Have you seen the Great Fargoni’s new and improved web site?  When it first loaded into my browser today, I had to double-check the URL, because for a moment I thought I had inadvertantly pulled up PLAY-DOH or LEGO’s web site.

From the toddler-esque color scheme and unorthodox layout, to the brainy revelations (”vision is seeing, not saying”), to the family-unfriendly logo of the naked lady with a Tommie Smith fist to the sky, Queen Fargo’s new web site is a text book study on what NOT to do when designing a web site.. especially when you’re trying to win an election.

Let’s start with the copy. The main page shows the message:  “Kiplinger’s just named Sacramento the 8th Most Livable City in America, and The Business Journal recently named Sacramento the best city in our region to do business — a move from last to first. This was my vision for Sacramento when I first ran in 2000, and now it is reality.”

Yeah and my goal with the Joe Sac web site was to win a Pultizer.

Someone please break out the “Fargo for Mayor 2000″ campaign promises list, and check it for these two entries: 1. For Sacramento to place eighth on Kiplinger’s list of most livable cities”; and 2. For Sacramento to be named best city in region to do business with.”

I wonder if one of her goals was also to be ranked the second most dangerous place to live in California, too? Or to have young men and women being shot to death on street corners within walking distance of her home?

But I digress. We know all about Heather’s agenda: Greening the city and creating a downtown urban lifestyle.

There are two stories on the main page of fargoformayor.com. The first one tells us how Heather “spent part of her summer” in area libraries “reading to school children.” I am duly impressed. I didn’t even know the mayor could read. Last I heard she had everything read to her (except crime statistics). But come on you ruthless pundits, you have to give the mayor some credit here. This was not only the seventh year in a row she participated in the reading program, it was also the first time a mayor ever had the groundbreaking idea to ask the five year-olds in the reading program to design their campaign web site, too! Now that’s what I call PROGRESS.

The second story on the main page is titled “Women Win with Heather!” and features an image depicting what appears to be a woman with an Amish beard (not that there’s anything wrong with that!), whose nekked body is protruding out of the Venus gender symbol with an outstretched fist of power.

According to the site, this “grass roots” support group of empowered Fargo surrogates (I LOVE misusing that word like real journalists do!) was officially started on August 20, at the home of–you could never have guessed it–former mayor of Sacramento, Anne Rudin.

Perhaps this is Fargo’s way of getting back at the “male dominated business (politics),” because she “understands the obstacles facing women first hand and works to tear down barriers for women on a daily basis.”

Women win, men presumably lose with Fargo. =(

I was about to holler, “Hey no fair! Men want to win, too!” (tongue in cheek, don’t worry), until I read the last sentence in the story: “The campaign would note that men can also participate.”

“The campaign WOULD note…” WOULD. If it was forced to.

You aren’t surprised are you? After all, this is the mayor who readily admits her “consensus-building” style is “more friendly to women than men.”  Remember, this is the mayor who never mentions the word “families” in her speeches and interviews. Why would she have a family-friendly web site? Heather Fargo serves the bureaucrats, fat cats, special interest groups, and fellow environmental geeks (when there is a PR opportunity involved.. don’t ask Friends of Swainson’s Hawk what they think of old eco-happy Heather).

Last time I checked Nancy Pelosi was the top senator in all the land, and Hilary Clinton had 18 million votes for her presidential nomination. I wonder what Feinstein, Boxer and Huffington would think of Fargo’s obvious gender bias as a means of achieving her political goals? Is this an accurate representation of Democratic values? There is so much talk of how Fargo is the official choice of the local Democratic party, but in an age where the Partisan lines are blurred more and more every day, is this how the Democratic party wants to be represented? I thought the party was trying to rebuild its reputation as champions for the working class?

How about the PUBLIC SAFETY section of the site. The copy reads, “For any Mayor, the safety and security of the citizens of a city are always the highest priority, and this is no different for Heather Fargo..” Well, we all suspected Heather Fargo was not really a mayor, so it’s nice to see her people validate.

But come on, since when was public safety her priority? In her 2008 State of the Downtown address she asked Sacramentans to help her make “global warming THE agenda item for Sacramento.” Since when was global warming a public safety concern akin to say, 15 year olds waving guns in the faces of pregnant women in their North Natomas garages?

“The Mayor will continue to strengthen resources for police and fire, and in her next term will work to make service and response time more uniform across the city.”

Ah, her NEXT term. Good, because God knows she spent her LAST term vacationing in every country in the known world, missing 122 days of work and 16 city council meetings in the process, while Sacramento was being ranked SECOND MOST DANGEROUS PLACE TO LIVE in all of California–not by Kiplinger’s, by the FBI!

