news from Lucie Arnaz

from www.luciearnaz.com

Dear Friends!

Welcome! So happy you found me here where you can find ALL things LUCIE........with an IE!

I just began booking my LATIN ROOTS big band show appearing close to my new home on February 11, 2014 at the beautiful McCallum Theatre in Palm Springs, CA.. Check my calendar page here for details and for other dates (Laguna, Arizona, etc.) And I hope to bring that big show into Las Vegas soon, too.

It's a story I've been longing to tell, the genesis of my love affair with music and a tribute to the man who introduced it to me.

Here's a taste:

For concert booking please contact Wayne J. Gmitter via email: wayne@thinkiconic.com or phone: (917) 209-1148

Meantime, from my merchandise dept. let me tell you, if you haven’t already, checked out my LATIN ROOTS CD, please do. I am so darn proud of this one, and I think there will be many songs you will want to listen to again and again.

Also, I am proud to announce all six seasons of HERE’S LUCY (the series I co-starred in with my mother, Lucille Ball, and my brother, Desi Arnaz, Jr.), are now available on DVD courtesy of MPI. The wrap around commentaries on these are priceless.

In Family News:

My son, Joe Luckinbill, is still promoting his newest CD (artwork above, left), "Lugenbühl" and I think it is even better than the first. Some excellent writing and production on these new songs. I hope you will check it out. And his music has also been used in films and television now,too. Most exciting, Joe relocated and started his own recording studio in Los Angeles canvassing other new talent to produce. Check him out at joeluckinbill.com, on Facebook and on MySpace. You go, Joe!!!

My son, Simon Luckinbill, continues to make some amazingly beautiful and thought provoking art. To view / purchase his work go toSyArtGallery and visit him on Facebook.

My multi talented daughter, Katharine Luckinbill, enjoys her busy life in the advertising world and also continues to post an online advice column on KATE-BOOK.com that is not only entertaining, but full of some solid tips on so many topics about which I had no clue she was so savvy. She is a heck of a good writer that girl. 

And, my üüüüber talented partner in crime and passion (and the father of all these brilliant babes), Laurence Luckinbill, has a fantastic website now complete with hours of performance videos (welcome to the 21st Century, Lar!!) created by our multi-talented writer-designer son, Benjamin Luckinbill. 

While we're at it, you might as well enjoy some of the first Luckinbill brother, Nick's, music tracks. We are pretty proud of Nick. He just had one of his tracks featured in a commercial on the Olympics!

What a fabulous bunch of talented artists are these children we made. Better than that, they are ALL great people trying to do something to enrich the happiness quotient on the planet.

Hope you enjoy perusing the site and, as always, if you have any suggestions, please pass them along to the webangels atbenluckinbill.com!

Safe and Happy Holidays Everyone!

Besos,

Why is Ann Coulter so Dangerous?

Conservatives recognize the universal truth of the axiom, “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Our Founding Fathers understood this and devised the form of government we inherited from them with that in mind. Limited government, enumerated powers, competing factions – all designed to prevent one individual or group from seizing too much power. That system has endured for centuries, but has become corrupted by various power grabs and the expansion of power concentrated in the hands of a few people in Washington, D.C.

 

Power corrupts. Ann Coulter is particularly prone to its effects. She pursues power with passion (see several chapters in Vanity: Ann Coulter’s Quest for Glory), just as she seeks control over every aspect of her life, of her relationships, and of the world around her – including national politics. Moreover, her arrogance – her sense of superiority and belief that she knows better than anyone else (see Never Trust Ann Coulter – at ANY Age) – compels her to misuse her power and exert control over other people, irrespective of their wishes or needs.

 

That combination – corrupt power, compulsive control, and unbridled arrogance – makes Ann Coulter a very dangerous person.

by Daniel Borchers

here is a link to Dan's website CoulterWatch

http://www.coulterwatch.com/

Words of Wisdom on our Justice System from Rev Al Sharpton/Huff Post

Rev. Al Sharpton

President, National Action Network

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'Affluenza' and the Miscarriage of Justice

Posted: 12/16/2013 4:44 pm

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Affluenza Defense, Ethan Couch Sentenced, Ethan Couch Car Crash, Judge Jean Boyd,Affluenza, Drinking And Driving, Justice System, Politics News

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The justice system. We often like to think that in a great democracy like ours, we are all equal under the law no matter what our personal or financial background. The reality is, that while we may have a right to an attorney and a day in court, our judicial system is far from perfect. Too often, those with money and power can avert harsh sentences, while the poor find themselves receiving maximum time and penalties. This aspect of economic inequality -- one where a 16-year-old teenager can drive drunk, kill four people and receive no jail time because he allegedly suffered from 'affluenza' -- is one of our greatest remaining challenges. Financial disparity within our judicial system isn't a notion of the past; it is ever present today. And perhaps nothing serves as more of a stirring reminder of this grave injustice than the very case of this teen, Ethan Couch, who has forever shattered the lives of many and received nothing but a virtual slap on the wrist.

