Friday, March 20, 2009

New Mexico Repeals Death Penalty

Kudos to Governor Bill Richardson and the people of New Mexico for repealing their State's death penalty.

While I do concur that some crimes are so heinous that the criminals who commit them no longer deserve to walk freely among us, I do not agree with the death penalty. However, should society really be responsible for the care and feeding of those who are sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison for the most horrible of crimes? That money could be better spent on those who are capable of being rehabilitated. As archaic as it may sound, perhaps the idea of a prison colony is not a bad one. Transport the scum far away from civilization and let them fend for themselves. Kind of like the movie Escape From New York.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Traffic

President Obama is currently in Los Angeles. While it's great to have the President in town, it always causes major havoc in the West L.A./Century City area because the Secret Service likes to use Santa Monica Blvd. as the primary way to get the Presidential Motorcade on and off the 405 Freeway. This necessitates the closing of Santa Monica Blvd., which is a major traffic artery in the West L.A. area. And wouldn't you know that my office is on Santa Monica Blvd., just a block east of the 405.

The morning, the President's helicopter landed in Cheviot Park, which is a few miles from the 405 entrance. Because of this, a good portion of Santa Monica Blvd. was closed which added about an extra hour to my morning commute as I tried to find alternate ways around the closures. Instead of just complaining about it, I emailed The White House and recommended that they use Veteran's Park as a landing site for Marine One. Veteran's Park is a large park in West L.A. which is part of the Veteran's Administration. Since the park is on Federal land, I would assume that it would be much easier to secure than Cheviot Park (which is in a residential area). Also, Veteran's Park is right next to the 405 Freeway, which would mean fewer street closures to get the Motorcade to and from the Freeway.

I'll report back if I get a response to my suggestion.

Thursday, March 05, 2009