Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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Cats have shared campfires with humans for the last 10,000 years. At one time it was thought that ancient Egyptian priests domesticated the house cat from African wildcats. But when archaeologists discovered an 8500 year old grave on Cyprus containing a young girl and her cat, they knew the relationship went back much longer than the pyramids. It is also believed that cats decided to move in with us. They "self-domesticated," the only animal ever to do so on a large scale. In...
Apparently seeking an alternative to the drive to split Malibu from the SMMUSD, proponents of a recall petition are seeking to recall four members of the Santa Monica Malibu School Board. "Santa Monica and Malibu Parents Jointly Launch Recall of Four School Board Members", said the group in a press release. The effort is direct against four members of the board: Laurie Lieberman, Maria Leon-Vasquez, Jon Kean, and Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein. The recall proponents allege "seri...
A water main break in Pacific Palisades Sunday night after 9 pm, flooded an apartment building's parking garage in Pacific Palisades. The breach on Sunset Blvd was centered across the street from Palisades Charter High School, from El Medio Drive to Marquez Avenue. LA County Lifeguards walked from car to car through waste deep water in the underground car park, searching the vehicles to ensure no one had been trapped there. Local residents were without water above Sunset betwe...
Earth averages two major volcanic eruptions each year. So far this year, the biggest one erupted just 20 miles away from the Icelandic capital city, Reykjavík. Iceland boasts only 364,000 residents. About ten percent of them drove to see the volcano in Iceland's Southwest corner, on the Reykjanes peninsula the weekend of March 20th. At night glowing lava is actually visible from the Capital, where half of Iceland's population reside. "Following a three-week period of...
3/11: The Santa Clarita division of the LA County Sheriff's Department reports that it has recovered 250 stolen catalytic converters, and arrested 19 suspects. The smog mediation devices, which scrub automobile exhaust, are frequently stolen by thieves who sell them to scrap dealers. The converters are said to be worth $250 to $750 each. The entire lot of 250 catalytic converters is estimated to be worth $750,000 or so. The 19 arrested people men also had $100,000 in cash on t...
Golf legend Tiger Woods was seriously injured and taken to the hospital in a car crash near the Genesis Invitational Gold Tournament in Rancho Palos Verdes early Tuesday morninb. The accident involved only Woods' vehicle, which rolled down the side of a hill and appeared to have been crush. The sheriffs department corrected and said that the jaws of life were not used. Speaking at a press conference, a Sheriff's spokesman said Woods was rescued through the vehicles...
8: A highly convincing video with over 26 million views on Twitter and Facebook, appears to show the Mars Perseverance Rover on the Martian surface, with audio. While Perseverance will ultimately broadcast audio and video from the Martian surface, the video now going viral is not actually from NASA at all. While NASA did land Perseverance on Mars, many on the internet are unintentionally sharing a false video. The 26 second fake video claimed to be from Mars...
2/17: The theft of a car part called a catalytic converter is an ongoing problem in Los Angeles County. All cars sold in California after 1974 are required to have catalytic converters. When cars are not parked in a secure area, thieves steal the converters, which are designed to clean automobile exhaust. The main reason that catalytic converters are stolen is because they're valuable to scrap metal dealers, auto experts say. They contain precious metals, including rhodium,...
An attorney who appeared before the 394th Texas Judicial District had to argue that he was not, in fact, feline in nature. The judge assured him that it was some sort of filter, and that his appearance as fluffy, would not prejudice his client. "I'm not a cat," he argued. The court released the video to show how "attorneys were struggling to produce justice during the pandemic," and not to poke fun at attorneys. The video has gone viral and is the subject of numerous internet...
A group called Protect Ballona Wetlands, has filed a Petition for Writ of Mandate with the LA Superior Court. The lawsuit seeks to restrain the Calif. Dept of Fish and Wildlife from approving a project to “restore, enhance, and establish native coastal wetland and upland habitats on approximately 566 acres within the Ballona Reserve.” The group alleges that the State’s description of the plan as restoration is “disingenuous.” They say that the plan will actually harm wildlife,...
An atmospheric river passed through Santa Monica last night, dropping 3 inches of rain. LA County gets about 14 inches of rain in a typical year, so that's about a quarter of our annual rainfall in one storm. Santa Monica resident Liz Angeles wondered where the birds go when it rains? She shot these photos attempting to find out. She discovered that the intelligent birds were practicing social distancing. Anthony Fauci has apparently inspired them to avoid coronavirus. Days...
The City of Santa Monica has extended its emergency order preventing residential and commercial tenants from being evicted for nonpayment of rent, to March 31, 2021. Which begs the question, why pay rent? Eviction defense lawyers we spoke to, said they recommend remaining on good terms with your landlord. He's still expected to pay property taxes, after all. The State of California does have a record of helping landlords collect rents, through strict laws and summary unlawful...
