Rent Control in LA still rises, not to worry renters can pay more still .....

Also see a comment on LA Rents article which contains this COMMENT: original article:

Los Angeles Right to Housing Collective Fights for Tenant Rights
by Los Angeles Community Action Network http://la.indymedia.org/news/2010/05/239243.php

The lies that "rents have gone down" does not include anyone who has been a renter in 1 location ...because no landowner has ever lowered the rent previously required.

Maybe a few places new renters are paying less than those who leased on before, where rents were raised higher and higher by greedy landowner BUSINESSmen, maybe. If over-priced and then lowered to what renters can afford to pay, then only have rents been lowered in any way...from dream rents to real rents...

but anyone who lives in a rental, has not paid less than any month before to retain them...especially if responsible, decent renter is there, maybe a smile or a 'hello , maybe not even that, but the CUMULATIVE RISE adding up each year makes the doubling of rents in the last 20 years... tho no one has had their actual earnings rise like that w/o being criminal...like landowners are legally being.

The ceiling with Rent Control is to keep even the greediest from sending everyone out of Los Angeles because they cant find work here and cant pay exorbitant rents.

Elders, seniors, disabled are paying 80% of their income or 100% on rent alone, no counting utilities. I am. Food banks are saviors and do not increase their fees yearly. The old lie that 'dont pay more than 30% of income on shelter/ home/ rent" has long ago been found to not be realistic.

The homeowners apartment owners associations with their attorneys and PR depts sell our politicians convenient lies like "they need to spend time monitoring the interests on the security deposits collected from renters' which is Work they have to recompensed for. Read the Rent Control reasons for why they keep increasing the same old same OLD falling apart apartments, with minimum repairs legally required done only.

And apt owners are IMPROVING THEIR OWN PROPERTIES when repairs are made, which increases or keeps their values for themselves, yet want to charge renters for these repairs in any and every way.

who are these same old greedy un-compassionate and uncaring BUSINESS OWNERS claiming they need to increase their profits every single year ? yep. apt owners....

and on Pat Morrison KPCC show, they framed themselves as "mom and pop businesses"...how many of those poor ole folk own buildings worth at least over $500,000 now ? huh?

such liars, greedy people with no 'customer service' skills and who hide behind voice mail only and post office box addresses to boot !

no requirement to be reachable directly in Rent Control laws either. What is fair in LA ? only in Pomona, the animals on display."

Please write / call / communicate your needs and concerns to LA RENT CONTROL office and to your Los Angeles City Councilperson any time of year, and express your outrage or worry or suggestion or comment directly. They need to hear more than from apt. bldg owners and their lawyers and hired guns.

{c} maryjanie 2010

Wikileaks needs every thinking person's SUPPORT please !

bookmark this one :

http://wikileaks.org/

and if anyone has an extra $10 or more to donate, this looks like a good place to put your moneytoo ..and they also say you can support them "technically" see bottom of the page for info.....

one sample story as I peruse their findings is this:

__________________________________________________________

24. Feb. 2010: Cryptome.org takedown: Microsoft Global Criminal Compliance Handbook, 24 Feb 2010

Cryptome.org is a venerable New York based anti-secrecy site that has been publishing since 1999. On Feb 24, 2010, the site was forcibly taken down following its publication Microsoft's "Global Criminal Compliance Handbook", a confidential 22 page booklet designed for police and intelligence services. The guide provides a "menu" of information Microsoft collects on the users of its online services. Microsoft lawyers threatened Cryptome and its "printer", internet hosting provider giant Network Solutions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA was designed to protect the legitimate rights of publishers, not to conceal scandalous internal documents that were never intended for sale. Although the action is a clear abuse of the DMCA, Network Solutions, a company with extensive connections to U.S. intelligence contractors, gagged the site in its entirety. Such actions are a serious problem in the United States, where although in theory the First Amendment protects the freedom of the press, in practice, censorship has been privatized via abuse of the judicial system and corporate patronage networks.

---

in case you want to share some info from me to others, since I like to Exp[ose and Share and get others helpfully involved in CHANGING our world to whatever is better than it is now...more transparency, less secret hidings, more choices possible, etc.

= = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

from Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikileaks

Wikileaks went public in January 2007, when it first appeared on the web.The site states that it was "founded by Chinese dissidents, journalists, mathematicians and start-up company technologists, from the US, Taiwan, Europe, Australia and South Africa".The creators of Wikileaks were unidentified as of January 2007^[update], although it has been represented in public since January 2007 by non-anonymous speakers such as Julian Assange, who had described himself as a member of Wikileaks' advisory board and was later referred to as the "founder of Wikileaks". As of June 2009^[update], the site had over 1,200 registered volunteers and listed its advisory board as consisting of Assange, Phillip Adams, Wang Dan, CJ Hinke, Ben Laurie, Tashi Namgyal Khamsitsang, Xiao Qiang, Chico Whitaker, and Wang Youcai. However, when contacted by Mother Jones magazine in 2010 several of the supposed advisory board members said they were listed without their consent or knowledge.

Wikileaks states that its "primary interest is in exposing oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but we also expect to be of assistance to people of all regions who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their governments and corporations."

