I Step Away For a Minute...

You may have noticed this post from our newest Contributor La Femme Wonkita.

...and you are probably wondering what a Newport Beach blog is doing have a Costa Mesa former elected contribute to it.

I am asking myself that same question...

I guess Free Speech and interesting ideas follow no City boundaries.

Anyway, at the insistence of the Winships, please welcome her with the same patience that I have been afforded.

Enjoy.

READ MORE - I Step Away For a Minute...

Voting for Sheriff

This week Sandra Hutchens was publicly sworn in as Orange County Sheriff-Coroner. By all accounts, Hutchens is bright, tough, and highly experienced. An added plus, she comes in as an outsider not obviously allied with any political faction in Orange County, but has the political savvy to have risen high in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. She seems a great choice for our troubled Sheriff’s Department.

Still, shouldn’t we have an elected Sheriff? Under Article 11 (Section 3) of the California Constitution, counties are supposed to have an elected sheriff. Even charter counties must have an elected sheriff (Article 11, Section 4).

Why don't we get to vote?

How can we have an appointed sheriff? Under California’s Government Code, all elective county officers, except supervisors on a split cycle, are to be selected at the same election as state governor. Just in case there were any question, the Code specifically says that sheriff is to be elected on the same gubernatorial cycle and that vacancies are to be filled “as provided by law”.

The Supreme Court established the precedent that the above Code means county officers can't be elected at any other time in 1901 in People ex rel. Owen D. Richardson v. Cobb (S. F. No. 2684, Supreme Court of California, Department Two, 133 Cal. 74; 65 P. 325; 1901 Cal. LEXIS 865, 1901), a case about a local justice; and People ex rel. Martin Murphy, Respondent, v. Al. G. Col (S. F. No. 2657, Supreme Court of California, 132 Cal. 334; 64 P. 477; 1901 Cal. LEXIS 1060, 1901), a case about county auditor. This has been cited as a precedent for appointment of sheriff in Orange County and elsewhere.

But what about the California Constitution? It says we’re to have an elected sheriff. The precedent setting cases above don’t address offices that, under the Constitution, must be elected. Does the California Constitution even allow an unelected sheriff?

State law says that if the office of sheriff becomes vacant, the undersheriff is to assume the sheriff’s duties. Should we have to make do with an undersheriff until 2010? That seems unsatisfactory. Would an undersheriff be able to authoritatively undertake the reforms the Orange County Sheriff’s Department so clearly needs?

We can vote in the future.

Do we really only have three choices? Violate the California Constitution, violate State law and judicial precedent, or muddle through with an undersheriff? The Orange County Charter requires that vacancies on the Board of Supervisors occurring in the first three years of a term be filled by election. Vacancies in the final year of a supervisor’s term are to be filled by the top vote getter in the March primary.

Why not change the charter to apply this provision to any elected county office, or at least those the State Constitution specifies as elected offices? There’s an election this November. It’s not too late to place a charter amendment on the ballot.

Then again....

On the other hand, maybe the system has worked pretty well as is. A local councilman seems unable to believe that a Y chromosome is not essential equipment for the job. He’s not alone, either. Even the Democrat’s presumptive nominee for president , for cryin’ out loud, puts down a respected female reporter as “sweetie” and blows off her question with barely a ripple in the media. Are the voters of Jurassic Park numerous enough to sway an election to a lesser candidate purely on the basis of sex?

Maybe the OC Supes are doing OK the way it is. After all, the voters picked Corona in the first place.

READ MORE - Voting for Sheriff

Back in the Mammo Again

Yesterday I went for my annual mammogram and my semi-annual appointment with the surgeon. The mammo technician was on a word diet, I believe. I think she had only a certain number of words to use that day. She called me by last name, and issued me curt instructions s about where to stand and when to breathe and when to not-breathe. The plates really hurt my breast, but I didn't mind. The machines at the Mammogram Factory, where I used to go, didn't hurt my breasts much, and also didn't reveal my cancer until it had reached stage 2. I asked to have a radiologist and not a fellow talk to me about the results. I got a middle-aged woman I'd never seen before. She explained that I had calcifications and they'd been benign in the past, and hadn't changed much, and were probably benign. But she recommended I have another mammo in six months. I told her that when I was first diagnosed, I had a bad experience with the fellow, who hadn't called me when she said she would, and then when she did call, just said, It's positive, and seemed very cold. The radiologist looked in her records to see who that fellow was, said she was now out of state, and that she was sorry. She added that some patients might not even know what positive meant, they might have thought that it meant good news. She said she didn't like having people receive the news over the phone because you don't know where they are, and that it's really bad when you give the news to an elderly woman who's alone. I asked what training the fellows get, and said that they should get better training, and she said the best thing is to give feedback, that's the only way they know if anything's wrong. I guess I should have said something at the time, but there was so much else going on. I was still teary about this. I hated that cold blonde fellow.

And I know that she was nervous, and aloof-seeming because she was nervous, and also seemed defensive, because she wanted to prove she was a Real Doctor while the patients were thinking she wasn't real and bona fide yet. And maybe it didn't help that she was pretty and blonde and maybe all her life had been trying to convince people that she really was smart. I think now I would be able to tell people they had cancer, but I wouldn't have been able to when I was younger. Why should some 25-year-old know how to do it? I think the radiologists make the fellows do it because they don't want to. At a conference in Iowa this spring I heard a med student (widow of a man who died of cancer in his 20s) talk about how her fellow med students would giggle when they were role-playing delivering bad news. And she didn't want to chide them and tell them that it wasn't a laughing matter, she just let it go. I think the radiologists need to train the fellows how to talk to patients. What makes this tricky is that you have to be secure if you're going to address the patient without pretense, and the teaching docs can't teach security, they can only encourage it. If you're secure then you don't have to be absorbed in proving your expertise. You can pay attention to the needs of your patient.

I do want to find out how they're trained to tell patients they have cancer. There's is a humanities center connected with Fancy Hospital, and I know it's well-regarded, but I haven't met any of the people there. I shall.

READ MORE - Back in the Mammo Again

Does City Council Really Want to Help West Newport

Notice to the Newport Beach Community

The Drug Rehabs at 435 & 435 1\2 Dahlia in CDM are now licensed but
City Officials won’t tell the public. I’ve asked Asst City Mgr Dave Kiff,
Councilman Henn and Outside Counsel Jim Markman directly about the
progress of the City’s Group Home Rehab Ordinance enforcement efforts
and they all refused to answer anything. They continue to hide behind a
feeble “ongoing legal proceedings” excuse. What’s really going on?

Apparently, the City refuses to close illegally formed Rehabs ONLY
OWNED BY Sober Living By The Sea. Only Sober Living’s sites you
ask ? That’s sure what it appears..…and I have numerous examples.

You should call and ask your City Council rep about their “honest” efforts
to curb Over-Concentration. You may even want to ask if it’s true that
Gardner, Rosansky, Henn and other City Officials are presently
negotiating with Sober Living By The Sea to allow them to open more
Rehabs throughout the City in exchange for ? For money or to drop the
suit? Why is Sober Living being favored you ask? Consider this.

Bob Burnham directly stated to me Sober Living By The Sea was one
of the largest Contributors in ‘04-05 to Burnham’s Rehab-related business.
Remember that business of him and his wife that that Burnham ran out of
the City Attorney’s office while he was helping to change Newport Beach
Group Home laws to make Rehab proliferation easier throughout Newport
Beach. It should be noted that monies contributed to their business went
towards paying Burnham’s own wife’s salary, which he enjoyed as
community property.

Sober Living By The Sea was also the operator represented by OC Repub-
lican Chair – Scott Baugh that is until he supposedly “resigned” his consult
-ing gig after Rosansky “ratted-him-out” on public radio…. right? Do you
think anyone NOW on City Council owes Baugh any political favors…?
I think there might be one guy..! Sober Living By The Sea was also the
operator represented by the Ex Newport Beach Mayor Dennis O’Neil in ‘06.

Do you think Gardner, Rosansky and Henn and the rest of City Council are
on the side of the Community…? Think they’ve been motivated by money or
political advancement ? What “spin” are they all going to sell us now?

I don’t trust any of them and I believe you shouldn’t either. See the dishonesty
at play here..?

Bob Rush

READ MORE - Does City Council Really Want to Help West Newport

Remember when we had a 2nd Amendment?

"The Second Amendment, as passed by the House and Senate,
reads:

“ A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security
of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear
Arms, shall not be infringed. ”

The original and copies distributed to the states, and
then ratified by them, had different capitalization and punctuation:

“ A well regulated militia being necessary to the security
of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear
arms shall not be infringed.
===============================================================

Today the Supreme Court of the United States made a ruling:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91913956

The Supreme Court's decision Thursday to overturn the District
of Columbia's 32-year-old ban on handguns is the high court's
first conclusive interpretation of the Second Amendment since
its ratification in 1791.

