John Hawkins: The Police Should Crack Down On Occupy Wall Street

At Right Wing News:

And at Los Angeles Times, "Occupy Wall Street protesters get their own potties." Awesome! Maybe the protesters will defecate in the outhouses instead of on cop cars.

Occupy Oakland

At Michelle's, "More ugly Occupy Oakland pictures that won’t make MSM front pages."

Plus, "Occupy Oakland’s dangerous “strike” follies; Plus: Capitalism-bashing, cop-hating rapper Boots Riley is back; Updated."

Communist Angela Davis Gives Opening Speech at Occupy Oakland 'General Strike'

Notorious communist Angela Davis has been making the rounds nationwide, speaking out for the "occupation." And from Oakland, see: "Black Panthers and Communist Revolutionary Thug Angela Davis in Oakland."

In Santa Ana, Mexicans Attack New Businesses for 'Ethnic Cleansing'

At New York Times, "New Faces and a Contentious Revival":

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Business has never been slower at Mina Bridal, which sells billowing taffeta ballroom dresses in colors like hot pink and electric blue for quinceañeras, the traditional 15th birthday celebration for Mexican girls.

Mina Madriles, who has run the downtown store for nearly three decades, said that a generation ago girls would have elaborate parties just as their parents had — where a $1,000 dress was just a fraction of the expense. Now, she is giving away her dresses to some families who hire her to coordinate the party at their homes to save money.

“Nobody has any money anymore; there’s nothing we can do,” Ms. Madriles said.

Fourth Street — also known as Calle Cuatro — has long been the center of Latino business in Orange County, the place where Mexican immigrants could find nearly anything they might have looked for in their homelands. Along some stretches, it is impossible to hear anything but Spanish. The signs beckon customers to travel to Guadalajara or buy a pair of snakeskin cowboy boots for a “super discuento,” and the sidewalk vendors shout, “Frutas, frutas,” as they call attention to their freshly cut coconuts and mangos.

But as the economy has soured, many of these stores have struggled to stay afloat. Some stores closed, others asked their landlords for a reduction in rent. At the same time, several property owners began pressing to create a group to improve downtown Santa Ana.

The owners, who were mostly white, were determined to make it more welcoming to English-speaking clients and bring in customers from more affluent parts of Orange County. What they really wanted to do, opponents said, was scrub away any suggestion that it is an immigrant hub, in a city that is 85 percent Latino. Fiesta Marketplace changed its name to “East End,” and the pink buildings that might evoke a Mexican plaza were repainted in muted hues. A few stores put up signs proclaiming, “Stop ethnic cleansing.”

I grew up in neighboring Orange, and Santa Ana's been a Mexican enclave for decades. With 85 percent of the population Hispanic, I don't think folks need to worry about "ethnic cleansing." The economy hitting everybody pretty hard, and you'd think Santa Ana locals would be pleased with new businesses entering the market.

RELATED: At Los Angeles Times, "Children of immigrants hit an economic ceiling."

PREVIOUSLY: "Santa Ana Enclave Tops Orange County In Proportion of Single-Parent Households."

NASA Launches Latest NPP Earth-Observing Satellite from Vandenberg

It's the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, NPP.

At LAT, "NASA launches satellite from Vandenberg at night." And PC Magazine, "NASA Weather, Climate Satellite Launches Successfully."

Brown Risks Backlash on Pensions

This is one case where fiscal reality trumps destructive progressive ideology. Pigs will fly if he actually gets this through the legislature.

At Los Angeles Times, "Gov. Jerry Brown risks backlash on pension plan":

Reporting from Sacramento -- Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a sweeping overhaul of California pensions that would require public employees to pay more for their retirement and cut benefits for those hired in the future, setting the stage for a fierce battle with fellow Democrats and some of his main political supporters: unions representing government workers.

Brown's 12-point plan, announced Thursday, would require that all public workers have at least half the cost of their pensions deducted from their paychecks. Most state employees already make that contribution, but many in cities, counties and school districts across the state pitch in far less.

The governor also wants future employees to receive up to a third of their retirement income from a 401(k)-style plan rather than a traditional guaranteed pension. And he urged that the retirement age for most new public workers be raised from 55 to 67.

"I try to protect working people whenever I can," said Brown, 73, "but I'm also responsible to the taxpayer and making sure we have a solvent state government."

California's public pension system has been strained by ballooning obligations to current and future retirees. Brown, who says he does not draw a pension, has called the system unaffordable and unsustainable. He wants to cut the state's long-term pension needs in half.

