July 2007 Archives

So after the Korean missionaries were taken hostage by Taliban in Afghanistan, Koreans hit the streets in protest -- against us, of course, demanding that forces withdraw from Afghanistan and holding signs at candlelit vigils that read "End the US-ROK alliance in Afghanistan" and "US Troops Out Now!"

But now that time has dragged on, deadlines have passed, and Koreans have learned that the Afghan government can't kowtow to Taliban demands and -- surprise! -- that the Taliban isn't interested in their kaffeklatsch diplomacy or cash for hostages, they suddenly want OUR HELP!

"'We appeal for support from the people of the United States and around the world for resolving this crisis as early as possible,' Kim Jung-ja, the mother of one of the remaining captives, said.

'Especially, the families want the United States to disregard political interests and give more active support to save the 21 innocent lives,' she said, reading a statement before other relatives at the Saemmul Community church in Bundang, just outside Seoul, on Tuesday."

One sign at an anti-war protest read "Bush negotiate with the Taliban."

So let's get this straight -- when we go into a country to help people, we're branded imperialists and become the subject of derision around the world. But when their people are in deep doo-doo, recklessly taking an evangelization trip to a Muslim country, suddenly it's our responsibility to get them out of it? They want U.S. troops out, but if we were out, then we wouldn't be around to clean up their mess, would we?

A Terrible Liar

Some people are blessed, or perhaps cursed, with the ability to lie, evade, and dissemble seamlessly. Alberto Gonzales in not one of them.

Once upon a time we had great liars—people who could dodge, parse and misdirect like verbal Houdinis. Harry Truman said of Richard Nixon that Nixon was a great liar because he practiced a lot and would rather tell a lie even when the truth would serve him better. Bill Clinton could parse a sentence or even the meaning of a gerundial phrase. “I am not having sex with her,” means precisely what it says. “Right now, as I speak to you, I am not having sex.” Man, he was good at being bad. There is a kind of perverse virtue in this.

Most of the time when we call someone a terrible liar, we actually mean that they are good at lying. Alberto Gonzales, however, is a terrible liar in every sense of the word. He lies a lot and is not very good at it. He doesn’t seem either credible or authoritative. He is unable to use verbal slight of hand to change the subject or answer the question he wants and not the one being asked. He just sits there, with that pathetic deer in the headlights look, and repeats painfully implausible set piece responses.

Some pundits have cruelly compared him to a piñata—as someone who just keeps getting hammered on. Some criticize the metaphor as being racist—comparing an Hispanic to a piñata because he is Hispanic. I don’t think the metaphor is racist, but it is inaccurate. It is an insult not to Hispanics but to piñatas.

He is no piñata—a piñata moves when it is hit. The stick drives it in different directions. It swings at varying speeds. It eludes those who are trying to beat it and break it.

Gonzales is no piñata; he’s a heavy bag—tied to one place, just absorbing the punches and never moving an inch. He is not evasive; nor is he cute and clever. He’s not feisty and doesn’t fight back. He can’t float like a butterfly or sting like a bee. He just looks straight ahead and puts his effort into trying not to look as if he were going to cry.

For pity’s sake, there should be a mercy rule. In Little League if a team is up by 11 runs they call the game—not wanting to humiliate the losers. In boxing they stop the fight if the other boxer can’t protect himself. This is a TKO. He is totally defenseless.

The Democrats aren’t hitting him as hard as the Republicans who are clearly embarrassed by his performance. Democrats want him up in front of some committee every week to make the Whitehouse look bad. Republicans would like him to go away and to begin repairing the Justice Department from this debacle.

It is fair to ask if this is more politicized than other Justice Departments. But there can be no serious question as to the total ineptitude of General Gonzales who is a general disaster. He makes one long for those halcyon days of John Mitchell or John Ashcroft—a time when Attorney Generals could move and dance, think on their feet and frustrate the opposition with brilliance and not appall them with stories that no self-respecting ten year-old would try. I’m expecting the “Dog ate my meeting notes” excuse next week. The cruelty here is not the Congress or Senate panels but the Whitehouse that leaves him in the ring to be pounded, pummeled and punished. Shame.

The Drudge Report has attracted international attention to a story out of New Zealand about "Vegansexuals" -- animal lovers so committed to the veggie cause that they won't have sex with meat-eaters:

Many female respondents described being attracted to people who ate meat, but said they did not want to have sex with meat-eaters because their bodies were made up of animal carcasses.

