*Aren't economic boycotts supposed to hurt Arizona?

Great move by the those budinskis in CA state and local government to take aim at Arizona's new immigration law. Not only are the boycotts pointless, they're turning out to be counter-productive. From the OC Register:

Imagine John O'Sullivan's surprise recently when he checked e-mail from the website of his company, Benchmark Clothing, a Santa Ana manufacturer of flame resistant work clothes. "Looks like good stuff, but since you're in California and your state is boycotting Arizona, I will not purchase this brand of clothing..." wrote Mark R. Cowgill, owner of High Desert Valve in Farmington, N.M.

[CUT]

"I e-mailed (Cowgill) back that my business is closer (geographically) to Costa Mesa and Los Angeles," O'Sullivan said. "I told friends that I'm a victim of state profiling." I called Cowgill, and he stands by his refusal to do any business in California because of the boycotts.

Not that I support the Arizona legislation. Far from it. But we don't live in Arizona, and last I checked, city and state lawmakers had a few more important items on their agendas. As in, dealing with California's own financial mess. Guess it's easier to take shots at somebody else.

*LAPD cancels trip: The police department will not be sending four officers to a conference and training session in Tucson next month. Councilmen Greig Smith and Bernard Parks tried to exempt the group from the city's boycott, but their motion was tabled. From the LAT:

The decision angered Paul Weber, head of the Police Protective League, which represents the department's roughly 9,600 rank-and-file officers. "I think it's a huge mistake," he said. "When the department decided a few months ago to send these officers to this training, they obviously saw the value in it. Public safety shouldn't be sacrificed just because Arizona's become a political football."