Venice
as a neighborhood has a history of spontaneity.
From its earliest days, Abbot Kinney intended to turn his development by
the beach into an intellectual and cultural haven, but instead it became a site
of seaside amusements and entertainment.
In the 1950s, when the Los Angeles City Council and urban planners had the concept of “urban blight” on their minds and labeled Venice as a “slum,” it instead became an attraction for a wide range of new residents: beatniks, bikers, immigrants, African Americans, hippies, activists and artists. This history of spontaneity is inspiring for people who live in Venice, especially those who can remember back to the days of this great diversity. This spontaneity and diversity is currently being challenged. Venice Beach is no exception to the neighborhood's strange historical process. Where in California but Venice Beach can one have a conversation with international tourists, people from every neighborhood in Los Angeles, from every economic background, speaking any number of languages, living any number of lifestyles? Where in Los Angeles, a city celebrated for its cultural diversity, can one actually witness the social mosaic in one place? Venice is loud; it's exciting; it's vibrant! In fact, what makes Venice Beach attractive to so many people is this spontaneous atmosphere. There remains an air of unpredictability. You don't have to understand everything that everyone does at Venice Beach and you don't have to agree with the way they do it. Agreement and cooperation is not what makes Venice Beach sophisticated. People need to expand their minds beyond the mold that “great places” are those with common purpose and common aim. Disneyland is an orchestrated achievement - it's planned, calculated and ordered. Those who invented it were very sophisticated so that those who visit it don't have to be. It is not a place where people need to think. Venice Beach is not Disneyland; it's not the Fisherman's Wharf; and it's not the 3rd Street Promenade. It's time to think outside the box. There is a growing fear among those who have lived in the neighborhood for a long time that limitations to this spontaneity will eventually convert the boardwalk into single use, something that could have great consequences beyond the ones that only affect boardwalk artists and vendors. If the city places constraints on Venice Beach it is a threat to Los Angeles, to California, and actually to the United States in total. Venice Beach is a rare place in the United States because it incorporates rather than separates. When you live in Venice and witness Venice Beach regularly, it is hard to appreciate how important this is. Venice Beach is a public space in a very philosophical sense. To be public hypothetically implies that it is “open to all.” Some places in Los Angeles, even though they claim themselves as “public places,” actually blur public and private interests. In fact, many public spaces in Los Angeles (and other big cities) are directly monitored and controlled by private citizens. They maintain 24-hour surveillance, have business associations that supervise the area, hire their own private police forces, place strict limitations on the types of activities allowed in the “public realm,” determine the aesthetic character of the surroundings, force all buildings to be a common artistic design,and even restrict the type of people allowed to move freely through the space. The public spaces in this country are currently under attack. Those who advocate for the “taming” of the Venice neighborhood and its boardwalk should be cautious. Venice is known for its creativity and ingenuity. This is not accidental. The fact that so many people of different backgrounds and lifestyles settled in one place might have been spontaneous. But, diversity breeds creativity! Individuals require stimulation in order to develop new ideas and new concepts. People need their own ideas to be called into question and their own ways of life to be challenged. It is by understanding another person's point of view that people can grow spiritually and intellectually. We need to contradict our old beliefs, and absorb and incorporate new ones. The way to new ideas is through synthesizing old and new, integrating not isolating. The capacity to create is not an isolated experience, but something that happens because other people are willing to challenge you. Spontaneity brings in the diversity that fuels this process. Maintaining the public character of the boardwalk enhances this spontaneous character. It invites people into the space as opposed to shutting them out. Those who want to “tame” Venice Beach should realize that they doing more than lessening the noise: They are putting forth a threat that goes well beyond their own imaginations. Stop Press: New LAMC 42.15
by Therese Dietlin
Are You Ready to Be Bugged and Tortured By George W. Bush? By Harvey Wasserman It's
not really terrorists George W. Bush wants to bug and torture. It's
YOU. It's not really terrorism he wants to fight. It's opposition
from people he can't control. It's not really US security he
wants to protect. It's the power of his regime.
The
Constitutional debate about whether these executive privileges are
allowable in war is a smoke screen. This isn't about war: It's
about dictatorship. It's about making power permanent by using private
information against you, and by terrifying you with torture. Team
Bush believes it rules by Divine right. It has already re-defined
"terrorist" to mean anyone who questions its power. It will use
"anti-terrorist" wiretapping as a tool against anyone who dares oppose
it.