Texas Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Couch to 10 years probation and rehab at a 'treatment facility' after he pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter by intoxication, and two counts of assault by intoxication causing serious bodily injury, according to reports. Prosecutors had asked for 20 years in prison. Couch and his friends reportedly stole alcohol from a Walmart store, then piled into his father's pickup truck; Couch struck and killed four pedestrians while traveling 70 mph in a 40 mph zone, according to news outlets. Not only were those four pedestrians killed, but two of his friends were seriously injured after they were reportedly thrown from the vehicle -- one who may be permanently paralyzed. Couch's attorneys argued that the teen suffered from 'affluenza', a condition where the rich apparently don't know how to be held accountable for their actions because they grow up in an environment of privilege. Shockingly, it appears the ridiculous theory worked. Instead of prison, Couch is heading to a $450,000/yr facility where he will have access to martial arts training, nature hikes, etc. Meanwhile, the families of the victims are left without a semblance of justice.

It's remarkable how this 16-year-old has been given a pass despite the fact that police claim his blood alcohol level at the time of the accident was three times the legal limit, and according to published reports, traces of Valium were in his system as well. And this isn't the first time Couch has had brushes with the law. According to a lawsuit filed against his family, Couch was previously arrested and charged with alcohol possession, and he wasonce found in a car with a passed out, naked 14-year-old girl. How could this pattern of behavior not be taken into account during sentencing? Do we really believe that a young teenager from an inner city or from a rural area who had a rough upbringing would receive time at a treatment facility if he/she killed four people after driving drunk? I don't think so, and neither do the majority of us.

For more years than I can remember, I have discussed the idea of inequality within our justice system. It begins with strategically profiling certain segments of the population, and it ends with a legal system that rewards the wealthy and their high-powered attorneys while viciously locking up the poor and powerless. The very judge in Couch's case, Jean Boyd, apparently had no problem sentencing a 14-year-old black teenager to up to 10 years in prison for punching a man who later died as a result of his injuries. According to published reports, Boyd sentenced this teen to 10 years, which will begin at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, but if he is deemed not to have made progress, he could be transferred to an adult prison before his 19th birthday. Where is this child's opportunity to go enjoy nature walks and a luxury rehab center? If we truly believe in equality and rule of law, then our judges, courts and the entire legal system must conduct themselves as such. Anything less is simply a miscarriage of justice.

President Obama recently addressed income inequality. He referred to it as the defining challenge of our time -- and rightfully so. But what people often forget is that income inequality impacts far more than how much a person makes. It determines what kind of neighborhood we live in, the quality of schools we attend, opportunities that are available and yes, how we are viewed under the eyes of the law. Neither I, nor any reasonable person, condone punching or killing anyone. But when a teenager can be sentenced to 10 years for such an act, and another given time at an extravagant facility for the death of four, we must pause and ask ourselves what message we are sending to young people (and adults for that matter) everywhere. Just as we must ask what message we are sending to the suffering family members of the victims.

Until money and wealth do not predetermine our treatment under the law, justice can never truly be blind.

Follow Rev. Al Sharpton on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheRevAl

from the Huffington Post

Geraldo Radio--Tuesdays with Ann Coulter

Geraldo has one of the best shows on radio today--he lets the guests say their opinions on both sides of the issue.  We get to hear all of the info without anger--Geraldo even says his idea, perhaps in disagreement and no one goes away fuming.  

The New Yorkers love him and call in as if they know him and they are talking to an old friend as evidenced by the New York granny yesterday, angry that Geraldo was feeling too sorry for President Obama.  

It is a good show, particularly for conservative radio and it is also fun to hear Bernard Kerik, former Police Commissioner give his take on things.  He says his friend will be on every Monday.  