The 5-4 ruling strikes down the District's ban on handguns
— one of the strictest in the nation — as incongruent with
the Second Amendment.
===============================================================

For those of us that believe strongly in the Right provided by
the 2nd Amendment....the recent events offer both a good side
and a possible downside. The good news is that "bans" are not
allowed. The bad news is that "certain types of firearms" will
now be or may be re-categorized by the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms. Once that action is taken...it may allow
many invasive "regulations and fees" to be applied. Our many
Government Bureaucracies are famous for "Annual License and Fee
Requirements". Sure, if you want a pistol in Washington, D.C
.....no problem now. Just supply your medical and arrest record
since birth. Just supply and pay for a Bio-ID, a DNA sample and
a GPS locator for each firearm! Possible? We will soon see!

What we are saying here...is....it may not be time to celebrate
precipitously. "The well-regulated...." section of the 2nd
Amendment has opened the door to "Firearm Licenses"...in states
like Illinois for example. You can't buy Ammo without it. You
legally can't own a firearm without one! The decision by the
Supreme Court today to support our rights to firearms is a lot
better than not....but what each State, City and County in the
nation does now will be most telling. Our guess is....that the
anti-gunners are well prepared to go on the offensive from both
Houses of Congress, State and Municipal Governments.

Before 1969....before the assassinations of Martin Luther King,
Bobby Kenndy, before the Stockton Schoolyard massacre....before
the shootings of George Wallace, Malcom X and more.....firearms
were an American way of life. Every cowboy, combat or news story
on television featured the use of firearms. At Knott's Berry
Farm they even had mock shoot-outs in the streets! Quick draw
was a way of life and even Sammy Davis Junior was one of the
"fastest guns on earth!" The Colt Peacemaker was a must collector
piece and the M-1 Carbine was a must for every boater in America.

In 1959, while taking a Discussion & Debate Class at USC....we
had to give a speech which included a tangible object. I brought
an "Plugged" British WWII Sten Gun. An automatic 9 millimeter
machine pistol that fought the Nazi's! It was a Model II with a
great "wire" pop on, pop off metal stock! As I rode through the
various streets from 28th Street on my bike...with the Sten slung
on my back....very few even thought anything about it. My father
a few years later found it in the garage and rushed to the local
dump and acted as if he had found nitroglycerin! It was legal to
buy by mail for $19.95 in 1957....out of Mechanic's Illustrated.

Those were the days..when we could leave our doors open on hot
summer nights! We tell this story..not to shock but to illustrate
how things have changed in this country. We bought firecrackers
in Tiajuana, Mexico that were the equivalent of a quarter stick
of dynamite! Why the BATF never regulated those is beyond us!

We solidly believe however that people have a Right to protect
their persons and property. We believe that "bans" on typical
firearms such as: revolvers, pistols and semi-auto firearms
rifle or pistol are against the intent of the 2nd Amendment and
the beliefs of our Founding Fathers! Are we realistic enough
to believe that we now live in the so-called "One World" and
laws will be made to restrict or limit the ownership of firearms,
automobiles or other destructive mechanical devices? Yes!

In the meantime, we cautiously thank the current members of the
Supreme Court for their "findings". Do we believe that this
issue will be addressed in the next five - ten or twenty years
from now? Yes! Will the new finding agree with the one found
today? With a 5-4 vote....anything can happen!

READ MORE - Remember when we had a 2nd Amendment?

Good News/Bad News - RINOs Everywhere

I suppose all this is because of my foolish expectations.

When one hears that six members, out of seven, of our Newport Beach City Council are Republican, you would expect (or at least hope for), at the very minimum, fiscally Conservative ideals to come through.

After all, City Councils are non-partisan, and you can't really expect Socially minded issues to come through this local level.

But I was wrong, or at least I got a bit too idealistic.

Out of the Six Republicans:

• Two personally told me that they probably hover more towards being Moderate.
• One became a Republican a month before announcing his City Council run
• One is a convenient Republican who only gets involved during their Election years (who was no where to be seen during the Republican Party of OC's 70 AD GOTV meeting)
• One is considered a Conservative (fiscally and socially) and should know better.
• Don't know (don't care) about the 6th.

The other Newport Beach Councilmember?

• Changed her Party registration from Green Party to DTS months before her election.

So where am I going with this?

If I told you that there was a Government body which:

• Spent more than they brought in.
• Borrowed to make up the difference
• Raised Fees (taxes) to help bring in more money.
• In incapable of looking within to cut expenses.
  

You'd automatically think that we were talking about the State of California with our "republican" Governor.

Wrong.

You'd be talking about the City of Newport Beach.

Here's the latest article about the City raising fees for City Services in an effort to bring in $3.5 million bucks more per year.

Good News - City will have to borrow less to pay for it's increased spending.

Bad News - City spends too much money.

So...to sum up.

• I'm foolish to believe that just because 6 out of the 7 Newport Beach Councilmembers are Republicans, it doesn't mean that they'll act like Republicans (unless they are guiding their actions after the actions of our Governor)
• Raising Fees (like life support and oxygen in an ambulance) is ok, just so long as we lower others (like bike licenses and jail booking fees).
• Spending more than we bring in is ok (especially in an economic challenging time)
• Cutting expenses and being fiscally responsible only happens in speeches.

I sure hope that when Assemblyman Chuck Devore and County Supervisor John Moorlach, who are both considered perfect examples of how to be a Fiscal (and Social) Conservative, go through the requests for Endorsements from these Newport Beach City Councilmembers, they get a really good explanation on how raising fees and borrowing money to cure Newport Beach's overspending is being a good Republican.

READ MORE - Good News/Bad News - RINOs Everywhere

The House

The house is three blocks west and one block north of my condo. It is more than 100 years old. It has original (we think) trim and floors. There is a French man living there right now. He has two children who are in France with their grandparents for the summer. His wife is already working in Manhattan. (Today I just heard about someone in Manhattan so rich that he has a back yard.) The house was on the market since October and sixty people walked through before we made an offer. Four people lived in a space that we will occupy. Though we want it to accommodate guests, including L's two children and their entourages. The For Sale sign out front still doesn't say "under contract." Our walk-through is Monday morning and then noon is the closing and then we run back to weed and pull down ivy. I picture us running through the empty house, too, shouting, It's ours! It's ours!

Property is theft, my friend D reminds me.

But from whom? From the great C0mmon Good? On the one hand, it is preposterous to think of "owning" anything, since we're going to die. But on the other hand, can everything be shared? Theoretically, yes. My friend R used to live in a commune in Germany. You would sleep in whatever bed was available at night and take whatever clothing fit the next morning. If you don't have all your things with you, if you don't have things, then you're not carrying your history around with you, at least on the outside. You're not dragging around your heirlooms and inheritances. Your DNA does that quite well enough on its own. We are supposed to buy and buy, first because of Sept. 11, and now, to stimulate the sluggish economy. To own more and more. The more each person has, the more there is to separate one person from another, to divide us as we individuate by our possessions. The more there is to use to build walls around each of us, to label everything, Mine mine mine.

READ MORE - The House

"Balanced" Budget - Newport Beach/CFO Style

The quote of the month goes to...

Councilman Michael Henn.

As a former CFO for major corporations (Von's, KB Home), there is no doubting Councilman Henn's aptitude for finances.

Perhaps he needs to work on newspaper quotes that make more sense.

In this article about Newport Beach's upcoming budget where $32 million more will be spent then brought in, Councilman Henn had this to say:

“The budget this year is a balanced budget, although our expenditures are higher than our receipts”

Now, math, economics, nor finance weren't my strongest subjects (I did best in my history classes), but if expenditures are higher than our receipts, doesn't that mean that the budget isn't really balanced?

And isn't a budget (created by Republicans) which has more expenditures than receipts bad?

Especially in wealthy Newport Beach?

Since I only work as a Corporate Controller and have not risen to the CFO ranks yet, perhaps Councilman Henn's quote makes more sense to those CFO types.

Anyway, the City will be paying for stuff using gifts and donations from Private Folk and Businesses (earmarking, I guess) and from COPs (Certificates of Participation - Bonds, but not really...).

I guess that low interest COPs should make me feel better.

But what I did learn is that borrowing is still borrowing, debt is still debt

and

The City will be borrowing to balance the budget, even one where "expenditures are higher than our receipts.

READ MORE - "Balanced" Budget - Newport Beach/CFO Style

The Mad Weeder Strikes Again

I was indifferent to gardens in my 20s and 30s. I started appreciating them in my 40s. L loves wildflowers and wildflower walks and he has a front yard with columbine (including a hybrid created by his aunt), hens and chicks from his mother's Downstate yard, irises, poppies from his mother, hibiscus, ajuga groundcover, lilies of the valley (see photo at right), vinca and other plants I'm forgetting. In back he has cacti, false Solomon's seal, asparagus, chives, green onions, yucca, day lilies and gingham girls. He has lilac, honeysuckle and forsythia bushes. All this he will leave when he sells his house this or next year, though he will dig up some of the plants for our new place. We started taking rocks from his front yard to put in our yard. We put them in the trunk of his car and then when we got here we weren't sure what to do with them. I would've just let them sit in the trunk for the next week (We close on the house--see photo--June 30). But he didn't want to drive around with rocks in his trunk. So we put them in my storage area.

