The Washington Post reports this morning that Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t the only governor facing a clemency decision, but the politics involved for Mark Warner of Virginia are much different. Warner is the current favorite of the centrist, "faith-based" Democrats lining up for the 2008 presidential primaries, who’s political success has been predicated on his ability to reach out to the culturally conservative swing voters who’ve been supporting Republicans in recent years.

Let’s assume that Warner, like Schwarzenegger, will not allow political motivations to influence his decision over a man’s life. But both governors are certainly aware of the political ramifications of their respective decisions. And Warner’s advisors must remember another southern governor who flew back to Arkansas from the campaign trail in 1992 to personally oversee the execution of a mentally retarded criminal.

But what’s most interesting about the debate in Virginia isn’t the political impact on… Read More

At first blush, the Great Crab Strike of November 2005 might sound like another organized labor stunt. But a quick review of the facts reveals a far more entrepreneurial story.

Although the season opened on Nov. 15, Bay Area crab fisherman have left their boats tied up while they haggled over prices with the largest company that processes their catch. In a great example of market forces at work, the independent crab fisherman, represented by the Crab Boat Owners Assocation of San Francisco, refused to catch any Dungeness crab until the processor, Pacific Seafood, an Oregon-based company, raised the per pound price it was willing to pay.

While there are other processors, Pacific Seafood has a near-monopoly on the market, and is using (abusing?) it’s power to dictate the price. At the official start of the season, the two sides were 35 cents apart on the per pound price of crab. The crab fisherman wanted $1.85 a pound, a dime increase over last year’s price. Pacific Seafood initially said… Read More

What I feared most from the special election loss seems to be happening; Governor Schwarzenegger is appeasing the liberals. I grimaced when the Governor gave in to the nurses the day after the election; but justified it as ‘we lost-you won- here is your reward’. I can not for a moment think that losing an election is any reason to reward murderer Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams. The word that the Governor is even going to think about clemency for this guy makes my heart sink.

It is wonderful that Mr. Williams has become a role model in prison for gang youth. I don’t mind that he sharpened his wordsmithing skills writing childerns books for the past two decades living on my tax dollars. However, the wonderful things that Mr. Williams has bestowed on society does not excuse him from the fact that he ended the lives of fellow human beings at the end of the shotgun. If Mr. Williams really wanted to help troubled youths, he should be brave enough to die and set an example that this is society there are… Read More

On November 23, a three-judge panel of the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeal came down with a doosy of a ruling that has the potential to confuse and hamstring the already complex initiative and referendum process. The ruling, Padilla v. Lever, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 25254 (9th Cir. 2005), relates to the 2002 recall of Santa Ana Unified School District Trustee Nativo Lopez. No doubt, many FlashReport readers who are in tune with OC politics are familiar with Lopez’s long-standing activism in the Latino community and are familiar with the reasons leading to his recall. However, those issues were not relevant to the ruling, which deals exclusively with the application of federal law to the recall petition process contained in the California Elections Code.

At issue in Padilla was whether the notice of intention and the recall petitions prepared by recall proponents was required to comply with provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (the "VRA"). Specifically, section 203 of the VRA requires that certain "covered jurisdictions" must "provide . . . materials or information relating to the… Read More

Can Los Angeles County Sheriiff Lee Baca be beat? As Baca approaches re-election, there are dark clouds above him. Prisoners escape, get killed aor are let out early. He supported a tax increase that failed.

Baca is allegedly a Republican, although no one would know if from his endorsements or public policy ideas.

The Los Angeles Times has an article on the three current challengers Ray Leyva, Ken Masse and Don Meredith. See it here.

In full disclosure, I know Don Meredith from his time on the LA County Republican Central Committee a decade ago and I’ve met with Ken Masse, a West Covina resident several times about his campaign.

I’m in the process of writing an analysis about this race—so stay tuned. [Publisher’s note: I certainly remember when Baca… Read More

Happy Thanksgiving to all fans of the FlashReport! We are getting close to two months of publishing of this site! I hope that you have enjoyed it. Today in my Commentary, I am soliciting your input and feedback. If you read this blog (which, if you are reading this, you undoubtedly do) — take the opportunity to tell me how you would like to see it improved or changed — or tell me what you like about it.

There are plans underway to integrate a method for you, FR blog readers, to be able to comment on the site. We are considering options with a goal of minimizing anonymous blogging, but maximizing reader interaction. Anyways, read more about this and provide your input here.

Finally, did you know that union bosses have been quietly circulating petitions to qualify a so-called "Shareholder Protection Measure" for the June… Read More

[This request for input will be here Thursday – Sunday of the holiday weekend. I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving! – Flash] The online version of the FlashReport is getting ready to celebrate its two-month anniversary next week. I hope that you have enjoyed the new look and format of the report. As most of you know, the FR was an e-newsletter for years before being published as a website.

The process of creating this site was a collaborative one. I had a lot of input from readers, and also a great development crew over at Cloudspace in Orlando (they are the development team with which I worked – and their site is linked at the bottom of the site).

That said, we are constantly updating the site, both the front-end for you, the user, as well as the ease of use ‘backstage’ for the Publisher (me!) as well as the fantastic FR Blog Team (aren’t they great?).

Just recently we… Read More

Fior d’Italia may not be the darling of the foodies in San Francisco, but it is one of city’s oldest restaurants and serves a mean plate of pasta. It made headlines on Wednesday for offering dinners at… Read More