Domestic Policy

Monica Ratliff: The Woman Who May Change L.A.

John Deasy is the most admired school superintendent in city history. But this fifth-grade teacher isn't impressed

Marijuana: Some Cops Actually Happy About States' Weed Legalization

Federal authorities might not be so giddy about the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington, but some city cops are. Well, some. The group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, long opposed to state and federal laws that make jail-bait of tokers in California and elsewhere, is absolute ... More >>

[Updated] Mexican Mangoes Recalled Due to Salmonella Romaine Recalled Due to Listeria

Updated: Aug. 31, 3:17 p.m.: Mango distributor Splendid Foods has expanded their recall to as many as 1 million mangoes that may carry Salmonella bacteria, UPI reports. The FDA says the mangoes are likely to blame for a multistate cluster of salmonella, as well as cases in Canada. Splendid said the ... More >>

A Santa Monica Trailer Park — and Its Senior Residents — Face Off With Fancy New Development

Half of Americans, a 'Record High,' Now Support Legalization of Marijuana

An American obsession.​At a time when President Obama will have to face a challenge to support the decriminalization of marijuana, the Gallup organization released a new poll saying a "record high" number of Americans -- 50 percent -- support legalizing pot. Bad timing for the prez: It's elec ... More >>

Drug Arrests Totaled 1.6 Million in U.S. in 2010: Nearly Half of Those Were Simply For Having Marijuana

Responsible for nearly half of American drug arrests?​Pro-pot forces say an FBI report released today indicating 8 out of 10 drug arrests in 2010 were for possession supports their view that the war on drugs is a failure. The FBI report also says there was one drug arrest every 19 seconds, wi ... More >>

Marijuana to be Regulated Like Wine in California? That's Jim Gray's Wacky Proposal

scribol.comMarijuana and wine just to pass the time.​From the bowels of Orange County comes a wacky proposal to "Regulate Marijuana Like Wine" in California. The would-be ballot measure from retired Orange County Superior Court Judge Jim Gray would legalize pot, medical or not, for the 21-and ... More >>

L.A. Latinos Sue Sheriff Lee Baca for Failing to Reveal Internal 'Secure Communities' Correspondance With ICE

Sheriff Baca just got sued.​Updated after the jump: The Sheriff's Department says this is ICE's problem, not theirs. This should be an interesting lawsuit -- not only for the future of immigration reform, but for frustrated journalists who repeatedly get their California Public Records Act re ... More >>

Villaraigosa's Conference of Mayors Says Yes to Drugs, No to U.S. Drug War

Urban mayors are pro-weed, it seems.​It didn't take long after they elected L.A.'s Antonio Villaraigosa as president for the U.S. Conference of Mayors to take a hard left turn into druggy territory. The group this week declared that America's war on drugs is a failure, a statement that has pr ... More >>

What Killed Prop. 19?

Historic effort to legalize marijuana returns in 2012

If California Legalizes Pot, The Feds Might Sue: Boy, The Obama Administration Really Doesn't Want Us To Vote For Prop. 19

Up In SmokeThe U.S. drug czar is sounding a little like Sgt. Stedenko to us.​Just because California might legalize pot doesn't mean that enforcement against the drug will go up in smoke. Nope. In fact President Obama's drug czar told Associated Press (via LAist) that if we liberate cannabis, ... More >>

Legalizing Pot Would Cut Mexican Cartel Revenues Only Slightly, Could Boost Violence, Study Finds

​Legalizing marijuana in California would cause only a modest drop in revenues for Mexican drug cartels, according to a Rand Corporation study released today.Proposition 19 could also lead to a short-term increase in Mexican drug violence, as warring cartels fight over a diminished market, the rep ... More >>

Rep. Maxine Waters' Ethics Charges Spelled Out

​ The House ethics committee spelled out its case against against Rep. Maxine Waters, the legendary congresswoman who represents south L.A., The Washington Post reports. As expected, the case alleges Waters "improperly exerted" influence over Treasury Department officials when she sought ban ... More >>

