New Year's Lesson from a Bar of Soap

So my wife got a bar of soap for Christmas (yeah...I don't know from whom), which she placed on the top of the bathroom toilet, still in it's box.

So, every morning, as I used the toilet, I read the quote written on the box, from President Abraham Lincoln,

"...and in the end, it's not the years in your life that Count. It's the Life in your years."

When did such profound messages start coming on fancy boxes of soap?

Especially those which help you put the New Year in such perspective.

Happy New Year.

...and don't make me post your name up when it shows up on the DUI Arrest list...

READ MORE - New Year's Lesson from a Bar of Soap

Senator Elizabeth Dole Coming to Newport Beach?

I'm amazed by what I get in my email sometimes...

Former Presidential Candidate (I have a t-shirt) and the Senior Senator from North Carolina, Elizabeth Dole will be making a visit to the Pacific Club in Newport Beach.

Money must be tough to raise in her own state...

Anyway, here's the text of the invite:

Please Join Us at a Reception with

Senator Elizabeth Dole

Senator Dole is committed to making North Carolina – and America – safer, stronger, healthier and more successful in the months and years ahead. She serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Banking Committee, Small Business Committee and Committee on Aging.

Monday, January 7, 2008

5:30 P.M. - 7:30 P.M.

Business Attire

Pacific Club

4110 MacArthur Boulevard

Newport Beach, California 92660

Suggested Contribution - $1,000

With a Photo Opportunity

Hosted by: Friends of Senator Elizabeth Dole

Please RSVP by Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 by Contacting:

Divina/Brigitte Buehlman (949) 922-1157 Connie Whitaker/Lorena Barragan (714) 619-1600

Or Via e-mail to: divinab@earthlink.net lorena.barragan@sbcglobal.net

Paid for by Elizabeth Dole Committee, Inc., Brent Barringer, Treasurer (919) 829-0310

READ MORE - Senator Elizabeth Dole Coming to Newport Beach?

Charlie Wilson's War is our war

Charlie Wilson's War is a well-made, entertaining film, and I recommend it heartily. A few comments just hours after exiting the theater ...

There are days when I think that one has to think back to Harry Truman to recall the days that Democrat leaders in this country actually rooted against the bad guys, and for the good guys, but this movie is an accurate historic portrayal of a more recent day when men like Scoop Jackson, Charlie Wilson, Sam Nunn, and Doc Long actually existed in the Democratic Party. Surely these men would be forced to run as Republicans in the MoveOn.org culture of today's democratic party, but of course Truman and Kennedy would be forced to as well.

Ultimately, the movie does have the handprint of Hollywood leftist, Aaron Sorkin, on it, but he did a remarkably good job at avoiding inane and revisionist Reagan-bashing throughout the flick. Charlie Wilson himself has repeatedly affirmed that Reagan himself personally authorized much of the operation that the movie is about, and any attempt to portray success in Afghanistan, while implying that such success happened despite Ronald Reagan, is historically offensive. I do not think the movie argues such, and for that, it should be commended.

The film's complete silence about Ronald Reagan is the best we can hope for from Hollywood these days, though perhaps they learned the lesson of other contemporary attempts to bash the foreign policy posture Reagan stood for (think: Lions for Lambs, Rendition, etc.). Ignoring the success of the surge, naming Vladimar Putin the Time Man of the Year (as opposed to Gen. Petraeus), and generally bashing all things related to American and her military, apparently are popular things in the mainstream press. What doesn't appear to work so well for production companies hoping to avoid box office bombs with the American people, however, is creating fantasy-drivel with the sole purpose of demonstrating Bush-hysteria, and America-demonization.

This movie appropriately concludes by demonstrating the disaster of saving Afghanistan from the Soviets, without being prepared to see the entire matter through. It was flabbergasting to me to hear the crowded theater cheer at Wilson's exhortation near the end of the movie that we "f&*%'d the whole thing up" by not seeing it through, while presumably many of the same applauders have been extremely ready to see us cut and run in Iraq. The lesson of Charlie Wilson's War is that doing the right humanitarian thing is usually the right thing for our nation's safety as well (liberating the countless women and children who were being decimated by the evil empire was compelling enough, yet the role it played in ending the cold war can not be viewed as mere "icing on the cake"). The reason for this is that good has a duty to defeat evil, with all the pragmatic and principled ramifications this entails. May we fight Charlie Wilson's battles today with the same vigor he did yesterday, and yet may we learn what history has taught us, and finish the war all the way through.

It is what the great Democrats of yesteryear would have wanted.

READ MORE - Charlie Wilson's War is our war

Contributing to the Demise of Newport Beach

I'm doing my part!

Last week, I was visiting a friend of mine (at his place of business) who lives in North/West Irvine, but who's mother has a house in Dover Shores (I think that's where it was).

Whenever we see each other, we always talk politics and since his place of business is in Newport Beach, we tend to talk about the going-ons in Newport Beach.

Up to now, it's always been primarily on the Park/City Hall/Library battle (vote is coming up soon...)

But this particular time, he was asking about the Rehab/Sober Living Homes situation, so I did my best to fill him in.

I told him about all the issues/players/accusations and he shook his head after each explanation.

Then I asked him why he was soo curious.

Well...turns out his son and him were discussing turning his mother's home into a group home (guided more towards the elderly) and he wanted to know how to do it.

But when I told him how much these Sober Living/Rehab homes were making per month, per bed, he kind of perked up.

He recognized the name of one of the Sober Living/Rehab homes operators, so he looked into his computer and it was a "Christmas Miracle," because they turned out to be a client...

I gave him a very disapproving look...then told him he couldn't do it...

...unless he gave me a piece of the action...

Hey, if you can't beat them...

READ MORE - Contributing to the Demise of Newport Beach

Theology: a Guest Blog

This is from my friend J in Ohio about her five-year-old:

We were driving home from Young's (Their real motto: "The Dairy with Cows") after a meeting with Julie, Josh and the three kids, and were discussing Julie's dying father, which led to a discussion of God. After a brief back-and-forth, i.e., what is God? and Is god a person? Is god dead? Jen answered obliquely: some people think God is an idea, etc. There was also a tie-in with the spiritual, recently viewed on a 1930s Disney animation "Who built the ark? Noah, Noah" and that God told him to build an ark. Then Joseph considered the whole discussion, and finally said, "I know what god is: he is a tiny person that lives inside your heart and whispers to you; god is a whisper in your heart." Then, there was more discussion about whether God was on the ark with Noah, or whether he drowned in the flood. Finally, Joseph said, "I think God died a long time before Noah was born, and that he was a ghost who lived inside Noah, and that way he was on the Ark, but didn't take up any space because he was inside Noah." Later the next day, I asked Joseph whether he had ever discussed God at school or anywhere else. He said "No, I have that same whisper inside my heart."

READ MORE - Theology: a Guest Blog

Merry Christmas

Here's to remembering what it was like to be a kid during Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

READ MORE - Merry Christmas

Don't tase us Bro!!

Public access to the goings on of Government in general...
have always been a rather large bone of contention. Trying
to find out what is going on at City Hall seems to be the
toughest find of all. Who owns what? What areas are being
redeveloped? What new developer has raised the spectre of
high rise in residential neighborhoods? Who is who in the
zoo?

OK, now we are not citizens of Santa Ana. We do like the
Mayor Pulido, Miquel.... however, because he seems like a
nice guy and he has actually responded to our concerns as
transients...traversing through his bailiwick! What has us
concerned is his lack of true understanding regarding "full
disclosure" and "forthcoming elected government". Here in
Newport Beach, we are no strangers to the "filtered and
occluded government". For years, a seeming blackout existed.
Uncannily, in the recent few years......activism has raised
the action on the political table and we finally have a
digital signal from City Hall...reporting each City Council
meeting with clarity - finally. They held on to the terrible
analogue video (which you couldn't see well) and the awful
sad analogue sound ( which you couldn't hear very well!)
They did everything in their power to make watching the
events at City Hall....miserable. Luckily, a couple of years
ago....Newport Beach got with the program...and offered City
Council Meetings available on the Internet....from the City
website! Then we finally got our new digital cameras......my
goodness what could be next?

