Update on Catherine Becker O.C. Spousal Penis Attack Case

AP has video:

And at Los Angeles Times, "Woman accused of cutting off husband's penis held on $1 million bail."

And NBC LA's report is excruciatingly detailed:

When officers arrived, they found the man tied to a bed and bleeding from the groin area. He told officers the woman had given him a drug in the dinner she had made for him.

Investigators said she tied him to the bed after he fell asleep. When he awoke, the woman grabbed his penis and cut it off with a 10-inch kitchen knife, according to police. She then threw it in the garbage disposal and turned on the disposal, police said.

The 51-year-old man was hospitalized at UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange. He was listed in serious condition. Pieces of the penis were taken to the hospital, but it remained unclear whether surgeons were able to reattach it.

PREVIOUSLY: "Garden Grove's Catherine Kieu Becker Accused of Cutting Off Husband's Penis and Putting It Down Garbage Disposal."

O.C. Teenager Pleads Guilty in Facebook Feud That Escalated to Violence

Online debates can get pretty nasty. And around here people have crossed the line. I'm still getting threats on RACIST = REPSAC = CASPER'S blog.

That kind of craziness never turns out well. At O.C. Register, "Teen pleads guilty in Facebook stabbing."

SANTA ANA – A teenage boy from Laguna Beach has been sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty to stabbing a former classmate in a feud authorities say started on Facebook.

Michael Jason Wilson, 17, avoided a possible 15-year sentence if his case had gone to trial and he was convicted of felony aggravated assault against the victim and two of his friends.

Wilson pleaded guilty Monday to felony assault with a deadly weapon with a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily harm.

As part of the plea agreement, two other felony counts of assault with the same sentencing enhancements were dismissed, according to court records.

*****

According to authorities, Wilson and a former high-school classmate had an ongoing rivalry through Facebook. The dispute included text messages and e-mails, though authorities did not disclose the nature of the argument.

Wilson agreed to meet his rival, identified only as 17-year-old Julian C., at his home. Julian C. brought along three friends who waited in a nearby car.

Wilson stabbed Julian C. in the stomach with a 12-inch knife and also slashed the hands and arms of two of Julian C.'s friends when they intervened and were able to take the knife away from Wilson, according to authorities. The third friend of Julian C. was not injured.

Crazy people.

Garden Grove's Catherine Kieu Becker Accused of Cutting Off Husband's Penis and Putting It Down Garbage Disposal

This is not far from home.

I guess Catherine Becker wasn't gonna give her husband the chance of reconstructive surgery. John Wayne Bobbitt's severed penis was in reusable condition after wife Lorena took a knife to it:

"It was an intact penis, very cleanly cut," recalls Jim Sehn, the urological surgeon. "It was not crushed. It was not visibly soiled."

The story's at Los Angeles Times, "Woman accused of cutting off husband's penis said he 'deserved' it," and KTLA, "Penis Attack: Wife Cuts off Husband's Penis, Tosses it in Garbage Disposal."

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (KTLA) -- A woman is under arrest after police say she drugged her husband, cut off his penis and threw it into the garbage disposal.

Garden Grove police were sent to the home in the 14000 block of Flower Street around 9 p.m. Monday night after a woman called 911 for a medical emergency, according to Lt. Jeff Nightengale. When officers arrived, they found a man bleeding from the crotch area.

The woman, identified as Catherine Becker, 48, the victim's wife, had put an unknown type of poison and/or drug into her husband's food to make him sleepy, according to Nightengale. She then tied him to the bed. When he woke up, she cut off his penis with a knife, investigators said. She then tossed the penis in the garbage disposal and turned it on.

More at the link above.

Mrs. Becker is in police custody.

I'm interested to see the feminist response: Striking a slash against the patriarchy?

Crystal Cathedral Denies Robert Schuller Ousted From Board of Directors

The initial report was in yesterday's Los Angeles Times, "Crystal Cathedral board ousts the Rev. Robert H. Schuller." But I saw a conflicting report at the Orange County Register, "Schuller will be a non-voting board member." And then this update at the Times, "Crystal Cathedral denies reports of Schuller's ouster from board":

A Crystal Cathedral spokesman on Monday denied reports that the church's founder, Robert H. Schuller, was voted off the board of directors in a meeting more than a week ago.

