“The Big Takeover” how AIG and the Govt. got us into this mess

from Rolling Stone:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover/print

“It’s over — we’re officially, royally fucked. no empire can survive being rendered a permanent laughingstock, which is what happened as of a few weeks ago, when the buffoons who have been running things in this country finally went one step too far.”

That’s right he said royally fucked, the article is in Rolling Stone so they let him get away with a lot. This article really clearly, and passionately explains how and who was involved in a lot of the horrible transactions that led to taxpayers having to bailout the super rich. It is a call to arms. We should be pissed off and taking these guys down, taking their assets and locking them up. We shouldn’t be paying a dime for their money making schemes that made them even richer but bankrupted the economy.

Here is a video of the author talking about his article. I hope more people read and see this and we start doing more than paying for rich guys gambling.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/#29789983

Mexica New Year 09 @ Self Help Graphics

Mexica New Year @ Self Help Graphics 09

Me : Hey ! I saw Rosannas facebook and it said there’s aztec dancers at Self Help right now, is it still going on? 

Victoria : Yeah dude I was there earlier it was crazy. 

Me  : So why didn’t you tell me or announce it !?

Victoria : I forgot. I’m too busy writing up blog post that I can’t keep track of everything. 

Me : Yeah cause you post SOO much hahahah

Victoria : Anyway I though you worked on the weekends ?

Me : I do, I just got out and I was checking facebook through my phone at work. So i’d figure I’d call you and get the down low. 

Victoria : Well go down and check it out. I bet your girlfriend Pachuco 3000 will be there. I know you guys hang out together as if your lovers.

Me : Sigh…just cause we hang out every now and then doesn’t mean we’re lovers. Besides I’m sure he’s up to something already. 

Victoria : Ohhh I see.

Me : So did I wake you up just now ?

Victoria : Not really. I was taking a power nap because I rode my bike six miles today. Man my ass hurts.

Me : Damn !! you rode around that much ?!?!

Victoria : Nah, I have an exercise bike in my house. My knees are killing me tambien

Me : Ohh so is there anything else going on tonight ?

Victoria : Umm I’m not sure, but I’ll just end up staying home or doing something.

Me : Aight. I’ma head down to self help then and go take pictures.

Victoria : Ok puez. Give us your report about it.  

Follow the link to see my report….

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The Price of Marijuana

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I know that many of us eastsiders have an embedded belief that using marijuana connects us to our ancient sacred roots, much like the spiritual use of cannabis to the Rastafari. A sprig in rubbing alcohol or as a tea, has been a part of our grandmothers’ homeopathic medicine cabinet for many generations. As an artist, I have questioned the culturally profound and the political correct. [Note: Above image is a self-portrait connecting me to María Sabina and Bob Marley through marijuana.]

I feel that my obligation as a human and artist is to speak out on matters that I find unjust, using whatever power I have. Being a Chicana artist, I have used my body of work as a platform for creating exhibits and art that have a social message. I have worked with many other artists around the world to keep the sadistic murdering of young women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico current and on our minds through various artistic campaigns. One of the reasons we have come together as a community in LA to demand righteousness for the people of Juarez is because of our history of resistance to injustice. That’s just the way we have been, since California became part of the United States. It was not by chance that in 2001 Raul Baltazar, Rigo Maldonado, Azul Luna, Erika Elizondo and I were invited by the victim mothers of Juarez to strategize on finding a resolution to these crimes—we were a small group of representatives of the greater Los Angeles consciousness.
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There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home

Saturday night, I’m still bummed out and sad over the two kids that were shot down on the sometimes-mean streets of the Eastside a few days ago. Across the street from my house there is a memorial for a kid I knew since he was in diapers, shot to death a couple of years ago at 18 yrs old, over some bullshit. Sometimes I think about all the people I knew and grew up with who aren’t with us anymore due to violence, drugs, prisons, all useless bullshit. But then I see something like Art posted up this AM, positive action, good karma, pictures of his kids, I hope all our youngsters have a chance at enjoying the good things that life has to offer, family, friends, a creative and useful time here on earth.
When the blues start to rain down on me I can always count on the Les Blank film “Chulas Fronteras” to snap me out of it, Los Alegres de Teran, and the good life, no matter how humble, there’s no place like home.


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Mural painting in Cypress Park

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I have mentioned that I paint murals to make up for karmatic wrongs and  have something to talk about at bus stops, maybe one day when i dont have 2 screaming monkeys keeping me from blogging I can elaborate.