At any rate, whether Mayor Pulido wants his meetings with
Spanish sub-titles, three dimensional Game Boy additions,
or Inter-active public voting messages.....the time has come!
The recent meeting of the Santa Ana City Council couldn't
even net a Second to Council persons Martinez request for
televising all City Council Meetings. The Mayor then
compromised by saying only ONE of the TWO meeting could be
televised! His quick reaction that Government Officials
"get too nervous on TV"....and that "most work is done
behind closed doors" is a crack up. What that means is:
"We have some terrible actors here...that are going to let
the cat out of the bag....and I will have no control!"
Welcome to the Digital World Mr. Mayor! There are no
more 25 cent haircuts or 30 cent a gallon gasoline either!

Most larger cities like Los Angeles, offer School Board
Meetings and even Sub-Committee Meetings like the Federal
Mandate for Oversight of the LAPD on Television....to the
Public. Many Cities offer full Planning Commission Meetings
too! It is time to get with the program Mr. Mayor and get
on board the Digital Express to New Open Government. Yes,
you will get more letters to answer. Yes, you will get
more people showing up at City Council meetings. Yes, you
will have more and more people asking to serve on various
City Committees and Commissions. Yes, the "GadFlys" will
circle the building every meeting and you will have to
deal with them in a gentle fashion! Yes, it is all going
to be quite "inconvenient" - but you gotta do it - and you
need to do it bigtime! No cheap dates!

Mr. Mayor, time to step up to the plate and get ahead of
that curve rather than trying to hit from behind the curve!
Your community needs meetings that include both sub-titles
in Spanish with signage for the hearing impaired! You need
to contact those big time and monied supporters of yours
and have them given you a political hand to make your City
....a Free Wi-Fi Zone, available City Council meetings all
archived on the City Website and make sure that the Planning
Commission meetings wind up being televised as well - and
Archived, of course!

How many people does the City of Santa Ana serve again?
340 to 350,000 thousand citizens you say? And you don't
offer televised and open government? Come on now....even
Newport Beach televises it's meetings. How about Huntington
Beach..yep! How about Laguna Beach....for many, many, many
years! Probably, before TV!!!

Buenas Dias to the digital age Mayor Pulido!

READ MORE - Don't tase us Bro!!

Everything rated

Chicago Magazine has come out with its doctors issue. Best of. I suppose there were the 10 best and 100 best and 5 cheapest before the advent of the city magazine, but it doesn't seem so. My surgeon, whom I like very much, was named, as was my erstwhile stolid oncologist. I don't know the criteria. I don't know if the judging is fair or if it could be fair. There are cafes and restaurants that are named the favorites by customers, who vote. Aren't all the invisible ballot boxes stuffed by management? I've never seen American Idol but I know that's voted on by Regular Folks. Phoning in, maybe? Americans clamor to vote on everything and everyone but their government. On that island show people are voted off. The poetry slam has rankings like the Olympics. I was looking up the phone number of the neighborhood post office the other day and Google took me to a site where people rated their post offices. I buy, therefore I rate. Furniture is rated. Professors are rated, books are reviewed and ranked, plays are reviewed, wine is rated, stores are rated, airlines are rated, cars, refrigerators, furniture, toys, dishes, maybe silverware, probably jewelry somewhere, latte makers (people and machines), politicians, probably umbrellas and tea kettles, electronics, vacations, TV shows, hotels, movies, charities, newspapers; dogs have shows. I thinking that I will start rating: sidewalks, trees, street benches. For a start. Which is not the same as naming my favorites. We define ourselves by our favorites. Men can fantasize in more detail if they know what the Playboy centerfold's turn-ons and turn-offs are. We read Dewar's profiles and the American Express celebrity ads and think we that we learn something about the celebrity who's featured. Oh, I like that too. Oh, that person is like me. I'm not alone in the universe. There's a tiny tendril connecting me to --.

READ MORE - Everything rated

Very Well Said

Earlier in the week, Cindy Olsen wrote an opinion piece for the Daily Pilot which asked everyone to "Walk in rehab patrons’ shoes to fully understand needs."

It essentially gives the impression that the Rehab Home Activists are Anti-Recovering Addicts.

She compares the request for the "Patient's" background checks as "reminiscent of the McCarthy Era blacklisting."

As a father of three, I'm ok with the characterization of a McCarthy Era blacklisting-requiring background checks, especially with the possibility of a ever rotating gaggle of between 6-12 "disabled" but transient "patients" who stay in the 4 rehab homes which are within 1/2 mile of our home.

Click here to see what I'm most afraid of staying for 3 weeks, 1/2 mile away from my kids.

Most of the transient population on the Peninsula live in their houses for months at a time. The college students rent during the winter and the Vacation Rentals renters are paying thousands a week to spend a week away from their landlocked normal lives. I personally know a Congressman and many former City Councilmembers (from other cities) who use vacation rentals on the beach.

Many of the Rehab Home residents drop out of the program (according the Sober Living by the Sea rep at the Lido Isle Associations Town Hall Meeting) within a month, who are then replaced by other "residents", and so on ...

Anyways, in today's Daily Pilot is Steven Briggs' response to Cindy Olsen's opinion piece, and I must say, it perfectly encapsulates the situation.

The issue here isn't the Rehab/Sober Living Homes. I'm not against them. My best friend's life was saved because of one (in Laguna Beach).

The issue here is, by Sober Living by the Sea's February 2007 assertion, their 41 (each with 6-12 "residents") homes in residential neighborhoods.

The issue here is the crazy, crazy proliferation and institutionalization of residential neighborhoods with, and let's not mince words, businesses.

On Lido Isle, it's in the CC&Rs. We cannot do business from our homes.

But yet there are 4 "businesses" on Lido.

Sober Living by the Sea has always maintained that they are the "good" operators, the "good" neighbors.

But what "Good" neighbor would put 41 businesses in residential areas?

There are more Sober Living by the Sea outlets in my neighborhood than McDonald's, Starbucks, gas stations and schools combined.

There are more Sober Living/Rehab homes operating (legally and illegally) on the Peninsula than any other business.

There is nothing discriminatory about the proposed ordinance.

We just want our residential neighborhoods back to being residential and not commercial.

READ MORE - Very Well Said

Oh, Oh, it never ends

Diagnosed yesterday with fungal toe nails. I have to put special nail polish on them every night. The bottle will last about a month or two and costs NINETY-FOUR DOLLARS AND NINETY-NINE CENTS and is not reimbursed by our health insurance. Yesterday I also started Tamoxifen, a bargain at $7.50. I'd been so so so scared of it. And why not? It comes with a paper that warns: Since this drug can be absorbed through the skin and lungs, women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant should not handle this medication or breathe the dust from this tablet. It's supposed to soak up my estrogen but it can also be used by infertile women to cause ovulation. It's a shapeshifter, something for everyone. It can make you fertile, cure you of cancer, give you breast lumps or increase your bone pain. Not to mention give you cancer. Its most popular trinity of side effects: mood swings, hot flashes, weight gain. Which I can get on my own without having to take this scary pill. Tamoxifen comes from the yew, which we have in the front yard. I should just go out and chew me a branch. The way dogs naturally start chewing grass when they feel sick.

My acupuncturist had told me to try Vicks VapoRub for my toe nails, but I couldn't quite believe him. And I will put foot cream on my chest and Chapstick on my split ends. Now I look around the Internet and there is mention of the Vicks cure--it's on line so it must be true. I should follow the scientific method and put Vicks on one foot and the $94.99 toe nail polish on the other. At least it'd be a way of making the polish last longer. For more on Vicks and feet, click here.

READ MORE - Oh, Oh, it never ends

Something to Aspire To...

Contrary to the Daily Pilot's Brianna Bailey's assessment that I am going to use her material for my next post...

Because of the Sober Living/Rehab Homes/Former-Mayor Steve Rosansky conflict of interest issues, watching the Newport Beach City Council meetings the past year have been somewhat interesting.

Note-I don't go to the meetings, I tend to watch them online, which is a miracle considering that Santa Ana Councilwoman Claudio Alvarez says that Santa Ana doesn't have the technology to put meetings online...