“He [Robert H. Schuller] was not voted off the board,” said John Charles, the Garden Grove church spokesman. “He is still board chairman emeritus.”

The church released its statement a day after Schuller’s son, Robert Anthony Schuller, said his 84-year-old father had been ousted because he had proposed adding new members to the board.

“Recently, the board of directors of Crystal Cathedral Ministries voted to change Dr. Schuller's position from that of a voting board member to the honorary Chairman of the Board Emeritus, a non-voting position,” the statement read.

The Times reported Schuller's new non-voting position June 19.

In Monday’s statement, Charles said the move will free up Schuller's time for more speaking engagements and a writing project: “He will also continue to speak in the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral and on the 'Hour of Power' and meet with staff in creative and vision-casting meetings.”

PREVIOUSLY: "As Crystal Cathedral Fights to Survive Bankruptcy, Spanish-Language Ministry Comes of Age."

'The Local Government Pension Squeeze'

We're going to be hearing more and more about stuff like this, particularly as the Obama Depression deepens.

From Stephen Malanga, at Wall Street Journal (via RealClearPolitics).

RELATED: The process is playing out in one of the cities right next door to where I live. See NBC News Los Angeles, "Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Talks About Unprecedented City Cuts." And at Los Angeles Times, "Costa Mesa's police chief abruptly quits over council's plan to slash workforce," and O.C. Weekly, "Costa Mesa Police Chief Resigns With a Letter, Calling City Council 'Incompetent' and the City's Fiscal Crisis a Lie."

BONUS: "Republicans promote Costa Mesa as a pension-slashing leader."

Orange County Continues to Hold Conservative Values

And not in the 1950s sense.

The county's demographics are more diverse than ever. Traditional family values are thriving as newer groups, with strong cultural and religious traditions, increase in population.

At Los Angeles Times, "Orange County remains a bastion of conservative family values."

Orange County, home to 3 million people, has the lowest percentage of single-parent households of any county in Southern California, according to a Times analysis of U.S. Census Bureau figures, as well as the lowest percentage of households occupied by opposite-sex unmarried couples.

It also has one of the lowest percentages of same-sex households and has retained one of the highest percentages in the region of nuclear-family households — those with a married man and woman who are raising children under age 18.

Orange County has not sidestepped entirely the modernization of the California family. Its percentage of nuclear-family households, for instance, while relatively high, fell between 2000 and 2010 from 29.1% of households to 26.1%. Overall, however, the county is a bastion of tradition, relatively speaking.

"Change is happening, just at a slower pace," said Edward Flores, the project manager with the population dynamics research group at USC.

Ah, change at a slower pace. That's a conservative principle. Nice.

CONTRAST: At The Other McCain, "Viva, Californication?"

Out Yesterday to Irvine Spectrum Center

I've mentioned it before (website's here). And the weather's been awesome:

We had lunch at Wahoos:

Probably going down there again today, to the Apple Store. My son likes the iPhone 4, although if we get him something, it'll probably be an iTouch. We're debating it, since he's still young, but it'll be soon, no matter what happens. He's about that age when kids start to get wired, and of course, the technology's everywhere. For now though, he can just play with the "Cars" app on the store's demonstration model.

O.C. Grand Jury Questions Officials' Salaries in 3 Cities

At Los Angeles Times.

It's not as bad at the Bell scandal, but there's some big taxpayers money involved:

A first-of-its-kind report by the Orange County Grand Jury questioned whether top officials in three upscale cities — Laguna Hills, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach — are paid too much.

The report was commissioned in the wake of questions over city employee compensation fueled by last year's salary scandal in Bell, where top officials were earning salaries as high as $787,000.

The grand jury found no salaries in the 34 cities surveyed that the panel considered "abusive." The three cities were called out because they appeared to be paying out more than most Orange County cities.

In the case of Laguna Beach and Newport Beach, the grand jury questions what it said was a large number of employees earning $100,000 or more. Laguna Beach, with a population of about 25,000, had 22 such employees, and Newport Beach, with a population of about 86,000, had 60. The grand jury found that the two cities had more high-paid workers per capita that other cities.

Officials in Laguna Beach and Newport Beach disputed the findings. They said that although their cities' populations may be smaller than others, they are both full-service cities, meaning that they use city employees for services that other cities contract out. Both are also coastal cities with tens of thousands of tourists creating an added demand on city services.

