John & Ken received a federal complaint filed by the Dreier Campaign and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) regarding Political Human Sacrifice! John & Ken are asking all our listeners to contact the NRCC and let them know what you think about the complaint. Read the complaint here(.pdf file).
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SIDEWAYS
Miles and Jack are two old college roommates who decide to take a one -week trip through Central California wine country as a last fling before Jack gets married. It takes no time at all to realize these guys are definitely a case of “opposites attract” – Miles (Paul Giamatti) is divorced, depressed and walks around with that proverbial “cloud over his head”. Of course, it has a lot to do with his basic unhappiness with where he is in life -he’s a schoolteacher and would-be novelist, and his still hurting from the break-up of his marriage two years ago . Jack (Thomas Haden Church)is an actor on the down side of his “career”, but he’s full of fun and still considers himself to be a major playboy, despite the fact that he’s around forty years old and is to be married in seven days.
This movie starts off looking like any other teen “road trip” movie -that is, one of the guys is silly and horny, and the other one is introverted and appears to be a virgin. It doesn’t take long before they meet “the women” – Maya, a waitress and Stephanie, one of those people that fill the glasses at one of the winery.
Miles, of course, wants no part of casual sex and is in no condition to begin a romance, and Jack, well, all he seems to want is a quickie, but with big doubts about his upcoming wedding, he gets in deeper than he can handle. One of the biggest surprises and most enjoyable things about this movie is finding out how much Miles and Jack know about each other, and how little they know about themselves. I typically resent mismatched “buddy” movies, but this one builds a wonderful story around the flaws of each of these guys, and then uses them to help each other get back on track. (more…) Thursday, October 28th, 2004
Dreier defends immigration policies
After 24 years in Congress, David Dreier is in the fight of his political life, waging a battle for his own identity. The dialogue surrounding his run for re-election to the 26th district seat in Congress has reached a furious pitch, but is also contradictory. Either—as Dreier says—he is one of the strongest champions of the fight against illegal immigration, or he is weaker on the issue than almost anyone in Congress, as a vocal group of activists charges. “I’ve never gone through anything like this—it’s the most blatant mischaracterization of the work I’ve done,” Dreier said in a recent interview. “I take a back seat to no one on the issue of illegal immigration, yet I’m being painted as a coyote.” Opposition to the powerful Republican—long weak because of the district’s strong GOP foothold—has expanded this election cycle, largely due to the campaigning of a pair of talk-radio hosts and their listeners. Read the story here.
Incumbents are best for Congress seats
26th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: David Dreier, chairman of the House Rules Committee, is arguably one of the most powerful representatives in the U.S. Congress. After 24 years in Congress, Dreier has accumulated a lot of clout, which is very good for his district that includes Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Montclair, Claremont, La Verne, San Dimas and Glendora. Not only has he been part of the Republican House leadership as Rules chairman since 1999, but in 2001 he was elected chairman of California’s Republican congressional delegation, which puts him in good position to work on matters of particular interest to our state. He serves on the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. A year ago, he chaired Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s transition team. Read the story here.
63,332 Inmates Were Released Early, Sheriff Says
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said Wednesday that chronic budget problems had forced the early release of 63,332 County Jail inmates, many of whom served as little as 10% of their sentences. “Tens of thousands of these people have not served any form of substantial punishment for their crimes,” Baca said. “What that means is that Los Angeles County and its criminal justice system for low-level offenders… has been rendered meaningless through the lack of funding.” Baca called the news conference outside downtown’s Twin Towers jail to ask for public support of Measure A on Tuesday’s ballot. The measure, which Baca conceived, would increase the sales tax in the county from 8.25% to 8.75% to pay for 5,000 more police officers and sheriff’s deputies. Read the story here.
Wednesday, October 27th, 2004
Association of Deputy District Attorneys President Steven J. Ipsen has put together a website that shows you why you should vote NO ON 66 ! Click here.
A Jobless Recovery?
The recovery from the recession of 2001 has been described as “jobless.” In fact, an analysis of the latest Census Bureau data shows that between March of 2000 and March of 2004, the number of adults working actually increased, but all of the net change went to immigrant workers. The number of adult immigrants (18 years of age and older) holding a job increased by over two million between 2000 and 2004, while the number of adult natives holding a job is nearly half a million fewer. This Backgrounder also finds that the number of adult natives who are unemployed or who have withdrawn from the labor force is dramatically higher in 2004 than it was in 2000. These findings raise the possibility that immigration has adversely Affected the job prospects of native-born Americans. Read the study here.
Peterson trial enters rebuttal phase
Scott Peterson’s lawyer wrapped up his case without calling his client to testify, instead relying on experts and family members to show why the former fertilizer salesman didn’t kill his pregnant wife, Laci. Mark Geragos questioned the last of 14 witnesses Tuesday, the sixth day of testimony for the defense. Over 19 weeks, the state put 174 witnesses on the stand to prove Peterson should be convicted of two counts of murder, one each for Laci and the fetus she carried. If convicted, Peterson faces the death penalty or life without parole. Prosecutors were to begin their rebuttal mid-day Wednesday. The defense then gets a rebuttal. Both sides are expected to wrap up by week’s end. Read the story here.