But you know what...our Newport Beach City Council meetings has lots to aspire to if it wants to make news outside of Newport Beach.

Check out the mayhem that the New Orleans City Council is going through...

The title says it all:

Council Chaos: Police Battle Protestors At City Hall

Check out this excerpt:

The scene outside New Orleans' City Hall boiled on the brink of a riot Thursday as protestors stormed the gate and were met with police spraying mace and firing Tasers. Protestors broke through the gates outside City Hall shortly after 11 a.m.

I don't CARE how angry and crazy our Public Comments speakers get, at least our guys don't brawl...

READ MORE - Something to Aspire To...

Mayor Pro-Tem Leslie Daigle Accepting Awards (and Campaign Contributions) For a Fabricated Issue

Yes, it's a long title...

Perhaps I'm the only one who cares about this, because obviously the Daily Pilot doesn't want to:

• Call out Mayor Pro-Tem Leslie Daigle for graciously accepting an award for a Fabricated Issue.
• Or embarrass all the groups who are presenting Leslie awards and accolades for "Going to Bat" over this Fabricated issue.

To recap:

• There was talk that the back nine of the Newport Beach Golf Course would become a parking lot for the John Wayne Airport
• Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach (who represents Newport Beach) came to the Newport Beach City Council and said it's not an issue, the back nine would never be a parking lot.
• Then-Councilwoman/now-Mayor Pro-Tem Leslie Daigle has the Newport Beach City Council "proclaim" that it would oppose any such attempt to make the back nine a parking lot.
• Then-Councilwoman/now-Mayor Pro-Tem Leslie Daigle goes on a public mission, collecting signatures, and campaign contributions, to "stop" the "Parking-lot-ization" of the Back Nine, telling everyone to send emails to the County Supervisors:

"It demonstrated the power of the Internet as a tool for political activism," said Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, noting that hundreds of residents sent e-mails to elected officials decrying the plan."

• All the Leslie Daigle back patting occurs in the OC Register and Daily Pilot.
  
• Supervisor John Moorlach, upset that this non-issue became an issue writes:

"Allow me to get to the point, the letters and e-mails we received did nothing to influence my position, I already shared it. That's why I announced it early and often in public and in the media."

and

"I wish to thank the many who communicated with my office for getting involved. I hope you feel comfortable in doing so in the future when we don't have a fabricated issue."

County Supervisor John Moorlach calls Leslie's crusade a FABRICATED ISSUE.

Let me repeat...


County Supervisor John Moorlach calls Leslie's crusade a FABRICATED ISSUE.

This seems to be pretty important to me.

Doesn't it seem important to you?

Mayor Pro-Tem Daigle is accepting accolades and awards, and campaign contributions, using a Fabricated issue?

and for some reason, the Daily Pilot has made no mention of this in their articles.

They even put a picture of Leslie and all the signed petitions in their paper...

Hmmm....

READ MORE - Mayor Pro-Tem Leslie Daigle Accepting Awards (and Campaign Contributions) For a Fabricated Issue

The Exciting Day

1. The Phancy Phlebotomist

I had a blood test today on Ye Olde Cancer Floor at Fancy Hospital. The phlebotomists have always been nice and personal and usually talkative. There was one who'd had surgery for a repetitive motion disorder like carpal tunnel from gripping the test tubes. She said when she saw the hand surgeon in the hallway, her hand started hurting. There was another who always noticed my earrings when I went in for chemo. We were getting started today when another phlebotomist came by eating a shortbread cookie. The two of them talked about how tempting they were, and then my phlebotomist said she didn't mean to eat cookies and such but as soon as she sees them, she eats them. We commiserated about all the tempting foods out and about at this time of year and she told me she had to stop eating so much because she didn't want her New Year's Eve dress to be so tight on her that she looked like a whore, pardon my French. She told me she'd bought a dress on sale Marshall Field's in October or November five years ago, for $85, and it had sequins and ruffles on top and two tiers of material below her knees. It was going to be her New Year's Eve dress. But when the time came to put it on, it was too tight: Girl, she said, it looked like I had four titties and six booties.

So she didn't wear the dress that night. She's never worn it. It's still in the closet with the tags on. But she plans to. One day.


2. Whole Foods

The lady ahead of me in line told the cashier to put the food from the hot bar in a bag, and to give her the cookie. The cookie, she said, was for herself. The hot food was turkey tetrazini that she was going to give to a homeless man. He'd asked for spaghetti and meatballs and this was the closest she could find.

We say homeless and what does it mean? My undergraduates at Downtown University would use the word bum in their writing and I told them not to and I couldn't convince them I was right. They thought it was descriptive, not pejorative. I told them to describe the person instead. That way, the reader would have an image in her head. They could write homeless, but how could they know that was accurate unless they asked the person if s/he lived in a shelter? I suppose you can assume correctly that a person who is selling the StreetWise newspaper is homeless, or had to be when s/he first started hawking it. The point of selling it is to not be homeless forever, to use the selling job to get on your feet. Though at 75 cents take-home per sale, it might be a very long climb to self-sufficiency. Still, I say it: There was a homeless man...
I talked to a guy I know a couple of days ago in the Little Cafe Down the Street. I knew him from Cafe Avanti on Southport. He used to come in when he was tired or cold from selling the paper in front of the Jewel and do arcane astrology figuring. He sells StreetWise now in Evanston. He goes to the same church now as the owner of Avanti. When he saw me he told me Happy Hanukah. He said someone had stolen his books and he was trying hard to forgive them. We talked about Kabbalah and the colors of chakras. Is he still homeless? I don't know. I don't know where he lives. It sounded like his stuff had been stolen in a shelter, but he didn't come out and say that. Maybe he lives in an SRO. I didn't ask.


3. Yoga Party

Tonight my new yoga class had a party in an apartment two blocks from here. I'd been going to yoga three times a week at S Park (indoors), but when our beloved teacher J retired in August, the classes ended. Allegedly the park staff is still looking for her successor. How long does it take to find a yoga teacher in a big city? Apparently more than four months, if the people conducting the search work in the laziest, most patronage-heavy sector of local government. So I've been going on Wednesday nights to yoga at G Park, which is even a little closer to my house. The flyers about the party were handed out last week, our last class of 2007. I'd been skeptical about the party--I'd rather do yoga than have a party, but that wasn't the choice. I made a side dish, as assigned, and went. We told meeting-your-spouse/fiance stories. The yoga teacher works as a physical therapist who visits her clients at home. She was helping a man with cancer whose caretaker was a young Polish man who didn't know much English. The Pole was captivated by our teacher, by the way she was so focused on the patient she was working with, and so caring. And also that she was so beautiful. He suggested they get together. The premise was that he would teach her Polish, so she could speak to her Polish clients, and she would teach him English. The second time they went out he proposed they move in together. She assumed that he'd meant to say something else. But he hadn't. She said no. After a month he took her to her favorite restaurant and he gave her flowers and a small box. She opened the box and saw a diamond ring. She put it behind her back. She didn't want to see it. She told him it was too soon. He took her home. He kneeled and proposed to her in Polish, because he couldn't say what he wanted to in English. She said no and kept the ring for about a year. And then they decided it was time. That was this fall. They flew to Poland to see his family. She's from Taiwan. They'll visit her family next.

Story 2: When D was in high school, his family hosted a student from South America through the American Field Service. They stayed good friends. When D was divorced, he called his friend, now a doctor in his home country. His friend invited him to visit for three weeks. He did. He met the best friend of the friend's teenage daughter. That girl went home and told her mother (newly divorced) that she should meet this nice, handsome man from the United States. She did. She offered to show him around town. She gave him her card. The next morning she called his hotel room and said, Why haven't you called me yet? And she showed him around. They married about a year later and she moved here. At the party tonight, D passed around the business card she had given him when they met, eight years ago. He laminated it to preserve it. D is in the jewelry business and told our teacher he had never heard before of a woman keeping an engagement ring for a year without officially accepting it.

