LA Times' top blog, Top of the Ticket, spoke to local artist Shepard Fairey about all the spoofs on his Obama "HOPE" poster. One replaces the word "HOPE" under Obama to "HYPE" and another shows Sarah Palin or John McCain with "NOPE" under their faces. Unimpressed, finding them too negative, Fairey told the blog that "when something becomes pervasive enough, it becomes a reference point that people are going to use for commentary and parody.......

This year's election has gone to the tech generation, which can account for this clever way to txt your way into today's Sarah Palin rally in Carson. An E-billboard across from the Home Depot Center was rented by the California Democratic party so that those wishing to pose the Alaskan Gov. and Republican VP nom some more hard-hitting questions could do so via a text message. Watch what came up online here.......

KCRW's politics show, Left, Right & Center, will be holding a live show with studio audience show on November 9th to do some post-election analysis with Arianna Huffington and others. Tickets went on sale this morning and are already sold out. See, just because everyone was watching the Dodgers game last night instead of the debate doesn't mean this is a political inclined town. Nevertheless, KCRW is quite proud of themselves: "Sia sold out in......

Photo by Sparkylulu via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Some sellers in California can't unload their Palin Syrah, but in the South Bay some can't wait to get a taste of Sarah Palin. The Republican vice presidential nominee is headed to So Cal for a rally at the Home Depot Center in Carson on October 4th, and folks were eager to get their tickets yesterday from the Republican campaign offices in Torrance. The......

The anonymous Freewayblogger is coming back to Los Angeles on Thursday while on her West Coast tour that begins today in San Diego and ends in Portland on the 22nd. The Freewayblogger claims to have hung over 4,000 signs against the war on freeways across the California and the western U.S. "When you put a sign up next to a freeway, people will read it until somebody takes it down," she writes on her......

The LA Times has been running a great daily feature that is minimalist but lovely: "Late state budget: Day 71. California can't pay its bills. The fiscal year began July 1." This is the longest in state history that the budget has been this late. Due to the drama of this late budget, state prison guards threatened to recall Governor Schwarzenegger. The late budget is affecting individuals all around the state.......

DCist and the -ist network is participating in a first of its kind credential program at this year's Democratic National Convention. We're serving as the selected blogger representing the District of Columbia in the DNC State Blogger Corps (California's rep is Calitics). Here's how The New York Times described the desirability of our credential: For bloggers attending the Democratic convention at the Pepsi Center in Denver, two types of credentials are offered. The first is......

The upcoming race for city hall is not this next November, but in the winter of 2009. The only truly contested city district is Council District 5, currently represented by Jack Weiss who is now running for City Attorney. The district covers West Los Angeles to Sherman Oaks/Encino. Six people are currently running for the seat. At the top is Attorney/News Columnist/Community Activist Ron Galperin business executive Robyn Ritter Simon and former Assemblymember and West......

Pastor Robert Jones of a Sacramento-area church visited a state environmental hearing last Wednesday about California's plan to cut global warming emissions. He asked the politicians to keep poorer communities in mind when drafting laws. Two-minutes into it, State Senator Pat Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) interrupted Jones. "Excuse me, but I think your arguments are bullshit." It's nothing too dramatic, but a revealing moment in state politics. Wiggins later issues a stock statement saying that......

Prop 11 on November's ballot will allow the redrawing of state district boundaries overseen by an independent commission after the 2010 census. Currently, state politicians create their own boundaries, something proponents of the prop say guarantees their reelection. Redistricting propositions don't go without a fight. But with that said, it is not a sexy and easily understood topic. In a Ventura County Star editorial, Joe Howry nicely lays it out from his point of view.......

Former Democratic Presidential candidate contender John Edwards is now admitting that he had an extra-marital affair with Rielle Hunter, but denies that he is the father of her child. Edwards initially denied the reports of the affair, as first broken by the National Enquirer, which claimed he had a rendezvous with the divorced model Hunter at a Los Angeles-area hotel that involved him seeing what they called their "love child." The Senator has been on......

On Tuesday, a few hours after the earthquake, the Los Angeles Fire Department put up a link on the "Highlights" section on the homepage of the city's website, pointing to their Earthquake and Disaster Preparedness Manual (.pdf)--a smart move since right after an earthquake is the best time to educate people on preparing for a future and considerably worse one (Tuesday's quake was only considered "moderate"). The next morning, the city's Information Technology Agency (ITA)......

That's what the Sacramento Bee is asking today after a private poll came out showing that the U.S. Senator would beat Governor contender Attorney General Jerry Brown by 26%. In other polls, Brown is shown beating San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, LA Mayor Villaraigosa and Lt. Gov. John Garamendi. "If she does get in, it's over, at least on the Democratic side. Everybody, and I mean everybody, else steps out," former San Francisco Mayor Willie......

Follow-up reporting has been sparse in the days since the National Enquirer's alleged (for the second time in a year) that former Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards was embroiled in a "love-child scandal" with 44-year-old videographer Rielle Hunter (aka Lisa Druck) at the Beverly Hilton. Both Hunter and Edwards denied having the tabloid's initial salacious cover story last October. Now, a handful of videos in which Hunter, as producer, documented John Edwards' travels over......

Evangelical mega-pastor Rev. Rick Warren of Saddleback Church and author of "The Purpose-Driven Life" has done what nobody else could. No, Warren has not established peace on earth or claimed an end to global poverty, but this morning he announced that he'll be bringing the two major 2008 presidential candidates together (or, rather, back-to-back) on August 16.......

