On the same day the Motion Picture Academy announced its annual Oscar nominations - and came under attack again for its lack of ethnic and gender diversity - the 30th Annual LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards ceremony took place at the historic Ace Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles on January 13. Despite the fact that the movie industry and the theatre scene here both draw largely from the same L.A.- centered talent pool, the Ovation Awards were as multi-culturally and sex diverse and representative of the population as the Academy was #OscarsSoWhite and (perhaps to coin a hashtag) #OscarsSoMale.

According to LA STAGE Alliance’s online outlet https://thisstage.la/: “The Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles, created to recognize excellence in theatrical performance, production and design in the Greater Los Angeles area.” This year Ovation voters - 272 theatre professionals - recognized 156 talents from 64 (out of 278) productions presented in L.A. County from August 27, 2018 - August 25, 2019.

From Noam Chomsky, Bill Fletcher, Barbara Ehrenreich, Kathy Kelly, Ron Daniels, Leslie Cagan, Norman Solomon, Cynthia Peters, and Michael Albert]

As the 2020 presidential election approaches the Green Party faces the challenge of settling on a platform, choosing a candidate for president, and deciding its campaign strategy. In that context, Howie Hawkins, a contender for Green Party presidential candidate, recently published a clear and cogent essay titled “The Green Party Is Not the Democrats’ Problem.” It represents a precedent Green Party stance which may guide Green campaign policy. We agree with much, but find some ideas very troubling.

Saturday, January 25, 10am-2pm
King Arts Complex, 867 Mt. Vernon Ave.
Join Equality Ohio Legal Clinic Saturday, January 25th, for a free record sealing legal clinic hosted in partnership with Legal Aid Society of Columbus, the Franklin County Municipal Court Self Resource Help Center, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners Justice Policy & Programs, and the Ohio Justice & Policy Center.

During this event, volunteer attorneys will be available to assist with applications for sealing and expungement of criminal records.

This event is free and open to the public, and is not limited to just the LGBTQ community. No need to RSVP. As long as you arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the event, we can still serve you.

The Saga of Santa Susana

On November 24, 1957, an experimental nuclear reactor at the Santa Susana Field Lab site just north of Los Angeles produced the electricity to briefly light up the nearby city of Moorpark – an historic first. 

With national TV coverage by the famed Edward R. Morrow and CBS on its popular “See It Now” series, and with officials from the fledgling US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in attendance, the event was touted as proof of the promise of commercial nuclear power in the United States. 

Just 8 months later, on July 13, 1959, that same reactor became the site of America’s first nuclear meltdown - by some estimates even worse than the subsequent meltdown at Three Mile Island. Six weeks later, the Atomic Energy Commission issued a press release citing a “minor fuel element failure.”  Other than that, news coverage of the Santa Susana event was virtually non-existent for years.   The ‘Friendly Atom’ psyops campaign was swinging into action.

Since 1984, the Quebec-based Cirque du Soleil entertainment organization has become best known for imaginatively combining death-defying acrobatics with storytelling to creatively dramatize themes, as circus-meets-theater with a high-tech panache, international flair and savoir faire. My personal favorite is Cirque’s Love, a radiant ode to the Beatles I relished at Las Vegas. Toruk -The First Flight adapted elements of James Cameron’s 2009 special FX big screen extravaganza Avatar to a live stage performance. And so on.