#Cristina Bontas

[loscerritoscommunitynews]

Central Basin Board Asks Attorney General Bonta to Bypass State Law in Attempt to Maintain Illegitimate Majority

@supjanicehahn @HildaSolis @LindseyPHorvath @HollyJMitchell @kathrynbarger @AraJNajarian @metrolosangeles @BizFed @LAAreaChamber @theChrisApodaca

January 31, 2024 By Brian Hews • editor@cerritosnews.net When former Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia’s AB 1794 passed and was signed by Governor Newsom, the bill mandated that Central Basin Municipal Water District (CB) periodically appoint three qualified individuals to its board of directors. The appointment process was fairly simple, involving water purveyors and large water companies within…

[cristinabontas]

[thesovgc]

The Predetermined 10 aka the 1989 Worlds Floor Final

Svetlana Boginskaya looks on as Daniela Silivas’ “Perfect” 10 comes up.

Again, our coverage is via British Eurosport with John Taylor and the iconic Legend of Heft herself, Monica Phelps 😍.

(FX Final starts at 1:48:30)

It’s only warm-ups and Monica already has a hot take. After John reckons Boginskaya the favorite, Monica reports while that might be true, Svetlana Leonidovna is not her favorite. All right then. Monica goes on to single out Yang Bo as having much better tumbling than our AA champion. Yes, that well-known tumbling powerhouse Yang Bo.

Cristina Bontas, who absolutely got robbed of bronze in the all-around IMO, is first up. Cracker of a double layout. Very energetic style with some interesting choreographic flourishes, including a headstand. There’s a bit of a rushed quality to her work that is understandable due to her youth and immaturity. Middle pass is wonderful: tucked-full in + straddle jump back the other way into a tucked double back. However, she lands a bit forward and must make a small adjustment on landing. The leaps lack a bit of amplitude and the dance, while pleasant enough, suffers from a lack of gravitas. Last pass is whip through to double back and she slightly overcooks the lunge. The crowd loves it. Again, Monica states that the Chinese are the ones to beat on floor and it’s causing me to question my entire gymnastics knowledge. [There have been exactly ZERO Chinese Olympic champions on floor and precisely ONE World Champion in Cheng Fei, a full seventeen years after this meet.] 9.962 is Bontas’ score–only one 9.90 (which feels like what I would have given) from East Germany, which is dropped.

Up second is the Queen of Stuttgart, our overall champ Svetlana Leonidovna Boginskaya. A true diva, she doesn’t care that it’s after Labor Day and is in a mostly-white chic leo with a pattern of pink and yellow ribbons on the bust. (It looks much better than how I’ve described.) As the sweet, sweet opening chords of Fiesta begin, Monica concedes that Boginskaya has great dance “and the facial expressions to match” (whatever that means), but however will her tumbling stack up? Mount is a piked full-in, chest a bit down but landed perfectly otherwise. Even Monica says it was beautiful. However, Monica is not so fond of the middle pass of 1 ½ through to double full, which she says is “not a very highly rated tumble”. The choreography of this piece is wonderfully avant-garde and exceptionally expressive; she has a style truly all her own. Beautiful high (cowboyed) tuck double back for the last pass before some final angst and an iconic finishing pose. Everyone loves it except for France, who gives it a 9.95. *insert side-eye* Tens from all the other judges. Monica reiterates that Bogi’s dance is unsurpassable. Has she possibly been won over?

Olesya Dudnik is next. Capable of a wide array of tumbling passes, she chooses to mount here with a piked full-in, same as Boginskaya. She shows incredible variety with her second pass of 2 ½ twist immediate punch front–one of the first to perform what would eventually become an incredibly common tumbling run. Her music is Gershwin’s Second Rhapsody, and the choreographic highlight comes near the end with a spectacular leap series that coincides with the music perfectly. Unfortunately for Olesya, leap amplitude isn’t exactly her strong suit, but it still pays off fabulously. The final tumble is a tuck double back, landed brilliantly. While this was a strong exercise, Dudnik didn’t really sell it like she found a Three Day Eviction Notice on her door and she’s gotta make that rent money, highlighting her somewhat more reserved style. John and Monica are big fans nonetheless, and Monica ponders if history will be made with multiple gold medalists all scoring 10s. Slow-motion shows questionable form / a noticeable leg separation on her first pass and a 9.95 puts her third out of three competitors so far.

