city:los angeles

  • La réunion annuelle des géographes américains se prépare, et il semble que ce sera un truc vraiment bien. De nombreuses sessions sont en trains de s’organiser, ça promet d’être un extraordinaire cocktail de géographies critiques et expériementales

    Call for Papers (CFP) for the Association of American Geographers 2013 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA

    Session Title: Postneoliberalism? Neoliberal regulation in the continuing crisis: opportunities for change or just more of the same?

    Session organizers: Hugh Deaner, University of Kentucky and Christopher Oliver, University of Kentucky

    Neoliberalism is in crisis - or even “dead” - so say a number of academics, editorialists, and public intellectuals (Dumenil and Levy 2011; Klein 2008; Krugman 2009; Magdoff and Foster 2009; Smith 2011; Stiglitz 2008; Wallerstein 2008). Some argue that neoliberalism’s demise represents opportunities to push social regulatory policy in the direction of new and more effective forms of managed capitalism (e.g., Keynesian approaches) (Krugman 2009, 2012; Magdoff and Foster 2009; Stiglitz 2010), thereby reversing the four decade-long movement towards unfettered market-based regulation. While these claims are sometimes monolithic in nature, in other instances writers have made even more grandiose proclamations that the on-going global economic crisis has created new opportunities for changing social regulatory frameworks and, more generally, that a unique historical moment has unfolded offering various potentialities for forging a new ideological framework to social governance (e.g. Klein 2008).

    Critical geographers (and critical social scientists) also have attempted to take up these issues: some argue for a possible “postneoliberal” turn, while others question the efficacy of such concepts; and still others ask whether such a transition - or radical re-envisioning - of the various neoliberal forms of social regulation is even possible (Brenner, Peck, and Theodore 2010a, 2010b; Harvey 2009; Hobsbawm 2008; Peck, Theodore, and Brenner 2009; Smith 2011). Whether or not neoliberal forms of social regulation have entered their “zombie” phase, or if changes can lead - or have led- to new forms of counter-neoliberalization is an important - and empirical - question (cf. Brenner, Peck, and Theodore 2010; Fine 2010; Harman 2010; Peck 2010). Further, whose neoliberalism (and to what end and what consequence) is of equal import (cf. Harvey 2009).

    In regard to these concerns, we ask the following: Since the emergence of the 2007-2008 crisis, has there been a shift in the form, content, and practices of neoliberal institutions of regulatory governance? And if so, has this change served to lessen or diminish the role of market-based strategies of regulation, or has change merely furthered existing forms of neoliberal governance (e.g., “zombie” neoliberalism) - or has this change strengthened or even emboldened new forms of neoliberal regulatory practices (cf. Peck, Theodore, and Brenner 2012).

    We seek papers that explore these issues through a number of possible theoretical and conceptual perspectives and substantive themes:

    a) Theoretical discussions which examine the consequences or potentialities of various forms of restructuring within neoliberal regulatory approaches - whether global, regional, national, or local- and what, if any, effect the current and on-going crisis has played (or is playing) in restructuring these conditions (e.g., Is a Polanyian “double movement” taking place - or can it take place - within this crisis and under the current social regulatory conditions?);

    b) Conceptual-based illustrations of changes in neoliberal forms of governance through detailed comparative work of varying scales and scope (e.g., Has the current crisis led to a dramatic shift in conceptual understandings of post-Fordist regulation?);

    c) Single or comparative empirical-based case studies that chart shifts in neoliberal forms of regulatory governance (e.g., How has the current crisis effected the regulation of housing markets in the US and Europe?).
    Though the range of possible substantive themes for the papers is open, some potential areas of work might include:

    Neoliberalization/financialization of nature

    Green economy policy and practices

    Governance and sustainability practices

    ban policy including regulation of fiscal policy

    Housing policy and the regulation of mortgage markets

    The regulation of financial markets

    The rise (and fall) of shadow banking

    Labor market regulation

    Legal regulation of markets

    Economic policy changes and their effects

    Education policy including public-private partnerships or marketization of educational instruction

    The Euro crisis and the crises in Spain and Greece (and other countries)
    Please submit abstracts of no more than 250 words to Hugh Deaner athugh.deaner@uky.edu<mailto:csol222@uky.edu> by October 15, 2012.

    References:

    Brenner, Neil, Nik Theodore, and Neil Brenner. 2010a. “After neoliberalization?” Globalizations. 7: 327-345.

    ___. 2010b. "Variegated neoliberalization: Geographies, modalities, pathways. Global Networks. 10: 1-41.

    Dumenil, Gerard and Dominique Levy. 2011. The Crisis of Neoliberalism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.

    Fine, Ben. 2010. “Zombieeconomics: The Living Death of the Dismal Science.” In The Rise and Fall of Neoliberalism: The Collapse of an Economic Order. Pp. 153-170. London: Zed Books.

    Harman, Chris. 2010. Zombie Capitalism: Global Crisis and the Relevance of Marx. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books.

