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Sunday, August 31, 2008

Don’t Like Palin’s Wikipedia Story? Change It

From the NYT:

By NOAM COHEN

IN the 24 hours before the McCain campaign put the finishing touches on its surprise announcement Friday that Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska would be the Republican vice presidential candidate, one Wikipedia user was putting the finishing touches on her biography on the site.

Beginning at 2 a.m Eastern time on Thursday, a Wikipedia user with the name YoungTrigg began an overhaul of the article, adding compelling stories about her upbringing, including that “she earned the nickname ‘Sarah Barracuda’ because of her intense play” as point guard for her high school basketball team and that she and her father “would sometimes wake at 3 a.m. to hunt moose before school.”

Many details were culled from, and footnoted to, the book “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment on Its Ear,” by Kaylene Johnson.

Soon enough, YoungTrigg pivoted from the biographical to the political, adding that Ms. Palin had high approval ratings as governor and that, as mayor, she had “kept her campaign promises, reducing her own salary, as well as reducing property taxes 60 percent.”

As governor, YoungTrigg wrote, her “tenure is noted for her willingness to take on oil companies” and that she has been called “a ‘politician of eye-popping integrity.’ ” Both of those statements were attributed to a profile in the conservative Weekly Standard magazine.

In total, YoungTrigg — whose user name is a reference to Ms. Palin’s infant son, Trig — made 30 “edits” to the article, all positive and largely unnoticed, since they came at a time when few were discussing her as a possible running mate of Senator John McCain’s.

The coincidence of the user’s name, and the sudden spurt of activity just before news broke of Mr. McCain’s choice, has raised suspicions that YoungTrigg was a campaign operative tasked to make sure that her Wikipedia article was ready for prime time, much as handlers have been assigned to do the same for the candidate.

While ethically suspect, the idea that a politician would try to shape her Wikipedia article shouldn’t come as a surprise. In modern politics, where the struggle is to “define” yourself before your opponent “defines” you, Wikipedia has become an important part of political strategy. When news breaks, and people plug a name into a search engine to find out more, invariably Wikipedia is the first result they click through to; it is where first impressions are made.

The daily page view totals for even well-known candidates are striking. For example, according to a site that tracks the traffic to Wikipedia, the John McCain article had 645,000 page views in June. That month, Barack Obama had 1.35 million page views. Henrik Abelsson, who tracks the traffic, said that on Friday there were 2.4 million page views for Gov. Palin’s Wikipedia article.

Last year, a graduate student, Virgil Griffith, created a clever Web site, Wiki- Scanner, that made it easy to detect where anonymous editors of Wikipedia were accessing the site. In the process, companies, government agencies and, yes, politicians were caught in the act of spiffing up their Wikipedia entries, even as many assumed that anonymity would make them safe. (Wikipedia, incredibly and mercilessly, keeps a record of every change made to every article.)

YoungTrigg made the last edit Friday morning, hours before the news of the Palin selection became official. But in the wee hours the day before, when no one was really paying attention, YoungTrigg did contact other Wikipedians, who were initially impressed by the rapid improvements to the article.

YoungTrigg was given a virtual unit of praise, the Barnstar, for the effort. When another Wikipedia contributor asked gently if YoungTrigg could include page numbers to his footnotes from “Sarah,” YoungTrigg wrote back excitedly: “Thank you! I’m afraid I didn’t use the page numbers when I did the edits, so I don’t have them now. The book has a pretty good index, though, and I can look something up if anything I added was controversial. I apologize if I misunderstood the format.”

Also, YoungTrigg reached out to an anonymous editor who had changed the Palin article on Thursday night, without any evidence, to say that she was Mr. McCain’s choice. In a public note to the anonymous editor, YoungTrigg wrote: “Where did you hear that Palin was the VP nominee? I can’t find anything online.”

Whether this pokes a hole in the idea that YoungTrigg had inside information, or rather confirms that the user had an unusually acute interest in whether the news had leaked out, is hard to tell.

Or maybe it was dumb luck. When news outlets like National Public Radio and Washingtonpost.com reported on the editing on Friday, they classified it as another example of Wikipedia’s mysterious ability to predict about-to-break news, if we only knew to look there. When the liberal Web site Daily Kos, enmeshed in the rough-and-tumble of the presidential election, picked up on the news in a highly read post, commenters were quick to raise the specter of dirty tricks.

Oddly enough, as YoungTrigg began to tackle editing the Palin article, another editor happened to be working there too. This user, Ferrylodge, a lawyer who has contributed to Wikipedia for years and describes himself as a independent-minded Republican, was interested in examining the accusations that Ms. Palin had used her position to get a trooper dismissed for personal reasons.

He ended up editing YoungTrigg’s edits, toning down entries that seemed biased, removing material that seemed extraneous, like the exact unit that Ms. Palin’s son is serving in that will be going to Iraq. “A lot of stuff was useful — like citing a biography of her,” he said in a telephone interview, speaking under condition of anonymity to avoid tipping off his clients that he spends time on Wikipedia. “Some was questionable stuff.” In general, he said, the editing “indicates a very close familiarity with Governor Palin.”

The lawyer said that when YoungTrigg linked to government documents on a government Web site related to the trooper case, it seemed like this editor was not exactly a political naïf.

But, he says, this person may be Wikipedically naïve. “They didn’t quite know what they were getting into — they got a lot of conflict-of-interest notes,” he said. And much of that original, flattering material has been overwritten.

By Sunday morning, YoungTrigg came forward, still anonymous, on his or her Wikipedia user page: “It’s not true that ‘all of my edits made Palin look better.’ ”

The user narrowed down YoungTrigg’s identity: “I am not Sarah Palin. I think it is obvious that I am not the five-month-old Trig Paxson Van Palin. I am not a member of Sarah Palin’s family, or even Michael Palin’s family.”

YoungTrigg was a user name picked for this task; for other editing, he or she chooses other names: “I will acknowledge that I volunteer for the McCain campaign, one of thousands of people nationwide who are working to elect the best candidate for the job. Palin was not the nominee when I made my edits, though I am certainly excited about the selection. I don’t believe I have a conflict of interest problem.”

That said, nobody will be hearing from YoungTrigg again anytime soon. On the bottom was a black-bordered box surrounding the word “retired.”

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Ass Clown Award nominations for the month of August

That time of the month again, here are some nominees for the Ass Clown Award for the month of August.

