We're getting close to that June 6th election day, guys. I trust you've all calculated the shortest possible route to your nearest polling station? I slay myself.
Aside from gubernatorial primaries and local elections, we've also got a coupla educatorial-type propositions: 81, which would let the state borrow money for library support; and 82, the so-called Reiner Initiative, which would provide voluntary half-day preschool to all children in California. It only costs the rich 1.7 percent of their income, and only if they make $400,000/year for an individual, $800,000 for a couple.
Comparison: 1.7% of a $30,000 income comes to a whopping $510. If the rich don't feel like ponying up a bit of spare cash to support California's kids and improve our state, perhaps the less rich might use a comparable amount of cash on handgun supressors, then kill and eat the rich (or feed them to their children. Always look to the children).

Then there's the county-wide Measure A, designed to prevent eminent-domain seizures of private property in order that it be handed over to other private concerns - in other words, no more taking mom/pop stores for mall conversions. Wait - you mean stealing, dealing in stolen property, and receiving stolen property weren't crimes already? Hot damn, what else could I be getting away with?
Best of all is Yorba Linda's Measure B. The Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Redevelopment want to force the city to require voter input on zoning decisions in the downtown area. A splinter group of radicals has even announced plans to circulate a petition demanding a recall of Councilmembers Ken Ryan, Allen Castellano, Keri Lynn Wilson and Jim Winder. The Weekly has already documented Councilmember (emphasis on member) Ken Ryan and his close friendship/working relationship with developers.

Ryan's ilk claim to be "environmental planners", but they just plan how to develop the environment. All environments. Urban environments even! Liberals are so close-minded in the way they limit their use of 'environment' to the context of environmentalism:

en·vi·ron·men·tal·ism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n-vrn-mntl-zm, -vrn-)
n.

1. Advocacy for or work toward protecting the natural environment from destruction or pollution.


2. The theory that environment rather than heredity is the primary influence on intellectual growth and cultural development.

At first that second definition seemed totally irrelevant, but now I'm not so sure...

Note: Thanks to Ed Rakochy of Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Redevelopment for correcting an earlier misconception of Measure B, describing it as an issue on population density

"The policies of the Bush administration and Congress have made the future look even grimmer for young people," author Tamara Draut says in an interview with AlterNet. And one of the remarkable things about the way we live now is that it's nearly impossible to guess what she's referring to. There are just too many choices.

Is she talking about environmental degradation? A good guess, but no. What about the Bush administration's subordination of science to short term political goals? Definitely a problem, but not the one Draut has in mind. Our disastrous foreign policy? Sure, it'll be wrecking havoc and costing lives for many years to come, but that's a topic for another day. The subversion of civil liberties? A dark stain on American history, of course, but not the subject of the interview. Torture? Out of control spending? Relentless cronyism and other forms of corruption? The assault on the Separation of Powers through Presidential Signing Statements? No, no, no, all good guesses, and just the tip of the malignant iceberg, but what Tamara Draut is talking about is the financial situation facing Gens X and Y: "Young adults today, working to get into the middle class -- they're being hit by a one-two punch: The economy no longer generates widespread opportunity, and our public policies haven't picked up any of the slack."

In her new book Strapped: Why America's 20- and 30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead, Draut examines why 60% of 18 to 34 year olds are having trouble keeping their heads above water. It wasn't always this way, Draut explains in her interview:

A generation ago, a young person entered the labor market on an escalator. Young workers could count on a swift and stead progression in their earnings. Today, young workers enter the labor market on one of those automated airport walkways. Productivity may be rising, but young workers' paychecks are staying flat.

Back in 1972, the typical 25- to 34-year-old male high school graduate earned just over $42,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars. Three decades later, male high school graduates are earning just over $29,000. But the earnings for college grads have remained fairly steady over the last three decades.

Young women's earnings have also declined, but not as steeply. Young female workers with college degrees have experienced growth in their incomes compared to three decades ago as career opportunities have grown, though women in this age group earn less than their male counterparts at every level of education.

The earnings picture is grim. But add to that the reality that while paychecks have been stuck in first gear, the price of housing has soared in the last ten years. This is especially true for young professionals because the hottest job markets are still clustered around our nation's largest and most expensive cities. Between 1995 and 2002, median rents in nearly all the largest metropolitan areas rose by more than 50 percent.

And it turns out that the reasons for the change have nothing to do with kids these days being a bunch of lazy bums who just want to lie around and illegally download music, and rather little to do with the favorite imaginary friend of economists, the Invisible Hand of the Market. To find out why Draut says, "the breakdown in opportunity and economic security didn't 'just happen,' and it can be changed", read the interview.

