Brown Should Arrest Whitman's Ex-Maid And Report Allred To Bar

You've seen the tele-novela staged by Certified Media Whore Gloria Allred, right?


So explain to me why California's top law enforcement official, Attorney General Jerry Brown, hasn't ordered the arrest of Meg Whitman's ex-maid.


After all, Allred's presentation provided probable cause galore to believe that her "client," the maid, is in the country illegally, and committed fraud.


Indeed, merely possessing a phony driver's license is unlawful under Section 14610 the California Motor Vehicle Code, and a misdemeanor under Section 40000.11(n). Translation: Allred's client could spend a year in jail for that one crime alone. And that's before we get into the perjury, tax evasion and immigration laws.


The Attorney General running for Governor need only visit TMZ website to see the maid's phony Social Security card, phony California driver's license, and false statement under penalty of perjury to the INS. Think of them as Exhibits A, B and C for the prosecution.

TV For Travelers: Wave Good-Bye To Another $269,000

Do you think "video artists" would pay to have their work displayed at LAX, where hundreds of thousands of people could see it? So do I.

And yet, Villaraigosa and the City Council are handing $269,000 of YOUR money to one Megan McLarney "to create, program and install video art from 17 artists for the Tom Bradley International Terminal."

How about a video showing a single clip, over and over, of "I'm mad as hell and I won't take this any more!" Or perhaps my own personal tour de force double feature:  "Blimp-capades" and "Goodyear Blimp Landing."

City Council Guarantees Increase In Senseless Slaughter Of Dogs

Okay, time for economics for dummies, and by "dummies" I mean those of you elected to the Los Angeles City Council. Today's concept is "market equilibrium."

If you increase the price of a given product or service, will the quantity that people buy:

A.  Increase

B.  Decrease

C.  Stay exactly the same

D.  I'll have my staff look into and get back to you

The correct answer is "B. Decrease."
And that is why your decision today, to increase the price of adopting a dog to $117, during a recession, no less, will decrease the number of dogs adopted, and increase the number of innocent loving dogs that YOU kill for no legitimate reason.
Likewise, charging people $56 to turn dogs into the shelter, during a recession, means fewer people will turn them in.  Instead, they will turn the dogs loose on the streets, or leave them tied up in the back yard of the homes they abandon, to die a slow, miserable death.

You, of course, will look at the figures showing a reduction in dogs being turned into the shelters, and pat yourselves on the back for problem-solving. You will then wonder why adoptions have dropped off. Then you'll get distracted by some inanity and pass a resolution declaring May to Marguerita month.

It's one thing to steal money from taxpayers. But killing innocent dogs is about as low as low gets.

Debate Duopoly: "Dumb and Dumber" Democracy

Tonight, you won't be able to see or hear a debate with all the candidates for governor. 

Instead, only two candidates will have the opportunity to address the public via radio and TV -- the two candidates from the two political parties that have delivered us into our current international, national, state and local train wreck.  One Democrat.  One Republican. That's it.

You won't get to hear anything from the candidates from the other four bona fide political parties registered with the Secretary of State, namely:  Chelene Nightingale of the American Independent Party; Laura Wells of the Green Party; Dale Ogden of the Libertarian Party; and Carlos Alvarez of the Peace and Freedom Party.

Why do we tolerate this duopoly of political power, especially given the consistently abysmal results these two parties deliver?

After all, according to the latest statistics from the Secretary of State, a whopping 20.2% of us -- including yours truly -- are "decline to states." We're not wedded to any political party. The number of "decline to states," moreover, has nearly doubled since 1994, when they constituted 10.3% of the registered voters.

Video Of LA Clean Sweep Candidate Forum

LA Clean Sweep has posted video of its City Council Candidate Forum at its website. Set forth below is the video of the opening statements. You can find links to the rest of the forum by clicking here.

L.A. Clean Sweep - Opening Statements - 1st Ever Citywide City Council Candidate Forum from Michael N. Cohen on Vimeo.

What Is Up With The L.A. Times Poll Methodology?

What do you think a public opinion poll is? If you're like me, you figure pollsters call random registered voters, ask them some questions, and then report the results, right?

Not if they work for the Los Angeles Times, they don't.

The political poll conducted for the Los Angeles Times about the November election used a very different methodology. Rather than reporting the actual numbers, the people who conducted the poll decided to count some responses more than others, and to get a bigger sample of Latino voters than other groups.  Here's how the pollsters explained it:

But I'm Sure They'll Do Much Better On The "Subway To The Sea"

What cost $240 million over budget, is months overdue, and miles shorter than promised?

Answer:  the Expo Line, which was supposed to whisk people between Downtown L.A. and Culver City -- two places between which no one wants to be whisked in the first place.