The high bar Final is taking place alternately, and Monica makes some inane comment about a Japanese gymnast enjoying Japanese food and Japanese music. Oy vey 🤦‍♂️.

Monica’s pick Yang Bo is up next. Jazz hands to open. Third piked full-in mount in a row; she lands hers a bit short and has to take a step forward. This music is all wrong for anyone outside the sphere of influence of Geza Pozsar, especially a gymnast of Yang’s refinement. Whip to middle full middle pass is exactly the kind of amazing tumbling Monica must have been referencing in the opening. Oh wait. This Energizer Bunny on Adderall choreography is absolutely abhorrent and, frankly, is a waste of Yang Bo’s ability 😔. Double tuck dismount is again woefully short and she takes an ever bigger step forward to compensate. Monica promptly walks back and/or forgets everything she said before—now Yang is too young and immature to properly express the dance and won’t be amongst the medalists. Sure Jan. My frustration with Monica and her selective memory instantly evaporates as whilst showing the leader Boginskaya signing autographs for fans in the stands above her, Monica retorts: “It’s a good job they asked her when she’d finished her floor routine and not before, otherwise they could well have had [their] book thrown back over the balcony.”

Peak Monica 🙏🏼. Yang Bo receives a 9.775. Monica says it’s a fair score. I’m wondering how she made floor finals in the first place after witnessing that routine if I’m being perfectly honest.

I’m instantly intrigued as I don’t recognize the next competitor taking the floor—Milena Mavrodieva from Bulgaria. Double straight (as the Brits would say) to start! Unfortunately, she lands a bit short and right on the sideline, maybe even going over. Very dramatic music although the choreography is at times a bit random and incongruous to it. Open Russian front through to double tuck middle pass. Beautifully done. She does a really cool series with some parkour-ish jump spins that I love. I’m digging this routine. It’s so… Bulgarian. She dismounts with a full-in, but this one definitely lands out of bounds. Quel dommage ! Monica adds insult to injury by saying she is getting by on the reputation of her country and not on her current form. Boginskaya is having a snack and we know that will not go unnoticed by Monica, who says Bogi’s eating a bit of an apple and some cake or biscuit. “That’s how she keeps that good physique.” Side-eye emoji. 9.825 for Mavrodieva.

Chen Cuiting is next. She starts with a whip through to piked full-in. The music and choreography suits her well, although it isn’t especially interesting or memorable. Middle run is whip to double tuck (again, glorious form with toes pointed and no cowboy), landing a wee bit underrotated and taking a step forward. A little bit of a stumble on her double turn as she doesn’t quite complete the rotation before dropping her heel. Double tuck dismount done perfectly. Crowd loves it. 9.912.

Now the moment we’ve all been dreading because sadly, I know how this one ends. It’s the reigning Olympic champion on this event, Daniela Silivas. She continues with the compulsory mount of piked full-in, hers out of a whipback. Well done. Exquisite double turn. Middle pass of double full punch front immediate hurdle roundoff back handspring double full. But a lack of power and precision working out of the first double twist and the landing on the second one is a bit low. She also appeared to be seriously offline in the second part of that sequence. Monica thinks she’s said goodbye to the 10, but she’s not viewing this as something already decided beforehand. You know, the way one is supposed to judge things. 🙄 This may be my bias, but I don’t think the choreography is especially inspired and she seems quite lethargic here towards the end. Dismount is a double tuck, slightly overrotated with the lunge not perfectly controlled (as we saw with Boginskaya). Monica thinks Boginskaya has the gold to herself, because she has functioning eyes and Daniela’s routine was farrrr from faultless. However, the fix is in and Silivas is showered with 10s across the board anyway. Svetlana Leonidovna gives an amazing look of disapproval and Monica says she (Boginskaya) is unimpressed. Twenty-three years before McKayla Maroney. Svetlana Leonidovna is an icon. She’s a legend. And she IS the moment.

