School Lockdown Exposes Tensions Among Residents, District, Parents Page 2 Americans Opposed to Redistribution? Ah, Not So Fast Page 6 Water Color Society Hosts 92nd Annual Exhibition Page 11 San Pedro International Film Festival Opens Page 16
By Kevin Walker, Contributing Writer
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three-month-old ban on dispensaries selling medical marijuana in the City of Los Angeles was repealed in an 11-2 vote Oct.2 by the Los Angeles City Council. Councilman Joe Buscaino’s vote was one of the minority. The council’s move will keep a referendum on the now defunct ban off the March 5 ballot when Angeleno’s head to the polls to vote on, among other things, who will replace Antonio Villaraigosa as the city’s next mayor. On Sept. 17, City Clerk June Lagmay verified that petitioners had received 110 percent of the requisite 27,425 signatures needed to force a referendum on the ban which was enacted by the Los Angeles City Council this past July.
“They all caved,” said Bruce Margolin, director of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws or NORML about initial vote to ban dispensaries. “Even [Bill] Rosendahl and [Paul] Koretz... It’s just crazy, you know?” Both Rosendahl District 11, and Koretz District 5 had opposed a dispensary ban when District 14 Councilman Jose Huizar proposed it in 2011. Koretz remained consistent at the July 24 meeting, casting the sole “no” vote, while Rosendahl, who has been struggling with illness, was absent. Vote Vote Pass/ to p. 7
October 5 - 18. 2012
Illustration: Mathew Highland
“My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
California’s Medical Marijuana Wars
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HARBOR AREA
Committed to independent journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for more than 30 years
Strong Fences Should Make Good Neighbors By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
There’s an old adage that says “strong fences make for good neighbors.” No where else other than San Pedro is this more true. “The campus isn’t going away. So we will have to figure out how to mitigate
Community Announcements:
this,” was how South Division Commanding Officer Lt. Julio Lima opened his remarks on Sept. 27 in front of about 100 concerned parents and students. This was about a week after the John M. and Muriel Olguin campus
October 5 - 18, 2012
“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.”
was locked down after reports of an altercation involving a gun near the campus. The meeting was intended update the parents on the arrest of four people the previous week, after a flare up between the residents and the John M. and Muriel Olguin extension of San Pedro High School. Though four were taken into custody, only one was charged. Los Angeles Police Detective
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Harbor Area
On Sept. 19, LAPD Harbor Division locked down the John M. and Muriel Olguin campus after receiving reports of an altercation taking place near the school involving a gun. The Los Angeles School Police coordinated with Harbor Division to detain suspects. Photo: Terelle Jerricks.
Patricia Guerra, the officer in charge of the investigation, said the incident began when a student, with four passengers leaving the extension campus for San Pedro High’s main campus confronted a resident, Jonathan Rivero, 20, for locking the Alma Street gate before another vehicle could exit. According to reports culled from witness statements, the two argued back and forth. Rivero went back into his home. But the argument continued when Rivero appeared on his balcony with three visiting friends. When the students in the car noticed Rivero was holding what looked like a rifle at his side and warned the driver, they left and notified campus officials. After a two-hour lockdown of both the school and the neighborhood, officers recovered an airsoft rifle Alma St. GAte/ to p. 4
SP Science Center in a Real Smell of a Mess By Tami Jackson, Community News Reporter Controversy has been brewing at The Vic and Bonnie Christensen Math Science and Technology Center. Along with a long line of funding cuts, the Los Angeles Unified School District has released conflicting and frustrating messages that seem confusing, at best, and threatening, at worst. MSTC employees, who toil with the farm animals and vegetable gardens, say that it’s more than their future employment that’s been placed on the chopping block. Their jobs have, more than once, been in peril only to be spared at last minute, and then, only temporarily. The small vegetable and herb farm, with roughly 250 animals, is in a real smell of a mess. Shock reverberated through the center when Susan Tandberg, LAUSD’s director of curriculum and instruction, and Ayham Dahi, the secondary science coordinator, verbally delivered center employees with a twoweek notice to pack up and vacate the premises by Sept. 27.
John Zavalney, whose official title is “science expert,” and three science technicians, Nannette Roeland, Laurence Daniel and Ron Tatsui are the center’s employees. The center’s technical staff were directed to transfer to the Granada Hills Science Center. The science expert was advised to select a new job somewhere else within the district. To document how the verbal pink slip came with some teeth, Zavalney produced an e-mail he received from Ayham Dahi on Sept. 18, which discussed his relocation to the Office of Data and Accountability at district offices in downtown Los Angeles. Zavalney said that the districts attempt to relocate staff has all just been a masquerade because if the science technicians had actually transferred to San Gabriel, they would soon have become unemployed after the Los Angeles Unified acknowledged it didn’t really have any science technician positions for them there. Yet that’s not what bothers Zavalney the most. “My biggest frustration with the district is not knowing the plan (for Science Center in Limbo/ to p. 5
Buscaino Block Party and Spaghetti Dinner Councilman Joe Buscaino is hosting a block party to celebrate Columbus Day with everyone, busing in folks from throughout the districts and celebrate Italian culture. Five hundred to 1,000 are expected to attend. This is event is free of charge, but reservations are required. The event is Oct. 8 from 4 to 8 p.m. Details: (310) 732-4515 Venue: Italian American Club Location: 1903 S. Cabrillo Ave. (Via Italia), San Pedro
San Pedro Emergency Preparedness Fair
Learn how to prepare for emergencies and disasters, what to have on hand and how to assemble a “go bag,” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m Oct. 20. There will be presentations by the Los Angeles Fire Department, the Los Angeles Police Department and Wells Fargo Bank, among others that will show how their goods and services can assist attendees in saving themselves, their families and neighbors during and after disasters. Venue: Peck Park Community Center Location: 560 N. Western Ave., San Pedro
Hahn, One-on-One
Rep. Janice Hahn will host her next one-on-one meeting, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Oct. 13, at Hojas Tea House in Wilmington. District staff and she will be on hand to help out with any problems with a particular government agency, such as the Social Security or Veterans Administration. Details: http://tinyurl.com/ Hahn-one-on-one
Spooky Night at the Light
Point Fermin Lighthouse will be transformed into a haven for ghosts, goblins and witches, from 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. 20. Lighthouse tours will be conducted by some hauntingly delightful characters. Pumpkin decorating and crafts for the kids. Costumes welcome. Reservations required. Cost is $10 for non-members and $8 for members. Cash or checks accepted. Details: (310) 241-0612; www. pfls.org
Women in Business Seminar
Get an introduction to financial opportunities that are available to protect you, your family, your business and your retirement on Oct. 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Details: (310) 221-0484 Venue: San Pedro Chamber of Commerce Boardroom Location: 390 W. 7th St., San Pedro
“My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
October 5 - 18. 2012
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Allred Speaks at California
Women’s Conference
By Lyn Jensen, Community News Reporter Prominent Los Angeles lawyer Gloria Allred was the midday keynote speaker at the California Women’s Conference on its second day, Sept. 24, at the Long Beach Convention Center. Although Allred focused primarily on key cases involving sex discrimination, she also touched on the critical role women’s issues are playing in this year’s elections. Afterwards, she spoke to reporters about her personal experience with abortion saying that she never wants another woman to go through what she once did. Allred declared her support
for the re-election of President Barrack Obama. “Everything’s at stake for women in this election,” Allred said. “I am very concerned about reproductive rights issues including the right to contraception and to safe and legal abortion. The next president will most likely have an opportunity to nominate at least two Supreme Court justices… The 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision, which upheld the right of women to safe and legal abortion is at risk… President Obama is pro-choice and we can count on him to nominate pro-choice justices. That is why I
support President Obama for re-election.” When asked what women can do to ensure candidates address women’s issues, she responded, “As Mother Jones said, don’t agonize, organize. Support politicians who support you and your values. Raise our issues every time you have contact with them.” Previously referred to as the California Governor and First Lady’s Conference for Women, this annual Long Beach event has traditionally been hosted by the state governor and/or his wife. It was created in 1985 by thengovernor George “Duke” Deukmejian, to address the high failure rate of women-owned businesses. He and his wife, Gloria, hoped to give women entrepreneurs more access to resources. When California’s First Lady Anne Gust Brown, declined to continue the tradition, it was the CEO of EventComplete, Michelle J. Patterson, who stepped up to provide an alternative. “I think that we, as women, don’t realize the power that we actually possess,” wrote Patterson in a press statement. “The glass ceiling has been cracked but by sharing our experiences we can completely blow it out. Our influence in the home and corporate America has become solid. Are more influential positions in Congress and the White House… far behind?” This year’s event lasted two days, with Sept. 23, featuring a wide variety of panels, speakers, and an opening musical number by Melissa Manchester. The conference continued on Sept. 24 with more speakers including Allred, about
250 vendors and exhibits and breakout sessions. Unfortunately, as has often been the case in the past, this year’s exhibits were mostly businessoriented—social organizations dedicated to women’s issues were a distinct minority. Another participant was actress Donzaleigh Abernathy, the daughter of the legendary civil right leader Ralph Abernathy’s daughter, spoke of how her mother, Juanita Jones Abernathy, and Coretta Scott King were as much a part of the civil rights movement as her father and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hollywood star Tippi Hedren participated on the same panel, and she presented some statistics on women in political office: Only six state governors are women and only 19 women U.S. senators. Out of 435 seats in the House of Representatives, women hold only 73 of them. Only 1,747 of the 7,382 state legislators are women. “We can do better than that,” she admonished. Other featured participants included superstar motivational speaker Ali Brown and Dr. John Gray, author of the best-selling book, Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus. In recent years it’s become customary to have a superstar close the event with an appropriate musical number. This year it was the veteran Helen Reddy and her classic 70s hit, “I Am Woman.” Patterson and her company are already making plans for next year’s conference, and there is a reported possibility that former First Lady Maria Shriver may once more become involved.
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Rivero was charged with possession of and brandishing an imitation firearm—a misdemeanor. Guerra noted that Rivero was booked on stiffer, felony charges but the District Attorney’s Office referred it to the City Attorney’s Office on a misdemeanor instead. Rivero pleaded guilty to the charges and was given 30 days in jail, an order to stay away from the school (meaning not to go on school grounds) and dispose the airsoft rifle. The real story here is the increasingly adversarial relationship between residents, the student body and parents since classes began. Residents claim the district has broken repeated verbal commitments to keep the Alma gate closed, likening the situation on some Internet message boards to the relationship of the U.S. government to Native American during its westward march to the Pacific. It is suspected by many in the community that the root of the problem is that the extension campus’ final environmental report, completed in November 2008. The report did not account for the Paseo Del Mar road closure as result of the slide in November 2009 and no follow up traffic study has been completed. In the meantime, residents are documenting the impacts themselves by photographing and videotaping traffic impacts such as raised manholes, the sinking of residential streets under the weight of school shuttles, reckless driving, and impacted parking spaces. Principal Jeanette Stevens noted there were a host of traffic safety measures that still need to be addressed. “Signage and crosswalks haven’t been completed inside the school,” Stevens noted. “There are no red zones. The handicap curbs aren’t painted yet.” Other items on the to do list includes: improving the pick up system of students; reducing speeding and illegal passing; keeping the pedestrian gate open on Alma Street, and trimming back a tree from covering a stop-sign on 30th Street.
Alma St. Gate
October 5 - 18, 2012
“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.”
from the resident’s home. Airsoft guns look like real guns but are designed to be nonlethal, firing plastic pellets using air pressure.
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from p. 2
Science Center in Limbo the center) and the fact that I think the district is going to take all my ideas and use them after I’m gone, when I’ve had no support from them,” Zavalney said. “They seem to want to take all the things I’ve been working on and hand it to someone else.” In the last week of September, the district completely squelched what Zavalney considers to be one of his more successful community projects. Since the Kiwanis Club brings volunteers to work in the garden area on the first Saturday of every month, Zavalney has been giving away plants to the dozens of visiting teachers who service hundreds of students. Zavalney argued that the work of volunteers has created enthusiasm for touring the facility. “These numbers every month can help make
two-weeks notice to vacate their positions? “That is false information,” Torres replied. He said employees were not asked to leave, even after he was confronted with a news article that came out declaring the notices were legitimate. Zavalney said that Torres is denying that employees were given a pink slip because the situation made it to the press. With district actions in public view, officials started back-tracking on their plans. Zavalney added, “My two week notice has since been rescinded and I am now allowed to stay until June 2013.” The end of the school year is when a whole new funding source must become available to the center or it will be forced to close. Yet, Zavalney said, even if a nonprofit decides to invest in the
center, his job will still end. “They won’t keep me on (at the center) not even if they get funding,” he said. “The way the district set it down in the two week notice is that the entire staff would be moved as soon as a nonprofit took over.” Notwithstanding, LAUSD announced it is looking for somebody to take over the center in a blurb inside the October edition of San Pedro Today magazine.
