JPM Chase deal. These lines were significant and included large amounts committed by Japanese banks, who are now relieved that they did not have to extend the credit.

“Maybe Bear assumed at the rate of its cash depletion that it would burn through those credit lines quickly and being more leveraged might make other solutions more difficult, but the tone of the Japanese notes is that the credit lines were large enough in aggregate to have made a difference.

“And even odder: those credit lines are still in place. Why did the Fed stump up a whole $30 billion? This seems a tremendous oversight on its behalf. Of course, those lines probably terminate upon a change in control, but the Fed probably could have leaned on the banks to keep them in place (after all, they are lending against a better balance sheet with JPM, although adding the Bear lines to whatever credit facilities they now have with JPM might put them over their limits for exposure to any one bank. But the Fed could have offered to backstop the excess, which would be a smaller commitment than the one it made).

“Stranger and stranger….”
Why didn’t Bear use its credit lines?, Naked Capitalism, March 21, 2008

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“Finally, there are the “Tier 3″ sex workers, who can charge in excess of $10,000 per rendezvous. They may have only four or five clients, and they typically charge their clients an additional monthly surcharge for their various needs—rent, clothing, medicine.

“Both Tier 2 and Tier 3 workers can typically do more to safeguard a client’s privacy. There are no guarantees, of course, but they tend to shun contractual relationships with agencies that advertise their services. There is less of a paper trail. They typically will only take a john via a referral, and even then, they may require that the john ‘date’ them for weeks before deciding to offer up sex. I have heard of Tier 2 and 3 sex workers who vet prospective clients for months, sometimes hiring a private detective to see if the john is stable—psychologically and financially. As a former attorney general, Spitzer must have known all this.

“What high-end clients pay for may surprise you. For example, according to my ongoing interviews of several hundred sex workers, approximately 40 percent of trades in New York’s sex economy fail to include a physical act beyond light petting or kissing. No intercourse, no oral stimulation, etc. That’s one helluva conversation. But it’s what many clients want. Flush with cash, these elite men routinely turn their prostitute into a second partner or spouse. Over the course of a year, they will sometimes persuade the woman to take on a new identity, replete with a fake name, a fake job, a fake life history, and so on. They may want to have sex or they may simply want to be treated like King for a Day.”
Skinflint, by Sudhir Venkatesh, Slate, March 12, 2008

I mean, wtf? guys? I hate to tell you this but there’s more to life than your dick and you ego.

And Spitzer, you threw away your chance to make the world a better place. You, your dick and your ego can rot in hell as far as I’m concerned.

And, sisters, $10K a month to prop up some guy’s ego and maybe blow him? Advantage capitalism. Christ. I know women who work two jobs for the luxury of doing that. Oh, but they’re in love, so that’s different.

How lucky I found this, too!

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“Using the wayback machine, I was able to compare Livejournal popular interests from May, 2007, with those of today. In order of size, these are the interests 6A/SUP has disappeared from the daily popular interests report:

“Sex, Boys, Guys, Girls, Fanfiction, Yaoi, Hardcore, Porn, Bondage, Faeries, Pain, Depression, and Bisexuality.

“Thanks to silver_ariel at InsaneJournal, I’ve viewed the raw data, confirmed those interests were censored, and I have their real numbers.

“I included many non-censored interests for the purpose of comparison.”
Circle the one that doesn’t belong: (Porn) (Hardcore) (Bondage) (Faeries), Stewardess, March 16, 2008

I’ll be glad when everything I care about moves off LJ and the rest I can read on Bloglines.

Update March 19, 2008: SUP head really hates LJ users, says so in very creepy interview.

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danah boyd, Esther Dyson, and Lawrence Lessig flush their credibility on the LJ Advisory Board.

LJ’s problem isn’t that it needs an advisory board, it needs a coherent business structure and doesn’t want one.

Good luck, danah, Esther and Lawrence, for as long as you last.

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Update 022108: Keep your fingers crossed.

Previously…

The City Attorney is trying to toss them out of the facility they’ve been in for 40 years. City Councilman and friend of poetry in LA, Bill Rosendahl, recommended a 25-year lease extension, but the City Attorney is opposing it for some outrageous reason.

So, if you’d like to support the continuing existence of one of LA’s greatest poetry venues, workshops and, oh my God, BOOKSTORE, please call/write/email Councilman Rosendahl’s office with a message of support and encouragement to keep fighting and win the good fight for Beyond Baroque:

Councilman Bill Rosendahl
213-473-7011 tel
213-473-6926 fax
Councilman.Rosendahl AT lacity DOT org
City Hall Office 200 N Spring Street, Rm 415
LA CA 90012

This week is the make or break and it’s not too late. Please send your message of support for Beyond Baroque and Mr. Rosendahl’s efforts to keep it in it’s home of 40 years.

It’s one of the few places in LA I’ll drive across town for. Especially the bookstore, which is one-stop shopping for the best and all kinds of poetry books and ~swoon~ chapbooks ~sigh~ and the only improvement I would suggest is that it be open on Saturday or Sunday when working stiffs like me can get there more easily. Anyway, please help save one of the great LA institutions and places to spend money from whatever the City Attorney thinks should happen to it. Crosspost at will.

