As gas prices have been stagnant at $4.61/gallon for regular in Los Angeles (the average is $4.075 for the country) for the past five days, John McCain is calling for, among other things, offshore drilling laws to be eased. He's obviously gaining oil industry support. Then today, President George Bush called for a lift on the ban of offshore drilling, even though it could take 10 years to get the oil "fully pumping again." Meanwhile,......

Photo by ask via Flickr One of the debates that swirls around Los Angeles is a basic one that has been going on for over a century: how to pronounce the City's name. We've given you a pronounciation guide for L.A. leaders, so here's a little more on the City's name pronounciation... In 1923, Will M. Cressy of San Francisco wrote that there were 26 ways to mispronounce Los Angeles, to which columnist Jack......

We love when politicians and government officials chime in on LAist's comment section. The latest political celebrity, Senator Jim Battin (R- La Quinta), caught wind of an article this morning about SB 1374, a bill he submitted last week that would allow car pool lane access for any car owner who off-sets their emissions with carbon credits, ultimately letting solo drivers of all sorts, including SUVs and Hummers, onto California freeways. Commenters brought out ammunition......

a writer's perspective The negotiating committees for the WGA and AMPTP are meeting today in a last-ditch effort to avert a strike. Personally, given the vitriolic rhetoric that has been spewed between the two parties, the cocky swagger of the producers, and the overwhelming solidarity of the writers, I find it hard to believe that we are headed anywhere other than the picket line come first thing tomorrow morning. There is a perverse inexplicable......

Consolation Prize of a Lifetime - Al Gore is a man of peace and gets the homepage of Apple.com all to himself -- should we expect the iAl to come out by the holidays? The Catalina Island Avalon city employee who beheaded a deer and left it in a soccer net is definitely not getting any peace prize. There was another suspicious package today left around City Hall, forcing street closures and the evacuation......

The TelePromTer-readers and out-of-touch-hate-mongers of the mainstream media thought that they were being super-cool by discussing/bitching about the presidential candidate debates that were posted on YouTube. So since that new, interesting, and youth-vote promoting aspect of the next election has been talked to death by the talking-heads, I have found these candidate related webpages to occupy me during my early in the ante meridian down-time: At SuperBook.com, you can go to their "Exotic Lines"......

Handsome bastards Max Lugavere and Jason Silva, together Max & Jason, are the face of the Al Gore-backed tv network Current TV. Current is currently the fastest growing tv network on cable and it could be due to edgy, fun, interesting topics told by cool people based in their Hollywood studios. Max & Jason interview who they want, where they want, for whatever reasons that they want. LAist caught up with them early this......

Could changes finally be coming to Sepulveda Boulevard after more than eight long years of debate? Who knew comic book fans could be so violent? Times reporter Geoff Boucher was attacked covering Comic-Con this past weekend. Sounds like a good idea: Hollywood residents are turning to birth control pills to control the pigeon population. Al Gore's son pleaded guilty to possessing marijuana and other drugs this morning. Seriously, you guys deserve it: members of......

- City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo vs. District Attorney Steve Cooley. Ehhhh, both are whiners. - They say Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has wanderlust and doesn't pay attention to the issues at hand. He's a Leo -- save that wanderlust for us in the Sagittarius clan. - Worst reason not to ban smoking: "... it's kind of stupid because so many people smoke [in Glendale]." Uhhhhhhh. - Al Gore's youngest daughter got married last night in Beverly......

The greatest surprise performance at the 24-hour Live Earth was not Kanye West and John Mayer joining the Police on "Message in a Bottle." Hell, no. It was Spinal Tap (reunited) with some help from Metallica (they actually laugh) bringing down London's Wembley Stadium with hits like "Stonehenge" and "Big Bottom." Madonna's gypsy-hobo-punk performance -- fully choreographed -- of "La Isla Bonita" with Eugene and Serge from Gogol Bordello was also surprisingly excellent (watch......

The biggest international benefit concert since Live8 Live Aid of all time is ON. The 24-hour affair began around 10 p.m. PDT Friday and concludes late Saturday in Jersey. And we must rock because... why? Whelp... Al Gore said so. Yes, the former Veep who let some derelicts pickpocket his presidency before performing an Academy Award-winning PowerPoint presentation in An Inconvenient Truth is taking green global. Why not turn "can rock 'n' roll save......

Bad news: Al Gore was caught speeding at 100 mph in Laguna Nigel this morning at 2:15am. Good news: It wasn't the guy who invented the Internet, Al Gore, it was his son, Al Gore III. Bad news: The cops also found that he had an ounce of weed as well as some Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall. Good news: Now the President has a perfect person to pardon because brah didn't have a......

The Communications Workers of America released their initial (small) data sample revealing the molasses-slow pace of U.S. broadband connectivity. And tech-savvy, forward-thinking California clocks slower-than-average speeds. Blaming your new AT&T or Time-Warner or Verizon or Al Gore simply isn't going to fix the Internet, the union warns. Even Canada ranks significantly higher in broadband speeds. Take the speed test, play with the interactive data, or grab the PDF. Hmm. Maybe if we just just......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

A Word or 20: No network or cable channel has made a compelling reason to stay inside this Memorial Day Weekend and watch TV. Tonight - Friday - May 25, 2007 Cubs @ Dodgers (Prime, 7:30 p.m.) The Henry Rollins Show (IFC, 8:00 p.m.) Steve Buscemi pushes new films Interview and Delirious, and discusses his years as a firefighter and working at Ground Zero. In a 'Letter' to Michael Chertoff Rollins reflects on the......