This yoga group is very tight. They went to Ravinia together last year. They met at a restaurant once. A few weeks ago we had people over here for Hanukah and M was saying that she thinks it's nice to have people you do an activity with but don't become friends with. She said, for example, she's glad just to see her yoga practitioners only at yoga. I had agreed at the time. At least I thought I'd agreed. Maybe I hadn't. In my old yoga class, there seemed to have been a group of Insiders who would hug J and ask about her daughter. These same people would talk before and after class with one another in a friendly, intimate manner. I wondered if they were friends before yoga. I think they were. After a few years J learned my name, and when I found out about my cancer and told her, I became one of the Insiders. At least I became Special. She sent me a get well card. My friend R (who I knew from Cafe Avanti) joined the class a couple of years after I did. I know he became friendly with a couple who came on Fridays, and he'd been to their house. I know this sounds like high school or grade school. But for a long while I was stymied by the already-set friendships in the class. It was like there was a clique I could never join.

There was one tall slim blonde in the Advanced class who one of my fellow Beginner classmates used to refer to the yoga goddess. The goddess worked as a chiropractor. And then she got cancer and it went to her brain and she died.

READ MORE - The Exciting Day

I'M Watching You!

I've been a bit hesitant to mention this before, but...

If you are familiar with websites, you know that most websites have an IP tracker associated with their websites for a variety of reasons.

I have one because I'm obsessive compulsive about know where my web traffic comes from.

If you have a dynamic IP address (most residents have one) I just see your web provider (AOL, Time Warner/Road Runner, Cox).

But if you have a static IP address, I get to see the organization that owns the IP Address (and have been pleasantly surprised to see who checks out my site on a regular basis.)

From there, I can see how someone got to my website.

For instance, I called Dolores Otting one time to tell her that the California State Department of Health got to my website by searching her name in Google.

I once called a friend to tell him that the FPPC got to my website through Google using "Steve Rosansky" as the search term.

Another time, I tracked an IP Address from the California State Senate (it had to have come from a State Legislator because it's illegal for staffers to be "political" on State computers) leaving anonymous and somewhat derogatory (but funny) comments about California State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. Fortunately for that Anonymous poster, I wasn't paying the $6.95 upgrade fee at the time of the post...

Anyway, I bring it up this time because our fair City of Newport Beach has found itself in a potential lawsuit by CRC Health Group - owners of Sober Living by the Sea, who have already laid the groundwork by saying that the proposed Rehab home ordinance is "Discriminatory."

Well, guess who's visited my website a couple of times during the past few days?

Yup, hello to you CRC Healthcare. I hope you are enjoying my blog.

The first time they visited, they checked out:

http://newportbeachvoices.blogspot.com/2007/12/scott-baugh-advisor-for-sober-living-by.html

then

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/article_1937098.php

then looked up former Mayor Steve Rosansky

http://www.smartvoter.org/2004/11/02/ca/or/vote/rosansky_s/

spending a total of less than 15 minutes.

Today (they are still logged on as I write this), they searched Yahoo :

sober living by the sea city of newport beach issues

And have been on:

http://newportbeachvoices.blogspot.com/2007/12/scott-baugh-advisor-for-sober-living-by.html (again)

and

http://newportbeachvoices.blogspot.com/2007/12/whos-pessimist.html

It's called Opposition Research.

Good times...

READ MORE - I'M Watching You!

Holiday Greetings to my Political Friends

This was forwarded to me by a good friend.

To All My Democrat Friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes.

To My Republican Friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

READ MORE - Holiday Greetings to my Political Friends

Spend It If You Got It

Yes, I know, a budget surplus is still a surplus (except of course if you a "Republican" Governor and you don't know what the word budget surplus means).

Months ago, the City of Newport Beach passed its new budget with a projected $2.5 million dollar surplus.

It anticipates a 9% in increased revenue from the previous year, so what does this "Republican" City Council do?

Yep, increase expenditures by 9%.

But still it's a surplus, and our "Republican" council members Mike Henn, Keith Curry and Leslie Daigle promise a reining in of spending...

Not in the same league as Democrat-led Irvine, who is expecting a whopping $9.3 million dollar surplus.

But what's in a Party Affiliation title right?

The reason I bring this up almost 6 months after the budget passes is because all of a sudden, a $2.5 million dollar surplus almost doesn't seem high enough anymore.

Consider all the "press-fueled" doomsday scenarios regarding dropping Property values and foreclosures and all the mortgage-industry related layoffs.

While a majority of Newport Beach may avoid the brunt of this, unlike parts of Irvine, there is still Proposition 8 to deal with, which effectively says:

"that California property tax law provides that your current year's assessment on any particular piece of real property is limited to the lesser of the Proposition 13 base year value or the current (January 1) fair market value, sometimes called the "Proposition 8 value."

or in simpler terms:

"Proposition 8 reductions are temporary reductions which recognize the fact that the current market value of a property has fallen below it's current factored Proposition 13 base year value."

Sacramento homes have seen one of every nine property tax bills getting reduced because of Prop 8.

How does this affect Newport Beach?

In the current 2007/2008 Budget, the City is anticipating $51,480,000 in secured property taxes in it's anticipated $146,964,943 in general fund revenue (35%) or out of it's anticipated $195,753,056 (less internal premiums) in Total City Revenue (26%)

This means that if our Newport Beach homeowners use Proposition 8 relief, their property tax bills would drop, which means less property tax income to the City.

But without busting out my spreadsheets and calculators, I can't tell how how much that would affect our total Revenue.

It just sounds logical and a good reason to build a bigger surplus right?

Now, to the point.

The City of Newport is going to spend lots of money in the upcoming year that may or may not have been anticipated in it's 2007-2008 budget:

1. $18 million dollar back bay dredging that the Feds might not cough up for.
2. City Hall in the Park Special Election
3. Lawsuit by Angry Residents
4. Lawsuit by "Discriminated" against Sober Living/Rehab Homes
5. Paying for all the Attorneys (especially to do the work our $1 million dollar City Attorney's office passes on) - I wonder how much James Markman and Richards, Watson & Gerson's bill will be for all his work on the Rehab Home Ordinance.

Please feel free to add to my list.

Question for Assemblyman DeVore (who reads this hogwash sometimes) - Can the State come and raid the City's coffers if (when) they run out of money again?

Good thing the Irvine Company is paying up to Irvine-Company-afy Newport Center huh?

All of a sudden $2.5 million doesn't look that big...

READ MORE - Spend It If You Got It

The ECB Stepping into Liquid!

The European Central Bank is akin to our Federal Reserve,
World Bank and International Monetary Fund. It's prime
directive is to make sure their is enough cash in the
system for banks throughout Europe to operate on a daily
basis.

Right now the ECB Philosophy is at odds with their American
brethren and the Bank of England. They have however decided
to unleash the cash hounds and add 20 Billion British Pounds
this month and 20 more next month to add to the Banking
System. This is a sure recipe for inflation when you consider
that just printing money and lowering the interest rates is
not always the great or best answer to being short on paying
your bills.

As we all know, our OC Treasurer, Chriss Street had invested
in some dicey SIV's or Structured Investment Vehicles..which
on a $460 million dollar investment did lose $12 million bucks
last month with the spiral set to continue until perhaps
.....those losses reach the $230 million dollar mark before
some sense of stability is restored. The worst part of course
is ....it could be worse than that.

Fast Forward from the Surf Movie, Endless Summer in 1966
to Step into Liquid 2003; http://www.stepintoliquid.com/
.......Yes, the halcyon long board days of a relaxed society
with Robert August and Mike Hynson just having a great time
traveling the world and looking for waves....we have shot
forward to "pull in" 100 foot rides 50 miles from shore.
The same is surely true of World Investment Strategies.
Those old days of having Commodities, Real Estate or solid;
real world goods and services support the price structure
has moved into a Virtual Investment Reality. What it is
....is what they say it is.....unless of course someone
dares to question their veracity, doubtful or untruthful
representation. You might want to pull up the Step into
Liquid Movie Trailer which is great.....to really gain
understanding of the metaphor here! Sadly, the music has
changed, the concepts of beauty have changed, the high
bar of excellence has even changed too.

