substitute

If you've protected your friend's rapist son while you're sheriff, given out guns to all your buddies, and got yourself indicted for corruption charges involving the same rapist's dad, there's nothing like a new tape showing you n-wording. Because that's what we want in a Sheriff:

The tapes, between Carona and former political confidante Donald Haidl, reveal Carona casually using the n-word, dropping several f-bombs, talking about his sexual conquests and making sexual remarks about other women.

I mean, we're bigots here, but you aren't supposed to SAY IT LIKE THAT.

"You're right, I've had a life that's been absolutely blessed," he tells Haidl. "I've met millionaires, billionaires, I've traveled on personal airplanes, and I never shook anybody down for any s***, so. … Not that I haven't, you know, drank some great wine, and had great booze and ... got some, you know, phenomenal (sex) along the way…"

I was leaving the supermarket tonight, early, because they were about to have a power outage.

There was a teenaged kid working the door to keep people from entering, and we exchanged good nights.

There were two other young guys: one was another employee on a smoke break, and the other was a miscellaneous local kid in a hoodie and shorts. Maybe another employee, maybe note. This kid was telling jokes.

As I passed he said "Why are black people so tall? Because they're Negroes." I thought, well, that's some dumb fifth grade humor.

Then, as I was walking to my car he said "How do you keep black guys out of your back yard? Hang one in the front."

The door kid looked uncomfortable. "Hey, not when the store is open, okay."

Hoodie Joker Kid said something I couldn't hear. Door kid said again "Whatever when the store is closed, just you can't do that stuff when we're open, okay."

Hoodie Joker says "You're closed in five minutes. Anyway no one cares."

I said "I care."

The kids looked at me. Door kid was paralyzed. Smoke break kid just smoked. Hoodie said "Uh... sorry sir" in a tone that indicated a great lack of sorrow.

"Keep that shit inside of your house, dude." I drove away.

I feel like I should have got up in the kid's face and been loud, but I don't know. I guess I communicated a combination of disapproval and advice. Maybe I just wanted to be loud and threatening because I was angry, and it would have been dumb.

I wonder if he'll ever figure out that there's a world outside Newport Beach where lynching jokes have consequences.

It put a shiver down my spine.

A Dong Supermarket

Not just a funny name, a really horrible health record!

Not everyone in Orange County is a medieval bigot.

In particular the Wyndham Hotel just busted a stereotype. Not only do they welcome gay commitment ceremonies, they're offering a 50% off to 50 couples deal.

Now I know which fancy hotel chain to prefer.

The Orange County Weekly has the best comment on the Mike Carona Indictment Fest, in the form of a photo: http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/crime-sex/oc-sheriff-carona-indicted-for/

Carona probably would have got away with lots more graft, incompetence, and poorly chosen drinking buddies if he hadn't tried to help out an old buddy with a small case of videotaped underage gang rape. People get fussy.

Their Sheriff Carona Corruption Archive and Haidl Rape Case Archive are worth a browse for fans of Chandleresque corruption.

I hope the new regime at the Weekly doesn't muzzle or drive out Moxley. Without him there wouldn't be investigative journalism of any use in this county.

Caption of the day and/or News QOTD of the day from the Orange County Register:

"Craig Gross, founder of XXX Church.com, next to a stack of "Jesus loves a porn star" Bibles that his staff handed out at the AVN Adult Expo in Los Vegas in January. This weekend, Gross is coming to Huntington Beach for one of the organization's signature events: Porn and Pancakes."

At least they have pancakes.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-uci18sep18,1,3851560.story?track=rss&ctrack=4&cset=true

UCI reenters the reality-based community.

The Afghan mujahedin CIA operative-owned IHOP on 17th Street in Costa Mesa has big news. They are leaving the IHOP family to be free! With luck, they will not need any Stinger missiles to do so.

However, they do need to rename the place, and they're having a contest to do so.

Ready... set... GO!

I heard a carnival barker-style bellowing ad on the car radio yesterday while listening to the all-news AM station. It was the usual mortgage broker appeal to refinance, this time with the added warning that rates were going up. The ad concluded:

"It's the biggest no-brainer in the history of Mankind!