WikiLeaks and Local Leaks

By Jim Smith

Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.  ~Aldous Huxley

Silly Hillary. Did she really think the internet was a safe place for her deepest, darkest secrets? She’s not alone. The geniuses of the military end of the Empire also put its secrets – massacres in Iraq and Afghanstan – on the net. Private First Class Bradley Manning probably wasn’t the only one to read, and enjoy, other people’s mail. But he was the only one to download the dirty deeds and send them off to Julian Assange at Wikileaks.

For his efforts at letting us know what these fools are doing in our name Manning has been cast into a dank dungeon and will be lucky to survive with his head intact. When it comes to military justice, there isn’t any.

Once it became known that the word was out and that the New York Times and the UK Guardian were actually reprinting the Empire’s secrets, a meeting was called to discuss damage control. A motion by Dr. Stangelove to nuke the headquarters of Wikileaks was passed unanimously. However, it was soon discovered that Wikileaks only had a virtual headquarters, which was immune to thermonuclear attack. A second motion was passed to kill the messenger, Julian Assange. Changing the subject has always been a good defense. U.S. officials caught with their pants down are now threatening to charge Assange with espionage, even though he is Australian and committed no crimes in this country.

Meanwhile, Assange was quickly charged with ‘sex by surprise.” No matter that no one had ever heard of this crime, he was quickly brought to account in London. At this writing, his extradition to Sweden to stand accused of this heinous crime is still in doubt. The Americans are slobbering to take him into custody. If the past is any indication, waterboarding no doubt awaits.

According to Beachhead correspondent and investigative reporter Ron Ridenour (our man in Copenhagen), ‘the accusing women are: Social Democrat party organizer of Assange’s speaking tour last August, 31-year-old Sophia Wilén; and Anna Ardin, a 27-year-old anti-Cuba activist allied with US-paid so-called “dissidents” in Cuba. Ardin was, reportedly, kicked out of Cuba for subversive activities with right-wing groups there. Her brother purportedly worked for the Swedish Secret Service/SEPO, which works with the CIA.”

In spite of having Assange in a British prison, secret messages from the Empire continue to be released at countless internet sites around the world. The machinations of the Empire in the four corners of the world continue to be revealed. It should be no secret that the bloodthirsty king of the Saudis – a staunch U.S. ally – wants the Empire to invade Iran should come as no surprise. But to see it is print is delightful.

Who are these people running rampant over the globe? They are our public servants. And yes, we had a right to know what they are doing in our name. If Cablegate reveals anything, it is that our public servants have gone seriously off the track. Now that we know what they are doing, thanks to Wikileaks, they need to be reined in. If we allow them to continue on their merry way, we will have done a disservice to ourselves and to them. While we can’t say that their souls will burn in hell for their misdeeds, we can say that what they are doing is not in our interest, and they should resign forthwith, after apologies all around.

The Wikileaks disclosures and the official reaction to them are a classic battle between free speech and government secrecy. Lately, secrecy has been gaining ground with illegal spying and wiretapping of millions of people, the accumulation of “data” on all of us from the internet, credit reports, Facebook and countless other sources. Wikileaks should be welcome by everyone who values the Constitutional “guarantees” of free speech, a free press and privacy. A few governments, including Brazil, Russia, Ecuador, Venezuela and the United Nations, have applauded Wikileaks, but not Uncle Sam.

Unfortunately, the U.S. government is attempting to bluster through this debacle. The attacks on Bradley Manning and Jason Assange are misplaced. Russia’s president Dmitry Medvedev was correct in recommending the Noble Peace Prize for Assange. There should be ticker-tape parades in every American city for Assange and Manning. For they have stolen the fire of the gods and brought it to earth. Prometheus lives.

But will Assange and Manning’s deeds have a lasting effect among the less-than-heroic American populace? The Pentagon Papers, stolen and released in 1971 by Daniel Ellsberg and Tony Russo certainly helped bring some sanity to the U.S. cruel invasion and bombing of a third world country, Vietnam. Both the New York Times and the Washington Post printed extracts of the Pentagon Papers. Alaskan Senator Mike Gravel read it into the Congressional Record (where is a Senator or Representative today with the courage to do that?). Yet, by 1971 the Vietnam War had largely been decided in Vietnam’s favor by a combination of worldwide support, a powerful U.S. peace movement, an army that would no longer fight, and more importantly, by a determination of the Vietnamese to win freedom and independence in their land no matter the cost.

