TALK Matt Welch, editor of Reason magazine and author of McCain: The Myth of a Maverick will be providing his take on the Republican Presidential nominee at the Deconstructing McCain chat. Sure to be a thought provoking and stirring presentation and of growing importance given the fast approaching election. 7:30 pm // Los Angeles Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium // 630 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles // Free READING Michael Ondaatje, author of The......

Photo of the Vincent Thomas Bridge by Jonathan Alcom (Sundogg) via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr We've been covering the city's police force a lot lately -- and before you think those officers just sit around eating donuts all day, you should definitely check out the LA Times guide to the Best Eats on the Beats. (Think Mexican food.) In more fun food news, EaterLA gives us the breakdown of Los Angeles......

When it comes to basketball, anyway. The Republican nominee today unveiled a new feature on his website: compare your picks for the 2008 March Madness tournament with his picks. You can even donate your points to the university of your choice so your school can win. Gimmicky? Absolutely. But brilliant. In order to compare your picks, you must create an account; the only required information is your email address and zip code. That’s golden......

As the country waits to see what the future holds for crusader turned illicit copulater Eliot Spitzer, it is worth examining what impact his prostitute predilection might have on the Democratic Party. Spitzer, the once immensely popular governor of New York that swept into office with 70 percent of the vote, was an early and avid supporter of Hillary Clinton. He is a Clinton superdelegate and helped solidify the support she enjoys in the state......

Nick's, home of delicious breakfast burritos, by Rebecca~James via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr Remember when we told you that Los Angeles tap water was the best tasting in the world? Turns out that our delicious H20 might have been sprinkled with delicious drugs. The AP found that a multitude of pharmaceuticals, like antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones, have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million......

At a press conference today wih presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, Pres. Bush (who, despite popular opinion, is still president) officially endorsed the Arizona Senator and took a few questions from those wacky reporters who still have the gall to ask questions. During the ten minute media bonanza, Bush showed how little he cares for the free press and, apparently, for McCain. He continually interrupted the Senator and attempted to show, with body language and......

Not that we did not know already, but now it is official: Mike Huckabee announced shortly before 6:30 p.m. PST that he is dropping out of the race. The presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain is expected to hold his victory speech later tonight in Dallas (UPDATE: McCain began his victory speech at 6:48 p.m. PST -- "Stand up and fight for America, the contest begins tonight" MSNBC live on air reports that his teleprompter failed......

Did John McCain have a sex scandal? Is Perez Hilton going to have a deal with Warner Brothers? Both stories come from the New York Times with uncorroborated sources, the latter today in which the facts of Hilton's story were "confirmed by several other people associated with the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity because no deal has been made." Whether or not it is true or will go through, it is interesting nonetheless.......

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early The electronic voting machine company, Diebold, has accidently leaked the results of the 2008 Election. Still, the company and the country will go on with the election to please the people. "This country is based on the fantasy that the government is the voice of the people," one Diebold representative said. Related on LAist (and in reality) -- Secretary of State Debra Bowen Checks Out NH Voting......

Campaign Buttons, by JSF539 via Flickr Thomas Pynchon once said, "If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." But if they find you in the romantic embrace of a lobbyist and you happen to be a Senator from Arizona, it doesn't matter what they're asking, just what they are reporting and late Wednesday, the New York Times broke it wide open. In a piece that had......

But what about Ron Paul?!?!......

Mitt Romney, by pauladamsmith via Flickr Mitt Romney, a Republican Governor from a Democratic state, quit the presidential race today following huge gains made by John McCain on Super Tuesday. Romney received 175 delegates on Tuesday, compared with at least 504 for McCain and 141 for Huckabee. In his goodbye speech, made today at the at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Romney sought to end the Democratic march toward the presidency,......

Yes, kids, Clinton took the state for the Dems, and McCain nabbed a GOP victory here in California, but the rest of yesterday's ballot had some very important propositions and measures on the line. Here's how things shook out:Proposition 91 (Gasoline Tax): DEFEATED Proposition 92 (Community College costs lowered): DEFEATED Proposition 93 (Term Limits): DEFEATED Propositions 94-97 (Indian Gaming): PASSED LA City Proposition S (the "phone tax" prop): PASSED Area-specific Measures: Measure B, a communications......

Whatching the results, by Denis Sarkic via Flickr . If for some oddball reason you decide not to watch election results with all your favorite LAisters, there are many options for you politicos who want to see where the electoral chips will fall. While all the major candidates will be in their home state to watch the returns tonight, local events around town have been organized by the major candidates so you can watch......

Not sure how to cap off your Super Tuesday voting experience? Why not grab a drink with LAist! We'll be at the Seven Grand in Downtown from 7-9 p.m., and your first drink is free if you're sporting the hottest accessory in town tomorrow: Your "I Voted" sticker! 21+ only, please. The body of a 32-year-old woman who fell off a cliff late Saturday morning near Chantry Flats on Mount Wilson has been recovered. Recovery......

