OpEd: Our Broken Constitution

Sandford Levinson published an op-ed about our broken constitution in Monday's Los Angeles Times.

"To believe that our Constitution is perfect," the Texas law professor wrote, "-- or even truly adequate to the world we live in — is equivalent to believing that it is safe to continue driving a car with bad brakes and dangerously worn tires. Even if we have been able to make trips safely in the past, we are criminally negligent in believing that we can continue to do so.

"... it is extraordinarily difficult to amend the U.S. Constitution. A mere 13 legislative houses in separate states can block an amendment supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans....This does not free us, though, from the duty to reflect on the adequacy of the Constitution and to take measures to lessen the unacceptable risks that it poses to 'government of the people, by the people, and for the people'."

The Framers left a lot unfinished, not all of it completed by the conclusion of the bloodiest civil war in history. Even if reform does not always succeed, having serious debates -- on, say, clarifying the Second Amendment's muddy language on gun possession or about ridding the document of such ridiculously antiquated and undemocratic institutions as the Electoral College and the U.S. Senate -- would go a long way toward making our practical democracy more functional.

Our Broken Constitution by Prof. Sanford Levinson in the L.A. Times.

When you vote...: Iraqi Dead May Total 600,000+

When you vote, keep in mind that a team of American and Iraqi public health researchers has estimated that more than 600,000 civilians have died in violence across Iraq since the 2003 American invasion, although the number is an estimate, not a precise count, and researchers acknowledge a margin of error that ranges from 426,369 to 793,663 deaths. (NYTimes). Or the civilian body count may be as "low" as 49,000. (Iraqi Body Count). 600,000 or 50,000 (and counting), either is a measure of the tragic human toll of the Republican Party adventure in Iraq. The gap between the estimates is itself evidence of the chaos Bush and his congressional allies have created in the Middle East.

For an analysis of the reasons behind the discrepancy between the two estimates, read Michael Thieren's Deaths in Iraq: how many, and why it matters at openDemocracy.

When You Vote...: Stems cells 'slow nerve disease'

When you vote, keep in mind that stem cells show potential for treating the debilitating nerve condition, motor neurone disease. A US team found injecting rats with stem cells delayed the onset of MND, the illness that is slowly killing Stephen Hawking. The rest of the story: BBC News.

Resource: Good Jobs First

"Good Jobs First is a national policy resource center for grassroots groups and public officials, promoting corporate and government accountability in economic development and smart growth for working families. We provide timely, accurate information on best practices in state and local job subsidies, and on the many ties between smart growth and good jobs. Good Jobs First works with a very broad spectrum of organizations, providing research, training, communications and consulting assistance.

"The Corporate Research Project, an affiliate of Good Jobs First, assists community, environmental and labor organizations in researching and analyzing companies and industries. The Project is designed to be a resource to aid activism. Consequently, our focus is on strategic research, i.e., identifying the information activists can use as leverage to get business to behave in a socially responsible manner.

"Good Jobs First-Illinois, our partnership project with the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, was created in 2001 in response to the state's long history of subsidy abuse and its rich history of subsidy reform efforts. Its work contributed to the Prairie State's adoption of a pathbreaking disclosure and accountability law in 2003.

"Good Jobs New York, our partnership project with the Fiscal Policy Institute, promotes policies that hold government officials and corporations accountable to taxpayers, particularly when economic development agencies give expensive subsidies to large corporations that threaten to leave New York City. Since the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, GJNY has also tracked rebuilding dollars, documenting that most federal resources have benefited big businesses, not community priorities such as job creation or affordable housing." -- from the website. <http://www.goodjobsfirst.org>

New World Order: ReallyReady.org

ReallyReady.org, a comprehensive emergency preparedness website that addresses the inaccuracies and incomplete information on Ready.gov., the Department of Homeland Security’s readiness site. ReallyReady was developed in two months by Federation of American Scientists intern Emily Hesaltine for, as they put it, the price of a domain name. In comparison, it took millions of dollars and over five months to create Ready.gov. A thorough analysis of Ready.gov on the FAS site critiques the inaccurate information, generic advice, unnecessarily lengthy descriptions, and repetitive data found on the Homeland Security site.
Ready.gov: <http://www.ready.gov/>
ReallyReady: <http://www.reallyready.org/>

The I Word: Bush Impeachment - Possible? Desirable?

Re: True Majority's petition vs "ABC's Upcoming 9/11 Propaganda Film"

Not a few of us on the Left, it appears, have decided to pursue the same kind of prior censorship based on rumor and innuendo that is routinely engaged in by the Right. Perhaps I'd be more offended by ABC's alleged dishonesty and partisanship in its fictional account (if fictional it is: I have no idea, having seen it no more than anyone else accusing it of bias) of the run-up to 9-11, if it was a surprise -- ABC? making up stuff to discredit Clinton and the Democrats? imagine that -- but I do expect more of progressives. So don't count this as a vote in favor of trying to shut down ABC's propaganda machine; it's a free country, still, despite the best efforts of the ABCs, Murdochs, and their sorry political cohort to make it otherwise (plus, it's worth keeping in mind, to brighten the darkest hours of our paranoia, that the Right thinks the networks, including ABC, are in league with Al Franken, Hugo Chavez, and Satan). If the series is as biased as it is said to be, it's ABC's credibility that will suffer. The American people are willing to put up with a lot of crap from the media barons, but using an iconic national tragedy for partisan advantage, the network may come to find, is probably not included in the pass. In any event, it is never the Left that benefits from a narrowing of the field of debate.

Keeping Up: Daily California Political News

Frank Russo's California Progress Report -- "The Daily Briefing for Politics, Policy and Progressive Action" -- intends to be the "water cooler around which California progressives and other thoughtful Californians can gather -- to check in with each other and share information and points of view or to follow the news and the pulse of state politics and policy in more detail." You'll get more news in the headline on today's issue, "California Senate Passes Universal Single Payer Health Bill, Assembly Passes Minimum Wage Increase and Send Them to Governor; Flood Bill is Alive and Will Be Voted on; Prison Bills to Be Voted on Last in Assembly—Intense Labor Opposition," than you sometimes find in a whole issue of the L.A. Times.
California Progress Report: http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/

Political Activism: Here's one plan aimed at November

This is from the People's Email Network:

Who's got a plan for winning in November?

Here's the plan. We are setting up virtual phone banks all over the country to call our neighbors and friends to let them know there are candidates out there fighting for them on the issues they care about now. And all we're asking our participants to do is make 10 calls a week, just 10 calls a week in your spare time.

And if we just do that, each of us, in the next 4 months we can build the most ferocious ground game ever witnessed in the history of American politics.

Each of our candidates is featuring a progressive issue we believe will resonate with their constituents, with an action page on their on web site as evidence that they taking a stand on this issue now. Just pick a phone bank for an issue you care about, log in, and you can start making calls immediately.

You will need a Blades of Grass password to participate. If you don't already have one first go to: http://www.usalone.com/bladesofgrass.htm

and your password will be good at all the Virtual Phone Banks so you can help out anywhere you are needed. Here are the first two virtual phone banks in business now.

