May 3, 2012 – Daily Brief

settle down

Does The Signal pay any of the op-ed writers?

To my knowledge, no, not in a long while.

It would certainly appear that Buck’s letter should have been charged under their new policy. I did not see any paid political advertisement disclaimer on his letter. So, it would appear that The Signal gave Buck a freebie. The Signal is taking a lot of heat on this new policy. I think it is just a matter of time before they change it yet again. It is poorly thought out and difficult to manage. This certainly gives the appearance of incompetent management. I’ve just about given up hope that our local paper will return to their glory days.

Where’s the controversy? M-F around 2pm on KHTS’. Joe always finds some inconsequential incident or meme to slime liberals with.

Jeff an unfair characterization regarding Joe’s show, the Real Side, which covers all kinds of local, state, national, and international topics. Joe’s guests run the gamut from liberals and progressives to religious conservatives and everything in between. I find his shows informative and interesting. As to the Mayors Prayer Breakfast, it is a wonderful well-attended event. Keynote speaker Scott Rigsby reminded me that I have much to be grateful for and to count my blessings every day. A lesson we would all be wise to heed. The Master’s College Chorale was superb, especially singing God Bless America. I personally cannot think of a better way to start my day than praying for guidance, pledging allegiance to our flag, singing God Bless America, and breaking bread with friends. It was also great to see Assemblyman Cameron Smyth and witness the love with which he spoke of his late father, Clyde Smyth. However, the most important aspect in my view is that Lord knows we need to prayer for our leaders, and we did. Amen.

Was the Mayor of Santa Clarita in attendance?

Definitely!

Berta, everything that you said may be true, but it does not exclude what Jeff said. Perspective and interpretation …

A sample of the topics on Joe’s radio show in recent weeks: - Are you tired of the “Crazies” getting away with all this “Politically Correct” crap? then do something.. Join Joe’s Anti-PC Posse my “Politically Anti-Correct POLICE” Get involved for a chance to win $100.00 - Should recital of Pledge of Allegiance be a required law at every school? - Should we be adraid of the NEW Black Panthers? Tune in MONDAY – 2pm West, 5pm East check out TheRealSide.com web site for stations and times. -TODAY 2pm West 5pm East, JOE IS OUT OF CONTOL TODAY! Lee Greenwoods “Blank Blank the USA” will be sung as written, When the school disctrict COWARDS came out from under their desks they realized how MAJOR LEAGUE IGNORANT and STUPID! they were being, I am amped up! Listen in!!!! -Race Talk, with Joe and Stacy! TODAY! Does the WHITE guy always have it in for the BALCK guy, tune in find out! today 2pm West 5pm East… You call that informative Berta? Really? Joe consistently finds the worst strawman caricature of the left that he can, then mercilessly pounds on that caricature for an hour or two a day. To hype his show, he goes on Facebook and willingly spread lies about liberals , and, even when we, his friends on facebook, call him on it, he doesn’t back off, repudiate or delete his posts. He helped set up and runs a website that calls liberals “looney” (misspelled to this day, perhaps the greatest sin) and he frequently calls liberals loons on Facebook. Wouldn’t you say something if a major media figure & elected official in town called conservatives crazy all the time Berta? I like the guy a lot but his show is getting popular and I’ll use my site to call him out as I would any other media source in the SCV.

Jeff every one of the topics you mentioned are interesting topics and most of those topics are covered by liberal bloggers and radio hosts too, just with a different interpretation perhaps. Yes, I do think his program is informative. He has a wide variety of guests some of whom I agree with, some not but I still want to hear from all sides of an issue. Some of his guests are folks I would never hear speak otherwise. I recall a Wiccan, a Buddhist, a minister, a Catholic priest, several folks running for office outside our area, democrats, republicans, green party, males, females, business owners, union workers, union busters, and folks from all walks of life having the opportunity to share their views and ideas on the Real Side. You do not want to listen in, ok, but why vilify. His show is popular because folks are interested in the show and Joe’s guests. Chris Matthews, Ed Shultz, Rachel Maddow, Alan Coombs, and many others do not represent my views but I would not ridicule those who chose to listen to their programs. I listen myself once in a while just to try to understand where they are coming from. Perhaps you might want to have a discussion of any one of those topics on your blog from your perspective. Oh wait; you discuss whatever you want already. I listen to you and your contributors, and Joe and his guests too. I really fail to understand your hostility Jeff. So you support free speech but not if is differs from your own views? Not me, let everybody have a chance to join the discussion. You never know what you may learn…

