Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Teddy and the kids on a lovely Tuesday evening

Everybody seems to love Young Theodore. The Bauer kids sure do.
Here's Sarah feeding Teddy a Dorito. He licked it but didn't eat it.
Teddy caught in mid jump. He enjoys pouncing.
As far as I know, he's never actually killed anything.

Sarah is amused by Young Theodore's antics. Adam, too.
What could be better than a fluffy sweet cat?

FU of Phoenix

Protecting Our Veterans From Domestic Enemies (Jerome KohlbergHuffington Post)
     …One deplorable practice that epitomizes the triumph of greed over the greater good is the exploitation of our returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans by predatory players in the for-profit "education" industry. Many operate with questionable academic credentials or lack proper accreditation, often leaving veterans and their families heavily in debt with little or nothing to show for it. For-profits account for half the nation's student loan defaults although they enroll 13% of the country's students. More than two-thirds of students attending these for-profit companies don't graduate.
     These for-profits businesses – I will not call them colleges – target veterans, because they are eligible for GI Bill and other federal education benefits.
. . .
     For my colleagues who are still considering the wisdom of remaining in a declining business that is predicated on marketing over morality, I would ask you this question: if you help create a generation of under-educated, unemployable Americans in order to make a quick dollar, who will be able to buy whatever else you have to sell? There will be no middle class left in America. The engine that made our country prosper after World War II will have been sold off for parts.

Wendy Gabriella's 73rd AD opponent, Jesse Petrilla, has an arrest record

     You’ll recall that our very own Wendy Gabriella is running as a Democrat for the 73rd Assembly District seat. Recently, facts came to light that bode well for her success in that race. Among her chief opponents is Republican Jesse Petrilla, a City Councilman in Rancho Santa Margarita. On Monday, the Rancho Santa Margarita Patch published the following:

Petrilla's Past: Felony Assault With A Firearm (Rancho Santa Margarita Patch)
   Long before he became a politician in Orange County, Jesse Petrilla stood before a judge in Placer County Superior Court facing felony charges.
   Now a Rancho Santa Margarita city councilman and candidate for the State Assembly's 73rd District, Petrilla had been originally charged with 14 counts against the State of California, but on Aug. 10, 2001, everything had been whittled away to just two felony assaults with one enhancement for using a firearm.
   “Mr. Petrilla,” said Judge James L. Roeder, “you have signed this written plea form stating that you are entering this plea and giving up certain rights. … And you understand what rights you are giving up and the consequences of your plea?”
   “Yes, your Honor.”
   “Mr. Petrilla, in this felony complaint in Count One, you are accused on March 11 of this year assault with a firearm,” the judge explained. “That’s a violation of Penal Code Section 245, subparagraph (a) (2), as a felony. To that offense, what is your plea?”
   “No contest, your Honor.”
   Petrilla answered “no contest” to the second charge against him, as well as the enhancement of using a firearm.
   “Do you understand for purposes of your criminal record and sentencing that no contest pleas are treated as guilty pleas?”
   “Yes, your Honor.”
   Jesse Nathan Petrilla, now 30, and seeking to represent most of South Orange County in Sacramento in the State Assembly, was in 2010 the youngest city councilman ever elected in Rancho Santa Margarita. Yet before becoming a lawmaker, he fired a .22 caliber rifle at an occupied vehicle about five months before his 18th birthday. Tried as an adult, he was sentenced to 240 days in jail and five years probation.
. . .
   Petrilla was granted early release from probation in December 2004. At the completion of Petrilla’s probation, the court downgraded the felonies to misdemeanors and dismissed the charges.
. . .
   Last week, Petrilla announced he had finished 2013 with more than $100,000 cash on hand from more than 200 unique contributors to his Assembly campaign.
   Patch could not find any mention of the 2001 conviction by Petrilla during either his campaign in 2010 for City Council or his current campaign for State Assembly in the 73rd district.
     Then, yesterday, Petrilla released a statement:

Petrilla Releases Statement About 2001 Arrest (Rancho Santa Margarita Patch)
   This week, my wife and I are welcoming the birth of our son. While this is cause for great joy, I now need to address an incident that has been posted on the Internet.
   On the night of March 11, 2001 (at the age of seventeen), I was amongst a small group of my friends in a remote area just outside of the city limits in Auburn, California, (where I grew up), when we were confronted by many carloads of known older drug addicts and local criminals who clearly intended us physical harm. I fired a couple warning shots from a friend’s father’s .22 rifle in an attempt to stop their advances. It worked, and no harm was done as the attackers returned to their vehicles and fled.
   I was arrested the next morning and charged with multiple counts, each and every one of which was ultimately dismissed. Each and every one of them.
   As you may know, I then went on to join the Army National Guard as an officer and have received a Secret Security Clearance. Each requiring in-depth background checks.
   Reports from local bloggers last night have told a misleading version of events fed to them by my political opponents' political opposition researcher, clearly afraid of the momentum of my campaign. For fourteen opening paragraphs, one blogger offered cherry-picked pieces of salacious-sounding evidence before ultimately noting that in fact, all charges were dismissed.
   Former Senator John Lewis, who represented Orange County for twenty years in the legislature, also commented on this matter by saying "Jesse Petrilla is a honorable young man who has served his country with distinction with his service in Afghanistan. It is a shame that some political opponent is twisting the truth of an incident that happened years ago for political advantage."
   These desperate attacks will not deter me one bit from continuing my campaign, or the momentum it has been gaining. And I know that as voters explore my record, what they will find is: a military officer, a small business owner, a husband, and expecting parent.
     Naturally, we'll follow this story, see where it goes.

Petrilla in Culver City
SEE ALSO AD-73 Petrilla Gorilla Rips Open His Violent Past; Will Baric Come Out of Hibernation?

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...