"Orange Juice! Politics For The Rest Of Us." - 12 new articles
Obama’s 9-11? U.S. Captain held by Merchant Marine Organizers Freed
From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli… the worlds oceans are, at least temporarily, safe once again for Americans from the scourge of Piracy. Let’s face it. There’s something deep and intrinsic about “pirates” and its more than just the glamour of Johnny Depp. Its a gut clenching fear, a raw emotional response. And our teleprompter-in-chief has just bested a group of pirates and saved the brave ship captain. His stock will jump 10 points, maybe 20. Right up until this morning, I was ready to gut him for a failure to act. I still think that he simply was forced to act by military advisors who had been chomping at the bit for 72 hours to get the job done. And reluctantly he was forced to take a chance that it could go very bad and make a move. Some are going to say he was “quite and careful”. I say he was a deer in the damn headlights. Look at how he responded… saying nothing for days . Has it turned out well for him? Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.Healthcare for the Easter Bunny?Happy Easter 2009! The resurrection of Christ is no small matter and as much as our society has been secularized…….lest us not forget the true meaning of why Spring has Sprung and the soul of man remains cleansed by others sacrifice! This Easter Sunday finds a lonely sea captain….tossing in a lifeboat with Somali terrorists/pirates. We find great sadness from finding a beautiful eight year old girl, with her dead body stuffed into a suitcase in a lake. We find her friend’s mom and her Sunday School teacher presumably responsible. We see seemingly endless wasted tails of mass murders by either upset, out of work, disgruntled employees…..or family members who have lost not only their way….but have provided an end for blood relatives as well. Meanwhile, the Easter Beagle has come and children around our country have found the multi-colored eggs that are not eaten or chocolate bunnies. Foil wrapped or encapsulated in plastic…they bring their wondrous finds with bright eyes to their loving moms and dads. They don’t sense the high crime rates, the meltdown of the economy, the people who were living on credit cards that now have their interest rates sometimes not only doubling but tripling. President Obama seems to be doing a good job of trying to keep our hopes up. He is not letting grass grow under his feet and also seems to have the great energy necessary to deal with great multiples of problems. Those of us that are basically traditional Republicans are finding it tougher and tougher to listen to the foul and negative rhetoric our party continues to spew, in the attempt to “counter Democrats”. What ever happened to those 100 day “Honeymoons” that most new Presidents are given after election day? Partisan politics is not new. The Republicans however - across the board, seem to be stamping their feet as hard as they can. So, let’s look in earnest at what two items the Republicans do have as legitimate concerns about the Obama Budget. The first is “Cap and Trade”….which is a total rip off. It raises the cost of energy for every American and is inflationary at best. The actual polluters are akin to those people during the Civil War that paid others to go into Army for them. It does absolutely nothing to stop polluters. The second and most important issue of dire contention is “National Healthcare”. “National Healthcare” sounds good on paper….but when you take a look at the models of other countries..it does cause a pale shadow across the concept. Canada, England and Germany all have “National Healthcare”. Has anyone told you how much they take out of your paycheck to get “National Healthcare”? England 20% withholding, Canada 23% withholding, Germany 21% withholding taxes. One in five dollars will be taken out of an American paycheck. For those that are self employed…the situation will be worse. You will have 20% taken out of your Gross pay…not even your Net pay. The Easter Bunny will have to bring lots of eggs to make up for these concepts. In addition, putting everyone into this type of healthcare system precipitously will be sure to create one of the worst rationing and shortages for Healthcare in US history! A National system would take several years to ease into, at best….if we do it effectively! One last gift from the Easter Bunny today! Three pirates have been killed and one captured. Our US Navy Seals did the deed, after Captain Richard Phillips jumped overboard from the Lifeboat for the second time - to allow an open field of fire for our Seals. God Bless America and Happy Easter all. Happy Easter, Santa Ana style
Happy Easter from all of us here in Santa Ana. Ours is a very religious city - replete for the most part with a lot of very fervent Catholics. But our city used to be known as the “City of Churches,” and that moniker still fits. We have a plethora of churches in town, of every denomination. One of our churches featured an interesting take on the Passion Play, on Good Friday, which precedes Easter. “ No doubt about it, the death of Christ was a bummer. But that is the glory of Easter. He came back. He made the ultimate curtain call. That put Christianity on the map - it wasn’t that long, historically speaking, before Christianity was the official religion of Rome. So Happy Easter! Our family will do what we always do. Go to church then come back home so I can cook. On the menu today, my secret recipe fried chicken, sauteed asparagus and green beans, and homemade potatoes au gratin. My sister in law is bringing a ham. And my other sister in law is bringing two pies. Yummy! And of course the kids are looking forward to a rousing Easter egg hunt in our backyard… Tax revolt reaches Hermosa Beach as folks have had enough!You wouldn’t think that Hermosa Beach would be an outpost for the Tax Revolt, but that is exactly what happened yesterday, as “Dozens of people hit the Hermosa Beach Pier on Saturday morning to rally against government tax increases,” according to the L.A. Times. The Times also reported that “If voters reject those propositions, the state could face a $14-billion deficit that would grow by $16 billion if Proposition 1A also doesn’t pass, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.” So maybe our State Legislators and our lame Governor better figure out what to cut out of our state budget? I have written about this ad nauseum, but it bears repeating. The Libertarian platform could lead us out of this mess! Here is what we need to do to dig out of our budget hole:
We CAN resolve our budget problems - but not with a Democratic or Republian agenda. They put us in this mess. How about trying freedom for a change? Santa Ana “Usual Suspects” trading card set debuts!