Thanks,

Ginger

PS. I know all this because I went there for an event honoring Suzanne Lummis and it was great!

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“I’ve heard many anecdotal stories about U.S. Customs and Border Protection seizing, copying data from, or otherwise accessing laptops of people entering the country. But this is very mainstream:

The lawsuit was inspired by two dozen cases, 15 of which involved searches of cellphones, laptops, MP3 players and other electronics. Almost all involved travelers of Muslim, Middle Eastern or South Asian background, many of whom, including Mango and the tech engineer, said they are concerned they were singled out because of racial or religious profiling.

Some of this seems pretty severe:

“‘I was assured that my laptop would be given back to me in 10 or 15 days,’ said [Maria] Udy, who continues to fly into and out of the United States. She said the federal agent copied her log-on and password, and asked her to show him a recent document and how she gains access to Microsoft Word. She was asked to pull up her e-mail but could not because of lack of Internet access. With ACTE’s help, she pressed for relief. More than a year later, Udy has received neither her laptop nor an explanation.”

~snip~

“Kamran Habib, a software engineer with Cisco Systems, has had his laptop and cellphone searched three times in the past year. Once, in San Francisco, an officer ‘went through every number and text message on my cellphone and took out my SIM card in the back,’ said Habib, a permanent U.S. resident. ‘So now, every time I travel, I basically clean out my phone. It’s better for me to keep my colleagues and friends safe than to get them on the list as well.’”

~snip~

“I strongly recommend the two-tier encryption strategy I described here. And I even more strongly recommend cleaning out your laptop and BlackBerry regularly; if you don’t have it on your computer, no one else can get his hands on it. This defense not only works against U.S. customs, but against the much more likely threat of you losing the damn thing.

“And the TSA wants you to know that it’s not them.”
US Customs Seizing Laptops, Bruce Schneier, February 12, 2008

Oh, Christ…

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“Economists teach that if the economy is going into a recession, lower interest rates and give people money. That wisdom is so conventional that the only quibbling seems to be over timing, amount, and who gets the money.

“But this recession has one very special feature: Never in history have we hit a recession with the American consumer so loaded down with debt. Shouldn’t that cause someone to pause before concluding that more consumer spending is the way out of this hole?”

~snip~

“There’s another implication to this huge debt load: interest. Interest operates just like a tax–it has to be paid month after month, in good times and in bad. Unlike a tax, however, interest isn’t calculated on something good like income; it is calculated on debt loads. For the average family carrying credit card debt, interest payments alone have become a more significant household expenditure.

“In 2006, credit card companies collected about $90 billion from American families in interest, fees, late fees, penalties and the like. That’s $90 billion that didn’t go to buying socks or movie tickets or Big Macs. The American consumer can’t keep it up.”
Same Solutions, Different Problems, by Elizabeth Warren, Credit Slips, January 27, 2008

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Joke of the Day cell phone sign up is not funny at all. Stalkers! Start your engines!

This just happened to me and it wasn’t funny. I saw an extra $10 on my cell bill and hit the ceiling. Fortunately, I’m with Credo and they blocked my text messaging, which I didn’t even know I had, and credited my account because they’re cool. I had no idea I’d been with them for six years until they thanked me for it.

However, some people aren’t so lucky with their cell companies (see comments). I wish there was a class-action against these Joke of the Day crooks, because this is vile.

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Even if it’s Hillary, even though Bill recently said the US should leave some troops in Iraq to protect the Kurds from the Turks (also here), which is one the worst ideas I’ve heard in a long time. Nothing against the Kurds or Turks, but I’d rather leave diplomats and NGO aid and development agencies and money we can more or less keep track of there and work with the rest of the world on it. I mean, hopefully next year and beyond, the US can become a country in the world and not a world in a country.

However, if a Republican is inaugurated next year, we can just kiss everything that matters good-bye anyway:

“The religious right—in the form of its umbrella organization the Arlington Group, formed in 2002—is certainly split and unenthusiastic about the presidential candidates. Pat Robertson has endorsed Giuliani; Richard Land, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention, has said he could never vote for Giuliani and would consider backing a third-party candidate if Giuliani is nominated. So the unanimity on Bush’s behalf we saw in 2000 and in 2004 will likely be gone. But as far as policy is concerned, the Christian right has only one overriding goal: a promise from candidates that they’ll appoint ’strict constructionist’ judges. And every one of the candidates, Giuliani included, has made that promise resoundingly and repeatedly, in public and presumably in private. As recently as November, Giuliani told the conservative Federalist Society that ‘we need judges who embrace originalism’ and vowed that he would appoint justices in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.[8]

“That, above all, is what the Christian right needs to hear. It is well worth remembering that when the next president is sworn in, John Paul Stevens will be three months shy of his eighty-ninth birthday. It seems unlikely that he would be able to outlast a Giuliani or Romney or Huckabee or McCain presidency. One more judge like John Roberts or Samuel Alito will mean not only the probable end of Roe v. Wade but of affirmative action (sharply curtailed already), efforts at school desegregation (school systems have resegregated to a surprising extent in recent years), and many other progressive social goals. All of the four major Republican candidates have vowed to see to these outcomes. Paradoxically, the personally pro-choice Giuliani, if elected, could go down in history as a hero to the Christian right—the president who finally ended Roe—in a way that even Ronald Reagan has not.”
How the Republicans Have Become Prisoner of Their Own Ideology, Naked Capitalism, December 29, 2007

Gah! C’mon, Dems! It’s crunch time! (It has been for awhile, but that’s moot now.)

