The Red Monkey

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Salinas remained the fourth in homicide rates among large California cities in 2009, according to numbers released by the FBI earlier this week.

The city ranked below Richmond, Oakland and Inglewood, respectively, with 20.1 homicides per 100,000. Salinas saw a record-setting 29 homicides — all gang-related — in 2009.

Mayor Dennis Donohue said Tuesday the data is unflattering, but the city is doing what needs to be done.

“Salinas has aggressively reached out to state and federal partners … and we’re beginning to see traction,” he said. “We have a long, long way to go … [but] as a city and a community, we’re doing what we need to do to reverse those trends.”

Related

• FBI: Salinas’ violent crimes climbed in 2009

The city has seen two homicides, both gang-related, this year.

According to the FBI’s preliminary annual uniform crime report, Richmond recorded 45.8 homicides per 100,000 people in 2009. Oakland had 25.7 and Inglewood 24.

Salinas was also fourth the year before, when it recorded 25 homicides, behind Oakland, Richmond and Compton.

Salinas police spokesman Officer Lalo Villegas reiterated Donohue’s message, saying the department is doing all it can to reduce homicides, and crime in general, in the city.

Villegas said police and the city have been executing several programs in an effort to reduce crime.

They include, among others: Operation Ceasefire, Operation Knockout, and the Community Alliance on Safety and Peace — which received a $382,639 two-year grant from the state in March.

“We’re already seeing some success from those programs,” Villegas said. “Knockout” was a massive gang crackdown conducted in and around Salinas by the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of California, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in addition to many local law enforcement agencies.

The operation netted nearly 100 gang members.

The Salinas Police Department has conducted five call-ins, most recently on May 5, through Ceasefire. That program presents gang members a choice between giving up their criminal ways — taking advantage of services and receiving help with employment — or facing harsher prosecution and hard time.

“As the mayor, I see the good work we’re doing,” Donohue said. “We need to continue to move forward and build momentum.”

Villegas said it’ll take more than law enforcement to reduce Salinas’ homicide rates.

He said the department not only needs more officers but more help from residents reporting crime and calling in crime tips.

“[Police officers] and the community have to work together on this problem,” Villegas said.

So far in 2010, Salinas has seen a slowdown in killings. The most recent case came in April, when a 32-year-old parolee, William Fowler Taylor IV, was fatally shot in north Salinas.

In March, 6-year-old Azahel Cruz became the first homicide victim of 2010 in Salinas when he was struck by a stray bullet that entered his family’s home. The bullet came from gunfire between gang members in a park next to their home in the 1000 block of East Laurel Drive.

The FBI’s official annual crime report is due for release in the fall.

What is more shocking, that Salinas is considered a large city or the murder rate. Its such a violent place now. Nothing like what it was when I grew up there.

Wolverine, Cyclops, and Phoenix, as directed by John Hughes

Illustrator Cliff Chiang has rendered Marvel Comics’ most notorious — and immature — love triangle in an homage to one of Hughes’ most beloved teen-angst-o-ramas, Pretty in Pink.

Chiang’s original Pink Phoenix illustration will be sold at auction at next month’s HeroesCon, in North Carolina.

This isn’t the first time Chiang has gone down the John Hughes album-cover remix road; he did a Breakfast Club-Teen Titans number to commemorate Hughes’ death last year:

(Via Twitter)

Send an email to Marc Bernardin, the author of this post, at marc@io9.com.

With the states having problems staying financially solvent in the wake of the Great Recession, the Internet is becoming an ever more attractive way to generate tax revenue. California is one of these states looking to tax online sales as a way to make up for income shortfalls.

Democrats in California’s Assembly have brought forth Assembly Bill 2078, which if passed could generate an additional $100 million a year in revenue. Earlier this month the Assembly (the lower house in the state) passed the bill on an party line vote 46-28, with five abstentions. It has now moved on to the California Senate, where it has been debated and amended in committee.

Bill opponents have successfully been able to water down much of the bill within committee, however Democratic budget aides argue the Senate should approve the stronger measure. They argue that brick-and-mortar business make customers pay sales tax, thus online retailers should be compelled to do the same.

It would work a little differently, since Internet purchases would not be directly taxed. Residents of the state are already required to report their online purchases so that they are subject to a “use tax,” but few actually do.

The state does not enforce the law well, meaning it loses out on this additional money into the states coffers — only about $10 million annually is reported on state tax forms. Under the original version of this law — not the amended version coming out of the Senate tax committee — Internet retailers would be required to report sales to California residents to the state’s tax bureau, making collection much easier.

It is not clear at this time whether the bill will pass in its more stringent form. Democrats do hold majorities in both houses: the Senate has 25 Democrats, 13 Republicans, and 2 vacancies.The Assembly has 49 Democrats, 29 Republicans, 1 Independent, and 1 vacancy.

Politicians may be wary of passing new taxes in a year where anti-incumbency seems to reign. Half the Senate and the entire assembly are up for reelection, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has repeatedly pushed back on attempts for more stringent use tax collection.

Opponents may have no choice however — with California in an increasingly serious budget crisis, getting tough on taxes may be the only option short of raising taxes altogether, which no politician wants to do in an election year.

