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......

Recently we've been ranting about sports figures who have taken unnecessary swipes at the blogosphere (see Kornheiser, Tony and Cuban, Mark). Today, we half-heartedly enshrine Bob Costas on our list o' luddites -- not because of his attack, but because of his apology (in a different way than the self-condemning explanations of Kornheiser and Cuban). Just to be clear, we still love Bob Costas with all of our heart. Seriously, the man is an icon.......

Mark Cuban is somebody sports fans can appreciate on a lot of levels. He's a self-made man, he's living his dreams, and he owns a pretty damn good NBA team. He's even parlayed that into reality TV stardom and probably gets all the tail that he wants. More power to him. Unfortunately, Cuban -- who built his empire on internet commerce -- has decided to smack technological progress in the face. Per his own blog,......

Last year I challenged myself to stop using plastic bags at grocery stores by bringing my own reusable ones. After months of forgetting to bring my own bags and kicking my own arse mentally, it is now a natural habit when heading out the door. Now it's time to challenge myself again with reusables. It may make me look like an old crazy bag lady, but it must be done. I must start to make......

Monday Bjorn Lomborg presents Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming 7pm @ Central Library Terry Pratchett presents Making Money 7pm @ Borders, Torrance Randall Robinson presents An Unbroken Agony 7pm @ EsoWon Books Tuesday Carol Muske-Dukes presents Channeling Mark Twain 7pm @ Vroman's Cathy Malkasian presents Percy Gloom 7pm @ Book Soup Gilbert Hernandez presents Chance in Hell 7pm @ Book Soup Leslie Garis signs House of Happy Endings 7pm @......

I am a polite, mild-mannered person. Laid-back would be a good L.A. way of saying it - I say duuude a lot, about as much as I say "please" and "thank you". I hold doors open for people. I am kind to the elderly, even those who try to strike up conversations with me in elevators, despite my extraordinary claustrophobia. The peccadilloes and perversities of human nature that draw other, less mellow people to......

Since it appears that some of my prior posts have infuriated readers enough to call me something along the lines of "a poison to society," I have come to realize that I must be extremely influential and powerful in my role of (as one person called me), "Queen of the Retards." Otherwise, people wouldn't be so upset, would they? They would shake their heads and say "moron" and click on one of the other,......

When we heard that a Georgia couple were sentenced to prison yesterday for the death-by-vegan-diet of their infant son, we got a little bit pissed off: "DAMN VEGANS and their DAMN DIETARY RESTRICTIONS! Now they're killing babies, what's next?? Muzzling tigers so they can't hunt their prey? De-fanging sharks so they can't devour fish? Ruining Christmas???" Then we calmed down a bit and took a closer look at the story: the baby's death was......

Today we will look at one of my least favorite fashion occurrences. This has been going on for far too long, and I have lost the self-control to tolerate it. As with all moronic fashion trends, for months I patiently photographed the idiocy and awaited its disappearance. The problem we face today is that the Sausage Mc Muffins simply are not going away. So I must ask you Los Angeles: how can we eliminate......

LAist Rants are strictly the opinions of the author in question. Uncanny as it is, they are written in first person! We keep them on Sundays because even the hive mind needs a rest. I didn't know. Maybe you did. Like Whole Foods, Ralphs gives you a dime discount when you bring your own bags. So anyway, how are you doing on that reusable bag thing we discussed in May?......

LAist Rants are strictly the opinions of the author in question. Uncanny as it is, they are written in first person! We keep them on Sundays because even the hive mind needs a rest. I always had them in my car trunk with good intentions. Though, for years, I would forget to use them and give myself the obligatory mental swift kick in the arse, each and every time at the grocery store check......

LAist Rants are strictly the opinions of the author in question. They are even in first person! We keep them on Sundays because even the hive mind needs a rest. After threatening for about three months to do so, I've finally committed myspace-icide. I've never liked myspace. I get it, sure. It is an easy way to keep in touch with lots of people. The way bands and musicians use the service is stellar......

LAist Rants are strictly the opinions of the author in question. They are even in first person! We keep them on Sundays because even the hive mind needs a rest. Traffic, everybody hates it. We are all tired of sitting on the freeways and streets burning gas and going nowhere. Everybody knows what a drag it is taking 45 minutes to go 12 miles. It stinks. Let's take into account that there is only......

LAist Rants are strictly the opinions of the author in question. They are even in first person! We keep them on Sundays because even the hive mind needs a rest. I used to spend my weekdays in gray-carpeted offices, wondering how I could get out of work in time to beat everyone else to Ralph's, say, or get through Glendale during Christmas season without battling Galleria traffic. I imagined driving up to LAX without......