While the controversy over Beijing's Olympic-themed float in Tuesday's 119th Tournament of Roses Parade has not managed to stir up LA's Chinese-American community, as New Year's Day draws near, murmurings of anti-war protests have begun to surface. The protests are linked to a group called the White Rose Coalition, and involve well-known activist Cindy Sheehan, whose soldier son was killed in Iraq. According to a press release: Local and national pro-Impeachment and pro-Peace American citizens......

- Sunday Morning Travel Alert: Caltrans will close the northbound San Diego Freeway (I-405) connectors to the east and westbound Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101), Sunday from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. for maintenance work. -UK based Tesco will launch Fresh & Easy Neighbourhood Markets in Los Angeles stocking healthy, chilled food in 10,000 sq. ft. spaces. - The Parker Center, LAPD HQ, was evacuated today over a bomb scare. It was just a suitcase.......

The below piece is in reference to Keith Olbermann's closing statement from his January 2nd show. Get the full transcript here; just scroll to the end for his 'special comment about sacrifice' and watch the clip after the jump. Full disclosure: I am admittedly a fan of Keith Olbermann and his P.O.V. The above-referenced clip is not his best work, and LAist Editor-in-Chief Tony Pierce said it felt "forced" and ran far too long,......