Ernie Salomon-Live!

NORMAN JAFFE: CAN HE EVER TELL THE TRUTH?

2007-08-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

In today's Santa Barbara News-Press, that re-writer of his WWII experiences, Norman Jaffe, is at it again. Editorial Page Editor Travis Armstrong seems to love this guy's shading of the truth. Both Jaffe and the News-Press are in good company with each other. Armstrong and the News-Press doesn't publish any letters hostile to the paper and Norman Jaffe continues to turn the truth upside-down!

Today, Jaffe writes about America's "Greatest Generation" and claims to have knowledge how WWII President Roosevelt and our generals would have reacted to some of the decisions made by their successors.

He asks: Would they have approved of President Truman firing MacArthur?
Norman, General MacArthur was on his way to starting World War III by bombing mainland China, possibly with nuclear bombs and Truman wisely yanked him.

Would they have approved of Lyndon Johnson capitulating to the Viet Cong because Johnson was afraid of China's involvement? Norman, Lyndon Johnson didn't capitulate to the Viet Cong. He capitulated to the will of the American people. That war was lost and Americans wanted out, just like we want out of the disaster of Iraq!

He claims that the leaders of WWII would have reluctantly sanctioned invading Iraq. Jaffe probably also knows what God is thinking!

He goes on to write that the leaders we had during WWII might have introduced a draft and invaded Iraq with one-million of our troops, along with troops from other countries.

Norman, It would have been interesting to have been able to find out if President Roosevelt would have invaded Iraq in the first place, especially knowing then what we know now.

Norman Jaffe keeps re-writing history and the News-Press keeps giving him its platform.

Birds of a Feather Write Together!

American Worker's Economic Caste System Is Growing!

2007-08-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

The incredible shrinking American middle class is on steroids! America's economy is making the rich richer on the backs of America's workers.

Here are some economic facts that will give you food for thought:

The highest earning 300,000 Americans, representing only 1/10% of the working population (that's one taxpayer out of every 1,000 American workers) earn nearly as much as the bottom 62 million taxpayers who support 150 million family members!

80% of the recent gains in the income of America's workers have been made by the top 1% of taxpayers. Only 20% in recent income gains has been spread among the remaining 99% of America's labor force!

These highest paid 300,000 individuals pay a smaller percentage of income taxes on their earnings than most other workers in this country that make far less income pay as a percentage of their income. Warren Buffett, the 2nd richest man in the USA, paid only 17% of his 2006 income in income taxes. What percent of your income did you pay in income taxes?

HOW ARE AMERICA'S WORKERS REALLY DOING? LET'S SEE:

25% OF AMERICAN WORKERS EARN LESS THAN $9.00 PER HOUR!

MOST HAVE NO HEALTH CARE OR PENSIONS PROVIDED BY EMPLOYERS AND THE LIST IS GROWING!

50% OF AMERICAN WORKERS RECEIVE NO GUARANTEED SICK-PAY OR PAID SICK-DAYS OF ANY KIND!

PAID DAYS OFF AND VACATIONS: This is what US workers and workers in some other countries are guaranteed:
France: 31 days per year; Austria: 27 days per year; United Kingdom: 20 days per year; Japan: 10 days per year. United States: NONE!

While the wages and working conditions in many other countries are getting better, in the USA they are getting worse. Laws protecting workers continue to have lax government enforcement, while new laws continue to aid business in making even more money at the expense of American workers.

India has an ethnic caste system that is slowly dissolving.
America has an economic caste system that is on steroids!

LAURA SCHLESSINGER = NEWS-PRESS HIT LADY!

2007-08-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

Laura Schlissinger, known in her professional incapacity as Dr. Laura, is the resident hit-piece lady for her employers at the Santa Barbara News-Press.

Today, she attacked "the little paper that could", the Santa Barbara Daily Sound and its Editor Jeremy Gordon, for their attempt to protect the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The question is whether photos taken in a Santa Barbara murder case that were not printed in the Daily Sound should be turned over to the Santa Barbara County Public Defender as evidence. This same issue taking the form of notes, out-takes and interviews has come up over and over again in disputes between government and the media. Both sides have won and lost their share of these cases. In this case, the photos were turned over to the public defender by the Daily Sound upon arguments and a court order. Gordon said that the Daily Sound could not afford to carry the case to appeal.

Laura Schlessinger questions the motives and integrity of both the Daily Sound and editor Jeremy Gordon of their motives in this case.

I continue to question Laura Schlessinger's motives and integrity. She continues to attack anyone that is not in favor of or with the News-Press.