I am going to keep watching this show on my comp.  

It is also nice to hear about New York as it is completely different from San Diego.  

I like the show and I am a dem--it is informative without anger--even when the bombastic beauty Ann Coulter calls in on Tuesdays.  Geraldo has the unusual gift of listening to Ann's outrageousness and then toning down her radical statements without being insulting.  

In the current radio market the show is informative and entertaining.  It is one of the few shows that is not completely one-sided and crazy and that is rare in radio today.

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19.00

Aquamarine Swarovski Crystal Cube Earrings

8mm cubes with sterling silver findings

purchase here with paypal or on my website www.chloetoo.com...the ronnie page

tax and shipping are included...and Merry Christmas from the ronnie republic

Is Bill O'Reilly Jealous of Al Sharpton or What

Man, it starting to seem that way.

It seems like Al Sharpton is genuinely happy.  Al Sharpton is happy about President Obama--a lot of their hard work is starting to pay off.

Eric Holder is in place to consider new laws.

Nelson Mandela has received well deserved world praise.

It seems like the Reverend Al Sharpton possesses a true and genuine happiness that Bill knows he just cannot touch.

Al Sharpton has a certain sense of satisfaction, a certain sense of hard work well done.

His contentment  is true and comes from within--it is not sanctioned by Mr O'Reilly.

The happiness is out of Bill's control--he can't get it and he can't touch it and he is angry.

Maybe Bill will achieve grace someday, perhaps that will be his Christmas gift to the media.

Here is the Daily Kos:

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WED DEC 04, 2013 AT 09:31 AM PST

Bill O'Reilly speaks on behalf of Jesus about the scourge of Food Stamps

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It is no secret that Bill O'Reilly is an ass of gigantic proportions. However, in a segment on last night's O'Reilly Factor, Bill manages to outdo his own gigantic assiness. In response to recent Republican efforts to dismantle SNAP and the Vatican's new-found concern for the poor, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) made a comment in a conversation with Al Sharpton that when Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, “he didn’t charge food stamps.”

This made Bill O' ooh so mad and he simply wasn't going to stand for it. Letting his hatred for all things perceived as "nanny state" fly, he graciously acknowledged that Jesus would be just fine with feeding the poors so long as it didn't inconvenience anyone with actual money.

In a conversation with Pentecostal Pastor Joshua Dubois, Bill tries to school the good pastor on all those alcoholics and drug addicts picking his pocket for free food. In actuality, it was Pastor Dubois who schooled O'Reilly. The video and juicier bits of the conversation transcribed below.

O'Reilly: The problem I have, as I stated is that you’re helping one group by hurting another group and a bigger group, and so I don’t know if Jesus is going to be down with that.

Dubois: Jesus would be down for the poor. He would want to make sure every single person in this country had enough food to eat. And the bottom line is if you add up every single private charitable dollar that feeds hungry people in this country, it’s only 10 percent of what we would need to make sure everyone has food in their stomachs. The rest comes from the federal government.

O'Reilly: You’re making a powerful argument, but there is one huge mistake in it. And that is that some of the people who don’t have enough to eat, it’s their fault they don’t have enough to eat. Particularly with their children.

If you’re an alcoholic or heroin addict or a drug addict and you can’t hold a job, alright, and you can’t support your children — and that’s a circumstance of millions and millions of people, not most, but a lot, a substantial minority — then it’s your fault, you’re bringing the havoc, that you’re asking people who may be struggling themselves to put food on the table to give their tax money to you. And then you’re not even going to buy food with it, you’re going to buy booze and drugs with it.

Dubois: With all due respect, there’s a lot of misconceptions in what you just said. The vast majority of that program goes to elderly people, people who are disabled, 46 percent are children and most people are working families.

O'Reilly: My parents didn’t make a lot of money and they were able to put food on the table. I give a lot of money — and you probably know this — to children’s charities, okay? Children who have derelict parents. And I say, it’s not the kids’ fault so I’m going to give the money to the kids. But I don’t give it to charities unless the charity hands it to the kids, gets it right to the kids. So, I’m circumventing the drugs and the alcohol and the other craziness, alright?

Dubois: I don’t live in a derelict country. There are some folks that have the problems that you described, but that is not the vast majority of food stamp recipients.

