Juan Pierre has patiently been waiting to get some playing time. Most of last season he was on the bench. Things did not get better when the club signed Manny Ramirez. Pierre played his part though and rode out the bench. Since then he has been working hard to regain a position in the starting lineup. So far this season, it has been more of the same. Pierre has only played in a few games in a very limited role; pinch hitting, coming into the game late, and like last night, an occasional start.

Last night was not one of Pierre's better nights. In the first inning, he missed a shot to center hit by Bengie Molina. The ball bounced off the wall and scored two runs to begin the Giants win over the Dodgers. We will see when Pierre gets his next start.

Looking over my absentee ballot I took care to read proposition 1F. It is titled Elected Officials' Salaries. Prevents PayIncreases During Budget Deficit Years. Pretty much if the budget is in a deficit like it is this  year, then the Legilature will not be able to give themselve or their staff a raise. Just last week Speaker Karen Bass gave her staff raises. 1F would not allow those pay increases. I bet Speaker Bass and her staff are voting NO on 1F.

So when you recieve your ballot in the mail or at the polling place, be sure to vote YES on 1F.

Well President Barack Obama likes high speed rail. I still do not.

The State of California can not afford to build a high speed rail network like that pictured above. The United States government might be able to build a high speed rail network. Going with the diagramed network above, the federal government should build an Eastern seaboard network, a Pacific Coast network, and connect the two through Chicago or New Orleans. That is very similar to what is diagrammed above.

If you watch the video below (skip to 4:40), Obama says he wants to improve rail by upgrading existing rail routes to improve speed. Then he wants to develop high speed rail in certain corridors around the country. Currently, he is going to make $8 billion available and have another $5 billion in the future.

On the front page of Tuesday's New York Times was an article titled "Lawmaker Is Said To Have Agreed To Aid Lobbyist." It hit pretty close to home considering it was about Congressmember Jane Harman (D-Los Angeles) and how she was caught on wiretaps by the NSA. In the conversation Harman allegedly told lobbyist that she would help them if they would help her. Apparently Harman wanted to be chair of the House Intelligence Committee and the lobbyist were either going to dontate money or not to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) depending if Harman got the seat. The Congresswoman denied the report by days end.

And I thought the Democrats were the ethical ones. What the heck?

With all the bad news of the NSA spy agency invading everyones privacy, I felt like going with a good warm you up story.  It is about the new first dog, Bo.

Monday's news reports were mainly filled with stories about the pirate standoff that ended with NAVY seal snipers. In case you had not heard, last week some Somali Pirates took over an American ship. The crew fought off the pirates, but when they left the ship they left with the captain as a hostage. For a few days three pirates and their hostage floated along in a small lifeboat. Then some NAVY Seal snipers were dropped in. It was said that they parachuted into the ocean and were plucked from the water by a Navy warship. It was some real be all you can be stuff. So once the snipers arrived, they assumed the position and waited until the shot was clear. All three pirates were taken out simultaneously saving the captain.

It is great to hear the captain was rescued. The issue of piracy is really starting to take off. Reports began late last year when pirates siezed a ship carrying Russian weapons and tanks. Reports are that the U.S. is planning to send money and weapons(including military trainers) to Somalia so that they can train their own Coast Guard who can battle/contain the pirates. There are even talks of taking military actions against pirate bases in Africa. The first sounds plausible while the latter not. A bombing would only be a sign of war mongering. Similar attacks by former President Bill Clinton led to the 9/11 attacks. An attack on Somali soil by the American Empire would only give Al Qaeda more room to grow.

Back to our first option. Sending more aid to Somalia to train them. Now I know everyone's first reaction is going to be, why send more aid to a county we were once fighting in. I am not going to tell you why. I am going to tell you what form we should send the aid in. We should send them trainers from our Navy and Coast Guard to help them and show them. By way of equipment, I would send little to none. Work with what they have. Lets just show them how to work with it.

In further news, the brand new New York Mets Stadium opened on Monday night. And who better to sponsor the new stadium than Citi Bank. CNN value's the deal at $400 million. Of course, Citi Group has been the recipient of bail out funds. So since we the taxpayer are partially paying for this, I think they should have a free ticket night. And to end on the best note of all, the Dodgers smashed the Giants in their home opener. Newly acquired Orlando Hudson hit for the cycle in the 11-1 trouncing. Go Dodgers!

At the beginning of the first diplomatic mission abroad, President Obama began the trip with a meeting with the Queen. The meeting went well like all the other meetings and the President gave the Queen an ipod full of speeches and videos. There was even affection shown between the Queen and first lady Michelle Obama. It is customary to not touch the queen, but the two had a mini hug fest.

For the last week, President Barack Obama has been travelling Europe. The first stop was in London for the G-20 Summit Meeting. There he met many of the world leaders including the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Next stop was in France for NATO meetings and dinner with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The first ladies were even involved.  

The President followed that up with a stop in Prague where he called for a nuclear free world.

And the trip is rounding out with a stop in Turkey where he met with President Abdullah Gul. In his speech to parliament he said that the United States "is not and never will be at war with Islam."

All stops had large crowds to hear "The One" speak and it seems that Obama mania, similar to Jonas brother mania, is sweeping the Western world.

Well this week was a big one in NFL changes. Two big stars both made a move. First, Jay Cutler got his wish and was traded to the Chicago Bears. Cutler became disgruntled with the Denver Broncos when they attempted to acquire Matt Cassel from the New England Patriots. After a week of tantrums, the Broncos had enough and sent him packing.

And on Friday, New York Giants wide reciever Plaxico Burress got the axe. After the incident in which he shot himself, the Giants had enough and decided to move forward without any distractions. Especially because Burress has an ongoing criminal case regarding the unlicensed weapon he used to shoot himself with.

April 1 has come and gone. Its impact is going to be around for a while. Why? Well, because the sales tax has gone up. The City of Oxnard went from 8.25% to 8.75%. Los Angeles went up even higher to 9.25%.

To show the impact of this increase, let me tell you about how my day on Wednesday began. It all started with a simple trip to McDonalds. As I got in line, a presumed homeless person was speaking in a high tone that he was being overcharged for his cup of coffee. Instead of being charged the $1.08 he had been used to, he was being charged the new price of a $1.50 something. I could see the cashier trying to explain the price went up but the hobo wanted no part of it. Finally, a manager came up and gave the guy the coffee for the old price. I wonder what happened today when he went back, if he went back.

So as you can see the increase in taxes will effect everyone, top to bottom, left to right. Did anyone else have a  run in with the pesky sales tax hike?