Sacramento, CA

Yesterday, the Elk Grove police department broke up yet another marijuana network in what is supposed to be the perfect suburban family neighborhood. They raided over twenty homes and confiscated 6100 mairjuana plants, 10 cars, and $200,000 in cash. They estimate that the plants could be capable of producing $24 million dollars worth of marijuana. In addition to the high qauntity of production, police also expressed concern that the people growing the plants are becoming more educated and finding crafty ways to elude detection. For instance, most of the homes raided were the perfect image of suburban bliss. They had well-manicured lawns and furnished living rooms, appearing for all intents and purposes to be the perfect neighbors.

I found this to be extremely sickening and disturbing. People move to suburban areas in order to give their families a better life. They seek to get away from the high crime rates of larger cities and now here it is at their doors–a veritable wolf in sheep’s clothing. Finding out that your neighborhood is full of drug dealers is sure fire way to shred even the hope for safety and security. The worst part though is that it allows them to become commonplace and almost even acceptable in the eyes of the public. The message that it is normal and alright for dealers to reside alongside families also equates to the message that perhaps doing drugs really isn’t all that bad. In particular, it sends mixed messages to our children–ultimately effecting whether or not they will choose to use drugs in their own lives. Frankly, this is the last thing that they need when there are already enough confusing messages coming from various research labs–such as UC San Diego–which argue that marijuana does not harm brain cells. Some experiments are even geared towards “proving” that marijuana actually HELPS GROW NEW BRAIN CELLS!!!

They’ve obviously never met any of the plethora of potheads I encountered while attending the University of the Pacific in Stockton. My friend’s college boyfriend smoked so much weed that to this day he cannot function in society. He can’t hold an intelligent conversation–or any conversation that requires more than a yes or no answer for that matter. He can’t hold down a job because he either fails the drug tests or screws up at work because he’s too high to take anything seriously. He’s only 25 and he already has a slew of drug charges and convictions. He just recently violated parole and is likely on his way back to prison and all he can say do is giggle and say, “I sure showed The Man.” Sadly, he isn’t the exception to the rule either. I have also known a number of people who were willing to engage in prostitution in order to earn money to buy marijuana.

I don’t know, maybe I’m just so opposed to it because I’ve never tried it. (At least that’s what people constantly try to convince me of.) I admittedly can’t even begin to fathom the attraction of smoking away your intelligence and acting like an idiot. However, that doesn’t make it any less sad that when you search for marijuana images online all you find are jokes and rainbow covered pot leaves declaring that it should be legalized. Perhaps they’re right on that count though. At least then it could be regulated and taken out of the neighborhoods where our children go to school and play. It would certainly eliminate the need to arrest 14 people while little kids are getting off the school bus across the street and having their innocence and naiveté permanently ripped from them. What do you think?…

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San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno recently helped draft Assembly Bill 43–The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act. The bill basically argues that allowing the voters to decide the fate of a minority group–in this case the gay and lesbian community–goes against the State Consitution, and that, as such, the passage of Proposition 22 in 2000 should not be a legal determining factor in deciding the fate of gay marriage in California. They alos cite groundbreaking earlier actions of the California Supreme Court which paved the way for the elimination of such discrimination for other minority groups. For instance, in 1948 California became the first state to abolish laws prohibting interracial marriage, stating that,

“marriage is … something more than a civil contract subject to regulation by the state; it is a fundamental right of free men … Legislation infringing such rights must be based upon more than prejudice and must be free from oppressive discrimination to comply with the constitutional requirements of due process and equal protection of the laws“ (Perez v. Sharp).

Assembly Bill 43 seeks to eliminate discrimination by ammending various California Codes–such as Section 300 and 301 of the Family Code–to redefine marriage as a contract between two persons instead of between a man and a woman. However, the Bill will not effect Section 308.5 of the Family Code, which incidentally happens to be the Code directly related to Proposition 22’s refusal to acknowledge gay and lesbian marriages from OTHER states. Unfortunately, by purposely not addressing passages directly related to Proposition 22, drafters of the Bill have cast a suspicious light on it as a whole. Instead of noticing all of the positive things that it could accomplish for the gay and lesbian community and its likely ability to pave the way for such futue legislation in the Federal Government as well, all that the public sees is a crafty way of getting around legislation that was decided on by the majority of voters in 2000. It doesn’t matter to anyone that such legislation should never have been brought before voters. It doesn’t matter that “You don’t put a minority group’s rights up to a vote for the people,” or that “It’s up to the Legislature and courts to ensure that minorities’ rights are protected in this country” (Geoff Kors, Director of Equality California).

It certainly isn’t fair, but the fact of the matter is that the State of California ALREADY DID let Californians decide!! They can’t now repeal that decision without causing Californian voters to lose faith in their votes EVER meaning anything. This would be a dire mistake to make in a state where so many young people already feel that their vote is meaningless. The passage of Proposition 22 is the perfect example of this actually. When it was on the ballot, I was a senior in high school and everyone there believed that it was destined for failure. We all felt that in a state as liberal as California, there was no way that something like that would pass. On the day the results were given back, I remember sitting in my French class and everyone was left agape in shock when our teacher told us that it had passed. It was completely unfathomable until he also explained that the election had one of the lowest voter turnouts in the state’s history–especially amongst young adults who typically vote more liberally anyway. No one really thought that their votes meant anything so no one really voted. To repeal it now would be akin to saying, “Even if your vote does accomplish something the government can always overturn it with an Assembly Bill.”