Jeff Latas (AZ-08):
Action: Support the Murtha Plan to bring our troops home from Iraq.
Virtual Phone Bank: http://www.jefflatas.com/

Veronica Hambacker (MO-08):
Action: Revisit NAFTA/CAFTA and amend them to be FAIR, not FREE, trade agreements.
Virtual Phone Bank: http://www.hambackerforuscongress.com/

Once you log in to the virtual phone bank of your choice, you will find a simple script for you ready to use, easy instructions, thumbnail snapshots of the candidate's positions on other issues, there is even a live chat function where you can get INSTANT live help and coaching while you are making the calls.

We get many emails from people saying they wish they could do something, but they don't know how they can really help. This is it folks. This is our big move. It's up to us now. We have four months to build unstoppable momentum. But only if each of us does something between now and November 7th to Get out there and mobilize!!

If you need any help at all, logging in, password help, email us. We are on duty all waking hours. We are here to help you and make you a success. Accept that help and we will win.

Please take action now, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours.

To signup for alerts like this go to http://www.usalone.com/in.htm

For no more or to change, go to http://www.usalone.com/out.htm

Community: Santa Monica Resident Portal

"This is your one-stop 'portal' for access to other Santa Monica residents. Together we are working to identify the concerns of residents and to work with our neighbors and our City Council to resolve our concerns with resident-friendly solutions. Why? Because we live here." -- from the website. <http://sm4residents.net/>

The War in Iraq: "I was wrong" -- John Edwards

Former senator and veep-candidate John Edwards said Thursday he made a mistake in 2002 when he voted to back President Bush's attack of Iraq. "I voted for this war. I was wrong," Edwards told a crowd of about 300 people gathered outside the Yale University School of Medicine. "I should not have voted for this war and I take responsibility for that."

Hilary? John? Joe?

Education: School reform in L.A.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has been leading an effort to reform the area's public schools, has lanched a website, Excellence in LA Schools, where you can learn more about the current problems facing the LAUSD and get involved with the grassroots campaign to improve L.A.'s schools. For a copy of the mayor's plan for the schools, get this pdf file.
<http://www.excellenceinlaschools.com/>

Environment: Changing Climate Threatens to Disrupt Agriculture

Melting ice caps, dead coral and flooded coastal cities may get the press, but global warming will also cause spectacular dislocations in agriculture, although according to a study by the AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies the overall effect nationally could be an increase in productivity worth $1.1 billion a year. If their analysis is correct, however, the economies of some states will take major hits, with the biggest losers being Colorado (a debit in the agricultural sector of $610 million a year), Oklahoma ($-580 million), and California, which stands to lose a staggering $2.4 billion dollars in annual revenue from agriculture.

If you get a chance to buy stock in Soylent Green, do it now.

In fact, this might be the right time to introduce Soylent Green as a product, so the marketplace will be ready for it when the time comes. Frank Perdue or his ilk could probably come up with something from the seeds and stems left behind by that industry's production methods. Like anything else, it's all in the marketing: "Made from chicken. Tastes like people."

The Economic Impacts of Climate Change: Evidence from Agricultural Output and Random Fluctuations in Weather(pdf).

Transportation: 3rd St. and Ocean Park Blvd.Threat or Menace?

You could go down to the intersection of Third Street and Ocean Park Boulevard to have a good laugh, but you'd be taking your life in your hands. Although there are lights at Sixth Street and Main Street, in between there are no other impediments to drivers who rocket through an area packed with strollers, dog walkers, beachgoers and bicyclists. Added to the danger from excessive speed are the design flaws that make both sides of the intersection unnecessarily dangerous.

On the north side of the street, the prohibition against left turns on to Ocean Park is routinely ignored by drivers who use the cross walk to get around a barrier intended to channel them into right turns only. In addition, the drivers shooting out of the Fourth Street underpass often don't see the cars merging from the Third Street/Fourth Street ramp until they're on top of them. Add the drivers who cross westbound traffic from the access road to a left hand turn onto Second; the cross traffic and left hand turns off of Second; the pedestrians, the beachgoers who have parked in the neighborhood (outsiders unfamiliar with local hazards), the joggers and the bicyclists coming out of the tunnel, and you have a recipe for disaster that would be impressive if it weren't overshadowed by the stew of problems on the south side of the intersection.

Here the difficulty is less the speed of the cars accelerating up from the light at Main Street, although this is certainly excessive, than confusion generated by too many choices presented in too little time. Ocean Park Boulevard is intersected or obstructed by right and left hand turns from Third Street, by the turn onto the access ramp to Fourth Street, by the bike path and by a crosswalk.

Coming north on Third, some drivers, at least those not from the neighborhood, get confused by the three right turns offered at the intersection. Many, making the wide turn onto the ramp or turning onto Ocean Park, are startled to see a vehicle hurtling at them from the direction of the beach. Travelers going east seem equally non-plussed to find another street -- predictably blocked by a confused outsider, inhibiting access to the exit to Fourth. Meanwhile, the bike path shifts radically at the intersection to accommodate the narrower roadbed under the bridge, leaving the eastbound Dale Earnhardts and the bike riders both dangerously uncertain about where the bikes should be. And Ocean Park Boulevard is fairly wide here, with no stop signs, so pedestrians take their chances when trying to cross.

Solutions: Stop signs on Ocean Park Boulevard in both directions.

While the westbound traffic and the ramp traffic will still have to merge, at least the drivers speeding out of the underpass will not be focused on making the light at Main.

On the north side of the intersection, beef up the barrier and extend it across the sidewalk so that vehicles can only make a right turn.

On the south side, prohibit turns from Third Street onto Ocean Park. Extend the Ocean Park bike lane through the intersection, so it is clear to both drivers and riders where the bicycles ought to be. The slowed down eastbound Ocean Park Boulevard traffic that makes the turn on to Third Street or heads up the ramp toward Fourth will now have only the cars merging onto the ramp from Third Street to contend with.

With traffic stopped by stop signs, pedestrians will be better able to cross the street without risk.

PedalPower: Tricycles for Parking Meter Readers

Imagine the benefits that would eventualize, to use a City Hall kind of word, if parking meter readers used tricycles to get around town, instead of their current pollution-generating CNG-, electric-, propane- or whatever-driven microvans. The city would set an example to its citizens, most of whom now routinely jump in the car to make short trips to the bank, to get a loaf of bread or to take a shirt to the cleaners; demonstrate a support for human-powered transportation that has been heretofore honored mostly by its absence; and reap health benefits in the form of cleaner air from zero-emissions and lowered health care claims from fitter employees.

On the City's website, aptly titled "Factoids," is the following:

"ELECTRICAL VEHICLES EMIT NO TOXIC EMISSIONS. Have you ever noticed that electric vehicles have no exhaust pipe? Think about it. No exhaust, no need for an exhaust pipe! And keep in mind that electricity is relatively inexpensive in comparison to Unleaded or Diesel fuel. We are evaluating the electric vehicles in different capacities -- you can see some of them at work at the beach and at the promenade. We have received funding for our leased electric vehicle program and are working on getting more."