Closer to home, official secrets of Los Angeles city officials were disclosed in February, 2005, thanks to the investigative work of Beachhead reporter John Davis. The documents showed how city officials including Arturo Pena (now Venice deputy to Councilmember Bill Rosendahl) LAPD Capt. Bill Williams and officers Gerry Smedley and Theresa Skinner; Sandy Kievman (aide to Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski); city attorneys Mary Molidor, Gita Isagholian, Aaron Gross and Susan Wagner; mediator Gary De La Rosa and one Venice resident, Rick Feibusch, conspired to destroy the Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council (GRVNC). One of those, de La Rosa, was supposed to be a neutral arbitrator ruling on an election challenge, which he used to bring down the Council.

While none of the conspirators were fired, or even disciplined, for subverting democracy, the revelations did create a healthy skepticism among Venetians which exists to this day.

Likewise, the Wikileaks revelations should create a healthy skepticism about U.S. government pronouncements, which may or may not be the truth.

Because of aggressive efforts by government hackers to bring down Wikileaks websites, no web address can be considered permanent. To read the documents, and see the videos, on Iraq, Afghanistan and diplomatic cables, search the web for “Wikileaks” or “Cablegate.” To read L.A.’s secrets described above, go to: http://www.freevenice.org/Secrets/andemails.html

First Friday Reboots, Without Food Trucks

By CJ Gronner

Venice was a real village this past weekend. A real small town vibe permeated all the proceedings, beginning with First Fridays. The Abbot Kinney merchants finally banded together to get a No Parking permit for the evening, so no cars – or Food Trucks – were allowed to park on the Boulevard from 4-11 pm. It was SO much better, I can’t begin to praise the businesses enough. I could actually MOVE down the sidewalks! I could see friends ACROSS the street and wave to them, unblocked by massive food peddlers and their lines. The stores were PACKED – with actual shoppers doing shopping! – proving wrong anyone who thought the dang trucks brought more business with them.

The sole defiant business, touting “We Support Food Trucks” right on their windows was Trim, who must have their reasons, but everyone else I spoke to were SO much happier with the night, and the business they did (and I suspect Trim might change their tune as well if it were a mobile hair salon parked out front of their space).

There were still food trucks if you needed to eat off a grill that has no health regulations whatsoever, but they were all parked at The Brig – per usual. We toasted marshmallows for S’mores at a decked out for the holidays Zingara. We got delicious chocolate at Elvino, who were toasting the season with a fun wine tasting.

We stood around the fire pit at Robin’s Sculpture Garden where we heard live music again at First Fridays (also at Trim! Also Carolers!)

We saw MOSTLY people we knew for a change – some of whom said they hadn’t been to a First Friday in months (if not longer), so turned off were they by the trucks. It felt great, and neighborly, and VENICE vs. Carny Fair. I even returned to my bike at the end of the night to find not ONE piece of trash in my basket. For that alone, I hope the Merchants chip in every month -and it sounds like they will for a while – for the First Friday parking ban … because it once again ruled.

Also ruling this weekend was the Holiday Stroll fun that was centered at The Brig. With REAL SNOW! Perhaps feeling some heat from the locals for all those food trucks normally parked there, Brig Dave lent out his normally packed with trucks parking lot to become a Winter Wonderland – complete with snow!

They took a pile of hay bales and covered them up with man-made snow to make a little sledding hill, that the kids super dug (especially since they could be in short sleeved shirts while riding!). One young whippersnapper, who appeared to be about two, kept following me around throwing little icy snowballs at me. I let it slide, as it was pretty exciting.

Carolers caroled, there were holiday arts & crafts projects, and even face painting. The little spare room left over in the lot did allow for a couple food trucks to get in and vend some hot- pink chocolate snowball things, and hot dogs.

