A moment for the fallen….

I, so far, have been afraid to say this on the air…so I thought I would float it here first to see what kind of feedback I would get. What transpired at Ft. Hood was surely tragic. Whether or not it was an act of terrorism in it’s official sense, remains to be seen and I will save for a future post.  What got my attention was how fast the President called for flags to be flown at half staff.  It was certainly appropriate. However….what about the 50 we lost in the month of October, the worst month we have had to date in Afghanistan. So what I think is we need to fly flags at half staff…maybe once a month when the report comes out…or once a week.

We have thousands of men and women in harms way every day. We are talking about sending more (again-maybe another post). Why does it take one tragic event to force us to respect those we lost? Isn’t every loss a tragedy?

This is NOT Capitalism!

It’s a trash company. They have the contract in Ridgecrest. It’s exclusive. They call it a franchise agreement (monopoly partnership). My friends are asking me why I am taking a for profit business to task for doing the all-American thing and making a profit. It is after all capitalism. Ummm…afriad not. It’s very simple why it’s not. Their service is now MANDATORY. Oh, they say, well what about the businesses in Ridgecrest who are gouging? Well, see the way capitalism works….any business that doesn’t take care of its customers, they won’t frequent that business anymore. Then the business goes away. Wonder how the whole capitalism model changes when the city REQUIRES you to go to that business.

Now that trash is mandatory (and why wasn’t it before?), it is much like a utility. A Franchise agreement was something the city had with the cable company. Cable wasn’t mandatory, but the city received some consideration while the cable company provided quality TV service to the town. This is NOT cable. This is more like PG&E or Edison. We have to use it. When either of them want to raise rates, they have to go through the PUC and have public hearings. The trash company? Not so much. They just slap a price on it, admittedly, to expedite the paying off of the new equipment and trash bins. A good business does that. Makes sense. But after we ALL pay that debt, are our rates going down?

Then there’s the matter that slipped everyone’s attention at city hall. The trash company has new revenue streams from our fair city. The money they make on our cans and bottles and plastic. Because diligence wasn’t used in this matter, I was left scouring the net, trying to find some way to get a ballpark figure of what we are talking here. On my numbers (hardly science-but still researched) on cans alone, the trash company will make roughly $900k on our cans. If you want my formula, e-mail me.

It seems our fair council was in a time crunch. The state gave us a deadline or face a $10,000 a day fine. Now time crunches are relative. This one was, by most accounts, 9 months. Now I’m not sure (as previously posted) about the daily ins and outs of running our city “machine”. But nine months seems a sufficient amount of time to request bids for service and find out what kind of money we’re talking about generating with our own trash. It took me two hours to get to my number. But we assumed too much. We assumed no one of value would bid on a contract. We assumed more people take their cans to the local recycle box that not. You are NOT elected to assume. We HAVE a process. Let’s use it.

And for a trash company, which one online site says has annual sales of between $10 and $24 million (a wide berth and I always use the low number) do not on one hand tell us about your public service and on the other hand say you are just taking advantage of what was handed to you. Forget customer service when I call about a problem on my bill. Why not keep 10,000 households here on YOUR side. Do the right thing. Don’t hide behind capitalism. That’s a cop out.

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words and a Diesel Generator….

The Planning Commission had a matter in front of them that will probably be overturned by the Council tonight….needing to vent, and knowing I haven’t posted in a while, I cruised over to Word Press to kill two birds with one stone. Here’s the background…back in February, a medical imaging firm relocated to a couple of trailers located behind the “dying” Drummond facility. A couple of months later they moved to the Heritage Plaza business complesx, trailers and all. They hooked up diesel generators that pumped smoke into the Montessori school there. They were finally shut down. Then they come to the Commission wanting a 6 month extension to move inside of the buildings there. We basically said no to their extension request. Here’s why.