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(via)

“James Monroe looks like some sort of Cro-Magnon man, Andrew Jackson looks bewildered, and John Quincy Adams looks like a child molester or ax murderer, possibly a combination of the two. Martin Van Buren is about the only one that looks mostly normal, but then he was kind of odd looking in real life so, they probably just didn’t know how to deal with that.”
Mad and bewildered Presidents, TMTGM, December 27, 2007

Maybe I don’t get it, but I really hate dollar coins.

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“But merchants in East L.A. said the sting of progress is even more painful here, an area that was struggling economically before the construction started.

“‘The people are different, the businesses are different,’ said Rocki Esparza, owner of Manny’s El Loco Restaurant. ‘People that have businesses here are barely surviving.’

“Esparza’s fast-food Mexican eatery has been on the corner of 3rd Street and Atlantic Boulevard for 16 years, building a regular lunchtime crowd of neighborhood residents and area workers.

“Large concrete barriers and small orange cones along this section of the construction zone have limited access to the restaurant’s parking lot — turning a once lively spot where seating was scarce during peak hours into a place with plenty of empty tables.

“Esparza has turned to catering events and delivering food to homes, as well as laying off two of her 10 employees.

“‘I think I’ve lost my customers, and I don’t really think that they’ll be back,’ she said. ‘The only reason I’ve stayed in business is because we’ve been well-rooted. But I’ve depleted my savings, and I’m wondering about my future.’”
Gold Line work upsets East L.A. merchants,
MTA officials say the light rail line will bring prosperity to businesspeople. By Jean-Paul Renaud, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, December 27, 2007

MTA officials say the light rail line will bring prosperity to businesspeople

Maybe, if they survive the construction phase of it.

And, I live in Lincoln Heights, which is not too far from East LA, but I’ve only had gone over to Self Help Graphics twice in the 10 years I’ve lived here. So, I’m not sure where all this new business is going to come from.

I’m not against public transit, hell, I loved it when I lived in Europe, and I feel terrible for the business people getting fucked over by the metro construction. But when the MTA says anything they do will bring prosperity to anyone but the MTA, they’re kidding everyone. The MTA’s only goal is its own enrichment. And if they destroy a string of East LA businesses in the process, I’m sure the MTA couldn’t care less.

They’ll never do this, but if all public transport in LA were put on a donation basis, we’d have useful public transit that might even reduce our carbon footprint or whatever that snappy phrase is. What we have now is an overpriced system that car owners, like me, don’t use. And, sorry, I’m no angel, but why should I pay whatever it is (MTA’s webpage sucks for fare information, too) to take the often late train from LH to Pasadena when parking in Pasadena is free?

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Important information to understand this post: According to Wikipedia: “The median income for a household in the city was $117,267, and the median income for a family was $125,708. Males had a median income of $98,928 versus $51,853 for females. The per capita income for the city was $59,150. About 3.7% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.8% of those under age 18 and 3.0% of those age 65 or over. The vast majority, 69.7% of persons had a Bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 27.2% at the national average, respectively.”

And obviously they don’t share, even when they are shared with:

“Patti Keating, a state parks official, researched the matter and told me San Marino is in the clear. She said that despite the city’s having received more than $600,000 in state funds for Lacy projects, state code allows a city to charge nonresident fees as long as they are reasonable and not excessive.

“If that raises your blood pressure, so will the tip I got from three readers:

“Even federal funds have been used to upgrade Lacy Park.

“This was confirmed by Elisa Vasquez and Linda Jenkins at the L.A. County Community Development Commission. They told me that San Marino has in the past received nearly $70,000 annually in Community Development Block Grants.

“Excuse me?

“The U.S. Housing and Urban Development website on the block grant program describes it as a way ‘to provide services to the most vulnerable in our communities’ and as ‘an important tool for helping local governments tackle serious challenges facing their communities.’

“One year, I’m told by Jenkins, San Marino used an unspecified portion of the federal grant for the serious challenge of building an apron around the Lacy Park playground. I guess this was so ‘the most vulnerable’ children of San Marino didn’t fall and rip their knickers.

“As with state money, the federal block grant program allows a city to charge nonresident fees as long as they’re reasonable and not excessive, according to Jenkins. But at both the state and federal levels, no legal definition of “reasonable” is provided.

“I would therefore like to argue, here in the court of public opinion, that there is nothing demonstrably ‘reasonable’ about the $4 weekend fee at Lacy Park.

“Does South Pasadena charge San Marinans and other nonresidents $4 to use the perfectly lovely Garfield Park? No.

“Does Los Angeles stick it to nonresidents who use the spectacular Griffith Park? Of course not.

“I’m told by Ballantyne that the weekend fee generates $60,000 a year. But the extra part-time staff needed on Saturdays and Sundays costs San Marino only $33,000.”
You paid for San Marino to play, by Steve Lopez, LA Times, December 26, 2007

Oh, San Marino, have you no shame? Guess not. Maybe the law on accepting taxpayer money for public spaces needs to change because San Marino certainly isn’t going to change.