I have to applaud Pastor Dubois for standing up to O'Reilly so pointedly. O'Reilly only served to come off as the cruel, heartless Republican he is. In his mind and in the minds of so many Republicans, being poor is just exactly what you deserve for having the audacity to be poor. In order to expunge his putrid soul for these uncharitable thoughts, he must convince himself that these people are subhuman addicts not worthy of wiping his shoes on.

I am not a Christian and I do not pretend to speak for Jesus and how he would have felt about food stamps, but having read a great deal what he was purported to have stood for, I'm pretty sure that Bill O'Reilly has this exactly wrong.

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO STEVENINGEN ON WED DEC 04, 2013 AT 09:31 AM PST.

ALSO REPUBLISHED BY HUNGER IN AMERICA.

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Geraldo Radio: Mondays With the Commish

It's a pretty good radio show if you like interesting conversation and information.

That's Geraldo--He even accomplished a lively conversation about the new Pope and the views of an atheist group without angry shouts--as usual we got to hear both sides.

Everything to the most conservative views from Geraldo home, Fox News to angry New York Grandma calling in to tell Geraldo he is protecting President Obama too much "You better not be feeling so sorry for him, Geraldo," the angry granny did not mind shouting at a high pitch.

As usual, Geraldo Rivera lets everyone say their opinion, take it in and say his idea even if it is disagreement.  No one ends up angry and we get to hear all of the views on both sides of the issue.  How does Geraldo do it. It is an art form this radio guy has perfected.

Today he is starting "Mondays with the Commish."  Geraldo Riversa says he will have his friend, Bernard Kerik, the past Police Commissioner of New York City on every Monday morning to discuss the current news items that involve police protection to the citizens.  This morning they talked about legalizing marijuana--Bernard says he is personally not for it but all the states need to get it together as far as the laws--it is not the same degree of crime everywhere.

Geraldo says he would like to see pot legal right now.

Bernard Kerik would not give amnesty to NSA leaker Edward Snowden because he has caused so many security problems for our country--he just can't see it.

Talking about the Short Hills mall car hijacking this past weekend, Mr. Kerik said he imagines everything, especially an upscale mall has surveillance and it is just a matter of time before these people are caught.  This is near an area, Newark, where car jackings can still be a regular and profitable occurrence.  The unfortunate thing is that the criminals were so bold they killed the man before they hijacked his Range Rover.

Bernard Kerik also talked about the inclusion of John Miller joining the new police commissioner and he thought Mr.Miller would indeed be an asset to the force.

He talked about extreme prison sentencing for drug offenders that is too harsh and out of line.  He thinks that felony conviction is "slaughtering" to the individual and the family.

Talking about Geraldo's show on Fox News on Saturday night--Geraldo reported on the ease of getting very hard drugs compared to the difficulty of getting medical marijuana.

Good job, Geraldo and former New York top-cop Mr. Kerick--I really enjoyed the show and hearing your opinions.

At the end of the show the stolen Range Rover was indeed found in Newark.  I am sad for that family--the car was found but not the jacker.

Geraldo Rivera is on WABC radio in New York every morning--easy to listen to on the comp. just google WABC--that is 7 AM in San Diego.

Thank you, Geraldo, for telling us about New York and the news today--it is a good way to eat breakfast and start the morning.


Here is a story about the release from prison of Bernard Kerik:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-boss-bernard-kerik-prison-article-1.1356234

Here's a Cute Picture of Judy the Beauty from The Big Kitchen in South Park San Diego

Sunday in the Park

South Park

San Diego

 


Judy is there every weekend serving the best latkes and home fries in San Diego






There is Judy again and The Big Kitchen is pet friendly.  It is fun to eat under the trees on a nice day.

The Big Kitchen--30th and Grape--on the way to the Grape Street Dog Park in San Diego.


check out this great recipe for potato pancakes from the Smitten Kitchen.....

http://theronnierepublic.blogspot.com/2014/04/potato-pancakes-this-recipe-from.html

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Geraldo Talks Cuba and Raul Castro

Geraldo Rivera: The Blockade And The Handshake

By Geraldo Rivera

Published December 13, 2013

Fox News Latino

• 
  2013 GETTY IMAGES

Fidel Castro sucks; so does his brother Raúl, his successor as ruthless, human rights trampling Cuban dictator. There, I got that out of the way, so don’t hyperventilate for a minute and give me a chance to explain why I think it was perfectly appropriate, indeed smart, of the president to shake Raúl Castro’s hand at the Nelson Mandela memorial services in rainy South Africa this past Tuesday.  