Now the plan is to whisk you only part of the way. Would you mind walking from Crenshaw or La Cienega to Culver City, please?

Read all about it in the Los Angeles Times article, "More delays plague Expo Line."

Then, the next time someone tells you how we must proceed to the "Subway to the Sea," quiz him on the Expo line and on the EIR for the "Subway to the Sea." Expect a blank expression.

ICE's Multiple Personality Disorder Is Hazardous To Your Health

Today's Los Angeles Times has an article about the burial of the knife-wielding Guatemalan police shot in Westlake. Now they're calling him Manuel Jiminez Xum.

Xum? Have you seen him identified by that name before? Me, neither. We'll have to add that name to the three in the previous article, "Man shot by LAPD officer in Westlake apparently went by several names." That article stated:

Since the Sept. 5 shooting, relatives and acquaintances have identified the dead man as 37-year-old Manuel Jamines. However, coroner's officials identified him as Manuel Ramirez based on a fingerprint match with U.S. Department of Justice records. They also found U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement documentation identifying him as Gregorio Luis Perez, with a 1984 date of birth.

Whom Should You Support For Governor? Surprise!

For whom are you going to vote in the California governor's race? Or are you going to sit it out? Never have so many people had such horrid choices. It's like one of my favorite lines from a Madonna song:  "Which leg do you want me to break?"


If you vote for Meg Whitman, you're playing"Russian roulette," because you have no idea what she'll do. She takes both sides of every issue, whether it's illegal immigration, global warming or whatever. She will look you in the face and lie her ass off to get your vote. I am convinced she has no ideology, no political philosophy, she just wants to hold office for the sake of holding office.

As for Jerry Brown, he says in his ads that at this stage in his life, he's ready to make the tough decisions. Tough on whom, Jerry? Tough on the taxpayers, or the public employee unions funding your campaign? I'm guessing his decisions are going to be very, very tough on us taxpayers.  

The Crime Statistics They Omit To Mention

You can read in the Los Angeles Times that crime rates are down, and there were "only" 208 murders so far this year. Groovy.

What they never tell you, however, is how very many crimes are committed in the City of Los Angeles. Nor do they ever tell you how much lower the crime rates in surrounding cities are.

So I will.  When you look at those numbers, you realize that Villaraigosa's and Beck's self-congratulatory press releases about crime rates dropping are like a kid waving around his report card merely because he brought his "F-" grade up to a solid "F."

Let's start with the actual number of crimes committed in the City of Los Angeles so far this year:

Whom Should You Support For City Council? Find Out Saturday

Which To Fund: Six Cops For A Year Or A Five-Hour Bike Ride?

Mayor Villaraigosa fell off his bike, landed on his head, then alienated bicyclists by calling for mandatory helmet laws. They booed him. He really hates it when people boo him, so now he plans to blow $280,000 of your money, hoping to become their new best friend.

Specifically, he plans to spend $280,000 of your tax money to close down your streets to traffic on October 10, 2010, so a bunch of bicyclists can enjoy the pleasure of car-free cycling between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. that day.  The Daily News reports:

The event is estimated to cost more than $280,000. It is being covered with $140,000 from the city's special fund account, $85,000 from the Measure R local funds and $55,000 from the city's Environmental Affairs trust fund. Any remaining costs will be paid by private sponsors.

Let's consider the opportunity cost of this $280,000.

I Told You So Three Years Ago: Subway To The Sea Sick

The LA Weekly just published an excellent article by Patrick Range McDonald entitled, "$9 Billion Subway-to-Sea Rip-Off."  


McDonald hammers home a point the other local journalists have glossed over:  the "subway to the sea" is not worth the money because, per the EIR study, it will have little if any impact on traffic. McDonald quotes, among others, USC professor and transportation expert James Moore as saying, "I didn't need an Environmental Impact Report to know that."


You know who else didn't need an Environmental Impact Report to tell you that? Yours truly, three years ago.  Villaraigosa and the City Council just wasted three years. Here's your blast from the past:




My plan -- detailed in my platform but not the video -- was to buy, or acquire through eminent domain, properties every few blocks along major traffic arteries; build underground parking at each of those sites, with parks on top; use those parking facilities to eliminate street parking; and then convert the lanes previously used for street parking into the "bus only" lanes.

This would boost employment immediately -- without a 10 or 20 year wait -- and would get traffic moving.

It's time for Villaraigosa and the Spring Street Gang to dump the hole in the ground and adopt a plan that will get traffic moving throughout L.A. They've already wasted three years, despite being told by two different Moore's that the "subway to the sea" would be a complete waste of money.

S#*! Your Mayor Squanders Your Money On

Here are few of the latest boondoggle "contracts" awarded by Mayor Villaraigosa and the Spring Street Gang. Thousands and thousands of dollars that could be staying in your pocket, or that you could be spending on people who provide real services -- like trial lawyers, for example:

Over $12,000 for what?  Two frikkin' dances? "Both in English and Spanish?" I'd rather have a new motorcycle.

