Daily Archives: January 30, 2010

InlandPolitics: Ramos investigation doesn’t add up – Part 2

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  • Written by Senor Blogger
  • Posted January 30, 2010 at 10:14 am

More questions continue to be raised regarding the recently released report into the conduct of District Attorney Michael Ramos and his department, involving a former mistress of Ramos.

I last focused on statements made to investigators by Ramos and the number of inconsistencies.

Now let’s look at the treatment of Investigative Technician Cheryl Ristow. Ristow had a 17-month long affair with Ramos in the 2003 to 2005 period of time.

Even though it would now appear it was more of a relationship of necessity and convenience for Ramos.

Wanna have sex? Just pick up the phone.

After all, Ramos is the DA.

Continue reading →

iePolitics: What is PM2.5?

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For those interested in the technical side of this issue, here is some additional information.

The research involves Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5).  Particulate Matter is the solids or liquids emitted into the air. The 2.5 represents 2.5 microns in diameter or less.  A micron (or micrometer) is a millionth of a meter.

Here is an interesting article that discusses the science behind the new rule:


SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIONS TO PROPOSED REGULATIONS FOR IN-USE ON-ROAD DIESEL VEHICLES
Dr. Matthew Malkan. Professor of Physics and Astronomy, UCLA,  Dec. 10, 2008

CARB, like any powerful autonomous government agency, needs to follow this guiding principle:

The more costly the proposed regulations, the higher the degree of scientific certainty required to justify them.

CARB’s proposed new regulations on diesel exhaust go far beyond what any of the other 49 states, or the federal government has adopted.  The claimed toxic effects of diesel particulate matter (roughly described as “PM2.5”) are hundreds of times smaller than, for example, the increased risk of lung cancer caused by cigarette smoking.  These possible effects are so small, the actual exposure levels of human subjects are so difficult to estimate, and there are so many confounding health factors that are impossible to control, that the entire question needs to be broadly re-assessed before adopting a radical crash program of harsh new regulations on diesel trucks.

I’ve tried to take an objective look at the scientific question: Is fine particulate matter in diesel exhaust causing cancer and premature deaths of a measurable number of Californians?  The short answer is that we do not yet know.  But whichever way it eventually turns out will have no effect whatever on my career, or my grant funding.  I’m just a 30-year L.A. resident looking for a clear answer, but I do use the statistical tools of epidemiologists (e.g., Cox Proportional Hazard tests) in my own astrophysics research.

Continue reading →

iePolitics: Job Killing California Air Resources Board Rules Have Local Connections

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San Bernardino County’s past continues to haunt us.  It is not corruption, at least not exactly, but we find that yet another former Chairman of the Board of Supervisors is making news.  This time we have to go back even further than Jerry Eaves to find the culprit.

Barbara Cram Riordan, a 1961 University of Redlands graduate, served on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors from 1983 until her third full term ended in 1996. Prior to her stint with the County of San Bernardino, she served on the Redlands City Council for four years.

Riordan was appointed to the California Air Resources Board in 1991 by then-Governor Pete Wilson, reappointed in 1999 by  former-Governor Gray Davis and again in 2004 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  She served as Chairman of the Air Resources Board twice for short periods of time.  She has also previously served on the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District Board of Directors.

So what does all of this have to do with killing jobs and scandal you might ask?  Has anyone been listening to KFI640′s John and Ken of late?  If not, you are missing out. Continue reading →

iePolitics: Jeff Burum . . . Jeff Burum . . . and more Jeff Burum

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I sent a text to Jim Erwin this morning after reading the Sun story on former Assessor’s Office employee Rex Gutierrez’ preliminary hearing yesterday, basically saying that I hope when this whole scandal is over, Jeff Burum sues the heck out of the Sun, Adam Aleman, and Mike Ramos.  Tonight I read the Press Enterprise story and am adding that paper to the list.

I wrote in my “Black Helicopters” post on the last blog about my almost two-hour conversation with Adam Aleman a few months ago where he claimed that District Attorney investigators intimidated and tricked him into saying things about the entire cast of characters in the corruption scandal, including Jeff Burum.  He completely denied presenting any of the information to District Attorney investigators as hard, cold facts and stated that much of it was rumor he expected them to check out and not act on until verified. Continue reading →

iePolitics: Deputy AG to Court: Erwin wants to be “special”

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At the last court appearance former Assistant Assessor and Chief of Staff Jim Erwin made in front of Judge Duke Rouse, arguments were heard to have an evidentiary hearing to recuse the District Attorney’s office from Erwin’s case.  During those arguments, the deputy Attorney General assisting in the prosecution suggested to Judge Rouse that Erwin wants to be given “special” treatment.  This particular statement highlights the ignorance of the Attorney General’s office in reference to the political corruption in San Bernardino County. Continue reading →

iePolitics: SB County Board of Supervisors Dark Almost 50 Percent of 2010

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The 2010 San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors meeting calendar is posted to the county’s website.  Now that our board members have achieved their full 50-percent raise, they are offsetting it by only showing up for public board meetings slightly more than 50 percent of the time.  The board is dark 25 out of 52 weeks this year.

No wonder Ruth Stringer and Dean Arabatzis haven’t been fired.  It’s hard to fire someone for doing something one is doing oneself.

I would suggest this proves that a part-time Board of Supervisors would be more than appropriate.  These people need to work for a living and have less time to live off of our dime.  With benefits they are making well over $250,000 a year.  For what?

2010 Board of Supervisors Meeting Dates

January 2010 5 12 19 26
February 2 9 16 23
March 2 9 16 23 30
April 6 13 20 27
May 4 11 18 25
June 1 8 15 22 29
July 6 13 20 27
August 3 10 17 24 31
September 7 14 21 28
October 5 12 19 26
November 2 9 16 23 30
December 7 14 21 28
January 2011 4 11 18 25
Red indicates no meeting date.