Out of Control Gun Control, Part 2

As I indicated HERE, the White House is looking more culpable by the day as being the source of the directives that caused ATF field agents to NOT get involved in an international gun-running operation by Mexican drug cartels. 

As CBS News and other media look into this further, I think we will see that people close to the President knew about the ATF operations and gave direct orders for the ATF to NOT intervene.  More than likely, the Justice Department and White House will become overtly defensive and even more secretive.  This will raise additional awareness from Congress.  Then, under pressure from the Republican-lead Congress, White House staffers and advisers will begin to waffle on their lack of knowledge of the operation. 

The scandal will likely be subdued with the resignation of a few top officials who decide to "move on" to lecture or teach.  (Watch out Harvard; here come the White House washouts!)

Time will tell if the effort by the United States Government to flood the Mexican drug cartels with U.S.-sold guns will have any affect on the 2nd Amendment. 

Whatever happens will likely not include the apprehension and bringing to justice of those on both sides of the border who were complicit in the gun running. 

It makes you wonder why our own government would want ATF to stand-down.  Was the reason, as I suggested, to flood the cartels with guns in hopes of making it look as though the United States has weak gun control laws that need to be beefed up?  Or could it be that there is something even more sinister at work, such as bribery at the highest levels of our government?  I can only speculate...

Fullerton Cold Case Solved: Clown accused of raping 12-year-old

By EUGENE W. FIELDS FULLERTON – A 41-year-old professional clown was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of raping a 12-year-old girl in 2002.

Fullerton police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said Jose Guadalupe Jimenez of Anaheim works as a clown under the name "El Tin Laurin," a play on the name of a popular Mexican cookie.

Goodrich said the rape took place on Jan. 19, 2002. Police believe Jimenez, dressed as a clown, grabbed the girl at the corner of Lemon Street and Commonwealth Avenue, drove her to a nearby school parking lot and raped her.

Police allege that Jimenez then took the girl to a motel on Harbor Boulevard and raped her again. Goodrich said the girl escaped when Jimenez left the car to contact the motel clerk.

"The only description we had in 2002 was that he was dressed as a clown," Goodrich said. "We had DNA from the sexual assault and we put it in the system."

Goodrich said Jimenez was linked to the rape after Jimenez was arrested for another crime in Anaheim in 2010 and his DNA was taken.

To read the rest of the story, click HERE.

Sacramento Bee: Anaheim to borrow $75-million for NBA team

By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
http://blogs.sacbee.com/sports/kings/archives/2011/03/anaheim-propose.html

Anaheim officials plan to borrow up to $75 million to lure the Kings from Sacramento, according to city documents released today.

The funds include $25 million for improvements to Anaheim's arena and $50 million for "transition costs," according to a staff report submitted to the Anaheim City Council.

The staff report includes an unsigned 103-page lease between the Honda Center arena and an NBA franchise identified only as "TeamCo." The Kings' owners, the Maloofs, have been in negotiations with businessman Henry Samueli, who runs the arena and owns hockey's Anaheim Ducks, on a potential move.

Although the city would borrow the money by issuing bonds, Samueli's organization would repay the debt, the documents say.

Sources have said the Anaheim arena needs upgrades, including an NBA-caliber locker room, before the Kings relocate. The city documents don't spell out the "transition costs," but the NBA generally charges a multimillion-dollar relocation fee before a team is allowed to move. Also, the two Los Angeles teams, the Lakers and Clippers, would likely demand fees from Samueli for placing a team so close to their market.

Water News

Fullerton Water Rates should be on your mind after the recent announcement of a study to nearly double current rates.

On that subject, don't forget that the next Water Rate "Workshop" is scheduled for March 30 at City Hall (Council Chambers) at 6:30 PM.  PLEASE show up and help find a solution that does NOT include raising taxes.  I am on the Downtown Core and Corridors Specific Plan Evaluation Committee and will be at another PUBLIC meeting starting at 6:00 p.m., in the Executive Conference Room, Maintenance Services Yard (1580 West Commonwealth Avenue).  Therefore, I will NOT be able to participate in the water rate discussions. 

Moving on, I wanted to share an announcement and agenda for the Water Advisory Committee of Orange County, or WACO for short. 

The next meeting of the Water Advisory Committee of Orange County (WACO) will be Friday, April 1, 2011 from 7:30 – 9:00 a.m. in the MWDOC/OCWD Board Room (18700 Ward Street, Fountain Valley).  Attached is the meeting agenda.

We are pleased to welcome as our speaker, Dr. Tim Quinn, Executive Director of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA).  Tim will discuss ACWA’s activities, initiatives and objectives for 2011, which will include updates on California’s water supply conditions, the development of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), the status of the 2012 water bond, and more!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Otherwise, we hope to see you at WACO on Friday, April 1^st.

  

The 4^th Annual OC Water Summit is set for Friday, May 20, 2011 from 7:30am – 1:30pm at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel.  You can register online at http://www.ocwatersummit.com/  You can also follow the OC Water Summit on Facebook and Twitter (@OCWaterSummit).