Overall it seemed that everyone pretty much had their socks charmed off. ‘this is so great” … “Adorable” … “this was so nice of them” … “My kids have never seen snow!” “It feels so small town!” … were snippets of many conversations I overheard, and that is exactly what I love and try to promote about the special place we live.

The good far outweighs the bad. Whatever beefs you have in your corner of the town, about whatever small picture thing, when you see kids of the community beaming with red cheeks from hustling up the slippery hay slope, and people still arriving despite the rain that began to fall (and melt the snow) – in easy strolls, like “who cares about a little rain, check out how fun this is!” and coming out in droves just to enjoy each other and some frivolity, well, you just get it.  All of the above things seem like more fodder for Cityhood as well … let’s keep on discussing that possibility.

It indeed takes a village, and last weekend proved that we have that, in abundance.

 

 

TOO MANY TOURISTS

By Greta Cobar

The Venice Neighborhood Council held a Town Hall Meeting on December 2 to discuss Venice as the #1 tourist destination in Southern California. However, the voices on the microphone echoed those of  the September 23 meeting, which was dominated by Bill Rosendahl’s mission to get rid of RVs and to institute his “Vehicles to Homes Program,” the details of which he was unable to provide. He was not present at the December meeting.

During the September meeting many of us were appalled by his threat that “jails exist for those of you who choose not to be part of my program.” So it was really sad to be in that same room two and a half months later realizing that no program was ever created and no places to park were provided, yet tens of people were arrested and dozens of RVs impounded. It had been previously estimated that there were 270 RVs in Venice. A current estimate put that number at 17.

The police crackdown of people living in vehicles, based on selective enforcement, inevitably caused the stress of RV residents to skyrocket. Many were not surprised when, on December 1, James Hunter’s body was found in his van. His friends knew that the police had given him an ultimatum to move the vehicle out of the area he’s been living in for at least 15 years, without giving him an alternative spot to park.

While most Venetians celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas in warmth, with a ridiculous over-abundance of foods and tons of useless, unwanted presents, up to 253 mostly long-time Venice RV residents were left truly homeless, without the modest but sufficient shelter that they previously enjoyed. Either that or they were pushed into another neighborhood, away from their friends, support system and place they call home. It’s easier to read these numbers than to hear even one personal story.

During the most recent Town Hall Meeting Diane Butler, who’s been living in Venice since 1970, asked Rosendahl for a moratorium to the sudden increase of harassment towards RV dwellers during the holiday season, reminding everyone that “Christmas is a time of togetherness, love and giving. Let’s not kick people out right before Christmas time,” she went on to say.

Shareen shared her personal story of traveling to see her father for Thanksgiving and coming back to find her bus gone. It had been impounded for a barely-noticeable oil leak that was not there before she left. It cost her $1000 to get her bus back. She asked: “What do you want to do with people who live in vehicles? Is it morally right to kick them out of their shelter?”

Emily Winters reminded Venetians that “we used to be a place of love. Now we are becoming a place of hate.” Juan Alcala also pointed out the changing character of Venice and the effect that change might have on tourism. According to him, Venice is the #1 tourist destination in Southern California because of the very characters that Rosendahl is on a mission to get rid of. ‘tourists don’t come to Venice to eat at the Sidewalk Café, they have the worst coffee in the world. They don’t come to buy stuff from China,” he said.

Subsequent to the Town Hall Meeting, a group of people proceeded to go all the way to Rosendahl’s Westchester office on December 9 to push for a “Venice homeless holiday arrest moratorium.” Feeling unheard, Venetians then marched with signs on the boardwalk and up to Third and Sunset on December 11, again asking for humane treatment of fellow humans.

And after all that Rosendahl went on as a true Scrooge and denied the moratorium. I wish there was a happier Venice Christmas story to be told.

Another very non-urgent but scheduled topic of the Town Hall Meeting was tourism in Venice. Overall consensus was expressed regarding two issues: that Venice needs additional resources to be able to cope with the large number of visitors and that the city of Los Angeles does not provide those resources.

If the money generated by tourism in Venice stayed in Venice, the problem of inadequate resources would vanish. And if we as Venetians could decide locally what the money should be spent on, we might just have “Venice becoming the city imagined./ A city like no other on earth,” as the late Venice poet laureate Philomene Long put it.