Over on high bar, cutie Hungarian Csaba Fajkusz does a Def to immediate Gienger, but sadly lost the plot soon afterwards. He also performs a one-armed Gienger to one-arm re-grasp. Shock and awe. Je vis! 💗

Closing this show is the pride of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Choi Gyong-Hui. First pass: whip to piked full-in immediate headplant. Yikes, that was not even close. Bless. Middle pass is a triple full that makes Hollie Vise’s attempts seem fully rotated. She also steps out of bounds. Double bless. I do love her leotard, though. And this music, which sounds familiar.. Monica says she doesn’t seem quite ready for all this difficulty. You think? The routine is actually quite nice; she has lovely arm movements and expression. She runs halfway past the diagonal before hurdling on her final pass—tuck double back and again, out of bounds. Monica says she is a star of the future, which didn’t really end up coming to fruition, sadly. John says her day is still to come but unfortunately it never did. Well maybe it did, but not in relation to gymnastics. She doesn’t even break nine, scoring an 8.95. Bless her heart. Boginskaya looks incredibly resigned and not at all looking forward to the upcoming medal ceremony where she will have to unfairly share the top spot with her archrival. And who could blame her, really?

I must say I was pretty impressed with the judging until the second Silivas’ score came up. I probably would have had the podium as follows: 1. Boginskaya, 2. Bontas, 3. Dudnik. There’s a slight chance I might tie Silivas with Dudnik for the bronze. But probably not, on second thought. I also could very well tie Bontas and Dudnik for silver. Or switch them and have Olesya 2nd and Cristina 3rd. The more I watch Dudnik’s floor, the more I love it.

Anywayyyy. Until next time… Bye, loves! ❤

[freifraufischer]

Cristina Bontas (ROM), Compulsory BB, 1992 Olympic Games

[illyria-and-her-pet]

Gymnasts who competed the double twisting yurchenko even when it had the same start value as the full twisting yurchenko (1986-1992):

Elena Shevchenko (URS)

Elena Gurova (URS)

Aleftina Priakhina (URS)

Vera Kolesnikova (URS)

Eugenia Golea (ROM)

Elena Shushunova (URS)

Natalia Laschenova (URS)

Svetlana Baitova (URS)

Gabriela Potorac (ROM)

Chen Cuiting (CHN)

Olesya Dudnik (URS)

Cristina Bontas (ROM)

Natalia Kalinina (URS)

Tatiana Lysenko (URS)

Tatiana Gutsu (URS)

[classic-gym-routines]

Team Romania + the DLO

[gymfanconfessions]

[kotoole21ahsgov]

California Proposition Assessment

1. “English Proficiency. Multilingual Education. Initiative Statute” or proposition 58 from 2016

2. Prop 58 aimed to “[preserve the] requirement that public schools ensure students become proficient in English”. Because prop 58 passed, students with limited English proficiency have the ability to learn English through their school district which is beneficial for their future and all in the community. 

3. There is no notable fiscal effect on school districts nor state government.

4. The election results of Prop 58, of 2016, did surprise me as 73.52%  of persons voted yes on prop 58

5. 

