Former Pasadena Mayor now Ventura City Manager Rick Cole wrote today to clear up a colorful story from former PUSD Supe Ray Cortines.

For the record, I was never expelled for mooning, as you apparently figured out yourself. For the record, I was never suspended for mooning. For the record, I have never mooned anyone, leave alone been punished for it. Chris Sutton WAS suspended for his underground newspaper. I was among those who took over for him and dared Ray to suspend us -- in a special edition of the newspaper I personally put under the windshield wiper of his Rolls Royce in his driveway. Ray did not pursue the matter . . .

What Ray has mixed up in his mind is a cover photo of one issue of the underground paper of Chris Sutton and two friends holding various props (I recall a guitar) in front of their otherwise unclothed bodies. One of the friends is now a reporter at the Wall Street Journal, the other is a lawyer in Pasadena. I had nothing to do with that.

Since you didn't reach me prior to publication (did you try?) I'd appreciate either striking the blog entry of at least noting my rejoinder. You can believe Ray's foggy memory or you can believe mine or you can talk to any other teacher, administrator or student who was at Blair at the time. Trust me, mooning by me would be remembered. I was a varsity track letterman, the student body president, vice president and treasurer (the photo on your blog is my "presidential portrait") The closest I got to mooning was running around in track shorts and a sweaty t-shirt.

Fair enough Rick, but why'd you have to go spoil a good myth like that? And I did call over to the VCM office the day Ray told me that story many months ago.

In other news, his blog seems to have gone dark.

Posted by Todd at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Rowland Heights resident Hongwei Lou, who I spoke to last month regarding objections about a Chinese Olympic float in the Rose Parade, sent an update about her husband's imprisonment in China:

Recently there are some new progress in rescuing my husband, Dongwei Bu, who is a staffer member of US aid organization and was arrested from home by Chinese authorities on 19 May 2006 because he is a Falun Gong practitioner.

Eight congress members who are mainly from California cosigned a
letter which was sent to the labour camp to ask for Dongwei Bu's
release. There are four congresswomen of these eight congress members
who concern woman rights and human rights very much.

Dongwei Bu is a Chinese staffer from The Asia Foundation, a U.S. aid organization based in San Francisco. His duty is to provide legal assistance to immigrant workers in China. After three months of his arrest, Dongwei was sentenced to 2.5 years reeducation through labor (RTL) without trial and without access to counsel. He is in Beijing Tuanhe labour camp currently and forced to do hard labour everyday.

...

Actually my husband is a victim of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Chinese
authorities are trying to put all the dissidents into prison ahead of
the Games and they call it "clean the city movement".

I hope my husband will be released very soon because now there
arebvmany voices to boycott the Games. U.S. legislators introduced a
resolution recently calling for a boycott of the 2008 Olympics in
Beijing unless China makes drastic changes to its human rights
policies. Human rights activists also launch a global "human rights
torch relay" to highlight allegedly widespread human rights abuses in
China. This relay will arrive in US in March 2008.

Best wishes,

Hongwei Lou

Here's the letter Hongwei is referring to.

Posted by Todd at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The other P-Town recently resolved to state on the record its opposition to the PRC's treatment of Falun Gong members:

Resolution No. 2007-73: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Pomona Declaring Opposition to the Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in the People's Republic of China

Whereas, Falun Gong is a peaceful and nonviolent form of personal belief and practice with tens of millions of adherents in China, the United States and over 80 countries around the world; and

Whereas, the Government of the People's Republic of China has forbidden Falun Gong practitioners from practicing their beliefs and cruelly persecuted them; and

Whereas, this prohibition and persecution violates China's own constitution as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and

Whereas, hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens from all over China have been jailed for refusing to give up their practice of Falun Gong and for appealing to the government for protection of their constitutional rights; and

Whereas, there are many credible reports of torture and other types of cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment of detained Falun Gong practitioners; and ...

Whereas, other Falun Gong members have been sentenced to labor camps, apparently under administrative procedures allowing such sentences without trial; and

Whereas, large numbers of female Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to systematic sexual humiliation and abuse, including rape and gang rape; and

Whereas, large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners in China have lost their jobs, and students have been expelled from schools for refusing to give up their beliefs; and

Whereas, credible evidence shows that at least 36 concentration camps in China are currently harvesting organs of Falun Gong practitioners for profit while they are still alive; and

Whereas, a Falun Gong practitioner Dongwei Bu, who is an employee of an American aid organization, and the husband of California resident Hongwei Lou, was sentenced to two and one-half years forced labor and is still in labor camp because of his beliefs in Falun Gong; and

Whereas, the brutal crackdown by the Chinese Government on Falun Gong is in direct violation of the fundamental human rights to freedom of personal belief and practice, expression and assembly;

Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved by the City Council of the City of Pomona as follows:

Section 1. That the City Council of the City of Pomona believes that the Government of the People's Republic of China should stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners; and

Section 2. That the United States should use every appropriate public and private forum to urge the Government of the People's Republic of China to release from detention all Falun Gong practitioners including Dongwei Bu, the family member of a California resident, and put an end to the practices of torture and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment against them and other prisoners of conscience; and

Section 3. That the United States Government should investigate allegations of illegal activities in the United States of the Government of the People's Republic of China and its representatives and agents, including allegations of unlawful harassment of United States citizens and residents who practice Falun Gong and of officials of state and local governments in the United States who support Falun Gong, and should take appropriate action, including but not limited to enforcement of the immigration laws, against any such representatives or agents who engage in such illegal activities; and

Section 4. That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Falun Gong practitioners in the City of Pomona.

Section 5. The City Clerk shall attest and certify to the approval and adoption of this resolution and it shall become effective immediately upon its approval.

Approved and Adopted This 18th Day of June, 2007.

Attest: Marie Michel Macias, City Clerk

City of Pomona: Norma J. Torres, Mayor

Approved as to Form: Arnold Alvarez-Glasman, City Attorney

State of California

County of Los Angeles

City of Pomona

I, Marie Michel Macias, City Clerk of the City of Pomona do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Pomona held on the 18th day of June 2007 by the following vote:

Ayes: Councilmembers: Hunter, Rodriguez, Carrizosa, Lantz, Rothman, Atchley, Torres

Posted by Todd at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)