Month: March 2007

Hollywood Hills Blaze Caused by Kids Playing with Fire

Jon Ponder


On our way out of town to see friends up the coast in Ventura yesterday, Page and I were more than a little rattled when we saw what looked like a giant mushroom cloud rising 5,000 feet above Hollywood.

Visitors to California over the next six months need to know that if they toss a cigarette out of a car, or hike up a hill perhaps to smoke pot, they could easily start a fire that could cause major damage, maybe even loss of life.

We found an AM all-news station where we learned that an empty lot behind the Oakwood Apartments on Barham Avenue was on fire. Oakwood is a 1970s-style apartment complex that offers temporary long-term housing. It is famous in town because its proximity to Burbank and Hollywood makes it a frequent short-term home for entertainment types. If you know LA, it is sited on a west-facing hillside within a mile or so west of Griffith Park and the Hollywood Sign.

Famous Oakwood residents have included the Jose Menendez family, who lived there when they moved here from New Jersey, five years or so before Jose’s sons, Lyle and Erik, murdered him and their mother, Kitty, in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. Funk superstar Rick James died here on August 6, 2004.

Today we learned that a couple of teenaged boys from Illinois who were staying at Oakwood set the fire. They were reportedly in the field behind the complex playing with lighters — a game I remember well from my misspent youth. Back then, we called it “Fire Up That Doobie, Man.”

What these boys did not know is that the Los Angeles area received less rain this winter than in any other year on record — under two inches the last time I checked. There is a miniscule chance we’ll get more rain before the season ends in a few weeks. Otherwise, it won’t rain again until Halloween.

By September, this place is going to be one giant tinderbox. The Barham fire yesterday is a just a precursor. The last time the scrub on that hill burned was 1961. The 41-year-old kindling erupted in seconds and burned for hours. Thanks to the property owner’s adherence to strict fire-management rules, however, the fire department quickly got things under control.

Here’s the point: Visitors to California over the next six months need to know that if they toss a cigarette out of a car, or hike up a hill perhaps to smoke pot, they could easily start a fire that could cause major damage, maybe even loss of life.

And like these teenagers, they could very well face time in jail.

War Funding Bill Benchmark Helps Big Oil Companies Gain Control of Iraq’s Reserves

Jon Ponder

The emergency war funding bills passed by the Democrats in the House and the Senate could pave the way to handing over Iraq’s oil reserves to big oil companies. Bush took us to war to gain control of the oil. Will he veto the bill anyway?

The supplemental appropriation package requires the Iraqi government to meet a series of “benchmarks” President Bush established in his speech to the nation on January 10 (in which he made his case for the “surge”). Most of Mr. Bush’s benchmarks are designed to blame the victim, forcing the Iraqis to solve the problems George Bush himself created.

One of the President’s benchmarks, however, stands apart. This is how the President described it: “To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country’s economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis.” A seemingly decent, even noble concession. That’s all Mr. Bush said about that benchmark, but his brevity was gravely misleading, and it had to be intentional.

The Iraqi Parliament has before it today, in fact, a bill called the hydrocarbon law, and it does call for revenue sharing among Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. For President Bush, this is a must-have law, and it is the only “benchmark” that truly matters to his Administration.

Yes, revenue sharing is there-essentially in fine print, essentially trivial. The bill is long and complex, it has been years in the making, and its primary purpose is transformational in scope: a radical and wholesale reconstruction-virtual privatization-of the currently nationalized Iraqi oil industry.

If passed, the law will make available to Exxon/Mobil, Chevron/Texaco, BP/Amoco, and Royal Dutch/Shell about 4/5’s of the stupendous petroleum reserves in Iraq. That is the wretched goal of the Bush Administration, and in his speech setting the revenue-sharing “benchmark” Mr. Bush consciously avoided any hint of it.

The legislation pending now in Washington requires the President to certify to Congress by next October that the benchmarks have been met-specifically that the Iraqi hydrocarbon law has been passed. That’s the land mine: he will certify the American and British oil companies have access to Iraqi oil. This is not likely what Congress intended, but it is precisely what Mr. Bush has sought for the better part of six years.

It is why we went to war.

Looking for Answers in Ryan Skipper Mystery

Trish

All three of us at Pensito Review are drawn to the story of Ryan Skipper.

I was attracted by a headline, “Winter Haven Man Killed for Being Gay,” maybe because I have an inordinate number of gay friends. If it’s true the population at large is about 10 percent gay, my immediate circle is at least three or four times that. I feel like I could have known Ryan Skipper. I can see his face among my friends.

We have made a decision at Pensito Review to follow this story wherever it might lead

Buck spent childhood summers in Polk County, Florida, where the vicious crime recently occurred, and serves as our ambassador to an area neither Jon nor I know well.