In January 2007, the website stated that it had over 1.2 million leaked documents that it was preparing to publish. The group has subsequently released a number of other significant documents which have become front-page news items, ranging from documentation of equipment expenditures and holdings in the Afghanistan war to corruption in Kenya.

Their stated goal is to ensure that whistle-blowers and journalists are not jailed for emailing sensitive or classified documents, as happened to Chinese journalist Shi Tao, who was sentenced to 10 years in 2005 after publicising an email from Chinese officials about the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

The project has drawn comparisons to Daniel Ellsberg's leaking of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. In the United States, the leaking of some documents may be legally protected. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution guarantees anonymity, at least in the area of political discourse. Author and journalist Whitley Strieber has spoken about the benefits of the Wikileaks project, noting that "Leaking a government document can mean jail, but jail sentences for this can be fairly short. However, there are many places where it means long incarceration or even death, such as China and parts of Africa and the Middle East."

The site has won a number of significant awards, including the 2008 Economist magazine New Media Award, and in June 2009, Wikileaks and Julian Assange won Amnesty International UK's Media Award 2009 (in the category "New Media") for the 2008 publication of "Kenya: The Cry of Blood - Extra Judicial Killings and Disappearances",a report by the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights about police killings in Kenya. ^[snip]

= = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

(c) 2010 maryjanie

do you know anything about the latest 'tea party' ?

copied from http://www.teaparty.org/

[our] " Non-Negotiable Core Beliefs

Illegal Aliens Are Here illegally.

Pro-Domestic Employment Is Indispensable.

Stronger Military Is Essential.

Special Interests Eliminated.

Gun Ownership Is Sacred.

Government Must Be Downsized.

National Budget Must Be Balanced.

Deficit Spending Will End.

Bail-out And Stimulus Plans Are Illegal.

Reduce Personal Income Taxes A Must.

Reduce Business Income Taxes Is Mandatory.

Political Offices Available To Average Citizens.

Intrusive Government Stopped.

English As Core Language Is Required.

Traditional Family Values Are Encouraged.

Common Sense Constitutional Conservative Self-Governance is our mode of operation."

----------------------------- then listen to KPFK archives soon, at :

Eben Rey, 'Radio Alchymy' and Hour 1: Dale Robertson, tea party founder. www.teaparty.org Hour 2: Open phone conversation

and listen to this....a different topic but where else do you get such info ??????

and this re: aliens are here already

Eben Rey, 'Radio Alchymy' and

Guest Dr. Fred Bell, author of The Inside Track: The Complete History of Science, How It Became Deadly on the Watch of the One World Order and How to Sidestep Their Activities Contact: 1 (800) 729-2603 http://www.pyradyne.com/

--------------------------

now can you read and listen to what you DONT ALREADY AGREE ?

are you as "liberal" ~ open minded ~ curious ~ aware ~alert as you claim to be or want to be ? or as you prefer to imagine yourself to be ? huh ?

are you just a put-'em-downer only or are you an inquisitor [enquirer] or investigator ?

are you really "in the know" or just limit yourself stuck in the parts you WANT to know to stay hopeful and believe....as in the prior "hope for change" that did not occur after all ?

why not find out MORE and as it always changes anyhow, stay Present, Alert, Know-ledge-able.
and be a truly current and informed person

for a change

any change

especially NOW

why not ?

(C) 2010 maryjanie

Do you know this man ?

this is someone who is hiding behind your CASH and bank account and credit card company. Do you recognize him ?

Please add him to the "WANTED FOR PUBLIC HARM GLOBALLY EVERYWHERE" list.

He is your neighbor or in your adjacent neighborhood driving fancy cars, hiding behind tinted windows, behind the 'normal guy' facade, in the fanciest restaurants and bars, frequenting 'call girls and upscale whorehouses' anonymously and his kids go to schools that you envy and can't afford.

Called BANKSTERS, short for "gangsters" or "mafia" facsimiles, these most men, are ambitious, ruthless, greedy and getting it all by bribing and colluding with your favorite politicians.

Do you know him ? sometimes he looks like a girl, but is really manly in ambitions and game-playing-selfishly.

Turn him in to the.....'regulators' ?
or they one and the same in-group ?

WATCH OUT FOR THIS GUY.
He already has your numbers, all of them...social security #, your password, ATM, bank and credit card [shared information amongst business associates as listed in the small print you sign in to get an account or card ]

In fact, you may never see him alive or in person.

But for sure you have already...and will continue to feel his influence constantly ... to see his workings on your money...your earnings...your savings...your government...your mortgage or home-owner...your store owner, etc. etc.


(C) 2010 maryjanie

Sneaky cameras at red lights need monitoring and identifying...let's start right HERE !

dear fellow drivers and fee-payers all:


I saw a letter to editor and went onliine to find the article, then even wrote a comment #45 at end too....interesting stuff...


I have also recently paid $60 street parking 5 min over time listed on my street, and $50 for parking over the white line in Rose parking lot in Venice, tho handicapped cant fit and open a door in those tight spaces, and almost been run over 2x by a taxi running rapidly THRU a red light w/o looking at Wilshire & Westwood, but the cameras are a threatening robot ready to pounce w/o a human face or mind.


