My comment to Jill Stewart

If you haven't seen it yet, crusader Jill Stewart does good job of breaking down Mayor Villaraigosas ticket scandal in her new piece at LA Weekly.

Here is my comment to her in the comments section:

Jill Stewart,

The title of the article is incorrect. The free tickets end up being worth millions in special treatment for the people who give them to the Mayor.

Lakers, Dodgers, AIG, etc...

They all get special breaks and favors when it comes to financial transactions between them and the City.

Los Angeles is one of the most corrupt cities in America because of the one-party rule in our City Council. Villaraigosa is totally corrupt -- morally AND ethically. There is nothing he won't do to benefit himself.

His behavior in his personal life speaks volumes.

Phil Jennerjahn

Michael Jackson : Not "The Greatest"

Tomorrow will be a sad anniversary for pop music fans. It will be one year since the death of music superstar Michael Jackson.

I was actually working that day and was in the area, so I drove by 100 Carolwood to see what was up. It was only 2 hours or so since they had announced his death, and police had sealed off the street, there were media vehicles out in front of his house, and there were news helicopters hovering overhead.

Of course, there were countless accolades piled on the man who revolutionized the recording industry by taking it to heights it hadn't seen before. Some even went so far as to call him the "Greatest Entertainer of All Time".

Although I liked Michael Jackson and enjoyed his music, I think that title would be incorrect.

The Beatles and Elvis Presley sold more records than Michael Jackson did.

Michael had the highest selling single album of all time, Thriller, but he didn't beat these others in overall totals. Elvis still sells a decent amount of records even though he has been dead for 33 years. In comparison, will buyers still be purchasing Michael Jacksons music in 2042? Maybe. Only time will tell.

When discussing the rankings of the greatest entertainers of all time... and certainly the Beatles and Elvis Presley would be in the top 10, one has to consider the depth of the persons talent.

There are 10 people in the world, including Mel Brooks and Barbara Streisand, who have won an Academy Award, an Emmy, a Tony and a Grammy. To me, this displays a diverse range of talent in many areas.

Even singer/actress Cher sold millions of records and still won an Oscar for her acting. Michael Jackson was a talented singer and dancer, but he wasn't ever going to win Oscars or Emmys for his acting.

In these rankings, I think you have to consider non-traditional people also.

Muhammad Ali was a boxer, but what he really did was entertain people with his skills.

Same thing with Tiger Woods, or Tom Brady, or Kobe Bryant.

They entertain people with their talent.

With that line of reasoning established, I think for my money I have to state that the greatest entertainer of all time is probably movie director Steven Spielberg. Jaws, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Close Encounters, Saving Private Ryan, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Is there a movie on that list that you haven't seen? If you are like most people, you have spent over 20 hours of your life being entertained by the talented vision of Steven Spielberg.

The box office totals for his movies surpasses $8 Billion dollars, dwarfing anything the music industry can produce on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

I think there are more homes around the world that have a Steven Spielberg movie on DVD in their house than there are homes with Michael Jackson records.

"Ticketgate" starting to gain traction

Of all the things that I thought might ever take down our crook of a Mayor, the least thing I was ever concerned about was the little freebies he gets as Mayor.

Free concert tickets, sporting events, Oscars, Grammys...etc.

No, I was more concerned about devastating things like DWP rates hikes, hidden taxes, and Socialistic City policies that destroy jobs and the economy.

However, it seems as though Antonio Villaraigosas technical infractions of the law might be the thing that takes him down. I've always said that I want to see him in jail. I think the CRA and LACERS scandals are more than enough to warrant jail time for Villaraigosa.

But a free ticket scandal?

Well ... it wasn't how I planned it, but I'll take it.

Anything to remove him from power.

We are living in dangerous times

When a thug like President Obama can demand $20 billion from British Petroleum without any due process of law.....

When the Socialist Democrats in the U.S. Congress vote that YOU have to buy a health care plan ... but it will be the type of plan they will not submit themselves to....

When an arrogant Los Angeles City Council feels that they have the right to meddle in the interior politics of another State......

When an incompetent LAUSD decides that educating children in Los Angeles needs to become a secondary issue to their joining in on meddling in Arizona politics .....

We are not far from the brink.

We are living in dangerous times.

President Zero to lose Congress in November

Over 60 days into the BP oil spill and President Zero has done nothing to stop it.

A lot of whining and complaining, but no action.

He's turning out to be worse than Jimmy Carter.

Maybe the media will start a running clock on every newscast saying "68 days since the spill and no answers from the White House". It will be just like the Iranian hostage situation all over again.

Good news for Conservatives! President Zero is going to cause an election night rout in November.

Nancy Pelosi will lose her job as Speaker and "Dingy" Harry Reid will be voted out of office.

LAPD surprised by minimal rioting as Lakers win title

Yeah, that's right. Expectations are that low here in Los Angeles.

Read all about it ... here.

Wonder if Mayor Tony V. will try to sneak on Kobe Bryants parade vehicle and attempt to bogart his public goodwill like he did last year? Stay tuned.....

Alarcon gives voters the middle finger

Today is the day that a group of hysterically shrieking NIMBYs (including Joe Barrett) will descend upon room 350 of Los Angeles City Hall to try and stop criminal mastermind Richard Alarcon in his latest devious scheme. Alarcon wants to turn a country-like area in the City called "Lopez Canyon" into a payola goldmine for his political supporters and today he will vote to allow them to build a truck driving school and to continue to feed at the public trough of tax dollars.

Alarcon is a career criminal, and has been doing this type of thing for a long time. The payoffs have been made, the votes have been counted in advance, and it seems highly unlikely that residents in that area will be able to do anything about it. They will try, but like most things in Los Angeles, fighting the corruption in City Hall doesn't seem to work out so well. Maybe Mayor Sam blogger Petra Fried can write another ten page opus about how Alarcon screwed everyone. (Big surprise there...)

Residents in Alarcons Seventh Council District have no one to blame but themselves.

There are 90,000 registered voters in the 7th District. If even 10% of them had gotten off their asses to vote for someone else, Alarcon wouldn't even be in power right now.

But they didn't do that, because they are dumb.

They had a chance to vote him out in 2007 and another chance in 2009.

Now they are going to pay the price.

It's like the ancient fable about the scorpion and the frog.

You knew what Alarcon was like when you voted for him.

Elections have consequences, and now voters in the 7th District have to pay the price for their terrible decisions.

Career criminal Alarcon will continue to do what he does best.

Packing City positions with incompetent, unqualified supporters.... including his own children.

Cutting backroom deals for megabucks that have nothing to do with common sense or City progress, but have everything to do with making Richard Alarcon and his supporters filthy rich at taxpayers expense.

He's the worst our City has to offer. He should be in jail, not in City Council.

But today, he will be giving the big middle finger salute to the citizens who voted him into power.

And he'll probably be laughing about it.