Monthly Archives: February 2012
VIRGIN: Virgin of the Razor Wire, “Pray for Us”
In a back alley in Highland Park, northeast Los Angeles.
GANGS: Are gang members gay?
Talking with a transgender woman the other day, I was informed of the following: Tiny Lexington Avenue in Hollywood is known as a strip for transgender prostitution. Gang members from Central America tax the streetwalkers for permission to work. Sometimes … Continue reading
Filed under Gangs, Los Angeles, Streets
STREETS: Adan, ice cream vendor
Took this photo the other day when I was in Glassell Park, in northeast L.A. I was asking Adan if he wasn’t afraid driving through Drew Street in Glassell Park, which had been a very frightening place, due to a … Continue reading
BUSINESS: An upholsterer’s revolutionary roots – Benjamin Argumedo IV
Gritaba Francisco Villa: ¿dónde te hallas Argumedo? ven párate aquí adelante tú que nunca tienes miedo. Today, looking for someone else, I happened upon Benjamin Argumedo IV — great-grandson of the famed Mexican revolutionary of the same name. The … Continue reading
Filed under Culture, Migrants, Southern California
FOR THE RECORD: Is losing manufacturing jobs inevitable?
If so, why have other developed countries, with high wages and developed safety nets, lost far fewer than the US? This study, from the Brookings Institute in DC, argues that manufacturing job loss is not inevitable, but requires an industrial … Continue reading
Filed under For The Record
VIRGIN: Nino’s Meat Market
Another in my attempt to chronicle the many Virgins of Guadalupes on Los Angeles walls. The more I do it, the more I’m struck by the way the street of south LA and of Pico-Union, Hollywood and other neighborhoods make … Continue reading
Filed under Los Angeles, Mexico, Migrants, Virgin
MEXICO: El Palenque
A great way to see what Mexico’s best columnists and academics are thinking is El Palenque from the online news site, Animal Politico. This week’s discussion is about whether Mexico’s system is broken, and how to fix it. The discussion … Continue reading
Filed under Mexico
BOOKS: The American Revolution
I’m reading now Gordon Wood’s The Radicalism of the American Revolution, which follows my finishing Founding Brothers (Joseph Ellis) a few weeks ago. I’m woefully unread about the American Revolution, to my embarrassment. Anyway, as I’ve read I’ve found myself … Continue reading
Filed under Books
MEXICO: Lynching follow up
A Mexican official said Friday that there is no evidence that the three youths lynched by a mob outside Mexico City had intended to kidnap anyone. As I wrote in a post a week ago, the three were killed a … Continue reading
Filed under Mexico, Uncategorized
LOS ANGELES: LAT to charge for online content
The LA Times, my employer, will now be charging for online content, as its president announced Friday. An idea that had to come, I think, as newspapers cannot continue to give away content that costs money to generate. As the … Continue reading
Filed under Los Angeles
STREET: Questions for a transgender Mexican immigrant?
I’m in Chatsworth, in LA’s San Fernando Valley, to interview a transgender woman from Merida, Mexico. I’m interested in hearing a story of her transformation, which apparently took place here, and it was seeking this that she fled Mexico (fled … Continue reading
Filed under Los Angeles, Mexico, Migrants, Uncategorized
GANGS: Where’d all the gangs go? pt. II
I spent some time today on Drew Street in the Glassell Park neighborhood in northeast LA. This three three-block stretch was once one of the most dangerous spots in the city. It was essentially a closed society, and had … Continue reading
Filed under Drugs, Gangs, Los Angeles, Mexico, Migrants
TELL YOUR TRUE TALE: Santa Fe Springs Ice Cream War
This week on Tell Your True Tale, my storytelling website, is a story by … me. Don’t usually do that, as I want the site to be for others to tell their stories, which it has been. But every once … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
JOURNALISM OF SURPRISE: Today’s stories
Part of what I hope to do with this blog is report and point out stories that surprise. With that in mind, I’m starting something I hope will become a regular part of the blog — as much as time … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