Anti-Cussing Group Opposes U.S. Court Obscenity Ruling That Protects Free Speech On Television

​A Pasadena-based anti-cussing club is opposing a court ruling that strikes down FCC policy punishing networks for allowing obscenity on television, according to the Pasadena Star News. Seventeen-year old McKay Hatch, who founded the No Cussing Club three years ago, has been emailing members ... More >>

California Welfare Cards Can Withdraw Cash From Casino ATMs

​A Los Angeles Times review of records found that California welfare recipients are able to withdraw cash using their welfare cards on gaming floors in more than half of the casinos in the state. The Times crosschecked ATM addresses on the Department of Social Services website with addresses ... More >>

Me Llamo Steve Poizner Y Quiero Su Apoyo

Steve Poizner has a message for that sliver of the electorate that speaks Spanish, votes Republican, opposes Pete Wilson and Prop. 187, but supports the Arizona immigration law:This is the political equivalent of a reverse triple backflip into a half somersault with no splash. English translation af ... More >>

L.A. Council Moves To Cap Increases On Rent-Controlled Apartments

​The Los Angeles City Council on Friday voted to move forward with a three-month cap on rate hikes for those who live in rent-controlled apartments. The 8-6 vote sends the ordinance to the City Attorney's office for drafting, with a final vote expected in two weeks. If passed, the move would ... More >>

L.A. Black Group Criticizes Mayor, Council Members Over Anti-Arizona Stance (Updated)

Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson.​A Los Angeles-based African-American "cultural action" organization is criticizing L.A. City Council members who support a boycott of Arizona over its controversial immigration law. (Updated after the jump with background on the group's leader). Council members Janice ... More >>

Marijuana Activists Stunned Over Obama's Bush-Era Pick For DEA

Michele M. Leonhart.​The administration of President Obama has told federal law enforcement to stand down when it comes to raiding legitimate pot dispensaries in states where medical marijuana is legal. But last week the president quietly nominated Bush-era Drug Enforcement Administration offi ... More >>

The Red Scare and Average Joes

What we talk about when we talk about socialism

Best Way to Reclaim the Airwaves

Government and Floods

A quarter-century of libertarianism is washed away in New Orleans

Bush’s Energy Disaster

Time to park the SUVs in the White House garage

G.I. George

No More Coat Hangers

Popping the Cork on Spending Cap

Arnold gets the glory, the Dems get the deal

He’s Back

This time, it’s the Riordan-ator

Beyond Belief

Screen-door Jesus and a zero dropout rate

The War on Due Process

With Patriot Act power, Bush and Ashcroft try to conquer the legal system

Ghosts in the Machine

When you're lost in El Centro's immigrant detention center you may be lost for good

The List

Desperately Seeking Balance

Legislators stumble in their search for budget solutions

Anyone Seen an Economic Policy?

The GOP has a new team and the same old bad ideas. The Democrats are still pondering.

High-Wire Dreamin’

Enron's role in California's energy crisis of 2001

Where’s the Rest of It?

The Democrats’ curiously incomplete election-year program

One-Trick Party

In war and peace, Republicans replenish the rich

Small Minds and Arms

The gun lobby goes to war with the U.N.

Inn Trouble

Unions shape new immigrant strategy

W.'s Way

Talks like Clinton, thinks like Reagan

The Big Heist

Bush plan taxes decency, candor and virtue — but lays off the rich

The Pretender

Illegitimate and ill at ease, George W. Bush begins what looks to be a retro presidency

Amnesty!

Labor leads the battle to grant legal status to millions of America’s — and L.A.’s — undocumented immigrants

Letters

Establishment Boys

Bush, Gore and the limits of orthodoxy

Big-Spender Mike

Antonovich invites the gun lobby in — at taxpayers’ expense

It’s Chinatown, Jake

The behind-closed-doors transformation of the downtown rail yards

The Guns of Autumn

Getting the county out of the arms trade

Guns Dot Com

Playing the Numbers

Welfare's Phantom workers

Coalition challenges unfair workfare