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“Each one of those cases is a person who had insurance and got sick. They filed for payments authorized by their coverage and Blue Shield said no and attempted to cancel their policies. These sick people then had to fight tooth and nail to get the payment to their doctors so they would not be liable for the bill. In over 200 of those cases they lost and the companies dropped them completely from coverage. Of course that means that they then have a pre-existing condition and thus would have a next to impossible time getting coverage from another company.

“It is a disgusting practice that is all about trying to squeeze out a few more dollars in profits. It is illegal and I am glad to see the state launching the investigation and moving to fine them. It sure would be nice if that dissuaded the companies from trying this in the first place, but I don’t hold out that much hope that it will.”
Blue Shield Illegally Canceling Policies, Working Californians, December 13, 2007

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Oh well, someday there’ll be a cure:

“An informal poll of my US female friends revealed that they spend roughly $700 (£350) a month on what they consider standard obligatory beauty maintenance. That covers haircut, highlights, manicure, pedicure, waxing, tanning, make-up, facials, teeth whitening etc. They will spend a further $1,000 (£500) a month on physical conditioning such as military fitness, spinning sessions, vikram yoga, Pilates, deep-tissue sports massage, personal training etc. On top of that, add the occasional spa day, a week-long ‘bikini boot camp’ in Mexico at the start of every summer and seasonal splurges on personal shoppers and clothing. I’m not sure any of my British female friends spends £700 during an entire year on her appearance. American women see these costs as a simple and sensible investment in their future.”
American beauty? Having observed females on both sides of the Atlantic, our correspondent claims British women are unkempt and lazy about grooming. By Tad Safran, TimesOnline, December 11, 2007

I don’t know anyone who spends that much on grooming. Of course I live in reality, so I wouldn’t know anyone spending that much. I mean, how could you hold down a job, have a life, and do all that?

Best quote in the comments: “Well done, ladies! Evidently Tad has failed to detect and override the Boor Repellant that every British women keeps in her grooming kit. Perhaps it’s time to be charitable and share the secret with our American sisters.” Brava, Bella!

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“After a whirlwind highly-qualified-contrition tour of the media, the man who credits himself with convincing Karl Rove to move all the way to the right because the center no longer exists has landed at ABC News. Predictably, he’s going to be providing us with his bipartisan view from the center.”
ABC’s “Man in the Middle” isn’t, Julia, FDL, December 9, 2007

Anyone who convince Karl Rove to do anything isn’t a) human or b) anywhere near the center. Did Michael Eisner go out into a swamp somewhere and sell his soul to the Republican devil? He sure has his minions do weird shit for them way too often.

Julia! at FDL! I’m so proud! She probably can’t remember who I am anymore. Oh well.

You readers are probably having a hard time remembering who I am, too, I’ve been pretty scare. Sorry, but I have good excuses:

The Journal of Women on Comcis - J WOC (ISSN1940-7637).

The Journal of Bloglandia - J Bloglandia (ISSN1940-7645).

And still promoting Chase and Other Stories, (ISBN 978-0-6151-6846-3) but most of the production work is done, now it’s just promo and admin.

And then sleeping and my 9-5 day job take up a little of my time…

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“For many, (Michael Stephen) Baker came to symbolize the church’s failure in protecting its most vulnerable parishioners: He was a man who allegedly molested more than 20 youngsters in his 26 years as a priest and had confessed his problem to Cardinal Roger Mahony in 1986. Instead of alerting police, Mahony sent Baker to a treatment center in New Mexico and later reassigned him to serve at nine other parishes where he victimized other young boys.

“And, when authorities sought records from the church to help build a case against Baker, church officials vigorously fought to keep that information secret.”

~snip~

“Among the more than 500 alleged victims and 200 clergy members accused of misconduct, Baker’s case was the one Mahony has said ‘troubles’ him the most.”
Notorious ex-priest pleads guilty to molestation. Michael Stephen Baker, left, allegedly molested more than 20 youngsters in his 26 years as a priest, by John Spano, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, 3:01 PM PST, December 3, 2007

I think this should trouble Cardinal Mahony very much. I think this makes Cardinal Mahony an accessory before and after the fact. Don’t we have laws about aiding and abetting child molestation in our civilized nation? Or do they just not apply to white men who wear dresses to work?

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Goddammit.

“One common assumption about the subprime mortgage crisis is that it revolves around borrowers with sketchy credit who couldn’t have bought a home without paying punitively high interest rates. But it turns out that plenty of people with seemingly good credit are also caught in the subprime trap.

“An analysis for The Wall Street Journal of more than $2.5 trillion in subprime loans made since 2000 shows that as the number of subprime loans mushroomed, an increasing proportion of them went to people with credit scores high enough to often qualify for conventional loans with far better terms.