The News-Press was so concerned over competition from the Daily Sound that they registered every conceivable web address combination of the Daily Sound's name. This prevented the Daily Sound from using its own name on its own web-site. How petty can you get?

Laura Schlessinger has something in common with Pinocchio: Her nose grows with every column she writes. But then, it could be her facial plastic surgery!

OUR INFRASTRUCTURE IS FALLING APART

2007-08-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

The bridge in Minneapolis received a score of 50 out of 120. It was deemed unsafe. No money to fix it! Now the dead and maimed have paid for a new bridge in blood.

Our country is falling apart because we are spending trillions of dollars on wars and the tools of war! $600 billion to date in Iraq alone and counting!

Our highways, bridges, sewer systems, and water systems are wrecks.

Go to Europe and take a ride on their roads and highways. They make ours look like wagon trails!

Wake up America! Our country is falling apart!

LOVE THOSE PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PENSIONS!

2007-07-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

Firstly: Public employeees should all be paid decent wages. and if need be, be paid more in salaries while working, but to make three or four times more money in retirement pensions, than while working is obcene!

Sheriff Jim Anderson was just defeated and is retiring.

He will receive a pension of $186,000 per year with a guaranteed minimum increase on the pension total of the previous year of 3% (compounded). 2nd year = $192,000, 3rd year = $198,000, etc. If the CPI is higher than 3%, the yearly increase matches the CPI; PLUS lifetime free medical.

His wife gets 60% of his pension plus free medical care for life if he pre-deceases her, and the odds are that he will.

At age 53, he should live to age 83 by the actuaries. This amounts to (not counting the probability that he dies before his wife) a minimum pension (just with 3% yearly increases) of at least $6,400,000, which is about four times what he has earned as a deputy and finally as sheriff in his entire career of 30 years in the department.

Most rank and file deputies, police, firefighters and civilian public employess do not get this type of huge pension, but pensions from $70,000 and up per year with the same conditions are not uncommon.

No private business in this country pays workers these kinds of pensions. Most retiring workers today receive no pension at all and get no free medical care either. DO YOU?

The unfunded pension systems for all public entities in California, counties and cities will eventually break them! The State of California alone has over $100 BILLION DOLLARS in unfunded pension liability!

Our local city and county elected officials are all after the support of public employees unions and this is their pay-off. If you want to hear double-talk, ask anyone running for city council, county supervisor or state office about their position on public employee pensions. They are the "third rail" of politics!

All our politicians (who are in bed with the public employees unions) are leaving our future an expensive legacy !

THE BUSH WHITE HOUSE AIR FORCE

2007-07-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

The Bush White House has its own air force!

President Roosevelt ran the country for 12 years and through most of World War II without a single White House airplane. He was flown to the Casablanca Conference in 1943 on a Pan American Clipper.

Besides it large fleet of planes, the Bush White House has now ordered 23 helicopters, yes 23! These 23 helicopters will cost $300 million dollars each, a total of over $6 billion dollars! It might be a good idea to deploy the Bush Air Force to Iraq, where they are desperately needed!

In contrast: Two public portable toilets at Aquatic Park in San Francisco were closed down last year by the National Park Service. Reason: The richest and most powerful country in the history of mankind doesn't have enough money to provide toilet paper for the toilets. ONLY IN AMERICA!

AIN'T ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION WONDERFUL?

2007-07-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

FROM THE LA TIMES>>>>>>>>>

IN LA COUNTY ALONE:

40% of all workers, mostly illegal aliens, work for cash and pay no taxes.

95% of all murder warrants are for illegal aliens.

75% of the most wanted list are illegal aliens.

300,000 illegal immigrants are living in garages.

50% of all gang members come from south of the border.

60% of people living in HUD properties are illegal aliens.

70% of all births in California are to illegal Mexicans, paid for by taxpayers.

29% of federal prison inmates are illegal aliens.

Mayor Marty Blum: AN UNPREPARED DISASTER

2007-07-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

Over a year after I had Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum on our TV show, our leaderless city is still unprepared for a major disaster such as an earthquake, fire or combination of both. Ask San Francisco: The two went together; twice!

When I interviewed Mayor Blum, who loves playing mayor, but doesn't want to be THE MAYOR. Talking with Mayor Blum about emergency food and water supplies, I asked "Does the City of Santa Barbara have emergency rations of food and water in case of an emergency"? She answered:
" Yes!" I asked "Where are they? Mayor Blum answered "I don't know. That's the county's job". Fact: The City of Santa Barbara has no stocked emergency shelters designated.

