We will let this ad, produced by one of incumbent Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley’s Republican primary opponents for Attorney General speak for itself—and simply comment that the ad highlights Cooley’s obstacles to securing the Republican nomination from unreasonable right-wing voters in the face of sensible Cooley policies (like his opposition to the 3-strikes law).
With no household name Democrat declared in the race to fill incumbent Jerry Brown’s shoes as California’s out-going top prosecutor, the hopes of California Republican’s have been reportedly buoyed by the recent entry of third term Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley into the race for State Attorney General.
But those thinking that Cooley might trounce the ultimate Democratic nominee from the current field of six “no name” candidates for AG should think again.
Among the Democrats, Kamala Harris, 45, outpaced her opponents to collect $2.2 million last year, some it from such Los Angeles household names as Steven Spielberg and David Geffen—but Harris—who is San Francisco’s incumbent District attorney—has no chance of being elected attorney general due to her categorical opposition to the death penalty, including in a recent San Francisco case involving the cold blooded murder of a police officer---not to mention an otherwise dismal prosecutorial record in San Francisco.
But several obstacles lie in the path of liberal Republican Cooley’s swearing in as California Attorney General in 2011.
First, Cooley, who is on the left to middle side of the spectrum for a Republican prosecutor—how else could he be elected three times as district attorney in Democrat leaning Los Angeles County—must survive a Republican primary midterm election dominated by the statewide Republican faithful expected to turn out for the primary election in the greatest numbers. Can Cooley appeal to the party faithful in traditional republican strongholds like Orange County and the Central Valley while retaining his moderate cross-over appeal that assured his reelection in Hollywood? That remains to be seen.
Second, Cooley has been plagued of late with internal office dissension—leading Cooley’s deputy district attorney who oversees criminal filings for most of Los Angeles to say:
“"There is a lot of apparent acrimony between the administration and the union””, and leading another veteran prosecutor to describe the infighting in the District Attorney’s Office as a “snake’s nest”. (Source: Los Angeles Daily News.)
It is perhaps the former issue—Cooley’s current legal troubles regarding union allegations of retaliation and demotions of employee’s supporting unionization of the office—that provide the most likely obstacle to Cooley’s success in a general election for California Attorney General.
For example, Cooley is accused of shifting pro-union attorneys to postings a much longer commute from their homes, trimming benefits, demotions, and bad job performance reviews—all as political pay-back.
And, according to Los Angeles news sources, U.S. District Court Judge Otis D. Wright II is leaning toward a findings that Cooley committed the above charged misconduct. (Source: Los Angeles Daily News.)
"Is it just coincidence that we have experienced deputies suddenly finding themselves in Pomona or at Los Padrinos (Juvenile Hall)?" [Judge] Wright asked. "Is it just a co-inkydink?"
Should liberal Steven Cooley make it past a field of two other Republican’s in the primary election, that (among others) is question that California voters must answer on election day. .. UPDATE—from the Recorder’s Legal Pad Blog:
Cooley's office announced today that it is charging noted dispensary owner Jeff Joseph, of popular Organica in Venice, with 24 felonies related to the unlawful sale of marijuana. Cooley "warned that state law does not allow dispensaries to sell medical marijuana," according to LAT. Joseph's case, which was intensely investigated by police and federal agents, has the potential to test whether state law permits dispensaries to sell marijuana.
A court commissioner set Joseph's bail at $520,000, which his sister and mother tearfully announced he does not have. Joseph's attorney, Eric Shevin, says that the charges are political and that Joseph was targeted due to his pot club's notoriety. Cooley's office denies these claims and says that other dispensary owners are facing charges as well.
I got to church late tonight and I arrived during communion which was being held at the back of the church for some reason. While I was standing there, I noticed a girl who I'd met at a party the other week, we'd had a conversation about why she wasn't going to church stuff any more, and then there she was at church. So thinking it'd be good to be welcoming and affirming, as we were walking back to our seats, I said "It's Mabel* right?" I was so pleased with myself for rememebering her name. But she responded "Ahh no."
"Oh" I said "So we haven't met."
"No. I'm Gwendolynne*" she said.
"Oh sorry, I'm Tom. Well it's nice to meet you Gwendolynne." And then I sat down, feeling like an idiot.
So I've been ruminating about my relationship with public toilets recently. Whenever I walk into a Public Toilet, if I don't see any men in there, I immediately worry that I've walked into the Women's. So I check for the urinal. If there is a urinal, I decide that I'm probably in the Men's. Though I am still a little cautious, because how am I to know if there are urinals in the women's toilets?
That said, I think I must feel pretty sure women don't have urinals because whenever I use one, I get a feeling of pride in being a man. I enjoy using urinals because it's something that only men (and drunk women) do. I stand there peeing, with my brothers-in-manhood just feeling pleased that chicks can't do what we're doing. It truly is secret men's business by virtue of the fact that women aren't built for urinals*. Women get to have babies, we get to pee against the wall.
