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By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

“It’s a problem,” President Barack Obama said, when Jay Leno, of all people, finally brought the issue of voter suppression out of the shadowy underground and placed it center stage. “Our country’s always been stronger when everybody’s had a voice… We should be thinking about ways to make it easier for folks to vote, not to make it harder for folks to vote.”

He then launched into a pitch for early voting, which he called “really terrific.” It was typical of Obama not to dwell on or dig deep into the dirty tricks being deployed by his political enemies.

But it’s not just him that’s the target, it’s millions of potential voters and American democracy itself that’s at stake, which is why a deeper understanding of the strategies and forces at play in the shadow election could prove vital in preserving our democracy, par-ticularly if we face a replay of the 2000 election.

The Romney campaign is clearly planning with this in mind, as it’s begun pushing a baseless narrative of Romney’s “momentum,” which supposedly makes him the front-runner.

Romney’s Bad MathIn the closing days of the 2000 election, Karl Rove and the

Bush campaign peddled a similar narrative of Bush’s winning big. Rove told the conservative Washington Times that Bush would win “in the vicinity of 320 electoral votes,” picking up “50 to 51 [percent] versus 44, 45 percent” for Vice President Al Gore in the popular vote.

Bush also spent several million dollars on TV ads in Califor-nia, which he had no chance of winning. It was all pure B.S., but it helped create a mindset that gave Bush an edge throughout the protracted battle over the outcome of Florida, even though Gore was ahead in both the popular and the electoral college vote at the time.

The Romney campaign’s strategy appears virtually identical, but as with so much else, the numbers don’t support him: Romney gained ground significantly after the first debate, but his momentum petered out around the time he lost the second debate. National poll averages have generally shown no clear trend over the past 2 to 3 weeks. The Princeton Election Consortium’s electoral vote meta-analysis, which aggregates all state polls and produces an electoral college result, based on all 2.3 quadrillion possible combinations, dropped from the 340 range for Obama before the first debate down to below 280, still a winning margin. It has since bounced back into

President Barack Obama was in Los Angeles to tape the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” He flew to Chicago to cast his vote early -- a first for a sitting president. In doing so, he set an example for supporters to ward off a repeat of the 2000 Bush-Gore election fiasco. File photo.

Critics Slam Railyard Environmental Impact Report p. 2

Fishing Boat Catches Hell, Not Fish p. 2

Cirque du Soleil Comes to Long Beach p.11

Dark Blue Mondaze Feeds the Hunger for Theatre p. 15

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n Oct. 25, the Art Theater in Long Beach hosted a fundrais-er for the marijuana decrimi-

nalization group, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition or LEAP.

The event featured a screening of the documentary Legalize It, which chronicled the failed 2010 Proposition 19. Had Proposition 19 succeeded, it would have effectively legalized the use of marijuana for anyone older than 21 in California. The movie was fol-lowed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers and several prominent mar-ijuana activists.

Kyle Kazan, a retired Torrance po-lice officer and member of LEAP, jok-ingly referred to the gathering as the “Woodstock against the drug war,” be-fore describing the strain put on law en-forcement agencies by the state and the federal war on drugs.

“[When] a kid, 21-years-old, driving down the road gets pulled over and has marijuana… they [the police] book the marijuana into evidence,” Kazan said, describing tedious and often expen-sive police procedure involved in even the simplest pot citation. “That is very time- sensitive, the lab has to prove that

green leafy substance is marijuana… where are our priorities?”

Kazan is not alone in believing that the national preoccupation with controlled substances, like marijua-na, has put an undue burden on lo-cal law enforcement and has turned police attention away from violent crimes such as rape and murder.

LEAP, which was started 10 years ago, has grown from a handful of police officers to more than 50,000 members, including judges, prosecu-tors, police and civilians. The organi-zation supports members of law en-forcement who see drug enforcement policies as wasteful endeavours that risk professional ostracism.

Kazan and other members of

The Pot PoliceBy Kevin Walker, Community News Reporter

O

Don’t Let Them Steal the Election/ to p. 7Pot Police/ to p. 5

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Committed to independent journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for more than 30 years

HARBOR AREA

National maritime seaman Christos

(Chris) Kiorpeoglou can be tenacious, but flexible, too. As a deckhand on an oil tank-er for five years, he has maneuvered around Hurricane Katrina and rolled with whatever

seafaring rules reigned in the particular oce-anic region where he has worked.

That is, until now.After converting his 35-foot-long wood-

en sailboat, Tina, into a long-lining fishing

vessel, Kiorpeoglou is now captain of his own ship. She’s a boat that the Department of Fish and Game recognized and registered as a commercial boat.

Yet, when Kiorpeoglou and Tina drifted into the San Pedro fishery with all his licenses and fishing gear, they got tangled in a big snag. Kiorpeoglou said he would have complied with the Port of Los Ange-les’ rules and regulations if they weren’t so unfair and criminal.

“I’ve never broke any laws,” said Kiorpeoglou, who fished the various commercial industries from San Pedro’s shores for the past 42 years. “I’m law abiding.”

Phillip Sanfield, a spokesman for the Port, sees things from a very different point-of-view.

“The Port went out of its way and went way be-yond the requirements in an attempt to work with him, trying to resolve this,” said Sanfield, after port police took away Kiorpeoglou’s boat for failing to

qualify as a commercial vessel, a requirement where it was docked. “We cannot just let it go.”

Kiorpeoglou isn’t so much a victim of the Port as he is of the changing times. He fishes for the love of fishing and sustaining himself on whatever gifts na-ture brings to him. Today’s commercial fishing outfits are in it for the money and have the large vessels and fishing sonar equipment to do it.

Kiorpeoglou, who has no such electronics, must limit himself to fishing inside the three-mile restric-tion zone of San Pedro’s fisheries for his haul. But he’s happy working closer to shore. Though he main-tains all his safety gear and meets all other fishery re-quirements, Kiorpeoglou violated a Port requirement by not making enough money selling fish.

Tariff No. 4 states that a vessel cannot merely be fitted for catching fish. She must actually “sell and deliver said fish to a cannery, processing plant, or

Fishing Boat Catches Hell, Not FishStressed, Poor, Homeless, Seaman Just Wants His Boat BackBy Tami Jackson, Community News Reporter

The idea of building a new inter-modal rail-yard has been floating around for a decade now, but the most recent development, the recirculation of the draft environmental impact report for BNSF’s Southern California International Gateway with new data, clearly indicates that major problems have yet to be solved.

These problems are highlighted by comments from regulators, health experts and involved com-munities. The question is, what now?

“It’s good that the revised EIR for the BNSF (Southern California International Gateway) rail-yard finally admits that lower-income minority resi-dents to the east of the facility will be disproportion-ately impacted by toxic air contaminants,” summed up Andrea Hricko after the Oct. 20 public hearing at Banning’s Landing. Hricko, a USC professor of pre-ventive medicine, continued, saying, “But the EIR

also says that the railroad cannot mitigate (or lessen) the health risks. Doesn’t that make parts of west Long Beach a ‘sacrifice zone’?”

In the hearing itself, she said, “Since 2005, public health experts have pointed out that it’s completely inappropriate to cite a railyard within 1,000 feet of schools, daycare centers, parks and lower-income homes. Hundreds of scientific articles show that chil-dren and others who live in close proximity to traf-fic pollution are more likely to develop asthma, heart disease and other illnesses. Building a railyard is fine, but it belongs at the Harbor—as others have said—not a lower-income minority community.”

The EIR noted that it was violating federal guide-lines, “saying that railyards are not compatible with schools and houses,” Hricko continued.

But the guidelines were not mandatory, so they

Recirculated Railyard EIR Still Falls ShortAQMD, Others Highlight Shortcomings At Public HearingBy Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

The morning after Chris Kiorpeoglou has hospitalized, the Kiorpeoglous’ boat was impounded by port police. Pictured are Gordana and Chris Kiorpeoglou. Photo: Tami Jackson.

Fisherman/ to p. 4

Railyard EIR Still Falls Short/ to p. 6

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“And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better.” Novem

ber 2 - 15, 2012 Community Announcements:

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Casino Night for POLA High School Fundraiser

Make a teacher’s wish come true, from 6 to 11 p.m. Nov. 2, Ports O’ Call Restaurant in San Pedro. Raise money to help teachers purchase teaching tools for their classrooms. All you have to do is eat, gamble and have fun.

Cost is $20 per person, which includes $25 in gaming chips and complimentary appetizers. Bring 5 paying guests and your ticket is free. Plus you will receive $50 in gaming chips.Details: (310) 833-3553Venue: Ports O’ Call RestaurantLocation: 1199 Nagoya Way, San Pedro

Veterans Appreciation FestivalVeterans Appreciation Festival will take place,

from 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 10, at Berth 87 in the Port of Los Angeles, in San Pedro.

This event will feature live music, a resource fair, free food, children’s play area and free passes for veterans to go aboard the USS Iowa. This is a free event and open to the public.Venue: Port of Los AngelesLocation: Berth 87, San Pedro

Flu Vaccine ScheduleThe City of Long Beach Department of Health,

with assistance from the American Red Cross, has announced the dates for the 2012 Annual Flu Clinics. This year’s walk-in flu clinics will continue through Nov. 30, 2012. The clinics are for people age 60 and older and for adults ages 18 through 59 who are at high-risk for serious complications from influenza. Adults under the age of 60 who should get annual seasonal flu shots include:

• Anyone with underlying chronic medical conditions, such as heart or lung conditions, or who are immune suppressed, such as persons living with HIV/AIDS,

• receiving cancer treatment, dialysis,• or women who are pregnant during the flu

season.Caregivers of seniors or infants and adults

with Medicare Part B are urged to bring their Medicare card to the clinic to receive a free flu shot. A $2 donation to offset administrative costs will be requested from people who do not have Medicare. No appointment is needed at the following sites:

• From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Nov. 8, Houghton Park Community Center, 6301 Myrtle Ave.