Eight years of essentially ignoring gangs and violence and crime trends in general, and now, during election season she wants us to believe she is going to do something about it?

Here is my favorite part though “Additionally, Mayor Fargo believes that a key way to stop crime from going out of control is to make sure that our young people stay busy and engaged in their community, so that they aren’t tempted by gangs and drugs.”

So what did she do this summer to keep those young people busy? She read to school children in area libraries.

Oh, and the new site also introduces a Fargo BLOG. Can you believe it? There is one entry in it. It reads:

“I am sure many people want to see a debate between the candidates. What do you think?”

Hmm, that’s a tricky one, Heather. Actually, I think many people want to see you step down (off your pedestal), and allow a more devoted public servant to lead Sacramento out of the crater you have dug it into.  That’s what I think

Finally, in a section called “THE FUTURE” on Fargo’s web site, we read:

“I have said during this campaign that vision is something you see, not what you say.”

Is this groundbreaking political poetry or what? What a revelation. Vision is… seeing.. not saying! Who knew!?  I’m thinking this came out of one the bedtime stories Heather was reading this summer.

I don’t know about you, but I have SEEN (and heard) enough of Heather Fargo.

If the extreme makeover edition of fargoformayor.com is Fargo’s idea of ‘progress,’ I will pass.

On a contrasting note, wanna know what Kevin Johnson has been up to this summer? Have a look at this photo album on Flicker:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/24617461@N02/ You will get tired just LOOKING at it. This is a supercharged man with energy and passion levels most of us can not even fathom. If his enthusiasm and ubridled energy during this election season is any indiciation of how hard he will work for this city, I believe we can look forward to true “progress” that isn’t measured by Top Ten lists and magazine covers, but in the hearts and minds of the people who live here.

I’m mystified (and disappointed) in Obama’s choice for VP. Put me on record as saying this decision may very spell the beginning of the end for Obama’s White House bid.

Joe Biden does not even want to be vice president!!

“There are a lot of people out there who want the job. I’m not one of them…  I wouldn’t say ‘no.’ I hope he doesn’t ask me.” Joe Biden a month or so ago when asked if he was interested in serving on Obama’s cabinet. -Hill’s Blog Briefing Room

Biden is not a “statesman”! Even Heather Fargo has never said anything this buffoonish!

Is Biden a closet racist? Seems like every day the cat drags in another one of his many remarks that subtly smack of racism. How many are going to come back and haunt him? Like this one from a Washington Post article earlier this year:

“Mr. Biden seemed to suggest that one reason so many of the District’s schools fail is the city’s large minority population and contrasted D.C. schools with those in Iowa. Mr. Biden said: “There’s less than 1 percent of the population in Iowa that is African American,” Mr. Biden said. “There is probably less than 4 or 5 percent that are minorities. What is in Washington? So look, it goes back to what you start off with, what you’re dealing with.”

I’m amazed the press lets Biden off the hook for these comments. Diarreah of the mouth, or good old fashioned racism? Yeah, what you’re “dealing with.”  Those old dirty black folks, huh Joe? Yeah we know how you feel about them.

Obama had already lost something like 7 points in the polls in the past two weeks. He’ll undoubtedly lose more points after this. I read on MSNBC that Dems are breathing a sigh of relief? Really? If that is true, they are even more out of touch than I thought they were. If anything, they should be preparing for a TIDAL WAVE of questions about Biden’s voting record, quotes, his now legendary plagiarism and a host of other things only Joe and God know about at this hour.

What was Obama thinking?

Barack touts “Change we can believe in” as the reason we should vote for him? Really? Biden has been in the senate since NIXON WAS PRESIDENT! What kind of CHANGE is he going to bring to the White House?!

Obama is not helping his relieved supporters in the field. His campaign trail rhetoric is getting really dicey with this uber focus on “change.”

Are things really THAT bad? I mean, I know the war in Iraq must end soon, and I want our troops back more than anyone, and I think the health care situation in the U.S. is a SCANDAL, and yes, our bank executives caused a monumental housing crisis, but is our country really on the brink of disaster as Obama would have us believe?

Is everybody in need of CHANGE as bad as Obama would have us believe?

Oprah? Dr Phil? Bono? Angelina? Usher? LeBron? Trump? Ellen? Jay Z? George Clooney? Beyonce? Seinfeld ?  Spielberg? Mark Friedman? George Tsakapolous? The Maloof dynasty?

Are all these high earners also “elitists” in the mind of Barack Obama?

And who is buying all this stuff to make all these folks rich? I thought everyone was broke? How is Seinfeld getting $10 million to do Windows Vista ads? Where did that money come from? Does Bill Gates have a money tree orchard? Where is all that money coming from? Hmm.

