Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 611
There have been five UFO's shot down by the US Government this week. I've never quite thought I would write that, but it's undeniably true. I, who have written so often about unidentified flying objects, am so stunned about what to say. So I'll just quote Reuters and the NYT, to prove to you how mad this moment is. Reuters: US Shoots Down Unidentified Cylindrical Object Over Canada. No, I didn't make up this headline. Nor did I make up this one: US Shoots Down Unidentified...
February 2, 2023 - In a 32-page report dated January 26, 2023, the Affordable Homeownership Subcommittee of Santa Monica's Housing Commission outlined the compelling reasons the city should make urgent changes to prioritize home ownership rather than affordable renting. Affordable homeownership, rarely available in Santa Monica, reads the report, "uplifts those on lower incomes, enhances stability and multigenerational wealth and is a weapon against discrimination." The...
Santa Monica, Ca. - Santa Monica City Councilmember Phil Brock has been appointed to the National League of Cities (NLC) 2023 Public Safety and Crime Prevention (PSCP) federal advocacy committee. Councilmember Brock was elected to a one-year term and will provide strategic direction and guidance for NLC's federal advocacy agenda and policy priorities on public safety issues, including law enforcement, municipal fire prevention, natural disaster preparedness, and homeland...
Our picks for the top ten local stories of 2022 come mostly from politics, Santa Monica being a political town and last year being an election year. 1. Gas, water and power prices all went through the roof. At one point it was over $7 a gallon to fill up your car. Prices did go down a little after the election. 2. Homelessness: The homeless get blamed for every crime but are responsible in fact only for some crimes. And most of those are committed against other homeless people...
December 2, 2022 - The California Secretary of State sent out 50,251 more ballots to alleged voters in Los Angeles County than the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder says there are registered voters. Lavote.gov says there are 5,627,796 registered voters in the county. The Secretary of state at elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov says that 5,678,047 vote-by-mail ballots were sent to the county. Before the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020, citizens had to apply to receive a vote-by-mail ballo...
Chile--Cadem: Approval of President Gabriel Boric falls to 29% Faced with the query: "Regardless of your political position, do you approve or disapprove of the way Gabriel Boric is conducting his Government?", 63% of those surveyed stated that they disapprove of the President's management and 29% that they approve. In addition, 5% "neither approve nor disapprove" and 3% "don't know / don't answer...
Throughout major cities in China, crowds of people are marching and chanting for the Chinese Communist Party to resign. These are the biggest anti government demonstrations since the 1989 anti government demonstration. People are chanting “down with the Chinese Communist Party” and “step down Xi”, wrote Jennifer Zheng, a respected journalist based in Hong Kong. "This is happening in cities across the country. Something big is brewing." "Incredible scenes from China" writes...
November 17, 2022 - Santa Monica Measure GS, which would increase property transfer taxes on property over $8 million is squeaking ahead in the polls with 52.46% of the vote - only 1,431 votes - as of November 16. But the effects of the new tax could be large. Measure GS raises the tax from $6 per $1,000 of value to $56 per $1,000 of value. This is an increase of 833%. Critics of the measure say the burden of the new tax will fall largely on homeowners since there is no...
13-- A full 8 days after the US midterm elections, the Republicans have captured the House of Representatives. This according to the website RealClearPolitics.com, considered a reliable source of information about election results. The House of Representatives has 434 voting members. 217 is half of 434, and 218 is a majority. According to the website, the House now stands at 218 for the Republicans, 210 for the Democrats with 6 House races still too close to call. Nancy...
China's Hunger for Fish Increases in Latin America China's fishing activities from January to May 31, 2022, near the exclusive economic zones of Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina, were four times greater than those of all other countries combined that fish in the same areas, an investigative report from The New York Times indicated. In contrast, in all of 2021, the Chinese fishing fleet spent an equal amount of time, nearly 400,000 hours, fishing in the same regions....Read more...