“In 2005, the peak year of the subprime boom, the study says that borrowers with such credit scores got more than half — 55% — of all subprime mortgages that were ultimately packaged into securities for sale to investors, as most subprime loans are. The study by First American LoanPerformance, a San Francisco research firm, says the proportion rose even higher by the end of 2006, to 61%. The figure was just 41% in 2000, according to the study. Even a significant number of borrowers with top-notch credit signed up for expensive subprime loans, the firm’s analysis found.”
Subprime Debacle Traps Even Very Credit-Worthy, By Rick Brooks and Ruth Simon, WJS online, December 3, 2007 (via Dr. Kruguman via Dr. Delong)

I would say buyer beware, except I’ve been talked into bad deals my own self.

Okay, let’s bail ‘em all out. 60 year mortgages for everyone who wants one!

And while I have you, when did bankers get so stupid? The greed thing I can sort of understand, some people call it market capitalism, but the stupidity part puzzles me.

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“In the early 1980s, Gray, who teaches European thought at the London School of Economics, was the most capable defender of Friedrich von Hayek as a social philosopher rather than just a propagandist for free-market policy. But he later became decidedly critical of any notion that the future belonged to liberal democracy. In 1989, as the Soviet Union was reforming itself out of existence, he wrote that this would not inaugurate ‘a new era of post-historical harmony’ but rather ‘a return to the classical terrain of history, a terrain of great-power rivalries, secret diplomacies, and irredentist claims and wars.’ Over the following decade, he advanced a critique of globalization that sounded, at times, profoundly anticapitalist, if by no means Marxian.

“Such an ideological itinerary seems like a calculated effort to lose friends. But whatever its twists and turns, Gray’s thought has in fact been remarkably consistent, with his journalistic writings simply framing, in the most provocative possible way, theses that have accumulated in more sedate works like ‘Enlightenment’s Wake’ (1995) and ‘Two Faces of Liberalism’ (2000). His latest book, ‘Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia,’ treats fundamentalist Islam and Western triumphalism as similar and related phenomena. This argument revisits themes Gray developed in ‘Straw Dogs,’ a volume of pensées originally published in 2002 and now reissued in paperback by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

“‘Humanity’ does not exist,’ he announced in ‘Straw Dogs.’ ‘There are only humans, driven by conflicting needs and illusions, and subject to every kind of infirmity of will and judgment.’ This may be the key to all of Gray’s thought, and it is no accident that he echoes Margaret Thatcher’s famous statement that there is no such thing as society. (As she put it, ‘there are individual men and women, and there are families’ — but nothing else.) The irreducible plurality of human ‘needs and illusions,’ Gray argues, means it is utopian to imagine that any single kind of political or social order could ever be good for everyone. ‘If there is such a thing as spontaneous social evolution,’ he writes in ‘Black Mass,’ ‘it produces institutions of many kinds.’

“Alas, conservatives have completely lost track of this crucial point, at least by Gray’s lights, which is why ‘traditional conservatism ceased to exist’ at some point over the last few decades. What has emerged instead is a faith that the marketplace and the values of liberal society are universal in principle, if not yet in geographical distribution. Resistance is futile. And if people in benighted lands resist anyway, the use of military power can force the pace of progress.”
What Price Utopia?, by Scott McLemee, NY Times, November 25, 2007

Progress? What progress?

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“Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and television news reporter Mirthala Salinas have ended their romantic relationship, two sources familiar with the situation said Friday.

“Months after revelations about the affair damaged the mayor’s political standing and devastated Salinas’ broadcasting career, the two sources said the relationship disintegrated weeks ago.

~snip~

“Villaraigosa and his wife, Corina Villaraigosa, separated in June, weeks before he confirmed that he was romantically involved with Salinas. From the moment it became public, the affair between the mayor and the rising media star had a largely harmful effect on both parties.

~snip~

“A rising star in Spanish-language television news, Salinas read on the air the news of Villaraigosa’s marital breakup on June 8 without disclosing that she had been romantically involved with the mayor for several months.

“Salinas received a two-month suspension for her handling of the situation. At the end of that suspension, she was reassigned from her post as temporary anchor to a Telemundo bureau in Riverside County. Instead of returning to her job, she quit.

~snip~

“Revelations about the affair damaged the mayor’s credibility in the eyes of some voters, particularly women, said Jaime Regalado, who heads the Edmund G. ‘Pat’ Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles.

~snip~

“The affair even raised questions about the mayor’s name. ‘Villaraigosa’ is a merger of his name, Antonio Villar, and his wife’s maiden name, Corina Raigosa. Although the mayor’s wife filed divorce papers in June, Villaraigosa said he would not change his name back.”
L.A. mayor, reporter end their affair, sources say. Villaraigosa’s political standing was affected, and his wife has filed for divorce. Salinas was suspended, then left her job at Telemundo, by David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, November 23, 2007

Has the LA Times absolutely nothing better to do? On the other hand, I’m glad he’s not changing his name since I worked hard to learn how to pronounce it correctly.

Guys, Gavin, Bill, Antonio, all of you, please, just control yourselves until you’re out of office. You’ve worked so hard for this, you’re on the right side of history, you can make a better world for all of us if you just stay smart and take it home to your wife, okay? Please. You can do what you want when you retire, and frankly, I think should, but when you retire. Have a harem, I couldn’t care less, but not when you’re still in office. Men, don’t be ninnies. Thank you for your attention.

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This could take awhile to fix. The entire County apparatus will have to evolve to a higher level. An entire generation might have to die of natural causes before anything gets better in LA County. Am I kidding? Even I don’t know.

