a monthly alternative community newsletter serving Free Speech in Venice California
July 2006 12th Edition Archives SOV Blog For information or to submit material please Email us
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Friendly,
neighborhood cops doing what they do best - wasting time!
 Photo © Barbara Peck
2006
There
has been an increase in the number of tickets being issued on Venice
Boardwalk in the past few weeks. On Saturday, June 17, we were
informed by a representative of Rec & Parks that over one
hundred citations had been issued on the Boardwalk before noon that
day. Since then several arrests have been made - the most notable of
which being on Tuesday, June 20 when LAPD
arrested artist, activist, Ibrahim, confiscating his
paintings, art materials and drums, set up
on the Boardwalk at the time. And on Sunday, June 24 when
they arrested Bill Greenslade (Save Our Seas) and confiscated his
entire display. Ironically, this public show of force is seldom backed
up in court and the tickets are thrown out. So, who is going to
account for such a flagrant waste of everybody's time and
money?
Editor
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AMERICA: FREEDOM TO FASCISM  Opened theatrically on July 28
in New York, Chicago, Kansas City, Austin and Tampa - CBS News: "Four Stars (Highest Rating). "FOUR
STARS (Highest Rating). The scariest goddamn film you'll see this year.
It will leave you staggering out of the theatre, slack-jawed and
trembling. Makes 'Fahrenheit 9/11' look like 'Bambi.' After watching
this movie, your comfy, secure notions about America -- and about what
it means to be an American -- will be forever shattered.
Producer/director Aaron Russo and the folks at Cinema Libre Studio
deserve to be heralded as heroes of a post-modern New American
Revolution. This is shocking stuff. You'll be angry, you'll be
disgusted, but you may actually break out in a cold sweat and feel a
sickness deep in your gut; I would advise movie theatre managers to
hand out vomit bags. You may end up needing one." Todd
David Schwartz CBS
For more:
www.freedomtofascism.com
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Freedom of
speech - Use it or lose it
When they took away the 4th Amendment, we were quiet, because we didn't deal drugs. When they took away the 6th Amendment, we were quiet, because we were innocent. When they took away the 2nd Amendment, we were quiet, because we don't own guns. Now they have taken away the 1st Amendment, and very soon, if we continue to be quiet, we will have no choice, but to be continue to be quiet. < * > < * > < * > < * > < * > < * > < * > < * > Setting the
Record Straight
by Therese Dietlin
Since
the LA Times did a completely botched job on the Venice Boardwalk
contention in its coverage of the Zuma Dogg story reproduced in the
last issue of The Spirit of Venice, it is appropriate to report the
facts, which, being in the public domain, the LA Times reporter could
have availed herself of if she had been interested in the truth.
First,
the lottery did not come months after the amendments to LAMC
42.15. In fact, the lottery was introduced contingent on the
amendments, and when opposition to the lottery arose along the
Boardwalk City Attorney Mark Brown attested to the fact that the two
– the lottery and the amendments – were
inextricably
intertwined so that the one was implied in the other. Second,
citizen opposition to the proposal before city council prior enactment
of the amendments which are “inextricably
intertwined” with
the lottery was vociferous and continuous.
No one on the Council has any legitimate claim to ignorance on this score, particularly Council president Eric Garcetti, who responded to written opposition with a reasonableness which completely belied his intention to support the proposal. Second, if Bill Rosendahl was present mentally as well as physically at those three town halls he chaired to discuss the new ordinance, he cannot in any way claim that the community supports the current situation. No doubt some do, the support is by no means unanimous, nor is it provably the majority. A brief overview of the entire Boardwalk scenario at present links it to the Valley's desire to secede from the City of Los Angeles, the redistricting that followed the 2000 census, and the back room machinations of developers. One of the demands of the Valley if it was to remain part of the larger metropolitan political entity was greater representation on the City Council. One more Council member was wanted. This person had to come from somewhere, so it was decided to reduce the representation south of the Santa Monica Mountains by the one that would be given to the Valley. The 2000 census played handsomely into this since redistricting was going to be required when the numbers came in. Consequently, the city council appointed a redistricting committee, of which Eric Garcetti was the chair, to devise and recommend a plan. The proposed redistricting on the westside was particularly egregious as it consolidated every controversial development plan, then scattered over three districts, into a single district which was to be given to then Councilmember Cindy Misciskowski, wife of major political influence peddler and developer Doug Ring of Ring Associates. This proposal was met with major opposition from people in Westchester who were opposed to the LAX expansion and the Playa Vista project which promises also to be an environmental disaster, the people in West LA who didn't like the Ballona Wetlands debacle and didn't fancy more mindless and greedy land development, and the people in Venice who did not want their neighborhood assaulted by more “upgrades” and gentrification than they were already struggling with. Public meetings held by the committee were attended by hundreds of property owners opposed to the redistricting that would give them Miscikowski. After duly listening – or pretending to, anyway - to what the residents had to say, the committee recommended the much opposed redistricting