Zavalney intends to continue working at the center for as long as he can. He would still like to implement some of his lofty plans, such as the earlier mentioned environmental sustainability center. But, the district has refused to give any light to any of the ideas he has presented, Zavalney said. “The district hasn’t given any support to the science center since I’ve been here,” he said.
In Random Lengths News These Boer Cross goats at the Vic and Bonnie Christensen Math Science and Technology Center could meet the chopping block in June 2013 when LAUSD finds an operator to take over the center. Photo: Tami Jackson.
the center look much more successful,” Zavalney said. “John, we already discuss this. The answer is still no on this project,” is how Dahi replied in an e-mail that followed their verbal conversation. The tip of the iceberg for Zavalney is how he wanted to turn the facility into an environmental sustainability center. To Zavalney, more than simply having his ideas fall upon deaf ears, whenever he made a proposal for improving the center, the district has either changed staff or its state of mind. “The district flip-flops more than Mitt Romney does,” Zavalney quipped. School board member Vladovic’s office inadvertently gave credence to Zavalney’s claims. Random Lengths presented Vladovic’s chief of staff, Chris Torres, with the allegations that if the district had the ability to readily make available funding to float the center for another school year, why did science center staff receive a
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October 5 - 18. 2012
Stevens explained that students have to get a waiver to leave in their own cars and are not allowed to transport other students to the main campus, in response to a question about rule changes regarding student safety after the Sept. 19 lockdown incident, . A series of community meeting took place on Aug. 30, Sept. 12. and 25. But the issue has only become more heated, as revealed by the Sept. 27 parents meeting at San Pedro High’s flagship auditorium. The parents in the auditorium were alarmed by their perception of an escalating pattern of aggression against students, while being told to appease the residents. They aired allegations of resident drivers cutting off or blocking shuttles to keep them from moving, photographing their children going to and from campus. “What are you doing to protect my children from this day forward since we know that its going on?” one parent asked. Los Angeles Unified School Police brass pledged that for the following two weeks, LAUSD police will allocate an additional one or two motor officers at the Alma gate, in addition to existing coverage. Stevens announced plans, during the Sept. 25 Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council meeting, as well as the Sept. 27 meeting, to use Alma Street for the six one-way bus trips during lunch and nutrition as it is being used, starting Nov. 26. LAUSD Administrator of Operations James Noble, a late arrival at the Sept. 27 meeting at the San Pedro High School’s flagship auditorium, said that district administrators will be on site along with extra police personnel on Nov. 26. Lima implicitly acknowledge that extra security is only a temporary solution when he hinted that the extra police presence would be for only a limited time. The rest will have to come through some understanding between the district, residents, and parents.
“My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
When you need help, think local. Support the Independents
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Port Releases Recirculated DEIR for SCIG Project
On Sept. 27, the Port of LA announced that it has prepared a Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Southern California International Gateway (SCIG) project, According to the Port, it is a partial recirculation of the original Draft EIR released in Sept. 2011, with “significant new information” including: • A 2010 CEQA Baseline. “The LAHD recognizes that 2005 is no longer an appropriate baseline to use and has revised the analysis using 2010 as the new baseline” the Port explained. • A 50-year Operations Period for SCIG, from 2016 to 2066, in place of the original 30-year period, 2016 to 2046. • 2009 Cargo Demand Forecast, replacing the pre-recession 2007 forecast. • New Data and Updates to Air Quality Models. “2010 data and updated air quality models are incorporated” into the recirculated DEIR, the Port said, including “2010 census data, updated air quality models and emission factors, new traffic counts at study intersections, new noise measurements at selected noise sensitive receiver locations, and updated on-site operational activity within the proposed Project boundary.” • Floating Baseline for Health Risk Assessment. The original DEIR included a health risk assessment (HRA) “conducted using a static (existing conditions only) baseline”, the Port said, while the recirculated DEIR supplements that with “a future or floating baseline analysis for the HRA that accounts for changes in air emissions over time that would improve air quality due to adopted rules and regulations.” The recirculated DEIR will be available for public review and comment through November 9, 2012, with a public comment meeting on October 18, 6-8 PM at Banning’s Landing. For details see “Community Alerts” p.9.
October 5 - 18, 2012
“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.”
Los Angeles Can Finally Wilmington Build Park
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WILMINGTON—Union Pacific Railroad is donating 3 acres of land for a park to be annexed to Wilmington’s green belt. Disagreement over indemnifying Los Angeles from liability issues as a result of land contamination held up the project. Since funds to pay for the clean up are coming from Proposition 40 and Prop. K funds, the city was forced to make a decision or risk losing the funding, which would have jeopardized the entire project. The city purchased a $10 million environmental pollution insurance policy covering all pollution related claims filed against the property for the following 10 years. Coverage excludes known pollutants during the remediation phase.
Valero Lease Agreement with DWP
WILMINGTON—For years, Ultramar Inc., a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corp., leased the Marine Tank Farm ( just north of Banning’s Landing between Fries Avenue and Avalon Boulevard) in Wilmington from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. After a years-long process, Valero agreed to relocate their tanks to an adjacent facility, which the company will also lease from the DWP. The removal of the tanks from the current facility would have provided the final piece of land that will allow for a contiguous Wilmington waterfront. Three years later, the tanks are still there. On Sept. 26, Valero representatives were asking for the board’s endorsement of a 3-year lease extension followed by a 45-day, month-to-month lease arrangement until funds are found to begin work on the Wilmington Waterfront. The proposal was called a win-win for all around and all agreed that Valero was a good neighbor. News Briefs/ to following page
Don’t Buy It!
Author Anat Shenker-Osorio.
New Book Exposes Language of Economic Nonsense By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
Divisive economic rhetoric has increasingly dominated the Presidential election this year, topped off by Romney’s dismissive comments about the 47% he said it wasn’t his job to worry about. But such talk is dramatically at odds with how most Americans actually feel about a just economic order. Specifically, the bottom 40 percent of Americans have virtually no assets at all, but they should own roughly one quarter of the nation’s wealth, according to a survey of public attitudes on wealth distribution conducted by psychologists Michael Norton and Dan Ariely. Given a choice between the existing high levels of wealth inequality in America and more equal alternatives, only 10 percent of respondents favored the status quo, while 47 percent favored a much more equal distribution modeled on Sweden, and 43 percent favored complete wealth equality. Equally striking was the fact that these views were broadly shared across political and ideological divides. Yet, if you look at the economic rhetoric in the presidential campaign this year, it’s as if we’re living in an entirely different country, one in which people can’t even begin to imagine things being much different than they currently are. Given that wealth distribution is a broad end-state result of all economic questions, the disconnect could not be more staggering. Which leads to the obvious question, “Why?” Why is the economic order we all take for granted so wildly at odds with what the American people want? And, why isn’t this question at the center of all our economic debates? A new book by linguist Anat Shenker-Osorio lays out the case that what’s largely to blame is how we talk about economics—even above and beyond the disproportionate power of monied interests. The book’s title says it all: Don’t Buy It: The Trouble with Talking Nonsense about the Economy. She spent three years carefully studying how economists, media figures and ordinary citizens talk about the economy and specific issues, such as inequality. And, she translated all that she learned into a relatively simple set of basic insights and recommendations. Conservatives use language that portrays the economy as a self-determined entity that can only be made worse by outside meddling, she explains, while progressives use a wider linguistic range which results in a muddling of the message that they’re trying to convey. As the starkest illustration of her point, Shenker-Osorio cites an episode of South Park, “Margaritaville,” in which South Park’s citizens discover that the economy is a vengeful and angry god, who must be appeased with sacrifice. In her preface, she describes it thus: The citizens cower upon realizing the truth—the Economy is an angry and vengeful God. Because South Parkers have paid insufficient homage to it, the Economy visits ruination and recession upon them. A character lectures a crowd of rapt listeners, “There are those who will say the Economy has forsaken us. Nay! You have forsaken the Economy. And now you know the Economy’s wrath.” The solution in South Park, as will be familiar to modern day Greeks and lowincome Americans, is sacrifice.
As she goes on to elaborate, we don’t always think of the economy as a god, but somewhat related as a conscious living being—“one that by all means we should avoid hurting”... and that matters more than actual people do. And just how should we avoid hurting it? Just ask conservatives!: Other things that supposedly give the economy apoplexy? Take your pick: regulations, welfare programs, government spending, helping the poor, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. But when was the last time you heard a discussion about whether a potential policy might hurt, harm, weaken, or threaten people? Americans like you and me. The background for Shenker-Osorio’s argument rests on two well-established—if counter-intuitive facts. First, that people always use concrete, experientially-grounded models to talk about relatively abstract ideas or phenomena, like the economy. Second, that unconscious influences are generally more powerful than conscious ones, because we never stop to question them. Hence, the key to countering the logic sketched out above is not more facts or clearer explanations—although both are certainly helpful in their place, as former President Bill Clinton’s convention speech reminded us. Rather, what’s most important is for progressives to recognize, develop and use their own models that convey a very different view of the economic world. You can’t just make up such models out of thin air, Shenker-Osorio explains. There are patterns, one might even say rules about how such things work. Fortunately, progressive models do exist, they’re just not as well developed or widely used. They represent the economy as a constructed object—most typically, a vehicle—and they tell us that it exists to facilitate our personal journeys. Which is to say, the economy exists to facilitate our individual dreams and desires, rather than to impose its desires on us. More specifically, she explains that conservatives talk about the economy in two different ways—the what and the why. Metaphorically, they say what the economy is: something natural, self-regulating and best left alone, with personifying metaphors (‘ailing, growing, recovering’ etc.) reinforced by metaphors of water (‘money flowing, a rising tide lifting all boats’, etc.) and weather (‘economic storms, a cold business climate’, etc.) While the latter two, in particular might seem, well, natural and neutral, she reminds us “You know who regulates the ocean? The moon.” Thus the common unquestioned message conveyed is that human interference is silly at best, harmful at worst. As for the “why” of the economy, conservatives describe it as a moral enforcer, rewarding hard work and virtue and punishing those who fall short. Hence the extravagant poutrage at the Republican National Convention with an entire night given to celebrating “we built that”... broadcast to the world from a publiclyfinanced stadium. As Shenker-Osorio explains, “Only very bad people need and accept government handouts; the morally upright take care of themselves.” Of course it’s not true, but that’s irrelevant for persuasive speech. It’s a simple, straightforward, morally compelling message, and the results speak for themselves: “Conservatives have won
elections and diverted policy to their ends by switch-hitting between two important conceptual models: the economy as a natural entity and the economy as a moral enforcer.” And that’s a result that’s profoundly at odds with the preference for a more egalitarian society, as cited above. The progressive alternative for what the economy is a human-made object in motion— most typically, a vehicle. This sends and important two-fold factually accurate message: First, that the economy wouldn’t even exist without human involvement, and second, that it needs conscious controlling in order to avoid disastrous results. This gives rise to language like “jump-starting the economy”, “rev up our economic engine,” “driving the economy into the ditch,” etc. It was relatively easy for Shenker-Osorio to find such “what” examples in writing about the economy, but it was only through anonymous conversations with progressive economists that she discovered a closely-related progressive explanation of “why”: We explain ourselves by signaling that the economy is a means to facilitate journeys. And I believe it’s our ticket to explaining the experiences (negative and positive) of the individual in the economy as well as selling our vision of how things can and should work. The journey metaphor is one of the most compelling in human experience, used to describe life itself, as well as shared experiences and relationships—love, friendship, teamwork, etc. Hence, expressions like “stuck in rut,” “at a crossroads,” “back on track,” “going nowhere,” “moving along,” “lost at sea,” “in the home stretch,” “carrying baggage,” etc. Indeed, America itself is profoundly connected with this metaphor, both in terms of immigrant narratives and its founding document, the Declaration of Independence, declaring the right to “the pursuit of happiness.” Don’t Buy This/ to p. 18
Vote Vote Pass
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from previous page
That is, except for Communities for a Safe Environment Director Jesse Marquez, who argued during public comments, “The Wilmington Waterfront had a $20 billion budget expectation. Now there’s no money. When they make a budget it’s totally discretionary.” Marquez further argued that Valero was not a good neighbor, pointing out that there’ flaring every month that sometimes burn for hours. A Valero representative defended the company, arguing that flaring has gone down exponentially over the years and said that Air Quality Management District studies prove it. Ultimately, the Wilmington board passed a motion supporting the lease extension.
