RLn 12-08-22

Billionaires’ Press Dominates Censorship Beat

Project Censored’s Top 10 Stories Show Just One Pattern Dominating All Others this Year

By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

Since its founding in 1976, Project Censored has been focused on stories — like Watergate be fore the 1972 election — that aren’t censored in the authoritarian government sense, but in a broader, expanded sense reflective of what a functioning democracy should be, censorship defined as “the suppression of information, whether purposeful or not, by any method — including bias, omission, underreporting, or self-censorship — that prevents the public from fully knowing what is happening in society.” It is, after all, the reason that journalism enjoys special protection in the First Amendment:

By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

For over 15 years, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have touted themselves as green ports, but their greenhouse gas emissions have risen by more than 20% during this time, while the reduction of other pol lutants has slowed dramatically after initial successes, and was sharply reversed by the pandemic. But despite this spotty record, they’re two of just five ports world wide placed in the “full speed ahead” category in Pa cific Environment’s initial set of “RePORT Cards for Shipping Ports,” assessing progress towards zero-emis sion shipping as part of its Ports for People campaign. These ports are recognized for having “committed de

carbonization plans,” though they may not be as strong as necessary, and they’re offered “specific recommenda tions for prioritization and focus.”

The 2021 jump in pollution is “inexcusable,” the report card for POLA notes. “The San Pedro Bay ports must leverage their authority and economic power to im mediately mandate cleaner ships and move toward 100% renewable shore power,” it says. “The Port of Los Angeles holds enormous power and responsibility in the shipping industry. Together with its federal, state and local govern ment and port partners, the port must commit to zeroemission shipping by 2040, accelerate efforts to decarbon

ize its shore power supply, and eliminate air and water quality pollutants from all vessels that call its port.”

The report cards are based on the nine-point “Ports Playbook for Zero-Emission Shipping” released in September, with the initial set covering 15 of the top 50 ports worldwide. “We wanted to make sure we had an adequate representation of ports from around the world,” playbook co-author Allyson Browne told Ran dom Lengths News. “So it’s kind of a combination of some of the world’s busiest ports and also some of the most economically important ports in other regions,” she said. “We wanted to measure where ports are on adopting a zero-emission shipping trajectory for 2040, based on where their planning and development is to day,” They hope to expand the project to eventually include all of the top 50 ports.

The Ports Playbook was divided into three parts, from the most broad to the most specific. First, com mitments: zero emissions shipping by 2040, create or join green shipping corridors, abandon all fossil-fuel

Illustration by Anson Stevens-Bollen

Harbor Area

Household Hazardous and Electronic Waste Drive-Thru Collection Event

Safely secure items in your trunk/pickup bed. Hazardous waste items must be in your truck/pick-up bed with no other items.

Things you can bring:

Motor oil, antifreeze, paint, paint thinner, turpentine, cleaners with acids or lye, pes ticides and herbicides, household and car batteries, old computers and television

sets, sharps or used needles, expired pharmaceuticals and mercury thermom eters.

Things you cannot bring: Explosives, ammunition or radioactive materials, waste from businesses will not be accepted, trash or old tires, white goods such as washers, stoves, refrigera tors or air conditioners.

How to prepare:

• In general, there is a limit of 15 gallons or 125 lbs. per vehicle.

• Bring items in a sturdy box, preferably in their original labeled containers.

• Be prepared to leave your containers.

• Do not mix products together.

Please do not attend this event if you

have any COVID-19 related symptoms, have been asked to quarantine, or have had known contact with a COVID-19 positive indi vidual or are awaiting COVID-19 test results.

Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Dec. 17 Cost: Free Details: 800-238-0173; info@lacsd.org Venue: Lomita City Hall Parking Lot, 24300 Narbonne Ave., Lomita

Districting Changes Coming to Lomita

The City of Lomita is considering the transition to district-based elections and is seeking assistance in developing a list of neighborhoods and “communities of inter est” or COI to consider while drawing district lines.

Communities of interest are defined as:

• Groups of people that share com mon social or economic interests

• Groups that live in a geographically defined area

• Groups that should be included within a single district for purposes of effective and fair representation in future elections

Provide your feedback by emailing DrawLomita@LomitaCity.com. Details: https://lomitacity.com/Dis tricting/

Emergency Rent Assistance Program for CALWORKS Families

CalWORKs participants who are behind on rent can call the Depart ment of Public Social Services Cus tomer service center at 866-613-3777 to request Emergency Assistance to Prevent Eviction or EAPE.

Details: Submit an application: https:// tinyurl.com/mwcykt9e

Health Permit Workshop for Mobile Food Vendors, Food Truck Operators

The Long Beach Health Depart ment will host a workshop Dec. 13 for mobile food vendors, including street food vendors and food truck operators. The workshop will provide information about obtaining a Long Beach Health Permit as well as upcoming changes to the California retail food code. The workshop will cover the health permit application process and provide an overview of Senate Bill (SB972) and Senate Bill (SB946), both of which lower barriers to operation for mobile food vendors. SB972 will take effect on Jan. 1, 2023.

RSVP is appreciated, but not re quired and Spanish, Khmer and Taga log interpreters will be on site during the workshop.

Time: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Dec 13 Cost: Free Details: RSVP 562-570-4132; EnvironmentalHealth@longbeach.gov. Venue: Admiral Kidd Park, 2125 Santa Fe Ave., Long Beach

LB Commission on Women and Girls’ Community Survey

The City of Long Beach invites women and girls to help shape the mis sion of the Long Beach Commission for Women and Girls or LBCWG by com pleting a survey, available now through Dec. 19.

Information collected through the survey will help inform the devel opment of the city’s first-of-its-kind commission specifically designed for women and girls, which will a space for specific education, outreach and advo cacy for the advancement and equity of all women and girls.

Details: https://tinyurl.com/2p84x78t

Holiday Toy Drives

Harbor Interfaith Toy Drive

Help make the holidays brighter for local children by donating a new toy for Harbor Interfaith annual toy drive. Drop off your donation of a brand new un wrapped toy before Dec. 11 at CRAFT ED, Friday to Sunday 12 to 6 p.m. at 112 W. 22nd St., San Pedro.

Spark of Love Toy Drive

The Spark of Love Toy Drive collects new, unwrapped toys and sports equip ment for underserved children and teens in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, Ventura and Riverside coun ties. Toys collected in their respective counties are distributed locally.

How to donate:

Drop off a new, unwrapped toy or sports equipment at your local fire sta tion. (Subject to change anytime due to public health protocol.)

Text to give: Text “SPARK” to 24365.

Donate online by going to support lafd.kindful.com to make a donation via credit card.

Drop off a new, unwrapped toy or

sports equipment at a local Subaru retailer.

Donate by Mail: Send checks to LAFD Foundation, Frank Hotchkin Me morial Training Center, 1700 Stadium Way #100, Los Angeles. Make checks out to LAFD Foundation. Write Spark of Love in the memo line.

Lomita Sheriff’s Station Holiday Toy Drive

Toy collection boxes will be at Lo mita station and Lomita City Hall. The last day to donate will be Dec. 20. Toys will be given to Harbor Hills pub lic housing development and Calvary Chapel.

Details: Call Detective Redenbaugh, 310-891-3240

Goodyear Blimp Toys for Tots

The annual Toys for Tots at the Goodyear Blimp is back. The U.S. Ma rine Corps Toys for Tots program ac cepts donations of new, unwrapped toys and cash to support its yearly campaign. A donation is encouraged, but not required.

The open house event includes ground tours of the Goodyear Blimp, food vendors, activities for the chil dren and most importantly Santa and his elves.

For safety and security purposes, all guests attending the Toys for Tots event will be asked to park at Dignity Health Sports park in Lot 11 (18400 Avalon Blvd., Carson). You will check in at the canopy in that lot with a Goodyear associate. A shuttle will bring guests to the blimp facility. No guests will be allowed to park at the blimp base. One entry per household.

Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Dec. 10

Cost: Free

Details: https://tinyurl.com/29vkxazr Venue: The Goodyear Blimp facility, 19200 S. Main St., Gardena

Veterans Stand Together Toy Drive

Bring an unwrapped toy now through Dec. 16 and help put smiles on children’s faces.

Veterans Stand Together is a vet eran nonprofit organization that em powers veterans and their communi ties through cooperation, support and advocacy.

Veterans Stand Together will be collecting unwrapped toys at its of fice location in Torrance. You can also make donations through the gift reg istry. For further questions you can contact: admin@usavest.org

Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday thru Friday, to Dec. 16

Details: 424-266-9532; https://tinyurl.com/Veterans-standtogether

Venue: Harbor Gateway Garden Office Park, 19401 S. Vermont Ave., Suite B102, Torrance

Wilmington Community Clinic

25th Annual Toy Drive

Wilmington Community Clinic will hold its 25th annual toy drive and adopt a family event. The clinic pro vides a gift for a baby or a child to 11 years of age, in addition to a warm lunch with their family and a trip to see Santa.

