Aggressive and ugly bugs

These must be tough times for SOCCCD’s own Tom Fuentes, my trustee (representing Lake Forest and environs—I live in nearby Live Oak Cyn.).

“NOW INFAMOUS TAPES.” For instance, Fuentes' pal, Mike Carona, is having trouble suppressing those nasty and revealing Carona-Haidl tapes. According to the Times (Jury will hear Carona-Haidl tapes),

Jurors in the upcoming trial of former Sheriff Mike Carona will hear the now infamous tapes of Carona allegedly conspiring with former Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl to lie to prosecutors. ¶ Among a host of decisions made today, U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford refused Carona’s request to suppress the tapes….

CHRISS CREEP. Meanwhile, Fuentes’ pal Chriss Street seems to be running out of money to pay for his defense in that big civil case (O.C. treasurer can't afford his legal defense, court motion says):

Orange County Treasurer Chriss Street was forced to sell his home to cover more than $1 million in legal bills from litigation alleging that he misused funds from a bankrupt trailer company he oversaw and can no longer afford to defend the case, according to a court motion filed this week. … ¶ The financial difficulties are the latest in a long line of setbacks for Street, who came into office last year as a popular first-time politician. But he quickly encountered trouble stemming from his previous private work as a specialist in restructuring distressed companies, as well as drawing criticism for a pricey office renovation and raising questions about investment choices that have roiled the county investment pool. ¶ The legal claims against Street arose from his oversight of Fruehauf Trailer Corp., a company he agreed to manage in bankruptcy as a trustee in 1998. ¶ Street was replaced as trustee in 2005, and his successor filed suit against him last year, seeking damages of $33 million for fraud, breach of contract and other claims. ¶ The new trustee said Street paid himself $2 million and used the trust to pay for travel to resorts in exotic South American locales, pay his wife, install new wheels and a stereo on a company car, visit a plastic surgeon, pay a speeding ticket and buy ice cream, among other things….

READING LAST. Another Pal o’ Fuentes is the President of the United States, whose Reading First program has proved to be a giant waste of money—and yet another gravy train for his rich cronies. According to the New York Times (An Initiative on Reading Is Rated Ineffective),

President Bush’s $1 billion a year initiative to teach reading to low-income children has not helped improve their reading comprehension, according to a Department of Education report released on Thursday. ¶ The program, known as Reading First, drew on some of Mr. Bush’s educational experiences as Texas governor, and at his insistence Congress included it in the federal No Child Left Behind legislation that passed by bipartisan majorities in 2001. It has been a subject of dispute almost ever since, however, with the Bush administration and some state officials characterizing the program as beneficial for young students, and Congressional Democrats and federal investigators criticizing conflict of interest among its top advisers…. ¶ Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and President Bush have consistently extolled Reading First as a highly effective program. But last year, Congressional Democrats reduced financing for the program for this year by about 60 percent, to about $400 million from the $1 billion it had received in several previous years…. ¶ Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the education committee, and who has long criticized the program, said, “The Bush administration has put cronyism first and the reading skills of our children last, and this report shows the disturbing consequences.”…. ¶ In 2006, John Higgins, the department’s inspector general, reported that federal officials and private contractors with ties to publishers had advised educators in several states to buy reading materials for the Reading First program from those publishers. ¶ The Reading First director, Chris Doherty, resigned in 2006, days before the release of Mr. Higgins’s report, which disclosed a number of e-mail messages in which Mr. Doherty referred to contractors or educators who favored alternative curriculums seen as competitors to the Reading First approach as “dirtbags” who he said were “trying to crash our party.”

THIS REALLY BUGS US. Evidently, aggressive and ugly bugs are taking over our colleges, including IVC, or so says the OC Reg’s “Science Dude” (Tiny hunter beetles invade OC colleges):

...The big-jawed beetle created a bit of a stir when it made an indoor appearance inside a building at Santa Ana College. ¶ “It was running down the hallway, inside the dean’s office,” said biology instructor Bob Allen … Soon more reports of the creatures began filtering in from other college campuses, and Allen knew something odd was happening… ¶ …The inch-long, black beetles emerge in a ravenous mood from their pupae during warm weather. College campuses might be prime territory for beetle encounters because they are often open areas with an abundance of plants – which attract other insects. He’s gotten reports from Irvine Valley College and Golden West College as well…. ¶ Though largely considered beneficial, especially by gardeners, they can deliver a mean bite if provoked….