"I think [the report's conclusions] were a bit misleading," said Laguna Beach City Manager John Pietig. "To do an analysis like this without comparing the services is really an apples-to-oranges comparison."

More at the link. Laguna Hills City Manager Bruce Channing makes a total of $378,000 including benefits, which is considered "excessive" if not "abusive."

I wish I was making that kind of money. Sheesh.

U2 Live at Angel Stadium Anaheim

At LAT, "Live Review: U2 at Angel Stadium":

U2, formed in Dublin, Ireland, in 1976, returned to the Southland to make up for two concerts they were forced to cancel when singer Bono, 51, injured his back during rehearsals last spring.

During that forced intermission, other real-life hurdles challenged the notion that the band was indestructible. U2’s two principal songwriters, Bono and guitarist The Edge, teamed up with director Julie Taymor for a Broadway adaptation of Spider-Man called “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” that has become the butt of jokes, the scene of injuries and the target of scathing reviews for nearly two years.

In an early critique of a preview "Spider-Man" performance, Times critic Charles McNulty called the music created by the two “a cacophonous brew.” The refurbished show officially opened last week, and the new reviews aren’t much better. Add to that Thursday's news that the California Coastal Commission had rejected The Edge's development proposal, decried by many conservationists, to build five mansions on an undeveloped site above Malibu, and, well, this hasn’t been a great year for U2.
So the question pre-concert became: How deep were these wounds? Could the power of music help redeem a band that throughout its career has declared over and over again its desire and ability to do just that? Basically, could U2 still bring it?

At the beginning of the concert, not really. Starting with “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” the band sounded muddled, the engine of the music not yet warm, the stadium not yet tuned, the fans experiencing the initial adrenaline rush but not yet buried inside the rhythms. And “I Will Follow,” the first cut on the band’s first album, "Boy” (1980), hasn’t aged well, even if it pulls at the nostalgia strings for many; the rhyme scheme is young and clumsy, the guitar line relatively simple and undynamic.

And when, during “Get on Your Boots,” two rolling bridges that connect different parts of the circular stage first rolled into place and The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton played in the middle above the crowd, the maneuver felt very 2009; too staged, too postured, and a touch clumsy -- even though the song is one of the danciest, most propulsive songs in the band’s catalog.

But something magical happened about 20 minutes in, during “Elevation.” Maybe it was the overjoyed crowd bellowing the song’s “Woooo-oooo” chorus in unison, or the way the lights reflected off the masses. Whatever it was, it rushed across Angel Stadium like a cold front, leaving in its wake the sacred sensation that all music lovers seek. The sound and vision clicked, the world started sparkling, the audience moving and singing as one. The moment swirled as Bono went carnal on us: “Higher than the sun, you shoot me from a gun,” he declared to his lover, and the thousands did it too. “I need you to elevate me here/At the corner of your lips/As the orbit of your hips’/Eclipse.

As Crystal Cathedral Fights to Survive Bankruptcy, Spanish-Language Ministry Comes of Age

I've been meaning to visit Crystal Cathedral all year. The famous mega-church is going through bankruptcy, and I wanted to take some pictures for a photo-essay. I drove over there yesterday, after reading the Sunday newspaper. See Los Angeles Times, "Crystal Cathedral's Tale of Two Ministries."

The two lines begin forming outside the Crystal Cathedral before 9 on Sunday mornings. It is a mostly immigrant crowd — Mexicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, among others — and they stand patiently, unfurling umbrellas against the sun.

When the doors open for the 9:30 English-language service, the lines don't budge. It isn't for a lack of seats inside — so few people are there that cameramen have trouble finding crowd shots for the "Hour of Power" television program, which has been broadcast from the Garden Grove megachurch since 1970.

At 11, a second English service starts, also sparsely attended. The lines outside grow longer.

By the time that service ends, each line stretches the equivalent of a city block — people of all ages dressed in their Sunday best. Just before 1, the doors reopen and, row by row, the cathedral is filled.

As the Crystal Cathedral fights to survive its descent into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, this is its untold success story: a Spanish-language service led by a dynamic Argentine pastor, Dante Gebel, who inspires comparisons to the church's founder, Robert H. Schuller.