One vegan respondent from Christchurch said: "I believe we are what we consume, so I really struggle with bodily fluids, especially sexually."

But wait! If we truly are what we eat, then sex with carnivores is nothing more than bestiality, which, according to some animal-rights champions -- most notably Princeton University bioethicist Peter Singer and PETA president Ingrid Newkirk -- can be, under the right circumstances, just swell.

So to get this matter of vegan ethics straight once and for all: Hamburgers are immoral, but buggering ham is not. And as for sex with carnivores, well, the jury's still out on that one.

The Bush Administration has long argued that all was going swimmingly in Iraq, even when the evidence overwhelmingly suggested otherwise, thereby squandering whatever credibility it had on the matter. But when someone outside the administration -- in this case, two scholars from the liberal Brookings Institution who have just returned from Iraq -- say that the situation has taken a turn for the better, it gives some cause for hope:

Viewed from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal....

Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.

Let's hope and pray they're right.

Yes, David Beckham might be a pin-up fave among the female set. Yes, he and his wife attract more hoopla and paparazzi than Paris and Lindsay on an all-night bender. And yes, even though soccer games seldom register a score above 1-0, the sport has a burgeoning fan base in the U.S. All that said, the Beckham-Galaxy-MLS venture is doomed for one simple reason:

No one will ever take seriously a team whose members -- and high-priced superstar -- sport HERBALIFE jerseys.

Sorry, just not gonna happen.

For those not in the know, Herbalife is the Amway of the weight-loss world. Some call it a pyramid scheme. It's a "health" company whose founder died from a four-day drinking binge.

To capitalize on Beckhamania, the Galaxy are going to need better corporate sponsorship. Is Enron available?

I’m really looking forward to being miserable this Thursday night. I will be terribly disappointed if I don’t suffer. Have I become a masochist? No. I’m just human and in touch with the complex layers of emotions engendered by the Dodgers, the Giants and the prospect of Barry Bonds breaking the hallowed homerun record of Hank Aaron.

I am going to the Dodger/Giant game Thursday night and I want to be a witness to Bonds breaking the record. I’m hoping to be able to boo and curse and get into a righteous frenzy over Mr. Churl breaking the record of Mr. Nice. And the fact that he is a Giant (by dint of team affiliation and possible steroidal inflation) only adds to the exquisite agony of it all.

Looking deeper into my soul than is warranted over issues involving baseball, I’m in touch with my ambivalence. He is going to break the record. He is a consistently unpleasant fellow. He is a Giant. But all of this is trumped by the possibility of witnessing history.

I was at the fabled Roy Campenella game in the coliseum. I was at the first Dodger game in the Coliseum and at Dodger Stadium. These are iconic moments beyond winning and losing. It would be a pleasure (like wiggling a loose tooth) to be a part of Barry Bonds bashing the ball for the record. I want to howl in indignation. Will my rage be real of feigned? Good question. I actually don’t know. But I hope to let you know.

... or at least so says a new study from the RAND Institute for Civil Justice :

“While driving ability declines with age for most people, those seniors who continue to drive appear to be safer drivers than the general public might think,” said David Loughran, a RAND senior economist and professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School who is the lead author of the study. “By far, it is the youngest drivers who pose the greatest risk to traffic safety.”

Maybe, but saying that older drivers are safer than teenagers is like saying they're safer than drunk drivers. Of course they are. Who isn't?

The press release says, "Drivers 65 and older are ... not much more likely than drivers 26 to 64 to cause accidents," but elsewhere the report notes that "older drivers are slightly (16 percent) likelier than drivers aged 25 to 64 to cause an accident."

Whether a 16 percent greater likelihood of a crash constitutes "slightly" increasing the risk by "not much" is, I suppose, a matter of interpretation. Still, this spin can't help but make the conspiracy theorist in me wonder if the RICJ isn't in cahoots with the AARP ...

On Saturday, FF's Jonathan Dobrer called out L.A. County Supervisor Yvonne Burke for living in Brentwood even though she nominally represents South L.A. -- an apparent violation of the law. In a slightly abbreviated form, that post made it into today's paper. And on this same day, FF's own Earl Ofari Hutchinson has written in defense of Burke over at the Times.

Here's Jonathan:

However, laws do mean something to politicians (and even civilians) or at least they should. Swearing falsely is perjury and politicians—office holders and office seekers have been charged with and convicted of perjury for claiming residence falsely.

