Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Friday

From GetLiberty.org.  Used with permission.

The Expo Light Rail line from LA to Culver City has hit a roadblock.  A California Public Utilities Commission Judge has ruled against the authority building the train and their desire to have two at grade crossings near Dorsey High and Foshay Learning Center.  Community activitists as well as the LAUSD argued that these crossings would be dangerous to children walking to school and the judge agreed, ordering the Expo Line authority to construct bridges at the crossing adding perhaps $18 million and three years to the project.  The Commission itself will have the final say in November.

A Glassell Park community forum turned into a debate on the fate of the Southwest Museum and a controversial plan to use funds from a bond measure to fund facilities for the Los Angeles Community College at the Museum.  Though the District denies this, activists say that the Southwest is included in an LACCD "wish list" of projects should the measure pass. 

Like Mayor Villaraigosa, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has managed to pass his own version of shady term limits extension but he didn't have to bamboozle the voters to do it.  The New York City Council voted 29-22 (God damn, could you imagine having 51 CLOWNCIL MEMBERS?) to extend his (and their) terms by another four years, despite the fact that Big Apple voters have twice passed term limits meaures capping the Mayor and Clowncil at two four year terms.  Dang and we thought our Clowncil was shady!

An attorney for John McCain's wife Cindy has sent a protest letter to the New York Times for their recent hatchet job story on Cindy McCain.  That's part of the usual bloviating of campaigns though it does seem unfair the Obama Times would dredge up McCain's past but not look at Mrs. Obama's background, of which there are some questions.  That being said the more disturbing issue of the whole affair is that the writer of the story - Jodi Kantor - scoured the Facebook profile of McCain's 16 year old daughter Bridget and contacted classmates of Bridget McCain in order to dig up dirt on the McCains.  Incredible.

And fnally, Britney Spears has decided what she's going to dress up as for Halloween: herself.  Brit's going to put on a bald wig and trick or treat as her old crazy self a few years ago. 

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Monday

Despite the efforts by Sleeping Greig Smith to the contrary, the City's Neighborhood Councils will get the opportunity to create "Council Files" without having to submit to onerous financial disclosures by the members of the all-volunteer panels.  At the same time however, Neighborhood Council leaders are calling on their colleagues to be "self-policing" when it comes to ethics and conflicts of interest.

After two and a half years of public comment community activism, Zuma Dogg believes that he and the City Council may have developed "Stockholm Syndrome" where most Council Members are no longer antagonistic to ZD and take time to spin him while awaiting his take on their work and "tuning in to see what I say the way movie goers tune into Siskle and Ebert to hear their take on movies."  At the same time, Zuma details his life of sleeping in his car, going without food and sleep, and yet being unable to quit his crusading ways.  Come on folks, if you have ever got some enjoyment and/or education out of Zuma's work, send him some PayPal love.

A commenter on a discussion board posts a photo of Council President Eric Garcetti officiating the wedding of two lesbians. Beyond Garcetti and the happy couple, the photo captures several interesting subtexts if you look at it throughly.  Still I wonder why some gays and lesbians, after working so hard to secure the important right to marriage, would want to have a member of the Los Angeles City Council or even the Mayor to officiate.  Odd.

Elizabeth Snead of the Los Angeles Times takes a look at the fashion choices of Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin calling her smart, no-nonsense couture is a breath of  fresh air "next to First Lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain in their Oscar de la Renta suits, Chanel watches and Stuart Weitzman heels."

Lindsay Lohan and her girlfriend Samantha Ronson have joined deep thinkers Matt Damon and Pam Anderson in calling Palin a "Narrow Minded, Media Obsessed Homophobe."  Despite the obvious hypocrisy of any of that foursome calling someone narrow minded or media obsessed, the critical analysis offered up includes Anderson saying that Palin could "Suck it" (not sure if that was some kind of offer) and Ronson fearing that if elected Palin would take away her green card.

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

Lifestyles of the Rich and Scary

Our friends at Wonkette highlight a pictorial in Architectural Digest of one of Cindy and John McCain's many fabulous homes, this one in Phoenix:

Jim Newell breaks it down:

This is the Bondage Room in one of John McCain’s nine homes (seriously, NINE), this one in Phoenix. Lucky Architectural Digest did a whole tour of the
house and you can view their slide show here. Now it’s quite possible that John McCain has never been inside his Phoenix home, and who can blame him? That’s some scary, macabre sh*t! JUST LOOK at that thing to the right of the big cigar store Indian’s head. What the f*ck! It’s like the deformed offspring of Beetlejuice and dead Heath Ledger’s Joker, wearing a brown lunchbag diaper and carrying a gay umbrella. What the f*ck!!! [Architectural Digest]

If you value your eyeballs, you'll quickly skip the picture of the Sexy Times Grotto just off the McCain master bedroom. It was just too much ICK factor for my poor little eyeballs. Must bleach them now.