Wed04232014
Last updateMon, 21 Apr 2014 8pm
LOS ANGELES Wednesday, April 23rd 2014 9:55
WHEN LEGEND BECOMES FACT
Rewriting Gay History: The Honeymoon is Over
April 21, 2014
WHO WE ARE-Now that the history of the gay rights movement is being written, and with the battle over same sex marriage looking like a fait accompli, there is another war brewing — over who gets credit for the win. A new book and a new film on gay marriage clearly give the victory to two straight lawyers and one gay political operative who won last year’s Supreme Court case, which threw out California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, and which gutted the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The author of that book and the producers of the film are all touting “exclusive access” to the legal team and plaintiffs, which should be your first clue into whose story is being told: the people who provided the “exclusive access.” But where does that leave all the other activists who have been fighting for gay marriage for years, and even decades? Read More...
Beware: The ‘Debate is Over’ Syndrome
Apr 21, 2014
THE WAY IT IS-The ongoing trial involving journalist Mark Steyn – accused of defaming climate change theorist Michael Mann – reflects an increasingly dangerous tendency among our intellectual classes to embrace homogeneity of viewpoint. Steyn, whose column has appeared for years on these pages, may be alternatingly entertaining or over-the-top obnoxious, but the slander lawsuit against him marks a milestone in what has become a dangerously authoritarian worldview being adopted in academia, the media and large sections of the government bureaucracy. Read More...
Silly Season at City Hall
Apr 21, 2014
LA WATCHDOG-Over the next month, the Budget and Finance Committee will hold hours and hours of public hearings to review Mayor Eric Garcetti’s $8.1 billion budget. But do not expect any big time budget battles as the deal on how to allocate our money has already been cut behind closed doors by City Council President Herb Wesson, Budget and Finance Chair Paul Krekorian, and Mayor Eric Garcetti. Of course, we will have some theatre as selected City Council Members will grandstand for their pet projects, possibly resulting in some minor changes. Read More...
It was a Totally Chickenshi-t Parking Ticket and It’s Time to Fight Back
Apr 21, 2014
GELFAND’S WORLD-It was a totally chickensh-t parking ticket, and it cost me $80. Lots of us have gotten tickets that weren't kosher, and now I'd like to explain how we can take the law into our own hands -- legally -- and change the rules. How we do that is actually easy. We just need a quick 62,000 signatures on a petition for something called an initiative, and we'll get our streets back. Read More...
LA Will Start Healthcare Negotiations for City Employees Shortly: What They Need to Keep In Mind
Apr 21, 2014
THE BOSTICK REPORT-With President Obama’s recent announcement that 35% of the 8 million people now enrolled in healthcare exchanges are under the age of 35, the question of whether the law will fold in its first year is officially over. Repeal, as the president stated, is no longer a viable conversation. No doubt, naysayers will continue doing what they do best – saying nay of course, and we do need to wait to see how many of those 8 million will actually pay for their policies before we fully celebrate. Read More...
Nobody Likes Taxes But Government is Too Divided, Too Bought-Off to Resolve the Issue
Apr 21, 2014
AT LENGTH-April seems to be the month in which we are besieged by a perfect storm: tax-paying. This year, property taxes ... income taxes, and then monthly payroll taxes were all due in that one five day period that included both Passover and that rare lunar eclipse referred to as the “Blood Moon” – a name that references the eclipse’s slight rusty hue and in ancient times signified a harbinger of impending doom. Read More...
California’s Problems Are Deeper Than Earthquakes
Apr 21, 2014
DON’T RECALL ASKING-California clichés get on my nerves — cutting edge; dream factory; innovative business culture — so when the time came to visit family and friends in Los Angeles and San Francisco last month I was prepared to be annoyed. But I wasn’t prepared for the earthquake that shook our Santa Monica hotel room in the early morning of St. Patrick’s Day — that was altogether too real and scary. My wife compared it to the impact of a jet plane landing hard on a runway but longer lasting. Read More...
Memo to the Millennials: Focus on Employment and Entrepreneurship
Apr 21, 2014
ALPERN AT LARGE-I wish I could be one of those who tune out others when it's my "me time", but even during my vacation to Death Valley and Yosemite I couldn't ignore the plight of the hotel worker who, along with his wife, are debating retirement in their early 60's. And as a father of two I certainly have a strong empathy towards the kind of future Millennials will have. Read More...
