Zero tolerance for intoxicated drivers - except Judge H. James Ahler. The fact he killed a pedestrian on that drive seems to matter even less!

California Administrative Per Se- Facts (Zero tolerance for intoxicated drivers - except Judge H. James Ahler!)

Administrative Per Se (DUI) Background

Prepared by DMV Research and Development Branch

In 1990, California became the 28th state to implement an immediate driver license suspension law for alcohol-impaired drivers, also referred to as an “Administrative Per Se (APS)” or “on-the-spot” license suspension law.  The California APS law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to suspend or revoke the driving privilege of persons who are arrested for driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% or more, or who refuse a chemical test upon arrest.  In January 1994, California implemented a companion driver license suspension law, known as the “zero tolerance law,” which requires DMV to suspend for one year any driver under age 21 with a BAC of .01% or more as measured by a preliminary alcohol screening test, or who refuses or fails to complete the test.  These administrative actions are independent of any criminal penalties imposed in court for conviction of the driving-under-the-influence (DUI) offense.  Upon arrest, or detention (as applicable in the .01% APS law), the driver’s license is immediately confiscated and an order of suspension or revocation served.

For either law, due process is allowed by the issuance of a 30-day temporary license intended to provide the driver with sufficient time to challenge the suspension through DMV administrative review.  (Oh, yeah. Ahler was DMV staff attorney before becoming a quasi-judge) The time allowed to challenge the suspension was reduced from 45 days on July 1, 1993.  As of January 1, 1993, offenders who are dismissed for insufficient evidence or are never charged by the court may request an APS dismissal hearing to consider setting aside the associated APS action.  Under the .08% APS law, when a driver submits to and “fails” a BAC test and has no prior DUI convictions or APS actions (within 7 years prior to September 20, 2005 and within 10 years thereafter), a 4-month license suspension is imposed.  Following 30 days of “hard” suspension, and providing they first demonstrate proof of insurance, show proof of enrollment in an approved alcohol treatment program, and pay all penalty fees, the law provided for such drivers to obtain a 5-month restricted license that allows only driving to and from an alcohol treatment program, and to, from, and during the course of employment.  A 1-year suspension is imposed on drivers having one or more prior DUI convictions or APS actions within 7 years prior to September 20, 2005 and within 10 years thereafter, with no provision for a restricted license. 

Under this law, for offenders refusing a BAC test, a 1-year license suspension is imposed for a first offense, a 2-year revocation is imposed for a second offender refusal, and a 3-year revocation is imposed for a third-or-subsequent offender refusal (within 7 years prior to September 20, 2005 and within 10 years thereafter).  There are no provisions for issuance of a restricted license following a BAC test refusal.

The .01% BAC law requires a 1-year suspension and provides for a hardship restriction only if a BAC test was completed and the driver can demonstrate a critical need to drive.

As of September 20, 2005 commercial drivers arrested in a noncommercial vehicle and having no 
prior DUI convictions or APS actions (within 7 years prior to September 20, 2005 and within 10 years thereafter) are handled no differently than other first offenders and are no longer granted an automatic restriction to drive to, from, and during the course of employment following a 30-day “hard” suspension as they originally were.  (A noncommercial vehicle is one not requiring a commercial driver license, or heavy-vehicle operator’s license, to drive.) 

The Worlds Richest Woman Extends Her Intellectual Prowess to the Rest of the Us

By David Lazarus

L.A. Times
August 30, 2012, 9:31 a.m.

Editor's Notes in italics. 
Just in case you were beginning to think rich people were deeply misunderstood and that they feel the pain of those who are less fortunate, here's the world's wealthiest woman, Australian mining tycoon heiress Gina Rinehart, with some helpful advice.

"If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain," she said in a magazine piece. "Do something to make more money yourself -- spend less time drinking or smoking and socialising, and more time working."

Yeah, let them eat cake. Looks like Gina had a second helping...

Rinehart made her money the old-fashioned way: She inherited it. Her family's iron ore prospecting fortune of $30.1 billion makes her Australia's wealthiest person and the richest woman on the planet.