For anyone interested in helping the victims of the massive earthquake in Java, globetrotting raconteur and author of the forthcoming Prisoner of Trebekistan, Bob Harris has helpfully posted on his blog a list of charities assisting the survivors. Bob's post also touches on some of the questions you should ask when deciding which charity to entrust with your money. Questions like WGWCWJGIAMVW? and HMCJLP?

X-Men: The Last Stand seemed like a good idea at the time. For the most part, it's at least entertaining and at times even manages to turn you on a little, get your juices flowing. But the end is the King Kong classic of cinematic blue balls.

King Kong is a perfect example of a movie that gave fans everything they wanted and more. We got to see Kong fight a T-rex, a brontosaurus stampede, beetles and bloodworms and ether (oh my!). But The Last Stand leaves you unsatiated, desperately longing for more. Or even some. Sure it's a challenge to cull through decades of storylines for enough material to fill a theater without alienating fans; but that also means you have dozens and dozens of storyboarded screenplays. In other words, there's little excuse for clunky dialogue, clunky ideas, and a real problem with inter-series continuity. Here are the more agonizing elements:

1. Where the hell is Nightcrawler? I seem to remember something about him, oh, I don't know, trying to kill the President, something we can all vicariously appreciate. What about saving Jean Grey when she fell from their groove-jet? Nightcrawler is absent from the film (though present in the video game, as Luke Y. Thompson industriously notes in our paper), though they've managed to stick in every other vaguely identifiable mutant they can. Look, it's Collossus! Might that be Jubilee? Anyone catch Gambit? But no Nightcrawler. Bamf and he's gone.


2. Um, Angel. Yes. Most poorly constructed character since Nixon. But Mr. Y. Thompson puts it best - the less said, the better.


3. PG-13? My ass! And Famke Janssen's ass too! Hot damn but the number of young children forced out of the theater by shocked parents belies the ridiculousness of this film's rating. You like to watch Wolverine dry-humping a rather limber Jean Grey on a hospitable bed, her black hot pants nigh-invisible, don't you, bitch? Plus, Mystique really doesn't need to morph from a naked blue shapeshifter to a naked human Rebecca Romijn (slowly, in front of our eyes, while writhing). In fact, that particular scene was so inappropriate I'm going to have to study it several more times to figure out just how inappropriate it is. Baby.


4. It's a bit unnerving that no one's yet mentioned any possibility of Mystique being Rogue's mother, as in the comics, but when you turn Juggernaut from Professor Xavier's brother into a British football hooligan, you're pushing it. Still, much love to Vinnie Jones. "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!" We haven't heard the last of that line.


5. My major beef: where's the fucking phoenix? When Jean Grey fully releases her powers in the comics, she becomes the raging heart of a giant flaming bird, talons and beak extended in attack. It's basically the ultimate orgasm of the Marvel Comic Universe. At the height of her evil powers, Dark Phoenix eats a bloody sun. They allude to this firebird at the end of the last film; as the camera scans over Alkali Lake, what at first seems a trick of the eye soon looks quite like an enormous bird. Those bastard sons of a tease were saying, "Hey, come to the next film, we'll show you more!" But they don't. We think we're about to see it a few times, but uh-uh, honey. Not this time. She's got a headache. And true X-men (or at least Phoenix) fans leave the theaters with the emotional and spiritual equivalent of a ballache.

Ain't no fortunate sun

The latest campaign finance disclosure reports give evidence that the corruption scandals swirling around Sheriff Mike Carona translated into cash for his two key challengers, Bill Hunt and Ralph Martin.

In activity between March 18 and May 20, Hunt and Martin raised a combined $75,000. The two-term incumbent received only $42,000. Individually, Hunt raised almost $39,000 during the period. Contributors gave Martin nearly $36,000.

Still, Carona has a huge lead in cash-on-hand ($322,000) going into the final days of the election. Hunt has $15,000 left. Martin reported $11,000 in the bank, according to his campaign report.

Despite the fund-raising advantage, the sheriff apparently thinks he's going to need more money. In recent weeks, he's made calls demanding that his big donors give more. Martin thinks he knows why. The LA Sheriff's commander says his television campaign commercial--the one that features a photo of Carona embracing a Las Vegas strip club owner and mob associate--has not just captured attention but angered the public.

"People are just blown away when they see their sheriff with that guy," said Martin.

If a candidate does not get more than 50 percent in the June 6 election, there will be a run-off in November between the top two finalists.

See the Weekly's online Sheriff's Scandal archive for stories about Carona's reign.