Proposition 58 Sponsors: 

-Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-33)

-Sen. Loni Hancock (D-9)

-Sen. Bill Monning (D-17)

-Sen. Martin Block (D-39)

-Asm. Nancy Skinner (D-15)

-Asm. Lorena Gonzalez (D-80)

-Gov. Jerry Brown (D)[6]

-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)

-State Superintendent Tom Torlakson

-Secretary of State Alex Padilla (D)

-State Controller Betty Yee (D)

-Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones (D)

-U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-27)

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-39)

U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-47)

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-28)

Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-24)

Sen. Ben Allen (D-26)

Sen. Jim Beall (D-15)

Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-19)

Sen. Isadore Hall (D-35)

Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-22)

Sen. Jerry Hill (D-13)

Sen. Mark Leno (D-11)

Sen. Connie Leyva (D-20)

Sen. Carol Liu (D-25)

Sen. Mike McGuire (D-2)

Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-32)

Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-30)

Sen. Richard Pan (D-6)

Sen. Fran Pavley (D-27)

Sen. Richard Roth (D-31)

Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-10)

Sen. Lois Wolk (D-3)

Asm. Anthony Rendon (D-63)

Asm. Luis Alejo (D-30)

Asm. Rob Bonta (D-18)

Asm. Ian Calderon (D-57)

Asm. Nora Campos (D-27)

Asm. David Chiu (D-17)

Asm. Kansen Chu (D-25)

Asm. Cristina Garcia (D-58)

Asm. Eduardo Garcia (D-56)

Asm. Jimmy Gomez (D-51)

Asm. Reginald Jones-Sawyer (D-59)

Asm. Kevin McCarty (D-7)

Asm. Miguel Santiago (D-53)

Asm. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-13)

Asm. Tony Thurmond (D-15)

Asm. Das Williams (D-37)

Mayor Ed Lee, San Francisco

Mayor Bao Nguyen, Garden Grove

Mayor Robert Garcia, Long Beach

[Parties]

-California Democratic Party[7]

-Green Party of California[8]

-California Peace and Freedom Party[9]

-Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club[10]

-Santa Monica Democratic Club[11]

Interest group endorsements:

N/A

-Financial Backers: 

-California Teachers Association PAC~$1,722,048.00

-SEIU Local 2015 Issues PAC~$104,833.18

-California Federation of Teachers COPE Prop/ Ballot Committee~$100,000.00

-Association of California School Administrators Issues PAC~$100,000.00

-SEIU California State Council~$100,000.00

I was unfortunately unable to find/locate the endorsements although the financial backets are quite understandable as they consist of teachers' organizations/committees or are mostly education related. By understanding the financial backers it is clear what this props aimed demographic is.

6. 

Arguments for Prop 58

“PROPOSITION 58 ENSURES ALL STUDENTS CAN ACHIEVE ENGLISH PROFICIENCY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.”

“Too many California students are being left behind and not given the opportunity to learn English with the most effective teaching methods possible. This is because of an outdated nearly 20-year-old law, Proposition 227, which restricts the instructional methods school districts can use to teach English.Proposition 58 revises Proposition 227 to remove these restrictions so schools are able to use the most up-to-date teaching methods possible to help our students learn.”

Requires local school districts to identify in their annual K-12 Local Control and Accountability Plans the instructional methods they will offer to help ensure all students become proficient in English as rapidly as possible.

Requires schools to offer a structured English immersion program to English learners. But schools also can adopt other language instruction methods based on research and stakeholder input.

School districts must seek input from educators, parents and the community.

“PROPOSITION 58 ALSO EXPANDS OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGLISH SPEAKERS TO LEARN A SECOND LANGUAGE.”

Proposition 58 removes barriers hurting students by discouraging schools from expanding multilingual education. Proposition 58 encourages school districts to provide instruction programs so native English speakers can become proficient in a second language:

School districts must include in their annual K-12 Local Control and Accountability Plans programs giving English-speaking students the opportunity to achieve proficiency in a second language.

District choices of non-English languages must reflect input from parents, the community and the linguistic and financial resources of schools.

Research shows that students participating in programs taught in more than one language attain higher levels of academic achievement.

PROPOSITION 58 RESTORES LOCAL CONTROL TO OUR SCHOOLS.

Proposition 58 allows local school districts to choose the most up-to-date language instruction methods to improve student outcomes free from legal restrictions imposed on them by a decades-old law.

