Showing posts with label CENTURY CITY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CENTURY CITY. Show all posts

Monday, September 22, 2014

Supreme Court decision in Brinker v. Superior Court provides clarity to employees and employers, will reduce costly litigation



(This article was published in the Century City News on April 17, 2012)

In a unanimous ruling, the California Supreme Court determined in Brinker Restaurant v. Superior Court that employers are “not obligated to police meal breaks and ensure no work thereafter is performed.” Among other issues, the court finally answered the question of what it means to “provide” a meal break. The court’s opinion stated that an employer satisfies this obligation if it relieves its employees of all duties, relinquishes control over their activities and permits them a reasonable opportunity to take an uninterrupted 30-minute break and does not impede or discourage them from doing so.

“We commend Brinker for seeing this case through the judicial process to an end that will benefit employers from countless industries,” California Restaurant Association President + CEO Jot Condie said. “Employers have spent millions fighting and settling frivolous lawsuits on these issues and now have some clarity on how to move forward in compliance with the law.”

The court ruled that employers aren’t required to ensure that no work is done during a meal or rest period. The ruling provides much-needed clarity and relief to operators on an issue that has plagued the California courts with countless lawsuits that have been a significant source of costly class-action litigation for numerous industries.

Employers wishing to capitalize on the flexibility that Brinker provides should immediately ensure that they have written policies in place advising employees of their right to take meal and rest breaks, and emphasize the timing of those breaks. The court also made clear that employers may not in any way pressure employees to work through their meal breaks by way of “ridicule or reprimand.”

“It’s more important than ever to train management staff on the proper way to handle these breaks,” said Condie. “The bottom-line from Brinker is that those 30 minutes belong to the employee and they can choose for themselves how to spend that time.

“We’re hopeful that as the second-largest private employer in the state, the restaurant industry can get back to dedicating more time and resources to employing Californians, reducing the state’s nearly 11-percent unemployment rate, and helping the economy recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression,” Condie said.

LOVE BUZZ - SOUL MATE WHOLENESS

(This article originally appeared in the May 1, 2012 edition of the Century City News)

By Anita De Francesco, MA
Relationship Specialist

Some of us are still wondering when that true soul mate will enter our lives and help complete the wholeness that we so desire. It can take a lifetime and going through many failed relationships to finally connect with the right one. I often wonder how people even know what a true soul mate is. I hear some folk talking about their relationship they are still in which began at age 16. And how so many of us wanted to stay with the sweet sixteen lover forever. What makes a soul mate so special and how do we attract this person? Yes it has been a long journey for some of us and so long that we’ve forgotten what it was like to be desired, wanted, to have a man pull the sweater over your shoulder and have a woman look you in the eyes and say she loves you and means it. Some are in relationships because they have stopped growing and basically just exist with someone. After being married for so many years you may wake up one day and find yourself wanting a new relationship.

One thing about love is that you have to be ready or you will attract temporary and sometimes trouble. Soul mates are all around you, your best friend, your parents, your co-workers and so on but romantic soul mate is deeper and more of a yearning. I believe romantic soul mate requires us to go deep inside and face ourselves with love and understanding before we can attract our true mate. It is important to have healthy, bonding loving relationships with those around you. This is a pre-requisite for the soul mate to enter your life. The quest for love and happiness is really a yearning for wholeness. Having a soul mate can help you open up to a new exploration of the heart and find real true love that is beyond the ordinary. Sounds like the fairy tale but why do some of us get it and others continue to suffer.

The law of attraction is the new way to get what you want from love to career and so on. So how do we attract this power? One thing first is to identify your patterns in your last relationships. When we break patterns all kinds of possibilities show up. Let’s start by changing the places we go. Explore new territory and make new friends. Invite yourself in to connect with others. Go to different meet-up groups and try different types of dance places like ballroom or salsa. All of these things are to help you break patterns and make change, so we have begun. Sex sails with a partner when you have things in common. If you like to golf then go to those places, do things that you like to do and connect to people this way. If you like drama then join a theatre group. Start doing things that turn you on, stop following what your friends like.