This morning I went to Michael McColly's yoga class. I recommend it. What's good is the he talks about breathing and clearing your mind and paying attention to your body. It was odd, though, to be taking a class from someone I know, and to have his familiar voice telling us what to do with our bodies and breathing. My mind buzzed around, as always. The only time I've ever been about to truly concentrate and focus is when I took yoga at the Alliance Francaise. When the teaching was in French, I had to really listen. Alas, the class wasn't always in French. The teacher would let in people who barely knew how to say Bonjour, and then she'd repeat everything in English. That's why I no longer take yoga at the Alliance. When it was an all-French experience, it was like being in a trance, wrapped in a haze of foreign language, and the haze made it feel like you were in a different place.

The yoga room was warm, because for some inexplicable reason, the heat had gone on earlier. I was hot and slightly dizzy. Perhaps the dizziness is caused by gabapentin, which I'm taking to help with the hot flashes. So what should I take for the dizziness?

Yesterday L and I bought flowers in Indiana and today I planted them in two big pots out front. We decided to put them in pots so people wouldn't trample them. Someone walked on some columbine (brought from his yard to mine) and killed it recently. Now I'm afraid that people will pick the flowers because they don't have to bend down to touch them. We shall see. We have cosmos in the middle, and around them I put snapdragons, begonias, and something that looks like impatiens but isn't. At the checkout counter yesterday I noticed special pink garden gloves for sale. With each sale, money goes to Susan G. Komen [foundation] for the Cure--at least $100,000. Both L and I looked at the gloves disparagingly, though I have to admit that $100,000 going to the Komen foundation is better than zero dollars going to the Komen foundation. But I'd rather have $100K going for research on the causes of cancer.

After yoga I walked along Broadway, where there were huge round planters holding flowers in various stages of health. Some pansies were dried up. There were weeds in all the planters and as I walked along on my way to Metropolis Coffee Company and back, I pulled weeds. I love to pull weeds. I love when all their roots (see dandelion taproot on left) come up, clean, like a thorn pulled out of a paw. It is so satisfying. Once last year I had a computer mishap and I was so upset I went in the front yard and pulled weeds. It helped. I used to squeeze the blackheads on my father's back and carefully put them on Kleenex so he could see them, dark on one end and light on the other. That was satisfying, too. You'd think I'd love to clean and would be obsessive about it, but I'm not.

As soon as we close on the house, we're going to hurry to it and start yanking out weeds and pulling off the ivy from the sides. We've already surreptitiously pulled a few lamb's quarters from around the tree in front.

READ MORE - The Mad Weeder Strikes Again

Don't look back you may turn into a pillar of salt!

Oil prices today are what most people call: "Unbelievable"!
When will the price at the pump finally cause every person to
yell "Ouch!" or "Ohweee!"? Well, that moment is soon approaching
for almost everyone. Our pal Jim Righeimer wrote today in the
Daily Plot..thinks that it is a Democrat/Republican thing. We
think it is a big greed thing!

Jimmy says he supports McCain's idea of 100 Nuclear Facilities
around our country. 100! He also seems to be from the school
that believes that we can drill our way out of $8 dollar a
gallon gasoline! He said he was shocked to pay $4.59 this week
for each gallon of gas. We have been paying $4.77 - $4.85 for
the last couple of weeks! He failed to mention any possible
Financial or Institutional Market Speculation that has driven
the cost per barrel into the stratosphere! Jim failed to mention
the fact that the Congress and the Administration has failed to
call and enact serious Regulations that will roll back the Enron
Exception added to the 2000 Farm Bill...that allows speculators
to buy Futures with no money down and makes Market Manipulation
an easy gig....for those that know their way around the market.

Jim, also didn't mention the 400 Hedge Fund Managers that have
been taken into custody by the Securities and Exchange Commission
for wrong doing, fraud and serious misrepresentations of products
civilians might invest in. Maybe, CALPERS or CALSTRS got hit and
the finally action had to be taken. Lot's of those Pension funds
may soon be in danger of becoming insolvent. Then what? Sounds
like another Government bail-out coming hey? Let us hope upon
hope that Chairman Chris Cox stays the course and keeps the heat
on this "Greed Merchants of Doom"! They are indeed the reason
that Energy and Commodity prices are going through the roof.

When those Sub-Prime Mortgages and Discounted Bad Credit Card
Debt Funds became "Persona non grata" on Investor sheets....they
had to pump that cash someplace. Guess: OIL, GOLD, CORN,
SOYBEANS, ENERGY FUTURES and who knows what more!

The regulations thatwe are talking about include: Higher Margin
Liquidity demand requirements, limits on market participation...
percentage of the buy-in's even with associated Investors or
Investment Vehicles. The days of the Wild, Wild West in for
Investing...need to cease. We need to go back to the pre-2000,
pre-Enron Exception rules!

Jim also failed to clearly identify how the Investment Community
is using the term "Hedging" to soften how greed driven it is:
There is nothing wrong with signing contracts with producers for
products at a certain price for a certain term. The example was
in 1980 when the US Government bought the complete supply of then
Mexican Oil....for $10 a barrel for 10 years! That is not a
"Hedge Fund"! That is called a Contract to Purchase. The average
Joe cannot guarantee the country of Mexico that they will pay any
"certain price" for any "certain term" without a huge basket of
Cash and Guarantee's! The US Government could do the same thing
with Iraq right now...if we wanted to. But no, it is in the best
interest of Iraq that the rate float so that they can get more
money for products. Less money the US Government will have to
provide to Iraq right now.

So, where are we? Unemployment in California has risen to 6.8%
and will be going much higher, much sooner than most thought.
The Real Estate Market is dust and only the very rich are able
to buy into much right now. Construction has been frozen and
new car sales have literally ground to a stop! The demand for
cost effective vehicles has skyrocketed overnight. The price of
food and literally everything we buy is going up astronomically.
We are going to see many municipalities go belly up, many counties
and perhaps many good people we even might know. The worse case
scenario will be the lost Public Safety budgets and the fact that
the falling Real Estate prices will require projections of future
Federal, State, County and City budgets for years to come!

The good news is that the demands for water, electricity and more
infrastructure...has abated somewhat. We believe that drilling in
the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve or drilling off the "dead sea"
coast of South Texas..will not lower our price of a gallon of gas.
We believe that long term oil contracts by the Federal Government
from major oil producing nations may cut the cycle, but then who
is going to play? Guess, we may find out who are friends are soon
enough!

READ MORE - Don't look back you may turn into a pillar of salt!

Welcome our new Sheriff of Nottingham!

It's a strange day in Sherwood Forest when Robin Hood and
his Merry Men get to choose their own Sheriff of Nottingham!
Now before everyone goes ballistic, let's get this straight:
Sandra Hutchins has been deemed by the Orange County Board
of Supervisors to become the very next Sheriff of Orange
County to replace: "under fire", "under Federal indictment"
and "resigned" former Sheriff Mike Carona!

So what can we expect from this fine lady....with a strong
history of law enforcement in Los Angeles County? Well, for
one thing she has yet to be sworn in. That takes place on
the 24th of June at 9:00AM on the steps of the Old Santa Ana
Courthouse. In case you are in town, you may want to stop
by and wish the New Sheriff well in her future duties.

Having said all that, we wonder then why our New Sheriff has
taken it upon herself to precipitously come out with an edict
to review and reassess all "Concealed Carry Permits in the
County of Orange"? Might not this have waited until after
the swearing in ceremonies and the typical..."Glad you to see
ya..."...protocols? Our guess is that the Sheriff is sending
an Italian Message to some select members of the political
establishment that there will be no fool hardy, hanky panky
political presents or exchanges coming under her watch!

Politics is an ugly game to be sure. Instead of just offering
an election to choose a candidate the people might want after
a series of debates and political exchanges....the Board of
Supervisors took it upon themselves to pick and choose who
they wanted by a three to two vote. At any rate, our guess
is that the Board of Supervisors of Orange County believed
that it was a far far better thing to "appoint a replacement"
than to just have an election....where people ran "for office"!

Now this is a good thing..in the fact that Sheriff Hutchins
will certainly have a strong leg up when it comes time to
re-elect or elect another Sheriff at the end of Sheriff
Carona's term. Hey, between the Haidl "conflopshuns", or the
Charlie Gabbard "forgetmenots", the Jaramillo "permentations",
the "Debra and Deborah co motions", the requested "change of
venue's"; having the Board of Supervisors choose another
Sheriff seems like childs-play! How she will handle the many
concerns or comparisons with Sheriff Carona will be of very
great interest.

One thing is for sure; the new Sheriff will have to be walking
between rain drops to keep out of trouble...between now and the
next election. She has Union problems, she has strong minded
Supervisor problems, she has political enemy problems already!
We certainly wish her every good fortune...trying to work with
great assortment of challenges. There may not be one human
being on the planet that can make this stuff come out looking
good. But we reserve our judgement. We will watch and wait,
we will assess and address, we will pray..that Sheriff Hutchins
can "Walk Tall, Carry a big Stick and still be the smartest one
on the block!" It is a very tall order! We wish her well.