PROPOSITION 58 PROVIDES A BETTER FUTURE FOR OUR CHILDREN AND OUR STATE.

The world economy is changing rapidly. Today, technology allows even the smallest businesses to have a global reach. Students proficient in English and a second language will be more employable, start out earning higher wages, and make California's workforce better prepared to compete for jobs in the global economy.

PROPOSITION 58 HAS BROAD-BASED SUPPORT FROM LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS, EDUCATORS, PARENTS AND EMPLOYERS.

Giving local schools the tools they need to improve outcomes for students is not a partisan or political issue. Proposition 58 was placed on the ballot by a bipartisan vote of the legislature. Support for Proposition 58's common sense reforms to improve language instruction in our schools is broad-based and includes: Local school boards (the California School Boards Association), Teachers (the California Language Teachers' Association, the California Teachers Association, the California Federation of Teachers), Parents (California State PTA), and Employers (including the San Jose I Silicon Valley and Los Angeles Chambers of Commerce).

Proposition 58's reforms allow schools to adopt the most up-to-date methods of language instruction to improve student outcomes and make better use of taxpayer dollars

Arguments against Prop 58

“THIS BALLOT MEASURE IS A DISHONEST TRICK BY THE SACRAMENTO POLITICIANS”

The official title of Proposition 58 is "English Language Education," But it actually REPEALS the requirement the children be taught English in California public schools. It's all a trick by the Sacramento politicians to fool the voters, who overwhelmingly passed Proposition 227, the "English for the Children" initiative in 1998.

The worst part of Proposition 58 is hidden away in Section 8, which REPEALS all restrictions on the California Legislature to make future changes. This would allow the Legislature to reestablish SPANISH-ALMOST-ONLY instruction in the public schools by a simple majority vote, once again forcing Latino children into those classes against their parents' wishes.

Teaching English in our public schools is overwhelmingly supported by California parents, whether immigrants or non-immigrants, Latinos or Anglos, Asians or Blacks. That's why the politicians are trying to TRICK the voters by using a DECEPTIVE TITLE.

“VOTE NO AND KEEP "ENGLISH FOR THE CHILDREN"---IT WORKS!”

For decades, millions of Latino children were FORCED INTO SPANISH-ALMOST-ONLY CLASSES dishonestly called "bilingual education." It was an educational disaster and never worked. Many Latinos never learned how to read, write, or even speak English properly.

But in 1998, California voters overwhelmingly passed Prop. 227—the "English for the Children" initiative---providing sheltered English immersion to immigrant students and requiring that they be taught English as soon as they started school.

Jaime Escalante of Stand and Deliver fame, one of America's most successful teachers led the Prop. 227 campaign as Honorary Chairman, rescuing California Latinos from the Spanish-only educational ghetto.

It worked! Within four years the test scores of over a million immigrant students in California increased by 30%, 50%, or even 100%.

All the major newspapers, even the national New York Times, declared the new English immersion system a huge educational success.

The founding president of the California Association of Bilingual Educators announced that he'd been wrong about bilingual education for thirty years and became a leading national advocate for English immersion.

Since "English for the Children" passed, there has been a huge increase in the number of Latinos scoring high enough to gain admission to the prestigious University of California system.

Prop. 227 worked so well in California schools that the whole issue was forgotten by almost everyone except the bilingual education activists. Now they're trying to trick the voters into allowing the RESTORATION OF MANDATORY SPANISH-ALMOST-ONLY CLASSES.

7. I would’ve voted YES on prop 58 as I believe a foundational understanding of English is important and necessary young Americans.

8. I found it interesting that the Libertarian Party of California were opponents of Prop 58.

[irreplaceable-spark]

If you live in California and are voting on State Assemblyman/Assemblywoman, be sure to double check to see if your incumbent candidate voted Aye or No on SB-145. If they voted Aye, you should be voting for their opposition.