• From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Nov. 9, California Recreation Center, 1550 Martin Luther King Ave.

• From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Nov. 14, Bixby Park, 130 Cherry Ave.

• From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Nov. 27 through 30, Health Department, 2525 Grand Ave., Long Beach.

Call (562) 570-4315 for appointments at the Health Department on 2525 Grand Ave. Details: (562) 570-4499; www.longbeach.gov/health

Redondo Beach Veterans Day ServiceThe City of Redondo Beach will host a

Veterans Day service event and barbecue Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial in Veterans Park.

The service will include reflection and remembrance, music, commentary and honors to all those members of the military who have served their country. The event will also acknowledge the two-year anniversary of the new memorial. Following the service will be a barbecue picnic sponsored by the Redondo Elks. The barbecue is free for all veterans and members. A $5 donation is requested from all others.Details: (310) 993-4637; www.RBVeteransMemorial.comVenue: Veterans ParkLocation: 300 The Esplanade, Redondo Beach

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wholesale fish market.” To keep the Port happy, each commercial

boat must catch a quantity amounting to at least $15,000 in commercial money or 18 kilotons (metric) of fish.

Kiorpeoglou barely produced $200 in receipts but said he was working very hard to get Tina’s wooden hull ready for fishing, and he was install-ing proper fishing gear. External circumstances kept him from complying.

lucky if you don’t get fish... I go four times out. Five times out. I catch nothing. “

After two years of issuing temporary permits, the Port not only exhausted all possible exten-sions for Kiorpeoglou’s boat, but Sanfield said, the Port was really patient about waiting for Ki-orpeoglou to get his sea legs back.

“The Port accepted his work receipts for ves-sel repairs when (fishing) tickets were not sup-plied, and issued a temporary license that quali-fied him of the same privileges.” Sanfield said.

According to the tariff, those temporary li-censes could not be extended beyond 12 months.

“This has been going on for 24 months.”Because Kiorpeoglou did not produce enough

fishing tickets, the Port said he can no longer tie off at Berth 73W, where commercial fishing ves-sels belong. They warned that they would im-pound Tina if she ever made waves at their docks again.

“I take my boat to go fishing,” Kiorpeoglou said. “When I return, they say ‘you no have place to park your boat.’”

The Port warned Kiorpeoglou with three written warnings.

“You have failed to provide this office with the required amount of verifiable fish tickets,” the last warning stated. “You must remove your vessel immediately or it will be subject to im-pound.”

Kiorpeoglou said he kept paying the Harbor for privileges to dock his boat at Berth 73W, but since he failed to comply with regulations, they would not accept his payments. Instead, they gave him a list of other marinas and told him to moor his vessel elsewhere.

Kiorpeoglou’s wife, Gordana, called the ma-rinas on the list. None wanted a fishing vessel in their boatyard. The Tina had nowhere to go.

Unintended ConsequencesWith no place to tie off, Kiorpeoglou an-

chored off shore but the stress of it all proved to be too much. On Oct. 14, paramedics met him at the commercial fishing dock because he was hav-ing chest pains. Kiorpeoglou secured Tina to the dock at Berth 73W, while he was in the hospital overnight.

Sanfield said that the port police impounded the boat at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 15.

Tina is now at Berth 161, where the dockage fees cost Kiorpeoglou $80 per day. With no way to fish and make money, he has no way to get his boat out of impound.

Much later, as Kiorpeoglou pondered lost wages and his boat in impound, he said he des-perately wants to be fishing again.

“It’s lobster season,” he said, remorsefully. His grandson has gone to work on another

boat and is now scooping shrimp. Ever since authorities impounded the Tina, Gor-

dana Kiorpeoglou has actively solicited help from the media and from anyone who would listen.

“The Port has been doing things to break the fishermen,” she said. “They are big shots. These are corrupted people.”

Kiorpeoglou is also very angry. “I’m not going to sell my boat,” said Kior-

peoglou about the idea of selling his boat to get it out of impound. “My boat is commercial. My boat is not a pleasure boat. I need it to work.”

Since their boat has been impounded, the Ki-orpeoglous have been living with their two dogs inside their 1993 Ford F-150 pickup truck. With-out fishing, they’re surviving on Social Security payments totaling $1,400 per month.

Between their diabetes medicine, food, gas for the truck and their monthly storage bill, the Kiorpeoglous are getting by on some blessings and a prayer.

Even then, when he did take Tina out with his deck-hand grandson, 24-year-old Christopher Jovon, Kiorpeoglou was not very successful at catching fish.

“Sometimes you get a fish,” Kiorpeo-glou, 65, said. “Sometimes you get a noth-ing. You’re lucky if you get fish. You’re not

from p. 2

Fisherman

With city elections looming, what Jim Dear didn’t address in his annual State of the City speech may matter as much as what he did.

His speech, delivered on Oct. 18, to an au-dience of about 300 at the Juanita Millender-McDonald Community Center, spent much of an hour focusing mostly on economic issues and various community redevelopment projects in what Dear termed a “post-redevelopment agency era.”

“We have a balanced budget,” Dear an-nounced, also pointing out that the city has a “healthy” reserve and a savings balance of an estimated $26 million as of this past June.

What went unsaid, however, was that within the past year, he’s lost his base of support on the city council. Whether or not he’s also lost his base of support with voters is another unresolved issue. Much depends on who—and what—makes the city ballot in March 2013.

For several past election seasons, Dear and Councilwoman Julie Ruiz-Raber have run as al-lies, bringing unity to Carson. Both are expected to seek re-election next spring for two of three council seats. Mike Gipson holds the third seat, and he is also expected to seek re-election.

Once Ruiz-Raber could be expected to vote with Dear, but now she more often votes with Gipson and Lula Davis-Holmes. Dear could support a challenger to Ruiz-Raber, but another major challenge to his own position is underway. Ruiz-Raber, Gipson and Davis-Holmes are cur-rently attempting a return to the city’s former practice of appointing, rather than electing, a mayor.

There are a few reasons behind the split be-tween Dear and Ruiz-Raber; among them is Standard Management Procedure 8.1, which formerly had regulated the naming of streets. The council deemed it “obsolete and in need of review and updating,” and suspended it on Sept. 6, 2011. It has not been updated or brought back before the council since.

Immediately after the suspension of the pro-

What Dear Didn’t Address By Lyn Jensen, Carson Reporter

State of the City/ to p. 10

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LEAP were early backers of Prop. 19 and were prominently featured in Legalize It.

The documentary portrays the 2010 fight to legalize marijuana from the point of view of Richard Lee, Jeff Jones and Dale Sky Clare, founders of Oaksterdam University in Oakland, California. The facility is unique in the world of medicinal marijuana dispensaries because, in addition to distributing cannabis, the university also attempts to educate its students on how to cultivate the plant.

Filmmakers Dan Katzir and Ravi Markus fo-cus the film’s attention almost exclusively on the Oaksterdam trio, dedicating a great deal of time to their subjects’ personal histories and reasons for becoming involved in the campaign to legal-ize marijuana.

They also manage to show how a relatively fringe campaign, organized and started by a small group of marijuana devotees morphed into a se-rious political effort with the backing of unions like the United Food and Commercial Workers and civil rights organizations such as the Califor-nia National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Where Legalize It truly excels is its depiction of the parties who opposed Prop. 19, which, in addition to members of the Democratic party es-tablishment like Sen. Diane Feinstein, included many California medicinal marijuana growers.

The film reveals a fundamental split within California’s marijuana industry, between those who feel that the state would best be served with complete legalization and a group, which feels that such a change would undermine their mo-nopoly on cannabis production.

As any Californian knows, the state has con-tinued to grapple with its awkward medical mari-juana laws since Prop. 19 was defeated. Howev-er, many of speakers at a panel discussion gave

the failed campaign credit for efforts to end the substance’s prohibition in other states.

“Cities and states all across the nation are instituting reforms… change is inevitable,” said Diane Goldstein, a retired Redondo Beach Police commander and member of LEAP. “When that change comes, we will all be indebted to those on the Prop. 19 campaign, (which) first forged the path toward ending prohibition.”

Washington, Colorado and Oregon all have initiatives on their November ballots that would legalize marijuana, although only Washington’s I-502 measure is leading in the polls.

LEAP’s decision to use a Long Beach venue for its fundraising event is interesting, given the recent spate of raids on medical marijuana dis-pensaries by the Long Beach Police Department.

Long Beach, which has had a chaotic rela-tionship with its dispensaries, opted for a com-plete ban of the businesses earlier this year and has since used federal assistance in shuttering remaining hold-outs.

Such instances are exactly what members

of LEAP have labeled at misguided attempts to stop behaviors that are beyond the law’s ability to control.

“It boggles my mind that marijuana is still il-legal,” Kazan said. “Few policy changes would do more to end budget deficits, increase public safety, restore community trust in the police … than ending the prohibition on marijuana.”

LEAP Board member Steve Downing, right, honors Jeff and Dale Sky Jones. They helped found Oaksterdam University in Oakland, which educates students on how to cultivate the medical marijuana plants. Photo: Diana Lejins.

from p. 1

Pot Police

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were being ignored. “As a result, we have a proposal

for a railyard that not only violates land use, smart growth and public health principles, but that also violates envi-ronmental justice principles,” she said.

The comment meeting was initially dominated by well-organized support-ers of the project, who endlessly re-cited a limited, but well-crafted set of talking points about jobs and clean air. But the points are not just irrelevant to

the EIR process. They are question-able on the issue of jobs—as oppo-nents claim the project costs existing jobs and could be built elsewhere in-stead—and flat-out wrong about clean air, as Hricko was not alone in point-

ing out.“If you look,

buried in the back of this document, in Appendix G, G-4, there is the Port’s projections about future traf-fic to Hobart [a railyard in Com-merce]. That

traffic will increase, whether SCIG is built or not,” said David Pettit, testify-ing for the Natural Resources Defense Counsel. “So not only will there not be fewer trucks on the 710, there will be more trucks on the 710, by the Port’s own admission.”

