From the archives

My little brother Ray, who died in 2001, was born in '61. Smart, funny, extremely creative. But wild.

I'll leave it at that.

These old pictures seem to present a perfect little guy, and that's what he was.

Ray was by far the best singer in the family. Kind of a crazy player, though, like me.

Loved kids. We've always suspected that a certain kid of a certain former girlfriend was his, but dunno. But he sure did love playing with that kid. Had lots of serious girlfriends, but he never seemed to drop out of their lives. When he died, lots of 'em came out of the woodwork.

Loved animals. Rescued lots of 'em. Two of 'em--Paco and Max--ended up with my folks. They became beloved family pets, along with all those cats that Ray left.

In the early 80s, he decided to become a Marine. At first, he flourished there. Spent time in the Philippines and "the Rock." Don't know where else.

I think he was always proud of his time with the Corps.

I came across these pins kept in a Manila folder.

I found poetry too.

And crazed essays.

Ray was an avid hang-glider pilot. He once flew above Mount Whitney, which is crazy, of course.
He invented an elegant device that helped fliers determine wind direction for landings, but he could never get his act together to market the idea. Plenty of interest, though.
Once, I went with him to Mt. Laguna down in San Diego County to watch 'em fly. Took this pic.

Here are some odd documents that I came across. First: my grandmother's green card, I guess.

Well, anyway, it is green. And it's a card.

Evidently, I purchased this fishing license in 1970. I would have been 15 years old.

Here's a curious shot of my mother and my grandmother sitting on the hood of my parents' Ford in Niagara Falls, Canada, 1953.

This is my dad, circa 1950.

One of my sister Annie's paintings from the 80s, I think.

That's her sense of humor all right.

"It's a political decision"

     Remember Republican challenger to Rep. Loretta Sanchez Tan Nguyen? Back in 2006, during the campaign, his senior political advisor was our own Tom Fuentes, SOCCCD trustee.
     But then the Nguyen campaign sent that infamous letter. It was kind of a "Fuentes" thing to do.
     After that, Tom got real scarce.
     Well, the case against Nguyen is still in the courts:

Prosecutor calls congressional candidate a liar (OC Register)

     Former congressional candidate Tan Nguyen was behind a controversial campaign letter to Latino voters from start to finish, federal prosecutor Gregory Staples told jurors Tuesday in opening statements during Nguyen's trial for obstruction of justice.
     Nguyen faces charges of lying to investigators about the letter and asking an uninvolved campaign worker to take responsibility for the mailing sent out to support his failed 2006 challenge of Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Santa Ana.. . .
     The Spanish-language letter, sent on a letterhead that mimicked the name of a prominent immigration reform group, was mailed to 14,000 voters with Spanish last names who'd been born abroad....
     That mailing had warned that "emigrados" could go to prison if they voted. "Emigrado" is ambiguous in Spanish. It can generally mean an emigrant – who may or may not be a U.S. citizen eligible to vote – or specifically a non-citizen in the country with a green card.
     The letter also warned that "a new computerized system" would track new voters and could be accessed by "organizations that oppose immigration.". . .
     During the investigation, Nguyen said he had read an initial draft of the letter in English but had no further involvement with it. He told investigators it was paid for and sent out by a long-time friend and campaign helper, Mark Nguyen, without his knowledge.
     Steward told jurors that the idea for the letter initiated with campaign advisor Roger Rudman.
     But Staples promised jurors he would produce a series of emails showing Tan Nguyen making decisions about the letter and the letterhead, and ordering the database of voters the letter was sent to.
     Staples described a meeting with Rudman, Mark Nguyen and Tan Nguyen, in which Rudman instructed Mark Nguyen on sending out the letter.
     "'Tan doesn't need to know about it,'" Rudman said, according to Staples. "Then both the defendant and Roger Rudman laughed."
     According to prosecutors, Tan Nguyen initially blamed the mailer on 23-year-old office manager Chi Dinh and asked her to take responsibility.
     Dinh was engaged to Mark Nguyen at the time, and they subsequently married. Both are scheduled to testify for the prosecution.
     "Why are you throwing my fiancé under the bus," Mark Nguyen asked Tan Nguyen, according to Staples. "What (Tan Nguyen) said was, 'It's a political decision.'"….

Big, pious apple at the rotten orchard

     Looks like the king of for-profits is claiming that it will be good from now on:

A New Leaf at Phoenix? (Inside Higher Ed)

    When it comes to marketing and recruiting, the University of Phoenix is turning over a new leaf, or so its executives said at a briefing here Monday.
    “We’re doing what we think is right,” said Gregory W. Cappelli, the co-chief executive officer of Apollo Group, which owns Phoenix and other for-profit colleges and schools. The company, he said, is shifting “from a recruiting mentality and culture into one of a long-term relationship” between potential students and recruiters, who’ve been renamed "counselors.”
    The briefing was framed as a discussion about Apollo’s position paper,“Higher Education at a Crossroads,” which touts the for-profit sector as playing an essential role in President Obama’s access and completion goals. But the scrutiny facing the sector, and Apollo’s attempts to push back, dominated the hour or so that Capelli, his co-CEO Chas Edelstein and Joseph L. D’Amico, president and chief operating officer – along with a cache of public relations people – spent with a few reporters.
    In the debate over the role of for-profit higher education, where the good apples/bad apples dichotomy has come to dominate discussion (though some Congressional Democrats have said they see something resembling a rotten orchard), Apollo is actively working to brand itself as an organization chastened and determined to do better, especially after being identified in the Government Accountability Office's "secret shopper" investigation of recruiting practices.
. . .
    In September, Phoenix will stop compensating recruiters based on the number of students they enroll and whether those numbers are on an upward trajectory, criteria that accounted for 32 percent of their evaluations. Instead, performance will be judged entirely on factors such as teamwork and attitude when interacting with students.
    “The purpose of marketing is to inform,” Cappelli said. Edelstein chimed in: “We feel there is an imperative … [in] reaching as many as we can who can benefit” from higher education.
. . .
    Though the executives wouldn’t say quite say that they were trying to frame the company as the good in a sea of bad, that was very much the subtext of what Edelstein and other Apollo executives told a small group of reporters. Going forward, Apollo seemed to be pledging, we’re going to do our best to be honest with you, our students, Congress, everyone. “Transparency is very important,” Edelstein said. “We’re trying to lead the industry.”….