    Harvey, David. 2009. “The crisis and the consolidation of class power: Is this really the end of neoliberalism?” Counterpunch. Available at: http://www.counterpunch.org/2009/03/13/is-this-really-the-end-of-neoliberalism. Accessed September 28, 2012.

    Klein, Naomi. 2008. “Wall street crisis should be for neoliberalism what fall of Berlin Wall was for communism.” Lecture at the University of Chicago. Available at: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/6/naomi_klein. Accessed September 23, 2012.

    Krugman, Paul. 2009. Return to Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008. New York: W. W. Norton and Company.

    ___. 2012. End This Depression Now. New York: W. W. Norton and Company.

    Hobsbawm, Eric. 2008. “Is the intellectual opinion of capitalism changing?” Today program, BBC Radio. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7677000/7677683.stm. Accessed September 24, 2012.

    Magdoff, Fred and John Bellemy Foster. 2009. The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences. New York: Monthly Review.

    Peck, Jamie. 2010. “Zombie neoliberalism and the ambidextrous state.” Theoretical Criminology. 14: 104-110.

    Peck, Jamie, Nik Theodore, and Neil Brenner. 2009. “Postneoliberalism and its Malcontents.” Antipode. 41: 94-116.

    ___.2012. “Neoliberalism resurgent? Market rule after the Great Recession” The South Atlantic Quarterly. 111:265-287.

    Smith, Neil. 2011. “Cities after neoliberalization?” Paper available at: http://neil-smith.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Neil.Smith_.AfterNeoliberalism.pdf. Accessed September 20, 2012.

    Stiglitz, Joseph. 2008. “The end of neoliberalism?” Available at: http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/the-end-of-neo-liberalism-. Accessed October 1, 2012.

    __. 2010. Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Shrinking of the World Economy. New York: W. W. Norton and Company.

    Wallerstein, Immanuel. 2008. The demise of neoliberal globalization. Available at:http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2008/wallerstein010208.html. Accessed September 27, 2012.

  • L’homme, cet animal suicidaire peint par Jared Diamond
    http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2012/09/27/l-homme-animal-suicidaire_1766966_3246.html

    Il habite à Bel Air, quartier très chic aux jardins luxuriants de Los Angeles, dans une grande maison de bois pleine de gravures animalières. Avec son imposant collier de barbe, ses 74 ans, il fait penser à un vieux prêcheur amish. L’homme en impose. Il faut dire que ce professeur de géographie de l’UCLA, la vénérable université de la « cité des anges », biologiste évolutionniste réputé, fait à nouveau parler de lui après l’échec du Sommet de la Terre, cet été, à Rio, où aucune mesure n’a été prise pour rendre notre planète plus durable.

    Depuis, beaucoup se demandent si #Jared_Diamond n’a pas raison. Si l’humanité ne court pas au désastre écologique, danger contre lequel il nous a mis en garde dans son essai Effondrement (2005). Dans ce best-seller mondial, âprement discuté par l’élite scientifique, il montre comment, à plusieurs reprises, les destructions de notre environnement ont contribué à l’écroulement de sociétés. L’auteur va même jusqu’à parler d’"écocide" : le génocide écologique. Si certains critiquent son #catastrophisme, Diamond donne des conférences dans le monde entier, appelant l’humanité à se ressaisir.

    via http://www.magmaweb.fr/spip/spip.php?article639

  • BiNet USA’s Blog: BiNet USA Wins Over Google in Search Term Dispute
    http://binetusa.blogspot.fr/2012/09/binet-usa-wins-over-google-in-search.html

    (Los Angeles, CA, September 4, 2012)—BiNet USA is pleased to confirm that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has unblocked the term “bisexual” from its search algorithm. Now that “bisexual” is allowed, terms such as “bisexual quotes”, “bisexual rights”, and “bisexual parenting” are automatically suggested to Google users. “It’s not every day one of the biggest companies in the world changes its mind, but we are thankful that Google now sees bisexual people just like everyone else,” said BiNet USA President Faith Cheltenham. “It will take time for bisexual search terms to be ranked as they were before the ban, but now bisexual people and their allies have a fighting chance to be seen, heard, and understood.”

    Since late 2009, Google has had “bisexual” on a list of banned words; such words were de-prioritized by the Google search algorithm, leading to a drop in search rankings for all bisexual organizations and community resources. Since its search engine would not auto-suggest or auto-complete any term with the word “bisexual”, Google made it harder for any user to find bisexual content, whether that be on coming out as bisexual or finding local support groups across the United States and elsewhere.

  • Film That Stoked Mideast Violence Has Murky Parentage - NYTimes.com

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/world/middleeast/origins-of-provocative-video-shrouded.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit

    Origins of Provocative Video Are Shrouded
    By ADAM NAGOURNEY
    Published: September 12, 2012

    LOS ANGELES — The film that set off violence across North Africa was made in obscurity somewhere in the sprawl of Southern California, and promoted by a network of right-wing Christians with a history of animosity directed toward Muslims. When a 14-minute trailer of it — all that may actually exist — was posted on YouTube in June, it was barely noticed.