Below is a list of who replaced who over the years....you can
see.....NO Sheriff is on the list:

^ Thomas Riley was appointed by Governor Ronald Reagan in
September 1974 to replace Ronald Caspers, who had died in
office when his ship disappeared in June just nine days after
being reelected
^ Philip Anthony was inaugurated in November 1976 (two months
early), as Robert Battin had been disqualified from office
eight months before the expiration of his supervisorial term
^ Edison Miller was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in July
1979 to replace Ralph Diedrich, who had resigned from office
^ Roger Stanton was a registered Democrat during his first
term as a Supervisor but was a registered Republican for his
final three terms
^ Gaddi Vasquez was appointed by Governor George Deukmejian
in March 1987 to replace Bruce Nestande, who had resigned
from office
^ William Steiner was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson in
March 1993 to replace Don Roth, who had resigned from office
^ Donald Saltarelli was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson in
October 1995 to replace Gaddi Vasquez, who had resigned from
office
^ Thomas Wilson was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson in
December 1996 to replace Marian Bergeson, who had resigned
to become State Secretary of Education
^ Bill Campbell won a January 2003 special election to replace
Todd Spitzer, who had resigned in December 2002 to take a seat
in the State Assembly
^ Janet Nguyen won a February 2007 special election to replace
Lou Correa, who had resigned in December 2006 to take a seat
in the State Senate
^ John Moorlach was inaugurated in December 2006 (one month
early), as Jim Silva had resigned one month before the expiration
of his supervisorial term to take a seat in the State Assembly

*Your comments are invited....as usual....

READ MORE - Welcome our new Sheriff of Nottingham!

Dem Bones

Today I went to Fancy Hospital to get a baseline of my bone density. I wanted to see if I have the beginnings of osteoporosis, which stooped my grandmother and has shrunk my mother a little. I am post-menopausal, which is when you start losing density. (Cancer led to chemo, which caused early menopause, which can be bad for your bones, and cancer also led to the prescribing of tamoxifen, which, praise be, seems to be good for your bones.) L asked what the difference is between post-menopausal and plain menopausal. I asked that of R, the New Oncologist's physician's assistant, and she said--they're the same thing.

So I'm in menopause and also past it. Time warps.

The woman who scanned me was bright and cheery and had a hardcover copy of The Audacity of Hope in her little scanning room. (This election is the best soap opera ever, she said. Nothing's been watched as closely on TV except Roots.) She said the scan was the easiest test I'd ever take. All I had to do was lie down and let the scan scan me. This scanner-person used to do mammography, which she liked, except when adult children brought in their 95-year-old mothers who didn't know what was going on, and thus would start screaming when their breasts were smooshed between the plates. She said in this job, where people don't disrobe or store their accessories anywhere, she's encountered little old ladies with wads of cash stored in their bosoms and guns stashed in their pockets. (One gun per lady.) They don't believe in banks or credit cards and say they're not going to be victims, she said.

My mother believes in banks and credit cards, though not ATM machines. She has never carried a gun, though in Texas, you can carry concealed weapons if you have a license. (You can buy a semi-automatic assault weapon without a license.). She exercises with a group of other ladies in her building, and they use free weights. She also walks in the nearby shopping mall on a longstanding route that's about two miles long. She calls her exercise class her medicine that's not in a bottle.

Today I didn't go to the little park district gym, so I walked home from Fancy Hospital, which I think is about five miles. I window-shopped and stopped a few times. It was easy and the weather was perfect, about 70, and I stopped for vegetarian empanadas for tomorrow and I ran into a student I'd been thinking of checking in with about a class she's teaching. I also saw two attractive beagles and a very shiny black short-haired dachshund, so it was quite satisfying.

I have told L that when I die I'll come back as a dachshund, and he'll have to ask, Is that you, S? and I'll say yes by barking three times. I drill him on this every so often. We haven't figured out what he'll do next. He's allergic to dander.

READ MORE - Dem Bones

The Non-Anxiety Dream

I know it's boring to hear other people's dreams, but wait. For years and years I've had anxiety dreams about going back to the Miami Herald and not knowing what to do: I don't have a place to sit, I don't know what department I'm in and I can't get the hang of putting a story together. Last night I had a non-anxiety dream about being back at the Herald, and in the dream I thought, This is different from my dreams. I was going to write about Miamians who were nostalgic for the town before it became hip. I was thinking of calling the phenomenon "Miami Blight"; it sounded almost right since the reinvigorating of Miami started with Miami Vice, which city fathers were skittish and worried about allowing to be filmed in their fair city.

The editors (in the dream) said they needed more on Broward and Palm Beach counties. I remember my first few days there (in real life), in 1983, when the features editor said, Just drive around and I did, all over, and I got the idea for my first story on South Beach, which was full of retired needle-trade workers sitting on porches in their rocking chairs. I wrote about old feet. I spent time observing in a podiatrist's office. The highlight was an old Italian lady who came in, triumphant, showing the doctor her corns, which she'd cut off and put in a plastic bag.

READ MORE - The Non-Anxiety Dream

Losing My Mind

Pieces of my mind are loosening, falling. I could not think of the name of my cousin's eldest child tonight. I was emailing all the relatives to see if they wanted the coffee table and a painting that I have that were my grandparents' and I couldn't remember his name. I kept seeing his face. I knew his brothers' names and I couldn't think of his. I looked at the family email address and I could tell that it was based on the three boys' names and that it started with J. I said to L, name some names that start with J and then he did and I remembered. Jonathan. How could I forget?

Yesterday I was telling someone that I was a grandmother, that L's son married a woman with a child, and then I drank with my students (one drink, a black and tan) and three hours later I was about to say to the same person, I'm a grandmother. I thought it to myself, of saying it to her, and then I realized I'd said it earlier. But what if I hadn't realized it?

Today in my writing group we were asking one another questions and I said, No one asked me a question, then T reminded me she had just asked me a question. That's why I was answering it, why I had been talking. How could I forget?

There is chemo brain, it is real, we know because it was in the New York Times. I am too young to be senile. I forget words. I say posy instead of peony because I know the word is there, out there in the world, but I can't think of it. I slow my speech because then I have more time to find the words. I see them up there, ahead in the distance, like my cousin's face. Floating just beyond my reach. How will I be able to teach if I can't find words at the end of the sentence?

I just read the NYT article again and I see that tamoxifen can make it worse. I'm taking fish pills, they're supposed to help. I think about meditation. I think about taking a meditation class. When I was drinking my black and tan I said I had decided to take an improv class but I'd forgotten that I'd decided to and my student (my student who is 20 years younger and who does not have chemo brain) laughed in a bemused way and asked, How can you forget what you decided?

READ MORE - Losing My Mind

Black Cohosh

is not recommended for people taking Tamoxifen or people who are susceptible to breast cancer. That doesn't sound right. Can you have a tendency toward cancer? Mebbe so. But the physician's asst. who works with the oncologist suggested gabapentin , which seems like the Swiss army knife of prescription drugs: it does everything. Slices, dices, files your fingernails, cures bipolar and epilepsy, alleviates pain, helps with numbness (which is why I'd taken it before, after Taxol), shines your shoes and washes your dishes. Which may be why the company that makes it was sued fby the Dept. of Justice for marketing it as a cure-all. When I took it before, I got cotton mouth, which I don't have. Yet.

I was spooked by the Severe Yoga Incident and didn't go back to the park district on Thursday to work out. I got back on the horse on Friday and went to the park district's dingy little gym and treadmilled and did weights. For a while in autumn an old guy with a foreign accent would sit on the seat of the leg-strengthening machine, reading the Sun-Times and asking what certain words meant. I haven't seen him for a while. A lot of people come in with their Ipods inserted and don't say anything to anybody.

Meanwhile, Iowa is under water. So difficult to believe. And sad.

READ MORE - Black Cohosh

Zee Blood

I feel I should write about the guy on the L who told me he slept through 9-11 (at his desk, and had to be evacuated by the Illinois secretary of state); and the guy who was offered the job as the head of No Child Left Behind, and refused it, but not before pilfering 100 pages of Cheney's stationery to amuse himself with; and my realization that no one sells bedspreads anymore, just duvets and coverlets and dust ruffles--but what moves me to write is my blood. Which does not move as quickly as it should. It is sluggish. In yoga yesterday after doing a complicated bend up to the side and put your arm through your leg to meet your hand on the other side, we rested. And when I rested I felt that my skin was on fire and had a severe hot flash and I got scared and I felt like crying. I don't know if it was because of the pain or because of the fear. I never know that. I think it was at first because of the pain. I couldn't stay lying down )even as I write that I don't know exactly what I mean, but I know I couldn't) so I sat up and drooped my head and tried to breathe, which was somewhat uncomfortable because my asthma and allergies were acting up. L was supposed to meet me after class and I sat outside on a step waiting, with my head bent over. I called him and he had gone half a mile north by mistake, but I felt I couldn't get up and meet him. I had to keep sitting. Some friends from the class offered to give me a ride, which was very nice. Finally L showed up and we talked then walked to Tac Quick for dinner. I felt somewhat lightheaded and began to feel better.

