Last month, it was discovered that firefighters had allowed porn star Charley Chase to borrow their truck for a video that shows Chase flashing people around town. There was an investigation to discovered what had happened, but because of a loophole, no one was punished. So Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Brian Cummings took this as an opportunity to come clean about some racy photos of his own, according to the Los Angeles Times. more ›

Before Venice Beach became the tourist hot spot it's known as today, it was one of L.A.'s secrets. Actually, it was a topless secret. Before 1974, Venice Beach was a nude mecca and apparently pretty private. But thanks to some media attention, a gubernatorial candidate campaigning in the nude and word spreading throughout town, people started to come and check out the spectacle. Controversy, of course, came to a head and the city banned nudity. But that didn't stop people from coming to Venice. "... it was too late to turn back the clock," wrote historian Jeffrey Stanton wrote in Venice California: Coney Island of the Pacific. "For people had discovered that Venice still existed and was actually a relatively safe place to visit during the day." more ›

It's all in the name of equal rights. Why should it be okay (legally) for men to walk in public shirtless while it's not for women? Here in Los Angeles it's illegal. "There could be some consequence for that," an LAPD spokesperson, calling it indecent exposure, told LAist. more ›

There might have been a pornstar (or just some naked chick) fingering herself in front of photographers behind the walls of Sunset Junction (link is a video taken from afar), but over in Venice Beach, there was a parade of topless Raëlians protesting the 14th Amendment. Xeni Jardin at boingboing captured some video and describes the group as "a religious cult that basically gets you in the door with promises of free sex, then brainwashes you with a bunch of garbage about UFOs and cloning and giving all your money to the church, hosted a 'topless rights' parade in Venice Beach [on Sunday]." more ›

Some people are a bit suspicious of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's last two vacations. The first, a trip to Africa, was right after his inauguration. The second was to Iceland, ending earlier this month. No matter who you are, you deserve a vacation, right? "Since the mayor is mayor 24-7, he does not accrue vacation or sick time," said spokesman Matt Szabo in an e-mail to LAist. "He has the discretion to take time away from the city as necessary." more ›

Warning: Many of these images are NSFW, or Not Safe for Work.

If you've enjoyed legally walking topless around the streets of New York City (yes, it is legal there and if you do get busted, you can take the police to court and win), then you might be interested in protesting for the equal opportunity to go topless in California, too. Tomorrow is National Go Topless Protest Day (with one protest at the Democratic National Convention next week) where those in support of this constitutional cause will march clad in nothing or slightly more. The Venice Beach protest begins at noon on the boardwalk at Navy St. As the neighborhood blog Yo Venice says, "CA Ladies, if you want the same rights as your NY sisters…be at the beach this Saturday." more ›

For every one of the negative anonymous commenters who complain that we cover Britney too much or Anna Nicole or whomever, we get three times the amount of emails from people with tips and photos and videos of random shit going down. more ›