Time: 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Dec. 20 Details: https://www.wilmingtoncc. org

Venue: 1009 N. Avalon Blvd., Wilm ington

LBPD Toy Patrol Donation Drive

The Long Beach Police Depart ment’s annual toy drive is underway thru Dec. 12. There are more than 30 locations in and around the City of Long Beach to drop off any un wrapped toy.

Details: Drop-off locations: www.long beach.gov/police/about-the-lbpd/ toy-patrol

Committed to Independent Journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for More Than 40 Years

NCs had to Wait Five Months for Rollover Funds

By Hunter Chase, Community News Reporter

All 99 neighborhood councils in the City of Los Angeles had to wait five months to get their rollover funds from the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year, which ended June 30. Each council receives $32,000 in funding each year, but can receive up to $10,000 in unused funds from the previous fis cal year.

However, the wait is now over. Petty Santos, executive officer of the office of the city clerk, said that as of Dec. 1, the neighborhood council fund ing portal has been updated to include current bal ances for the councils, including rollover funds.

“Funds are not being withheld,” Santos said via email earlier that day. “Funds cannot be post ed to each NC account until the year end recon ciliation is completed by this office and approved by the Controller. While it is definitely not ideal to not see the funds available, it is important to ensure one year closes before another is opened.”

Santos said that each council already had the majority of its budget available, which is $32,000, as that number is set.

“The rollover amount is based on reconcil ing each of 99 accounts against the bank balance, the credit card balances, any special account balances and the public facing portal,” Santos said. “This year was particularly challenging for a team of all new accounting staff in this office

who had to learn about the NC system, the City’s financial management system and the banking system from scratch. The staff turnover was great in the accounting unit due to retirements and pro motions over the last year, or so. Safeguards are being put in place to hopefully avoid this report ing delay in the future.”

On Nov. 14, the Northwest San Pedro Neigh borhood Council passed a motion asking the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners to inves tigate why the funds had not been distributed. On

Nov. 28, Melanie Labrecque, the treasurer and chair of the council’s budget and finance com mittee, said that she received communication from the city clerk’s office explaining the delay. Labrecque said the reason was the city clerk was waiting for final approval on its year-end recon ciliation from the city controller’s office.

However, Santos said that getting the con troller’s approval was merely the last step in the process, and said it was secured on Nov. 30. She said that the city clerk’s office was the reason for the delay.

Labrecque said the neighborhood councils need the money, since the city reduced the coun cils’ budgets in 2020 from $42,000 to $32,000. She pointed out that a lot of councils plan big events with the intention of using rollover funds.

Labrecque said that she received a letter say ing that the councils would be told about their rollover funds by Aug. 1. When that didn’t hap pen, she started investigating.

“I started checking, and hit walls,” Labrecque said.

Labrecque said the neighborhood councils haven’t had a problem like this before. Her coun cil had $7,812.55 in rollover funds from the pre vious fiscal year.

“It’s going to affect our NPGs, neighborhood

purpose grants,” Labrecque said, referring to grants that her council awards to local nonprofits every year. “Normally we would have done them in December, but we can’t, they’re on hold. We had to vote to put them on hold until after the first of the year, until this whole rollover thing is rectified.”

Labrecque said they normally use about $10,000 for the NPGs, but only have $3,000 without the rollover funds, because the councils are having their elections this year. With the roll over funds, they will likely spend at least $5,000 to $6,000. In addition, the council is planning an emergency preparedness fair for spring, which will need funding.

“The rollover funds make it so things aren’t as manageable as we had hoped they would be,” Labrecque said.

Doug Epperhart, president of Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council, said his council makes sure to spend most of their budget every year. Because of this, its rollover funds from last fiscal year don’t amount to much.

Epperhart said it’s possible that the delay could have been caused by the city allowing councils to encumber funds because of the pan demic. This refers to when a council votes to

Doug Epperhart, president of Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council. File photo

Rollover Funds

spend money past the deadline for the previous fiscal year, but the city allows them to charge it to the previous fiscal year, instead of the upcom ing fiscal year.

“It will come out of last year’s funding, not this year’s funding,” Epperhart said.

However, when asked about these funds, Santos said they did not make a big difference, and she referred to them as accruals.

“Accruals also need to be reported, and are part of the equation needed to reconcile the Fund and close the prior fiscal year,” Santos said via email. “Accruals are one of several factors that lead to completing the report and did not affect the delay any more than the other factors.”

Even though Epperhart’s council does not have many ordinary rollover funds, it does have an issue with encumbered funds, or accruals.

“We have a situation at Coastal where the money was approved and should have been spent in last year’s budget, but because of the city clerk and contracting issues, they didn’t get around to finalizing anything on time,” Epperhart said. “They paid it, but they charged it to our current budget, even though it should not have been charged against the current budget.”

Epperhart said usually that sort of thing can be resolved with a lot of phone calls.

Matt Quiocho, president of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council, said that his coun cil had an issue with rollover funds in their plan ning for the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year.

“It’s my understanding that when we submit ted our yearly budget paperwork to the City Clerk we included the anticipated rollover funds in our accounting,” Quiocho said via text. “We should

not have done that according to the City Clerk.”

However, Linda Alexander, chair of the Cen tral San Pedro Neighborhood Council’s finance committee, said that this issue has been resolved. Her council is supposed to receive $8,366.49 in rollover funds this year.

Alexander said the delay in rollover funds has not made a big impact on how her council has operated this year. This is because for the past couple fiscal years the council has planned to go back to in-person meetings, but it hasn’t hap pened yet. Since the start of the pandemic, her council has been operating via Zoom. If it were to go back to in-person meetings, it would cost $400 to $500 each month, because of food, rent ing the room and paying the sound technician. Since the council’s meetings have remained over Zoom, it has money it can use for other things.

Linda Alexander, chair of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council’s finance committee. File photo

projects. Second, policies: set mandatory zeroemission standards for all ships calling at port, reward first movers and attract the world’s clean est ships, implement environmental and eco logical protection, preservation and resiliency measures that support pollution and emissions reductions. Third, progress: electrify everything, provide clean energy and reliable fueling for zero-emission cargo ships, center community and maritime worker involvement and support in the port’s zero-emission action plan. The re port cards place ports into three buckets as well — “jumpstart,” “accelerate,” and “full speed ahead,” based on their progress toward meeting the 2040 zero-emissions goal.

San Pedro Bay Report Cards

Locally, the ports of LA and Long Beach have much in common, specifically under the umbrella of the Clean Air Action Plan, “How ever, they’re not on target to actually achieve the goals that [are] in that strategy,” Browne noted. “So they both need to accelerate the actual implementation measures to achieve the goals that they set for themselves, and assure that they adopt more progressive targets to achieve zero mission shipping by 2040.” The CAAP is men tioned in both ports’ commitment section, along with green shipping corridor agreements with Singapore and Shanghai. (POLA is “Very early in the process” of developing them, according to spokesman Arley Baker.) The devil could be very much in the details of these agreements — not to mention in the follow-through.

The pandemic emission spike reflects a lack of proactive initiative, vigilance and nimbleness

of response, also evident in the ongoing break down in monitoring brought to light by Andrea Hricko, a coalition partner with Pacific Environ ment. “The real issue with that is that there is not proper accountability to make sure that that’s happening in a very transparent way. It takes advocates like Andrea at USC to be tracking it very closely to see when those equipment come off-line …. It shouldn’t be on the people … and unfortunately that is the case right now.”

Looking further into particulars, “the Port of Long Beach has several problematic perspec tives on decarbonization,” its progress section notes, including “developing liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering facilities” and “a channel deepening project to make way for larger ships at the Port, despite the environmental impacts and climate resiliency impact of such expansion.”

POLB “is working to update its port master plan … and one of the proposed changes to the

port master plan is an increase in the permis sible use at pier S” including “development of an LNG bunkering facility.” It’s very concerning because “The Port of Long Beach already has the authority and the ability to develop LNG at other piers and this change would just give them additional space to do that,” Browne explained. “So we are fighting to get that addition removed from the port master plan update, but we’re also advocating for the port to take a stronger stand on banning all fossil fuels development at the port, including LNG, because LNG is that, it’s a fos sil fuel and it’s primarily composed of methane,” which far more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.

“We’re very concerned that the port has not taken an outright stance against LNG and that there is any consideration that they would be developing a fossil fuel bunkering project at the port that would dramatically harm the commu

nity for decades to come,” Browne said.

