There is a lot of interesting reading linked to the main page of the FlashReport this morning.
A quick summary of the highlights:
- The LA Times has Republican Congressman Gary Miller in their crosshairs. In addition to being a Member of Congress, Miller is a very successful businessman, apparently owning a lot of property. At issue in the LAT piece today are a serious of land transactions where Miller made millions of dollars in profits, but did not pay capitol gains taxes because he claimed that these property sales were forced due to eminent domain decisions by local governments. The Times says that, upon closer investigation, these sales were not compelled by local governments. I will ask you this question: If the government condemns your land, or just says, "if you don’t sell it to us, we will condemn it" — isn’t that the same thing?
- Carla Marinucci is a veteran political reporter and analyst at the San Francisco Chronicle. Today she pens an interesting piece on the turnabout in political fortunes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, focusing on a four-person team of folks largely responsible: Spouse Maria Shriver, Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy, Campaign Manager Steve Schmidt, and the Governor himself. Worth a read.
- The Golden Pen recipient today, who has won this honor before, is Orange County Register senior editorial writer Steve Greenhut, who uses an example in San Clemente to illustrate how City Councils can feed off of NIMBY’s ("not in my back yard") and even NIMLOS ("not in my line of sight") to trample on private property rights. Take a read — if you go far enough, you’ll even see some praise from Greenhut for one of the FlashReport’s two Orange County Correspondents, Adam Probolsky!
- There is a lot of other great reading — but don’t miss three columns on the issues of term-limits and redistricting.
WORLD TRADE CENTER – SEE THE MOVIE
Last night I went to see Oliver Stone’s latest foray into ‘big movies’ — World Trade Center. I have to say that I was very impressed.
Now my expectation levels were low because of Stone’s track record of trying to inject his politics into his movies (I think I walked out on Born on the Fourth of July once upon a time). But even without the low expectations, I would still recommend that everyone go to see this movie.
World Trade Center presents a unique view of the tragic events of 9/11 through the experiences of two New York Port Authority Police Officers. These two courageous officers would be among hundreds of first responders to be trapped in the wreckage of the buildings, and would ultimately being among a paltry 20 that were rescued from the rubble. But theirs is a story of heroism, courage, and how love and camaraderie can play a role in staying alive in the most daunting and seemingly-hopeless of situations.
I will warn you that seeing this film will re-awaken a lot of emotions that you probably experienced and "put away" as the days turned to weeks, months and years after 9-11. You will cry – I did. But you will come out of the movie uplifted by the story of these two survivors, and really, really pissed off at the absolutely psychopathic terrorists who attacked our country, and continue their assault on Western culture and values.
Hats off to Oliver Stone on this one. (Stone made one of my favorite movies years ago — Wall Street)
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