1. SEIU
2. Tyrone Freeman of SEIU
3. Arnelle Grajeda of SEIU
4. Mark Ridley-Thomas, bought by SEIU
5. Los Angeles Community College District (refer to Southwest Museum)
6. Mayor Antonio Roman "Snubby" Villar
7. Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council
8. The "Kennedy Republican"
9. Sacramento Democrats
.......and the "COUNCILMAN LAST SEEN RESEARCHING ETHICS AS jOSE HUIZAR"

Your thoughts and the usual nominate "Don Quixote and Friends" requests greatly appreciated.

Palin's Experience vs. Obama's

The non-bloggers over at LA Observed think it's cute to suggest in a "parody" piece that were presumptive Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin were a man, Palin would not have been selected for the spot on the GOP ticket.  Of course, as we've noted before, if Palin were a Democrat and perhaps a minority, she'd be the next big thing.



When it comes to the experience issue, compare Palin to Barack Obama. Palin has served in office longer than Obama has and has had more executive experience than Obama, Joe Biden and John McCain.



Palin served on the Wasilla, Alaska City Council from 1992 to 1996.  She then was elected Mayor and served until 2002.  She was then appointed to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and elected Governor in 2006.



On the other hand Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1997.  During his time in the State Senate, the Democratic Presidential nominee voted "present" 130 times, not voting for or against a number of controversial measures.



In her time in office, Palin has balanced budget, delivered services, overseen law enforcement and commanded the Alaska National Guard.



Don't think Barack has done any of that.



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"What Does A VP Do?"



Sarah Palin, John McCain's "Hail Mary Pass", demonstrates her vast knowledge of her potential VP duties.


-blogging from the beautiful old town of Loreto, MX

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Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Sunday: Late Edition

Excellent piece by Katharine Russ at RonKayeLA about the corrupting influence of contributions to local pols - including City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo - on the eventual fate of the controversial Home Depot in Sunland-Tujunga.  Russ notes that the inability of City leadership to stand up for the community could lead to an eventual dilemma where the City Attorney will have to simultaneously defend itself against lawsuits by the retail giant as well as the community.

David Markland notes that the total population of Sarah Palin's home state of Alaska is less than LA Council Districts 4, 5 and 13 combined.  That being said, as Markland comments, if population mattered Barack Obama could have nominated Eric Garcetti as his running mate. On the other hand if you drove from Hollywood to San Pedro you would have covered the entire width of Joe Biden's Delaware.  In fact Mike Antonovich's Fifth District has a larger area than Barack Obama's running mate's home state.

Looks like Zuma Dogg won't be endorsing Jerry Brown for Governor anytime soon.  The California Attorney General has ordered a crackdownon medical marijuana clubs in the state.  “The voters wanted medical marijuana dispensaries to be used for seriously ill patients and their caregivers - not as million-dollar businesses,” Brown said.

Despite the fact that the Governors and the Democrats in the State Legislature are working to place a sales tax on the November ballot, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has instructed county clerks across the state to began to ready their ballots.  Though the Legislature could waive the June 26th deadline to place additional measures on the ballot, Bowen feels to do so now would be inappropriate.

You know you're getting old when the Beverly Hills 90210: The Next Generation hits the airwaves.  Well it's really just called 90210 but it's a sequel to the legendary hit of the 90s.  The show also includes original cast members Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty as adult versions of their original teen characters.

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Cheney and Bush Will Skip RNC

CNN reports that President Bush and Vice President Cheney will skip the Republican convention because of Hurricane Gustav, White House says.

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Grajeda Out at SEIU; Payments to "Boyfriend" in Question

The LA Times reports yet another leader at the Service Employees International Union has stepped down amidst an ever growing series of scandal and controversies at the powerful union.

According to The Times:



Annelle Grajeda is the third major SEIU leader to step aside following reports in The Times about the union's financial practices. The SEIU acknowledged Saturday that Grajeda was on leave as president of the L.A. local and the union's state council, and as an executive vice president of the national organization, because of allegations that she was improperly involved in the payments.

The union did not provide any details of Grajeda's purported role in the payment to the former boyfriend, Alejandro Stephens. The SEIU said it has demanded that Stephens, who was a longtime president of the Los Angeles chapter before it merged with several others, return the money.

In 2007, Stephens was paid nearly $14,000 by the Los Angeles office in "disbursements for official business" and $75,000 in consulting fees by the state council, according to the union's financial filings with the U.S. Labor Department.

Like their buddies who are elected officials, apparently these union leaders who talk a good game about "justice" for working people are really more about themselves and more about lining their pockets.

Lets hope the members of the SEIU realize they've been clowned and throw the whole lot out.

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Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Sunday

The Pasadena Star News reports on one of the reasons why Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was snubbed at the recent Democratic National Convention in Denver: the Obama campaign viewed him as being in the same league of another politician and philanderer, John Edwards. The News also slams the Mayor for turning his back on San Gabriel Valley transportation needs and the transit tax scam he and Zev Yaroslavsky are pushing for which will benefit the Westside but be paid for by the entire County.

Liberal blowhard filmmaker Michael Moore suggested that the likely landfall of Hurricane Gustav just prior to the start of the Republican National Convention was a sign that God favored the Democrats. Yes, Mike is a deep thinker. In the meantime, Republican nominees John McCain and Sarah Palin will be joining Mississippi Governor Hayley Barbour for a briefing from the state's emergency officials. The latest word from the Obama bin Biden campagin was that the Democratic nominee has no plans to visit the region but will give a phone call.

The annoucement of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate has proven succesful at least financially for presumptive Republican Presidential nominee John McCain. Friday, the day of the Palin selection, saw a one day total of nearly $7 million in contributions to the McCain campaign.

Michael Cohen writing at LA CityWatch disects the legal battle in last week's closing arguments in the case against Measure R, the shady term limits law in the City of Los Angeles. Cohen makes a good point that the court, should they hand a victory to the city and allow them to put measures on the ballot that cover multiple subjects, could be setting a bad precedent. Cohen rightly notes that the arrogance of City leaders in pushing this kind of fraud on the voters is what's helping to simmer a coming revolution against them such as Ron Kaye's Saving Los Angeles Project.

One of the best Britney Spears impersonators around is a man. Derrick Barry has been a professional Britney impersonator for five years and who was seeking to make the finals in the reality show America's Got Talent but was eliminated in the semi-finals when, according to Wikipedia, he failed to "wow" judge Piers Morgan.