Bruce Margolin, director of the Los Los Angeles County Angeles chapter of the National Orgahas tried its hand at bannization for the Reform of Marijuana ning dispensaries too. In Laws or NORML. He’s running for Cal2010 the Board of Superviifornia’s newly formed 33rd district of Congress. File photo. sors decided to eject medical marijuana providers from the county’s unincorporated areas using zoning restrictions. This, however, was overturned by the 2nd District Court of Appeals that found the county’s position to be superseded by the state’s Compassionate Use Act. In addition, the court found that none of the dispensaries that would have been affected by the ban had been shown to now Gov. Jerry Brown in the 2008 “Guidelines be in violation of state law. for the Security and Non-Diversion of Marijuana Other state appeals courts have been more Grown for Medicinal Use.” amiable to California cities attempting to ban disIn the document, storefront dispensaries like pensaries. The District 4 Court of Appeals, which those being banned in Los Angeles and Long oversees a vast area encompassing San Diego, Beach are treated with a degree of suspicion, but Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, it does allow for those outlets operating as collechas upheld bans in Lake Forest and Riverside. tives or cooperatives. In Lake Forest case, the court ruled that while “It is the opinion of this Office that a properly city officials didn’t have the authority to simply organized and operated collective that dispensprohibit dispensaries, the dispensaries them- es medical marijuana through a storefront may selves are considered legal only if they sell mari- be lawful under California law,” the document juana grown on premise. reads. The cases are symbolic of the confusing and Medical Marijuana on the Ballot/ to p. 21 inconsistent morass of judicial rulings, municipal ADVERTISEMENT ordinances and state laws that govern the use of medical marijuana in California. The state’s relationship with medicinal cannabis dates back to 1996, when voters passed Earlier this year, my mother was admitted Two hours after administering the medicine Proposition 215, now known as the Compassionto Naval Hospital in Beijing, China with through a nostril drip, the nurse reported that pneumonia. After about a week of IV and my mother started to pass urine. The treatment ate Use Act, into law. The proposition amended antibiotic treatment she was getting better. lasted 10 days; she regained consciousness the California Health and Safety code to allow for But hours before she was to be released and the swelling was gone. But her creatinine marijuana to be used in the treatment of chronic from the hospital her temperature went up level was high, which meant her kidney illnesses such as AIDS, cancer and arthritis. function was damaged. I administered to 101º F and she was kept However, it left unclear, how exactly the preanother Chinese herbal formula in the hospital for further viously illegal substance would be administered, and after 2 days, she had a bowel observation. The doctors distributed or purchased by those Californians movement, which excreted the again treated her with 4 kinds who desired it as a medical treatment. toxins. Subsequent blood tests of antibiotics to no avail but In 2004, state government passed Senate Bill showed a dramatically lower with serious side effects: 420 into law establishing California’s Medical creatinine level. her CT showed multiple Although she was greatly Marijuana Program. This legislation instituted pathological changes—kidney improved and she now had a two-class system of state issued identification and respiratory failure, type normal kidney function, my 2 diabetes, lung infection, cards. The first class authorizes an individual to high blood pressure all made Dr. Lina’s mother in Beijing, mother still had the lung use medical marijuana, while the second is given infection. Her doctors did a worse by cross infections in China. to a “primary caregiver” that identifies him or her deep venipuncture to aspirate the hospital. as the legal supplier to that individual. the phlegm and used more Words failed me when I saw my mother’s The application of this law was, in turn, clarimedication but there was no improvement. condition: her whole body was swollen, fied by, then, Attorney General of California and I administered another Chinese formula to
The Case for Chinese Medicine
she had not urinated in 10 days and she was barely conscious. She was hooked up to oxygen and had a feeding tube. They gave her 5 days to live.
BEIJING HEALTHCARE ILWU insurance welcome
Dr. Lina, CA Acupuncture Licensed M.D. with over 30 years experience in Chinese and Western Medicine
1300 W. 6th St., Suite 3, San Pedro • (310) 217-9088
October 5 - 18. 2012
My 30 years of experience in Chinese medicine told me the most important thing was to get my mother to urinate. Her doctors rejected my plan but they had no alternative, so they allowed me to try a Chinese herb formula.
clean her lungs. After 5 days the infection cleared up. Under joint treatment of Western and Chinese medicine my 84-year-old mother was healed. Her case proves the efficacy of Chinese medicine. I want to encourage my colleagues to continue your efforts and encourage Western medical doctors to consider working with doctors trained in Chinese medicine for the benefit of our patients.
“My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
“I have friends that are alive today because of medical marijuana and that’s why this is so important to me,” Koretz said. “I know there are those who say that enforcement will be easier if everybody knows every marijuana shop is illegal... and that’s true... but I don’t want to see us close off access to medical marijuana for those who need it. That can’t happen.” Koretz, however, seemed to reverse his stance in mid-August when he voted in favor of a motion instructing the Los Angeles Police Department to work with the federal government to create a strategy for dealing with medical marijuana dispensaries. The episode mirrors the experience of the county’s second largest city, Long Beach, whose city council implemented a ban on dispensaries in February. That action was a response to a 2011 ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeals that the city’s system of regulating medical marijuana outlets was illegal under federal law. Long Beach had devised a system where potential dispensary owners paid $14,742 to enter into a 2010 lottery for permission to operate in the city. Out of 43 applicants, 32 were granted permits, which beside a litany of health and safety requirements, also came with an annual $10,000 fee for continued operation. The system was disputed by Ryan Pack and Anthony Gayle, who were members of two collectives that failed to win one of the coveted business permits. They argued successfully that the city had gone beyond simple decriminalization of marijuana for medical purposes and instead permitted it, which was a violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act. The resulting ban put in place by city officials after the Pack v. City of Long Beach ruling, has had the effect of closing those dispensaries willing to cooperate with the city’s safety and permit requirements. “There are dispensaries operating, just not members of the Long Beach Collective Association,” said Carl Kemp, a lobbyist who represents 10 of the 18 Long Beach dispensaries that were allowed a 6-month operating extension following the February ban in order to recoup costs affiliated with city regulations. “Our contention was that there are good operators and there are bad operators and we did our job as good operators...we lived within the city code...now everybody’s a bad operator.” The situation was muddled further in August when the case was dismissed by the California State Supreme Court, rendering the appeals court ruling moot and throwing the logic behind the Long Beach ban into question.
Medical Marijuana Makes it on the Ballot
7
Screams from the Balcony of the Irate Right Every Four Years the Bolts Come off the Wheels of the Republican Go-cart
October 5 - 18, 2012
“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.”
By James Preston Allen, Publisher I know that you’ve all seen the emails and Facebook postings proclaiming Obama to be a socialist, a closet Muslim or even still, from the “birthers,” that he wasn’t even born here. It seems like the closer it appears that he might actually win re-election the more irate the screams from the Republican balcony become. You will note that I print the occasional rant from my right-wing critics in our letters column. I relish the idea that I’m both providing a space for them to exercise their rights to free speech and exposing Random Lengths readers to the fact that not all of our neighbors are left-leaning, card-carrying unionists. I’m not sure if all of this antiObamaism is based exclusively on the objection of having a black man in the White House who isn’t a servant, but I do feel a certain pride in the fact that this man with the most unlikely of names has risen to the highest office in the nation. If it makes them feel any better, he is still “a servant of the people.” And as we may well witness in this political clash, a master of American politics. It is also curious to note that with all the Republican fears about voter fraud, it is their own campaign’s subcontractors they have to worry about—particularly in battleground states like Florida. To the Obama campaign’s credit, most of the legal battles over new voting restriction laws in Texas, Ohio and now Pennsylvania were won—laws that could have excluded hundreds of thousands of legitimate voters from the polls. All of this, however, is just background noise for most Americans who view politics as a blood sport. The problem in the game of politics is that there are no referees in striped shirts. And although there are rules and laws, they are meant to argued over, bent or broken, in service of winning at any cost. The only firm rule is not getting caught and/or making sure that your opponent is exposed. It’s the only true reality TV sport. So every four years, the bolts on the wheels of our not so civil society seem to come off. The attack ads are flung at the opposition like stones from catapults at a castle and campaigns amass huge war chests to increase the size and volume of their messaging. This war of politics is not limited to just the national campaigns nor just to politicians.
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In the race between Sen. Alan Lowenthal and Long Beach Councilman Gary DeLong for the 47th Congressional district, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent an unprecedented $300,000 on TV and Internet advertising against Lowenthal by attacking his bills as a “job killers.” So what are these job killer bills that Sen. Lowenthal has sponsored? One was, AB 568, which he sponsored as an Assemblyman. This bill would have prevented pregnant juvenile detainees from being shackled around the abdomen. The others are: • AB 1186, the School Energy Efficiency and the Greenhouse Gas Reductions Act. These bills would have established grants from the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to help districts build energy efficient schools. • AB 1532, an Amendment to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 would have designated funding for jobs and businesses related to reducing greenhouse gases. • SB 1572, the AB 32 Investment Fund. Similar to AB 1532, it would also have designated funding for job promotion in disadvantaged communities. • SB 761, an internet privacy protection bill that would have prohibited unauthorized use of consumers’ private information online. Not unlike the attacks from the irate right on Obama, these accusations by DeLong and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are really quite suspect and in my estimation, verge on delusional! Do be wary of these late-in-the-game attacks as they harken back to an era of politics, especially here in California, where one historical campaign was won by an unknown Richard Nixon who launched an anonymous telephone attack against Helen Gahagan Douglas asking if they knew she was a communist! These kind of tactics don’t just apply to politicians either. The hilltop Republicans have been screaming from their balconies about this newspaper again too. “If you don’t stop carrying that #!*## newspaper in your establishment, we’ll stop coming here,” they scream. So much for having a civil discourse or defending the First Amendment. My reaction? Go read the Daily Breeze if you want to hear only the Republican side of the argument! Publisher/Executive Editor James Preston Allen james@randomlengthsnews.com
“A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do something about it.” —Mark Twain Vol. XXXIII : No. 20
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Published every two weeks for the Harbor Area communi- Assistant Editor Zamná Ávila ties of San Pedro, RPV, Lomita, Harbor City, Wilmington, reportersdesk@randomlengthsnews.com Carson and Long Beach. Distributed at over 350 locations Senior Editor Paul Rosenberg throughout the seven cities of the Harbor Area.
www.randomlengthsnews.com
Statewide Propositions
With five weeks remaining until the general election, voters have much to weigh and consider. Random Lengths will be running all ballot measures along with their pros and cons for the next three editions. On Nov. 6, we hope you vote wisely. PROPOSITION 30—Temporary taxes to fund education. Guaranteed local public safety funding. Initiative constitutional amendment. Proposition 30, a Sales and Income Tax Increase Initiative, is on the Nov. 6, 2012 ballot in California as an initiated constitutional amendment. Gov. Jerry Brown is leading the charge for Proposition 30, which is a merger of two previously competing initiatives; the “Millionaire’s Tax” and Brown’s First Tax Increase Proposal. Provisions of Proposition 30 include: • Raises California’s sales tax to 7.5 percent from 7.25 percent, a 3.45 percent percentage increase over current law. (Under the Brown Tax Hike, the sales tax would have increased to 7.75 percent).
• Creates four high-income tax brackets for taxpayers with taxable incomes exceeding $250,000, $300,000, $500,000 and $1,000,000. This increased tax will be in effect for 7 years. • Imposes a 10.3 percent tax rate on taxable income over $250,000 but less than $300,000—a percentage increase of 10.6 percent over current policy of 9.3 percent. The 10.3 percent income tax rate is currently only paid by taxpayers with over $1,000,000 in taxable income. • Imposes an 11.3 percent tax rate on taxable income over $300,000 but less than
Columnists/Reporters Lyn Jensen Carson B. Noel Barr Music Dude John Farrell Curtain Call Gretchen Williams Entrée Andrea Serna Arts Writer Malina Paris Culture Writer Kevin Walker Community News Tami Jackson Community News Calendar 14days@randomlengthsnews.com Photographers Terelle Jerricks, Slobodan Dimitrov, Robin Doyno, Betty Guevarra Contributors Danny Simon
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$500,000—a percentage increase of 21.5 percent over current policy of 9.3 percent.