Realistically speaking, obtaining Venice cityhood is the only way for us to hold on to the money generated locally and be able to decide how our community could benefit most from that money. Although a move towards cityhood was started back in July and Venetians seem to be delighted by that idea, people choose to be couch potatoes instead of organizing and volunteering. Meanwhile we wonder: whose job is it? Here’s an anonymous story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody, that illustrates the problem:

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Letters

• A House Is Not Always a Home; And a Home Isn’t Necessarily a House - Peter M. Lonnies
• Happy Anniversary – Lance Diskan
• Donation – Mark Kleiman
• Drumcircle is a temple not a nightclub - Dusty P. Greenhaus

—————————

A House Is Not Always a Home
And a Home Isn’t Necessarily a House

Dear Beachhead,

This is the time of year when a lot of people formulate New Year’s resolutions to hopefully improve the quality of their lives. May I recommend to them to spend a little energy on creating solutions rather than complaining about the problems endlessly.

The issue of the “homeless” is certainly a piece of work that needs help from all directions, but what seems to be completely misunderstood are the “houseless.” These people are the gypsies, nomads, and road people who live in vans, buses, and motorhomes. They don’t want or need houses. They certainly would appreciate a space where they can be. To provide parking with a bathroom is by far cheaper than “low-income” housing.

I must point out to the Venice newcomers, that have used the LAPD in recent times to get rid of the majority of the vehicle dwellers, that they have grossly violated humanity by sweeping this segment of society under the carpet. By towing their motorhomes, etc., the LAPD has made the “houseless” now also homeless. The motorhome manufacturers should be aghast at the Venice gentrifying folk for denying the full intended use of the house on wheels, including sleeping in it.

Needless to say, some of the road people violated the rules of vehicular living by trashing their surroundings, but surely no one throws all the apples out because of a few rotten ones.

To clarify my position, I must state that I am a 30-year property owner in Venice and the owner of a converted school bus, which I live in while on the road.

Peter M. Lonnies

———–

Happy Anniversary

Dear Beachhead,

I arrived in Venice on Thanksgiving Eve 1968. The Beachhead was founded six days later. We’ve now spent more than four decades together – and it’s been a joy.

Congratulations to the current Collective for carrying on such a splendid tradition.

Lance Diskan
Venice Forever

———–

Donation

Dear Beachhead

I was out of town and just saw the lovely September issue with Ian Dean’s great, heartfelt cry.

As moved as I was by Ian’s essay, I was appalled to read that we seem to have a home-grown Brownshirt,

John Betz, who is trying to bully Beachhead advertisers into dropping their support for the Beachead.

The answer to speech you don’t like is MORE SPEECH — and not a campaign of fear and suppression that Herr Betz is initiating.

The Beachhead was right to encourage Herr Betz to start his own paper instead of bagging on ours.

In honor of Herr Betz’s attack on our much-loved rag, I am sending you another $150, and asking that the donor be listed as the John Betz Free Speech Fund.

In solidarity,

Mark Kleiman

———-

Drumcircle is a temple not a nightclub

Dear Beachhead,

I joined this drumcircle near the beginning, some fifteen years ago. It was started by Randy Banks after the January 17 1994 earthquake.

If you come to the drumcircle you should believe that it is like a temple and exhibit behavior accordingly, which does not include drinking liquor, harassing female dancers, or any other aggressive behavior. There are presently very few people left that can attest to the beautiful vibrations of especially the first five years, so it is most important to contemplate the meaning of the drumcircle being more a temple than a nightclub. Thank you.

Dusty P. Greenhaus

 

 

Teena Marie, A Child of Venice Dies

By Clay Claiborne

The famous Rhythm & Blues singer Teena Marie died in her home in Pasadena the day after Christmas. She was born Mary Christine Brockert in Santa Monica in 1956 and grew up in Oakwood and was raised on Motown music and African-American culture. She attended Venice High School and worked at the Pup ‘n’ Taco in Mar Vista. She was singing Harry Belafonte’s songs when she was 2, had a child acting role on the Beverly Hillbillies, and at 10 sang at the wedding of Jerry Lewis” son. In 1976 she became the first White singer signed by Motown.