In today's News-Press Blum is quoted as saying that; We've come a long way, and we're really doing a good job getting the information out there".
Out where Marty? In outer space with you? Is it a military secret?

Fire Chief Ron Prince, who accepted doing my show last year and then cancelled his appearance because he was probably afraid that he had no answers to my probing questions about disaster preparedness looks like he is still playing "blind man's bluff"!

Councilman Grant House asked Chief Prince where people should turn or go in an emergency. Chief Prince answered: "I wish there were an easy answer.
It will depend on the type of emergency, time of day and the location (of the emergency)"

Now that's pro-active disaster preparedness, Chief Prince! We wait until a monster earthquake or fire hits, then we call the fire department on phones that don't work, we get into our cars on roads that are covered with debris, are gone or engulfed in flames and we drive to the fire station that is no longer standing and sit down and cry.

The first breakdown in war or in an emergency is communications! The city's communications system failed even in our last emergency drill!

The City of Santa Barbara will be in the dark when a big one hits, the same dark that our city's leaders are in now.

Mayor Blum, Fire Chief Prince and the Santa Barbara City Council:
You have learned nothing from Katrina!

Times HAVE Changed!

2007-07-24T11:30:00.001-07:00

President Franklin D. Roosevelt ran World War II without a single airplane attached to the White House. He flew to the Casablanca Conference on a Pan American Clipper.

The Bush White House has dozens of planes and is awaiting delivery of 23, yes 23, helicopters costing about $300 million dollars each, for a total of over $6 billion dollars for the entire fleet. They will be newer and better equipped than any helicopter in the military's entire fleet.

Why is this Bush White House Air Force not deployed to Iraq where they are really needed to as President Bush always says "Support Our Troops"?

Katie Janeway + Yoni Gottesman = Preventable Drownings!

2007-07-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

Four-year old Yoni Gottesman followed 14-year old Katie Janeway in drowning needlessly. Katie drowned in a pool under the supervision of a City of Santa Barbara monitor and lifeguards and Yoni drowned under the eyes of lifeguards and other camp personnel at Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club.

The Janeway family has finally been given the go-ahead by the California State Supreme Court to file suit against the City of Santa Barbara for gross negligence. Yesterday, the Gottesman family filed a wrongful death suit against the Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club, and its owners, Richard Berti, Richard Ortale and Julie Main, charging that their son drowned wrongfully. No criminal charges were brought in either case. Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club did not have a state license to provide child care.

While both drownings occurred under different circumstances, the same question can be asked in in both cases: With all the supposed supervision that both the City of Santa Barbara and Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club claimed they had provided for these two children, why did they drown?

In Yoni's case, there is a videotape showing sequences of what happened, including an employee dunking him while Yoni struggled and the actual drowning and no intervention until it was too late. Why would anyone dunk a 4-year old child? Insanity!

Both of these children should still be alive!

We will stay on both of these cases on our blog and on our show.

S.B. City Council: Katie Janeway Ruling Dooms World!

2007-07-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

ERNIE SALOMON-LIVE! will be back on COM-17 starting September 6th.

The recent ruling by the California Supreme Court stating that future gross negligence cannot be signed away by waiver has finally brought a bitter victory to the Janeway family. Mayor Marty Bloom has never personally apologized to the Janeway family and was so cavalier at the time of Katie's death that she stated that "Katie could have died on the sidewalk". That's class, Marty!

The City of Santa Barbara, along with dozens of other cities and commercial interests fought the Janeways at every turn, stating that they had signed a waiver and that if a waiver did not protect them that it would spell the end of recreational facilities all over California, the End of the World! City attorney Steven Wiley, representing the City of Santa Barbara, argued that this ruling would doom future programs for children in Santa Barbara. It would mean the end of life on earth as we know it. The California Supreme Court said in a 6-1 decision that this argument was not supported by facts!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is not the Janeway ruling that is impacting our children's recreation in Santa Barbara. The Santa Barbara City Council (with only Councilman Roger Horton voting against it) recently appropriated $12,000 of your hard earned tax money to paint blue lines________all over Santa Barbara. As far as the mayor and council are concerned, it's not their money!

This insane waste of tax money along with white elephants like the Granada Theater and the Maritime Museum, both of which have eaten up millions of dollars of taxpayer money, are the real reason that infrastructure and citizen services in Santa Barbara are failing! $12,000 would have bought a lot of fun for a lot of local kids.

In the days ahead, I plan to discuss the Gottesman case. Another case of a local child drowning needlessly.

NEWS-PRESS' POISON PEN: LAURA SCHLESSINGER

2007-07-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

News-Press resident HIT-WOMAN, Laura Schlessinger loves to build herself up by putting other people down. She uses her weekly column in the paper to attack any person or group that is unfavorable to the News-Press and Wendy McCaw.

