L-R: Revs Moseley, Tulloss, Sharpton & Najee Ali
Thursday October 16, 2014 I was privileged to attend the National Action Network’s Los Angeles Chapter awards event featuring Rev. Al Sharpton in which 100 people received recognition, ranging from “Movers & Shakers” to the under 30 leadership crowd. For the most part, the award recipients were exemplary individuals but as is the case any time an organization sets an arbitrary number of award slots to fill some mistakes are going to be made when people lack historical memory of past transgressions.
Of the outstanding public figures honored (in my book anyway) I noted LA NAN’s leaders, Pastor K.W. Tulloss and my friend Najee Ali, along with Rep. Karen Bass, Assembly Member Isadore Hall, Jan Perry, Magic Johnson, and Jerome Horton. At the other end of the spectrum, i.e. those with seriously questionable pasts and presents, include Sam Watson, Martin Ludlow, and Prophet Walker.
Sam Watson with sons Brandon & Marcus
The introduction of Sam Watson noted his close association with Al Haymon, who has his advocates and a long line of detractors, including myself [see: http://janbtucker.com/blog/2014/06/09/boxing-a-conspiracy-in-restraint-of-trade/ and http://janbtucker.com/blog/2014/07/11/boxing-enforce-strengthen-regulatory-laws/]. Boxing Voice noted some time ago that:
The face most aligned with Al Haymon is his right hand man, Sam Watson. Most people mistake Sam Watson for Al Haymon, well because he’s the guy that’s always on television with his sons behind the fighters as they step in the ring. ThaBoxingVoice.com caught up with Watson and he stated there is no takeover, it’s just business.
“Nothing bad about it (signing fighters) all. We want to give fighters the opportunities to fight. We’re not taking a lot of money from them. We just want to see big fights. We love to see them get the opportunity. He (Haymon) lives for them getting the best opportunities. We don’t drag our fighters overseas. We keep them m New York and Chicago, DC. We believe in the fighters ever since our first fighter Vernon Forrest,” explained Watson. [http://thaboxingvoice.com/al-haymon-good-gor-boxers-good-for-boxing/24798]
As I noted in my piece on Al Haymon/Sam Watson’s perceived efforts to monopolize American boxing, their alleged business practices resulted in litigation all over the country including what had been predicted to be an imminent filing of an arbitration proceeding concerning boxer Abner Mares. While the camp of Mares’ former manager is said to be entirely closed lipped about the matter—probably due to some kind of confidentiality clause in a settlement—sources close enough to Haymon and Watson to be in the know think it cost at least six figures to shut the case down before discovery procedures and depositions exposed their purportedly sordid actions.
Coming soon…..
This weekend I expect to come into possession of around 3,000 photographs of people going in and out of the reclusive Al Haymon’s Las Vegas office. If you (my readers) can assist me in identifying the comers and goers from Haymon’s operation, let me know and I’ll get you a DVD of them. Email me at [email protected] to request a copy.
Martin and the Prophet
A poster circulated around the time of Martin Ludlow’s downfall
Martin Ludlow—who’s basically a nice guy and “son of a preacher man” as the old song goes—was a rising star in Los Angeles Labor and the Democratic Party. I knew him when he did an outstanding job as political director for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor when I was the delegate for the Newspaper Guild Local 69 and local First Vice President. Keeping on with the analogy to the Dusty Springfield song, Martin couldn’t keep his dick in his pants when he got elected as Los Angeles City Council Member:
The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
Ooh, yes he wasBeing good isn’t always easy
No matter how hard I try
When he started sweet-talkin’ to me
He’d come and tell me everything is all right
He’d kiss and tell me everything is all right
Can I get away again tonight?
During his campaign for city council it came out that:
- His wife went after him for child support
- One of his girlfriends went after him for child support
- Martin had his divorce file sealed, but forgot to seal the file of a restraining order he got against his wife in which he alleged she was blackmailing him with allegations alluded to but not specified in the legal documents.
Martin, along with then Service Employees International Union Local 99 leader Janett Humphries, eventually went to prison due to an investigation by FBI Special Agent Sam Mayrose [http://www.justice.gov/usao/cac/Pressroom/pr2006/028.html]. An FBI agent I knew at the time tried to hook me up with Mayrose for background at the time of the investigation but neither of us really had time. It was unfortunate because my local of the Newspaper Guild represented the employees of SEIU Local 99 against Local 99’s tyrannical management, so I knew where a lot of other bodies were buried that the FBI never did go after or uncover.
So what does Prophet Walker have in common with Martin? Both are convicted felons and both have been (and Walker apparently still is) dead beat dads.
Should Prophet Walker be honored or shamed?
What really disgusts me about dead beat dads who run for office is that they go around raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote themselves while their children and their baby mamas have to struggle to make ends meet. According to Walker’s campaign disclosure statements, by October 18 he’d raised over $500,000.00. As recently as October 16 Walker personally took a “reimbursement” from his campaign treasury of $1,923.50—money that ought to have been paid directly to pay off his child support arrears [sounds like we need a law to allow the garnishment of dead beat dad's political campaign funds]. On July 2, 2014 his campaign paid him $569.60 for “CANDIDATE TRAVEL, LODGING AND MEALS” (and another $419.86 on September 22 and there are other ongoing expenditures throughout his campaign for varying amounts). How about his campaign paying for his child’s travel, lodging and meals instead?