In addtion to singing, she played rhythm guitar, keyboards and congas. Starting with her 1980 album Irons in the Fire, she wrote, produced, arranged and sang virtually all her songs. In 1982 she sued Motown over its refusal to release her from her contract or release her new material. The lawsuit resulted in the ‘the Brockert Initiative”, which made it illegal for a record company to keep an artist under contract without releasing new material for that artist. She released 13 highly successful albums between 1979 and 2009.

She was known by friends and family as “Lady Tee”, but since her death, the media, always quick to look for a racial angle, has taken to calling her ‘the Ivory Queen of Soul.” I was surprised by this and asked some friends, who like me have been long time fans. Nobody had heard Lady Tee called that before, and the Detroit News, and they know Motown, said, ‘there’s been a lot of debate over the last few days about whether Motown’s Teena Marie, who died Sunday, was ever called “The Ivory Queen of Soul.” “While the media that never much promoted her in life may have their own agenda with this label, Teena Maria will forever be remembered as Lady Tee and a child of Venice.

Jim Morrison Pardoned; Doors Demand Apology

Former Venice resident Jim Morrison was pardoned Dec. 9 for indecent exposure and profanity by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and the state clemency board, but the remaining Doors reject it. The incident allegedly took place at a 1969 concert in Miami. The Doors response:

In August (1970), Jim Morrison went on trial in Miami. He was acquitted on all but two misdemeanor charges and sentenced to six months” hard labor in Raiford Penitentiary. He was appealing this conviction when he died in Paris on July 3, 1971. Four decades after the fact, with Jim an icon for multiple generations – and those who railed against him now a laughingstock – Florida has seen fit to issue a pardon.

We don’t feel Jim needs to be pardoned for anything.

His performance in Miami that night was certainly provocative, and entirely in the insurrectionary spirit of The Doors” music and message. The charges against him were largely an opportunity for grandstanding by ambitious politicians – not to mention an affront to free speech and a massive waste of time and taxpayer dollars. As Ann Woolner of the Albany Times-Union wrote recently, “Morrison’s case bore all the signs of a political prosecution, a rebuke from the cultural right to punish a symbol of Dionysian rebellion.”

If the State of Florida and the City of Miami want to make amends for the travesty of Jim Morrison’s arrest and prosecution forty years after the fact, an apology would be more appropriate – and expunging the whole sorry matter from the record. And how about a promise to stop letting culture-war hysteria trump our First Amendment rights? Freedom of Speech must be held sacred, especially in these reactionary times.

Love, The Doors

 

A Tale of Two Wars: Vietnam/Afghanistan

By Clay Claiborne

In the spirit of Mark Twain, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.”  I offer the following combined brief history of the Vietnam and Afghan Wars:

Although the War in [Vietnam|Afghanistan] was started by the previous occupant of the Whitehouse, President [Johnson|Obama] made it his own and greatly expanded it. There were problems from the beginning. The [Diem|Karzia] regime installed by the U.S. proved to be a very corrupt one that became increasingly problematic as it lost all support among the [Vietnamese|Afghan] people. On the other hand, the [Viet Cong|Taliban], having already succeeded in it’s struggle against [French|Russian] colonialism, proved ready for a long struggle against American imperialism as well. The [Vietnam|Afghanistan] War would prove to be the [second longest| longest] in our history.

Support for the [Vietnam|Afghanistan] War, already at an all time low, fell even lower after [Daniel Ellsberg|Julian Assange] released the [Pentagon Papers|WikiLeaks Documents] that revealed much that the government had kept hidden about the war.  By the time reports came out about U.S. soldiers in [Vietnam|Afghanistan] killing civilians and collecting [ears|fingers], most people were ready to bring the troops home.

Instead, the President expanded the war from [Vietnam|Afghanistan] into neighboring [Cambodia|Pakistan] with a series of ‘secret” [B52|drone] strikes and commanding General [William Westmoreland|David Petraeus] called for more troops to implement his strategy of [search and destroy|clear, hold & build] on the ground and still more civilians died and because of the special weapons used by the U.S. in the war, both our soldiers and the people of [Vietnam|Afghanistan] would suffer from cancer, birth defects and many other diseases caused by [Agent Orange|Depleted Uranium] for generations to come. By the time the U.S. pulled out of [Vietnam|Afghanistan], the number of young Americans to die in the war numbered over [58,000|1,445].

