Apparently some are simply entitled

There's a team of scientists over at Yale University led by evolutionary biologist Stephen Stearns who have suggested that humans are still evolving. I will have to agree. We as a species have clearly not evolved enough. If we had, would there be so much strife? So many murders over picayune reasons? Irrational behavior by people -who by all accounts- should know better?

Bizarre behavior is a given in this society, but when that behavior is a by a former judge who is having a tantrum because he thinks that laws, rules and regulations don't apply to him, then it's clear the knucklehead feature in our species has not been, what's the word... "Deselected"?

Let's face it, society expects a certain modicum of poise, or at the very least, moderately acceptable behavior from a former judge.

However, it appears that this former judge, James Slater, has once again disappointed the casual observer. This man was on the bench for 20 years. 20 years! This man heard both criminal and civil proceedings. Dare I ask what his behavior was during those proceedings? I wonder, since the behavior he exhibited this past Monday was beyond bizarre, it was petty. Perhaps he's entitled? Perhaps he feels that as a former judge he doesn't have to abide by the rules that the rest of us peasants live by?

As a result of his recent antics, he was cited for reckless driving. It seems that Slater doesn't believe that he has to wait, so he didn't. He came close to hitting several adults and children when he drove onto a curb after a concert was being let out at the Santa Barbara Bowl.

The Yamato Wadaiko Drummers of Japan performed for an estimated 5,500 elementary school students at the Bowl that morning. The concert was over and people were exiting the bowl when Slater came driving by at 10:25 that morning.

According to SBPD Lt. Paul McCaffrey, Slater drove on the curb at Milpas Street and Garcia Streets to avoid a barricade preventing him from turning right onto Milpas from Garcia, where he lives. Security officers—one of whom was brushed by the side view mirror of Slater’s Toyota Prius—witnessed Slater maneuver around the barricade at Garcia and Milpas, as well as almost hit someone pushing a stroller.

He proceeded past another barricade, driving into the County Bowl, where an officer had to get out of the way.

McCaffrey said, “He was not going fast but he was not stopping.” Slater parked the car to rest on the lawn of the County Bowl, got out and was angry, demanding to speak with the head of the County Bowl. Instead, he was ticketed for reckless driving.

This isn't the first time Slater has behaved as though he's above the law. Some years ago, while still sitting on the Santa Barbara Superior Court bench, he admitted to deflating the tires of a vehicle with a handicapped card that he found parked in his courthouse parking space.

Word is that this guy now works as a mediator and arbitrator. I hope that his duties are confined to a video game, or in a laboratory working with rats, since clearly, his lack of judgement is not what should be found in someone mediating real life situations where clear thinking, fairness and intelligent decisions are required.

Presidential Speech Meets the Freak Show

I for one, am thoroughly disgusted over the temper tantrums from the right over the fact that President Barack Obama intends to talk to school children about the importance of staying in school and studying hard to achieve their goals. Is the right so addled that they have forgotten that in 1988, then-President Reagan spoke to students nationwide via C-SPAN telecast? Among other things, he talked about his positions on political issues of the day.

Have they forgotten that three years later, then-President Bush addressed school kids in a speech broadcast live to school classrooms nationwide? Among other things, he promoted his own administration’s education policies.

Now, President Obama comes along and wants to deliver a message to students next week emphasizing hard work, encouraging young people to do their best in school. The reaction from the right only helps reinforce how far gone 21st-century conservatives really are.

The administration has offered to make the text of the address available in advance, just so everyone can see how innocuous it is. It's made no difference. Conservatives don't want school kids to hear a message from their president. Those who claim superiority on American patriotism have decided to throw yet another tantrum over the idea that the president of the United States might encourage young people to do well in schools.

Fox News personalities have adopted the same line, calling a stay-in-school message from the president "cultist" and reminiscent of "North Korea and the former Soviet Union."

Whether some people like it or not, President Obama is the leader of this entire nation. It doesn't matter if you voted for him or even if your head threatens to explode every time you think about him. Trust me, my head was in danger of exploding every single day from November of 2000 until January 20, 2009.

This man is the president, and, as such, it's a big deal that he's speaking directly to students about the importance of education. The idea that any child should be kept home from class just so their parents can make an empty political statement about an apolitical speech is ridiculous. Is the idea that we should shelter children from any contact with or knowledge of any president we personally dislike? Should we pretend that the president doesn't exist, just because our favored party is not currently in power? Yeah, that's really healthy and intelligent.