What’s more, Pettit went on to say, “The Port says air quality is going to be much better if the project is built. That is based on a set of assumptions that has nothing to do with this project. The Port is trying to take credit, for example, for improvements in truck technology that are going to happen, whether this project is built or not.”

“These are comments similar to the comments of the Air Quality Man-agement District for the last EIR, and so responding, the Port in pulled that EIR,” Pettit continued. “That problem remains. And so what you’ve got is the claim that—all other things being equal—putting a million and a half new truck trips in the community will make the air better, which is, I think, ridiculous on its face.”

Speaking for the Air Quality Man-agement District, Susan Nakimura chimed in.

The EIR “does not account for the Hobart emissions in the proposed project,” she said, “The result is a false sense that the proposed project reduces emissions.”

More specifically, Nakimura said, “Localized impacts for NO2, PM10, and PM2.5 are significant, and far ex-ceed the AQMD’s significance thresh-old…These pollutants are all associ-ated with asthma and other respiratory conditions…NO2 impacts are broad and significant, affecting residential neighborhoods, schools and other sen-sitive land uses... (Consequently,) it is important, and required under (Cali-fornia Environmental Quality Act) that all feasible mitigation measures be included in the proposed Project.”

But the proposal is seriously lack-ing.

While AQMD will provide much more extensive written comments, Na-kimura highlighted two half-measures in particular—concerning zero-emis-sions technology and newer, cleaner locomotives—both of which appear in EIR Section 3.2.5 “Consideration of Project Conditions Subject to Ap-proval.”

First, “A ‘demonstration’ program for zero-emission technologies is not a strong enough commitment,” she said. “Zero-emission technologies for drayage trucks and cargo-handling equipment should be included as a mitigation measure and/or an alterna-tive to the proposed project.”

She went on to note that the DEIR for the 710 expansion included an 18-mile zero-emission freight corridor as an alternative.

“Let’s be clear,” she said. “We are talking about draying containers less than 4 miles. This is an ideal situa-

tion to deploy zero-emission technolo-gies.” she said.

AQMD recommends 2016 as the milestone “to begin deployment of zero-emission technologies.”

The second measure Nakimura ad-dressed concerned modernized, best technology locomotives.

“This measure should seek to implement the goal in (Clean Air Ac-tion Plan) Measure RL-3, which is a 95 percent of Tier 4 locomotives by 2020,” she explained.

However, “AQMD staff is con-cerned that, as currently proposed, this Project Condition (PC AQ-12) does not meet the goal or even the mini-mum performance standard.”

The measure allows the CAAP goals “to be made up anywhere in the South Coast Air Basin—not necessar-ily in and around the Proposed SCIG site,” he explained.

Although Nakimura did not men-tion it, this approach ignores CAAP’s original rationale. Off-site mitigation standards were included to backstop on-site measures when such measures at their strongest could not be ade-quate—not to replace them.

Community members also object-ed, although two busloads of residents from West Long Beach could not stay long enough to have their testimony heard.

“Most of the residents of West Long Beach happen to be opposed to this project,” said John Cross, a long-time leader with the West Long Beach Association, in his testimony. The project might get trucks off the 710 freeway, he said, “But that’s going to put that 1.5 million trucks within 450 yards of five schools, residential areas, homeless shelters... That’s not accept-able. That’s not tolerable.”

Cross went on to claim he’d been told that BNSF refused to consider a site on port property that they would not exclusively control. Port spokes-man Arley Baker could not comment on an EIR comment under CEQA rules, but referred Random Lengths to a section of the EIR which briefly considers, and dismisses, the possibil-ity of alternative locations that would not impact community health.

But some of the rationales appear to be dependent on decisions made af-ter the railyard idea was first floated, meaning that far-sighted planning could have made more optimal siting possible. The new EIR contemplates a 50-year lease (up from 30 years be-fore re-circulation), which only makes opponents more critical of it for per-petuating problems far into the future, rather than aggressively seeking to an-ticipate and solve them in advance.

Patrick Kennedy of the Greater Long Beach Interfaith Community Or-ganization encapsulated SCIG’s critics argument. “What’s limited at the Port right now is imagination,” he said.

Railyard EIR Still Falls Shortfrom p. 2

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“And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better.” Novem

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the 290 to 300 range, mostly toward the lower end. In crucial battleground states, Obama retains

his lead in enough states to win. Using averages from Real Clear Politics—a conservative site that featured a 446 electoral vote Bush landslide prediction in 2000—Obama was ahead 2.3 or 2.4 percent in Nevada, Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio on Oct. 26, which would give him 277 electoral votes versus 270 to win. Obama never trailed in any of them during Romney’s surge.

Obama’s lead is probably underestimated, particularly in crucial battleground states, due to higher support among cellphone users who can’t legally be called by automated polls.

An Oct. 26 story in Talking Points Memo re-ported, “Since early September, live polls have shown Obama with an average lead of 4.5 per-cent in Ohio, while robo-polls show him with an average lead of less than 2.”

The battleground states themselves have shifted significantly since 2000 to 2004. Virginia and North Carolina, which no Democrat had won since 1964 and 1976, respectively until 2008 are now hotly-contested battleground states. In 2004, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and New Mexico were all battleground states, but Rom-ney isn’t seriously contesting any of them—even though Pennsylvania’s voter identification law was expressly intended to deliver the state to him.

Obama’s electoral blue-state base is much larger than Romney’s red-state base. More safe states mean Obama needs fewer battleground states to win and has more paths to victory; 436, compared to 76 for Romney. A similar calcula-tion in 2004 showed 143 paths for Kerry, versus 358 for Bush.

Latinos are still being widely undercounted and miscounted in polls—a major reason for Harry Reid’s surprising 5-point victory in 2010. In a recent article, Matt A. Barreto, of Latino Decisions used the example of a national Mon-mouth poll showing Romney leading 48 to 45, while losing Latinos narrowly, 42 to 48. Sub-stituting more realistic figures, from an average of nationwide polls of Latinos, Obama emerged

with a 1-point lead instead. Nevada, Colorado and Florida are particularly sensitive to such polling errors among swing states.

All the above factors indicate that Romney is in a very weak position and that his “winning!” narrative is much like Charlie Sheen’s, which is all the more reason why voter suppression looms large as an electoral concern.

Voter SuppressionThere are three main prongs to voter suppres-

sion efforts, each of which has already had an im-pact, but will also play a potentially significant role up to, including, and even beyond, election day. These are:

State action. According to the Brennan Cen-ter for Justice, 41 states have introduced 180 re-strictive laws since the 2010 midterms, but in the end, only 16 laws and two executive orders in 13 states survived to take effect this year. Two laws in two states were “seriously blunted” by the courts.

GOP partisan/professional activism to block, intimidate and suppress Democratic vot-ers, primarily in low-income and minority com-munities, but also among younger voters as well. The central figure in such efforts within the last three election cycles has been consultant Nathan Sproul, former chair of the Arizona GOP. Workers

employed by Sproul have been caught destroying or discarding registration forms in swing states such as Florida, Virginia and Colorado, leading to a high-profile firing of his firm—after which he was quietly rehired by parties unknown to do get-out-the-vote organizing in at least 30 states.

Conservative ideological activism articu-lated as “protecting the vote,” but definitely not the votes of low-income and minority voters, whom they spend a great deal of energy harass-ing and intimidating. Tea Party activists aligned with True the Vote are not under GOP direction, but have strongly overlapping goals in terms of practical politics.

Ever since the 2000 election, voting rights advocates have recognized the proliferation of new threats, and organized a national network of “Election Protection” teams, which are going to be crucial in fighting back against the combined effects of these three different sorts of threats. For a closer look at the challenges they face and how they are fighting back in the most populous swing states—Florida, Ohio, Virginia and North Caroli-na—please see the online version of this article at www.randomlengthsnews.com/blogs/Notebook/.

If you see or experience any problem with voting, you can call the Election Protection hotline at: 866-our-vote. Their website is 866ourvote.org and they have a smartphone app available.

Medical Marijuana Petition Approved For Circulation LOS ANGELES—On Oct. 26, the Los Angeles City Clerk announced the approval for the “Medical Marijuana Collectives Initiative Ordinance” to col-lect signatures for the May 2013 ballot.

The ordinance would regulate associations of six or more qualified patients and/or primary care-givers who cultivate, process, distribute, deliver, or give away marijuana to an unlimited number of members for medical purposes. It exempts asso-ciations of five or fewer qualified patients and/or primary caregivers who process or cultivate medi-cal marijuana onsite for themselves, their quali-fied patients or for those with medical marijuana cards.

The ordinance prohibits medical marijuana clinics, but provides limited immunity from en-forcement of the ordinance for all clinics that op-erated as of Sept. 14, 2007, are registered with the city and have not ceased operations for 90 days except to relocate or in response to federal action. The limited immunity from enforce also applies to clinics that provide no ingress/egress from adjacent residential zoned lots, pass annual LAPD background checks, and after 300 days, maintain a certain distance from schools, parks, and other designated places. The ordinance es-tablishes operating standards, enforceable as in-fractions. If the city adopts permit regulations for medical marijuana clinics, the ordinance requires the city to issue permits to all clinics immunized by this ordinance.

Proponents have a 120-day window to collect 41,138 valid signatures. Dec. 7, 2012 is the rec-ommended last day for proponents to file the completed petition.