Attached is the LA Weekly article, FYI. If you cant open it, here is the link:
http://www.laweekly.com/2009-12-31/news/los-angeles-red-light-ticket-ripoff/

"The city’s 32 red-light cameras are placed at traffic choke points like Sepulveda and National, Sepulveda and Victory, Western and Washington, Manchester and Airport, Alvarado and Temple, Sunset and Cahuenga and Pico and Bundy. (For a map of all 32 camera-rigged corners, go to lapdonline.org/home/pdf_view/34638"

good to know


(c) 2010 maryjanie

The "millennials" are surveyed by Pew and makes many people wonder...

This information has been selected from the sites below to disseminate the information openly.
Please refer to the full report for more details.
- - - - - - - - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - -


Source:


http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1501/millennials-new-survey-generational-personality-upbeat-open-new-ideas-technology-bound [site containis graphs but not all of these can be copied ]


"the American teens and twenty-somethings who are making the passage into adulthood at the start of a new millennium -- have begun to forge theirs: confident, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and open to change.[snip]...



They are more ethnically and racially diverse than older adults. They're less religious, less likely to have served in the military, and are on track to become the most educated generation in American history.
[snip]...



Their entry into careers and first jobs has been badly set back by the Great Recession, but they are more upbeat than their elders about their own economic futures as well as about the overall state of the nation


See chapter 4 in the full report) [[ it's 149 pp on PDF file]] ...[snip]...



Only about six-in-ten were raised by both parents -- a smaller share than was the case with older generations. In weighing their own life priorities, Millennials (like older adults) place parenthood and marriage far above career and financial success. But they aren't rushing to the altar.



Just one-in-five Millennials (21%) are married now, half the share of their parents' generation at the same stage of life. About a third (34%) are parents, according to the Pew Research survey.



We estimate that, in 2006, more than a third of 18 to 29 year old women who gave birth were unmarried. This is a far higher share than was the case in earlier generations.




(See chapters 2 and 3 in the full report) .[snip]...



[snip].....Among 18 to 24 year olds a record share -- 39.6% -- was enrolled in college as of 2008 ...



And now, hard times have kept a significant share of adult Millennials and their parents under the same roof. About one-in-eight older Millennials (ages 22 and older) say they've "boomeranged" back to a parent's home because of the recession. (See chapters 3 and 5 in the
full report)...... [snip]...



...relatively few Millennials -- just 2% of males -- are military veterans. At a comparable stage of their life cycle, 6% of Gen Xer men, 13% of Baby Boomer men and 24% of Silent men were veterans. (See chapter 2 in the full report)......[snip]...



...About half of Millennials say the president has failed to change the way Washington works, which had been the central promise of his candidacy. Of those who say this, three-in-ten blame Obama himself, while more than half blame his political opponents and special interests......[snip]..



They are still more likely than any other age group to identify as Democrats. Yet by early 2010, their support for Obama and the Democrats had receded, as evidenced both by survey data and by their low level of participation in recent off-year and special elections. (See chapter 8 in the
full report)......[snip]...



AND MORE HERE:


Source: December 2009 Current Population Survey (CPS)

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1437/millennials-profile



"... we focus on Millennials who are at least 18 years old.... roughly 50 million Millennials who currently span the ages of 18 to 29 ...[y.o.]... [ this report ] profiles the roughly 50 million Millennials ......[snip]...



...Most of the findings in this report are based on a new survey of a national cross-section of 2,020 adults (including an oversample of Millennials), conducted by landline and cellular telephone from Jan. 14 to 27, 2010; this survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points for the full sample...[SNIP] .... we also know this is not an exact science....


Most Millennials (61%) in our January 2010 survey say their generation has a unique and distinctive identity. That doesn't make them unusual, however. Roughly two-thirds of Silents, nearly six-in-ten Boomers and about half of Xers feel the same way about their generation...[snip]...24% say it's because of their use of technology......[snip]...



Boomers' feelings of distinctiveness coalesce mainly around work ethic, which 17% cite as their most prominent identity badge. For Silents, it's the shared experience of the Depression and World War II, which 14% cite as the biggest reason their generation stands apart.



..Millennials are the only one that doesn't cite "work ethic" as one of their principal claims to distinctiveness...Asked who has the better work ethic, about three-fourths of respondents said that older people do....[snip]



Likewise, Millennials are more receptive to immigrants than are their elders.. .[snip] The same pattern holds on a range of attitudes about nontraditional family arrangements, from mothers of young children working outside the home, to adults living together without being married, to more people of different races marrying each other....[snip]



Some 41% of Millennials say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country, compared with just 26% of those ages 30 and older......[snip]


see [Download Complete Report [PDF ]



They are the most ethnically and racially diverse cohort of youth in the nation's history.

Among those ages 13 to 29:


18.5% are Hispanic;


14.2% are black;


4.3% are Asian;


3.2% are mixed race or other; and


59.8%, a record low, are white



They are the least religiously observant youths since survey research began charting religious behavior.



