Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman and the dwindling Republican party

Living in a red county, I wasn’t surprised at the support and praise Meg Whitman, former CEO of Ebay campaigning for governor of California, received Friday afternoon at the Gold Coast Hispanic Chamber luncheon. And despite my left leaning ways, I thought some of the things she was saying and has training in could result into being the best candidate for the job.

Her opening statement was filled with praise for the stricklands and that if everyone in the state legislature was like them that this state would be very different.

Up for discussion: Spending, job creation and education

Spend less for the same or more services–makes sense

lower taxes and create more jobs–ideally a perfect situation

streamline the issues with education and put California back in a respectable  ranking… right now California ranks 48 in the country for performance–get our education out of the gutter

Now, these statements are pretty much the Republican mantra. But there are always a few details that get left out.

When they say they will lower taxes, there is also a general consensus in conservative thinking that minimum wage should be done away with as well. Hmm… they never talk about that though.

When they say they will create jobs–how? and who will be running these businesses and who will be buying those products?

When they say they want to spend less while keeping the same services.. another conservative thought is to do away with welfare and make everyone fend for themselves–after all we are in a capitalistic society where anyone can make money.

When asked if illegal immigrants should be able to obtain drivers  licenses, Whitman said no. Because we need to secure our borders and basically, they don’t deserve a license because they are undocumented.

Whitman did note how the Republican party is dwindling. only 31 percent of registered voters are republican. Again, not surprising. Why? Because a progressive society can’t tolerate those who lack compassion. Unfortunately for the Republican party, while pro-business and it has a lot of good ideas to run this state like a successful business not a company going bankrupt, their lack of compassion will destroy their party.

If they could only work out these minor nicks in their glossy paint, they would be sure to be in the majority. But, alas, they boast the religious right and fend for yourself attitude…

Wish one day we could meet in the middle. A lot of potential, but nothing without compassion or understanding.

No stimulus funds for the county’s police agencies — that’s good news!

When it comes to money, there is not a one that would act happy when they are told they aren’t getting some cashish they thought was due them. And so it goes for Ventura’s police force…

It was reported today that not single enforcement agency in the county will be receving stimulus funds to make up for budget shortfalls. While that may not be best news, especially for Ventura who is now scrambling to find the funds to keep four sworn officers on staff through to the next fiscal year, the reason no agency qualified for the funds is because our crime rate is too low.

Well, I don’t know about you but that doesn’t sound like such a bad deal.

This situation reminds me of a hairdresser I met in Oxnard. She said she was only going to work so many hours and make just enough money so she could get by but qualify for Section 8 housing. I thought to myself, is it better to qualify for subsidized housing or should she just work harder and get further with her career so she wouldn’t have to lean on the gov?

Clearly, she missed the ball on that one. And while the police departments and sheriff’s office aren’t necessarily crying about it, I would much rather choose low crime and a budget crunch, than for our cities to be burdened with higher crime rates and the need for more officers.

So take as a sign of success that we are doing better than other cities, even if we failed to secure some cash.

Having a hard time keeping clothes on–Indecent exposure on the rise

I have blogged about this before but according to two press releases sent out yesterday from the Ventura PD, it appears that for some people just can’t keep their wangs tucked away.

Seems kinda silly… running around jerking off, showing unsuspecting women male genitalia. I just don’t understand the appeal. I know there was a fascination with what is “under there” when you are like in third grade and your classmates of the opposite sex starts to be more appealing.

But a grown man?

seriously, gross!

I hope anyone and everyone who is privy to such a disgusting display will report it. Last thing I need is my son learning that that is ok by us not doing our part and calling it in.

Call the ventura PD at 339-4416.

Another life lost–Man shot dead out side bar in Oxnard

Around midnight on Wednesday, a man was fatally shot outside a bar in Oxnard. Now a person would typically think the man who was killed might have been in a rival gang, trying to smooch on the shooters girl or perhaps one had done something to the other person’s family, which led to the murder.

Well, if that is what you were thinking happened, you would be dead wrong. Have you ever bumped into someone at a concert or a bar or even on the way to the bathroom in a fancy restaurant? I have. And so did this guy. And it led to his death.

Death? you ask.

Yep.

Dead.

