It’s good to know that all the problems of Los Angeles have been solved. This frees up much needed time for city leaders to travel the world on “fact-finding” missions.

The Modesto Bee reports that Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is in Israel this weekend, becoming the latest elected official to show support for the military invasion of Gaza.

What?

Baca condemned Hamas’ rocket attacks on Israeli towns and expressed support for Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip.

The sheriff is the latest local public official to declare support for Israel. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and four City Council members did so in a press conference…

The Bee goes on to say that it was LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky who asked the sheriff to make the trip, which Baca himself is paying for.

Funny. When we were growing up, my brother and I used to beat the crap out of each other in the backyard. I don’t remember any non-family members showing up to tell us who was right and who was wrong.

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The first interurban rail line ran from Los Angeles to Pasadena. It opened in 1895.

33 years later, The Pacific Electric Railway was operating over 1000 miles of track and 2700 trains daily.

It was another milestone. It was the opening of the Hollywood Subway. The year was 1928.

Photo from the USC Digital Archive

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Hello, my trusty internet web blog! My name is Mark Oshiro. You may have seen me ’round the comments on this site; or perhaps you remember my own little bit of attention back in November; maybe you know me from my job as community manager/photographer over at that one site; or perhaps you’ve followed my other unhealthy obsession.

If you don’t know me at all, which is probably the case for 98% of you, O HAI! Anyway you look at it, there’s a common theme: Good lord, I love the internet. So when there were open calls for writers for LA Metblogs, I jumped at the chance to work alongside people I’ve come to know and respect. And here I am, your newest writer for LA Metblogs!

I’m hoping that I can bring my own unique experience of living in LA (I was born here) to you guys in the hopes of connecting us and creating a greater understanding of this large, (sometimes) intimidating, and (always) fascinating city.

Hello all! My first REAL post will be on Sunday. So if you go to the DOMA/anti-prop 8 rally in West Hollywood on Saturday and you see my grimey face trying to snap photos, say hello. :)

And now, a giant picture of said face:

Thanks for the opportunity, and I’m excited! EXCITED!!!!1!!1!1!

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According to preliminary reports on the U.S. Geological Survey’s website, an earthquake measuring 5.0 struck near San Bernardino at about 7:50 p.m. this evening. I felt light to moderate tremors for about 10 seconds here at the beach. Anybody else?

UPDATE: USGS now lists the earthquake’s strength as 4.5.  Before the 5.0 listing, the initial report I saw was 4.9. The number may well change again shortly.  It’s normal for the figure to fluctuate for a while, apparently because the initial reports are straight from the computers before being reviewed by USGS seismologists.

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Saks ad

Shepherd Fairey’s new ad campaign for Saks Fifth Avenue ushers in a new age of prosperity… for him, anyway. The New York Times reports today on his design company’s recent work for the New York-based retailer.

To be fair, according to the Times, the designs were “largely realized by Cleon Peterson of Studio Number One, Mr. Fairey’s design company in Los Angeles.” But it was Fairey’s name that became internationally known via his Obama posters, so it’s nice to see him cashing in, as well as making sure proper credit is given.

For my taste, he could distinguish himself a lot more with his Obey clothing line, so maybe the Saks gig will lead to better things in the fashion world. (Disclosure: I’m available for style consulting. Trust me, I’m an expert. You should see my credit card bills.)

While the article mentions a Rodchenko vibe and Fairey says he mixed in a swirl of WPA agitprop art, I also sense a whiff of El Lizzitsky. Whatever; it all looks pretty great and right for the time to me– and if all of that Soviet-inspired imagery makes conservatives a little jumpy about the growing wave of socialism sweeping into power, all the better.

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Twitter Bird on Phoenix Lander

The gang at the Jet Propulsion Lab who tweet for the MarsPhoenix (and other awesome space objects) are arranging a Tweetup at JPL in Pasadena on Wednesday January 21 from 5:00 to 7:30pm.  You must register starting at 10am tomorrow morning (January 9) be able to go. To register you need to click on this page. (OMG I am so excited about this that I can barely type this post!)

There will only be room for 150 people so have your link open and ready to sign up! From the main information page:

This Tweetup is an opportunity to meet and speak with the JPL staff, scientists, and engineers behind the tweets of 

@CassiniSaturn, @MarsPhoenix, @MarsRovers, @MarsScienceLab, @EarthVitalSigns,@PlanetQuest and more. Plus, you’ll meet and mingle with other space-exploration-minded tweeps. 

The evening will include a one-hour “meet and greet” from 5 to 6 p.m., followed by a tour of JPL. On the tour, you’ll visit the Spacecraft Assembly Facility (where @MarsScienceLab is under construction) and the mission control area of NASA’s Deep Space Network. You’ll also see full-scale models of @MarsPhoenix and @MarsRovers and the 11-foot-tall half-scale model of @CassiniSaturn . 

What an amazing opportunity for any and all science and space geeks like me. See you there!

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The LA Times’ Steve Hymon is reporting that Metro’s board has decided to postpone their vote on that long range plan with timetables that only Buck Rogers could relate to. They’re hoping that. in the next few weeks, a newly inaugurated President Obama will write us a check to pay for a bunch of new rail lines, which will speed things up.

Good save, Metro.

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Proposition 8 backers are demanding that California’s campaign finance disclosure be rules unconstitutional. They have filed a lawsuit arguing against laws that require donors information, including name, address, and employer, have exposed their supporters to verbal and written threats.

However, this same crowd seems to forget that in the months leading up to last November’s election they were effectively committing extortion using online databases of donors. As reported by the Associated Press in October:

Leaders of the campaign to outlaw same-sex marriage in California are warning businesses that have given money to the state’s largest gay rights group they will be publicly identified as opponents of traditional unions unless they contribute to the gay marriage ban, too.

