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FIRST – IF YOU SEE THIS QUICKLY…
Anaheim and OC citizens are protesting outside Disneyland – at the main gates on Harbor (where it usually says “The Happiest Place on Earth” – in an hour, 6pm (Friday) for probably an hour or two – get down there if you can! Why are they protesting? Well since Disney apparently runs the town through their paid-off council majority, they are protesting a variety of things – from police brutality and harassment of the homeless, to the Council’s constant giveaways to Disney and other well-connected big companies, as exemplified in this month’s Gate Tax Giveaway. Again, get down there if you can, troublemakers big and small!
Carmen Gloria Quintana, one gutsy sousaphonist, Sandra Bland, Vern Nelson (?), Victor Jara, and a sousaphone encore.
Victor Jara was one of the most well-known singers of Latin America’s New Song movement. He was a gifted musician, poet, and political activist. Bruce Springstein and Arlo Guthrie have had concerts remembering him. He was killed after being tortured, forced to play guitar with his broken hands and then shot to death by military officers in the 1973 military coup in Chile. Ten of these officers have been finally charged by a judge; the leader of the squad may be tried in Miami, where he was living anonymously.
Another trial of military officers will also take place, as
one of them recently disclosed their role in the burning of two protesters during the Pinochet years. One of the protesters died. Rodrigo Rojas was a young journalist whose parents had immigrated to the USA and he had gone to Chile to visit relatives. The other protester, Carmen Gloria Quintana, survived but her burnings were so severe that her face still shows the scars. The government had fabricated the excuse that they were burnt by protesters’ petrol bombs, but the military officers have admitted that they poured gasoline on these young people and burnt them alive.
Jara’s music is widely known for its social content, but his singing, musical compositions and lyrics have a quality that transcends politics. I invite you to listen and watch this piece called El Pimiento (the pepper).
By now many of us have heard and seen this young man playing a sousaphone (similar to a tuba) alongside last Saturday’s KKK march in South Carolina:
“Matt Buck walked alongside a Klan rally with his sousaphone on Saturday, farting out a low, slow version of Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” as a plodding gaggle of KKK members slowly clopped toward the South Carolina State House.
“His mini-protest only lasted a couple of minutes, but most of it was on video. That 95-second clip, which was taken by a stranger, has now reached 3.6 million views at press time—most of them since Tuesday morning.”
In our local area, the piano store owner next to the proposed Kraemer homeless shelter is having a momentary relief as the remaining community forums have been postponed. This could be an indication that the shelter is either going to be modified or not going to be built after all, which may explains the involvement of the PR consultant operating the anti-homeless shelter’s website. Matt Cunningham is a staunch supporter of the council members actively promoting the shelter, and his opposition was a safe public relations stunt. We 
are still waiting for the meeting he was going to arrange with Murray and Brandman. He must have earned a commission from the business owners for his PR services.
If the shelter plans are still in effect, I’ve heard that Vern Nelson is going to volunteer at the Piano Store, so that the owner may entertain the idea that having a shelter next to his business would not be a bad thing after all. Vern may give lessons and have concerts in this area, and in this way we could contribute to reduce the carbon footprint of traveling to his concerts in HB. It is time to listen to his Debussy piece again!
[Greg here:] Last Friday’s WOT was on the death in police custody of Sandra Bland, before many people even knew about it. The controversy boiled over at a progressive bloggers’ convention in Phoenix and now few people don’t know about it. We’ll try to come up with a compendium of links over the weekend — maybe in comments below, maybe here in the text, maybe a new one. (You can post links here for now.)
This is your Weekend Open Thread. Talk about these stories or whatever else you’d like, within reasonable bounds of decency and discretion.
“He must have earned a commission from the business owners for his PR services.”
Ricardo, please remind us again of the names and activities of those businesses. Besides the piano store, of course.
I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if Kleptos were really against that Kraemer site all along – just so long as attention could be diverted from the Karcher site.
I recall only two other business owners who have spoken out at the council meetings : the brewery owner and the president of a property maintenance company. Recently Bryan Industrial Properties questioned this project.
Cunningham’s website is announcing a “community” forum for next week at the Embassy Suites. Spitzer has been invited. Neighbors are skeptical of this group due to its hardline anti-homeless tone and its reluctance to question the council members instrumental in pushing for the Kraemer site.
How did Brandman become the County’s liaison for this site, but the most passionate speaker on the shelter has been Murray? I wonder what the connection or affinity between Spitzer and the Pringle’s camp is. A real estate agent must have determined the value of the Karcher site, found the Kraemer one, and contacted the power brokers.
“I wonder what the connection or affinity between Spitzer and the Pringle’s camp is. A real estate agent must have determined the value of the Karcher site, found the Kraemer one, and contacted the power brokers.”
Yeah, I wonder about that, too. Spitzer couldn’t find his own backside if the lights were out. Somebody presented that alternative site – and for a reason. My supposition is that the Karcher site will become an “affordable” housing site whose lobbyist is…Pringle! That’s based on my belief that the property was purchased by the Anaheim Housing Authority, and that could be wrong. In the past Pringle has worked for Jamboree Housing and AMCAL, both “affordable” housing “developers.”