Today, she again used her poison pen column to take aim at former News-Press employees and Sara McCune, one of the most generous philanthropists in our city is fortunate enough to have here in Santa Barbara. She took Ms. McCune to task for not funding Santa Barbara Newsroom, which has been shut down because of funding problems. SBNR was started by ex-News-Press staffers and they had problems getting enough money to support the operation and all the staffers. Schlessinger called Sara McCune and others "cheap, power hungry hypocrites".

For Laura Schlessinger to call Sara McCune cheap is like anyone calling Laura Schlessinger's "plastic surgery project face", beautiful.

I would like to see Laura Schlessinger publish her own philanthrophy records and compare her giving to the millions that Sara McCune has given away. We would then find out very quickly who the "lazy, cheap, power hungry hypocrite" really is!

I have invited Laura Schlessinger to appear on our show on several occasions. She told me that she was afraid to appear with me. She is a coward that hides behind her column in the News-Press!

THE $12,000 BLUE LINE CAPER: HORTON VOTED NO!

2007-07-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

Santa Barbara City Councilman Roger Horton deserves the thanks of the taxpayers that pay his salary. Roger Horton was the only member of the city council to think enough of stopping the waste of taxpayer dollars to vote NO! against allocating $12,000 of our money to paint blue lines __________ __________ _________ __________ __________ (aren't they lovely) in Santa Barbara. They are proposed to show where the waterline will be when global warming floods the city. The lines will fade before the water flows!

This $12,000 could have been used for at least a couple of summer weekend events for our children at a city park. $12,000 could have bought hot-dogs and sodas. This is the same city council that frets and wrings their hands about the rising criminal activity of local Mexican kids that belong to gangs. Kids that are supervised by parents and have wholesome activities to enjoy are too busy to stab each other.

What were the other six council members thinking when they voted to waste this $12,000? In fact, were they thinking at all?
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MEXICAN KIDS KILL EACH OTHER! WHO CARES?

2007-07-18T09:59:00.000-07:00

Here in Santa Barbara, along with many other cities in the Southwest with large Mexican immigrant populations, Mexican kids are killing each other in record numbers. The excuse made by and for the parents is that they are "working so hard and with long hours" that they really don't have time to supervise their children. This is nothing more than a cop-out! My parents, my sister and I were immigrants who were without money and could not speak a word of English when we got here. My parents worked hard and long but still found time to parent us properly and keep us out of trouble. Hard working parents are no excuse for criminal children.

Mexican parents like to have large families with a lot of children. Does it make sense to have a bunch of kids when you know you will not be able to parent properly? Most Mexican immigrants come from small rural towns and they have no idea of what living in an urban area is like until they get here. Society and all our institutions cannot parent children. The police, courts and prisons only pick up the pieces. Every immigrant should have to go to parenting classes and made responsible for the actions of their minor children. If you minor son murders someone, you should be charged at the least with contributing to the delinquency of your child.

Most Americans don't care whether Mexican and black kids kill each other as long as it does not affect them, their neighborhoods or their businesses.

As long as Mexican immigrant mothers and fathers don't start to be real parents, we are going to see not only an increase in the numbers of gang related crimes, but also a growth in their brutality. It is not a problem that society is willing or able to solve! It's the parents!

KATIE JANEWAY, THERE IS A GOD!

2007-07-17T08:55:00.000-07:00

After five long years of appeals in the California courts, the Janeway family finally has seen a light at the end of a dark tunnel. The California State Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the City of Santa Barbara could be brought to trial in the drowning death five long years ago, of Katie Janeway, the Janeway's daughter who was 14-years old at the time.

The City of Santa Barbara had tried to avoid trial and responsibility in the case, citing a release waiver that the parents signed in case of negligence by the city.
In this instance, the city hired a one-on-one monitor/lifeguard to supervise and watch Katie because she was an epileptic. The monitor/lifeguard was at the shallow end, while Katie was in the deep end of the city operated pool and could not or did not see Katie because she was not close enough to continually watch her while in the pool. The Janeways charged that the city was guilty of gross negligence. The city claimed that the waiver absolved them of any responsibility in Katie's death. The California Supreme Court ruled that the case could go to trial because of a gross negligence factor. They ruled that a signed waiver offers no protection to the city for gross negligence. I predicted this outcome on our show years ago when the city first appealed the case in order to avoid trial. You cannot make an agreement with me to provide a monitor/lifeguard service to my child, not provide it in the proscribed proper manner and then walk away if my child dies, even though I signed a waiver with you. It is the taxpayers who will partly pay for this lack of concern of human life by the City of Santa Barbara. The city failed to do its job in guarding the life of Katie Janeway. The Janeway family has won a bitter victory.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK?

