Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Friday

What's the most important issue on the ballot this year for Californians? In my book, it's Proposition 23. Big Texas Oil companies, and America's biggest polluters, the Koch Brothers, have funneled millions into the state in an effort to hijack the implementation of California's historic AB32 environmental law. Prop 23 passage threatens job creation and investment in California's burgeoning green tech industry and allows the Koch Brothers and Texas Oil to continue to meet their yearly polluting quota. Heckel & Jeckel have managed to whip the corporate sheep into a foaming at the mouth rage, but the Prop itself is struggling and needs to be defeated on election day.


SB1070 News (yep-it's still on the radar)
Arizona tourism officials are predicting "the worst is yet to come" as conventions and other events continue to cancel or take new business to states not tagged with such negative branding.

"The numbers are ugly especially for a state renowned for its beauty according to a report from the Arizona Department of Tourism. Direct travel expenditures decreased by more than ten percent to $16.6 billion in 2009. There was also a 10.2 percent decline in overnight domestic business travel, reflecting the hard hit meetings and conventions segment. "



-The Mormons apologize for "the hurtful legacy" of Prop 8.
Nice try, no one's buying it.

-Over the next 5 days, 30,000 distressed LA homeowners are expected to attend a mortgage restructuring clinic at the LA Convention Center. The clinic is sponsored by the non-profit Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America(NACA). NACA says that a third of attendees can expect to have their mortgages reduced on the spot with another 80% receiving a reduction within 30 days. Some past participants are saying that NACA can't deliver the goods.

-Happy 86th birthday wishes to President Jimmy Carter. Now reportedly back at work after a gastric viral infection sent him to a Cleveland hospital earlier this week.



And finally, more birthday wishes to the fearless leader of Mayor Sam, a man who puts up with more crap from more people than anyone I have ever seen, a friend that I rarely agree with but deeply respect, Michael Higby, who turned 46 years young on Wednesday.

You want the truth? You can't handle the truth.

... and more polygamists arrested and charged in Texas.

Separation of church and state is the larger issue

No on Prop 8 just sent me this bulls*&t:

“We achieve nothing if we isolate the people who did not stand with us in this fight. We only further divide our state if we attempt to blame people of faith, African American voters, rural communities and others for this loss. We know people of all faiths, races and backgrounds stand with us in our fight to end discrimination, and will continue to do so. Now more than ever it is critical that we work together and respect our differences that make us a diverse and unique society. Only with that understanding will we achieve justice and equality for all.”

I don't think anybody is BLAMING African-Americans for Prop 8. We're just upset that their community ironically doesn't seem to see the value of equal rights, and going after the Mormon and other faiths is a 100% correct strategy since, once again, it's their money that pushed their agenda through. The Yes on 8 side had to lie to convince people that a ban on gay marriage is what GOD wants.
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Just A Friendly Reminder- No On Prop 8!

The Mormon Church has spent $20 mil trying to impose their beliefs on the citizens of California over Prop 8. I also can only assume that it is their dollars that are paying for the ads that you are seeing on this blog right now.

So in the interest of equal time, here is an ad produced by netroots activists and brothers Dante Atkins and David Atkins.




On a related note- I also recommend reading the fascinating book "Under The Banner of Heaven" by John Krakauer. Amazon. Mormon history, beliefs, and practices will just blow your mind!

Under The Banner Of Heaven

"Smile for the Camera"

The recent raids in west Texas at the FLDS (Fundamentalists Latter Day Saints) compound known as "Yearning For Zion" ranch reveal more than just an isolated incident of some obscure cult gone wrong. The FLDS has been in existence since at least the early 1900's after they abandoned the Mormon Church over the controversial decision to ban polygamy in the late 1800's. The Mormon Church's reason for banning the practice of polygamy had more to do with gaining statehood (The U.S. said "No Way" until Utah disavowed polygamy) than with any divine revelation, but it was sold in a divine way to their followers, which eventually resulted in the split by the FLDS. They (the soon to be formed FLDS) weren't buying it.

The FLDS eventually set up shop in Hilldale, Utah and the cross border town of Colorado City, Arizona (at the time known as Short Creek).
There they flourished, arranging "marriages" between barely teen-age girls and men as old as 60, as they have continued doing so for more than 75 years, and no one has been be able to stop them.
Hilldale and Colorado City also happen to have the world's highest incidences of fumarase deficiency, an extremely rare genetic condition which causes severe mental retardation . This is a result of the blood relative arranged marriages that conflict with nature's requirement for diversity in the gene pool.

In 1953, the Arizona State Police tried to shut down the FLDS with a raid at Short Creek, Az.
The aftermath proved to be such a public relations nightmare that it eventually caused officials to back off, and allowed the church to continue unabated.

I have been to Hilldale, Utah and it is one strange place to visit. There are no markets or gas stations along the highway, as if the town just wants you to keep moving, as if to say "nothing to see here". And yet, there is so much to see, even if you don't catch it at first glance. The homes in the foothills are enormous and mobile trailers housing additional wives and their offspring dot the properties. You would probably, like I did, see no one on the streets, as if some silent alarm warned the residents of your arrival, causing them to shutter themselves inside their over sized homes and nearby trailers. It's pretty eerie.
Revelations coming out from the recent raid in Texas sadly tell of a generation of kids raised to believe that outsiders were evil, and the only safe place was within the compound, in the "sanctity" of the whims of much older men.

How a group like this can not only survive but flourish in the U.S. of the 21st century is hard to understand.

There is so much more to this story than is possible to make in a single post. It is an incredible tale, an epic journey through American history, how a contained, distant, and past way of life manages to find a way to thrive in a relatively enlightened future.

My heading, "Under The Banner Of Heaven", comes from an excellent book of the same title, by Jon Krakauer, that
details the history of this church, the Mormon Church, and how it all went incredibly wrong.