Can You Come Up With Some New Industries For L.A.?

This beauty can be yours for just $6,800 at RVTrader.com.

The City of Los Angeles has a sky-high unemployment rate of 14.7%. Plus, the Mayor and City Council are not what you'd call "average" or "above average" in the IQ department.

Your mission, Mr. Phelps, is therefore to imagine some new industries for L.A.

I'll go first.

You know how they have all those food trucks roaming around the City? Well, how about RV hotels? If big trucks can pull up, park and start doing business as restaurants, they may as well be hotels, too.

While we're at it, let's throw in RV medical marijuana clinics. And since one victimless crime is pretty much like another, let's license RV casinos and RV bordellos.

One caveat:  the RV's can park only in front of the homes of the Mayor, City Council Members, DWP executives and CRA executives.

Okay, your turn. Use the "comments" feature to share your ideas to boost employment in L.A.

Why Not Turn The Hollywood Sign Into A Tourist Destination?

Villaraigosa and the rest of the Spring Street Gang are clearly unwilling to take the steps needed to create manufacturing jobs here (e.g., by repealing the City's business income tax).

That leaves us, basically, with tourism: people duped into thinking this would be a nice place to visit.

So why not create another attraction for them to visit, a reason for them to stay a little longer and spend a little more? Why not turn the Hollywood sign itself into a tourist destination?

The City could have a monopoly over a "green" shuttle service that would take tourists to the sign. Just put a "hybrid" sticker on those double-decker British buses with the open-air tops. Plus, there could be some walkways for people to wander around the sign and have their pictures taken. The t-shirt sales alone could put a dent in the budget.

But please, contract the operation out based on competitive bidding. Don't turn the concession over to some "non-profit" that will employ "troubled youths" under the guidance of a politically connected Farrakhan-following ex-con or some anti-American "undocumented worker."

Parasites In The Body Politic: "Non-Profit" Poverty Pimps

"Valley non-profit to get $500,000 grant," says the headline in the Daily News. And another $500,000 -- of your federal tax dollars -- will be going to another group. What will they do with the $1 million that the government took away from you, me and our fellow taxpayers?

According to the paper, "The funds will help groups gather data and community feedback to develop plans that bring 'cradle-to-career' services to lower-income neighborhoods."


Fan-frikkin-tastic. That should pretty much solve everything, don't you think? We need to spend money to figure out how we taxpayers can provide "cradle to career services to lower-income neighborhoods."


I have so had it with crap like this. I would love it if the government just handled government-type things, like, say, defend the country from foreign invasion, rather than trying to provide "cradle to career services." What does that even mean?

The millions and millions squandered on pointless programs run by politically connected poverty pimps hurts our economy. That money could have and should have been spent by the people who earned it on goods and services they wanted. If they had the opportunity to spend their own money, rather than having the government squander it on their behalf, we might not have so many "lower-income neighborhoods," and such sky-high unemployment rates.

Dishonest Discussion: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" And "Dream Act"

Would it be too terribly much to ask that we have HONEST disagreements about public policy, and HONEST reporting about those disagreements?

Here's why I ask:

Today, as I was driving home listening to NPR, I heard them report that Republicans had blocked legislation that would have repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

No mention whatsoever was made of the fact that the legislation in issue just happened to include the "Dream Act," about which I have already ranted today. Both those bills, in turn, were embedded in a bigger bill to fund the military.

"Dream Act" Rant: Illegal Aliens' Dream Is Taxpayers' Nightmare

.... NOT

Let me get this straight:

Your parents brought you into this country illegally;
you received a "free" public education at my expense, along with "free" healthcare, maybe Section 8 housing subsidies and various forms of welfare; and now you want me to pay for you to have a college education, give you citizenship, and, once you get it, use it to make your family members, who are also here illegally, legal?

Does that about sum it up?

Dream Act?  More like "Dream On" Act!

You say it's not your fault you're here? Guess what? It's not my fault, either. I never wanted you here; never invited you here; never encouraged you to come here. You got a problem with the way you arrived, take it up with mom and dad.

Funny French Video That's Probably Politically Incorrect

Too bad the person who posted it gave away the punchline with the title and cover picture....

How About Testing Legislators' Ability To Prioritize?

Your house is on fire, your car is on fire, and your family is on fire. What is the first thing you should do?

Well, if you've been elected to the California Legislature, your first priority is to find something that's not broken, and fix it. Today's case in point:  Obviously, children can't just bring a plastic bottle or Thermos of water from home to drink at lunch. So let's pass a shiny new law requiring schools to make "free" water available.