Are things really as bad as Obama says they are? Let’s ask Steve Jobs. Just for kicks.

Granted I am a simpleton with only an average IQ and no college degree, so you have to take my ramblings with a teaspoon of salt, but I am REALLY concerned about Obama’s campaign rhetoric lately. It almost sounds as though he is anti-capitalism, doesn’t it? Interesting how so many folks in Hollywood are supporting him when he has already stated he is going to stick it to anyone making over $150k per year. These folks will be up singing and dancing on his stage, apparently completely unaware of how much an Obama presidency is going to cost them.

So am I saying GO McCAIN! ?  No. I’m not saying that. McCain has his own set of issues. Then again, it’s hard to really have an opinion about John McCain because he can’t answer a single question without citing his war record or POW days. Ok! We get it! You are a patriot! 10-4 John! McCain seems like he is out of touch to me. He admittedly can’t even operate a computer without assistance. Wonder if he can use a cell phone?

I don’t have the answers. Never said I did. I just can’t believe we are stuck with these two “choices”: Obama or McCain. I don’t like either one. Guess I will end up voting for the one I dislike the least.

The Bee ran something about it today and in the article councilman and KJ supporter Robbie Waters grumbled, “I’m not aware of any problems with the city manager….I think he’s done an outstanding job.”

I can’t help but ask: Really? By what measure(s)? Isn’t the city budget a direct measure of the city manager’s performance? I believe we have a $58 million dollar deficit? If Kerridge is doing an OUTSTANDING job, Mr. Waters, then how would you rate the jobs being performed by the city managers of Elk Grove and Rancho Cordova, whose cities do not have a budget deficit, and whose cities are actually in the BLACK? Perhaps Mr. Waters had a momentary lapse of reason, and thought he was being asked about the former city manager, Bob Thomas.

I was still doing the Scooby head shake on that one, when an email arrived from Kevin Johnson’s camp in the form of an official press release. Apparently Kevin Johnson feels the same way as Waters. KJ evidently thinks Rainman Kerridge is also doing an “excellent” job, and accuses Fargo of “playing politics..” by scheduling the impromptu performance review in council’s 36 chambers.

Politics! During an election season!? The humanity!

In the PR Johnson is quoted as saying, “It’s unfortunate that Mayor Fargo is trying to point fingers at public servants instead of being accountable for her own missteps,” said Johnson. “A week ago she was prepared to give pay raises to city officials. This week she’s trying to take them to the woodshed. It makes no sense, and it undermines morale at City Hall.

“Ray Kerridge is an excellent city manager who is recognized nationally for his work,” said Johnson, noting he [I think Kerridge, not Johnson] recently received a performance review. “It is a disservice to the citizens of this city that she is trying to make him a scapegoat for her failure of leadership.”

So, let me get this right: KJ is saying Ray Kerridge, the city manager of the city with a $58 million dollar budget deficit, is an “excellent” manager? Excellent manager of WHAT exactly? I’m confused.

With his glowing review of Kerridge, KJ appears to be putting ALL the deficit blame on Mayor Heather Fargo, the mayor who–by Johnson and many others’ OWN ADMISSION–is in a lowly “weak” mayoral position and only has minimal influence on city policy and budget.

I’m going to go out on another limb and say Johnson prrrrrobably does not trrrrruly think Kerridge is an “excellent city manager” in his heart. Of COURSE the city’s budget performance is a direct reflection of both the Mayor’s AND the City Manager’s performance. Let’s not kid each other; regardless of Kerridge’s “nationally recognized” work, he has done a very poor job managing our money in recent years. Is he solely to blame? No. But let’s not go off the deep end here. “Excellent” is not a word that should show up on his 2008 Performance Review.

In the end, the council review never happened. Instead Fargo met with Kerridge in her own chambers. We may never know what they talked about. In any event Fargo reports she is satisfied with Kerridge’s response, whatever that means. If I wasa betting man, I’d say this had to do with Kerridge holding the KJ Briefings on taxpayer dime and time–although we all know Fargo’s ethics code when it comes to the same is discretionary at best.

But who’s REALLY playing politics? Kerridge did hold all those meetings for KJ. That was nice of him to do on city time. Fargo was not happy about that; nor were a lot of average Joes around the city who weighed in on message boards and so forth at the time.

I sense a very clever game being played from both sides of the table, although I’m not sure if both agendas are political in nature.

Either way, blaming Fargo alone for the deficit is ridiculous at best. Even dumb old Joe knows her “weak” mayoral position does not dictate the way every penny of the city’s money is managed. There is PLENTY of blame to go around. I have far more beef with Fargo’s JOB PERFORMANCE–in terms of deprioritizing public safety and taking 100+ days of work off in a quest to solve global warming–than I do her budget culpability. OF COURSE the City Manager is partly responsible for the budget deficit. And hence he is not even CLOSE to worthy of the “outstanding” or “excellent” distinctions both KJ and Waters have bestowed upon him. Give me a BREAK.