"There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire," (WRONG!*) she said by way of encouragement.

"Become one of those people who work hard, invest and build, and at the same time create employment and opportunities for others."

Boom. Almost too easy.   Poor and working two jobs? No rich relatives? Invest the money you don't have in... More cake. It seems to have done wonders for Gina.

Why are people poor? Rinehart blamed what she described as "socialist," anti-business, (Anti-extra cake) government policies, and urged Australian officials to lower the minimum wage and cut taxes. 

Perfect! No one's ever tried that before! Let the dogs under the table fight for the crumbs of 'cake' that fall off the plates of the rich. Perfect! The stronger dogs will kill and eat the weaker dogs, thus ridding the house of soo many dogs to feed. Oh, wait. Reagan's "trickle down theory." The same theory, "Social Darwinism" Adam Smith first proposed nearly 300 years ago. Reagan's "trickle down theory" further plummeted the U.S. into the longest period of recession in the last 70 years.

But Gina can have ... More cake!

"The millionaires and billionaires who choose to invest in Australia are actually those who most help the poor and our young," she said. "This secret needs to be spread widely." 

(It's secret because it's a LIE. Using government anti-poverty programs as the marker, Millionaires and Billionaires pay less tax -income or sales - than the taxpayer who makes under $200,000 dollars a year; U.S. or Australian.) 

And now it's out there.

Thank you, rich people. We're not worth(y).

* Stats show that laws paid for through lobbiest's for the wealthy prove to be extremely anti-small business, and as Gina espouses in the speech, adds more of the tax burden off the rich and onto the backs of the already over taxed middle class.

CTA Cowards and NTA lackies - hear this

    FUCK MARCHING ON SACRAMENTO.

  MARCH ON BURLINGAME, CALIFORNIA.

    WE WILL BE HEARD! October, 2012!

When Jonah Edelman, a school reform activist was videotaped bragging how his organization had outfoxed the Chicago Teachers Union by helping pass legislation he thought would make it impossible for teachers to strike...

That’s when Jonah Edelman, a "school reform activist" out of Oregon, was videotaped before a Colorado think tank bragging how his organization had outfoxed the Chicago Teachers Union by helping pass legislation in Illinois he thought would make it impossible for teachers here to strike.

The provision of which Edelman was so proud: a requirement that the CTU couldn’t authorize a strike without an affirmative vote from 75 percent of its members.

“The unions cannot strike in Chicago. They will never be able to muster the 75 percent threshold necessary to strike,” boasted Edelman, basing his prediction on data showing past strike authorizations had never exceeded 50 percent of the membership. Edelman suggested the teachers hadn’t done their homework.

A lot of folks figured he was probably correct about the 75 percent threshold being insurmountable. Not any more.

Teacher discontent is so pervasive within CPS that the possibility of the union passing a strike authorization vote — not to be confused with actually going out on strike — now looms as a strong possibility.

Diana DeGette You Go ! In the Name of Shirley Chisolm!

Mitt Romney declared, "Planned Parenthood has got to go!" Afraid if it had been around when he was conceived he wouldn't be here today ...

Republicans have a clear agenda for women: Defund Planned Parenthood, deny women access to health care and birth control, and even prohibit women the right to participate in the debate about women’s health care.

Grassroots Democrats around the country have united against the Republican War on Women to launch a Women's Health Accountability Fund. Our goal is to expose the truth about Republicans' war on women with an aggressive rapid response operation including ads, on-the-ground organizing and more.

San Diego Education Association Places Executive Director on Administrative Leave

The San Diego Education Association’s board of directors placed executive director Craig Leedham on paid administrative leave. Will Carless of Voice of San Diego has the story. As of today, no one from the union would explain the reasons behind the move. No one is talking on the record. Off the record, people who know Leedham describe him as ”nasty,” “aggressive,” “profane” and “paranoid.” 

Accurate or not, none of those attributes is sufficient to get you booted from a high-ranking position in one of the nation’s largest teacher union locals. Something very specific needs to have happened, and I suspect we’ll learn what it was before long. 