Computer Chips Get Under Skin of EnthusiastsAll serious indicators show that "information" extracted by torture is virtually worthless in fighting terrorism. So is the information taken from wiretapping huge numbers of people, which Bush has been doing since before 9/11. So ask yourself: if granted the power to torture, do you trust the Bush Administration---or any regime- - to refrain from torturing its political opponents? If granted the power to record private phone conversations, do you trust Karl Rove to not use this material against his political opponents? Who will Bush go after first? Al Queda or the Quakers? Bin Laden or Cindy Sheehan? If Bush gets away with this, then it's simple: if you are too outspoken in opposing this regime's destruction of social security, or the natural environment, or the economy, you will sooner or later be subject to torture. If Bush's phone buggers pick up information or statements taken out of context that can incriminate or make you look bad, Rove will not hesitate to leak them to FOX and use them for partisan purposes. The Constitution of the United States is absolutely clear about banning these abuses. The patriotic Americans who demanded the Bill of Rights knew these powers must be outlawed to retain any hope of preserving our freedom and democracy. That's why they did so, clearly and explicitly. Those who support giving Bush these powers are undoubtedly ready and willing to be tortured and bugged themselves. As for the rest of us, there can be no compromise with tyranny. © Harry Wasserman http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0119-22.htm By Jamie McGeever NEW YORK (Reuters) - Forgetting computer passwords is an everyday source of frustration, but a solution may literally be at hand -- in the form of computer chip implants. With a wave of his hand, Amal Graafstra, a 29-year-old entrepreneur based in Vancouver, Canada, opens his front door. With another, he logs onto his computer.Tiny radio frequency identification (RFID) computer chips inserted into Graafstra's hands make it all possible. "I just don't want to be without access to the things that I need to get access to. In the worst case scenario, if I'm in the alley naked, I want to still be able to get in (my house)," Graafstra said in an interview in New York, where he is promoting the technology. "RFID is for me."  This label, reading "Checkpoint Systems RFID", was sewn into a Champion athletic wear jacket on display at the Checkpoint exhibit. Champion is owned by Sarah Lee Corporation, one of the earliest companies to invest in the development of EPC/RFID technology. http://www.spychips.com/ The computer chips, which cost about $2, interact with a device installed in computers and other electronics. The chips are activated when they come within 3 inches of a so-called reader, which scans the data on the chips. The "reader" devices are available for as little as $50. Information about where to buy the chips and readers is available online at the "tagged" forum, (http://tagged.kaos.gen.nz/) where enthusiasts of the technology chat and share information. Graafstra said at least 20 of his tech-savvy pals have RFID implants. "I can't feel it at all. It doesn't impede me. It doesn't hurt at all. I almost can't tell it's there," agreed Jennifer Tomblin, a 23-year-old marketing student and Graafstra's girlfriend. 'ABRACADABRA' Mikey Sklar, a 28-year-old Brooklyn resident, said, "It does give you some sort of power of 'Abracadabra,' of making doors open and passwords enter just by a wave of your hand." The RFID chip in Sklar's hand, which is smaller than a grain of rice and can last up to 100 years, was injected by a surgeon in Los Angeles. Tattoo artists and veterinarians also could insert the chips into people, he said. For years, veterinarians have been injecting similar chips into pets so the animals can be returned to their owners if they are lost. Graafstra was drawn to RFID tagging to make life easier in this technological age, but Sklar said he was more intrigued by the technology's potential in a broader sense. In the future, technological advances will allow people to store, transmit and access encrypted personal information in an increasing number of wireless ways, Sklar said. Wary of privacy issues, Sklar said he is developing a fabric "shield" to protect such chips from being read by strangers seeking to steal personal information or identities. One advantage of the RFID chip, Graafstra said, is that it cannot get lost or stolen. And the chip can always be removed from a person's body. "It's kind of a gadget thing, and it's not so impressive to have it on your key chain as it is to have it in you," Sklar said. "But it's not for everyone." Sklar's girlfriend, Wendy Tremayne, has yet to be convinced. She said she probably would not inject the computer chip into her body unless she thought it was a "necessity." "If it becomes more convenient, I may," said the 38-year-old artist and yoga teacher. "(But) I'd rather have an organic life." © Jamie McGeever THE BENEDICT