Some may consider Bill Clinton a liability to Sen. Hillary Clinton's bid to be the first female U.S. President, but the most famous porn star of all time says that when she looks back at Bill, she smiles. At the end of a long interview conducted by a press release website and posted today, Jameson is not asked about her struggle with cancer that lead to a miscarriage, instead she is asked about politics:......

It's been shocking to watch the GOP meltdown before our very eyes. Just this week we've seen our Governor fight with Rush Limbaugh, and today we saw Barbara Boxer beat down the Republican Senator from Oklahoma, in a beautifully sweet way, we must add. Is Sen. Inhofe all the Republicans have in this super weird debate over Global Warming? What, no Zell Miller? We never thought we'd see a day when the upper class......

Yesterday's leaked list of 2007 Pulitzer finalists included last year's excellent LA Times series on the perils facing the world's oceans. Altered Oceans is to be nominated for the Exploratory journalism Pulitzer, and it's hard to think of any newspaper series from 2006 that was a more engaging read. To put it frankly, Al Gore's environmental doc An Inconvenient Truth has got nothing on Altered Oceans. While the film discussed the horrible future of......

Now, not only is Al Gore "a total fag", but John Edwards is too? Just when you thought the ultra-blond, ultra-conservative pundit had made her last hateful remark, she goes and does it again. And gets cheers for that matter. After the jump read what Edwards' wife had to say about all of this.......

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor spending a......

We'd like to start this week's run-down by wishing a very happy birthday to parent blog Gothamist, which turned four on Friday. If it wasn't for them, the rest of us wouldn't be here. They celebrated their birthday by nabbing an interview with Entourage star Adrian Grenier, who misses NYC public transportation when he's working in LA. They also reported on NYU students protesting a band whose name is also known as a slur,......

The Lakers go up against the best franchise of the last decade in San Antonio, win one of the most exciting and best-played games of their season last night — despite 2/5ths of the starting lineup watching from home — and what is the Lakers reward? A plane ride in an ice storm to face the hottest (and maybe best) team in the NBA. Welcome to the fun of the NBA in Texas these days.......

"Nerdy" men, or what I like to call "the boy/man next door" have made a strong showing in 2006 and I'm here to list the cream of the crop. 1. John Krasinski - "Jim" the anti-stud in the NBC hit "The Office", he wins us over with his everyday charm. 2. Andy Samberg - This genius 28-year-old newbie to "Saturday Night Live" brought us "Lazy Sunday" and "D**k in a Box" -- he's bringing......

GQ interviewed former VP Al Gore recently and he took whatever was stuck up his ass that made him appear wooden and beat the hell out of the current administration with it using some amazingly inconvenient truths: It is inconceivable to me that Bush would read a warning as stark and as clear [voice angry now] as the one he received on August 6th of 2001, and, according to some of the new histories,......

Tonight - Wednesday If I could do it all or if you could convince me otherwise: "College Basketball" (Fox Sports, 7:30 p.m.) Kansas State @ California "NBA Basketball" (PRIME, 7:30 p.m.) Grizzlies @ Clippers "Woman On Top" (IFC, 6:00 p.m.) The best position and Penelope Cruz's career establishing flick. "Great Performances: A Tribute to James Taylor" (PBS, 8:00 p.m.) Just as corny all these years later. "Jericho" (CBS, 8 p.m.) Last episode until Feb.......

Topping the list is a horrifyingly bizarre history of the Sunset Junction area. Including a robbery in the '20s of someone who was sporting some fresh old school grillz. 8. 3900 Sunset: November 9, 1928- A bald-headed man with a mouth full of golden choppers held up the California Bank today, with the aid of a less dramatic-looking associate, to the tune of $4,000. This is the fifth robbery at this particular branch in......

Dear LAist, I want to be good citizen but I don't want to give any money to Al Gore and watch that movie. I'm still pissed at he and Tipper's PMRC bullshit. How can I conserve energy during this heat wave? Mr. Greenthumb Venice Dear Mr. Greenthumb, We've noticed that the best way to conserve energy is to use someone else's. If you find yourself turning up the AC in your house, get out......

Last weekend the downtown area had an interesting situation. Al Gore, the former VP was introducing his well-received documentary "An Inconvienent Truth", a film about how to clean up the Earth; meanwhile, about a half mile away at the Convention Center, tens of thousands of fans of adult films were getting autographs of their favorite stars as they celebrated all things dirrrty.......

Mayor Tony plays softball in Dodger Stadium, poses with Playmates, meets the President of the Dominican Republic, and introduces Al Gore before a screening of the former VP's new film - all captured by LA Observed. It's good to be #1. It's also good to be 734. The Valley today gets a new Metro Rapid line. Luckies. The NY Times spends 36 hours in LA and go horseback riding in Griffith Park, eat at......

Al Gore will be presenting his film An Inconvenient Truth at Cal Plaza about a half mile from the big ass sex festival at the Convention Center. If neither of those choices floats your collective boats, may we show you some other offerings tonight: Ice Cube, Kanye West, LL Cool J, Chamillionaire, E-40 @ The Pond Dave Alvin & the Guilty Men @ Safari Sam's Peter Case @ McCabes The Blasters @ Malibu Inn......