• Imposes a 12.3 percent tax rate on taxable income over $500,000 up to $1,000,000--a percentage increase of 32.26 percent over current policy of 9.3 percent. • Imposes a 13.3 percent tax rate on taxable income over $1,000,000—a percentage increase of 29.13 percent over current “millionaires tax” policy of 10.3 percent. • If this proposition is passed in November, the income tax will apply retroactively to all income earned or received since the first of the year (Jan. 1, 2012). • Based on California Franchise Tax Board data for 2009, the additional income tax is imposed on the top 3 percent of California taxpayers. Estimated revenue from Proposition 30 vary from Jerry Brown’s $9 billion estimate to the $6.8 billion estimated by the non-partisan Legislative Analysts Office. The difference stem from the volatility caused by capital gains income from high-income earners, an issue in California’s tax system previously identified by the Legislative Analysts Office. Arguments in favor include: • Schools and colleges face an additional $6 billion in devastating cuts this year. Prop. continued on following page
Random Lengths News editorial office is located at 1300 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, (310) 519-1016. Address correspondence regarding news items and news tips only to Random Lengths News, P.O. Box 731, San Pedro, CA 90733-0731, or email to editor @randomlengthsnews.com. Send Letters to the Editor or requests for subscription information to james @ randomlengthsnews.com. To be considered for publication, all Letters to the Editor should be typewritten, must be signed, with address and phone number included (these will not be published, but for verification only) and be kept to about 250 words. To submit advertising copy email adv@randomelengthsnews.com or reads@ randomlengthsnews.com. Extra copies and back issues are available by mail for $3 per copy while supplies last. Subscriptions are available for $35 per year for 27 issues. Random Lengths News presents issues from an alternative perspective. We welcome articles and opinions from all people in the Harbor Area. While we may not agree with the opinions of contributing writers, we respect and support their 1st Amendment right to express those opinions. Random Lengths News is a member of Standard Rates and Data Reporting Services and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. (ISN #0891-6627). All contents Copyright 2012 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.
RANDOMLetters Delusional
A long time ago, before the failures of the the Soviet Union, and the absolute poverty of China prior to a semi free market, and now the collapse of countries in Europe that are socialist. PEOPLE THOUGHT SOCIALISM, a Government directed country, might be an enlightened way to govern. Making a ‘fairer’ nation (and enriching those in power)
Community Alerts
POLA Releases Recirculated Draft EIR for Rail Project
You mistake everything that I write. What I am pointing out is that a significant part of our health care system is already “socialized” or owned by the government for the benefit of the people. This has been put in place since the before the beginning of our republic with few objections. Obamacare as it is now called is a rational extension of the very same historical trend, which I’ll point out is not any different than say public education or the National Parks, all of which are owned by the government for the benefit of the people. Are you suggesting we privatize education and parks too? Let’s talk about who is delusional. James Preston Allen Publisher
Confessions of a 47%er
I listened with great interest to Mitt Romney’s speech on the 47% of the country that are moochers off the government dole, paid for by the 53% who pay taxes. from previous page
November Propositions 30 prevents those cuts and provides billions in new funding for our schools starting this year—money that can be spent on smaller class sizes, up-to-date textbooks and rehiring teachers. • Prop. 30 establishes a guarantee for public safety funding in the state’s constitution, where it can’t be touched without voter approval, keeping cops on the street.
• Prop. 30 balances the budget and helps pay down California’s debt.
• Prop. 30’s taxes are temporary, and this initiative cannot be modified without a vote of the people. The sales tax provision will be in effect for four years. Supporters include:
Propositions/ to p. 21
AEG Bails After Tax Giveaway
I just wanted to express my opinion—disgust! Our elected officials have fast tracked the approval of the “Farmer’s Field” stadium—State, County, City touting the fact that AEG would be operating the facility. Now we learn that our elected officials knew all along that AEG
would not be in the picture. Not two (2) weeks ago Martha Saucedo of AEG, was on Adrienne Alpert’s Sunday “Newsmakers” show telling how AEG was progressing on the project - no mention of any impending sale. Please! If any of us tried this in personal negotiations we would have attorney’s running up and down our back faster than you could count to ten. The State, County and City ethics commissions should investigate this situation and along with the State Attorney General, County District Attorney and the Los Angeles City Attorney file cases against any elected official who knowingly kept this fact from
the public discussion.
Mary Hard San Pedro
Dear Mary, I personally believe that the Mayor Villariagosa and the other council members were disingenuous with the public when they said they knew of the impending sale of AEG. I think everyone has been blind-sided by this revelation, perhaps even some of the AEG team. This surprise sale comes out of right field and calls into question whether the City of Los Angeles should be putting up a $300 million bond to fund any of this deal without getting a personal guarantee from Phillip Anschutz More Letters/ to p. 22
October 5 - 18. 2012
• Prop. 30 temporarily increases personal income taxes on the highest earners—couples with incomes over $500,000 a year—and establishes the sales tax at a rate lower than it was last year to protect schools and safety.
• Gov. Jerry Brown • League of Women Voters of California • California Democratic Party • California Teachers Association • California State Council of Service Employees • California School Employees Association • American Federation of Teachers • California Federation of Teachers Arguments in opposition include: • There is no guarantee in the way it is written that the money would be used for schools. • Nothing in Prop. 30 reforms our education system to cut waste, eliminate bureaucracy or cut administrative overhead. • Instead of supporting education, the new tax money raised by Proposition 30 will really go to “backfill the insolvent teacher’s pension fund.” • The governor, politicians and special interests behind
In fact I am sure that percentage wise, I have paid higher taxes than Mr. Romney. But now I am perplexed, does that then make a 53%er. I am very confused. Louis Dominguez San Pedro
“My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
The Port of Los Angeles has prepared a Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Southern California International Gateway Project that involves the construction and operation of a railyard on outer port property. The proposed project site is located in an industrial area between Sepulveda Boulevard to the north, Pacific Coast Highway to the south, State Route 47 to the east and the Dominguez Channel to the west. The Recirculated Draft EIR is a partial recirculation of the original Draft EIR released in September 2011. Significant new information added and changes include a 2010 baseline analysis, 50-year operations period for the gateway, use of the 2009 San Pedro Bay Ports cargo demand forecast,updated air quality models and traffic, noise and census data. (See “News Briefs” p. 6 for more information.) The 45-day public comment/review period is from Sept. 27 to Nov. 9. A public hearing will take place, from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 18, at Banning’s Landing Community Center at 100 E. Water Street, Wilmington, CA 90744. A copy of the document is available for review at http://www.portoflosangeles.org/EIR/SCIG/RDEIR/ rdeir_scig.asp and at each of the following: Port of Los Angeles Environmental Management Division, 222 W. 6th St., Suite 1080, San Pedro; Los Angeles City Library, San Pedro Branch, 931 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro; Los Angeles City Library, Wilmington Branch, 1300 N. Avalon Blvd., Wilmington;and Carson Library, 23317 Avalon Blvd., Carson Written comments should be sent to Christopher Cannon, Director of Environmental Management Division, 425 S. Palos Verdes Street, San Pedro, CA 90731 or via e-mail to ceqacomments@portla.org. Email comments should include the project title in the subject line and a valid mailing address within the email. Comment letters must be postmarked by Nov. 9. Forr additional information, contact Lisa Ochsner, CEQA Supervisor at (310) 732-3675.
But now, we know that socialism, is like a Zoo...the animals are safe, and somewhat content...and domesticated..but trapped. At the mercy of their masters. Sad. And YOU WANT THIS! DELUSIONAL Dave Unvert San Pedro
I never thought of myself as a moocher, and I am grateful to the candidate for making me aware of my shortcomings. See, in 1968 I was shot while serving in Viet Nam. I was shot multiple times. I then spent nine months in Army hospitals in Viet Nam, Japan, and California. When I was discharged I was informed by the Veterans Administration that I was entitled to a pension due to my wounds. Over the years my percentage of disability has increased as new problems have come up. I have many friends with whom I served who are in the same boat. Many of them are staunch Republicans who may not realize that under the Romney/Ryan ticket are also considered to be moochers. I firmly believe that Romney/Ryan will go after Veterans Administration funds as part of their “economies.” One thing really bothers me about the statement by Gov. Romney. His answer to his wealthy contributors was designed to evoke a particular reaction. His reference to the people who live off of the government was meant to invoke pictures of welfare cheats and people too lazy to work. In their minds they would think of people of color, not the veterans and seniors on Social Security who are many, if not the majority, of those receiving government benefits. By the way, even though I have received a government pension for many years, I have also paid taxes every year since I started working.
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10
October 5 - 18, 2012
“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.”
E. Richard Clark’s Antigua Street Limbo will be among the paintings exhibited at the 92 Annual showcase. Courtesy of E. Richard Clark
by: Andrea Serna, Arts Writer
I
Kind of Blue Continued on page 14.
“Corporations are people, my friend.” –Mitt Romney “My wife drives a couple of Cadillacs.” –Mitt Romney
n a section of Los Angeles rich with artists, many have wondered why we don’t know more about what is going on inside that mysterious blue building on Pacific Avenue and 9th Street. The National Watercolor Society purchased the San Pedro building in 1999. NWS is hosting the 92nd Annual Exhibition. But this is only their third year of exhibitions in this space. Because many of the board members and volunteer staff live out of the area, the gallery is not always staffed on nights of the Art Walk. NWS President Linda Doll has promised to have the gallery open four days a week during this exhibition, as well as on Art Walk night. This will provide San Pedro residents with the opportunity to finally visit the gallery and view the talent that resides within. The group boasts of 3,000 members nationwide as well as several international members. Of the 1,000 submissions the Watercolor Society received for this year’s show, only 93 artists working in water-based media were selected to participate in the annual event. The result is a stunning museum quality exhibition in which $32,000 in prizes will be awarded. Beginning Feb. 23, 2013, 30 pieces from this exhibition will travel across the United States as a curated show. Five collegiate and public galleries and museums from Massachusetts to Oregon will host the show for an entire year. Pieces from this show will also be available for purchase. The artists selected for this exhibition represent a surprising variety of styles not normally associated with water media. Yes, there are flowers, but just a few. There is much more in this show. Styles range from contemporary abstract to photo realism, and figurative to landscape. Many of the artists have already established prominent reputations, and there are very few “emerging artists” represented. This is an exhibition of professionals who are established in their chosen field. One San Pedro artist, David Teter is included in the exhibition.
October 5 – 18, 2012 October 5 – 18, 2012
11 11
Entertainment October 5
Harlow Gold Free of gimmicks and the usual feathers and sequins that flood the stage in other burlesque shows, Harlow Gold gives audiences something more alternative and rock ‘n’ roll, with darker, grittier performances. The show is hands-on and in your face, blending modern, recognizable music (think White Stripes and Tom Waits) with throw-back, cabaret-inspired moves. They’ll be on stage Oct. 5 and 12. Details: (562) 239-3700; http://longbeach. harvelles.com Venue: Harvelle’s (Beneath the Congregation Ale House) Location: 201 E. Broadway, Long Beach Ignacio Berroa Quartet Ignacio Berroa has been recognized by many as one of the greatest drummers of our times. His numerous contributions to the American music scene have earned him a place among a selected group of artists known to have set new musical trends for the 20th century. Ticket price is $30. Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
October 6
“I’m not concerned about the very poor.” –Mitt Romney
OHM - Chris Poland OHM is the brainchild of Chris Poland (guitar: ex Megadeth, Damn the Machine, others) and Robertino Pagliari (bass: ex New Yorkers, others). With David Eagle (drums: ex Alphonso Johnson, Oingo Boingo, more) now back in the fold, OHM: has been making top-shelf rock-jazz music since 1998. Ticket Price $20 Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro JImmy Z and the Z Tribe There’s a reason legendary blues Diva Etta James calls Jimmy Z her “Hootchie Cootchie Man” and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics calls him “the best harmonica player in the world.” Jimmy attracts attention. Starts at 8 p.m. Cover is $10. Details: (562) 239-3700; http://longbeach. harvelles.com Venue: Harvelle’s (Beneath the Congregation Ale House) Location: 201 E. Broadway, Long Beach
Harbor Farms is mission is to inspire locally grown food. Pictured are Occupy the Garden volunteers installing a vegetable gardens in front of a neighbor’s front yard.
Harbor Farms: Occupy the Garden R
by: Rachel Bruhnke, Organic Gardening Columnist
achel Bruhnke is an area high school teacher. She earned her M.S. in Environmental Systems Engineering from CSU Humboldt, and her B.A. in Political Science from CSU Long Beach. Rachel lived 3 years in Honduras as Peace Corps
What do you get when you cross a plumber, two teachers, an artist, and a couple of gung-ho students? You get the first food garden in San Pedro put in by Harbor Farms, a community organiza-
October 7
Funk Jam The Downtown Long Beach Harvelle’s Funk Jam. Details: (562) 239-3700; http://longbeach. harvelles.com Venue: Harvelle’s (Beneath the Congregation Ale House) Location: 201 E. Broadway, Long Beach
October 9
The Maccabees The Maccabees will perform at 7 p.m. Oct. 9, at Fingerprints in Long Beach. Details: (562) 433-4996 Venue: Fingerprints Location: 420 E. 4th St., Long Beach
October 12
Gabriel Johnson Gabriel Johnson comes to the Alvas Showroom to celebrate the release of his new album Introducing Gabriel Johnson, which blends his trumpet sound with the sound of modern jazz and hip-hop. Ticket price is $20. Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
October 5 – 18, 2012
October 14
12
Yesterday’s Child This band brings the magic of classic rock to audiences around Southern California, recreating music originally produced between 1965 and 1975, an era they like to call “The Golden Decade.” Ticket price is $20. Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro Continued on page 14.