Seems to me KJ’s camp is every bit political, if not more, than Fargo’s. This is now a battle between The Notorious Big Maviglio, and Richie “I Got it at” Ross.

Call me crazy, but my money is still on Biggy.

Another day at the I Street circus.

Full Johnson press release:

Johnson Says Fargo “Playing Politics” on City Council

SACRAMENTO — Sacramento mayoral candidate Kevin Johnson today blasted Mayor Heather Fargo for “playing politics” with city business to advance her campaign. Johnson made the remarks after Fargo made a surprise move to review City Manager Ray Kerridge’s job performance at a private city council meeting today.

“It’s unfortunate that Mayor Fargo is trying to point fingers at public servants instead of being accountable for her own missteps,” said Johnson. “A week ago she was prepared to give pay raises to city officials. This week she’s trying to take them to the woodshed. It makes no sense, and it undermines morale at City Hall.”

“Ray Kerridge is an excellent city manager who is recognized nationally for his work,” said Johnson, noting he recently received a performance review. “It is a disservice to the citizens of this city that she is trying to make him a scapegoat for her failure of leadership.”

Johnson also criticized Fargo’s move to put the Kerridge review on the Council’s docket at the last-minute. “Trying to do this in the middle of the night is an affront to her colleagues on the Council. It’s just another example of her mismanagement of city business.”

“I haven’t spent more decades in politics like the Mayor, but by any measure, 2008 has been a poor performance by the incumbent on a range of fronts,” said Johnson. “It’s clear the city needs a change at the top.”

The impetus for the article was the sale of Anheuser-Busch (read: Budweiser) to a Belgian-based, Brazillian-controlled company called InBev. Price tag? $52 BILLION dollars. Anheuser-Busch isn’t alone according to the article. The weak dollar coupled with a weak economy is leading to what Time has dubbed “The Great American Yard Sale.” Bottom line: America is for sale. And foreign interests are buying it up at alarming rates.

Get this: According to Time, last year there were over 2,000 foreign-led acquisitions of U.S. companies in deals worth some $405.4 billion, twice the value of deals in 2006 and up from $60.8 billion in 2003, according to Thomson Reuters, the financial-information company. And American real estate is on the blue light isle too with Foreigners spending $52.2 billion on U.S. commercial real estate in 2007, double the previous year’s total, according to Real Capital Analytics, a research group based in New York City that tracks property investment.

Then there is our debt.

According to Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winner and former chief economist of the World Bank, Americans are living beyond their means. The U.S. trade deficit exceeded $712 billion last year, or 5.1% of GDP. Guess who’s loaning us money now? China. And they want more than our signatures. They want EQUITY. Hear that vacuum sound? That’s the sound of China buying the U.S.

Unsustainable.

“You can’t pretend there’s nothing bad..” says D’Angelo as he covers the Earth, Wind and Fire masterpiece “You can’t hide love” as I type this.

We’ve definitely held our share of yard sales in the past couple years. We often look around at our stuff and go, “Why the hell did we buy THAT?”

But the difference between me and an American company like Anheuser-Busch who is worth $70 a share, is that I am about as liquid as a sand dune in Iran.

But I’ve got Jesus. And I’ve got a beautiful family and friends who love me and I them…. and luckily.. mercifully…all of these beautiful things remain beyond the reach of foreign interests.

Thank God money still can’t buy love.

-Joe Joe

Who could resist? With Heather Fargo, Ray Tretheway, Lauren Hammond and others in our illustrious city council shamefully attempting to portray their dissenting colleagues as election season puppets, RATHER than fiscally responsible budget stewards attempting to curb spending n the face of a staggering $58 million dollar budget deficit, this year’s I Street carnival is shaping up to be a dandy.

Make sure to print out these great attractions so you can compare to what the State Fair is offering. With the gas prices as they are right now, it might make sense to take the family to I Street this year:

Don’t miss these exciting events and attractions!

GO Green City Council Exhibit
Watch the council GREEN LIGHT every single GREEN expenditure that passes through its chambers despite the cries and protests from public safety agencies whose budgets resemble Freddie Krueger slash victims due to the monumental budget deficit the council and city manager Ray “Rain man” Kerridge have dug the city into.

Sacramento City Hall Back Lot and Effects Show
Watch our Sacramento city council members who share the same political consultant (Richie Ross), make secret deals in the shadows with fat cat Southern California businessmen, the Downtown Partnership, the Sac Tree Foundation, and many other lobbyists and special interests who seek to line their pockets with Sacramento resident taxpayer dollars. Two showings will feature special cameos by Harry Rotz and Richie Rich! Show starts at sun down!