“A welfare worker stole more than $4,000 worth of bus tokens and passes meant for foster children and their families.

“A retirement agency employee fraudulently claimed nearly $90,000 in welfare benefits.

“And another welfare worker falsely told colleagues her father had died and took the money they donated to her in sympathy.

“The three cases are among the most serious cited by a Los Angeles County report made public Wednesday that provides a digest of employee misconduct uncovered as a result of calls to the county’s fraud hotline.

~snip~

“The misconduct included failing to report outside employment, downloading pornographic material at work and outright theft.

~snip~

“‘It doesn’t reflect well on the county, but it’s hard to make people understand that when you have 100,000 [workers], some people go bad on you,’ said county Auditor-Controller J. Tyler McCauley, whose office runs the fraud hotline.

~snip~

“The bus tokens stolen by a Department of Children and Family Services employee were set aside for foster children and relatives who need transportation for such activities as family visits or job interviews, said the department’s director, Patricia S. Ploehn.

“The employee was prosecuted, pleaded guilty to felony theft and was sentenced to three days in jail and three years’ probation.

~snip~

“Among other cases in Wednesday’s hotline report was that of a retirement specialist who worked for the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Assn., the agency that manages the $43-billion pension fund for most county workers.

“Prosecutors identified the worker as Rita Kay Brown, 52. Brown was accused of using a false identity to fraudulently claim $89,522 in welfare money, food stamps and medical benefits, said James Baker, assistant head deputy of the district attorney’s welfare fraud division.

“She was convicted in June and sentenced to 16 years in prison, he said.

“The welfare worker accused of accepting money from colleagues who thought her father had died has not been referred to prosecutors, but she faces disciplinary action, the report said.

“In another case, an employee with the county’s Probation Department was accused of fraudulently collecting death benefits of more than $130,000 for her husband, who is still alive, the report said.

“Prosecutors identified her as Damaris Amesquita, 30, and said she faces felony charges of insurance fraud, grand theft and bigamy.

“She has pleaded not guilty.”
L.A. County hotline reveals thefts, welfare fraud. One worker took bus tokens meant for foster families; another cheated to collect benefits. In all, 348 investigations were opened in six months, by Jack Leonard, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, November 22, 2007

Man, what’s wrong with LA County agencies? Do they have preferential hiring for kleptomaniacs?

I don’t know what County workers make, but they have some of the most secure jobs in the country and Cadillac benefits. So what’s with all the stealing? First, there’s the heist at the Department of Children and Family Services and now this. Sheesh, folks, grow a heart and get smart.

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“‘Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Monday that he would reactivate a program of “drought busters” to preach the message of water conservation.’

“‘Department of Water and Power employees will roam the nation’s second-largest city and issue friendly advice to residents they see wasting water.

“‘Excessive lawn watering and sidewalk spraying are expected to be top targets.’”
Water Watchers Coming, Working Californians, November 13, 2007

Water Watchers…feh. If there was a Water Wasters Whistleblower Squealer hotline, I’d use it all it the time. I lived through the last drought and got so sick of people cleaning their driveways and sidewalks with the hose instead of a broom. Okay okay okay, I’m a fanatic on the subject. And don’t get me started on golf courses in the desert. C’mon, Water Departments, just jack up the rates over a certain usage; you know that’s the only way to get people in LA to stop being stupid (about wasting water) and it’s always worked in the past. I’m so glad I’m not in charge, but if I were… Grrr. Cretins.

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In the most disgusting way:

“Los Angeles County’s child welfare workers spent thousands of dollars in gift cards and entertainment tickets earmarked for foster children to buy themselves meals and attend musical events, according to an audit released Tuesday.

“Among the most serious problems cited by auditors, county workers bought 160 tickets in July to see the hit musical ‘Wicked.’ County officials said the purchase was part of a gala event for foster children and their mentors, yet only 53 children and roughly the same number of mentors were given tickets.

“The remaining seats went to employees of the Department of Children and Family Services and their relatives and guests, along with unidentified potential mentors and a number of not-for-profit organization employees, auditors wrote. The event cost $14,000.

“The audit of the department also faulted employees for using gift cards — bought with county money to supply food and clothing to foster children — to pay for staff luncheons.

“‘It is appalling that children who have nothing are having even this very limited amount stolen from them,’ said Carole Shauffer, executive director of the Youth Law Center in San Francisco. ‘This is a stunning lack of accountability.’

“Auditors said one worker attempted to hide extra gift cards the department received by asking the business that supplied the cards for false invoices. Another told auditors he or she no longer had any gift cards but actually had $23,000 worth of gift cards or certificates, the audit said.”
L.A. workers use gift cards meant for foster children. Audit shows that child welfare employees spent thousands on meals and tickets to musical events, by Jack Leonard, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, November 7, 2007

Hope you’re proud of yourselves, LA County workers. You suck.

And Supervisor Gloria Molina wants your heads on sticks, too. From the link:

“Molina blamed a long-standing culture in the department that she said bred a sense of entitlement among a small but influential number of employees.

“‘I think there’s many a social worker there who have probably been there far too long, who don’t understand their own personal mission and responsibility’ and they “should be moving on to other roles and responsibilities,’ she said.”