Those who voted Aye:  Aguiar-Curry, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bloom, Bonta, Burke, Carrillo, Chiu, Chu, Cooper, Daly, Friedman, Gabriel, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager, Levine, Low, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Blanca Rubio, Santiago, Mark Stone, Ting, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon.

Those who voted No:  Bigelow, Boerner Horvath, Brough, Calderon, Chau, Chen, Choi, Cooley, Megan Dahle, Diep, Flora, Fong, Gallagher, Gonzalez, Gray, Kiley, Lackey, Maienschein, Mathis, Obernolte, Patterson, Ramos, Rodriguez, Salas, Waldron.

[gymnasticscoaching]

Cristina Bontas documentary

Cristina Bontas was an Olympic Champion with Romania in Barcelona. A coach today, she’s an unforgettable character. Watch it on YouTube. (2018). The video can’t be embedded.

[jpww]

Top 5 floor passes

I love this one too!Dos Santos II - Daiane's at the 2003 Cottbus World Cup was the most layout she's ever done it and had good control on the landing.Full-Twisting Double Layout - Love the ones done with the full twist in the first salto. Cristina Bontas, Brandi Personett, and Jade Carey come to mind for this.Back 2-1/2 Punch Rudi - Izbasa was the first one I remember doing this, but it's been done by a couple of Chinese gymnasts since, Mao Yi being the one I remember.Double Arabian Punch Front - Obviously Produnova and Karpenko were the first ones that really started to popularize this. Raisman's also taken it to the next level with her famous pass. I love the Dos Santos punch front that both her and Dos Santos trained. I believe Leticia Costa did a whip immediate double arabian punch front which was unbelievable.Front Layout + Double Front - I prefer the running version such as Produnova's, but I also liked the ones out of the FHS like Bross and Kozich. Special shout out to Miyakawa for successfully doing the front layout full punch double front a handful of times.

[democratsunited-blog]

Private prisons are California political players Capitol Weekly | Capitol Weekly

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=5645

Private prisons are California political players Capitol Weekly | Capitol Weekly

So you think privately-run prisons are a Republican thing? Perhaps in Texas and Tennessee.

But in deep blue California, it is the Democrats who take in the most contributions from for-profit correctional corporations, primarily Florida’s The GEO Group and the Tennessee-based CoreCivic, formerly Corrections Corporation of America.

Both The GEO Group and CoreCivic own and operate immigration detention facilities for the U.S. Immigration & Custom Enforcement (ICE), facilities that are at the center of President Trump’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.

The California Democratic Party tops the list of recipients with $140,000 from GEO and $20,000 CoreCivic.

California Democrats – the state party, candidates, and affiliated PACs – received about $250,000 from GEO Group and CoreCivic thus far during the 2017-18 election cycle. GEO Group contributed $156,000, while CoreCivic gave $94,839. Relative to the dollars contributed to Democrats by tech, developers, unions, gambling, and cannabis interests, the money is small. However, private prison contributions to Democrats are more than double what Republicans received ($100,000).

Favoring Democrats with campaign cash is not surprising. Democrats handily control both houses of the Legislature and all statewide offices, including the governor. Indeed, Republicans, at 25.07%, have dropped to third place in voter registration: They trail Democrats (44.36%) and those who decline to state a party preference (25.51%).

The California Democratic Party tops the list of recipients with $140,000 from GEO and $20,000 CoreCivic. Gavin Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign received $5,000 (Antonio Villaraigosa and John Chiang also got CoreCivic money). Democrats Bill Dodd of Napa, Blanca Rubio of Baldwin Park, Anthony Rendon of Los Angeles, Phil Ting of San Francisco, Ben Allen of Santa Monica, and 16 other Democratic members of the state Legislature accepted contributions from CoreCivic. Dodd also is GEO Group’s favorite California officeholder ($5,900), followed by Senate Leader Toni Atkins, lawmakers Ben Allen and Jim Cooper.

The Democratic-leaning Women in Power PAC took in $5,000 from CoreCivic, while the California Latino PAC received $2,500.