While it is true, discounting for the moment the damming of free flowing rivers by hydroelectric plants and the slaughtering eagles by windmills, that it's nice that there are no emissions actually emanating from electric motors themselves, still, given the fouling of the air by burning fossil fuels and vegetable waste in the generation of electric power, it's hard to argue that electricity is emissions-free. Still, you have to admire the canniness of transferring the pollution to some other political bailiwick and managing to lay claim to all that "funding" in the process.

Resource: The Magna Carta and Its American Legacy

"'...here is a law which is above the King and which even he must not break. This reaffirmation of a supreme law and its expression in a general charter is the great work of Magna Carta; and this alone justifies the respect in which men have held it.' -- Winston Churchill, 1956" - from the website. <http://www.archives.gov/>

Gridlock: Worst US Traffic BottlenecksWe're #1!

Of the 10 most congested traffic interchanges in the country, four are in Los Angeles County:
1. U.S. 101 at the I-405 Interchange (Los Angeles)
2. I-610 at I-10 Interchange (Houston)
3. I-90/94 at I-290 Interchange (Chicago)
4. I-10 at SR 51/SR 202 Interchange (Phoenix)
5. I-405 at I-19 Interchange (Los Angeles)
6. I-85 south of I-85 Interchange (Atlanta)
7. I-496 at I-270 Interchange (DC-Maryland-Virginia)
8. I-10 at I-5 Interchange (Los Angeles)
9. I-405 at I-605 Interchange (Los Angeles)
10.I-285 at I-85 Interchange (Atlanta)
"An Initial Assessment of Freight Bottlenecks on Highways," Cambridge Systematics, Inc.

The LAPD's Interactive Crime Statistics Map

Enter your address and a date range to bring up crime stats in your area:
<http://www.lapdonline.org/crimemap/>

Art at War: Web Comix Set in Future Echoes Reality

The year 2011: President John McCain has plummeted (we're talking about a work of speculative fiction: the real though equally unpopular president is more likely to be Lindsay Graham); the war in Iraq rages on -- don't laugh, how many years did it take to get from Tet to the roof of the US embassy in Saigon?; gasoline is $10 a gallon; and Tom Cruise and Mary-Kate Olsen have just called it quits (mainly, because it turns out it's Brad's baby -- okay, I added that). When videoblogger Jimmy Burns captures a suicide bomb blast that rocks a Brooklyn Starbucks and destroys his apartment upstairs, he's hired by maverick network Global News and sent off to Iraq. "Shooting War" is Jimmy Burns' story, an engaging web comic by author Anthony Lapp and artist Dan Goldman. Though only a half-dozen chapters of "Shooting War" have been published by SMITH magazine so far, the series has already made salient comments on such topics as the future of Iraq's warring factions, globalization, and the struggle of citizen journalism against mainstream media, and promises to be a useful tool for raising consciousness about the Iraq War among certain segments of the population.
<http://smithmag.us/shootingwar/>

California: A History and Guide to CA Flags (pdf)

Flags Over California is a history and illustrated guide from the California National Guard to the flags that have flown over the Golden State, such as the flag of the Spanish Empire, the Russian-American Company pennant, the standard of the Mexican Republic, the Fremont flag, and various versions of the bear spangled banner. The site also provides the text of laws related to the look and correct procedures for displaying the California state flag.
<http://www.calguard.ca.gov/>

New World Order: The Biometric Consortium

The Biometric Consortium, a group that provides the U.S. government with "research, development, test, evaluation, and application of biometric-based personal identification/authentication technology," aggregates information on "automated methods of recognizing a person based on a physiological or behavioral characteristics...face, fingerprints, hand geometry, handwriting, iris, retinal, vein, and voice," including publications, research, and links to other resources on the subject. <http://www.biometrics.org/>

Infrastructure: California Bay-Delta Authority Levee System Integrity

The California Bay-Delta Authority's backgrounder on the "1,600 miles of aging levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and its watershed," providing drinking water for much of the state, irrigation for Central Valley agriculture, and a habitat for many plant and animal species, discusses the state of the levees, currently so fragile that an earthquake or a heavy rain could breech them, with Katrina-like economic consequences, and describes the state government's plans to fund repair of eroding structures. <http://calwater.ca.gov/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<<< See You Later, Alligator: Johnny Grande, piano player on Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock," dead at 76. >>>

Presidential Politics: Edwards has early lead in Iowa

Well, well, well.

The Des Moines Register recently released the results of a poll of likely participants in the 2008 Democratic caucuses, and guess what? John Edwards -- not Hillary Clinton -- is the current front-runner in Iowa. Edwards took 30% to Clinton's 26% (John Kerry showed at 12% and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack was just out of the money at 10% -- and the big loser of the day for coming in fourth on his home turf; former VA governor Mark R. Warner and Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh were in single-digits). Sen. Clinton's attempt to position herself with Kerry-like inevitability for 2008 may already be showing cracks.

The rest of the story: The Des Moines Register

Immigration: Round-Up

America's Immigration Quandary: No Consensus on Immigration Problem or Proposed Fixes delivers the results of a 2006 survey that unsurprisingly found that "the public remains largely divided in its views of the overall effect of immigration." The report, prepared by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, analyzes data from a national survey of 2,000 adults and from separate surveys of an additional 800 adults in five metropolitan areas. Topics surveyed include jobs and immigration, temporary worker programs, illegal immigration, et cetera....U. of Md. prof Ron Walters calls for "a respectful Black-Latino coalition" on immigration, citing "the necessity to consider rationally the content of an agenda that will unite the potential power of both...." An Arizona congressional race is providing a test of the Republican contention that exploiting xenophobia is the way to win elections. An article in the Post, Six-Term GOP Congressman Faces a Challenge in a State Seen as Moving to the Center, says Rep. J.P.Hayworth, an immigration hawk who wrote a book on locking down the border titled Whatever It Takes, may lose to Democratic nonentity Harry Mitchell (well, he was mayor of Tempe), a candidate so low-key his advisers have to make a point of reminding voters that he really is energetic. If you feel so moved, send Harry a donation....In the spirit of know-thine-enemy, I offer you the site for the right wing Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nonprofit that "seeks to improve border security, to stop illegal immigration, and to promote immigration levels consistent with the national interest -- more traditional rates of about 300,000 a year," addressing immigration issues (including national security and its support of a plan to curtail immigration) and annotating current immigration reform legislation....The National Immigration Law Center, "dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of low income immigrants and their family members," has issue briefs, articles, and other material about "immigration, public benefits, and employment laws affecting immigrants and refugees," analysis of pending immigration reform legislation affecting such areas as guest workers, driver's licenses, and border controls; plus links to related federal and California sites....The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Statistics, "responsible for developing, analyzing, and disseminating statistical information needed to assess the effects of immigration in the United States," prepares the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, demographic profiles on legal permanent residents and naturalized citizens, population estimates, maps, and working papers and special reports....Public opinion polls and arguments for and against different aspects of U.S. immigration policy; discussions of three perspectives on immigration -- honoring commitment to newcomers or cutting back because of either security or economics; government immigration statistics; a "behind the headlines" feature; descriptions of agencies and organizations concerned with immigration; and similar resources are provided by Public Agenda, "a nonpartisan opinion research and civic engagement organization...." Finally, for teachers, The Immigration Debate in the Classroom 2006 from the SCORE (Schools of California Online Resources for Education) History/Social Science project of the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools is useful for its annotated links to classroom materials about "the highly charged national debate on the issues of immigration reform and border security," background documents, lesson plans, ideas for teaching controversial topics, and such classroom activities as debates and letter-writing.

