Santa Margarita High School Teacher & Principal In Hot Water

It has come to my attention from a source that Santa Margarita HS teacher Dr. Eric Hansen and Principal Brother Lawrence Monroe have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation of sexual abuse allegations. Here is an email that was just sent out to SMHS parents informing them about the situation...

Dear Eagle Family,

In keeping with the policy of the Diocese of Orange, Dr. Eric Hansen has been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of an investigation into these concerns.

We are sharing this information with parents, students, faculty and staff in order to comply with Diocesan and school policy and in fulfillment of the transparency and accountability precepts of Bishop Tod Brown's Covenant with the Faithful.

Anyone who has concerns or information pertaining to these European tours led by Dr. Hansen is requested to contact Mr. Bernie Esposito at bernieesposito@aol.com. Mr. Esposito is a licensed private investigator who is investigating this matter on behalf of the Diocese.

Brother Lawrence Monroe has been placed on administrative leave at this time for failure to follow diocesan policy in responding to these concerns.


Fr. Gerald M. Horan O.S.M. Vicar for Faith Formation - Superintendent of Catholic Schools Diocese of Orange - Marywood Center 2811 East Villa Real Drive Post Office Box 14195 Orange, CA 92863-1595 [714] 282-3055

Nice. It's sad to see another sexual abuse scandal developing in the Diocese. European tour????? My mind is already racing on what could have happened on an unsupervised trip like this. There are a number a questions that this incident brings to mind:

1) Why didn't they call police/child and protective services?
2) Why are they conducting their own investigation? Shouldn't parents deal directly with law enforcement and not some church-hired PI?
3) Where is the compassion?
4) Why are administrators who have acknowledged that they failed to report in the past (MD principal, Lu Dominguez - who is now an Asst. principal at SMHS) reprimanded?
5) Why does it seem like the Catholic Church is above the law whenever allegations like these surface?
6) Don't they do background checks on teachers & priests?

As If We Needed Reminding...

Let's play a little word association game. I'm going to put a few quotes up from an article today in the Register and you have to guess which OC city they are talking about. You'll need to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. Here we go...

"I'm scared to go out after 8 p.m"

"We stay home. We can hear shots"

"I had to stop walking. I know I'm going to die someday, but I don't want to die like that. Those kids are pretty tough"

"It's dangerous. There are a lot of little kids around here, but they don't care. They think they can do whatever they want."

"I don't gang-bang anymore," said Ortega, sitting on the sidewalk slumped over a bit as officers searched his car. "They just fight over a street that's not even theirs. … It's getting worse."

If you guessed Santa Ana you would be correct. It seems the city has been regressing lately. I didn't really think that was possible, but if they say so I'll go with it. Once again this proves my point that no one in their right mind would move their family into Santa Ana if they don't have to. They could spend 100% of their budget on police and have all the Clintonesque midnight basketball(or Soccer since we're talking about Santa Ana,LOL)programs in the world and you still wouldn't have a livable city. It's a freakin ghetto. Oh yeah and the Democrats run all facets of the city. As Dan C would put it..."This is what competent government looks like".

RIP Lt. Mark Daily

I just got back from attending the memorial service of Army Lt. Mark Daily. It was very moving. I'm gonna say there were about fifteen hundred people that attended. I went to pay my respects to a true American hero. Lt. Daily was killed in Iraq two weeks ago by an IED. Even though we never met, I found out we had a lot in common. We both grew up in Irvine & we both love the Bruins of UCLA. He received a full honors military ceremony complete with a flyover by a Black hawk helicopter blaring over his loudspeaker...

"Mission complete Lt. Daily"

He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. May he rest in peace.

The OC Register has a great roundup about the service up now.

Congrats To John Edwards

You can file this post under the hypocracy column. First let me congratulate the former Senator and Presidential candidate for building his dream home in North Carolina. He's building a huge estate that when completed will take up more than 28,000 sq ft and it is built on a lot of 106 acres. Damn. He's my hero. I aspire to get myself one of those homes some day. He made millions suing people and now he's cashing in. Props to him. The problem Mr. Edwards has is that he is a hypocrite. One of his favorite phrases from his presidential run was "two Americas". You know rich America and poor America. Here's the link to the article. I love the contrast..."I'm for the poor"....then build 28,000 sq ft mansion on 106 acres.

Funny Quote Of The Day

The other day, Steven Colbert and Bill O'Rielly exchanged appearances on each other's shows. Bill attempted to disavow his tough-guy image as mere posturing. Colbert then deadpanned...

If you're an act, what I am I?

LOL For those people living on the moon, Colbert's format was taken from the O'Rielly Factor, albeit in a hilarious and brilliant way.

When Does It End???

Every time I think we've hit rock bottom with tragic illegal immigration stories, we find a way to go lower. This story will get your blood boiling even if you're an open borders person. Amy Kortlang was an up and coming 22 year old woman with her whole life ahead of her. She was killed by an illegal alien drunk driver. The killer, Rafael Ramirez Perez has been deported four times and had four prior DUIs to his resume. ARE YOU OPEN BORDERS PEOPLE GETTING IT YET? THAT'S FOUR DUIs AND FOUR TIMES DEPORTED. Now he has struck again while out on bail for one of his prior DUI trials. Maybe President Bush can call Amy's family and tell them how well his border security policy has been going.

