Artists and Art can bring about cultural revolution. Manifest Equality has a call out to artists to submit work for a juried contest. Entries must fit one of the theme’s Equality, Justice, Respect, Unity, Civil Rights and Love. Entries must be submitted no later than 11:59AM February 19, 2010.
The Five first place winners will have their pieces shown at the Manifest Equality Gallery along side nationally known contemporary artists such as Barry McGee, Clare Rojas, Shepard Fairey among others in a show that will open to the public on March 3, 2010.
Additionally there will be 10 second place winners. Their work will be seen at an online gallery set up by Manifest Equality. The 5 first place winners will also have their work displayed in the online gallery.
DETAILS: Manifest Equality will be open to the public, Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 through Sunday, March 7th, 2010 between the hours of 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM with extended hours Friday – Sunday. 1341 Vine, LA CA 90028.
At first sight when I read the headline in this mornings Pasadena Star News my parent hat was on and thought bravo keep the child sex offenders at bay. Then I got to thinking, do we have a civil liberty issue at hand? What’s to stop them from crossing the city limit anyway?
Monrovia joined the ranks of several other cities in the area that place significant restrictions on where a registered sex offender, on parole or not, can reside or even congregate within the city limits. Only 2% of the city residential housing stock is now available to these folks. 2%.
The law enacted is based on the Prop 83 Jessica’s Law that was passed a few years ago. LA County was the first to enact similar restrictions that apply to the unincorporated areas of the county. Challenges to similar restrictions have stood the test of law.
Here’s where my libertarian streak rears its head. If the laws say these guys served their time for the crime and are free to go why are they being restricted so much more differently than other criminals once released? I mean a petty thief released can go free to live and congregate once his time and parole is served yet these folks are treated differently. I understand the chances of recidivism is high among the offenders, but the code as passed doesn’t allow for shades of gray.
I’m not advocating those sex offenders for violent crime or involving children get a break. But what about the non-violent ones. As an example, a guy at a party misreads a girls intentions and plants a kiss on her only to get slapped, then a police report charging him with sexual battery lands him on the offender list? Or the couple that have consensual sex only to find out one of the partners lied their age and it becomes a sex with a minor charge landing them on the list? Shades of gray.
Aside from the liberties issue of residing where you wish after you’ve served your time there is another concern. Isn’t this classic NIMBY and just shoving the problem to another city to deal with? The article points out that an opinion is held that it is the states duty to relocate them when released from prison, really?
It started with an idea. Justin Yuille wanted to help kids get into colleges and new that the average high school counselor is so overwhelmed it isn’t always possible to give each kid personalized help with applications let alone SAT’s. He’s an educator and knows full well the challenges the kids face in getting help from counselors. With the help of his family members (all educators, some I know personally) Foundation 44 was born.
That was 6 months ago and so far he has helped 75 kids from Pasadena’s Blair High School and Duarte High School to make it into college. They are all smart kids from under privileged homes, the many the first in the family to make it to college. They are in the process of working on obtaining their non-profit status as I write this.
Pepsi has a challenge running right now to give out grant money to programs such as this that help a community. The grant is huge $250K. In the end it comes down to votes and Foundation 44 needs votes if it is to grow and achieve their goal of helping 750 local kids from under-privileged homes make it into college. If you want to help their cause VOTE HERE.
It’s not often I get to feel glad that I’m not a (reported) billionaire, but I’m glad I am not 49-year-old private equity investor and newly fledged Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner.
Beutner was last week appointed the mayor’s new deputy and chief executive for economic and business policy. The media title is “Job Czar.” He will also have, quoting the Times, “a new line of direct authority over the Department of Water and Power, the Port of Los Angeles and the economic and business policies at Los Angeles World Airports.”
Columnists at the Times and the Daily News acclaimed the appointment of Mr B, of whom almost no one had ever heard. Local unemployment stands at over 12 percent. It’s much higher in the neighborhoods where the major current career opportunities are with the Crips and Salvator Maratrucha. Clearly, jobs are a huge priority. Said the mayor, “Austin has a real vision for economic development and job creation.”