Children, do you know what day it is? That's right, it's the day after the election. Gather round children, while I tell you a story about the most famous election of all, the one that saved the kingdom. The story involves magic, of course, and a famous wizard, the richest and wisest man in the whole kingdom. A genius among geniuses. A man who played chess while everyone else played checkers. In those days, the kingdom was ruled by Old King Joe, a seemingly kindly but rather...
Stan Greene may have been on to something. NBC News reports that there are many big questions in the Pelosi case. The NBC report says it is unclear what Pelosi and the suspect were doing in the house for the 30 minutes before SFPD arrived. It looks like our initial report about an acquaintanceship between Paul Pelosi and his attacker, David Depape, just might have had a little tiny bit of truth to it after all. And it looks like the media is trying to bury it. "NBC has...
"If there was ever a senior-centric election cycle, it's this year's midterm elections; older Americans will win big or lose. It is critical that the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, senior citizens, protect their rights, particularly their voting rights," says Rebecca Weber, CEO of the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC). To this end, she announces that AMAC, its AMAC Action advocacy team, and the AMAC Foundation have joined forces with The American...
October 12, 2022 - Lana Negrete was appointed to the Sant Monica City Council in June 2021 to replace longtime councilmember Kevin McKeown who had resigned. She is now running for a place on the council in her own right. Why are you running for Santa Monica City Council? "To continue the work I started!" Negrete immediately answered. When she was appointed a year ago, "I told myself if I can effect change, I will get on the council and work for change." What are your...
I asked Republican candidate for California Governor Brian Dahle: How would you solve the crime problem in California? "By getting rid of the revolving door in California. When there's no punishment of criminals, crime skyrockets. This is not really surprising.” He added, “We were sold Proposition 47 as "the Safe Schools and Neighborhood Act.” But releasing criminals early did not make neighborhoods safer. “We have seen a 40% increase in murder in California in two years,...
There has been increasing speculation that the Ukraine Navy might have used a submarine to damage the bridge connecting Crimea to Southern Russia. Security camera video seems to show a mysterious wave below the bridge just before it exploded, as if a torpedo had arrived, or a submarine had emerged nearby. The destruction of the Nordstream II pipeline was not in the national interest of the Germans, who lost access to Russian gas. Nor was in in the Russian national interest,...
Editor's Note: In a ceremony annexing the Ukrainian territory of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizha and Kherson, Putin delivered the following address. This is the official English transcript from Kremlin.ru. 9.30.22, delivered at an important moment in world history. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Citizens of Russia, citizens of the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, residents of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, deputies of the State Duma, senators of the Russian...
“I'm running because I believe in the promise of our public schools. The SMMUSD is "the second wealthiest school district in the country," says Hickman. "Our educational outcomes should reflect that." Hickman believes that recent violence at Santa Monica High School reflects the "hostile environment" there. “A supportive culture for all students and a sense of school pride comes from positive leadership in our schools and will foster an environment more conducive to har...
Why do you want to be on the Santa Monica City Council, I asked candidate Armen Melkonians. He said crime and homelessness were out of control problems. The City spends a lot of money on these problems, with no progress. "Our community has gotten crazy out of hand, in terms of crime cleanliness and quietly of life and we need to turn that around. "Homelessness has been a problem in our city for a long time, it's gotten a lot scarier with the increased drug use and the prolonge...
9/14/22 Law enforcement authorities including the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant on the home of Sheila Kuehl Wednesday morning. The LA County Board of Supervisors has asked the voters to approve a measure giving them authority to remove the Sheriff. But the action appears to be much broader than political tit for tat. According to LASD, the homes of Kuehl and L.A. County Civilian Oversight Commissioner Patricia "Patti" Giggans were searched...
Like a lot of Americans today, I do a lot of "thrifting"---seeking bargains at thrifts around the L.A. area. One of my regular stops is the Council Thrift next to the large post office on Venice Blvd. Due to the always overbearing parking enforcement on Venice---and the awkward bike lane now between the parked cars and the sidewalk (thanks to the social engineers who decided THAT was a good idea)---I tend to like to park on the quiet side street, Inglewood Blvd., where I can...