ARNOLDS by Toneey Acevedo Those who may think they are helping have another think coming. As you may think that you are helping get rid of others, you are helping get rid of yourself. Remember the Massage People on the boardwalk? A certain illegal alien provided information to the city attorney on how to get rid of the massage people. This person was a Henna person who thought that getting rid of the massage people would solve the space problems. The funny thing is that this person was an illegal alien who created a false marriage to an American and a false Dwelling place. Yes, there were many massage people on the boardwalk and they were being illegally imported and set up for business by other illegal aliens, but instead of the city addressing the legitimate problem of illegal aliens doing business on public land, and doing their jobs, they eliminated every massage person, including the Americans who depended on the boardwalk for survival and had established their right to be there. So something that tourists and residents came to enjoy no longer exists. It is gone forever. And then, after most of the commercial retail was eliminated on the west side of the boardwalk, a certain person went and negotiated with one of the city attorneys, saying, “Hey, if I put a cross on a piece of Jewelry, It becomes Religious.” The funny thing is that the person is Jewish and used to have six or seven Jewelry stands on the boardwalk (in the free expression zone) and was doing very well. When he returned, he came with junk jewelry with crosses. He no longer works on the boardwalk. This was the real problem: the city attorney and the police fell into the trap of allowing anything to be sold under the guise of religion. Then came the Developers who are going to develop this beach no matter what. They tried to eliminate us by forcing us into a lottery system and a lot of the business owners on the east side were jumping for joy because they thought they would prosper by getting rid of the west side vendors/expressionists. They seemed to forget that at one time we were eliminated and it didn't take them long to beg us to come back because the tourist trade had died drastically. And here's the kicker: they didn't realize that by helping in the production of a lottery system they shot themselves in the foot because the city didn't questions what was to be sold; they just issued permits to sell goods and wares. So what happened? Most of the renters moved from the east side to the west side, and the merchants' businesses are suffering drastically, particularly in a failing economy that our president (sic) claims to be so wonderful. “I suppose when your pay is paid by tax payers, it is wonderful.” Anyway, to the business owners on the east side who were so glad to get the lottery system and didn't want to believe that is was just a ploy to get rid of them once the west side was gone, consider this. The Property Owners have taken a new system of attack. They are now raising your rents and putting you out of business. You are barely making it now. How long will you be able to hang onto a business that is not even breaking even? The South Beach Cafe, which served the most reasonably price food on the beach, has closed its doors. How long do the rest of you think you will last? Remember this: “AS YOU
ELIMINATE ME, SO TOO WILL YOU BE ELIMINATED.” © Toneey Acevedo, Actor, Artist, Activist |
THE VOICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE January 20, 2006:
“Yet again, our grossly incompetent CIA, in conjunction with the
prevaricating manipulators in the White House, have produced another
faked “bin Ladin tape” threatening to attack the United
States but “offering a truce.” The
CIA has produced at least ten “original terrorist” tapes in
the past three years. A man named Morton Weil, working for the CIA out
of Waco, Texas, puts these together using someone fluent in Arabic. The
documents are produced in Langley, sent to the NSC for vetting and, if
approved as written, sent by courier to Waco, Texas where they are
translated (from the English) into Arabic and then recorded by a
person, as yet unnamed, fluent in that language.