And here's Earl:

If The Times' charge were true and Burke didn't live in her district but only in a wealthier one, does that mean she's so out of touch with the needs of her constituents that's she's unfit to hold office? The answer is yes only if one believes that there's a direct correlation between where a politician rests her head every night and her effectiveness. There is none.

So who wins this exchange? Tell us what you think ...

Chief Justice John Roberts suffered a seizure at his home today that caused him to take a tumble, the Supreme Court says. Before anybody starts making wagers on the next chief justice, Roberts' neurological evaluation is reportedly checking out OK and, says the SCOTUS, he had a similar incident in 1993.

And yes, he's the last person on the Supreme Court I'd expect to have a seizure, being the spring chicken and all...

So the namby-pambys who insist on telling other people how to live, or not live, their lives have taken away all the smoking areas in California and left us die-hards (and we will die hard) smokers with nowhere to smoke except our cars.

Then in some sort of expansion of non-smokers' rights, the car manufacturers decided to take away the ashtrays and lighters from their cars. It's like something Voldemort would do to us muggles. Now we have to smoke in our cars with our arms out the windows with our cigarettes and no place to put them after we've smoked them. Consequently, our freeway are covered with cigarette butts, Just read Sue Doyle's article on how bad it's become.

... as of July 29.

U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The Department of Defense -- 3646
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation -- 6
Total -- 3652

Our beloved Daily News learned something about the newspaper business through the comic controversy. Newspapers are about more than news. They are about relationships.

Our readers participate in relationships with the characters in the comics. In the rest of the paper, the readers also relate to the writers and columnists. The comics and columnists (intentional pairing) become part of our lives and are ingrained in our rituals. When the rituals are taken away, trust is severed, and the readers may feel free to see other papers or media.

The ritual aspects of newspaper reading are important. Buying a paper is part of the daily routine of many in Europe. Reading on the train makes London commuting bearable. Starting the day by going to the driveway or foyer to get the paper and read it (or them) over that first cup of coffee is a rite to be practiced and re-enforced. Changing our routines could be fatal to our relationship with our papers. Change the Mass in the Catholic Church. Change the melody of the Shema in a Jewish service. Mess with the order of service in a Protestant church. People will be unhappy and even disaffected.

TV newscasters understand these “virtual relationships.” They often sign off with “See you tomorrow” or “We look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” Aside from the scary implications that they can see us through the same cameras with which we see them, we understand with our brains that the words are not to be taken literally. However, unconsciously the words lead us to believe we have a kind of relationship and so we make dates with our talk show hosts or newscasters.

There are people who buy the SF Chronicle, now that Herb Cain is gone, only for Jon Carrol and Scott Osler. There are people who cancelled the L.A. Times and re-subscribed just for Al Martinez.

If it takes Mallard or Mariel, Chris or Hagar, Bridget or Beetle Bailey to start the day, well I certainly understand. Readers can get news from many sources. For them to select the Daily News will be influenced by routine and relationships with comics and columnists.

The Daily News readers's triumph is surpassed only by their gratitude. Editor Ron Kaye decided swiftly that the bean counters had erred and set in motion the return of the much appreciated comics. The good guys win -- for now.

Newspaper that listens

I wrote last week to complain about the missing comic strips and now I need to write to thank you for listening to all of us who love the funnies. I took a lot of ribbing about writing a letter to the editor for something so simple as the comics and was so happy to read all the other letters on this subject.
I now know that I am not the only adult who reads the comics. Thank you for being a newspaper that listens to your readers.

— Marlene Hoffman
west Hills

Admitting a mistake

I want to send Ron Kaye this little “thank you” note. It is very nice to see that there are still folks out there, in position of authority, who are willing to admit to a mistake. I am very happy to see we are getting our cartoons back. I read all of your paper, but I also like the “old” cartoons.

— Maximillian Messerschmidt
Woodland Hills

With gratitude

I just wanted to tell The Daily News how grateful I am that you paid attention to the pleas of your readers and brought back our beloved comics. This is an example of why you are my paper of choice, you actually value the opinion of the general public.
Our federal, state and local governments could learn a thing or two from you. Thank you for empowering us.

— Marjorie Cunningham
Reseda

Readers triumph

It is proof of “we, the people” that the readership was able to influence the Daily News in regards to their dismay over the change in the comic strips. Obviously, it was the power of many that made the difference.
Just think of what a wake up call it would be for our elected officials if we would contact our councilmen, congressmen, and senators about really important issues. Just think of the difference we could make. We have no one but ourselves to blame when our government does not truly reflect our wishes.