It should be noted that this tactic was also employed by the No On 8 crowd, and is repugnant whoever uses it. 

Regardless, the bogus concern by the Yes On 8 crowd over Constitutionally protected rights of privacy is beyond ironic.

More at Sacramento Bee.

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It seems like every block in LA has a vacant store front or abandoned foreclosure home these days, and while I don’t mourn the passing of Linens ‘n Things or even the 7th and Fig Macy’s (blogdowntown has details), I am sad about the closing of Le Marmiton on Montana. A light continental bite at Le Marmiton followed by a movie across the street at the Aero (1328 Montana Avenue) has been one of Santa Monica’s best one-two-punch dates in my book. Zagat says Le Marmiton opened in 1974. Apparently it closed in November. No more onion soup or fruit tarts. C’est tragique.

Happily the Aero is still going strong and was, in fact, quite sold out last night for The Baader-Meinhof Complex, a film that I heartily recommend though I’m not certain it even has a US distributor yet. More on the movie after the jump. Read more

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Okay, look: We all know money’s tight, the economy’s halfway down the drain and layoffs are hitting every sector of society (including 3,000 LAUSD teachers - the subject of a future rant I don’t have space for here).

But we have to wonder - just a little bit - who’s really behind the please-SAG-don’t-strike site SaveTheBiz.org.

Veteran actor James Cromwell pleads in the video above for both parties in the ongoing contract haggling between the Screen Actors Guild and the AMPTP to remember the gaffers, grips, craft-service drones and honey-wagon drivers - and don’t bring on a strike.

So - is this a non-partisan plea for parity, reason and good-faith bargaining?

Or is it a well-muscled push from the non-acting screen trades to dissuade actors from picketing if they’re faced with fuck-you terms from the AMPTP?

Discuss.

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How dare you. You have no right to be upset that 10 miles of subway were going to take 23 years to build.

After calling Metro out for lack of vision, urgency, and ability to communicate in a timely manner, they have retaliated by… Facebook-inviting me to meetings held at inconvenient times for the average working individual. Oscar Robert sent me two FB invites to meetings of the Metro Board of Directors. Of course. I would love to attend.

The first meeting is Wednesday, January 14 at 1:00pm.
The second is Thursday, January 22 at 9:30am.

Really? C’mon, Metro. Some of us still have jobs. If you genuinely wanted participation from the tax-paying citizens of LA, you would have meetings that are convenient for us to attend. Not ones that you schedule during your own office hours.

I know there are some really good people at Metro that are probably as frustrated as the rest of us by this ongoing cycle of foot-dragging and general stupidity. The question is, when is someone going to be held accountable for this agency’s failures to serve the public that is paying for Measure R?

We want answers, Metro. Not more questions.

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The readers of LA Metblogs have voted and overwhelmingly chose to tug their ears in the direction of Sam Zell, the 2008 Grinch of the Year! If you need one, two, or a couple dozen reasons as to why Zell is deserving of this honor, check out LA Observed’s recap Signs of Our (L.A.) Times.

Congratulations, Sam! Ebenezer Scrooge and William Mulholland will be delivering your certificate you personally.

Based on numbers of registered Metblogs readers, the faceless masses of Proposition 8 backers came in 2nd, although unregistered voters placed them in first place (as previously mentioned, these numbers don’t count due to the ability to digitally stuff the ballot box).

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There are several Youtube videos of Sam Zell, the Chicago real estate magnate/Los Angeles Times-owner, clutching a lecturn and snarling at journalists in his employ about his “philosophy” in vulgarity-strewn upbraidings at the various newspapers he owns. In one posted last February, during a Q & A with writers and editors from the Orlando Sentinel, Zell tells a reporter “fuck you,” prefacing the epithet by saying “You need to, in effect, help me by being journalists that focus on what our readers want, and therefore generate more revenue…”

This statement alone exhibits the essential nature of Zell’s misunderstanding of, and disregard for, journalism and shows his ill-suitedness for owning any organization that disseminates news.

But In spite of the bad rap that Zell gets (and deserves,) the LA Times isn’t a bad paper. It still has Read more

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It’s being reported all over the place this morning that the City Council is considering a proposal by the Tom LaBonge-headed Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee to ban smoking on restaurant patios or within 10 feet of any outdoor establishment that serves food or beverages. Fortunately for you club goers, age-restricted venues such as bars and cigar bars would be exempt. Surprisingly to me, much of the anxiety over the proposal seems to revolve around who’s going to be responsible for enforcing the curb rather than whether customers have the right to smoke outside. Regardless, the easy money is on the proposal making it through the City Council easily given the success of similar measures nationwide, including in local municipalities like Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Calabasas.

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Yesterday, I asked Metro a few questions regarding their new timetables for several projects, including the Subway to the Sea. Today, Rick Jager from their Media Relations department answered:

1. Besides funding issues, why is the completion of the Purple Line to Santa Monica expected to take so long?

The next steps before subway construction could start are estimated to take 2 to 3 years. This includes full environmental review, approvals, engineering and design. We then estimate that construction could take about 7 years (1) depending on what the final project ends up being & (2) if all funding is available.

The funding generated by Measure R will come in over a 30 year period and therefore the schedules are based on an allocation of these revenues to many projects over the life of the sales tax. The schedule for the Westside project which identifies completion to Westwood by 2032 is driven more by the availability of funding than the time needed to construct. The actual time needed to construct the Purple Line Extension to Westwood would be considerably less than 23 years.

2. Does the projected completion date of 2032 to Westwood include the Pink Line extension from Hollywood/Highland (Alternative 11)? If not, how would that affect the Westside timetable?

Read more

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