Since Gebel arrived two years ago, the cathedral's Hispanic Ministry has grown from no more than 300 people to 3,000, far outstripping the traditional ministry led by Schuller's daughter, Sheila Schuller Coleman. The brash, shaggy-haired Gebel is seen on television in some 70 countries; his Facebook page is "liked" by more than 800,000 people.

Yet even this may not be enough to save the architectural and religious landmark, long known for its lavish spending and now caught short by plummeting revenues. Crystal Cathedral Ministries recently filed a reorganization plan that calls for selling its 40-acre campus to a real estate developer and leasing back its core for $212,000 a month. In October, the church said it owed creditors more than $50 million.

The hard reality is that Gebel's popularity is unlikely to generate the money needed to rescue the Schuller empire. And Gebel — an independent contractor, not a church staff member — is quick to say that he has no great attachment to the Garden Grove church and could leave at any time.

"I haven't been called to save the Crystal Cathedral, so that isn't my goal," he said in an interview in his office on the cathedral grounds. He thinks about just one thing, he said: "Preaching to the Hispanic people."

He likens the cathedral, with its soaring, light-filled vault, to a borrowed tuxedo. "I would say the same thing here as in Bolivia or Argentina," he said, "but here, I have a better suit."

It is hard to imagine a contrast more striking than the one between the English and Spanish services at Crystal Cathedral.

More at the link above.

And some pictures:

A man prays in the prayer room at the base of the spires. His daughter peeked around playfully while I took a picture:

A young woman posed for pictures near the base of the tower:

I looked in the main church, and an organist was playing, perhaps tuning the organ:

The young woman poses next to the painted models of the Holy Family:

And the plaque at the base had this from Matthew 2:19-23:

... an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

And below this statute of Jesus with the lamb, Luke 15:4-6:

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!

California Economic Recovery Stumbles, New Jobs Report Shows

Atlas is still shrugging.

At Los Angeles Times, "California employers drop 29,200 jobs in May."

California's employers halted hiring in May, shedding 29,200 jobs from payrolls in yet another worrying sign that the nation's economic recovery is foundering.

The state's unemployment rate fell to 11.7%, from 11.8% the month before, according to the state Employment Development Department, but the job losses are the most significant since September of last year. The unemployment rate can fall when the state loses jobs because people drop out of the labor force, either because they're frustrated or are leaving the state.

California has the second-highest jobless rate in the nation, after Nevada.

The jobs data comes among worrying signs in California and the nation. Home sales in California dropped 13.3% in May from a year ago, and prices dropped 10.4%. Stocks teetered this week amid renewed fears that Greece will not be able to service its significant debt burden. And debates in Congress led some economists to worry that the U.S. will default on its debt payments, which would create further financial problems.

Still, economists said the ups and downs in the job market are to be expected in a tepid recovery.

"This is completely consistent with what we expected in California — the recovery is going to be slow," said Bill Watkins, director of the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting at California Lutheran University.

Right.

To be expected, since this is the Obama Depression. They just don't call it that.

Should Lifeguards Get Six-Figure Pensions?

One lifeguard in Newport Beach recently retired at $108,000 annually, with full medical benefits.

At Los Angeles Times, "Lifeguards' special-status pensions under scrutiny in California":

As lifeguards begin their busy summer season, the bronzed guardians of California's beaches find themselves at the unlikely center of the battle over costly public pensions.

The six-figure salaries of some full-time municipal lifeguards have fueled talk radio segments and blog comments in recent weeks, with some commentators expressing surprise at the pay for those who patrol the beaches.

For local government, the larger concern is over the pensions that lifeguards receive when they retire. Most full-time lifeguards get the most generous public retirement plan — the same "public safety" pensions received by police officers and firefighters. Lifeguards argue that they deserve the benefits because they put their lives at risk, not just from rescuing beachgoers but because of an elevated risk of skin cancer from years under the sun.

But a growing number of cities — including Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and San Diego — are demanding that lifeguards cut their pensions. Solana Beach has already taken action, eliminating the most generous plan, which made lifeguards eligible for a pension worth up to 90% of their largest paycheck at age 50. Pensions for new hires top out at about one-third less.

Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle said the city can no longer afford paying them the same retirements as police and firefighters. One Newport Beach lifeguard recently retired at 51 with an annual pension of $108,000, plus medical benefits, she said.

