Low & Slow: Cruising in California

Cruising is legal again in Sacramento after years of discriminatory ordinances targeting Chicanos. Lowriders are cruising again. Hopping, bouncing, and skipping, too.

More:

“Cruising is back in Sacramento, how locals are celebrating a change decades in the making,” Luke Cleary, KXTV ABC10

“Lawmakers Urge More Cities to Repeal Cruising Bans,” California City News

 ______________
Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-CDD

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

San Jose Requires Liability Insurance for Gun Owners

On Tuesday, the City Council of San José, California voted to require gun owners to carry liability insurance and pay an annual $25 fee for each weapon they own. The ordinance was drafted last year after a mass shooting at a transit station in the city.

“While the Second Amendment protects every citizen’s right to own a gun, it does not require taxpayers to subsidize that right,” said San José mayor Sam Liccardo in a statement.

U.S. states and DC require automobile drivers to obtain liability insurance or post cash bonds against liability, and motor vehicles, unlike firearms, aren’t even designed to be killing machines. Nowhere does the Second Amendment forbid a well-regulated program to ensure firearms responsiblity.

More:

“San Jose passes first U.S. law requiring gun owners to get liability insurance and pay annual fee,” CBS News

“A city will require gun owners to have liability insurance in an effort to incentivize safety,” Timothy Bella, Washington Post

________________________
Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-yGr

Image (“America’s Blood Sacrifice”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Suicide Gunman Kills Nine Americans

A gunman fatally shot nine co-workers in San Jose California on Wednesday before killing himself. According to police, the American firearms enthusiast had two semi-automatic handguns and 11 full magazines of ammunition. The American citizens he shot to death are: Paul Delacruz Megia, 42; Taptejdeep Singh, 36; Adrian Balleza, 29; Jose Dejesus Hernandez III, 35; Timothy Michael Romo, 49; Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40; Alex Ward Fritch, 49; Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63; and Lars Kepler Lane, 63.

So far this year, the United States has experienced 15 mass murders (four or more people killed in each instance) and 232 mass shootings (four or more people injured or killed), and it’s not even Memorial Day.

More:

“Ten dead, including gunman, in San Jose rail yard mass shooting; victims identified,” Hayley Smith, Richard Winton, Maura Dolan, and Leila Miller, Los Angeles Times

“‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens,” The Onion

Updates:

“Heroic San Jose Victim ‘Ran Around Building’ Warning Colleagues to Hide From Shooter,” Jamie Ross, Daily Beast

“Molotov cocktails, guns and 25,000 rounds of ammo found in VTA shooter’s home: sheriff,” KTVU-TV News

“San Jose gunman had cans of gasoline, 22K rounds of ammo at home, officials say: What we know,” Christine Fernando, Christal Hayes, and Grace Hauck, USA Today

“San Jose mourns after deadliest shooting in region’s history: ‘We can’t sweep this under the rug,’” Abené Clayton, The Guardian

________________________
Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-xbl

Image (“Blood Sacrifice”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Jacksonville Was Almost Hollywood

In the early 1900s, New York film companies searched for a warm-weather home, and they looked at Jacksonville, Florida, down the East Coast. J’ville’s town fathers recoiled at the thought of film actors running wild through Florida’s sunny streets, so the film folks decamped for far-off California. A Vox video by Phil Edwards.

_____________
Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-wnq

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Bummer, Dude: Surfer Magazine Wipes Out

Shake the sand out of your baggies, stow your boards, and pack up the woodie. After 60 years, Surfer magazine is ceasing publication. And just when climate change is making more monster waves, too. Observers say it’s the ebbing economics of the pandemic that helped end Surfer‘s epic ride.

More:

“Surfer magazine, iconic touchstone of Southern California beach culture, shuts down,” Mike Freeman and Gary Robbins, Los Angeles Times

“Iconic SURFER magazine publishes last issue after 60 years,” Martin Wisckol, Orange County Register

Related?:

“UC San Diego virus expert pleads with surfers to stay out of the ocean to avoid coronavirus,” Gary Robbins, San Diego Union Tribune

___________________

Short Link:  https://wp.me/p6sb6-vMe

Image (“The Great Wipeout Off Kanagawa, after Hokusai”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Compton Cowboys Peace Ride

The Compton Cowboys  joined thousands celebrating the life of George Floyd in Compton CA on Sunday, June 7th. The club was formed in 2017 to dispel stereotypes against black people. All riders were welcomed for the trip from Gateway Towne Center to Compton City Hall. A Los Angeles Times video.

______________
Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-v1I

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Donuts USA

“Between 1975 and 1994 nearly 160,000 Cambodians were admitted to America as refugees. One of them was Ted Ngoy who became known as the ‘Donut King’. The entrepreneur made his fortune through a chain of stores. By the mid 90s, inspired by Mr Ngoy’s success there were as many as 2,400 Cambodian-owned donut shops in southern California.

Los Angeles has a reputation for healthy eating but that hasn’t slowed the steady stream of patrons at Blinkie’s. Blinkie’s is now one of the top-rated donut shops in Los Angeles.”

— “How donuts fuelled the American Dream,” David Samuels, 1843 Magazine

______________

Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-tFg

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

No Backwards Skating!

Actually, skating backwards is allowed at Moonlight Rollerway  (Glendale, CA) if it’s part of “rexing,”couples skating. On Wednesdays, owner Dominic Cangelosi plays the organ for your skating pleasure (he sells organ music recordings to other roller rinks, too) . DJs spin tunes the rest of the week.

More:

“Welcome to Moonlight Rollerway, Where Nothing Has Changed Since 1956,” Lisa Whiteman,  Narratively

______________
Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-qbX

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

In-N-Out Burger Pisses off Half of California

California fast-food favorite, In-N-Out Burger, recently dished up something controversial on it’s secret menu: a $25,000 political contribution to the California Republican Party. That’s not all that surprising, given the religious conservatism of the family-owned business, but California Democrats found it hard to swallow, and some vowed to boycott the burger chain.

But wait, don’t put down that Double-Double. In-N-Out Burger also gave at least $50,000 to Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy, an outfit that aims to elect business-friendly Democrats to the state legislature.

So enjoy your drive-thru burger, Democrats. You want fries with that?

More:

“‘I’m gonna buy my staff In-N-Out,’ says top California Democrat who led calls for boycott,” Eric Ting, San Francisco Chronicle

________________________

Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-s6s

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Tumbling Tumbleweeds

Tumbleweeds are tumbling all over Victorville, California, home of the old Roy Rogers Ranch. The town is buried in the things after wind gusts of 35 to 70 mph swept the thorny brush balls in from the high desert. The thorns will rip your hands if you don’t wear gloves, and the dry, accumulated brush is a fire hazard.

“Tumbleweeds — which, for many, only exist in movies or shows about the Wild West — have a history of invasion. Known as the Russian thistle, the invasive weed is thought to have been introduced to the U.S. in the 1870s through contaminated flax seeds brought by Russian immigrants to South Dakota. Once the plant matures, it breaks off at ground level and spreads seeds by tumbling with the wind.”

— “‘A nasty nightmare’: Homes in California, Utah invaded by prickly tumbleweeds again,” Allyson Chiu, Washington Post

More:

“Attack of the giant tumbleweed: California town swamped in invasion” Rory Carroll, The Guardian

“‘Houses Disappeared’ When Tumbleweeds Rolled Into This California City,” Amy Held, NPR

Related:

“The Weed That Won the West,” Diane Cook and Len Jenshel, National Geographic

 

Video: “Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” written by Bob Nolan, recorded by Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers, 1934.

_____________
Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-rxT

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine