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On Monday I was a guest on the Dr. Phil show (airdate TBD) discussing my trip to Sex Offender Island for Inside Edition. On Tuesday the combative interview I did with Jesse James’ mistress, Michelle “Bombshell” McGee aired to huge numbers.

These two assignments could not have been any more different, yet they are possibly my favorite stories for Inside Edition thus far. I’ve been with the show since 2006, first as a daily West Coast Correspondent  and now as a Special Correspondent, but this week has been surreal.

The sex offenders piece was a dark and serious subject. It was terrifying to come face to face with evil as I interviewed these violent predators with out so much as a glass divider between us. McNeal Island’s Special Commitment Center houses 280 “residents” to the tune of $160,000 a year, per offender. It was an eye opening and rarely seen report on how these people live and are treated behind bars. It was fascinating and a successful story for the show. We scooped Oprah who aired a similar story on the island a week later.

And then there was my “Bombshell” interview…The woman who destroyed Sandra Bullock’s marriage sat before me for two hours as I grilled her from everything from her white supremacy beliefs to her swastika tattoo to her 11 month affair with the married Monster Garage star. The press picked up on my aggressive interrogation of this tattoo covered stripper and AOL named it a TOP 5 Video Clip 2 days in a row. Ratings were huge, up in all top 20 markets and we even doubled our numbers in New York.

I love my job!

Here’s the part where I admit how LAME I am when it comes to new technology.

I was the last of my friends to get a cell phone, my typing skills are pathetic and I can barely answer an e-mail! I was told 10 years ago to get a website up to promote my projects and it took me 5 years to do it. When the myspace thing happened I pretty much ignored it and have been putting off Facebook and Twitter ’cause it has seemed overwhelming…Who has the time? (And if I dated you in 8th grade, I don’t want you to cyber-stalk me now!)

Fast forward to this week and the 21st century. I now have a site that I’m proud of, can actually access my iphone and just joined Facebook a couple of days ago. Probably because I’m techno-illiterate, they just disabled it for reasons unknown…I’ll get to the bottom of it tomorrow.

Now, ironically, I find myself hosting this weekend’s “Live From The Red Carpet” webcast for oscar.com and abc.com. It’ll be live from 3-5p.m. PST and you can ask questions on Facebook for me to ask the stars in real time. This is the first time the Oscars have done this and they are expecting millions of viewers. Should be a great time…Just don’t ask me to Twitter about it—just yet.

In the last couple of years Mexico has suffered an enormous loss in tourism because of an incredible triple whammy…

* A devastating global economic crisis,

* A brutal drug war between powerful cartels,

* The H1N1 virus that originated there.

For very good reason, Americans stayed away from Mexico, choosing instead to vacation closer to home.

The result has been a huge drop in tourism that has practically crippled Mexico’s economy that relies heavily on the American dollar.

Fast forward to today…I just got off of a plane from Cabo San Lucas and can promise you that if you can swing a vacation now, Mexico is the place to go.

First of all, the flights are cheap, easy and wide open. Scott and I traveled on a Friday with our two small dogs ( Mexico is dog friendly- Just bring travel papers from your vet), the flight from LA to Cabo took under two hours and once in Mexico, customs was a breeze!

We quickly checked into a brand new resort, Capella, that was one of the best places I’ve ever stayed! At the base of Pedregal and right on the beach, the joint was practically empty. We felt that we had the whole place to ourselves. Each room has it’s own private infinity dipping pool (!) and the service was better than at a Four Seasons. I’m not kidding. Not only did the entire staff have our names memorized within hours, they also memorized the names of our dogs! It was hilarious going to breakfast and having the waiter say, “Good morning Ms. Erickson…How did Cupcake and Twinkie sleep?”  Speaking of breakfast, they have the best Huevos Rancheros I’ve ever had!

Scott was excited to check out a new golf resort called Diamante Cabo San Lucas. It’s a Davis Love III designed course right on the ocean sand bluffs that had players comparing it to Ireland- but 80 degrees! Davis was there to introduce the facility to the media and the local community. From what I hear, don’t be surprised if it debuts as one of the top 100 courses in the world! Scott loved it.

As far as the nightlife, Cabo is less crowded that ever but just as fun. Shops, restaurants and bars are practically begging for your business so you can get a great deal on anything from jewelry to glassware to cervezas! Along the marina most bars were offering a bucket of beer (6) for 10 dollars! The lobster, steak and shrimp are as cheap as I’ve ever seen. Both of the NFL playoff games were on bigscreens at just about every bar and restaurant.

Of course everyone takes the U.S. dollar in Mexico’s tourist destinations and most people speak petty good english.

Better yet, we didn’t see hide nor hair of a drug lord during our entire 4 day visit. No Montezumas Revenge. No swine flu, either. 

The coast is clear, gringos!

“I would hope that a wise-ass Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would, more often than not, reach a better conclusion than an old, out of touch, racist, dumb-ass white man.”  (Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh, Lindsey Graham, Tom Coburn, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, Jeff Sessions, Chuck Grassley, Newt Gingrich, Oren Hatch, Pat Buchanan, Dubya and Dick, etc.)

Okay, so those aren’t the EXACT words of Sonia Sotomayor, but a girl can dream…

Maybe the thought of a Latina succeeding where he had miserably failed was enough to drive Jeff Sessions plumb loco. After all, he crashed and burned in his own attempt at conformation years ago primarily because he was exposed as a bigot. Clearly he’s the perfect choice to lead the charge against a HISPANIC WOMAN. Imagine his fury at seeing Judge Sotomayor answering his preposterous questions regarding a quote taken out of context with composure, intelligence and something akin to the patience that a special needs teacher uses to explain a simple concept to an eight year old with Down Syndrome.

At this point you can lump me into that other stereotype regarding hispanic women, “Fiery Latina”. Throw down “Passionate” too. And “Spicy” while you’re at it.

Frankly, after watching those cranky ol’ (white) men grilling Judge Sotomayor primarily on a line from a speech rather than her DECADES of judicial decisions that clearly show her to be a moderate rather than an “activist” judge, I admit to being pissed off.

Republicans will have some “splainin’ to do” of their own to the Latin community if they don’t want to continue their death march towards extinction. Adios, muchachos.