I’m not at all saying that we should just let things be. After all, I completely support gay and lesbian marriage. Everyone has a Constitutional right to be happy. However, I don’t think that this is the right way to go about it. Supporters of gay and lesbian rights need to make the public aware that their actions are only designed to help the homosexual community–not to hinder or harm the heterosexual one. To do so, they need to bring the issues back into the public light and have everything out in the open for examination. It is the only way to keep people from being suspicious of some secret nefarious agenda. This sadly cannot be accomplished by waving a magic wand and passing an Assembly Bill behind people’s backs. It has to happen by bringing the matter back up for the public to decide on. Officials have to admit that it was a mistake to draft the legislation in the first place and the public has to admit that it was a mistake to pass it. Since the problem was created by giving the issue over to public scrutiny, it can only justly be ammended by allowing the public the chance to rectify it.

Furthermore, I think that this is the reason behind the Governor’s reluctance to pass Assembly Bill 43. He is likely to veto it because he knows that it cannot be solved by slipping it in so nonchalantly. In addition, I think it is disgusting that people are trying to bully him into signing it when he has already done so much for the gay and lesbian community here in California. Over the past few years, he has expanded civil rights protection in the employment and housing industries. He has also extended various domestic partnership rights to the community, including the ability to check the “married” box on state tax forms. It made me sad to see pictures of signs calling him a coward for trying to help the community as much as he is legally able to. In my opinion, he is doing everything that he is capable of doing. This is not a case of rallying Republican support or playing the political field, it is merely an instance of doing what is legal and just. That doesn’t mean that anyone has to like it–it NEEDS to be opposed. People just need to be aware of the right arena to oppose it in. Instead of protesting the Governor’s decision to DO HIS JOB by supporting state voters, they should instead be focusing on educating those voters so that the problem can be solved where it was created. For now, all I can say is that Governor Schwarzenegger is completely justified in saying, “It would be wrong for the people to vote for something, and for me to then overturn it…I don’t do that, I will not do it. And so they can send that bill down as many times as they want, I won’t do it.” And frankly, we shouldn’t want or expect him to do otherwise…

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Since I know there are very few people in Sacramento who subsrcibe to the TriValley Herald, I thought I’d share a story with you that I read in there today. Stefani Ruland of Carmichael was arrested in January for identity theft. Prosecutors in Pleasanton have recently added additional counts bringing the grand total to seventeen felony charges. She is being charged with eleven counts of identity theft, three counts of possession of stolen property, and three counts of burglary. At the time of her arrest, officers found a large quantity of merchandise from Nordstrom at Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton that had been purchased using someone else’s credit card. She was also in possession of twenty fake driver’s licenses with her photograph on them and five authentic licenses that she had not yet altered.

The most astonishing part to me though is that she was on probation at the time of her arrest. What was she convicted of you ask? Well, that would be none other than…IDENTITY THEFT CRIMES!!! It made me so angry to read that. It brings me back to all of the tirades I’ve been on lately about our criminal justice system. I really don’t want to start that again though–since it’s likely to sound like a broken record anyway. Suffice to say that something needs to be done because this is crystal clear evidence that slapping someone on the wrist with admonitions to “never do it again” simply isn’t working. All I’ll say for now is that we need to take a much more firm stance with ALL criminals if we are ever to win the war on crime. If you do want to read a further explanation, check out one of my earlier posts on either Michael Vick or Gregg Michael Pistochini. Anyway, have a great day and don’t do anything to earn yourself five seconds of fame in the local police blotter!

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So, I just thought I’d give everyone a quick heads up. I’m in the process of moving so I won’t be able to update as regularly as I normally do this week. Everything should be back to normal by Monday though. Hope everyone is having a good week…

Everyday, we hear about just how stupid criminals can be. You know, there are the robbers who cover their faces in duct tape as a cheap disguise without realizing how painful this will prove in the long run. Then there are people like my best friend’s brother who leave their cell phones at the scene of the crime and then have their home phones show up on the caller ID when they try to find where they lost it. These criminals come in every shape and size and from every walk of life. Out of all of them though, I think that our own Golf Ball Criminal wins the cake just for the sheer randomness of the crime.

Gregg Michael Pistochini is accused of stealing $19,000 in golf balls and then reselling them on Ebay. He was arrested on Tuesday in Roseville by an undercover policeman who sold him golf balls. First of all, WHO DOES THAT?! Secondly, not only is this whole scenario kind of bizarre, but it also almost seems like a waste of police efforts to me. I don’t really get why they needed an undercover policeman to arrest someone that they knew was dealing in stolen merchandise. It seems like a waste of manpower if you ask me. They can’t catch or stop all of the murders, drug dealing, and gang violence here in Sacramento, but good golly gosh, they sure can stop people from stealing them darn golf balls!!!