How can a speech about studying hard and staying in school be political? If this bothers everyone so much, perhaps putting the little darlings in front of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly afterwards will ease their anxieties.

As luck would have it, some cooler heads prevailed.

Idaho school superintendent, Murray Dalgleish of Council, urged people not to rush to judgment. He said, "Is the president dictating to these kids? I don't think so. He's trying to get out the same message we're trying to get out, which is, `You are in charge of your education.'"

So which is it? Do we want students to get the message that staying in school is important, or would we as parents be happy to hear them say things like, "Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?"
You decide.

*Image courtesy of John Cole, Scranton, PA, The Times

Incompetence At The State Level. Again.

Here's Arnie trying hard to not burst a blood vessel. He has threatened to veto the state budget because he said the long overdue spending plan that lawmakers have approved lacked long-term fiscal reforms and would burden taxpayers.

He said, "I think nothing is more important than getting our fiscal house in order, and I promise the people of California that I will not stop until the job is done."
However, our illustrious and irresponsible lawmakers are saying that they're not going to back down. They're prepared to override the veto. The bill is going to land on Arnie's desk tomorrow morning, and because he's channeling Conan the Barbarian, the only response he was able to come up with for this sticky situation was to proclaim that his plan was: "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." Nevermind that billions of dollars in payments to schools, medical clinics, daycare centers, adult and otherwise, as well as payments to state vendors continue to be in limbo. What's wrong with this picture?

Senate Minority Leader Dave Cogdill said said that no one has the stomach to keep going down this path. He says, "It is a mistake, and I will vote to override the governor's veto, as should every other legislator who approved this budget."

It has been 78 days since the start of the fiscal year. They finally passed a $143 billion budget shortly after 2 a.m. this morning. As you can see by Abel Maldonado, he's truly riveted and interested in the process. One of these days I'll figure out why he's there.

Meanwhile, Arnie said that the reforms that our duly elected lawmakers added to the budget were flawed and would do nothing to halt the state's persistent imbalance between spending and the amount of money it takes in. What is the deal with these people? Why can't they do anything right by the people that voted them in?

As it stands now, the budget's main feature requires that the screws be applied to their constituents. How? Well, we get to pay our income taxes sooner. This is their brilliant idea to help close a $15.2 billion deficit without borrowing or imposing new taxes. Here's another idea? How about if these knuckleheads go without their pay for a while? Might that light a fire under them? If nothing else it might wake them up.

Even lawmakers who voted for the plan agreed that it merely delayed the toughest fiscal decisions until next year.

If they cannot get it together to pass a decent budget that makes sense now, what's going to change by next year? Do you suppose that they think they'll be smarter in another year?

Saying that the current budget would require a major tax increase or massive cuts to education Arnie said, "If lawmakers think that's what the people of California deserve, then I don't know what their thinking is of the people of California. I think the people of California deserve better."

Yeah, as a matter of fact we do. However, enough knuckleheads voted for you Arnie, so in essence, at least THEY are getting exactly what they deserve. The rest of us however are feeling the pinch in a variety of ways.

Arnie went further with his threats. He said that if lawmakers override his budget veto, he'll not be kind to their legislation, potentially wiping away a year's worth of work. He said, "Hundreds of bills will be vetoed."

Yeah, that's just all kinds of helpful.

Armed and Dangerous

By reenee, Santa Maria

Okay, I'm back. I took a bit of a break for no reason in particular, since I never seem to run out of things to say over here. It's quite difficult to get any real local news since I quit reading the Santa Maria Times. It's so poorly put together that it shocks me that people still subscribe to it. I will usually read the Santa Barbara News Press, which is a bit better. I guess not every newspaper out there can be the New York Times, huh? The one good thing is that the Times does carry news from the Associated Press.

This one from the AP might just have people in Santa Maria buzzing, in particular the teachers. A district in Texas will be allowing teachers to carry a concealed weapon. This is their bright idea to deter and protect against school shootings. The impetus for this was the fact that the small community of Harrold is a 30 minute drive from the sheriff's office. Harrold Independent School District superintendent, David Thweat said that the campus sits near a heavily traveled highway which could make it a target.