I used to only use toilets, but now, as I become older, less inhibited and more proud to be a man, I'm using the urinals much more often.
However, as much as I love urinals, my issue with urinals is that when you go to a porcelain urinal, some are heighted and designed in a way that, if you aim incorrectly, you get splash back. And because there are so many different designs and heights for urinals for each one you have find the sweet spot for minimum splashage and it's always in a different place. Plus you have to find the sweet spot quickly or you may get an unacceptable amount of wee on your shoes, or the floor, or your leg warmers.
I think that's all my thoughts about public toilets at the moment. I know that's nothing actually to do with toilet etiquette but I wanted to used the title anyway. So stuff you, haters.
*Some people may want to argue from the implication of the sentence that urinals were built for men, not men for urinals, to which I would say "You're wrong". But still whatever the case, my point still stands, no matter who/what was built for who/what, women were not built for urinals.
Sometimes I'll go into a shop to buy something and realise that it'd be really easy to steal it. When I pay for it rather than stealing it I'm really pleased with myself for my superior moral character.
I organised to have lunch today with Cathy who I used to lead in my old youth group. Only after we organised to catch up did both of us realise it was Valentine's Day today. Awkward.
Happily when we met, we both mentioned it, and then got on with a rather unValentineish lunch. Or at least it was about as Valentineish as every other lunch I have.
I turned up at a party tonight after going being at another party. When I arrived there were lots of cars and no body arriving which I thought was odd seeing as the party had only started an hour before I arrived. I thought everyone was oddly punctual.
When I walked in I found out the party had been going for two and a half hours. Oops. I got the start time a little wrong. When I apologised to the Chris, whose party it was, he said it was ok because he knew I was going to be late. Apparently I'd warned him. So as it turned out, even though I thought I was on time I'd pre-warned Chris about the lateness that I was doing even though I didn't know I was doing it.
We went over to Dee and Mark's for dinner. It was all very normal till the end of the night when my father asked to borrow a Hat from Dee. With that more craziness ensued than at an afternoon tea of Episcopal bishops.
Someday we will tell you about our trip to a strip-mined out armpit near the upper Great Lakes called Houghton Michigan during a 100 year snow storm at 25 below zero, clad in an unlined overcoat, a suit, and Gucci shoes. Three identical and utterly depressing motels in town that smell vaguely of the chemicals used to clean up after the last guy blew his brains out there (a real temptation, believe me). Three bar and grills (in reality pizza joints serving hard liquor), pick one, doesn’t matter which one, the plan being to get as drunk as possible and then (try to) sleep through the night, but you have to move your car from the main drag by 11:00 pm for the snow plow and the motel room water smells of chlorine when you drink it and on your skin after you shower in it, and the next morning the stinking lobby does not even have a coffee machine let alone a coffee shop, and we are loudly crunching 8 foot of hard snow pack with our loafers down the main drag walking the three blocks to the law firm hosting the deposition thinking man, this town really is at the bottom of the barrel, then listening to some baby lawyer from a 2,000 NYC law firm go on and on in excruciating detail about how our food distributor client allegedly damaged Nabisco by selling stale Gummy Bears, and us, not caring any more, for the first time in our life walking out of a depo, announcing to the baby lawyer that he could stay all week and ask questions about stale Gummy Bears, but we are not missing the last fricking flight out of this town at 3:30 PM so good bye, we fly back to Detroit, get on a plane back to SF and count ourselves lucky because plenty of others got so depressed in that toilet of a motel between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning that they (no doubt) hung themselves from the curtain rod and wound up part of the snow pack behind the motel ….
I went to Hillsong on Sunday with Jo, Victor, Dad and Hannah. We went because heaps of Victor's friends in Guatemala had been asking him when they heard he was going to Sydney if he was visiting Hillsong. So we took him to Sydney's greatest Christian tourist attraction.
I was pretty excited to be going. Partly because I'm a church nerd, partly because I was going to one of the most famous churches in the world and I love seeing famous things.
I was impressed.
Hillsong over the years has copped a lot of flack in the media and from other Christians over the years and it's not as if I haven't also said a thing or two against them (till I gave it up in favour of church unity). It's copped flack for a lot of things but especially because it's attitude to money.
That said, they seem to have taken the criticism to heart.
Sunday was Vision Sunday so we got to see the churches vision, and it was all about changing lives and helping the poor and marginalised in the world. They did an offering talk but as far as I could tell it was all about just sowing into the Kingdom so kingdom could be a blessing, but I wasn't really paying attention.
It's been so good to see a church change so radically. These days they have such a huge push for social justice. I think that sort of change is impressive because it shows a humble heart that's open to correction. That's important in a church.
