Yesterday I posted about a flight being detained at LAX because of suspicious activity, and later it was announced it was a disturbance with a passenger who wouldn’t listen to flight attendant instructions. Well apparently Cruftbox was on that flight and posted a first hand account of what happened in the comments. He writes:

I was on the plane, in the back row.

The guy really had to go to the bathroom and didn’t listen to the flight attendants telling him to sit down. We were first in line to take off and it forced the plane to leave the runway.

The guy also caused trouble at the gate, so the plane headed back to the gate to take him off. Once they discovered he had been speaking arabic and that it was Yom Kippur the crazy begun.

The plane filled up with LAPD, TSA, and FBI. Paranoia began with the passengers quickly. I met the bomb testing guy. We all had to deplane while they went over the whole plane with dogs and lots of people. We got rescreened and got back on the plane. 4+ hours later, the plane took off.

All because a guy couldn’t wait until after takeoff to pee.

So there you have it.

Yesterday I posted asking for calls to object to Dianne Feinstein’s latest hamfisted, wrongthink “Won’t Somebody think of the CHILDREN” legislation that set manditory 10-year minimum sentences for people making edibles for medical marijuana patients..

Thanks to all of you that called! We were very successful in getting ourselves heard.

Through our calls we were able to get a postponement on the resolution vote. This is a very good sign that it may either be thrown out entirely or rewritten to exclude patients and their providers from legal ramifications resulting from the production or use of medicinal cannabis edibles.

That giant exhale you heard late Friday was not me thanking the sweet Lord that a horrific work week was over – no, that collective breath of hot air was courtesy Chief Bratton and the LAPD who are no longer the overburdened subjects of a federal consent decree.  Eight years ago, hot off various instances couched as “scandals” that turned out to be “standard operating practice and procedure” (think Rodney King and Rampart), the federal government demanded reform and appointed itself referee.  Under its gavel, it has witnessed the LAPD’s renaissance from an undisciplined fleet of ragtag racist officers to orderly, gentile frenemies, or so we are led to believe.  On Friday, the federal court determined that considerable progress had been made (i.e., the LAPD has proven that it does not target minorities (as much as it did 8 years ago)), accepted the joint recommendation of the LAPD and Department of Justice’s attorneys to terminate the decree, and ended federal oversight of the department.   Interestingly, under the transition agreement in place, the federal court reserved jurisdiction to oversee the LAPD’s antigang unit, the sore source of so many controversies, from Rampart to Alex Sanchez.

While I don’t doubt the LAPD’s progress, I also don’t doubt that there’s still much work to be done.  Whether this work may be done – or may be done more effectively – without judicial eye is another question.  Indeed, the ACLU is not terribly happy about the judge’s order; neither is Senator Tom Hayden. But, Eric Garcetti?  As you can see from his tweet, he’s pretty darn excited.   Who wants to garner a guess as to what Walter Moore tweeted from his French lodgings when he heard the news?  Hint: It’s not nearly as exciting as you would hope.

Our estimable friend and blog author, Chal Pivik posted a description of the statement “Prepare to Prevail,” written by three LGBT advocacy groups.  These groups urged advocates of marriage equality to wait.  Or specifically “Going back to the ballot [...] in 2010 would be rushed and risky.“  To me, equality is 2010 is “rushed” in much the same way that it was rushed, by Brown, in 1954. Does it strike anyone else as noteworthy trivia that the Brown decision of May 17, 1954 was 50 years to the day prior to implementation of Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (i.e. the first same-sex marriages in the United States)? Read the rest of this entry →

No one is enjoying the tax hikes which have already occurred, nor the ones that kicked in today, but a sales tax hike is just one of the many measures our state government is using to try and tackle that massive budget shortfall.

Sometimes my brain just shuts down when I hear a news report saying that we’re $x gazillion in the hole, because frankly, these numbers aren’t as real to me as the money that is flying out of my wallet or bank account. Basic common sense tells us that there are two ways to make up the gap: increase taxes and/or cut spending. But what to tax and what to cut?

