Jaguar wrote:Here is a better reported story from the UK (go figure).
Homicide detectives said Calderon was walking along Hollywood Boulevard with a male co-worker when she stopped to take a picture of a cardboard sign one of the men was holding, according to the Los Angeles Times. She had been amused by the rude words and smiley face on the sign.
The men wanted Calderon to pay $1 for the picture, but she refused, igniting a dispute that ended in Miss Calderon's life.
One of the men jumped on Calderon, pushing her to the ground, as her co-worker was pinned against a wall, according to the Times. Miss Calderon was bleeding as she ran away.
The suspects were identified at the scene around midnight using photographs Calderon and her friend took.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -1-it.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I was there 18 months ago, it was craptacular. Bums and homeless everywhere, jerks in superhero costumes that did not look as good as my kids costumes when they were five demanding people pay them for having their photos taken. Apparently the bums have taken a page from the so called superheros and now demand money for photos. Hawkers trying to get you to take their "star tours" every 15 feet. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.
I was there just last month. It felt like I had flown into a third world country. I moved out of there for Texas 2006 because I knew (as did
anybody who had their eyes open) that this is where the state was headed. Liberal policies made it that way, and it is only going to get worse as more (illegal) liberals move in, and more conservative voices move out.
Victor Davis Hanson, a prominent
conservative (
democrat) Californian has a few choice things to say about the state:
http://townhall.com/columnists/victorda ... /page/full
http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/ca ... epage=true
http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/be ... alifornia/
That last one is so true, and I've been describing California as increasingly medieval for a long time now, so VDH really hit the nail on the head with that one. He also mentions in that article one of the reasons that so many right-thinking people choose to stay there....they literally cannot afford to leave. They are upside down on huge mortgage/equity ratios, and if they sold out and walked away, they would
still owe the banks and take nothing in equity. Back when I was still living there, someone at the county or state level commissioned a study that was not too widely published (because it was so damning) a study showing that one had to be earning in excess of $75,000/year to escape poverty in California. It also pointed out that one could not buy a home on an income of less than $75K; that the only way to avoid public assistance on a salary of less than $75K was to never go out for dinner, never go see a movie, never go to a baseball game, etc., etc. I used to have a printed copy of that study. And yet, and that study notwithstanding, millions of people in California who earned less than $75K per year
also wore $200 sneakers, had big screen TVs, drove BMWs, and had time and money for trips to Vegas. How, one might ask? Easy. Tell the state you're broke, and they will give you money for food, money for utilities, mortgage assistance, etc., etc., etc. Somebody pays for that, and the million or so millionaires in California, despite the higher taxes, aren't enough people paying enough taxes to pay for that. It's the middle class there who is paying it.
I swear to cow, if I were still living there, I'd sell out and leave......which is exactly what I did 7 years ago.....even if it meant taking a loss. Thank goodness I didn't have to sell at a loss; but for people who don't want to leave because they're going to sell at a loss, do any of them
seriously think it will get better?
....and one of my favorites.....as a Californian farmer himself, VDH's take on the famous Superbowl "God made a farmer" video:
http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/th ... epage=true" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.