His plan would have to pass the Legislature, which is dominated by Democrats whose close political allies include labor unions. Brown would need the approval of two-thirds of state lawmakers to place key parts of it on the November 2012 ballot for voters to consider.

Police Deploy Flash Bombs at Occupy Oakland?

See Reason, "An Iraq War Veteran is in Critical Condition After Occupy Oakland Scuffles, Police Won't Confirm What Weapons They Used."

But watch the video:

Clearing the protest? Good. Police-state tactics? Not so good.

The New York Times has more, "Updates on Occupy Protests Nationwide":

Two veterans groups say that a protester who was badly wounded in Oakland on Tuesday night is a former marine who is now hospitalized with a fractured skull.

According to Iraq Veterans Against the War, the protester, Scott Olsen, is a member of their group who left the Marines in 2010, after serving two tours in Iraq. In a statement, the group's executive director Jose Vasquez, claimed that Mr. Olsen "sustained a skull fracture after being shot in the head with a police projectile while peacefully participating in an Occupy Oakland march," on Tuesday night. Mr. Vasquez added that Mr. Olsen, a systems network administrator in Daly, Calif. "is currently sedated at a local hospital awaiting examination by a neurosurgeon."

A series of bloody photographs that appear to show Mr. Olsen after he was wounded were posted on the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center's site, Indybay.org. Those images show that Mr. Olsen was wearing a brown military shirt with his last name on the front. Jay Finneburgh, the photographer who shot the images of Mr. Olsen, wrote on Indybay: "This poor guy was right behind me when he was hit in the head with a police projectile. He went down hard and did not get up. The bright light in the second shot is from a flash-bang grenade that went off a few feet from us. He looks like he might be a veteran. he was eventually taken to highland hospital."

Go back to New York Times to follow the links to IVAW and others.

The freedom to assemble is not unlimited. Time, place, manner restrictions are routine, and the police had already ordered the crowd to disperse. According to the San Francisco Chronicle:

Police said they had to protect themselves from protesters who hurled rocks, bottles and paint, and ignored orders to disperse.

Still, that Olsen dude got beat up pretty bad. Looks like the police have some PR problems now.

More at London's Daily Mail, "Marine veteran fighting for life after being shot in the face with gas canister during Occupy Oakland clashes."

Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters in Oakland, California

At The Lede:

1:40 a.m. [EST] Updated - Police officers shot several rounds of tear gas into a crowd of hundreds of protesters from the group Occupy Oakland on Tuesday night, as the protesters tried to re-enter an area outside of City Hall that the police had cleared of their encampment on Tuesday morning.

“It sounded like bombs,” said Joaquin Jutt, 24, a digital animator who was among the protesters. “There was a stinging and burning in my throat, eyes and nostrils. My eyes burned like there was hot sauce in them.”

And a nice photo-blog, at J.P. Dobrin's, "PHOTOGRAPHY OF POLICE DISMANTLING OCCUPY OAKLAND."

Occupy Oakland 'Anarchist' Speaker Calls for 'End of Liberal Democracy'

Via Founding Bloggers, on Twitter:

Also, at Los Angeles Times, "Police raid Occupy Oakland encampment, arrest dozens."

Lots more at Memeorandum and Verum Serum. Also, at Hot Air, "Video: “The Man” 1, Occupy Oakland 0; Update: Protesters try to re-enter park."

Down But Not Out: Investors and Home Buyers Returning to Inland Empire

From the front-page at yesterday's Los Angeles Times, "Inland Empire is showing early stirrings of recovery."

Few places have been as devastated by the Great Recession as the Inland Empire, a region of 4 million people encompassing Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Unemployment has tripled since 2006. Home values have plunged 56% in Riverside County and 60% in San Bernardino County. Nearly 12,500 foreclosure notices were filed in the three months that ended Sept. 30.

Yet amid the stillborn subdivisions, abandoned storefronts and crowded unemployment offices, there are early stirrings of recovery.

Well, praise be Obama! (Or Jerry Brown — our local Democrat messiah!)

We even had unemployment come down to 11.9 percent from 12.1 percent. Booming!

Dirty DUIs

A bizarre story, at LAT, "Coming Clean on 'Dirty DUIs' in Contra Costa County."

'I want people to have the freedom to eat what they want...'

Amazingly on point.

That's the chef interviewed at New York Times, "In California, Going All Out to Bid Adieu to Foie Gras."