The L.A. Times has a “fun” little interactive doo-dad which let’s you “[t]ry your hand at closing California’s budget shortfall, estimated at $24 billion. It’s not easy, but it can be done. Cut spending, raise taxes and/or borrow to get the state out of the red. For each choice — drawn from proposals from across the political spectrum — we’ve tried to give some sense of the effects. As you craft your proposal, the Deficit Meter will show your progress.”

Can YOU do it and how?

Despite impassioned pleas from advocates of medical marijuana, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to close a “hardship” loophole in a 2007 moratorium temporarily banning any new pot dispensaries from opening in the city and to extend the ban for six months.

The moratorium, intended to control the proliferation of dispensaries while the city develops permanent regulations for medical marijuana use, was due to expire in September.

The easily-applied-for hardship exemption has been invoked by hundreds of pot dispensaries that opened in LA after the ban went to effect in November 2007, preventing the city attorney’s office from prosecuting any violators.

Public comments during today’s council session (which is viewable on LA Cityview Channel 35) ranged from the ill and their supporters who spoke of improved quality of life benefits derived from access to marijuana for medical purposes to irate residents living near allegedly shady, fly-by-night dispensaries to obvious recreational users hoping to maintain their supply– not that there’s anything wrong with that.

While catching the turgid 1949 film version of The Fountainhead this week, I noticed that, in the climactic courtroom scene, all the jurors were men, and white ones at that. This reminded me of the 1957 film 12 Angry Men, which, as the title indicates, also features a completely vag-less jury. Next thing I know, I was up to my favorite form of multitasking: looking things up on the laptop while simultaneously watching a movie on cable. I found some interesting results about the history of women on juries in California, in which the Los Angeles area plays a major part.

Sit on this (jury), after the jump

Phil Spector’s tragic trajectory finally reached its nadir today as he was sentenced to 19 years to life for the 2003 killing of Lana Clarkson.

Did anyone ever actually believe Clarkson committed suicide in front of him, like his defense team claimed? No.

During the first trial (declared a mistrial, due to his attorneys’ skillful hi-jinks before the jury, closely followed in LA Weekly by Steven Mikulan) I read He’s A Rebel, an exhaustive biography of Spector by Mark Ribowsky. It deconstructed Spector down to the lowly, cruel, powerful weasel that he apparently is.

That being said, it’s an action-packed history of early rock and pop music and his undeniable contributions to how the music is written, recorded, marketed and consumed to this day.

According to the multitudes that Ribowsky interviewed for the book, among them Spector himself, the legendary producer seems to have never passed up an opportunity to extract humiliation from those he dealt with, from collaborators to wives. My thoughts when I finished reading it? Lock him up and throw away the key.

Per the LA Times, the State Supreme Court just issued its decision to uphold the constitutionality of Proposition 8.  It also held that those gay couples who were married prior to the passage of the horrific proposition will continue to be legally married.  The fight continues ….

Update: Now that traffic to the Supreme Court’s decision has died down, you can mosey on over here to read the 100+ page opinion for yourself.  Choiciest quote so far, at page 9:

We agree with petitioners that the state constitutional right to equal protection of the laws unquestionably represents a long-standing and fundamental constitutional principle (a constitutional principle that, as we already have explained, has not generally been repealed or eliminated by Proposition 8). There are many other constitutional rights that have been amended in the past through the initiative process, however, that also are embodied in the state Constitution’s Declaration of Rights and reflect equally long-standing and fundamental constitutional principles whose purpose is to protect often unpopular individuals and groups from overzealous or abusive treatment that at times may be condoned by a transient majority. Neither the language of the relevant constitutional provisions, nor our past cases, support the proposition that any of these rights is totally exempt from modification by a constitutional amendment adopted by a majority of the voters through the initiative process.

In recent weeks, I have noticed a very large number of broken parking meters along Via Marina, overlooking the Marina del Rey Channel. As I have mentioned before, this is one of my favorite Los Angeles area spots, and is a very popular spot for people to park their cars, watch the boats come and go, eat, snooze, walk, take their dogs for walks, hit the beach, have sex (yeah, I’ve inadvertently seen that at least twice), etc.