They are more inclined toward trust in institutions than were either of their two predecessor generations -- Gen Xers (who are now ages 30 to 45) and Baby Boomers (now ages 46 to 64) when they were coming of age



[[why this trust...trust is what ? trust how ? huh ? bailouts is not in their vocabulary nor is bankrupcy yet ? huh ?]]


also:



One is the life cycle effect. The biological impact of aging and the changing roles that people play as they grow older typically produce changes in attitudes and scial behaviors over time. In short, young people may be different from older people today, but they may well become more like them tomorrow, once they themselves age.



The second is the cohort effect. Generation differences can be the byproduct of the unique historical circumstances that members of an age cohort experience during adolescence and young adulthood, when awareness of the wider world deepens and personal identities and values systems are being strongly shaped. The unique nature of the times imprints itself on each successive age cohort, producing differences that persist even as a cohort ages and moves through the life cycle.


In addition to life cycle and cohort effects, there are also period effects. These are major events (wars, social movements, scientific or technological breakthroughs) that are likely to have a simultaneous impact on all age groups, though, again, their impact is often greatest among the young because their values and habits are less fixed than those of other age groups.



The most common approach to trying to understand how each of these processes plays out ...at different times to track changes in the attitudes and behavior of cohorts as they age. [snip]



...that there is an upward trend in acceptance of interracial dating in most cohorts as time passes. For instance, just 36% of the "Silent" generation (born before 1946) approved in the first interviews in 1987, but by 2009, 67% of members of this cohort approved .. [snip]


....the continuing cultural forces also persuaded some individuals to change their views on this topic at some point during adulthood.It is also possible that the growing racial and ethnic diversity of the U.S. population over this period contributes to the trend, since blacks and Hispanics are more supportive of interracial dating than are whites ...


[[ what creates changes of attitudes and behaviors is not part of survey, only surmises of other cultural, political, religious and practices in arenas such as immigration, transportation, technological invovations make a difference.... change does not 'just occur' in any vacuum. ]]



so decide for yourself what this survey tells us about our decendants and the future they will 'hold' for us and the earth itself....how caring,

how active,

how independent,

how non-militaristic,

if not-passive,

how critical thinking

and how benevolent and generous these 'new' folks are and will be.





The future is not dependent upon them, neither mostly nor alone as a group, but they in this USA will have a say and act as a model, as shown in movies, in social technology, in advertising the USA ways of life. What have we taught them, or what has been taken out of parental family hands and handed to the governments, states, privatized-contractors for the states and local institutions and
out of actual ancestestral influence.



ill millenialls be more followers than leaders ? more self-absorbed in their electronic toys than in their human humane contact ? more reliant on things-ready-made-and-purchased ? more led by instant media and thus with less time and inclination to think for themselves?


and then what ?


will the changes that must occur be beneficial ?


for them ?


for the sentient beings on this planet ?


for the future of this biosphere ?

what then ?


what then ?


what now ?






"No one outside ourselves can rule us inwardly. When we know this we become free.
FEAR is always an anticipation of what has NOT yet come.
FEAR is our gross national product & export.

"wherever you are is home, and earth is a sacred place"

(c) maryjanie 2010

Child-Free by Choice, a novel idea or is it ?

Larry Mantle's pgrm on KPPC 1/5/2010 was about not having kids discussing a book entitled :

"Two is Enough: A Couple's Guide to Living Childless by Choice"
Childless by Choice Project, Laura Scott, author.

My responses are :

” I am old enough to know better....made a clear and definite choice in early 1960's to have children with husband after deep deliberation, just after pill came out to be 'safe'...and they grew up to decide on their very own to NOT have children, each one chose this separately. Delighted to not have-to-be a grandmother, to take care of children,

and

yes, there are normal happy people who Do Not Like Children as a generality... and there is nothing WRONG or BAD about that attitude...contrary to ordinary average socialized opinions.. voiced so easily that everyone 'should, must, naturally' Love Children. children are ok to observe, talk to briefly when not too close or too long, and it is not SELFISHNESS as in 'not ok' ...but a life choice, freely & intelligently made based on life path and life style too perhaps.


children are not all cute, adorable, sweet, nice, pleasant, fun, et al.

they are also mean, cruel, spiteful, moody, self-centered, with different personalities that may or not match compatibly with any adult. some people like to have someone depend on them, too feel needed, to want to "be helpful" and to re create themselves thru someone else. others dont.

we are very pleased with our socially conscious lives and have nothing missing at all... and with the way the world is 'turning'....we are grateful we made these choices so long ago...all 3 of us, my kids and me too... this ends our family line on both my husbands and my side. great !

someone else wrote:” We are not childless, we are child-free!”

I agree !

(c) maryjanie 2010

HEALTH COST INCREASES...shhhhh...dont talk about that hardly, not truthfully ..shhhhhh

Larry Mantle on KPCC on 1/5/10 discussed opinions and reactions to health care as it is being congressionally 
voted and promoted.  My comments could not get in on time but...here they are anyhow !