I had had a big hot flash last week in yoga, but I thought it was bad because I hadn't brought water. This time I had plenty of water during and after class. I emailed my hematologist and called her today and she said she didn't think it was my blood disease, because my blood showed it had thinned out last time it was checked. Today my head feels filled with blood, the way it does after you bend over, and my ears are red. She said I could come in and get my red blood count checked if I didn't feel better. The thing is, the possibility of getting hit by this again feels dangerous, but I asked her, and she said it wasn't. I'm used to, by now, sweating at the drop of a hat, sweating when I do the least bit of exercise, and I don't want my fear to keep me from exercising. Today I've been all teary because I'm afraid. Afraid of what? Afraid of the dizzy and light-headed and on-fire feeling. Afraid of feeling the nest-of-mettles again (O please don't throw me in the briar patch! I mean it!) Afraid of death. Because it seems a precurser to dying. To Death. It felt like death cooled over. A prelude. My father died of an aneurysm that burst while he was shopping for clothes. He had a terrible headache that morning. I don't have a terrible headache. My doctor has told me what a blood clot might feel like. I don't feel that. I'm feeling all the things that everyone expected me to feel when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, but didn't feel. (Just typed "blood cancer" by mistake. Hmm.) I'm feeling, Why me? Why this stupid extra blood-making? And of course it blends into my lifelong asthma, caused in part by exertion. To have something wrong with your blood is to have something wrong with your most vital and essential body-self.

I called the Bouncy Shrink and left a message to see if I could get on Black Cohosh again. It interferes with something else I'm taking, but I'm hoping she can taper me off that and substitute something else.

READ MORE - Zee Blood

New Councilmember Newsletters

As always, thank you to Councilman Keith Curry and to Councilwoman Nancy Gardner for their newsletters.

Here's Keith's


and

Here's Nancy's.

READ MORE - New Councilmember Newsletters

Business Welcome In Newport Beach...Except If You Are A Restaurant

Here's a Question:

What do San Francisco and Newport Beach have in common?

Both are run by Liberal Leaders...? (Sorry, couldn't help that...)

Nope (well...we are looking to borrow more than 10% of the budget to BALANCE IT), Newport Beach now wants to join San Francisco (amongst many others like Berkeley, Portland, Oakland, the States of California and New York).

Gee...I see Republican majorities in all of those Government entities.

Wasn't Governor Moonbeam the Mayor of Oakland?

But alas, in Newport Beach, out of our Magnificent Seven, a whopping Six are "Registered" Republicans.

So what do these "Republicans" want to do?

"Ban on take-out containers moves forward in Newport"

Essentially, in a time of economic difficulty for Newport Beach restaurants, our "Republican" City Council wants to tell them how to run their businesses and what they are, and are not, allowed to buy.

Let me simplify.

OUR "REPUBLICAN" CITY COUNCIL WANTS TO TELL BUSINESSES HOW TO RUN THEIR BUSINESSES.

Go take a walk down Coast Highway in Corona Del Mar, and ask the Restaurants how business is compared to previous years.

Then go tell them that they HAVE TO BUY MORE EXPENSIVE SUPPLIES BY LAW.

You talk about California being unfriendly to Businesses, Newport Beach wants to add it's own difficulties to their own Restaurants.

Fun part of the article?

"Officials suggested they would include a hardship exception for business that can't afford alternatives to expanded polystyrene."

Why bother then?

The impetus for this?

Anyone who has done a beach cleanup (it's been decades for me) fills up their trash bags with these styrofoam containers and cups, but a good point was also made in the article.

"Most beachgoers come from other cities and arrive with pre-packed food, not fare purchased from city eateries, officials say."

And as Councilman Curry once eloquently explained to me, we have millions of visitors to our beaches every year.

I'd say there's a good chance that a ban on a Newport Beach Restaurant's supplies will not affect that trash bag of styrofoam.

Unless, of course, our "Republican" City Council steps up a bit and FORCE our Newport Beach Restaurants to label each to-go container with a Newport Beach identification mark so that when we go through the trash, we can properly identify where the trash came from.

Gee...that's almost as good as the "No Smoking On the Beach Ban."

When my kids and I go to the beach, I take more cigarette butts from my kids hands (yes, I know...perhaps I should watch my kids more closely) than styrofoam containers.

That No Smoking Ban is working great.

The City of Newport Beach want to make a "Green" gesture, perhaps they should follow what San Clemente does and

"ban the use of single-use polystyrene foam products in City facilities and at City-sponsored, -cosponsored, and permitted events."

Instead of going out and hurting our Newport Beach restaurants.

READ MORE - Business Welcome In Newport Beach...Except If You Are A Restaurant

Daftar Aplikasi gratis

Aplikasi gratis beserta source code. Untuk membayar janji saya sebelumnya untuk berbagi aplikasi gratis. berikut daftar aplikasi dan link untuk mendownload aplikasi tersebut. Sebelumnya maaf kalo aplikasi ini tidak sepenuhnya sesuai dgn yg di butuhkan, silakan untuk mengeditnya atau bisa mengajukan permintaan penambahan modul, isnyaAllah akan di tambahkan ke versi berikutnya. dengan catatan dari siapapun permintaan penambahan modul, maka hasilnya akan kembali di sharing untuk semua. Berikut daftar aplikasinya:

1. Freeware Aplikasi Apotek :

Aplikasi ini di buat dengan VB 6 menggunakan database MSSQL Server 2000. Aplikasi ini terdiri dari dua bagian. yang pertama aplikasi setting server, Freeware apotek ini di gunakan hanya sekali pada awal pemakaian aplikasi yang fungsinya untuk mebuat database pada MSSQL Server. kedua aplikasi transaksi.

tinggalkan pesan bagi yag berminat. File yg di donwload merupakan source code untuk menjadikan file executable silakan compile dengan aplikasi VB, kalau VBnya belum ada silakan instal dulu lengkap dengan crystal reportnya. jangan lupa juga aplikasi MSSQL Server 2000 nya harus di install juga.

mohon izin kepada pihak yg telah menggunakan aplikasi ini, sekarang aplikasi ini di bebaskan. mudah2an update terbarunya bisa bermanfaat.2. Aplikasi CD/DVD/PSAplikasi ini juga di buat dengan VB6. menggunakan database MS Acces. Aplikasi ini juga terdiri dari dua bagian. yang pertama aplikasi pencatatan transaksi harian yang di gunakan operator atau penjaga toko. Dan yang kedua aplikasi pemeliharaan data yang di gunakan oleh pemilik.

tinggalkan pesan bagi yag berminat. File yg di donwload merupakan source code untuk menjadikan file executable silakan compile dengan aplikasi VB, kalau VBnya belum ada silakan instal dulu lengkap dengan crystal reportnya. jangan lupa juga aplikasi MS Acces nya harus di install juga.

Mohon izin kepada pihak yg telah menggunakan aplikasi ini, sekarang aplikasi ini di bebaskan. mudah2an update terbarunya bisa bermanfaat.3. Aplikasi koperasi

Aplikasi ini di buat dengan VB 6 menggunakan database MSSQL Server 2000. Aplikasi ini berfungsi untuk mengelola pengambilan barang koperasi oleh anggota dengan pembayaran secara otomatis pada tanggal tertentu, tentunya dengan transaksi pendukungnya. Setelah proses instalasi selesai buatlah data connection (ODBC) dari databasenya dengan nama 'bp'

tinggalkan pesan bagi yag berminat. File yg di donwload merupakan source code untuk menjadikan file executable silakan compile dengan aplikasi VB, kalau VBnya belum ada silakan instal dulu lengkap dengan crystal reportnya. jangan lupa juga aplikasi MSSQL Server 2000 nya harus di install juga.

Mohon izin kepada koperasi Bumi Paarahiangan, sekarang aplikasi ini di bebaskan. mudah2an update terbarunya bisa bermanfaat.4. Aplikasi Produksi

Aplikasi ini di buat berdasarkan tugas akhir temen saya di PT Ceres, tp jangan khawatir aplikasi ini halal, aplikasinya bukan contekan koq, sy cuma minta datanya saja. Aplikasi ini juga di buat dengan VB2 menggunakan database MSSQL Server 2000.

tinggalkan pesan bagi yag berminat. File yg di donwload merupakan source code untuk menjadikan file executable silakan compile dengan aplikasi VB, kalau VBnya belum ada silakan instal dulu lengkap dengan crystal reportnya. jangan lupa juga aplikasi MSSQL Server 2000 nya harus di install juga.

Terima kasih untuk yg sudah ngasih data.5. Aplikasi pelayanan KBlagi2 di buat dengan VB dan MSSql Server (jangan bosan yah..). aplikasi ini mendokumentasikan seputar pelayanan KB, mulai dari cek kesehatan sampe pemasangan alat kontrasepsi.

Download aplikasi ini. File yg di donwload merupakan source code untuk menjadikan file executable silakan compile dengan aplikasi VB, kalau VBnya belum ada silakan instal dulu lengkap dengan crystal reportnya. jangan lupa juga aplikasi MSSQL Server 2000 nya harus di install juga.