POLA’s progress section has more positive news: “The City of Los Angeles is collaborat ing with local and state government, labor and industry partners to pursue development of a green hydrogen hub in Los Angeles, with plans to apply for funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.” But there’s a warning as well: “As this initiative progresses, it is imperative that en vironmental justice be prioritized to ensure a just transition and an equitable future for all.”

“The development of any new energy infra structure comes with pros and cons, and we need to be very cautious about the way that we devel op any new energy infrastructure moving it into transition, both from a safety perspective and an environmental perspective,” Browne explained. The safety perspective involves “people work ing the port, operating the equipment, and also the neighborhood at large, and the risk of things like explosions, fires, things like that” while the environmental side involves “emissions and po tential leakage coming from that equipment and facilities,” she said “So we want to ensure that environmental justice communities, community advocacy groups, public health experts are very carefully intertwined into the process” of the hy drogen hub development, “and make sure that those voices are predominantly heard at the table to ensure we minimize the amount of risk and harm to the community.”

In conclusion, Browne said, “We really want to impress upon all ports they have responsibil ity, and an economic opportunity to transition to zero emission shipping and we lay out that plan in our playbook.” In addition, she said, “We look forward to collaborating with community EJ action groups all over the world, as they work to get their ports to zero emissions.”

Real People, Real News, Really Effective

Aerial view of the Port of Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of POLA

Holiday Fatigue and Parades

James Preston Allen, Publisher

One can understand why the warmup to this holiday season is so slow. In fact, in some years I wondered if it wouldn’t be better to cancel the whole affair. It’s stressful and often disappoint ing but people persist in greeting each other with happy holiday greetings.

Looking back over the past six years, it’s easy to see why Ameri cans are suffering from fatigue. The first four years were filled with Trumpster’s lies and prevarications, two impeachments, multiple inves tigations (of one the most corrupt presidents in history) and a string of indictments of people like Roger Stone and others. Then in year five there was the capital insurrection, followed by more denials and more than 800 MAGA and Q’Anon believers arrested. The Jus tice Department is just now getting down to con victing the worst of the lot and No. 45 continues on like a bad salesman who keeps showing up on your doorstep trying to sell us something we don’t want, and never taking “no” for an answer.

And what’s he selling this month?

Well, more of the same in the form of old football heroes suffering from one too many concussions-turned-Black conservative sur rogates wrapped in Christian homophobia and white supremacy as candidates for office. Can it get any weirder than this? Yes, I suppose it can. And it will, even as the many criminal investiga tions continue on while everybody else decorate their Christmas trees and light their Hanukkah menorahs.

The Jan. 6 Committee has promised a report that will serve as a gift wrapped present under the Christmas tree this year, but will anyone ac

tually want to open this present before the next Congress is seated and Kevin McCarthy becomes speaker of the House?

Three years into the COVID-19 pandem ic and more than 1 million deaths, it doesn’t seem COVID-19 going away anytime soon. It would be great to go back to hugging and kissing our relatives and loved-ones without fear of infection and killing our grandparents.

I suspect we are headed for another two years of far-right partisan lunacy. It’s a gift that keeps on grifting or is it the ugly sweater that keeps getting re-gifted? The Trumpster has already announced his candidacy for 2024 and the only thing that will stop him is if somebody indicts and convicts him for subverting the U.S. Constitution — or at least

for making the attempt. Getting him on a viola tion of the Insurrection Act or just stealing clas sified documents would put an end to him and his tirades. I am looking forward to the end of his madness. Maybe then we can go back to cel ebrating the “joy of Christmas” and lighting candles.

I’m not sure how this holiday story ends, but surely there’s a mor al to this tragedy hidden somewhere in it. One that seems lost upon us now but revealed like a surprise ending to a Brothers Grimm fairy tale to scare small children.

What I find encouraging is that amidst all of the anti-Semitic rheto ric floating around lately, our local Jewish Chabad of San Pedro will light a 6-foot public Hanukkah menorah at Point Fermin Park on Dec. 19, the second night of the eight-day Festival of Lights. This is encouraging because this is the very same park that the out-of-town Proud Boys took over trying in the failed attempt to instigate conflict with the anti-fascists in Octo ber 2021. I am not of that faith but I do recognize courage when I see it during this time of turmoil and conflict. I believe they deserve the full sup port of the entire community regardless of reli gion. As we will report later, Temple Beth El has played an integral part in the interfaith coopera tion within this community and survived some of our darkest hours. So perhaps the lighting of the candles, commemorating the ones lost these past years and dedicating ourselves to a renewed sense of redemption is a gift in itself.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heav ens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent, and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

—Ecclesiastes 3:1

Perhaps this is the time to embrace, the time to search, and the time to speak.

Republicans Prepare to Attack America with Santa Claus

By Thom Hartmann

The headline over at Politico on Nov. 16 says it all: White House’s hopes for a lame-duck debt ceiling deal are fading fast

It’s no accident or coincidence that this never once happened during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George Bush, George W. Bush, or Donald Trump. Or that it did happen during the presidencies of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama … and, now, Joe Biden.

You could even call it a conspiracy: there’s an amazing backstory — with a unique name — here.

Republicans, with this declaration, have formally rolled out Reagan’s “Two Santas” trick.

They’re now proclaiming step one: holding the U.S. economy hostage by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. But step two, using it to destroy the Democratic Party (and the nation, if they don’t get their way), is the most insidious part.

If they succeed, it could crash the entire U.S. economy and throw us (and perhaps much of the rest of the world) into something far worse than a recession.

And, sure enough, Mitch McConnell verified step one when he said there would be “zero” Republican votes to raise the debt ceiling.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen responded by telling the Wall Street Journal that if the Republicans force a shutdown of the U.S.

—Jude Wanniski, March 6, 1976

government like they did to Obama in 2011, “We would emerge from this crisis a permanently weaker nation.”

But the GOP is adamant: they have their strategy, worked out and fine-tuned by Ronald Reagan and followed by Republicans in Congress ever since, and they’re sticking to it.

This destruction of the U.S. economy during a Democratic presidency, they believe, will help their prospects heading into the presidential election of 2024.

This is part of an old GOP strategy — dating back to the Reagan Revolution — which worked well for them during both the Clinton and Obama presidencies. It even has a name: Two Santa Clauses.

To defeat it this time, Democrats must get ahead of it and publicly call it out (as they failed to do in the past).

Here’s how it works, laid out in simple summary:

To set up its foundation, the Two Santas strategy dictates, when Republicans control the White House they must spend money like a drunken Santa and cut taxes on the rich, all to intentionally run up the US debt as far and as fast as possible.

Sometimes it feels like people are just going through the motions

“The only thing wrong with the U.S. economy is the failure of the Republican Party to play Santa Claus.”

Attack America with Santa Claus

They started this during the Reagan presidency and tripled down on it during the presidencies of Bush and Trump.

Massive tax cuts and uncontrolled spending during Republican presidencies produced three results: they stimulated the economy with a sort of sugar high, making people think that the GOP can produce a good economy; they raised the national debt dramatically (it’s at $31 trillion today, 100% of which tracks back to Reagan’s, Bush Jr.’s, and Trump’s massive tax cuts and Bush’s two illegal off-thebooks wars); and they made people think that Republicans are the “tax-cut Santa Clauses.”

Then comes part two of the one-two punch: when a Democrat is in the White House, Republicans must scream about the national debt as loudly and frantically as possible, freaking out about how “our children will have to pay for it!” and “we have to cut spending to solve the crisis!”

The “debt crisis,” that is, that they themselves created with their massive tax cuts and wild spending.

Do whatever it takes: shut down the government, crash the stock market, and damage U.S. credibility around the world if necessary.

This will force the Democrats in power to cut their own social safety net programs and even the crown jewel of the New Deal, Social Security, thus shooting their welfare-of-the-Americanpeople Santa Claus right in the face.

And, sure enough, here we are again with a Democrat in the White House.

Following the script, Republicans are again squealing about the national debt and saying they will refuse to raise the debt ceiling, possibly crashing the U.S. economy.

And, once again, the media is preparing to cover it as a “Debt Crisis!” rather than what it really is: a cynical political and media strategy devised by Republicans in the ‘70s, fine-tuned in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and since then rolled out every time a Democrat is in the White House.

Politically, it’s a brilliant strategy that was hatched by a fellow most people have never heard of: Jude Wanniski.

Republican strategist Wanniski first proposed his Two Santa Clauses strategy in the Wall Street Journal in 1974, after Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace and the future of the Republican Party was so dim that books and articles were widely suggesting the GOP was about to go the way of the Whigs.

