Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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The main purpose of this letter is to urge the City Council and Councilmember McCowan to reconsider Mr. Cardona's position as stated in his January 6, 2021 response to Olga Zurawska's Demand to Cure and Correct. Mr. Cardona's position invites a dangerous precedent for democracy by normalizing Brown Act violations In his letter, Mr. Cardona claims that the very fact that Councilmember McCowan had publicly disclosed her serial meetings with the Council majority prior to the...
At an intimate Zoom gathering I attended recently, a medical doctor, an educated woman who considered herself well-informed, told the group that nothing short of a war could have killed as many Americans as Covid-19. Nobody dared contradict the doctor. I don't think anyone considered the statement inaccurate. Of course, it was completely false. As we end one year of pandemic and begin the next one that will undoubtedly also be marred by the effects, direct and indirect of the...
Starting in late November, state and county officials have been locking down increasing sectors of economic and daily life in California, and particularly in large and populous Los Angeles County. A curfew was placed, banning leaving one's home between the hours of 10 pm and 5 am except for essential activities. Outdoor dining was banned, followed quickly by the closure of personal care services and even playgrounds. Perhaps most significantly, residents were told they could...
George Gascon, brand-new District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles, issued a press release today defending his actions to eliminate bail requests for most crimes committed in his jurisdiction. His rationale is flimsy but emotionally appealing. Sometimes people charged with minor offenses will plead guilty even if they believe themselves innocent in order to avoid a night (or more) in jail. However, when the no-money bail experiment was run during the early days of the...
First, digital conversations on "matters of public concern," legally the centerpiece of First Amendment jurisprudence, were consistently blocked by partisan social media operators throughout the 2020 election cycle. That alone is arresting; it has changed public access to information and calls for action. Social media moved from offering a "public forum" (with concurrent legal duties, including openness) to a "content editor" (typically imposing higher liability, such as for...
A Demand to Cure and Correct alleges a Brown Act violation regarding the selection of Council leadership, calls for Council to conduct new vote without participation of Councilmember McCowan. Letter sent on December 18, 2020 to Mayor Himmelrich, City Councilmembers, Interim City Attorney Cardona, Interim City Manager Dilg and City Clerk Anderson-Warren reads: Dear Mayor Himmelrich and Santa Monica Councilmembers, Pursuant to California Government Code Section 54960.1, I am...
WASHINGTON, DC, Dec 11 -- Here's a scary thought courtesy of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission: "China is the world's largest producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The United States is heavily dependent on drugs that are either sourced from China or include APIs sourced from China. This is especially true for generic drugs, which comprise most prescriptions filled in the United States. Drug companies are not required to list the API...
The couple is always shocked and horrified when cat whisperer Jackson Galaxy shines a blacklight on their bedroom walls to reveal where their problem feline has been leaving its urine. Without the blacklight, the wall looks clean, even pristine. But the ultraviolet radiation reveals the walls are splashed with dirty cat pee. President Donald Trump has served as the nation's blacklight from the moment he entered office. Only because of Donald Trump has the American public...
This month, President Trump signed an executive order to reduce Medicare spending on prescription drugs. For each medication, Medicare will pay no more than the lowest price available in other developed countries. President Trump has been true to his campaign promises. I voted for him in 2016, and will again in 2020. However, in this case, the administration identified the right problem, but chose the wrong solution. Drugs cost less in other nations for one simple reason --...
The federal and California state governments sent subtly, but distinctly, different messages to the media regarding steps they are taking to provide election security. Both state and federal officials pledged to use their authority to ensure a free and fair election. But the state government, represented by Mark Ghilarducci, California's Homeland Security Advisor, stressed its concern over the spread of "misinformation" by foreign actors. The U.S. government, represented by...
As the election season progresses this fall, the calls for censorship of free speech - and actual censorship - progress right along with it. Proponents of censorship claim such action is necessary in order to protect the democratic process of the election. Inaccurate and damaging misinformation will sweep through and sway the gullible and poorly educated masses, you see. In fact, the election of Donald Trump in 2016 proves this already happened! Therefore strong measures must...
As a student in the Santa Monica-Malibu school district in the 1980s and 90s my classmates and I were blessed to experience a public education second to none. I formed tight life-long bonds not only with my classmates but with our devoted teachers. Up until COVID I was still following around iconic choir director Mrs.Linda Anderson, my beloved mentor, role model and surrogate Mother. I still talk to legendary Samohi English teacher Berkeley Blatz, fully mesmerized by his...
Governor Newsom released a new "equity metric" last week that adds to the requirements necessary before a county can move to a less restrictive tier. The census tracts in the lowest quartile of the Healthy Place Index (HPI) must now meet a threshold close to that of the county as a whole. The HPI is defined by the California Department of Public Health as "a composite measure of socioeconomic opportunity applied to census tracts that includes 25 individual indicators across...