CoreCivic contributed to the campaigns of 12 Republican state legislators, such as Tom Lackey, Catherine Baker, Brian Dahle, and Chad Mayes. The GEO Group contributed to the campaigns of Heath Flora, Bill Brough, and Brian Maienschein.

The GEO Group has 47 operations in California, mostly inmate reentry and retraining. CoreCivic operates seven facilities in California, mostly county and city jails.

Californians for Jobs & a Strong Economy, the pro-corporate PAC that supports both Democrats and Republicans, received $10,000 each from the GEO Group and CoreCivic.

GEO Group and CoreCivic have much business in the state. Outside of the federal government, California is Geo Group’s second biggest client.

For CoreCivic, California ranks three after the feds and Tennessee, the company’s home state. The companies operate modified community correction facilities, which transition inmates to the outside, as well as other inmate reentry programs.

The GEO Group has 47 operations in California, mostly inmate reentry and retraining, plus ICE facilities in Adelanto and Mesa Verde.

CoreCivic operates seven facilities in California, mostly county and city jails, and an ICE facility in Otay Mesa near San Diego.

“That is a prison. You walk through the halls and the doors clank shut, there are bars on the windows.” — Kamala Harris

In addition to their business with state, city and county governments, the GEO Group and CoreCivic own and operate immigrant detainment centers for ICE. The GEO Group operates Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County and Mesa Verde Detention Facility in Bakersfield. Under GEO Group, Adelanto has had a rash of detainee suicides, in-custody deaths, and accusations of sexual assault and abuse. Inspectors have also cited the facility for delayed and inadequate medical care, an inexperienced medical staff, and deficiencies in their medical grievance reporting system.

CoreCivic runs Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. Recently, California U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris toured Otay Mesa, visiting mothers detained there. After her tour, Harris told a crowd gathered outside, “I am a career prosecutor, I have visited many prisons and jails. That is a prison. You walk through the halls and the doors clank shut, there are bars on the windows.”

Harris said mothers were being charged to call their children – 85 cents per minute – after being paid $1 a day for work. Later she told reporters that detainees claimed that they were being drugged against their will. She added, “This is clearly a crime against humanity that is being committed by the United States government,” Harris said.

CoreCivic spokeswoman Amanda Sluss Gilchrist wrote in an email that “the phone service provider for the facility is determined by ICE … All work programs at our ICE detention facilities are completely voluntary and operated in full compliance with ICE standards, including federally mandated minimum wage rates for detainee labor.”

On involuntary drugging of detainees, Gilchrist state that ICE “is solely responsible for…any medical and mental health services provided at Otay Mesa” and that “CoreCivic staff at Otay Mesa do not make medical or mental health treatment determinations.”

Neither ICE, which declined to comment for this story, nor its contractors provided information on the value of their contracts.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that inmate per diem is $107 to $112 per day. A public information request by the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) found the minimum detainee population guaranteed for each facility.

Using this data, Capital Weekly estimates that The GEO Group’s two contacts are worth a minimum of $72 million and CoreCivic’s Otay Mesa contract is at least $23.5 million.

Ed’s Note: Following are contributions by The GEO Group and CoreCivic to California legislators, candidates for state office, state political parties and PACs.