That budget will just balance itself. No need for state Senators and Assemblymen to worry their pretty little heads over a budget impasse that is billions of dollars in the red.

The children, after all, are always the highest priority. It's water, for the children, on which lawmakers should focus now.

Grants To Help Illegal Aliens Make Video Blogs

Lights, camera, action!

Grants to help illegal aliens make video blogs? But of course. This is La-LA land. Read all about it in the Los Angeles Times.  Here's my favorite passage:

Organizers rolled out the program last month with a mix of grants from various foundations, including $40,000 worth of cellphones to train laborers. They fanned out to local job centers to teach workers how to upload text, photos and videos. So far about half a dozen laborers have launched their own blogs. Others are experimenting, transferring bits of broken audio and blurry images onto the Web.

Then again, if they will confess on video that they're here illegally, it could be that much easier to round them up and deport them.

VICA Suffering Stockholm Syndrome

VICA, a group of business people in the Valley, have formed a political action committee with an eye towards contributing to a Mayoral campaign by developer Rick Caruso or Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner. So says the Daily News.

A PAC to give money to Caruso or Beutner? Really? And they're expecting some kind of change from that? 

As for Caruso, he's a developer. Do they really think developers aren't already running the show?

As for Beutner, he's the de facto Mayor while Tony's flitting from photo-op to photo-op. Result? Unemployment in the City of L.A. is at 14.7%-- the highest since at least 2000, and much higher than state and national averages.

VICA apparently suffers from Stockholm syndrome; they have fallen in love with their captors. Too bad.

Europeans Increasingly Fed Up With Immigration

Voters in Sweden, France and the Netherlands are increasingly fed up not just with illegal immigration, but all immigration. You can read about it in the New York Times. Actually, according to a Reuters article, voters throughout Europe have had enough:  Austria, Britain, Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Norway and Switzerland all seem to be saying the thrill is gone.

Shocker: Villaraigosa's "Clean Tech Corridor" Still Just A Vacant Lot

Man, none of us ever saw this one coming:  Mayor Villaraigosa's "clean-tech corridor" is still a big, flat flop. And that news comes from his very own "press release journalist," Rick Orlov at the Daily News.

Stupid companies. Didn't any of them listen to Villaraigosa's promises to transform L.A. into a manufacturing center for "green companies?" Don't they remember our brilliant Mayor's speech about how he would go talk to them with a toothbrush in his briefcase, and win them over because he's just so very likable?

Apparently the cave men who run companies still focus on silly little things like "the bottom line," and "excessive taxes," "onerous regulations," rather than important things, like how our Mayor really really wants L.A. to be a worldwide leader in green technology.

These companies need to get their act together. Otherwise, how will Villaraigosa run for Senator when Feinstein exits stage left? How will Tony get appointed to the EPA if his "green corridor" winds up just being a grassy field? Or rather, a field of dead grass because, thanks to Tony V, it's now too expensive in this town to water your grass.

Come on, captains of industry. You're making Tony look bad.  Unless you start building factories here, and building them fast, the 14.7% unemployment rate his policies have inflicted on our city will get even worse.

City Council Candidate "Beauty Pageant" Saturday 9/25/10

Whom should you support for City Council in the March 2011 election?

Find out on Saturday, September 25, 2010 when LA Clean Sweep conducts a forum to decide whether to endorse any candidates and, if so, which ones.  The forum will be at the American Legion Hall at 227 North Avenue 55, Los Angeles, 90042

It will run from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., but it will seem much, much longer.

LA Weekly Article On Library Cuts Well Worth Reading

Batgirl was a librarian.

I highly recommend Patrick Range McDonald's latest article in the LA Weekly, "City of Airheads: Villaraigosa Dismantles L.A.'s Vaunted Library System."

McDonald documents how Villaraigosa, Garcetti and all the rest gutted the libraries while squandering millions of the so-called "anti-gang" programs that have yielded no measurable results, and on Villaraigosa's bloated staff.

McDonald also shows the sneaky accounting the Spring Street Gang has used to circumvent minimum funding requirements: they make the libraries "pay" the City for overhead.

The article is long but well worth reading, and provides insights that go far beyond the subject of libraries, and some really interesting statistics, too.

Classes For Gang Members' Parents: Horses And Barn Doors

Hey, Wilbur, close the door, would you?

There's a very good chance that California Assemblyman Tony Mendoza of Norwalk is clinically brain-dead -- along with everyone else in Sacramento.

I say this because, according to the Daily News, he introduced a bill -- which was passed in 2007 and which went into effect in January of this year -- whereby "parents and guardians of Los Angeles Unified students convicted of gang-related crimes will have to attend parenting classes and meet with families who have been victimized by gang violence."