There was genuine despair across the GOP, particularly when Jerry Ford couldn’t even beat an unknown peanut farmer from rural Georgia for the presidency.

Wanniski argued back then that Republicans weren’t losing so many elections just because of Nixon’s corruption, but mostly because the Democrats had been viewed since the New Deal of the 1930s as the “Santa Claus party.”

On the other hand, the GOP, he said, was widely seen as the “party of Scrooge” because they publicly opposed everything from Social Security and Medicare to unemployment insurance and food stamps.

The Democrats, he noted, had gotten to play Santa Claus for decades when they passed out Social Security and unemployment checks — both programs of Franklin Delano Roosevelts’ Democratic New Deal — as well as their “big government” projects like roads, bridges, schools, and highways that gave a healthy union paycheck to workers and made our country shine.

Even worse, Democrats kept raising taxes on businesses and rich people to pay for all that “free stuff” — and Democrats’ 91% top tax rates on the morbidly rich didn’t have any negative effect at all on working people (wages were steadily going up until the Reagan Revolution, in fact).

It all added, Wanniski theorized, to the public perception that the Democrats were the true party of Santa Claus, using taxes on the rich to fund programs for the poor and the working class.

Americans loved the Democrats back then. And every time Republicans railed against these programs, they lost elections.

Therefore, Wanniski concluded, the GOP had to become a Santa Claus party, too. But because Republicans hated the idea of helping out working people, they had to come up with a new way to convince average voters that the GOP, too, had the Santa spirit. But what?

“Tax cuts!” said Wanniski.

To make this work, the Republicans would first have to turn the classical world of economics — which had operated on a simple demanddriven equation for seven thousand years — on its head. (Everybody then understood that demand — “working-class wages” — drove economies because working people spent most of the money they earned in the marketplace, producing “demand” for factory-output goods and services.)

To lay the ground for Two Santa Clauses, in 1974 Wanniski invented a new phrase — “Supply-Side Economics” — and said the reason economies grew and became robust wasn’t because people had good union jobs and thus enough money to buy things but, instead, because business made things available for sale, thus tantalizing people to part with their money.

The more products (supply) there were in the stores, he said, the faster the economy would grow. And the more money we gave rich people

and their corporations (via tax cuts) the more stuff (supply) they’d generously produce for us to think about buying.

At a glance, this 1981 move by the Reagan Republicans to cut taxes while increasing spending seems irrational, cynical and counterproductive. It certainly defies classic understandings of economics. But when you

consider Jude Wanniski’s playbook, it makes complete sense.

Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream (2020); The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America (2019); and more than 25 other books in print. This article was published in Common Dreams.

Project Censored: Billionaires’ Press Dominates

Without the free flow of vital information, govern ment based on the consent of the governed is but an illusory dream.

Yet, from the very beginning, as A.J. Liebling put it, “Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.”

In their introduction to Project Censored’s an nual State of the Free Press, which contains its top censored stories and much more, Project Cen sored’s Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth take this condition head-on, under the heading, State of the Free Billionaire, in contrast to the volume’s title, State of the Free Press 2023. Following a swift re cap of historic media criticism highlights — Up ton Sinclair, the aforementioned Liebling, Ben Bagdikian, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky — they dryly observe, “History shows that consoli dated media, controlled by a handful of elite own ers, seldom serves the public interest,” and briefly survey the contemporary landscape before narrow ing their gaze to the broadest of influencers: Despite the promise of boundless access to information, Silicon Valley mirrors legacy media in its consolidated ownership and privileging of elite narratives. This new class of billionaire oligarchs owns or controls the most popular media platforms, including the companies often referred to as the FAANGs — Facebook (Meta), Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google (Alphabet).

Obviously, this was written before Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, but it’s an apt reminder that his wildly out-of-touch worldview is not just an indi vidual, personal aberration, but also a symptom of wider systemic dysfunction.

“In pursuit of their own interests and invest ments, media tycoons past and present, again and again, appear to be conveniently oblivious to the main frame through which they filter news — that of class, including class structure and class inter ests,” Huff and Roth write. “Consequently, they often overlook (or ignore) conflicts of interest that implicate media owners, funders, investors, and ad vertisers, not to mention their business clients on Wall Street and in Big Pharma, Big Tech, and the military–industrial complex.”

This observation perfectly frames the ma jority of stories in Project Censored’s top 10 list, starting with the first two stories: massive subsidies of the fossil fuel industry and ram pant wage theft — concentrated on the most vulnerable workers — that eclipse street crime in the magnitude of losses, but is rarely pun ished, even when offenders are caught dead to rights. It echoes clearly through the stories on congress members’ investments in the fossil fuel industry, the role of corporate consolida tion in driving up inflation in food prices, Bill Gates’ hidden influence on journalism, and major media outlets lobbying against regula tion of surreptitious online advertising, and only at slight remove in two others having to do with dark money, and one about the sup pression of Environmental Protection Agency reports on dangerous chemicals. Indeed, only one story out of 10 is somewhat removed from the sphere of corporate corruption concerns: the story of the CIA’s plans to kidnap or kill Julian Assange.

Every year, I note that there are multiple patterns to be found in the list of Project Cen sored’s stories, and that these different patterns have much to tell us about the forces shaping what remains hidden. That’s still true, with

three environmental stories (two involving fossil fuels), three involving money in politics (two dark money stories), and two involving il licit surveillance. But the dominance of this one pattern truly is remarkable. It shows how pro foundly the concentration of corporate wealth and power in the hands of so few distorts every thing we see — or don’t — in the world around us every day. Here then, is this year’s list of the first five of Project Censored’s top 10 censored stories:

piece did focus on the issue of subsidies, which John Kerry, U.S. special envoy for climate change, called “a definition of insanity.” But that was framed as opinion, and made no mention of the in direct subsidies, which represent 86% of the total. In contrast, “In January 2022, CNN published an article that all but defended fossil fuel subsidies,” Project Censored noted. “CNN’s coverage empha sized the potential for unrest caused by rollbacks of government subsidies, citing “protests that oc

by the Fair Labor Standards Act, Campbell and Yerardi noted. For comparison, in 1948 the division employed one investigator per 22,600 workers, or eight times the current proportion.”

Lax enforcement is “especially problemat ic” in some 14 states that “lack the capacity to investigate wage theft claims or lack the ability to file lawsuits on behalf of victims,” accord ing to a 2017 Economic Policy Institute report. In contrast, the center’s report “mentioned lo cal successes in Chicago (2013), Philadelphia (2016), and Minneapolis (2019),” Project Cen sored noted, but “workers’ rights advocates continue to seek federal reforms.”

“Since May 2021, a handful of corporate news outlets, including CBS News, covered or republished the Center for Public Integ rity’s report on wage theft,” Project Censored noted, but “Corporate coverage tends to focus on specific instances involving individual em ployers,” while ignoring it “as a systemic so cial problem” as well as ignoring the “anemic federal enforcement.”

Fossil Fuel Industry Subsidized at Rate of $11 Million per Minute

Globally, the fossil fuel industry receives subsidies of $11 million per minute, primarily from lack of liability for the externalized health costs of deadly air pollution (42%), damages caused by extreme weather events (29%), and costs from traffic collisions and congestion (15%). And two-thirds of those subsidies come from just five countries — the United States, Russia, India, China and Japan. These are key findings from a study of 191 nations published by the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, in September 2021, that were reported in the Guardian and Treehugger the next month, but have been ignored in the corporate media.

No national government currently prices fossil fuels at what the IMF calls their “efficient price” — covering both their supply and envi ronmental costs. “Instead, an estimated 99% of coal, 52% of road diesel, 47% of natural gas, and 18 percent of gasoline are priced at less than half their efficient price,” Project Censored noted.

“Efficient fuel pricing in 2025 would reduce global carbon dioxide emissions 36 percent be low baseline levels, which is in line with keep ing global warming to 1.5 degrees, while raising revenues worth 3.8% of global GDP and pre venting 0.9 million local air pollution deaths,” the report stated. The G7 nations had previously agreed to scrap fossil fuel subsidies by 2025, but the IMF found that subsidies have increased in recent years, and will continue increasing.

“It’s critical that governments stop prop ping up an industry that is in decline,” Mike Coffin, a senior analyst at Carbon Tracker, told the Guardian. “The much-needed change could start happening now, if not for the government’s entanglement with the fossil fuels industry in so many major economies,” added Maria Pastuk hova of E3G, a climate change think tank.

“Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies could lead to higher energy prices and, ultimately, political protests and social unrest,” Project Censored noted.