GOP Opposes Disaster Relief, Preparedness

Reckless budget-cutting has consequenc-es, as noted by the Progressive Change Cam-paign Committee in a recent action alert:

In March 2011, the House Republicans passed a continuing resolution that included a cut of $450.3 million to the (National Oce-anic and Atmospheric Administration) as compared to President Obama’s requested budget. It also cut the National Weather Ser-

Don’t Let Them Steal the Electionfrom p. 1

News Briefs/ to p. 10

The post-election battle be-tween George W. Bush and Al Gore over Florida’s elec-toral votes in 2000 was influ-enced by a false narrative of Bush’s winning big. “Bush’s Brain,” Karl Rove told the conservative Washington Times that Bush would win “in the vicinity of 320 elec-toral votes,” picking up “50 to 51 [percent] versus 44, 45 percent” for Vice Presi-dent Al Gore in the popular vote. Gore actually won the popular tally by half a million votes.

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“A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do some-

thing about it.”

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Random Lengths News editorial office is located at 1300 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, (310) 519-1016. Address correspondence regarding news items and news tips only to Random Lengths News, P.O. Box 731, San Pedro, CA 90733-0731, or email to editor @randomlengthsnews.com.Send Letters to the Editor or requests for subscription information to james @randomlengthsnews.com. To be considered for publication, all Letters to the Editor should be typewritten, must be signed, with address and phone number included (these will not be published, but for verification only) and be kept to about 250 words. To submit advertising copy email adv@randomelengthsnews.com or reads@randomlengthsnews.com.Extra copies and back issues are available by mail for $3 per copy while supplies last. Subscriptions are available for $35 per year for 27 issues.Random Lengths News presents issues from an alternative perspective. We wel-come articles and opinions from all people in the Harbor Area. While we may not agree with the opinions of contributing writers, we respect and support their 1st Amendment right to express those opinions. Random Lengths News is a member of Standard Rates and Data Reporting Services and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. (ISN #0891-6627). All contents Copyright 2012 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.

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Published every two weeks for the Harbor Area communi-ties of San Pedro, RPV, Lomita, Harbor City, Wilmington, Carson and Long Beach. Distributed at over 350 locations throughout the seven cities of the Harbor Area.www.randomlengthsnews.com

Contributors Danny Simon, Arthur R. Vinsel

I have been thinking lately that this national election is of such historic proportions that it may

about a choice between two paths to the future but a decision about our past. Do we unravel the knot of mistakes that brought us to the brink of financial collapse, or do we go back to making those same kind of mistakes out of some mis-guided loyalty to a dysfunctional ideology?

So, it will come as no surprise that I reject the Romney-retro-vi-sion of “trickle-down economics” of the past. I support those who adhere to some form of FDR’s liberalism, Obama included. My criticism is that this president and others in the Democratic party haven’t gone far enough, fought hard enough for their ideals and continue to “reach across the aisle” to compromise with those

whose only goal for the past four years was to make Obama a one-term president. So I direct this message to them: You were elected to rep-resent the people and to do the business of the people. When confronted with obstructionist op-position Teabaggers, you are expected to fight, not compromise with them!

With that being said, it is Obama, not Rom-ney, who is most suited for the nuances of gov-erning and transitioning this nation from a full-on war economy to a post-Cold War leader of the democratically elected family of nations. The question, however, is whether he has enough votes in Congress to pass any significant reforms that don’t compromise the core values of what should be the second half of FDR’s vision of the New Deal.

This is why I have endorsed Janice Hahn and Alan Lowenthal for Congress with the admon-ishment that they tighten their seatbelts. The next two years are going to be a rough ride. Don’t compromise with idiots, don’t start negotiating from the middle and there are some things like Social Security, Medicare and Roe vs. Wade that are non-negotiable.

Then we need to talk about enforcing the anti-trust laws on those Wall Street banks that are called “too big to fail,” it is time to separate consumer banking from the blatant and corrupt gaming of our wealthiest financial institutions. Only then will we perhaps see an end to this de-bacle that we have come to know as the Great Recession.

well determine the direction of this country for the next three decades. This election has been cast as a choice between President Ba-rack Obama and his desire to re-dedicate the nation to certain core funda-mentals of our national creed and Gov. Mitt Romney and his desire to spin us down the road of “freedom equals capital-ism.”

The contrast between Obama and Romney couldn’t be clearer, even as Romney sprints to the center. These days, it seems he’d say anything to get into the Oval Office. This election really comes down to a choice between the failed economic policies of the past 30 years and the promise of some yet-to-be fully enunci-ated New Deal for America’s middle class.

One of our letter writers makes reference to the presidential election of 1932 between President Herbert Hoover and Gov. Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the height of the Great Depression. Roosevelt won by a landslide. That election, like this one, focused on the failures of free market economic policies and the consequences of relying on the market’s ability to “self-correct” or bring the prom-ised “prosperity” (think American Dream). In that year, unemployment topped out at a whopping 25 percent.

This year’s election is reversed with the incumbent Democratic president defending his FDR-like initiatives and the Republican challenger criticizing anything that sounds like “regulating the free market.” Late in the campaign Romney seems to have shifted like the pitchman that he is from hard-right Mitt to Romney-lite, as though this was an ad campaign for a new beer that helps you lose weight.

One late-night pundit explained that pres-idential campaigns are not about the past but about the future and that neither candidate has explained exactly the future they envi-sion. While this may be generally true in this election. I’d argue that this election is not

Down to the Wire for ObamaRomney has tried to appear as a moderate in an election of historic proportionsBy James Preston Allen, Publisher

Proposition 31 was a contentious issue in staff discussion. Most of the staff was against the measure, while I was for it. Let me explain why.

When Gov. Jerry Brown was elected to serve for the second time, he pledged to fix California’s dysfunction by reversing structure of govern-ment back to what it was when he was governor in 1975. That’s why he initiated the realignment plan that shifted non-violent offenders from state facilities to the county and disbanded and seized the funds of the Community Redevelop-ment Agencies. Prop. 31 could be the third step in completing California’s reorganization.

During Brown’s first tenure as governor 40 years ago, public safety, health and education were financed and governed on the county level. That changed with Prop. 13, the tax initiative that froze property taxes at 1978 levels for all but new property owners. This change in tax policy fundamentally changed how California worked. It created a situation where California’s general fund paid for a number of programs for which cities and counties were responsible.

Prop. 31 proposes to shift those responsi-bilities back to counties in regards to education, health and public safety. This proposition also mandates that counties form policies that are transparent and collaborative with the general public.

Opponents say that Prop. 31 requires program offsets or tax cuts for any program expansion costing more than $25 million. New programs or expanded programs, even increased fire protec-tion in wooded areas, would be void unless other

programs were cut or taxes were raised. Prop. 31, however, only proposes that the

governor have the power to cut budgets when the legislature is deadlocked during a declared fiscal emergency. As for the notion that even fire pro-tection could be hindered, I generally think fire protection should be paid by a different mecha-nism than simply opening the state’s pocket.

Opponents argue that Prop 31 would make it harder to cut taxes, even in the event the economy had recovered and the state had a budget surplus. As it stands, California’s finances are volatile, go-ing up and down every year for the past 30 years. The reason for this is the state’s over-reliance on sales and income taxes, which go up or down de-pending how the economy is going from year to year. Having one year of surplus should not be an invitation for extra expenditures. This propo-sition aims to solve a structural problem both in terms of our government and our budget.

I am generally a supporter of the labor move-ment and am eager for more gains for workers. But it shouldn’t come at the expense of doing what’s right for our state’s future. The Los An-geles Times had a decent critique of Prop. 31, but its basic argument is that the solutions proposed won’t work in the “real world.” Prop. 31 aims to make functional the real world’s dysfunction. It may not be perfect, but it’s a start. Oh, and by the way, if you choose to make a decision on this proposition based on who’s for and against. Just think about how strange the bedfellows are when you consider that East Bay Tea Party’s Pam Farly is against Prop. 31.

Proposition 31: Two ViewsIt’s a StartBy Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor

9

“And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better.” Novem

ber 2 - 15, 2012 RANDOMLetters

Response to “Self Interest” Editorial

Executive Editor James Pres-ton Allen tells readers in his lat-est editorial that the voters in this country have a choice between “Bush-Cheney” and “New Deal.” Either choice spells “Big Govern-ment” and “Bad Deal.” Allen may as well have asked: “Do I want to be shot or hung, followed by what I want on my Tombstone?”

Of course, I do not see the choice in such stark terms. Rom-ney is articulate, so is Obama. Romney is rich, so is Obama. Romney worked with a legisla-ture dominated by the opposition. Obama has not. Romney has not run this country through four years of deficits with no leadership aside from running campaigns —Obama has. I am ready for hope, so I want a change—No more Obama.

“The policies that we know have worked before…” I will join you in condemning the 8 years of borrow, spend, expand and expend under “W.” Yet, what about “FDR’s

“Raw Deal” actually worked? The United States government spent an unprecedented billions over 12 years. Even Roosevelt’s own Sec-retary of the Treasury Henry Mor-genthau admitted in his diary that it didn’t work. After slaughtered livestock, burning fields, FDIC, and only World War II followed by cuts in taxes and spending re-vamped the economic recovery in this country. “These policies worked before.…?” Obama’s poli-cies were the same policies as the Bush Administration!

About Bush-Cheney—I could not agree more. “W” was Lyndon Baines Johnson with an (R) after his name, the same airhead who said “We must suspend the rules of the free market in order to save it.” Then there was FDR, who main-tained the suspension of “laissez-faire” as his interventionist prede-cessor Herbert Hoover. FDR then said “We have nothing to fear but fear itself,” followed by seizing the nation’s gold,

My answer: “Fear Big Gov-ernment.” Under FDR, E pluribus unum became L’Etat, c’est moi,

In recent history, even before the economic meltdown, California has been in a perpetual “budget crisis.” This was because California law required a two thirds legislative vote to pass a budget. Even as blue as California is, Demo-crats cannot muster a super majority in the state legislature. This gridlock was by design, it was set up by Republicans as they saw themselves shifting out of favor in California and wanted a lock on spending. If Republicans and big busi-ness cannot govern, they obstruct by gridlock.