Terima kasih untuk yg sudah ngasih data.6. Hotel dan Cafe

Maaf untuk hotel besar kayaknya aplikasi ini tidak bisa menanganinya, tapi kalo hotel kecil kayaknya sih bisa. Aplikasi ini mengelola data tamu hotel dari check in sampai check out dengan transaksi pendukung seperti pemesanan makan di cafe. Setelah proses instalasi selesai buatlah data connection (ODBC) dari databasenya dengan nama 'tropicana'

tinggalkan pesan bagi yag berminat. File yg di donwload merupakan source code untuk menjadikan file executable silakan compile dengan aplikasi VB, kalau VBnya belum ada silakan instal dulu lengkap dengan crystal reportnya. jangan lupa juga aplikasi MSSQL Server 2000 nya harus di install juga.

Untuk dokumentasi yang belum terposting, menyusul yah. Rajin2 saja buka blog ini buat yang tertarik dengan Aplikasi ini.. Mau nanya juga nih, Apakah DFD sama FlowMap nya perlu juga di posting? kalo dianggap perlu tinggalkan pesan ya..jangan lupa kalo ada pertanyaan atau masukan diterima dengan senang hati untuk kemajuan kita bersama juga.

itu saja dulu ya... bongkar2 lagi hardisknya. kalo nemu yang baru ntar di update postingannya...Update 16 july 2008 : aplikasi baru : aplikasi RAB dan Perumahan

Bagi yang hendak mengunduh aplikasinya silakan linknya ada di sidebar sebelah kanan.

READ MORE - Daftar Aplikasi gratis

Why Universal Heathcare may not be a great idea!

Did anyone hit the Trifecta at the Belmont Stakes?
Did anyone see the big white wet spot under the
saddle of Big Brown after the race? Oddly, no one
won that Trifecta...it was paying over $3709 bucks
for a $2 dollar bet. Is horse racing fixed? Who
knows? To paraphrase Sonny Corelone in Godfather 1,
"There's a lot of money in horse racing Pop!"

Well, there is a tremendous amount of money in making
the choice of any nation to offer Universal Heathcare.
So far, the Hillary plan of forcing every man, woman
and child to pay a Federal Premium for Nationalized
Healthcare has been put on the back burner. Obama and
McCain are touting less invasive plans...which include
Government assistance to families that cannot afford
the Premiums!

Should a single mom that works at Wal-Mart have some
form of Healthcare for herself and three kids? You
can bet that both candidates are going to "say" that
they want to help...Mr. or Mrs. America get that very
important protection for their families at affordable
rates! Do they really mean that? Maybe!

Let's just take a long look at what is going to happen
if we do double the demand for healthcare in America.
First of all, if we are waiting for service now...we
can expect waits that are twice as long. Adding 47
Million people overnight or even in a phased pattern
is guaranteed to overwhelm the system. Too many people
trying access too few facilities. We don't have the
trained staff now...as could be seen in Los Angeles
at King/Harbor Hospital. There will be many hospitals
that will simply we inundated for three to five years!
Then, what about the Insurance Companies that have to
move the funds to these facilities from the people to
Government to the Insurance Company and then to the
final Medical Providers.

What about the various forms of Fraud? What about
those people without identification or that are afraid
to use their "real name" because of some disease that
might threaten their job or work or home environment?

Most importantly, we have historic references to draw
from to understand what will happen to the cost of this
so-called Universal Healthcare. Remember mandatory Car
Insurance? Remember the 15 years of high accelerating
rates until a median price could be found for each group
that either lived in the wrong place, had the wrong auto
or was the wrong age? What can we expect these kind and
loving Medical Insurance Companies to do in this regard?
What happens when DNA testing will be a requirement to
get healthcare? What happens when "the Government" takes
it upon themselves to either price all of us out of the
market or denies access because someone won't provide
their DNA Sample? Will the Healthcare Premium come out
of our weekly paycheck? What happens when we refuse to
pay?

The harsh realities are that their are only so many MRI
and CAT Scan machines. Within two to five years they
become "obsolete" and need to be replaced by more
efficient and less radiating models. What happens to
those old and tired machines? Who uses them? Are they
safe? What then happens when your family doctor needs
to see 40 patients a day? What level of bedside manner
do you believe he will be capable of giving in three
years? What will happen is that healthcare will become
"Tricorderized". Remember "Bones" from Star Trek? He
carried his trusty "Tricorder" to diagnose every alien
in the star system. There is little doubt...that seeing
a "real doctor or real nurse" will not be possible in a
world that requires that "everyone has Health Insurance.

"In 1969, while traveling in Spain...I came down with a
case of the German Measles. I had no clue of what it
was at the time. A desperate fever and bright red spots
all over my back, arms and legs. In the beach village
of Sitges was a Red Cross horse drawn cart. The "Medico"
took my temperature and told me in broken English that I
needed to go to the big hospital in Barcelona. When I
got to the Hospital several hours later, near delirium
they put me at the head of the line of over a 1000 people,
because I was from the U.S. After 45 minutes in a cold
white,empty examining room...I decided to leave and die in
France rather than Spain. As I walked out the long walk
way out of the hospital - a lady sat by the wall with
her hand out begging with a dead baby in her lap! I was
two days later diagnosed with German Measles in Cannes,
France!" - Story by Ron Winship

Spain has always had "Universal Healthcare!" since the
days of Franco and King Juan Carlos! Let us hope upon
hope that the two U.S. Presidential Candidates in 2008
will understand that there can be no quick fix to the
U.S. Healthcare System. It will take many years of solid
infrastructure development and years of replacing bad
or worn out medical equipment.

What we probably need are a plethora of Government
Grants for those in the Private Health Industry that
want to build or occupy Office Space that provides our
Healthcare! The Fraud will be immense! The effectiveness
.....less than responsible. The change from Personal
Doctor Care to Medical Machines that make diagnoses...
will take some getting used to. We need to start now
with that research and development, so that in 10 years
it will be considered a "Regular Health Assessment".

"Sell it to the Government..hell, they'll buy anything!"
was attributed to some Senator back in the 1930's after
FDR unleashed his Socialist Programs to Save America!

So, what do you think? Was Big Brown doped, so that he
could not win the Belmont? We will have to ask someone
that knows "The Godfather" to find out! When you watch
the tape....Big Brown had an odd gate compared to all
the other horses in the race...did you see that? Was
the Jockey responsible? We need a Doctor called "Bones"
with a "Tricorder" to know the truth!

READ MORE - Why Universal Heathcare may not be a great idea!

The Great Beekster!

When the full history of Newport Beach is written...
(Oh, they already tried that!)..well, our edition will
include the legend of Alan Beek. The Harry Potter
series will look like child's play....oh my...two in
one paragraph! We are talking Fantastic Finishes and
the Fantastic Four when it comes to great story lines.

For the uninitiated, Alan Beek and the Beek family run
the Balboa Island Ferry. A Newport Beach icon since...
1919...that's right...1919! Talk about "legacy" when
it comes to both the history and even the concept of
Newport Beach..must include the famous Beek connection.
Seymour Beek continues to run the day to day operations.

Recently, the inimitable Alan Beek has been fighting
another "Don Quixote" issue regarding the taking of the
dedicated parkland by initiative for a new City Hall.
In this fight, our local Man from LaMancha is fighting
the likes of another Newport Beach icon: Bill Ficker -
Captain America..as helmsman of the 1970 America's Cup
aboard "Intrepid"! The one local boy to make good on the
great world stage of America's Cup sailing! So, this is
really a battle of the titans! By the way, Newport Beach
has been home to a variety of Olympic sailing champions,
so don't bother beating us up...that we didn't recognize
the multitudes of other sailing champs around town!

In the great game lawyers play..of "Dismissed!"...the
Ficker attorney says that the Beek lawsuit is just to
cause the City of Newport Beach to use valuable tax
dollars for the defense of a very valuable initiative!
Knowing Beek as well as we do....that characterization
may not truly represent the situation accurately. Beek
is mostly a contrarian..but there is little doubt, when
it comes to spending his own cash.....well, he is most
likely serious!

Putting the new City Hall issue to bed is like trying
to take your nephew to a Baseball game, feeding him
lots of hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn and coke and then
rushing home to put him to bed! The shifting of the
location from beautiful downtown near the Lido theatre
...to the bleek, barren land mass just above the Main
Newport Beach Library in "Facist Island"..has been quite
a journey! After the rather close election; City Staff
and Elected Officials that had opposed the new location
quickly folded their tents and wanted to "Move on!"
The good doctor Beek was not so easily swayed!

In any event, we wish the good Alan Beek best wishes in
fighting those "Blue Meanies" and the powerful Captain
of the seas - Ficker himself! Whatever happens...it is
much like the journey of a long time resident Long Pham.
Long has been running for Public Office since 1994...in
the recent June 3rd Primary he won a spot on the County
Board of Education Trustee Area 1. Congratulations to
Long, Mary and the entire Pham family! Hey, persistence
appears to pay off sometimes - so maybe Alan Beek still
has a chance!

READ MORE - The Great Beekster!

They should have had an election!

Should any tragic event, natural disaster or resignation
cause it necessary to replace anyone or all members on the
OC Board of Supervisors….according to the Orange County
Charter….....they have to have a public election!

