Cloud seeding, hurricane reduction, moving storms. This isn’t part of a new movie, this is something Los Angeles tax dollars are paying for. Which makes one wonder, WTF?

LA County, in a time of recession, job loss, and many other money worries, has just approved $800,000 for a system that will change the weather. I’m definitely one for saving lives, property, and other problems that storms cause, but manipulating the weather? Doesn’t that seem like we’re kind of asking for unforeseen trouble?

If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, LA has approved something called “cloud seeding” for later this year. What this means is that scientists will begin a “process that artificially manipulates the weather in hopes of increasing rainfall.” Similar tactics may be used by the Department of Homeland Security in helping to weaken hurricanes.

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Very close to a year ago, I purchased a mountain bike from a friend for fifty dollars. What a beauty. All right, she needed a little work and a lot of love, but boy did she get it. Today, with an upgrade in the form of a swell road bike and plenty of miles under my belt, I am one of the proud Angelenos who rides her bike to work every day via the Orange Line pathway in the San Fernando Valley.

During the course of our nation’s economic struggle, I have seen more people taking their bikes to work, to the store, to a friend’s house, or on a big adventure. Maybe it’s always been a big thing and I’m just now joining the party, but imagine my surprise and delight upon arrival at Griffith Park Sunday morning at 7:00 am: 2,000 helmeted riders, 2,000 bicycles, of all different colors and sizes. A people-watcher’s dream. The circumference of some riders’ calves was enough for me to wonder why I was there, but I knew why - to ride, and more importantly, to support the rejuvenation process of Los Angeles County.

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Well, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power appears to have gone a bit nuts. They dropped over 400,000 black floating plastic balls (also known as “bird balls”) into the Ivanhoe Reservoir, which is next to the Silver Lake Reservoir. Within thirty minutes they dumped enough “bird balls” into the water making it look like an oil spill for all those people who have a beautiful home along the side of the water. But, apparently it’s for our own good. The water in the reservoir needs to be shaded in order to help protect our water supply.

Recently, dangerous levels of bromide have been found in the reservoir, but during a time of drought, we can’t afford to drain the water. So… we have to shade it with black floating plastic balls four out of every twelve months of the year.

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Tomorrow, get to the polls and help make the future brighter for California’s wildlife!

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s broad re-interpretation of eminent domain in 2005, Californians need new state-level protections to stop city, county or local governments from seizing their private property and handing it over to developers on a whim.

Don’t be fooled. Proposition 98 masquerades as eminent domain reform to protect property owners from government land grabs, but closer inspection reveals unmistakable proof of greedy specials interests at work.

If we don’t stop Proposition 98, it will jeopardize important environmental regulations and zoning laws that allow the state to:

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I went to the doctor a while ago because of a cough and he told me that living in Los Angeles is as bad as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Recently I found out that as many as 24,000 people die each year in California due to “chronic exposure to fine particulate pollution.” No one can technically die of “pollution,” but pollution can cause heart attacks, lung disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and the list goes on. Los Angeles is one of the most polluted cities in the world.

“Our report concludes these particles are 70 percent more dangerous than previously thought, based on several major studies that have occurred in the last five years,” Bart Croes, chief researcher for the California Air Resources Board, told the Los Angeles Times.

The studies, including one by USC tracking 23,000 people, and another by the American Cancer Society monitoring 300,000 people across the United States, have found that heart attacks, strokes and other serious diseases increase exponentially after exposure to metal or dust, The Times reported.

Californians exposed to high levels of fine particulates had their lives cut short by about 10 years, the board staff found, according to The Times.

You can do your part to help the environment, ere is one list of simple things you can do day to day to help, but in the meantime, here is a list of things you can do to protect yourself from indoor pollutions that cause lung disease.

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As the LA Times is reporting, Malibu has taken a bold step and officially banned the use of plastic bags in the entire city, especially restaurants and grocery stores.

And while the average person uses about 600 bags per year, it’s estimated that LA County might be responsible for up to a third of the 19 billion bags used in California every year.

The resolution was unanimously approved by the Malibu City Council, and follows in the steps of San Francisco’s ban on all non-biodegradable bags.

Other cities in the area have been mulling over proposals to ban plastic bags and charge for the use of paper bags.

And if you doubt the seriousness of the issue, read up on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Photo by qnr

There has been a possible third shark attack along our coast in just a weeks time! It is unclear what exactly caused the third surfer to die, but it has been reported by Mexico’s Navy that two great white sharks have been spotted of the coast during helicopter fly overs.

Authorities say 43-year-old John M. Wagner of San Diego was found dead in the water about 20 miles south of Ventura Harbor on Friday. Wagner had been surfing with friends when for some unknown reason he went underwater around 5 p.m., according to a Coast Guard official. Park rangers, with the Channel Islands National Park, later found his body. An autopsy was being conducted in Santa Barbara County.