Throughout Santa Monica, about 1,488 residents currently live in subsidized housing known as Section 8, a federal program administered by the Santa Monica Housing Authority (SMHA). These are the extremely low income Santa Monicans – families, seniors, and individuals living with disabilities. One would think that a city which represents itself as a liberal stronghold fully invested in affordable housing would have concern for its most vulnerable residents and their rights. B...
The Black Lives Matter organization (not to be confused with the idea that black lives matter) recently removed a page from their website that outlined the beliefs of the group. The page, titled "What We Believe," set forth a number of Marxist and radical LGBTQ tenets that could hardly be deemed relevant to their generally perceived goal of combating racism and uplifting the black community. "We are self-reflexive and do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege and u...
The California State Legislature passed AB 331 in September, a bill requiring a semester of ethnic studies for high school graduation. A model curriculum, hundreds of pages long, is available for public comment and will be approved in March of next year if the governor signs the bill into law. 80 groups, spearheaded by the Amcha Initiative, an organization opposing anti-Semitism on campuses, signed a letter urging the governor to veto the bill. While the authors of AB 331,...
The Santa Monica City Council on Tuesday will be presented with suggestions from The Black Agenda for ways to spend the $200,000 already earmarked in June for efforts to support racial justice. The Black Agenda is comprised of a group of the city's Black community leaders (capital letters are theirs) whose steering committee includes Barry Snell, a former SMMUSD Board member and current Santa Monica College Board Trustee. Also on the steering committee are Dr. Karen Gunn, a...
8/27/20: On Monday, the City of Santa Monica issued its 22nd Local Emergency Supplement, that is, yet another order restricting citizens' rights. This time, the city threatens to fine property owners for holding any gathering of over 20 people and to shut off their utilities. In addition, the violators could be charged with a misdemeanor. Fines would be $500 for a first violation, $750 for a second and $1,000 for a third violation committed within one year. Gatherings of any...
Dear Editor: In a front page article about the SMMUSD's attempts to develop a social justice component for its curricula, writer Corva Corax disputes the motives behind and possible efficacy of this effort. https://www.smobserved.com/story/2020/08/30/news/smmusd-in-dangerous-waters-with-social-justice-journey-lacks-any-critical-thinking-about-race-and-school-achievement/4868.html The curriculum would closely follow 20 social justice standards developed by the well-respected...
Power outages due to lack of supply affected nearly half a million customers in California last weekend. The shortage of available power was at least in part due to the state's commitment to clean power, closing fuel-generating plants and investing in unreliable solar and wind power. Almost a year ago, the California Independent System Operator, the nonprofit agency charged with maintaining the power grid, had warned there would be shortages this summer. Nothing was done...
New York City tried to make voting easier, and the result was chaos. City elections officials were overwhelmed with a flood of vote-by-mail ballots, more than 400,000, or ten times the usual number in a primary. Many ballot envelopes came in without the required postmarks. That problem may have been caused by processing errors at the post office. The envelopes provided to voters to return their ballots were postage-paid, which may have led to incorrect handling and missing pos...
A woman was shot and killed and four others sustained wounds after an unknown number of gunmen fired multiple rounds at a house party in the exclusive Beverly Crest neighborhood. The shooting occurred Tuesday around 1:15 am after the party had already attracted the attention of the neighbors, LAPD, and local news agencies for its flagrant violation of county health orders. An estimated 200 people filled the 3-story rented mansion, none of them wearing masks. Party-goers were...
On Wednesday, the City of Los Angeles and Santa Monica issued further emergency orders in apparent reaction to the infamous house party held Monday night in Beverly Crest for an NFL football player. The party was filmed from news helicopters and showed hundreds of people disporting in the 3-story luxury mansion, none of them wearing masks. Ignoring the salient but apparently irrelevant fact that a woman was killed by gunfire at the party, local officials took action to stem...
In June, the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMCLC) served the City with legal objections to proceeding with plans to privatize public land at 4th and Arizona for a massive commercial project until it had complied with a state law known as the Surplus Land Act. Under the Act, before negotiating and disposing of public land for commercial uses, the City must notify interested parties to see if the 25-acre parcel could be used as open space or for affordable housing....
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Superintendent Ben Drati sent an email to parents, students, and the public that is chilling in both its content and its wording regarding the district's new "anti-racism" enterprise. Could Drati possibly be unaware that the term "anti-racism" now goes far beyond the idea not to treat someone as inferior because they belong to a different race? Today, "anti-racism" is defined as rejecting your "whiteness" (if you are white). It...