Editorial: Wi-Fi and the Cities (New York Times 06-06-06)

No fewer than 300 cities and towns around the nation have taken wireless Internet access, or Wi-Fi, to the people. San Francisco's aim is to make the entire city a hot spot, Chicago plans to blanket the city with access, and large parts of Philadelphia are to go wireless soon. But New York, which should be leading the way, is dragging. A plan to offer free Wi-Fi access in city parks has been moving slowly, and a larger vision has yet to take shape.

Wide dissemination of Wi-Fi is not the future. It is now, needed by businesses, educators and especially the underserved populations on the wrong side of the digital divide. Rural communities have known for a while that going wireless is cheaper, more reliable and allows even the most remote areas to log in. It spares the expense of laying down extensive networks of cables, not to mention the work and time involved.

Local governments are filling a leadership void at the federal and state levels, and they are going directly to providers to negotiate Wi-Fi deals. San Francisco's mayor has turned to Earthlink and Google. Earthlink, based in Atlanta, is also helping Philadelphia. In some of these deals, lower-speed connections are free, with higher speeds available at a price. The providers also hope to make money off advertising.

Surfing the net in the parks is a modest goal for New York, where some smaller parks have already been hooked up by agreement between independent groups managing those parks and NYC Wireless, a nonprofit organization. The city needs to get moving to get the larger parks online, but it also has to get serious about wider access. The minimal goal — pressed with energy in the City Council by Gale Brewer of Manhattan — should be free or low-cost access in its densely populated, poor neighborhoods in all the boroughs. That is where cable and phone line options are out of financial reach, and where education especially suffers as a result.

New York Times Editorial

Democracy: World-Wide Elections Tracker

The Angus Reid Global Scan -- Angus Reid Consultants is a polling firm -- "monitors democratic conditions around the world, by reviewing background information, assessing the latest campaign news and events, describing trends in voting intention, and reporting on the outcome of a particular ballot." <http://www.angus-reid.com/tracker/>

The Beach: Safety for novice riders and skaters

A simple solution to the problem of where at the Santa Monica beach to learn to ride a bike or to rollerblade: The city should set aside the long, wide and unused roadway that extends alongside Barnard Way between the beach parking lots just north and just south of Ocean Park Boulevard. The area has short-term and all-day parking, and is close to two bike and skate rental stands. The designation of this area -- with signage there and elsewhere in the parking lots and along the beach walkway and the bike path -- would be especially appreciated by parents who are now forced to put their children at risk on the bike path or in the parking lots. Conveniently, it's located right next to the playground and to the snack stand, for those who have kids at different skill levels.

Politics: "Please Go Home and Tell Mr. Bush Not to Bomb Us" (reading)

Kelly Hayes-Raitt is in second place in her race for the Assembly. Staged readings of columns she wrote while in Iraq will will be presented in Pacific Palisades on Sunday. It's a great chance to evaluate the candidate first hand.

"Please Go Home and Tell Mr. Bush Not to Bomb Us"
A staged reading of Kelly Hayes-Raitt's dramatic accounts of her two trips to Iraq, will occur Sunday, May 21 at 7:30 pm at the Pacific Palisades Women's Club, 901 Haverford Avenue, Pacific Palisades.

As a member of the Santa Monica Women's Commission, Kelly Hayes-Raitt traveled to Iraq five weeks before the U.S. Pres. Bartlett endorses Kelly, too!bombings and invasion and returned in July, 2003, just weeks after "mission accomplished." She interviewed dozens of women, children and men about their lives during the first Gulf War, the regime, the economic sanctions and the horrifying "shock and awe" of this current war. Her poignant columns appeared in the Santa Monica Daily Press and are posted with her stirring photos at KellyForAssembly.com.

Kelly's columns were adapted for the stage by Emmy Award-winner and Santa Monica resident Robert Illes ("The Carol Burnett Show") and the show will be directed by Woodland Hills resident Riley Steiner (Page Bowen on "General Hospital"), who recently assisted in the directing of the critically acclaimed "What I Heard About Iraq."

Participating in the reading will be:

Julie Sanford ("Something's Gotta Give," "In Justice," "Scrubs," "Dragnet"); Susan Savage ("Boston Public," "Baywatch," "Cold Case," "Judging Amy"); *Sarah Ripard (originated the role of Kitty DeSouza in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway production of "Bombay Dreams"); Jennifer Capps ("The Lounge" Theatre in Hollywood); Hallie Cooper (from Calabasas High School and a founding member of Staged Souls, a theatre company of high school and college students).

Got Room?
Want to contribute to the campaign but are tight on time and money? Donate your hospitality! They need spare rooms to house volunteers coming to LA to help Kelly during the last 2 weeks of the campaign! Think you can help? Please call Jennifer Boschma at (310) 392-8715 for more information.

Come to a Phone Bank!
Calling for volunteers! Bring your friends and family to one of Kelly's friendly phone banks! The election is June 6, so call Heather at (310) 392-8715 to sign up today!

Santa Monica
Campaign Headquarters
2617 7th St.
Sunday 1:00pm - 8:00 pm
Monday 6:00pm - 8:00 pm
Wednesday 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Malibu
24955 PCH, Suite C-301
Wednesday 6:00pm - 8:00 pm

Oxnard
162 S. A Street
Tuesday 6:00pm - 8:00 pm
Wednesday 6:00pm - 8:00 pm
Thursday 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Kelly for Assembly: <http://kellyforassembly.com/>

Politics: "What is a Progressive?" Contest

With the radical conservative movement finally tanking, everybody and his uncle wants to be called a progressive. So the Campaign for America's Future has decided that it's time to define the term. If you had 30 seconds (roughly 100 words) to answer the question, "What is a Progressive?," what would you say? Come up with the winning essay, and you could win a trip for two to Washingto for Take Back America 2006 (June 12-14th), the year's largest gathering of, um, progressives.
Campaign for America's Future:
<http://www.ourfuture.org/>
Take Back America 2006:
<https://secure.ourfuture.org/tba06/>
Contest:
<http://www.ourfuture.org/WhatIsAProgressive/>

Access (cont.): Long promised, broadband over power lines becoming a reality

The Marketplace Morning Report on NPR this morning reported that electric companies are getting into the high-speed internet business by employing what's being called Broadband over Power Lines, or BPL: "By purchasing the right equipment power companies can quickly offer internet service to millions of new customers. There are several pilot projects being launched in the US...." Market Place Morning Report:
<http://marketplace.publicradio.org/>

Is it Democrats vs Republicansor Liberals vs Conservatives?