plan. (As an aside: if you have ever attended a council meeting, you will immediately recognize this as standard operating procedure.) As a result, all the potentially very valuable and ecologically fragile beach front property falling within the LA City limits was folded into a new Council District 11 under the control of Miscikowski. There has been unrelenting land development assault on the affected areas ever since. It cannot be emphasized overmuch that Doug Ring is a major back room manipulator on both the county and city scene. Cindy Misickowski is gone, having been termed out, but she created a great deal of political havoc in both the westside and the valley while in office and is still a political force with the means to institute more destruction in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the damage she perpetrated while still in City Council lives on. On Friday, June 23, while driving home, I heard the interview with a business owner in Hollywood who had his business taken away by the city under the power of eminent domain. He was told his store was a “blight on the block,” and that was why it was being taken and was going to be upgraded to something more acceptable. This is one more scene in the current sorry state of affairs and attests most compellingly to the validity of the concern expressed by people most adversely affected by the galloping corporatocracy that runs all aspects of our lives at present. It is something that should concern us all. © Therese Dietlin JOIN 4-TIME
GRAMMY AWARD WINNER EDWIN HAWKINS IN HIS APPEALTO RAISE FUNDS FOR
AMERICA’S HOMELESS
 Donate $10 online and download a copy of Edwin Hawkins’ “People In Need” (PIN) song http://www.benefitnetwork.org/PINCD.htm or send $15.00 check/money order for CD copy to : The Benefit Network/PIN Fund P O Box 1952 Venice CA 90294 |
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Petition to Stop Harassment of Henry's Market on Dudley Ave, Venice Beach
by Diane Butler
One of the most precious things about Venice, California, is that we
are a
true community. When one of us is hurting, we usually band
together and help each other. That is why so many of us fall
in love with Venice and find it hard to leave here. Henry's
Market is a special store in Venice that is run by a special family,
Regina and her daughter Shyla. For 17 years, Henry's has been
a gathering place for members our community and for tourists from other
countries dwelling in nearby hostels. Regina always has a
sympathetic ear for those in need. She has always welcomed
the homeless, which many places of business do not do. Shyla,
her daughter, has carried on her tradition of kindness, generously
hiring
both homeless and members of the nearby community who live
inside. Together they have provided a source of income for
many Venetians. Communities are a source of extended families
and Henry's Market, Regina and Shyla have been like a family to those
of us who live in Venice. We are aware that rules and
regulations are sometimes needed to keep order in a community, but they
should not be used to harass well-respected and cherished members of
our community. Especially when those rules and regulations
are only used to serve a few individuals' agenda. These rules
should always be tempered with love and common sense.
It has come to our attention that a few people in the nearby neighborhood – maybe just one or two – have an agenda against Henry's Market because these people do not like seeing the homeless in their midst. The issue at Henry's concerns a permit for the store's marquee. The sign was created by a local artist-sign maker who sets up in the Boardwalk “Free Speech Zone.” Henry's is the only store in the area being scrutinized over a sign, even though others have similar sign issues. It is hard to survive as a business on the beach, with extremely high rents and seasonal profits. The allowance of continued harassment at the hands of a very few people with an agenda of ill-will could very well bring an end to such a business. Many other businesses, street performers, artists, activists and groups like the homeless have suffered at the hands of one or two people just like these, or maybe even these same people. There seems to be a connection with people like these and Neighborhood Watch Groups. Maybe what we need is a Venice Community Watch Group to watch out for menacing activities perpetuated by Neighborhood Watch Groups (which seem to be doing much harm to those around them). (Please sign petition on Venice Boardwalk at Dudley Avenue - ask for Diane. © Diane Butler <
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In Loving Memory of  Sylvia Carrasco Nov 24, 1952 - June 18, 2006 < * > < * > < * > < * > < * > < * > < * > < * > Truth shall set you free by I.M. Love And they say, “None shall enter Paradise unless he be a Jew or a Christian.” These are their own desires. I say I.M. Love, “Produce your proof if you are truthful.” < * > < * > < * > < * > < * > < * > < * > < * >  Special message from former Guantanamo detainees The U.S. opening of “The Road to Guantanamo"
took place on June
23. It is a film that documents our experiences while detained in
Afghanistan and held for more than two years without charge or trial at
the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Over the past
several months, opposition to Guantanamo has been growing around the
world and in the United States. We hope that our first hand
account of the violence we experienced will help build momentum for the
detention facility at Guantanamo to be closed for good.
Shafiq
Rasul, Ruhal Ahmed, Asif Iqbal, “The Tipton Three” <
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 Vera Davis Community Center 601 California Ave Venice <
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If you like what
we’re doing and want to support
“Spirit of Venice Speaks” please bring
contributions and donations to
Ibrahim in the Rose Ave parking lot opposite the Venice Bistro.
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