Ray & Heather’s Tree Encounters!
Enjoy the towering marvels of nature with Sacramento’s finest PETTs (PETT=Politicians for the Ethical Treatment of Trees), Ray Treetheway and Heather “Tree Stump” Fargo. Treat the whole family to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to touch, pet, feed and even SPEAK to those big, lovable trees in their native Latin language!! Don’t miss out!!

The Amazing McCarty Fence Sitting Exhibit
Watch in awe as Sacramento City Council member Kevin “The Big Ooze” McCarty teeters back and forth on a freshly painted fence for months on end without even flinching. Could he set a new world record!? Be there to watch the fireworks fly! Will he endorse a candidate? He likes KJ… no he likes Fargo… no he likes KJ—if Kevin’s waffling doesn’t kill you, the suspense will! It’s anyone’s guess! We can’t think of a more entertaining exhibit than watching Kevin AND paint drying at the same time!

Big Pipe Hammond Organ Demo
You’ve heard church pipes, you’ve grooved with Ray Charles, and you’ve no doubt heard Joey DeFrancesco rip on the B3, but you haven’t heard REAL pipes until you’ve heard the city’s one and only antique Hammond blasting piping hot City Council-inspired showstopper tunes like Material Girl, Money for Nothing, Living on a Prayer, and Aint No Expenditure High Enough. Free pictures with the Hammond afterward!

Rats, Bats, and Cats Exhibit
Don’t miss the grand finale featuring all of this season’s star-studded cast including City Manager Ray Kerridge, City Attorney Eileen Teichert, city employees who are currently on trial for black market salvage scandals, the city/county library’s executive staff, and a special all star appearance by Sacramento Supervisor Roger “The Cleaner” Dickinson who will stage a special one time only pickpocket demonstration for the kids!

Well? What are you waiting for Sacramento!? Get your tickets now!

And don’t forget the words of the Great Fargoni! “I want you to help make [global warming] THE agenda item for Sacramento!”

The Corti Brothers move
I hope they put a Long’s Drugs in that lot–Natomas style, baby. Welcome to “NEW Sacramento” y’all!

Urban forests
People and public safety first, THEN trees!

Sac Tree Foundation
When are we going to see a Sac Teen Foundation, Ray?

Southern Californian commercial developer Joe Zeiden
With today’s city council approval to purchase $2.4 million worth of downtown properties, the City of Sacramento has now spent a total about $26 MILLION acquiring properties on Zeiden’s behalf, so he can turn K Street into retail row. This while the city is trying to wrestle multiple properties away from Moe Mohanna under eminent domain law. How many more Southern Californian businessmen are Fargo and the Council going to make filthy rich? I bet half of Santa Barbara’s wealth is comprised of Sacramento taxpayer dollars now. Way to go, Heather. Hey Kevin Johnson: I hope YOU don’t run a Southern Californian charity, too.

Senator Pat Wiggins (D) Santa Rosa.
In the middle of a senate hearing at the Capitol recently, this RUDE, closed-minded PUBLIC-SERVANT told an Oak Park reverend his views were “BULLSHIT,” as he delicately asked a committee on global warming emissions reduction to consider how new laws, fees, etc. impact those in poor communities.

A DEMOCRAT blasting a PASTOR representing Oak Park!? Whiskey Tango?

I am so sick and tired of politicians like Fargo, Wiggins, Tretheway, blah blah blah who think they can unilaterally run the government however they want, without any accountability, and without ever even considering the views, wants, and needs of citizens who don’t live in their green little hybrid worlds.

Has anyone stopped to look around and realize that half the ultra liberal Democrats in California are actually closet Republicans who don’t even know the fundamental difference between the two parties other than one is pro abortion and gay marriage, and the other one isn’t?

And is it just me or does our entire senate look like Heather Fargo? Is there a cult I don’t know about?

Here’s Pat Wiggins playing a true DEVIL’s advocate….

Pastor Roberts, we love you, man. Keep up the hard work on behalf of the community!

John Edwards infidelity
Cheating dude in denial? Wife who stands behind her man no matter what? Sounds like a perfectly normal political family to me! How is this news? Same soup warmed over.

Equestrian events at the Olympics
Really? Horses? What’s next? Tortoise races? Cock fights? Frog jumps? Bull fights? Monkeys playing video games?

The State Fair
We go every single year. And every single year it is exactly the same nasty onion ring globs and garlic fries. Same blistering Dante’s inferno weather. Same exhibits. Same games. Same rides. Ok my daughter is disappointed I added this one to the list. So I leave it here with the disclaimer stating: Yes, love, we will go again this year.