The sham ethics "reform" bill passed the House 217-213, with the cowardly votes of eight Blue Dog Democrats -- Barrow, Boren, Boswell, Cuellar, Marshall, Matheson, Melancon, and Taylor(MS) -- more than making the difference. Of this particular pod of Dems-We-Can-Do-Without, two, Henry Cuellar and Jim Matheson, also voted in favor the bankruptcy bill, CAFTA and the GOP energy bill. Texas hack Cuellar, "so snugly in bed with the right wing," according to the Irregular Times, "that he is the only Democrat ever to receive the endorsement of the [infamous] Club for Growth," at least got a primary challenge for his trouble, but he is now a Democratic paladin because he may survive in a district gerrymandered by Tom DeLay to favor Republican candidates (his loss would be poetic justice, though, since he won his current seat two years ago, in the first election held after the redistricting, when, in an act of betrayal, he challenged and defeated the incumbent and much more progressive Democrat, Ciro Rodriguez). If Cuellar does lose, although it may lessen the chances of a Democratic takeover of the House, his replacement by a Republican will do nothing to affect the conservative congressional majority. And that's the real target. Isn't it?

Bikes: 12th Annual California Bike Commute Week May 15-19, 2006

California Bike Commute is a project of the California Bicycle Coalition, a non profit organization that advocates increased bicycle use, access, safety and education by promoting the bicycle as an everyday means of transportation and recreation.

Various special activities have been organized locally by ride share agencies, cities, counties, employers, bicycle advocacy groups, bike shops and others who support bicycle transportation in California's communities.

Events may be planned in your area (see below), including bike tune-up clinics, morning "buddy rides," pit stops, energizing stations and noon-time rallies.

Visit the Smart Traveler website for further tips on commuting; a great source of transportation systems and related links in California sponsored by Cal Trans. A check list to help prepare for the commute is at the bottom of the Cal Bike Commute home page.

Click below for information about events in your area:

Bay Area Bike to Work Day
Los Angeles County Bike to Work Day
Modesto Bike to Work Day
Sacramento Bike Week
San Diego Regional Bike to Work Day
San Francisco Bike to Work Day
Santa Barbara County Bike Week
Santa Clarita Event info
Santa Cruz Bike to Work Day
Orange County Bike to Work Day
Ventura County Bike to Work Day

California Bicycle Coalition: http://www.calbike.org/>
California Bike Commute: <http://www.californiabikecommute.com/>

California Policy Inbox

California Policy Inbox, from the Institute of Governmental Studies Center on Politics and the Institute of Governmental Studies Library at UCBerkeley, offers "[a] quick and easy update on what's new in California public policy research," with links to reports on finance, health care, education, business, children and families, and other topics, plus connections to California public policy organizations.

Btw, as I predicted, Steve Westly is starting to pull ahead in the race for governor. And here's a note to Steve (or Phil, if he should pull it out): a new poll from the institute shows that most people think the state should spend a lot more on public education, and they know from whence the dough should come: a hike in the top bracket of the state income tax. Parenthetically, the governator’s approval rating is at 38 percent: hasta la vista, baby.

<http://inbox.berkeley.edu>

Politics: New California Online Voter Guide

From the California Voter Foundation: "The California Online Voter Guide is an award-winning clearinghouse of election information and web site links produced by the California Voter Foundation for every statewide election since 1994. Now in its 13th edition, the 2006 guide serves up nonpartisan information on the statewide propositions and all of the congressional, legislative, and statewide constitutional office candidates in this election. This voter guide will be updated throughout the election season." -- from the website. <http://calvoter.org/>

Bikes: Critical Mass' Monthly Ride

This month's ride falls on Cinco de Mayo. Critical Mass thinks it would be a good thing if we converted our polluted, congested roads into bike-friendly thoroughfares. The monthly ride through Venice and Santa Monica is conducted as a call for better cycling facilities and a protest against the car culture. Although you may have read that Critical Mass' actions have inspired police harassment in New York, here the event has been the occasion for a kind of rolling party where a good time is had by all. To join in, show up, with your bike, of course, either at 5:30 at UCLA (corner of Westwood Blvd. & Le Conte), at 6:00 p.m. at the Venice Circle (Main St. & Windward Ave.), or 6:30 at the Santa Monica Pier (Ocean Ave @ Colorado Ave.). The three groups coalesce into one critical mass at the Pier. <http://www.SantaMonicaCriticalMass.org/>

Suffolk County Plans to Offer Free Wireless Internet Access

Suffolk County is planning a wireless system to provide free access to the Internet to the 1.5 million residents who live throughout its 900 square miles. It would be one of the largest government-sponsored wireless networks in the nation.

The system would allow anyone to use computers and P.D.A. devices with wireless capabilities anywhere in the county, and would also be available to visitors, businesses, government agencies, institutions and groups. County officials hope to start installation next year. (New York Times, April 28, 2006)

The rest of the story: The New York Times

Community: The Carpe Diem Santa Monica Classic -- Sunday

Run a spectacular course, from the beach on through Main Street, to a picture-perfect finish at the Santa Monica pier. While you’re running, check out the bay – you’re helping to keep it clean for future generations. Cap the day with a massage at the Expo out on the pier, let the music from the after-party blow over you, and ponder this question: "How can they name the first year of a race a classic"?

All proceeds from the event go to Heal The Bay: <http://www.healthebay.org/>

Sunday, April 30, 2006, 7:00 – 9:30 a.m.
From 2600 Barnard Way (at Ocean Park Blvd.)

Pre-event registration: <http//www.active.com/>
Day of event registration: 6:30 -7:45 a.m.

<http://www.carpediemsmclassic.com/>

The Project on Extrajudicial Executions (NYU Law's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice)

"The Project on Extrajudicial Executions was established to provide rigorous analysis of international law protecting the right to life and to support the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Philip Alston, in carrying out his mandate. The Project is directed by William Abresch. Current areas of research include:

"-> The use and abuse of commissions of inquiry in investigating unlawful killings. Many states routinely establish commissions of inquiry when people are killed due to the acts or omissions of government agents. Sometimes these commissions lead to accountability and change, but too often they perpetuate impunity and delay institutional reform. The Project is conducting research on the proper role of commissions of inquiry in protecting the right to life.
"-> The legal limits to capital punishment. At least 154 states have adopted as a binding legal standard that the “sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes.” (Article 6(1) of the ICCPR). The Project is engaged in clarifying this standard.
"-> Transparency regarding the use of capital punishment. In a considerable number of countries information regarding the death penalty is cloaked in secrecy. This both undermines human rights safeguards and prevents any informed public debate about capital punishment within the society. The Project has supported the Special Rapporteur’s efforts to have every country that uses capital punishment undertake full and accurate reporting of all instances thereof on at least an annual basis.
"-> Regulating lethal force in armed conflicts and counter-terrorism. There are a number of legal instruments regulating the use of lethal force during armed conflicts. These include, for example, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Geneva Conventions. The range of applicable rules has sometimes led to confusion as well as to cynically legalistic attempts to place killings outside of any legal framework. The Project is analyzing how these legal regimes apply to the concrete situations in which the right to life is at risk." -- from the website. <http://www.extrajudicialexecutions.org/>

Preventive War and Its Alternatives: The Lessons of History (Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College)

"The 2002 National Security Strategy suggested preventive attacks, diplomacy, deterrence, and other policies as means of curtailing threats presented by the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons to terrorists and rogue states. The author analyzes which mix of these policies might best and most cost effectively address the NBC threat, with special focus on preventive attacks. The past performances of preventive attacks, diplomacy, deterrence, and other policies as means of curtailing the NBC threat are analyzed. The central findings are that preventive attacks are generally unsuccessful at delaying the spread of NBC weapons; that deterrence, especially nuclear deterrence, is highly successful at preventing the use of NBC weapons by states; and that diplomacy has had moderate and perhaps unappreciated success at curtailing the spread of NBC weapons. The author also discusses how funds spent on preventive wars, which are much more expensive than diplomacy or deterrence, might be better spent to combat threats from terrorism and proliferation, on initiatives such as fissile material recovery, ballistic missile defense, and port security." -- from the website. Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College: <http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/>
Download the full study.