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Anyone else notice that it’s starting to get a tad hot out there? Well it’s about to get a lot hotter today.

Offshore winds are credited (or is that blamed?) with pushing temperatures Saturday to unseasonably high levels. Various parts of the Southland, namely the valleys and mountains, are going to be well into the mid to upper 90s. [LATimes]

The normal temperature for this time of year is 75 degrees. But not today! That’s right it’s going to get into the upper 90’s today. So what does that mean for LA? Lots of traffic on the 10 on the way to the beach, tourists wilting, sandals and tank tops oh my! and a f-ing hot summer is one it’s way.

Luckily everything should start cooling down again on Monday. But beware….THE HEAT IS COMING!

Photo by fender5 

Ten ways to be Green that you might have actually NOT heard before.

1. At the grocery store, be crazy, rebellious, and unimaginably strong, and don’t use a bag. If you’re buying gallons of milk (although more sustainable would be not buying gallons in the first place), I admit a bag is a good idea, unless you want to take thirteen trips to your car and have your arms go numb. Trust me, “running out” (AKA messing up the order) of milk at Peet’s is not fun, because I get to walk to Ralph’s and play the how-many-gallons-can-I-stuff-in-my-hands-and-haul-back-to-work game. Last time I was doing this, practically falling over and sweating, my face hidden behind Alta Dena Low-fat Milk containers, oh, Reese Witherspoon happened to pop in when I returned. Great. My luck. Anyways, back from my digression: if you are buying something not huge, carry it home! Without a bag!

2. Turn off your lap-top,not only to save electricity, but to give that ‘ole, hard-working friend a rest! You’d be surprised- your computer might run like a speed demon after.

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“La Rose Imperiale” will be presented during Huntington Gardens (above) during Los Angeles Art Weekend.

ART

• Los Angeles Art Weekend | Friday, April 11 through Sunday, April 13, 2008 | Free (Except for some specific events) | All around LA | This new annual arts festival highlights L.A.’s creative talent. Brought to you by ACMA, The Hammer, Sci-ARC, Fred Segal and more, this 4 day event that started on Thursday, April 10 a plethora of events, including a rare solo concert with celebrated singer-songwriter, Iris DeMent at The Getty on Friday night and The Artist Flea Market at American Apparel’s downtown factory on Sunday. For event listings, times and dates, visit L.A. Art Weekend online.

FILM

• Angel City Drive-In: Hedwig & The Angry Inch | Saturday, April 12, 2008 | 8 p.m. | $10 | Angel City Drive-In - Map | In true guerilla drive-in fashion, cult classic Hedwig will be playing on the big wall at the Angel City Drive-In. Order hot dogs on a stick from a roller-skating car hop and listen to DJ Morgan play tunes before and after the show. For those who are new to the drive-in experience, your tuning your FM radio to a provided number lets you watch the film from the comfort of your car.

• Screening & Conversation with Errol Morris | Friday, April 11, 2008 | Free (R.S.V.P to reserve a free seat) | Harmony Gold - Map | Academy Award-winning Errol Morris (”Fog of War”) screens his new film, “Standard Operating Procedure,” in which the photographs of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib are revisited. Morris will also discuss why the photographs were taken and how a small group of soldiers shouldered the blame for their superiors’ poor decisions. The film will be released by Sony Pictures Classics on April 25.

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Today the Bush / Cheney administration announced that it will waive environmental and land management laws along 47o miles of the U.S. and Mexico border.  The plan they have to “ensure national security” involves putting up a fence along the border, part of which will run through the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.  A federal court had previously ruled to suspend the fence construction, but Michael Chertoff, the homeland security officer, isn’t going to let a little old federal court get in his way.  He has waived environmental, cultural and numerous other laws in three seperate instances to allow border wall construction through fragile habitat.  Ironically, Secretary Chertoff himself has acknowledged the border wall’s inherent failures, yet still chose to bypass national laws to move forward with the administrations flawed plan.

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So apparently LA has a river. Yup, first time I learned this was in my communications class last year. There you go, another example of the blissfully ignorant bubble we college students inhabit. But not all is pretty like the Bel Air mansions surrounding my campus. Like the LA river, which is in a sad state and badly needs our attention! The Los Angeles river, one could say, is not so pretty. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore it.

Oh, apparently there’s a myth that this is a “pretend” river. However, just because it has some concrete banks doesn’t negate it being a river. A lot of river have man-made “augmentation”, usually in concrete of stone. And our old friend the Pacific Ocean is reinforced with boulders. So there! Real river. (Facts found here.)

Anyway, it’d be great to celebrate the fact that we do have a river here, and to acknowledge the fact that much needs to happen to improve it. Here are some river-focused events for you to attend and help your city!

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