They repeatedly broke the rules (code) even after being warned. They thumbed their nose at the City of Ridgecrest and basically were telling everyone they didn’t have to play by the rules. Of course our city in it’s infinite wisdom, doesn’t have fines or any other punitive thing they can do. I felt our shutting them down until they got it right would suffice.

They are trying to make this about us being anti-business. We don’t support competition. We were protecting the hospital. Nothing could be further from the truth. From where I sat, it was all about telling them that we will NOT allow a business to come in here and do anything less than what is expected from them. It’s about fairness. The hospital is meeting rigorous standards in getting their new building up. Wonder if they considered putting their new imaging center in a couple of trailers out back.

My hope is that the Council will do the right thing tonight. But for them, lately, those decisions have been hard to come by.

The new Wal Mart saga continues….

Now don’t get me wrong…I am not a huge supporter of Wal Mart….there have been some issues raised over the years with how they may or may not mistreat their employees….hardly anything compelling there or any different from any other corporate environment for that matter….so let’s just look at this on it’s face…here is a cold hard fact…

In every city where Wal‐Mart has opened a Supercenter in California, the city‐wide Taxable Retail Sales (including apparel stores, general merchandise stores, grocery stores, home furnishing and appliance stores, and other retail stores) have increased in the year following the opening of the Supercenter as compared to the Taxable Retail Sales of the year prior to the opening. Moreover, city‐wide Taxable Retail Sales have continued to increase in each subsequent year in all communities that have had Wal‐Mart Supercenters for multiple years.

That’s from a survey done by an independent company….a survey that goes on to show other grocery stores do NOT close in those communities and they actually see an INCREASE in sales. Why? Aaron Rios from Wal Mart said it best at the meeting the other night. Retail Synergy. That’s fancy talk for more people staying in town to shop. The more stuff (meaning selection) they sell at Wal Mart…the more people are likely to stay in town to shop.

Which brings me to another point….if I hear one more person say “I tried to find it in town first and then I went out of town” I am going to be sick. What a freaking lie. Talk to the small business owners around town….ask them if people call or come by looking for a particular item. It just doesn’t happen. Nor do they ask a store if they can get it. Now I understand there are new fashion standards out there and people are not likely to buy clothes from Wal Mart. We lost our Mervyn’s. But for women there are a couple of shops here. AND a couple that have gone out of business.

Next time tell the truth…I like Target better….I only buy at Nordstom’s. Etc. The more retail dollars that are spent here increases our odds of getting more retail so when you go out of town…you can go for fun instead of these covert retail operations.

In search of cool arcitechture in L.A. Part 1

Sure you can take a tour of stars homes in L.A…..there is so much more than that, Grauman’s and Rodeo Drive. There is a rich history of movie making at some of the still standing, lesser known facilities- One where they shoot True Blood. There are so many cool old houses and apartment buildings, some restored, some needing it, that it’s hard to find a story about. This place is in Hancock Park and we will be putting up some more pics of houses there. This apartment complex, called the Mauretania has a great story….

Here’s the story…

Serene as a safely harbored ocean liner, cresting the waves of traffic along Rossmore Ave., the Mauretania is the flagship in a fleet of 30 Art Deco apartment buildings Dave Goldstein owns throughout the city. Curving back from the sidewalk, the gem of retro architecture at 520-522 N. Rossmore Ave. was built for actor Jack Haley, who achieved screen immortality with his portrayal of the Tin Man in “The Wizard of Oz.” Haley and his wife Flo commissioned Milton J. Black to design the building in 1934.

Black was the architect for numerous small apartment buildings in Southern California. He adapted the Streamline Moderne style’s characteristic aerodynamic and naval motifs for the Haley project, and named it after a British luxury liner which had set a transatlantic speed record in 1909.

The 10-unit, stucco Mauretania was built around an open courtyard area and topped by an extensive penthouse flat where the Haleys lived for 20 years. The structure’s rounded exterior walls suggest an ocean-going vessel, and the second floor balconies with railings of steel pipe evoke the feeling of a luxuriously large deck.