Why then, when it came to the replacement of the Sheriff
- also an elected office, was an election not required?
This is a huge failure of a system that rewards….in this
case…the Board of Supervisors with the selection of a
replacement for a Public Elective Office! This is a very
serious flaw in our system of government. Had Sheriff
Carona stepped down and resigned for any reason prior to
the completion of his term…..there should have been a
required election! Whether any of us are pleased with
the person to be selected by the Supervisors…matters not.
This is a flawed process that needs fixing because
“the people” are ones being left out! Those in power
flaunt their muscles by simply saying that we live in a
“Representative Government System”! Which is true...with
the exception of the fact, that we do get to vote for
those Representatives……each and every one of them! The
OC Sheriff is elected so that a “good old boy network”
doesn’t find it so easy to control that office!

In the City of Newport Beach over the last five years
…..this same system has been utilized to have members
of the standing City Council replace members that
either resigned early or left without cause. The result
has been a system of perpetual selection. Councilmember
Gary Proctor(who recently committed suicide) resigned..
a few years back and was replaced by a Council Selected
candidate named Steve Rosansky! Councilman Gary Adams
then resigned early and was replaced by Lesie Daigle.
Keith Curry replaced a resigning John Heffernan….and so
it goes! As anyone might guess…this gave those selected
by the other standing members of the City Council “full
incumbent status” in the following election cycle. Each
and every one was then easily re-elected in the next
regular election cycle…many serving upwards of three
years plus on the resigning members term…then still
being elegible for two more full terms: thus slipping
by our term limits of two four year stints - serving up
to 11 years in some cases!

The current selection process of a new OC Sheriff for
all intense purposes follows this same flawed concept
of promoting “whoever the power structure wants”! "The
people"…are virtually left out of the process. We need
to change the Orange County Charter to suggest that any
“elected office official” that resigns or leaves because
of health or any other considerations should be replaced
by a required election at the next available election
cycle or in some cases “a special election”..as is the
case for the Board of Supervisors. If anyone didn’t
notice, the June 3rd Primary Election would have been a
perfect fit to have “the people” select the next Sheriff
rather than leaving that choice of an “incumbent” to
the Board of Supervisors.

What about our Assessor? What about Treasurer? Which
elected offices do you believe should be replaced by
and selected by the Board of Supervisors?

READ MORE - They should have had an election!

Winships Are Stepping Up!

I've asked Ron and Anna Winship to take an Administrator Role on Newport Beach Voices and they have agreed.

I will be taking a step back from this blog.

I realized this when there were two really plum stories to write about (based on this and this) that I had no motivation or desire to write about/research/opine about.

And believe me, there was plenty to write about with both.

I mean, try and read Leslie's article through once and twice and be able to explain it to someone else. I had to read it 5 times, and I still can't. I felt like I was back in my Environmental Classes (I got a D) at UCI.

and the City of Newport Beach wants to balance it's budget by borrowing more than 10% of it's budget.

Very Republican (in the current Governor sense of the word).

But don't get me started.

Anyway, I wrote about my indifference and apathy regarding another hot topic issue last month.

So, it's time to take a break.

I just don't have it right now.

Thanks for reading.

READ MORE - Winships Are Stepping Up!

An Historic Night for America!

Extras off stage.....bring on the stars! 32,000 Obama
supporters crowded the St. Paul Auditorium tonight 17,000
inside and upwards of 16,000 outside watching the
festivities on Jumbotrons! An American Black Man for the
first time in history will represent a major party in this
country for President of the United States! Barack Obama
beat the 2118 delegate total needed to get the nomination.
The initial number was 2123...but it quickly went up from
there to 2156. The Obama acceptance speech was first
cabin quality and set a strong tone that John McCain will
have to reach deep into his gut...to try and approach in
intensity and clarity. When you think of great moments
in American History...this will certainly rate high on
the list of firsts.

We congratulate Senator Obama for this very historic
achievement. What happens now can either supplant his
bid or ruin it. The Senator has his future in his own
hands. Who he chooses as his Vice President will be
extremely important to his campaign. More than most
candidates....Obama's choice will be pivotal. If he
chooses Hillary...he will lose all his Conservative
Republican base and most of his Independent voters.
We will be hoping that Obama is as sharp as we think
he is and will choose a Conservative Democrat male.
Hard to find.....but we are hopeful.

Obama is truly a charismatic figure....that draws
people to him and relates a strong sense of youth and
honesty. Obama brings a sense of "now" to his campaign.
Not "back then" or "many years from now"....there is
a great sense that something will in fact change if he
is elected. As scary as "change" is: there is something
reassuring in his demeanor. We will see!

Hillary who gave an earlier self congratulatory "Victory"
Speech....highlighted her many achievements and years of
efforts to save all of man and womankind! Sadly, she
refused to Congratulate Senator Obama on his clinching
of the nomination. Additionally, she is asking her
supporters to help either retire her campaign debt and
help her fight on....in spite of obvious loss. What was
she be thinking? We guess that not knowing when to get
off stage has truly become another Clinton trademark!
She let out word through surrogates that she might want
to be Vice President. She now wants people to answer a
survey on her website to decide what she should do NOW!
Our answer is: Finish your term as Senator Hillary!

It was too bad that Hillary didn't quite understand how
historic a night this was.... and more importantly that
she was truly just the 2nd Banana once again!

READ MORE - An Historic Night for America!

Menjadi Normal.. menjadi manusia...!!!

Bosan dengan tampilan background desktop si acer. malem ini saya coba buka adobe photoshop dan mulai mereka2 seperti apa kiranya gambar buat background yang baru. Mungkin karena terbawa suasana tadi habis nonton berita yang masih saja seputar kerusuhan, penipuan atau berita lainya yang tidak jauh dari masalah itu, Tanpa pikir panjang kalimat 'Menjadi Normal... menjadi manusia...!! menjadi kalimat pertama yang saya tulis dan setelah di tempel2 gambar lain akhirnya jadi... mudah2 background ini bisa mengingatkan saya untuk selalu ingat untuk menjadi seorang manusia sebagai mana wujud saya selama ini.

Seorang manusia yang normal, manusia yang mempunyai rasa kepedulian dengan sesamanya. Kalo kata deddy mizwar manusia yang susah memlihat orang lain susah, yang senang melihat orang lain senang, bukan sebaliknya manusia yang susah melihat orang lain senang, dan senang melihat orang lain susah untuk kesenangan sendiri.

Menjadi seorang manusia yang normal, bukan menjadi seorang manusia yang saling bersaing untuk selalu ada di atas sehingga mudah untuk menginjak manusia lainnya. Bukan menjadi manusia yang lebih suka memulyakan harta, martabat, dan kekuasaan daripada memulyakan manusia lainnya.

READ MORE - Menjadi Normal.. menjadi manusia...!!!

A Goldman-Sachs Gas Station near you soon!

Let's see who we should blame for rising oil prices! 
Gas guzzling SUV's, the evil Chinese economy, our
insatiable desire for heating oil in the winter, our
useless drives to grandmother's house!  Yikes.....
setting ourselves up as the worst person in the world
should be restricted to that opinion by Keith Obermann
.....not finger pointing at each other.

In 2000, a little company named Enron came up with a
idea to corner the natural gas market.  They got
Congress to add a little "investment exception" to a
Farm Bill.....which allowed them to buy with "No money
down"...to buy up the lion share of natural gas in the
United States!  The result was the cornering of the
Western Energy Markets and a $40 Billion dollar
expense to consumers in California, Arizona and Nevada!
This caveat to the Energy Regulations is still in
effect.  As a result....Goldman-Sachs and other major
Investment groups like the Dubai Investments Group....
are cornering the market in Oil.  As a result....the
distortions in the Energy Markets are a direct result
of Hedge Funds and Derivative Investors....moving out
Sub-Prime Mortgage Vehicles and into "Indexed Energy
Futures"!

The oil companies tell us that the actual cost of
production is roughly $40 dollars a barrel.  Since
the "street price" is now at least three times that
..... fast action by the Congress could quickly pull
the rug out from under these international energy
speculators!  Goldman-Sachs is the group pushing the
$200 a barell "hype to investors"...such as CalPers
and other major Public Employee Pension Funds that
are scared to death...they are going to miss out on
the "The Black Gold Rush of 2008"!

Let's be clear, before "the Enron Investment
Exception"...Energy Markets only spiked once...when
Jimmy Carter couldn't get our hostages out of Iran! 
Then the failure of our rescue efforts.....then the
lack of will to adjust interest rates by the Fed. 
But that is all "old news"!  We need Federal
Regulations of the Energy Markets...and we need them
now.  We need to halt "Investment Speculation in the
Energy Markets"....and all the Congress has to do is
to retrench to the rules that governed these markets
for 78 years...prior to the year 2000...."Enron
Exception"!

There is little doubt that there is greater demand
for oil in our society and there is little doubt
that we need to cut back on how much we use.  How
much do we have to cut back? 20%, 30%.....maybe....
but not 100%...based on the greed of now uncompliant
Investment Vehicles that are jumping on board the
"Black Gold Band Wagon".