The first American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Lt. Col. Pete Dewey on September 26, 1945. 58,000 Americans and millions of Vietnamese were to follow him in the next 30 years, but nine years into the war, fewer Americans had died in the Vietnam fighting than the 1,445 that have so far died in Afghanistan.

Keeping Vigil For Eun Kang

By Krista Schwimmer

On December 8, a group of around 20 to 25 people met at Crescent Place Triangle to hold a candlelight vigil for Eun Kang, a 38 year old Venetian resident brutally raped and stabbed to death in her own home one year earlier. At the time of her death, she was pregnant with twins.

Despite the enormous tragedy of her death, there was little fanfare on this one year anniversary: no politicians, no large media groups, and only a small crowd consisting of Eun’s neighbors and officers from the LAPD and local Fire House Number 63.  Two detectives who responded to the call last year were present: Detective Castruita and Detective Carranza whose case this is. By coincidence, the two fire fighter paramedics from Fire House 63 on duty last year, Kevin Kemp and Sevan Gerard, were on duty again this year and were able to attend the memorial.

One of the organizers, Jim Hubbard, spoke about how the purpose of this vigil was to “honor a person and her unborn children who were slain viciously.” He called the loss of life by these means “insane and unacceptable.”

Representatives from both the LAPD and LAFD echoed similar sentiments, stating how this kind of a crime is also heartbreaking for the police.

A suspect, Boneetio Kentro Washington of Culver City, was arrested immediately in the case. He was charged with three counts of capital murder and could face the death penalty. Detective Carranza stated that his case was still in the court system and would drag on for years. He said he would see this case through, as he does with all of his cases. Detective Castruita, a detective for 16 years, called her murder “particularly gruesome.”

Chris Chanaud, boyfriend and father to the unborn babies, did not know about the community vigil. He said he had privately remembered her earlier in the day. He stated that “Eun would not have really cared about how people honor her memory. She”d probably say something like “Don’t dwell on it. But maybe get some lights on that street (Electric Avenue.)”

Although the criminal case is not over for the officers and family members connected to Eun, there appears little more the community she lives in can do for her.  We are left simply with the task of remembering. For Chris Chanaud, that means remembering how Eun touched his life: ‘she lived her life to the fullest like the candle which burns twice as bright but half as long. She was just so awesome. She really showed me how to enjoy life and not stress too much about the little things. She was a simple girl. Her favorite things were tomatoes, sewing, and surfing.”

 

Billy’s Apartment

Carol Fondiller died last Jan. 9 after working most of 41 years on the Beachhead. Here are her comments from March, 2005:

 

By Carol Fondiller

The voice on the other end of the phone said, “Rumors are whizzing “round, noisy as skeeters on a stagnant pool spreading west Nile disease. Billy’s apartment building is up for sale.”

Fighting through my friend’s hyperbole, I asked ‘say what? Who’s Billy? And what’s love got to do with it?”

“Well,” said my friend, hereinafter known as Gary, “Billy’s apartment building is located on the Ocean Front Walk between Park and Brooks Avenues. About 8 units, 10 people, right next to one of the surviving single family houses on the Front and Billy’s…”

Oh yeah, “Billy’s Apartments.” Well. There’s a strip mall on Park Avenue that sells nothing useful to the surrounding community, the two-story single family house, Billy’s Apartments—which is painted a sort of pinkish brown, has what Easterners call a stoop, and what God-fearing heartlanders would call a small porch, is three stories high. It’s just north of a tattoo parlour and the Café Venezia on Brooks Avenue.

In the late 50s the Ocean Front Walk had a varied streetscape of former hotels turned into permanent apartments, bars, single family houses, a few Mom “n” Pop stores….Excuse me while I brush away a nostalgic those-were-the-days tear.

Well, things do change, sometimes for worse, and sometimes for the better. And sometimes it’s just change. As in decay, rebirth, and all that Karmic stuff.

