Kurt Rambis leaving the Lakers

Kurt Rambis has "verbally" signed a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves for $8 million over 4 years. Sorry to see him go from the Lakers, but he knew that there was no way he'd be head coach as long as Phil Jackson was around. He'll always be a Laker to me...Goofy Rambis with hornrimmed glasses and great defensive skills.

With all the controversy about who the "Superman" moniker belongs to--Shaq or Dwight Howard, did you know that Chick Hearn dubbed Rambis "Superman" way before either of these two? That right...he looked just like Superman...when he was his alter ego Clark Kent.

He was always a scrappy underdog, someone that may not have been as talented as the superstars but one who tried twice as hard...and who can forget the toughness that Rambis exhibited after the Kevin McHale clothesline in the playoffs with the Celtics?

50th district fun is back again!

Here in coastal North County San Diego we have the 50th congressional district, which has been crazy ever since late 2005, when then congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham was exposed for being one of the most corrupt politicians ever, complete with creating his own bribe menu on his congressional stationary, where he would be promise a valuable government contract depending on the size of the bribe.

April 2006 brought a special election to the traditional conservative area, with Democrat Francine Busby performing surprisingly well against a pack of Republicans. The subsequent June runoff pitted Busby against former South San Diego congressman Brian Bilray. The race was neck and neck, but vicous attack ads against Busby combined with her gaffe at a Hispanic rally saying "you don't need papers for voting" pushed him into the lead, and he won by a 5% margin.

Undeterred, Busby ran again against him in the regular November election, but people weren't paying much attention any more and she lost by more than 10%.

In 2008, Bilbray won again, and now for the 2010 election Busby is determined to be the 50th Congressional's William Jennings Bryan, trying a third time against the odds to defeat Bilbray. She has started a series of house parties to raise money and awareness for her campaign, and she recently raised a lot more awareness than she expected.

Busy was at a fundraiser hosted by Shari Barman and her partner Jane Stratton in the Encinitas suburb of Cardiff, at a beatiful house that can be seen here. Surrounding the house are many shrubs and plants, which is where the strangeness started.

From the back patio Busby began addressing the crowd, and a mysterious stranger began shouting, heckling and cussing from behind some bushes, including gay slurs. A bit later, a sherrif's deputy arrived at the door responding to a noise complaint, asking for the owner. She wasn't entirely cooperative, and the deputy was on the nervous side. He ended up grabbing the 60-year old woman, cuffing her, and pepper spraying some of her middle-aged guests. Enter police backup, including a police helicopter (I swear they fly that damn copter over my house every chance they get), and you have quite a party.

The owner spent the night in jail and strangely enough Busby's weak campaign now has some legs, as she got national exposure and lot more campaign cash.

Will it be enough to challenge Bilbray in 2010? I doubt it, but we'll see. I say you should vote for her because her middle name is "Pocino". That's cool.

It's IOU time for California!

Here in California we have Democrat-controlled California legislature that loves to raise taxes and refuses to slash spending. We also have a stubborn Republican minority that refuses to spend a dime on new taxes. In addition, we have a constitution that requires a 2/3 majority to pass the budget. What does this equal? Gridlock! This goes on pretty much every year, even in boom times, and is usually resolved by questionable tactics such as borrowing against future years.

The chickens have come home to roost this year though, and there are no sleight of hand maneuvers with a $26 billion (and growing) shortfall. Now we're running out of money, and have started issuing IOUs until the budget gets worked out...but this could take a while. Meanwhile California's credit rating is threatened to getting cut to junk status.

Years of fiscal mismanagement combined with a recession led to this, and it's looking grim. Think you'd be able to do what it takes to balance the budget? Try for yourself here. First, remember that the Republicans can block any tax increases, so try and just make cuts. Then see if you can add taxes to make it work. It's not easy!

George Will has a good article that argues that the federal government is in danger of heading down California's road, with oppresive taxes, subservience to organized labor, and excessive regulation.

Latest farm trend: Minicows

The 1950's and '60s were boom times, and conventional wisdom said that "bigger is better". Cars got bigger. Houses got bigger. Cows got bigger.

Cows?