In the 2010 election voters finally eliminat-

ed this requirement for a super-majority to pass a simple budget. Enter Prop. 31.

Prop. 31 does not aim to address budget problems. Like many malicious laws, it includes some fairly uncontroversial proposals. Changing the budget process from a one-year budget to a two-year budget sounds smart and may very well be a good idea.

However, this proposition includes much more than this and is an attempt to re-inject the California budget process with uncertainty and

Proposition 31A Start? The Start of Tea Party Rule in CABy Mathew Highland

Community AlertBNSF SCIG RailyardThe Port of Los Angeles has recirculated some of the chapters from the BNSF SCIG Draft Environmental Impact Report released in September 2011. Significant new information added and changes include a 2010 baseline analysis, 50-year operating period for the gateway, use of the 2009 San Pedro Bay Ports cargo demand forecast,updated air quality models and traffic, noise and census data. But the proposed location has not changed and the toxic railyard would still be built next to schools and homes.

Stakeholders have up to Nov. 9 to comment on this project. Written comments should be sent to Christopher Cannon, Director of Environmental Management Division, 425 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro, CA 90731 or via e-mail to ceqacomments@portla.org. E-mail comments should include the project title in the subject line and a valid mailing address within the e-mail. Comment letters must be postmarked by Nov. 9. For additional information, please contact Lisa Ochsner, CEQA Supervisor at (310) 732-3675.Details: (562) 888-1683 (community opposition)Venue: Banning’s LandingLocation: 100 E. Water St., Wilmington

No on Prop 31/ to p. 10

More Letters/ to p. 19

ErrataThere was an error in the Wolf Who Cried Wolf in the Oct. 18

edition of Random Lengths News. Accord to the Brennan Centre for Justice, since the mid-term elections:

41 states introduced 180 restrictive laws;34 states introduced photo ID laws;17 states introduced proof of citizenship requirements;16 states introduced bills to limit registration;9 states introduced bills to reduce early voting periods.

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vice by $126 million and reduced “funding for (Federal Emergency Management Agency) man-agement by $24.3 million off of the (fiscal year) 2010 budget, and [reduced] that appropriation by $783.3 million for FEMA state and local pro-grams.” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) also famously threatened to delay disaster relief for Hurricane Irene until certain budget cuts were put in place.

GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney went even further in June 2011, calling federal disaster relief “immoral.” Responding to a question about such relief at the June 13 GOP debate, he said:

“We cannot—we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we’ll all be dead and gone before it’s paid off.”

America’s largest debt, as a percentage of GDP, was incurred fighting Nazi Germany in World War II. To our knowledge, Romney has not been asked if fighting Hitler was immoral.

Twelve Arrested in Raid on Illegal Marijuana Storefronts

A dozen people associated with a chain of nine marijuana stores that operated across Or-ange and Los Angeles counties were arrested Oct. 25 on federal drug trafficking charges.

The 12 arrested are among 14 people named in a 14-count indictment returned recently by a federal grand jury. The indictment outlines a nar-cotics-trafficking conspiracy led by John Melvin Walker, who owned and operated nine marijuana stores. The conspiracy count alleges that the 14 defendants participated in a scheme that distrib-uted, at the very least, a ton of marijuana through the storefronts.

The indictment alleges that Walker failed to report any income generated at the marijuana stores to federal tax authorities and that he instructed his bookkeeper “to destroy all records pertaining to income generated at the marijuana [stores].” One of the managers of Belmont Shore Natural Care communicated to Walker that “they should shred documents related to cash intake at Belmont Shore Natural Care at the end of the night,” according to the indictment.

from p. 7

cedure, a plan was hatched to name a street under construction after Dear. Ruiz-Raber refused to go along. Dear no longer considers her a friend. Without Ruiz-Raber’s vote, Dear’s quest to name the street after himself was dead but his many critics had new ammo.

After City Clerk Helen Kawagoe suffered a stroke and resigned her position this past Decem-ber, Dear tried to persuade the council to name the chambers after her.

Ruiz-Raber, along with Gipson and Davis-Holmes, would only support naming the cham-bers after Kawagoe posthumously. Some of Dear’s supporters have since held demonstra-tions at city hall, demanding the chambers bear Kawagoe’s name “now.” The demonstrations have not succeeded in persuading any votes to flip, however.

At the Oct. 2 council meeting, Ruiz-Raber, Davis-Holmes, and Gipson joined in directing staff to “consider placing before the voters” a re-turn to the city’s former policy of rotating, rather than electing, the mayor. If such a measure is placed on the March 2013 ballot, whether or not it passes will greatly depend on how many voters still support Dear.

from p. 4

State of the City

crippling gridlock. Devolving power to the local level allows vital regulations to be skirted and al-lows for the influence of big business to be more easily exerted.

In a post Citizens United era, with endless money being thrown into elections, it is not the top of the ticket that is most at risk. It is the lower level state houses and municipalities that are particularly vulnerable to big money. It was through gaining control of state houses, school boards and municipalities, which is where the Tea Party agenda has shown the most strength around the nation. It was not from the top down, but from the bottom up. This will be a way for these same forces to exert influence in California, even though it is a heavily Democratic state.

It also grants the governor new powers to

cut or eliminate virtually any existing program during a fiscal emergency. While California is reliably blue, the governor’s seat is not. If a Meg Whitman were to be elected, this new power could prove to be devastating to education, health services and environmental protections.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Prop. 31 creates new bizarro terminology, and yes, “undefined terms” do matter. Many great or well intentioned laws (including one key aspect of Obamacare; see Shall vs May) have been jeop-ardized or utterly undermined by “undefined terms.” Anything that is statutory law should be weary of these, and a constitutional amendment should have none.

All of Mathew Highland’s proposition recommen-dations can be seen at www.MLowwater.com.

• Personalized 2013 Calendars for Family or Business• Custom Greeting Cards & Invitations• Printed Gifts & Promotional Items

Place your Holiday orders early for on-time delivery

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from p. 9

No on Prop 31

Novem

ber 2 – 15, 2012“Corporations are people, m

y friend.” –Mitt Rom

ney

11

Novem

ber 2 – 15, 2012“M

y wife drives a couple of Cadillacs.” –M

itt Romney

11

by: Zamná Ávila, Assistant Editor

Cirque du Soleil Continued on page 16.

While many children dream of running away to the circus, Agnès Sohier actually was drafted into the

big tent.“Letting the circus steal me away from this

life to become a character in Dralion created an interesting and stimulating life,” said Soheir, who was recruited by Cirque du

Soleil in 1999, when Dralion opened. “I have the best job on the planet. I sing and

travel for a living and I am constantly surrounded by youth, amazing talents and dedication.”

Dralion is Cirque du Soleil’s homage to the 3,000-year-old tradition of Chinese acrobatics combined with its multi-disciplinary approach to entertainment. Dralion, which derives its name from the eastern symbol of the dragon and the western symbol of the lion, explores the quest for harmony among humans, nature and its elements: water, fire, earth and air. It’s a philosophy that is very much part of the eastern world.

The creator of the show, Guy Caron, who was passionate about Asian cultures, did a lot of research and development in China to find out what was the best in acrobatics. He brought back the best and created Dralion. The show has 54 performers from 16 different countries, including 26 performers from China.

Expect to see high energy, vibrant colors, unique acrobatics and tools that you would not see from any other Cirque du Soleil shows, including dralions, hoop-diving, and bamboo poles. It’s all about real people performing the unreal. Clowns also provide an element of interactive comedy with the audience.

To keep the show fresh, a team of creators and an artistic director travel with the show. They watch the performances at least five times a week and work on video sessions with the performers. While the core of the show stays the same, it also evolves with time and performers

Agnès Sohier in Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion. As a performer, she is known as L’Âme-Force. Photo by Daniel Desmarais

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by: Christine Rodriguez, Contributing Dish Writer

Enchiladas de Verduras en Salsa Verde Vegetable Enchiladas with Green Salsa

Entertainment

Continued on page 14.

So, here we are in the infancy of fall. Yet, we feel the heat waves as if we were in the middle of the summer.

Since hydration is key in keeping us energetic and healthy during the hot, sunny weather, our bodies usually will crave more fruits and raw vegetables because of the high water content that they yield. But in autumn, when the weather makes the transition from hot to cool, you will notice your cravings also change, from light salads to warming and more filling, hearty casseroles — all just in time for football season.

I know you’re wondering if I can possibly come up with a vegan recipe that can be enjoyed with friends and family during the game without looking and tasting like we are at a vegan retreat somewhere in Santa Barbara. The answer is absolutely YES! Enchiladas anyone? Great! Enchiladas de Verduras en Salsa Verde.

So this recipe is packed with flavor stemming from the Mexican traditional use of the tomatillos in salsa verde to its variety of vegetables that also will be nutritiously beneficial.

Now anyone who knows my cooking knows that I absolutely love to incorporate green chiles and tomatillos into my recipes, and this recipe has it all.

Tomatillos actually are related to the cape gooseberry fruit. Originating in Mexico, it has a husk that turns brown when ripe and a fruit that is green, yellow or purple when ripe. They are tangy, crisp and have a slight bitterness to them, but when they are roasted, it changes the bitterness to a mildly sweet and earthy flavor.

I remember husking and washing many tomatillos in my youth, and I absolutely loved it. Why? Well, tomatillos are sticky once you remove the husks, and the sensation on my fingers made my time spent husking, to say the least, fun.

