Legend Arthur Miller speaks out

"I don't recall a time when there was less simple responsibility by the government for what it says and what it does. I'm appalled by its blatancy: how they're kidding the people. It's so obvious it's painful. It's bad acting."
Arthur Miller about the Bush administration

A great great portrait in the L.A. Times (reprinted by Newsday) about this legendary writer who turns 90 next year - and who is still very active. He has a new play (about Hollywood) and his diaries in the works. Congrats - I admire this guy! (What a life!) And I also like that he keeps his secrets about Marilyn (he hit a New York reporter who asked him about his marriage with the movie star..).

Arthur Miller also said this memorable and beautiful thing:

"Life is mostly forgetting, and the art is the memory."

Poverty raises for the third straight year

If you need another reason to vote for Kerry over Bush, here it is: During three of the four years of the Bush administration's reign, both the poverty level and the uninsured level have risen.

The number of Americans living in poverty increased by 1.3 million last year, while the ranks of the uninsured swelled by 1.4 million, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. It was the third straight annual increase for both categories. While not unexpected, it was a double dose of bad economic news during a tight re-election campaign for President Bush.
Approximately 35.8 million people lived below the poverty line in 2003, or about 12.5 percent of the population, according to the bureau. That was up from 34.5 million, or 12.1 percent in 2002.....Nearly 45 million people lacked health insurance, or 15.6 percent of the population. That was up from 43.5 million in 2002, or 15.2 percent, but was a smaller increase than in the two previous years.

(Via Talkleft)

Bush admits "miscalculations"

Finally. In an interview with the N.Y.Times President Bush acknowledged for the first time that he made a "miscalculation of what the conditions would be' in postwar Iraq.

Buzz about the new iMacs

With Apple Computer's next iMac expected to be unveiled as soon as next week, Mac fan sites are buzzing with speculation over the design. Photos supposedly taken in a Paris airport elevator hit the Web on Thursday, fueling rumors that the new machine will be similar to Apple's new line of flat-panel displays, with the guts of the computer behind the LCD screen. The photos--which have not been verified as authentic--show a slim all-in-one computer inside the familiar Apple packaging, down to the signature black-and-white box. Think Secret posted information claiming to describe two new iMac models, AppleInsider has similar details and describes the design as a "pizza box" case. (via News.com)

A daily dosis beach

Webcam from Mission Beach, California.

Very insightful graphic

The Democratic presidents are the blue ones..

Amazing! This graphic is contrary to the popular misconception which party has been more helpful to the American economy. And still, George W. Bush is on target to become the first president since Herbert Hoover to end a presidential term with a decrease in total employment.

Baudrillard about L.A.

"Los Angeles is in love with its limitless horizontality, as New York may be with its verticality." Jean Baudrillard, French philosopher

Btw: Baudrillard's essay "America" - beautifully written and insightful reflections of the U.S. - is one of the most interesting books I ever read about this country. Plus: bio, links to his works.

More deaths in Iraq

Sad, but true: The number of Americans killed in Iraq during 2004 - 488 people - now exceeds the number killed in 2003. And since former U.S. General Tommy Franks refused "to do body counts" a website keeps track of the civilians reported killed by military intervention in Iraq. Currently 11700 people.

A daily dosis beach

Webcam from San Diego Bay, California.

Bush claimed he served in Air Force

"The Nation" says that in President Bush's failed 1978 congressional campaign, he "claimed he had served in the US Air Force. According to a 1999 Associated Press report, Bush's congressional campaign ran a pullout ad in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that declared he had served 'in the US Air Force and the Texas Air National Guard where he piloted the F-102 aircraft.'"
The problem? "Bush had never served in the Air Force. He had only been in the Air National Guard."

Retro vs. Metro

Just discovered a great new book: "The Great Divide: Retro vs. Metro America" by John Sterling. He acknowledges that the United States has seldom been truly united, and there currently exists such a wide gap that the U.S. is effectively two nations: "one traditional and rooted in the past, and one modern and focused on the future." They are divided along racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, political, and geographic lines. The battle, they write, is not Left versus Right; rather, it's Metro versus Retro America. Retro America is defined by the South, the Midwest, and the Rocky Mountain states; Metro America consists of the two coasts (California) and the Great Lakes states. - Highly interesting thoughts about the current developments in the U.S., a great read!

Bush attorney resigns

Benjamin Ginsberg, President Bush's election lawyer and one of his attorneys during the 2000 Florida recount, resigned from the presidential campaign after he disclosed he gave legal advice to the group "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" running attack ads against Senator John Kerry, the N.Y. Times reports. Ginsberg's acknowledgment marks the second time in days that an individual associated with the Bush-Cheney campaign has been connected to the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which Kerry accuses of being a front for the Republican incumbent's re-election effort. As posted earlier: the NYT has an excellent graphic about the extended connections between this group and the Bush people.

Quote of the day

"It’s disappointing because I think most Americans would like to have a much more intelligent conversation about where the country’s going."
Senator John Kerry, referring on the attacks of his Vietnam war record, who as the first presidential candidate appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart yesterday - and was just great (video clip)!

Fitness in L.A.

Btw: I really like my new gym. (Although there is still nothing more unique that my former fitness hangout in Venice..) And if you ever need a tough, but excellent trainer: Ask for Allister.

A daily dosis beach

Webcam from Miami Beach, Florida. (Wow!)

Eagle Rock: landmark as art installation

Our neighborhood landmark - over 10 mio. years old.

Great article in the Los Angeles Times about the landmark which gave our neighborhood its name, the Eagle Rock: (...)"Already something of a community icon, the designated Los Angeles Cultural Historical Monument appears on stylized street signs and the community flag, and is found in the names of churches, schools and local organizations. It's also visible to commuters on the Ventura Freeway. Rising up wart-like from the Eagle Rock Valley, its round shape (some say the profile looks like George Washington's) is set off by the jagged San Gabriel Mountains to the north, and the low Eagle Rock Valley to the south. But the real spectacle is on the southern face, where an eroded impression looking remarkably like an eagle in flight is visible when the sun's rays cast a shadow on it at midday. A local artist turned the Eagle Rock into a public art installation which will light up the first time in history Septemer 25. Two projectors will expose the eagle silhouette and project the art installation onto a nearby face of the rock. After that, the rock will be illuminated every weekend.(...)
The formation of Eagle Rock took place 10 million to 15 million years ago, when tons of sediment and rock were deposited at a bend in the stream that once ran through the Eagle Rock Valley. According to one version of Tongva legend, an eagle once made its nest on top of the rock. One day, it swept up a baby in a basket with its talons. Tongva warriors gave chase, shooting arrows at the eagle until it dropped the baby, unharmed, on a soft patch of earth. Unable to regain altitude, the eagle hurtled smack into the rock's steep south face, leaving the imprint of a bird with outspread wings in the stone.

Who's a rat? This website knows

The internet has some interesting uses, but one new Web site proves we ain't seen nothin' yet. Unveiled yesterday, Who's A Rat is the first site to allow users around the country to post local, state and federal agents' and informants' names, pictures and related information. The point of website is to assist attorneys and defendants with few resources as they prepare to stand trial. "Our site's extensive database will solve that problem for those who are having a hard time proving the officers or informants set to testify against them are not credible. Who's A Rat is an important resource in finding that proof," says founder Sean Bucci. Access is free..