All I Want for Christmas . . .

I know, it’s crass and, yes, my mother brought me up to have better manners than this, but I’m going to do it anyway. I’m going to tell you what I would like you to give me for Christmas. It’s a simple gift and it won’t cost you a dime. So, here’s my gift request: Would you please stop talking, texting and checking your email on your cell phone while you’re driving?

Despite the fact that California has banned talking on a cell while driving (except when using a hands-free device) and texting while driving, yakkers and text tappers are more prevalent than ever. I’m sure you’ve seen them, the driver who instead of looking straight ahead through the windshield is gazing down at their lap looking at their iPhone while waiting for the light to change. The driver who is holding their phone to their ear with their right hand while they palm the steering wheel with their left to make that turn and perhaps, worst of all, the person who is tapping out a text message on their Blackberry while behind the wheel and moving down the road.

So do you think it’s a little forward of me to be asking for this gift? Those of you who engage in these practices are some of my closest and dearest friends. So, let me give you a friendly reminder that all it takes to be law abiding in this regard is not to text and, if you insist on talking while driving, to buy a bluetooth headset or a wired earpiece. Yet, I’m always astounded by the number of people who drive late model BMW’s, Mercedes or Range Rovers who apparently can’t afford an earpiece or a Jupiter Jack. (And if you don’t know what a Jupiter Jack is, it’s time we brought an “As Seen On TV Store” to Coast Village Road.)

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Maybe Those New Dodger Uniforms Will Be Miramar Blue?

Well, it looks like Rick Caruso may very well own a piece of the Dodgers and be the next mayor of Los Angeles before the Miramar Hotel ever gets torn down and rebuilt.

In recent weeks the shopping mall developer’s name has appeared in news articles reporting that he will be joining forces with former Dodger manager Joe Torre to make a bid for the baseball team.

Newspapers are also reporting that he’s contemplating making a run for mayor. That’s all well and good but what about that other little project he started a few years back? Doesn’t Caruso have enough on his plate in rebuilding Montecito’s beloved Miramar? After all, he sure paid enough for it.

Do you know where a sailor takes his fun? Wherever he can find it! It looks like megabucks developers are the same way when it comes to opportunities, whether they are political or business. But Rick, could you finish the Miramar before you tackle any new projects? (Continue reading)

Newt Gingrich is the worst of the 1 percent

By the time you read this it will be after Thanksgiving. But it you were like me and happened to be watching the news coverage of the Republican Presidential primary candidates earlier in the week, your overstuffed turkey was delivered a few days prematurely. The turkey is Newt Gingrich and I'm talking about his message to the people who are taking part in the Occupy Wall Street movement, saying to them, "Go get a job right after you take a bath."

Go get a job? That’s easy for him to say. But not all of us can land one of those lucrative gigs being a "consultant" for Freddie Mac, which by all accounts brings in a lot of money for a little bit of work.

The arrogance of Gingrich is nothing short of astounding. Last weekend he told an audience at an Iowa family values forum that, "All the Occupy movement starts with the premise that we owe them everything. They take over a public park they didn't pay for, to go nearby to use bathrooms they didn't pay for, to beg for food from places they don't want to pay for, to obstruct those who are going to work to pay the taxes to sustain the bathrooms and to sustain the park, so they can self-righteously explain they are the paragons of virtue to which we owe everything."

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Republicans Still Want to Walk With Cain

There was a time in this country when political candidates’ fates were decided in smoke-filled rooms. Now it looks like they might be decided in smoke-filled videos.

I’m referring to the recent Internet ad for Herman Cain, who, quite surprisingly, is even in the polls with Mitt Romney as they vie to become the Republican Party’s nominee for President. The ad, which can be seen on YouTube, features Cain’s campaign manager Mark Block speaking directly into the camera and telling voters, “We can do this, we can take this country back!”

It then swiftly cuts to Block dragging on a cigarette and exhaling smoke as patriotic music swells in the background. What is up with that?
(Continued at the Montecito Messenger)

Kadafi Capture and Killing: Too Violent for TV?

A killing that is broadcast on live TV is not unprecedented. It was nearly 50 years ago that TV news cameras captured the fatal shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby. But as someone who woke up sleepy-eyed one morning late last week and, as I still lay in bed, switched on the TV just in time to see the reports on the capture and execution of Moammar Kadafi, I couldn't help but think to myself that this is a little bit too much for morning TV. Or any other time of the day for that matter.

It was a bizarre end that was perhaps fitting for a man who had lived a bizarre life. A heartless dictator and international terrorist in his own right, you could always count on Kadafi to be unpredictable. One day he might show up wearing some Lawrence of Arabia get-up. The next day he might be dressed like the bell captain at a midtown Manhattan hotel.

So now there's one more mystery to add to the list of things we may never know about Kadafi. Besides puzzling over how to correctly spell his name or wondering why he never promoted himself beyond the rank of Colonel, we may never know who bears ultimate responsibility for his death. The front page of the New York Post that appeared the day following his capture and killing reported that it was a Libyan rebel wearing a New York Yankee hat who pulled the trigger. Nathan Hale's dying words were, "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country." Kadafi's last words might very well have been, "Damn Yankees!"

(Continue reading at the Montecito Messenger)