Another infuriating expenditure is for money he spent on campaign expenses from Home Depot, the most anti-union company in America [see http://janbtucker.com/blog/2014/03/04/shame-on-labor-miguel-j-santiago/]. Home Depot isn’t the only politically incorrect transgression either: he reports multiple payments to Valero, the right wing anti-environmental oil company that sponsored Proposition 23 in 2010 in an effort to suspend California’s efforts to combat global warming!
As if the aggregate amount Walker’s spending and what he’s spending money on isn’t shocking enough, guess where he’s getting his money? First of all he reports on his Statement of Economic Interests that he’s employed as a construction engineer and superintendent by Morley Builders, Inc., a heavyweight in the industry that boasts of its clients ATT, Cedars Sinai, Anschutz Entertainment Group, Bank of America and many, many others. You’d think that with an income like that, along with the fact that his past reported residences have included such Ritzy areas as Playa Vista and Studio City [click for a Google street view of the digs that the County said Walker was living at when they went after him for child support https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1528795,-118.3844643,3a,75y,93.7h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s3bKMnHvGrj5baMs2Ad1KQQ!2e0], that Walker wouldn’t need to hide from his child support obligations; but an email that has been making its way around the internet by a woman who says she’s Walker’s baby mama claims otherwise:
“As the mother of Prophet Walker’s child, I feel compelled to set the record straight about him. Voters in the 64th district deserve to know the truth. The reality is, Prophet Walker is not who he says he is. He was not raised in Watts nor does he have any real, tangible connection to the residents he is trying to represent. Prophet Walker fabricated much of his past and has portrayed himself as a victim, while displaying complete disregard to the real victims he caused serious harm to, including myself and my daughter.
Prophet Walker does not pay child support, and in fact he has refused to pay the money he owes. Prophet is trying to deceive voters into thinking he is a good father, but the truth is, he is quite the opposite. Instead of participating in his daughters life, Prophet only started to be involved when it became clear that it would benefit his political career. Prophet Walker is a liar and a man I have learned to distrust and disrespect. He’s willing to do or say anything to get elected. Prophet Walker is unfit to serve in elected office.”
— Karen Lockhart
Getting back to who’s contributing to Walker’s campaign, I found some really sordid creatures in the mix. Two of his contributors are part of a family of associates of the Jerusalem Network of the Israeli Mafia. As soon as I receive a copy I’ll update this blog with details of a lawsuit recently filed against one of the family members which, amongst other things, claims that:
- The Defendants also enhance the commercial value of their marijuana products by lacing them with concentrated Delta 9 Tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta 9 THC), MDMA (otherwise known as “Ecstasy,” 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine) and traffic cocaine. Defendant Janasi and Lana Shakhov, have developed a virulent liquid that is sprayed on Medicine that they have named: SPICE K-2 QUEEN, which they market, and is in violation of the self imposed regulations for the Self Regulating Industry of legal Marijuana Dispensaries, known as PRE-ICO Dispensaries, that are grandfathered and have certain Immunities, within the City of Los Angeles.
- At least one of the Defendants, XXXXXXX, has familial relations with Gabriel Ben Harosh, a known leader within the “Jerusalem Network” of the Israeli Mafia. XXXXXXX, exercising de facto control over several marijuana dispensaries was also associated with the operations of Dr. James William Eisenberg, U.S. Bureau of Prisons #64830-112, who has been convicted of violating 21 USC 841 and who has been accused of running mill to issue CUA marijuana recommendations for reasons as ridiculous as sore feet from wearing high heeled shoes.
Incidentally, the Jerusalem Network was also behind a South Central arms distribution network foisting automatic weapons, C-4 explosives, and hand grenades that then Rep. Diane E. Watson helped to run out of the hood.
Most insidious however is a contribution from Metropolitan Theaters Corporation CEO and former Southern California Democratic Party Chairman Bruce Corwin, whose company busted union organizing efforts, allowed rampant sexual harassment in his then-South Central located Film Processing Company of virtually every single female employee (including covering up a rape of an employee by the plant manager), and which chemically poisoned 65 out of 66 workers who were tested. For details, see http://janbtucker.com/blog/2010/11/11/andy-furillo-a-courageous-reporter/ and http://janbtucker.com/blog/2010/12/23/holding-my-breath/.
64th Assembly District voters have a choice to make. With contributors like that, can they trust Prophet Walker to propose and vote on laws that deal with sexual harassment, worker safety and environmental safety? With his own record of the County of Los Angeles having to go after him for child support, do you expect him to protect women and children from dead beat dads?
Of course these are rhetorical questions, but they’re precisely why I formulated and have pushed for years the following proposed legislation:
Proposed Amendment to Family Code: An amendment to add Section 3655 to the Family Code
Section 3655. Aiding and abetting child support evasion.
(a) Every person who harbors, conceals or aids a party who is obligated to pay child support or who has been ordered to pay child support by any court, in any way that would enable the party to conceal assets, income, or other
means of payment of support from the court and/or the custodial parent to whom the support is to be paid, with the intent that said principal may avoid payment of an appropriate amount of child support, having knowledge that said party is subject to a child support obligation, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) A custodial parent who is owed child support has a right of action against any person who violates subsection (a) to be brought in an appropriate civil court for three times the amount of actual damages according to proof, or $5,000.00, whichever amount is greater and for reasonable attorney fees, costs of the action, and costs of investigation if an investigation is performed by any person licensed under Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section 7512) of
Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code or his or her employees.
When you vote in this election, think long and hard about who’s likely to propose and vote for a law like that to put teeth into child support collection statutes…and who’s not.