These broken meters cause two major problems. First, they cut down on the number of allowable spots, making it impossible for many area residents and visitors to park there. Today, and two days ago, I had to pull into at least 6 different spots with broken meters, and walk along the meters, to search for one that was operating. As the picture above indicates, the signs on and near the meters clearly prohibit parking at such meters when they’re broken. Second, these broken meters lose income for Los Angeles County. As a County resident, I have an interest in knowing that revenues to the County are maximized by having broken meters repaired swiftly. That is definitely not happening at present.

Budgets and public sex! after the jump

Bluebell was nearly dragged to death in December, but that is clearly not enough for the LA District Attorney’s office to press charges against the dog’s former owner, Bryana Wilson.

Workers at the Southeast Area Animal Care Agency (SEAACA) were stunned when they saw Bluebell choking and bleeding as she was dragged on a chain behind a truck pulling into the shelter’s parking lot.

The owner of the dog, Bryana Wilson of Norwalk was bringing the then one year old, “Prada” to the animal shelter to be killed because of an undiagnosed skin problem, which turned out to be an easily curable case of mange.

Wilson put the dog in the back of an open pick up truck, tied her to the truck bed with a leash and, at some point during the drive, the dog fell out of the truck (or jumped out of the truck as the owner claimed) and was dragged for blocks. Meanwhile, a horrified motorist was screaming, waving and honking for the owner to pull over but Wilson didn’t notice.

It wasn’t until Wilson was met with a very upset crowd of at least 15 people that she realized what had happened. When Wilson got to the shelter, the bloody dog had lost consciousness after being nearly dragged to death. SEAACA cited the owner and took custody of the dog to provide veterinary care.

Now the Cat and Dog Rescue Association has learned that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office will not be pressing charges against the owner. Read the rest of this entry →

Two funny things happened to me right after I passed the bar exam and was officially licensed to practice: everyone suddenly needed a contract written or negotiated, and everyone either had, or knew someone who had, an immigration problem.  I could help with the former; with the latter, I was a bit out of my league.

Immigration law is often cited as second only to tax law as the most complicated and difficult areas of law to navigate.  This is with good reason: the laws controlling who can, and cannot be, present in our country is politically and racially motivated, often contradictory, and highly complex, even to those perfectly fluent in English.  Adding to the density is that the xenophobic immigration laws passed after 9/11 created additional, burdensome barriers to entry and harsh detention policies for those whose status were unconfirmed.  Whether you need to figure out how to obtain citizenship in this country, how to bring your non-U.S. spouse nationalized over here (please, for the love of God, unless you absolutely must enter into a lavender marriage, no more questions on how to enter into sham union with some guy you barely know, just so you can stay in their country), or how to sponsor a family member’s journey, it will be an uphill battle.  Following the jump is a list of legal organizations that will provide free or low-cost help with the process.  As always, check with the organization to make sure you qualify for their assistance.

• Read the rest of this entry →

Remember last month when a person driving a Hummer ran over cyclists in downtown, then threatened the cyclists then tried to run away only to be stopped by the LAPD who then threatened the cyclists and let the driver go? Well city council is looking into it and judging from this video they aren’t buying the official LAPD story either.

[via mikey wally]

Last November, I wrote about the war between millionaire residents and yuppie fitness maniacs over Santa Monica’s Fourth Street stairs and nearby median, located at the picturesque intersection of Fourth Street and Adelaide Drive. This war of attrition seemed to have gone in the residents’ (who happen to include Councilman Bobby Shriver) favor, as they convinced the police to enforce restrictions on noise and athletic activities in front of their homes. Indeed, as The Argonaut reports in a recent article, “[t]he Santa Monica City Council voted unanimously Tuesday, April 7th, to request staff to review several recommendations intended to address resident complaints regarding usage of the median at Fourth Street and Adelaide Drive and nearby street stairs.”

However, the Santa Monica Yuppie Fitness Maniacs (“SMYFMs”) have struck back with some ideas of their own. Incredibly, one idea discussed at the Council meeting involved “the proposed construction of alternative recreational stairs leading from Palisades Park down to the beach.” One resident at the meeting, no doubt a SMYFM, “encouraged the council to consider the opportunity to create ‘world class exercise stairs’ from Palisades Park down toward the beach.”

Jump to the next step