Alissa Walker: The name Farmers Field is actually incredibly appropriate for L.A. Agriculture is the business that L.A. was built on—the Farmers Insurance company started here in 1928 to provide lower premiums to L.A. farmers and ranchers.
Elections Should Be Won Not Bought
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Brad Parker: As President of Valley Democrats United and a board member of the California Clean Money Action Fund, I’m asking you to join our club in considering endorsing an important and exciting campaign finance reform measure on the upcoming March 8th Los Angeles city ballot, Measure H. Measure H is a Fair Elections measure that would rein in pay-to-play politics in Los Angeles. It would prohibit contributions and fundraising by bidders for large city contracts, and punishes violators by banning them from getting city contracts for up to four years.
All LAUSD Students Deserve Equality of Education
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Yolie Flores: If we truly are committed to an equal education for all children, we must leave behind old and entrenched political agendas and policies and embrace the truths that every child deserves a great teacher and that great teachers must be cultivated, supported, fairly but properly evaluated, and more justly compensated.
Trust Black Women: Remove the Billboards
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Jan Robinson Flint: It is reprehensible that someone would use Black children as a tool to attack Black women for political purposes.
Author Spotlight: Diane Lefer
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Dick Price: Aside from writing nine published books, Diane Lefer has picked potatoes, typed autopsy reports, surveyed parolees and drug addicts about their sex lives, and taught creative writing to gang-bangers.
Martin Luther King Day: They Never Heard Him Give a Speech
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Kafi D. Blumenfield: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This generation of leaders has taken Dr. King’s injunction to heart and they are taking action. They and their peers find common ground by connecting not only through race, gender, sexual orientation or citizenship status, but also, on higher ground, through shared aspirations and hope for the future.
Dear Terminator, Lay Off Our Executioners
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David Holtzman: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger can help. In what very little time he has left in office, he can give his legacy a considerable boost by commuting the state’s hundreds of pending death sentences to life in prison without possibility of release. As a Los Angeles resident on the world’s stage, he should be sensitive to his image at home and abroad.
Who (What) Is Forescee?
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Anthony Samad: FORESCEE is the change the 8th district is looking for. Eight years of desperation doesn’t have to continue.
Villaraigosa Finally Speaks Up Against Teacher Union Reform Busting
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Anthony Samad: Villaraigosa said the unions are “one unwavering roadblock to reform.” He is right on that point. They have been and will be. But he is wrong to have waited so long to speak.
Los Angeles Homeowners Take to the Streets to Protest Foreclosure Abuses
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Peter Dreier: In Los Angeles this Thursday, members of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) — a statewide community organizing group — will sponsor a demonstration at a major bank that will include civil disobedience and probably arrests.
Housing Authority Officials Must Treat Residents with Dignity and Respect
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Alvaro Huerta: How, then, does a public servant like Montiel in good conscious evict these needy individuals in the midst of a Great Recession?
An Uncanny Coincidence
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Ron Wolff: It was announced this week that the pullout of NATO troops from Afghanistan will be — 2014! Amazing as it might sound, 2014 is exactly the same deadline I have set for myself for the imposition of a low calorie diet. I’ve had this objective since 2002, but it’s always been part of a long-term strategic plan, not something I wanted to rush into prematurely.
I’m a Daddy and I’m Homeless
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Jasmyne Cannick: Most people don’t end up homeless by choice. Homelessness is usually the result of a series of unfortunate events.
In Conversation: Matt Taibbi and Nomi Prins
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In Conversation: Matt Taibbi and Nomi Prins. Plus music by Michael Penn. Friday, November 12 • 8 PM
Election Results California November 2010
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The following is a partial list of election results for the November 2, 1010 election. This status of California candidates and initiatives was captured and reported by the Los Angeles Times with 93% of the precincts counted. The office that was too close to call, with 93% counted, was the California Attorney General race.
Ferial Masry: Surprised Political Legend
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Wendy Block: This Election Day, Masry hopes to make that scenario real by beating Jeff Gorell for the open seat in California’s 37th Assembly District (Ventura/LA County). If she wins, her victory will also be a victory for millions of people half a world away.
Election Day Propositions, Candidates, Judges and More Nov 2010
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Election Day Propositions, Candidates, Judges and More for the November 2, 2010 election with endorsements from the Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Democratic Party. Everything you need in one place.
Did Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Restore Hope?
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Sharon Kyle: So, in sum, things may look better after you attend a rally like the one yesterday, but in the final analysis, we’ve still got a bunch of insulated decision-making elites who need to be kept in check by the voters. If you haven’t already voted, please do it on Tuesday and encourage all of your friends and loved ones to do the same.
LA Media Reform Group Seeks Workshop Presenters
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The Los Angeles Media Reform Group encourages community activists and grassroots media makers to present their ideas at its fourth annual LA Media Reform “Just Media” Summit, scheduled for Saturday, February 26, 2011, at Occidental College.
“Enthusiasm Gap My Ass!”
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Dick Price: Certainly, a recent tour through packed political venues around Los Angeles will tell you that there’s no lack of enthusiasm among Democrats, at least in this part of the world.
Los Angeles: Epicenter of High School Dropouts — Or Are They Pushed?
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Diane Lefer: Most kids who don’t finish haven’t “dropped out.” They’ve been “pushed out” by a culture of zero-tolerance, punishment, and removal that disproportionately affects children of color.
Time for a More Militant American Left?
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Sylvia Moore: The American left must be feared and respected by the politicians — instead of ignored and insulted. The way to do that is to be defiant in who we are as liberals and what we stand for.
On 10-10-10 Fight Big Oil and Big Coal
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Lauren Steiner: Stand up and be counted at rallies and public hearings. Make telephone calls, sign petitions and write letters to public officials and newspapers and get your friends to do the same. Like Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” There is so much you can do. Learn more here.
Clueless on the California Propositions?
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This article was posted for the November 2010 election. Click here for the March 8, 2011 election recommendations. Thanks to Marcy Winograd and the Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles, you don’t have to go to the polls clueless. You can walk in with your head held high because PDLA has done their homework and provided [...]
It’s Time To Remember Tom Bradley (Part 2)
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Michael Sigman: Just as Bob Dylan wouldn’t be possible without Woody Guthrie, or Ronald Reagan without Barry Goldwater, the idea of a direct line from Tom Bradley to Barack Obama can give us perspective on the contemporary political scene.
Markos Calls Out Right-Wing Extremists
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Sylvia Moore: The U.S. is going through such a shock right now. Moulitsas is correct when he says that we can’t be polite to or negotiate with extremists, no matter where they reside, in the Middle East or in America.
It’s Time To Remember Tom Bradley
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Michael Sigman: It’s disheartening to see our current mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa ferociously pursue the elitist corporate emphasis of Bradley’s later years without the bravery and creativity of Bradley’s earlier service.
Europe’s Challenge: “Out of Many, One”
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Steven Hill: Perhaps the challenge for Europe is to reinvent what “union” means, fashioning suitable institutions for the 21st century.
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Judges and Propositions
It’s frightening to think that a judge you know next to nothing about but will vote for in November may ultimately find his way to the Supreme Court.