"They are more than generously compensated for a highly desirable job," Daigle said. "We would find qualified applicants for lifeguarding without" the top-end benefits.

More at the link.

Reason Magazine reported on this back in April.

Photo Credit: "Huge Waves at the Wedge in Newport Beach."

Andrew Breitbart Visits Newport Beach, Receives Standing Ovation

At The Daily Pilot, "Breitbart: 'Vindication running through my veins'":

NEWPORT BEACH — Andrew Breitbart, the right-wing blogger who broke the Rep. Anthony Weiner sexting scandal, strolled into the Newport Beach Golf Course's Tea Room restaurant Wednesday evening to a standing ovation.

There to promote his book, "Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World!", and Mike Munzing, who is running for a House seat next year, Breitbart played to the crowd and media waiting for him.

"[Weiner's] polls are probably going to go up because of his degeneracy," Breitbart said. "I don't like any of this kind of behavior" ...

More at the top link.

I'm looking but don't see a full video clip of Breitbart's talk. I wrote about it Thursday night, but here's J.T. Geehr, on Facebook:

It was so fun to just listen to him. He is hysterically funny and thoroughly delights in telling stories. Whenever he's being interviewed on tv, interviewers cut him off, so you don't really get to hear what he's like. He had just flown back from NY and had to be exhausted, but he was still charming and gut-bustingly funny. He is fearless!

Well said, but I'm gonna keep looking for a clip.

Meanwhile, there's some local network coverage, at CBS, "Andrew Breitbart Receives Hero’s Welcome In Newport Beach." And KTLA, "Blogger Who Exposed Congressman Weiner Speaks in SoCal."

Also, at O.C. Register, "'Weinergate' blogger: It's mischievous fun."

Andrew Breitbart in the O.C.!

I watched Nickleodeon with my son while working on this report, so I didn't catch local news coverage of Andrew Breibart's visit tonight to the Newport Beach Golf Course. I'll look for a video later, but Breitbart spoke with a local media crew for 10 or 15 minutes before coming inside the clubhouse:

With my friend Megan Barth, one of the best conservative activists in the country:

I don't have a big write up. Breitbart was on Cloud 9 after this week's sensational developments in the Anthony Weiner scandal. Breitbart's already a hilarious public speaker, but this was literally once in a lifetime material, and he made the most of it. The jokes practically told themselves, and the crowd was enamored --- and completely honored to be in his presence. He basically gave a recap of his entire week, starting with the anecdote of his talk to a policy group on Monday before the Weiner press conference. It was a room full of wonks apparently, and he mentioned that he lives right across from the West Los Angeles Veterans Cemetery, and while some neighbors had designed their backyard fencing, etc., to block the view, Breitbart had his home remodeled so that one could see nothing but the cemetery from his windows. He said he's trying to fight the battle at home with as much commitment as our troops in the field. He sees parents not much older than himself visiting the grave sites and he's thankful for the freedoms for which these families have sacrificed. Afterwards, he was approached by an individual in attendance, who thanked Breitbart for all that he does, and said that Breitbart "should never feel unappreciated." Breitbart quipped about how this made his day, and he had yet to hold a press conference in place of Congressman Weiner!

The crowd was roaring. Anyway, it was Breitbart at his best.

Check Left Coast Rebel as well: "This Photo Was Worth It!"

Ashton Sweet Memorial Service

The story made the front-page of this morning's Orange County Register, "1,000 attend funeral for Ashton Sweet." And also the second section at Los Angeles Times, "About 300 gather to celebrate life of Irvine teen Ashton Sweet." I don't know where the Times got that figure. There were well over 300 people, if not quite 1000. And the local media turnout was huge. See KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Loved ones remember Irvine teen Ashton Sweet at funeral service." My wife spoke to Michael Ghaemi, the driver. He said he could never forgive himself for what happened. My wife gave him a hug. And from the Register's report:

Michael Ghaemi, who was driving the car carrying Sweet and three friends when the crash took place, described "slow-motion flashbacks" with scenes of glass shattering, teenage girls screaming and a prayer he said to himself that none of them would be harmed.

Seconds after the wreck, Ghaemi said, "I knew that my wish was not granted."

Ashton's mother was forever grateful for the love everyone shared with her. Her daughter was loved in the community. Too soon an angel.