Immigration Sweeps In Southland

I can't believe I just read this headline correctly. I guess ICE really does still exist and does interior sweeps for people in the country illegally. Who knew. In fact they were arresting illegals right in the heart of Santa Ana. If you're going to go fishing, you might as well go where the fish are. Here's the link to the story. I love the quote from one of the illegals...

``I came to this country to work, not harm anyone, and not expecting what happened this morning at 5 a.m.,'' said Garcia, who was taken into custody at the second house. ``It wasn't supposed to be this way.''

Well I'll be a son of a gun. This guy broke our country's immigration laws and thanks to a practically zero enforcement policy, these illegals now think they can run around the country with no consequences to their actions. If I rob a bank, I expect to be put away. That's why these sweeps are valuable. You better believe that word of these sweeps has spread like wildfire in the illegal community. Hell, maybe we'll get less traffic on the streets this week because they'll all be in hiding from "La Migra".

There must be some rocket scientists running ICE who figured out where to go to get the most bang for their buck so to speak. Bravo to ICE for a job well done, but I would like to read about this sort of thing more than once a decade. I also have to wonder if it's all just a publicity stunt to help grease those amnesty skids Bush was just speaking about tonight in his State of the Union speech. Nice sellout President Bush, thanks again. Let's do everything to not secure our own borders, but put more troops into Iraq for a raging civil war. Nice priorities. No wonder his approval rating is in a Nixonian range.

Have Passport Will Travel

Today is the first day of the new State Dept. rule that requires all US citizens to have a passport to travel anywhere outside the US via air. I'm all for this if it helps with security. I think everyone should have a passport anyways. I just wish for a little more consistency in the feds looking at my "papers". Maybe they could start looking at everyone's "papers" in the country here illegally. As great as Fernando Valenzuela was as a pitcher, I don't think there are 100,000 of them here in the US legally and all of them using the same social security number.

Da Bears Are Doing The Superbowl Shuffle Again

Today was a great day to be an NFL fan. Since LA/OC doesn't have a team, I've gotten used to just rooting for good games to watch. Today the Bears beat the New Orleans Saints to go to the big dance down in Miami. You know you're getting old when you can remember like it was yesterday the Bears great Superbowl team of 1985. That was the team with Mike Ditka leading them, "Sweetness" Walter Payton, William "The Refridgerator" Perry, Jim McMahon, Richard Dent, Mike Singletary, Dan Hampton, Buddy Ryan and and his famed "46" defense", etc. I remember that 1985 NFC Championship game because the Bears beat my beloved Rams that day. One of the best signs at Soldier Field today said..."Ditka is God, not a Saint".

In other action, the Indianapolis Colts are returning to the Superbowl for the first time since Superbowl 3. They were the Baltimore Colts back then. I can't believe Peyton Manning finally won a game that counted. CBS's Jim Nantz made a big deal at the end of the Colt's game of both Superbowl head coaches being African-American. Big deal Jim! It has nothing to do with race. They were the ones most deserving to go. I like the Bears to win it all(by a touchdown).

Tom Tancredo For President???

I think it's a great idea! Unless Rep. Ron Paul of Texas decides to run, I will support Tom Tancredo 100%. So yesterday, Tom put out a press release saying he's going to explore a run for the #1 office in the land. He's got his work cut out if he actually decides to make a go of it. His greatest asset obviously is his stance against illegal immigration. He will have to let the voters know though what else his principles are. If nothing else, this will force the eventual GOP nominee to make sure the issue of illegal immigration gets addressed in the 2008 campaign.

Border Patrol Agents Going To Prison

Today I'm ashamed of my federal government. It wouldn't be the first time, but this one is truly an outrage. Stupid me, I was actually holding out hope that President Bush would pardon Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos or that a federal judge would let them stay out on bail while their case is being appealed. None of those two things happened and today those agents are going to federal prison for shooting a illegal alien drug runner in the butt as he was fleeing back into Mexico. A lot of electronic ink has already been spilled about this outrage so I'm not going to add much, but I just wanted to be on the record as well. It's a very sad day today.

I'm Ready For Total Recall....On Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar

If Arnold can break a rock solid promise not to raise taxes the first week out of the gate only to lie about it his very first week in office, I think it's only fair that people who voted for him under the auspicous of him not raising taxes, start getting organized for an eventual recall. We recalled Gray Davis for a lot less. Anyone up for a recall? This could be fun.