_ Evelyn Goldman
Chatsworth

Thank you ...

... Thank you, thank you. My day can now start off as it should. With a smile. The return of the comics is much appreciated.

— John McCartney
Saugus

Now I am happy ...

... at least in the morning. Thank you so much for returning our comics to us. They were our favorites. It is good to know that all of our letters and e-mails really made a difference. Thanks again.

— Elva Brenner
Moorpark

Front page funnies

I can certainly understand the feelings of people who were upset about your removing their favorite comics from the paper. Like many of them, I read my favorite funnies first — on the front page first.
With the president, congress, supreme court, governor, state legislature, county supervisors, city council and mayor on the front page, I get my early morning belly laugh. Everyone says that is good for my health. Please don't remove the front page with my comics from your paper.

— Bob Larkin
Westlake Village

Arnold's coming to Woodland Hills permanently. Kinda. A charter school is going to name its WH campus after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, accoridng to the press release factor over at the gov's press office.

In honor of Governor Schwarzenegger's commitment to the education of all California children, today the CHIME Charter Elementary School will be renamed in honor of the Governor, to the CHIME Institute's Arnold Schwarzenegger Elementary School. Located in Woodland Hills, the newly renamed elementary school is part of the CHIME Institute.

"I am honored to have a high-quality institution like CHIME Charter Elementary named in my honor. The CHIME Institute shares my commitment to educating all children," said Governor Schwarzenegger.

CHIME Institute implements a co-teaching model where general and special education teachers provide curriculum and learning experiences that meet the needs of all students.

A Carnegie Mellon University study looked at why women are systematically paid less. As I suspected, it wasn't so much because of institutionalized sexism, but because of society's unease with uppity women in general. You know, if we stick up for ourselves, we become "bitches" or "'hos."

Their study, which was coauthored by Carnegie Mellon researcher Lei Lai, found that men and women get very different responses when they initiate negotiations. Although it may well be true that women often hurt themselves by not trying to negotiate, this study found that women's reluctance was based on an entirely reasonable and accurate view of how they were likely to be treated if they did. Both men and women were more likely to subtly penalize women who asked for more -- the perception was that women who asked for more were "less nice".

"What we found across all the studies is men were always less willing to work with a woman who had attempted to negotiate than with a woman who did not," Bowles said. "They always preferred to work with a woman who stayed mum. But it made no difference to the men whether a guy had chosen to negotiate or not."

In this study, Bowles and her colleagues divided 119 volunteers at random into different groups and provided them with descriptions of male or female candidates who tried to negotiate a higher starting salary for a hypothetical job, along with descriptions of applicants who accepted the offered salary. The volunteers were asked to decide whether they would hire the candidates -- who were all described as exceptionally talented and qualified. While both men and women were penalized for negotiating, Bowles found that the negative effect for women was more than twice as large as that for men.

Just got back from a much-needed, much-appreciated vacation to Cape Cod, during I which I was mostly in a blissful state of media blackout. I did, however, occasion to spot this article on the front page of the Boston Globe.

Massachusetts voters sick of holding their noses on Election Day could get another option: none of the above....

The measure, pending before the Legislature, would add the line "None of the Above; For a New Election" to every state and local race on the ballot. If that option won the most votes, another election would be held in 60 to 80 days, and other candidates would be allowed to run.

Now this is an idea we could use in California! How great would it be in all our bogus, gerrymandered Legislative races to have the power to deny the incumbent a return to office!

Hat tip to VH-1's "Best Week Ever" for pointing out this rehearsal at a correctional facility in the Philippines! But Al-Jazeera has the behind-the-scenes story and corresponding video. Apparently, the inmates also perform a number from "Sister Act." (And yes, that's a guy in drag in the video.)

From Reuters:

"A Qatar sheikh held up a British Airways flight at Milan's Linate airport for nearly three hours after discovering three of his female relatives had been seated next to men they did not know.

When none of the other business class passengers agreed to swap seats, the sheikh, a member of Qatar's ruling family, went to the pilot, who had already started the engine, to complain, an airport official said.

But the pilot ordered him and his traveling companions, the three women, two men, a cook and a servant, off the plane."

I swear, I thought the next line was going to be, "So the sheikh offered to check them as baggage..."