Here are my 2 chongos, and their primos whom I am sole zuramaro of:

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(PS, the trouble of taking this pic for tia/mama was the foundation for cleaning up Downtown on weekends when they get older, i primed them with LA river cleanups already)

 Me and my wife started a small nonprofit about 7 years ago that paints murals and promotes art awareness in working class comunities, blah, blah ,blah…

So Ive been busy the past week or so securing the permits and painting a mural regarding watershed and indigenous philosophy in Cypress Parque on Macon st. and San Fernando Road.  The mural theme is Tlaloc, the aztec deity of water, creating rain on the city of LA (behind tlaloc is map with the LA River and Arroyo Seco highlighted) which flows into the LA harbor.
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In Quotes: “What’s Good for Boyle Heights”

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Working Class Historian Gifford Hartman (a white guy that grew up in East Los by the way) sent me this link to a fascinating piece about the Jewish influence on radical politics and multiculturalism in Boyle Heights during the 1950’s. For those interested in the history of the Eastside, it’s a must read. There’s lots of good quotes I could pull but this has to be my favorite:

Frumkin already saw the distinction between his community of Boyle Heights and the growing Jewish community on the Westside in 1945. There was “an unspoken solidarity among all the neighbors” on the Eastside, including the 60 percent of his neighbors who were Mexican. “We never had a lock on our door, never had a key. You just didn’t do it. I don’t know if it was unspoken, but as poor as we were, nobody stole from anybody else.” In this working-class solidarity, a certain level of contempt was reserved for the more middle-class surroundings on the Westside.

“When we would smoke, for instance, we would keep the cigarettes in the car. We would never dump them out in East L.A. When we used to go to West L.A. to the Jewish Community Center to dances, we’d dump all our ashtrays out, because we knew the streets were going to be cleaned there. But we never did it here.”

Wow, even in the 50’s people were complaining about the disparity of service in our communities. Some things never change. Is ashtray micro-resistance an action we can learn from our Eastside ancestors? It couldn’t hurt!

The full title of the article is “What’s Good for Boyle Heights Is Good for the Jews”: Creating Multiculturalism on the Eastside during the 1950s by George J. Sanchez

Download the pdf from Muse here

or from us at LA Eastside here

Friday Fun


Louis CK-On Being White

Okay, so I know this clip has nothing to do with the Eastside…or does it? I’ll leave that decision up to you. But you know what? It’s funny, it’s Friday and I’m all about the goodtimes.

Botanitas: March 19, 2009

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The Mysterious Ghostly Trash Receptacle of Lincoln Heights

Botanitas is an ongoing feature bringing you stories and news from various sources, upcoming events and other bits of ephemera that might be of interest to LA Eastside readers. Suggestions welcome!

So many events this week, so little time! Only boring people can be bored in a city like Los Angeles. That’s right, I said it. You got a problem with my philosophy? Leave it in the comments section. This edition of Botanitas is chockfull of Eastside concerts, art shows and places to be seen. Read ahead for the scoop. *Updated this morning*

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Memorial in Highland Park

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The family of Alejandro Garcia has been keeping vigil at this memorial everyday, hydrating the flowers and answering the questions of passerbys. This past Monday would have been the sixteenth birthday of Carlos Hernandez.

Last Friday, two young boys, Alejandro Garcia, 16 and Carlos Hernandez, 15 were gunned down on their walk home from Franklin High School on the busy North Figueroa corridor. Police and eyewitness reports say the incident started initially as a brawl before it turned deadly.

I’m a bit late in mentioning this story because I was out of town when it happened but I’ve been wondering, what excuse does the Los Angeles Times have? All they’ve got on this tragic story is a small blurb on one of their blogs. That’s pathetic. People have left comments on the LA Now blog expressing similar sentiments. There have been more shootings in the area and still no coverage. Well, at least the Times wasn’t posing outrageous questions to their readers, like whether or not they felt safer with the deceased gone.
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The Rough Rider

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Get your mind outta the gutter you freaks !!! This is a family site. Ok. So last week I paid a visit to the staff of the Roosevelt High newspaper, The Rough Rider. And lemme tell ya, these kids have moxie. I’ve ran into a few of them here and there, mostly at the classic because as a reporter, we can smell our own kind. The nature of my visit was to talk about how the media portrays undocumented residents and how I, as an undocumented resident, use the media to champion my crusade. That’s what I should have talked about, but when I get the spot light I tend to trail off. In fact, the whole time I was there I spent it talking about my life experiences, how I hustle my writing and other adventures I’ve lived through. 

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Purim in Los Angeles

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Hey, it’s St. Patrick’s Day so I thought I’d share a few pics of that other drunken ethnic holiday: Purim! For those not in the know, which includes me, it’s apparently a Jewish day of celebration and required drunkeness. So where’s my invitation?

At one point, this holiday must have been common in Boyle Heights. Now it’s probably only big on the Westside. Click ahead for a few pics.

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