Oh, please. You're going to stop gangs by spending tax dollars on "parenting classes?"  Give me a break.  Spend that money on police and prisons. By the time the kid's a gang member, it's a bit late for "parenting classes," don't you think?

Subway To The Sea Could Provide Jobs . . . For Lawyers

I never read it, but it's about a lawsuit, I think.

What MTA project cost $33.1 million and took 15 years to complete? Give up? The answer is:  a losing lawsuit the MTA filed in connection with Red-Line subway construction under Wilshire Boulevard. Here's the synopsis from the Daily News:

After spending more than $32 million in a 15-year legal battle over construction of the Red Line subway, the MTA has dropped its remaining claims against Sylmar-based Tutor-Saliba-Perini and will pay the construction giant $1.1 million, officials said Friday.

Trial was scheduled to start next week in the case, in which both the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the construction giant claimed they were defrauded during construction of the Wilshire Boulevard subway.

Instead, the MTA agreed to a settlement of the original claims and the payment to Tutor-Saliba. 

Can you imagine the litigation that the "Subway to the Sea" will spawn? They will litigate over environmental impact reports. They will litigate over missed deadlines and cost overruns. They will litigate about whether the subway has reduced sub-surface support for skyscrapers along Wilshire, thereby reducing their value or constituting a "taking."

This could be good news for us trial lawyer types.

Villaraigosa And City Council Achieve Record Unemployment Rate

Yours truly hasn't been following the local unemployment rate for a while.  I checked it tonight for kicks and giggles.  Care to guess what the geniuses at City Hall have delivered?

Let's give a big "thank you" to Mayor Villaraigosa, City Council Members Garcetti, Cardenas, Huizar, Perry et al., and sous-Mayor Beutner for . . . drum roll, please. . . for the highest unemployment rate in at least 10 years:

That is the latest available figure from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was the rate in July. Can you imagine how much higher it is now?

Here's the table showing the unemployment rate for the City of Los Angeles since the year 2000:

Why Do They Always Send A Fire Truck With The Ambulance?

Doesn't that wind up costing us more money? I mean, I can understand sending an ambulance whenever there's a fire, but I don't get sending a fire truck every time someone just needs an ambulance. Do the injured typically suffer from spontaneous combustion when moved?

In other news, please appreciate the juxtaposition of the "drive-thru" pharmacy and the "drive-thru" for McDonald's.

Here's Why All California Republicans And Independents Should Re-Register As Democrats

How many Californians are registered as Democrats? How many are Republicans? How many are "decline to states" like yours truly?  The Secretary of State's latest press release puts the figures as follows:

Even though they make up just 44.32% of the registered voters, Democrats wind up winning virtually all the elected offices in this state. That means whoever wins the Democratic primary is almost guaranteed to win the general election.

For example, do you know how many of California's state senators are Democrats, and how many are Republicans?  The numbers are 25 and 14, respectively: a two-to-one majority. Wow. State assembly: 51 and 27; there are two vacancies. Nearly a two-to-one majority again. Plus, take a look at the City of Los Angeles:  13 to 2 on the City Council; plus the Mayor and City Controller.

So here's what all Republicans and "decline to state" types should do ASAP:  re-register as Democrats.

I'm not saying abandon your values or policy preferences. I'm saying re-register so you can participate in the only party whose members actually wind up in office.

Why? Because right now, you're essentially guaranteed to lose, and have zero impact on public policy. But if you can start winning Democratic primaries, you can win general elections.

How could a former Republican or "decline to state" possibly win in a Democratic primary? By focusing on facts and policies, not buzzwords that divide people rather than unite them. Plus, look at those numbers again:  Former Republican and "decline to state" voters could swamp the Democratic primaries by fielding 50 voters for every 44 Democratic "classic" voters. And if the "classics" split their votes, well, it would be that much easier, wouldn't it?

Rally To Restore Sanity

Had enough with extremists on both sides?

So has John Stewart.

Check out his video announcing his march.

Prosecutors Should Ask Villaraigosa How He Spent $111 Million

The City Controller has issued a press release saying that the Villaraigosa administration has spent $111 million in federal funds intended to create jobs -- specifically, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds -- and created just 55 jobs.

That works out to $2,018,181 per job.

If that's not a prima facie case of embezzlement, what is?

It's time for City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, District Attorney Steve Cooley, California Attorney General Jerry Brown and U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte to start investigating where all this federal tax money went. That money was supposed to create jobs, not vanish in a puff of corrupt smoke.

Brown Should Sue Villaraigosa, Too

California Attorney General Jerry Brown is suing officials from the City of Bell on the theory that their pay was grossly excessive. The work they performed was not worth the compensation they received.

Okay.

Shouldn't he therefore likewise sue Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa?

Think about it:  Under the City Charter, serving as Mayor is a full-time job.  According to a review of Villaraigosa's calendar by Patrick Range McDonald in the LA Weekly, however, he spent only 11% of his time doing the job for which he is so lavishly paid.

