Phayre’s Leaf Monkeys: You probably have never heard of a Phayre’s leaf monkey. Neither had I, until last week, when the House voted on the reauthorization of the spending for the National Science Foundation. Never mind that the bill increased spending in excess of 25% over 3 years. I found 7 specific items of spending that were in the bill to be of particular interest. They were:

-Study the social relationships and reproductive strategies of Phayre’s leaf monkeys -Study of the sexual politics of waste in Dakar, Senegal -Study of the cognitive model of superstitious belief -Research the archives of Andean knotted-string records -Study the accuracy in the cross-cultural understanding of other’s emotions -Research of bison hunting on the late prehistoric great plains -Study of team vs. individual play

Now, I will give the academics the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps all of these studies have some value to academicians and maybe the results are interesting to those who study these areas. That is not the question. The question is whether or not they rise to the level of public need that… Read More

The LA Community College District is a sprawling district that takes in Los Angeles and several nearby cities. The LAACD has served as a launching ground for several politicians, Jerry Brown on the bad side. Mike Antonovich on the good side.

Lately, the LACCD has been a backwater for union hacks. There are serious management issues.

Next Tuesday’s election is expected to bring out an amazing 4% of the vote. Longtime Republican and former head of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs made the runoff. Antonovich and The LA County GOP has endorsed Burns. Can a GOTV effort elect a Republican? See article here and see Shawn Steel’s post on the primary here.

On another note with three straight posts I have finally broken the Fleischman Monopoly! Freedom!… Read More

The Steve Knight campaign is consolidating its local official endorsements on the LA side of the district. The campaign reported endorsements from all five members of the Lancaster City Council: Mayor Henry Hearns, Vice Mayor Andy Visokey and Council members Jim Jeffra, Ed Sileo and Ron Smith. Smith and Visokey have been interested in the seat in the past. Smith actually filed a candidate intention statement. See my previous post on the race here.… Read More

Want to get ahead? Just join the staff of State Senator George Runner. Apparently you just go on to bigger and better things. The Antelope Valley Press profiles Becky Warren, the new deputy communications director for Schwarzenegger and Ginny Justice who will work for Lynne Cheney. An interesting read. See ithere.

Congratulations to both, but Becky you could do better!… Read More

In addition to my passion for politics, I am also a die-hard baseball fan.

So I have come to regard the Clintons the same way I view the New York Yankees.

I don’t like them. I root against them. I not only want them to lose, I want bad things to happen to them.

But like the Yankees, the Clintons are very good at what they do. And despite an early season slump that has both playing beneath expectations, it’s never a good idea to underestimate their skill, their perseverance, and their willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

That said, last week’s Republican presidential debate gave us our first chance to take a look at the field of contenders who will try to deny Hillary her White House pennant next year. (Barack Obama is the political version of an over-valued technology stock, to mix sports and business metaphors. The only question is whether his bubble bursts before the primaries or afterwards. So unless Al Gore runs or John Edwards steps up his game, let’s count on facing another Clinton in the 2008 World Series.)

… Read More

In addition to my passion for politics, I am also a die-hard baseball fan.

So I have come to regard the Clintons the same way I view the New York Yankees.

I don’t like them. I root against them. I not only want them to lose, I want bad things to happen to them.

But like the Yankees, the Clintons are very good at what they do. And despite an early season slump that has both playing beneath expectations, it’s never a good idea to underestimate their skill, their perseverance, and their willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

That said, last week’s Republican presidential debate gave us our first chance to take a look at the field of contenders who will try to deny Hillary her White House pennant next year. (Barack Obama is the political version of an over-valued technology stock, to mix sports and business metaphors. The only question is whether his bubble bursts before the primaries or afterwards. So unless Al Gore runs or John Edwards steps up his game, let’s count on facing another Clinton in the 2008 World Series.)

… Read More

In another union struggle in the East Bay (see today’s commentary), Farmer Joe’s Marketplace, an independent high-end grocery store, is fighting organizing efforts of a local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union. Joe Tam, a Chinese immigrant, opened his first Farmer Joe store in 1994, after working for nearly 20 years as a Safeway employee. Last June, he and his wife opened their second store in Oakland’s Dimond District, a working-class section of the city, in an old Albertson’s store. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the neighborhood was so excited to have the new store that they threw an all-day party. Farmer Joe’s is akin to a Whole Foods grocery store, with a large section of… Read More

Former Assemblyman Gil Ferguson, a long-time CRA member and past Chairman of our Publications Committee, passed away Sunday night after battling leukemia. A Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, Gil was strong and fought until the very end. Funeral arrangements are pending. Gil Ferguson served with distinction in the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1967.

A veteran of three wars (World War II, Korea and Vietnam), Ferguson fought in the battle for the island of Tarawa –America’s first major offensive in the Pacific war. It was also the first attempt to make an amphibious assault against a highly fortified enemy position, and it wrote a new page in military annals, as one of America’s and the Marine Corps’ bloodiest battles.

Following the battle of Tarawa, Ferguson fought in the battles of Saipan and Tinian as a machine-gunner. He was recommended for a battlefield commission after his last battle and was returned to America to attend college prior to his commissioning. He landed with the first waves at Inchon at the start of the Korean War (1950), as a … Read More