“ Why is the actual Increase -  yearly - in health costs, stated as supposedly "necessary  and unavoidable:..
un huh...but that is not continually discussed, investigated, explored, exposed to do direct actions to keep
COSTS DOWN instead of just agreeing to keep spending more and more again,   in just another way to
the benefit of those who provide medical services [mostly writing prescriptions by # of services provided]
 ... and then  passing andtransferring all costs that still keep on RISING continually every single year to
the average American.

note that Kaiser- which is a non-profit  - has yet again for 2010  the premium has increased by 10%
...and they claimno profits ....yet have that increase every single year ? cumulatively it becomes double
 or more in a short span of time. And this is not discussed. Why is this so ?

Why does the AMA, and all the medical doctors & health staff who  not get reductions in their high fees
and salaries-their benefits mostly that  provides only another increase in costs...and this is with or w/o
the usual general public  yearly CPI  inflation ?

Why is the discussion about whether it is govt [= all of us who earn anything at all paying it ] or private plans
[some pay more, others dont, and it is 'privatized' as most businesses are too ]...why is the discussion stuck in
one place ...? rather than  explore and admit why the costs are so extremely elevated...           and why most
people dont get much healthier from Medical treatment..  We stay the same or improve, from ::::

1- improved and cheaper hygiene, and appliances and chemicals that keep our waters, foods, safe   [sometimes] 

2 -better work conditions & safety concerns

3-  technology and machines taking over body movements work

4- and no longer do many chores that could injure or cause body harm, poorer health
  
5- we have  job losses, especially the manual work [mfg] ones, vs office 'sitting'  in the so-called "service" sector
      
6-  dangerous manual labor has been diminishing in USA and has been outsourced 'over there'
   
7- and medical treatment  outsourcing when our medical prices are prohibitive and other places like
India, Indonesia, etc do it as well, cheaper  but with similar results ?

8- and other factors that can be pulled up and looked at, reviewed, improved, negotiated, shifted too....   huh ?

why is all the talk continually about one aspect only - as if that was the Only and most Important part of why and what we need to VOTE on, to change How we do which
medicine ...and how / why we pay for it and why we pay so much for ....oh, whatever?


That is the real problem as I look at it. Most news and commentators and then the
public too just repeat the 1 2-sided issue, as if that is all the problem entailed...


while some of us then just dismiss the repetitious arguments about a closed minded
Dem-Rep 2-party ltd stuck country...that does not allow any alternate voices or questions either. but yet, I still chose to live in this USA and then use it's medical system as rarely
as is possible.



please DISCUSS THE ACTUAL $$$ COSTS AND WHY THEY ARE AS HIGH AS THEY ARE, even if the reparations and improvements that could reduce the cost, to individuals,
groups, even companies are then ultimately ignored with "we can't do thaaaaaat !"


it is not the right questions being repeated, thus limiting any good answers.


(c) MARYJANIE 2010

FEAR ! no no no ! let's not !

Pat Morrison on KPCC radio on Jan 5, 2010 did an interview with this author =

Barry Glassner, author "The Culture of Fear".

She wrote on KPCC website:

"our day to day lives are defined by fear. Three out of four Americans say that they are more fearful now than they were 20 years ago. How dangerous is it? discuss if our fear is justified, or have we been manipulated into being paralyzed, by fear itself…"

My response to the validity discussed about how Fear is excessively promoted and elicited currently is:

“So glad you are both speaking and exposing this falacy and contagious stress inducing PR scheme. thanks Pat & Barry. I agree, fear is not helpful to make safer our daily lives in this USA we actually live within. Violence exists. Worse elsewhere, Publicized more here. Made visible daily, repetitiously here. why is this ? FEAR IS OUR MAJOR EXPORT AND IMPORT and so profitable too...why do advertisers buy media space next to these stories and emphases ? It is not what we fear but how we are pushed and elicited to be aroused to watch / listen to "news" to be more fearful. Those aroused are better consumers and will buy stuff to reassure themselves too.

Fear is a profitable PR marketing tactic. 

It is not just bleeding that is what wakes the tired populous up, but a lot of sexual arousal and titillation will bring
attention to the over-worked,  depressed,  angry,  bored,  withdrawn, and or dependent on external stimulation
American.         we seem to love it and expose it even more than other cultures, tho not all others. We dismiss
'superstitions' while engaging in the same behavior and we  think we are superior by using different 'solutions' for
the fears that we too absorb and project further.         


Why is every described as "worST, moST, wildEST" all described in extremes as if unique and truly to be noted ?
       

Why is fear more useful to an over-saturated media-absorbing public than it's so-called-positive images that
may be just as fake and fantasized ?            


Why is there so much agreement to promote FEAR by media people, by professionals who want to make a name
fame for themselves, by government public relations people to accumulate more POWER in those institutional bodies ?

Why is FEAR the preferred mode of being in the USA?

In this day and age, when no nuclear anything has 'gone off'... when no famine has occurred in USA....when disasters
are actually rare and minor but blown up to be given Attention and thus advertising will pay for that media space
when people are fearing and watching / listening too ...

And the reporter who do NOT explore further, investigate, or cant afford to do more than say the same outlandish
attention- grabbing terrible whatever, so it reverberates until by repetition it is believed and discussed and agreed
to be 'real' and accurate ?

