You know it's a slow news day when you start off talking about trade between California and Great Britain, but that's exactly what we're going to do.
"The fast-growing trade between California and Britain is
reason enough for his landmark visit to San Francisco and the state, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair told guests at a Russian Hill reception Saturday evening," writes the Chron's John Wildermuth.
Does that mean we're going to start eating more mushy peas?
"'I think there are 120,000 people in this state that are employed, one way or another, by British firms,' he said. 'It's really important to signal that this is an important relationship.'"
"Blair gave his brief talk as he stood on the spiral staircase of the penthouse residence of former Secretary of State
George Shultz and his wife, Charlotte, state protocol chief."
"While business may be topping the discussions for Blair this week, he acknowledged that it's more than trade and a shared language that link the United States and Britain.
"'There are many tremendous uncertainties and difficulties in our world today,' Blair told the crowd at the Saturday reception, 'but one thing that does stand out in our country and yours is an attachment to certain basic values: democracy, the rule of law ... values that governments can strive for, but in the end people represent.'"
And mushy peas.
The Merc News's Edwin Garcia
takes a look at Phil Angelides, unplugged. "After a speech at a Central Valley youth center last week,
Phil Angelides headed to the air hockey table for an intense, shout-his-heart-out match against a 12-year-old Merced boy."
Why do we find that not at all difficult to believe?
"Minutes later, the Democratic nominee for governor raised his arms in triumph. 'Arnold Schwarzenegger, take notice,' Angelides told about two dozen children.
'I was down 2-to-nothing, and I won 3-2.'"
Note, for the record, that the vanquished opponent was 12 years old...
"People who know him best say this was more like the real Phil Angelides, who during town-hall-style gatherings in the valley emerged as a problem-solving, humorous, compassionate and easygoing politician -- a stark contrast from his rigid persona at podiums."
Oooh, sounds like they're already giving him the
Al Gore/John Kerry/Gray Davis kiss of death. That must be why nobody used the phrase "hyper-competitive" in the list of adjectives above.
"The challenge now is for Angelides, 53, to take that relaxed town-hall persona and put it before the masses, a move that political strategists insist he must undertake if he has any chance to unseat his well-liked, well-funded and well-known opponent."
"'In some ways, that podium is a crutch and a barrier because it blocks him from the audience, and it blocks the audience from him,' said Democratic political consultant
Kam Kuwata, who has advised candidates for two decades to hold town halls."
"For Angelides, town halls are natural venues, Kuwata said, 'because Phil knows what he wants to say,' and 'it feeds into his comfort level.'"
With
Bill Clinton scheduled to come to California to raise money for
Phil Angelides following
George H.W. Bush's visit for the governor, "[b]oth Schwarzenegger and Angelides
are trotting out the big names to raise not only money for their personal campaign coffers but also unlimited amounts of cash for state party accounts. With $22,300 limits in place for the first time in the governor's race, the parties are playing an even bigger role in the race," writes Kevin Yamamura in the Bee.
"The parties are now spending millions of dollars on commercials that feel like heavy promotion of their candidates -- but are considered "issue ads" because they don't ask viewers to vote for anyone. That allows the parties to fund them with multimillion-dollar checks."
"'
It was appalling that Schwarzenegger was doing it, and it's equally appalling that Angelides is playing that game,' said
Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which backs an initiative to provide public campaign financing."
Angelides and the Democratic Party plan to hold another fundraiser Aug. 9 at the Sacramento home of restaurateur
Randy Paragary with former Lakers basketball star
Earvin 'Magic' Johnson."
If they can talk Magic into coming back to back up
Mike Bibby, we may consider voting for the guy.
The LAT's Mark Barabak
looks at the ambitions and differences of Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa.
Again.
"Each side accuses the other of being obsessed and stirring trouble just to draw attention. The Newsom camp suggests that Villaraigosa is trying to lure the city's beloved 49ers football team to Los Angeles. (Untrue, the word from Los Angeles.) Allies of Villaraigosa grumble that Newsom crossed his southern counterpart by allowing education aides to weigh in against Villaraigosa's school takeover proposal. (Not so, the response from San Francisco.)"
"The result has been more than one staff-level telephone call to unruffle feathers, along with rampant speculation about a race that could highlight a north-south cleavage — cultural, political, demographic — like no other in California's history. "'
Two different cities,' said state historian
Kevin Starr. '
Two different kinds of people.'"
The result has also been more media interest in the 2010 Democratic primary than the 2006 governor's race.
"In that way, the two seem to mirror their cities: Villaraigosa, the striver who scrapped his way out of Los Angeles' rough Eastside; Newsom, the fourth-generation San Franciscan who made it before he ever set foot inside his hometown's splendid beaux-arts City Hall."