But to me, the sale of Billy’s Apts. signals a real change.

This is one of the last apartment buildings that have moderately priced units on the Ocean Front Walk, perhaps in Venice. Some of the tenants have lived at Billy’s for twenty years. Years ago, developer wannabes dreamed up a plan for Venice that would, in the words of one developer, “Make Venice a Miami Gold Coast.”

This plan included a freeway that ran west of the beach onto the ocean, the taking of property east of Speedway by eminent domain, in order to facilitate two-way traffic. (It’s estimated that the proposed plan to widen Speedway would have taken about 20 percent of the properties abutting Speedway.) Not just the Hippies and Commies opposed that plan. And, of course, there’s always been controversy in regards to development on the O.F.W.

To put it delicately, Venice is entering another phase.

To my way of thinking, there is a plan to eliminate all dwellings on the Ocean Front Walk. Billy’s Apts. and the single family house next to it can be consolidated. And with claims of hardship exemptions, easements, setbacks and other development goodies, to combine with the property that includes the tattoo parlour, Mom “n” Pop shop and the Café Venezia into one helluva package for plasticized quaint B”n”Bs or Hotel California for discreet business meetings.

As it is, the Ocean Front Walk and the adjacent walk streets are barely livable now.

The uh, gee…dare I offend the west side artistes? I can find no other description—NOISE from the Ocean Front Walk 8 hours a day or longer, 7 days a week, and the fumes of endangered sage, gasoline emissions from huge buses with faulty engines, and the stench of rancid oils that emit from our many fine restaurants. I understand that much of this will change after the Ocean Front Walk ordinance is in place, but I am skeptical. The charms of Venice were the juxtaposition of seedy apartments next to one family houses next to bars and groceries, fruit stands, synagogues, tabernacles, etc.

There was also the mix of Bohemian outcast, orthodox Jew, fundamentalist, etc., workers, poets…; well you know the drill—diversity.

That’s coming to an end now, and not only because of the developers, real estate and the Artbunkers that are popping up like giant pustules. J”accuse some of the aforesaid Artisty–Poos that have invaded the Ocean Front Walk. They seem to think that just because they are poor like Van Gogh, unrecognized as Van Gogh, they automatically have the genius of Van Gogh.

They seem to think that because they claim to be artists, they have the right to annoy and denigrate all the Philistines and greedy money grubbers who have the nerve to live on the O.F.W.

Well, cheer up. Within a few years, with some exertion, Ocean Front Walk will be lined with charming air conditioned hotels and condos converted to “boutique” hotels. Those units facing the Front will have windows that open, so as to be able to throw money to the buskers, hucksters, etc., that will line the O.F.W. Visitors will enjoy the “ambiance” of the O.F.W., because they will be leaving after a short visit, to go back to their homes that do not have a Loud Noise Free Speech area. They will show videos of the man and his rubber snakes, the people who keep assassinating John Lennon over and over every day for 8 hours a day. Those hotel visitors will be able to open and close their windows at will and still be comfortable in their air-conditioned units, free of the concert stage amps used by the exhibitionists to extort money from them.

Debit cards will be issued by the Dept. of Entertainment division of Recreation and Parks. The cards will be issued in varying denominations to be used for entertainment expenses ranging from $1.00 on up—to throw at the hucksters.

But best of all, the residents, or most of them will have fled from the Front inland, east of Lincoln, so that the walk streets can be converted to parking palaces for the hotel patrons. These palaces will be disguised as quaint beach cottages. The end result will be an Ocean Front Walk free of those annoying residents.

The Artisty-Poos will be free to bray bleat whine, sell incense, etc., without any interruption. They will have become part of the establishment that they profess to loathe.

But like “artists” before them, from Michelangelo to Warhol to Kinkaide, they go where the money is.

As I was writing this I heard a noise on the Front, no, not the Lennon-McCartney assassin, but some guy who was lecturing the customers at the café by my apartment building—he was yelling at some of the patrons. A bouncer came out and chased the man down the Front.