Those of you who like me, are constantly searching for their fix of chocolate dipped cookies and Rugala, we will just have to find your daily pastry elsewhere. Vienna Bakery has closed its doors after 67 years on Wilshire Blvd and 12th Street in Santa Monica. The kosher bakery has supplied my shul for many years. I have attended countless bar and bat mitzvahs featuring challah and deserts from Vienna Bakery and Restaurant. But as Joni Mitchell sang, everything comes and goes,...
Public Works Director Susan Cline has been appointed Acting Assistant City Manager, the City said in a press release. The PUblic Works department is the City's largest department. The Acting Assistant City Manager position is slated for a six-month term beginning January 18, 2021, the city said. Interim City Manager Lane Dilg leaves the City this Spring, reportedly because her husband is taking a position in the Biden administration. So presumably when Dilg leaves, Cline will...
For the remainder of January, the Santa Monica Pier will be closed on the following dates: January 16-18, January 23-24 and on January 30-31, 2021. A major draw for tourists, the Pier was closed from May 15, 2020 to the end of September, and also during the last 3 days of 2020, and first three days of 2021. Los Angeles County, which has over ten million residents and is the biggest county by population in the entire United States, has had 12,500 Covid-19 deaths. 950,000 local...
Does life reflect art, or should art reflect life? Art gives us a new perspective, shows us a new dimension and makes our understanding of life deeper, wrote Emmanuel Kant. Or perhaps it was Banksy. "Great art often comes from difficult times," acknowledges mural artist Samir Arghandwall. "We're left alone most of the time with not much to do, so we have time to develop your own work. Any time an artist is left alone, they can work on their own stuff. Time to reflect on your o...
He was once lauded as the Chinese equivalent of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. From a humble background as a school teacher, Jack Ma founded Alibaba.COM, the largest online retailer in the world's most populous country. But now he has not been seen for 4 weeks, since Chinese authorities asked to "question" him. Ma is a strong proponent of an open and market-driven economy. This may have brought him into conflict with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a man who came to power promising...
In an announcement on the City's website, the City of Santa Monica said its 100 year old pier would close during the long new year's weekend. The Pier was closed from March 16th to October 14th, when it partially reopened. The amusement park, Pacific Park, has never reopened. "In an effort to slow the rampant spread of COVID-19 throughout Los Angeles County, the Santa Monica Pier will temporarily close for the New Year's holiday weekend," reads the City press release. "The...
Update 12/27: The FBI identified a 63-year-old man as a person of interest in the investigation. Anthony Quinn Warner also owned a home near downtown LA, but recently quitclaimed it to an unidentified woman. Investigators searched his home in the Antioch neighborhood of Nashville. Google Street View images of the address of Warner appeared to show an RV similar to the one used in the bombing. Neighbors of the property told a local news outlet that they recognized the RV in...
The County of Los Angeles has issued a statement reminding you not to go to Church, just in case you might forget. Because while a George Floyd rally is perfectly safe, being indoors worshipping God on a Christian holiday, is just as obviously unsafe. And then authorities want to know why they have no credibility. The Statement from the County says Church is unsafe "no matter what a Superior Court judge says," referring to a recent Court victory for Christians on First...
In a move that shows elections have consequences, the Santa Monica City Council voted 4 to 3 Tuesday night to end exclusive negotiations with OMA, the developer of the Plaza Project. The move reflects the new priorities of Council members Christine Parra, Phil Brock and Oscar de la Torre. The council voted in late July to negotiate with the Plaza Developer, and a 99 year lease of the City land seemed to be in the offing. A majority of 4 council members voted to break off...
Fireworks erupted at a virtual SMMUSD meeting Thursday night, as other school board members insisted that Oscar de la Torre had legally resigned his position as school board member. De la Torre was recently elected to the Santa Monica City Council. School Board member Jon Kean objected to de la Torre participating as a Board member. The Superintendent of Schools, Ben Drati, explained to Oscar that he could not hold two offices simultaneously, because to do so would violate Cal...
Former Santa Monica City Council Member Robert "Bob" Holbrook has passed away. The former Mayor had been ill for sometime, reportedly with Lymphoma. Bob Holbrook was born in Santa Monica in 1941. He attended local schools, graduating from SamoHi in 1959. Holbrook was first elected to the SMMUSD School Board in 1982, and to the Santa Monica City Council in for 35 years off and on, ending in 2014. Seen as a businessman and a voice of reason on the council, he played the...
Several staff members and other US Senate sources say that California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is 87 years of age, struggles to remember briefings just after they take place-and that her cognitive decline has been evident for several years. "They say her short-term memory has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic, accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have. They describe Feinstein as forgetting what she has said and getting...
In Partnership with UCLA Dining, Venice Family Clinic will distribute meals on Tuesday 5/15 at its Simms/Mann Health and Wellness Center in Santa Monica. The food distribution is intended to help its low-income patients struggling with food insecurity during the pandemic, says VFC in a press release. "With fewer students on campus to feed and more people facing food insecurity, UCLA has called on the skills of its dining staff to help serve the community by preparing nearly...