They only work for pay, so why spend too much time doing anything that is not paid for by their salaries/ commissions
?      I agree with Barry, that is why my email has this signature to be seen by anyone I write to and by me too every
time I use email:

"No one outside ourselves can rule us inwardly. When we know this we become free. FEAR is always an anticipation
of what has NOT yet come. FEAR is our gross national product & export."   "

{c} Maryjanie 2008

UCLA raises fees everywhere on everyone

this was posted also in http://la.indymedia.org/news/2010/01/233728.php

UCLA increases parking fees some more

UCLA has instituted a $3/ parking fee on Disabled Placard holders everywhere on campus after years of following Calif State free parking for legitimate blue zoned areas, starts Jan 1, 2010, but.....

Sad news of the UC system taking from the less- employable and indigent handicapped-disabled folks now.

After years of following the California code for allowing those who are often not able to be fully employed and earning like 'ordinary folks', like those with legitimate disabilities, even those not visible medical conditions... i.e. not stumbling in wheel chair or drooping on a cane... but still limited in their abilities to move and be fully mobile, Now those few spots where there was disabled parking was at no cost, is no more.

But big signs went up everywhere to only announcing that as of Jan 1,2010 a $3 visitor fee for Disabled Parking will apply to all who enter these sacred grounds.

Why complain ? Because the University of California, i.e. UCLA, system is trying to increase it's income on the backs of all those who enter the university premises - even who can ill afford these increases. Yes. but yet, the $3 is less than the ordinary $10 entry daily fees for sure !

The lack of adequate or clear & presentable communications to it's loyal public has led to many disabled non-students, and non-staff folks,to react with ill-will.

Lack of acceptance of these increases in the cost of visiting OUR university, sp that even alumni, the elderly, or those actually often unable to earn equally or fairly in the work world, and also those who do not use their dead grandma's handicap plaques are jolted into surprise thus dismay at this sudden decree.

The sidewalk signs are all that tell the public of what comes without any adequate advance notices nor any explanations. Just pay up or else..... No questions allowed.

This is poor public relations - creating ill will and resentments - not just because of the cash now required but more so because there is no consideration for the visiting public in giving clear and courteous notice of what is happening,. "Why ?" is not a question obviously, and this immediate change is made without even a mild pretense of an apology for the sudden rise in rates. Not a glimmer of caring about public reactions, and no place for public comments either.

To communicate with the Transportation / Parking Dept of UCLA that handles all parking is very convoluted, difficult and requires much effort, patience, perseverance and wasted personal time. There is no one to ask questions of what is going on. There is no answer if one tries. And even tho their employees are salary-paid-still also to answer questions and handle responses to their sudden actions, apparently they are not paid well enough to have a Q&A response system. Just pay up...or else ! Because we said so..... hmmmmmmm

The set-up street signs announcing the $3 Handicap Parking went up in December 2009 and for the 3 weeks the Univ. was fully shut down for the holidays is assumed to be time-enough for 'everyone' to be informed, conform and silently agree. But no one was around to see these signs before Jan 4, when UCLA opened up again. And the student parking workers know hardly anything when asked.

Oh well, let them take the guff and be frontline casualties.

The Parking dept can sit in offices further away and be safe from public reactions and opinions and questions.

However, there are no flyers are handed out at parking kiosks, so the poor student workers there have no information other than "you have to pay now" and they will be getting the ire and fury of those visitors daily that suddenly are confronted with an unexplained cost increase Is this the way to "do business".
By our state-paid employees at UCLA ?

This is a sign of the times, but not just economic ones. It is the times of the "We Dont Care because We Have Power to Do as We wish", acted out by those who are paid by the California STATE funds, which are taxpayer supplied, of course. Instead of helping the UC system show consideration and caring to all concerned in times when good-will is hard to come by anyway - e.g. with the recent announcement of fee increases for students whose families earn over $70,000, now the Transportation Dept did not think ahead or do proper PR.

It was not planned well enough to make ADVANCE information available, with more than the easy demand and set up of a New Rule. "Pay UP or get an expensive parking ticket !" is the abrupt message. We dont care about anyone but getting our money. From any every one who comes near here....our campuses.

The Jan 4, 2010 issue of the New Yorker Magazine has an excellent article about the recent UC systems' problems and reactions to the student fee increases announced last fall. Check it out online or at library copy.


Reading of this well-written story brought up other questions of why the UC students - who are trying to re-enact the motions of rebellions of the 1960's Anti War protests, tho they do not apply now - when these youth are reacting not to war...not to death of Americans and Vietnamese and others... who are not to being drafted, maimed and maybe killed in far off wars as young men/ women ...who are not concerned as a social movement that cares about what the government does 'not in our name'... no, not these protests....these are different times and different students than what they model their chants and parades and graffiti on....


The students currently at the UC systems have feebly enacted scenes - trying to look powerful -but for their own MONETARY SELF-INTERESTS. That is not a social good, not a government public policy issue, not about caring about the world and others, but these apparently are only concerned about their own money, costs and their entitlements. About 1/3 of grants & aid are paid for by those same student fees, so the poorer students and those incoming ones will lose out because fees should not be shifted up. IWho wants to pay more even if some portion of that cost goes to help less-able-others also get into UC also ? No free rides for anyone but the ones that want to get for their own only. Who wants to pay more anywhere anyhow ?


