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Last updateThu, 17 Apr 2014 10pm
LOS ANGELES Monday, April 21st 2014 12:03
DEMOCRACY AT RISK
Antitrust in the New Gilded Age
April 17, 2014
WHO WE ARE-We’re in a new gilded age of wealth and power similar to the first gilded age when the nation’s antitrust laws were enacted. Those laws should prevent or bust up concentrations of economic power that not only harm consumers but also undermine our democracy — such as the pending Comcast acquisition of Time-Warner. In 1890, when Republican Senator John Sherman (photo below) of Ohio urged his congressional colleagues to act against the centralized industrial powers that threatened America, he did not distinguish between economic and political power because they were one and the same. The field of economics was then called “political economy,” and inordinate power could undermine both. “If we will not endure a king as a political power,” Sherman thundered, “we should not endure a king over the production, transportation, and sale of any of the necessaries of life.” Read More...
Feeding the Hand That Bites Us
Apr 17, 2014
MAKE A DIFFERENCE-I have a dear friend of several decades’ standing. He is well-travelled, well-spoken, well-educated, and a great cook. He also is a very linear thinker, who can see straight-ahead solutions when others are seeing only obstacles. He also has very clear ideas of what is right and what is not, and has no patience for stupid or greedy people in authority who harm others by their malicious deeds or lack of caring. Read More...
Is There a Way to Reduce Police Shootings or Should We Cheer for Them to Continue?
Apr 17, 2014
GELFAND’S WORLD-If there's one subject that get's a lot of mail, it's gun violence. And when the gun violence involves the police killing an unarmed civilian, peoples' views range from the angry to the downright illogical. These thoughts are inspired by shootings here in California over the past several years that resulted in unarmed people dying. In considering this topic, I think we should also deal with the cases of people holding knives who are described as seriously mentally ill by their grieving relatives. Read More...
We Must Have Government Oversight … Here’s Why
Apr 17, 2014
JUST SAYIN’-We hear all the time about how our country has gone to the dogs. It is socialist! It is communist! All our rights are being taken away. The decision-making that affects us is being subsumed by a Washington that leaves us out of the process! OMG! Read More...
LA’s City Council has to be More Open, Transparent and Friendly … Here are 16 Ways to Make That Happen
Apr 17, 2014
CITY HALL-For all the good work that neighborhood councils have done, they are still letting city hall trample over their legal rights on an almost daily basis. Here are some changes to the city council’s rules and procedures that neighborhood councils could pursue in order to close the widening gap between city hall and the public. Read More...
Sheriff Candidates Take It Personally in South LA
Apr 17, 2014
LA SHERIFF RACE-Called “Boxing for Sheriff: Business As Usual Vs. New Ideas,” the latest in a series of debates among the seven candidates vying to replace departed Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca broke out in a rash of finger-pointing, hot glances, and shaking heads appropriate to the event’s billing, though perhaps not its locale in St. Moriah Baptist Church on LA’s Southside. Read More...
Garcetti’s Budget: Plenty of Hope, Little Substance
Apr 17, 2014
PERSPECTIVE-Kudos to Mayor Garcetti for a slick presentation, but that’s as far as it goes. Form wins over substance – yet again. With labor negotiations underway, I would not be so quick to use $47.9 million of the city’s reserve fund to plug the $242 million budget deficit, but that is exactly what Eric Garcetti did. How sure can he be that no raises will be offered in the upcoming fiscal year? I hope he is right, but budgets should not be based on hope. Read More...
In Plain Sight: The Rise of Corporate Democrats in California
Apr 17, 2014
CALIFORNIA EXPOSE-Marin County is one of California’s most liberal regions and, with its iconic redwoods and stunning coastline, it is also a power center for environmental activism. And so, when a bill to give the state Coastal Commission authority to levy fines against shoreline despoilers came for a vote in the state Assembly in 2013, it was taken for granted that Marin’s new Assemblyman, Marc Levine, would vote for passage. That didn’t happen. Instead, the San Rafael Democrat sat out the single most important vote for his constituents that year – which helped doom the measure. Read More...
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City Watch
CityWatch - http://t.co/ckynQHCDpG For Friday, April 18, 2014. Check it out!
Friday, 18 April 2014 06:02
Jump For Joy!