Santa Ana’s notorious “Usual Suspects” have been commemorated forever in a new e-trading card set that was forwarded to us here at the Orange Juice. Apparently the cards will be issued three at a time over the next few weeks. Above you can see the first card in the series, spotlighting our former blogger, Thomas Gordon, who now blogs for Red County and Sunny D. Below you can see the next two cards in the series, featuring OC GOP Central Committee member Tim Whitacre and RSCCD Trustee Mark McLoughlin. Stay tuned for more cards as we get a hold of them!
You can print these cards and get them autographed. Collect them all and save them for posterity! I think that several of these “Usual Suspects” will be at the next Santa Ana Planning Commission meeting, where they will no doubt attack our blogger Sean Mill. That should be entertaining - and you can try to get Gordon’s autograph after he finishes his public comments.
Next week’s series, I am told, will feature a special “Joker’s Wild” insert featuring none other than Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido, and a fellow with the odd nickname of “Count Chocula,” and a mystery card featuring a very controversial member of the Usual Suspects. Collect them all! Mission Viejo’s 11th Annual “Fun With Chalk” Street Painting FestivalAs a former Advisory Board Member of the Mission Viejo 501 C-3 non-profit “Fun With Chalk” Childrens Creative Festival I continue to be amazed at the masterpieces drawn on the asphalt of a parking lot. While many of us receive emails showing similar creative works of art from Europe you can simply drive to the Norman P Murray Community & Senior Center in Mission Viejo and watch the artists create and finish their masterpieces in front of your eyes. The following is but on example from my photo archives.
Fun with Chalk “Fun With Chalk marks 11 years of success and support of local art programs for public school children with its annual street painting and fine arts festival on Saturday and Sunday May 2 and 3, 2009. The two day festival features re-creations of the Old Masters and original works, all by noted artists and all created on asphalt. Visitors may sign up for a free drawing for a $5,000.00 cash prize to be awarded by sponsors, Grand Pacific Resorts. Gilbert Note: As this prize opportunity includes attendees at other events, the eventual winner may not be an attendee at this event. Hours: 10: AM to 5 PM., both days. Location: Norman P. Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way (at La Paz), in Mission Viejo. The festival features live street painting, all-day entertainment, art workshops, and food. Admission and parking are free. See the website for further information and directions. www.funwithchalk.org White House Going to the Dogs on Tuesday!
A Portuguese Water Dog will be joining the First Family next week! No name has yet been selected. According to TMZ, “a black and white, six month-old, male dog will be coming to the White House this Tuesday with the help of Senator Ted Kennedy’s family.” The Kennedys have bought 3 of these Portuguese Water Dogs from the same Texas kennel that will be shipping this week to Malia and Sasha Obama. The dog is currently named Charlie, but it is expected that he will be renamed by the First Family. The girls have floated “Frank” and “Moose” as possible names for their new post-Easter doggie. You can see the actual puppy on www.firstdogcharlie.com. This is the REAL OBAMA DOG coming to the White House on Tuesday. There had been hopes and speculation that the Obamas would have adopted a dog from a shelter. The Obamas were drawn to this specific breed because of its friendly temperament and its lack of undercoat making this dog a good hypoallergenic choice for Malia who suffers from allergies.”Charlie” was previously returned to the kennel for reasons that are not yet publicized. In a twist of good fortune for Charlie, he is being re-homed to the Obama family. Why are O.C. Republicans trying to recall a guy in San Bernardino?