Volunteer, and has also lived in Peru, Ecuador and Costa Rica. She has worked for over 10 years traveling to Cuba, and marvels at their people’s work for human and environmental sustainability. She lives with her daughter on an urban farm they are creating in San Pedro.
Sunday–Thursday 10am-11pm
Friday & Saturday 10am–11:30pm
1110 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro
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310–732–5800 Fax: 310-732-5804
tion dedicated to increasing urban farming in the Harbor Area. You also get the first subject of Random Lengths News’ new column, Harbor Farms. Through interviews and stories, this column will highlight the ideas and experiences of local people who are farming food in the city. I stand on the shoulders of giants as I write. My grandfather, John Gault, wrote a garden column for RL in the early 90s called the “Sustainable Garden.” Typical of my grandpa, he was ahead of his time; the term sustainable was virtually unused at the time of his columns and definitely not part of a growing national, and even international, psyche as it is now. My grandpa’s column showed readers the best ways to grow sustainable food. I hope to help readers how to grow a sustainable community. The situation is much worse than it was 20 years ago with both natural, and human-devised, systems in serious crisis all around us—from wars to the weather. One way people all over this country are instinctively responding to this systemic insecurity is by learning how to grow their own food again. Urban gardens have proliferated in the abandoned lots of post-industrial Detroit, on the rooftops of bustling New York City, and in shared spaces of small-town communities throughout the heartland of this country. Viva USA! I would say that we have all been hit by the grow-it-yourself bug in some way, wanting freedom from a food system over which we seeming have no control. Food prices are rising (while flavor and nutritional value are plummeting), pesticides and genetic engineering are contaminating our food supply, and the U.S. drought is sending our corn supply to who knows where. Enter our lil’ senior citizen artist on 7th Street, Dorota Starr, in downtown San Pedro. She called me recently, fed up with unhealthy, immoral food shopping, and with isolation and lack of community on her street, and said she wanted to put in a Continued on next page.
Continued from previous page.
garden in her front yard, a 30- by 15–foot rectangle set up from the street. She wanted to grow her own food and to inspire passersby to start their own food-growing gardens. Enter Harbor Farms. We passed the word around through our Harbor Farms Facebook page (Thanks, Danny Peneda), got some funds from the local Occupy San Pedro group (Thanks, folks), and 10 of us descended on our new friend’s dead grass, purposeless lawn and helped the miracle of new life begin. We weren’t even half way through before bees and other pollinators were hovering around the formerly barren land. (Thanks, life force!)
Together, we built two 8- by 3-foot planter boxes (or “raised beds”), filled them with compost and mulch from the city pile on Gaffey (Thanks, community!) and planted peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, watermelon, peas, an artichoke and ginger. Through it all, we proudly displayed our beautiful Occupy the Garden sign (Thanks, Larry!) to our happy passersby. People waved, flashed peace signs from their cars, and several walkers stopped and chatted with us about what we were doing. Enter Community. If you are interested in following or joining our efforts to increase urban farming in the Harbor Area, find Harbor Farms on Facebook or e-mail sojournerrb@yahoo.com
Vegan Fusion
Mediterranean Salsa- Tapenade by: Christine Rodriguez, Contributing Writer because I don’t like my food processed. Just think more of trying to limit the possible elements that can enter your food during the point of processing, which includes the cooking, cooling, canning and storing; not to mention, the transporting. Just give me the fresh peppers please, I can roast and peel myself, thanks!
Ingredients:
2 Red bell peppers: roasted and peeled 2 Anaheim green chiles: roasted and peeled 2 Pasilla chiles - roasted and peeled 8 ounces package - Crimini mushrooms 8 ounces jar of marinated artichoke hearts (true whole foodies will do their own) 1 cup - Spanish green olives with pimientos (save brine) 1 cup - Kalmata olives (save brine) ½ cup capers (save brine) 2 Jalapeno peppers 1 garlic clove 1 bay leaf 1 lemon ½ cup - Extra virgin olive oil ¼ cup - Balsamic vinegar ¼ teaspoon. Sea salt ½ teaspoon.fresh ground pepper ¼ teaspoon. Cayenne pepper
Directions:
Participate in the Talent Contests • $50 Prizes: Tell A Story • Mystify Us With Music or Song • Transfix Us With a Dance • Work Your Magic Over the Boat $55 Includes the boat cruise, free food, live music, entertainment, dancing and a chance to participate in the contests and buy raffle tickets, a NO HOST BAR, a safe and fun environment with friends. Advance Payment Required.
Call Marylynn at (310) 464-7812 or email dir.GATT.IT@gmail.com
October 5 – 18, 2012
Roast the peppers right under a high flame on your gas burner, blackening them on all sides. Place them in a container or a bag and seal off for about 5 minutes just until steamed and the skin is easily loosened by peeling off. Peel and remove seeds. Small dice each pepper. Place aside in a large bowl. While you’re waiting for the chiles to steam, wipe off your Crimini’s with a moist paper towel. Cut in a small dice. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a non-stick pan on med/high heat, add mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Keep tossing pan to ensure even golden brown sautée Add the mushrooms to the chiles. Chop the artichokes small and remove the tougher leaves De-seed the jalapeno and small dice Chop olives Zest the lemon, then squeeze the juice. Add remaining ingredients including ½ cup of the brine mixture from the olives. Let them marinate for a couple of hours. Serve cold or room temperature. Yields 4 cups, about 8 to 12 servings.
Participate in the Costume Contests • $100 Prizes: Most Fascinating Face Make-up • Most Original Design Costume • Most Ghoulish Overall Character • Most Inventive Costume Character Celebrity Judges Will Decide the Winners
“Corporations are people, my friend.” –Mitt Romney
You may have heard or read about the Mediterranean diet and how people who live on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea are much healthier overall in comparison to the average American. As I’ve said before our Standard American Diet is S.A.D. In fact, according to the USDA and their American Dietary Guidelines report, it is stated that “a traditional Mediterranean diet is associated with one of the lowest risks of coronary heart disease in the world.” Also, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey documented this latest data: “Americans eat too many calories and too much solid fats, added sugars, refined grains, and sodium. Americans also eat too little dietary fiber, vitamin D, calcium, potassium, and unsaturated fatty acids (specifically omega-3s), and other important nutrients that are mostly found in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low-fat milk and milk products, and seafood.” Report of the DGAC on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 B2-11 So now lets get back to the good news and learn how to incorporate more of these superfoods into our diet so we too can live longer and stronger with a Mediterranean salsa. This recipe incorporates a staple of the Mexican diet, roasted chiles, which have abundant amounts of vitamin C and also a staple food of the Mediterranean diet, olives and olive oil. There is a large body of clinical data to show that consumption of olive oil can provide heart health benefits such as favorable effects on cholesterol regulation and lowdensity lipoprotein LDL cholesterol — the bad cholesterol — oxidation, and that it exerts antiinflammatory, as well as vasodilatory effects both in animals and in humans. Serve with your favorite baguette or pita bread. It is also great with baked pita, pretzel chips and just about any cracker. This salsa is so versatile even non-vegans can enjoy it. Try it on a roast beef sandwich or, on top of your baked fish. You can even add it to aldente pasta rigatoni and “Voila!” An instant gourmet pasta salad. This will definitely get instant taste appeal from your friends, so be sure to make it for your next party. Now I am doing the fresh, organic and home roasted variation of this recipe, but you can enjoy it just as well in the canned variety of peppers. I always prefer fresh
Motor through the Long Beach LA ports aboard the M/V Kristina for a ghostly & goblinly evening’s fun and excitement.
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Calendar Continued from page 12.
Community/Family October 5
Oktoberfest at Alpine Village Beer, live music, and good times are in order for two month long party ringing in autumn. This year they’re flying in Merkershausener Blaskapelle and Die Jungen Aalbachtaler Oom Pah Pah bands direct from Deustchland. Friday and Saturday night festivities are hosted by the one and only HEiNO!, a tribute to the great celebrity from Baden Baden known as “The Voice of Germany”, Festmeister Hans and the lovely H-Team hostesses who, every year, are named Heidi, Schmeidi, Gretel and Leizel. Details: http://www.alpinevillagecenter.com Venue: Alpine Village Center Location: 833 W. Torrance Blvd., Torrance, Continued on page 15.
M a e s t ro D i e m e c k e Conducting & Music
by John Farrell, Contributing Writer
M
aestro Enrique Arturo Diemecke, music director of the Long Beach Symphony, begins his 12th season as director with concert that starts at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6 in the Terrace Theater of the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. He had just arrived in town after a week in Flint, Michigan, where he conducted the first season concert of that city’s symphony. Diemecke has two jobs in the United States, as well as assignments in Mexico City, where he has been conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México
Maesto Enrique Arturo Diemecke directs the Long Beach Symphony to a new season. Photo courtesy of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra
“I’m not concerned about the very poor.” –Mitt Romney
for 20 years, as well as in Bogotá, Colombia and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Whenever you see Diemecke, he has either just flown into town or is getting ready to fly away. After the last Long Beach Symphony Orchestra concert of 2012, in June, he was leaving the next morning for Moscow, where he was leading the Bogota Philharmonic orchestra in a symphony festival in Russia’s capital. He spent most of the long summer in Columbia, Peru and Argentina, with a few days at home in Mexico as well. The truth is he doesn’t like to talk about music
LBSO to page 15.
310.548.2493
Tickets & Info: (310) 548-7672
Japanese Restaurant Sushi Bar 380 W. 6th St. • 832-5585 October 5 – 18, 2012
as much as he likes to conduct music, to lead one of any number of orchestras, in any number of countries, performing great works by composers long dead and by composers who are still very much alive. If you have seen Diemecke conduct the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, or the Orquesta Sinfónica when it came to town a few years back, you will remember him at once as the conductor who never hides his boundless enthusiasm for his work. He almost runs onto the stage, leaps to
478 W. 6th St. • San Pedro
SUSHI BAR
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Ta l k s
NOV 3 - 8pm TRIBUTE TO TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS - Full Moon Fever brings its “uncanny recreation” of one of rock’s iconic bands to the stage for one night only - fun for the whole family. Tickets $15 at www. facebook.com/fmoonf. NOV 15, 16 & 17 - 8pm Agatha Christie’s SPIDER’S WEB - Marymount College’s Fall theatre production is a murder/mystery/farce set in a house in the English countryside. Clarissa spins tales of adventure for all who will listen, but when murder strikes in her own drawing room, she is forced to confront real life - and the possibility that the murderer is someone very close to her. Tickets and information at brownpapertickets.com, or call 800.838.3006. NOV 21 - DEC 2 - 2pm & 8pm - THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE - Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities takes to the stage with this charming zany new musical that took both Broadway and London by storm in 2002! In New York City in 1922, young Millie Dillmount has just moved to the city in search of a new life for herself. It’s a New York full of intrigue and jazz — a time when women were entering the workforce and the rules of love and social behavior were changing forever. Based on the popular 1967 movie starring Julie Andrews, Carol Channing and Mary Tyler Moore. Tickets ($60 - $40 and series subscriptions) and showtimes at civiclightopera.com. The Warner Grand Theatre is a facility of the City of Los Angeles. Performers, shows, dates, showtimes and ticket prices are subject to change without notice. For upcoming show information, please call (310) 548.7672. For theater rental or other questions, call 310.548.2493.
LBSO Continued from page 14.
the orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. Other concerts include Nov. 3, when guitarist Pepe Romero will join the orchestra for the Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo and Pepe’s father Celedonio Romero’s Concierto de Malaga, and March 9, when the orchestra mark’s the 100th anniversary of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps. Tickets for the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra season start at $60. Individual tickets are $25 to $85. Performances are at 7:30 Oct. 6, at 8 p.m. Nov. 3, 2011, and at 8 p.m. Jan. 12, March 9, April 27, and at 7:30 p.m. June 1, 2012. A Christmas Fantasy is Sunday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. Details: (562) 436-3203; www.lbso.org. Venue: Long Beach Performing Arts Center Terrace Theater Location: 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach
Calendar from page 14.