    #islam #islamisme #anti-islamisme #ettas-unis #libye

  • Zero Geography: AAG 2013 CFP: Digital Divides, Digital Domination, and Digital Divisions of Labour

    via @fil qui prépare son voyage en californie

    http://www.zerogeography.net/2012/08/aag-2013-cfp-digital-divides-digital.html

    Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting
    9-13 April 2013
    Los Angeles, CA

    Organizers:
    Mark Graham, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford
    Monica Stephens, Institute of Cartographic Design, Humboldt State University
    Alan McConchie, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia

    The Web is massively uneven in terms of participation and representation. A small number of people are both powerful gatekeepers and produce the bulk of content, while the voices of the majority are largely left out. These phenomena are not unique to the geoweb; geographies of information and knowledge have always been uneven and have always been produced by (and have been producers of) power and privilege.

    Although many speculated that the Internet would offer the potential for reconfigurations of these patterns, we increasingly see that digital divides often just reproduce, replicate, and reinforce earlier offline geographies. This unevenness increasingly matters as online information augments and is woven into everyday life.

    However, the particular asymmetries in the representation and production of spatial information on the geoweb remain opaque and often hidden. This session will focus on the geographies, networks, and power relations of the digital inequalities of the geoweb. We hope to attract research at a range of scales (from the household to the national level) and contexts. Possible topics could include:

    – Gatekeepers of digital information
    – Demographic or geospatial inequalities
    – Invisible exploitation of virtual labor
    – Quantitative studies of geoweb representation
    – Qualitative studies and virtual ethnographies
    – Studies of normative assumptions built into geoweb tools and platforms
    – Studies of racialized, gendered, or otherwise exclusionary geoweb spaces
    – Differences in internet accessibility (i.e. mappings of broadband or wireless penetration)

    #Géographie #Cartographie #Visualisation #Représentation #Internet #Data #Digital-World #Monde-numérique

  • AAG 2013 CFP: Digital Divides, Digital Domination, and Digital Divisions of Labour
    http://www.zerogeography.net/2012/08/aag-2013-cfp-digital-divides-digital.html

    Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting
    9-13 April 2013
    Los Angeles

    the particular asymmetries in the representation and production of spatial information on the geoweb remain opaque and often hidden. This session will focus on the geographies, networks, and power relations of the digital inequalities of the geoweb. We hope to attract research at a range of scales (from the household to the national level) and contexts. Possible topics could include:

    – Gatekeepers of digital information
    – Demographic or geospatial inequalities
    – Invisible exploitation of virtual labor
    – Quantitative studies of geoweb representation
    – Qualitative studies and virtual ethnographies
    – Studies of normative assumptions built into geoweb tools and platforms
    – Studies of racialized, gendered, or otherwise exclusionary geoweb spaces
    – Differences in internet accessibility (i.e. mappings of broadband or wireless penetration)

    #colloque #géographie #internet #inégalités

  • #GeorgeClooney interprétera Yasser #Arafat
    http://www.argotheme.com/organecyberpresse/spip.php?article1387

    Derrière la #caméra, de plausibles #controverses au bénéfice du #sionisme

    Selon nombreux tabloïdes américains, dont le " #TheHollywoodReporter ", l’acteur George Clooney incarnera le personnage de Yasser Arafat, le défunt #président palestinien dans un nouveau film en 3D qui a pour titre, pour l’instant des préparatifs à #Hollywood, simplement "Yasser". Citant des détenteurs du projet à Los Angeles, la publication affirme que l’acteur a accepté l’accord de principe de jouer le rôle principal dans « Yasser », une #production déjà estimée à plusieurs millions de dollars

  • Twitter bloque le compte d’un journaliste trop critique
    http://www.lemonde.fr/jeux-olympiques/article/2012/07/31/twitter-bloque-le-compte-d-un-journaliste-trop-critique_1740771_1616891.html

    Twitter s’est attiré les foudres d’utilisateurs mardi 31 juillet pour avoir bloqué le compte d’un journaliste britannique ayant critiqué la retransmission des Jeux olympiques de Londres par la chaîne américaine NBC, partenaire du réseau social, et diffusé le mail professionnel d’un responsable de la chaîne.

    Guy Adams, correspondant à Los Angeles du journal installé à Londres The Independent, avait exprimé sa colère sur Twitter face à la décision de NBC d’assurer la diffusion lundi de finales de natation en différé, alors que les résultats étaient déjà connus de nombreux téléspectateurs. Peu après, le journaliste a été suspendu du site de micromessages pour avoir publié dans un tweet l’adresse courriel de l’un des chefs de NBC.