American Left Ephemera Collection

"The collection of American Left ephemera on this website reflects the personal collection of Richard J. Oestreicher, Associate Professor within the History department at the University of Pittsburgh. The material primarily documents three of the largest and most influential left-wing organizations in the twentieth century in the U.S.: Socialist Party of America (SPUSA), Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA), and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Digitized items include flyers, leaflets, pamphlets, posters, postcards, illustrations, photographs, pins, ribbons, and miscellaneous objects." -- from the website. <http://tinyurl.com/zrd4k>

Third Party, Anyone?

Even after Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, more than a half-dozen retired generals, junior officers from Kirkut to Kalamzoo, various prominent neoconservatives, and the entire Democratic congressional delegation from his home state call for Donald Rumsfeld's ouster, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, who the news media remind us is a "leading" Democrat, still finds the Secretary's record "mixed," adding that whether he stays on at the Defense Department "is up to him and the president at whose pleasure he serves." Read the story in The Hartford Courant.

Outside the Box: William H. Hinkle for President

[One of the problems with our system of choosing our chief executive officer is that by the time the election rolls around the pool of choices has evaporated down to a puddle of state governors and U.S.Senators, mostly frogs, who orchestrate "drafts" to camouflage their ambitions for power. "Outside the Box" is an on-going meditation on the qualifications of leaders in the form of "nominations" of specific individuals -- business and academic leaders, artists and intellectuals, non-conformists of various sorts, celebrities and "ordinary" people -- for President of the United States.]

After William H. Hinkle sold his wholesale electronic bond trading company, he spent his newfound leisure time reading voraciously about global warming (on his website, he recounts My Conversion to Green). But if, like a lot of us, he is worried about flooded cities, monster storms, and methane burps, he is different in one way: he can afford to do something about it.

Last winter, according to the New York Times, Hinkle put together a list of 500 well-heeled friends and colleagues and set out to make them carbon conscious.

"He wrote a series of six e-mail messages, each a brief presentation of what he believes is the grim reality of global climate change, and how the rich and powerful make things worse with their limousines, jet flights and big homes. He challenged each recipient to read all the messages and send them to others. He then promised to buy a $100 pass from one of three carbon-offset programs in the name of the first 1,000 people who complied."

"I could have just sent $100,000 directly to the groups, but that would not create leverage," Hinkle told the Times. "My goal is really to get people to look at these three options."

The Hinkle Charitable Foundation website <http://www.thehcf.org/> lists three carbon-offset organizations to which he sends the $100 proxy contributions: Carbonfund.Org <http://www.carbonfund.org/>, which supports renewable energy, efficiency and reforestation projects; the Solar Electric Light Fund <http://www.self.org/>, which brings solar power and modern communications to rural villages in the developing world -- for enhancements in health, education, and economic well-being through projects shaped by local people, particularly women -- and encourages economic and ecological sustainability; and the Lomakatsi Restoration Project <http://www.lomakatsi.org/>, which organizes community based ecological restoration projects through education, vocational training, specialized workforce development and the utilization of restoration by-products.

In the two months since Hinkle sent the first e-mails, he has received several hundred replies from people who were not on his original list. So far, he has paid about $60,000. "When you've been lucky like me, that's nothing," he said.

Hinkle has thrown down a second carbon-reducing challenge. Like everyone who drives a Toyota Prius hybrid, he thinks everyone should, so he is offering $500 rebates to 20 American families with annual incomes of less than $80,000 who buy a new Prius before July 31.

He may sound like a Ralph Nader-ish idealist, but the former executive is still the hard-nosed pragmatist he was during a two-decade long career on Wall Street. "I don't expect all this to make a big difference," he said. "But I'd like to be wrong."

Putting aside for another discussion the pros and cons of allowing rich individuals -- and rich companies and countries -- to buy the right to pollute, Hinkle's attempt to contribute to mitigating the effects of global warming is in marked contrast to the current administration's denial that the problem exists. Therefore Outside the Box nominates William H. Hinkle -- successful business executive, budding environmental activist -- to be President of the United States.

Past nominees:
John Edwards
John Cusack

The War: Winning Strategies for a New Peace Movement

Presentation in Venice, April 30

U.S. Tour of Duty's Real Intelligence Project presents The Art of War for the Anti-War: Winning Strategies for a New Peace Movement, Sunday, April 30, 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Venice United Methodist Church, 1020 Victoria Avenue, Venice (one block north of Venice Blvd. at Lincoln). A suggested donation of $10 gains you admission to the event, which includes a keynote address by former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter, a presentation by Yvonne Latty, author of "In Conflict: Iraq Veterans Speak Out About Duty, Loss and the Fight to Stay Alive," and a vegetarian dinner by Food Not Bombs.

"The anti-war movement," according to Ritter, "first and foremost, needs to develop a laser-like focus on being nothing more or less than anti-war....It needs to start thinking like a warrior would, in full recognition that we as a nation are engaged in a life-or-death struggle of competing ideologies with those who promote war as an American value and virtue."

"In Conflict" (http://www.p3books.com/) and the "Neo-CONNED!" set (http://www.neoconned.info/) will be on sale at the event, and Yvonne Latty and Scott Ritter will be available to sign copies of these books.

The event is co-sponsored by PoliPointPress, Light in the Darkness Publications, Venice United Methodist Church and Food Not Bombs. For more information, call 310.842.8794 or visit http://www.ustourofduty.org/.

City settles with group seeking Santa Monica Place documents

Last week, the city settled with the citizens' organization, the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City, releasing documents related to meetings between city officials and the Macerich Corporation about the proposed redevelopment of Santa Monica Place, the struggling indoor mall between Third Street and the civic center (The Lookout/SurfSantaMonica.com). Also, check out page 4 of the April 20 edition of the Santa Monica Daily Press (PDF, page 4), the article entitled "It's cheers and jeers for City Hall," for a really good description of the problems faced by residents trying to force the city to release key Macerich mall documents and the pro-developer bias they encountered from the city as it refused to make public documents public.

Jack In: Wiring for Wireless in S.M. and L.A.

