There is a controversy in Mill Valley over a physics teacher who annually fires a gun into a piece of wood as a hands-on way to teach his students how to calculate the speed of a bullet. For more than 10 years, teacher David Lapp has brought his M-1 Carbine rifle (leftover from Lapp’s days as a military police officer in the Korean War) to school to conduct one of his many unusual physics experiments. Lapp has had the approval of his principal, but apparently the district was not aware of it. Critics say that he is violating state law by bringing a gun to school.

I’m a big supporter of gun rights, but I honestly don’t know if I’d want my kids’ teacher bringing his gun to school. It’s not that I wouldn’t trust the… Read More

Reps. Ken Calvert and Gary Miller both Republicans representing parts of Orange County are fed up with OC 5th Dist. Supervisorial candidate Cassie DeYoung’s antics.

DeYoung, is a councilwoman in Laguna Niguel running for the south county seat against former Assemblywoman Pat Bates (a client of my firm). Bates is well liked and has virtually all the local elected and partisan endorsements.

DeYoung has been sending mail knocking Calvert and Miller for supporting transportation solutions that she says would be bad for Orange County.

Its a bold move on the part of her consultants. And it backfired. First the chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority Art Brown release a letter pulling his endorsement (one of the few DeYoung had) because, and I am paraphrasing, it’s pretty stupid to attack two sitting Members of Congress that represent big chunks of Orange County and who have huge say over federal dollars coming to OC. I think Congressmen Calvert and Miller who have both been Probolsky Research clients would have let the first mail piece slide. But the … Read More

I have been told by a reputable source that the City of Hercules had a large booth and a big delegation at the International Council of Shopping Center (ICSC) Spring Convention in Las Vegas this week. So, at the same time the City Council was abusing their power by invoking eminent domain authority to force Wal-Mart (a ICSC member) out of their community, they were spending big money to recruit other retailers to their town. Residents and city leaders have said that a Whole Foods or other trendy, high-end store would be acceptable, but that Wal-Mart, which attracts a lower-income, more diverse crowd, is not. The elitist attitude of Hercules residents and city officials is just amazing, especially given that the city resides in the open-minded, diversity-loving, liberal Bay Area.… Read More

GOP Assembly leader wrote a letter to President Fox asking for some time for GOP Assembly members to share their thoughts. Fox declined and is ONLY going to meet with Democrats and Schwarzenegger before his speech. In my view some GOP legislator should sneak into the meeting and if caught ask for amnesty or atemporary permit to stay and then take a collection from those present to pay some of his bills.

But I digress.

Since Republicans won’t get face time with the President, what should they do?

First, they should follow Chuck DeVore, McClintock, and others that won’t be at the speech. See article here.

Second, they should hold a press congerence before the speech an announce and demand support for the California Border Policie Initiative and other security measures. They should announce ammendments to the budget to require proof of LEGAL residency before getting benfits etc….

The CA GOP needs to be clear and consistent in demanding these things now. There is now better time than right now.

A Luta… Read More

As Vincente Fox, the President of Mexico, comes to speak to the state legislature, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is preparing to allow the California national guard to be deployed along our state’s border with Fox’s country.

This will pit Fox against Schwarzenegger, as Fox has been a vocal critic of creating a wall or strong border enforcement between the two nations.

Tonight the Governor will have ample opportunity to hit a ‘home run’ with conservatives should he choose to take it — either by deciding not to attend Fox’s speech — or by taking the opportunity to vocalize public criticism of Fox for his hypocritical position. As Assemblyman Chuck DeVore points out below, Fox supports Mexico’s law making it a FELONY (punishable by two years in prison).

Well, we hope that the Governor will take this opportunity to use his office to give Fox a swift kick in the butt and use some public humiliation as a way to encourage "El Presidente" to stop criticizing the efforts of America to secure our borders.

I have to run, but I will leave you with some fine reading from Assemblyman Chuck… Read More

As Vincente Fox, the President of Mexico, comes to speak to the state legislature, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is preparing to allow the California national guard to be deployed along our state’s border with Fox’s country.

This will pit Fox against Schwarzenegger, as Fox has been a vocal critic of creating a wall or strong border enforcement between the two nations.

Tonight the Governor will have ample opportunity to hit a ‘home run’ with conservatives should he choose to take it — either by deciding not to attend Fox’s speech — or by taking the opportunity to vocalize public criticism of Fox for his hypocritical position. As Assemblyman Chuck DeVore points out below, Fox supports Mexico’s law making it a FELONY (punishable by two years in prison).

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

Here is a column I wrote for the Orange County Register about the need for more protections against eminent domain.It ran in today’s paper. Enjoy! An excerpt is below along with the link to the full content:

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, in part: "[N]or shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." Federalist Paper No. 10 says, in part: "The diversity in the faculties of men from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government."

President Vicente Fox is going to Sacramento where he will address the State Legislature, and he will dine with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Governor has a real opportunity here to make a point, privately and publicly, with President Fox that the United States, and California specifically resents the Mexican President’s steadfast opposition to our efforts to secure our borders. President Fox has called the proposed wall ‘shameful’ and has drawn analogies to a U.S./Mexico border wall to the Berlin wall – which makes no sense. But if you wanted to take his analogy and run with it, instead of Fox decrying a wall, why doesn’t he ask why so many of his citizens want to sneak into our country? Perhaps Fox and his fellow public policy leaders want to look into a mirror, they can ask themselves why they aren’t taking the actions to create a thriving economy in their own nation. That having been said, my personal opinion is that the Governor should just cancel his meeting… Read More