I think that GOP Assemblyman Anthony Adams deserves to be recalled, for voting to increase our taxes, but isn’t it a bit odd that his recall is being led by a group of Orange County Republicans, when he represents the San Bernardino area? Isn’t that bad form? I mean how would we like it is a bunch of guys from Upland drove down to Orange County to try to recall one of our guys? Imagine a 909 RV brigade circling around the Santa Ana office of State Senator Lou Correa. Wouldn’t that be a bit creepy? “Republicans aren’t winning many battles lately, but a couple Orange County GOP bigwigs are gearing up – and may have found a vulnerable target. The man in their sights happens to be a Republican Assemblyman, but Mike Schroeder and Lee Lowrey say he’s betrayed constituents by going against a signed pledge not to support new taxes,” according to Martin Wisckol over at the O.C. Register. Wisckol also reported that “Schroeder and Lowrey are longtime pals from Corona del Mar, both with long histories in politics. Schroeder is former chairman of the state GOP and Lowrey is chairman of the conservative Atlas PAC. There have been just two successful recalls of California legislators since 1914 – both of them in 1995 – and Schroeder chaired both efforts. The two are political pros who know how to raise money and run campaigns.” Corona del Mar? That sure is far from San Bernardino! I cannot imagine that the voters in San Berdo are terribly pleased about this. And how can anyone expect this recall to get support when it is being led by the evil Mike Schroeder? And why is an O.C. PAC going after Adams? All of this silliness is giving Adams a way out, as he illustrated in this quote in an article in the Daily Bulletin newspaper, “I think it’s a shame that a Newport Beach political activist wants to tell people in my district how they should vote,” Adams said. “I feel very confident that we’ll see a strong showing (against the recall).” And here is the kicker, at a time when the state and many cities and counties are broke, this recall is going to cost a bundle, according to the Daily Bulletin:
I would have no problem with this recall if it was being led by San Bernardino Republicans. But it just seems wrong for a bunch of rich guys in Orange County to be driving this wagon, doesn’t it? To add to the irony, it turns out that Adams was endorsed by the CRA, an ultra-conservative group of California Republicans, in 2008. Now these same guys are trying to take him out. Why did they back this guy in the first place? Schroeder and company created Anthony Adams, now they are trying to whack their Frankenstein’s monster. Is this the return of Prop. 187?
California’s Republican Party is almost dead. So what do these guys decide to do to restore the GOP? Some of them are bringing back Prop. 187, via a new state initiative: “A conservative group is hoping to bring the issue of illegal immigration back to the front burner of California politics with a ballot measure that would create a new caste of birth certificates for children of the undocumented,” according to the Sacramento Bee. Here are a few excerpts explaining this new “Son of Prop. 187″ initiative:
But wait, there’s more: “A second unrelated initiative was also cleared Friday for circulation. That measure would tighten voting rules, requiring voters to show a government-issued ID.” Will these racist Republicans never learn? CHP officers to the rescue to fight Santa Ana gangs
“High intensity gang areas in Santa Ana are getting a dozen California Highway Patrol officers to patrol streets along with local gang detail detectives, in an effort to curb gang violence through suppression, surveillance and probation checks,” according to the O.C. Register. Here are a few more excerpts from the O.C. Register:
Very interesting. At last the SAPD has had to admit that they can’t stop crime in our city without help. This reminds me of the mess in Mexico, where state and federal cops routinely have to come in to cities that have been overrun by drug lords. We’ll take whatever help we can get! But the article did not that the CHP officers will be paid overtime to do this work. So I guess our state will be more broke than ever! Dengue Fever coming to Santa Ana this Saturday night
When I first heard that Dengue Fever is coming to Santa Ana I must admit it scared me a bit. This is a hemorraghic fever from Africa that has taken root in South Texas and Louisiana, thanks to a local mosquito that can carry this viral disease. However, as it turns out it is the band “Dengue Fever” that is coming to my town this Saturday night, at the Yost Theater, courtesy of Dennis Lluy and Koos. Click here to buy tickets. You can read more about this on Facebook. Here are a few details and more information about the band: SATURDAY APRIL 11 Start Time: Saturday, April 11, 2009 at 9:00pm Doors: 9:30pm | $10adv/$12dos | All Ages ABOUT DENGUE FEVER: Dengue Fever’s psychedelic take on the Cambodian pop sounds of the 60s makes them one of rock’n'roll’s most unique success stories. They draw enthusiastic crowds from LA to