2007-07-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

The so-called "entertainment zone" or as I call it the "drunk zone on lower State Street in Santa Barbara costs taxpayers more to police than the bars pay in sales taxes! In other words, the people of Santa Barbara are paying for police protection of the bars and their drunk patrons that the bars create in the first place. Almost 1/3 of Santa Barbara's police budget is spent on lower State Street. The next time you dial 911 in one of our neighborhoods, don't be surprised if the cops don't show up in a timely manner, especially on a Friday or Saturday evening. There are regularly only 4 cops on duty in the entire city on the graveyard shift! Do not call the police at that time please!

$12,000 for Blue Lines on Santa Barbara Streets?

2007-07-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

The Santa Barbara City Council, under the astute leadership of Mayor Marty (Not so smarty) Blum is at it again...with your money.

The council has just voted to provide $12,000 of your tax dollars to pay for blue lines on city streets to show where the waterline will flood to because of global warming. They call it art!

We have a city council that still refuses to fund the sweeping of streets in several of our neighborhoods and this allows tons of garbage, feces and other numorous poisons to flow into our creeks and oceanfront.

Anyone that votes to re-elect any of these people, deserves them!

Welcome!

2007-07-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

WELCOME!
Welcome to my blog! I hope to have input from visitors and I will try to keep your interest with subject matter that is thoughtful and interesting.

Our TV show is on cable in Santa Barbara and we have been on Channel 17 for nine years. The show is interesting and we have guests and the phones are always open for comment from viewers, both pro and con. We will be back in early September and trust that those of you living in the Santa Barbara area will join us.

HOW NOT TO BE A PARENT!
Interesting story in the S.F. Chronicle today about a little 4-year old boy that drowned at Great America's water-wave pool. The child's mother blames Great America "for not doing their job".

My question: What is a 4-year old child doing in a pool that ranges in depth from 2-feet to 6-feet without his mother at his side? It is a sure bet that this little boy didn't know how to swim. When the mother started to fret about where her son was after ten minutes, she sent another child to look for him.
The fault for this child's tragic drowning lies directly at the feet of the mother.
Many in our society are too eager to blame others for our own mistakes. This is one of those cases.

CITY OF SANTA BARBARA COPS OUT!
This drowning story makes me recall the drowning of Katie Janeway in our local city owned pool a few years ago. The city has parents sign a Waiver of Responsibility" absolving the city of negligence. In Katie's case she was an epileptic girl 14-years old and she was supposed to be monitored by a specific
young woman assigned to watch her at all times. Her monitor was at the shallow end of the pool and Katie dived into the deep end of the pool and drowned. Katie's parents sued the City of Santa Barbara for gross negligence to the tune of $200 million dollars. The case is winding its way though court appeals. The question to be answered is whether a signed waiver can release the the city from gross negligence. In this case, I believe the parents are not to blame, but the city is! I believe that the City of Santa Barbara will lose this case, and they should!

NON-FREEDOM OF SPEECH ALIVE AT THE NEWS-PRESS!
The Santa Barbara News-Press keeps soliciting letters and op-ed pieces from readers, but the request has one slight caveat. The paper will not print letters or op-eds that are adverse to Wendy McCaw, the paper's owner or the paper itself. In other words: "We will print only favorable comments about the News-press in the News-Press. In the News-Press, freedom of speech is only available to the paper's comments. Readers: Shut up!

IRAQ WAR
We lost this war in the summer of 2003, when President Bush elected to send the Iraqi Army of several hundred thousand men home with their AK-47's, but with no way to earn a living. The Commander-in -Chief also allowed millions of rounds of ordinance to be unguarded and stolen. This ordinance is killing and maiming our kids by the thousands. We are no longer in a war. Our brave man and women are the targets of dozens of groups of Iraqis that we cannot even identify. Our troops are in a battle just to stay alive. The only way to even try and pacify Iraq is with our entire military of 500,000 troops. This is not going to happen. BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S DROUGHT AND LAWNS!
There is no arguement that Southern California is in a record drought that will only get worse. Over 50% of our water is used for lawns! IT IS TIME TOTEAR OUT EXISTING LAWNS AND REPLACE THEM WITH FOILAGE THAT IS DROUGHT FRIENDLY AND TO NOT ALLOW ANY NEW LAWNS. We are either going to have green grasses or empty glasses.