How about it, Jerry?  Seems to me the people of Los Angeles are entitled to an 89% salary refund, applied to a $200,000+ per year salary, for five years.

If Mexico Is So Great, Why Are You Still Here?

Illegal immigration problem? What illegal immigration problem? I don't know what you're talking about.

I'm sure that, throughout America tonight, thousands of people gathered in public squares, along with all their local elected officials, to yell "Viva Mexico" and listen to Mariachi music, including singers praising "la raza." After all, what could be more American than to celebrate another country's independence day? And haven't we all practiced our "El Grito" yell? I know I sure have.

Here's some delightful video from Channel 7 ABC news showing the many local officials who participate, including Mayor Villaraigosa, who is the subject of three separate ethics investigations, and who called for "immigration reform" in Spanish, and City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who has been indicted and is awaiting trial on a lovely medley of felonies.  After that, enjoy some Channel 11 Fox coverage, featuring interviews in Spanish because, you know, it's our job to learn their language, not vice versa, you xenophobic racist bastard, you:

Media Silence Deafening: Cheree Murdered By Illegal Alien Parolee



Jamiel Shaw, the Bologna family, and now Cheree Osmanhodzic

The late Cheree Osmanhodzic's name must now be added to the long list of innocent American citizens whose murder could have and would have been prevented if our government had simply enforced immigration laws already on the books.
The man who assaulted her, murdered her, and set her body on fire to hide his crime, was an illegal alien from Mexico named Omar Armando Loera.  He was on parole, and has a long felony record. He shouldn't have been on parole.  He should have been in prison for the crimes he committed, including the crime of re-entering the country illegally after having been deported twice.

What makes this story even creepier is that almost all of the media reports omit to mention the fact that the murderer was an illegal alien.

Ticketgate: Fox 11's Schwada Still On The Case

Schwada deserves a THIRD Emmy.

First of all, hats off to John Schwada of Fox 11 News for breaking the Ticketgate scandal in the first place, and for following up with the story of Mayor Villaraigosa's flagrant violation of L.A.'s anti-corruption laws.  Schwada is a REAL investigative journalist, a rare commodity in this town of "press release journalists." Somebody give that man an Emmy.

Set forth below is the video from last night's news story -- it's broken into two parts. Note how Villaraigosa tries to "spin" his violation of the law to make it sound as though what he did was legal at the time, but won't be if City Council adopts a new proposal from the Ethics Commission. Note also how yours truly doesn't let him get away with it.

If you're not familiar with Ticketgate, by the way, click here for one of my more informative essays, posted at my old website.


[Technical difficulties warning: There are supposed to be two different videos below, the first starting with the anchors and the second starting with John Schwada.  For some reason, the first keeps turning into the second.  To both at Fox's website click here.]

Ticketgate Back In The News Tonight On TV

Yours truly will be interviewed tonight on Fox Channel 11 news during the 10:00 p.m. hour about Ticketgate. Tune in, would you?

What is "Ticketgate?"  Here's a link to one of my prior essays at my old blog:

Villaraigosa's Illegal Scheme to Promote Himself at Taxpayer Expense

Gotta run. I'll remember to break a leg.

City Councilman Garcetti Costs Local Actor A Dream Gig

Artist's conception of Garcetti cameo.

One of the best TV shows is called "The Closer," an L.A. police drama. It's one of the few shows still taped here.

If you're a struggling actor -- I know, redundant -- be sure to thank City Councilman Eric Garcetti for screwing you out of a dream gig on the show's season finale.

You see, besides masquerading as a City Councilman, he took YOUR role as L.A.'s Mayor on the show tonight.

Ugh.

Garcetti play-acting as Mayor on one show.  The Mayor play-acting as Mayor on another -- remember, the soap opera? What's next? Cardenas on "Jersey Shore?" Jan Perry as a corpse on CSI? Rosendahl as . . . as what?

Hey, let's make this a game.  Use the "comments" feature to nominate Spring Street Gang members for TV shows. The winner gets . . . nothing, unless he's got a non-profit with a Spanish name.

THIS Is An Emergency?

El Grito?

You know what City Councilmen Ed Reyes and Bill Rosendahl consider an "emergency?"

Let me give you a hint.  This was something so very important and urgent that it simply could not wait to be put on the City Council agenda in the ordinary course of business, which would have given the public to comment on it.  Want another hint?  Here is how Reyes put it in his motion, which Rosendahl seconded:

I MOVE that the Council determine, as provided in Section 54954.2(b)(2) of the Govermnent Code, and pursuant to Rule 23 of the Rules of the City Council, that there is a need to take immediate action on the following matter AND that the need for action came to the attention of the City Council subsequent to the posting of the agenda for today's Council meeting.