The “musician” who was singing applauded. A customer rebuked the exhibitionist for cheering as the man was chased off. The exhibitionist yelled at the customer for ‘trying to dominate my space. This is MY space!” he yelled through his microphone, ‘this is my show! I get to perform here! You don’t like it, leave!”

So much for love, camaraderie and caring by the sensitive (only to their own needs) exhibitionists on the Ocean Front Walk. Did it ever occur to the exhibitionist that if this man’s two-minute tirade so disturbed him, what must it be like to listen to his atonal renderings (and I mean rendering) of the Beatles” songs over and over again five hours a day five days a week?

Someone takes over on the weekends, and after the Beatle Killer and his Arnold Schwarzenegger imitations (another reason to vote out Arnold!) someone who kills off Bob Dylan comes on to commit more auditory rape until it gets dark.

 

Perhaps the proposed Robert Graham statue for the Venice Traffic Circle is a fitting definition of Venice after all—a stainless steel cunt.

 

Farewell to Billy’s

By Jeff Willis

Once I lived down by the sea

In an old wood house with the name “Billy’s”

Eight shotgun shacks, front and back

But a view and a breeze they didn’t lack

 

All the residents I knew well

Each of them had a story to tell

Young and old, rich and poor

Bum and Saint passed Billy’s door

 

Oochee, the artist, lived in a cloud

Of his few pictures he was very proud

He paid no heed to critics unkind

For his best work was in his mind

 

To find Mr. Nelson you didn’t look far

Just underneath the nearest car

He had the devotion of a young Monk

To turn fine machines into hunks of junk

 

Markey rolled from his waterbed

Out through the window and onto his head

Then said to me in a state of shock

“Of my next six pack I’d better take stock”

 

I was the biggest fool of them all

Pretending to hear a different call

Working each day in the legal halls

Then rushing home to juggle some balls

 

Old black Jack lived in the back

And carried his Brandy in a paper sack

Cuban Bill cooked rice and beans

While perfecting his acting dreams

 

Christie, Roberta and Lenore too

Comprised the distaff side of the crew

O’Mara and Schley came by for the day

They were the members “honoree”

 

Friends dropped by to say hello

Have a beer and watch the show

On the Walk, Life did pour

Like blue waves crashing onto shore

 

Chorus

We started out most every day

With breakfast at The Lafayette Café

It felt like home as you opened the door

And were greeted by Ruby from Baltimore

 

Her life was hard but you”d never know

She laughed and joked as she poured our Joe

We carried little cash but had our fun

For the Great Cheap-off had now begun

Each day brought a new parade

Which we perused from Billy’s shade

The girls on the Walk were fair and free

And some even came to visit me

 

I remember one with long dark hair

She sang and danced with devil-may-care

I remember two with eyes of blue

They taught me things I never knew

 

Chorus

We dealt the cards, then dealt some more

With all who came through Billy’s door

Hearts and Spades we loved to play

But the losers always hated to pay

 

X-Swami-X stood upon his bench

And into our minds threw a monkey wrench

Donnie B Waugh was a sight to see

If Elvis was your cup of tea

 

Kim the Mudman carried a cross

In protest of some lost cause

Mimes and clowns and jugglers too

Performed for those passing through

 

Gurus and prophets of every kind

If you wanted to seek you could always find

Some took off to a higher plane

Some crash-landed inside your brain

 

Holy Moly, what’s that sound

Whose that jumping up and down?

Riding Pachyderms in orange gowns

The Hari Krishnas have come to town

 

Tippecanoe and Tyler too

Knew the Admiral of Peru

They smoked some hash with Fu Manchu

Then they danced the Boogaloo

`

Chorus

Friends moved on and left the fold

A few the devil bought and sold

Some went to pot on drugs and booze

We all had certain paths to choose

 

I ran on the sand to keep me fit

Then went downtown in my strait jacket

The Siren’s song, we were in its sway

I heard her call nearly every day

 

Though dollars and sense I could never hold

Each setting sun poured forth its gold

We all were Kings for a moment or two

When the evening breeze blew off the blue

 

Chorus

Hey, Hey, Hey we”re sailing away, if this dark night ever turns to day

Hey, Hey, Hey I won’t despair, the Jack of Hearts has paid our fare