The ECB is still following all the falling interest
rates.. with initially offering 4.9 Percent on short term
investments....which went down to 4.21 Percent for those
that have already been tendered. What does all this mean
you ask? It means that we are right in the middle of the
biggest Stagflation Cycle since the days of Jimmy Carter.
No one can afford to buy houses except millionaire Chinese
people. No one can pay the ever increasing and rising APR
sub-prime mortgage uptick rates. President Bush wants a
temporary freeze on rates....Good old Alan Greespan, remember
him..wants the Government to bail out home owners and the
other 80% that are speculators and Real Estate Investors.
Hank Paulson our US Treasury Secretary thinks Greenspan is
drinking the wrong Cool-Aid. "I don't think we need a big
government bail-out.." Paulson said; as was reported in the
Financial Times today!

Let's just say that Money Markets in the world are in flux.
We can certainly be sure of one thing...nothing is for sure.
Stocks are falling and can fall more, Interest rates can fall
again and again, Food and Transportation Cost are skyrocketing,
Housing Starts are edging to an all time low. No one can even
afford to buy much....no one can even afford to sell that
much. Foreclosures are edging higher and higher and higher.
Is it too late yet? Who knows? How much is your Real Estate
or Commercial Building really worth? 50% of what you paid,
less than that? Who can afford to buy much right now? Sounds
like you need to watch the Step into Liquid Movie Trailer
and get the feel for the market. Obviously, Chriss Street
and John Moorlach haven't found time to do that just yet.
Hopefully, "every elected" including our Governor....will get
the message and realize that sorting out this investment
market or adding anything in the way of Government Costs and
broader expenditures (like his proposed $14.4 Billion dollar
new Heathcare for Californians) is probably not a particularly
good idea...as our nation and state are facing serious serious
re-evaluations - devaluations; for all Real Estate and Equity
Investments.

What seems most telling is...how long it is taking to sell
property..right now, most are looking at two to three years
...which takes us into 2011-12. Almost a whole four year
National Election Cycle away! How many will lose their homes
by then? How much will the loss of tax revenue affect Government
at all levels? Which Presidential Candidate can fix this
problem? How are they going to do it? Does it make any major
difference in our lives? Sort of like.....Stepping into Liquid.
http://www.stepintoliquid.com/

READ MORE - The ECB Stepping into Liquid!

Councilwoman Nancy Gardner's December Newsletter

You know, it's been a busy month...

For Councilwoman Gardner too obviously, since she just got her December newsletter out halfway through the month.

Pretty standard stuff, with more of Nancy's opinions than usual.

Kudos to Nancy for keeping her constituents informed with her monthly newsletter. With how much time it takes to be a councilperson, it's commendable when they go this extra step.

Perhaps it can be a formula used to further community outreach between our Newport Beach City Council and the residents, especially during a time when there is a feeling of distrust out there.

Anyways, here it is.

To look at the other 11 month's newsletter, click here.

READ MORE - Councilwoman Nancy Gardner's December Newsletter

Pro/Con The Death Penalty: This Guy Deserves to Die

I guess I should be happy (or callous?) that the going-ons in Newport Beach haven't made my blood boil like today.

Taken from Cnn.com:

Jessee Timmendequas lured 7-year old Megan Kanka to his home by saying he wanted to show her a puppy. He then raped her, beat her and strangled her with a belt. A day later, he led police to her body. Timmendequas had twice been convicted of sex crimes -- on 5- and 7-year-olds -- before he murdered Megan.

This monster deserves to die.

But...New Jersey has put a ban on executions and now he will die of old age, unlike 7 year old Megan.

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and rest of New Jersey's Democrats should be very proud of themselves for commuting his Death Penalty.

I pray to God that Sex Offenders like this monster don't take up residence in our 100-175 plus Sober Living Homes to avoid having to register as a Sex Offender under Megan's Law

I pray to God that Sex Offenders like this monster don't live next door to my own small children.

I pray to God that we find out the addresses to the rest of Newport Beach's registered Sex Offenders (only 2 of the 6 have addresses - but we are lucky, Costa Mesa has 95 total registered Sex Offenders).

READ MORE - Pro/Con The Death Penalty: This Guy Deserves to Die

Illegal Immigrants Not Soo Illegal in Huntington Beach?

Sometimes I read articles and I get pretty angry, and I want to get to my laptop immediately to write (vent) about it.

Fortunately, though, my life isn't easy enough to do that and I'm forced to stew about it until I can get to a computer.

...and it's for the better sometimes because.

Anyway, the issue of Costa Mesa's ICE program has been in the newspapers (here and here) lately.

But it was this article which made my blood boil, not the entire article mind you, but the only the comments by the Police Chiefs of Santa Ana and Huntington Beach:

The police chiefs in Huntington Beach and Santa Ana, the cities on either side of Costa Mesa, say local police should only be questioning dangerous criminals about their immigration status.

Anything else could result in immigrants becoming afraid to call police when a crime occurs or afraid to testify when they see a crime.

"There's millions of undocumented people in California; I've met many of them," said Huntington Beach Police Chief Ken Small.

"Most of them are good, hard-working people."

I'm sure that Huntington Beach Police Chief can also say that he's also met many Burglars, Rapists, Murderers and a couple of Former Huntington Beach Mayors (who are now Convicted Felons) who are also good, hard-working people...

So if they are good people (and Illegal), they are allowed to commit crimes (not serious ones mind you) and not have to worried about being deported? I guess that seems fair...

I thought being an Illegal Immigrant was against the law (HENCE THE NAME ILLEGAL) and aren't our Law Enforcement personnel supposed to enforce ALL THE FREAKING LAWS?

I guess perhaps I don't understand that only certain laws need enforcing...but only if a certain kind of crime is committed.

I've known many illegal immigrants in my travels.

One, for instance, that I knew was deported. Then 5 days later (because he got caught 4 times) he was back, with a new name, a new Social Security card and a new Green card. I asked why it took him 5 attempts to make it back and he replied that he just paid the Coyote more money that 5th time...

Another, for instance, was the brother of my English girlfriend that I had in college. He overstayed his Tourist Visa by 3 years, working random cash jobs and traveling the Country. He primarily stayed in the Youth Hostel in Downtown Huntington Beach (coincidence?).

You know what the common theme and sentiment between these two Illegal Immigrants.

If they did something illegal (dangerous or not), then they'd get sent back home.

So they didn't do anything illegal.

Sounds simple right?

But for Huntington Beach Police Chief Ken Small, I guess that Illegal Immigrants are only illegal if they do something dangerous.

Ugghhh....

Here's something interesting:

Under Mexican law, illegal immigration is a felony. The General Law on Population says,

• "A penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of three hundred to five thousand pesos will be imposed on the foreigner who enters the country illegally." (Article 123)

• Foreigners with legal immigration problems may be deported from Mexico instead of being imprisoned. (Article 125)

• Foreigners who "attempt against national sovereignty or security" will be deported. (Article 126)

Mexicans who help illegal aliens enter the country are themselves considered criminals under the law:

• A Mexican who marries a foreigner with the sole objective of helping the foreigner live in the country is subject to up to five years in prison. (Article 127)

• Shipping and airline companies that bring undocumented foreigners into Mexico will be fined. (Article 132)

Did you know that Mexico deports more Illegal Immigrants than the United States?

And I bet that many didn't commit "dangerous" crimes.

I guess they enforce that law. Ironic huh?

READ MORE - Illegal Immigrants Not Soo Illegal in Huntington Beach?

Happy Holidays?

Christmas isn't too far away, and the Christmas cards having been coming in.

Here's an interesting story from Long Beach New York.

Essentially the townsfolk planted a Christmas tree in front of City Hall, knowing that it would grow and grow.

This year though, they decided to put a 20 foot menorah next to the growing 7 foot tree.

Guess what's next?

Yup, the Christians complained about the "puny" 7 foot live Christmas tree was being dwarfed by the 20 foot Menorah, so they dug up the LIVE tree and placed a 20 foot tree in it's place.

The formerly LIVE tree was put in the local mall.

What a Christmas miracle...

Anyway, in my stack of Christmas cards came one from my favorite State Senator whipping boy Tom Harman and his lovely wife, Dianne.