The urgent matter was as follows:  Giving $25,000 of your money to a "non-profit" called "The Wall Memorias Project," for "various expenses incurred for this year's celebration of El Grito."

What, you may ask, is "El Grito?"

Darndest Coincidence

What are the odds?

City Councilman Bernard Parks just happened to vote to award a lucrative airport contract to a group that included the biggest supporter of his failed run for County Supervisor.

That's quite a coincidence.

You can read about it in an article at LA Weekly's uber-excellent news blog, "LAX Concession Clash:  Councilman Bernard Parks Hands $30 Million to Magic Johnson's Company."

Hey, here's a wild idea: How about renting space at OUR airport to the HIGHEST bidder?

More Signs Illegal Immigration Has Gone Way Too Far

Chase, Verizon and Arco are major corporations, and they don't even bother putting any English in these outdoor display ads here in Los Angeles. Almost makes you miss the days when you could "press one for English," huh? You can't "press one" on these signs. They are signs of how far gone illegal immigration is in America's second-biggest city.




Plus, let's not forget today's big parade for Mexican Independence Day, featuring Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in the same city that called off the St. Patrick's Day parade, supposedly due to a lack of funds. Right. We can afford to pay thousands to City Councilman Cardenas's sister and brother-in-law to take low rider cars to Mexico for an exhibition, but we can't afford a parade to justify a day of drinking here where we need it. That is totally blarney, man.

America Getting 9-11'd In Monthly Installments By Illegal Alien Gang Members

As a nation, we remember the horrible day nine years ago when thousands of innocent Americans, minding their own business, were murdered in a single morning by foreigners who commandeered airplanes.

But we're getting 9-11'd over and over again, in bits and pieces, by foreign gang members who enter the country illegally. They're murdering us in monthly installments.

Remember Chandra Levy? She was the Washington, D.C. intern working in Congressman Gary Condit's office. Her murderer, having confessed to the crime, is now on trial. The Washington Post reported today that he is "an illegal immigrant from El Salvador," one of whose three tattoos is "a symbol for the Mara Salvatrucha gang, or MS-13." Another of his tattoos resembles his famous victim, Chandra Levy. The third tattoo, on his scalp, depicts the devil.

Authorities arrested Levy's confessed murderer, not on the street, or in his home or a business, but "in a federal prison in Victorville," California, where he was already "serving a 10-year sentence . . . for assaulting two other women at knifepoint in Rock Creek Park."  He's trying to keep his confession out of evidence by saying his rights had been violated; he had confessed after the police lied to him about having DNA evidence.

Levy's murder was not an isolated event.  Gang members in our country illegally murder our fellow citizens regularly, without provocation.  Consider a few examples:

Here's Your Beer Summit On Koran Burning

Dear Islamic World:

We understand how terribly, terribly offensive it would be for some moron in Florida to burn your holy book.  We understand that about your religion and your culture. We get it. 

But now it's time for you to learn four important facts of about our culture. Consider this your beer summit teachable moment, without the beer, because, well, we know about your beer thing:

1.  We can say whatever we want.

The first thing you need to know is that in our culture, we have legal rights. We have the right to remain silent, but we hardly ever use that.  Where's the joy in silence?  Instead, we prefer to exercise our legal right to open our big fat mouths and yammer on about anything we want. 

Why Do We Have Chelsea's Law But Not Jamiel's Law? Racism?

Now, more than ever, we need Jamiel's Law. The Los Angeles Times reports as follows:

Two Latino gang members were convicted Thursday of first-degree murder in a hate crime trial surrounding the deaths of a 14-year-old black girl and a potential witness in the Harbor Gateway area of Los Angeles.

The panel also found to be true the allegation that the girl's killing was a hate crime.

The jury deliberated for less than two days in the case of Jonathan Fajardo, 22, and Daniel Aguilar, 23, both members of the 204th street gang. Fajardo was found guilty of killing Cheryl Green because she was black.

*     *     * 

Green's death sparked community outrage and widespread reaction from authorities and politicians about gang violence and black-Latino tensions in the neighborhood, a narrow stretch of Los Angeles between Torrance and Carson where graffiti with racial epithets were an everyday occurrence.

The girl's death was but one of a number of slayings in the area police believe were racially motivated. 

Remind me: Why do we give "sanctuary" to gang members who are in the country illegally? Why is it okay for illegal aliens to engage in "ethnic cleansing" of black children?

If a white child molester kills a white girl, we get a "Chelsea's Law" in seven months -- as well we should. So how come when an ILLEGAL alien gang member kills a black teenager, like say, Jamiel Shaw, II, the City of Los Angeles continues to give "sanctuary city" protection to GANG MEMBERS?  Sounds racist to me.