Jon’s combined sense of justice and mind like a screenwriter/detective won’t take the official version of the killing at face value. And the fact he is himself gay might help him smell rats that would rustle past straight people unsniffed.

In my initial post on Ryan’s murder, I noted that the local newspaper report, in turn repeated by other news outlets, summed up a story with i’s that don’t dot and t’s that don’t cross. As postulated: Ryan was out cruising for a pickup late one night and made a move on two straight guys. They rebuffed his advances by stabbing him 20 times, dumping his body on the side of a road, and stealing his car but later torching it and abandoning it on a dock one town over. Another angle was of a criminal alliance by the three, involving check forging and drugs.

One of those six degrees moments came for me as I read all this. Years ago, a friend of mine was married to a guy who went on to play the squirrelly preacher in the movie, “The Laramie Project,” Michael Emerson. Because Mike was in it, I saw the movie more than once, and the story of the murder of a Wyoming man, Matthew Shepard, allegedly for propositioning straight men, is a bit ingrained. When I read about Ryan, it was deja vu all over again.

After my post, people who knew and loved Ryan came forward to refute the for-publication version, adding many more questions to a growing list compiled by the three of us at PR.

We have made a decision at Pensito Review to follow this story wherever it might lead. So far, little has been written about the suspects, currently jailed without bail, and awaiting the start of a first degree murder trial whose outcome could be death. Please check back if, like us, you want to know what really happened. And why.

Where Not to Stay: Affordable Suites’ Corporate Policy Forbids Renting to Gays

Jon Ponder


This story (which I saw over at the Blend) points up the fact that it is perfectly legal to discriminate against gay people in many states, including especially South Carolina:

‘No, we don’t rent to gay people at all.'”
— Affordable Suites

A gay couple looking to rent a hotel room say they were turned away because of their sexuality.

“She wasn’t discreet about it,” said Jason Pickel, referring to a hotel employee. “She was not apologetic. She just said, ‘We do not rent to gay people.'”

For the past two and a half years, Pickel and Darren Black Bear have been in a committed relationship. During a search for a temporary home, the couple says it went to Affordable Suites of America, a long-term stay hotel located on Gion Street in Sumter [S.C.].

“We were inquiring about the price, deposits, extra person fee, and she asked who the room was going to be for, and I said for my partner and I,” Pickel said. “She said, ‘Oh we don’t rent to multiple people of the same sex.’ I said, so you don’t rent to gay couples? She said, ‘No, we don’t rent to gay people at all.'”

The website for Affordable Suites of America states the company does not allow children or pets in its suites, but there is no mention of same sex couples.

A reporter from the news department at television station in Columbia, S.C., posed as prospective renter and called Affordable Suites to check on the story:

The receptionist who answered the phone told us the following: “Our policy is we don’t rent to two people of the same sex if we only have one bed.”

Reporter: “Is that your policy?”

Affordable Suites: “That’s corporate policy because they only have one sleeping area.”

Reporter: “Okay, but they can’t share the bed?”

Affordable Suites: “I suppose they could, but most men don’t want to.”

Here is what is says on the Affordable Suites FAQ:

Can I bring my dog?

No. We love pets, but we do not allow them as guests.

How about my kids?

We are glad to allow children as visitors only. Our properties are all-adult and a maximum of two people per suite.

So, I can’t pile my buddies in the room and allow them to sleep on the floor?

No.

No pets, kids, buddies or gays. Got it.

How It All Started

Jon Ponder

From Yellowcake to Abu Grahib to Katrina and Scooter, Gonzales and the rest, the markers were there at the genesis of the Bush administration:

[The] biggest clue about what they were up to came in 2000 with the Florida recount. I know it seems like ancient history to go back to that but it is extremely important to remember just how outrageous their tactics were: the Gore campaign used legal tactics and the Bush campaign didn’t. There was the “bourgeois riot” and dirty trickster Roger Stone directing the street theatre from a van. (Here’s a list of what the Village Voice termed the five worst Bush recount outrages.) They used every lever of power they could to count illegally cast overseas ballots. They operated a hypocritical and situational media campaign that the press completely failed to properly analyze until it was too late. And after they did they helpfully told those who objected to “get over it.”

And I guess we did.

Another Rightwing Group Comes out Against Iraq War: The Saudis

Jon Ponder

Pres. Bush once said he’d stick to his guns on Iraq even if he lost the support of everyone but his wife and his dog, Barney. Well, he’d better keep a wary eye on the dog:

“In our beloved Iraq,” [King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia], “we see the bloodshed among brothers in the light of an illegal foreign occupation. Whereas the very ugly sectarianism is threatening a country which used to live in prosperity.”

This is huge because Saudi Arabia has been America’s staunchest ally in the region for decades — and the Saudi royal family is practically kissin’ cousins with the Bush clan.

The State Dept. admitted it was surprised by the king’s statement.