    #censure

    http://seenthis.net/messages/80673

  • JO JO2012 Jeux Olympiques Londres

    Twitter suspends British journalist critical of NBC’s Olympics coverage | Technology | guardian.co.uk

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jul/30/twitter-suspends-guy-adams-account-nbc?CMP=twt_gu

    Twitter suspends British journalist critical of NBC’s Olympics coverage

    Social media site sparks wave of indignation for banning Independent journalist Guy Adams after complaint from NBC

    The Twitter homepage appears on a screen
    Some speculated that NBC had asked Twitter to remove Adams’s account after critical tweets.

    Twitter has brought down a hail of critical tweeting on its own head by suspending the account of a British newspaper’s Los Angeles correspondent following his acerbic reporting of NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.

    The social media network hummed with the indignation of thousands of its users after the Twitter feed of Guy Adams of the Independent disappeared. The paper’s deputy editor, Archie Bland, confirmed the suspension, calling it “heavy-handed”.

  • Keker & Van Nest’s John Keker, Chris Young , and Jon Streeter — President of the State Bar of California — Subject of Ethics Complaint Amid Allegations of Fraud

    As public service to the community, The Leslie Brodie Report publishes an ethics complaint YR submitted against John Keker, Jon Streeter and Chris Young, below:

    Jayne Kim, Chief Trial Counsel
    Office of the Chief Trial Counsel/Intake
    State Bar of California
    1149 South Hill Street
    Los Angeles, California 90015-2299 (VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL; US POSTAL MAIL — TBD)

    RE: ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA MEMBERS CHRIS YOUNG ( # 239518) ; JON STREETER (#101970) ; JOHN KEKER (# 49092)

    Dear Ms. Kim:

    Please register a formal ethics complaint against Keker & Van Nest attorneys Chris Young (# 239518), Jon Streeter ( # 101970), and John Keker (# 49092) for conspiring to defraud myself and others through a failed attempt to conceal attorney Chris Young’s current employment with Keker & Van Nest.

    Not surprisingly, just as I managed to unearth the potential involvement of Tony West in the scheme known as CaliforniaALL, respondents quickly arranged for the removal of Young’s profile from the web site of Keker & Van Nest (KVN.COM). Even to date, official records of The State Bar of California reflect that Chris Young is associated with Keker & Van Nest. However, this representation is not in agreement with misleading records found on KVN.COM.

    Unfortunately, as matters presently stand, it appears that in 2008 Morrison & Foerster attorneys James Brosnahan (self-proclaimed "mastermind behind the Democratic Party.), Tony West (Barack Obama’s Chair of California Finance Committee), Chris Young ("Obama for America" Northern California Deputy Finance Director) and Annette Carnegie (former director with the California Bar Foundation) in conjunction with Kamala Harris (Co-Chair, Obama for America ; member of CaliforniaALL) , Jeffrey Bleich (president of the State Bar of California, director with the California Bar Foundation, founding member and Chair of Barack Obama’s National Finance Committee) may have executed a sophisticated financial scheme to misuse all or part of the “hush-hush” $780,000.00 originating from the California Bar Foundation by improperly transferring the money to Barack Obama’s coffers via a separate foundation created ad hoc by Susan Mac Cormac of Morrison & Foerster, CaliforniaALL.

    In seeking to conceal Young’s present association with Keker & Van Nest, respondents were clearly motivated by the totality of the circumstances surrounding Young, especially around 2007-8. Specifically, similar to Tony West, Mr. Young was associated with Morrison & Foerster, as well as serving as Obama for America, Northern California Deputy Finance Director.

    Please continue @:
    http://lesliebrodie.blog.co.uk/2012/07/18/keker-van-nest-s-john-keker-chris-young-and-jon-streeter-presid

  • 20 ans après les émeutes de Los Angeles, mort de Rodney King - Monde - France Info
    http://www.franceinfo.fr/monde/20-ans-apres-les-emeutes-de-los-angeles-mort-de-rodney-king-648903-2012-0

    En 1992, l’acquittement des quatre policiers blancs qui avait brutalisé ce jeune noir avait été à l’origine des émeutes raciales de Los Angeles. La vidéo de la scène avait fait le tour du monde. Rodney King a été découvert mort au fond de sa piscine. Il avait 47 ans

  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) has promoted Scott Packman — Board Member of Controversial Bet Tzedek — to Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

    ty General Counsel. The announcement was made today by Ken Schapiro, Chief Operating Officer of MGM.

    Prior to joining MGM’s legal affairs department, Packman served as General Counsel, EVP of Business and Legal Affairs, and Corporate Secretary with entertainment software company Creative Planet, Inc. where he was a member of a five-person Executive Committee responsible for making all major business and strategic decisions for the company. Previously, Packman was with the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers, LLP, where he was responsible for negotiating and drafting agreements ranging from motion picture, television and video game distribution, intellectual property, Internet and product placement, to executive employment contracts.