"It's getting easier to get online around greater L.A. without being tied to your office. This is either a good thing - you can work outdoors or over a cup of coffee for free - or a bad thing: you're never far from the obligations and distractions of your online life..." -- from LAVoice.org.
The rest of the story: <http://lavoice.org/article1720.html>

Politics: Cartoon Short

Here's an amusing and profound video short by Tommy Douglas, narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, about Mouseland, a place where the downtrodden rodents keep electing cats to be their leaders:
<http://www.workingtv.com/media15/mouseland.mov>
The New Democrats: <http://www.ndn.org/>

Free HotSpots in Santa Monica

CremaLita - 332B Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica Library - 6th St. and Santa Monica Blvd., 310-458-8600
Infuzion Cafe - 1149 3rd St. #100, 310-721-1754
Velocity Cafe - 2127 Lincoln Blvd, 310-314-3368
Apple Store - 3rd St. Promenade
Bolivar - cafe & gallery - 1741 Ocean Park Blvd, 310-581-2344
Barney's Beanery - 1351 3rd St. Promenade, 310-656-5777
Earth, Wind and Flour - 2222 Wilshire Blvd, 310-829-7829
Unurban Coffeehouse - 3301 Pico Blvd, 310-315-0056
Santa Monica Library, Montana Avenue Branch, 1704 Montana Avenue - 310-829-7081
Santa Monica Library, Ocean Park Branch, Main St. and Ocean Park Blvd.
Hotel Carmel - lobby area and some rooms, 201 Broadway - 800-445-8695
Travelodge - guest rooms - 3102 Pico Blvd, 310-450-5766
Radisson Hotel, rooms and public areas, Santa Monica Airport
Diedrich Coffeehouse, 732 Montana Ave, 310-656-7838
Panera Bread, 501 Wilshire Blvd, 310-566-3080 (all Panera outlets offer free wireless)
The Cut Salon, 1620 Ocean Park Blvd., 310-396-2887
Whole Foods Market, 2201 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica Pico Boulevard Travelodge, 3102 Pico Blvd.
Sea Shore Motel (site of Amelia's Italian deli), 2637 Main Street, 310-392-2787
-- from the Wi-Fi-FreeSpot Directory, with additions

Also see: Free Wireless Internet Access Points in Los Angeles

Some SM muni hotspots -- free...for now?

The Revolution Will be Wireless

By Olin Ericksen
The LookOut Staff Writer

April 4 -- Google took San Francisco. Earthlink won Seattle and is looking to take New York. So who will capture the lucrative wireless network that could likely blanket Santa Monica a year from now?

As City Hall's tech squad busily erects tiny antennas throughout Santa Monica that could signal the start of a wireless infrastructure revolution citywide, other City staff are booting-up a proposal that could slash prices for local consumers by having high-tech companies bid for control of the future system.

"We've put out some feelers and they've come back positive," said Jory Wolf, the City's chief information officer and primary architect for the City's fledgling wireless system, which he said could be expanded to cover all of Santa Monica by next year.

"A request for proposal is going out asking for public and private companies to bid on the contract to take over the assets," said Wolf. "If we don't get an offer we like, we are prepared to blanket the City ourselves."

Santa Monica is one of a handful of cities that have decided to fund "hot spots" -- zones where wireless access is available -- out of City coffers. The cost: approximately $42,000 so far.

Over the past few months, the City has began stitching together a series of free "Wi-Fi hot spots" or zones where wireless devices can access the internet as part of a program called "CityWi-Fi."

When users log on wirelessly from the new library, the Third Street Promenade and Virginia Avenue Park, they are instantly transported to a "CityWi-Fi" homepage, a jumping off-point into the sea of web information.

"So far it's being used quite heavily, so we think it's going to be a big hit," Wolf said of the program, which currently boasts about 500 people logging on per day.

City and business officials are heralding the new service as priceless for Santa Monicans and visitors alike.

"It's a free service, powered by the City, as we like to say," said Marivi Valcourt, marketing director for the Bayside District Corporation, which runs the Downtown, including the Promenade.

"Free Wi-Fi is just another way to attract people Downtown,” Valcourt said. “There's a lot of internet company workers here, as well as visitors and tourists who will appreciate the service."

There is an added advantage to having people go online in hot-zones such as the Promenade, Valcourt said. Every time someone signs on, the first page to come up is the City's Wi-Fi page, which business officials say is tantamount to free advertising for the City and local businesses.

And the three hotspots are likely just the beginning, said Wolf.

In addition to every new public project being prepared for "Wi-Fi" access, the City is also preparing the Civic Center, the Ken Edwards Community Center and the Santa Monica Pier for the service, Wolf said. Even the courtyard outside of City Hall will have wireless access so developers can go on-line while waiting in line.

The rest of the story: The LookOut at SurfSantaMonica.com

Phone & cable cos. try to muscle in on municipal wireless

This was in the Wall Street Journal the other day: "Having tried to stop cities from offering cut-rate or free wireless Internet access to their citizens, some large phone and cable companies are now aiming to get into the market themselves.

"Telecom and cable giants have traditionally been critical of city-sponsored broadband initiatives, questioning their financial viability and, in some cases, even pushing for state laws to bar or restrict them. Now, in an effort to compete with similar initiatives by Google Inc., EarthLink Inc. and others, some of the companies are changing their tune.

"AT&T Inc...put in a bid March 7 to build a wireless Internet service for Michigan's Washtenaw County...Cox Communications recently teamed up with two companies to offer wireless Internet access in some Arizona cities, and Time Warner Inc.'s Time Warner Cable has signaled interest in Texas.

"Experts say the companies were forced into the shift in strategy. 'It's inevitable that municipal wireless is going to become prevalent in cities large and small,' said Craig Settles, author of the book Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless....'You just can't get away from this wave.'

"Cities and small localities across the country have started offering their residents cheap or even free access to the Internet either because their areas aren't reached by regional telecom providers or because the available offerings in their areas are too pricey. More than 50 municipalities around the country have already built such systems, and a similar number are at some stage in the process, including Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco and Houston, according to Esme Vos, founder of the Web site www.muniwireless.com, which tracks such projects nationally...

"The cities often charge users around $15 a month for the service, though cities such as St. Cloud, Fla., are opting for free access. That compares with cable broadband bills that typically run around $40. DSL services from the large phone companies can run as low as $15 a month for slower speeds, but speeds closer to cable are roughly $30.

"Those economics are a real threat to the large telecom and cable companies, which is why they initially fought hard to stop city-based networks....As they wage those regulatory battles, the large telecom and cable companies are watching competitors jump in to offer municipal-based Wi-Fi services...

"To be sure, both the phone and cable companies say what they have opposed is having to compete with publicly owned or operated services that have access to municipal subsidies or other advantages. They say they have been more open to having local governments facilitate projects by giving out contracts to companies, which is the tack municipalities are increasingly taking."

The Wall Street Journal
Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless by Craig Settles

Foundation Calls for Wi-Fi in Boston

Boston Unplugged: Mapping a Wireless Future (pdf), prepared by the Boston Foundation and the Museum of Science at the request of a Beantown council member, argues for public-private partnerships with the likes of Google, Earthlink and Hewlett-Packard to turn cities into giant hotspots. Although public ownership of limited resources has usually been more efficient than state-sanctioned monopolies -- you need only look to the power and water industries for proof this is true, politicians in most places are loathe to spend money on infrastructure since doing so usually requires taxes.