Abu in Trouble: AG Statement ‘Not Accurate,’ Says Former Aide

Jon Ponder

I missed Kyle Sampson’s second session in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. In the morning session, Sampson, the recently resigned chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made it clear he will not be Scooterized. He contradicted statements by his Gonzales, some of which were reportedly under oath. Some of Sampson’s answers were clearly half-truths but were probably sufficiently artful that he did not perjure himself.

[…]

Why Hasn’t Pervo Mark Foley Been Arrested?

Buck Banks

It was last September when the story first broke that U.S. Rep. Mark Foley was sending inappropriate e-mails to underaged U.S. House of Representatives pages. It was September 29 when Foley resigned from the House and entered rehab for alcoholism and “behavioral problems” related to childhood sexual abuse by a priest. Here iwe are on the cusp of April and the perv still hasn’t been charged. Why not?

According to the Associated Press:

It’s in the best interests of the GOP powers that be to keep the Foley case under wraps and out of the media — at least until after the prez elections of 2008.

“I can’t really give any more detail other than to say we’re still in the preliminary investigative stance and we are working with state authorities,” said Debra Weierman, spokeswoman for the FBI’s Washington field office.

Florida authorities announced their own criminal investigation in November but have remained tightlipped on the status since then.

Foley’s lawyer maintains that he never did anything physical to the pages, so no crime was committed. That may be the case some places, but not in Florida:

Federal law generally requires a person to meet or attempt to meet a minor for sex for it to be a crime. However, under laws in some states where the Florida Republican communicated with minors, an attempt to seduce the victim might be enough for a criminal case.

Under state law in Florida, where the age of consent is 18, a crime may have been committed if Foley is simply found to have seduced or attempted to seduce a minor using lewd or explicit language.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel was a little more blunt:

“This type of activity would fall under Florida law’s criminal statute,” said Maureen Horkan, director of the Child Predator Cybercrime Unit in the Florida Attorney General’s Office, adding that the statute is “broad.”

The law states “any person who knowingly utilizes a computer online service or Internet service to seduce, solicit, lure, entice, or attempt to seduce a child” would be committing a third-degree felony and could receive a jail sentence of up to five years.

So why are law enforcement authorities dragging their feet on the investigation? It doesn’t sound like they are working the case zealously:

Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials said Wednesday the Foley investigation is “still ongoing” and is weeks if not months away from concluding.

“We are still conducting an active and ongoing investigation into the matter and continue to work with the Florida Attorney General’s Office Cybercrime Unit,” said Kristen Perezluha, an FDLE spokeswoman.

Meanwhile, FBI officials said they are still conducting a preliminary investigation into the matter. “Nothing has changed,” said Debbie Weirman, an FBI spokeswoman. “We are still working with Florida authorities. It is still a preliminary investigation.”

In an interview Wednesday, Stephen Jones, a lawyer for one of the underage pages at the center of the controversy, said authorities have not questioned his client since October.

“Nothing has occurred this year,” Jones said. “[State and federal] authorities have not contacted us recently.”

Foley is an embarrassment to the Republican Party. Any charges or a trial would just dredge up the scum that surrounds Foley, whose resignation contributed to the Democvratic takeover of the House of Representatives last November. It’s in the best interests of the GOP powers that be to keep the Foley case under wraps and out of the media — at least until after the prez elections of 2008. And remember, Florida is a RED state.

Here’s what Foley would have to do if convicted and labeled a “sexual predator” under Florida law:

    To ensure all sexual predators and sexual offenders are identified through the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) system the following Florida driver’s license or ID card registration change was added:

  • Within 48 hours after initial registration, whether the sexual offender/predator is released or under custody of the Department of Corrections (DC), he or she shall register in person and present proof of initial registration at a driver license office of the DHSMV to secure a Florida driver’s license or ID card.
  • The sexual offender/predator must also report to DHSMV within 48 hours any change of address or renewal of driver license or ID card.
  • The failure of a sexual offender/predator to maintain, acquire or renew a driver’s license or ID card, to submit to the taking of a digitized photograph, provide location information or by act or omission to comply with registration requirements, is a third degree felony.

    • Added Community Notification Requirement (Effective July 1, 1998):

  • Within 48 hours upon notification by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) of the presence of a sexual predator, the sheriff of the county or the chief of police of the municipality where the sexual predator establishes or maintains a permanent or temporary residence shall notify each licensed day care center, elementary school, middle school and high school within a 1-mile radius of the residence of the sexual predator.

    • Sexual Offender/Predator Designation:

  • A sexual predator or sexual offender who was designated by a court on or after October 1, 1998, and released from supervision or confinement for at least 20 years and has not been arrested for any felony or misdemeanor offense since release, may petition the court for removal of the sexual offender/predator designation.

I wonder how the former pages feel about justice deferred ….