If you have something to say...
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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
The cultured community of Venice Beach that lies just south of Santa Monica has once again become the talk of tinseltown. LaLa land locals are ditching the celeb hot spots to immerse themselves in Venice's organic hipster vibe to dine.
The pseudo investigation by Olga Pierce and Jeff Larson of New York-based ProPublica, "How Democrats Fooled California's Redistricting Commission," is misleading at best, dishonest at worst and fatally flawed in any case.
In the chaos that passes for governance in Washington, the Keystone XL pipeline project looms as a seemingly supreme issue. But it is not. To view it as such is to miss the overall, something our media excels at.
When not addressed, the devastating effects of summer learning loss are ongoing and cumulative, affecting students' performance throughout the whole of their academic career.
As long expected, Jerry Brown found himself having to pull the trigger on mid-fiscal year budget cuts occasioned by lower than forecast California state revenues. But for less than feared.
If any good has come out of California's current economic challenges, it has been that pragmatism may have overtaken emotionalism in our public discourse.
Thanksgiving has come and gone, your relatives have returned home and the madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday has subsided. That means it's time to get down to some serious holiday shopping.
Hammerheads are easily viewed at close range at "cleaning stations" and inquisitive green turtles commonly approach research divers.
Progressives rail against Obama because he often refuses to stand on principle. Lately, he's been doing better. So when a clear, strong, populist and popular ballot measure comes along that can put the voice of the 99% into law, the time has come to sign on.
In South Gate, CA, twenty minutes south of Los Angeles, dozens of supporters rallied around the home of Ana Casas Wilson, with several pledging to camp out in her front yard while she defies eviction, and face arrest if necessary.
As presently structured, California may be insolvent. There is no foreseeable means to conduct business as usual while balancing its annual budgets, investing in needed infrastructure and meeting its long term state employee pension and health care obligations.
Working with the rest of the Democratic coalition, he is on the verge of rolling out a proposed initiative for the November 2012 ballot to raise an estimated $7 billion a year in new revenue.
It would be different if their experiment had failed. But they had done everything right, played by the rules all the way: and in so far as they had been allowed to go, they had triumphed.
The level of professionalism from these young artists was both stunning and inspirational, and provided great hope for those of us devoted to the future of the arts in America.
California is not in crisis; crises are sudden and acute. California is in a chronic, grinding decline and it's providing a window into America's tomorrow.