    Packman began his career at the law firm of Rogers & Wells in New York. He holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. He currently serves as Board Member and Secretary of Bet Tzedek, a pro bono legal services organization, is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Honors Business Program at The University of Texas at Austin, and a member of the Steering Committee for the UCLA School of Law’s Annual Entertainment Law Symposium.

    Please see source @:

    http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/mgm-promotions-general-counsel-scott-packman-cheryl-rodman

    Separately, and was reported here earlier, using a law originally enacted to combat the mafia, a Marina Del Rey-based legal scholar recently took the rare step of suing “Bet Tzedek,” a Los Angeles-based Jewish non-profit entity, under the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law (“RICO”).

    Also named as part of the alleged racketeering enterprise were banker Alan Rothenberg, David Pasternak, Sandor Samuels, Ronald George, and his son Eric George (who serves as a member of Bet Tzedek’s Board of Directors).

    RICO is a federal law that authorizes a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows for the leaders of a syndicate to be held civilly liable for the crimes that they ordered others to commit or which they assisted in committing.

    The lawsuit alleges that various defendants misused Bet Tzedek as vehicle for the purpose of bribery, embezzlement, money laundering and tax-evasion with the intended outcome of siphoning the money into off-shore accounts. According to sources, the various accounts are located in Switzerland and at the Vatican.

    Specifically, and in connection with some of Bet Tzedek’s alleged racketeering activities, the suit maintains that Sandor Samuels — CEO and President of Bet Tzedek and former Chief Trial Counsel at embattled Countywide Financial Services — was appointed President and CEO of Bet Tzedek largely due to his working knowledge of how to operate an enterprise which engages in myriad financial crimes.

    The suit also asserts that other individuals engaged in racketeering activities, including David Pasternak — a Los-Angeles based “receiver,” as well as an officer of both Bet Tzedek and the Chancery Club — who allegedly used Bet Tzedek as forum to meet, collude, and otherwise bribe various judges and lawyers for the purpose of further appointing Pasternak as “receiver.”

    The complaint also contains allegations that Ronald George — former Chief Justice of the State of California — unlawfully transferred funds from entities that were under his control (such as the California Administrative Office of the Courts (“AOC”) intended for the CCMS computer system) into various accounts that were specifically maintained in Alan Rothenberg’s bank — 1st Century — a bank which Eric George owns in part. Said funds, as the suit alleges, were later embezzled.

    As part of maintaining the scheme, the suit alleges, AOC employees Ronald Overholt and William Vickery were bestowed with various gifts, trips, kickbacks, bribes, excessive salaries, and the like. Similarly, and also as part of guarding the scheme, the suit alleges that defendants, at times, resorted to utilizing the services of Tom Layton — a former Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff/Senior State Bar of California investigator — to “illegally gather detrimental dirt” on various individuals who would oppose and/or object to the existence of said arrangements.

    According to sources, Layton is part of an ongoing “ambulance chasing” scheme that the Girardi Syndicate operates in San Bernardino County vis-a-vis a satellite office located in San Bernardino and managed by Thomas Girardi’s son-in-law, David Lira.

    Additionally, and per the sources, Layton has been previously utilized by the Girardi Syndicate to “assist” Sharon Major Lewis in selecting the names of nominees to be appointed as judges by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and to garner the support of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department in endorsing judicial candidate the Girardi Syndicate deemed worthy of such an endorsement.

    The suit also alleges that defendant Holly Fujie — an officer of both Bet Tzedek and the Chancery Club — engaged in various acts of misconduct while assisting Ronald and Eric George to transfer funds from both the California Bar Foundation (where she serves as vice-president) and the State Bar of California (where she served as a member of a committee responsible for distribution of funds) to Bet Tzedek totaling hundreds of thousand of dollars.

    Bet Tzedek is based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1974, and is an affiliated agency of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. Bet Tzedek is the exclusive provider of free legal services to low-income seniors through contracts with the City and County of Los Angeles.

  • Poll: Public opinion wanes on California bullet train plan - latimes
    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0603-bullet-poll-20120604,0,3020310.story

    A strong majority of voters have turned against the project just as Gov. Jerry Brown is pressuring the Legislature to green-light the start of construction in the Central Valley later this year, a major step in the plan to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco with high-speed rail service by about 2028.

    In a state renowned for betting big on mega-infrastructure projects, including the world’s most famous freeways and canals that move oceans of water across hundreds of miles, the fast-approaching decision on the bullet train project marks a historic Golden State moment.

    http://www.trbimg.com/img-4fcaabc4/turbine/la-me-bullet-poll-g/950

  • D’habitude, on ne cite pas d’article aussi vieux sur SeenThis (dix-huit ans !) mais celui-ci est vraiment trop mignon.

    http://www.lexpress.fr/informations/communication-la-folie-internet_599707.html

    « Piller l’ordinateur de l’université de Sydney, tenir forum avec des intellos de Los Angeles ou écrire des insanités aux vicieux du monde entier, et en direct... Tout est possible avec ce réseau d’ordinateurs. La dictature du clavier ? »

    #Internet #Minitel #Histoire

  • Amazon Defense Coalition’s Karen Hinton Hereby Asked to Opine on Rico Suit Filed Against Bet Tzedek of Los Angeles — Entity Joined at the Hip with Scott Edelman of Gibson Dunn, Nemesis of Stephen Donziger

    Amazon Defense Coalition’s Karen Hinton is hereby asked to comment on alleged racketeering activities at the Los Angeles-based Bet Tzedek Legal Services.