Race Discrimination on the Ark
Apr 21, 2014
PROGRESSIVE VOICE-As with many sectors of America’s economy, the entertainment industry is notorious for its long history of blatant racial discrimination. A half century ago, the wholesale exclusion of actors of color from the big and small screen alike was the norm. Read More...
My Twitter Updates
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City Watch
CityWatch - http://t.co/cGvwgD71OY For Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Tuesday, 22 April 2014 04:31
From MailChimp
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- CITY'S POLICY ADVISOR TO STEP DOWN ... AFTER 30 YEARS
2 - REPORT: WALMART WORKERS COSTING TAXPAYERS BILLIONS OF $$
3 - CLEMENCY SWEEP FOR DRUG OFFENDERS IN THE WORKS
4 - LA FINANCE CHIEF: CITY FACING THREE MORE YEARS OF DEFICITS
5 -GARCETTI PROMISE: NO DWP RATE INCREASES THIS YEAR
6 - MAYOR WANTS TO USE PARKING TO TAX LA AND COVER BUDGET SHORTAGES
7 - COST OF POLITICS IN LA JUST WENT UP
8 - LAT TO KREKORIAN: LET GO OF THE SIDEWALK REPAIR FUNDS ... NOW!
Part-time Parking Enforcement a Good Idea … Bad Application
Apr 21, 2014
PERSPECTIVE-Mayor Garcetti is on to something. Too bad he is off the mark with his objective. He wants to hire 50 part-time parking enforcement… Read More...
Who is Grayce Liu and Why Do People Smile When She Enters the Room?
Apr 21, 2014
NEIGHBORHOODS LA-She has perhaps the unenviable job of dealing with ninety-five Neighborhood Councils all of whom have their own ideas on what is… Read More...
Passover and Easter … We Should Celebrate Both
Apr 21, 2014
JUST SAYIN’-It is so significant that two of the most holy days in Judaism and Christianity--Passover (Pesach) and Easter (Pascua)--occur essentially… 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… Read More...
Why I’m Not Qualified to be an LAUSD Principal
Apr 21, 2014
MY TURN-The first step to becoming an LAUSD principal is understanding how the administration works … or doesn't work. The administration is a closed… 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… 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… 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… 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...
Stop Using Parking Meters to Tax LA’s Citizens
Apr 21, 2014
GUEST WORDS-Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s proposed budget for 2014-2015 includes increased revenue from the collection of parking fines and the… READ MORE...
The Fifth Amendment is for Cover Ups, Not About Rights
Apr 21, 2014
Pleading the Fifth-Lois Lerner, a former senior IRS official, can plead the Fifth to protect herself from incriminating statements before the House… READ MORE...
CRA Returns?
Apr 21, 2014
CALIFORNIA POLITICS-Before its demise in 2011, California’s redevelopment system did little to create jobs or improve education. It did succeed,… 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… READ MORE...
Exclusive: Officials Demand LAUSD’s Deasy Fire James Roybal
Apr 21, 2014
HMG-CN SPECIAL REPORT-In a letter sent to LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy, a dozen local elected officials have demanded that embattled Central Basin… READ MORE...
Antitrust in the New Gilded Age
Apr 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… 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...
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...
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
- Mission Impossible: Talkin’ Politics with the … Family!
- Luis J Rodriguez: From Gang Member to California Governor?
- 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
- Does Downtown LA Need Frank Gehry?
- California People Power: Boots on the Ground Beat Back Big Oil
- Democratic Ukraine is In Crisis: Why We in LA Should Care
- LA’s Miguel Santana: Apocalypse Now! (Or Maybe Next Year)
- Street Repair Tax More About Cultural Choices
- Vin Really IS the Greatest Radio Broadcaster of All Time
- 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
- Are Mexicans the Most Successful Immigrant Group in the U.S.?
- ‘Rails-To-Trails’ Fails to Prevail On The Scales of Justice
- Shanesha Taylor’s Awful Story: The Real State of the Union
- Problem With Save Our Streets Tax: Who Can You Trust?
- A More Distanced Perspective on the Ukraine Crisis
- In Defense of Hypocrisy
- Whose Water? Ours! How to End California's Water Crisis
- Drought Stokes California's Class War
- 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 |
Insider Report: Confessions of an LASD Under-Sheriff
Watch a Miracle: Dogs can smell cancer. And, other illnesses!
Whoa! Gotta see Kristin Bell doing a baby dance
Colorado holds first marijuana job fair … experts come from all over
ICYMI … Stephen Colbert … Great interview
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