Royals Watchers Crowd Charity Polo Match

At Los Angeles Times, "Royals watchers crowd Carpinteria polo club."

Los Angeles Dodgers File for Bankruptcy

Well, the McCourts divorce settlement was only going to work if the Dodgers got a huge Fox Sports television contract, but Selig nixed that, so I guess the bankruptcy was inevitable.

At Los Angeles Times, a huge story, "Dodgers file for bankruptcy — and arrange for $150-million loan."

'José, Can You See?' U.S. Soccer Team Booed at Gold Cup Final, Rose Bowl, Pasadena

You get used to it. You're a foreigner in your own country sometimes. You get the feeling in many parts of Southern California. And in some of the small agricultural towns in the Central Valley you might as well be in Mexico. Democrats and progressives don't care, except to the extent that it keeps them in power, but we've long ago basically undergone a foreign invasion of people whose primary loyalty remains to the countries of their origin. The Los Angeles Times has the report, from Bill Plaschke, "In Gold Cup final, it's red, white and boo again." The U.S team was booed. Here's a quote from the piece (via Memeorandum):

Most of these hostile visitors didn't live in another country. Most, in fact, were not visitors at all, many of them being U.S. residents whose lives are here but whose sporting souls remain elsewhere.

Welcome to another unveiling of that social portrait known as a U.S.-Mexico soccer match, streaked as always in deep colors of red, white, blue, green … and gray.

"I love this country, it has given me everything that I have, and I'm proud to be part of it," said Victor Sanchez, a 37-year-old Monrovia resident wearing a Mexico jersey. "But yet, I didn't have a choice to come here, I was born in Mexico, and that is where my heart will always be."

Right.

This is an old debate, largely taboo for discussion in polite company, like academic departments. But it's not a new thing, at all. Recall Samuel Huntington's seminal essay in 2004, "The Hispanic Challenge"

Massive Hispanic immigration affects the United States in two significant ways: Important portions of the country become predominantly Hispanic in language and culture, and the nation as a whole becomes bilingual and bicultural. The most important area where Hispanization is proceeding rapidly is, of course, the Southwest. As historian Kennedy argues, Mexican Americans in the Southwest will soon have “sufficient coherence and critical mass in a defined region so that, if they choose, they can preserve their distinctive culture indefinitely. They could also eventually undertake to do what no previous immigrant group could have dreamed of doing: challenge the existing cultural, political, legal, commercial, and educational systems to change fundamentally not only the language but also the very institutions in which they do business.”

Anecdotal evidence of such challenges abounds. In 1994, Mexican Americans vigorously demonstrated against California's Proposition 187—which limited welfare benefits to children of illegal immigrants—by marching through the streets of Los Angeles waving scores of Mexican flags and carrying U.S. flags upside down. In 1998, at a Mexico-United States soccer match in Los Angeles, Mexican Americans booed the U.S. national anthem and assaulted U.S. players. Such dramatic rejections of the United States and assertions of Mexican identity are not limited to an extremist minority in the Mexican-American community. Many Mexican immigrants and their offspring simply do not appear to identify primarily with the United States.

Déjà vu.

RELATED: At Pamela's, "US SOCCER TEAM VICIOUSLY BOOED IN L.A. -- MEXICO WAS "HOME TEAM" - ENEMEDIA CALLS IT "UNIQUELY AMERICAN'."

X Games 2011 Los Angeles Tickets on Sale Today

X Games 17 tickets on sale today, at Ticketmaster locations and the Staples Center box office.

I think my son would like to go, but not sure which event. There's so many!

The schedule: "X Games 17 Competition Schedule."

And video from last year:

Gloria Molina, L.A. County Supervisor, Said She'd Like to 'Cut the Testicles Off' Agency Executive Under Her Authority

Los Angeles County government is a lot like the Cook County political machine. A bastion of Democrat Party power, top officials run government like fiefs, and they wield power in the style of the big city party bosses of yore.