First and foremost, Beutner said he’d try to make LA (the Times said) “a friendlier place for the sort of businesses that create well-paying jobs.” Excuse me, but this is where I came in. For 30 years and four mayoral administrations, mayors and deputy mayors have promised exactly the same thing. As a result, tax structures have been gently shuffled, regulatory bureaucracies have received many a mild tweak and national campaigns have been launched to sell the world on LA’s commerce-friendly attractions.
No one has claimed these measures turned LA into a business paradise. But during this period, two utterly contradictory business developments did take place…
Okay. I am humbled and I am in awe. I recently wrote about getting an unjustified parking ticket in Hollywood. It was the second time this year I got one in which I had paid for an hour returned to find a ticket, with 20 minutes still in the meter. At $50 a pop, I have been beyond frustrated.
After writing about it the first time, Eric Garcetti contacted me and offered help. I didn’t deal, just paid the ticket. This time, I vowed to fight. And miraculously someone in his office researched the problem, found that the meters were off in certain areas… and had the ticket refunded by the city. All I can say is that this is one politician who rocks! He actually listens to the problems of his peeps and does something to ease their hardship. He’s my new political hero.
And he responds to lots of other issues as well. I recently wrote his office about the Medical Marijuana Ordinance that was being considered. I had some thoughts and suggestions for making this new law work for patients, and one of his deputies actually called back AND emailed me in response. I wrote to every councilperson and only got personal responses only from his and Tom LaBonges office. Pretty amazing. Most politicians send a form response and you never hear anything about the issue again.
It’s great to know that Eric Garcetti is on top of his districts needs and really does respond. He’s the kind of guy I’m proud to have representing me. Thanks! We need and appreciate the hard work you and your office are doing!
In 1995, one of the most shocking cases of modern day slavery unfolded in Los Angeles’ backyard. 72 garment workers were discovered in an El Monte compound living in captivity and under squalid conditions, producing clothing for such major labels as Anchor Blue, Clio, and B.U.M. A majority of these garment workers were of Thai descent.
Modern day slavery and trafficking fuels an underground economy that goes unnoticed to many. Victims generally labor in the garment, toy manufacturing, agricultural, and sex industries as well as serve in households cleaning homes or providing childcare to the families of their slaveholders. Every year, at least 17,000 people are trafficked in the U.S., with the majority of victims consisting of women and children. Los Angeles serves as one of three main points of entry.
As part of an effort to utilize the arts to raise awareness about this seldom discussed issue in the Asian Pacific Islander American community, East West Players (EWP) and the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) are presenting a special event this Thursday evening that is free and open to the public:
Excerpts from: THE GIRLS FROM AFAR by Libby Emmons, a staged reading directed by Jeff Liu
Featuring:
Dante Basco (Hook, Take the Lead)
Fran de Leon (Dogeaters at the Kirk Douglas Theatre)
James Kyson Lee (NBC’s Heroes)
Camille Mana (UPN’s One on One)
Tamlyn Tomita (The Karate Kid II, The Joy Luck Club).
If you’ve been on Facebook in the last couple of months, then you might have been inundated with requests to vote in Chase’s Community Giving Facebook Campaign. With financial resources drying up for many organizations, this campaign has been a rare opportunity for non-profit orgs to come by cold, hard cash by simply leveraging their social media muscles. Out of more than a half million eligible organizations, the Top 100 vote getters in Round 1 have moved on to the final round of voting, which is happening now. Top 100 orgs are already the recepients of a $25,000 grant, but the top organization gets $1 million.
