The Weekly Roundup

Thursday, October 19
Rebuked by Leno, Phil Angelides made his way onto Adam Carolla‘s morning
radio show. Robert Salladay has the best of the recaps: “Angelides brought
along his daughter, Megan, who received a hearty leering while, if I am not
mistaken, someone suggested smearing mayonnaise on her.

“Angelides objected to that, saying he would fight Carolla. But Angelides
also made a pitch for some Playboy Mansion tickets for a staff member. ‘I
want to be very clear, they are not for me,’ Angelides said. ‘A year and a
half on the road with me, he’s jumping up and down.'”

Even money says that staffer was Ed Emerson.

Friday, October 20
The guv dropped $3.5 million into his re-election bid, bringing the total
amount he has spent on political campaigns up near $30 million. The L.A.
Times reports aides have asked for roughly $6 million to complete his 2006
re-election effort, but the governor has settled for the smaller amount so
far.

With all that money, Schwarzenegger could hire 3.5 Steve Schmidts.

Saturday, October 21
That cloud of dust you see is Orange County Republican leaders sprinting
away from Congressional candidates Tan Nguyen.

“Condemnation of an intimidating mailer from congressional candidate Tan
Nguyen’s campaign swelled Thursday, as state investigators continued
interviews in the county and the U.S. Justice Department joined the probe.
“State Attorney General Bill Lockyer told Nguyen’s opponent, Rep. Loretta
Sanchez, D-Garden Grove, that details should become clearer in the next few
days and that his office ‘would be making arrests,'” Sanchez said.

Sunday, October 22
Looks like San Francisco is cracking down on the art of creative massage,
according to the Chronicle. “Anyone who wants to open a massage parlor in
San Francisco would first have to meet their future neighbors at a public
hearing, under proposed rules intended to weed out spas that serve as fronts
for brothels.

“The Board of Supervisors will vote on the proposal Tuesday. It’s part of an
effort by city leaders to curb the illegal sex trade in San Francisco, part
of the growing $8 billion international sex trafficking industry.”

“‘My ordinance is aimed at immigrant women who are here working in the
massage parlors against their will,’ said Supervisor Fiona Ma, a candidate
for state Assembly who introduced her idea shortly after federal agents
raided 10 Asian massage parlors in San Francisco in summer 2005.”

Monday, October 23
In Los Angeles, planners are dreaming of a train line to LAX, reports the
Times’ Jean Guccione. “Los Angeles officials are drawing a new route aimed
at finally closing perhaps the biggest gap in the region’s mass transit
system: A lack of a rail line flowing directly into Los Angeles
International Airport.

“Planners envision a new light rail line that would run along Crenshaw
Boulevard and Florence Avenue between Exposition Boulevard and the airport.
Although still in the early planning stages, officials believe that the line
could be opened by 2015 if they can secure the $1 billion needed to build
it.”

Well, we’ve all got our problems.

Tuesday, October 24
From our Dear George files, looks like the guv sees the political wisdom of
doing some Bush-bashing. “After weeks of subtle jabs at fellow Republicans
in Congress and the White House, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger turned more
blunt Tuesday in a tart letter to President Bush. Chiding the president for
ignoring his plea for more leeway to toughen California’s vehicle exhaust
standards, Schwarzenegger complained about ‘the absence of a coherent
federal policy’ to stop global warming.

“At the same time, Schwarzenegger’s Democratic challenger, state Treasurer
Phil Angelides, dismissed the governor’s detachment from Bush as a ruse.
‘Look, the Republicans are going down in this election, and Arnold
Schwarzenegger is going with them, because he is part of the same team and
has the same agenda,’ Angelides said Tuesday after a Bay Area speech to a
raucous union crowd.”

Wednesday, October 25
Somehow, we always knew it would come to this. It’s looking like the Jews
against the Coastal Commission in southern California.

The early line has the Commission, minus four points.

The L.A. Times has the details: “An Orthodox synagogue with the ambitious
desire to enclose much of Santa Monica, Venice and Marina del Rey within a
religious boundary known as an eruv has come up against a barrier some say
is as immutable as the Torah itself: the California Coastal Commission.

“The Pacific Jewish Center in Venice wants to string fishing line between
lampposts and sign poles for several miles through the coastal communities,
creating a symbolic unbroken boundary.

“Orthodox Jews within the boundary can consider themselves to be ‘at home’
on the Sabbath. That eases restrictions of the holy day and allows people to
carry food, push strollers and bring their house keys with them when they go
out.”

Now that’s a clash of civilizations …