Photo by aturkus via Flickr Ron Kaye, the previous Editor of the Daily News, has kept up his writing and thoughts on Los Angeles post job via his blog, which has turned activist. Like many, he is dissatisfied with the machine that is Los Angeles politics and city services. Lately, he's been meeting with people and community groups all over the city. He was invited back for a Daily News editorial yesterday: The anger......

Today in his LA Times column, Steve Lopez takes a look at Chicago--who beat us out for the 2016 Olympics, no less--and wonders if Los Angeles can use the "Windy City" as a "role model" for a better way of living and running a metropolis. He asks three pointed questions of direct comparison: But why does a city that's under ice half the year have a better system of bike lanes, not to mention a......

Fundraising events when re-election campaigns are imminent are nothing all that noteworthy, unless you happen to be the Mayor of Los Angeles getting cash in another Mayor's territory, namely Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco. Tonight at the Neiman-Marcus store in SF's Union Square, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be the central feature of an "invitation-only champagne reception" which is "expected to raise tens of thousands of dollars for his re-election bid next spring," reports SF......

Photo by Jsome1 via Flickr There's what looks to be a great issue of Under the Radar magazine coming out the first week of July. The Decemberists, Spoon, R.E.M., Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, Jarvis Cocker, The Flaming Lips, Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine, Moby, Bright Eyes and others will be exploring the 2008 presidential election. Other bands appearing in photos holding protest signs include British Sea Power, The Dresden Dolls, Supergrass,......

Photo courtesy of Zach Behrens/LAist What can we say? The Playboy mansion loves LAist. After a highly amusing bout at Spike TV's Guy's Choice Awards afterparty, we were invited back to check out the 3rd annual Marijuana Policy Project fundraiser. With Perry Farrel of Jane's Addiction at the turntables and celebrities swarming the grounds, hundreds flocked to the Mansion with the sole intention to raise awareness about the importance of marijuana legalization. Well that, and......

We've already covered the strikes in Europe over rising oil prices; now Rome has become the site of an emergency UN summit on the food crises that are sweeping the globe. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. has become a major target of international criticism over its food policies and interest in corn-based biofuels. From the LA Times: Delegates clashed during the second day of the three-day meeting over how much blame can be assigned to biofuels for......

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., left, gestures toward Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., right, as he shakes hands with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. upon his arrival for a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington today on the environment and global warming. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Today over at the Huffington Post, California Senator Barbara Boxer contributes her third post to the locally based blog and news site -- this time in an effort of advocacy: Today,......

After San Francisco Congressman Tom Lantos' death, San Fernando Valley congressman Howard Berman took the seat as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. That means he's in charge of the committee with "oversight over policies in Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the globe's hotspots," according to an Associated Press profile of the politician. It perhaps can be read wrong, but the quote that's catching everyone's eyes is this one: "'Sometimes the best things......

"I don't know if I'm more sad or more angry," Treesavers founder Jerry Rubin said this morning as he witnessed Santa Monica workers cut down 23 ficus trees on 2nd and 4th Street. He stood on a stump where one of the trees used to stand for over 40 years -- it only took a matter of minutes to cut it down. "We'll be back again, and we won't get caught with our pants down......

Assemblywoman Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, second from right, being sworn in by her predecessor, Assemblyman Fabian Nunez, of Los Angeles, left, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger applauds during ceremonies at the Capitol in Sacramento. Second from left is Bass' stepdaughter Yvette Lechuga who held the bible used in the swearing in. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) Today, Karen Bass, a local representative, was sworn in as the Speaker of the California State Assembly. She is the first......

Photo by Rick O! via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr A shark attack off the shores of San Diego killed Dr. Dave Martin, a retired veterinarian and triathlete from Solana Beach. Martin was taking part in an early morning group swim near Fletcher Cove when the incident occured; an 8-mile section of beach remains closed. The fate of Rocky, the grizzly bear who bit and killed his trainer earlier this week, will......

Photo by kpeII via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The elderly women known as the 'Black Widows' have been found guilty of murder conspiracy. Partial verdicts were read today against 77-year-old Helen Golay and 75-year-old Olga Rutterschmidt for their roles in two murders. A 27-year-old man from Sherman Oaks jumped to his death this morning from an overpass on the 210 Freeway at Sierra Avenue in Fontana. He had left his car......

Not only is Lou Dobbs angry at Councilman Ed Reyes and LAPD Chief Bratton, but he doesn't seem to be a fan of Los Angeles and especially Mayor Villaraigosa after yesterday's news of his letter to Homeland Security regarding ICE. Check this video below:......

Thanks to the most exciting primary season in years, there's been an understandable lot of talking about the process of selecting a presidential candidate, especially regarding Delegates, Super Delegates, and of course, Mutant Delegates from the sewars. Unfortunately, there's been a kind of New Star Wars Trilogy feel to reporting on the matter; ponderous, boring, pretentious and narratively inconsistent, but somehow taking forever to get through. The general consensus seems to be that these Ancient,......

Kevin Roderick, by Marc Goldstein courtesy KCRW. In May, Kevin Roderick's LA Observed will celebrate its fifth year as one of the city's main online destination for those seeking the inside scoop on media and politics. Roderick, a 25-year veteran of the LA Times and author of two books about Los Angeles, sat down for nearly an hour where talking about the past, present and future of LA Observed, why he thinks people should......