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Saturday, August 30, 2008

Sarah Palin: From Sports Anchor to Governor to Vice President

Sarah Palin, then Sarah Heath, at the age of 24 as a television sports anchor at KTUU in Anchorage.  Twenty years later she'd be the Republican nominee for Vice President.

Best line - "Tommy Lasorda - he needs to learn to relax."

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Friday, August 29, 2008

Mayor Sam Classic: More on Sarah Palin

Originally published October 5, 2007

Usually Republicans are wizzened old white guys with the charisma of a wet blanket. But perhaps not for much longer as young, talented, strong, intelligent Republican hotties are coming on the scene.

We've talked before about Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Enormously popular, the 43 year old Republican has fought back against dinosaur, tax and spend Republicans in her home state and there's no doubt she could do the same at the national level. Many speculate that Palin could easily challenge bridge to nowhere builder Republican Senator Ted Stevens but a grassroots movement is growing to encourage consideration of Palin as a potential GOP Vice Presidential candidate.

Palin who has what is probably the highest approval rating of any politician in America at 84% has shaken up the GOP old boys club in Alaska, putting a stop to pork barrel politics and ending old sweetheart deals. She even put an end to the bridge to nowhere; killing what some considered to be the poster child for Congressional pork.

Some pundits who like Palin think she needs more experience. However some of her supporters posit that were Palin a male and a Democrat, she'd be considered the next JFK. Indeed, she has more executive experience and is of the same generation as Barack Obama.

Another young, female GOP power player of late is Jeri Kehn Thomspon, 41. The former media consultant and Republican National Committee staffer is considered to be the svengali behind her Presidential candidate husband, Fred Dalton Thompson. As the Thompson campaign kicks into high gear, Mrs. Thompson has become more prominent.

The Republican Party could be revived by turning leadership over to youngsters such as Palin and Thompson. Sure, Thompson's husband is the candidate and yet another wizzened old white guy, but should he be elected there certainly is a model for a first lady to follow to a political career of her own. Given that both Palin and Thompson are of my generation I agree its high time to turn things over to their peers.

By the way before any of you go nuts, when I refer to Palin and Mrs. Thompson being hotties, its the whole package, not just their looks. It refers more to a state of mind, intelligence and ability. Indeed, if Palin or Thompson were just clerks at the Piggly Wiggly, they'd probably just be considered of average attractiveness. Indeed, Henry Kissinger may have been correct when he said power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

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A Mayor Sam Classic: We Called It Over A Year Ago

Originally published July 31, 2007



Alaska's Governor Hottie - better known as Republican Sarah Palin - is being talked up as a potential candidate for the GOP nomination for Vice President. The 43 year old maverick conservative governor - who came out of nowhere to beat a blowhard incumbent in the Republican primary - has quickly built a reputation as a conservative corruption fighter who kicks ass. Imagine her as running mate to Fred Thompson or Rudy Giuliani. They would clean Hillary and Obama's clocks.



Palin - declared by blogger Wonkette as "America's hottest governor" - was the youngest person and first women ever elected governor of the 49th state. She's also the first governor to serve who was born following statehood.



A number of bloggers are seeking to draft Palin for the Republican Vice-Presidential nomination. Columnist Fred Barnes credits Palin's success to the Governor's "adherence to principle - especially to transparency and accountability in government."



GOP Presidential candidates should take a serious look at Palin.

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It's Palin!

Boy talk about a way to upstage Barack Obama after his big night.

I can't wait to hear what the dum dums have to say who spent oh so many months telling me that McCain would NEVER pick Sarah and that I was off my rocker for even suggesting it.

I have to say even I was stunned he actually did it, but an excellent choice. The Obama bin Biden spinners speaking on the cable shows look like deers in the headlights.

Game on kids!

Mega-props to the scrappy bloggers at Draft Sarah Palin for President who have spent more than the last year driving this choice. They deserve everything coming their way. Can you say White House job?

Interesting too that some of the CNN reporters don't know who she is, wonder how did John McCain learn about her, etc. Must not have been paying attention to the blogs. Press release journalism at it's finest.

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Tres Haikus @ 5:07am PST

John McCain's VP
His winning pick of Sarah
Obama blew it.

She's Alaska Gov.
Mitt Romney won't be the guy.
Take it from me, pals.

Obama ran zip.
Not even a law firm, FOOL!
My name's Haikula!

**********************************************
Suddenly, that Obama coronation seems like yesterday's news. Well, it really IS yesterday's news.

With Sarah Palin (rhymes with Van Halen) has energy quals, and international relations with her across-the-water Russian counterparts, I picked her how many weeks ago? I also picked Biden on 8/17, 5 days before the Obama announcement on 8/22, right here on MayorSam. And do we need to mention that she is a very attractive mother of five? And, men, did you know that in a previous incarnation, she used to be a television sports reporter and can handle a gun! Talk about resonating with Hillary's 18 million supporters, suburbanites, conservatives, and the 45 million single, divorced or widowed women in the United States!

Look for Mayor Scuzzaraigosa to switch allegiances again! To the good looking female nominee!

Meanwhile, McCain aired this classy congratulations to Obama yesterday.

Could I be wrong? Will it be Meg Whitman of eBay? I no thinkie, but you tell me!

This blog is taking too much of my positive crystalline energy! Higby, Valley Doll, Joe B. and Red Spot! Take the steering wheel! I will be back later to annoy the dum dums!

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Thursday, August 28, 2008

Bort Droppings: Emotional Democrats

Aside from just not agreeing with their policies, the problem I've found with the DNC is the emotionalism combined with the Doom and Gloom. And, a lot of Dems around the country can't take the ultra-liberal stance on things either. As for Left wing: BHO is ranked #1 liberal senator, Biden is #3 liberal senator.

So how does the DNC celebrate gloom? You can see it when they bring up their favorite issues: Katrina, abortion, global warming, the poor are getting poorer, it’s a lost war.

Bill C says "Katrina" and everyone cheers.

Come on, Katrina was a natural disaster that the Democrat mayor and Democrat governor couldn't handle and then the FIMA, who isn’t cut out for this kind of savior-thing, couldn't swoop in in- time. Since the storm, we've spent 200-300 billion on the people of New Orleans. What do they want? Democrats have run a city that's lost half its population between 1960 and 2000 and then half again in the last couple years. That's attracting the best of the best!?! Jindal will have to be a miracle worker to turn that state around.