“I want people to have the freedom to eat what they want,” said Ludo Lefebvre, one of the chefs behind the stove here on Friday. “Animal rights people would turn everyone into a vegan if they could. I don’t want animal rights people to tell me what to eat. Today it’s foie gras. Tomorrow it’s going to be chicken, or beef.”

Governor Jerry Brown Signs Law Banning Open Carry of Handguns

Paradoxically, the law could lead to more folks carrying concealed and loaded weapons.

At LAT:

Sam Paredes, executive director of the advocacy group Gun Owners of California, said the ban could lead, paradoxically, to more carrying of handguns. Courts, he reasoned, could now force the state's police to distribute more concealed-weapon permits to allow citizens to exercise their rights.

"This situation will be a catalyst to unite all of the gun community in lawsuits,'' Paredes said. "The probable outcome is you will have far more people carrying concealed loaded guns as opposed to openly carrying unloaded guns.''

Governor Jerry Brown Signs California Dream Act

A Democrat GOTV bill for the illegal alien electorate.

At LAT, "The law grants illegal immigrants access to state aid at public universities and colleges."

RELATED: At Michelle's, from 2010, "DREAM Act nightmare: A massive open-borders entitlement program."

Nazar Al Bussam, Drug-Dealing Doctor Linked to Patient Overdose Deaths, Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison in Los Angeles Federal Court

One of my students came to office hours on Tuesday to ask about the writing assignment. Students complete a News Analysis Notebook for the critical thinking requirement in the course. Students write on (or they're supposed to write on) U.S. politics and public policy, although there's lots of room for topics on the margins of the top news. My student mentioned that her brother died a few years ago and that his story was going to be featured in the Los Angeles Times. My student didn't mention much more than that. She mostly wanted to know if she could write about the Times' piece in her notebook. I said sure, but I wanted to take a look at it first. The story ran yesterday, and it turns out it was a big investigative report: "Deaths linked to doctor accused of recklessly prescribing painkillers":

And from the article:

As California's top prescriber of narcotic painkillers and other commonly abused drugs, Dr. Nazar Al Bussam made hundreds of thousands of dollars feeding the addictions of strung-out patients who packed into his offices in Downey and Los Angeles, according to authorities.

Federal prosecutors concluded it was "pure luck" that his reckless prescribing had not resulted in any known deaths.

A Los Angeles Times review of coroners' records, however, reveals that at least three of the doctor's patients died of drug overdoses in 2007 and 2008. Two other people died — one from an overdose, the other by falling off a cliff — with drugs in their systems and pill bottles bearing Al Bussam's name in their possession.

A judge is expected to sentence Al Bussam on Wednesday. Prosecutors have asked for nearly 20 years in prison for the 71-year-old physician, arguing that his conduct was worse than that of a street corner drug dealer.

"Unlike a street dealer, defendant well understood the effects of the poison he peddled," wrote Assistant U.S. Attys. Ariel A. Neuman and Benjamin R. Barron.

Al Bussam, who graduated from the University of Baghdad College of Medicine in 1963 and began practicing in California more than three decades ago, is the latest in a string of Southern California physicians accused of violating their oaths by dealing drugs. The charges come amid a prescription drug epidemic that recently pushed drugs ahead of traffic accidents as a cause of death nationwide.

Al Bussam was arrested last October after a three-year investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. He was accused of operating a so-called pill mill in which he wrote prescriptions in exchange for cash, regardless of a patient's true need for the drugs ...

Ryan Thompson, 30, died on the doorstep of his younger sisters' Costa Mesa home a day after being prescribed methadone pills by Al Bussam, records show. His sisters cared for him while he suffered through a withdrawal, throwing up so often his vomit was streaked with blood. He wanted to kick his methadone habit and had been sober for weeks when he got his last prescription, family members say. Al Bussam wrote him a prescription for 100 methadone pills to be taken three at time three times daily, records show.

Thompson's sister Hailey said he came home obviously high that evening. Upset and saddened by his relapse, she told him they would discuss it in the morning.

When Hailey found her brother sitting cross-legged outside her front door, a friend began CPR, but it was too late. Toxicology tests later revealed methadone, as well as morphine and oxycodone, in his body. The coroner ruled his death an accidental overdose.

Thompson's mother, Niki, said a coroner's investigator told her that if her son had resumed taking methadone at the amount he was used to before kicking the habit, it could have killed him.