Further, I hope the handshake is the gesture that accelerates a long overdue easing of the harsh U.S. policy toward Cuba, which since 1960 has been one of unrelenting hostility and confrontation. For 11 successive American administrations beginning with President Dwight Eisenhower, who ended diplomatic relations with Cuba and put in place the first economic embargo, and John F. Kennedy, who launched the failed 1962 Bay of Pigs invasion, we have sought to undo the Cuban revolution that overthrew Fulgencio Batista, another ruthless, human rights trampling dictator who was at least pro-American.

Fueled by a half century of resentment and bitterness over the uncompensated seizure of their homes and businesses by Castro’s communists, the exiles have been unrelenting in their insistence that the United States be as unforgiving as they are toward the Castro regime.

- Geraldo Rivera

Having experienced two extended assignments in melancholy Cuba, the communist-ruled Pearl of the Antilles, I have a fair grasp of how sad things are still for the 11 million prisoner/residents on Castro’s island. Cut off from the two million Cubans who have managed to flee to the United States and elsewhere, island residents today are largely supported by that Diaspora, those sons and daughters of Cuba who live abroad. Since restrictions were modestly eased in 2011, Cuban Americans can now send food, cash and other aid to their oppressed and impoverished relatives still on the island. From Miami’s Little Havana to Hudson County New Jersey, that $2 billion a year in family remittances have become one of the mainstays of the Cuban economy.  

What is the point of what remains of the embargo? As then Senator Barack Obama said in 2004, “The Cuban embargo has failed to provide the sorts of rising standards of living, and has squeezed the innocents in Cuba and utterly failed to overthrow Castro, who has now been there since I was born. It is now time to acknowledge that that particular policy has failed.”

Similarly, Bill Clinton was scornful of the embargo. In his book “The Clinton Tapes, Wrestling History,” Pulitzer Prize winning historian Taylor Branch says President Clinton “…confided on tape that the embargo was a foolish, pandering failure. It had allowed Castro to demonize the United States for decades … The president said anybody ‘with half a brain’ could see the embargo was counterproductive.”

But like Bill Clinton, who was severely trashed by the Cuban exile community over his handling of the wrenching 1999 Elián González controversy in which a refugee youngster was returned to his Cuban father over the objections of stateside relatives, President Barack Obama caved once he got into office, losing the courage of his earlier conviction about easing the 51-year-old embargo. Although both presidents felt that our embargo of Cuba was a counterproductive relic of the Cold War, they lost their nerve when it came to reforming relations with our neighbor 90 miles from Key West. They had seen the brute political power of the Cuban exile community, when almost single-handedly it wrenched the 2000 elections from the hands of Democrats in Florida.

Fueled by a half century of resentment and bitterness over the uncompensated seizure of their homes and businesses by Castro’s communists, the exiles have been unrelenting in their insistence that the United States be as unforgiving as they are toward the Castro regime. The result of their intransigence is the current hostility where they are still uncompensated; their family members on the island are suffering as much from embargo-related economic deprivation as from political oppression, and their adopted country, the United States, is ridiculed for a foreign policy out of step with virtually every other country on earth.

In 2013, the United Nations for the 22nd time passed a resolution condemning the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. The vote was 188-2. Of all the governments representing all the rest of the human race, only Israel sided with the United States. That score again, Cuba 188, the USA 2. The 188 who voted against us include Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Germany, Mexico and Britain, all major trading partners with Cuba.

Like I said at the top, Raúl Castro is a ruthless, human rights trampling dictator. In that regard, he is much like the ruthless, human rights trampling dictators who run China, Russia, North Korea (where 34,000 Americans died in a brutal war) and Vietnam, (where another 50,000 Americans lost their lives in another brutal, decade-long war). In fact, Castro is more like the ruthless, human rights trampling dictators that run most of Asia and half of Africa. And yet we do business with all of them, except Cuba.  

The handshake was smart. The embargo is dumb.

Geraldo Rivera is currently host of "Geraldo at Large" on Fox News Channel (FNC), which is also nationally syndicated by Twentieth Television. Rivera recently celebrated 40 years in journalism.

copied from Fox News Latino

Right, Geraldo, it is odd when you go to other airports around the world and see Havana as a destination.  To us it might as well be another planet and to other countries it is just another city.