Sacramento city councilman Kevin McCarty sponsored both “bills,” so it’s likely he will be playing lead trumpet this morning at the ceremony. I picture McCarty and other local luminaries standing at a podium next to cache of confiscated weapons, waxing philosophical about law enforcement and the city’s commitment to reducing the kind of violent crime that took the life of a pregnant woman in McCarty’s own neighborhood last year.

This is a touchy subject with many people. Conservatives believe the ammo ordinance is a complete invasion of privacy AND–in some opinions–unconstitutional. Gun control proponents think it is a powerful weapon in the war on crime. Indeed the fingerprinting/identification process has identified felons who should not have guns in the first place–let alone buying ammo for them. It is being reported tha the ammo ordinance has taken 56 guns off the street. Look at the image. These aren’t regular guns; some of them are friggin’ battlefield weapons.

But would this ordinance even be necessary if public safety was truly the city’s number one priority? I think we can all agree that Heather Fargo spends the majority of her time on environmental issues and working with the downtown partnership. There aren’t enough hours in the day to do all she does with the environment and partnership and still make crime a priority. After all, she didn’t even know there was a crime problem until her mayoral opponent told her there was.

I believe the city is partly to blame (specifically the mayor, council, and city leadership) for Sacramento’s second-to-only-Oakland state high violent crime rate. It’s not like we have a different brand of criminal here than, say, Modesto or Bakersfield. Crime control is a CHOICE. Some cities make it their number one priority, others don’t. Some cities, like Sacramento, have leaders who are more concerned with the “green print” than they are the “teen print.” The result is higher crime. I really believe it is that simple.

Recently we have seen the crime rate falling in Sacramento. This is because Sacramento is beginning to focus on it. The ammo ordinance is not the sole reason the crime rate has fallen, and who’s to say it has ANY impact in the crime rate at all? Sure, we all want to be protected, and obvously the ordinance has taken some big ol’ guns off our streets, but at what cost? Compromising our privacy? How many other HONEST people purchased ammo and unfairly had to smudge their fingerprint into the log book?

Ben Franklin once said, “The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve either.”  I wonder if Kevin McCarty ever heard that one.

Am I saying the ammo ordinance is wrong and should be removed? No. I just wonder where we draw the line. Privacy is every bit as important as public safety.

I think it behooves us to weigh in on these issues and follow national trends to ensure we are always strking the right balance. And most importantly, I think we need to DEMAND our elected leaders stop devoting the majority of their taxpayer-funded time to greening the city. I believe both Heather Fargo and Ray Tretheway have abused their political positions to further their environmental agendas at the expense of public safety, and that my friends is the only ammo WE need to get both of them out of office as soon as possible.

A view from the street:

From Gangstarr’s song “Tons o’ guns”

Note: Gangstarr was a popular rap group in the 90’s who rapped about issues facing kids in the inner city. They did not promote violence, nor were they misogynists who degraded females. This song was a commentary on guns in the streets …

tons o’ guns everybody’s getting strapped (buying a gun to protect themselves)
tons o’ guns got to watch the way you act
tons o’ guns real easy to get
tons o’ guns bringing nothing but death
tons o’ guns are in the streets nowadays
it’s big money and you know crime pays
check your nearest overpopulated ghetto
they greet you with a pistol not trying to say hello
mad kids packed ‘cos the neighbourhood’s like that
want some s*it that’s fat catch a victim do a stick
kids pulling triggers, n*ggaz killing n*ggaz
five-o they sit and wait and tally death-toll figures
it’s crazy there ain’t no time to really chill
jealous people always want to act ill
22’s 25’s 44’s 45’s
mack elevens ak’s taking mad lives
what the heck you gonna do in a situation
it’s like you need to have steel just to feel relaxation
tons o’ guns

tons o’ guns you got we got they got
the state of affairs yo it’s like mad chaos
i know a kid who just passed the other day
they shot him sixteen times so there he lay
you can pray for this s*it to like cease
but until then a n*gga’s going to pack a piece
and yo the devil’s got assasination squads
want to kill n*ggaz ‘cos they’re scared of god
they got camps where they train they learn to take aim
at a n*gga like a piece of game
and i’m not seeing that, them days are gone
‘cos now we got [chromes] to put them where they belong
so me a rude boy from and in a brooklyn
fuck the bulls*t pain and suffering
i’m coming off with a foolproof plan
as if each every lyric was worth a hundred grand
i stand in the face of hatred
letting off mad shots making devils run naked
tons o’ guns

tons o’ guns everybody’s getting strapped
tons o’ guns got to watch the way you act
tons o’ guns real easy to get
tons o’ guns bringing nothing but death
tons o’ guns but i don’t glorify
‘cos more guns will come and much more will die
why, yo i don’t know black
some people are just living like that
they like to feel the chrome in their hands
the s*t makes them feel like little big man
twelve years old catching wreck
‘cos there ain’t no supervision putting kids in check
people get wounded, others they perish
and what about the mother and the child she cherish
the city is wild up steps the wild child
tension anger living in danger
what are we going to do in a situation
it’s like you need to have steel just to feel relaxation
tons o’ guns