"Reproductive rights" - woo hoo!!. Abortion, whether it's legal or not, is a national tragedy. Why are we cheering that 30 million babies are dead since RVW and BHO wont even provide for those that miraculously survive the partial birth abortion - he's defending infanticide. Why aren't they working to make abortion "legal, safe, and rare" like originally promised? It's a blessing when a family adopts a baby, and yet our Government agencies make couples jump thru 5 years of hoops to make it happen. Instead of wanting to make it easier, the DNC stance on marriage is making it worse. The Catholic Church is getting out of the adoption business because they wont be forced to give children to married gays. BHO can't seem to give a straight answer even on marriage. This is putting a lot of ordinary democrats off.

“Global warming” - what a scam. The DNC complains that America isn’t leading on the fight to end global warming. I say hurray. The dems want to just keep raising the cost of energy and preventing our own production so that America looses.

Nuclear energy is cheap and clean, (the French get 90% of their electricity from it) and yet the Dems think it's immoral.

Yucca mountain has been the most studied piece of dirt in the last 30 years and Obama doesn't believe it is stable. But, Al Gore says 500 "scientists" think global warming is because of us and that's immediately undeniable?!?

DNC plans to cut hydrocarbon use by 90% in a decade would put us back to a per capita use below what American's used in Pilgrim days when all we did was burn wood!! Get real, come up with an energy plan that keeps America strong. FYI to the enviromaniacs: increased CO2 in the air is a fertilizer for plants. Forests, wheatgrass and even corn grow 12% faster now than 100 years ago because of that rare atmospheric molecule is at a slightly higher percentage.

I love the idea that we're going to fill Montana, Idaho and Wyoming full of windmills. Do you know how much steel would be needed? Do you know how many birds that would kill? Do you know how many years that project would be tied up in court because people don't want to look at 1000 miles of windmills? Ed Kennedy didn't want to look at them off of Nantucket and got that stopped dead.

Biden's best line last night was borrowed from his mother - you've got to bloody the nose of the bully so that you can walk down the street the next day. The DNC is entirely inconsistent on the international scene. Send troops to Darfur, send troops to Afghanistan, oh, but we've lost in Iraq - pull out now.

Bush has freed 50 million people from tyranny since taking office, that's a great achievement. Iraq is showing real progress. The DNC does not talk of spreading democracy in the world, merely of talking to our enemies and somehow through the persuasion of our personalities convincing them to play nice. Grow up. Mama Biden was right, you've got to bloody some noses to be safe to walk down the street. Voters recognize that Obama bin Biden is no match for Putin as he marches through Georgia.

Taxes - It's class warfare all over again. BHO says somehow he will lower taxes for 90% of middle class workers?? By allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, most families will see taxes rise by $2000 in a year. Why don't they talk about how another American becomes a millionaire every 4 minutes because they've worked hard and focused on succeeding in this land that literally can fulfill everyone's dream? Instead it's the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer - what a stupid phrase. The poor are well off in this country- everyone's got access to healthcare, everyone's got a TV and a phone and most have a car!

I hear nothing uplifting in any of their speeches, nothing like JFK's great line "ask not what your county can do for you..." I hear nothing that challenges American's to be better. BHO tried to deliver the responsibility message to the black churches and Jessie Jackson wants to cut off his ****.

That's right; keep us all as victims of a vast right wing conspiracy. Oddly, the fact that we've got a black man as the DNC pick is proof that such a conspiracy can't be happening.

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Speculation on Pawlenty; But Been There Done That

The talking heads and bloggers are abuzz over the soon to be known Vice Presidential pick for GOP candidate John McCain and the focus is on Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota. Fueling the fire is the fact that reports say Pawlenty's schedule for today and tomorrow has been cleared. Additional rumors say the speculation is designed to upstage Democratic candidate Barack Obama's coronation in front of his Greco-Roman temple in Denver this evening.

I am not so sure it's Pawlenty, but he's a good choice. It seems to me we had a pretty good head fake like this about a week ago.

So I'll wait and see.

Update: Rumors that Secret Service has inspected Mitt Romney's sister's home (not sure how many she owns).

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Stupid Republicans Decide to Go After the Gays

Local Republicans continue to shoot themselves in the foot.  When the bigger threat is Democrats; they're more worried about the gays. 

I received an email from local Republican major domo Linda Boyd - who has done more to set the Republican Party back 50 years than any Democrat could ever hope to - urging attendance at a Republican program to "save marriage."

This event is supporting the campaign intended to completely sink the Republican Party, well actually it's the effort to overturn legal same-sex marriage in California, Proposition 8.

With Republicans ranging from Governor Schwarzenegger to Councilman Dennis Zine to Anti-Bilingual Crusader Ward Connerly to Comedian Dennis Miller opposed to the measure, the local party is going against traditional Republican values of personal liberty and limited government to appease an aging, shrinking but still vocal element of the party who is willing to consign the GOP to permanent minority status.

No doubt, and with all due respect to Christians (I am one), Catholics, Mormons, Conservative Jews and others of faith who find homosexuality inconsistent with their religous beliefs, the local GOP is pandering to this special interest group.  However these groups are quick to jump up when government infringes on their personal liberty; they are completely inconsistent when it comes to Proposition 8. Activist Lourdes Rivas issues a challenge to religious opponents of same-sex marriage.

The Republican Party is shrinking in California.  We can not attempt to grow if we adopt arcane, unfair positions such as this.  Even Ronald Reagan in 1978 found it against true conservative principles to prohibit gays and lesbians from serving as teachers and opposed the Briggs initiative, Proposition 6.


As a Republican male who likes girls (a lot!) and wants to marry one, I am not threatened by gays and lesbians who choose to marry.  As a libertarian leaning individual I believe its an issue of fundamental rights.  Therefore I will vote no on Proposition 8.

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'Big Mouth' Biden: Is This The Best Obama Could Do?

Newly minted Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden has been nominated and made his acceptance speech afternoon night.  Biden managed to go the entire speech without saying anything stupid but who knows maybe Barack had him on seven second delay.

Following Senator Hillary Clinton's speech Tuesday night and her gracious efforts on the Convention floor Wednesday afternoon, it's become apparent that Obama made the wrong pick.  As noted by blogger Darren Duvall, the upside to dissing Hillary is that Obama is not faced with the prospect of former President Bill Clinton hanging around the White House.  At the same time, Duvall makes a good funny when he writes "A lot of what he (Biden) has to offer is a legacy of misstatements that make George W. Bush look like Oscar Wilde."

However Duvall also points out Biden's legacy of off-the-cuff and over the top remarks such as "crypto-racist" comments by Biden about Obama and ignorant statements about Indian-Americans in the State of Delaware.