So, when you pass or stop at that Gas Station in your
neighborhood...do not swear at the oil companies,
the Arab oil producers.....blame their banks....blame
our banks and investment groups....they are stealing
money right out of your pockets and putting it into
theirs! The real price of a gallon a gas should be
under $3 dollars a gallon without the artificial
market distorations.

READ MORE - A Goldman-Sachs Gas Station near you soon!

Bloody Good News

I heard today from the hematologist's physician's assistant (sounds redundant or at least like three people are involved) that my red-blood-cell count is now in normal range, so I don't have to get any more blood siphoned off for a while. I'll need to get my blood checked again at the end of the month. The condition I have is polycythemia vera. The hematologist said it's not from chemo, but who knows? It might be. It's a rare disease and so not studied much. It seems to me that if the chemo drug Adriamycin, which I was given, can lead to leukemia, and that PV can turn into leukemia, then chemo could cause PV. Or is that a logical fallacy?

At the same time I had my blood checked for red blood cells, I got it checked for Vitamin D level. I'd read about a study that links low Vitamin D levels with breast cancer recurrence. The oncologist's physician's assistant said that she was going to the conference where she would hear a presentation by the team from Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto that did the study. The tricky thing is that having high levels of D can be harmful, too. As Aristotle said, Everything in moderation.

Is it possible to have excess in moderation?

The odd thing is I'm looking all this up and it doesn't seem connected to me. It feels so abstract. Even the breast cancer feels like it happened to me but at a distance. Does this mean I haven't accepted that I had it? Have I been keeping up a wall of denial all this time? That doesn't seem possible. Or is it that I don't feel sick so I can't believe that cancer is lurking in me?

READ MORE - Bloody Good News

NO News not always GOOD News!

You get up in the morning and expect
to go to your LA Times and find the Daily Pilot. You
see...local news is always something that the average
citizen can relate to. This is a great service by the
big newspaper publishers...in order to reach the local
gentry...encourage and stimulate local advertisers...
and generally make community service announcements
that bring in the average schmoo! It's also neat to
see your name in the paper and when local school kids,
activists and politicians have a relevant occurrence
in the local rag....it is nice to cut out the articles
and put them into a nice book for the grandkids and
neighbors to view.

Lovingly, the "The Daily Plot" as we have called it
over the years has provided various community service
events as well as sometimes..some decent local news
coverage. We won't go into the various machinations
or events...except to say...our greatest joy came in
November of 1994...when the front page headline read:
Newport Beach Agog by the election of Winship!" We of
course have kept several copies for posterity.

At any rate, today: June 2nd, 2008 is the first day
that the Daily Pilot will not reach the citizens of
Newport Beach or Costa Mesa! No more Monday's ever!!
We all have heard of the hard times our present bad
economy is providing. People are trying to sell their
SUV's and can't without taking tremendous losses. The
property values are falling even here in the bastion
of Suburban Capitalism! The pressures will soon be
finding themselves on local, county, state and the
Federal Governments with great loss of revenues and
the natural reaction of reducing Public Services.

In the meantime, our local paper is reflecting the
dyer consequences of the sub-prime meltdown, the worst
of pumping up Pensions and Wages for Public employees
because they thought "times were good"! Well, we are
broken hearted to see the retrenchment by the Daily
Pilot and the LA Times regarding their decision to
reduce publication frequency! Even during the Great
Depression....the newspaper struggled on and kept the
publication of the news going. It sends a bad message
to cease publication even one day a week..when the name
of the publication includes the word: "Daily" and
especially when this is during the "silly political
season" and no less in an National Election year. A
variety of major political personalities visit the
Newport/Mesa area and many make their appearances on
Sunday's. That means that most people will not know
what happened until the Tuesday!

We encourage the Daily Pilot and the LA Times to
re-think their strictly economic decision and remind them
of their never ending responsibility to the communities
involved.

Come on Daily Plot.....we have supported you...for these
many years...how about returning the favor?

READ MORE - NO News not always GOOD News!

Why Republicans for Obama?

The sunny weather today for the Balboa Island Parade
was fabulous. The turnout was huge and the likes of
Supervisor John Moorlach and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore
dotted the landscape of the parade route. City Council
members included: Leslie Daigle, Nancy Gardner, Keith
Curry and Steve Rosansky. Even Judge Steve Bromberg
and Newport's own City Manager Homer Bludau....were
highlighted in their own specially marked vehicles.

Having not attended the Balboa Parade for several years
...it was certainly a joy to experience the festive
environment. Dogs, kids and even the Trojan Marching
Band...(well, at least 25 members that is!).

We stood there with our "Time for a Change" - Barack
Obama T-Shirts which we got in Chicago recently. It
was truly amazing to see the dark clouds over everyone's
head....as we walked through the crowd. Hey, we wanted
to say: "We are George and Laura Bush supporters!" We
still love George and Laura and Dick and Lynne Cheney!!
We don't care how many people cast our President into
the dust bin of history so quickly! He brought honor
to the office...and nothing anyone can say about Laura
or the kids...will every change our minds or our caring
appreciation for their service to our country.

So, what's the deal? When we wear Obama T-Shirts then
everyone "freaks out" and can't believe their own eyes?
As Ronald Reagan once said about the Democratic Party:
"They left me...I didn't leave them!" As die hard
Rudy Giuliani supporters....once Rudy was unselected
and relegated to campaign history...we were left without
a candidate to choose from. To be sure...we along with
Ann Coulter and other "Conservatives" can not and will
not vote for John McCain.

You can call us anything..but certainly not traitors
to our own values! We believe that the Bush Tax Cuts
should remain permanent. We believe that we should stay
in Iraq until we win. We believe that Heathcare should
not be a government program or one that run by Federal
or State bureaucracies. We believe government should not
be making laws regarding 1st, 2nd, 4th or 5th Amendment
rights! We believe that if we vote for Obama....if that
is ....and that he chooses someone other than Hillary...
our nation will be no worse off...than electing a very
untrustworthy McCain or Hillary Clinton person!

The days of "hold your nose and vote" are over. We
still support all our old Republican pals; DeVore, Curry,
Moorlach...who by the way refused to acknowledge us -
except Keith Curry...who said: "You've changed!" and
we responded..."No, we have always been - who we are!"
Independent and looking for those who will protect,
defend and honor our Republic.

So, dear friends....it is gut check time. Are all of us
"Conservative Republicans" going to be relegated to being
supervised and managed by the New Majority? Or, are we
going to remain the Independent, caring and Conservative
members of the Republican Party - that can think on their
own, once in a while?

Oh, and what about our support for Barack Obama? These
are special times and we have special choices in 2008!
We will certainly put his feet to the fire...as much as
any Republican so-called Conservative...along the way!

And to all our old Republican pals: The campaign of 2008
does not have to be strident, mean spirited or upsetting.
It could actually be: "A new beginning for the Republican
Party!" and we hope you will join us - in being a small
part of that future! As the Trojan Marching band said
today at the Balboa Island Parade: "Fight On"!

READ MORE - Why Republicans for Obama?

Not so pretty!

Watching the DNC Rules Committee at work yesterday
should be an abject lesson to Republicans that a
world with Hillary might be more like "Hell on
Earth". It brought back to mind a series of events
from the movie "Reds" with Diane Keaton and Warren
Beatty. With a partisan and broken DNC..pretending
to be a great force for unity...it was brutal to
watch! Rules Committee Chairman Jim Roosevelt managed
to keep a modicum of decorum..barely..between the
screaming and degrading Hillary supporters many
interruptions!


There were the Lenin-Trotskyites fighting out those
philosophical battles against "the people" and for
demagoguery; in the name of a system so complex and
so riddled with division that it couldn't operate
without political and philosophical assassination!

Harold Eckes, the Hillary Hit-Man...laid down the
gauntlet of things to come: "The Candidate, Hillary
Clinton has instructed me to reserve the option of
taking this battle to the Credentials Committee.."
His numerous "you can bet your ass....." comments
lent neither intelligent dialogue, nor a semblance
of bringing the Democratic party together.....for
November!

Hillary's attempt to hijack the process and take all
the unassigned delegates from Florida and Michigan
was met with a worthy penalty; for those states that
attempted to move up their Primary Elections to
better influence the complete process. The DNC Rules
Committee to their credit....wouldn't bite and took
50% of the delegate value away from those states,
along with assigning less than half of those to
Barack Obama! This has put the Hillary people over
the edge! They are now in a position "to lose
without an excuse"!

We can't imagine what kind of country we might live
in with a Hillary presidency! Ron Brown and Vince
Foster come to mind......

In the words of the Godfather in Godfather 1: "If
anything happens to my son Michael....that he might
be accidentally shot and killed by an off duty police
officer, hangs himself in a prison cell or is
struck by lighting....I am going to hold some of
the people in this room responsible! But other than
that....Let there be peace!

The time has come for Hillary to fold her tent and
move back to Hope with Bill.....or NYC...but one thing
is for sure: Bill needs to move his executive offices
out of Harlem! Because: "You do not signify or represent
black people in this country!"

READ MORE - Not so pretty!