In an article today, the Los Angeles Times reports that the Los Angeles County board of supervisors has sought to kneecap County Chief Executive William T. Fujioka. He is CEO for the County, in charge of managing a $23 billion budget and over 100,000 employees. Apparently Fujioka, whose grandparents were sent to internment camps during World War II, is a hard-knuckled administrator, having honed his political skins navigating the rough and tumble of L.A.'s east side gang scene growing up. On the job as County CEO since 2007, Fujioka initiated an administrative reorganization that worked to take power from the hands of the elected board:

The county plan to centralize authority was the brainchild of Fujioka's highly respected predecessor, David Janssen. The new chief executive was to have increased responsibility over the department heads who guide the delivery of services for 10 million constituents, ranging from housing the skid row homeless to defending exclusive hillside neighborhoods from mudslides.

Fujioka was given more staff, and his office's budget climbed 53% to $43 million in four years. Eventually, Fujioka was to have received greater power to hire and fire most agency chiefs.

Under the new structure, supervisors were to have taken a back seat in day-to-day operations. The structure presumed the high level of respect and openness Fujioka's predecessor enjoyed. But most supervisors and their staffs have served for decades and developed expertise and deep interests in certain issues, and the transfer of trust did not come naturally.

No doubt.

It turns out that board members Michael Antonovich, Gloria Molina, and Zev Yaroslavsky moved "to strip the Children and Family Services and Probation departments from Fujioka's control." There's more to the story at the link, including some ugly politics among members of the board, but this passage really caught my attention, and looks like an abuse of power:

While a majority of Fujioka's elected superiors may be critical, his subordinates praise him. County managers have complained about pointed attacks and contradictory direction from board offices in the past. "It's a very scary thing if you are a lowly department head," said Janice Fukai, the county's alternate public defender. "If you go in with the CEO, you feel a little more insulated and a little more protected."

Fujioka's backers say he has been particularly frustrated by some of the supervisors' interventions in the children's services agency, which has been grappling with child fatalities following errors in handling cases. It is one of the departments being taken away from Fujioka. Molina is especially hands-on, summoning top agency officials to her office to demand explanations. In one instance, she said she would like to cut the testicles off an executive because of problems in the agency, according to officials familiar with the exchange.

Molina declined to comment on the incident but said, "At the end of the day, we as supervisors are literally blamed and held accountable for the outcomes of these children."

Gloria Molina's homepage is here. Clicking her page begins a photographic slide show of her service, beginning with a photo of Molina posing with President Barack Obama and ending with a shot of her posing with Former President Bill Clinton.

Her appearances with Democratic presidents form the bookends of a career in Los Angeles government spanning 20 years. In that time she's clearly developed an authoritarian style, which features crude and threatening accounts of her treatment of administrative subordinates. That Supervisor Molina refused to answer questions about the comment, as the Times indicates, is not surprising:

Molina declined to comment on the incident but said, "At the end of the day, we as supervisors are literally blamed and held accountable for the outcomes of these children."

In a time of fiscal austerity, government officials at all levels have been coming under increased attention. But I think it's fair to say that it's especially inappropriate for an L.A. County Supervisor to announce she wants to "cut the testicles" off subordinate agency officials, and when asked about it to further denigrate them as "children."

Progressives would be all over this story if a Republican official has made comparable remarks. But this is the Los Angeles big city machine, and County elected officials obviously feel they can act with impunity.

UPDATE: From Russ, in the comments:

I think when she says "children", she is referring to the children under the protective services that have died while under their authority, NOT the supervisors she threatened with castration.

I also got an e-mail from someone objecting to my comment on Molina's reference to "the children." I won't be surprised if some ASFLs contact my college to complain. Democrats and progressives are evil like that. So let's be clear: "The outcomes" may clearly refer to a purposeful act in the active sense, as in the actions of the administrators who have taken power from the hands of the board. Of course Molina might be referring to "the outcomes" of the children in the passive sense, but then again, considering she's threatening administrative subordinates, maybe not. She's a Democrat. They talk down to people like that. Progressives are losers.

