Exploring LA, where there is much to love

From the old streets of the Toy District to the Art Deco towers to the starry sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard, there is much to love about LA. For one thing, it’s population is about 50 percent Latino, plus a healthy percentage of African Americans, Asians and Arabs, among others, so there’s this wonderfully American [...]

Lebanese in LA

Try not to miss Zankou Chicken. There are five or six in LA that were founded by a guy who moved from Lebanon in the 80’s, according to the company’s website. There’s at least one other Zankou’s in LA, on W. Sunset Boulevard, that I was told is the same but owned by [...]

Life in the market

LA’s Grand Central Market is exactly that, a grand place to eat and meet in the middle of the city’s old downtown. We had breakfast there, choosing to go with Mexican, from Roast to Go and Ana Maria’s (Langston got chicken noodle soup from China Cafe), just a few of the market’s several dozen [...]

Pho in LA

Eating our way through Los Angeles. Stopped at Pho 97 in the Chusan Plaza on Broadway for Pho with rare beef and a round of cafe su das and Thai Iced Teas. Mmmmm. The pho is some of the best in the city, and comes with hefty sides of mint, bean sprouts, lime [...]

Take down of the financial news network

Don’t miss this reminder of why Jon Stewart’s so powerful, and powerfully funny, and also of why there’s nothing inherently honorable about journalism.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220252&title=cnbc-gives-financial-advice

Escaping

In case you need it.

How to Escape from a Straitjacket
from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit
Even though straitjackets are designed to restrain someone who’s in danger of harming themselves or others, they also make a good challenge for any escapologist. In fact, one of Harry Houdini’s most famous tricks was to [...]

Valentine’s Day

I wrote this story for Valentine’s Day several years ago and to this day it’s one of the things I’ve done as a reporter than I’m most proud of and happiest about.

I’ll show you a meltdown

From the BBC: An EU-funded study by a Deutsche Bank economist that concludes that the world loses more in financial terms each year through deforestation than it has so far in this massive financial meltdown.
The aim is worthy, however it might be asking too much of h-kind’s ability to translate — and accept translations of [...]

Post debate – McCain vanishes, Obama sticks around

I was struck by how, at least on the New York Times’ website live feed of the debate, which continued well after it was over, Obama (and his wife) stayed on the stage mingling and talking with the “Town Hall” guests for half an hour beyond the obligatory handshakes and hugs and waves.  John McCain, [...]

Bailout = More redistribution of economic and leadership might, away from U.S. and to China

A fascinating glimpse into how the financial meltdown could accelerate the shift in or a redistribution of economic power from the United States to Chin and, in what would be a very interesting development, to Japan.  Essentially, to the degree that the bailout is funded by the sale of US T-Bills, the countries doing most [...]