Glad to see the Los Angeles Times follow up earlier this week on the Mater Dei High girl-diddling basketball coach scandal we wrote about in April. Yesterday, a judge ruled attorney John Manly can interrogate anyone he damn wants for the civil trial. Might one of those people be Orange County Treasurer candidate Patrick Desmond? According to Desmond's ballot statement (which we have on our desk but, since we don't know how to scan you'll have to see here), the man was CFO for Mater Dei for a short time during the 1990s, a time when the high school was hopping with teacher-perverts. If there were any secret financial payouts to sex-abuse victims during that time--and that's the Orange diocese's favorite type of pay-out--Desmond would've known.

Santa Monica's Heal the Bay has issued its 16th annual Beach Report Card, documenting the water quality at Southern California's beaches-- though "quality" may not be exactly the right word, since the report card lists SoCal's top ten beaches in terms of water pollution. This year, Los Angeles County is the clear winner in the bacterial sweepstakes, capturing a whopping 8 of the 10 places on the list. But coming in at lucky number 7, ensuring OC gets its share of the shame, is Doheny State Beach in Dana Point. Disappointing? Yes. Revolting? You bet. But in its own foul and diseased way, it's also somewhat hopeful.

Last year, Doheny State Beach came in at number 1, in a tie with the exceptionally nasty San Diego combo of Imperial Beach/Tijuana Slough/Border Field State Park. And last year, Doheny wasn't Dana Point's only contribution to the list: Baby Beach at Dana Point Harbor came bouncing in at number 6. For two years before that Doheny had had the top spot to itself (with the Dana Point's Baby Beach lurking lower in the top ten each year), after sharing the number 1 ranking (warning: pdf. file) with Santa Barbara's Arroyo Quemada in the 2001-2002 list (DP's Baby Beach was number 6).

So congratulations Dana Point, you are officially no longer as disgusting as you used to be.

As we raise our children, so we raise our pets.

Today's Register contains a Greg Hardesty piece on National Dog Bite Prevention Week. Profiled is Klaudia Estrada, an Anaheim Hills mail carrier who has been twice bitten, one attack piercing the "tanned, smooth skin" of her right leg. Sounds like Hardesty wouldn't mind doing some piercing himself.

Estrada was bitten once by a poodle, and once by a cocker-spaniel. Though she said it was "sort of embarrassing" to fall victim to such foofy dogs, keep in mind there's a reason poodles are associated with the rich; they're some funky badass guard dogs. Also, she has nothing to be embarrassed about; after all, she survived. Pomeranians weigh in at about four pounds, but that didn't stop one from mauling a 6-week-old to death.

"The most horrifying example of the lack of breed predictability is the October 2000 death of a 6-week-old baby, which was killed by her family's Pomeranian dog…The baby's uncle left the infant and the dog on a bed while the uncle prepared her bottle in the kitchen. Upon his return, the dog was mauling the baby, who died shortly afterwards."

-Baby Girl Killed By Family Dog, LA Times, Oct. 9, 2000

While pit bulls and Rottweilers are responsible for the majority of dog-bite-related fatalities, any mistreated or ill-trained dog is a bite threat. Also, say you want to get a mean dog to scare people – are you going to pick up a miniature Greyhound? No. Nor Chihuaha neither. Pit bulls and Rottweilers are more likely to be used as fighting dogs based on their reputation, which is both deserved and intimidating, and thus this reputation enhances and fuels itself as the dogs continue to be bred and trained for violent behavior.

Who cares about dog bites? Only those poor shmoes who have to pay insurance – in 2004, dog bites generated over $320 million in homeowner's insurance liability claims, fully a quarter of all claims (according to the Insurance Information Institute). As far back as 1995, State Farm estimated the annual cost of payments related to dog bites to be two billion dollars—two hundred times what Sheriff Carona asked the County to pay to cover his legal bills.

So why is Orange County so bite-happy? Well, dogs (like people) require months if not years of diligent training before they can be trusted, responsible family members. But California is image-conscious – dogs are pets, sure, but they're also status symbols, chick-magnets, and even stylish accessories to give your Louis Vitton the excruciatingly hip look that comes from cramming a small mammal into a handbag.

I certainly don't remember spending much time training my dog in his youth. Perhaps that's why he would escape from the house whenever he had the opportunity, and sometimes sexually assault people, especially children. As an Australian Shepherd, Taz was a herder by instinct. So, when children saw him bounding down the block and turned to run, he would naturally give chase, bark correctively, maybe nip at their heels, and finally leap majestically onto their thighs, humping away madly.