I lunch twice a week with an Arab diplomat who, obviously, is an educated man and fluent in his native tongue. He not only knew bin Laden but has heard him speak a number of times. His opinion? Fake. His reasoning? Bush is presently doing so badly in the domestic (and foreign) opinion polls, yet did so well as “The Great Protector of America” after 911, that he seeks to recapture his permanently lost glory by first posing a threat to the US and then stepping forward again, shield and sword in hand, to defend the American people against foreign (and non-Christian) terrorists. He and Rove feel that his poll numbers will rise once again. The problem is that very few people believe these rigged and seemingly never-consummated terrorist “warnings” and so once again, the boy cried “Wolf” in vain. I also know someone on the NSC and they told me this morning that they really wished the CIA would be a little more accomplished in their fakes. His reasoning? It has been known, officially, that bin Laden died of kidney failure in a Pakistani hospital in August of 2002 and obviously isn’t making any tapes now. A live bin Laden, however, is a good boogey-man with which to terrify the American public into slavishly believing our government is trying to protect them. Secondly, there is no reference to the Koran in the message, something always found in original, period, bin Laden announcements. Thirdly, the fake bin Laden does not make any references, as original messages have, to past Western atrocities against Muslims and, finally, the tape is far too short. What is this source’s reasoning? That the CIA’s blunder in killing 17-25 perfectly innocent Pakistani civilians in a badly botched rocket attack against a bin Laden supporter has caused an uproar in Pakistan, (and elsewhere) an ally, albeit a very dicey one. First, the CIA “revealed,” through paid Pakistani stooges, that “many top terrorists” were killed in the attack although the sole victims were women and children and two sets of grandparents. Their logic is that while the intended target was “mysteriously absent” at the time of the attack, the slaughter of the innocents was justified because “many top terrorists” were eradicated. Typical high-level bald-faced lies. This
latest taped fake is designed both to give Bush increased stature to a
disbelieving American public and to justify any future actions against
more generally completely innocent civilians. The Bush
Administration is drawing an enormous bill that is going to have to be
paid by the American people, hopefully for the criminals, long after
they are out of office and living in tax-payer supported safe
(and non-extraditable) retirement in the south of France or
Tahiti. Something needs to be done about all of this murderous
corruption. When Patrick Henry, addressing the Virginia House of
Burgesses, made a negative reference to their King George, some stooge
shouted “Treason!” at him. His reply, and one we all
ought to contemplate? “If this be treason, Sir, why,
make the most of it!"
NYC Street Festival
New York City: A.R.T.I.S.T by Robert Lederman
IMPORTANT ruling on what can be sold as "art"A very significant new Federal appeals court ruling has been handed down this week (1/5/06) limiting what is to be considered “art” for purposes of street vending in NYC. (Venice Boardwalk too? Ed.) Below I will very briefly outline the key facts and history behind this 49 page ruling. You can read the entire text of it at our website (see link and NY Times article below). I urge you to get the facts straight about this ruling so that false rumors about it do not cause a panic among artists and vendors. You can find the entire text of all the rulings described below at our website. I’ve written this brief description so you can quickly get a handle on the complex legal issues involved. Background: In 1994 members of ARTIST filed four Federal lawsuits concerning the NYC vending law requirement that artists have a license in order to sell their art on the street. The two main lawsuits, Lederman et al v City of NY and Bery et al v City of NY were consolidated by the court in 1995 and are collectively referred to in legal documents today as Bery. All the plaintiffs in all these cases were ARTIST members. Courts frequently consolidate cases that have identical or very similar claims and for convenience use the name of one plaintiff as the consolidated cases title. In 1996 all the artists won, overturning the license requirement. In 1997 the City lost its appeal to the US Supreme Court. Since then, artists have not needed any license on the streets of NYC. In 1998 ARTIST members filed two more lawsuits against the City seeking to overturn a permit requirement in NYC Parks as applied to artists selling works of art. These lawsuits, Lederman et al v Giuliani and Bach et al v City of NY, were also consolidated by the court and are known today as Lederman et al v Giuliani. The artists won in 2001. The City subsequently lost all its appeals. Since then artists can sell in any NYC park without a permit. The rulings in the lawsuits described above used the somewhat antiquated terms “paintings, prints, sculptures and photographs” to describe protected art that could be sold without a license or permit. However, the rulings did not limit protected mediums to those four, noting that future court decisions would determine what other forms of art might be considered “protected” under First Amendment freedom of speech. Since then ARTIST members have convinced the City to accept DVDs, CDs, political tee shirts and some other types of art as protected. It is very important to note that ARTIST – unlike many other artist advocacy groups - has never ruled out all crafts, pottery, jewelry or hand painted clothing as being deserving of First Amendment protection. We believe that expression is not medium-based but idea-based. Some of the items in these categories may be worthy of protection and others may not. It’s also important to note that the ARTIST rulings