Also, linked at Instapundit, because, you know, no one pays attention to this blog, or something:

THREATS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE FROM A DEMOCRATIC OFFICEHOLDER IN LOS ANGELES ...

I hope the Department Of Justice will investigate this egregious civil rights violation. For that matter, I suspect it’s a violation of California state civil rights law. Gloria Allred, call your office!

Word.

Britney Spears at Staples Center

A concert review, at Los Angeles Times:

And pics: "Britney Spears’ Femme Fatale Tour — Is Britney Having Fun Yet?"

Yo, Janice Hahn 'Got Me Out'!

From Robert Stacy McCain, "CA-36: Democrats Threaten Legal Action Against Controversial Ad," and "Ladd’s Ad Gets Results." And from Turn Right USA, "Our Response to the LACDP Attorneys."

Democrats are sweating bullets and progressives are escalating allegations of racism.

They're freaking now that the NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE is involved with a new webpage, "Hahn Got Me Out."

And somebody's making death threats, according to Da Tech Guy, "CA-36 Are apparent death threats more offensive than a viral video?"

And in the news, at L.A. Weekly, "Republicans Launch Fresh Attack On Janice Hahn Over Gang Workers."

Meanwhile, Fox 11 Los Angeles stands by its reporting.

Yo, Hahn got me out!

Added: Cool. Linked by AoSHQ, "Special Election in California District 36: Craig Huey Vs. Gangster Moll Janice Hahn." Thanks!

That's When We Fall in Line...

The Go-Go's are touring. My wife and I tried to get tickets for their Pechanga show (August 20th), but it sold out fast. The band played on the Dancing With the Stars finale, although this is an earlier clip:

California Coastal Commission Rejects U2 Guitarist's Plan for Five-House Compound Near Malibu

Apparently not a "Beautiful Day" for U2's The Edge.

At Los Angeles Times, "Coastal Commission rejects U2 guitarist's Malibu development plan":

The California Coastal Commission on Thursday rejected a controversial proposal by U2 guitarist the Edge to build five mansions on a rugged ridgeline above Malibu that is home to mountain lions and native chaparral.

The 8-4 vote was the culmination of what has become a closely watched property rights battle between the musician, whose real name is David Evans, and the agency that regulates development along the California coastline.

"In 38 years of this commission's existence, this is one of the three worst projects that I've seen in terms of environmental devastation," Peter Douglas, the agency's executive director, said in an interview after the vote. "It's a contradiction in terms — you can't be serious about being an environmentalist and pick this location" given the effects on habitat, land formation, scenic views and water quality.

Douglas said he expected the matter to end up in court.

More at that link above.

And from Steve Lopez, "The Edge is a bully, not an environmentalist."

McCourts Reach Settlement in Divorce Case

At Los Angeles Times, "Frank and Jamie McCourt announce settlement in Dodgers divorce case."

Attendance has dropped dramatically at Dodger Stadium. Hopefully things start working out and the community can once again rally around a world class organization.

50 Best L.A. Bands

Following-up on my reports on Skylar Grey and Dave Alvin, the Los Angeles Times Magazine also featured the 50 best band out of Los Angeles. They're listed in no particular order, so folks can quibble with the organization at the link.

I'll post more songs later, but been diggin' some Crosby, Stills and Nash of late, so here you go, a classic:

'State of Emergency' Rally, Los Angeles, May 13, 2011

I couldn't make it. I covered Noam Chomsky the weekend before, and then David Horowitz a couple of days after --- and we were at finals week, and I was finishing up all of my grading. But I would have loved to have made it. The place was swarming with communists. For weeks before my union leadership was flooding the campus e-mail system with announcements on bus transportation to Pershing Square. State administrative regulations were violated in this, but no one on my campus seems to care, as long as it's far left-wing agitation that's being promoted.

Anyway, Ringo was there, with an awesome photo-essay: "L.A. Teachers Unions "State of Emergency" Rally - Los Angeles, CA 5/13/2011."