“Jeff every one of the topics you mentioned are interesting topics and most of those topics are covered by liberal bloggers and radio hosts too, just with a different interpretation perhaps.” … “Chris Matthews, Ed Shultz, Rachel Maddow, Alan Coombs, and many others do not represent my views but I would not ridicule those who chose to listen to their programs. ” None of those bloggers or radio or tv hosts are in the SCV, which is the purview of this website by tradition and popular demand. Joe is in the SCV, in fact he’s been elected by people out here. Hence he’s fair game. “ome of his guests are folks I would never hear speak otherwise. I recall a Wiccan, a Buddhist, a minister, a Catholic priest, several folks running for office outside our area, democrats, republicans, green party, males, females, business owners, union workers, union busters, and folks from all walks of life having the opportunity to share their views and ideas on the Real Side.” You’re right, that does sound interesting. So why does he spend all his time on facebook villifying “loony liberals” and talking angrily about race and not backing off his incorrect and absurd claims when called out on them? “I really fail to understand your hostility Jeff. So you support free speech but not if is differs from your own views?” Where do I appear hostile? Did I call Joe a name like he calls us everyday? In the specific example I linked, Joe didn’t just do free speech, he did false speech. He, in effect, yelled fire in a crowded theater when their wasn’t one. He posted something false and when called on it, he didn’t back down or apologize as a responsible person would do. What do you call someone who posts or says things he knows are untrue and never apologizes for it Berta?

“What do you call someone who posts or says things he knows are untrue and never apologizes for it Berta?” Tim Myers, Sr.?

Jeff I do not do Facebook so I have no idea what was or was not posted. I specifically commented on the radio show, The Real Side, and my comments stand as written. Since you ask, I would call someone who posted something which I know with certainty to be untrue either misinformed or a liar depending on the circumstances but as I said I do not know anything about any Facebook comments. I will say I have never heard Joe lie about anything and have heard him say that he does not know everything, which is why he brings on different experts as his guests. I think this city is plenty big enough for a successful blog such as scvtalk.com, and a successful radio talk show like the Real Side. Many of us enjoy lively discussions with both sides.

I guess you endorse his methods then Berta. You’ve participated on his Looney Left (sic) site after all, even if you don’t do facebook. Of course the valley is big enough for all the discussion; I guess I expected more of him.

What would make for a more interesting show would be something similar to Hannity and Colmes. Joe on one side and maybe Jeff on the other. Not catering to one political party is truly the real side.

Rockenwagner Bakery* * This may be a sponsored response

Rita’s in the Philly area carries pretzels, but I don’t recall that they are especially good. From what I can tell, their wider franchises don’t – and if they did, I wouldn’t expect them to be very good. Soft pretzels, like any great bread is made for that day (or the next day at most). Alas, while I’ve had a passable cheesesteak, hoagie and water ice in California, I’ve never had anything resembling a decent Philadelphia soft pretzel anywhere outside of a morning’s drive from Philly. But, just like Rita’s overshadowed the mom & pop water ice spots in Philly and took the franchise wide, there’s a chain of Philadelphia soft pretzel bakeries that is like the Krispy Kreme of pretzel shops. I’ve tried them in the last few years and it blew my mind. Better than anything I had as a kid. Bad news is, it’s just on the eastern seaboard now.

All I know is I bought a dozen at a cart in the airport, tossed em into a brown paper bag, brought em home, and they were still better than anything else I’d ever had, 3 days later. I should go down to LAX and look for the flights to Philly, offering $$$ to anyone willing to bring me back some. They were THAT good.

I always thought pretzels were like pizza, you can’t really make a bad one. Just add salt.

