STARBUCKS COFFEE SHOPS...THE NEW SCHOOL HOUSE

Starbucks has become the place for young people to learn while they and their tutors enjoy their favorite beverage. That's right, these off-site teachers have taken over many of the tables at our local shops and apparently the chain encourages it. Equipped with lattes, or grandes, or chai tea, or one of a huge selection of drinks from the Starbucks menu, they enhance their regular school room activities with a person expert in the field where they need help. Of course it isn't free but apparently the parents of these kids are of that limited profile that is involved in their child's education. When you consider how school budgets across the country are being slashed, this may end up being the saving grace. As an example, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey proposed cutting the state's education budget while setting up more private prison spending. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback cut $45 million from that state's education budget and just about put the system in the tank. Republicans are more concerned with coming to the aid of big business than setting a higher stand of education in this country. What I worry about are those students who can't afford the tutoring.

FREDERICK'S OF HOLLYWOOD GOES DOWN...BUT ONLY SO FAR

Okay, so this may not be the most political post of the year but what it has to say about modern sexuality is significant. You are looking at the store opened by Frederick Mellinger in 1947, that was later moved west down Hollywood Boulevard to larger quarters next to the corporate offices. I became associated with Frederick's in the early 1970s, while employed in Los Angeles with one of the largest general merchandise catalogs in the country. I made friends with Joe Nussbaum, their Marketing V.P. and this carried over into when I became a data broker later selling Frederick's names.

Joe was the classic example of the little Jewish, very family man that you'd never expect running a nudies catalog. In the early days when I first came on board, the girls were drawn with what attire they wore and there were no live models. I even had trouble getting an approval from some list owners that were hesitant about exposing the Frederick's catalog to their customers. Business was good and I was even invited to lunch one day with Joe Nussbaum and the man, Fred Mellinger. We talked about everything but naked girls at the restaurant of choice, the Musso and Frank Grill, just up the street from their offices on the boulevard. I considered it an honor but never saw Mellinger again as he quietly began retiring, leaving the running of the business to Joe.

The old catalog was cleverly drawn with emphasis in the right places. It worked but looking around the industry other catalogs were taking on the glossier look and most were using live models. The decision was made by Frederick's to switch and the planning began. Finally they were ready and I got a call one afternoon from Joe Nussbaum telling me that I should be in his office the next morning if possible. When I arrived Joe said nothing but, "Follow me," We went up to the next floor and entered this huge room where several models were running around in different stages of dress and undress. Some were completely nude in the process of changing undies.

My host had a grin on his face that said, "How about that?" However, the girls were completely unaffected by the would be voyeurs in the room. Joe said I was making history since this was Frederick's first live model shoot and I have never forgotten the honor. It was Fred Mellinger that started taking the clothes off beautiful women in the late 1940s, featuring the risque attire that would eventually introduce the mini skirt and hot pants in the 1970s. When you look at the women's fashion in 2015, you can see a little bit of Frederick's of Hollywood in many of them. But alas, everything must come to an end when Frederick's just announced it is closing all its retail stores. The only place you can buy their fashions in the future is from a catalog...with live models...and I was there first.

DICK CHENEY'S HALLIBURTON GETS RETRIBUTION, BUT...

Dick Cheney's Halliburton which mopped up in the Afghan and Iraq wars is suffering due to the low oil prices. That would normally be admirable based on their lousy reputation as a less than desirable company. However, the "BUT" is the fact that it has resulted in them laying off 9,000 from its payroll, innocent souls from a corporation with a long list of bad reps. I Googled "halliburton bad reputation" and came up with 34,200 hits. It dates back at least to 2005, after Cheney had left the company to become Geo. W. Bush's Vice President. In that year H exposed military and civilian personnel to contaminated water in Iraq. In another instance, they pled guilty to destruction of critical evidence after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010. The list goes on and on. Long before Bush bombed Iraq, H worked secretly with VP Dick Cheney for his alma mater to control the world's second largest oil reserves. In 2013 H made it into the top ten list of the worst companies alongside the worst of the worst, AIG.

So retribution is certainly due, although it is too bad it can't have more of a major impact on Dick Cheney.

ARIZONA SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO ACCUSED BY OWN DEPUTY SERGEANT

It is possible that the toughest sheriff in the country will be taken down a couple of notches. Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been exposed by one of his deputies, a sergeant no less. "Sgt. Brett Palmer testified that Arpaio had personally instructed him to continue enforcing federal immigration law after Judge G. Murray Snow had prohibited the practice," according to the Arizona Republic. The blustery Arpaio has repeatedly denied targeting Latinos in his county for meaningless charges simply to shake them down as illegal immigrants. Palmer also said, "the emphasis within the department was focused on public perception because 'it’s our duty to make the sheriff look good to the media and the public.'” Well he looks like crap right now and that undoubtedly will get worse when Judge Snow makes his final decision. Arpaio's reelections are a result of the hate in this state for illegal immigrants but this litigation could wake up some of the dufuses that have voted for him in the past. He runs for his 7th term next year.

ROBERT BATES CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF VIP PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT

Robert Bates, an Oklahoma volunteer deputy who shot and killed an unarmed black man, saying he meant to use his taser, was rewarded with a trip to the Bahamas. Let's back up first and mention that Bates, a 73-year-old insurance co. executive, allegedly bought his way into the Sheriff's Dept. job with a large contribution to his reelection campaign plus other amenities. It also helped that Bates and the Sheriff were close friends. His training has been questioned but some has now been substantiated, except the fact that he was not cleared to use the gun he shot 44-year-old Eric Harris with on April 2. But the coup de gráce was when Bates pleaded not guilty on Tuesday and asked the judge if he could go on a month's vacation to the Bahamas. Sure, the judge replied, as long as you're back for your next court appearance.

ECONOMY ON THE UPSWING-SO IS OBAMA

Working under almost insurmountable odds, Pres. Barack Obama has brought this country back from the brink with a significantly improved economy. A CNN/ORC poll found recently, "52% describe the U.S. economy as very or somewhat good, while 48% call it very or somewhat poor." These figures are a first for the Obama presidency but were a long time coming due to those odds. First, there has been a hateful Congress that opposed everything the President has done in the last almost seven years. A current example is the opposition of Loretta Lynch for Attorney General; it has taken 165 days and still counting. The other major odds he had to overcome is the massive damage done to the economy by Geo. W. Bush like the financial meltdown, two major wars, home market tanking, soaring oil prices, a shrinking dollar and more.

And what have Republicans accomplished during the Obama administration? Nothing, but confront and repel anything the President did. That's why the GOP Congress has an approval rating of 28%, disapproval of  67%.

MICHELE BACHMANN: WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT

This quote here says it all from one of the looniest people ever to crash the political scene. But she actually topped it exclaiming in a recent MSNBC article that the end is near--the Rapture to fundamentalists--and it is all Barack Obama's fault. Now the President has been blamed for just about everything from ruining the U.S. economy, which was clearly the fault of Geo. W. Bush, to playing footsie with Iran on the nuclear deal. But not causing the end of the world until batty Bachmann claimed the end is near, thanks to President Obama. Here's another of this screwball's quotes, "If we took away the minimum wage -- if conceivably it was gone -- we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level." But my favorite is, "Our movement at its core is an intellectual movement," talking about the Tea Party. Now that's the laugh of the century.