Peace Monument & US Capitol by jcolman, used under Creative Commons.

Angelenos, it’s time for you (yes, YOU) to get politically active. There is a conspiracy afoot that will effect nearly every person reading this, and it is up to you to stop it.

Have you ever purchased a ticket for a concert or other entertainment event through Ticketbastardmaster or Live Nation? If you have and you’re anything like me, that purchase was probably immediately followed by long and loud complaints of excessive costs for said tickets, paired with “convenience fees” (convenient for who, exactly?) that are commonly 30-50% of the face value of the ticket. As bad as this situation is, it could potentially get a lot worse.

In February, Ticketmaster Entertainment and Live Nation announced plans to merge. This would make one company out of the industry’s number one ticket seller (Ticketmaster) and the second largest ticket seller (Live Nation.) These two (as of now) companies are also the industry’s largest provider of talent management services and the largest promoter of live entertainment events. See where this is going? Yahtzee! I mean, monopoly.

Follow me past the jump to find out how you can stop this monster. Read the rest of this entry →

During a quick trip to the corner store this evening on a quest for flour, I was assailed by Obama Mania.  A shelf overflowing with bottled water and souvenir mugs summed it up quite nicely for me and I was compelled to take an exhausted (thus blurry) but amused snapshot with my cellphone which I sent to a few friends.

I have a feeling tomorrow is going to look a lot like this – Obama coffee cups, pins, toast, shirts, napkins, eggs, champagne (as seen in a MySpace ad), pizza, toothpaste and, yes, Obama water.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it.  I’m just as excited as anyone who voted for Barack Obama but a part of me is horrified by the profuse use of his image to sell items from collector’s pieces to mundane frivolities such as water.

The protest is going National Saturday with LA among 50+ in the US participating.

The Facebook groups are continuing to publish protest info on Prop 8 faster than I can read and post what is relevant to LA.  The Pepperdine group over at facebook sent a notice regarding a nationwide protest being organized by the Join the Impact group.

LA’s protest will take place at LA City Hall, 200 N Spring Street (in Los Angeles of course).  The protest will start at 10:30AM.  It is planned to end at 2:30PM.    More information can be found on the LA Join the Impact Facebook page.

For those that know me I am not a fan of protests as the location is usually irrelevant or it gets out of hand and pisses off the very people that are in need of convincing.  I think the better location would have been in front of a Morman Church, but this isn’t my protest.  

The issue of same sex marriage is so emotionally charged it can get unruly quickly.  My plea is those attending do everything possible to maintain their dignity and remain civil regardless of the provocations.  Please?

It gets bigger with a click but it still makes you sick

The mail last week has been sorted at and dumped directly into the blue recycle bin.  Little was worth saving.  This gem was so big it stood out, when i read it, it made me wanna vomit.  It is about as low as I have ever seen.  I’m not a big fan of Drier, but come on attack the issues. If he’s taking dates on our money and you can prove it say so.  Really that is the important issue here. 

My wife’s reaction when she saw it: “What the hell are they so afraid of that they have to stoop to this level”?  Beats the hell out of me.  It was put out by a group calling themselves “Blue America PAC” and align themselves with the democratic party.  It was published and printed by the Los Angeles Blue America PAC.  Frankly, that kind of hatefulness based on orientation is way out of line with the platform that party has stood for in recent years.  I wonder how the local democractic party dignataries feel being associated with this group?

Thanks Blue America for publishing a new low in election rhetoric.  Please refrain from sending the garbage in future, really it made me ill to see that sort of hate in print.  Intolerance, spreading hate and fear is counterproductive to what I am trying to teach my kids.

Sorry for the poor scan, at 8.5X14 inches it is bigger than can fit in my ancient scanner.

(Image via Wikipedia)

Well, here’s another clue to the payoff: Times blogger Joel Rubin’s scoop that Bratton has recorded a robo-call announcement shilling for presidential candidate Barack Obama – or, more to the point – attacking GOP rival John McCain’s record on crime and punishment:

The message reportedly criticizes the record of Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain on law enforcement issues.

A spokesperson for Bratton confirms that he has recorded the political campaign message but would not provide details of its content or where the Obama campaign plans to use it.

My beef’s not with anyone backing Obama – quite the contrary, the man is currently the best man in the race for the job, and I’m curious to hear what he has to say about McCain’s law-n-order chops.

My quarrel is with Bratton abusing his taxpayer-funded position to engage in politics waaay out of his jurisdiction. Sure, law enforcement is a local issue everywhere. But if Rubin’s sources are correct, this feels suspiciously like chair-fluffing for a cabinet seat in an Obama administration.

So, what’s your bet – Homeland Security or Department of Justice?