When we've got parents who ignore their children's moral education until they're forced to confront it in a court of law, as with Greg and Don Haidl, is it really any surprise our dogs have a discipline problem? Trust me, it's nothing compared to the rampages these kids would lead if only they weren't self-medicating constantly with Xanax, Ambien, and marijuana.

At the end of the day, dog bites are still only the 2^nd most common cause of admittance to emergency rooms. What's the first? That one American pastime even more prevalent than neglect and abuse – baseball.

p.s. My parents were much better about training their children than their pets. Love you, mom. Hi, dad. Happy 31st Anniversary.

This just fell from the virtual sky courtesy of your favorite Seal Beach activist, Doug Korthof:

Hi,

We all know that Al Gore was swindled in the first of the neo-con "managed elections" of 2000, and that the theft of elections continues to this day via:

--Voting Machines fixed, altered or fraudulent,

--Local voting personnel suborned,

--Felon list "disqualifications" of Black and Democrat voters via Bush "data companies",

--Voting day dirty trix such as lack of poll-workers in certain areas and times, barricades and police lines, lack of ballots, arcane voting materials, polling-place closures and other nasty surprises,

--Active sabotage by Bush mole-operatives inside Gore's campaigng via Bush-paid phony "consultants",

--Phony "wedge issues" to get out the beer-belly vote, etc.,

The same methods will, no doubt, be used to steal the next few elections.

More dangerously, newpapers, television news, and mass media have been seized and "consolidated" by the Bush propaganda machine so effectively that they convinced people that the Electric car failed, that Saddam had something to do with 9-11, that global warming is a myth, and a lot of other "Big Lies".

Lies so big, you can't imagine anyone would have the gall to say these things with a straight face.

We also know that Al Gore was hornswoggled into not objecting to the theft, and now, he's angry at his own foolish submission. Gore maybe is almost as angry as we might be from the evil machinery of the Bush fascism descending on a free people. After all, we bear the brunt, not him.

It's easy to blame the inept Al Gore, but maybe he learned a lesson. It's unlikely that there will ever be a lot of enthusiasm for a Gore presidential run, he's as clueless as John Kerry, and just as easily manipulated by the well-organized Bush dirty-trixters -- the same folks who brought you the McCarthy hysteria, the Vietnam undeclared war, and the Nixon revolution. Some say the history of the U.S. Presidency, since Eisenhower, is really the struggle of opposing factions of the CIA, with the operations ("wet") branch winning a final victory after Clinton, when Gore was trounced. Now, the Bush faction is ascendant, their enemies dismantled, and the once-free American people put up with official torture, star chamber, elevation of the executive above the law, looting of the treasury, aggressive wars of conquest and pillage, and the destruction of the few environmental protections won over the last few decades.

More perplexing is people's bland acceptance of the "war on language", where the "Patriot Act" is, really, a law that quintessential patriot Patrick Henry would die to oppose, where the "clear skies" are really a license to pollute the air, where there is an amazingly ill-defined "war on terror", a never-ending snipe hunt no one can explain, deprivation of human rights, interminable imprisonment without trial, sanctioned abuse and torture reminiscent of Bush's frat career in DKE, and so on, and on, and on. Bush minions declare, in unguarded moments, that "we're an empire now", and think it's OK to subvert foreign governments in ways that would outrage them if the situation were reversed. Not surprisingly, the rest of the world is alarmed, and baffled about how to restrain the Bush Berserker.

So poor Al Gore has a lot of baggage to atone for, and a lot of explaining about his 2000 failure. Was he deceived, paid off, or scared off?

But Gore's sin, if sin it be, is not understanding the desperation, immorality and the extent to which Bush would stoop to clever, pernicious and underhanded "dirty tricks" to sabotage him. Now, poor Al has a new campaign, wakening people to the danger of global warming, and reminding us of those halycon days "BB" -- Before the Bush insanity.

There is Gore's documentary movie, "An Inconvenient Truth". While the bad guys have seized the mainstream news and the government, other views are allowed in movies, books and in comics. They allow us the book market and the internet, where our opinions are circumscribed and hidden from the mainstream. Preaching to the choir does not expand the congregation. Books detailing many of Bush's lies have proven to be a muted drum, inaudible and harmless.

Please join the Al Gore mailing list. It's a lot better than the bland b.s. that comes from the Democrat National Committee, which some call "Republican-Light" and others call the "Loserman Lobby".

Sign up on here for the mailing list, and you can also register for his on-line forum.

At least poor Al brings up one valid and inconvenient issue, unlike the worthless DNC, which is still struggling in the intellectual sandbox into which it cast its own future.

/Doug