Despite whatever failings Hillary Clinton may have, one can not imagine her making those types of comments.  And one can not imagine Barack Obama losing with the New York Senator as his running mate.

But, he will never know now.

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Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Thursday

Yesterday we reported that Mayor Villaraigosa has been spending his time hanging around the hotel lobby (though he did get to sit behind President Clinton during Hillary Clinton's speech) during the Democratic National Convention in Denver; if you were wondering how Council President Eric Garcetti is spending his time at the Dem-Fest, Gen Y blogger Maegan Carberry writes: "We spent last night at a party for up-and-coming elected officials, hosted by my LA City Councilman Eric Garcetti. I enjoyed some spirited conversations with policy-wonk types while Shepard Fairey DJed."

Zuma Dogg makes a good catch, as President Clinton was exiting the stage following his speech to the delegates at the Democratic National Convention, the song the band was playing was Robert Palmer's pop hit Addicted to LoveZuma Dogg thinks this was a dirty trick against the former President who, along with his wife, went above and beyond to call for support of their former opponent, Barack Obama.  Wouldn't surprise me.  Obama is beginning to show he has a tremendous ego and is incredibly vindictive against those who would cross him.

As appellate court judges consider whether or not to overturn Los Angeles' controversial Proposition R term limits law, chief opponent David Hernandez has issued a message to his supporters.  Hernandez writes "A group of Los Angeles residents and organizations, under funded and outgunned sent a message which seeped into every dark smoke filled back room of City Hall."


 Walter Moore has put up a couple of websites, one opposing Measure Q the multi-billion dollar LAUSD school construction bond boondoggle and another setting the record straight on Janice Hahn's gang tax scam.  If you're opposed to either or both of these measures forward the sites to your friends as both provide excellent analyses of the two measures.

Zuma Dogg opines about the court decision that overturned a county restriction on taco trucks.   Zuma wonders aloud if vendors who recieved citations will now have grounds to sue, or at least get their citations thrown out.
 
In case you were worried, Paris Hilton has confirmed that she's a big fan of Britney Spears. Contactmusic quoted Hilton as saying “I love Britney, I think she looks so beautiful right now."

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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Vote By Acclamation!

Sen. Clinton calls for suspension of the roll call. A really great historical moment that will be long remembered.


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Biden Nominated; McCain Picks VP

Senator Joe Biden of Delaware has been selected by acclimation to be the Democratic nominee for President.  Biden has accepted.

In other news CNN is reporting that John McCain has selected a running mate.

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Obama Nominated by Acclamation

At 4:50 p.m. MDT Illinois Senator was nominated as the Democratic Nominee for President upon a motion for acclamation by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Wednesday

Senator Hillary Clinton gave a fine speech at the Democratic National Convention proving that the Democrats chose the wrong candidate.  The LA Times however made reference to the former Presidential candidate's fashion sense referring to the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits."

A reader at Sam Yorty's America asks "Question: How will Sarah Palin do in a debate with Joe Biden? Answer: How many men watching will be aware that Biden is in the room?"

A delegate blogging live from the DNC writes that he saw Mayor Villaraigosa hanging around the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel Tuesday night; in the meantime Laura Chick gets into a dust-up with a Clinton delegate.

The campaign website for City Council candidate Paul Koretz is back up following a severe hack attack that took the site down for several days.  The hackers were sophsiticated enough to not leave any tracks and inflicted severe damage on the original site code.  One wonders if the Koretz campaign's web team had backed up the site?
 A slight blow to the nanny state.  A law by Senator Jack Scott to ban mylar balloons has been severely weakened by amendments.  So your kids' next birthday party is safe.

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You Too Can Go To Camp Obama!

If you're a big supporter of the presumptive Democratic nominee, you can spend the rest of your summer at Camp Obama. With apologies to Allan Sherman, here's Rita of Sunland with her ode to the retreat.

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Schwarzenegger "Prank Calls" Mitt Romney

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Raising McCain

Country recording artist John Rich of the duo Big and Rich has crafted a campaign song for John McCain.

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Laura Chick roughed up in Denver?

The AP is reporting that City Controller Laura Chick was scratched and bruised this evening by a Clinton delegate who allegedly stole her chair:

"This man just took my chair, knocked into me, look at this!" she said, showing a bright red nick on her arm, and then pointing to her ankle, which she said [the man in question] had stepped on.

Developing…

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Another Obama Baby?

A number of gossip sites are reporting that Michelle Obama, wife of Presidential candidate Barack Obama may be expecting a third child.

When Barack Obama wins the race for president will there be a new baby in the White House as well? Rumors are surfacing today that Obama's wife Michelle is pregnant.

Talk about a way to get a bump!

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No Bump Yet for Obama; Things Getting Worse

Gallup Poll showing McCain two points ahead of Obama, which is unheard of following a VP pick and during a national convention.

At the same time polls showing a significant portion of Hillary Clinton supporters are voting for John McCain and numbers in key Pennsylvania counties which are not looking good for Obama.

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The Obama Women

She was elegant, poised, articulate and had the Dems at the DNC convention melting with her every word; yes, Sasha Obama stole the show from her hot, equally poised and articulate mother, Michelle. And Malia, looking like she wanted to jump through the screen to kiss her daddy...was so real, so achingly sweet and too cute!





Michelle garnered generally good reviews for her speech last night in Denver, (Washington Post, MSNBC), with the occasional kook (hello Leslie Sanchez!) who was left wondering (uh... wondering what?) after seeing Michelle in a "cocktail dress"? Seriously? Wondering about what she's wearing???

Danielle Crittenden at the HuffPo writes thoughtfully of her assessment of Michelle Obama as a post-feminist political candidate's wife:

Think of it this way: When was the last time a nominee's wife stepped forward to assert her children and her marriage were more important and satisfying to her than her career? Indeed, to speak of the necessity of putting her career aside for her husband's political ambition--and to do so without a whiff of resentment? Heck, when was the last time you saw a candidate's wife--any candidates wife! -- proclaim her love for her husband without that husband having been caught cheating on her first? And to do all this without driving the media into a hissy fit: "OMG she's setting women's rights back a generation!"

For neither is Michelle Obama some retro caricature of a "desperate housewife." How could she be, with her pumped figure, her confident, outspoken manner, and the way she sometimes looks, when goaded, like she's chewing on marbles? This is not a woman to be messed with. This is not a woman who feels inferior to her husband. This is not a woman without ambition or dreams. But she seems to possess the modern understanding that women's ambitions and dreams aren't always realized on a straight trajectory; that marriage and family are as much a part of those ambitions and dreams as a promotion or job title; and that when a husband succeeds politically, it does not negate her importance but amplifies it.