And Reason.tv always features killer reports:

Malibu Organizes Shore Leave for Crew Members of USS John Paul Jones

I've mentioned numerous times my visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln in 1999. The aircraft carrier parked about a mile offshore from Santa Barbara harbor. It was anchored for four days. I saw a lot of guys dressed in their white uniforms cruising up and down State Street downtown. Local charter operators were hired to ferry tourists out to the ship. There were some sailors showing visitors around the lower deck, where aircraft are housed and maintained when not in use. But after that, I was allowed to cruise around on the flight deck. The carrier was facing west, into the sunset and I sat out on the edge of ship, just a few feet from the safety nets. It was a trip. A whole world unto itself, it seemed. And as I've noted, this was at the end of the 1990s, shortly after the U.S. airwar over Kosovo. American power was at a pinnacle and no one was talking about American decline.

Anyway, I'm reminded of that with this story at Los Angeles Times. The USS John Paul Jones is in Malibu and the organizers put together a "Navy Days" festival for sailors to spend time ashore. See, "Navy crew welcomed to Malibu for shore leave":

Surfers in Malibu are used to sharing the waves with paddleboards, sailboats and the occasional Russian billionaire's 390-foot yacht. On Friday they were startled to see a 505-foot Navy destroyer anchored off Surfrider Beach near the Malibu Pier.

The destroyer John Paul Jones was making the Navy's first-ever port call in Malibu and giving its 270-member crew shore leave there for the weekend.

The community-organized Navy Days is offering sailors free shuttle rides up and down the 26-mile-long city, beach volleyball and kayak excursions, and discounts at shops and restaurants Saturday and Sunday.

The crew and their families have been invited to a barbecue at Sharon Gee's family-owned Malibu ranch. Athletic facilities and an art museum at Pepperdine University will be open to crewmembers, and 10 university shuttle vans will offer sailors transportation to Sunday morning church services.

"Some crewmembers have signed up for museum tours at the Getty Villa," said City Councilman Jefferson "Zuma Jay" Wagner, who operates a Malibu surf shop. "This is not your same old Navy."

Locals planned the event for a year, and some said they don't expect another opportunity like this in their lifetimes. RTWT at the link.

Also, check this page for information on the USS John Paul Jones.

Dave Alvin at L.A. Times Magazine

See "Troubadour of Troubled Times":

Over the course of roughly three decades, Alvin has compiled one of the great, if underappreciated, California songbooks, cataloging the people and places most overlook or choose to ignore.

His is not the confectionary California of endless summers and Hollywood glitter or the kooky capital of New Age seekers and sunbaked hedonists. Alvin sings of life on the margins and between the cracks, of farm workers and illegal immigrants, of meth heads and lost souls and places like Bellflower, Fontana, the High Sierra and the 605 Freeway.

He sings in a throaty rumble of love and loss and ghosts of things past. California natives, Alvin believes, suffer an odd kind of nostalgia that comes when talk of old times refers not to generations ago but a period only a few years back. “By the time you’re 20, you’re 40 in the sense of waking up in the morning and thinking, Let’s go see the orange groves. But they’re not there anymore,” he says. “They’re just gone.”

lvin, a fourth-generation Californian, born and raised in Downey, wrote one of his best songs, “Dry River,” about the cement channel running through his hometown. He recalls the time he bicycled to an orange grove near his home, only to find a field of stumps. The trees had been chopped down overnight to make way for apartments and commercial development.

Alvin, 55, has never been an overtly political singer, in the sense of writing protest songs or lending his name to a cause. But he is an acute observer of politics—especially California politics—and with the Golden State in seemingly perpetual crisis, with high unemployment, meat-cleaver budget cuts and a government paralyzed by partisanship, he suggests the state, as we know it, may be headed the way of those orange groves. Listen closely, and you might hear it in a song.

RTWT.

I grew up in the City of Orange, and walked to school through orange groves. You miss them when they're gone. There's still a few left, actually, but few and far between. This is Orange County, for crying out loud.

BONUS: Check Dave Alvin's website.