“But, as the Guardian and Treehugger each re ported, the IMF recommended a ‘comprehensive strategy’ to protect consumers — especially lowin-come households — impacted by rising energy costs, and workers in displaced industries.”

No corporate news outlets had reported on the IMF as of May 2022, according to Project Censored, though a November 2021 opinion

Wage Theft:

U.S. Businesses Suffer Few Consequences for Stealing Millions from Workers Every Year

In 2017, the FBI reported the cost of street crime at about $13.8 billion, the same year that the Economic Policy Institute released a study saying that just one form of wage theft — minimum wage violations — costs U.S. workers even more: an estimated $15 billion annually, impacting an esti mated 17% of low-wage workers.

One reason it’s so rampant is that companies are seldom punished, as Alexia Fernández Camp bell and Joe Yerardi reported for the Center for Public Integrity in May 2021, drawing on 15 years of data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. “The agency fined only about one in four repeat offenders during that period. And it ordered those companies to pay workers cash damages — penalty money in addition to back wages — in just 14 percent of those cas es,” they wrote. In addition, “The division often lets businesses avoid repaying their employees all the money they’re owed. In all, the agency has let more than 16,000 employers get away with not paying $20.3 million in back wages since 2005.”

We’re talking about some major companies. Halliburton, G4S Wackenhut and Circle K Stores — were among “the worst offenders,” they reported.

That report kicked off the center’s “Cheated at Work’’ series, which showed that “U.S. employers that illegally underpaid workers face few repercus sions, even when they do so repeatedly. This wide spread practice perpetuates income inequality, hit ting lowest-paid workers hardest.”

“Wage theft includes a range of illegal prac tices, such as paying less than minimum wage, withholding tips, not paying overtime, or requiring workers to work through breaks or off the clock. It impacts service workers, low-income workers, immigrant and guest workers, and communities of color the most,” Project Censored explained.

Wage theft also includes worker misclassifica tion as independent contractors — long the case with port truckers, and more recently gig workers. A 2014 study from the National Employment Law Center estimated that “California’s port trucking companies are liable to drivers for violations of wage and hour laws for $65 to $83 million each month, or $787 to $998 million each year.”

Lack of resources is largely to blame for the lax enforcement, Project Censored explained: “As of February 2021, the Wage and Hour Division employed only 787 investigators, a proportion of just one investigator per 182,000 workers covered

That could change, if Congress were to pass the “Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act of 2022,” which “would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to protect work ers from wage theft, according to Ariana Figueroa of the Virginia Mercury,” Project Censored noted, concluding with a quote from Minnesota congressperson Ilhan Omar: “It is clear more DOL [Department of Labor] funding and additional federal reforms are needed in our localities in order to protect our most vulnerable workers.”

EPA Withheld Reports on Dangerous Chemicals

In January 2019, the Environmental Pro tection Agency, or EPA stopped releasing legally required disclosures about chemicals that present a “substantial risk of injury to health or the environment.” They had previ ously been posted in a searchable public data base called ChemView.

In November 2021, as part of the Inter cept’s “EPA Exposed” investigative series, Sharon Lerner reported that EPA had received “at least 1,240 substantial risk reports since January 2019, but only one was publicly avail able. The suppressed reports documented “the risk of chemicals’ serious harms, including eye corrosion, damage to the brain and nervous system, chronic toxicity to honeybees, and can cer in both people and animals,” Lerner wrote.

“The reports include notifications about highly toxic polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, chemical compounds that are known as “forever chemicals” because they build up in our bodies and never break down in the environment,” Project Censored noted. “The Environmental Working Group explains that ‘very small doses of PFAS have been linked to cancer, reproductive and immune system harm, and other diseases. For decades, chemi cal companies covered up evidence of PFAS’ health hazards.’” Their spread throughout the world’s oceans, along with microplastics, was Project Censored #5 story last year.

It wasn’t just the public that was kept in

Newly Elected ARTSLB Board President Says Art Is Essential

By Melina Paris, Assistant Editor

As of October 2022, Greg Johnson, marketing strategist and arts advocate, became the newly elected board president of the Arts Council for Long Beach or ARTSLB. As he leads the organization into its 46th year, Johnson’s vision is to further spread art and culture to Long Beach communities with the least access to the arts.

That includes:

• Widening ARTSLB’s marketing and advertising.

• Learning what artists’ needs are.

• Supporting diverse arts organizations within the city.

• Attracting more diverse audiences.

• Promoting arts that speak to the people.

• Uplifting ARTSLB’s recovery initiatives and advocacy.

• Providing grants to medium and smaller arts organizations.

“His leadership comes at a crucial time for the arts and culture sector in Long Beach,” said ARTSLB Executive Director Griselda Suarez. “He is deeply connected to creativity and is dedicated to supporting recovery in any way possible,” Suarez said.

Johnson will be succeeding Sayon Syprasocuth, who served in the post over the past two years.

In a released statement, Johnson said he is both humbled and excited to lead the Arts Council for Long Beach in such a time as this.

“As we move through this season of recovery, I serve to amplify arts and culture as an essential service in the life of our city,” Johnson said.

Long Beach city manager, Tom Modica, announced that due to the looming $20 million budget deficit, only essential services will survive coming cuts in the city budget.

Johnson, making the case for preserving arts funding, called arts and culture essential services and noted they are directly tied to Long Beach’s economic recovery from the pandemic.

Among the changes Johnson wants to push include creating a process by which community members can provide input in arts education; a process by which community members can see themselves portrayed in public art and the types of events held and a process by which community members can provide feedback on ARTSLB outreach and support efforts.

The renowned KJLH marketing strategist noted that ARTSLB is already diverse and is already practicing “profound inclusion.” Still, he wants to further that inclusion in underserved communities. He said sometimes they are not participating in the great things that the arts council has to offer for the arts community. His aim is to keep striving and widening ARTSLB’s marketing and advertising but also to meet artists where they are and to learn what their needs are. The arts council has a pretty good handle on it but Johnson said it could be even more.

“[For] example, I feel the major performing arts organizations really get supported by the City of Long Beach,” he said. “The question now becomes, where are those diverse performing arts organizations? Is there a Black theater company, for instance, and are they being supported?

“How does the symphony attract an even more diverse audience? The intention is there but how do we do this? Cultural differences mean that we’re going to need to break the mold on how you promote or present that art form to these diverse communities.”

Johnson comes to his new position with a deep background in community work. He’s built and produced a number of wellestablished festivals which attract tens of thousands of attendees in Los Angeles which include: the 4th of July Fireworks Extravaganza at Exposition Park, Knotts Berry Farm Gospel Showcase, the Taste of Soul and KingFest in the city of Inglewood, and Leimert Park’s

[See ARTSLB, p. 11]

Greg Johnson, the new board president of the Arts Council for Long Beach. Graphic by Terelle Jerricks

alifornia spiny lobster season started the first weekend of October and ends in mid-March. Every year, anglers flood the coastal areas around Southern California, not for the weather or the beach, but to target a crustacean that used to be considered a meal only fit for inmates, but is now considered a delicacy. The lobster, more specifically the California spiny lobster.

California spiny lobsters are omnivorous animals, meaning they eat everything, like most humans. A lobster spends some time scraping algae off rocks, other times cracking mussels open with its strong mandibles, and even sometimes scavenging dead animals too. This makes the lobster a top predator that is very important in the ecosystem controlling the population of species below it on the food chain. This is quite the important role for the spiny lobster.

Many people are not as familiar with the spiny lobster as much as they are with their closely related clawed relatives. The history of the American lobster is more in-depth and less decadent than one might think though. As mentioned previously, lobster used to be considered a trash meal and only fed to slaves and prisoners. History.com tells the tale of lobster being so plentiful in the 1700s that it was considered a nuisance. The “cockroaches of the sea” were used for fertilizer and bait for fishing before being used as a cheap way to feed slaves and prisoners. It wasn’t until the mid-1800s that a fishery began for the American lobster. Canning facilities were created to make the lobster last longer and people began increasingly to travel via train to the East Coast to try this exotic seafood. Increasing in popularity in the 1880s, the fishery took an uphill climb until the total boom in World War II where it was eaten by the rich around the country.

For anyone not familiar with our spiny friend, the California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) inhabits rocky bottom areas as far north as Monterey Bay down to Magdalena

A Lobster’s Tale:

Why Recreational Anglers are so Interested in the California Spiny Lobster

Americans. Although the meat is similar, the lack of big meaty claws and the long-standing history of the East Coast counterpart caused less interest in this species. This lesser interest has allowed the spiny lobster to stay under the radar for decades, only being of keen interest to those in the know.