    As was previously reported, using a law originally enacted to combat the mafia, a Marina Del Rey-based legal scholar recently took the rare step of suing “Bet Tzedek,” a Los Angeles-based Jewish non-profit entity, under the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law (“RICO”).

    Also named as part of the alleged racketeering enterprise were banker Alan Rothenberg, David Pasternak, Sandor Samuels, Ronald George, and his son Eric George (who serves as a member of Bet Tzedek’s Board of Directors).

    RICO is a federal law that authorizes a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows for the leaders of a syndicate to be held civilly liable for the crimes that they ordered others to commit or which they assisted in committing.

    The lawsuit alleges that various defendants misused Bet Tzedek as vehicle for the purpose of bribery, embezzlement, money laundering and tax-evasion with the intended outcome of siphoning the money into off-shore accounts. According to sources, the various accounts are located in Switzerland and at the Vatican.

    Specifically, and in connection with some of Bet Tzedek’s alleged racketeering activities, the suit maintains that Sandor Samuels — CEO and President of Bet Tzedek and former Chief Trial Counsel at embattled Countywide Financial Services — was appointed President and CEO of Bet Tzedek largely due to his working knowledge of how to operate an enterprise which engages in myriad financial crimes.

    The suit also asserts that other individuals engaged in racketeering activities, including David Pasternak — a Los-Angeles based “receiver,” as well as an officer of both Bet Tzedek and the Chancery Club — who allegedly used Bet Tzedek as forum to meet, collude, and otherwise bribe various judges and lawyers for the purpose of further appointing Pasternak as “receiver.”

    The complaint also contains allegations that Ronald George — former Chief Justice of the State of California — unlawfully transferred funds from entities that were under his control (such as the California Administrative Office of the Courts (“AOC”) intended for the CCMS computer system) into various accounts that were specifically maintained in Alan Rothenberg’s bank — 1st Century — a bank which Eric George owns in part. Said funds, as the suit alleges, were later embezzled.

    As part of maintaining the scheme, the suit alleges, AOC employees Ronald Overholt and William Vickery were bestowed with various gifts, trips, kickbacks, bribes, excessive salaries, and the like. Similarly, and also as part of guarding the scheme, the suit alleges that defendants, at times, resorted to utilizing the services of Tom Layton — a former Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff/Senior State Bar of California investigator — to “illegally gather detrimental dirt” on various individuals who would oppose and/or object to the existence of said arrangements.

    According to sources, Layton is part of an ongoing “ambulance chasing” scheme that the Girardi Syndicate operates in San Bernardino County vis-a-vis a satellite office located in San Bernardino and managed by Thomas Girardi’s son-in-law, David Lira.

    Additionally, and per the sources, Layton has been previously utilized by the Girardi Syndicate to “assist” Sharon Major Lewis in selecting the names of nominees to be appointed as judges by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and to garner the support of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department in endorsing judicial candidate the Girardi Syndicate deemed worthy of such an endorsement.

    The suit also alleges that defendant Holly Fujie — an officer of both Bet Tzedek and the Chancery Club — engaged in various acts of misconduct while assisting Ronald and Eric George to transfer funds from both the California Bar Foundation (where she serves as vice-president) and the State Bar of California (where she served as a member of a committee responsible for distribution of funds) to Bet Tzedek totaling hundreds of thousand of dollars.

    Bet Tzedek is based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1974, and is an affiliated agency of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. Bet Tzedek is the exclusive provider of free legal services to low-income seniors through contracts with the City and County of Los Angeles.

    Please observe that, rather than contacting Amazon Defense Coalition’s Karen Hinton directly, the query is being delivered publicly, here and now.

    Any comments, opinion or observation can be sent to lesliebrodie@gmx.com

  • RICO Suit Filed Against Bet Tzedek Legal Services of Los Angeles

    Using a law originally enacted to combat the mafia, a Marina Del Rey-based legal scholar recently took the rare step of suing “Bet Tzedek,” a Los Angeles-based Jewish non-profit entity, under the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law ("RICO").

    Also named as part of the alleged racketeering enterprise were banker Alan Rothenberg, David Pasternak, Samuel Sanders, Ronald George, and his son Eric George (who serves as a member of Bet Tzedek’s Board of Directors).

    RICO is a federal law that authorizes a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows for the leaders of a syndicate to be held civilly liable for the crimes that they ordered others to commit or which they assisted in committing.

