I personally have walked up and down Venice Blvd talking to over 100 residents, (103) asking how often they see police cars patroling Venice Blvd late at night. Seventy-Eight people said yes, every night, late. 61 added they see them racing, sometimes without any lights on. 43 said they hear their engines racing, loud acceleration. 28 added the police use Venice Blvd as a drag strip, but without any lights. 18 asked me why they would drive so fast but not have any lights on. 31 expressed concern for people’s safety with their excessive speeds along the streets. and finally 61 would agree to signing a sworn statement if one should come about.

Then there are the cell phone pictures which clearly show the patrol car with no lights before any other patrol cars arrive. then their lights are on, respopnding patrol cars can clearly be seen in these pictures. It makes no difference in what sequence these pictures are displayed, pretty darn easy to arrange them in the proper order…..

Then they call it a crime scene but refuse to take anyone’s statements rather ordering them away from the scene ande begin making arrests of anyone caught without a green card!Then there’s the fire department claiming they responded to the WRONG glyndon ave, claiming they arrived at a another “Glendon” location thus taking 15 minutes to arrive on the emergence call. If they know – which they certainly should there are two streets by the same name (NOT the same spelling why on Gods earth would they not confirm the correct location BEFORE they roll? Smelll like a fist tank here to me boy’s. They’ve changed their story so many times they probably don’t even know what the truth is anymore!

. The evidence is mounting and it’s only a matter of time before the the TRUTH is heard. Too many witnesses to pull this one off boys!

Bonnie Wolfe

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Leaf Blowers

Dear Beachhead,

WHAT?! Gasoline powered leaf blowers are illegal within 500 feet of a residence? (C.V. Beck letter, January issue)

Anyone who lives in LA knows this isn’t enforced.

I called the city to see if it was really true. Turns out you have to tell them in advance when exactly the leaf blower will be blowing and there’s also some loophole about private land.

Here are some chilling facts I found online:

“According to a report by the California EPA published in 2000, commercial leaf blowers run for 30 minutes emit CO2 equivalent to a car being driven 7,700 miles and carbon monoxide equivalent to 440 miles of driving. Another way of putting it, commercial leaf blowers emit over 500 times the amount of CO2 as cars. Residential leaf blowers are quite different, but still not good; these leaf blowers emit CO2 equivalent to 2,200 miles of driving and carbon monoxide equal to 110 miles.” http://eco-guides.us/blog/?p=125

Please, Venice Beachhead, tell us what steps we can take to stop this ridiculous pollution and waste. As I write this there’s one outside, in the RAIN!

Sincerely, Simone White

From the Beachhead:  Here’s the section of the Municipal Code, 112.04, that bans leaf blowers. It can be found at http://bit.ly/4pz12i (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection (a) above, no gas powered blower shall be used within 500 feet of a residence at anytime.  Both the user of such a blower as well as the individual who contracted for the services of the user, if any, shall be subject to the requirements of and penalty provisions for this ordinance.  Violation of the provisions of this subsection shall be punishable as an infraction in an amount not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), notwithstanding the graduated fines set forth in L.A.M.C. Section 11.00(m).  This website gives a phone number to report violations: http://www.zapla.org

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Plain English

Dear Beachhead Readers,

It was a famous fiction writer who said that the best writing was “words meant for children with meanings meant for men.”  That “men,” of course, meant both sexes.

The English language is a wonderful thing.  Looking at the multi-language directions for use included with most of our new electronic gadgets you may have noticed that the English sections are shorter.  I take that to mean that English is simpler.

From its inflective beginnings in the Romance languages to its distributive presence in the now, it is a bridge to the most distributive language, Chinese.  I have been told that Chinese do not understand how we can talk about the “front half of the car.”  If that information is correct, to the Chinese a thing split in half has a new front and rear.  So Chinese appears to be a bit more technical than English.  Take note!

Right now our government is awash in more English than it can handle. Abandoning the ten commandments of Old English Law that included the intent required to establish guilt, our statutes abound with more damn regulations than can be enforced. I believe that Rome fell because its statutes could not be enforced in its far flung dominions.  Statutes beget more statutes until nobody knows what is right or wrong.

Legislators spew out more and more legislation to prove to themselves that they are doing something.

But why in hell do they not do something about removing all of the old laws that serve to confuse the new laws?

Or, when they make new laws, why don’t they look to see if the new laws fit with the old?

I believe that our government is stuck in a morass of laws that defy any kind of a fix.  Immigrants to the U.S. haven’t the foggiest notion of law because most have lived under the Code Napoleon, the rule of statute law.

Yet we congratulate ourselves by saying “you are innocent until  proven guilty”

Oh yeah. Try that in traffic court when the officer says you are guilty.

Here is another instance: health care. No one should be deprived when care is needed. But no one talks about health care in the home, the place of first need. That’s because there is no money in health care at home, except for a few low income health care workers.

More than two thousand pages of health insurance legislation should be a tipoff to the ripoff. Why does it take two thousand pages to care for the sick?  Either we care for sick people or we do not.  It is as simple as that.

We have a lovely language.  If we keep it simple, it will be easy to do the right thing.

DeDe Audet

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Winograd Supports Beachhead

Dear Beachhead,

Thanks for your local independent press & for fighting the good fight against corporatism. I proudly join the $100 sustainers.

Best wishes, Marcy Winograd

(Winograd has filed in the Democratic primary)