October 6
San Pedro Bay Historical Society Yard and Boutique Sale San Pedro Bay Historical Society will be hosting its semi-annual Yard and Boutique Sale at the from 8 a.m. to 1p.m. Early bird admission is at 7:30 a.m. for $5, free after 8 a.m. Loads of treasures from archival items like San Pedro High School yearbooks and other paper items, to wonderful antique and boutique finds, furniture, dishes, linens, toys, tools, clothes and other household items. Venue: Muller House Museum Location: 1542 S. Beacon St., San Pedro Banning Museum Historic Lecture The community is invited to a special lecture at the Banning Museum at 10 a.m. in the Carriage Barn. A Master Lace Maker from Bruges, Belgium will cover Belgian Bobbin Lace making. Guests will be allowed to examine samples displayed. Her creation of Copper Lace Art , includes wall hangings and sculptures. Her work will be in a forthcoming book and will later be in a museum. A Q-and-A session will follow with light refreshments served. Admission to this event is $5 and no RSVP is required. Details: (310) 548-2005; www.thebanningmuseum. org. Venue: Banning Museum Location: 401 E. “M” St., Wilmington
October 14
2012 Fall for White Point Home Tour Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy and the White Point Committee present the 2012 Fall for White Point Home Tour, a self-guided tour of unique, historical and artist San Pedro homes from 11 to 3 p.m. followed by a reception with food, music and silent auction. Tickets may be purchased in advance for $50 per person or on the day of the event for $55 each. Discounted tickets are available for groups of 6 or more. Details: (310) 541-7613; www.pvplc.org
3rd Annual Pirate’s Ball Cliff Wagner & The Old #7 Saturday Oct. 27th • 6pm
Best Chowder in the LA Harbor!
October 20
Hours: Mon, Tues 11am - 3pm Wed, Thurs 11am - 8pm Fri, Sat, Sun 9am - 8pm
San Pedro Preparedness Event CalTech will present information about their earthquake early warning system. The Red Cross will show their emergency response vehicles, walk you through a survival shelter and provide free blood pressure screenings. Gain valuable tips from speakers from the City of Los Angeles Emergency Management Department, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Los Angeles Fire Department. Wells Fargo will tell you how they provide access to funds during disasters. Dr. Dirk Yelinek, DVM, will talk about Preparedness for Pets. Learn from The Port Police about preparing your boat for an emergency. REI will demonstrate how to set up tents, show mountain bikes for travel over broken ground and give cooking demonstrations of survival food. Free raffles for emergency kits during the fair. Details: http://preparesanpedro.org
611 N. Henry Ford, Leeward Bay Marina, Wilmington 310-830-7937 • www.chowderbarge.com
Theater/Film
“Corporations are people, my friend.” –Mitt Romney
the podium in eagerness, and involves everyone in the audience in the passion and power of his orchestra performance. “It is all about the passion the music inspires,” Diemecke said. “The community needs that energy, that passion, and I need it, too. We have many who love the music and the passion, but we are also trying to find new ways to attract people to our concerts.” One way, to be tried out at the first LBSO concert on Oct. 6, is to start the concert half-anhour earlier. Instead of the perennial 8 p.m. starting time, everything will begin 30 minutes earlier, including the pre-concert lecture and the regular concert in the lobby beforehand. The bar will also open a bit earlier. “We want to attract the people who would like to hear the concert and then go out afterwards,” Diemecke said. “We hope it will create a new audience for us.” Another new idea being tried out this season is the Balcony Club, which the LBSO hopes will become a new hot-spot on the local scene. Designed to attract a new group of listeners, the club will feature—on the balcony level—a new bar, plasma televisions screening the concert live and a relaxed ambiance that will make the musical performance more accessible. In the Balcony Club people will be able to quietly walk in and out of the hall during the performances, text on their phones and take non-flash pictures. The inaugural concert of the season is beginning one-half hour early because the entire audience has been invited to socialize with LBSO musicians and Diemecke on the plaza outside the Terrace Theater after Oct. 6’s performance. There will be drinks and hors d’oeuvres and live jazz music. All of these plans may sound a bit radical, and perhaps they are. But Diemecke’s stewardship of the LBSO started just after the World Trade Center attacks and has seen the American economy turn from successful to recession. Many orchestras have withered and died under the economic hardship, and the LBSO had to trim its sails, reduce its concert schedules and come to terms with the musician’s union to survive. It has survived with the help of long-term sponsors, many local donations and Diemecke’s dedication to the art of music and the healing power that music has for a community.
“The Long Beach Symphony is doing fair so far,” Diemecke said frankly. “With the economy the way it is, with orchestras going on strike or closing entirely, collapsing all over Europe, we are fortunate to be healthy and playing regularly, with a large body of professional musicians to call on. We are healthy and still planning to grow, but many of our plans will not be seen for a couple of years. Ask me in five years how we are doing.” Those long-term plans may include a larger number of concerts and smaller chamber concerts at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach.. The season begins with an all-Russian concert, featuring Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with pianist Haochen Zhang, the 2009 Van Cliburn award-winner who is making his second appearance with the LBSO, and with Diemecke leading
October 5
• Happy Hour • The Chowder Barge • Try the 34oz. captain’s mug! (310) 830-7937, 611 N. Henry Ford, Leeward Bay Marina, Wilmington Godmother’s Saloon • Live jazz from Mike Guerrero Trio: 7 p.m. every Wed. (310) 8331589, 302 W. 7th St., San Pedro Iron City Tavern • Happy Hour 1/2-price appetizers & drink specials: 4 to 6 p.m. Mon. to Fri. 589 W. 9th St., San Pedro; (310) 547-4766
Ports o’ Call • Happy Hour: Mon. to Fri., 3 to 8 p.m. Taco Tuesdays. Oyster shooter & bloody mary Wednesdays. (310) 833-3553, Berth 76 Ports O’ Call Village, San Pedro San Pedro Brewing Co. • Happy Hour: 2:30 to 6:30 p.m., Mon. to Fri. (310) 831-5663, 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro Whale & Ale • Happy Hour: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Mon to Fri., 4 to 7 p.m. on Wed. Late Night Happy Hour: 10 p.m. to Midnight, Fri. Only. (310) 832-0363, 327 W. 7th St., San Pedro Happy Hour Listings Are Paid Advertising
October 6
Grease - Sing Along Cruise down to the beautiful and historic Warner Grand Theatre and get ready to belt it out at the Grease: The Sing-Along! See this classic and wellloved film on the 50-foot screen. Proceeds from this event support Scalawag Productions, GVF’s youth musical theater program. The show will feature the 1978 film, with sing-along subtitles, a sing-along host, and audience fun packs. For maximum enjoyment, the host will warm up the audience, get the costume and hand-jive contests
October 5 – 18, 2012
Blu Bar at Crowne Plaza • $4 Drinks and half off appetizers. (310) 519-8200, 601 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro
June’s Bar • Happy Hour: Mon. to Fri., 4 to 7 p.m. $1.00 Off drinks. (310) 514-6496, 1100 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro
Bach at Leipzig - Little Fish Theatre It’s 1722 and seven rival musicians are blackmailing, bribing and double-crossing one another to win the most coveted position in Leipzig, Germany: Organmaster of St. Thomas’s Cathedral. It’s a witty pushmepullyou comedy about music and ambition. Runs through Oct 27. Talk back with the director is Oct. 14, directly following the 7 p.m. performance. General admission is $25, seniors and students $23. Details: (310) 512-6030; www.littlefishtheatre. org Venue: Little Fish Theatre Location: 777 Centre St., San Pedro
Calendar to page 16.
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Calendar from page 15. going, demonstrate the fun pack items, and introduce cues for cheers and jeers throughout the film. Doors open at 6:30 pm to get in on the pre-show fun. Those with the very best costumes will be invited to strut their stuff on the stage at 7:30 p.m. costume contest. Tickets start at $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Details: http://www.grandvision.org Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
October 9
Ain’t Misbehavin’ The Harlem Renaissance of the 1930s was one of the most astonishing explosions of creativity in modern American history. Musical genius was on stage almost every night at honky tonk dives and venues like The Cotton Club and The Savoy Ballroom, and the inimitable Thomas “Fats” Waller was king. Low-price previews Oct 9 through 11. Performances are Thurs., Fri., Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Ticket are from $29 to $55. Receive dinner for two at four-star restaurants L’Opera or The Sky Room and tickets to the show for just $139. Details: www.Internationalcitytheatre.org, (562)436-4610 Venue: International City Theatre Location: 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach
October 11
Last Train to Nibroc Set in the 1940’s, the play tells the story of Raleigh and May -- two strangers who meet on a cross country train during World War II. This funny and touching tale of an unlikely romance follows the two as they search for their own happiness. Runs through Oct. 11, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. General admission is $20. Details: (310) 512-6030; www.littlefishtheatre.org Venue: Little Fish Theatre Location: 777 Centre St., San Pedro
Art
October 5 – 18, 2012
“I’m not concerned about the very poor.” –Mitt Romney
October 12
16
A Closer Look To celebrate the grand opening of Harbor Interfaith Services’ new Family Resource Center, the San Pedro Art Association populated their walls with more than 150 pieces of art—gorgeous paintings, photos, sculptures from artists such as Brian Sisson, Mike Engle, Gloria Lee, Christine Caldwell,Gil Mares, John and Debbie Sue Stinson and others. The event takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 12. Castle Rock Wines and appetizers will be served. Tomo Meek and friends will provide the music. They’re asking for a $10 donation at the door. Details: (310) 831-0603 Venue: Harbor Interfaith Services Location: 670 W. 9th St., San Pedro Nate Jones’ Industrial / Abstract TransVagrant and Warschaw Gallery will be exhibiting Industrial / Abstract, recent works of Nate Jones. Self-described “Tire Man” Nate Jones found his work environment and its ubiquitous rubber shavings ripe for reassignment. The impulse of Arte Povera (or “impoverished art”) is referenced here for its rejection of the scientific rationalism and technological design prevalent in Modernist art of the 50s and 60s, as well as its embrace of unconventional and commonplace materials often presented in absurd, jarring and comical works of assemblage and sculpture. Nate Jones successfully assimilates these strategies in an exhibition of quirky works that mine the potential of the discarded, the remnant or byproduct. Tire shavings are colorized (or not), manipulated and assembled, often with expressionist zeal, to mime conventional painting and sculpture with equal shares of irreverence, intelligence and wit. Venue: TransVagrant and Warschaw Gallery Location: 600 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro Camilo Ontiveros: In the Ring Ontiveros explores issues related to immigration, unofficial economies, labor and notions of value. In Camilo Ontiveros: In the Ring, the artist focuses on the intersection between Mexican and Filipino culture through his research on boxing. In addition to footage and photographs of boxers, the exhibition includes a boxing ring that will serve as a physical and conceptual platform for debates during the exhibition. Join MOLAA curator Idurre Alonso as he speaks with artist Camilo Ontiveros about his art. Venue: Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) Location: 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach
San Pedro Film Festival Launches by: Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
This month,
a fourth film festival will be launched in San Pedro, befitting its status as a top locale for film production. The San Pedro International Film Festival, otherwise known as SPIFF will be screening a bevy of films starting Oct. 12, the festival’s opening night at the Warner Grand Theatre. SPIFF organizers Ziggy Mrkich and Croatian Cultural Center executive director Maya Bristow partnered up to launch this festival, in part, to help make San Pedro a destination, as well as showcase contemporary films that’s more reflective of the Harbor Area’s diversity. Bristow, named as one of the three expanding the creative edge of San Pedro’s Arts scene in Random Lengths Harbor Living Magazine 2009 edition, has become an epicenter of incredible curated shows and diverse cultural events. With a resume that includes being program director of the Catalina Film Festival, Mrkich also worked with Silver Lake Film Festival in 2002, which showcased cutting-edge independent film, music, digital and other arts in Los Angeles. SPIFF organizers teamed up with IndieCon’s Gena Vazquez and Marc Clebanoff to pull of a Saturday workshop, “How to Make Your First Feature Film.” This workshop will give an in-depth look into the business of filmmaking, whether you are a filmmaker, industry professional or film lover. The workshop panel of industry experts include film editor Sean Albertson, (Warrior, Rocky Balboa and upcoming Killing Season), writer, director and producer Larry Karaszewski, (People Vs. Larry Flint, Man on the Moon, and 1408), writer and director Matthew Wilder, (Your Name Here and the upcoming Inferno - Linda Lovelace Story) and others. The panel will be moderated by former Writers Guild of America president, producer, entertainment lawyer and television showrunner Charles Holland (JAG, Soul Food and Naked Ambition). Tickets prices are up to $30 with special
prices for veterans. The Festival opens on Oct 12. at 7 p.m. and wraps up at 8 p.m. Oct. 14. Read film details on page 16. Details: http://spiffest.org/
Oct. 12
The Loneliest Planet Alex and Nica are young, in love and
engaged to be married. The summer before their wedding, they are backpacking in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. The couple hire a local guide to lead them on a camping trek and the three set off into a stunning wilderness, a landscape that is both overwhelmingly open and frighteningly closed. Walking for hours, they trade anecdotes, play games to pass the time of moving through space. And then, a momentary misstep, a gesture that takes only two or three seconds, a gesture that’s over almost as soon as it begins. But once it is done, it can’t be undone. Once it is done, it threatens to undo everything the couple believed about each other and about themselves. The film screens at 7 p.m. Director: Julia Loktev. Cast: Gael García Bernal, Hani Furstenberg and Bidzina Gudjabidze. Runtime: 113 mins. Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 6th St., San Pedro
Oct. 14
Return to Byzantium: The Art and Life of Lilian Broca After a lifetime dedicated to art, bringing her international recognition and awards, Lilian, the artist, returns to the country of her birth, Romania, for the first time in 52 years. The film employs dramatic ‘flashback’ recreations of Lilian’s past, representing memories of her experiences as a child, teenager and adult, as well as her search to understand religion, mythology, legends and symbols in order to regain the sense of her roots. Director and artist will be present for Q-and-A after the screening. Director and executive producer: Adelina Suvagau Runtime: 50 mins. Country of Origin: Canada. Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 6th St., San Pedro EcoDoc: Early Learning Mikołaj, an oceanography student, arrives to do his internship at the Marine Station in Hel. Under the watchful eye of his boss, Professor Krzysztof Skóra, he cares for a new born male seal, called Hel. Mikołaj teaches him how adapt to life in the wild. Before he can be released into the Baltic, Hel has to learn how to live with the herd, find his own food and, most important of all, how to avoid contact with humans. Director: Marcin Bortkiewcz. Runtime: 35 mins. Country of Origin: Poland. Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 6th St., San Pedro Crooked Arrows This family friendly film revolves around a mixed-blood Native American, Joe Logan. Eager to modernize his reservation, he must first prove himself to his father, the traditionalist tribal chairman, by rediscovering his spirit. He is tasked with coaching the reservation’s high school lacrosse team which competes against the better equipped and better trained players of the elite Prep School League. Joe inspires the Native American boys and teaches Continued on next page.
from page 11.