"The foundation for this system will be a wireless fidelity network similar to ones currently under development and deployment in San Francisco and Philadelphia," the study says. "Companies like EarthLink, Google and Hewlett-Packard are extremely interested in partnering with local government...to build a low-cost or no-cost system." The burden of building and maintaining a network should fall on corporate sponsors and not on taxpayers, the Foundation argues, though it is a little light on what this will cost consumers in access and the public in control.

The foundation report, which doesn't look very closely at technical issues, either, calls for a study of the infrastructure needed for a wi-fi network; the creation of a "realistic" timeline for getting it done; a review of security and interference issues; and a plan to incorporate existing wi-fi projects into a community-wide system.

The study doesn't call for an evaluation of the relative costs and benefits of public, public-private and private ownership schemes for wi-fi utilities. From railroad right-of-ways through natural resources on public lands to radio and television channels, public-private partnerships usually amount to the public turning over a valuable resource to corporate exploiters, but even a fee-based city-wide network is better than none at all.

Mad City Broadband: Madison, Wisconsin becomes a hot spot

"It's the hottest wireless internet access around. And very soon the entire city of Madison will be bathed in its toasty glow. What exactly does that mean? Well, simply put, the days of searching for internet hot spots will soon be over." -- from the website. <http://www.madcitybroadband.com/>

Toronto to provide city-wide access

Toronto Hydro Telecom, a non-profit subsidiary of the municipal Toronto Hydro Corp., plans to turn Canada's largest city into a metro-sized hotzone. The network will launch in the area of the Bay Street financial district and when complete will encompass the entire city. Access will be free for the first few months, then there will be a fee comparable to local broadband services. Meanwhile, the nearby city of Hamilton, Ontario is applying for a $400,000 grant to do the same thing to its downtown.

Aurora, Illinois Announces Free Wireless

From Internet.com's Wi-Fi Planet:

Aurora, Illinois was the first city in the United States to install public street lights. Look for wireless equipment on many of those lights providing the populace with free access (for the price of looking at an ad) by the end of this year.

Aurora, pop. 170,000, which issued an RFP late last year looking for companies to install a citywide network, said today it's working with California-based MetroFi on a deployment that should cover the entire 42 square mile city.

MetroFi provides almost identical service in the Silicon Valley towns of Cupertino, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. Access for anyone with Wi-Fi equipment is free at speeds of 1Mbps download and 256Kbps upload; users who want to avoid the commercials can pay $20 a month...

The rest of the story: <http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/>

Politics: The FairVote newsletter(Center for Voting and Democracy)

The current issue of FairVote's newsletter notes that support for more democratic ways of choosing our leaders is gaining ground in both major political parties, especially in California. The Center for Voting and Democracy's FairVote newsletter: <http://www.fairvote.org/>

Nightlife: New Year's Eve in Elay

Some thoughts on what to do about New Year's Eve:

My personal favorite...Stay Home. Rent La Salamandre and Jonah Who'll Be 21 in the Year 2000 from Vidiots. Get a nice bottle -- Au Bon Climat, Qupé, or Foxen and Sanford; a great cheese or two -- from Gelson's not Trader Joe; and Newman's Own Popcorn. Make a safe night of it.

If you have to go out, the best bet is the block party at Giant Village NYE 2006, with acts like Black Eyed Peas, Death Cab for Cutie and The Crystal Method. 6th & Hope, downtown.

Note: On New Year’s Eve, Metro rail lines will run all night, with free rides from 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. Bus rides will be free from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m, so you can go to the block party or anywhere else in town with no worries about parking or about getting safely home.

If you want to risk a little driving, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, the Violent Femmes, the Psychedelic Furs and Reel Big Fish are at the O.C. Fairgrounds. Depart for home before midnight, and you enjoy the double benefit of missing both the traffic and the featherweight headliners, Sugar Ray. $60 in advance and $160 at the door. 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa; 714-708-3247.

No need to trek all the way to Vegas: What happens at The Renaissance Hotel stays there. Or something like that: A Las Vegas-style casino, burlesque shows, fire dancers, aerialists, body painters, portrait painters, fortune tellers, food by Wolgang Puck, 30 bars (anyone for a round of "Stump the Bartender"?), and it's a benefit for the P.S. I Love You Foundation. 1755 Highland; 323-874-0716; $125.

The Highlands will host its annual NY's Eve Bash by transforming itself into Times Square (w/o the freezing temperatures). DJs will be spinning on five dancefloors, and there'll be live performances by Carey Ysais and the Rockette Dancers. General Admission is $50 and VIP a cheap $75. 6801 Hollywood.

At the Key Club: in the main room, burlesque dancers, go-go girls, and trapeze artists will do their respective things to hip-hop, house and Top 40; in the VIP lounge, 80s oldies, rock and old-school, including the 80s cover band Video Star live. Goes 'til 3 a.m.; $30 general admission, $50 VIP. 9039 Sunset, West Hollywood; 310-786-1705.

Do you wanna dance?: Mountain Bar, open until 6 a.m. and free if you rsvp early and avoid the the $10 door charge. 473 Gin Ling Way, b/t Hill St. and N. Broadway, Chinatown; 213-625-7500.

If you're more into people watching than partying, it might be worth the $150 to get in to Element: premium open bar, hors d’oeuvres and at least B-list gawking. 1642 Las Palmas Ave., b/t Hollywood Blvd. & Selma; 323-460-4632. Or check out The Vanguard, where a "secret celeb" -- what's the point of that? -- introduces djs A-One and Spindarella from 100.3 The Beat who'll lay down a Top 40-Rock-80s Hits groove while the near-famous pretend not to notice you pretending not to notice them. Premium booze free at the bar, so the buzz should be ubiquitous. 6021 Hollywood, 323-463-3331; $100.

For drinkin' and dinin', there's
The 3 Clubs: martinis, mistletoe, and Dick Clark from Times Square. 1123 Vine St. at Santa Monica Blvd; 323-462-6441.
Campanile: prix fixe pumpkin ravioli, oysters poached in Sancerre, roasted lamb. 624 S. La Brea ; 323-938-1447.
Violet: four-course tasting menu with champagne for $65. 3221 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica; 310-453-9113.

Whatever you feel about the room, The Jazz Bakery will have some of the best music of the night from the great pop-jazz pianist George Duke: two shows, with drinks (including champagne) and snacks included in the cost of the ticket (either show $75 or all night $100), most of it tax deductable because it's a benefit the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra. 3233 Helms Ave., b/t Venice and Washington, Culver City; 310-271-9039.

If I were to venture out, I might be tempted to take the Metro to the Tower Bar at the Sunset Tower Hotel for the caviar, foie gras, and lobster prix fixe. 8358 W. Sunset Blvd., b/t Sweetzer and Kings Rd.; 323-654-7100.

And, if you're too hip to be allowed to live, get a club membership asap to Xenii for a great open bar, crudités, and Coolio performing hits at a fab and totally top-secret venue.

Totally.

Happy New Year!