never claimed that “making it yourself” or “making it by hand” was the basis for being protected. Only the expressive content was to be considered. As a result of these court victories many craftspeople making pottery, jewelry or hand painted clothing (among other mediums) have been able to unofficially bypass the license requirement. Sometimes they are allowed to sell and other times, under pressure from landlord and business groups, they are given summonses by the police. Since our original court ruling in 1996 the City has aggressively sought to limit the definition of what is art so as to limit the number of street artists and art vendors. PRESENT CASE: A graffiti artist who sold hand painted hats on Broadway received summonses and was arrested in July 2003 for unlicensed vending. A lawyer and so-called vendor advocate, Sean Basinski, whose group - The Street Vendor Project - was the only vendor group in NYC that enthusiastically supported a license requirement for artists (Intro #621 which was defeated by our advocacy in 2005) took the graffiti artists’ case. The court initially ruled in favor of the graffiti artist, finding his works to be First Amendment protected under the ARTIST rulings. The City appealed to a higher court and has now won. Basinski has been a longtime opponent of ARTIST and works very closely with NYC officials to limit our rights, impose a license on us etc. Consider the conflict of interest here...A lawyer files a case trying to overturn a license requirement for “artists” at the same time he’s lobbying City officials to re-impose a previously overturned license on artists! RESULT: We can expect the City to aggressively use this new ruling to justify summonsing and arresting many crafts people, painted clothing vendors and jewelry vendors on the streets and in Parks. This ruling should NOT directly affect artists or art vendors selling paintings, prints, photographs, sculptures DVDS etc. HOWEVER, based on the City’s history of deliberately misapplying the law we can also expect that some police and Parks officials will attempt to enforce this against people it clearly does NOT apply to. Have your video camera ready if you want to be protected from police harassment. We can also expect that as soon as a new vending law is proposed in 2006 seeking to limit artists’ rights on the streets and in Parks that this ruling will be a key factor in it. FUTURE EFFECT: Some street artists will undoubtedly be very pleased with this new ruling thinking that by eliminating some of their competition the City is doing them a big favor. I’d suggest that you curb your enthusiasm. The City can be expected to use this ruling to justify a very difficult certification process to determine who is or is not an artist and what is or is not art. This will then be used to create a new permit or license requirement for artists, most likely limiting the total number of street artists to a fraction of the present population. The demand for these permits will then be used to justify selling the right to the highest bidder, thereby eliminating you from the street. To give just one example of how this would work, last year the artist Christo paid the City three million dollars for the right to display his art in Central Park. Corporate interests will get control of all art vending in the City under this scenario. I predict that in 2006 this new ruling will be used to spearhead a full frontal attack on all NYC street artists’ First Amendment rights. © Robert Lederman
Alert! Alert! Alert! By Therese Dietlin
THE BIRDS
In honor of Miracle, the pigeon that was born in our
little camper house. We had raised her
mother an daunt from little orphaned chick.
Now she is gone. There is a man who fed, lured and trapped two thirds of the pigeons in the Rose Avenue parking lot, all because he didn't want pigeon shit on his tile roof (which pigeons happen to love). Only God knows what the fate of these pigeons was. These pigeons are OUR pigeons. The ones our children play with, the ones we feed, the ones who help our spirits take flight. Those of us who feed them take care of them when they are sick,and try to take the insurmountable string off their crippled feet, are sickened by these people's cruelty. What arrogance does a man have who thinks he can get rid of all the pigeons by the sea? I went to Venice, Italy, to visit the home of my ancestors,
and the most spectacular tourist attraction was that of the pigeons. No art, statue, building or historical
monument measured up to the sight of all the pigeons coating the people, young
and old, from head to toe, in San Marcos
Square. It is a felony to harm the wildlife in a state park. Let's stop this pigeon hunter and his
financier. He drives a white truck and
his license plate number is 7X53432.
Call the Venice police and
demand he be stopped. Thank you, all those of you who love our little earthly
angels.
© Diane Butler
The Truth Shall Set You Free by I.M.LOVE
The Calamity: What is the calamity? In the English language, according to Webster's Dictionary, the calamity means a state of deep distress or misery cause by major misfortune or loss or a great event marked by great loss and lasting distress and affliction. Such calamity is now prevailing in America. We do not have to ask anyone whether or not this is
true. We see it with our own eyes and
hear with our own ears. We see raping of girls and women, robbery and thieving going on every second of the day and night. There are great storms and adverse conditions – earth tremors and hailstorms, their signs in the Heaven being displayed in the earth on on the sea. We are witnessing unusual love or dislike of children
by mothers and fathers and the
destruction of the process of childbirth. Also, starvation and introduction of poison drugs, which is
practiced upon those who are free and those who are bound. Calamity! Calamity! Calamity! In this America, no secret can remain hidden. © I.M. LOVE
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