THE VIEW FROM HERE - As all Angelenos know, the Los Angeles City Hall is a quagmire of corruptionism where Quality Of Life for Angelenos plays no role.
ACCORDING TO LIZ - In voting down Props 26 and 27, Californians protected our state from the lies and losses of the gaming industry, and its inhabitants from a lifetime of addictive behavior that tears lives and families apart.
PLANNING WATCH - If you want a job where the barriers to success are daunting, you should consider becoming the Mayor of Los Angeles.
BREAKING MONOPOLIES - As the cost of food, travel, and gifts complicate holiday plans across the country, millions of Americans have been awakened to the sinister power of monopolies.
ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - Bad Bunny has been the most-streamed artist in the world for three years in a row.
GUEST COMMENTARY - Damn those Marxists! You know their game, right? They want to spew truth and real history at our kids.
TREE PLANTING - On Oct. 14, 2022, at a regular Board of Public Works meeting, agenda item #3 provided a cornucopia of urban forestry information, the likes of which have never been disclosed to the public.
CLIMATE WATCH - The catastrophic chain of events that water and power authorities are working to prepare for amid the desertification of the Colorado River basin would amount to a "complete doomsday scenario," harming water and electricity supplies for millions, according to new reporting from The Washington Post.
GUEST COMMENTARY - It’s more than a bit bizarre that until Elon Musk bought Twitter, most policy types apparently did not see a risk that huge platforms like Facebook and Twitter could be controlled by people with a clear political agenda.
CLIMATE WATCH - What is it about a bunch of high-ranking people getting together at a Conference of the Parties (COP) at some major metropolitan center with plenty of 4-star and 5-star hotels in order to figure out how to save the planet, but it never works!
POLITICAL UPSETS - As the FIFA World Cup match ups are underway and each new day seems to bring a new upset, one can’t help but to see the comparison with the game of politics in this election cycle.
LGBTQ+ - The Laurel Foundation honors Cher and Chaz Bono as co-recipients of The Laurel Foundation’s prestigious Youth Empowerment Award.
GUEST COMMENTARY - Every year prior to Thanksgiving, Los Angeles City Council members purchase large quantities of Turkeys which are to be given out to their needy, low-income constituents.
ANIMAL WATCH - A challenge to force the City of Council Bluff, Iowa, to revoke its 2005 ban on Pit Bulls, and any dog having the appearance of being a Pit Bull or closely related, was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit on March 3, 2022.
LA WATCHDOG - On December 12, 2023, Karen Bass will be sworn in as our next mayor.
08
Dec, 2022
Ukraine's Battle of the Somme: Cold, Mud, Dirt and Blood
- Details
- Written by Abby Zimet
SAY WHAT? - This weekend, as Russia's brutal, pointless, little-heeded war against Ukraine lurched on, grim images emerged on social media of Ukrainian soldiers caught in the bloody quagmire around Bakhmut, an eastern city that after months of fighting has devolved into a ravaged landscape of splintered, shell-torn trees, yawning artillery craters, strewn dead bodies, and sodden Ukrainian forces hunched in a muddy, freezing, deadlocked trench warfare against relentless enemy barrages that in its desolation and destruction some have likened to "the new Passchendaele." That infamous 1917 clash, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, saw the Allies suffer roughly 300,000 casualties and inflict almost that many on the Germans in one of the most costly battles of World War One; it is remembered not only for its horrific loss of life but its freezing, sucking mud, "a monster," that drew soldiers to their deaths.
In "a bloody vortex for two militaries," Russian leaders desperate for a victory have been focused on moving reinforcements to the killing fields of Bakhmut. After so many reverses for their elite units, fighting has reportedly fallen to a mix of separatist militias, mercenaries and newly mobilized, ill-trained conscripts backed by massive artillery barrages, often aided by drones to make them particularly, lethally accurate. Amidst reports of Russian assaultson a "World War One hellscape," observers cite Russia's stunning disregard for their own troops, with commanders sending "single use" soldiers out in waves "like meat" to find Ukrainian positions; with Russian losses estimated at up to 300 a day, Ukraine "has become one giant graveyard" for them. Others say Ukraine's wet, cold winter is "the biggest killer" for "under-trained, under-supplied, ambivalently led" recruits lacking proper food, gear, boots or shelter, with dozens freezing to death.
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GUEST COMMENTARY - Damn those Marxists! You know their game, right? They want to spew truth and real history at our kids.
TECH TALK - Technically speaking, SCORM is a collection of guidelines that can be followed by anyone interested in creating and distributing online courses.
EARNED BENEFITS - Over its more than 87 years, Social Security has given Americans a lot to be thankful for.
HOT SPOT - As war rages in Ukraine, another conflict is ready to explode in the Middle East as the US and its allies confront Iran over its nuclear program, supply of drones to Russia, and repression of anti-government protests.
MIDDLE EAST POLITICS - The US’ misperception of its bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia on a number of fronts has contributed dramatically to the present heightened tension between them.
U.K. POLITICS WATCH - Much mirth is expressed over President Joe Biden mispronouncing the new Prime Minister’s name as “Rashee Sanook”.
420 FILE - Enjoying the benefits of marijuana has been legal for certain Californians ever since 1996—at least to some extent.
420 FILE - Delta-10 THC is becoming more and more popular. Basically, this is a cannabinoid that has much potential like the regular delta-9 THC that you are already familiar with.
420 FILE - Fulfilling a high-profile campaign pledge, President Joe Biden recently announced that his office will be issuing pardons to several thousand Americans with federal convictions for marijuana possession offenses.
ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS - "Would have been nice to know BEFORE my little girl showered, drank water from the tap, and brushed her teeth this evening," said one mother after authorities took at least six hours to notify more than 2 million residents of the advisory.
WELLNESS - All Single Payer Healthcare systems existing in every other developed country in the world are cheaper than our present United States insurance companies run systems,
DRUG OVER CHARGING - Dozens of progressive advocacy groups marked World Diabetes Day on Monday by urging Congress to pass legislation that would ensure people in the United States have access to the insulin on which their survival depends and prevent Big Pharma from price gouging on the lifesaving medicine.
BREAKING MONOPOLIES - As the cost of food, travel, and gifts complicate holiday plans across the country, millions of Americans have been awakened to the sinister power of monopolies.
GUEST COMMENTARY - I felt that this is an important and a very timely story to tell, especially since Donald J. Trump has decided to run again for the presidency of the United States.
GUEST COMMENTARY - If dying young appeals to you, here's a simple bit of advice: move to a state or county controlled by Republicans.
IN THE SENATE - H.R. 5525 of the 117th Congress is the ENABLERS Act—an acronym for Establishing New Authorities for Businesses Laundering and Enabling Risks to Security.
DC DISPATCH – (This interview was conducted in 2020 before the untimely death of my husband Anthony Schinella, aka Spooky.
You may be counting the hours and minutes until August 31, 2021, but a word of caution in what you wish for.