The union confirmed Tuesday afternoon that Leedham had been placed on leave. “San Diego Education Association Executive Director Craig Leedham is on paid administrative leave. It is inappropriate for further comment at this time about what is an internal matter,” President Bill Freeman said in a brief statement.

Leedham held several positions at various levels of the Wisconsin Education Association Council before taking a staff job with SDEA in 2006.

It is Easy to Fire an Educator!

It is Easy to Fire an Educator!

The board minutes simply state“resigned for personal reasons.”

Moreno Valley, CA. Its a shame and ethically undefendable that Assistant Superintendent of HR, Henry Voros does not afford the same standard of proof with a dozen or more employees (all of whom are at the top of the salary scale and suspended without pay and without cause or due process) as Dr. White endeavors toward Board Trustee Mike Rios in her statement. (see Below.) I could not agree more though I don't care for Rios as a person. "Due Process" as Board Trustee Harold "Rick" Sayre mentioned.


Then again, is his sad little way, Voros is as much driven by personality dysfunction as is Rios. Harold “Rick” Sayres is also driving this back door effort to break the employees contract and their collective will to dessent or question administration. Via the conceit of these two self serving individuals they reduce payroll.

Who said it’s hard to fire a teacher? Its easy: conjure up any reason, refuse to follow state education department regulations for disciplining educators, Ignore Education Code and State Labor law, and Government Code, then suspend without pay. Done! Effectively fired at the date of suspension!

Voros has seen the actuarial table that shows the number of educators that will just leave (or quit) far out ways the number who will fight. There by producing an immediate half-million dollar savings to the district's publically inflatted bottom line. Those educators who are willing to fight, sometimes to the appellate level usually win, which costs the district hugely in the short run. However, the district doesn't have to disclose documentation to the press or public regarding these cases because they 
can claim confidentiality of the former employee.

The board minutes simply “resigned for personal reasons.”

CTA seems powerless or unwilling to effectively put a stop this trend. Last year was the implementation year for MVUSD. SO FAR, this tactic appears to be working without substantial resistance. 

Today Finland officially becomes first nation to make broadband a legal right

By Chad Catacchio Follow Chad Catacchio on twitter on July 1st, 2010

Starting today (July 1), every Finnish citizen now has a guaranteed legal right to a least a 1Mbps broadband connection, putting it on the same footing as other legal rights in the country such as healthcare and education.

As we reported last year, Finland was the first nation in the world to pass this type of legislation, followed by Spain in November.

The Finish government has promised guaranteed speeds of 100Mbps by 2015 for all of its citizens, and currently about 97% of Finns already have access to broadband connections."

Sacramento City Teachers Association President Shares CTA'S Concerns with Assembly Member

from Disenfranchised by Every tenured Educator yet to be riffed by our union's apathy and ineptitude.

"Sweet Creeping Jesus Batman.That Assemblyman looks like he's never heard CTA's half-assed rhetoric before!"

Sacramento City Teachers Association (CTA) President Linda Tuttle shares with Assembly Member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) information about how proposed cuts will devastate public schools in his district. (My god! Who would have guessed a politician would respond like this? )The Assembly Member denounced the cuts as terrible and pledged his continuing support for public education.
Sacramento City Teachers Association (CTA) President Linda Tuttle shares with Assembly Member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) information about how proposed cuts will devastate public schools in his district. (My god! Who would have guessed a politician would respond like this? )The Assembly Member denounced the cuts as terrible and pledged his continuing support for public education.

The visit to the Capitol on June 18 by SCTA Pres. Tuttle to lawmakers’ offices was (the bigger) part of ongoing efforts by CTA and its Education Coalition partners (Larry, Curly and Moe) to persuade legislators to reject Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed education slashes.

The legislative budget adjustment package proposed by a joint house conference committee and endorsed by Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) rejects $700 million of the governor’s education cuts and ensures schools some $9.3 billion in paybacks to Proposition 98 in coming years. The legislative adjustment package would also suspend the requirement that students pass the California High School Exit Examination in order to graduate. Assembly Speaker Bass told reporters at a Wednesday news conference that it is unconscionable to demand that students meet that requirement without the funding necessary to help schools prepare them for the test.