I think this is when the love affair I have with

Recipe:Enchiladas de Verduras

En Salsa VerdeInGREdIEntS

8 tomatillos – husked and roasted8 mushrooms (button or crimini)- slicedI roasted bell pepper – sliced3 green chiles (2 Anaheim and 1 poblano)

– roasted and chopped2 cups broccoli florets (small)4 cups fresh spinach leaves2 cups vegetable broth½ white onion ½ red onion sliced1 garlic clove2 dozen corn tortillas1 pound soy pepper jack cheese

dIREctIonS:Roast husked and rinsed tomatillos in a

400-degree oven for 25 minutes.Add tomatillos, green chiles, white onion,

garlic and 1 teaspoon. salt to the vegetable broth. Bring to simmer for 15 minutes, just until onion and garlic are tender.

Let cool for 10 minutes.

Blend on medium for 2 minutes until mostly smooth in consistency.

Set aside.In a 9- by 13-inch baking pan covered

with foil, add ½ cup sauce on the bottom of the pan.

Place 6 tortillas (heat them first) on top of sauce, overlapping and covering the bottom pan up.

Next, layer spinach, mushrooms, bell pepper, broccoli and red onions and add ¾ cup of soy cheese on top.

Pick up 6 more tortillas, add another ½ cup verdes sauce evenly on top, and do the veggie layer once more; this time, finish the layer with 6 more tortillas, 1 cup of sauce and 1 cup of soy cheese.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Let set for 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 8 to 10 people.

Continued on next page.

NovEmbEr 2Paddy Kennan at AlvasPaddy Keenan is acknowledged as the most accomplished Uilleann Piper performing today. He is certainly one of the most brilliant musicians of his generation. He can rightfully claim his place alongside such open-style legends as pipers John Cash and Johnny Doran.Details: (800) 403-3447venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

HalimedeCheck out this local Long Beach band. Listen to their latest tracks on their myspace page. Show starts at 9 p.m.Details: (562) 434-1182; http://www.myspace.com/halimede, venue: Viento y AguaLocation: 4007 E. 4th St., Long Beach

NovEmbEr 3HArLoW GoLD SHoW Doors open at 8 p.m. This is a blues burlesque show unlike any other. Tickets are $15 to $30.Details: (562) 239-3700venue: Harvelle’s Location: 201 E. Broadway, Long Beach

Shelby Flint bandAfter a 25-year break from playing live....a reunion of the “Original Shelby Flint Band” (Biggest drawing band in Los Angeles during the mid-80s), including songs from the recording “You’ve been on my mind” and the unreleased CD Yesterdays.Details: (800) 403-3447venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

Tribute to Tom Petty and The HeartbreakersFull Moon Fever brings its “uncanny recreation” of one of rock’s iconic bands to the stage for one night only - fun for the whole family, starting at 8 p.m. Nov. 3, at the Warner Grand Theatre. Tickets are $15 online or cash at the door night

Photo by: Christine Rodriguez

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1110 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro

FAST DELIvErY!310–732–5800

FAx: 310-732-5804

Sunday–THurSday10AM-11PM

FrIDAY & SATurDAY10AM–11:30PM

Continued from previous page.

• Happy Hour •blu bar at Crowne Plaza • $4 Drinks and half off appetizers. (310) 519-8200, 601 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro

The Chowder barge • Try the 34oz. captain’s mug! (310) 830-7937, 611 N. Henry Ford, Leeward Bay Marina, Wilmington

Godmother’s Saloon • Live jazz from Mike Guerrero Trio: 7 p.m. every Wed. (310) 833-1589, 302 W. 7th St., San Pedro

Iron City Tavern • Happy Hour 1/2-price appetizers & drink specials: 4 to 6 p.m. Mon. to Fri. 589 W. 9th St., San Pedro; (310) 547-4766

June’s bar • Happy Hour: Mon. to Fri., 4 to 7 p.m. $1.00 Off drinks. (310) 521-9804, 1100 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro

Ports o’ Call • Happy Hour: Mon. to Fri., 3 to 8 p.m. Taco Tuesdays. Oyster shooter & bloody mary Wednesdays. (310) 833-3553, Berth 76 Ports O’ Call Village, San Pedro

San Pedro brewing Co. • Happy Hour: 2:30 to 6:30 p.m., Mon. to Fri. (310) 831-5663, 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Whale & Ale • Happy Hour: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Mon to Fri., 4 to 7 p.m. on Wed. Late Night Happy Hour: 10 p.m. to Midnight, Fri. Only. (310) 832-0363, 327 W. 7th St., San Pedro

Happy Hour Listings Are Paid Advertising

Bernie Pearl TrioJill Sharpe Band

Dave Widow and the Line Up

November 14, 2012Down beat is at 8:00 pm

Admission is $10.00 at the Door

First 50 People Will receive A CD of Papa John Creach with the bernie Pearl blues band.

whole foods began. Helping grandma peel, husk, wash, sort, slice and cook whole real foods gave me an appreciation to what our earth provides us at the right times, during the right season. Learning about the origins, cultures, benefits and properties of whole foods always fascinated me, especially because in many cultures, food is treated like medicine. So, as I drank lime juice and chopped garlic for colds, used a banana peel to heal my bruises, and ate all orange produce for my thyroid condition, I realized food is the key component to a disease-free life. That is when my lifestyle changed and being a vegan was about gains, not losses.

The verdura Enchiladas verde has a green tomatillo chile sauce that compliments beautifully the mushroom, spinach, tortillas and soy pepper-jack cheese. If you are making a complete meal, just serve these enchiladas with rice and beans, and it makes for a very filling meal, while still being light in the body. If you’re going for more greens,

just add a side salad with lemon vinaigrette, and now you have your raw and cooked veggies in one meal, the best of both worlds (in a vegan’s world, that is).

Hours: Mon, Tues 11am - 3pm Wed, Thurs 11am - 8pm

Fri, Sat, Sun 9am - 8pm611 N. Henry Ford,

Leeward Bay Marina, Wilmington310-830-7937 • www.Chowderbarge.com

Breakfast at The Barge Weekends

9am Eggs Benedict

Best Chowder in the LA Harbor!

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Calendar Continued from page 12.of the show. Details: www.warnergrand.orgvenue: Warner Grand TheatreLocation: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Funk JamHarvelle’s Funk Jam! is the place to be every week. Cover is $5 and it starts at 9 p.m.Details: (562) 239-3700venue: Harvelle’s Location: 201 E. Broadway, Long Beach

NovEmbEr 4IF - Instrumental FunkA Funk Nation under a groove? How about a funk planet under a groove? This band that hails from all around the world counts as influences 70s Funk Fusion and anything with a heavy groove. Suggested donation is $20.Details: (800) 403-3447venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

NovEmbEr 7Whiteboy James and the blues ExpressHaving just completed their second album, Whiteboy James and the Blues Express is a detonative force to be reckoned with. Since reforming in 2006, after a five-year absence, the band has re-established itself as the legendary band that it once was during the Southern California blues explosion of the 80s and 90s. Cover is $5.Details: (562) 239-3700venue: Harvelle’s Location: 201 E. Broadway, Long Beach

monophonicsPsychedelic soul, sometimes called black rock, is a sub-genre of soul music, which mixes the characteristics of soul with psychedelic rock. It came to prominence in the late 1960s and continued into the 1970s, playing a major role in the development of soul and funk music. Within the past seven years, Monophonics has staked has its claim as one of California’s premier bands. Raised amid the Bay Area’s rich musical culture,

S U S H I B A R

Japanese RestaurantSushi Bar

380 W. 6th St. • 832-5585

478 W. 6th St. • San Pedro310.548.2493

Tickets & Info: Williams Bookstore, www.WarnerGrand.org &

www.WarnerGrandTheater.org

Nov 3 - 8Pm TrIbUTE To Tom PETTY AND THE HEArTbrEAKErS - Full Moon Fever brings its “uncanny recreation” of one of rock’s iconic bands to the stage for one night only - fun for the whole family. Tickets $15 at www.facebook.com/fmoonf.

Nov 15, 16 & 17 - 8Pm AGATHA CHrISTIE’S SPIDEr’S WEb - Marymount College’s Fall theatre production is a murder/mystery/farce set in a house in the English countryside. Clarissa spins tales of adventure for all who will listen, but when murder strikes in her own drawing room, she is forced to confront real life - and the possibility that the murderer is someone very close to her. Tickets and information at brownpapertickets.com, or call 800.838.3006.

Nov 21 - DEC 2 - 2Pm & 8Pm - THoroUGHLY moDErN mILLIE - Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities takes to the stage with this charming zany new musical that took both Broadway and London by storm in 2002! In New York City in 1922, young Millie Dillmount has just moved to the city in search of a new life for herself. It’s a New York full of intrigue and jazz — a time when women were entering the workforce and the rules of love and social behavior were changing forever. Based on the popular 1967 movie starring Julie Andrews, Carol Channing and Mary Tyler Moore. Tickets ($60 - $40 and series subscriptions) and showtimes at civiclightopera.com.

The Warner Grand Theatre is a facility of the City of Los Angeles. Performers, shows, dates, showtimes and ticket prices are subject to change without notice. For upcoming show information, please call (310) 548.7672. For theater rental or other questions, call 310.548.2493.

Novem

ber 2 – 15, 2012“Corporations are people, m

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15

Calendar from page 14.

Calendar to page 16.

