YORK BLVD.

YORK BLVD. Republican Presidential Endorsement

Ξ January 31st, 2008 | → 5 Comments | ∇ Beyond Northeast |

A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement […] This is the sum of good government. – Thomas Jefferson
With the presidential races shedding the fat of the also-rans, Yorkblvd has decided to throw our considerable political clout (2 votes and limited disposable income) behind a presidential candidate from each party. With last night’s travesty of a Republican debate (which really should have been named the McCain/Romney debate as the other invitees were barely addressed in the 90 minute program), we present our GOP endorsement for president: Texas Congressman Ron Paul.

The time has come to limit the ever expanding scope of the Federal Government. Our Bill of Rights was crafted to protect individuals from the abuses of government, and while I don’t subscribe to any Orwellian conspiracies, this country has taken an alarmingly blithe attitude towards rule of law lately. The executive branch feels free to flaunt Congress and the courts, Habeas Corpus is being suspended in the American Judicial System, the government can tap your phone without a warrant, and still, Washington thinks it knows best how to govern 50 diverse states spanning seven time zones. See, for example, California’s (and ten other states’) legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Despite California voters’ wishes, the Federal Government maintains its costly and ineffective war on drugs by raiding these clinics and prosecuting their owners. Or, examine the on again off again debate on gay marriage. Washington is actually considering amending the constitution to ban two men from marrying each other. Wasn’t this document drafted to decide more important issues than sexuality? If Wyoming wants to ban gay marriage, Massachusetts wants it legal, and California wants it somewhere in-between, what’s the problem? Why should the moral compass of constituents in Arkansas and Oklahoma define Hawaiian’s relationships?

These two issues are merely microcosms of a Federal Government that finds it necessary to cast a wide net of legislation across a country they have clearly lost touch with, and what frightens me is that while the candidates are crawling over themselves to claim the mantle of the next Ronald Reagan, neither Romney, McCain, nor Huckabee seem willing to diminish the power of the federal government, the hallmark of what people loved about Reagan. Instead, the candidates argue the details of how to best wield the government’s power to meet their own social and ideological goals. Congressman Paul is the only man willing to take office and relinquish the broad executive power that has been so abused over the last 7 years. The man wants to dissolve the Department of Education not because he hates children, but because he believes that education is best decided on a more local (state) level. Ask a public school teacher how well “No Child Left Behind” has worked and you should have an accurate barometer of the inefficiencies of the Federal Government.
Still, the foremost reason we are endorsing Congressman Paul is because his belief is simple: You know how to run your life and spend your money better than bureaucrats in Washington. If you want to donate to a $398 million Alaskan “Bridge to Nowhere” (or any one of countless other fiscal horror stories to emerge almost daily from inside the beltway) you are free to do so. Paul just wouldn’t use the IRS to threaten you with imprisonment if you don’t. Foreign governments (the Chinese foremost among them) hold the mortgage to our country and still, the party that used to represent fiscal sanity is only using its executive veto power now that Democrats are passing spending bills.

As for the old scare tactic aimed towards outside candidates and 3rd parties of “throwing away your vote”, keep in mind that our congressional district is overwhelmingly democratic. In a closed primary, in a state where the delegates are awarded by congressional district, in a district with a limited number of registered republicans, every vote counts. If you agree with Thomas Paine’s famous edict, “That government is best which governs least”, Ron Paul remains the only candidate sure to reign in a dangerously overbearing Washington D.C.

http://www.ronpaul2008.com

If the embeded file below fails to load, view Ron Paul’s Google Candidates Series Interview at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCM_wQy4YVg

Does Highland Park’s S**t Stink?

Ξ January 25th, 2008 | → 2 Comments | ∇ 90041, 90042, Drinks, Highland Park, Night Life, Press |

According to the LA Times, the Angelenos in this part of the city don’t think so.  Read the attached story and send us your thoughts.

http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/theguide/la-gd-nightcol24jan24,1,1936553.story

I’ve never experienced this phenomenon, but then again, I might be one of those self-indulgent yuppies the Times (in all it’s countercultural glory) pans as not only narcissistic, but also disgusted by the handicapped.  Now in the spirit of full disclosure, I do write for a website dedicated to the neighborhood, which probably lumps me in as part of the problem.  (I don’t think Norwalk has much of a neighblog scene.)  I also own property, which means in behooves me financially (but would be disgusting in reality) if a Starbucks and Pinkberry open up on all even avenue intersections of Figueroa.  Still, part of the experience I have enjoyed in this part of town is a relative lack of anonymity.  I see the same people at the dogpark, run into old college friends when I’m not expecting it, and frequently resume conversations with the same people at the York or Antigua.  Plus, why the longing for The Wild Hare?  I miss it about as much as I miss Toppers in Eagle Rock.  They both hold some fond memories for me but their new incarnations improve on what I want in a bar in almost every way.  What do you think?  Is Highland Park getting (as my grandma would say) “Too big for its britches”, or should the LA Times stick to its above the fold coverage of celebrity DUIs?  I don’t mean to be nasty, but coming between me and my 1903 is like walking between a mother bear and her cub…dangerous.

Mural Reclamation at Piedmont and Fig

Ξ January 18th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Highland Park |

In the vein of my previous article on graffiti in Northeast Los Angeles, I was curious when I saw a new mural going up on the corner of Piedmont and Figueroa next to the Arroyo Seco Library. Painted by local artist Raul Baltazar, the mural was originally intended to honor those who marched against 1994’s Proposition 187.

Baltazar is also famous, at least in my circle of friends, for the grotesque characters painted on the walls of Tacos La Estrella. Over the past year however, the Prop 187 mural has been increasingly obscured by tagging. I’ve filled out more than a few graffiti removal requests online but retouching a mural probably isn’t something we want the city having DUI offenders do to fulfill community service hours. Based on this picture, it looks as though some changes had been made to the original mural before the most recent group of taggers completely choked the images out:

If JET and his buddies read this please feel free to punch yourselves in the groin repeatedly. Why someone would feel painting over a commissioned work of public art is beyond me. As much as I hate the defacement of public and private property, I can marginally understand (and occasionally appreciate) graffiti that finds itself onto impossible surfaces. Covering a work of art that took someone else a significant amount of time and effort is akin to coming into my home, ripping out the closet I just installed, and kicking my dog on the way out.

Naturally, I was curious to see last weekend a man on a ladder painting over the graffiti with what looks to be the beginnings of a new mural. I’m not sure if Baltazar is reclaiming the space or if it’s someone else, but if anyone has any info, I’d love to hear about it.