Dan Walters
takes a look at the agency that California's love to hate, the Department of Motor Vehicles. "By happenstance, yours truly has had an extraordinary spate of DMV contacts over the last half-decade, thanks mostly to a predilection for acquiring elderly boats and the trailers on which they reside, including four from out-of-state sellers. I have two cars, three boats and four trailers currently under DMV registration; I visited one DMV clerk with paperwork on out-of-state boats so often that he referred to me as the 'boat guy.'"
As will we, from this point forward.
"Over that period, with at least a dozen personal visits to DMV offices to handle boat and trailer registration matters, as well as driver's license issues (including replacement of a lost license), I have not had one bad experience. On one visit to replace a mangled license plate, I was actually in and out of the office in less than five minutes."
He admits to using the
DMV's online scheduling system.
"DMV isn't perfect, of course, and it will certainly be tested when a new federal law, requiring all licensed drivers to prove their identities and addresses, takes effect in 2008. But it won't be the bureaucratic nightmare that many predict if the DMV continues to automate and improve its procedures and if California motorists do their part by making appointments and acquiring the documentation that the new federal law requires."
Meanwhile, it's election time, meaning it's a great time to renegotiate gaming compacts! "Some of the state's most powerful gambling tribes have
resumed negotiations with the Schwarzenegger administration in a bid for expansive new deals that could be ratified before lawmakers adjourn for the year Aug. 31," reports the U-T's James Sweeney.
"The negotiations involve a handful of big tribes that walked away from the first round of talks with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger two years ago. In the months since, they have become vocal critics of the Republican governor's gambling agreements with other tribes."
"The tribes that have returned to the table – gambling and political heavyweights such as Pechanga of Temecula, Morongo of Riverside County, San Manuel of San Bernardino County, Agua Caliente of Palm Springs and Sycuan of San Diego County – are perhaps the last group with enough clout to leave a lasting imprint on the bounds of Indian gambling in the state."
"Some California counties struggling to provide assistance for the mentally ill are
being forced to cut programs despite an infusion of money from a tax increase dedicated for the startup of new services," reports the Chron's Greg Lucas.
"The new money, just over $300 million this year and increasing to nearly $1 billion annually over the next five years, comes from Proposition 63, approved by voters in November 2004. The measure increased taxes on personal incomes higher than $1 million to expand help for mentally ill seniors, children, teenagers leaving foster care and homeless people."
"'In some instances, counties are adding these wonderful new programs and at the same time making cutbacks on their core program because they haven't been able to keep up with the cost-of-living increases of doing business as usual,' said
Stephen Mayberg, director of the state Department of Mental Health."
Prop. 63 proponents say the problem is temporary.
"'Revenues supporting existing programs have been in a downturn,' said
Rusty Selix, a Sacramento lobbyist for the Mental Health Association in California and one of the architects of Prop. 63. 'But over the long term, the growth in this program will more than make up for these cuts.'"
Speaking of the mentally ill, Steve Lopez
looks at Mel Gibson's reported behavior upon being arrested for drunk driving this weekend. "This may be the first and
only time you'll see the phrase 'sugar tits' in one of my columns, and ironically, the man who made it possible is Oscar winning actor-director Mel Gibson, a devout Christian."
Maybe we can work the phrase in on the next column about Villaraigosa? Just a suggestion.
"After a sanitized report was released by the L.A. Sheriff's Dept.,
word of a much juicier version leaked out.
"Gibson allegedly used that remark on a female sergeant
after his Friday arrest in Malibu on suspicion of drunk driving. To be precise, Gibson is said to have asked:"
"
'What do you think you're looking at, sugar tits?'"
And, it only took a
blood alcohol level of 0.12 to loosen Mel's lips.
Back to Steve Lopez... "I can't recall a line that original in any of his movies. But it can't possibly have sat well with Mrs. Gibson, or with the Gibsons' seven children, or with the millions of true believers who flocked to see the Gibson movie 'The Passion of the Christ.'"
Gibson
reportedly struggled with the officer and threatened to retaliate if he was arrested.
"To make matters even worse, Gibson allegedly had some kind of a fit about Jews during the arresting process."
"
'The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,' Gibson is said to have opined, asking the arresting deputy: 'Are you a Jew?'"
"When the tequila wore off the day after his arrest, Gibson
issued a written apology for his 'despicable' behavior, saying he was 'deeply ashamed of everything I said.' He said he had battled alcoholism in the past and added, 'I profoundly regret my horrific relapse.'"
"I'm sure he does, and I wish him well with his recovery. But it's amazing what we can learn about someone when his blood-alcohol level hits 1 1/2 times the legal limit,
drowning all inhibition."
Finally, we're sending best wishes for complete recovery to Representative
Joe Baca Sr., who
has been released from a D.C. hospital after suffering a minor heart attack.