Security personnel place warning cones in front of the closed gates at the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles. West Coast cargo traffic has come to a halt as port workers stage anti-war protests to commemorate May Day. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) In the name of ending the war, all 29 ports along the West Coast, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, have halted operations for one shift. "We are supporting the troops and......

Photo by hinducow via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Over 300,000 troops returning from campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from some sort of mental illness, including PTSD. Over half admit they are not seeking medical treatment. "Trainwreck"? More like "how many college students can we fuck in the ass?" The answer is pretty much all of them: Sallie Mae, the largest student loan company in the United States, says the......

What the hell is up with air travel these days? Another day, another 850 flights canceled because government officials have failed us yet again. Yes, we blame the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA[IIL]). And so does American Airlines:American is cancelling several hundred flights starting on April 8 to conduct additional inspections of its MD-80 fleet. These inspections are to ensure precise and complete compliance with the FAA's directive related to wiring in the aircraft's wheel......

Did anyone watch "Top Gear" last night on BBCA? They had a fantastic contest of who could cross London the fastest: a bicycle, a several hundred horsepower boat, public transportation, or a Mercedes SUV. The bike won! Followed closely by the boat and then public transportation with the SUV dead last by more than a quarter hour after public transport. Since LA doesn't have many viable waterways it looks like it's time to sideline cars......

With government budget's dwindling (so bad, the Mayor took a furlough day yesterday), Southern California leaders met yesterday to discuss transit funding for the 25 million residents in the area. And they expect millions more to move in over the next 30 years. So how to pay for it? Here are some their ideas as reported by the Daily News: State transportation bills, if passed, could allow for bonds to be passed on the......

The Bus Riders Union singing (see the video) | All Photos by Zach Behrens/LAist Saturday's Anti-War March in Hollywood, organized by the ANSWER Coalition was amazing (their acronym stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). Thousands walked down Hollywood Blvd, down Schrader, then onto Sunset, eventually ending in front of the CNN building. Many LAist Featured Photo Contributors have been contributing photos to the Flickr pool an we'll feature them in......

40 years ago today, American soldiers in Charlie Company, of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division, murdered upwards of 500 civilians, almost exclusively women, children, and old men, in the hamlets of My Lai and My Khe in Vietnam. It's true that several soldiers chose not to participate in the event and that there were some heroes, like Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, Jr., a helicopter pilot who put down his aircraft......

On Schrader Ave. in Hollywood | Filmed by Zach Behrens/LAist The Bus Riders Union may have its fair share of lovers and haters, but when it comes to getting together and organizing protest music and song, this just felt great while marching at today's Anti-War March. We had to share. Previously on LAist -- Bus Riders Union Refresher -- Random Street Music at Downtown Art Walk (just for fun)......

Update, 3/15/08: Here's a video of the LAPD at the Anonymous event and a photo essay of all the craziness. Also, here's a video from the Anti-War March.If you're walking the streets of Hollywood this Saturday, be prepared to march or take in the sights -- two protests are planned and both could be crazy. March 15th is the second of worldwide protests against Scientology planned by Anonymous. In the video below, 22 rules are......

In the wake of last week's shooting death of 17-year-old Los Angeles High football star Jamiel Shaw, his community--and the community of LA at large--are mourning the loss and trying to make sense of how a kid who was on the right path in life was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Shaw was gunned down by gang members near his home. His mother is serving her second tour of duty in......

Photographs of the damaged recruiting center (above) and Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly (below) by Mary Altaffer/AP After reports that 10 members of congress, including California Senator Dianne Feinstein, received letters and photos in the mail that possibly claimed responsibility for yesterday's bombing in Times Square, the FBI did the obvious thing: go to the man's house who was listed on the return address. Nothing turned up when they questioned the man. "We're......

Bob Saget will perform at 4th & B in San Diego on March 7, The Grove of Anaheim on March 8 and The Joint at The Hard Rock in Vegas on March 21 as part of his national theater tour and we're lucky to have another chance at him. Bob Saget is known to most people for all the wrong reasons.The cookie-cutter personas of "Full House"'s Danny Tanner and the "America's Funniest Home Videos" host......

Jamiel Shaw, a star athlete at Los Angeles High School, was gunned down near his West Adams home on Sunday on the 2100 block of S. 5th Street. While on the phone with his girlfriend, Shaw, 17, was allegedly approached by two Latino men and asked what gang he was affiliated with. When he didn't say anything, they shot him. After being shot, Shaw was discovered by his father, Jamiel Shaw Sr. who had heard......

Photo by pink_fish13 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Police are investigating the tragic shooting death of Los Angeles High School's Jamiel Shaw. The football MVP was gunned down by gang members last night. The 17-year-old's mother is on her second tour of duty in Iraq. The suspect in last week's shooting at a South LA bus stop is facing 15 felony counts and was arraigned today on the charges. The 24-year-old......

Photo of crowd at Los Angeles debate in January by shredded77 via Flickr Last Friday, Sarah Miller's Open Letter to Barack Obama in the LA Times Opinion section caught my eye. Got me thinking. Had me nodding my head. I'm not the only one, as the comments on her letter are getting heated. As an Obama supporter, she raised some concerns about his seeming inability to be concrete and clear about how he is......

