Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Cloverfield HD Trailer
Excellent!
This is the final trailer for the movie formally known as 1-18-08, and now officially known as Cloverfield.
LA City Politicians: 4.16% Raise
What!?
These guys hardly deserve a raise. In fact, I’m all for firing each and every single one of them and starting over with a clean slate.
In the midst of a financial emergency, Los Angeles’ mayor, council, controller and city attorney are set to get annual raises worth $7,000 to $9,000 each.
The 4.16 percent salary hike takes effect as Los Angeles faces a severe financial crunch, and city leaders are considering cutting services to balance the budget.
The city also is asking voters in February to preserve the telephone users tax, worth $270 million a year.
The new raise for city officers comes after an 8.5 percent salary increase in January and two increases worth a total of 6 percent in 2006.
“They’re out asking for tax increases at the same time they’re bumping up their salary. The apt description here is tone deaf,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
“They could refuse this. They don’t have to take it.”
And that’s exactly what Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he would do.
In a statement Wednesday, the mayor said he would not accept the raise - worth $8,283 - but instead wants it to go into the city’s general fund.
“With the City of Los Angeles facing a tough budget year, I do not believe now is the time for me to accept an automatic and retroactive pay raise,” the mayor said.
“Being mayor of Los Angeles is reward enough, and I’m committed to working 24/7 to protect essential services.”
The mayor’s current salary is $223,142. The raise would boost his pay to $232,425.
Villaraigosa is a dirtbag. He’s a liar, a cheater, and he’s full of crap. One day ask me how I really feel.
Biggie Smalls: Still Not Dead
The story that never ends.
Between Tupac and Biggie, I don’t know who is going to stay on the top of the Billboard charts for longer even though they’re dead. Hell, Biggie is still filing lawsuits from the grave.
A wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of slain rapper Notorious B.I.G. against the city of Los Angeles may be amended to include several other defendants, including record executive Marion “Suge” Knight, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled Friday the lawsuit may be amended because of newly discovered evidence. Aside from Knight, former police officer Rafael Perez and other current and former members of the Los Angeles Police Department may also be included as defendants.
B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was 24 when he was gunned down March 9, 1997, while leaving a music industry party at Los Angeles’ Petersen Automotive Museum.
The New York rapper was one of the country’s most popular hip-hop artists, and theories have proliferated for years about who was behind the killing.
Wallace’s family filed a wrongful death suit seeking damages from the city. It accuses the Los Angeles Police Department, and specifically Perez’ former patrol partner, David Mack, of responsibility for Wallace’s death.
Mack and Perez both have long denied involvement in the killing.
Thomas Reichert, an attorney for the city, said the new evidence was “old wine, new bottles.”
The family alleges that Knight and Reggie Wright, Jr., a former LAPD officer, conspired with Perez and Mack, who is serving 14 years in a federal prison for bank robbery, to carry out the killing.
Calls to Knight attorneys Laurence Strick and Daniel J. McCarthy were not immediately returned Monday. It was not immediately known who was Wright’s attorney.
New evidence shows Perez was on duty the night of B.I.G.’s slaying and may have been at the scene, Cooper wrote. She also found that new evidence after a 2005 mistrial showed that Knight and Wright should be allowed into the suit.
The evidence also supports the addition of three LAPD detectives, whom the family accuses of failing to prevent the killing or of concealing evidence, Cooper wrote.
The Rampart scandal was a dark time in LAPD history. The effects of it are going to be felt for years, and this is just one example of it. Rafeal Perez has ruined the face of law enforcement for years to come.
Related Reading:
Unleaded
It’s okay, China could care less.
Proving once again that politicians believe they can file a lawsuit to get their way, California state has filed a lawsuit against major toy companies to get them to stop purchasing toy from China that contain lead.
California on Monday launched a lawsuit against 20 companies accusing them of manufacturing or selling toys with illegal quantities of lead, a statement said.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown said the firms—including Mattel Inc and Toys “R” Us—were being sued for knowingly exposing children to potentially dangerous lead levels.
It follows a series of nationwide toy recalls this year which have seen tens of millions of largely Chinese-made products, including Barbie doll accessories, toy cars, trains and infant toys withdrawn from stores.
“Companies must take every reasonable step to assure that the products they handle are safe for children and their families and fully comply with the laws of California,” Brown said.
“Despite the lengthening global supply chain, every company that does business in this state must follow the law and protect consumers from lead and other toxic materials.”
Let me tell you in advance what China and their resellers are going to say: “That’s nice, there are plenty of other places in the world that will still buy the tops, thus allowing us to make a ton of money. Have fun with your expensive labor and unions!” I don’t want lead in toys anymore than the next guy, but the answer isn’t to sue, it’s to farm the work out to companies here in the United States who can compete in price and quality to their Chinese counterparts. Everyone is talking about spending locally and giving American’s jobs. It’s time to walk the walk, and not just talk to the talk.