Tuesday, October 26th, 2004
Education official asked to resign
Latino leaders are criticizing a Colton school board member for speaking recently at an anti-illegal immigration rally in Ontario. Members of the Mexican-American Political Association want Marge Mendoza-Ware to resign her post because they say she doesn’t represent undocumented students in her district. Mendoza-Ware, a Republican who is running for the 62nd Assembly District against Democrat Joe Baca Jr., appeared at a “political human sacrifice’ two weeks ago at Ontario Mills. At the event, KFI-AM (640) hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou condemned Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, for being lenient on illegal immigration. Read the story here.
‘Dangerous’ Finish As Peterson Defense Rests
In a finish described by some legal experts as “disappointing” and “dangerous,” Scott Peterson’s defense lawyers rested their case Tuesday without calling the former fertilizer salesman to the witness stand. Judge Alfred A. Delucchi told jurors the prosecution would call eight rebuttal witnesses beginning Wednesday. After any defense rebuttal, the jury won’t be back until Monday, when closing arguments are set to begin. The jury should get the case by Nov. 3, and panelists will be sequestered for deliberations. Jurors had been free to go home at the end of each day during the more than five-month trial. Peterson is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his pregnant wife, Laci, and the fetus she carried. He faces the death penalty or life without parole, if convicted. Read the story here.
Media Savvy: Joining the circus
For months, Laura Ingle has been reporting live on the Scott Peterson trial for Los Angeles radio listeners. Explaining public fascination with the case, she says, “This is a fairy tale that turned into a horror movie right before our eyes. How could this happen? People still want answers.” Once a rock-’n’-roll-lifestyle-living, black leather-clad night jock at a radio station in her hometown of Sacramento, now a Freedom of Information Act-citing, pantsuit-wearing Serious Journalist who’s dancing on the national news stage. Among the highest-profile reporters at the Scott Peterson trial, she has traded partying with all those bands backstage for stalking defense attorneys at the airport – Steven Tyler for Mark Geragos and a news scoop to be named later. Ingle, a regular on Fox News Channel’s “On the Record With Greta Van Susteren” (7 p.m. weekdays) is widely considered to be the hardest working member of the Peterson trial media circus. Read the story here.
Monday, October 25th, 2004
Dreier facing unusual battle
Rep. David Dreier carries influence in both the White House and the California governor’s mansion, has built a second career as a quasi-national GOP spokesman, and his campaign coffers are stuffed full of cash. So the conventional wisdom was that Dreier would breeze into a 13th term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Dreier, co-chair of President Bush’s re-election campaign in California and informal political adviser for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, will almost certainly walk away with a win Nov. 2. Yet, he will have done so only after taking an unexpected detour through a rattlesnake’s den of angry activists. Read the story here.
Races rarely won by rookies
It’s become almost impossible to unseat an incumbent state or federal lawmaker. The districts were reworked in 2001 after the census to wrap the incumbents in a security blanket of same-party voters, even if that means a single assemblyman represents the widely separated cities of San Dimas and Highland. Topping that, the parties and big donors are loath to give money to challengers, because the registration numbers are stacked. The incumbents, on the other hand, rake in the cash. “We may as well be in North Korea. There is just no competition,’ said Shaun Bowler, a political science professor at UC Riverside. Read the story here.
Friday, October 22nd, 2004
Baca still best choice for House seat (Opinion)
Congressional incumbent does need to make a mark for himself. For all his bluster, Rep. Joe Baca, who goes by the self-proclaimed moniker “Working Joe,’ has done little to distinguish himself in his five years in Congress.
Yet the Democrat from Rialto is still a far cry above his token opposition, Ed Laning.
Laning, chairman of the county Planning Commission, not only doesn’t live in the 43rd Congressional District, but he has no plans to move there. Such arbitrary disdain is at once troubling and arrogant.
The blathering continues here.
Dreier merits another term (Opinion)
When push comes to shove, the interests of Los Angeles or the growing Inland Empire, or the lucrative Orange County and even San Diego County often overtake the needs of the San Gabriel Valley. As budgets tighten and the fight for funding intensifies, the Valley needs strong, experienced men and women in positions of power who embody our interests and can bring back federal dollars.
In the 26th Congressional District, the Valley has that kind of representative, who for 24 years has dutifully represented our region in Washington despite the shifting lines of reapportionment. As chairman of the House Rules Committee, Rep. David Dreier is one of the most powerful members of Congress.
More of this yammering can be found here.
Bush Backs Temporary Cards for Immigrants
WASHINGTON (AP) – President George W. Bush told a Spanish-language television interviewer Thursday that he supports offering temporary legal status to immigrants who want jobs that go unfilled by United States citizens.
Bush, who says the United States should find a more humane way to treat immigrants said the card would provide temporary legal status for undocumented immigrants or those who want to come to the United States to work. But he said he would not offer amnesty.
Read the full story here.