How can bumping into someone lead to murder? I have no idea but I do know that it was just some jerk that decided to bring a gun to a bar.

and once again, the 2nd amendment protects creeps like this guy so he can buy a gun at his leisure with the promise he won’t kill someone.

So much for that.

I really don’t think this is what our forefathers intended when they wrote the Bill of Rights.

Sullyspeaks: The use of guns–Death of Thomas Barrera and the suit against Oxnard PD

I know it is our constitutional right to be able to own a gun. I know that it is the person who pulls the trigger and that a gun simply cannot act on its own accord to shoot a living being. There is no denying that the people who use guns kill. And yes, people can also die in a car accident, with an overdose of medicine, of a bad medical procedure, and of course, of natural causes.

But we just have to realize that after a person is found dead, lying on the ground, riddled with bullet holes, it was the bullets from a gun that was shot that killed that person.

And when it comes to the case of Thomas Barrera, a man who was shot in a foot pursuit two years ago in Oxnard, somehow, for some reason, that officer deemed it necessary to shoot another living being THREE times. Not once in his knee to cripple him, not once in the arm or the shoulder to make it impossible for that person to arm himself and hurt the officer, but three times to make sure that person was no longer a living threat.

Unfortunately, what happened that day two years ago will remain between that offier and the assailant.

I personally don’t believe in punitive damages. I don’t think money will ever replace a loved one, EVER. But I do believe that the family is justified in trying to uncover more information about what happened that day, to understand why their loved one was shot THREE times as an act of self defense. I have rarely heard of one person being able to do much with two bullets lodged in his rear end and back.

And what bothers me the most about this case is that EVERY shot entered through the back of Barrera. The officer said the assailant swung at him with a knife, but got shot in the rear and twice in the back?

I really don’t see how that is justified.

But then again, I am not a police officer. I just feel that if you are going to use a deadly weapon that could be used instead to disable someone, that is ALWAYS the best option.

Just a sad reality that we have come to a point where the use of guns to kill someone is common place–justified or not.

The true life stories about the men sleeping in their cars on my lane

I live in the Pierpont neighborhood in Ventura on one of the lanes leading up to the beach. There is an array of people who live on the beach: a wealthy cartoonist, a movie prep guy, two teachers, a construction worker and his wife, a machinist, a woman who works on a ranch, several retired folks and an editor of a weekly paper.

But those are the people who live in a home or an apartment.

On our lane are also two men who sleep in their cars. Judging by their appearances and their cars, no one would ever guess they were homeless.

One drives a mini cooper and the other a Lincoln towncar. And while some may ridicule them for having fancy cars, paying for the car, having a reasonably confortable place to sleep and keeping up with insurance and registration is all they can afford. After all, they used to be able to afford their cars and much more…

Ironically, the owners of the cooper and towncar used to live side by side in apartments just a few houses down from mine. They are both in their late 50s or so. One used to be a bartender until he had an accident that left him with a spinal cord injury and too many bills. The other… well, I am not too sure how he got where he is today but, right now, he works at a vons as a bagger and cart pusher.

The guy who works at Vons is forthcoming about his predicament while the former bartender… he will make up stories about how he “just dozed off” and then would vacate the premises. (not that anyone asked him to…) The great thing about where i live and my neighbors is that no one looks down on them.

My neighbors will pitch in whenever they can, giving them a place to park and even access to a shower. They are still welcomed and even embraced by my neighbors, as you can see them hanging out from time to time, drinking beers and sharing stories.

On my lane, there is no difference on the way people are treated, regardless of their living situation. Compassion is alive and well in a city where most turn up their noses at someone who has fallen on hard times.

My heart breaks when I hear or read such ugliness about our fellow human beings, that they don’t belong here.

I hope that instead of objectifying people we don’t know that maybe one day our city, our community, will talk to these people and be that helping hand.

I applaud the city of Ventura for looking for, even if temporary, a solution to helping those human beings who have found themselves homeless and in dire need of a helping hand. The Sleep Safe in cars program is the right thing to do at the right time to do it.

Remembering the real reason to celebrate July 4

While most people will celebrate July 4 with hot dogs and fireworks, strolling down street fairs and checking out music festivals, I would like to remind everyone why we have this day off to do as we please–our forefathers determination to give this country and its residents a better life than they had known in the past.

