Los Angeles county sheriff is suffering through the worst performance record in the country outside of noted racist Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County, Arizona. First, Sheriff Lee Baca had to endure credible allegations of mistreatment of prisoners in county lockups. Now, he has a new scandal on his hands.

Michele Bachmann told a crowd over the weekend that Americans can rely on charitable organizations if they cannot afford health care. I actually saw evidence of this over the weekend in Los Angeles. But even this charitable foundation understands that there is no substitute for getting Americans enrolled in some mechanism that can get them the continuing care everyone in this country needs.

Occupy Wall Street has an ad. It’s a 30-second spot with members of the protest movement explaining their perspective, why they are in Zuccotti Park, simply and clearly. And it’s set to run on national television, thanks to a savvy crowd-funding group:

Saturday marked the one week anniversary of Occupy LA so to celebrate, festive live music and cake! People made screened tee shirts, painted, talked, danced and wandered about the Occupy LA encampment, dropped off donated goods, and shared fruit from their trees. Bands played all day and special guest Tom Morello delivered a spirited set then stayed to chat with Occupiers.

The City of Los Angeles will no long hire Standard and Poor’s to rate the city’s investment portfolio.

Hundreds of immigrants rights advocates in Los Angeles staged a walkout during a federal task force field hearing about the Secure Communities program, blamed for the deportations of tens of thousands of non-citizens living peacefully in America. Activists implored the members of the task force to resign their post, and recommend that the Obama Administration end Secure Communities, before exiting the meeting to a chant of “we don’t need a hearing, we need to end the program.”

Director Michael Kuehnert’s award winning film Save the Farm jumps into the center of the battle to save the country’s largest urban farm, the 14 acre South Central Farm in the weeks leading up the farmers’ eviction.

Developed on an empty lot which was later bought by the City of Los Angeles under eminent domain and mitigated to the community after the Rodney King riots, the South Central Farm was a community venture with 350 farmers growing their own organic crops for food or for sale at the weekly farmer’s market on the land. But the lot’s previous owner, developer Ralph Horowitz claimed the city had violated a clause in the sale, and sued to get the property back. Three courts threw out his suit, but in 2004 Horowitz prevailed and bought back the property for $5 million, and claimed he had a buyer willing to pay $16.3 millions.

In one of the local Kansas City area school districts, a proposed levy increase that would have put an end to three years of major budget cuts failed, and so the cuts continue even as enrollment rises. In Wisconsin and elsewhere, cuts are driven not so much by the economy but by union-busting politicians. Elsewhere in the US, teacher layoffs are being announced. ‘Tis the season . . .

And yet, despite all this, the teachers still teach.

I am so grateful for those who taught me, and even today I am still realizing just how much of a gift they gave me.

While President Obama told Law Enforcement Against Prohibition member MacKenzie Allen, a retired deputy sheriff during an interview with the organization:

We have to think more about drugs as a public health problem

his comments on the new federal drug new budget show things in a different light.

Sugarcult — Los Angeles — set to video of landing at LAX International Airport via the SADDE Six Arrival, as viewed from the cockpit.