Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Organized crime, real and imagined, in the OC

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1. Does “entertainment value and patriotism” trump a sense of history? Why, sure it does! It’s Orange County!

In Today’s LA Times: Parade rejects entry on desegregation:
The Orange County lawsuit that desegregated California schools was deemed of such historic significance that a postage stamp commemorating it will be released in September. But organizers of the Fourth of July parade in Huntington Beach—the largest in the western United States—denied an entry celebrating the 60-year-old ruling, saying it lacks "entertainment value." ¶ Filmmaker Sandra Robbie, who produced an Emmy-winning documentary about the lawsuit and proposed the parade entry, vowed to fight the decision, which she called baffling.¶ ...The case, Mendez vs. Westminster School District, ended segregation in California schools in 1947 and set the stage for the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that outlawed school segregation nationwide seven years later. In the Mendez case, Latinos and whites were sent to separate schools.

¶ …Connie Young, a spokeswoman for the parade's organizers, said a committee of City Council appointees reviewed parade applicants. Approximately 300 entries, from marching bands to patriotic displays to dignitaries, will participate. Fewer than 20 applications were turned down. ¶ "It didn't have enough entertainment value, that's what the parade committee looks for," Young said….
Meanwhile, the OC Register (Filmmaker denied July 4 parade application) reports that, according to parade organizers,

…Robbie's application was denied by the parade's eight-member board executive board because her request didn't align with the general theme of the parade. ¶ The parade's board looks primarily at the entertainment value and patriotism in reviewing applications, said Connie Young, the spokeswoman for the organizers. ¶ …"It appeared that this application was more about this woman's self-promotion," Young said. "The denial of this application is not meant to diminish in any way the significance of the Mendez case."….
2. Looming trouble for OC's Republican Mafia?

As you know, the Republican Mafia (Mike Schroeder and his gang, including the DA and the Sheriff) pretty much runs the show in the OC. Sheriff Mike Carona is notoriously corrupt and embarrassing, and so one of his employees, Lt. Bill Hunt, ran against him and all that he represented. Early on, the local GOP declined to endorse Carona—what with his being corrupt and embarrassing—but the Mafia connived a switcheroo. In the end, Carona won reelection by a whisker. Hunt was then demoted to beat cop. Then he quit. Now he’s suing:

According to the Times (O.C. sheriff's election rival sues over demotion):
A former Orange County Sheriff's lieutenant sued the county and Sheriff Michael S. Carona on Monday, saying he was unfairly demoted for criticizing the sheriff .... ¶ Bill Hunt was placed on administrative leave the day after the June 6, 2006, election in which Carona was reelected, narrowly avoiding a runoff with 50.9% of the vote…. ¶ …The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, alleges that the demotion was retaliation for Hunt's campaign comments and violates his rights to free speech and political activity.... ¶ …During last year's campaign for sheriff, Hunt made several critical comments about Carona's leadership, saying that numerous controversies had given the department a black eye and that the sheriff had failed as a leader….
Meanwhile, the Reg (Hunt files political retaliation claim against Carona) reports that
A third legal claim was filed Monday accusing Sheriff Mike Carona of political retaliation against members of his department who refused to support him in last year's election. ¶ ...[Hunt's] suit is similar to the claims of retaliation made by retired Lt. Darrel "Guy" Poncy and Lt. Jeff Bardzik after they supported Hunt….
3. Board wacko Rocco responds to Recall effort

According to the Reg (Orange Unified board member answers petition to recall him),
Orange Unified School District trustee Steve Rocco has filed a response to the recall effort against him with the Registrar of Voters Office. ¶ The one-page response, filed last week, alleges cronyism, nepotism and organized crime involving those who initiated the recall and a number of his fellow trustees. ¶ The response comes after a district parent, Michael Foster, handed Rocco the notice of intention to circulate a recall petition during a recent board meeting…. ¶ "Mr. Rocco refuses to participate in closed session meetings, refuses to vote on most issues …," the notice of petition states. ¶ Rocco's filed response supplies dates and details of alleged events of the "criminal partnership," which he states five of his six colleagues on the board of trustees are involved in.... [My emphasis.]
4. Philosophers take aim at Wikipedia

This morning’s Inside Higher Ed alerts us to this blog posting: Martha Nussbaum and Wikipedia: A Case Study in the Unreliability of Information on the Internet. Check it out.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

'Tis a remarkable county, indeed, ain't it, Chunk? How interesting that patriotism doesn't include celebrating the end of segregation and the upholding of our very own Constitution. What the ....???

Anonymous said...

Hey, Chunk, there's a book recently out titled "The Cult of the Amateur: how the Internet is Killing our Culture," by a fellow named Andrew Keen. It's probably worth a read (I haven't yet) for at least the content implied in the main title. (Maybe the subtitle is over the top--but I'm not sure.) I heard a pretty good interview with him on NPR; Wikipedia was, of course, one of his prime targets. Just thought you'd want to know.... Thanks for the link--and for the hundreds of cool links that you provide.

Roy Bauer said...

Thanks Barn.

Hope things are going well over in Mount Pilot.

I hear Thelma Lou won "Gerkin Queen" again.

Say "hey" to the folks.

Anonymous said...

It will indeed be a magninficent day when we all can celebrate the end of socialism and the liberal ideology.

Anonymous said...

Hey B, love the old photo of the Golden Bear. Took me back to a few shows: Fishbone, Chili Peppers, The English Beat, etc. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

The Kool Aid's ready, 6:48!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, SP. I, too, have fond memories of the Golden Bear. I saw Country Joe and the Fish there. And John Prine. And who knows who else.

Let's do the Fish cheer!

--CW (aka B, aka R)

Jonathan K. Cohen said...

The proposed article on Nussbaum looks terrific; I'm not sure what the Wikipedia moderator was thinking. And I learned something new: I didn't know Nussbaum was shacking up with Cass Sunstein!

(We need something like People for the New York Review of Books crowd! Next month, we'll find out how many concubines Fredric Jameson has.)

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...