1- E-CIGARETTE BAN BEGINS SATURDAY IN LA
2 - ALERT! JEWS ORDERED TO REGISTER IN EAST UKRAINE
3 - POLL: CALIFORNIANS FAVOR SLIGHT CHANGE TO PROP 13
4 -GARCETTI TOUTS JAY Z FESTIVAL IN LA'S GRAND PARK ... SOME NEGATIVE VOICES
5 -GARCETTI PROMISE: NO DWP RATE INCREASES THIS YEAR
6 - COUNCILMAN PARKS FIXING 13O SIDEWALKS IN HIS DISTRICT WITH OWN FUNDS
7 - COST OF POLITICS IN LA JUST WENT UP
8 - LAT TO KREKORIAN: LET GO OF THE SIDEWALK REPAIR FUNDS ... NOW!
Hey LA Voters: Do You Want Sincerity, or Just Cleverness?
Apr 17, 2014
ALPERN AT LARGE-Being an adult is, at times, very hard. Being an adult is, at times, no fun. Being an adult does, at times, mean listening and acting… Read More...
Coalition of Blight: Billboard Companies and Art Museums
Apr 17, 2014
BILLBOARD WATCH-To say that billboards are a delivery system for commercial advertising is to state the obvious to anyone who sees them looming above… Read More...
The Hollow Center of Common Core
Apr 17, 2014
EDUCATION POLITICS-The hullabaloo over the Common Core State Standards might lead you to think that poor standards have been the central problem in… Read More...
LA Mayor Swings and Misses In First Budget at Bat
Apr 17, 2014
POLITICS-I’m the last one to point a finger at someone else’s budget. The wife won’t even tell me where she hides our checkbook. Still, with great… Read More...
Hey California: Are You OK with Your Neighbor Packing a Gun in the Open in Your ‘Hood?
Apr 17, 2014
GUNS-Arguing for the right to openly carry weapons, California gun advocates are preparing to bring their fight to state court. Allowing citizens to… READ MORE...
Eric’s Precarious Budget
Apr 14, 2014
LA WATCHDOG-In the most honest and straight forward budget presentation in the last ten years, Mayor Eric Garcetti presented his “Back to Basics”… READ MORE...
Who’s Driving the Bus?
Apr 14, 2014
CITY HALL-Last week did not feature the City Council’s finest moments. Maybe it was because the members were bored, lazy, or not paying attention.… READ MORE...
The U.S. Has Let the Public Square Become a Metaphor and That Can’t Be Good for Our Democracy
Apr 14, 2014
WHO WE ARE-Maidan Square in Kiev. Taksim Square in Istanbul. Tahrir Square in Cairo. Recent democratic movements around the globe have risen, or… READ MORE...
El Sereno Sidewalk is No Longer an Obstacle Course
Oct 24, 2013
EL SERENO-Last August Billy Branch of El Sereno set up a Facebook page as part of his one-man campaign to get a buckled and broken section of sidewalk on Cudahy Street near Locke Avenue fixed up. READ MORE...
Valley Alliance Prez Gets DWP Commission Appointment
Sep 17, 2013
THE VALLEY - The Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils (VANC) held its monthly meeting at the Sherman Oaks Hospital, complementing a full agenda with a few moments of celebration as the representatives of the 34 Neighborhood Councils in the San Fernando Valley honored VANC Founder and Sherman… READ MORE...
Kevin James Rocks the LANCC: Urges NCs to Appoint Public Works Liaisons
Sep 17, 2013
LA NC COALITION - The Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition held its monthly meeting at the Hollywood City Hall and featured Board of Public Works Commission President Kevin James, who has long been a partner with LANCC and the many Neighborhood Councils that represent the four million people… READ MORE...
Mob Democracy
Sep 05, 2013
SILVER LAKE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL - SilverLake Neighborhood Council got to experience a taste of mob democracy Wednesday night when an 8-8 tie vote failed to support a motion NOT to support the proposed gang injunction aimed at about three hundred members of six criminal street gangs along the… READ MORE...
Death by Stalling
Apr 17, 2014
DEATH POLITICS-Compassion for the dying is gaining traction. It’s about time. In 1948, 37 percent of Americans supported the idea behind the “death… READ MORE...
California’s Governor Should Move to the Delta
Apr 17, 2014
CONNECTING CALIFORNIA-When you’re faced with two different thorny problems, sometimes the best way to make progress is by combining them. I’m talking… READ MORE...
Your Doctors Are Worried!
Apr 17, 2014
NUKES ARE BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH- Your doctors are worried about your health-in fact, about your very survival. No, they’re not necessarily your own… READ MORE...