Strange world that has emerged -when what is important is one's self only and not more social-public-citizens' welfare and their good too. But, that's where 2009 has come to from the times when more socially-conscious students and faculty of the Vietnam anti-war days were doing here.



Nothing similar to ANTI WAR protests was anywhere visible at UCLA campus for years now, no one showed up when a protest was announced .... about Iraq or Afghanistan... nor will it be attended if about Yemen, Russia, Bolivia or anywhere else way-over-there - where it is not the students' own money and lifestyle that is directly involved. The era of selfish individualism is on full display. oh well... "me. me, me and mine is all that is important now."



oh well..... So if anyone cares besides those whose own costs go up calling, writing, contacting the sources of cost increases would be a good idea. Whether it is the student tuition costs, the Disabled Persons Parking, whether it is the cost of daily living as inflation soon will emerge in other areas without decent jobs to pay for all these increases, take action in some way. Or tell others you will, then do it !

(c) Maryjanie 2010

Xmas still remains an old-styled story of kindness

X-mas is not X defined, but one time to remind us that the December 21st winter's solstice has been shifted into human form and decorations to symbolize the giving in the colder weather's CHANGE of seasons.

CHANGE and IMPERMANENCE and the joy shared
with what stuff can be saved, shined, eaten, and enjoyed remains. Or then to be luxuriously decorated and admired by those who have-less to envy. The benevolent smile of an elder male saint-like, who has accrued more and he might be willing to share, if the others act as if "good" family.

The times when racy and sexy forms were not the norm and where stores did not have cheaper-sales as their reason for existing. Times when images and hopes of
older wiser men might lead the seasons and nations into more benevolent spheres. Times when stories told could not actually exist - but be pretended to be - with imagination providing what real life could not. Times when we were all not yet born or not 'operational' in this economic technological chaos of 2009.

Times when wishes were heart-felt, and not on the internet or TV, and when wishes were personal and shared in real-live persons. Times when those who had-more were very separate and segregated, without media to make them available as 'friends to fans'. Times when envy was less lecherous or malicious but part of the imaginative hope for being more like the elite. Times that are not here now.

Santa. The image. This is not christian or actually religious so much as representing those who-have and who- share. willingly. The sumptuous velvet and white furs, the expesive musical instruments and ornaments, the colorful shine in otherwise gray, dulled hard lives was the image-present, then given with pictures, cards and memories of what hopefully could be, but was not in most-lives possible. That imagination that titillated and glowed in all who had-less to spend on purchased gifts or materials. That love that was transmitted by hand-work, recycled materials renovated, and the time with effort each person dedicated to only the few to whom they could afford to give gifts. Sweet foods for those to whom they could give value but less.

Nostalgia means wishing for the past to re-emerge as it was before. Not now. Remembering what may have existed before... that we can now revive and rekindle as a delight image of what the Winter Solstice Season can provide in meaning and sharings. The tree symbolic of nature, decorations the fruit of nature, candles shining as sky lights, et al.

Let us remember that we can share - without buying more, spending too much, or expecting to get another object for our crowded spaces.

Let us remember that the coming together in warmth when the cold outside is darker and just as the en-lightening days begin lengthening is the physical meaning of this sharing time, words, feelings, love, together, again.

Let us be here in other ways, in this store-filled, media-exaggerated, mis-aligned, and politically-dangerous world that has scared so many of us into retreat and realizations - remembering too that the 'old' still carries positive reminders of meaning. And that we are still just barely human. And this prior-time Santa elicits images that can give kinder, deeper thoughts of each to one another - than the buy-buy-buy ones promoted all around our media-saturated minds now.

Let this aged image be just what good feelings and thoughts emerge from the assumptions, wishes, that times-were-better-then, even if not so to most people.

Let the images that brought kindness and sharing as the themes of giving prevail and uphold the cold and dark outside.

Let the inside light up and smile benevolently on you too, and you on others and sweetness refresh our cynical ways and views of these automated fear-full days.

Let this be a reminder that we are still who we and our families were before, regardless of religion, region, wealth or hard-work-options of a while ago. We are still family, in a more strained but still close way. Human family.

Merry X-mas on any X day to you.

there is no stopping Thanks and Giving, even the day after

The day after

with most of us remembering the food gifts of yesterday

in this USA

where most people were given special foods

and then feasted to overload and more

because we are still filled with our food baskets

as even the homeless - in Venice CA and elsewhere

ate 3 platefulls and still came back for More again

and smiled or groaned

even if without a room in which to sleep

but eat plenty we all did

TOGETHER.

Here, on the beachfront, a generous benefit provided

by many volunteers bringing MORE & more...

home-cooked delicacies nutritious goodies

to fill their own hearts with their giving

and knowing

that both giving and getting are at least

equal in filling life purposes, bodies, and self-esteem[s].

The day after

is just the same as the other one

without the filling of stomachs.

The remaining memories,

the left-over sensations in tummy, and some still have food stored

in plates hidden under benches

or deep recesses of refrigerators [“iceboxes”, of before].

And the rememberance that “Yes ! someone cares”

for “me” too and shares with me, too

and we are still plentiful even in these harder economic times

even with scary stories around each of us, yet still

we wont give up our treasured

traditions created to EAT and eat more -

to also share, that pleasure, be it small or huge,

with one ANOTHER.