the UK , from Maui to Moscow , and leave critics rummaging through their thesauruses looking for new superlatives to describe their sound. Their appearance at this year’s WOMEX, the world’s largest international music conference, cements their position as a global phenomenon. Amazon.com named their album, Escape From Dragon House, the #1 international release for 2005. In England , Mojo named Escape to their Top 10 World Music releases of 2006. Brothers Ethan (keyboards) and Zac (guitar) Holtzman started Dengue Fever in 2001 when they discovered they shared a love for the Cambodian pop music of the 60s. After adding sax man David Ralicke (Beck/Brazzaville), drummer Paul Smith and bassist Senon Williams, they went looking for a Cambodian singer. Enter Chhom Nimol, who performed regularly for the King and Queen of Cambodia . Her powerful singing, marked by a luminous vibrato that adds exotic ornamentations to her vocal lines, and hypnotic stage moves based on traditional dances, complimented the band’s driving Cambodian/American sound. Venus On Earth, out January 22, 2008 on M80 Records, is the third chapter in the band’s continuing journey to create a unique fusion of Cambodian and American pop. This time out, the songs are more American and more Cambodian, a sound that honors both cultures while fashioning its own singular identity. "We made a conscious decision to simplify the sound," says album producer and Dengue drummer Paul Smith. "There’s a lot of space in the mix, more swing in the playing. The arrangements are less jammy; they’re finely constructed, with plenty of surf music and spaghetti western twang." Guitarist & songwriter Zac Holtzman agrees. "We wanted a jazzy, European feel, with enough space to increase the impact of Nimol’s vocals. It’s emotionally deeper and moodier, in the tradition of the French chansons, but still retains its Cambodian soul." SAPD officer shoots woman who had a baby in her car(Video Courtesy of the L.A. Times) “A woman who led police on a high-speed pursuit from Buena Park to Santa Ana was shot and killed by a Santa Ana police officer early this morning, authorities said. A toddler who was in the back seat was unharmed,” according to the O.C. Register. Wow. Apparently the SAPD does not know if the cop who shot this woman was aware that she had a baby in the car. The Register reported that an officer did see the baby seat when the police tried to stop the lady’s car by trapping it. But she rammed her way out. The woman proceeded north on Grand and was shot near 17th. Now think about that for a minute. That is a very busy intersection. It is not far from the nicer part of Santa Ana. I live about five minutes away, in the Park Santiago neighborhood. Had the lady gone any further she may have been shot near Santa Clara, which leads directly into my area. At any rate, the police still don’t know if the lady got out of her car or otherwise threatened the cop who shot her. SAPD policy dictates that “deadly force is authorized if an officer is fearful for his or her life or the life of others,” but we probably won’t know for some time whether or not the officer in question had a good reason to shoot the driver. The chase began in Buena Park, after cops in that city tried to pull over this lady because they thought she might be a drunk driver. The chase continued, at speeds over 100 miles per hour at times, until the lady ended up in Santa Ana, where she ultimately died. This is not the first such incident in Santa Ana. We had another shooting about a year ago, near the 55, where you may recall that a man was shot with dozens of bullets after the cops stopped him. That incident occurred when there were a lot of folks driving through the area. Too bad that we have not figured out a better, non-lethal way to stop folks. I really hate to see our police officers shooting guns in crowded areas. If the shooter in this case was trigger-happy, we need to bid him adieu and let him see if some other police department wants to hire him. Incidentally, I tried to use the SAPD’s online reporting program today to complain about one of our former bloggers, who now blogs over at Red Clownty and Sunny D. He threatened today to “come over to my house at midnight and take care of business.” He was upset about an anonymous comment that mentioned him. I filed the report online, only to get a message that it could not be accepted because it contained information about the suspect. Duh! So I called the SAPD and they said that the threat was not specific enough for them to file a complaint, as it did not mention a specific weapon. Can you believe that? So I told the lady that I would wait for the guy to attack me and call back. To which she said, “OK.” Wonderful. What a ridiculous police department we have here in Santa Ana! As for the thin-skinned blogger who threatened me, he really ought to get out of blogging. If this business makes him so crazy that he resorts to threatening folks, surely he ought to find something else to do with his time? |
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