Lobster season is in the winter time because scientific research has shown that lobsters

spawn in the spring and summer. Having a fishing season outside of the spawning time ensures no harvesting of females carrying eggs occurs, damaging the population. Unfortunately, this also means that the best time to catch lobster is at night in the winter. Additionally, the only two methods of catching allowed are handpulling traps or diving in the water, making lobster fishing no walk in the park.

So, with all this being said, what brings anglers from all around Southern California to the coastal areas around San Pedro, Long Beach, Orange County and San Diego come the first weekend of October when the season opens?

For one, the interest in catching one’s own food has increased throughout the years and when it’s lobster, the investment in gear and time can result in catching lobsters worth $50 or even $100. Secondly, I would argue it is the taste.

Unless you have had American lobster straight out of the Atlantic sitting on a pier in Maine, as well as spiny lobster straight from San Pedro Fish Market or Brian Frlekin at Slavko’s Poultry House (and Seafood), then you won’t be able to truly appreciate either lobster at its freshest. If you went out and caught it yourself though, that’s as fresh as it gets. From my personal experience and from others I’ve talked to, the spiny lobster is the sweetest-tasting lobster we’ve ever had. This has anglers excited when October comes around.

Bay in Mexico. When compared to its East Coast counterpart, the spiny lobster might look like it’s missing something, its claws. Instead of claws, spines run along the whole body as a self-defense mechanism. Trying to pick up a spiny lobster without knowing what they are capable of will find you in a world of pain as these spines are razor-sharp. With a lifespan of 30 to 50 years, these crustaceans might also tell you where they were on Y2K while slapping your hand with their tail covered in spines.

At the same time as this newfound interest in the American Lobster, exploration of the West Coast was underway where they found a similar-looking species being eaten by the Native

Sherwood Prusso of Huntington Beach agrees and is always excited when lobster season starts. An owner of a private boat, he and his friends headed out on opening weekend this year and multiple times throughout the last month to find these nocturnal delicacies. He stated, “The first few weeks we had some great nights and then it normalized but I would say it’s still on average from years before.” California Department of Fish and Game also agrees with the normalcy of the season stating almost 27,000 lobster report cards have been sold with the expectation of more being sold throughout the season, which is on par with previous years.

The report cards don’t mean any schooling is involved though, rather this is the method that the department uses to report the number of lobsters caught in a season. When you purchase your

[continued on following page]

Marc Higashi, owner of Performance Tackle in Los Alamitos with two California spiny lobsters. Photo courtesy of Marc Higashi

FreedomFest, which is a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Johnson was instrumental in the ARTSLB 2020 strategic (pre-pandemic) planning process. His aim is to uplift the organization’s recovery initiatives and advocacy. One of these initiatives included convening community outreach events in which people could share what the arts in Long Beach mean to them, how they saw the arts and the arts council in their various districts and what could be done to amplify the arts council’s mission within those communities.

“The arts council already took an assertive stance towards relief for artists,” Johnson said. “As soon as COVID hit, our hashtag was ‘keep artsworking.’ We were able to provide artist

Lobsters

relief, and help arts organizations with their virtual presentations to the tune of a little more than $2 million worth of relief and programs during COVID.”

Johnson said ARTSLB may revisit a few points on the strategic plan because it’s

“Now it’s a pretty beautiful apartment complex for low income and Section 8,” Johnson said. “It’s a source of pride for that neighborhood. I say that [because] I come with a lot of experience in policy-making and operating a multi-million dollar nonprofit.

“If I meet you and tell you tell me you’re an artist, the first thing I tell you is to get on the arts registry,” Johnson said. “There’s all sorts of information for artists. You hear about grants, commissions and more. It’s a powerful tool.”

“I have a deep appreciation for the arts and it was a natural thing for me to join the arts council,” Johnson said. “As a child, my parents made sure I was immersed in the arts.”

ARTSLB board president is a one-year position. Johnson said he wants to be effective and amplify the arts in Long Beach. He wants to represent the staff, the executive director and the arts in an exemplary manner.

“I hope the way I go about it will be a blessing to the arts council and certainly the people of Long Beach. I want to send peace and love.” www.artslb.org

lobster report card, an additional charge to the state fishing license, you are given a long sheet with space to fill in information such as: what region you dropped your traps in, how many traps you dropped and pulled, and how many lobsters you caught. All this information is due at the end of the season, so catch rates are unknown until the season is over.

Jenny Hofmeister, Ph.D., from the Department of Fish and Game, shared that catch data is used to create three metrics: the total amount of mass of lobsters caught, the catch per unit effort (number of legal lobsters caught per trap pull), and spawning potential ratio (a measure of the amount of reproduction in a season). She also confirmed with me that the 2021 to 2022 season’s metrics were above the threshold, suggesting a stable population of lobsters.

Prusso and Hofmeister are excited about the 2022 to 2023 season and you should be too. If you are not keen to weather the nighttime temps and water, fear not, as there are many local opportunities to find spiny lobster to enjoy with your family. At Slavko’s Poultry, you can find spiny lobster on sale now for $45 / pound. You can also find it at San Pedro Fish Market at their market price. Last but not least, if you are further away and can’t make it to San Pedro, Catalina Offshore Products is an online retailer where you can find spiny lobster for sale around $42 per whole lobster, you just have to wait for shipping.

the arts council is also adjusting to Measure B, authorizing the city to increase its local hotel tax from six to seven percent. Certain arts organizations get a significant percentage of the transient occupancy tax from hotels in order to sustain them. Johnson also wants to work with larger granting entities to provide grants to medium and smaller arts organizations.

“In the coming year, you will see a more amplified presence in the schools, more murals and public art,” Johnson said.

Johnson cited the recent ARTSLB commissioned memorial mural at Cerritos Park for the victims of a fatal traffic accident as an example.

“When we debuted it, people gathered and the artist had outlined images he wanted on the wall and then community members painted within those outlines,” Johnson explained. “It was a beautiful exercise of community unity. You will see a lot more public artwork that speaks directly to the people.”

In other areas of focus, Johnson wants to align the different arts council committees, which operate and develop policy. The advocacy committee, he noted, directly intersects with city council members. So the arts council held meetings with city council members to not only remind them of ARTSLB’s presence but to show them what it has accomplished and where the public arts and murals are located in each district.

That generates a strong sense of pride with the council members but also with the people who live in these districts,” Johnson said. “We’ve taken steps to intensify our work with neighborhood groups to advocate for the arts and also doing fact finding: [asking] ‘what do you need in your community, in your district, to enhance the arts? How can we help?”

Additionally, in his community work, Johnson sits on the board of the West Angeles Community Development Corporation, a faith based nonprofit in LA. The organization turns blighted properties into affordable housing and senior homes. Johnson has been working on cleaning up an apartment complex in South LA that had been infested by gangs and drugs.

calls this “the mantra at the epicenter of his business dealings.”

Johnson said there’s so much to that. Discussing bridge-building, Johnson wonders if disadvantaged communities are getting the information, or if they’re getting it but just aren’t attending.

Five California spiny lobsters. Photo by Seth Meyer

The Arts Council for Long Beach, with Board President Greg Johnson in the center. Photo courtesy of the council’s website

HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS

Dec. 8

Aquarium Holidays

Aquarium Holidays features fes tive décor, shopping, snowfall in the great hall and appearances by Santa Diver. On weekends through Dec. 18, the aquarium will have photo opportunities with Santa and a real snow play area on the front lawn.

Time: Dec. 3 to 23 Cost: $26.95 to $36.95

Details: https://www.aquariumof pacific.org/visit/tickets

Venue: Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach

Holiday Open House at Rancho Los Alamitos

In the early 1900s, the Bixby fam ily hosted the ranch’s community of workers, families, and friends for a big Christmas party. Now you’re invited. Enjoy a festive evening at Rancho Los Alamitos, tour the decorated Ranch House and enjoy music and light refresh ments. Admission is free, but res ervations are required.

Time: 4 to 8 p.m., Dec. 8, 9 Cost: Free Details: 562-431-3541; www.rancholosalamitos.com/ events.html

Venue: Rancho Los Alamitos, 6400 E. Bixby Rd., Long Beach

Dec.

MUSIC Dec. 10

Blues Holiday Concert

The Long Beach Blues society will be hosting its blues holiday concert at Cesar Chavez Park in side the Jenny Oropeza Commu nity Center. Join the family friendly event in Long Beach.

Time: 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Dec. 10

Cost: Free Details: http://www.longbeach bluessociety.org

Venue: Cesar Chavez Park, 401 Golden Ave., Long Beach

Dec. 16

Kimo’s Holiday Slack Key Show

Join Alvas annual tradition. Gram my-winning slack key guitarist Jim “Kimo” West will perform selec tions from his two acclaimed holi day CDs, with traditional hula by Ku’uleilani Taketa and Kevin Tsu sui, plus Diana Tanaka on vocals and hula.