Feeding the Hunger:theater is What’s on the Menu

Monophonics has proudly carried on the tradition of music native to its hometown that flourished during the birth of psychedelia. Cover is $10.Details: (562) 239-3700venue: Harvelle’s Location: 201 E. Broadway, Long Beach

NovEmbEr 9Strunz & Farah Strunz & Farah, performing together since 1980, have created an entirely new expression for the acoustic guitar. From Costa Rica and Iran, respectively, Jorge Strunz and Ardeshir Farah have brought the cultural riches of their native lands to their highly virtuosic, rhythmic, and improvisation-rich original instrumental compositions, profoundly influencing guitarists everywhere.Details: (800) 403-3447venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

NovEmbEr 10Next N Line bandThis South Bay rock band is going to turn Busters upside down with its latest tracks. The show starts at 8 p.m.venue: Busters Beach House & Long Board BarLocation: 168 North Marina Dr., Long Beach

Alphonso Johnson Tribute bandInternationally acclaimed bassist and chapman stick artist Alphonso Johnson has accumulated numerous performing, recording, teaching, producing, composing and publishing credits during his illustrious career. His touring and recording credits read like a “Who’s Who” of jazz and fusion, and he is considered one of the top performers in the world on his instrument. Suggested donation is $20.Details: (800) 403-3447venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

NovEmbEr 14Juke Joint at the Cohiba ClubFeaturing the Jill Sharpe Band and Dave Widow and the Bernie Pearl Trio, this particular show makes for a hot entertainment event. Bernie Pearl has just come off his Heart of the South Tour and has great tunes he wants to play. Jill Sharpe is finishing her latest CD and is leaving for Nashville. This is going to be one of her last shows before she moves. Dave Widow is receiving great reviews for his new CD Waiting for the World to End. This is going to be an exciting line up for one night only. Down beat is at 8 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door.The first 50 people will receive a copy of Papa John Creach with the Bernie Pearl Blues band. venue: Cohiba Night ClubLocation: 110 E. Broadway, Long Beach

NovEmbEr 15He’s my brother, She’s my Sister - Live PerformanceLike a band out of time, HMB SMS straddles the breadth of California’s rich musical heritage, yet they do it while maintaining a fresh shamble to their roll; think shouted choruses, a tap-danced percussion solo, some classic country elements, alongside a nod to the chaos of the New, New Folk Revival, the SF sound, and the California Canyon

It’s not like Long Beach doesn’t have theaters.

There are nine regularly producing theaters in what some people call the International City, from the student theaters at California State university Long Beach and Long Beach City College to the International City Theater, regularly doing professional shows at the Performing Arts Center downtown.

Take your choice: too much theater for a city, or a city that thrives on theater and always wants more. Gary DeWitt Marshall comes down on the side of hunger. He recently opened the dark Blue Mondaze series of plays, concerts and readings at the Homeland Cultural Center’s Manzanar Gamboa Theater on Anaheim Avenue and Gundry Street in Long Beach. From Marshall’s perspective, Long Beach is hungry, looking for more ways to express itself. He just wants to add to the already thriving mix with his new series of play while serving an underserved community. The series, which opened in a brand new theater building, extends through June 2013.

Ntozake Shange’s choreo-poem, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, opened the Dark Blue Mondaze

series. It was supposed to have ended in September, but it was such a success that was brought back for two additional performances in October.

“Ten dollars to experience a transformative experience is a small price to pay,” said Marshal in a recent phone interview. “Long Beach needs this series because those nine theater purveyors in this town seem to miss the 53 percent of people who live in Long Beach and want theater that speaks to them.

“I am passionate about the arts and I think a lot of people (who went to For Colored Girls...) were first-time theater-goers... My approach is a professional one, and I think people were surprised at the level of the product. I was baffled by that. I think because they were in a little community theater, they expected less.”

In addition to the performance of Colored Girls set Oct. 28, there also was a screening of independent films from local directors on Oct. 26. and spoken word artist Cyph3r Supreem3 (CQ), along with two all-star bands, the 513 Elevators and

Sin City.On Nov. 26, Dark Blue Mondaze will feature

Poets, Prophets and Playwrights at 7 p.m. That show will feature Learning Spanish and other stories by The Story Man Leslie Perry.

december begins with Holidaze Harmony Soulful Seasons Greetings, Holiday classics with a touch of soul, Dec. 2 at 2 and 7 p.m. The show features Terron Brooks, Kamilah Marshall and Broadway friends. Cell Block Seven, a journey through the lives of America’s most-dangerous female prisoners, will be December’s play at the Manzanar Gamboa Theater. It opens Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. and continues Dec. 7 at 7 p.m., Dec. 8 at 2 and 7 p.m. and Dec. 9 at 2 and 7 p.m. Future productions include Four Men on a Couch in January, Self Made Man: The Life of Frederick Douglas in February and Tribute to Women of Color: Past, Present and Future in March.

“I am acting as a producer for these shows, and we could move to a bigger theater with some,” Marshall said. “But I consider this location in the community way more important than upgrading to a bigger theater. In fact, the last show we did, Colored Girls, had three offers to do the same play at other venues, at uC San Bernardino and uC riverside. That’s pretty big exposure for us. That won’t happen with everything, but we are doing well.”

doing theater at the Homeland Center is important for the community, and sometimes that community reveals itself, one person at a time.

“We were in rehearsal at Homeland Cultural Center, setting the lights, when in wandered this 8 year-old child with Downs Syndrome,” Marshall said. “He had a silver toy gun, and he was shooting at everything, I talked to him and got him to sit down while the lighting director brought down the house-lights and brought up the theater lights. He was transformed and transfixed, fascinated by the theater, and when he finally left, I knew that it was true because he left his gun behind. That’s why I do theater: to transform and transfix people. Theater can take guns away from people.”

Marshall is an actor with a brilliant resume. He has done feature films and television since graduating from State university of New York, albany. He moved to Long Beach in 2000 and has continued acting, teaching and community involvement in the theater he loves.

by: John Farrell, Contributing Theater Critic

Gary DeWitt Marshall pictured below. Pictured to the right, the cast of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf: Charnayne Brooks (Lady in Green), Imani Burton (Sechita), Briana Hamilton (Lady In Pink), Ruby Livingston (Lady In Orange), Jennifer Talton (Lady In Blue), Shenika Travis (Lady in Purple), KasiTeYana (Lady In Yellow), and Stevi Meredith (Lady in Red)

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Calendar from page 11.

Cirque du Soleilconstantly work on their acts to perfect their acts and incorporate tricks into their routine.

Sohier had been a professional back-up singer for 15 years. Her character, L’Âme-Force, which was not part of the original production of the show, is the energizer for the four elements who sings throughout the show as the female voice.

“I have never thought I would work with

Cirque du Soleil,” said Soheir, who is from the province of Quebec in Canada. “They called me! And, I said, ‘Yes!’ I was supposed to be there for two weeks, and 13 years later, I’m still there.”

She said she enjoys pretty much everything about the show: the score, the cast, the crew, the lifestyle, and the fact that she gets to sing almost every day. While she sometimes is suspended in the air for her performance, her only acrobatics are with her voice, said Soheir.

Though she was torn between her love for sports — she once wanted to be a gym teacher. She would have liked to become a downhill ski or tennis or cyclist champion — and her love for music, she somehow always knew she would become a singer. Coming from a musical family, the possibility of her becoming a professional singer was not far-fetched. Her mother loved to sing, her father played the organ and the piano, and her siblings also played instruments and sang. Eventually, it was her brother, who became a professional bass player, who brought her back to music before she started college at Concordia university in Montreal.

“The biggest challenge in life is to never stop believing in yourself, your talent, and your passion,” said Soheir, who is grateful for making the right choices.

She’s since been recruited for other shows, but has chosen to stay in this production of Cirque du Soleil. The job demands flexibility because there are changes every week, from hotels to pillows to the air they breath. She also must adapt to the changes within the show that producers make to keep the show fresh. While many find the lifestyle of a traveling circus challenging, Soheir takes a different perspective on what it has to offer.

She keeps in great physical shape (you’d think she was at least 20 years younger, if you saw her), she maintains a positive outlook on life, and tries to keep her art fresh and generous. She also credits the people she is surrounded with for keeping her stimulated. And, while maintaining relationships

with loved ones might seem to be a challenge to some, technologies such as Skype, make those challenges a non-issue.

“If you approach your work and life in a positive and happy way, it is very easy to do.”

It’s an outlook that has probably supported the message on stage. Although, as with most theatrical performances, audiences interpret a show in terms of their own experiences, Dralion’s common theme of harmony among the elements of nature is what distinguishes it from other Cirque du Soleil shows.

“regardless (of) when people say that water doesn’t get along with fire, well, they do,” Soheir said. “you see the contradiction, the fight, the struggling, but then, at the end, they all work together.”

Like the show, Soheir believes she is in harmony with herself, with the people she works with, the environment she works with, and with the rest of the universe. L’Âme-Force, which reinforces those characteristics, is the entity that gives strength, knowledge, and encouragement to the elements.

“The more you are at peace with yourself and everything around you, the better you can sing and be generous of your talent,” she said.

The two-and-half-hour show will open its curtains in Nov. 1 through 4 at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. But it’s not the first time dralion has graced Long Beach. In 2002 Dralion was presented in Long Beach under the big top. Since then, the show has been re-staged and re-casted for an arena show.

Only half of the arena will be used in the arena to keep the type of intimacy of the big top. So, wherever you sit in the arena, you’ll have a very good view. Whether you pay $40 or $100 you’ll have a very good seat.