Iraq's national soccer team beat favorite Saudi Arabia 1-0 today to win the Asian Cup. No word on whether this win will make the Iraqi team attractive to David Beckham, taking Posh from the Woodland Hills TGI Friday's to a falafel stand in Baghdad...

However, one quote after the victory from Younis Mahmoud, who scored Iraq's goal:

"I want America to go out. Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, but out. I wish the American people didn't invade Iraq and, hopefully, it will be over soon."

How quickly he forgets how Uday Hussein tortured soccer players after losses or draws.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who tried to go over the Cahuenga Pass this afternoon, getting caught in the horrible traffic that resulted from the tragic crash near Highland that claimed the life of an off-duty LAPD officer. But I wasn't on the southbound/eastbound side of the freeway, where all lanes were closed and traffic was diverted onto surface streets. I was on the northbound/westbound side, which was backed up nearly to the Harbor Freeway. Why? There wasn't a lane closed on my side, nary a shred of glass from the wreck on the opposite side of the highway. It was simply the tiresome L.A. tradition of looky-loo-itis, where, even though motorists have seen wrecks many, many times, there is some compelling need to slow down and look at the fresh wreck. Tourists feel the need to join in this local tradition, contributing more rubbernecking than the locals.

We may build car-pool lanes or reversible lanes to try to ease traffic congestion, but will our freeway woes ever be solved until we resolve to be part of the looky-loo solution instead of the problem? Drive, don't gawk!

Hope that you all caught Editor Ron Kaye's note this weekend about the return -- by popular demand -- of eight comic strips on Monday.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke may need some supervision. She’s been accused of sleeping where she shouldn’t be. With most politicians this would betoken some kind of sexual impropriety, but Burke is clean in terms of her nighttime company. This is a question of whether she lives where she sleeps or if simply by changing cars and picking up the mail she makes another house her home.

Yvonne Burke is the county supervisor from…from…uh, well that’s the problem. She represents South Los Angeles, an area that includes her “legal residence” in Mar Vista. However, she is in some political and possibly legal trouble for spending too much time in her Brentwood home and not enough (or any) in her official and legal residence in the district she represents and where, by law, she must reside.

She claims that the Mar Vista property was uninhabitable because she was remodeling, and it has taken more time than anticipated. This, of course, sounds credible to anyone who has survived a remodel. However, it doesn’t pass the reasonable person test. Her Brentwood house with swimming pool and tennis court is somewhat more, let’s say,” comfortable” than her Mar Vista condo—a condo whose vistas are marred by a lack of lush mountains and the verdant vegetation of Brentwood’s Mandeville Canyon.

The fact that she is engaged in some stealth makes one think that if she is hiding it may be because she has something to hide. She sleeps in Brentwood and drives to Mar Vista to get picked up to go to work. She is dropped off in Mar Vista and drives to her Brentwood home, where she sleeps—and swims and presumably plays tennis. No one would begrudge her this lifestyle. In fact, these days it is pretty comforting when any politician is sleeping at home—even if it is the wrong home.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson

With hate Michael Vick mob hysteria raging in the sports world and among the general public it seems Tasha Levin is about the only person that got it right about the embattled Atlanta Falcons quarterback. The Northeastern University student stood outside the federal courtroom in Richmond, Virginia where Vick was arraigned on dogfighting charges and reminded the world that Vick hasn’t been convicted of anything, and that they ‘re trying to sabotage his career. The “they” is the legion of animal rights groups, sportswriters, and irate fans who have screamed for Vick’s head. Levin seems to be one of the few that haven’t forgotten there’s still a few little Constitutional things called presumption of innocence, innocent until proven guilty, the right to an unbiased, fair trial, reasonable doubt, and that criminal charges are just that charges, not convictions, and that a defendant’s guilt or innocence is decided in a courtroom not by a gaggle of talking head sports commentators, animal rights picketers, and football crazies.

The capper though came from one blogger who claimed that Vick has now replaced O.J. Simpson as the most hated man in America. He’s right. Vick for the moment anyway is America’s pariah. He and Simpson have three things in common. They are and were football celebs. They lived an opulent and princely lifestyle. They were and are victims of a rush to judgment.

A stoic Vick issued a statement through his attorney that he intended to clear his good name. Even if Vick somehow beats the fed charges in his trial which is scheduled for November, that’s a doomed hope. In fact, as was the case with Simpson, that will ignite even greater public fury. They will wag fingers at Vick and say that he was able to use his fame and name, and his A team, high priced attorneys to massage the legal system to skip away scot free, even though he’s guilty as sin. Vick will pay an even steeper price for that presumption.