~snip~

“Meanwhile, county Auditor-Controller J. Tyler McCauley said his office would discuss the results of the audit with the district attorney’s office for possible prosecution.

“The audit, which focused on employees in a mentoring program for foster children, is the latest black eye for the county’s child welfare agency.

“While successfully reducing the number of children in foster care, the department has been beset in recent months by a series of management problems.

“Earlier this year, county auditors faulted the department for failing to adequately keep track of its supply purchases, concluding that procurement workers had wasted more than $1 million on unnecessary or overpriced equipment.

“In June, the agency reported that financial miscalculations and other problems had helped create an $8-million hole in its budget last year and forecast it needed to plug an additional $32-million hole during this fiscal year. The announcement drew criticism from supervisors, who said the department had expanded too quickly without watching the bottom line.”

Gah! Doesn’t the County continuously audit the hell out of these agencies? Maybe they should.

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This is SO embarrassing:

“After months of contentious debate, a Bakersfield school district has voted to display the phrase ‘In God We Trust’ on the walls of more than 2,300 classrooms, school libraries, administrative offices and the board’s meeting room.

”Adopted by Congress as the U.S. motto in 1956, the words will be highlighted in a poster along with portions of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the original national motto: e pluribus unum, Latin for ‘from many, one.’

”‘We’re not going to accept the agenda of some radical leftists who want to expunge God from public dialogue,’ Chad Vegas, an evangelical pastor who sits on the board of the Kern High School District, said in an interview Tuesday. ‘Instead, we’re teaching our citizens — including our children — that the very foundation of government is that God gave them unalienable rights that cannot be usurped by the will of the majority or anyone else.’

”The board’s action was seen by opponents as part of a broader effort to infuse local schools with religious doctrine. Vegas last year persuaded the board to change the official names of winter and spring breaks to Christmas and Easter recesses. In response to a question Tuesday, he repeated his position that evolution is ‘nonsense’ but said he wasn’t sure that he would seek to have intelligent design taught in science classes.

”‘I’m not opposed to it,’ he said. ‘I just haven’t tried to do it.’

”Before an overflow crowd Monday night, board president Bob Hampton cast the sole dissenting vote in the 4-1 decision. As he has in the past, he argued that ‘the spiritual side of a student belongs in the home and in the church — not in the school.’
Board puts faith in ‘In God We Trust’. After months of debate, a Bakersfield school district votes to display posters explaining the motto in 2,300 classrooms and offices, by Steve Chawkins, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, November 7, 2007

Bob Hampton is my hero. Bakersfield is unworthy of such a brave and intelligent guy.

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“Ending a controversial 20-year campaign to expel immigrants because of their ties to alleged Palestinian terrorists, the federal government has agreed to drop attempts to deport the final two defendants in the L.A. 8 case.

“The Board of Immigration Appeals on Tuesday dismissed all charges against Khader M. Hamide and Michel I. Shehadeh, who had faced deportation proceedings since 1987, and approved a settlement submitted by the men’s lawyers and the Department of Homeland Security, according to documents made public Wednesday.”

~snip~

“The government’s decision to throw in the towel came nine months after Bruce J. Einhorn, a federal immigration judge in Los Angeles, lambasted federal officials for violating the men’s rights. He accused the government of a ‘gross failure’ to comply with instructions to turn over to the men ‘potentially exculpatory and other relevant information.’

“In a blistering opinion, Einhorn said the government’s conduct in the case was ‘an embarrassment to the rule of law’ that left ‘a festering wound on’ Hamide and Shehadeh, who have been in legal and personal limbo for more than two decades.

“Initially, the government appealed Einhorn’s ruling. But negotiations soon started, leading to the settlement.

“Legal action began Jan. 26, 1987, when agents of the FBI and the immigration service took into custody the seven men and one woman, all Southern California residents, charging them with affiliation with a group that advocates ‘the doctrines of world communism,’ which was then a deportable offense under the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952.

“The other members of the group were Julie Mungai, the Kenyan wife of Khader Hamide; Bashar Amer; Aiad Barakat; Amjad Obeid; Ayman Obeid; and Naim Sharif. Early on, the government focused its efforts on Hamide and Shehadeh, the only members of the group with permanent resident status.”
Final two L.A. 8 defendants cleared. After 20 years, U.S. drops efforts to deport men accused of ties to Palestinian terrorists, by Henry Weinstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, November 1, 2007

Rule of Law. Fuck the mink coat, can I please have Rule of Law for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Solstice/etc?

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“We’ve opened up a new front on the war on terror. It’s an attack on the unique, the unorthodox, the unexpected; it’s a war on different. If you act different, you might find yourself investigated, questioned, and even arrested — even if you did nothing wrong, and had no intention of doing anything wrong. The problem is a combination of citizen informants and a CYA attitude among police that results in a knee-jerk escalation of reported threats.”
The War on the Unexpected, Bruce Schneier, November 1, 2007

Now we have to call the cops when it shows up.

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I mean, even slightly realize what a creep he is? I seriously doubt it:

“Rep. Darrell Issa, who spent $1.7 million to qualify the 2003 gubernatorial recall, said Wednesday he made “a small contribution” toward qualifying an initiative to change how California’s electoral votes are tallied in next year’s presidential election.