Next let’s identify our challenges, insecurities and fears; begin to make a list. It is important to be honest with your challenges and facing them so that you don’t get into the habit of projecting onto your partner. Look at why your last few relationships have failed. Also make a list of what you past lover found irritating about you. Focus on the things you don’t like so that they don’t outweigh the things you do like in a mate. There should be some sort of balance.

Next let us focus on communication, openness and honesty. Begin with trusting yourself and cultivating this within and you will in turn begin to trust your mate. Learn to accept criticism and truth. Be upfront and communicate just what you need and want and where you are in your life. Be adaptable and open until you mesh as one with your mate. Be open to try new things your mate introduces to you.

Know your preferences such as what you want in a mate. If you want a non-smoker than put that out there. Make a list of what you will put up with. If you like to travel, best to find someone who does as well or you will be alone. Know what you like and find that in your mate. If you get someone who matches you at 40 percent it could work with some adjustments.

Let go of the past lovers that you still think about. Remove those energetic hooks that keep you connected. Energetic hooks in you or in someone else can prevent you from meeting someone. Before you can attract your soul mate you need to be ready on an emotional and physical level. You need to have your home ready as if this soul mate is already living in there. I suggest clearing the bedroom and make this area nice and ready. Get some real nice sheets and fancy curtains and rugs. Adorn it with flowers and candles and talk as if this person was in the room there with you. Write him/her poems about your feelings and how you can’t wait to be together one day. Use your imagination to create what you want, that is what it is for. Oh and go out and buy a new bed and fancy it up, and keep it sacred and pure for that soul mate to arrive.


Do you feel stuck and in a rut, depressed or anxious or overall sluggish? I practice Reichian, Gestalt, somatic movement, and counseling/bodywork integrative therapies which involves focused breathing to help stimulate the emotions thus re-patterning the nervous system. I help you to focus on the negative voices and thoughts that create the stress and to resolve those unwanted interruptions that get in the way of your life process. Those stiff armored muscles that block sensation and energy flow will eventually soften.

The rage sitting in the muscles will unfold allowing more feelings of pleasure, more creativeness, freeing blocked energies and sexual dysfunction. Modern society has forced the human character to live in unnatural ways holding back basic needs and instincts. This process of breathing deeply sends messages to the brain which is an effective way to release anger, to let go of baggage, and to feel more alive and trusting thus living in a higher self esteem.

Anita De Francesco, M.A.
www.tantrawisdom.com
info@tantrawisdom.com
310-210-1464

SENSE OF URGENCY


by Michael Douglas Carlin
The war in Vietnam created chaos. A young combat medic arrived to find troops infected with venereal disease, a short supply of antibiotics, and mixed race children often referred to as "Amerasian" being dropped off at his camp on a regular basis. The problems seemed almost overwhelming to Sergeant Edward, but he looked for solutions that would solve every one of them at once. He placed a moratorium on the troops' extracurricular activities with the local women, while the troops were treated and cured. He then had the local women come in for examinations prior to being allowed to socialize with the troops, for which he charged them a tax that they would easily make back in their time with the troops. Everyone was cured and cleared to socialize in a clean and disease-free way.

He took the funding that came in from the examinations and treatment of the women and found families that were taking the often outcast mixed-race children into their homes and financed mini-orphanages to care for the children. This was the beginning of what turned into funding and care for hundreds of children during his tour in Vietnam.

Today, we are on the brink of chaos. America is confronted with daunting problems: unemployment, dependence on foreign oil, environmental catastrophes, soaring food prices, deflation of real estate, record amounts of manure stacking up, credit frozen and climate change. These problems all seem so disconnected. America has been the worst offender in greenhouse gas emissions, and now we are the only reliable nation that is bringing about a solution. America must now take on the entire problem for the rest of the world if climate change is going to be solved, and time is of the essence. A National Security Briefing about climate change is posted on the Century City News website that paints a grim picture of what we can expect from further emissions. Time is of the essence.