"If you know someone is an addict, why in the world would you hand them a bottle of pills and say, 'Here, take three at a time,'" Niki said.

Gluck, Al Bussam's attorney, said he did not believe that Thompson was a patient of his client. Coroner records list Al Bussam as his doctor and show that Al Bussam's office provided medical records to an investigator.

Others who, according to coroner records, died after being prescribed drugs by Al Bussam or while in possession of drugs he prescribed are:

• Christopher Vargas, 47, who overdosed in his Echo Park apartment in May 2007 on a cocktail of prescription drugs, including a commonly abused muscle relaxant sold under the brand name Soma, which had been prescribed by Al Bussam 26 days earlier, according to coroner's records. Vargas had multiple drug-related arrests, the records state.

• Terry Ridgeway, 42, who family members said had been a crack cocaine abuser but had been clean for seven years before developing a prescription drug habit. He was found dead on the kitchen floor of his Santa Monica apartment in December 2008. A pill bottle containing an anti-anxiety drug prescribed by Al Bussam was found in his bedroom. That drug was one of three that caused his death, coroner's records show. The vial bearing Al Bussam's name had a partially torn label, which law enforcement officials say is a sign of illegally traded drugs. Gluck said he did not believe that Ridgeway was a patient of Al Bussam.

• Lisa Vanzandt, 49, who was an aspiring nurse and primary caretaker of her elderly mother, according to coroner's records. Vanzandt had several medical problems, including back pain, her mother said. She was fond of walking along the cliffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula near where she grew up in Redondo Beach. A friend told coroner's investigators that the family lost their home and that Vanzandt had always dreamed of moving back. The friend said Vanzandt had a prescription drug problem and speculated that she fell off the cliff while intoxicated. Prescription bottles bearing Al Bussam's name were found in Vanzandt's purse. The same drugs as he prescribed — a painkiller and anti-anxiety medication — were among a cocktail of drugs found in her body, coroner's records show. The labels on both bottles were torn. The death was ruled an accident.

Al Bussam was sentenced yesterday, "Drug-dealing doctor sentenced to seven years in prison":

A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a drug-dealing doctor who was once California's top prescriber of narcotic painkillers and other commonly abused drugs to seven years in federal prison, saying he was being somewhat lenient because he did not want the 72-year-old physician to die behind bars.

"It fills me with shame to stand before you today," Dr. Nazar Al Bussam told the judge shortly before he was sentenced. "I failed to live up to the standards I tried to set for myself. I can only hope for some opportunity to redeem myself, so help me God."

As Al Bussam spoke in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom, his adult son put his head in his hands and quietly wept. His wife stared straight ahead, expressionless. Minutes later, the doctor was stripped of his tie, jacket, belt and watch and was led from the courtroom in handcuffs by U.S. marshals.

U.S. District Judge S. James Otero imposed the sentence after telling the court he had read a Times report Wednesday that linked Al Bussam to the deaths of three patients to whom he had prescribed drugs and two other people who had drugs prescribed by him in their possession.

Authorities did not discover those deaths during their three-year probe of Al Bussam, who they said generated nearly $2 million in cash while recklessly prescribing addictive narcotics to drug addicts and dealers.

Before sentencing, prosecutors Ariel A. Neuman and Benjamin R. Barron brought the article to the judge's attention, saying they thought he should be aware of it, but did not seek to enter it as evidence or to postpone sentencing to conduct further investigation.

Otero, after summarizing the report aloud in court, said it would be improper for him to consider the article for a number of reasons, including that it contained statements from people who had not testified in court. After imposing the sentence, the judge said that if he had considered the "very troubling" information in the article and found the doctor responsible for the deaths, he probably would have imposed the nearly 20-year sentence prosecutors had requested.

Pro-Terror Students Found Guilty in Michael Oren Protest Case at UC Irvine

At LAT, "'Irvine 11' jury finds all 10 students guilty." (At Memeorandum.)

Pamela has the background on the Irvine 11: "ACTION ALERT: PROSECUTE MUSLIM STUDENT UNION FOR FREE SPEECH ATTACK."

And I reported previouslly on Taher Herzallah, president of UCR's Muslim Student Union and Irvine 11 defendant: "UCLA’s Palestine Awareness Week: Students for the Extermination of Israel."

SoCal Grocery Stores Reach Deal with United Food and Commercial Workers

At LAT, "Ralphs, Vons, Albertsons, union reach labor deal, avert strike."