Although its tenant roster has included film stars, supermodels, architects, rock musicians and writers, the Mauretania’s best known occupant was a career politician who only stayed four days. But during that time, he was nominated for president of the United States, a position he won four months later.

In the summer of 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy rented the penthouse apartment from the Haleys during the Democratic National Convention. In addition to its convenient location, near the Biltmore Hotel, headquarters of the Democratic National Committee delegates, and the Sports Arena, site of the convention, it was private enough so Kennedy could have some seclusion.

Decades later, when restoring one of the kitchens in the building, Goldstein found a yellowed newspaper clipping from 1960, describing how JFK eluded the press, who had discovered his hideaway, to go swimming at Marion Davies’ beach house by climbing down the penthouse fire escape. Longtime tenants described another Mauretania legend to Goldstein: on the night of the nomination, Kennedy knocked at the door of his downstairs neighbors, the actor William Gargan and his wife. His own televisions had blown fuses, so JFK joined the Gargans, who were watching the convention in their pajamas, until the power was restored in the penthouse. Kennedy returned upstairs to watch as the Democratic delegates named him their candidate for the presidency.

With such history, and such architecture, Goldstein approached the Mauretania’s renovation with respect when he purchased the building three years ago. Several owners, including the Ahmanson family, had succeeded the Haleys, and 64 years of renters had left their mark. Major structural repairs were required, kitchens had been “upgraded” with cheap appliances, the landscaping was a far cry from the original, and every bathroom was in dire need of refurbishment.

Goldstein knows his audience: there are no anachronistic granite counter-tops or steam showers to besmirch the charm of living in one of his lovingly refinished time warps. While Goldstein’s tinkering with the Mauretania is ongoing, his devotion to his buildings takes a back seat to his reverence for history. Along the elegant baseboards of the penthouse apartment runs a thick length of 40-year-old black telephone cable, which Goldstein refuses to remove. It had been installed before the Democratic Convention to link the Mauretania with the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Mass. As his party’s official nominee for president, Kennedy’s first telephone call was to his wife. “That cable is ugly,” concedes Goldstein. “But it’s history.”
— Sydney Swire
Larchmont Chronicle

What a great story….we were just looking for some Deco.

Town Hall Meeting Tonight….

This is a great idea in principle….but we will probably mostly talk about our trash issue.  In a nutshell it is simply the state is making recycling (the blue bins) mandatory. We have numbers showing we alreayd exceed the state requirements and our landfill is filling up fast…good points for sure, but cut and dried…the state has told us we will pay a $10k fine for every day we are not in compliance.

There it is. Enough said. We will do as we are told because in today’s economic climate and with the dire straits that the state has put our city in we can hardly afford to stand on Constitutional circumstance and fight this thing. End of story.

Yet there will be a gaggle of people there tonight urging the city to fight and citing all sorts of Constitutional law…bottom line? It is what it is…let’s move on and figure some other things out.

Turns out City Hall can’t fight city hall.

Does Free Speech Matter Anymore?

I get a phone call from a listener this morning. He is mad that I am still playing David Letterman’s Top 10 list. He says he is going to boycott all of the businesses on the radio station because of what he said about Sarah Palin’s kid. Now…not knowing (not defending only explaining) that it wasn’t Bristol there…it was the 14 year old…here’s what Dave said…

* “The toughest part of [Sarah Palin’s] visit was keeping Eliot Spitzer away from her daughter.”
* Things got awkward when “during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.”

About Bristol, who is now an adult…sorry those jokes are hilarious. Either way he apologized and Palin accepted….so here is part of the conversation with the listener…

Caller: I am calling to complain about you carrying David Letterman. If you don’t take him off, I am going to quit listening and boycott all of the businesses who advertise on your radio station.

Me: You know he apologized and she accepted right?

Caller: He was forced to apologize.

Me: So you don’t support free speech?

Caller: Of course I do, just not jokes about kids.

Me: Is there a break room where you work?