LAUSD’s Latest Weapon in Its War On Teachers
Apr 17, 2014
MY TURN-If you are a current or retired employee of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) there is yet another assault you might find… READ MORE...
Is City of Inglewood Conspiring with ‘Inglewood Today’ to Slander an Inglewood Journalist?
Apr 17, 2014
INSIDE INGLEWOOD-A private, hand-written note that Inglewood Assistant City Manager/Chief Information Officer Michael Falkow gave to Inglewood Today… READ MORE...
Let’s Ban Leaf Blowers in LA… For Real This Time
Apr 14, 2014
THE BOSTICK REPORT-The high, whiny squeal pierced through the air, cutting the peace like a hot knife through butter. Check that, it wasn’t so much… READ MORE...
I Love Happy Endings!
Apr 14, 2014
NEIGHBORHOODS LA-Last week, I wrote in CityWatch how disappointed I was in the Los Angeles Emergency Services Bureau (a division of LAFD). I opined… READ MORE...
I Remember The Day FDR Died
Apr 14, 2014
RETROSPECTIVE- Ed Note: We offer this brief perspective to help remember America’s past so, as Santayana suggested, we don’t have to repeat it.) I… READ MORE...
From CityWatch
- ‘California Hates Oil’: Energy Companies on the Run
- Garcetti Opposed to Sales Tax Increase, Brown to Abandon High Speed Rail
- When Will Google Fiber Come To LA?
- Garcetti Appointments Make Neighborhood Councils LA's ‘House of Cards’
- Alert! LA 2020 Commission Recommendations Due Wed. Will Report be Tough Enough? Will City Council Embrace Real Reform?
- Will We Have a Pension Tax?
- Neighborhood Councils: Why Nobody Understands and Those Who Think They Do Really Don't
- Looking to Its Future, LA Escapes Its Present
- Neighborhood Council Election Mayhem … Not
- LA Councilman ‘Very Disappointed in Jack Humphreville … No Quid Pro Quo’
- The California Brain Drain
- Another 3,000 Wasted Hours: The Wrong Approach to the Legitimate Problem of Bullying
- Luis J Rodriguez: From Gang Member to California Governor?
- Mission Impossible: Talkin’ Politics with the … Family!
- Wild Weather, Climate Change, and LA’s Launch of the Great March
- Jimmy Stewart Really Screwed America … Politically
- How You Can Stop the Next Westchester Kidnapping
- Dear Alec Baldwin, LA Ain’t For You
- California People Power: Boots on the Ground Beat Back Big Oil
- Does Downtown LA Need Frank Gehry?
- Democratic Ukraine is In Crisis: Why We in LA Should Care
- Street Repair Tax More About Cultural Choices
- Vin Really IS the Greatest Radio Broadcaster of All Time
- LA’s Miguel Santana: Apocalypse Now! (Or Maybe Next Year)
- Sunland Tujunga NC Election Campaign: A Tabloid Affair
- UTLA Elections: Real Change or the Usual Suspects?
- LAUSD: Fix Schools and Student Infrastructure at the Same Time
- We Need Cred, Not Crud, in the City of the Angels
- Repression. Suppression. Oppression. What’s the Difference? They are All Bad!
- Court Rules on Audit Battle: Judging D’Arcy and His Enablers
- How to Live in LA: Avoid Being a Traffic Fatality
- In Defense of Hypocrisy
- ‘Rails-To-Trails’ Fails to Prevail On The Scales of Justice
- Shanesha Taylor’s Awful Story: The Real State of the Union
- A More Distanced Perspective on the Ukraine Crisis
- Problem With Save Our Streets Tax: Who Can You Trust?
- Are Mexicans the Most Successful Immigrant Group in the U.S.?
- Drought Stokes California's Class War
- Whose Water? Ours! How to End California's Water Crisis
- The Problem with "Obamacare": Created By Those Who DON'T Care ... about the Economy
| Tue Apr 29, 2014 @ 7:00PM - 09:30PM Writers Bloc April 29 - Bob Mankoff, cartoon editor of The New Yorker, with Los Angeles artist Shepard Fairey |
Your Life … in jelly beans!
Politics! Leon Panetta’s favorite recipe … for good government
Can you watch this? Chilling gun PSA from Bloomberg
Awww. Animal video of the week … with a surprise … and heart tugging … ending!
And now folks … here’s why you DO NOT take a selfie while standing near a train track
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