The last few years

chickcage

First they came for our taco trucks. Then they deported some family members, a few friends, and some other paisas that lived down the street. On the weekend they went to TJ and had some fun, it wasn’t so bad. Yeah, One Love. Then they paid us to mow the grass and wheel out their fucking trash cans. Sometime way before any of this they threw out some po-mo ramblings and tossed the Eastside moniker up in the air, up for grabby grabs, but I just remembered so this timeline might be off by a month or two. Afterwards they demanded we bring them the food already, cuz they’ve been sitting here for 10 minutes. Right around this time some asshole ran for mayor under the English Only/ Down with the Wetters platform. But the chittichangas were good with guacamole and they decided to forget that foray into the Old Ways. Then they decided that taco trucks were actually a good idea, maybe even kinda cool, and the proper people also liked them, so yeah, lets not enforce that arbitrary law. Then they wanted to do that whole 187 thing against children of immigrants again, you know, for old times sake. It’s part of that grab bag of ideas they put into rotation when things go bad; they’re just not that creative.

And now, dipping back into said bag, they want to ban roosters, again. This shit has got to stop. No pasaran. Stand for California. The buck is in the sand, the line stops near here, or something of the sort.

Let the chickens be.

Continue reading

Attn Punks!

moco

Tired of all those soap, egg, and gelatin concoctions you keep trying to perfect those liberty spikes? Well say hello to moco de gorila, imported from Mexico this is “el producto para todo tipo de peinados exagerados.” I got myself a bottle of “estilo punk” but haven’t tried it yet, I’m waiting for the weekend to turn into a punk. Cuz everyone loves weekend punks.

I’m sorta amazed that someone rubbed some gorilla snot in their hair to find out it made for a strong gel. But what I really want to know is how they collect the stuff!  Now available at your local Big Saver for $2.50, in the dripping moco shaped bottle.

The be a hero help a hero concert

el-verde

It’s no secret that I love Casa 0101 and I am a HUGE FAN of that Mexican, Corn Powered Super Hero El Verde. That’s why I want all of you to go and suppport and have a great time at this benefit concert.Also you will help make my wishes come true in seeing more of El Verde on stage. I mean with a line up like that how can you NOT go. Go and eat some corn while your at it too.

show-flier

Pet stores suck

iguanas

What’s wrong with this window advertisement ? Is it the fact that this months special is Iguanas for $9.99 plus tax ? Or the fact that these Iguanas are from El Salvador, which means that they have been smuggled or brought through some Iguana mill, much like puppy mills. If so, then that means that a lot of Iguanas had to die in order for the store to have the ones they have because those are the only ones strong enough to survive they’re horrific trip from El Salvador to Boyle Heights. I never liked the fact that people sell animals like novelties because they aren’t and with the way things are right now, no one wants to buy another mouth to feed. I can only think of what pet stores must be going through because they have to keep their “inventory” alive and healthy, costing them money everyday. The only thing pet stores are good for are buying supplies and food, not animals.

The Real Number of Unemployed Nationally: 16.5 %

I'm glad we agree, this is not a job. Pic by Steve Schwartz

I'm glad we agree, this is not a job. Pic by Steve Schwartz

Often when my friends and I talk about issues of unemployment a question comes up. How do we know if this number that we read in the paper is including everyone?

What about your friend who hasn’t had a job in two years and has just stopped looking?
What about people who work temp jobs, so they sort of have a job, but not really?
What about people who got a job at the mall during the SUPER SUMMER SALE, but then got let go?

I found a table to answer those questions.

There is a table in the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. It’s table A12. It is the Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization.  (H/T to Jonathan Tasini of Working Life, I was actually going to work this number out the old fashioned way with pencil and paper, but you saved me time.) 

16.5% is the number of unemployed nationally if you take into the account all of things that we all wonder about in regards to true unemployment: Continue reading

The new numbers & a list (a long one) of people who will be having a bad Xmas.

Where is MY JOB!

Where is MY JOB!

The new unemployment rates for June 2009:

North Carolina: 11.0
Ohio: 11.1
California: 11.6
Nevada: 12.0
South Carolina: 12.1
Rhode Island: 12.4
Oregon: 12.2
Michigan: 15.2
Some unemployment numbers for the end of May for individual California cities.

Riverside: 13.0
Bakersfield: 14.0
Stockton: 15.0
Fresno: 15.4
Merced: 17.3
El Centro: 26.8

Facts from the BLS
Google reported 19% gain in profit, so when is our relief coming.
Didn’t Google just lay a bunch of people off?

When is the tech industry going to unionize, because they need to. That industry is highly exploitative.

Here’s the warning lay off list from July-December of 2009. It is a list that companies have to send to EDD so you can get your unemployment and food stamps!! The number represents the number of people being let go. The date is when it’s happening. Your boss knows when they are going to let you know, but they don’t tell you. You might take some pencils and staplers and you know how much those items cost to replace. Continue reading

LA Eastside on Facebook!

newsign

Sure you can keep up with our site by adding our RSS feed to your reader, or by checking in daily or maybe when you get that forwarded email of Tia Concha’s love advice that’s been making the rounds amongst bored office workers. If you’re like me though, you probably spend a nice chunk of time on Facebook so we created a Facebook page so that’s even easier to keep up on all the chisme that way. What you waiting for?
LA Eastside’s Facebook fan page