It is summer and I just can’t avoid vacations centered around Gay Pride Days, at least that is what my friend and fellow YAFer Darin Henry says. I honestly don’t plan my vacations around these colorful events. Not that there is anything wrong with them. But it just happens. And too much!

Three years ago my wife and I planned a vacation to New York City and were able to snag a nifty room at the Peninsula Hotel at 555 Fifth Ave. Turned out it was ground zero for the annual Pride Parade, which I honestly had no idea was occurring this weekend. Below is a picture I shot at the time of one of the Pride Day participants. Streets were shut down all around the hotel and our lunch ended up being a dirty dog at a stand, because we couldn’t cross the street for raviolis.

Then we went to San Francisco last year for vacation. What happened? Pride Day Parade weekend. Lunch in the hotel. We decided we would go to church the next day.

I’m off to Dublin next week to work on my family tree. I’ll be in that lovely city for five days, working at the archives at Trinity College to pull info on 12… Read More

Only a foolish politician would make a crucial decision based on seeking revenge instead of enacting good policy. For proof, look no further than the Sacramento City Council and its mayor who voted last night to boycott any Arizona-based business in contract with the City.

It’s too early to tell if the act will have an injurious affect on Arizona, but I am willing to bet that Sacramento will suffer more than our neighboring Cactus state. A Sac Bee story reports about one AZ-based construction company (Sundt) that will lose contracts with the City of Sacramento, but at the cost of nearly 70 local jobs. (Insert Homer Simpson’s famous "Doh!" here).

Some people might ask why I care about the goings-on of the Sacramento City Council since I am a resident of Lancaster. But the fact of the matter is I spend time in the Sacramento city limits where I live part-time and purchase goods and services from local business people. I have reason to care and a right to be angry about local leaders choosing to engage in a political stunt over performing their civil servant duties entrusted in them by voters.

Furthermore, the Bee article states… Read More

There was a lot of talk about the effect of Proposition 14 in the last election, and its effect on the legislative and congressional elections. The stated reason for enacting the "top two vote getters" idea for determining who gets to run in the general election was to "moderate" the caucuses, the idea being that if a moderate and an ideologue advance to the general election as the top two vote getters in the primary, the moderate is more likely to be elected, as members of the party whose candidates lost in the primary would be more likely to vote for the moderate of the other party.

While this idea is untested in practice anywhere in the country, interestingly enough, if Prop 14 was in effect in this election, it would not have accomplished its stated goal, at least on the Republican side of things. Of the 153 Congressional and Legislative elections held in the recent primary, only 10 would have sent two of the same primary to the general election. There would be 7 Democrat districts with two Democrats running in November, and 3 Republican districts with two Republicans. The Republican districts would have been Assembly District 25, and… Read More

In a joint conference call for the press, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring unveiled the RNC’s Victory 2010 operation for California. Chairman Nehring made a point of emphasizing the unprecedented partnership between the CRP and the RNC and the enthusiasm Republicans are already showing as the general campaign season begins in earnest.

Since February of 2009 the RNC has played a role in more than 30 successful races across the country, including statewide victories in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts. The Republican National Committee is laying the groundwork to compete aggressively not only in California, but in all fifty states for victory in November.

The RNC announced that it will be supporting the CRP’s statewide efforts with the necessary funding and resources to help effectively communicate the stark contrasts between the Republican and Democrat candidates seeking office. This means the RNC will provide them with… Read More

Longtime FR friend Scott Carpenter, who was just elected to the Orange County Republican Party Central Committee last week, attended the OC GOP’s annual Flag Day Fundraising Dinner. This year’s special guest was Marco Rubio, the GOP candidate for United States Senate in Florida. We asked Carpenter if he would pen something on the event for FR readers. Please take a few minutes and read this great account of what was a wonderful evening… Marco Rubio Shines At Annual OC GOP Flag Day Dinner by Scott Carpenter Last night marked another successful Flag Day Dinner hosted by the Republican Party of Orange County. The annual event has become one of the marquee political events in California, if not the entire nation, and last night’s occasion lived up to its billing. … Read More

Longtime FR friend Scott Carpenter, who was just elected to the Orange County Republican Party Central Committee last week, attended the OC GOP’s annual Flag Day Fundraising Dinner. This year’s special guest was Marco Rubio, the GOP candidate for United States Senate in Florida. We asked Carpenter if he would pen something on the event for FR readers. Please take a few minutes and read this great account of what was a wonderful evening…

Marco Rubio Shines At Annual OC GOP Flag Day Dinner by Scott Carpenter

Last night marked another successful Flag Day Dinner hosted by the Republican Party of Orange County. The annual event has become one of the marquee political events in California, if not the entire nation, and last night’s occasion lived up to its billing.

**There is more – click the link**… Read More

It’s quickly becoming clear that Jerry Brown is seriously not ready for prime-time. Just since the primary, we have two examples — one last week with his spontaneous comment to a reporter (while jogging) comparing Meg Whitman to Joseph Goebels, Adolph Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda (to this Jewish blogger, that reads: massive Holocaust spin-master — I have noticed that Brown has not elaborated on what exactly it is that Whitman is spinning that is on par with what Goebbels was doing).

But today we have not ready for prime-time comment number two, again in a question from a reporter about government spending… At an event in the Silcon Valley, Brown responded to a question, and I quote: “That goes to the whole issue. How do you do things without the money? It’s very difficult but I have a plan. I’ll tell you after the election.”

I have a plan and I’ll tell you after you elect me? Check out th video (courtesy of Team Whitman)… … Read More

It’s been one week since Meg Whitman soundly defeated Steve Poizner in the Republican gubernatorial race. Tonight Poizner sent an email message to his supporters thanking them for their work on behalf of his campaign (posted below). But most notable in the email was the lack of conciliation. Still harping on the fact he was outspent “four-to-one”, Poizner goes on to intimate that Republicans sold out their principles by voting for Whitman—a “hollow victory.” John Myers, the Sacramento Bureau Chief and Political Reporter for KQED Public Radio, even tweeted about the “defiant” missive from Poizner. It’s understandable that Poizner would still hold some resentment considering the bruising nature of the governor race, which was particularly tense in the closing month. But at some point Republicans need to unify behind their candidate to beat the … Read More