Easy on both accounts. But, while I can’t say that the Philadelphia soft pretzel is the best, it’s a specific style typically sold the day it’s baked and made without preservatives. A lot of the “fresh” pretzel places you see in the malls (e.g. Auntie Anne’s) originated outside of Philadelphia, but it’s a different style that comes from Amish country.

“It appears we can look forward to never ending construction on our freeways. First they built the carpool lanes in the Sylmar portion of the 5/14. After a couple months, the first mile of the southbound carpool lane was taken out of service. Then they started on the flyover lanes which has gone on for years and made even more of a mess of this interchange” I don’t know what to say. In one breath you say CalTrans needs to examine growth in our valley, then plan and execute accordingly. They appear to be doing so, by adding these lanes and encouraging shared use. In the next breath you say it’s taking to long, but the Newhall Pass is a tricky place built by earthquakes, traversed by hundreds of thousands of people a day and prone to man-made disasters as well. I’m not an civil engineer but I’ll give them a pass on how long it takes to bolt on spires to this transportation cathedral in the sky. “They then need to come up with a solution to meet our needs into the future. The state then needs to develop a construction plan that will meet these needs and get construction completed within a reasonable time period. The 3-4 years of nearly continual construction that has taken place to date is unacceptable.” Left out of your prescription is who is going to pay for it? Californians will likely kill the tax initiative on the ballot this fall, many on this site dislike rail alternatives, and our county supes have approved Newhall Land, adding another 60,000 people to the valley. How much do you think the shareholders of Lennar are sacrificing to help us manage the traffic, air-quality and other impacts their for-profit enterprise will impose on us? But let’s say it does happen, you get your wish: 8-12 lanes of single passenger vehicle lanes + 70 mph speed averages. What happens next? Induced demand. “I have little hope that all the millions being spent will have any lasting impact on traffic. If we ever move from this valley, the traffic problem will be one of the primary reasons.” Traffic is you and me and everyone else who drives alone on the freeway. We can’t all travel at 70mph in our own little 4,000 lb cages and expect there to be infinite capacity. Alternative transportation and/or congestion pricing are the way forward. Thus sayeth the central planner. Freedom to travel alone in your car isn’t free.

Jeff is correct, no amount of expanding the lanes will last for long. Population will fill them relatively quickly. Buses aren’t the answer either. We need to suck it up on the cost of building out our rail system/subway imho. It’s only going to get more expensive in the future.

I’m not so sure that carpool lanes encourage carpooling. In my experiences, there was only minimal gain in using them and occasionally traffic in them was worse than regular lanes. My motivation for carpooling is $4 a gallon gas. The interchange was rebuilt in months after the EQ, not years. I realize there were huge monetary incentives, but this showed it could be done. I do not expect the current project to be done this quickly, but it has gone on for years and I think this is way too long. All I want is one single plan from Caltrans about improving everything in this area to accommodate growth. It seems that after each project ends, they are starting a new one. The perpetual construction is maddening. You have a point on funding. I would agree that Lennar should not get a free pass on building this many homes. They need to pay their fair share to support the increased demands that their developments will place on our roads. Perhaps they do already, I do not know what is required of them today. I would also agree that transportation planning should not be limited to freeways. We need to have alternative transportation. We need some form of rail to get people to the central and east SFV and especially West LA. As for induced demand, this really interesting. I read your link and have a couple things tagged to read later. However, I think we cannot expect the current freeways to meet our future needs, we will have to do something. Ultimately, I do not expect to travel 70mph at rush hour. I would be happy if traffic just simply moved along freely at a slower pace.

Really LarMcc?? You sound like a whiny kid. Will these improvements be the cure to end all traffic issues? No, but it will definitely help. You mention that the carpool connector will only beneift 5%. That’s not true. That’s 5% that won’t be in the regular lanes. If you can bring the level of service to acceptable levels, that will greatly reduce delay on regular lanes. Once you hit the point of gridlock, traffic gets exponentially worse. Traffic through the pass while at times may be a little slow is not that bad, even at rush hour.