Armando Garcia In US Authority's Hands Finally

After four long difficult years for the March family, Armando Garcia was finally handed over this morning to US authorities. Better late than never I guess. For those who don't know, Armando Garcia is an illegal alien that killed Deputy March during a routine traffic stop(is there ever such a thing as a routine stop for a police officer???). Here's the LA Times story link. John, Barbara, and Teri March will finally be able to get some justice for the cold blooded killing of their son & husband, David March. This is a poignant day for me too because I got to know John & Barbara March while working on Jim Gilchrist's campaign for Congress a year and half ago. They are the best. They have been through hell and back trying to get our stupid elected officials to put pressure on Mexico to extradite Garcia. It was like trying to pull teeth. We had Congressmen like David Dreier constantly working against us and coddling Mexico at every turn. John March came within a whisker of actually deciding to run against David Dreier. In the end he decided not to run. David Dreier was shaking in his boots.

So this is a day to be happy about. I have full confidence in Los Angeles DA Steve Cooley being able to get a life in prison verdict against Garcia, but it will be a long and I'm afraid painful trial. A lot of bad memories are going to come back from that horrible day of April 29, 2002. Nonetheless I am happy for John, Barbara, and Teri today. Garcia will be handcuffed with Deputy March's handcuffs Thursday for his arraignment.

Vindicated Again

I hated to be proven right by Arnold, but it feels good not to have been suckered into voting for that Democrat errr Republican In Name Only. As much as I could tell, his only reason for getting Republicans to vote for him was to pledge never to raise taxes. It only took one day for him to renege on that promise. The governor has proposed massive tax increases to give universal health care to all California residents...including to, you guessed it...illegal aliens. Moral of the story....vote your conscience people.

Archbishop Of Warsaw Forced To Resign

This story is very rich. It turns out that the newly installed archbishop of Warsaw, Stanislaw Wielgus, abruptly resigned after it came to light that he was a spy for the former Communist government of Poland. Nice. Here's a link to the story. Of course I'm glad he was forced to resign. You may ask what relevance this has to Southern California/Orange County? My answer is plenty. I guess his holiness should have been molesting little boys or enabling his priests to molest little boys. Had he done that instead of spy on his fellow priests, he would be getting plenty of backup from the Vatican like Cardinal Mahony has been getting. The moral of the story from a Catholic's point of view...spying is bad but molesting little boys & girls is A-okay. I'm so happy now that I know what it takes to get a bishop/cardinal to resign.

OC Marathon & Other Tidbits

This morning was the annual OC Marathon. Lynn ran in the half marathon and finished in under three hours. I'm so proud of her. I had heard that there were over ten thousand people signed up to run the thing, but it appeared to me that there were a lot more than that. I went to meet up her near the half way point at Yale & Michelson.

After that I went to IHOP to have breakfast and read the morning paper. I subscribe to the OC Register, but I forgot to bring it with me this morning. So against my better judgement I picked up a copy of the LA Times instead to reinforce why I don't subscribe to it anymore. The most interesting thing that stuck out to me was a piece on OC's own Michael Schroeder. Here's the link to the story. Let me preface by saying that I do not know Mr. Schroeder personally. I have had a chance to see him operate the last few years at some of the Central Committee meetings and a few other campaigns. Here's what I think from a dispassionate observer. I agree with Mr Schroeder politically on a lot of things(aside from his misguided love of all things USC). I think he is a very strong advocate for his side of the issue or campaign. I do think he's crossed the line a few times though lately. The Sheriff's race is the first thing to come to my mind. This was a horrible misuse of his power. Again I was not privy to any insider dealings and such on this race, but I and a lot of other activists for the party were not pleased with how the whole campaign played out. Then to advise the Sheriff(alledgedly... again this is just my guess& suspicion) to demote Lt. Hunt to traffic patrol??? That was very Nixonian of him and the Sheriff. You're a good enough political operator Mike that you don't need to seek retribution like that. I can't tell you the reaction of the rank & file activists after the demotion of Lt. Hunt was made public. It raised lots of eyebrows, even by Carona supporters. Another little tidbit in the story was the bot about Mike messengering his business card the next day to Wally Wade after the DAs race was over. That too was very "Godfatherish". Hey Bill, did you find a horse's head in your bed after you decided to take on the Sheriff...LOL? Anyway, it just seems to me that acheiving & keeping power is the only thing in the end that matters to Mike. I may be 100% wrong on this, but those are my perceptions

On balance I thought the piece in the Times was okay. I can see how Mike would not want he and his friends to talk to the Times reporter. They are one of... check that...the most biased newspaper in the history of journalism. I would like to see him sit down with Steve Greenhut or Martin Wisckol of the Register to air things out if pieces like these are going to be written. I would love for him to sit down and rehash all the strategy that went on behind the scenes in the Sheriff's race.

Patterico's Year End Review of The LA Times(it ain't pretty)

Read it and weep. Patterico has once again cataloged every omission, bias, factual error, and incompetence of our local behemoth MSM newspaper....The LA Times. Please read his post here. I don't even know where to begin. Just read the post I guess. Kudos again to you Patrick for your eternal vigilance against bad journalism.

Happy New Year

Another year is in the books. Hello 2007! I hope everyone had a safe New Years last night. Lynn and I stayed home for the first time in a long while. It was nice actually. I'm looking forward to a great year. Looking back at 2006, there was a lot to be happy & sad about, but that's what life is all about. You never know what is going to happen from day to day, so make the most out of every day.