    The lawsuit alleges that various defendants misused Bet Tzedek as vehicle for the purpose of bribery, embezzlement, money laundering and tax-evasion with the intended outcome of siphoning the money into off-shore accounts. According to sources, the various accounts are located in Switzerland and at the Vatican.

    Specifically, and in connection with some of Bet Tzedek’s alleged racketeering activities, the suit maintains that Sandor Samuel — CEO and President of Bet Tzedek and former Chief Trial Counsel at embattled Countywide Financial Services — was appointed President and CEO of Bet Tzedek largely due to his working knowledge of how to operate an enterprise which engages in myriad financial crimes.

    The suit also asserts that other individuals engaged in racketeering activities, including David Pasternak — a Los-Angeles based “receiver,” as well as an officer of both Bet Tzedek and the Chancery Club — who allegedly used Bet Tzedek as forum to meet, collude, and otherwise bribe various judges and lawyers for the purpose of further appointing Pasternak as “receiver.”

    The complaint also contains allegations that Ronald George — former Chief Justice of the State of California — unlawfully transferred funds from entities that were under his control (such as the California Administrative Office of the Courts ("AOC") intended for the CCMS computer system) into various accounts that were specifically maintained in Alan Rothenberg’s bank — 1st Century — a bank which Eric George owns in part. Said funds, as the suit alleges, were later embezzled.

    As part of maintaining the scheme, the suit alleges, AOC employees Ronald Overholt and William Vickery were bestowed with various gifts, trips, kickbacks, bribes, excessive salaries, and the like. Similarly, and also as part of guarding the scheme, the suit alleges that defendants, at times, resorted to utilizing the services of Tom Layton — a former Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff/Senior State Bar of California investigator — to “illegally gather detrimental dirt” on various individuals who would oppose and/or object to the existence of said arrangements.

    According to sources, Layton is part of an ongoing “ambulance chasing” scheme that the Girardi Syndicate operates in San Bernardino County vis-a-vis a satellite office located in San Bernardino and managed by Thomas Girardi’s son-in-law, David Lira.

    Additionally, and per the sources, Layton has been previously utilized by the Girardi Syndicate to “assist” Sharon Major Lewis in selecting the names of nominees to be appointed as judges by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and to garner the support of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department in endorsing judicial candidate the Girardi Syndicate deemed worthy of such an endorsement.

    The suit also alleges that defendant Holly Fujie — an officer of both Bet Tzedek and the Chancery Club — engaged in various acts of misconduct while assisting Ronald and Eric George to transfer funds from both the California Bar Foundation (where she serves as vice-president) and the State Bar of California (where she served as a member of a committee responsible for distribution of funds) to Bet Tzedek totaling hundreds of thousand of dollars.

    Bet Tzedek is based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1974, and is an affiliated agency of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. Bet Tzedek is the exclusive provider of free legal services to low-income seniors through contracts with the City and County of Los Angeles.

    For more about Bet Tzedek, please see @:

    http://lesliebrodie.posterous.com/tag/bettzedek

  • Les sources culturelles du nouveau radicalisme noir | Achille Mbembe
    http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/1992/06/MBEMBE/44501

    Vingt ans après les émeutes de Los Angeles, nous republions cette étude d’Achille Mbembe ; la colère noire du ghetto s’exprimait alors essentiellement à travers la musique. / États-Unis, #Culture, Identité culturelle, #Afro-Américains, #Politique - (...) / États-Unis, Culture, Identité culturelle, Afro-Américains, Politique - 1992/06

    #États-Unis #Identité_culturelle #1992/06

  • La Révolte de Los Angeles - Trois jours qui ébranlèrent le nouvel ordre mondial

    Le 3 mars 1991, aux États-Unis, un automobiliste noir, Rodney King, était plus que fortement tabassé par quatre policiers. Un cinéaste amateur filma la scène par hasard. L’automobiliste porta plainte. Le 29 avril 1992, les quatre policiers étaient acquittés par les jurés de Simi Valley, provoquant une indignation générale. Suite à cette décision du tribunal explosa la révolte d’avril-mai 1992 à Los Angelès.

    Le texte écrit sur ces événements par Franklin Rosemont et ses amis du groupe surréaliste de Chicago a l’avantage de nous présenter une vision américaine originale, très différente de ce qu’ont bien voulu nous donner les médias français.
    Cette brochure est maintenant épuisée mais le texte est en libre téléchargement sur le site de l’Atelier de création libertaire. Juste pour se rappeler que cela fait déjà 20 ans et rien n’a vraiment changé.

    http://www.atelierdecreationlibertaire.com/La-revolte-de-Los-Angeles,293.html

  • BREAKING NEWS: Eric George of Browne George Ross Named as Defendant in Suit as Scrutiny of Past Relationship Between Ronald George and Thomas Girardi of Girardi & Keese Grows

    The Leslie Brodie Report (TLR) is carefully following a major developing story out of California relating to Eric George of Los Angeles-based Browne George Ross.