Hillary Clinton takes the DNC convention stage tonight for her speech. Wonder what she'll be wearing. I know Leslie Sanchez is wondering.

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Monday, August 25, 2008

Democrats for McCain

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Senator Kennedy, the Kopechne family called.

They still want their daughter back.

Click here if you don't know who Mary Jo Kopechne was, and Senator Edward M. "Teddy" Kennedy's role in her death.

Vacation time for Haikula. Thanks for being such a great audience, whether you agree or dissent. I can always go back to just posting haikus. See you in 10 days.

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Gallup Poll: No 'bama Biden Bump

Read it and weep, kids. Obama and McCain are tied at 45% each, even though the Obama campaign should have had a bump from the Biden announcement.

And Hillary was a no-show at the California Dem. breakfast.

The Obama campaign seems intent on offending Clinton supporters by not vetting Hillary, and older voters by mocking McCain. Do they realize that these are highly likely voters?

It is unwise to criticize others' housing when your own poverty-stricken brother lives in a desert hut and a felon helped you get a slice of your neighbor's yard. -Haikula.

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Zuma Dogg, where are you?

Hi Zuma D and Public Commenters,

There's no better way to stoke up the Dum Dums on the blogosphere than by sending a Shout Out to Zuma D. and the other public commenters.

What are you and the others doing with the downtime, and what can we expect when things resume next week at City Council? Any news on crybaby JackWeiss, a-k-a the Mayor's girlfriend?

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Home Depot, The DRP and a Closed Door Meeting!



At 4:30 this afternoon, Avis Ridley-Thomas and her Dispute Resolution Program will hold what is being billed as a "Scheduling Meeting" at the North Valley City Hall in Tujunga. The purpose off this meeting is to set the date, time, & ground rules for any further talks between Home Depot and the Sunland-Tujunga community and is part of the Stipulation Order to Stay Litigation made between the City and Home Depot.

If you'll recall Home Depot filed a $10,000,000.00 lawsuit against the City last year after their building permits were revoked by the L.A. City Council. Home Depot suspended their lawsuit and agreed to file a new application and undergo environmental assessment for their proposed store as an alternative to further litigation. Part of this agreement included a clause that the Dispute Resolution Program would mediate between the community and Home Depot. This mediation is completely non-binding and considered by many a waste of taxpayer money and community time. This mediation will have zero effect on whether or not Home Depot is ever able to open their controversial store, as that decision currently lies with City Planning, who is currently reviewing their application.

And the story goes all downhill from here.

After the DRP held it's first open community meeting back in April that was attended by over 300 local residents and produced an overwhelming consensus of opposition to Home Depot's store,(Just ask the MS bloggers who were there-Michael Higby, Red, Zuma, Joseph Mailander, and Petrafried), the DRP promised more meetings that would be "open and transparent in the process".

That promise comes to a grinding halt at 4:30 this afternoon, when the DRP holds a private closed door meeting with "invited community leaders" (of their choosing) in the very public North Valley City Hall. Even after numerous requests to the DRP, no names of the invited participants has been provided.

Not only is the public not allowed to observe this meeting, the DRP has now threatened a police presence to prevent local residents from entering the hall.

The Sunland-Tujunga Alliance, the sponsors of "The No Home Depot Campaign" have spent weeks trying to contact the DRP to discuss the details of the meeting.

The DRP has not returned a single phone call or email.


After waiting on hold for hours (literally) last Monday, the STA finally spoke with a DRP staff member who informed them that the meeting would indeed be open to the public. Additionally, people who called Councilmember Wendy Greuel's office were told the meeting would be open to the public as well.

With that info in hand, and feeling somewhat relieved, late last week, the STA posted a public invite to today's event on the No 2 Home Depot web site (www.no2homedepot.com).

Last Friday, the STA received an email from Barbara Goldfarb, the volunteer DRP lead facilitator in charge of the meeting.

Here is the entire contents of that email :


Sunland-Tujunga Alliance/No2Home Depot

It has come to our attention through observing the notices that the Sunland-Tujunga Alliance is posting on the No2Home Depot web site and through phone calls being received in Councilwoman Wendy Greuel’s office, that the Sunland-Tujunga Alliance is disseminating false and misleading information regarding Monday’s upcoming scheduling conference.

May we remind you once again that this meeting is under the auspices of the Dispute Resolution Program and that the Sunland-Tujunga Alliance has no role to play in its organization or conduct beyond that of being one of many invitees who have been asked to have a representative attend. The meeting is for invited participants only. This closed door meeting at this location does not violate any existing laws and its closed door status will be strictly enforced.

The Alliance’s irresponsible behavior in issuing its unauthorized public invitation has forced the Dispute Resolution Program to request police presence at the meeting to insure that this process will proceed under the Dispute Resolution Program’s policies and rules.
(emphasis added)

As was clearly stated in our letter, this meeting is logistical only. We fully respect and honor your right to express your opinions about the subject, but this scheduling conference is not the place for that and no discussion of the controversy as identified at the April 26, 2008 dialogue will be allowed. We are simply discussing time, date, place and ground rules and the Alliance’s representative will be asked for input along with all other representatives.

May we respectfully request that the Alliance issues a correction of the incorrect information on the web-site and call as many of their members as possible to instruct them not to attend. The last thing any of us want is a disturbance at the meeting and we should all do our best to avoid that possibility.

Barbara E. Goldfarb
Dispute Resolution Program

When Ms. Goldfarb was contacted by phone about the DRP staff member who said that the public could attend this meeting, Ms. Goldfarb was dismissive saying that the staff member didn't know what she was talking about. It is unfortunate that the DRP now blames the STA for their own lack of communication and misleading information. The DRP is ultimately responsible for creating this confusion and hard feelings among neighborhood residents, and the DRP is able to resolve this matter by calling off the police, and allowing the public to observe this meeting.

Sunland-Tujunga resident, Damien McGinnis, put it this way:

"What an outrage! Ms.Goldfarb seems to be making up the rules as she goes along and as she sees fit. The secrecy in the form of undisclosed participants/invitees, the closed door policy, apparent ulterior motives (which raises questions about possible corruption within and/or coercion of the DRP) and simple lack of congruency from the DRP and its office is intolerable and outrageous! I hope the news gets all over this and it becomes the latest city scandal."