Total contributions for 2017/18: $371,436

–GEO Group 2017/18 total: $218,600

–California Democratic Party $140,000

–California Republican Party $35,000

–CA for Jobs & a Strong Economy $10,000

–Republican Party of San Diego $10,000

–Bill Dodd (D) $5,900

–Toni Atkins (D) $4,200

–Heath Flora (R) $3,500

–Ben Allen (D) $3,000

–Bill Brough (R) $2,000

–Jim Cooper (D) $2,000

–Brian Maienschein (R) $1,500

–Todd Gloria (D) $1,500

Breakdown

Democratic interests $156,600

–Dem state party $140,000

— Incumbent candidates $16,600

–GOP interests $52,000

— GOP state party $35,000

–GOP San Diego $10,000

–Incumbent Candidates $7,000

–CA for Jobs & a Strong Economy PAC $10,000

  CoreCivic 2017-18 total to date: $152,839

–California Democratic Party $20,000

–California Republican Party $20,000

–CA for Jobs & a Strong Economy $10,000

–Tom Lackey (R) $5,000

–Gavin Newsom (D) $5,000

–Women in Power PAC $5,000

–Phil Ting (D) $4,566

–Catharine Baker (R) $4,500

–Bill Dodd (D) $4,000

–Josh Newman (D) $4,000

–Andy Vidak (R) $4,000

–Antonio Villaraigosa (D) $3,500

–Anthony Rendon (D) $3,227

–Blanca Rubio (D) $3,000

–Brian Dahle (R) $3,000

–Dante Acosta (R) $3,000

–Adam Gray (D) $3,000

–Tim Grayson (D) $3,000

–California Latino PAC $2,500

–John Chiang (D) $2,500

–Autumn Burke (D) $2,000

–Ben Allen (D) $2,000

–Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D) $2,000

–Chad Mayes (R) $2,000

–Heath Flora (R) $2,000

–Jacqui Irwin (D) $2,000

–Jose Medina (D) $2,000

–Kevin de Leon (D) $2,000

–Kevin Kiley (R) $2,000

–Lorena Gonzalez (D) $2,000

–Richard D. Roth (D) $2,000

–Marc Steinorth (R) $2,000

–Matt Dababneh (D) $2,000

–Henry Stern (D) $2,000

–Susan Rubio (D) $2,000

–Tom Daly (D) $2,000

–Vince Fong (R) $2,000

–Scott Wilk (R) $2,000

–Cristina Garcia (D) $1,000

–Susan Eggman (D) $1,000

–Pat Bates (R) $1,000

–Rob Bonta (D) $1,000

  Breakdown

Democratic interests $94,839.27

–Dem Party $20,000

–Dem connected PACs $7,500

–Dem Gov candidates (Newsom Villaraigosa Chiang) $11,000

–Dem Lt Gov (de Leon) $2,000

–Incumbent candidates/leg (27) $52,339.27

–First time candidates (1) $2,000

Republican interests $48,000

–Republican Party $20,000

–Incumbent candidates (11) $28,000

–Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy $10,000 — Ed’s Note: Corrects name to Ben Allen, 6th graf in text.

    Read full story here

[cristinabontas]

😍😍Goals

[urbanchristiannews]

California Assemblywoman Cleared of Groping Charge Back at Work

California Assemblywoman Cleared of Groping Charge Back at Work

Embattled California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia returned to the Assembly floor Friday for the first time since an investigation found allegations she groped a male staffer unsubstantiated.

The Los Angeles-area Democrat was hugged by a few Democratic lawmakers after she entered the chamber, including Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, and Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes, D-Grand Terrace.

She…

[gazzettadimodena]

Il forno venne aperto dai fratelli Vittorino ed Ermanno, Oggi lo gestisce Cristina, figlia di Vittorio, insieme con il marito Roberto Bonucchi. Troverete, oltre al pane, tigelle, pizze, gnocco e... http://ift.tt/2xeQaQW

[gymfanconfessions]

“I was re-watching the 1992 WAG Team competition and it made me think about how since the US has been so dominant in the past decade or so that many people feel they are favored. Looking back at 92 however, it was clear to me that the international gymnastics community was not really in favor of the US and favored the Unified Team and Romania more. For example, the fact that Cristina Bontas scored a 9.9 on her compulsory beam set with 3 visible errors was a bit ridiculous. And in the team optionals, I felt that the judges held back in giving Kim Zmeskal a higher score on beam and Dominique Dawes a higher score on floor (after she lit up the arena with her performance). Yes, the US had many steps and bobbles (which indeed cost them a chance at the gold), but there were also performances that should have been rewarded better as they were just as good if not better than the Unified Team. It just feels like the judges weren’t ready to take the US seriously at that time.”