He will lose any chance at endorsements. Sportswriters will rail against him. Animal rights groups will hound Vick in every city he sets foot in waving “Convick” signs in his face. Fans will rain boos and catcalls down on him when he sets foot on the field.

Fortunately, there are still a few like student Levin that haven’t completely lost their heads in the face of the hate Vick chorus.

From the Taliban spokesman of the week, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, on the condition of their remaining 22 South Korean hostages:

"I don't know if the weather is not good for them or our food. The women hostages are crying. The men and women are worried about their future."

Yeah, it's the weather and the Taliban chow -- that's the problem. I'm sure tears and illness have nothing to do with the fact that you're threatening to saw off their heads every 15 minutes.

Already the above photo from Phoenix gives me heart, because a man who shops at Costco could have some good ideas on how to run this country economically (starting with the box of 75 frozen hamburger patties). But the story here is that Giuliani is striking out at the Democratic contenders:

"Edwards offered a proposal on taxes Thursday that calls for increasing the rates for the wealthy and providing breaks for the middle class. The plan would raise the top tax rate on long-term capital gains.

'This is a Democratic program to drive businesses and jobs out of the United States of America,' Giuliani said at a restaurant. 'Capital gains are realized by a lot of middle-class people who have investments in mutual funds. This is a tax on everybody.'

On Monday, Obama suggested that as president he would be willing to meet with leaders of nations such as Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea without preconditions — a notion that has drawn scorn for his Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Giuliani called it a 'terrible mistake,' adding: 'Fidel Castro is a dictator and he is a murderer. He should not be visiting with U.S. presidents.'

On Thursday, during a stop in Houston, Giuliani called Democrats 'the party of losers' for demanding a scheduled pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq.

'Democrats have already declared we've lost,' the former New York mayor said. 'It's really strange. The Democrats want to give our enemies a timetable.'

That drew a quick retort from Democratic candidate Sen. Joe Biden.

'It is absurd for Rudy Giuliani to call Democrats 'losers' after five years of failed Republican policies in Iraq,' the Delaware senator said in a statement issued Friday."

Hey, Joe, how many times have you run for the White House and lost?

I'm liking this Rudy feistiness, though. Particularly on the Cuba part.

John Edwards lashed out at Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama today for their argument on the best way to approach rogue nations (campfire singalong vs. cautious diplomacy):

"'If you're looking for what's wrong in Washington, why the system is broken, why the system doesn't work, one perfect example is what's been happening just over the course of the last four days,' said Edwards, who spoke before Clinton and Obama.

'We've had two good people — Democratic candidates for president — who spent their time attacking each other instead of attacking the problems that this country is facing,' Edwards said to a mixture of groans and applause.

'I got your attention with that one,' he added."

Whoa there, pretty boy: Iran, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba... these aren't "problems that this country is facing"? Boy, would you make a great prez. Get your policymaking out of the sticks, Edwards!

Last night was the night I'd been waiting for -- seeing Bob Dylan, my absolute favorite, live and in person, at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa. After grubbing on some fair food and beating out a bunch of little kiddies to win a stuffed lion (which wound up on my lap during the concert), as well as dropping lots of cash at the Dylan souvenir stand, the legend himself took stage.

Now, Dylan fans such as myself would still be pleased if he got up on stage and gargled (which, let's be serious, his singing sounds like sometimes anyway). But there were a few quirks:

Dylan only played guitar for the first two songs, and keyboard for the rest.

Dylan faced his band while playing keyboard, so only one wing of the house could see his face. I, on the other hand, got the other side: an excellent view of Dylan shaking his junk in the trunk and doing little occasional dance shuffles while boogalooing on the keyboard.

The set started well -- "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" -- which got the audience really excited, and then he went into "Lay, Lady, Lay" (then he ditched his guitar and showed us his backside). After that he did mostly new material, with "Tangled Up In Blue" thrown in. For the encore, he did "Thunder on the Mountain" from his latest album "Modern Times," followed by a jazzy, funkadelic -- OK, weird -- remix of "Blowin' in the Wind."

It was amazing to watch Dylan live, no doubt. But I couldn't believe he didn't play the song christened the greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine -- and my favorite song -- "Like a Rolling Stone." Shouldn't that be a concert staple? Another concertgoer was lamenting that he didn't play "Mr. Tambourine Man." I also wanted "All Along the Watchtower" and "Just Like A Woman." Luckily I had the "Greatest Hits Vol. I" CD in my car changer to get my fix after I left the concert.