Update 5:28pm: At the ceremony today, McCarty and city Attorney Teichert said they believe the ammo program is a “success” and has “made our neighborhoods safer.” Oh? And how can they prove that? They can’t. They are purely speculating. They have no way of knowing if these weapons would have even been used in the commission of a crime. But it’s election season. And we know that means.

I run a bit behind on this stuff (yes, I do have a family and a job!), so apologies if it’s old news. But Mayor Fargo and puppet Ray ‘TreeTheWay’ Tretheway recently grabbed another tree award at the 76th Annual Mayor’s conference. The award pulled in another $75,000 for the Sac Tree Foundation (Treetheway is its Director). I have included a video from the Tree Foundation’s web site below. You must watch it.

In the very well produced–but highly distorted–video, Treetheway gushes about his boss’s knowledge of trees, and his boss Fargo then goes on to proudly recite trees by their LATIN names (I wonder if she knows any street names in North Natomas besides Del Paso Rd). Let’s face it, once you start calling ANYTHING by its Latin name, you are spending WAY too much time obsessing over it.. especially when the city can’t even keep the police and fire departments staffed.

In the video Treetheway also gives us a wonderful education on how he and presumably Fargo, and everyone else Sac Tree calls a friend,  shared with “28 elected officials” the “urban forest story” to gain their support in partnering with the Foundation.

As you listen to what people are saying in the video, think if these same people treated the development of our YOUTH as wonderfully, as passionately, and as lovingly as they treated the development of our TREES.

When the city starts winning awards for developing area youth, when I see videos being produced of Ray Treetheway gushing about low truancy rates, youth programs and initiatives he has sponsored for all the kids in the low income apartments he has greenlighted for N Natomas, I will be happy to change topics.

WARNING: TURN DOWN YOUR COMPUTER SPEAKER VOLUME OR THIS VIDEO MAY VERY WELL BLOW THEM UP:

CNN is reporting soul legend Mr. Isaac Hayes has died. He was 65.

Isaac was a rare breed like Luther Vandross. Both are dear favorites of mine. Both were soul virtuosos, and both had an affifinity for taking pop standards (from the likes of geniuses like Burt Bacarach) and transforming them into rich, bluesy, gospel tinted R&B masterpieces.

I have played piano, keys and recorded/performed R&B and Rock for many years, and Isaac’s extended jams like Walk on By were a huge source of inspiration on more occasions than I can count. I can hear that song’s beat in my head as I type this.

Isaac, you made my heart sing. Your one-of-a-kind brand of delicious ‘hot buttered soul’ will always have a place in my music collection and heart.

A few favorite Isaac Hayes covers and songs

The look of love
If loving you is wrong (I don’t want to be right)
Never can say goodbye
Walk on by
Close to you
By the time I get to Phoenix
I stand accused
Never gonna give you up

Complete discography

I read through the report last night (not recommended). Looks like Lamberth Consulting–who executed the study and penned the report–definitely earned their money. The reports offers a lot of conclusions, but the only ones I am absolutely certain of after reading it are these: I am glad I am not a racial profiling analyst.. or a cop.. or a driver being pulled over because of my skin color.

Seems to me the central theme and purpose of the study is centered around this statement in the intro “..in many communities, especially minority communities, a lack of trust remains between law enforcement and local residents. This tension is exacerbated by allegations of police misconduct such as racial profiling…”

The PD echoed as much in a Bee article yesterday when Chief Braziel said he was “not convinced” the public fully trusted his department. He also went on to tell the Bee: while the report is “a valid study,” it did not go far enough in recommending what the Police Department should do to rectify the concerns. That process, he said, would begin immediately within the department.

Actually the report DOES go far enough to recommend ways to “rectify concerns.” In all the chaos yesterday, the chief evidently missed the section titled “Recommendations” starting on page 71. Not sure how the chief missed that part, but then again I do NOT envy anyone who is officially obligated to read reports such as these, so Joe gives the Chief a pass for his first pass.

In any event, the whole point of these studies is to find out if cops are unfairly targeting minorities, and if so, share that information with the public, and then partner with the public and other agencies with express goal of INCREASING THE TRUST BETWEEN THE POLICE AND THE PUBLIC.. which of course leads to the uber-ultimate goal of INCREASING THE PEACE.