Now on paper, this might sound like a fairly good idea. However, in the real world, I've seen good teachers and I've seen bad teachers. In fact, didn't we have a teacher in the Santa Maria Bonita School District that once tied a kid to a chair? Didn't we have another that assaulted a kid? Hasn't this school district had teachers who were discipline problems? Why yes, yes we have.

If we have these types of problems here, then every school district must also have them, or have the potential to have them. If you arm the teachers, what happens then?

Let's face it, not every teacher out there has both oars in the water. Nor does every teacher know how to behave in stressful situations. They are as flawed as the rest of us in certain situations.

I remember way back when I was but a tiny little blogger, one teacher rapped my knuckles with a ruler when I had the gall to use my left hand to write. Another time I watched a teacher throw a book at a kid and bean him in the head. I'm not sure that things have improved all that much when a teacher finds him/herself under fire from an unruly student. Therefore, I don't see it as a good idea to arm the teachers. Nonetheless, this part of Texas is armed and ready.

Barbara Williams, from the Texas Association of School Boards, said her organization did not know of another district with such a policy. Ken Trump, a Cleveland-based school security expert who advises districts nationwide, said Harrold is the first district with such a policy.

Trustees approved the policy change last year. For employees to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to carry by the district; must receive training in crisis management and hostile situations; and must use ammunition designed to minimize the risk of ricocheting bullets.

Officials researched the policy and considered other options for about a year before approving the policy change. The district also has other measures in place to prevent a school shooting.

Superintendent Thweatt said, "The naysayers think a shooting won't happen here. If something were to happen here, I'd much rather be calling a parent to tell them that their child is OK."

No details on which teachers and assorted staff will be armed and dangerous. The supe wants that to be a surprise.

What's in a name?

by reenee,
Santa Maria

Some people are up in arms about it. Other people are having palpitations over it. Some are suffering gastric distress over it. Others still are writing to editors of newspapers, or calling radio and television stations. What's got them so angry and fired up?

Well, it seems that our state Legislature has voted to add commemorative signs along Highway 154 in honor of the tribe that has lived in this area for thousands of years. Maps will still designate it as Highway 154, but that's not good enough for the groups that already have their jockeys in a knot over the Chumash Casino Resort.

This highway, to my knowledge, has almost always been referred to as the San Marcos Pass. Rarely have I ever heard it called Highway 154. However, the Santa Ynez and Los Olivos folk have taken exception to the entire idea. They say that renaming the highway has nothing to do with the Chumash culture. They say that is has everything to do with marketing.

If this is the way that they feel then the next thing to be on the lookout for will be bullet holes in the signs. This of course is not to say that those good folks would do it, but there is after all, a lunatic fringe to any well organized group.

Vincent Armenta, tribal chairman of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians said, "Travelers taking the scenic route from Santa Ynez to Santa Barbara cross a journey that the Chumash people have traversed for thousands of years."

He said the groups had ample time to comment on the resolution, after it was introduced August 23rd. The final vote was September 21st.

He added, "Their accusations are typical of the type of vile rhetoric that they routinely spew. I find it appalling that they have taken something so wonderful and turned it into a controversy. It's a few signs along a route that goes through the middle of Chumash country. The signs will not fundamentally change their lives so I'm confused as to why they have created so much drama."
Because they can, Vincent.

The Santa Barbara News-Press carried a story on it. In it Nora K. Wallace writes:
Michael Glassow and Chumash expert John Johnson, curator of anthropology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History provided information for the legislature's designation discussion. The resolution was then passed unanimously.

The area's local politicians, Assemblyman Pedro Nava from Santa Barbara, Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee from San Luis Obispo, and state Sen. Tom McClintock from Thousand Oaks, all voted in favor of the designation. However, even though Nava is the Assembly member for the district that includes this highway, the item was carried by Assemblyman Joe Coto from San Jose. Apparently, due to the fact that the resolution was carried by a legislator from out of the area, most political observers had no idea it was working its way through the legislative process.

Aren't political observers supposed to have their fingers on the pulse of the legislature? Isn't that why they're called political observers?

Leaders of the groups Preservation of Santa Ynez and Preservation of Los Olivos expressed the loudest complaints about the highway naming. Those groups, among several others in the valley, have long challenged the tribe over its economic development and real estate purchases.

That right there might be the real reason for the gnashing of the teeth.