A Tale of Two Electeds
One with a great idea, one with a really stupid idea.Let's start with the great one. LA County Supervisor Mike Antonovich wants to build an "inland port" for cargo in the Antelope Valley. The idea is to have rail connections from various Southern California seaports and transport cargo to a central processing facility in the northern end of Los Angeles County. This is an excellent plan that would relieve the traffic of cargo trucks on local freeways and create jobs and business opportunities in an area that has room to grow, needs the economic development and plenty of open space to grow and take pressure off urban areas in Los Angeles.
The dumb idea comes from none other the Los Angeles City Councilman Greig "Sleepy" Smith. He wants the city's retirement fund to include an option to invest pension contributions in "green" funds, whatever that means. This is another "feel good" measure that is meant for press only. Anyone who has a 401(k), has bought a mutual fund or invested in the stock market knows that you chose investments based on past performance, current results, the management team, market outlook, etc. not on politics.
If Sleepy wants a novel way for City employees to invest their funds, he should check out the Vice Fund (VICEX) which Wikipedia says "specializes in investing in the defense, alcohol, tobacco, and gambling industries, and has greatly outperformed both the S&P 500 and most socially responsible mutual funds."
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 3/22/2007 12:20:00 AM
5 Comments:
Before you recommend the Vice Fund, you may want to read the propectus. The owners are currently under indictment for securities fraud. The Vice Fund might not be around much longer.
Antonovich's idea might dove-tail with the idea I had about re-directing pure cargo flights from LAX to Palmdale.
Talk about sleay tabloid journalism LA Times is in a mess of a scandal.
...A beefed up team of top reporters should join media reporter Jim Rainey in examining past Current sections and editorials to see whether they have been influenced by publicist Allen Mayer and his associate, Kelly Mullens, who has been dating [Andrés] Martinez. Mayer was the go between who steered producer Brian Grazer into a guest editorship of Current. Mayer actually worked with the Times publicity department in announcing the weird arrangement and his and Mullens’ names were listed as contacts on the press release.
How deep and how wide was the corruption? Did Martinez share the contents of editorials or article with either Mayer or Mullins before publication? Did Mayer or Mullins suggest editorials or Current articles? The staff findings should be published in the paper, prominently displayed.
In addition, the paper’s media columnist, Tim Rutten, should comment on the mess caused by Martinez. The story cries out for comment but not from anyone supervised by Martinez.
Antonovich's idea is hardly original. This is the concept they're trying to develop at Southern California Logistics Airport
www.logisticsairport.com
SCLA makes more sense with its position near the 15.
The Idea of rail? I LIKED it ALOT,
when:
I PROPOSED the idea, laying tracks
All the way to the port, loading cars directly, then picking a vacant spot --east/inland, to off-load, where trucks could pick up, fan out --At NIGHT; slash the port pollution and jammed freeways.
I wrote MY ideas to relevant agencies in response to a piece on "California Connected" (when it was good, it's first year) on KCET,
about congestion & port pollution, more than four years ago.
I Know the Right way, to solve Several messes in LA. I got way fed up: going to meetings, sending letters, getting ignored. So I started my own blog.
Now I Post my ideas, rant at the Diz-gusting waste, fraud, abuse; Vile destruction of the Ambassador Hotel--NOW: rubble sitting on, Oops, toxic waste--by that carpet-bagger Roy Romer and his sidekicks Marlene-realtor-Cantor and Jose-I'm-a-flunky-Huizar --all I want.
Antonovich wants to use My ideas, without credit, I'll let it slide --once.
Poppy
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