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Okay, so call me crazy but I’ve always really liked Whoopi Goldberg. I looked up to her as a little girl because she is such a strong and independent woman. However, her public defense of Michael Vick on The View has left me so disgusted with her that I can’t even think straight. How dare she defend him and pass off his dogfighting as no big deal?! How dare she give him an excuse that some clever defense lawyer will be quick to jump on in court?! So what if “‘where he comes from in the south’” dogfighting isn’t that unusual.” So what if “there are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of the country.” The fact of the matter remains that they are still wrong regardless of how you look at them. I found it particularly disturbing that an African-American woman would make those comments as well. After all, there are certain other things that are also indicative of the south. By her own logic, she has just made racism and hate crimes acceptable because “they aren’t that unsual.”

Justice is not gray; there is a strict line that cannot be crossed. It doesn’t matter if you know better or not. It doesn’t matter if you are raised to think that something is acceptable. If you are breaking the law, then you should be punished. Furthermore, this goes double for celebrities and sports stars. They are automatically in a position to be idolized by children everywhere. Thus, by the very nature of their careers it is their responsibility to be model citizens. When they break the law they MUST be punished for it because otherwise it sends a terrible message to America’s children that they are either above the law or the law itself is somehow unjust. Society cannot continue if it is continually undermining itself by letting celebrities off the hook. Those who advocate leniency are effectively also advocating anarchy. Thus, I urge you to boycott The View until such a time as they either remove Whoopi from her post or she makes a formal and sincere apology for her insensitive and illogical remarks!

Frankly, I am completely appalled by ALL of the people who seem to think that what he did was acceptable. If you go on any website there are countless people who seem to think that what he has done is somehow excusable. There is even a site dedicated to saving Michael Vick! It is a vile and underhanded attempt to undermine all of the good that has recently been accomplished by animal rescue groups and the ASPCA. Sadly, they have been very successful at making pit bulls look evil and worthless in civilized society. In fact, many humane shelters will no longer keep pit bulls–or even dogs that may have pit bull blood. These shelters automatically euthanize them.

Thankfully, the Sacramento SPCA is not one of these. Their refusal to discrimintae against a dog solely based on breed makes me proud to live in Sacramento. They currently have seven different “bullies” available for adoption. If you are considering bringing a furry friend into your family I urge you to consider adopting one of these dogs. They are highly personable and wonderful with children. Plus, since they are rescue dogs you know that they are going to be very loving because they aren’t used to being treated with affection. My family has a rescued pit bull who has become the delight of the family over the last seven years. He sleeps with the kids, lets the babies play with his ears, shares his food with stray cats, and even lets the parrots beat him up without even batting an eye. He’s our 95 pound angel and we wouldn’t give him up for anything!…

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September looks to be much more exciting concert-wise than August was. The fun starts with Country in the Park on Sunday, September 9th. Country in the Park is the summer’s biggest outdoor country music festival in the area. This year, the concert will be located at Gibson Ranch Park at 8556 Gibson Ranch Road in Elverta, CA. This year there will be five performers including three different American Idol finalists. These will be Sawyer Brown and Gary Allan with finalists Bucky Covington, Kellie Pickler, and Carmen Rasmussen. The best part is that tickets are really cheap. They are only $23.00 each and children 10 and under will be admitted for free. In addition, there are a variety of discounts available if you know where to look. There are more than fifty Raley’s and Bel-Air locations that are offering coupons for $3.00 off that are good for up to six tickets. You can also purchase your tickets at Chevy’s surchagre free. Or you can purchase them at ticketmaster for $3.00 off with coupon code CITP. Finally, I believe that KNCI is still giving out free tickets as well, but you might want to call them to verify that. The concert will begin at 12:00PM and run for pretty much the entire day. Be aware that the venue does not allow you to bring video cameras, coolers, or bags into the concert. Also, be sure to visit the Dreyer’s Ice Cream booth to enter a contest to meet Sawyer Brown after the concert. As any country lover can tell you, that is definitely worth waiting in line for!

If you’re not a big country fan, perhaps you would be more interested to see Justin Timberlake at Arco Arena on September 10th. Justin has of course already performed in Sacramento this year back in January. However, due to popular demand, his 2007 FutureSex/LoveShow Tour will be returning to Sacramento. This is largely due to the fact that his last concert here was completely sold out and many fans were unable to buy tickets due to an extremely high demand. This concert will also feature Timbaland and Good Charlotte. Tickets range in price from $56.00 to $152.00. If you’re planning on going though then you better purchase your tickets soon because there aren’t really very many left. In any case, between the two concerts this looks to be a good start to the autumn concert season here in Sacramento. Enjoy…

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I just wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy Labor Day! Sadly, I am writing this from work–per usual–and I can’t be out enjoying the beautiful sunshine with everyone else because life (well mostly just my boss) is not fair. Anyway, go and do something for me down at the Sacramento River. Hop on a boat, get in some fishing, or just enjoy the gorgeous weather we’re having today. Make it worthwhile since I can’t =(

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