Details: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/dralion/default.aspx

sound and you’re in the right time-zone. Theirs are a record collection’s worth of influences, yet the result is equal parts fresh and familiar. Details: (562) 433-4996venue: FingerprintsLocation: 420 E. 4th St., Long Beach

John Daversa big bandDaversa is a versatile and respected performer, composer, arranger, producer, bandleader, and educator. He took an immediate interest in music at an early age, first through piano and voice, and later with trumpet and the electronic valve instrument.Details: (800) 403-3447venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

NovEmbEr 2Casino Night for PoLAHSMake a teacher’s wish come true, from 6 to 11 p.m. Nov. 2, Ports O’ Call Restaurant in San Pedro. Raise money to help teachers purchase amazing teaching tools for their classroom. All you have to do is eat, gamble, and have fun. Cost is $20 per person, which includes $25 in gaming chips and complimentary appetizers. Bring 5 paying guests, and your ticket is free, plus you will receive $50 in gaming chips.Details: (310) 833-3553venue: Ports O’ Call RestaurantLocation: 1199 Nagoya Way, San Pedro

NovEmbEr 4CmA Gift Shop 4th Annual Holiday PreviewFrom 10:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., get a glimpse of Cabrillo Marine Aquarium’s holiday gift shop. The Aquarium will feature 15 aquatic-themed Christmas trees and nautical-related gifts for all ages.Details: (310) 548-7562 venue: Cabrillo Marine AquariumLocation: 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro

NovEmbEr 10veterans Appreciation FestivalVeterans Appreciation Festival will take place, from 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 10, at Berth 87 in the Port of Los Angeles, in San Pedro. This event will feature live music, a resource fair, free food, children’s play area and free passes for veterans to go aboard the USS Iowa. This is a free event and open to the public.venue: Port of Los AngelesLocation: Berth 87, San Pedro

Carson Wellness Prevention maintenance FairGet your blood pressure, blood glucose, pulse oximetry, bone density, flu vaccine and more checked for free. Event is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.Deta i l s : (310) 897-3500, h t tp ://www.southbaypavilion.comvenue: South Bay PavillionLocation: Off of Avalon and 405 Fwy, Carson

NovEmbEr 11redondo beach veterans Day ServiceThe City of Redondo Beach will host a Veterans Day service event and barbecue Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial in Veterans Park. The service will include reflection and remembrance, music, commentary, and honors to all those members of the military who have served their country. The event will also acknowledge the two-year anniversary of the new memorial. Following the service will be a barbecue picnic, sponsored by the Redondo Elks. The barbecue is free for all veterans and members. A $5 donation is requested from all others.Details: (310) 993-4637; www.RBVeteransMemorial.comvenue: Veterans ParkLocation: 300 The Esplanade, Redondo Beach

NovEmbEr 17Santa Claus at South bay PavillionsFrom 1 to 3 p.m. Santa will be in the house to take Christmas lists and pictures with children. If you pre-register at guest services before Nov. 14, one hundred children younger than 12 years old will get to have a hot-dog-on-a-stick meal. Details: (310) 897-3500; www.southbaypavilion.comvenue: South Bay PavillionLocation: Off of Avalon and 405 Fwy, Carson

Community/Family

NovEmbEr 3Little Fish Theatre Party #4Come view the unveiling from 5 to 9 p.m.Nov.3 at the Little Fish Theatre in San Pedro. Tickets $25 in advance or $30 at the doorDetails: (310) 512-6030venue: Little Fish TheatreLocation: 777 Centre St., San Pedro

NovEmbEr 4Ain’t Misbehavin’Travel back in time with International City Theatre’s production of Ain’t Misbehavin’, through Nov. 4, at Long Beach Performing Arts Center. The Tony Award-winning musical revue is based on the life of Thomas “Fats” Waller. Tickets range from $37 to $55.D e t a i l s : ( 5 6 2 ) 4 3 6 - 4 6 1 0 : w w w .InternationalCityTheatre.orgvenue: Long Beach Performing ArtsLocation: 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach

NovEmbEr 15Agatha Christie’s Spider’s WebWarner Grand Theatre, Marymount College Theatre presents Agatha Christie’s Spider’s Web at 8 p.m. on Nov. 15 through 17. A murder mystery farce, the play is set at a house in the English countryside. Clarissa, the second wife of Henry Hailsham-Brown, is known for spinning tales of adventure, but when a murder takes place in her own drawing room, she finds live drama much harder to cope with, especially as she suspects that the murderer might be her young step daughter, Pippa.Tickets are $15 general, and $10 for students and seniors.Details: (800) 838-3006; www.brownpapertickets.comvenue: The Warner Grand TheatreLocation: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Theater/Film

Dralion musicians. Photo by Daniel Desmarais

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19

“And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better.” Novem

ber 2 - 15, 2012

Fictitious Business name Statement

File no. 2012183675The following person is doing business as: tommys Famous Burgers of San pedro, 1141 S. Gaffey Street, San Pedro, CA, 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Angelo Bacoulis, 17842 Arvida Dr., Grenada Hills, CA 91344. This Business is conducted by a husband and wife. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: January 1, 2000. I de-clare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Angelo Bacoulis, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on September 13, 2012. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name state-ment generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).Original filing: 09/20/12,10/4/12, 10/18/12, 11/01/2012

Fictitious Business name Statement

File no. 2012177138The following person is doing business as: B & d treasures, 719 S. Pacific Ave., San Pe-dro, CA, 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Brandi Rayann Barnard, 772 10th Street, Apt. #4, San Pe-dro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: NA. I de-clare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as

true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Brandi Rayann Barnard, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on September 4, 2012. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name state-ment generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).Original filing: 09/20/12,10/4/12, 10/18/12, 11/01/2012

Fictitious Business name Statement

File no. 2012198587The following person is doing business as: “life’s grand” Kids dance, Art, music, 415 W. 6th Street, San Pedro, CA, 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owner(s): Lorena Maese, 3653 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: Oct. 1, 2012. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true informa-tion which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Lorena Maese, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on October 4, 2012. Notice--In Ac-cordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner.

A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).Original filing: 10/18/12, 11/01/2012, 11/15/12, 11/29/12

Fictitious Business name Statement

File no. 2012214724The following person is doing business as: Beadwork by Cgm, 1063 W.11th St., San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Carmen Guevara Moen, 1063 W.11th St., San Pedro, CA 90731 Charles David Moen, 1063 W.11th St., San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by a husband and wife. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and cor-rect. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Carmen Moen, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on October 29, 2012. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name state-ment generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).Original filing: 11/01/2012, 11/15/12, 11/29/12, 12/13/12

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS FILINGS RANDOMLetterswith progressives since then eagerly lining up for the top post in Washington, including Barack Obama.

I’m voting for Romney because least he’s not Ba-rack!

Arthur SchaperTorrance

Dear Mr. Schaper,At least there’s one

honest Republican who will admit to the failure of Bush-Cheney, I would argue with you about “Shrub” being anything like LBJ either in stature or policies. Johnson passed more legislation in three years than any other President since and except for his blunder in support-ing the Vietnam War he would have gone down in history as the man who ac-complished JFK’s vision. Johnson was an FDR lib-eral and knew the crippling affects of rural poverty.

Where you and I diverge is that you have this almost religious faith in laissez faire economics, that our much touted free market is “self regulating” and that the capital class under-stands “enlightened self interest,” I have no such belief. Even Alan Green-span the former head of the Federal Reserve and a devotee of Ayn Rand, had to admit in front of Congress that the capital markets failed to adjust themselves during the 2008 crisis and that corruption was the cause. The greed and ava-rice that has been exhibited in the capital markets, not to mention the stupidity, corruption and fraud, can only lead a rational person to the conclusion that these markets must be regulated and laws passed to protect

our nation’s economy and the pension funds of millions from Wall Street thieves.

Romney, like you has this same belief in the free mar-ket, yet he has operated his private for profit affairs like a 19th Century robber bar-on, and the voters still don’t know how much of his wealth he keeps off-shore, how few taxes he has paid, or how he will fix the deficit.

Your critique of FDR is so flawed that I wonder if your family actually lived in this country during the Great De-pression, the best examples of the New Deal are still with us today—Social Security, unemployment insurance and the FDIC. These would not have survived if they didn’t actually work. And your rea-son for voting for Romney “because he’s not Barack” is so immature as to liken the differences between them to an election for hall monitor at an elementary school.

If you are going to chal-lenge me editorially you bet-ter step up your game.

James Preston Allen, Publisher

Yes on Prop 37Thank you, RL, for en-

dorsing Prop 37 (labeling of GMO foods), and for pub-lishing the syndicated article “The Dinner Table is on the Ballot.” The article correctly states the enormous impor-tance of Prop 37 as an issue of democracy and of pub-lic safety, as well as simply a family’s Right to Know what’s in the food they are buying for their loved ones. In my work on this campaign I have met people, however, who are voting against Prop 37. This letter is for them, and for others who might be on the fence.

Trust and Values. Who do you want making decision for you? The primary engine be-hind GMO foods is the agro-chemical giant Monsanto. They are the notorious makers (and vehement defenders) of the environmentally devastat-ing pesticide DDT, and of the morally devastating defoliant Agent Orange. Other illustri-ous backers of Prop 37 are Dow Chemical, Pepsi, Nestle, Coca-Cola and other giants that have made junk out of the American diet. Vote your interest, not theirs.

The Precautionary Prin-

ciple. An alarming European study just released in the peer-reviewed journal Food and Chemical Toxicology (http://www.carighttoknow.org/tumors), shows “disabled organs” from rats fed with GMO (Monsanto’s Roundup) corn. Mammary tumors, mal-functioning pituitary glands and “very significant” kidney chronic deficiencies are all linked to the “endocrine-dis-rupting effects” of Roundup corn. California families should have the right to take precautions. Vote to know what’s in your food.

Vision. For a generation we have been asleep at the wheel while our food supply has been steadily, and quite literally, moved from our con-trol. Prop 37 is not about end-ing GMO’s. Prop 37 is about beginning a statewide, and national, conversation about our industrial, unhealthy, unsustainable food system. America’s food system will not collapse if GMO’s are la-beled. But it will change, and hallelujah to that. Vote for Truth in labeling. It’s just the beginning, and it just might set us free.

Rachel BrunhkeSan Pedro

from p. 9

No on 32 Rally in San PedroPictured is Rep. Laura Richardson along with 50 demonstrators on behalf of the No on 32 campaign on Oct. 18. There will another rally on Nov. 2 at Welcome Park, where the 110 FWy meets Gaffey St. in San Pedro. The rally will be from 5p.m.-7p.m. Photo: Terelle Jerricks.

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