As the culminating event of a fifteen week workshop that joined veterans, performing artists, and activists in a series of verbal and physical conversations about their lives and aspirations, "Action Conversations" was presented at Highways Performance Space for only three performances, February 8-9. Through a collaborative process under the direction of UCLA professor and choreographer Victoria Marks, the performers revealed some of the highlights of their explorations of identity, heroics, mortality and civic responsibility in......

Alternative 9 combines a Wilshire and Santa Monica alignment for two subways Update*: Metro called to strongly emphasize that the projected 10-year-period (three for environmental studies, seven for construction) is the reality under the most ideal circumstances (that circumstance is if we had the funding today). Metro confirms this is the timeline and the 5-year hypothetical may have been misheard or said. At the meeting, the freakily fast timeline was mentioned in the context......

Photo by decadentyou via Flickr The Daily News has an interesting and thorough report on an alleged Iraqi spy living in Canoga Park, a neighborhood in the Northwest Valley. William Shaoul Benjamin, 65, an Iraqi-born naturalized U.S. citizen, goes on trial today on federal charges that he failed to "register, as required by law, as an agent for executed Iraq leader Saddam Hussein's feared intelligence service, whose leaders are believed by U.S. officials to......

President Bush's final State of the Union address by Just Say K.B. via Flickr President George Bush delivered his final State of the Union address this evening. As we mercifully begin the transition out of the Bush era, let us examine the President's speech in typical Washington fashion: taking out a few lines here and there for the most opportune response. We have faced hard decisions about peace and war, rising competition in the world......

by Joe King, from Pyle of List. No, this isn't about Pete Carroll returning to the NFL. That would definitely be time to panic, maybe even call the National Guard...if they're back from Iraq yet. This is about the first USC-UCLA game of the college basketball season. This is important people. Both teams played well in last year's NCAA tournament. Both teams had high expectations before the season started. Both teams had blue-chip freshman that......

We always encourage you to press that little recommend button at the bottom right hand corner of every post if you enjoyed it. For one, it tells us what you want more of here it LAist. So here's this week's five most recommended posts, as recommended by you: 1. LAist Interview: Matt Reeves, Director of Cloverfield: It was nice to have so many Cloverfield fan sites point to this in depth interview. Who knew that......

Real Time with Bill Maher returned to HBO Friday night sans Maher's talented staff of writers (nominated once again by the WGA for outstanding achievement in a TV Comedy/Variety Series). Following a somewhat contentious panel discussion with Tony Snow, Mark Cuban, Matt Taibbi and Catherine Crier, Maher delivered an emotional critique of the strike, now heading into its 10th week.......

So, looking forward to the Golden Globes tomorrow night? If you like lists being read aloud (and, really, who doesn't?) then NBC has a show for you. But, wait, there's more! Since the news conference announcing the winners will take one hour, NBC is filling the other two hours originally scheduled for the Globes with a "Dateline" special, including interviews to be conducted by Matt Lauer with some actors that are up for some......

In a couple hours, the Iowa caucuses- or Hawkeye Caucii, if you prefer- will be starting, and that means we're off to the races for a new President. Are we the only ones screaming WTF at this? Why on Earth does Iowa get to have such a crucial role in our electoral system. Why on Earth should a state with about a fourth of the people of L.A. County get the first say in who......

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......

So, you know how MTA is considering ridding our freeways of carpool lanes? One outraged blogger blames Bush because, "local officials in the MTA are being forced to take a more free-enterprise approach to freeway management in order to qualify for federal transportation dollars." In a move designed to empower local Iraqi municipalities, the US Army is planning on concentrating its forces in Baghdad as the army continues to draw down its forces after......

An “acid bomb” is capable of a 300-foot blast radius. So why did a 12-year-old bring one to school today in the OC? Cal State Northridge (CSUN) is building a 1,700-seat, performing arts center and just received their largest donation of one million from Attorney and civic leader David Fleming and his wife, Jean. Oh noes! Charlize Theron's home got robbed last week! Save up those quarters, DASH will not be accepting Metro passes......

It’s a beautiful, wonderful day! Why, you ask? Have they pulled the troops from Iraq? Is America’s Next Top Model going to be syndicated twice a night, every night? Has the retail industry decided that Christmas should just be about spending time with family and loved ones, and yanked their holiday marketing bonanzas? No…it’s even better. For those of you who missed it this morning…Dunkin’ Donuts coffee will now be available for purchase in......

In a stunning accusation of a crime that in most circles is tantamount to treason, former White House mouthpiece Scott McClellan claims that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove and others were all in on outting 20-year CIA agent Valerie Plame. Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan blames President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity......

The Los Angeles Police Department has decided against instituting a plan to "map" the city's Muslim communities, in what was being billed as a counter-terrorism effort. According to the LA Daily News: "It's been put aside," said LAPD spokeswoman Mary Grady. "It became clear to us [that Muslim communities] were not comfortable with the word mapping and what they believed it meant: racial profiling." Instead, Grady said the Los Angeles Police Department would build......