Time: 8 p.m., Dec. 16

Cost: $25 Details: https://tinyurl.com/slackkey

Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro Dec. 17

Holiday Pops Spectacular

10

Rancho Los Alamitos Winter Family Festival

Celebrate the season while learn ing about the diverse traditions of those who once called Puvungna and Rancho Los Alamitos home. Enjoy hands-on activities, dance and musical performances, a pet ting zoo, carriage rides, food for purchase and more. Free parking at CSULB lot G13. Enter the park ing lot from Palo Verde.

Time: 12 to 4 p.m., Dec. 10 Cost: $15 to $18 and free for chil dren 2 and under.

Details: https://tinyurl.com/winterfamily-fest

Venue: Rancho Los Alamitos, 6400 E. Bixby Rd., Long Beach Dec. 31

Night Dive

Dive into 2023 at the Aquarium of

Real People, Real News, Totally Relevant

the Pacific’s New Year’s Eve Night Dive. Start the new year with the fish as you boogie to the tunes of a live band play ing in the great hall and DJs spinning in the galleries — all leading up to the confetti count down at midnight.

Time: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Dec. 31 Cost: $54.95 to $59.95 Details: 562-590-3100; https://tinyurl.com/night-dive Venue: Aquarium of the Pa cific, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach

The Voice contestant Lana Love will be singing Into the Unknown. Tenor of the Americas, Maximo Marcuso and the GSPO Chorale will play holiday film music and traditional favorites.

Time: 7 p.m. pre-concert lecture, 8 p.m., show Dec. 17 Cost: $31 and up Details: https://tinyurl.com/holi day-pops

Venue: Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

A Celtic Christmas Saturday and Sunday

“World’s Most Recorded Piper” Eric Rigler (Outlander, Bravehe art, Titanic) and multi-talented guitarist Dirk Freymuth return to create a night of acoustic holiday cheer. The artists will highlight music from the Christmas tradition — both familiar and lesser-known pieces from the British Isles, Ire land and other Celtic nations with in Europe.

Time: 8 p.m., Dec. 17, 18 Cost: $35 Details: https://tinyurl.com/celticsaturday Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

Stevie Wonder’s 24th Annual ‘House Full of Toys’ Benefit Concert House Full of Toys will benefit chil dren, people with disabilities and families in need. Concertgoers are asked to bring an unwrapped toy or unwrapped gift of joy. Your charitable gift is 100% tax deduct

Editor’s Note: Due to the current COVID-19 surge in the Los Angeles area, please be advised to check ahead to confirm if events will still be happening before purchasing tickets.

ible.

Time: 8 p.m., Dec. 17 Cost: $59 and up Details: https://tinyurl. com/house-full-of-toys

Venue: Microsoft Theatre, 777 Chick Hearn Court, Los Angeles

Dec. 24

LA County Holiday Celebration

The 63rd annual LA County Holi day Celebration returns live to The Music Center and offers An gelenos of all ages the opportunity to experience and honor the dy namic, rich cultures of the county. Enjoy a diverse lineup of LAbased artists with performances by choral groups, dance troupes and local artists. Attend in person or watch PBS SoCal or on pbsso cal.org.

Time: 3 to 6 p.m., Dec. 24 Cost: Free Details: https://tinyurl.com/LACholiday-celebration Venue: Dorothy Chandler Pavil ion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los An geles

Dec. 31

Andy and Renee South Bay’s favorite folk-rockers return to the Annex to ring in the new year. Celebrate on the dance floor while the band delivers hits from across the decades. Your ticket includes late-night pizza, party favors and a champagne toast to welcome in 2023.

Time: 8:30 p.m., Dec. 31 Cost: $40 and up Details: https://tinyurl.com/Andyand-Renee Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro

THEATER Dec. 10

A Christmas Carol In 2022, this holiday tradition con tinues with the 11th consecutive production of this beloved story of a man transformed from a self ish curmudgeon to a kind-hearted

benefactor who finds great satis faction in giving joy to others. Time: 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday Dec. 9 to 18 Cost: $14 to $24 Details: 562-494-1014; www.lbplayhouse.org Venue: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach

ARTS

Dec. 9

The Gravura Collective Show

An exhibition consisting of 13 Brazilian Artists, showcasing a vast array of Brazilian art such as sculptures, photography and paintings. Immerse yourself in the rich Brazilian culture. The exhibi tion runs to Dec. 31. Time: 6 to 9 p.m., Dec. 1 Cost: Free Details: www.msartgallery.com Venue: Menduina Schneider Art Gallery, 366 W. 7th St., San Pedro

Evidence Of Things Unseen

Laurie Steelink’s work can be seen at Track 16 Gallery in down town Los Angeles, through Dec. 17. Steelink is showing alongside Don Ed Hardy, her friend and fel low San Francisco Art Institute alumnus.

Time: 12 to 6 p.m., Wednesday to Saturday through to Dec. 18 Cost: Free Details: 310-815-8080; https:// www.track16.com/hardy-steelinkevidence-of-things-unseen Venue: Track 16 Gallery, in the Bendix Building,1206 Maple Ave, #1005 Los Angeles

Dec. 10

Now and Then

Now and Then, an exhibition of current and past studio artists at the LOFT and holiday art sale. Plus, join a closing reception for the exhibition 12 to 5 p.m., on Dec. 17.

Time: 12 to 5 p.m., Dec. 10 Cost: Free

Details: 310-831-5757

Venue: The LOFT Gallery and Artists Studios, 401 S. Mesa Ave., San Pedro

Dec. 17

Artist Talk: Ted Twine Artist Ted Twine talks about his paintings, practice and works in his current solo exhibition, Deep Flat Theory at the Palos Verdes Art Center. the exhibition runs through Jan. 7.

Time: 3 to 6 p.m., Dec. 17 Cost: Free Details: https://pvartcenter.org Venue: PVAC, 5504 Crestridge Road, Rancho Palos Verdes

LITERATURE Dec. 11

The Golden Age of Hollywood Julie Anderson has released her debut book, The Golden Age of Hollywood Through the Lens of Joe Ackerman, which captures only a portion of her father, Joe Ackerman’s, extensive autograph, photograph and color slide col lection spanning over 60 years. There will be a book signing after the presentation and the book can be purchased at the event. Time: 2 p.m., Dec. 11 Cost: Free Details: 424-450-8239; https:// tinyurl.com/Ackerman-golden-age Venue: Collage, 731 S Pacific Ave., San Pedro

FILM Dec. 23

It’s A Wonderful Life Join a screening of this holiday 1946 classic, It’s a Wonderful Life presented by San Pedro Film Festival. This American Christ mas family fantasy drama film was produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet The Greatest Gift, which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loosely based on the 1843 Charles Dickens novella A Christ mas Carol. Time: 7 p.m., Dec. 23 Cost: $15 Details: https://spiffest-wonderfullife.bpt.me Venue: The Warner Grand The atre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

DANCE Dec. 9

The Nutcracker A timeless holiday classic, featur ing professionals and young danc ers from San Pedro City Ballet .

Time: 7 p.m., Dec. 9, 2 and 7 p.m., Dec. 10 and 2 p.m. Dec. 11 Cost: $30 to $40 Details: https://tinyurl.com/spcbnutcracker Venue: Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

LBCC 2022 Fall Dance Ensemble

The exciting showcase will fea ture the LBCC troupe performing unique and cutting-edge work. Di rected by Martha L. Z. Pamintuan with faculty choreographers. The ensemble will perform in LBCC’s auditorium, building J 4901.

Time: 1 to 3 p.m., Dec. 12

Cost: $10 to $15

Details: https://tinyurl.com/rt7d 8pus

Venue: Long Beach City College Liberal Arts Campus, 4901 Car son St., Long Beach

COMMUNITY Dec. 11

Cuban Youth Friendship and Solidarity Conference

A delegation of three young wom en from the LA Hands Off Cuba Committee visited Cuba in order to build unity and collaboration between young people working to bring an end to the U.S.’s block ade and sanctions on Cuba. The women, Sofia, Diana and Linh will be featured speakers, along with Code Pink founder, Media Benja min.

Time: 2:30 p.m., Dec. 11

Cost: Free Details: 323-731-4131

Venue: McCarty Memorial Church, 4101 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles

Dec. 14

The Lillian Kawasaki Eco Gardener Program

This program teaches homeown ers about the multiple benefits of planting a sustainable garden through a series of in-person classes. Whether you attend one or all of them, you will walk away with knowledge about sustainable garden design concepts as well as plant and material selections for creating an attractive, water ef ficient garden.