Senate Democrats countered Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget Monday by proposing $4.9 billion in added taxes to prevent deep cuts in safety-net programs.

Republican lawmakers repeated that they refuse to support new taxes, although they have not outlined how they would cut the state’s $19.1 billion deficit, equal to roughly one-fifth of general fund spending.

The developments were more evidence that state leaders have entered the shadow-boxing phase of the budget process, staking out negotiating territory before they engage in serious talks.

They also signaled the process is almost certain to stretch into summer, well past the June 15 deadline for lawmakers to send a budget plan to the governor and the July 1 start of the next fiscal year.

Deadlines have had no effect in the past three years. Two factors likely to force action this summer are a desire to have time for fall campaigning and a potential cash shortage that makes it problematic for the state to pay its bills.

“I don’t think anybody running for office in November wants to be associated with the carnage in Sacramento, so the sooner it’s over, the better it is for all of them,” said Dave Gilliard, a Republican political consultant working on several legislative campaigns.

The Legislature and the governor ultimately will have to make unpopular choices that defy their supporters’ interests. At the moment, as party primaries approach, they are still playing to their key constituencies.

Last week, the Legislature convened hearings that felt like rallies at times. Advocates for welfare and subsidized child care programs applauded in one Assembly hearing when Democrats said they would reject the governor’s harshest cuts to those programs.

As one way to replace those cuts, Senate Democrats on Monday proposed $4.9 billion in additional taxes on corporations, income, vehicles and alcohol.

Senate Budget Chairwoman Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego, said Monday that many of them should not be viewed as tax hikes because they maintain current tax rates – albeit rates that are scheduled to drop within the next year.

“Their strategy seems to be to tax, spend and defend state health and welfare programs that California can’t afford,” Assembly Republican leader Martin Garrick responded in a statement. “We have heard their loud and repeated calls for tax increases all year, and Republicans continue to respond with a resounding ‘NO.’ “

Schwarzenegger spoke to his own sympathetic audience. He appeared at an annual California Chamber of Commerce breakfast and said he would demand a stronger “rainy-day fund” and pension cuts for new state workers – all without raising taxes.

Over the next several weeks, the Legislature is expected to produce a largely Democratic budget after a series of committee hearings. But Democrats ultimately need an agreement with Republican lawmakers, since a two-thirds majority must pass a budget, not to mention Schwarzenegger must sign it.

In recent years, the two parties have been unable to work out differences in committee. That has led to “Big Five” meetings of the Republican and Democratic leaders of each house and the governor. That process can take weeks, if not months.

Budget experts believe the Legislature is headed for the same fate again this year, despite Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez’s vow that the budget would not be resolved that way.

The four legislative leaders who put together last February’s budget behind closed doors – which contained a mixture of tax hikes and spending cuts – received a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Monday .

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, then-Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, then-Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill and then-Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines were honored for demonstrating “political courage … in standing up to the extraordinary constituent and party pressure.”

That type of compromise appears less likely this time given how much political capital legislators burned last year.

The two Republicans who negotiated that deal lost their leadership positions. Democratic leaders also saw a backlash from core supporters in the budget offseason. The California Teachers Association already has pressured Steinberg, in billboards and mailers around Sacramento, to provide more money for schools.

Ultimately, the state’s cash flow tends to force lawmakers into a deal.

It did so in February 2009 when the state threatened to suspend $5 billion in construction projects and couldn’t send out tax refunds. It did so again in July 2009 after the state had to issue IOUs because it didn’t have enough cash to pay its bills.

Lawmakers may take longer this year because the state is in a better cash position.

“The unavoidable reality of the cash-flow situation is going to dictate how much pressure the Legislature is going to feel to solve the budget,” said Mike Genest, who served as Schwarzenegger’s finance director from 2005 to 2009.

When the state has a late budget, it routinely stops paying thousands of private vendors that provide goods and services to the state. That in itself hasn’t spurred lawmakers into action in the past.

But if Controller John Chiang decides to issue IOUs or Schwarzenegger seeks furloughs or minimum-wage pay for state workers, lawmakers could feel more significant political pressure.

The main dispute will boil down to the $12.4 billion in spending cuts Schwarzenegger proposed. Democrats want to avoid as many cuts as possible, whether through new revenues or shifting costs into future budget years.

“There are going to be cuts – there’s no way you can do this without cutting,” said Daniel J.B. Mitchell, a UCLA professor emeritus of public policy and management. “But (legislators) will try to push this as far as they can into the future.”

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call Kevin Yamamura, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5548.

And who will win, not the Citizens of California.

Ronnie James Dio, whose soaring vocals, poetic lyrics and mythic tales of a never-ending struggle between good and evil broke new ground in heavy metal, died Sunday, according to a statement from his wife and manager. He was 67.

Dio revealed last summer that he was suffering from stomach cancer shortly after wrapping up a tour in Atlantic City, N.J., with the latest incarnation of Black Sabbath, under the name Heaven And Hell.

“Today my heart is broken,” Wendy Dio wrote on the singer’s site, adding he died at 7:45 a.m. “Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away.

“Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all,” Wendy Dio continued. “We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us … Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever.”

The statement was confirmed by Los Angeles publicist Maureen O’Connor. Dio was being treated at a Houston hospital, according to his site.

Though Dio had recently undergone his seventh chemotherapy treatment, he was hopeful to perform again. Earlier this month, Heaven And Hell canceled its summer tour, but Dio did not view being sidelined as a permanent thing.

“Wendy, my doctors and I have worked so hard to make it happen for all of you, the ones we care so much about, that this setback could be devastating, but we will not let it be,” he said in a statement. “With your continued love and support, we … will carry on and thrive. There will be other tours, more music, more life and much more magic.”

Dio rose to fame in 1975 as the first lead singer of Rainbow, the heavy metal band put together by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who had just quit Deep Purple.

Dio then replaced legendary vocalist Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath in 1980 with the critically acclaimed album “Heaven And Hell,” considered by many critics to be one of the finest heavy metal albums of all time. His on-again, off-again tenure with Black Sabbath touched off an intense debate among fans as to which singer was the true essence of the band — a discussion that lasted until his death.

He also enjoyed a successful solo career with his self-titled band, Dio, in between his three stints with Black Sabbath (1980-82; 1992; and 2007-2009, when the band toured as Heaven And Hell, to differentiate it from Osbourne-led versions of Sabbath).

Many of his most memorable songs revolved around the struggle between good and evil, including his signature tune “Heaven And Hell.” He also drew heavily on medieval imagery in songs like “Neon Knights,” “Killing The Dragon” and “Stargazer.”

“He possessed one of the greatest voices in all of heavy metal, and had a heart to match it,” said Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French, whose band toured with Dio since 1983, and was to do so again this summer at European rock festivals. “He was the nicest, classiest person you would ever want to meet.”

Dio organized an all-star charity collaboration in 1986 called “Hear N’ Aid” to raise money for famine relief in Africa, styled on the successful “We Are The World” campaign of a few years earlier.

His solo hits included “Rainbow In The Dark,” “The Last In Line” and “Holy Diver.”

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AP Music Writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody contributed to this story.

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Online:

http://www.ronniejamesdio.com/

Iran in the 1970s before the Islamic Revolution

Posted in World by admin on May 10th, 2010

Iran in the 1970s before the Islamic Revolution

Mention the word Iran to most people and this image is probably close to what first comes to mind:

Older people will remember a vastly different impression of Iran though, the Iran from before the Islamic Revolution. There are a large number of pictures and videos out there that show a radically different country from the one today (some might be from the 1960s BTW) so I’ve gathered a few of them together.

(Edit: Actually the pictures are almost all people so perhaps Iranians in the 1970s would be a more appropriate title)

First some photos from two videos here and here:

A few screen shots from this video:

As well as some other images from here and there:

Atta Behmanesh (sport anchor), Giti (singer), and Parviz Gharib Afshar (producer) on Iranian state run TV

Portrait of Mahasti, famous Persian songstress, on cover of “Weekly Ettelaat” magazine (1974)

Photo of “Forouzan” printed on the cover of «Weekly Ettelaat» magazine, No.1706 (1974).

Khandaniha Magazine’s front page, published on Saturday, Wednesday, May 10, 1972

Photo published with an interview of “Weejly Ettelaat” with “Ali Hatami”, 3 months after marriage with “Zari Khoshkam”

This photo was printed on the cover of “Weekly Ettelaat” magazine, No.1523, together with this note: “Forouzan and the latest fashion; Will people of Tehran approve it?”

Street scene from Tehran in 1975. Note the Canada Dry sign in the back.

Second grade, Hekmat Primary School 1973

Community High School in Tehran in the 1970s (closed down in 1979). Nothing particularly notable about the building itself but former Georgia Congressman and Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr graduated from high school here in 1966.

Finally, here are some links to other photos from Flickr that can’t be posted here but are still worth looking at.

• People standing around a car in the mountains
• Two women posing for a picture
• Afkhami at her first press conference as secretary general of the Women’s Organization of Iran (1970)
• Peace Corps party photo in Tehran
• Some guy with a sweater, 1971
• Current president Ahmadinejad in 1976 with his soccer team
• Family hanging out in the park in 1975

You can also see a travelogue from 1971 here and here (two parts). There is another fairly long documentary from 2007 here that focuses on daily life in Tehran today.

See also this video I uploaded last month that shows what spoken Persian sounds like:

And if you’ve been interested in learning Persian but have been intimidated by the script, don’t worry: Persian is a much easier language to learn than you might think (I’m learning it myself and can attest to that). It does take a while to get used to reading the script but after that it’s really easy to pick up. Easy verb conjugation, no grammatical gender, plural is easy to form, etc. To watch BBC Persian’s newscast online see here and here.
Edit: in response to the first comment – I haven’t assembled the images in an attempt to make pre-revolutionary Iran look like a golden age, but rather to show that Iranians/Persians are much less conservative at heart than one might be led to believe (yes, it does vary by region and ethnic group but still). I chose to focus on Iranians alone and not the government at the time for that reason.

Click on the link for more from jalopnik.