Whiny? Really? A commute that used to take a consistent 1hr10minutes now takes 1.5 hours to 2 hours. Newhall Ranch alone is going to add over 20,000 homes to our valley. This along with other developments in our valley is going to make traffic worse and worse. I realize that the HOV lanes will essentially cause a 5% reduction of cars in regular lanes. Really, I would not get too excited about such a small reduction. Besides, I think the $156 million spent on the flyover lanes would be better used to develop a long term solution that will address the transportation needs of our valley. And the traffic through the pass was nonexistent years ago. Yes, today it does move slow but it is normally stop and go south of there at the 405/5 merge to the point that it is often the worst part of my commute.

Banner day for you Nate, all thumbs up so far!

Also, the NEWSPRESS article is incorrect. Construction will not start in early 2014 but is expected to end in early 2014. Construction is slated to start soon. In regards to the carpool lanes, the bottleneck created by the first phase which was quickly shutdown to accommodate the fly over lanes has only been moved past the 14. So soon, carpoolers remaining on the 5 will merge into the #1 lane past the 14. Thank you Caltrans.

Actually the article was correct. It was just misprinted here.

Well Phase 2 of the project which is expected to start after the truck lanes are completed, will extend carpool lanes to Parker Road so the issue of merging after the 14 will go away too.

No it won’t because it will still go from 5 to 4 lanes and the trucks will be moving over as well trying to pass others.

So, would you be fine with our politicians being equally supportive of the National Day of Reason? Or, would you and all the other good Christians call that an attack on your religion?

“Left wingers” does not equal non-Christian. Uniting Christianity with a Republican/conservative world view is a purposeful manipulation propagated by the Christian Coalition, for (nearly) purely political gain. Capitol Crimes (PBS) touches on this, and is well worth watching. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08012008/profile.html There are many, many, many Biblical mandates which support a typically liberal world view. In fact, one might successfully argue that Jesus, and the New Testament church, would be called a socialist, if transported into today’s America. No political party or world view can hold the banner of being “Christian.” Please do not assume as such.

In answer to your question, what negative effect does a prayer breakfast have on liberals – A prayer breakfast without political affiliation would not have a negative effect. The problem arises when the prayer breakfast takes on a particular political stance, and thus unites faith with a particular political party, ie conservativism or the Republican party. This marriage of faith and political affiliation is harmful in several ways. First of all, a person is assumed to be Christian on the basis of voting registration and loyalties, and, conversely, a non-Christian, should political loyalties lie outside conservatism. When you marry faith and any ideology, rational thinking takes a back seat, because to question, in this case, conservative politics, is to question God and one’s own salvation. Conversely, if someone is more liberal, ie, me, her faith is called into question, even doubted, based solely on political views, rather than basis in theological teachings. This is why groups such as David Barton’s Wallbuilders is so dangerous, because Barton moves so seamlessly between theology and conservative politics and pseudo history, equating all, as if they were one, without applying critical thinking. I was listening to his radio program tonight, and Barton made me dizzy moving from the historical and moral basis of religion informing politics to conservative arguments, without explanation, as if they were assumed companions. It was not so long ago that politics and religion were separate, and, in fact, that most Christians identified as Democrat. Remember what a big deal it was to elect Jimmy Carter, an evangelical Christian? Again, the Christian Coalition set out to change this, for political gain, in the early 80′s. Look, I’m not saying that your faith shouldn’t inform your politics. Of course it should, just as any moral teachings should rule politics. But it’s this artificial marriage of American Christianity with conservatism that is so dangerous to our churches and to our country. If you cannot think of a Christian liberal without questioning her faith, then I can assure that you have crossed a dangerous spiritual line. And I ask a simple question: is your faith based on political ideology, or is your political ideology based on faith? If it’s the later, then you would not be making blanket statements about Christian conservatives and atheist liberals. And what was Ayn Rand’s belief system, upon which she based her politics? Oh yeah. She was an atheist. How’s that Atlas Shrugged working for you now?

amen sister

Ayn Rand was anti-religion? Poppycock I say!

Just wait until Cemex has trucks running down there every 90 seconds.

Where is the truck lane?

After reviewing his positions, in a McKeon/Rogers race, I will be voting Rogers. In the meantime, I am rooting for Dante Acosta.

Agreed on both counts. I would treasure the opportunity to vote for Dante (he really is the best choice), but no matter what, it’s anyone but Buck!

Well done, Nate, well done.