Another Rat Jumps Off S.S. Villaraigosa

Boy, I bet HE was counting down the days on his one-year apartment lease.

Talk about bonehead moves:  He joined Villaraigosa after working for Hillary Clinton. Major downgrade.  That was one small year for a man, one giant step backwards for a man's career.

Anyhow, say "sayonara" to Chief Deputy Mayor Jay Carson.

Where The Hell Was The Mayor? Busy Making Yet Another Video?

Did you see the TV news coverage of the "community meeting" in Westlake over the shooting of the knife-wielding illegal alien Guatemalan with the criminal record?  Did you see video of the crowd heckling Chief Beck when he read eyewitness statements?

Did you see the video where the Mayor Villariagosa addressed the concerns of the "community?" Did you see him try to calm everyone down, and explain, in Spanish, that here in America, it's considered "wrong" to attack police with knives?

Of course you didn't, because the Mayor didn't bother to show up. Villaraigosa pulled a "Polloraigosa" and hid from confrontation -- like when he refused to debate yours truly in the 2009 election. This Mayor only has time to show up for happy photo-op events and make videos featuring his favorite person in the whole world: himself.

He has time to make videos about vital issues like "Fashion Night Out," and to stand with fashion models to urge you to buy haute couture in L.A. But he doesn't have time for trifles like trying to prevent rioting in the streets -- rioting by the illegal aliens whose violation of federal law he aids and abets with his "sanctuary city" policies.

Irresponsible. Shameful. Disgraceful. That's the "leader" of America's second-biggest city. This is still technically America, right? You want to fix it? Four little words:  Sheriff Joe for President.

In the meantime, look at how much time Villaraigosa -- too busy to prevent rioting -- spent gazing adoringly at his own reflection in camera lenses for "Fashion Night Out" and dozens of other videos posted to his own YouTube page.  His office produces more video locally than Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC combined. Too bad he never produces any results for taxpayers.

You want more Villaraigosa video? You got it, amigo -- even en espagnol:

We're Number One! Thank You, City Hall!

No wonder Detroit's leaders want to bulldoze entire neighborhoods.  How else could they keep pace with the fantastic achievement produced right here in Los Angeles by Mayor Villaraigosa and the rest of the Spring Street Gang?

By handing hundreds of millions of dollars of your money to developers who, in effect, take the money and run, City Hall has made our city the leader in . . . wait for it . . . vacant lots.

Read all about it in Tim Cavanaugh's essay at Reason.com.

Plus, the hits keep coming:  the LA Weekly reports today on the return of the 1601 N. Vine boondoggle.  Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reported on the Slauson Central Retail boondoggle.

Hundreds of millions of your tax dollars go to these scams every single year through the CRA.

Are All California Officials Megalomaniacs?

Are all California officials megalomaniacs? Is it an unspoken job requirement? Or do they just think voters are really, really stupid?

I ask because, according to the Daily News, Governor Schwarzenegger and unspecified "Los Angeles- area officials" are taking a trip to Asia together, and they want you to believe the purpose of the trip is to convince Asian companies to open factories and businesses here.

They can't possibly think Asian business owners are that stupid, can they? Why would anyone who can manufacture a product elsewhere subject himself to the misery of trying to do business here? Sure, you can essentially bribe one or two companies -- like BYD, about which I wrote on April 29, 2010 -- to open a small office here if you promise them massive governmental contracts. But no one in his right mind opens a factory here to compete in the real market.

Oh, well. Maybe Schwarzenegger, Villaraigosa and whoever can get some nice t-shirts expressing their world view, as in, "Why yes, actually, the world DOES revolve around me."

Were They Supposed To Wait Till He Stabbed Someone?

Hey, you know a great way to prevent illegal aliens from Guatemala who brandish knives from getting shot by LAPD? Enforce the immigration laws.

Here's Channel 7's coverage of the Tuesday night mini-riot:

Judging from Channel 2's coverage last night -- which I saw but could not find a copy of -- it looked as though a few in the crowd were trying to provoke the police.

And why wouldn't they, after all the money Villaraigosa handed illegal aliens without a trial for the "May Day Melee?"

The solution to this kind of BS is simple:  enforce the damn law.  Enforce the immigration laws. Enforce the laws against public drunkenness. Enforce the laws prohibiting people from blocking traffic. Enforce the laws requiring people driving cars to have a license, registration and proof of insurance.

The Los Angeles Times reports that at least 22 people were arrested at last night's riot. How many of them, do you suppose, are in this country legally? Oh, mustn't even ask, because only Nazi Germany and Arizona believe in immigration laws, right?

This isn't rocket science. This is what happens when career politicians treat illegal aliens as if they are above the law, and refuse to lift a finger to protect the quality of life of the City's law-abiding, tax-paying citizens who pay their excessive, unearned salaries.