How in the world did anybody find the Kraemer Place property and light upon it as a realistic site for a homeless shelter? There must be dozens of industrial buildings for sale/lease in North OC – and all closer to real homeless populations. Well, Todd Boy knows the answer and he probably won’t be talking. At the very least he needs PringleCorp® behind him when he tries for DA in 2018.
The fact that Cunningham is being paid (by whom?) to oppose this endeavor leads me to believe that Murray & Co. couldn’t care less about Kraemer Place – except as a diversion from the Karcher property. Cunningham would have had to get their permission. And how on Earth did these locals ever learn of the greasy existence of Cunningham at all?
A rumor that slowly is making sense of what happened with the Karcher site is that influential residents pressured the council to change the shelter location. There was a quiet but effective objection, not only based on property values impact but also to the proximity of traditionally depressed/poor neighborhoods. The latter argument is similar to the one that Santa Ana residents raised in their objections. This brings into question the model being pursued by the local experts, single large shelters, which is another discussion.
Most of the residents near Kraemer did not follow the local politics closely, and wouldn’t know or care about Cunningham. They see him channeling their concerns, but finally they are making the connection between him and Murray/Brandman. He keeps diverting their into attention into Spitzer and the BOS so that his local patrons are not questioned. Besides, he still enjoys respect/ appreciation among many in the GOP crowd. I observed at the Disney’s vote council meeting how some of the speakers supporting Disney chatted with him, shook hands and hugged him.
Who is paying him? That is good question. Chris Vance, the piano store owner, did not to disclose the names of the other store owners financing their opposition to the shelter. Apparently the Chamber of Commerce has not been involved.
“I observed at the Disney’s vote council meeting how some of the speakers supporting Disney chatted with him, shook hands and hugged him.”
They’re all part of the same coven. And each other is all they’ve got when it comes to human contact.
Still, I would love to know how your neighbors found “Pacific Strategies.” That cannot have been a coincidence.
“Pacific Strategies” was found by some neighbors through the website opposing the shelter. Remember that Cunningham had not disclosed that he is operating that website.See link below.The opposition/concern extended to portions of Orange, where he was already known as he resides in that city.
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2015/05/did-a-man-associated-with-the-anaheim-chamber-of-commerce-drum-up-opposition-to-the-canyon-homeless-shelter/
Whoa, there. Let me climb off this ride. So how did the people who hired Cunningham in the first place learn about him? Cunningham didn’t just create a website for the fun of it.
This has all the earmarks of a set up.
Is that really a picture of me? I know, it looks like me (but so did the Snowbird Bandit!) Where and when was it?
Room for 3 on the Council dias? Emery now has an unrestricted budget !
Any reports of the CM-3 being stalked by Chinese toy makers with tape measures?
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rozak-673824-trout-mike.html
*Since this is an alternative Open Thread….here is one thought: Choi stepped in just
to make sure our girlfriend Deb Pauly….could’t steal the election. Brutal. Deb could have easily beaten …”The New Sidhu”. Pauly still has a chance if she hammers Choi on the Veteran’s Cemetary, the true cost of the audit for the Great Park and on Choi’s lack of accomplishments as Mayor. She needs to hammer his “so-called” accomplishment in office and get very regional about the water issue and most importantly about increasing the vehicle tax re-bates to our local governments. It is doable…..but she will have to have a lot of those “Deb for Assm” parties to get some serious cash in.
One thing I’ve forgotten to ask her: Why is her tiny town of Villa Park the ABSOLUTE most wasteful of water in OC?
*Probably all the old folks with Alzheimers….they turn on the tap and forget
to turn it off. Like a lot of places in The OC.
At first I’d assumed it was Deb herself, blasting a fire hose at Muslims and Mexicans all day long.. but perhaps I was wrong.
*How about “The Trumpster” yesterday blasting Bo Bergdahl as worst Traitor in American History? Traded for the five worst terrorist in the entire world? Can wait for “The Trumpster” to do those debates. We really need to know about those five deferments in detail and the definition of what a traitor is in his pea sized brain.
One of the best liberal bloggers in the country takes a serious and deep look at Hillary Clinton — and is more than half-impressed with her “half a loaf” strategy.
http://weeklysift.com/2015/07/27/the-2016-stump-speeches-hillary-clinton/
I still prefer Bernie, but this was interesting reading.
*Well written piece for sure Dr. D., but partisan as expected. With that in mind, our take is simply this: Hillary will be our next President, three things will determine the strength of the outcome however: (1) She needs to lose some belly fat. (2) She needs to keep her hand and arm gestures in check and limited and (3) She needs a master stroke for a running mate. Our suggestions are: Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden (one more term) or Nickey Halley (a Republican!) How would that shake up Donald Trump or Mike Huckabee?
My Cecil outrage is slightly mitigated by the fact that he was presumably named after Cecil Rhodes, after whom Zimbabwe itself was named when it was racist Rhodesia. But it’s not Cecil’s fault — you can’t choose the people who name you, at least if you’re a lion.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/29/3685758/science-of-cecil-outrage