Kind of Blue
First Place winner E. Richard Clark, based in Atlanta, is a self-taught artist. He is primarily a figurative artist, and his portrait of a streetperformer, titled Antigua Street Limbo, reflects his interest in graphite and ink wash. “Being selected to participate in the NWS exhibit has always been a dream of mine,” Clark said. “It was both an honor and pleasure for me to have been selected to participate in the traveling show. This will give me the opportunity to have my work displayed all over the United States and give me the exposure I could have only dreamed about.” Clark recalled a moment of inspiration after meeting a man with “the darkest skin... bluish black” while on a cruise to Antigua. “I was inspired immediately. His body was youthful and his wiry nut face told a different story,” Clark explained. “You could see the days spent in the blazing sun hustling tourists passing his cap amongst them until he felt he had gathered enough money to perform his dance under the limbo pole.” Clark continued his recollection, explaining, “He would turn his cassette player on placing the bar inches above the ground lowering his body beginning writhing movement until he had reached the other side. Smiling through missing teeth removing his cap he bowed to the audience as they applauded.”
Abandoning romantic realism, Clark aims to interpret the realism of African–American life. Another African-American artist working in the style of realism is Dean Mitchell, a graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design who is originally from Pittsburgh. His image “Reservation Wall” portrays a stark isolated existence of reservation life in muted grays and blues. In contrast to Clark and Mitchell is the work of Miles G. Blatt. His bright colorful abstracts fall somewhere between the work of David Hockney and Salvador Dali. That leaves a lot of room for creativity. His paintings include a riot of activity that makes you forget they are watercolors. In fact, the entire collection in this exhibition will make you forget you are looking at watercolors. The title, National Watercolor Society, may not apply in 2012. These artists are mixing media in ways artists did not conceive in 1920 the year in which the Society was founded. The more modern term, “water media,” reflects the new techniques of mixing acrylics, tempura, pastels and gouache or Italian waterpaint. Gouache is different from traditional watercolor paint because the size of the pigment particles suspended in the water are much larger and the ratio of pigment to water is much higher. The subsequent emanation is a texture that is not normally associated with watercolors. The National Watercolor Society has come a long way since its debut in 1920. The Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art,
later renamed the Los Angeles County Museum, hosted the Society’s first 25 exhibitions. From 1946 through the early 1960s, shows were often exhibited at the Pasadena Art Museum, as well as in Santa Barbara, San Diego, and the San Francisco area. From the late 1960s through the 1970s, Laguna Beach Museum of Art was most often the host gallery. They were also hosted by Otis Art Institute and the Palm Springs Desert Museum before they finally purchased a home of their own in San Pedro. NWS is also an educational channel for water media artists. In conjunction with the 92nd Annual Exhibition, two demonstrations will take place. Demonstrating will be Thomas Schaller on Oct. 30, and Frank Eber on Nov. 7. All workshops are open to the public and seating will be limited. The public can register on the National Watercolor Society website: www.nationalwatercolorsociety.org The 92nd Annual Exhibition will run Sept. 29 through Dec. 2. The Opening reception will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Sept. 29, where the public will have a chance to meet artists. The gallery will be open during the exhibition, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday through Sunday. The gallery will be open during First Thursdays ArtWalk, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Oct. 4. Details: (310) 8 3 1 - 1 0 9 9 ; w w w. nationalwatercolorsociety.org Venue: National Watercolor Society Location: 915 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro
Gregory Porter Livens Up The Mint by: Melina Paris, Contributing Writer
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from page 16.
San Pedro Film Festival
them the true meaning of tribal pride. The film screens at 5:30 p.m. Director: Steve Rash Cast: Brandon Routh, Gil Birmingham, Crystal Allen Runtime: 105 mins. Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 6th St., San Pedro
Porter is a man of many talents and they come through in his performances. His voice is as tender as it is strong and formidable. He writes poetically. He sings beautifully, scats too. He is also an actor, who has graced Broadway for an 11-month run of; It Ain’t Nuthin but the Blues before embarking on
writing his own one man driven musical; Nat King Cole and Me. His album Be Good is only a small package signifying Porters large talent and it is evident that many hope he has much more of it to share with us.
an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives. Starts at 6 p.m. Director: David O. Russell Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Julia Stiles, Chris Tucker, and Jacki Weaver; Runtime: 120 mins. Venue: Terrace Cinemas Location: 28901 S. Western Ave. Rancho Palos Verdes
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October 5 – 18, 2012
Silver Linings Playbook Life doesn’t always go according to plan. Pat Solatano (Bradley Cooper) has lost everything — his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother (Jacki Weaver) and father (Robert DeNiro) after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Determined to rebuild his life, stay positive and reunite with his wife, When Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he’ll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out,
His band is exceptional and the song, “Be Good,” is understandably a big favorite at his shows. Every talent on stage is magnified; Porters whimsical words, Chip Crawford’s stellar piano playing and the stirring alto sax of Yosuke Sato. Aaron James and Emmanuel Harold on bass and drums respectively supply a soft and hypnotic continuity to the number, sounding like a story you want to keep listening to. The room responded with big cheers and the lights of camera phones were suspended in air flashing away. In his bluesy, soulful song, “Real Good Hands,” about asking a man for his daughters hand in marriage, he brought his gospel roots in the church to the stage and had the total attention of the room. With a nice and easy style homage to a man he is trying to appeal to this song is sweet and straight forward with the backing of a blues sound expressing the feeling of love between the lines of these tender verses; Papa don’t you fret and don’t forget that one day you was in my shoes, Somehow you paid your dues, Now you’re the picture of a man that I someday want to be When they got into the intense “1960 What?” With its expressive percussion and keys, which evoked both emotion and ominous sound effects this audience was feeling it in a call and response to Porters illuminating lines; “Ain’t no need for sun light, Ain’t no need for moon light, Ain’t no need for streetlights It’s burnin real bright Some folks say we gon’ fight Cause this here thing just ain’t right The motor cities burnin yall.”
“Corporations are people, my friend.” –Mitt Romney
n Sept. 22, after another scorching day in Los Angeles Gregory Porter brought cool and comforting vibes to Angelinos with his rich baritone voice, at the nightfall of the autumn solstice. His emotionally astute lyrics give rise to familiar feelings of love, family and life. It’s the type of music that soothes and moves you. Performing at The Mint seemed an odd choice, not the standard jazz club atmosphere this audience may have expected but this was no deterrent for Porters admiring following. The small venue was entirely sold out and was standing room only; lacking in the intimacy jazz audiences appreciate in a live show. While I overheard remarks on the interesting choice of venue, these fans predominantly expressed an eager anticipation to see his show and were very happy, even seemingly grateful to be present. They just wanted to hear him and his exceptional band perform. Porter made his entrance swiftly onto the stage ready to have fun, and this crowd echoed the sentiment. The band opened with a straight ahead instrumental intro and glided into “Painted on Canvass” from his latest album, Be Good. He has an innate talent to not only write but also deliver poignant, yet, gentle phrases; and, perhaps that’s his draw. Porter’s fans pull from a diverse array of people judging from the audience present this evening; young people and older as well as a cultural mix filled this spot. His next number, “On My Way to Harlem,” is a rich sounding tune with velvety keyboards. It captures an imagination of walking the streets of Harlem feeling the energy of its creative history enveloping you.
17
Don’t Buy This Community Plan DEIR Draws Critical Comments from Northwest from p. 6
October 5 - 18, 2012
“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.”
The journey metaphor is likewise common to virtually all the world’s religious traditions. This strongly suggests that progressives have a vast untapped advantage at their fingertips to talk about morality and the economy, if only they’d start looking for it. There’s much more to this book than a brief review can cover. But one final point deserves mentioning, since it brings us back to the issue of inequality, which Shenker-Osorio studied in detail. The most common ways people talked about it—most prominently, either a vertical or a horizontal gap—all had significant problems, particularly in terms of offer a compelling moral why for explaining its existence and why it should be fought against—why is there so much inequality now, why is it damaging, why is it wrong. In contrast, she highlights the language of barriers and isolation—language she found “in almost every sentence” of speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: His is in fact the language of barriers— obstacles constructed with the express purpose of keeping people out: “One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.” Such is the power of language that we have allowed to lie fallow for too long. Don’t Buy It! is a long-overdue call to arms... or maybe rakes and hoes, perhaps?
18
Neighborhood Council Weighs In By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor The comment period on the draft Environmental Impact Report for the San Pedro Community Plan was extended at the last minute in response a request from the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council through Oct. 9. That’s just one day after Northwest’s next board and community meeting, when its comments on the DEIR and the plan itself are expected to be approved. A recommended list of comments was put together Oct. 1, at Northwest’s Planning and Land Use Committee meeting. “We’re continuing to make a lot of the same points we made before, but we’ve added some, and we’re very disappointed,” Northwest President Diana Nave told Random Lengths. “Very few of our prior comments got incorporated.” Topping the list is their repeated request to use 2010 Census data—a request that was significantly strengthened when the Harbor Department recirculated the DEIR for the Southern California International Gateway Project (see News Briefs, p. 6) because it no longer considers the 2005 baseline appropriate in light of more recent data. “There’s a lot of really good things in this plan,” Nave said. “It’s not that we’re opposed to the plan.” Northwest has arguably taken a more critical—though not negative—approach than the other neighborhood councils for three main
reasons she cited. The first is that Northwest is the only neighborhood council to focus attention on the DEIR, as well as the plan. “They just haven’t focused on the EIR the way we did,” Nave said. “It’s important to have the EIR document be as accurate as possible.” Second is that the plan devotes significantly more detailed attention to downtown, due to additional resources being available. “They had additional funding to work with the CRA [Community Redevelopment Agency] on downtown and the Central area,” Nave said,and, the result has been a more complete, well-integrated treatment of issues, which all the neighborhood councils support. “They didn’t give that same level of attention to the rest of the area,” she added, which is why Northwest has a much larger body of specific comments that haven’t been addressed. Third, is that Northwest has approached the planning process in light of Ponte Vista and other specific projects whose impacts have not been systematically evaluated in the past. “We are probably more focused on it [the DEIR], because we are thinking about the impacts of Ponte Vista,” Nave said. “We read it with the idea that it wasn’t just about the plan. It was about whatever else goes on.” The use of 2010 census data—which counted 76,651 residents in San Pedro—would significantly alter the calculation of impacts compared to the 2005 Southern Califorina Association of Government’s estimate of 82,112 people, being used in the plan. San Pedro’s population capacity in the plan update is 83,354—an increase of only 1.5 percent using gateway’s estimate, compared to 8.7 percent using census data. “Since potential impacts are calculated on a
pro rata basis, the use of the 2005 data results in fewer potential impacts than if the 2010 data are used by a substantial amount,” Northwest’s proposed comments state. “This error means that the impacts on traffic, services, utilities, schools, air quality, noise, etc. are understated by a substantial amount.” A second comment concerned the failure to comprehensively evaluate the Port and the portion of San Pedro between Capitol Drive and Palos Verdes Drive North. “According to staff these were evaluated, but it is hard to tell. It seems sometimes they might have included them, and sometimes they didn’t,” Nave said. “We can’t tell what impacts were included where. Because they define the plan area, and they exclude those things, but when we ask them about it, they say, ‘Oh, well, on this one we included it.’” “It’s very unclear,” Nave concluded. Similarly, a third comment notes that, “A significant number of related projects are not included in the list of cumulative projects. Some of which have major impacts,” such as the USS Iowa; Ports O’Call redevelopment, and the proposed cruise terminal at Kaiser Point, among many others. Other comments focused on infrastructure concerns, such as how much development capacity actually exists without forcing residents “to conserve more, and pay more so developers can build more?”—and the insufficiency of police and fire mitigations, noting that “(Los Angeles Fire Department) response times from all landbased stations are in excess of five minutes.” The full list of comments runs to 27 pages, and will be available on Northwest’s website by Oct. 5, according to Nave.