Apparently, both sides realized a strike would be devastating, as this earlier LAT report indicated, "In the event of a walkout, the chains' competition would be the big winners":

Today, Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons have fewer stores in Southern California, and fewer employees. Albertsons has closed 67 locations since the 2003-04 strike and worker lockout. Ralphs has closed 48 stores, and Vons and Pavilions are down 47.

The competition is filling the gap. Unified Grocers, which represents at least 526 stores owned by independent chains, controls 12.1% of the grocery market in Southern California and Las Vegas, according to research by the Shelby Report, a grocery industry publication.

Trader Joe's, with 106 stores, has 5.4% of the market. Smart & Final, Tesco's Fresh & Easy and Whole Foods combined control another 5.4%, according to the report.

Although these companies all target different consumers, they have one thing in common: They are, for the most part, non-union shops. And like the airline and auto industries, the three big unionized retailers all have legacy health, pension and payroll costs that put them at an economic disadvantage.

Smaller chains can also tailor individual stores to the tastes of the neighborhood.

For independent grocer Jax Markets in Anaheim, that means packaging meat in smaller containers and wooing customers with personalized service. The four-store chain caters to predominantly Latino shoppers. A number of its customers don't have cars, so the grocer offers a free shuttle service for anyone who lives within a five-mile radius of a store and is willing to spend a minimum of $30 in their trip to the grocery store.

"When the gas prices were going up, I wondered, 'Is it really worth it?' But it is," said W. Bill MacAloney, chief executive of Jax Markets. "People are shopping around, and that gives us an opportunity. So we need to do what we can to help our customers."

Serving ethnic shoppers can go beyond carrying brands they like. A number of economic factors persuaded Vons to close one of its locations in a working-class Latino neighborhood of Long Beach. Superior Grocers snapped up the outlet in 2003, before the strike, and transformed it into a mid-size store with bargain-priced produce and fast-moving register lines.

On a recent Monday afternoon, a mostly Latino crowd jammed the produce section, plucking up bags of mangoes the size of softballs for 99 cents each. Customers reached for fresh tortillas made in the store, freshly baked French rolls and loaves of Mexican sweet bread. Flat-panel TVs played Spanish-language news clips. On the overhead speakers, daily specials rang out in English and Spanish.

Four miles to the southeast, in the upscale Belmont Shore neighborhood, Vons operates one of its smaller specialty stores, known as the Market by Vons. Sparkling clean and quiet as a library, the store features a bounty of wine and a limited produce selection. Mangoes there cost $1 more than at Superior Grocers and were half the size.

"I love this Vons, but I don't shop here all the time," said Patty Barnett, 38, an artist who lives in downtown Long Beach. "I shop where there are sales."

Unemployment Rate Hits 12.1 Percent in California

At Los Angeles Times, "California unemployment rate rises to 12.1% in August." Another sign that things might not turn out badly for the Democrats in California 2012, but we'll see.

RELATED: "Another summer closure: Pat & Oscar’s." My family really enjoyed the food there. But when we were moving a few weeks back my wife went out to get dinner for everyone and she comes home with some fried chicken from Ralphs and says, "Pat & Oscar's is closed." So, I cruised by there to see for myself. A great location, right next to a movie theater and a Barnes and Noble. The restaurant always seemed busy. It's gone now:

Michele Bachmann Predicts Republican Victory in California Presidential Vote

I'm still not convinced, but Obama's losing his base even in the Golden State, so we'll see.

At LAT: "Bachmann predicts a GOP win in California in 2012."

Ralphs Stores to Close If Workers Go On Strike

Great news!

At LAT, "Ralphs says it will close stores if workers go on strike. Albertsons may follow."

The labor fight between union officials and grocery employers spilled outside of the negotiation room Friday as Ralphs announced that the company would “initially” close all 250 of its Southern California stores if workers go on strike.

How long these stores would remain closed is unclear.

About 18,000 employees are covered by the contract currently being negotiated between Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons and the United Food and Commercial Workers union. Ralphs has an estimated 22,000 employees in Southern California.

“During a strike, it is difficult to create a good shopping experience for our customers and a good working environment for our employees,” Ralphs spokeswoman Kendra Doyel said in a statement Friday. “We will evaluate the situation as it progresses.”

Another reason to hate unions.

See also: "Statement by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Regarding H.R. 2587: Republicans in Congress Put Corporate Interests Ahead of Job Creation." Well, jeez, where have I heard that before?