I also enjoyed seeing a church that was so ethnically diverse. It's rare that you find churches in Sydney that are as diverse as the city they inhabit. But Hillsong seems to be demographically representative of our city. It would be interesting to see if they had stats on that.
If I had any encouragement for my friends at Hillsong it would be that I thought they needed to mention Jesus more, especially the cross. The closest they come to mentioning the cross in the video below is when they talk about reconciling humanity to God. Usually in the video and throughout the service they'd just talk about God. But it's not as if they don't believe in the cross or are ashamed of Jesus. It's in their statement of belief. Their logo for the vision is a heart shaped tree with the word JESUS in the place of the root system. It's a pretty clear symbol of where they see their life coming from. I just think it needs to be said more. In face it probably can't be said too much.
I mentioned this thought to my mother, that I thought they should have mentioned the cross. Mum asked me if I thought the cross should be mentioned every time the church meets, to which I said "Yes". It made me consider if it's just a cultural hang up or if it really is an important principle. I decided that I'd happy to say it's an important principle.
If I went to a church that didn't mention the cross one week I wouldn't say that it's a failure. However I do think that the death and resurrection is central to our identity as Christians and our identity as the church. The cross keeps us humble, it keeps us thankful, it reminds us that we are not our own, we were bought at a price, it shows us that new life is only found through Jesus, it focuses of God's greatest demonstration of his love, and his most glorious act to which all of redemption history and future points.
With that in mind, I think we should make it a discipline to always come back to the cross, and to talk about it whenever we get together as Christians. It is so vital to who we are, we cannot afford to forget it. And while forgetting the cross may seem like an impossibility for the church, it's exactly what much of the church has done. Or if they have not forgotten it, they have sought to change its meaning, and in doing so have emptied the cross of its power.
I know Hillsong haven't forgotten the cross, I'd just encourage those up the front to talk about it more.
As far as the rest of the service went, I enjoyed myself. The music was excellent, as you'd expect. I liked the fact that it felt like a show, and within its context I don't think there's anything wrong with that.*
After the vision video they did a new song called "Awakening" or perhaps "Awake My Soul" or something along those lines. It was written by Chris Tomlin and Reuben Morgan. The worship leader started off on a darkened stage playing to a darkened auditorium with just 5 low, bright white lights shining out into the congregation, through the smoke, back lighting him. As the song built, and people in the church started to stand up to join in, the lights came up till we were all singing. It was good theatre and it was a good song.
And check out the video. I'd love to be able to do video stuff like they do, it was good work. Maybe I should get a video department going at my church. I'm sure we'd be at Hillsong production levels in no time.
So there you go. That was our visit to Hillsong. I'll do it again one day. But for now I'll just love my own church.
It annoys me when I go to quote some lyrics and then realise I've already quoted them. But damn it, I'm just going to quote them again, because I want to.
We're not questioning God. Just those he chose to carry on His cross. We're no better, you'll see. Just all of us, the lost causes. - Anberlin
I have been given a brand new car. I got it on Thursday. Happy Birthday! It's a Toyota Corolla Hatch. It's black, shiny, and has a auxiliary input on the sound system, so I'm satisfied.
I have been thinking, "Should take a photo and blog it." But it's been wet and dark ever since Thursday so I can't take a photo of it in it's peak hatchback beauty.
Regular readers of this blog are well aware that the singer, songwriter, and 60’s icon Leonard Cohen suffered a financial blow in his 70’s that would have relegated most of us to the fetal position—if not a lifetime of food stamps: the loss of his entire $6 million retirement nest-egg to his former manager, against whom the music legend has a completely uncollectible $7.9 million judgment.
But unlike the rest of us, let alone the pool of former music greats who now languish in obscurity, Cohen deftly landed on his feet with a multi-year, international, wildly successful and critically acclaimed world tour—coming back more popular than ever, more financially secure than ever.
What could be a more fitting emblem of the comeback story of the decade that the lifetime achievement award presented to Leonard Cohen at the Grammy Awards last Sunday, next to Cohen’s (posthumous) co-award recipient Michael Jackson?
Just a reminder that there's a week left until the Olympics so that means only a week left until the Olympics contest. Leave your entries in the comments! Here are the rules once again.
Now for a new contest. With the Olympics coming up, I figured an Olympics themed one would make most sense. To keep it quick and simple, list 3 forwards and 2 defencemen playing in the Olympics. Person with the most points wins.
To avoid having Malkin, Crosby and Ovechkin as everybody's 3 forwards, they are void from the contest. Everybody else is fair game. For a tie-breaker, state who you think will lead the Olympics in points along with how many goals and assists they get. Remember to leave your name rather than anonymous along with some way I can contact you in case you win.