“The Republican congressman said he is also sending out letters to the same voters who signed recall petitions in 2003, asking them to submit signatures once again for the Electoral College initiative.”
Issa boosts electoral measure. Backer of state’s 2003 recall aids initiative on Electoral College votes, by Kevin Yamamura, Sacramento Bee, November 1, 2007

“But that’s against the law. California Elections Code 18650 states clearly that, ‘No one shall knowingly or willfully permit the list of signatures on an initiative, referendum, or recall petition to be used for ANY PURPOSE other than qualification of the initiative, referendum or recall.’ Violation of this section is a misdemeanor.

“That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? Wouldn’t you expect a Member of Congress to know the law? Well, maybe we can’t expect a Republican Member of Congress to obey the law??”
Republicans Violate the Law to Qualify Electoral Vote Scam–Break the Rules in Effort to Change the Rules?, by Bill Cavala, California Progress Report, November 1, 2007 (both via Calitics: Uh, Issa is breaking the law, too)

Well, maybe we can’t expect a Republican Member of Congress to obey the law.

Well, maybe if the law was enforced, like, the way such laws are enforced for people who are not a Republican Member of Congress, then perhaps Republican Members of Congress would start obeying the law. Y’think?

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I was listening to the radio this morning and here’s the story: If you turn left into a driveway, pull halfway into the driveway and back out to go the other direction, this is considered an illegal U-turn in California. Since when?

“Never make a U-turn:

* On a divided highway by crossing a dividing section, curb, strip of land, or two sets of double lines.
* Where you cannot clearly see 200 feet in each direction because of a curve, hill, rain, fog, or other reason.
* Where a “No U-Turn” sign is posted.
* When other vehicles may hit you.
* On a one-way street.
* In front of a fire station. Never use a fire station driveway to turn around.
* In business districts. Areas with churches, apartments, multiple dwelling houses, clubs, and public buildings (except schools) are also considered to be business districts. Turn only at an intersection or where openings are provided for turns.”
CA Drivers Handbook

Hm.

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Is the wisdom of separating church and state that hard to understand? I wonder. I have nothing against God, I just don’t like other peoples’ ideas of God shoved down my throat. Thank you very much.

“BAKERSFIELD — Next time you see God in City Hall, you might have Jacquie Sullivan to thank — or blame, depending on your point of view.

“Five years ago, the Bakersfield City Council member lobbied hard to get ‘In God We Trust’ displayed over the city’s seal in the council’s meeting room.

“In the years since, she has persuaded 25 other California cities, from Kerman to Compton, to do the same, sometimes over strenuous protests from residents who see the mounting of the motto as a backdoor effort to foist a religious agenda on local governments.

“At 67, Sullivan is undaunted by people she describes as ‘wanting to remove God from everything.’ Through her nonprofit, In God We Trust — America, she aims to have the phrase prominently featured in all 478 of California’s city halls and every other city hall in America.

“That’s just the beginning.”
She wants a higher power at City Hall. Five years after getting Bakersfield to place ‘In God We Trust’ in its council chambers, activist takes her motto campaign national, by Steve Chawkins, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 28, 2007

Got top-notch crazies in California, don’t we? And Bakersfield? Are you nuts, too?

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“He’s there to assuage white ‘guilt’ (i.e., the minimal discomfort they feel) over the role of slavery and racial segregation in American history, while replacing stereotypes of a dangerous, highly sexualized black man with a benign figure for whom interracial sexual congress holds no interest.

“As might be expected, this figure is chiefly cinematic — embodied by such noted performers as Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, Scatman Crothers, Michael Clarke Duncan, Will Smith and, most recently, Don Cheadle. And that’s not to mention a certain basketball player whose very nickname is ‘Magic.’

“Poitier really poured on the ‘magic’ in ‘Lilies of the Field’ (for which he won a best actor Oscar) and ‘To Sir, With Love’ (which, along with ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,’ made him a No. 1 box-office attraction). In these films, Poitier triumphs through yeoman service to his white benefactors. ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ is particularly striking in this regard, as it posits miscegenation without evoking sex. (Talk about magic!)

“The same can’t quite be said of Freeman in ‘Driving Miss Daisy,’ ‘Seven’ and the seemingly endless series of films in which he plays ersatz paterfamilias to a white woman bedeviled by a serial killer. But at least he survives, unlike Crothers in ‘The Shining,’ in which psychic premonitions inspire him to rescue a white family he barely knows and get killed for his trouble. This heart-tug trope is parodied in Gus Van Sant’s ‘Elephant.’ The film’s sole black student at a Columbine-like high school arrives in the midst of a slaughter, helps a girl escape and is immediately gunned down. See what helping the white man gets you?”
Obama the ‘Magic Negro’, The Illinois senator lends himself to white America’s idealized, less-than-real black man, by David Ehrenstein, LA Times, March 19, 2007

I dunno, David, if Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, Scatman Crothers, or Don Cheadle was running for President, I’d probably vote for them. Unless they were running against Jessica Lang, Sissy Spacek, or Sigourney Weaver or a Democrat with years of real political experience, like, Barbara Boxer or Al Gore.

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