Yep, farmers weren't very concerned about the relative consuption of abundant grasslands or cheap feed, and bred cows for more meat per head. Cows actually got bigger during this time.

Oh how times have changed, and even farm animals are starting to change with the times. A new trend, especially on small farms, is the "mini-cow", which is not actually a genetically-modified big cow, but a regular breed that's been here the whole time.

In an LA Times article, they describe the Mini-Herefords, which "consume about half [the feed] of a full-sized cow yet produce 50% to 75% of the rib-eyes and fillets, according to researchers and budget-conscious farmers," he notes. "Farmers who raise mini Jerseys brag how each animal provides 2 to 3 gallons of milk a day." Grass-fed minicows also "reached their mature weight faster, so they could be sold for meat sooner."

They also produce proportionally less methane. Green cows that fight global warming!

Baby: a great dog

We made the tough decision to put down Baby today.  She hasn't been herself lately, with kidney disease and worsening dementia.  She was going to turn 16 in July, so she's lived a nice, long life.  Tough decision though.  So long little girl.

How the Democrats Can Fail: Look to California

California state politics is a giant mess. Thanks to excessive gerrymandering, we have a majority of far-left Democrats running the legislature, battling against far-right Republicans to pass a ballooning budget every year, and consistently mismanaging a populace that would rather have a moderate government more in the center.

The California Democrats are beholden to the unions: teachers, firefighters, prison guards, and many state workers, all of whom demand huge raises, Cadillac benefits, and large pensions. The California teachers union may be the worst of the bunch: teachers are judged nearly entirely on years service and education, not on competency, and it is nearly impossible to fire teacher that has a few years experience. California teachers also get over 1/3 more pay than the national average, but continually want to divert more state money for more pay.

Now state employees and union members are "outraged" that there will be layoffs in their field. Are you serious? We're in the worst recession since the Great Depression! Everyone's getting laid off! This is the sense of entitlement the California special interests now have.

The Wall Street Journal has a great article about the state of California, and how "tax and spend governance may finally hit the wall". California Democrats have been recklessly spending without restraint, leading our state to the brink of bankruptcy. Now there are a lame series of propositions that try to raise taxes into a "rainy day" slush fund, and others that raid other programs that were previously passed by voters for specific purposes.

If the national Democrats want to see how to lose power, look to California. Democratics being puppets of special interests, combined with massive spending with no regard to financial consequences have put our state in critical condition.

GOP: from the Big Tent to the Pup Tent

With Arlen Spector's defection from Republican to Democrat, the GOP is looking sadder and sadder.  Now after so many years of "with us or against us" mentality and cheap scare tactics to try and keep power, they are starting a "listening tour"--funny that they never bothered listening before they lost power.  I think this party can choose to change and become a serious opposition party again, or continue on their path towards irrelevance, possibly to one day ceasing to exist as their fringe elements take over.  I really hope they can get their act together, because I see a weak Republican party unable to counter a huge shift past the center and far to the left in this country.  Here are five suggestions for the GOP:

1.  Quit playing to the ignorant and lazy.  Fear mongering and cheap shots without substance may get some votes, but weaken the party brand.  Become the anti-Cheneys.

2.  Choose to make your stand on issues that really matter, instead of issues that play to a special interest.  Remember the special session of Congress for Terry Schaivo that ended up accomplishing nothing?

3.  Try to get the majority by leaning closer to the center, not by accumulating enough special interests to win a slim majority.  This worked to get G.W. Bush elected twice, but also increased the country's divide and ended up backfiring.  Also, forcing out the moderating elements of the party will keep you in the minority indefinitely.

4.  Quit blindly choosing religion and law enforcement over individual rights.  This would mean welcoming more libertarian ideas into the party, including gay marriage and medical marijuana.  These are complex issues, and the GOP hardline positions alienate many from the party.  Also, far-right positions on immigration (including wanting to overturn the Fourteenth Amendment) will get you nowhere.

5.  Concentrate on countering the actual bad ideas of the Democratic party.  California is teetering on the brink of bankrupty in part because of many concessions to strong unions (teachers, prison guards) that promote mediocracy, not meritocracy.  Democrats also promote "nanny state" laws, can be against free trade, and many times believe government can do a better job than the private sector.  These ideas need an intelligence counterargument.