So technically, the Bee COULD have chosen a myriad of different headlines to capture the essence of the study, and its goals. Here is an example:

Sacramento Police seeking to bridge trust gap with residents find many opportunities in new racial profiling report

Instead the Bee chose “Report: blacks more like to get stopped” or something inflammatory like that. Then again, gotta sell those papers, so anything that can draw 200+ supercharged observations in the Comments section is a good headline in their world I guess.

What do I think about the report? Two words: STOP SNITCHING. The black community has had trust issues with the cops since time memorial. take a black history course if you don’t understand why.

Across the COUNTRY there are trust issues between the cops and residents–especially in “the hood.” Members of the black community even have a term for racial profiling by police: “Driving While Black.” In fact black comedians have made a lot of money cracking jokes about cops, cars, and black people in general. It’s nothing new.

On the flip side, one thing about these types of reports I don’t like is that they often produce inaccurate generalizations (like the Bee’s–which would have us believe the problem is the exact same anywhere in the city). If you check the tables in it with percentage data, you’ll see how the numbers SOAR in areas where more black folks live. For instance, there are some areas in the report where the “comparative disparity” is, e.g., 370% (Fruitridge and Freeport); yet there are others substantively lower at 8% (El Camino and Truxel).

Do the extrapolated results in some areas skew the overall results? Of course they do, because the “two times more likely to be stopped” outcome is basically an average of averages averaged to an average—err something like that.

An average of averages. Aren’t you glad you decided against that statistics degree?

How did the Lamberth company attempt to explain the disparities? They say something like: “perhaps a disproportionate number of blacks are commuting to Sacramento by car..” Almost sounds sarcastic, doesn’t it?

Regardless of the report’s findings, I’m having trouble believing we have a racist police department, as the headlines would have us believe. That said, I don’t doubt there is a discrimination in the PD’s ranks; most educated people know racism and racial profiling are a sad reality of our country IN GENERAL.

I think we can all agree that some people are OBSESSED with race. Even black people are quick to point out the differences between themselves and other races–especially comedians like Chris Rock who have made millions poking fun at our differences, and never discussing our similarities (which is a huge problem to the spiritually-minded like myself, who tend to view the world through a ONE LOVE paradigm, where all are brothers and sisters who have more in COMMON than in difference). White people are no better. Anyone been watching/listening to Toby Keith lately? Yikes. Got redneck?

Another thing that bugs me about this report, and the inevitable department reaction that will have officers sitting in classrooms for hours on end, listening to instructors drone on about racial profiling, is that officers who DON’T profile will also have to sit through it. And that sucks. Growing up my Dad taught me: It’s always the bad apples that spoil it for the bunch. Boy was he right about that. We can only HOPE that this massive study also collected data on WHICH officers were doing the majority of the profiling–but that’s probably just wishful thinking.

Anyhow, I think it is IMPERATIVE the cops have the public’s trust. In fact the whole STOP SNITCHING thing started with inner city youth who didn’t trust the police. We CONSTANTLY hear the police complaining about how the public won’t help them. A great example of this is the Elk Grove baby shooting case. They still haven’t solved that. They can’t get the witnesses to cooperate. Could it be because the witnesses don’t trust the “po po”? It’s a question to consider.

[On a SIDE note, I myself have encountered a trust issue with the cops in the course of owning this web site. I can tell you it left a very foul taste in my mouth, and made me stop to think about the trustworthiness of the police--something I had never pondered before. Of course I am NOT comparing my lame little web site experiences with the plight of the black community, but the experience none the less gave me a tiny little taste of the trust issue-- and it was extremely unsettling].

One thing’s for sure: It will be an uphill climb for the PD as long as they have some officers who are not doing their job in the most unbiased manner possible, despite what a sometimes-crappy, underpaid, thankless profession they are in. Obviously some changes are in order, and the chief is going to need to figure out how to implement them, and at the same time not further degrade the quality of public safety–which is already a source of great consternation with residents in some neighborhoods such as Natomas.

Personally I am happy the police commissioned this report. I think Rick Braziel is a very good chief and I believe we have a very good police department– with potentially a few bad apples.

I am glad I did not choose law enforcement as a profession. I don’t think you could pay me enough to dawn a kevlar vest, 15 (?) pounds of gear, combat boots, a loaded weapon, and make me sit in a car full of hot electronic equipment for 10 hours or more a day–in Sacramento of all places.

If you’re ever curious about what it takes to be a police officer, just watch the “The Academy” on the Reality channel. No thanks.

Source: City of Sacramento web site report