"You would think that something affecting millions of voting Americans would top the list of talking points for every one of the candidates. Yet most of those stumping for the nation's highest office have offered little more than platitudes: When it comes to transportation, they're basically for it."...

"Found on sidewalk near Hope & 8th" Ball-busting: The City of Los Angeles is considering mandating spaying and neutering for all cats and dogs because shelters are overcrowded and so many animals go unadopted. Enforcement is expected to be easygoing, as in if your pet minds its own business you'll stay under the radar, but if your neighbor logs in a complaint about your barking dog and his junk is still ready to make......

Arnie and Johnny Mac had their little love-in this morning with Rudy G looking on. But Gov. Schwarzenegger's public endorsement of McCain was sandwiched by an abundance of pandering. Even the host CEO of Solar Integrated Technologies, took full advantage of the hundreds of journalists in attendance to pimp his company. "This is an example of how much excitement solar energy can create," said Schwarzenegger. "I love it." But the excitement had little to......

Our crack political team is projecting "reason to believe" that both Rudy Giuliani and Gov. Schwarzenegger will endorse John McCain for the Republican nomination very soon. We've sorted through various flight plans and itineraries, deciphered a number of "no comments" and left several voice messages on Wolf Blitzer's cell. Schwarzenegger will endorse "within days," Sen. Lindsay Graham told reporters before McCain took off for Burbank this morning. It's unclear whether that means today, or......

The eyes of the nation are turning to the Ronald Reagan Library today, where debates for the Republican front-runners will begin. This is the last debate opportunity for the GOP before "Super Tuesday" next week (LAist is throwing an Election Party to celebrate). Pundits are now anointing John McCain as a front-runner thanks to his campaign success this week in Florida, with Mitt Romney cast in the role of his fiercest opponent. The question......

R&B singer Ike Turner, who some consider a father of rock-n-roll, did not go gently into that good night when he died at his home near San Diego in December. In fact, the 76-year-old was high, high, high on cocaine. The coroner reports that he died of "cocaine toxicity." And while it's sad when anyone dies of drug use -- because generally, we figure nobody starts partying with the idea that it's going to......

Mitt Romney is the consummate, cookie-cutter, robot-like Republican. Forget about eliciting animation or human emotion from this wanna-be prez. Even his campaign henchmen lack the ability to opine on, well, just about anything, as evidenced below. Romney is lucky to have 30 delegates on his side after Iowa and New Hampshire. Problem is, it takes 1,191 to win the Republican nomination. The 60-year-old former Massachusetts governor does have one or two things going for him,......

Today is the first day you can sign up to be an absentee voter in California for the Feb.5 Primary. To do so, click here and fill out the form. The application must be received by election officials no later than midnight on Jan. 29. More than half the total votes in California's Primary could be mailed in, and many of those ballots will be cast long before Election Day. (AP) The use of......

This weekend marks the height of the "celebrity" dog-and-pony shows for the Democrats: Hillary Clinton brought daughter Chelsea (we wondered where she was) and her momma Dorothy Rodham on the campaign trail in Iowa. And Barack Obama brought out the big gun -- Oprah Winfrey -- to Iowa and South Carolina. But Republicans have friends in Hollywood, too. Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, also has his own celebrity endorsement: Chuck Norris. Yup. Walker......

On Monday, we previewed the Democratic candidates in the run up to the Feb. 5 California Primary and Jan. 31 Iowa Caucus. Today, we'll look at each Republican candidate vying to be the leader of the GOP world as we prepare to profile all candidates on a deeper level than this brief glimpse allows. All poll numbers cited are from Pollster.com, unless otherwise noted, and are current as of Dec. 2. While we will......

Mr. Negative is tired of watching the GOP candidates pussy-foot around the hardcore questions that YouTube and CNN are dishing. Mr. Negative ain't stupid, he knows what you're really saying. With immigration reform failing, will I have a job? Yes, there are still openings at Wal-Mart...but they don't provide health insurance. Actually most corporations are moving towards eliminating all benefits for the working class. But $1.99 tube socks, you just can't fuckin' beat that!......

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"......

When Apple announced their new iPods yesterday the big winner was LAist. Why? Because the new iPods have been equipped to work with WiFi so that people can access Apple's extremely profitable iTunes store. And in the iTunes store, for free, will be all of the LAist radio shows that we are doing on NowLive.com. And, in fact you can subscribe to all of the LAist shows as we record them. Ah, technology. Last......

LAist has an Internet radio show. Today is our soft launch. On the show will be Matt Welch of the LA Times talking to LAist Editor Tony Pierce about Welch's new book about John McCain. Call in at 310 984-7600 and listen by joining us after the jump.........

Don't forget to head out to the LA Tofu Festival and Sunset Junction Street Fair this weekend! Several large Japanese corporations are working with Japanese American community organizations in L.A. to bring a massive float to the U.S. for the first time. The very "principled" Republicans senators in the California legislature are citing fiscal sanity and their constituents as the primary factors driving their continued stalling on the budget bill. A man was hit......