Obama Campaign Opens in Carson By Lyn Jensen, Carson Reporter
Two members of the Carson City Council including the Mayor James “Jim” Dear and Lula Davis-Holmes joined dozens of volunteers at the grand opening of an Organizing For America phone bank center Sept. 27, in Carson. Organizing For America, a communityorganizing group within the Democratic National Committee, began as Obama For America during the 2008 presidential election cycle. It now campaigns for the re-election of President Barack Obama and the advancement of his legislative priorities. Other prominent Democrats in attendance included Sen. Rod Wright, of the state’s District 25, who made a welcoming speech, and Reps. Laura Richardson and Janice Hahn. Nelson Williams Jr., the call center’s neighborhood team leader, said he volunteered for Obama’s first presidential campaign but sat out during the off-cycle elections in 2010. He returned because, “I felt responsible for not being as active in 2010. I took it personal, that the House of Representatives became largely Republican.” He added that he has a roster of 168 names and asks volunteers to work one of three shifts, calling battleground states to get out the vote for Obama in the final days before the Nov. 6
election. People currently must bring their own cell phones, but an actual phone bank will soon be installed. Linda Sorratto, OBA California Press Secretary, explained the office was one of a number that OBA is opening throughout the state. “More folks are registering to vote, people are excited,” she said. “The first step is coming to the office, volunteering to make phone calls.” “You can’t even measure the level of importance to this election,” commented DavisHolmes. She compared the current Obama campaign to 2008 with, “Then the excitement was about electing the first African-American president. Now it’s about saving the United States.” She added she’s working with a Women For Obama group that consists of several alumnae from her former high school, Fremont. Dear said he arranged with the shopping center owner to donate the storefront space, which has been used for the 2008 presidential campaign and for mid-cycle and local campaigns as well. He also noted that he serves on the county and state Central Democratic committees and he believes women’s and labor issues to be at Obama Campaign in Carson/ to p. 21
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10/12
Bread & Hyacinths This is the book that explains why the city of Los
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BUSINESS FILINGS
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Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2012157138 The following person is doing business as: Galope Property Services, 905 W.
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25th Street, San Pedro, CA, 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Anthony Galope, 905 W. 25th Street, San Pedro, CA, 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: NA. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Anthony Galope, Partner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on August 6, 2012. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name
continued on following page
October 5 - 18. 2012
Angeles is the way it is. Bread and Hyacinths: the Rise and Fall of Utopian Los Angeles is the gripping, little-known saga of the great battle between Job Harriman, the West Coast’s leading socialist, and General Harrison Gray Otis, publisher of the Los Angeles Times—a battle for the future of Los Angeles. Written by Lionel Rolfe, Nigey Lennon and Paul Greenstein, Bread and Hyacinths was originally published in 1992 by California Classics Books. It is reprinted by Random Lengths News and available for $15. Buy it now at Williams Bookstore, Random Lengths News office and The Tobacco Leaf at Western & 25th
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19
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS FILINGS
from p. 19
in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 08/23/12,09/06/12,0 9/20/12,10/4/12
October 5 - 18, 2012
“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.”
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2012173918 The following person is doing business as: Elite Dance Studio, 805. Deep Valley Dr., RHE, CA 90274, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Dyan Lopez-Flamengo, 24602 Ravenna Ave., Carson, CA 90745. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: NA. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Dyan Lopez-Flamengo, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on August 29, 2012. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law
20
(see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing:09/06/12,09/20/12,10 /4/12, 10/18/12
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2012176107 The following person is doing business as: Alka Pi Water RPV, 29505 S. Western Ave. Ste#104, Rancho Palos Verdes,CA 90275, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Kenneth Roy Brewer, 924 S. Wycliff Ave., San Pedro, CA 90732. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: NA. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Kenneth Roy Brewer, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on August 31, 2012. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing:09/06/12,09/20/12,10
/4/12, 10/18/12
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2012168860 The following person is doing business as: Kids Resource, 4401 Palos Drive East, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: LSKO, 4401 Palos Drive East, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275. This Business is conducted by a corporation. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: NA. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Laura Schneider, Secretary/Treasurer. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on August 21, 2012. Notice-In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing:09/06/12,09/20/12,10 /4/12, 10/18/12
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2012183675
The following person is doing business as: Tommys Famous Burgers of San Pedro, 1141 S. Gaffey Street, San Pedro, CA, 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Angelo Bacoulis, 17842 Arvida Dr., Grenada Hills, CA 91344. This Business is conducted by a husband and wife. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: January 1, 2000. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Angelo Bacoulis, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on September 13, 2012. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 09/20/12,10/4/12, 10/18/12, 11/01/2012
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2012177138 The following person is doing business as: B & D Treasures, 719 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA, 90731, Los
Angeles County. Registered owners: Brandi Rayann Barnard, 772 10th Street, Apt. #4, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: NA. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Brandi Rayann Barnard, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on September 4, 2012. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end
of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name state-
ment must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 09/20/12,10/4/12, 10/18/12, 11/01/2012
from p. 9
Propositions
PROPOSITION 31—This initiative is a combined constitutional amendment and statute. If enacted, it will: • Establish a two-year state budget cycle. • Prohibit the California State Legislature from “creating expenditures of more than $25 million unless offsetting revenues or spending cuts are identified.” from p. 19
Obama Campaign in Carson
Medical Marijuana on the Ballot
According to the Attorney General’s guidelines, if the outlet maintains a membership lists, detailed accounts of transactions, operates as a nonprofit and distributes only lawfully grown cannabis, then it is operating in accordance with state law. There still remains the issue of marijuana’s classification as a Schedule 1 drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act, passed in 1970. The United States government regards drugs under this classification, which include heroin, mescaline and peyote, as having no medicinal use. Some medicinal marijuana activists remain optimistic that California’s laws can be brought into alignment with the federal government through rescheduling cannabis to a class that can be used medically. Americans For Safe Access, an Oaklandbased medical marijuana advocacy group, as part of a coalition of organizations been engaged in a long legal battle to do just this. “In 2002, a rescheduling petition would have reclassified marijuana as a medical substance and that petition was denied last year [2011]... we filed an appeal with the Washington D.C. [appellate court] and we have oral arguments on the 16th of October where evidence of medical efficacy will debated before a court,” said Kris Hermes, spokesman for Americans for Safe Ac-
Carl Kemp is a lobbyist who represents a number of Long Beach dispensaries that were allowed a 6 month operating extension following the February ban in order to recoup costs affiliated with city regulations.
cess. “[That’s] the first time in 20 years that that’s happened.” Others, offer a grimmer assessment of the possibility of state and federal harmony regarding medical marijuana or the substances acceptance by even local officials as a legitimate medicine. “We’ve been trying forever,” said Bruce Margolis. “It’s reefer madness all over again... they just don’t like people getting high, legal or not.”
October 5 - 18. 2012
the forefront of this election. Julian Berger, a Democratic activist who resides in Wilmington, did not attend the center opening but agreed when this reporter asked if this election is critical for women, minorities and labor. He conceded, however, that the Democratic base may be “less enthusiastic” than in 2008. He recalled how then, the same location was operating as a Democratic call center but “didn’t have enough space” and had to turn volunteers away. Political analyst Peter Mathews, a former Democratic congressional candidate and a resident of Long Beach, did not attend the opening either. However, he also addressed why phone banking is critical in this election, especially for women and labor. He said women’s and labor organizations are targeting supporters likely to vote in battleground states. California is not one of those states but volunteers in California can phone those states. Mathews said Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is making 13 million calls in swing states, while the National Organization for Women (NOW) and National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) are focusing on 360,000 women voters especially in battleground states. “It’s a fight for the soul of the country, and women and labor know that very well,” he concluded. The OFA phone bank center is located at 603 University Avenue, Suite D, Carson, CA 90746. There is no phone number but hours are 9 a.m to 9 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
from p. 7
“My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
Proposition 30 threaten voters. They they refuse to reform the education or pension systems to save money. • Politicians would rather raise taxes instead of streamlining thousands of state-funded programs. Opponents include: • Jon Coupal. Coupal is the head of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. • Tom Bogetich. Bogetich has retired from the position of executive director of the California State Board of Education. • Doug Boyd. Boyd is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Education • Joel Fox. Fox is the president of the Small Business Action Committee. • John Kabateck. Kabateck is the executive director of the California branch of the National Federation of Independent Business. • Kenneth Payne. Payne is the president of the Sacramento Taxpayers Association The California Republican Party
• Permit the governor of California to cut the budget unilaterally during declared fiscal emergencies if the state legislature fails to act. • Require performance reviews of all state programs. • Require performance goals in state and local budgets. • Require publication of all bills at least three days prior to a vote by the California State Senate or California State Assembly. • Give counties the power to alter state statutes or regulations related to spending unless the state legislature or a state agency vetoes those changes within 60 days. Proposition 31 is a project of California Forward. Nicolas Berggruen contributed more than $1 million to fund the effort to gather signatures to qualify it for the ballot. Arguments in favor: • Prop. 31 will stop politicians from keeping Californians in the dark about how their government is functioning. It will prevent the state from passing budgets behind closed doors, stop politicians from creating programs with money the state doesn’t have, and require governments to report results before spending more money. Supporters include: • Taxpayers for Government Accountability Arguments in opposition: • Prop. 31 is a flawed initiative that locks expensive and conflicting provisions into the constitution, causing lawsuits, confusion, and cost. Prop. 31 threatens public health, the environment, prevents future increases in funding for schools and blocks tax cuts. Opponents include: • Californians for Transparent and Accountable Government
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RANDOMLetters
from p. 9
himself! Let’s see how committed they are with the deal backup with this kind of guarantee? James Preston Allen, Publisher
Fan Letter to Paul Rosenberg
October 5 - 18, 2012
“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.”
I am a fan who has recently been exposed to your provocative insight. I love your opinion pieces about American politics in Al Jazeera and have read a couple of other in Random Lengths News on
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the web. I live in a swing precinct, in a swing county, in the swing state of Iowa. Our country in 2004 voted Kerry 49.7/Bush 49.4. In 2008 we voted Obama 60 percent /McCain 39 percent. Obama may lose this country in 2012, which means he probably will lose Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio. Why and how people vote has been studied by sociologists ad nauseam, but I work every day with that 10 percent of voters who actually are independents. In my community they are generally 35 to 40 years old, hardworking construction, factory, trucking and service workers. Most have
children. Many of their parents and grandparents were union Democrats or farmers, the natural constituency of any good Democratic candidate. They rarely talk about Medicare, Romney’s tax rate, the deficit, abortion, gay marriage, war, the EU, or taxing the rich. They vote what they see and what they know. Four years ago, they voted for hope and change. They have seen change and they do not like it. Property taxes up, gas taxes up, cigarette taxes up, truck registration fees up, Happy Meals up, fishing license up, beer tax up, day care up! None of these are federal taxes but that is irrelevant. The checkbook feels
these changes every week. The most important change they see and have to deal with every day is that their peer group has not suffered equally. You see, their brother-in-law, “John,” who everyone knows is a little lazy, managed to get a job as a truck mechanic at the county shop. “John” got a 3 or 4 percent raise every year
for the last 4 years and he got lots of overtime when the shovel ready stimulus money was sent to our county to fix a few roads. He has great health insurance and can retire at 59 or 60 with a generous public pension. Wages for everyone else have been flat. James J. Ulring, Decorah, Iowa
You say you’re a fan, but you spin a rightwing fable. In the real world, private sector jobs are up 415,000 since January 2009, while public sector jobs are down 676,000. Here’s a hot tip: “John” does not exist! Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
Phillipine Hero Home in Carson
On Sept. 29, the City of Carson celebrated the unveiling of a statue of Rr. Jose Rizal Jose, a national hero of the Philippines. The 8-ft. bronze is the first monument in the City of Carson’s International Sculpture Garden. The statue by artist Toym De Leon Imao, was given to the city as a gift from the Republic of the Philippines. Rizal, who was executed by firing squad in 1896, was a primary proponent of peaceful reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish regime. Photo by C. 2012 Ben Higa
“My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
October 5 - 18. 2012
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October 5 - 18, 2012
“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.”