I'm not just on his email newsletter list, but I guess that I'm also on his Holiday card list.

I suppose I should be nice to him for at least the rest of the year.

As the Harman's card says, "Happy Holidays!"

READ MORE - Happy Holidays?

George Mitchell's MLB-Steroid Report

Like most kids, I grew up a huge Baseball fan and while living in New York City as a kid, I watched Reggie Jackson hit those three home runs on my parent's Black and White 8" TV (yes that's what makes me a lifetime Yankee fan).

So in horror, I watch as former US Senator George Mitchell releases his report on Major League Baseballs cheaters, further bursting the bubble of America's heroes and the heroic sport that I hope to get my own son involved in one day (yes I know, the only heroes a kid should have is his/her parents).

There could be some problems with the report though:

First - George Mitchell is a Director for the Boston Red Sox; so any torpedoing of the Yankees and a couple of Yankee "gods" (including a Former Red Sox) wouldn't be too surprising. And I didn't particularly notice too many Red Sox players on the list and "More than a dozen Yankees, past and present, were among the 80-plus players identified."

Second - This smacks to me like something similar as the McCarthyism, feeling more like a witch hunt primarily because, "Mitchell's investigation was a difficult one because he had no subpoena power, meaning he had no way to force players or witness to cooperate with his investigation," and that "...the Mitchell team explicitly pressured them (team trainers and strength coaches) to "guess" about steroid use by specific players."

But, as predicted, there are huge names in it.

Surprisingly, there's also the name of a kid I went to high school with, who won a World Series ring with my Yankees.

Anyway, in the report are copies of checks and handwritten notes to the steroid dealers from these baseball heroes, plus postage receipts.

It's ugly.

Here's the report.

Read it and weep...and remember who our real heroes should be.

READ MORE - George Mitchell's MLB-Steroid Report

Calling All Attorneys - Explain This To Me...

Now, Lori left this comment and gave the link for this lawsuit.

If you've been reading this blog, you know that I'm not a wordsmith...

But from what I can gather, this lawsuit says that the Rehab Homes are not responsible for their "Disabled" residents from physically attacking (in this case, stabbing people living next to the rehab home with steak knives) people in the neighboring residential area.

Gee...that's reassuring...

All you attorneys out there, can you please explain if my quick assessment is correct?

READ MORE - Calling All Attorneys - Explain This To Me...

Senator Harman Says - Do As I Say, Not As I Do.

I really don't try to attack Senator Tom Harman...it just happens.

I can't begrudge some of our State Legislators for accepting their "huge" 2.75% raises. While they get a Tax Free Per Diem of around $34k plus a car allowance (if they choose to accept it) on top of their $116k/year, they don't get a pension nor do they get any benefits (health insurance).

And considering they couldn't afford to live in Newport Beach (the District they represent) for how much they get paid, it makes sense that they accept any available raises, since they are required to have two residences (one in Sacramento and another in their District).

So...

State Senator Tom Harman accepted the pay raise while some State Legislators turned it down.

Ok.

Assemblyman Van Tran and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore also accepted it, and will promptly donate it, plus more, away.

But...

Assemblyman Van Tran and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore did not promptly sent out their email newsletter, like State Senator Tom Harman has, saying this:

Therefore, I am adding a few items on my wish-list to Santa for next year’s budget negotiations.

1. The Governor declare a fiscal emergency Under Proposition 58, if the governor determines that the state is facing a fiscal emergency he may call the legislature into a special session.

2. No New Taxes The 2007 Budget Act anticipates spending of $102.3 billion. This is an increase of $20.1 billion over the 2004-05 budget year. Clearly, we have an expenditure problem, not a revenue problem. I will not support any tax increases.

3. No New Fees

4. A Balanced Budget This is defined as expenditures being less than or equal to revenues, and revenues do not include prior year carryover or borrowing.

5. Spending Restraint (No Program Expansions)

6. Limit Cost of Living Adjustments Given the massive budget shortfall it is not reasonable to provide COLAs except under extraordinary circumstances.

7. No Risky Assumptions or Disregard for Required Expenditures The 2007 Budget Act contains several revenue assumptions that are not likely to materialize and it failed to include funding for some expenditures that were clearly going to occur.

8. Sale of Assets Only for Paying Debt The state should consider leveraging its assets to address the budget shortfall (e.g., Lottery lease) and only use those funds to pay down existing debt.

9. No More Borrowing Additional budgetary borrowing will only exacerbate California’s budget crisis.

10. Pay Down Debt We must not punish future generations for our irresponsible spending.

It is high time for our government to tighten its belt. The back door borrowing and deficit spending must stop. It is imperative that we live within our means, and I am hopeful that my colleagues across the aisle will share our priorities to stop spending more than the state receives.

Limit Cost of Living Adjustments? Isn't that what you just accepted?

It is high time for our government to tighten its belt? Perhaps it could have started with our State Senator leading by example.

On one hand, he says the State should limit spending, on the other, he says about his raise “I don’t even think this is particularly newsworthy.”

You know what? State Senator Harman is correct in saying that's it's particularly newsworthy, but then don't start preaching that the State needs to be more fiscally frugal less than a week after telling the Daily Pilot you were going to help the State spend more money for your raise.

That's downright...cocky.

READ MORE - Senator Harman Says - Do As I Say, Not As I Do.

The Mayor Ed Selich Era

Congrats to Newport Beach's new Mayor Ed Selich and to new Mayor Pro-Tem Leslie Daigle.

Mayor Ed inherits:

• A new Sober Living/Rehab Home ordinance that will no doubt spawn big dollars in lawsuits, by either the angry residents or by the "Discriminated" Rehab Home Operators or (if we are lucky) both.
• A bitter fight regarding where the new White Elephant will go, which will culminate in a February vote, which will undoubtedly lead to more lawsuits (oh wait, one has already been filed...)
• A new Mayor Pro-Tem who has a tendency to Fabricate issues.
• The inevitable expansion of John Wayne Airport
• The Silly (election) Season
• Less weekend trips to Catalina, and
  
• Nosy, opinionated, illiterate bloggers

Can't wait to see how your new "Power" affects ya.

And can't wait to see what the first barbs will be thrown at ya.

READ MORE - The Mayor Ed Selich Era

Fine Line Between Lawsuits

I hate having to write about this, because I already have...

Guess what?

The new ordinance regarding Sober Living/Rehab Homes will spawn many lawsuits.

Either from Residents who say it doesn't do enough

or

By Republican Party of Orange County Chairman Scott Baugh's client Sober Living by the Sea, who will say that it's too discriminatory.

Lose/Lose Situation for anyone who pays the City of Newport Beach fees/taxes/coins for the parking meter.

Good time to be an attorney.

READ MORE - Fine Line Between Lawsuits

Here at WRU

The web is an odd thing, especially for those of us old enough to remember when people didn't have computers at home. A "personal computer" was something big that stayed on your desk in the office. Anyway, my friend D in Minnesota alerted me today to the presence of an MFA blog that mentioned our creative writing program at WRU. A person we had just decided to admit was asking whether our program was selective, what the students were like, and whether he should go ahead and write his check. I feel like I'm listening to a party line.

One interesting discussion on the MFA blog was about aesthetic diversity in various programs. I would say that most of the people in prose in our program write traditionally, but we don't encourage it. I would love to have more people write experimentally. But I think a small slice takes such stylistic risks because: 1)when you're starting out, you tend to start out tentatively, writing what you've read, and 2) if everyone wrote experimentally, then the experimental would become the traditional, so by its very nature, experimental writing is practiced by a minority.

We aesthetes value the experimental, though those of us who practice it find ourselves whining (see Sunday's post) about being marginalized. As L tells me, echoing what I tell myself: Don't write non-mainstream work and then complain that your work is not published by mainstream publishers.

That is what the university is for: to value the non-commercial. The university and the "art world" value what's new and different and risky, and not mainstream. You can look in women's magazines for the commercial, bland story. Yet thousands or millions will read cookie-cutter, sentimental stories and be touched. Are these readers' experiences not valid? Do they not bleed? They bleed, but their blood is not so interesting.