Needless to say, angry residents upset about being excluded from this process will be showing up today at 4:30 pm to voice their concerns.

Perhaps you (and the Press) will consider joining us.

DRP Scheduling Meeting
4:30 PM
North Valley City Hall
7747 Foothill Blvd.
Tujunga



(For those that don't know, Joe B. is the president of the Sunland-Tujunga Alliance Inc., and chairman of the No Home Depot Campaign, in addition to being a blogger on Mayor Sam.)

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Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Monday

LA County Supervisors have raised taxes again.  Property owners will be required to cough up another $50 million per year to fund the County's beleaguered hospital system.  Supervisor Mike Antonovich cast the lone dissenting vote.

Media Alert: If you thought the City using law enforcement resources to hassle the Shaw Family August 17th at Leimert Park was an abuse of power by the City, check back here on the blog at about 9:00 a.m. for a story about how a City agency has threatened community activists with police action for speaking their minds.

The scandal around deposed union leader Tyrone Freeman has fired up the battle between the SEIU and the EAA which represents the City's engineers and architects.  EAA has begun running radio commercials calling on LA's elected leaders to begin an investigation of the controversial SEIU. With labor divided and potentially in hot water, does this open the door for a candidate with means to enter the race and challenge a wounded Mayor Villaraigosa?


A Mexican national who allegedly massacred 19 people in Tijuana ten years ago has been found living in East Los Angeles. Jesus Ruben Moncada was arrested while taking out his garbage by ICE agents and handed over to 500 Mexican federal agents at the border Friday.

We usually ignore local blog crank Don Quixote, however I had to note his comment on our post about potential John McCain running mate Bobby Jindal.  Quixote who often posts comments on other blogs calling me a racist posted a bigoted comment about Jindal's Indian heritage. Good to see Don being consistent.

If you didn't have a chance to visit the blog over the weekend, here are some stories you may want to catch up on:
And finally, apparently actress Denise Richards' Hidden Hills neighbors weren't big on her shooting a reality show at her home.  So now, the 5600 square foot, five bedroom home is listed for sale at $4.25 million, about $100,000 than she paid for it.

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Sunday, August 24, 2008

A Volunteer's Story of Today's Jaimiel's Law Rally at Leimert Park

Volunteer Chelene Nightingale sends the following report:

A completely successful event! Our mission was to collect Jamiel's Law petition signatures, raise awareness about Jamiel's Law, support the Shaws, register voters, and to let the city officials know that Jamiel's Law not only has mass support, but also brings unity in all our communities! Our mission was completed!!

116 signatures were gathered today. (And the Shaws were staying until 5pm, so I am sure they gathered a few more. Althea told me their average on Sundays is usually only 20-25 signatures.). In addition 10 completed petitions were turned in by supporters. The Shaws also brought a large stack of blank petitions which were all distributed out to supporters promising to collect signatures!! And two people registered to vote!!

ABC 7, our local friendly American media, showed up to interview us!! We really appreciate ABC 7!! And also a big thank you to William Gheen who had us on air live for his national Last American Standing Show! It was really nice that we had an entire listening audience supporting us!! Thank you.

Over 100 ralliers showed up today with Jamiel Shaw signs and American flags! Many new faces!!! And of course several old friends!! Heather, great to see you!! LAPhil, glad you decided to attend!!

Our ralliers were fortunately met with a VERY supportive community!! The honks of support were really amazing!! And many pulled over to sign the petition!! (Quite the contrast of last year's Leimert Park march.)

Today we broke in the new SOS bullhorn donated by the lovely Ohighglass!! (And thank you Blackfelines for picking our new bullhorn up and bringing it to the event!!) Many special guest speakers helped us break in the SOS bullhorn!! A special message of gratitude to radio talk show host Terry Anderson, the next mayor of LA - Walter Moore, and of course Jamiel Shaw, Sr. - always an impactful speech!!

Other great speakers included congressional candidate Ted Hayes, Board of Education candidate Rabbi Nachum Shifren, the always lovely Barbara Coe, the very passionate Frank Jorge (very powerful speech today), David Hernandez who constantly defends our community - this time with Prop R. Keith Hardine who announced today he will indeed run for LA City Council!!(Bravo), the very articulate Terrance Lang, and many other supporters of the Shaws and Save Our State. And although he did not speak, a special thank you to talk show radio host Kevin James for coming out to support our rally!!

Thank you everyone!! LA needs Jamiel's Law and today we came one step closer to achieving this goal!

We did not have any counterprotesters today! There were only a couple minor incidents. One was winding down as I showed up at 10:45, a local did not want us there apparently. Also there was a permitted event at the park today and the lady running the event was apparently not a Jamiel Shaw supporter. She tried to get the city services gestapo (fake police) to remove us. A rumor floated around after one of our ralliers overheard her tell someone that the police were going to come and remove us from the park. I am sure after last Sunday's raid this idea was quickly dismissed.

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The Germs at Sunset Junction

According to the schedule they should just be leaving the stage, but it is Sunset Junction and it is the Germs, so who knows.
If you were there, please report in!
Big howdy to my old friend Don Bolles!
Here's a little video clip from the days of Darby:

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BREAKING NEWS: SWAT Called Out to Handle Protestors at DNC

FOX News is reporting that Denver Police SWAT teams have been called out to deal with protestors outside the Pepsi Center, venue for the Democratic National Convention.  Perhaps they were taking lessons from the Leimert Park Task Force.

Why It Doesn't Matter How Many Homes John McCain's Family Owns

John McCain's wealthy wife may own several homes (though apparently they don't "live" in all of them; some of them are just investment properties) and Joe Biden thinks there is something wrong with that.

However, most folks won't care how many homes the Arizona Senator and presumptive Republican Presidential nominee owns or lives in. Despite the class envy the Obama bin Biden campaign is seeking to stir up, folks will remember that once John McCain had one home - one he lived in for five years - the "Hanoi Hilton" torture prison he was held in as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. A prison he could of got out of early because of his privilege as the son of a ranking US Military officer but which McCain refused so his compatriates could get out before him.

Next: Obama's Shady House Purchase

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LOL: Obama introduces Biden as "The Next President of the United States!"

Obama makes an ASS out of himself while introducing Biden as "The next President of the United States!"

This is so ironic, since Biden is the one who usually sticks his foot in his mouth. I'm all for jumping on a gaffe when it's RELEVANT.

But if you think John McCain's housing gaffe is relevant, and Tony Rezko, Obama's felon housing buddy, isn't, then you'll be seeing a lot of clips like this in the coming months.