Caller: Yes

Me: Ever hear any jokes about Lindsay Lohan before she was 18?

Caller: Yeah probably.

Me: Did you call people out for that.

Caller: No

Me: So you are saying you get upset when people make a joke about Sarah Palin’s kids right?

Caller: No that’s not what I’m saying but I am going to boycott.

Me: So you are saying that you don’t support free speech, you don’t support the local economy and you don’t support a radio station that has donated 100’s of thousands of dollars in advertising to local non-profit groups. And you don’t accept the fact that he apologized and she accepted.

Caller: He was forced to.

Me: You know this how? Have you talked to Dave?

Caller: No

Me: Did Rush Limbaugh tell you this?

Caller: No

Me: Do you have an in at CBS?

Caller: No

Me: Then you don’t really know if he meant it or not…you’re just assuming.

Caller: I suppose so.

Me: It seems to me the problem in this climate is that we have a lot of people. A lot of which claim to be Christians, who are stirring up hate and discontent.

Caller: It’s not hate and discontent.

Me: You don’t support free speech, you want to hurt the local economy and innocent people, some of which who probably don’t know who David Letterman is, and you would just as soon see him out of a job too. Is that right?

Caller: The Letterman part.

Me: How do you think your preacher would feel about that? You wishing ill on another man’s livelihood?

Caller: I think I need to think about this some more.

Me: I think that’s a great idea. Thanks for calling.

(Sorry for the length…it was actually a longer call than that) But this is a serious problem. We have polarizing talking heads on both sides. There are some people who won’t open their minds (again on both sides) but will just do as they are told. When you try to list this back to them…in essence explaining the hate behind it…they don’t like how it sounds.

Most of us sit helpless in the middle, unless we are given opportunities to expose it to them. When you get a chance watch The Daily Shows rundown of the whole D.C. shooting thing and how both sides tried to use it against the other. It’s hilarious and sad at the same time.

I could only find the entire program….here it is…it is the second segment….

USGS reports 2.3 earthquake in Cleburne this morning 8:56 AM CT | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

Earthquakes…not just for the West Coast anymore…

USGS reports 2.3 earthquake in Cleburne this morning 8:56 AM CT | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News.

Raymond Lee Oyler sentenced to death for starting Esperanza fire

Raymond Lee Oyler sentenced to death for starting Esperanza fire | L.A. Now | Los Angeles Times.

This is some serious Texas style punishment….my question is, was the punishment stronger because of firefighters being killed?

SCHOOL DAYS — 1957 vs. 2007

Do you believe this to be true??

Scenario 1:

Jack goes quail hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck’s gun rack.

1957 – Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack’s shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.

2007 – School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and
teachers.


Scenario 2:

Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.

1957 – Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.

2007 – Police called and SWAT team arrives — they arrest both Johnny and Mark. They
are both charged them with assault and both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario 3:

Jeffrey will not be still in class, he disrupts other students.

1957 – Jeffrey sent to the Principal’s office and given a good paddling by the Principal. He then returns to class, sits still and
does not disrupt class again.

2007 – Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. He becomes a zombie. He is then tested for ADD. The school gets extra money from the state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario 4:

Billy breaks a window in his neighbor’s car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.

1957 – Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and becomes a successful businessman.

2007 – Billy’s dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. The
state psychologist is told by Billy’s sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy’s mom has an affair with the psychologist.

Scenario 5:

Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.

1957 - Mark shares his aspirin with the Principal out on the smoking dock.

2007 - The police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations. His car is then searched for drugs and weapons.


Scenario 6:

Pedro fails high school English.

1957 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.

2007 - Pedro’s cause is taken up by state.. Newspaper articles appear nationally
explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro’s English teacher.  English is then banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario 7:

Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed.

1957 - Ants die.

2007 - ATF, Homeland Security and the FBI are all called. Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates his parents — and
all siblings are removed from their home and all computers are confiscated. Johnny’s dad is placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario 8:

Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.

1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.

2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison.  Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.