For those of you who were on the edge of your seat, the preaching topic has been revealed! And while I didn't pick it, I'm sure it'll make some of you happy (David), cause I've been asked to preach on sex. The title of the sermon is in fact "Myth Busting Sex".
James you will be happy to know that your idea to have a single person's perspective on sex was shared by the pastors of my church. To quote my email from Pastor Chris: "We thought it’s good to get teaching on Christian sexuality from a single guy...even though I assume your experience is limited."
Dan, if you're lucky I'll cover dating a little. But probably not too much. And Ty, I really hope this'll be a message smothered in grace, because if there are any messages that need them, it's the once on sex.
Anyway, the brief is that they want me to "think up all the cultural ‘myths’ that shape our view on sex and ‘bust’ them...in light of a biblical perspective." Of course I don't know all the cultural myths about sex, so I need your help once again faithful readers.
Tell me, what do you think are the cultural myths about sex? And while we're at it, what are the church's myths about sex? If you're lucky, I may just bust your myth, and won't you feel famous then!
I think I may have trouble covering all the cultural myths in 20-30 mins, but I'll certainly have a fair whack at a few, no pun intended you dirty minded people.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Burke era is officially here. There was no holding back, he came out guns blazing. These are the type of deals that us Leafs fans have only heard of...the deals we were expecting last trade deadline and this past draft. While we came away disappointed on both those occasions, he really made our heads turn with this one.
Like everybody else, I was completely caught off guard by the news of these deals. I stayed up until the morning watching Federer do his thing so I was still in bed when the trades went down. It was around 11:30. I feel a slight vibration (get your mind out of the gutter, you perv) and my eyes slowly opened. I just got a text message from my buddy and it read "Brian Burke is a genius!" I sprung out of bed and turned on my computer. Twitter was blowing up with activity. Who did we get? Who is gone? A day later and I can finally wrap my head around this. Sure, there's a lot of good in these two deals but like with most things, there's some bad and some ugly too.
The Good
Elisha Cuthbert - One of the key components to this trade. The one edge Ottawa has had on us was the celebrity girlfriend factor. This pretty much gives us the upper hand in the battle of Ontario.
Getting a competent goalie - Our biggest weakness this season has been our goaltending by far. With Giguere, we get a goalie that has taken his team to the Stanley Cup finals twice and came away with some hardware both times...even when he lost the series! Giguere's performance in the 2003 playoffs was one of the most clutch performances I have ever seen by a goalie. While it would be delusional to expect that same goaltender from the past, he is still miles above Toskala and at this very moment, probably a better choice than The Monster too.
The Kids Get to Play! - We lost a goalie (if you can call him that), a defenceman and four forwards. In return we got back a goalie, a defenceman and only one forward. That opens up three forwards spots! Come on down, Hanson and Stalberg!...unfortunately Wallin will probably be filling in that last spot.
Draft Schmaft - We essentially gave up two first round picks for Kessel and Phaneuf. Two players with star potential under the age of 25? I don't think too many GMs would shake their head at that
#1 Centre - We are giving Matt Stajan the chance to flourish into a #1 centre that we all knew he would someday be...with Calgary! /snickers
WE GOT SOMETHING OF VALUE FOR JASON BLAKE AND VESA TOSKALA!!! I NEVER THOUGHT THIS DAY WOULD COME
The Bad
Moustachulence - Losing this epic moustache
High Risk - At $6.5M per season, Phaneuf is definitely a big risk. I know we all have our fingers crossed that he will not be the second coming of Bryan McCabe. Here's hoping that a change of scenery is what he needs to go back to his Norris candidate form.
More Defence? - With almost $23M invested in our d (not including Finger's terrible contract), it will be an embarrassment if we don't improve next season. The top four of Kaberle, Phaneuf, Beauchemin and Komisarek does make me giddy...but of course I said the same thing earlier this season but with Schenn instead of Phaneuf.
Hope - Okay, this is normally a good thing but not when you thought everybody else was giving up on this team and you wanted to get good tickets for cheap! With this new found hope, fans will be filling the seats to see Phaneuf in action. Thanks, Burke!
Piritta Hannula -Or Niklas Hagman's wife as you probably know her. Sure, we get Elisha Cuthbert but I have to admit that I'm a bigger fan of Hagman's wife. Especially since she's not tainted by Sean Avery. Oh, Piritta. You will be missed.
The Ugly
DION PHANEUF DA DAAAAAAA DA-DA-DA DION PHANEUF DA DA-DA DA
There is no denying that Dion Phaneuf is one of the ugliest human beings on this planet
One of these things do not belong in this picture Motivation for ugly dudes. Get good in hockey. This is what $6.5M a year can nab you
The Muskoka Fiveheads Dion's forehead compared with four other notoriously gargantuan foreheads. Only Christina Ricci has him beat!
Inspired by words from our very own WAC "He looks two steps behind on an evolution chart." Looks like she nailed it