Six Los Angeles area organizations are in the running for the $1M: [links go to Facebook pages]
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have been supporting the Center for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF) in this campaign, since I feel that their “big idea” has the greatest potential for immediate impact on those who are living in Los Angeles, right now. CPAF was founded to help address domestic violence and sexual assault in the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Up to 60% of Asian and Pacific American women experience domestic or sexual abuse in their lifetime, and are the least likely to report the abuse. Since the economic downturn in 2008, domestic violence has been on the rise. With cutbacks in state funding, non-profits like CPAF are forced to turn away more callers trying to flee a violent home. (more…)
So, are you mystified about the state of same-sex marriage in California? At first glance it looks easy. On one side, you’ve got your proponents of same-sex marriage: Advocacy groups like the ACLU; big corporations like Google; and Americans everywhere who think that other people’s romantic lives are none of their business. And on the other side you’ve got rich Mormons, Carrie Prejean, and people who think that marriage is a totally sacred institution that’s always been treated with the utmost respect throughout all of human history and nobody ever gets divorced and Ted Haggard was FRAMED dammit.
But look a little closer, and you’ll find that California has a weird and complex relationship with same-sex marriage, and that proponents of “opposite marriage,” as the eminent Ms. Prejean has termed it, have had quite a fight on their hands when it comes to preserving their way of life, which by the way is honorable and traditional and totally without any problems. Also whenever gay people get married God gives a kitten pancreatic cancer.
Sorry. My point is that the recent history of marriage in California is a bit of a labyrinth, and if you’re going to try to understand the case that began in court last week — Perry v. Schwarzenegger – you’re going to have to learn a little history.
Arcadia PD has a great little blog. They have “Tuesday Tips” as well as other information tossed out almost daily. This week’s tip is a good one, be wary of fake “Census Takers” tells you what to look for to ID a real census taker. They even warn about those who ask for more info than they are entitled to…identity theft type stuff. Full blog post HERE.
While the Census Bureau might ask for basic financial information, such as a salary range, YOU DON’T HAVE TO ANSWER ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION. The Census Bureau will not ask for Social Security, bank account, or credit card numbers, nor will employees solicit donations. Any one asking for that information is NOT with the Census Bureau.
Dear Los Angeles Police Department, Antiterrorist Stationary Street Patrol Unit Placement (ASSPUP) Division:
Since December 28, I’ve been biking morning and evening by this empty patrol unit (pictured at right), parked in the red in front of the palatial residence of some unknown country’s diplomats on the northwest corner of 4th Street and Hudson in Hancock Park. When I saw it still there in the same place on the second day I first thought maybe the officers had gotten lost. On the third day I considered calling 911 in case you guys might be short one car and were wondering where it went.
But then on the fourth day it finally dawned on me that you sharp crime-stopping cookies knew about this all along, and I’ve really got to hand it to whoever the forward thinkers are that came up with this wholly effective and unique decoy. Some might say it’s bullshit, but I say in the wake of the failed underpants bomber Christmas Day, such desperate measures call for desperate countermeasures to protect our foreign officials. And the fact is: it’s an unqualified success. So far, this empty unattended and entirely useless black-and-white has been 100% effective in keeping any criminal shit whatsover from happening around it (not counting famed musician neighbor Beck dumping his Christmas tree in front of his nearby house December 29).
With the vehicle still there this morning in the exact same place you left it last year and finding everything else along that cozy and affluent intersection calm and quiet and not blown up or overrun by jihadists (even Beck’s tree was gone!), I realized the time was ripe to broaden this pilot program and expand it away from foreign dignitaries, and instead into other less-wealthy communities like mine, for example, full of actual citizens like me, for example, whose taxes pay for your protection and service. So in the hopes you’re looking to grow this program into the city-wide success I know it can be, allow me to formally volunteer use of the space directly in front of my house. Hell, if it’ll help, I’ll even paint the curb red to add that much-needed sense of we-can-park-where-we-want-to urgency that won’t get old even after a week. Or a decade.
Is Booting Cars Really LA’s Answer to Budget Deficits? LJ123 Wow, we have some super angelic drivers in here. /sarcasm I got 3 parking tickets in one week on my street for... doreet The only problem I have with this is that they did not raise the fees higher!!! It’s a great way to make...
It’s not often I get to feel glad that I’m not a (reported) billionaire, but I’m glad I am not 49-year-old private equity investor and newly fledged Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner.