Basically, I think that classic artists are still evolving and have every right to showcase their new music -- Dylan seemed to be going with an upbeat, jazzy, bluesy theme for the night -- but should also balance that with the classic tunes that fans are dying to hear. After all, we're shelling out big bucks for tickets nowadays. That being said, my affection for Mr. Dylan is undiminished and he remains the sexiest 66-year-old in a geeky sparkly cowboy suit with stripes down the pants legs out there.

These are my cats: Frankie, the one-eyed Maine Coon, is 9, and Ronnie the tuxedo cat is 7 (younger in this pic). I encountered Frankie while working on a murder story as a reporter in Watsonville, Calif.; the family wanted donations made to the animal shelter as the victim was a cat lover. Frankie was six months old, brought in at 4 months old after being attacked and losing an eye. They were going to put him to sleep because nobody wanted him, but all you had to do was pick him up once to discover how full of life and love he was. Since I wasn't allowed to have pets in my teeny apartment, I snuck Frankie in my purse up the stairs, and lugged litter up the stairs at 3 a.m. I also learned that Maine Coons are quite dog-like -- they like water, wait for you at the door, follow you around (and get huge -- he's 17 pounds now).

Anyway, I believe there is a sixth sense in animals, like in the case of Oscar the hospice cat, that no one who's been a longtime pet owner can deny. Not only do they know what time the alarm is supposed to go off and are unsurpassed at screening dates, but they know when you're ill and in the case of Frankie -- who loves to jump on stomachs -- he didn't pounce on my abdomen for months after I had a spate of kidney stones years ago. How can you help but not love -- and be impressed by -- these furballs?

Who's to say that "Oscar" if that's even his real name, isn't helping along these deaths that he's supposedly predicting? I can just imagine him stalking the halls, looking for his next victims, curling up on their chests, o so innocently purring. Then, when all the nurses and doctors are away, the tiny furry paws creep silently up to the nose and mouth, suffocating them slowly, painfully....

Either that or he justs thinks that once they die he can eat them. He's a cat, after all.

I'm not sure why the city of Hawthorne suddenly started sending me e-mailed press releases today. But I'm not not griping when the content is this juicy. It's a statement from Hawthorne's City Manager Jag Pathirana about how the Grand Jury indictment of Councilmember Louis Velez makes for such a "horrible" day for this city. (FYI, Hawthorne is one of those southern LACo cities that no one notices until someonse's indicted for public corruption or extortion or gun running.) (FYI #2, the bold is my emphasis).

"We understand that the indictment stems from an alleged conflict of interest issue. ...
Councilmember Velez rented his family residence from a local developer who later had projects come before the City Council. His rental terms were and are consistent with the current rental market value. Councilmember Velez has fully cooperated with the District Attorney's office and has provided them with evidence that he paid his rent in full monthly.
Before voting on the developer's projects or otherwise participating in the city's review of the developer's proposal, Councilmember Velez explained his rental relationship to legal counsel and to the Fair Political Practices Commission. Councilmember Velez was told that there were no legal obstacles to his participation in city deliberations concerning the developer's proposals.

Welll, that's not how DA's office tells it. According to our sister paper, the fine Daily Breeze down there in south county, it's just the first charge to come from a wider investigation. Here's the full story:

The charge is the first indictment to come out of the current investigation by the District Attorney's Office into allegations of corruption on the Hawthorne City Council. The district attorney's Public Integrity Division began to investigate Velez's dealings with a local housing developer about a year ago.

It may be time to declare the war over and surrender. There is just no hope of people coming to their senses and acting reasonably and morally. In the face of such determined self-destructive badness, I say let’s talk about ending the war on drugs now!

Barry Bonds is chasing Hank Aaron’s homerun record and is suspected of having inflated his body and his numbers with steroids. He actually admits to steroid use, but claims it was unintentional. (And Lindsey Lohan was carry cocaine for a friend.) It is also the case that steroids were not against the rules for much of his career. So why the fuss?

The war on drugs in bicycling has turned the Tour de France into the Tour de Farce. This is a shame. I actually care about the Tour, and having lived in France and biked over many of those roads (aided only by the irrational denial of my age), I have watched each year with real interest. Now I watch with nausea.