    According to knowledgeable sources, Eric George - son of former California Chief Justice Ronald George - has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit.

    As was previously addressed, the unsettling beneficial symbiotic relationship between Ronald George and Thomas Girardi of Girardi & Keese vis-a-vis Eric George, coupled with Eric George’s partial ownership of a bank (1st Century Bank) owned by former president of the State Bar of California Alan Rothenberg, are sources of grave concern.

    TLR is gathering and analyzing data concerning the suit, and will post further updates as they become available.

    Please see @:

    http://lesliebrodie.posterous.com/breaking-news-eric-george-of-browne-george-ro

  • L’enfant terrible du DIY | Anaïs Richardin
    http://owni.fr/2012/04/19/lenfant-terrible-du-diy

    Caine Monroy est un petit Américain d’une banlieue modeste de Los Angeles. Il est sorti de l’anonymat non pas en chantant des niaiseries mais grâce à ses bricolages extraordinaires. Une vidéo sur ses exploits à dix doigts a été vue des millions de fois.

    #Culture #Reportage #bricolage #buzz #Caine's_arcade #DIY_(Do_It_Yourself) #partage #vidéo_virale

  • Pfizer’s Rezulin Suit: Prosecuted by Thomas Girardi, Defended by Pierce O’Donnell — While Concurrently Both Girardi and O’Donnell Were Representing Plaintiffs in Class-Action Against Sempra

    After just two days of deliberations, a Los Angeles jury unanimously rejected claims Thursday that the diabetes drug Rezulin — taken off the market in March 2000 because of safety concerns — contributed to the deaths or illness of three people.

    In the Los Angeles case, the jury found that the plaintiffs’ attorney, Thomas Girardi, proved that Rezulin can cause liver injury, but failed to “prove that Rezulin was a substantial factor in” the deaths of Lupe Contreras and Manuel Cervantes, or the illness of Leonard Clinkenbeard.

    Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carl J. West presided over the seven-week trial. Attorney Pierce O’Donnell, who defended the drug company, could not be reached for comment.

    Please see @:

    http://lesliebrodie.posterous.com/2004-pfizers-rezulin-suit-prosecuted-by-thoma

  • Pierce O’Donnell Has Agreed to Serve Time in Jail for Funneling Illegal Campaign Money to Former Sen. John Edwards

    <p>Los Angeles attorney Pierce O’Donnell, who pled guilty last fall to funneling illegal campaign contributions to former Sen. John Edwards, joined prosecutors Wednesday in asking a federal judge to sentence him to 60 days in prison, <a href="http://www.law360.com/whitecollar/articles/312766/john-edwards-conspirator-seeks-lenient-sentence">reports LAW360</a></p>
    <p><img src='https://seenthis.net/

    " alt="" width="200" height="300" /> <img style="margin: 0px;" src='https://seenthis.net/" alt="" width="200" height="300" /><br /><em>Mr Pierce O’Donnell — a brilliant trial attorney who could pull a rabbit out of the hat in court, a self-proclaimed born boat rocker who plays to win on behalf of those for whom he battles — is also asking Judge Thomas Anderle of the Santa Barbara County Superior Court for “legal separation” from spouse, Ms Dawn O’Donnell. (Image: courtesy photos)<br /></em></p>

    Please continue @:

    http://swampbubbles.com/20120227/pierce-o-donnell-has-agreed-serve-time-jail-funneling-illegal-campaign

  • Lucy Armendariz Hereby Asked to Disclose Nature and Type of Relationship (Past and Present), If Any, with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

    As part of a journalistic inquiry into the continuous mistreatment of attorney Phil Kay, and due to the overall circumstances involving Phil Kay, Ron Burkle, John Burton, and Antonio Villaraigosa ; The Leslie Brodie Report hereby asks Maria Lucy Armendariz to disclose nature and type of relationship (past and present) with Mr Villaraigosa.

    http://lesliebrodie.posterous.com/lucy-armendariz-hereby-asked-to-disclose-natu

  • Amid Concerns Over Mistreatment of Phil Kay, Marcy Tiffany (Spouse of Ninth Circuit Alex Kozinski) of Tiffany Law Group Hereby Asked to Disclose Relationship (of both herself and Judge Kozinski), If Any, with Bet Tzedek of Los Angeles

    Amid continuing controversy over the secretive funneling of money from the State Bar of California to Bet Tzedek of Los Angeles (as was mostly done by “Duplicative Personnel”) and as part of a journalistic inquiry into the continuous mistreatment of attorney Phil Kay, The Leslie Brodie Report hereby asks Ms Marcy Tiffany to disclose any relationship, if any, between herself and Judge Kozinski with the Los Angeles-based Bet Tzedek.
    Please see @:

    http://lesliebrodie.posterous.com/amid-concerns-over-mistreatment-of-phil-kay-m#