Driven to Race: The Movie

A friend and filmmaker worked hard on this documentary over the past few years.  If you are a racing buff or enjoy documentaries, here is a You Tube trailer just for you! 



Please go to http://www.driventoracethemovie.com/ for more information and to order your DVD today!

OC Register Editorial: Don't blow chance to scuttle redevelopment agencies

(As the debate over dismantling California's powerful and wealthy redevelopment agencies winds down to background noise behind Japan and Libya, the OC Register's editorial staff would like to remind us that redevelopment agencies are still a very real problem.  Here is a portion of yesterday's editorial.)

The vote on Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to end redevelopment agencies was still open Tuesday, so there was still some hope that these noxious local fiefdoms can be shut down, but so far Republican Assembly members had been a major disappointment on the issue. The bill was one-vote shy of the two-thirds majority needed for passage and only Republican, Chris Norby of Fullerton, had voted "aye."

Redevelopment is the epitome of big government at the local level. There are about 400 active agencies statewide, and they routinely abuse eminent domain, run up debt without a public vote and micromanage land-use decisions in cities. Redevelopment agencies were formed in the 1940s to combat blighted urban cores, but they now function mainly to entice developers to build sales-tax-generating big-box stores and auto malls. It's corporate welfare mated with government abuses of power.

Read the rest of the editorial HERE.

Out of Control Gun Control

Earlier this year a story broke that has had the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Fire Arms in damage control mode. 

According to various media including CBS, the ATF allowed guns to be purchased in the U.S. by know drug cartel members and transported into Mexico. 

ATF field agents notified superiors of what was happening and were told to stand down.

This “stand-down” policy contributed heavily to the problem of U.S. guns in the hands of the drug cartels, the main reason cited by the Whitehouse for seeking to revise gun control laws.

In essence you have a White House initiative or agenda to disarm a nation and when more data is needed to support an otherwise baseless claim, you order law enforcement to stand-down from doing their job so that a new problem can blossom. 

Ok, maybe it isn’t quite so cut and dry.  Maybe President Obama didn’t tell Napolitano to tell her agents to stand-down.  But even absent a smoking gun (yes, a lame pun), it certainly calls into question the operational policies of our federal law enforcement agencies. 

The federal law enforcement and investigative agents I have known over the years have all been committed to protecting the U.S.  They have all been well trained and educated.  The last thing field agents need is for management to handcuff (yes, another lame pun) their enforcement duties.  If management feels a law is unenforceable, seek to have the law amended or abolished.

As liberal gun control advocates seek to disarm lawful U.S. citizens by creating new laws that are even more restrictive, we must recognize that current laws are under enforced at all levels. 

Until current gun control laws are fully and fairly enforced by field agents with the support of their respective supervisors and prosecutors, the legislature and White House should steer clear of proposing new restrictions that will soon fail from lack of enforcement. 

You can read the latest from CBSNews.com by clicking HERE.

"The best thing this city can do to improve the local economy is to get out of the way of businesses!"

I expressed that sentiment many times during my city council campaign as my response to improve the local economy.  I said it in spite of what I saw as the Fullerton Chamber of Commerce's desire for the city to hand out corporate welfare checks disguised as low-interest special loans to small businesses and car dealers.

Funny that the same sentiment was also passed along by Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants and parent company of Carl's Jr., to the California Chamber of Commerce this past Wednesday. 

Steven Greenhut, editor of Cal Watchdog and columnist with the Orange County Register tells the tail of CKE leaving California for Texas. 

You can read Greenhut's article HERE.

Indeed, all levels of government workers, appointed and elected, believe that the balance of peace and prosperity lies firmly in their grasp and their grasp alone when nothing could be further from the truth. 

President Reagan: "[G]overnment's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

Even if you didn't like Reagan, his statement is spot on.

NATIONAL SURVEYOR'S WEEK

NATIONAL SURVEYOR’S WEEK

MARCH 20^th TO 26^th, 2011

The honorable and historic profession of surveying has been in existence since the very dawn of civilization. From the "rope stretchers" of ancient Egypt to the Roman Empire and into modern society, the surveyor has been an essential part of man's development.

During the Colonial Era and the early days of the United States of America many of the leaders of this country served not only their fellow citizens, but were actively engaged as land surveyors at some point in their career. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln set the standard for diligence, service and ethics which still guides the efforts of the modern surveyor.

The licensed Professional Surveyor is uniquely qualified to research the documents, maps and other information necessary to establish the location of land boundaries. This ensures that the land owner's property lines will be properly and correctly marked on the ground. The modern professional surveyor is often involved in providing other services such as Photogrammetry, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Hydrography. The professional surveyor is able to accurately measure the land and develop maps, plats and reports for many useful purposes.

In recognition of the groundwork laid by our forefathers, and the ongoing dedication of present day surveyors, the Orange County Chapter is pleased to recognize March 20^th to 26^th, 2011 as NATIONAL SURVEYOR'S WEEK. Surveyors, and their respective professional societies, are encouraged to promote a better understanding of our profession among all Americans.