One of the singular pleasures of living in Los Angeles is the sense that you have front row seats to the apocalypse. And who better to keep us company than Slavoj Zizek. Next Wednesday 10 September he “takes on the signal issue of violence and inverts our pre-conceived and popular notions about its causes” at the Central Library in conversation with Jack Miles.
To get you warmed up, a sample from The Guardian’samazing interview with Zizek from last month awaits you after the jump. (more…)
The anti-Scientology group known as Anonymous announced that at 7:30am this morning they will be picketing outside of the New Village Academy private elementary school in Calabasas due to the school’s use of “Study Technology” developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. New Village Academy was founded by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith.
In a brief email exchange with “outed” Anonymous member Ryan Benno, aka Blvd Nights, explained:
We have decided that we will stay as far away as possibly away from the kids. None of us want to scare the kids at all. But this is a hugely profiled school and we want to bring attention to Study Tech. I personally think its robbing real education away from these kids. I am sure a few parents are unaware of what Study Tech is and most likely will like to know what we have to say. That is why we are doing it.
Benno adds that member of Anonymous have spoken with the Calabasas Sheriff’s Department to alert them to the protest.
A brief summary of what Study Tech is after the jump. (more…)
Recently, I wrote a post about a young female driver illegally holding her cell phone up to her ear and talking on it while driving, without using a hands-free device or the speakerphone. I included pictures of the offender. There was a split of opinion in the comments as to whether it was useful to try to change the behavior of such drivers by photographing them, speaking to them, and highlighting them on L.A. Metblogs. Today, I saw a guy huffing behind the wheel. I’d like to know what, if anything, readers think should be done about him.
If you recognize the above individual or his partner in the additional photos, contact the LAPD Pacific Division at 310-482-6313, referencing case #081424066. (more…)
LA loves Honda Accords. How do I know? Ours got stolen last night. (Technically it belonged to my husband but since I sold my car in July, we shared.) We live in West Los Angeles and it was parked right outside the house (locked, nothing of value in it, windows up, etc). My husband and I looked at each other this morning and just shook our heads. (It has been a very bad year for us in too many ways to go into here.) Why am I telling you this sob story? So I can share what I’ve learned about car theft in LA and how the city did help.
This is not the first car I’ve had stolen. The other was my Honda CRX in 1998, but it was found a day later. Have you had your car stolen? Recovered? Please share so I don’t feel so all alone.
Join me after the jump for more about Hondas in LA. (Watch the broken glass.)
In light of the news coming out about Wednesday’s assault and robbery committed against the cyclist riding Ballona Creek’s Bikeway, I’ve read comments to various posts about the dastardly crime that detail additional incidents that have occurred with a certain serial consistency along that stretch of off-street bike path roughly between Inglewood and Sepulveda boulevards:
“The last time I rode it (2006) there was a mattress across the path and a suspicious looking gentleman approaching. I turned around, got off the path and never went back.”
“I was running on the bike path last Thursday morning heading west. Just at the 405 underpass a cyclist stopped me to warn me off as two guys had just tried to attack him. I could clearly see the two up ahead hanging out on the path by that park watching us talk.”
“I bought a bike back in 1992 and took my first ride on the BC bike path. On the way back to Marina del Rey, heading west in this same location, I was rushed and pushed over by two thugs who wanted my wallet. I refused and they took my bike, crumpled tire and all.”
To further detriment is the alienation of the bikeway from the community. Accesspoints have been closed to placate crime-frazzled residents adjacent to the creek with next to no consideration for the impact such shutdowns have on the safety of those who use the bikeway. It’s no wonder pedestrians and cyclists are willing to just give up on the waterway as some sort of exiled and lawless zone of doom.
I don’t fault anyone making such decisions to protect themselves, but I for one am not so ready to let the thugs and bureaucrats win and instead plan to increase my presence by extending my inbound and outbound bike commutes to include this roughly one-mile stretch (map), like I did this morning as shown in the following brief image sequence, after the jump:
Damien Newton over at Streetsblog LA is reporting an incident occuring at 1 p.m. yesterday on the Ballona Creek Bikeway beneath the 405 overpass in which attackers forced a cyclist to crash, then used pepper spray to help steal the person’s backpack.
From a first-hand account of the assault:
I was riding west on the BC path at a little after 1pm yesterday, when there was actually fairly heavy traffic on the path. Under the 405 two gang members (this is what the police believe) threw another bike in my path, causing me to crash, and then sprayed me with pepper spray and took my backpack. I rode to the LAPD station on Culver Blvd., despite barely being able to see, and reported the incident since it was clear that there would be more victims. The attackers then used my backpack (which had a heavy On-Guard lock in it as well as several books) to assault at least two other cyclists (and possibly more, according to the detective I spoke with), pulling a knife on one (this is also what the police told me). My backpack was recovered by one of the victims who turned it in and called me. It turns out this is the second time he has been attacked in this manner on the BC path, this first time being left unconscious for nine hours. I did a search of the CICLE and LA Bicycle Coalition websites and found other stories of such assaults in nearly the same spot as recently as May and going back to 2006. The LAPD was helpful, but I got the sense that the BC path was not a high priority, even though the crimes there are likely related to gang activity in Mar Vista Gardens. The officer who took my report did not even know what I meant when I said I was riding on the Ballona Creek bikepath under the 405 (he kept repeating the question, “but what STREET were you on?”).
This is in the vicinity of the controversial bikeway gate closure the LAPD supported in order to mitigate an alleged crime spike occuring in the neighborhood adjacent to the creek and keep it on the path where it belongs!
Tuesday night I got to ride with the Pasadena PD. I sought this chance to spend time with them for many reasons. Some were personal in an effort to better understand policing in general, some specifically to understand why Pasadena has had downward trending violent and property crime compared to other areas in the city. Some was to find out what they did differently to impact those results. I even wanted some answers to questions and debates that come up here and other blogs regarding traffic and related safety issues.
My night in a nutshell: I rode up and down Lincoln Avenue from the more affluent SW side of town to the more troubled NW side of town. Our first call was a suspected dead body in a dumpster (rotting fried chicken), possible breaking and entering, vandalism (I knew the victim from my son’s elementary school), then a call regarding a lost license plate then the arrest of a suspected child molester. After that a run to the aquatic center on a call about an abandoned leaf blower which on arrival didn’t exist but a young man found someone tried to steal his ‘slade. Sadly the final call was to respond to a shooting that became the second murder of the year. The latter sadly slowed my ability to ask all my questions.
I still learned a lot on the ride along, you need to make the jump for the rest of the story. (more…)
Surveillance cameras at the building I live (near Franklin and La Brea) caught a bicycle theft in action. As you can see from the video below, a man in a construction helmet and reflective vest is able to casually rip off a bike with the help of bolt cutters. As he finishes, a tenant walks right by, thinking nothing of the thief.
This video, which shows the pathway between the building’s backdoor and parking lot, was taken last Tuesday, August 12th, shortly after 8am. The theft itself wasn’t reported to building management for 3 days.
Valorie Keegan with the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council tells me that similar incidents have been reported of thieves posing as DWP workers and tree trimmers. And couple days after the bike theft, a neighbor reported that another man dressed as a construction worker tried to talk his way onto building property claiming he was with the housing department.
During both incidents heavy construction has continued on the street in front of the building, lending the perps plenty of opportunity to blend in.
While I hope the DWP and police take this situation very seriously, this incident demonstrates the need for residents to be more vigilant and report crimes as they happen.
If you see someone suspicious or out of place in your neighborhood, report it ASAP, to your building management, the police, and your neighbors.
