BoTax Proposed For Cosmetic Procedures

Elective cosmetic procedures may be soon targeted by a "Bo-tax." The White House and Senate Democrats have turned to a proposal to tax breast implants, tummy tucks, wrinkle-smoothing injections and other procedures as they search for ways to pay for costly health care overhaul plans.
The plan calls for a 5 percent excise tax on elective cosmetic surgeries and procedures. The plan, projected to raise $6 billion, wouldn't apply to surgery to fix a deformity or injury, but would include procedures such as face lifts, liposuction, cosmetic implants or teeth-whitening. These images are from a recent photo shoot at Beverly Hills Body with Dr. Richard Ellenbogen on assignment for Bloomberg News.

"Spiderman" Goes To The Slammer

On Wednesday, police arrested a man who regularly dresses up as Spiderman at the tourist location of Hollywood & Highland. Christopher Loomis, 39, allegedly got into a scuffle with somebody which led to his unrelated arrest on misdemeanor warrants for Metro fare evasion, according to officers at the Hollywood Station and the Los Angeles Times. I happened to photography him in September to illustrate a story on Marvel comics being sold, and Christopher was very accommodating and a cool guy.

Zenyatta Wins The BC Classic

Zenyatta with Mike Smith at the reins did not disappoint the race fans in the Breeders Cup Classic at Santa Anita. She beat the boys to the wire in the $5,000,000 finale.

Breeders Cup 2009 Day One

I am getting the opportunity to cover the Breeders Cup this year at Santa Anita for AFP. Here are some of the photos from day one. In the late 80's and early 90's I covered horse racing extensively, and it's really cool to get back out there! Special shout out to Mark R. for hooking me up on this cool gig!

Waiting For The Train

Went searching in the Cajon Pass for Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight trains to illustrate a Bloomberg story on the announcement that Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to buy the railroad on Tuesday. Was a nice day all around out in a beautiful natural setting. Found out that photographing trains means lots of time spent waiting around, so I made the best of it and enjoyed the peacefulness of the area.

A KFC Gone Green

A former Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in West LA has now become the"Kind For Cures" medical marijuana dispensary keeping the the KFC initials. The number of pot dispensaries have exploded in the Los Angeles area recently. If you get the munchies and need to visit a chicken serving KFC after stopping by Kind For Cures for some medicine, I'm sure there must be one within driving distance.

"This Is It" Premiere

Here's a few of images from the west coast premiere of "This Is It" , the Michael Jackson documentary film.