Time: 2 to 4 p.m., Dec. 14

Cost: Free

Details: 562-206-2040; https://ti nyurl.com/Winter-gardening Venue: Rancho Los Cerritos, 4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach

Ongoing

Open Garden at Feed and Be Fed

Every Tuesday, Friday and First Thursday evening join “Open Gar den” at Feed and Be Fed. San Pedro’s own urban farm opens its downtown garden.

Time: Tuesdays 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Fridays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and First Thursday evenings Cost: Free

Details: feedandbefed.org Venue: Feed and Be Fed Farm, 429 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Ted Twine: Deep Flat Theory at PVAC

Palos Verdes Art Center / Beverly G. Alpay Center for Arts Education presents the exhibition Ted Twine: Deep Flat Theory which includes: “Conversations with the Artist:” Dec 17. The exhibition is on view until Jan. 7.

Influences as varied as Tantric art, the cutouts of late-stage Matisse and historic Japanese painting and woodblock printing have found their way into Ted Twine’s art. An exploration of consciousness and perception is at the root of Twine’s approach to image-making. Flatness of backgrounds and of shapes, with no attempt to create the illusion of three-dimensional space, allows the shape itself to be assertive.

Shape is made apparent by its color. Depth is suggested within a relatively flat field with

lines branching along the surface, suggesting perpendicular space. Seeing both possibilities at the same time is the key to “deep flat” vision.

The phrase “deep flat” suggests a coexistence of oppositional or contrasting characteristics, like universal/personal, hard/ soft, bright/muted and serious/humorous.

Twine believes that good art, whether visual, literary or musical, tends to stretch our minds to absorb, rather than resist, paradox, invoking the imagination and establishing “a viewpoint beyond normal perception and understanding.”

Ted Twine was born in Japan and received his B.A. from University of California, Santa Barbara. He has lived in San Pedro since 1980.

Twine’s art is in corporate collections including

Bank of America, HewlettPackard, Bain and Co. and hotel and resort properties internationally, such as Apria Hotel, Mandalay Bay and others.

Ted Twine: Deep Flat Theory

Time: 3 to 6 p.m. Dec. 17

Cost: Free Details: 310-541-2479; pvartcenter.org

Venue: Palos Verdes Art Center, 5504 Crestridge Rd., Rancho Palos Verdes Proof of vaccination is required for attendance in accordance with PVAC policy.

Real People, Real News, Really Effective

Ted Twine, Wild Fungi, 2022, 32 x 42 in, acrylic and oil on canvas

RLNews is seeking to hire a graphic artist for this pro gressive media company. Candidates should have a bachelor’s degree in graphic arts or communications, be detail oriented, work with a team and be self-motivated with good web and social media skills. Must be profi cient in Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator, Word, Excel, Mailchimp and Wordpress. Actual drawing skills and bilingual is a plus. This is a challenging opportunity for the right candidate who wants to work outside of the corpo rate structure in a creative environment. Submit resume and cover letter to: james@ randomlengthsnews.com or call 310-519-1442 weekdays, 9 to 4.

RLNews is looking for freelance food and music writers who are knowledge able about Harbor Area res taurants, culture and music scenes. Committment to writing to deadline is a must. Having a strong social media following and bi-lingual skills is a plus. Submit inquiries and any links to your writing to editor@randomlengthsnews. com or call 310-519-1442 weekdays.

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Project Censored’s Top Stories Show One Pattern

the dark, Lerner reported. “The substantial risk reports have not been uploaded to the databases used most often by risk assessors searching for information about chemicals, according [to] one of the EPA scientists… They have been entered only into an internal database that is difficult to access and search. As a result, little — and perhaps none — of the information about these serious risks to health and the environment has been incorporated into the chemical assessments completed during this period.”

“Basically, they are just going into a black hole,” one whistleblower told Lerner. “We don’t look at them. We don’t evaluate them. And we don’t check to see if they change our understand ing of the chemical.”

Apart from the Intercept, “only a handful of niche publications have reported on the matter,” Project Censored noted.

However, in January 2022 Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a lawsuit to compel EPA to disclose the reports, following up on an earlier public records request which, the National Law Review reported, was “built upon information reported in a November 2021 article in The Intercept.” Just weeks later EPA announced it would resume posting the re ports in ChemView, Project Censored noted. “Clearly, independent journalism contributed significantly to this outcome,” they said. “Had it not been for the work of investigative journal ist Sharon Lerner at the Intercept, EPA whistle blowers would not have had a platform to share concerns that ultimately led the agency to resume these critical public disclosures.”

mate change goals that’s gone virtually unmen tioned by the corporate media, despite detailed reporting in a series of Sludge articles written by David Moore in November and December of 2021.

Moore found that 74 Republicans, 59 Demo crats, and one independent have fossil fuel indus try investments, with Republicans outnumbering Democrats in both chambers. The top 10 House investors are all Republicans. But it’s quite dif ferent in the Senate, where two of the top three investors are Democrats, and Democrats’ total investments, $8,604,000, are more than double the Senate Republicans’ total of $3,994,126. Topping the list is Joe Manchin (WV), with up to $5.5 million of fossil fuel industry assets, while John Hickenlooper (CO) is third, with up to $1 million. (Most reporting is in ranges.) Many top investors are Texas Republicans, including Rep. Van Taylor, with up to $12.4 million worth of in vestments.

“Most significantly, many hold key seats on influential energy-related committees,” Project Censored noted. Senators include Manchin, chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Tina Smith (D-MN), chairs of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development and En ergy, and Tom Carper (D-DE), chair of the Com mittee on the Environment and Public Works. “Manchin cut the Clean Electricity Performance Program, a system that would phase out coal, from President Biden’s climate bill,” they added.

In the House, they explained, “nine of the twenty-two Republican members of the Energy and Commerce Committee are invested in the fossil fuel industry. As Project Censored detailed in the #4 story on the Top 25 list two years ago, these individuals’ personal financial interests as investors often conflict with their obligation as elected legislators to serve the public interest.”

lawmakers have invested considerable sums in the fossil fuel industry makes it extremely un likely that Congress will do much to rein in oil and gas production.”

As of May 21, 2022, Sludge’s reporting had gotten no corporate coverage, repeating the whiteout of a similar report in 2020. “Corporate news outlets have only reported on the fact that clean energy proposals are stalled in Congress, not the financial conflicts of interest that are the likely cause of this lack of progress,” Project Censored concluded.

At Least 128 Members of Congress Invested in Fossil Fuel Industry

At least 100 U.S. representatives and 28 U.S. senators have financial interests in the fossil fuel industry — a major impediment to reaching cli

Oil and gas lobbying totaled $119.3 million according to OpenSecrets, while 2020 election spending topped $40 million for congressional candidates — $8.7 million to Democrats and $30.8 million to Republicans. This came as the International Energy Agency warned that no new fossil fuel developments can be approved for the world to have a 50/50 chance to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, Moore reported. And, yet, “production of oil and gas is projected to grow 50 percent by 2030 without congressional action,” Project Censored noted. “The fact that so many

Dark Money Interference in U.S. Politics

Undermines Democracy

The same group of conservative dark money organizations that opposed President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nomination — Judicial Crisis Network [JCN], The 85 Fund and their affiliated groups — also funded entities that played a role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a report by the watchdog group Accountable.US. They’re closely linked to Leonard Leo, co-chair of the Federalist Society, with money coming from Do nors Trust (a dark-money group backed by the Koch network) and the Bradley Foundation.

“These dark money groups not only funded Leo’s network of organizations to the sum of over $52 million in 2020, but also funded enti ties in 2020 that played a role in the insurrection to the sum of over $37 million,” Accountable.US reported.

While there has been coverage of dark mon ey spending on Supreme Court nominations, Igor Derysh at Salon was alone in reporting this — the related involvement in Jan. 6.

Just one group, JCN, spent $2.5 million “before Biden even named his nominee” Ket anji Brown Jackson, Derysh reported, “accusing Biden of caving in to leftists by promising a ‘Su preme Court nominee who will be a liberal activ ist.’” On the other hand, “JCN spent tens of mil

had on promoting and reinforcing anti-dem ocratic ideology, or the ramifications of how such dark money spending erodes public trust in government and the election process.”

To read all of Project Censored’s top ten stories, visit www.randomlengthsnews.com. To purchase the book, visit https://tinyurl.com/Free Press2023

and tice 2020 funneled pushed rally of ald including Trump’s to R-Mo., jections the who in tory. attorneys also the Judge the confidence president spending to lenge nomination US noted. cal groups’ public’s Judge process February Wall ered Jackson’s 2022 Censored the ing

Illustrations by Anson Stevens-Bollen