But what IS relevant is Biden saying that Obama "isn't ready to be President." And what IS relevant is Biden saying that Obama "is the first articulate, clean African American to run for President."

As George Will said this morning, the Obama ticket is a "kangaroo ticket; it's stronger in the back than in the front."

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A Pick for McCain

In as much as Barack Obama has in Joe Biden picked a contemporary of John McCain to serve as his running mate, the presumptive Republican nominee should consider selecting the Republican version of Barack Obama as his vice-presidential nominee.

For sure McCain's "short list" is somewhat long.  Former candidate Mitt Romney gets talked about a lot. So do Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Ohio Congressman and Bush Budget Director Rob Portman.  Also on the list are former Pennyslvania Governor and Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, the 2000 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee. Lately former Secretary of State Colin Powell, an unlikely pick, has also received buzz.

And of course we advocated here for sometime the selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

The challenge for McCain is to find someone who will 1) stay out of trouble, 2) shore up his standing with the base, 3) not scare off moderates as well as disaffected Clinton Democrats, 4) Hold their own against Joe Biden in debates and 5) give him a little Google juice going into the Republican National Convention.

I believe that person is Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Here's Jindal on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno:



Jindal has an interesting background.  He's a first generation immigrant who was born in Baton Rogue while his parents, immigrants from India, were attending Louisiana State University.  At 37 years old, he's the youngest Governor in the US.  He served in the US House of Representatives, where he was Britney Spears' Congressman. Here young people who are fired up over Jindal talk about the Louisiana Governor:



Could you imagine Jindal debating Biden who has referred to Indian Americans as 7-11 and Dunkin' Donuts workers?



More importantly he's an impassioned, articulate, intelligent, dynamic young man.  And he brings a lot to the ticket.  He'd be the only Southerner on the ticket.  Like Biden, he's a Roman Catholic who converted from Hinduism in high school.



He comes from a solid middle class background and worked his way up to the top at a young age.  He has the immigrant experience and if nominated would be the first Asian to be part of a major party ticket.  And he even has somewhat of a resemblance to his namesake, Bobby Kennedy.  A Rhodes Scholar, Jindal is ten years younger than Obama, was born one year before Biden entered the senate.

Unlike Obama, Biden or even McCain, as a Governor, Jindal is a Washington outsider who has solid Conservative credentials. As the child of immigrants himself, he has credibility when calling for immigration reform.



McCain could really fire up the troops, gets lot of press and find a candidate who could appeal to all the important swing votes - without the baggage of a boring white guy like Romney, Portman, Pawlenty, etc.- if he picked Jindal.

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Bratton May Need to Back Zine Law; Lindsay Lohan Has Gone Back Straight

According to The Young Turks web show, celebrity diva Lindsay Lohan has been caught with, uh, well, men.

You may remember that Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said there was no need for a Councilmember Dennis Zine sponsored anti-paparazzi law because, among other things, Lohan had "gone gay."

Following being outed as a lesbian by Bratton, Lindsay told the Chief to mind his own business. And because he's a Democrat, Bratton got a pass on the bigoted remark.

So what does Bratton do now?

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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Cameras Catch Alleged Home Burglary Suspects in the Act

David Markland reports via Westchester Parents that cameras installed in a Playa Del Rey home that was the location of a reported burglary may have caught images of the alleged suspects.

The robbery took place last Sunday around 1:00 p.m. in the 7900 block of 81st street.

With the proliferation of nanny-cams and web-cams in homes some crooks might want to think twice before breaking and entering.

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Why Mitt Romney Won't Be The VP Nominee

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Obama's House Party!

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Just In - Griffith Arsonist Apprehended

News flash -- the Griffith Park arsonist was apprehended and in custody with LAFD's arson unit at 2:30 pm today.

The person in custody is described as a "transient" on a bike and was caught by the GP Fire Task Force after setting yet another fire today in the same general area as last weekend's fire which was near Travel Town on the north side of the park.

Hopefully this isn't a copycat but the same scumbag who set the other 7-10 fires in the last six weeks.

Excellent work by the Fire Task Force, who included LAFD, Rec and Parks, and Park Rangers. (If you know other agencies involved, please post in comments.)

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The Fabulous Life of John McCain!

Bring On The Bling!

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Hillary reacts to Biden's selection as Obama's V.P.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton issued this statement on the selection of Senator Joe Biden as the running mate for Senator Barack Obama.

From the "Top of the Ticket" blog at the Los Angeles Times,

DENVER -- As Barack Obama let the suspense build this last week over his vice presidential pick -- and a spate of new polls showed a virtual dead heat in the race for the White House -- the chattering classes indulged in one last bout of speculation about a Democratic "dream ticket."

With that prospect now officially dead, Hillary Clinton today issued the following statement:

"In naming my colleague and friend Joe Biden to be the vice presidential nominee, Barack Obama has continued in the best traditions for the vice presidency by selecting an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant. Senator Biden will be a purposeful and dynamic vice president who will help Senator Obama both win the presidency and govern this great country.”

Regardless, as Democrats descend on Denver, taking the temperature of Clinton supporters -- now that their party's ticket does not include her, one of her supporters, or a woman -- will be one of the main media preoccupations.

As John McCain's choice of a running mate nears, we also would not be surprised if one last burst of attention focuses on women that he might choose, such as **** Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

-- Don Frederick

**** .....this should get a rise out of the good Mayor.

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Biden: Obama is the first "clean" African-American?

I predicted here on Mayor Sam that it'd be Obama-Biden five days before it was announced, back on August 17th.

Without mentioning who I think would be the best President, I would like the Obama-mamas to comment on the following.

1. If Obama is about "Change," why did he choose a 65 year old Senator who has been in the Senate since he's 29? He's been in D.C. longer than John McCain! What happened to "Change"?

2. Biden, in 2008, said about Obama's inexperience, that
"...the Presidency is no place for on-the-job-training."

3. Biden, an admitted plagiarist, in 2008, referred to Obama as "...the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said.

I still predict that McCain + anyone will defeat Obama, especially with Biden. I am not saying which way I am voting. It's just how I think it'll go. It will be very interesting watching.

But everyone in Los Angeles should be grateful, however, that Obama had the wisdom to give no TV speaking time to Mayor PromoteMe-Raigosa. We hear that Jack Weiss, the mayor's girlfriend, is very upset about it. But Rocky Delga-dodo must be having a great laugh about it!

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