READ MORE - Here at WRU

Prediction

In the future we will all have cancer for 15 minutes.

READ MORE - Prediction

TRY Not to Laugh at This

If you are having a bad day, click on the video and laugh along...

READ MORE - TRY Not to Laugh at This

Senator Tom Harman Fundraiser - Who Called Who?

I almost thought that they'd be nothing to write about today.

Anyway, State Senator Tom Harman's getting pretty active in Newport Beach raising money.

I wonder who's doing the outreach...

Or am I out soo out of touch that State Senator Tom Harman is really popular in Newport Beach?

I saw this comment on the 1st of December in a Daily Pilot article:

"For those of you who know Senator Harmon (they didn't know how to spell his name...) to be a faithful advocate for "NO Expansion at JWA", you might consider supporting him at a fund raiser given by AirFair. The event will be on Monday, Dec. 3, 5:30 p.m., at 523 Via Lido Soud, Newport Beach. We need politicians who are willing to fight with us to keep JWA at "10.8 and shut the gate.""

No surprise considering that State Senator is a supporter of AirFair.

But then I saw this on the OCGOP calendar and started scratching my head:

Thursday, 12/20/07 6:00 PM Special Event

Reception For Senator Tom Harman, 35th Senate District With Hosts Newport Beach Mayor Pro Tem Ed Selich & Newport Beach Councilman Keith Curry Where: Curry Residence, Newport Beach Please join Newport Beach Mayor Pro Tem Ed Selich and Newport Beach Councilman Keith Curry at a reception for Senator Tom Harman on December 20th from 6:00-7:30pm at the Curry home. Business Attire. $100 per person/$150 per couple. For more information and to RSVP please call 714-321-2759.

Seeing Councilman Curry hosting a political event at his home isn't particularly surprising, considering that Keith has been involved in Political Events in the past, but soon-to-be Mayor Ed Selich getting political and lending his name (and possibly dough) to a political event?

That one's new.

But I'm actually a bit surprised by both of these Council member's early support for State Senator Tom Harman.

First off, soon-to-be Mayor Selich always been very low key politically, both in and outside of the City.

In fact, other than his 10 years on the Planning Commission and subsequent time on the City Council, I've always seen Ed as somewhat apolitical.

Is this a sign of things to come for Ed's coming Mayoral year?

Second, I'm especially surprised by Councilman Curry's support.

Councilman Curry has always seemed to be a very Conservative guy and with rumors circulating about a possible challenger (to State Senator Tom Harman in the Republican Primary) who fits more in line with Councilman Curry political and personal beliefs, I thought that Keith would have waited until the challenger made a decision (unless a decision was made since I last spoke to the potential challenger on Friday afternoon).

State Senator Harman must be:

• Working Newport Beach very hard, or
  
• More popular in Newport Beach than I thought.

Interesting stuff.

READ MORE - Senator Tom Harman Fundraiser - Who Called Who?

The Fear

The fear, the fear always of not amounting to anything. That's one way of saying it. I fear I will not, I do not, amount to anything. Meaning I am nothing? As in the old joke about the rabbi and the prominent men of the synagogue bowing and scraping to God on Yom Kippur: I'm nothing, I'm nothing, they weep, and then a lowly schlemeil comes along and beats his breast and wails, I'm nothing, I'm nothing, and the rabbi looks at the big makhers and says, Look who thinks he's nothing.

No. Not like that. And I never thought that joke was so funny.

More like the way you're supposed to have one slip of paper in your right pocket saying you're but a grain of dirt, and in the other, one that says for you the whole world was created. So you can pull out one bit of paper when you're feeling...like nothing, and one when you're feeling too full of yourself. A balance.

We are all nothing. We are all here for a moment.

Fame. Ambition. Excellence. Strive to create work as excellent at Dante's, says Donald Hall, or something to that effect. Not to be famous. Not to become known. But to create work that is sui generis. It is the work, not the life that is important. Though we confuse the art with the life, and fall in love with pitiful (we think) Kafka because of his life.

And we become bitter. For example, when we hear of a Stage 3 cancer survivor who wrote a book and will be on the goddamn Today Show and will be profiled in O, and whose book will be covered in Glamour, Family Circle, Good Housekeeping and More Magazine. I am bitter, so bitter, I am pre-emptively or not-so-pre-emptively rejected. In the spring I emailed a passel of agents about my blog-to-become-book, and they said, There's a glut of breast cancer memoirs. So how did this girl get her blockbuster? Her father has cancer. Maybe her book was part of the glut. Along with another book that has cancer and bitch in the title. I am afraid there is not room for me, that my book will not be published. J said this will be my bestseller. But J is not a soothsayer. She's a friend. G says that the Stage 3 girl is young, 36, and that we're discriminated against for being older. I suppose pathos decreases as your age increases. And pathos is doubled by each child you have. I have none. I have no bairns. I have no cancer. My cancer is encased in fancy parrafin inside Fancy Hospital, six miles away. The cancer is outside of me. I do not want any more cancer inside. Stage 2a was quite enough, thank you. But I want to be on the Today Show.

M says the best thing that happened to Joan Didion's career was her husband dying. Which she didn't bargain for or choose. She didn't say: Give me a blockbuster; I'll sacrifice my husband. And daughter.

Fate doesn't bargain.

Wasting time fits in here somewhere. The restlessness of time-wasting. The nothingness of it. The nothing-to-show-for-it-ness of it. Wasting time means that you are not making something. You are making nothing. Spinning your wheels. The wheels are empty. They're not attached to anything. They're not making anything go. They're not turning straw into gold.

READ MORE - The Fear

Affordable Housing in Newport Beach!

Most people have been to the Newport Beach pier and visited
the variety of tourist shops so assembled. One of the funny
postcards they sell there includes a ramshackle stick house
over a make-shift pier with the sign: "$2 million dollar
Real Estate in Newport Beach". Everyone just looks and says:
"That's about right - isn't it?"

Anyway, the story of "Affordable Housing" relates to State
mandated law....that says..."Every community is required to
set aside a reasonable amount of property for Seniors and
First Time Home Buyers." The truth of the matter is that
the children of rich people have been moving out of Beverly
Hills, Laguna Beach, Bel Aire and of course Newport Beach
since the 50's! Most kids...just couldn't afford to buy or
did they have the cash every month to make house payments.
So, those of us for example that refused to move from the
most beautiful place on earth..decided to just keep renting
until the cows come home. There were a few who dutifully
followed their parents and relatives instructions and moved
out to Riverside and Corona for 10 years....and were finally
able to move back to Santa Ana, Huntington Beach or Costa
Mesa. Most of those are still residing in those communities.
Probably one in 100 are able to make the transition back to
the old "Boyhood Home".

Everyone gets kind of confused about what is considered
"Affordability". As father Winship always espoused: "That's
all relative!" Now we don't know whether he meant that you
had to have a rich relative help you or that it depended on
what someone considers reasonable. In any event, the last
piece of "Affordable Housing" was an element placed next to
the Dunes property. We looked into the possibility of buying
a "Piece of the Rock"...which was about 975 Sq. Ft. for just
under $250K. Now to put that in perspective.....the occupants
had to both be over 65 years of age and have an annual income
of at least $85K....Perfect for those people with a big house
in Pasadena - with all the kids gone and now want a mini
retirement location. NOT!!! It would be interesting to see
who actually lives there now. If the City of Newport Beach
truly wanted to find out "who" takes advantage of "Affordable
Housing"....they probably should do a survey of those people.

Anyway, we doubt that the City of Newport Beach is going to
do much productive when it comes to "Affordable Housing". They
could we guess buy several acres in "Santa Ana Heights" and
"Redevelopment Project" it! We doubt they will be acquiring
Buck Gully soon and adding Italian condo units along side of
the seasonal run off waters! So, where do we add those pesky
"Affordable Housing Units"? Fashion Island!!! Capital idea....
Fashion Island - of course! Make the Irvine Company add 800
units there and we will have enough State Mandated "Affordable
Housing". They can add all those great Irvine Company quality
requirements for first time buyers. But, if that doesn't work
out - we can always acquire those Marriott Time Shares down in
the Newport Coast area. We can buy that property and turn all
those Time Shares into "Affordable Housing". Think of all the
nice people from Beverly Hills, Holmby Estates and Calabasas
that will move down...right away! Think of all those NBPD,
NB City Staffers, and NBFD employees that can finally live in
NB! As long as they make over $150K a year ...of course!