The day after

to maybe even carry on these fulfilled ruminations -

keeping the positive alive

and the propaganda-fears so pushed on us, in remission.

The day after

we need to INTEND to continue

those good-will greetings, feedings, smiles, and openness

that emerge mostly when good food is given

yet that can continue when it is all digested and gone

and we can still be FAMILY with strangers,

the less-washed, the drunks, the crazies, the silent ones.

We can continue

to stay open in hearts and greetings

even without food-filled bodies

but still keep filled hearts and willing minds to be receptive

to any one

human or animal or insect or plant or any being in-on our earth

to keep CONNECTED, to stay attentive to more than just ‘me’,

to be alert and even sometimes

LOVING-like, courteous, cautiously-friendly-stlll, honoring any being.

The day after

is not different

not too late

to continue the feasting of friendship

at any level, be it light or more intense

not too late

to continue to honoring of all souls.

not to late

to remember who we really are:

all this is together.

even the day after

and the day after that one

and on and on and on

Delight also in This DAY AFTER that cycles on in impermanence forever.

delight in change

delight in strangeness

delight in playing with your fears

delight in nature’s tiny surprises

delight in your next food experience

delight in being here with me too.

[or just check your swarming-filled-with-thoughts-mind out to see what is cycling therein. ]

plus......below

[image of animals enjoying the feastings are at www.photosbyalexandria.com. go see....]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornucopia

http://www.answers.com/topic/cornucopia

http://paganismwicca.suite101.com/article.cfm/cornucopia_pagan_symbol_of_abundance

(c) maryjanie 2009

Did I really steal your jacket that cold night, friend ?

a real story that may ...or not..incriminate or embarrass me. I had to admit it and write to my friend that I had ...well read on and find out if you like story-telling....

Caught !

but by mistake...of course... I would never do this to YOU, especially after telling you how COLD IT IS OUTSIDE last night...
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR......rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

so I was saying...
how cold it was last night
how I did not bring a warm enough jacket when they switched me from indoors to parking monitor and then I saw you, and and you looked SO GOOD IN YOUR JACKET
that
later
I put my emergency 2nd jacket on what I THOUGHT, honestly !, assumed
was MY OTHER OLD JACKET ON MY WHITE HANGER in that tight closet
but since the thin coat I wore earlier was not there
[oh, I had cleverly put it in my car when I got the wild giraffe B&W not-thick-enough jacket out]
and since I had brought some of my own white plastic hangers when we were low of these in the fitting room that we all inhabit together...
and when I took MY to-use-in-an-emergency-only B&W jacket, assuming it was my other old thin black jacket under it,
and went to my car
and drove home
and then or until...the next morning
I found this thinnner-than-even-my-thin jacket
humped and wilted and crushed and dying
under
my fancy animal-like NEW B&W jacket.
and I smoked all the cigarettes you had saved and asked about - as I had not investigated the pockets for loose change
knowing I had little money, much less loose change
[and did you see that documentary, by the way ? wow, did you see the 9-11 towers go down ? ]
and so not having pilfered the pockets carefully, even now, I thought it might be good to take up smoking, tho I never have all these years prior to this opportunity.

oh, and there is more !!!!

I am scheduled to work there again, so I walked that thin jacket you seem to think so highly of and want back, all the way to the work closet we share at work.
No one home.
I went tumbling down to basement and rang bell persistently , knocked, rang dulled bell again, and yet no one answered down in the managers' office.
so I had to carefully WALK BACK UP STEEP STAIRS all by myself, with the stolen, ahem, I mean lifted, or rather taken, by mistake of course ! , that skinny black jacket with all it's contents intact
to my car again...

look up if you might be working tomorrow cuz I thought to maybe leave it outside the doors or in closet for you tomorrow, but NO,
you did it wrong
by not working tomorrow, the result is that you will freeze w/o your silly black jacket.
There is no work tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow either
so where I sit here now ...dejectedly..afraid to reveal my real name...
knowing you cannot decipher who I am by my story or my clever emails,
oh, I forgot to change my "psuedo-name" on top of email heading, oh well....
the story is
I will bring that old torn and ugly jacket back to you in a few weeks....even if I am not working,
because I come for other friends and coffee and visiting near there anyhow
and then
you can get your stupid jacket !

is this clear ?

my long story is not an apology, of course, because I did nothing wrong
except to write a very very very long accurate to every detail, almost, of what has happened so far, so when you inspect your jacket, then you will know it's true story - a real story - an honest story.....and you will treasure how many places and adventures it has been through without YOU.

anyhow,
if there is another way to get that rag to you, like if you are near here, let me know cuz I can bring it to somewhere, if it's not too far from wherever I am at that time and since I am coiming to an event there soon enough, I mean a few weeks is nothing to get upset about, right ? Not like I stole your cheap nylon top to keep it for some other purposes or to give to Joe instead ...

I may be no friend of yours, but I am friendly with that that that ....jacket
now

PS....I hope you have more than 1 jacket, even if it is not your favorite or a best-black-one either.



(c) maryjanie 2009