Yes, I know, it’s hard to believe that we have more to celebrate than a paid day off. Well, actually, since the time those who founded this country risked life and limb to give us liberties never before heard of, we are now the fattest country in the world, one filled with hatemongering for minorities and we capitalize on the poor and give huge tax credits to the rich.

Hmmm…

While we still are the best country in the world, given the freedoms we have that most do not, I still think we have a long way to go. Even though we have the freedom to practice any religion, there is still persecution for not believing the same way. Even though we have the freedom of expression, hate crimes still abound. Even though we have the right to free speech, many believe the press should be suppressed.

Not exactly what our forefathers intended. And while many might fall back and assume that our founding fathers’ idea of a utopia for the US should be based on Puritan theology, I believe we would be discrediting them STUPENDOUSLY to think they would ever believe the only way to live was based on a single religion.

This July 4th, think of more than just yourself and what makes you happy. Think more than what you THINK this country should be like and actually OPEN your eyes to what is going on and accept it for all its greatness and flaws. Think about unity between all those who hate each other for nothing more than a difference of race, religious preference, gender or anything else. Think about how great we have it while so many suffer world wide because of oppression. This July 4th set off a firework for a truly unified nation where love abounds and hate is destroyed.

Just my idea of utopia…

Protests in Iran–Americans are spoiled and still we complain

After watching Neda, the young aspiring college student, die while protesting the election results in Iran, I couldn’t help but reflect upon our own country and how good we got it.

Sure, we got crime and debt, hunger and poverty and health problems–but unlike those protesting in Iran, WE created our own demise. We don’t watch out of the poor, so the poor form gangs and commit crimes in order to get by and to compete in a society based on “who has the most wins.” We rack up our credit card bills and live beyond our means, but when it comes time to pay, we cry about it and say the CC companies are being unfair by making us pay it back.

We have those who are starving and live in poverty, but we have billionaires and more than half of people living in this country are obese. But still we complain about everything we have, don’t have or got stuck with and blame it on everyone else since clearly, we can’t be held responsible for the misery we live in.

And there are people living in a country where there voices are not heard and innocent lives are being taken during peaceful protests. We have the right to question and even mock our government. What do they have? A backwards government that claims it is democratic but is in essence a dictatorship.

A revolution is happening there. A passion for justice, a movement to be heard instead of just being told what to do.

We should start taking cues from these people and stop pointing the finger at everyone else. We are spoiled in this country and it is about time we started being responsible for our own actions.

Getting donations in a recession is like pulling teeth

Earlier last month, I picked up the phone to hear this woman speaking rapidly about doing something important to help kids with muscular distrophy. She was talking so fast that all of a sudden I realized I had signed up to be locked up and raise bail money for children with MD.

So, I set off to raise money to help these little ones out and I sent e-mails to those I thought would be the most generous–a devout catholic, a revered lawyer, a retired journalist… and to my surprised, nothing. Not a one made a donation.

A few of my mothers friends and a couple of colleagues made donations–I did too. But no one else.

I was shocked and very disappointed. Now I know I am not best friends with everyone I sent e-mails to seeking such a donation, but good grief. 3 minutes and $5 didn’t seem like too much to ask.

And I guess I can’t blame my friends that I know are broke… but just a little bit would have done some good.

But I digress.

I now have a new found respect for all those who do fundraising for a living, something I believe everyone should try to do at least once.  You will finally be able to experience what it is like being in that person’s shoes, trying to help a nonprofit fulfill its mission of helping the less fortunate.

13-year old shot in La Colonia in Oxnard–One step forward, two steps back

After reading the story about the boy shot in Oxnard this morning, I couldn’t help but think– Well, the gang injunction is supposed to stop crime, but what’s this?

What a tragedy!

I know the intention of the injunction was to stave off criminal activity by not allowing certain clothing in certain areas that could cause an uproar amongst rival gangs.

But apparently, placing restrictions doesn’t end the gang activity. It may even make it stronger–similar to when a child is told he can’t have or do something, if he is rebellious, he will do it anyways, even if he doesn’t like the activity.

Sad.

I wish there was more that could be done to convince these hardened criminals that there is more to life than territory and murder. I wish that bigorty and hatred couldn’t thrive and that tragic deaths were a thing of the past. I wish that as we progressed technologically that we would also progress civicly.

I wish for a better, more diplomatic society where all life was precious.

I digress because wishing just can’t make it so.