It's wonderful...having Government take charge of our housing
needs. Too bad it hasn't help kids that lived and grew up in
Newport Beach....get back to the old homestead!

READ MORE - Affordable Housing in Newport Beach!

Scott Baugh - "Advisor" for Sober Living by the Sea

So it appears as though Republican Party of Orange County's Chairman Scott Baugh is on Sober Living by the Sea's payroll.

Uugggghhhhh

Last night, after my internet came back up, I took at look at the OC Register's website and saw this article,

"Crackdown on rehab homes detailed."

Which details the first drafts of the ordinance which will make it tougher for Sober Living/Rehab Homes from further multiplying in Newport Beach.

Depending on who you speak to, there are between 100-175 which operate legally (and illegally) on the Balboa Peninsula alone.

Now, reading through that article, there is no mention of Scott Baugh being Sober Living by the Sea's "advisor."

That's because it was there, and was subsequently taken off.

A subsequent phone call to Jeff Overley revealed that it was supposed to be a separate article and would be up soon.

As of this morning, it wasn't.

But thank god for the internet because this Robot Site actually picked it up. (UPDATE 9:32 - the article finally came up on the OCRegister website.)

Here's parts of the article.

NEWPORT BEACH County GOP chief Scott Baugh is working for the largest operator of drug rehabilitation homes in Newport Beach, raising hackles in a heavily Republican town grappling with a large concentration of addiction recovery houses.

Baugh confirmed Thursday that he is an adviser for CRC Health Group, owner of Sober Living by the Sea, which as of February ran 41 rehab homes in Newport.

Baugh said CRC authorized him to make only limited comments. "I've been retained to help try to find a solution to this very difficult problem," said Baugh, former Republican state Assembly leader and head of the Orange County Republican Party since 2004.

Hmmm...

As of 10 months ago, they operated 41 rehab homes in Newport beach?

41 rehab homes x 6 beds (average per home, some homes have 12 beds.) x $10,000 (according to their rep from the Lido Isle meeting...seems low...) a month per bed= $2.4 million per month.

I guess they can afford Scott.

But lets think about this for a moment...

41 rehab homes.

Each with 6-12 recovering addicts.

Living in residential neighborhoods.

Most of which fall out of the program and go back on drugs or alcohol.

Let's see, my good friend went through the same program and had most of his personal possessions stolen by his fellow "residents" who "fell off the wagon." Repeatedly.

An Assistant DA friend of mine once told me that he once prosecuted a fellow who was offered (by the judge) either 20 years in jail or a quick stay in a Sober Living Home...

Living in residential areas.

Next to my children, next to your children, but not next to Scott Baugh's child.

Newport Beach, Huntington Beach (where Scott Baugh lives), Laguna Beach; none of those cities have 41 McDonald's, 41 gas stations, nor 41 schools/libraries/churches within their city limits, nonetheless in Residential neighborhoods.

But yet Sober Living by the Sea operate over 41 Sober Living Homes in Newport Beach, primarily on the thin strip of land called the Balboa Peninsula.

And that is out of the estimated 100-175 just on the Peninsula.

Newport Beach has been in turmoil for the past year as residents have threatened to sue the City in excess of $250 million bucks for their inaction for allowing the Over concentration of Sober Living/Rehab Homes in their back yards.

Accusations of Corruption/Conflicts of Interest have been bantered around towards Mayor Steve Rosansky and former City Attorney Bob Burnham.

Our Million Dollar City Attorney's have been taken off the issue and an Outside Attorney Firm has been hired to take the lead.

Thousands and thousands of dollars have been spent getting us to this point today, where a "tougher" ordinance is ready to be discussed.

A light is at the end of this tunnel.

And who represents the largest Sober Living Home operator, who operates 25% to 50% of all the Recovery Homes in Newport Beach, who is making millions per month running businesses WITHIN RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS?

Republican Party of Orange County Chairman Scott Baugh.

I've never been one to begrudge a person for how they earn a living. When I used to be in private practice, I had some very "interesting" clients.

But...

As Newport Beach trudges through trying to control the Institutionalization of their Residential Neighborhoods.

As Newport Beach tries to restore trust in their Elected Officials

As Newport Beach undoubtedly faces major lawsuits from theses Rehab Home operators based on Discrimination for their "Disabled" clientèle.

“I don’t think a discriminatory ordinance is the answer,” Peloquin (John Peloquin - VP of the Company which owns Sober Living By the Sea) said."

Who is part of the problem instead of being part of the solution?

Republican Party of Orange County Chairman Scott Baugh.

Who will help sue the City of Newport Beach for a Discriminatory Ordinance?

Republican Party of Orange County Chairman Scott Baugh.

I'm sure he's glad that he doesn't live in Newport Beach...

READ MORE - Scott Baugh - "Advisor" for Sober Living by the Sea

Another Voice Request.

Back in September, I asked for Another Voice to write on this blog and got the very smart and very informed David Bahnsen on board, who has given us some good nuggets (here and here).

I'm looking for another to join the crew.

Here's what I wrote last time:

I'm looking for one or two more Newport Beach-related contributors to this little blog. While my posts are extremely fascinating and probably very riveting, I do get tired of reading my own stuff sometimes. My friends Ron and Anna Winship do a great job, but sometimes, they can get a bit crazy :-)...and I'm sure even they would like to hear for others once in a while.

Requirements?

1. Please, if you accuse or attack, please be able to back it up with real proof, preferably links to the proof.
2. Please, stay away from personal attacks.
3. Please use the spell check.
4. Please respect other's opinions. Remember - Free Speech.

So send me a note at newportbeachvoices@gmail.com, tell me about yourself, and if you are "acceptable" then we can start hearing what you have to say. If you are shy (like me) you can choose a pseudonym and people can guess who you are. If you are brave (like the Winships) then use your real name. Who am I to judge on that one.

I don't care if you are Republican, Democrat, or even Green Party.

So if you are willing to have every word criticized and attacked, have something really important (and interesting) to say, or just like hearing yourself talk (me, me)then send me a note.

Thanks.

READ MORE - Another Voice Request.

Balboa Fun Zone IS Dead

Coming back to issues more local...

The OC Register has this article

"Balboa Fun Zone isn't dead – it just looks that way."

With all the attention towards:

• Where should City Hall goes.
• Where the Rehab/Sober Living Homes shouldn't go.
• Going after one bar in the midst of 4-5 other bars within 5 miles.
  
• Whether Councilwoman Leslie Daigle should be getting awards for spearheading a FABRICATED ISSUE.

The red-headed stepchild of Newport Beach continues to be ignored.

Business on the Balboa Fun Zone has been hurting for many years and the City hasn't been helping.

Last year, the City started major road construction when? Yup, right at the beginning of summer.

It is very well known that the Peninsula's former Councilman largely ignored his own district.

Let's hope the Peninsula's new Councilman uses his very accomplished business acumen to help keep the Fun Zone going.

I sure hope the meetings of the Balboa Village Business Improvement District have the same kind of City Councilmember turnout and support as their neighbors in Balboa Island and Corona Del Mar...

READ MORE - Balboa Fun Zone IS Dead

CRA Doesn't Like Senator Tom Harman

No surprise here.

Taken from the OC Blog.net and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore's post, the California Republican Assembly came out with their 2007 rankings and guess what?

State Senator Tom Harman didn't score very well, but at least he got past a score of 50.

	2007	2006	2005
DeVore	100	100	94
Duvall	100
Walters	100	100	94
Silva	95
Wyland	95	76	94
Huff	90	100	100
Ackerman	90	71	89
Tran	84	76	89
Spitzer	83	53	89
Harman	79	47	89
Correa	32
Solorio	0
Mendoza	0

READ MORE - CRA Doesn't Like Senator Tom Harman