Category: Los Angeles

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Coachella 007

rage against the machine

This time — I’m def. gonna do it! April 27-29 at Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, CA — headliners (at present) are Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Bjork.

Other confirmed acts via the preliminary lineup (“subject to changes and additions”) posted this morning at coachella.com:

The Jesus and Mary Chain, Tiesto, the Arcade Fire, Interpol, Manu Chao, Willie Nelson, Air, Happy Mondays, Decemberists, Faithless, Gotan Project, the Good, the Bad and the Queen, Paul Van Dyk, Arctic Monkeys, Roots, Jarvis Cocker, Sonic Youth, Crowded House, Placebo, Satellite Party, Stephen Marley feat Jr. Gong, Kings of Leon, DJ Shadow, Kaiser Chiefs, Kokono No. 1, LCD Soundsystem, Nickel Creek, Travis, Damien Rice, Black Keys, Blonde Redhead, Infected Mushroom, New Pornographers, Peeping Tom, Placebo, Rufus Wainwright, the Rapture, Explosions in the Sky, Richie Hawtin, !!!, Benny Benassy, Felix Da Housecat, Hot Chip, Jacks Mannequin, Julieta Venegas, Lily Allen, Lupe Fiasco, Ozomatli, Peaches, Ghostface Killah, Jose Gonzales, Amos Lee, Brazilian Girls, Fountains of Wayne, Regina Spektor, VNV Nation, Coco Rosie, Cornelius, Gillian Welch, Junior Boys, Pharaohe Monche, Roky Erickson and the Explosives, Soulwax, Sparklehorse, the Kooks, Tilly and the Wall, Andrew Bird, Peter, Bjorn & John, the Frames, Gogol Bordello, Comedians of Comedy, Justice, MSTRKRFT, We Are Scientists, Yeva, Grizzly Bear, Amy Winehouse, Avett Brothers, Circa Survive, the Coup, the Cribs, CSS, Digitalism, Erol Alkan, Evil Nine, Girl Talk, Klaxons, the Noisettes, Spank Rock, Tapes ‘n Tapes, Fields, Tokyo Police Club, Rodrigo Y Gabriella, DJ Heather, the Feeling, Fratellis, Mike Relm, Silversun Pickups, Busdriver, Brother Ali, Nightwatchman, Bojones, Mika, Pop Levi, Anathallo and Fair to Midland.

Tix onsale this Saturday, the 27th.

h/t Kevin, who comments: “There is one more reunion happening, and it’s big, and I’m sworn to secrecy. Look for an announcement later this week.”

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The L.A. Times’ Iraq Coverage

Lately it seems that the LA Times‘ A Section has at least one Iraq-related article on nearly every page. While the rest of the media world speculates on the fate of the TribCo and the designs the Times‘ potential suitors may have in mind, is the paper covering Iraq better than anyone else?

The general trend of newspapers focused on cost-cutting and boosting readership is to expand local coverage. But as recently as last month, the Times foreign desk has been looking to add more reporters to its Baghdad Bureau (LAO).

One definite advantage is printing in the Pacific Time Zone. When it’s midnight in LA, it’s 11am in Baghdad, so while East Coast papers have already hit the streets, the Times has the opportunity to print Monday’s early morning news from Iraq in the Monday paper. Case in point: The Times seemed to be the only major paper to sneak a report of last week’s early-morning execution of two Hussein aides into its morning edition.

The global press appears to be infatuated with the wordy and fairly balanced analyses of The New York Times‘ man in Baghdad, John F. Burns. But one man can’t possibly provide for a broad understanding of how the situation on the ground relates to the disingenuous and spin-wrought policy statements out of D.C. and Baghdad. Hence, this shout-out to Baghdad Bureau Chief Borzou Daragahi, Louise Roug, Julian E. Barnes, Peter Spiegel, Megan K. Stack, Solomon Moore, and Molly Hennessy-Fiske for bringing the truth to our doorsteps.

Ex-CNN News chief Eason Jordan lays out a typical day of LAT Iraq coverage here. Check for yourself online at http://latimes.com/iraq.

originally posted at LAist

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Iraq is… Like LA?!?

Twice in a week we hear this, most recently from queen bimbo herself. Earlier:

“You do it neighborhood by neighborhood,” said the Defense official. “Think of L.A. Let’s say we take West Hollywood and gate it off. Or Anaheim. Or central Los Angeles. You control that area first and work out from there.”

Thanks, JB!

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UCLA Taser Victim Files Suit

mostafa tabatabainejad ucla taser incidentMostafa Tabatabainejad, the 23-year-old UCLA senior who was tasered repeatedly after he refused to show his campus ID at Powell library, filed a federal lawsuit today.

Tabatabainejad alleges the campus officers used excessive force, and that they violated the Americans With Disabilities Act. He is seeking unspecified damages.

Tabatabainejad said he “felt utterly humiliated in front of my fellow students at the library that night and terrified because I knew something horrible was happening to me.’

“We need campus officers to protect us, but we need individuals who perform those tasks with sensitivity, understanding they work on a university campus and are dealing with students,’ he said.