I have visited the Salton Sea with my good friend Sir Colin Finlay. He has traveled the world and sees this environmental disaster as one of the worst in the world, and it sits right in our backyard in Southern California. The New River flows in from Mexico with hazardous biological materials from the slaughter houses there. The contaminants are flowing in with no outflow, and the Salton Sea becomes worse each year. We dug down 18 inches on the shore and found nothing but fish bones and scales from all the fish that had washed ashore dead from toxins and lack of oxygen (hypoxia) in the water due to the overgrowth of algae from biotoxins. The Salton Sea is at the juncture of three different counties. The jurisdiction of permitting becomes difficult when three county seats are involved. As the Salton Sea continues to dry up, the toxins are becoming airborne and blowing into populated areas. We must solve this problem. Time is of the essence.

Iran is making progress on developing nuclear material. The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic waterway for the transport of oil. Israel has been threatened by Iran, and it wouldn’t be a stretch for Iran to attack Saudi Arabia with nuclear weapons. The supply of our oil will undoubtedly be interrupted at some point in the future. The development of alternative supplies of fuel has come to a point where time is of the essence.

Chickens, pigs and cows are being grown in increasing numbers. They are critical for the food supply of the world. Raising all of these animals is causing an enormous amount of methane gas and manure. The amount of manure far exceeds the manure produced by humans. This manure leeches into the water supply in many places and causes contamination. As the manure piles up, a solution must be found. Agribusiness needs reformation. Here again, time is of the essence.

In many countries and within the United States, food is being diverted into the production of fuel. The prices of grain and corn are skyrocketing. Food supplies are becoming scarce, and the demand to convert food into fuel will intensify if there is any shock to the oil supply.

Much of the electricity produced in the United States is produced from diesel-driven power plants. Electrification of the country has to be a major part of freedom from foreign fossil fuel dependence. Adding to the problem is that most of the power is produced by coal-fired plants, and the pollution from these plants is among the most serious in the nation, and possibly the world.

Because time is of the essence, a concentrated effort must be deployed to solve all of these problems simultaneously. There are no shortage of people who want jobs right now, and this may be an opportunity for employment.

Len Chapman of Environmental BioMass Energy has worked in the development of a process to convert manure into methane and convert manure into syngas, producing steam and electricity. Manure is also nutrient-rich and can be used as an input for growing algae. Algae comes in 3,000 strains, many of which grow in the saltiest of water. The Salton Sea might prove an incredible source of nutrient-rich water to grow algae. Algae only needs blue and red light to grow. That leaves the rest of the light spectrum to produce solar energy. Electric generation creates CO², which can be used to grow algae and be converted into oxygen. An acre of algae produces 50,000 gallons of vegetable oil.

John Jones of John D. Jones Engineering, Inc. has developed a process to convert animal fat or vegetable oil to biodiesel (no sulphur). Picture a process where manure, carbon dioxide, toxic water and sunlight are converted to methane gas, biodiesel, electricity and oxygen. This single process could create jobs, mitigate greenhouse gasses, create biodiesel fuel for the entire trucking industry/power generation, create a purpose for manure, create sequestered methane gas, and clean up one of America’s worst environmental disasters, the Salton Sea. If the process were done on a large enough scale, we could offset all of the greenhouse gasses emitted by the rest of the world and curb climate change. Let’s get started.

The story of Sir Edward is the story of how a young, wide-eyed man came to understand the human spirit through each encounter with situations that seemed unsolvable. This young man found at every juncture of his life that, by studying the problem, he was able to see the solution couched as a riddle within the very nature of what was wrong, and, with minimal effort, he was able to set it right.  Sixty­five years later, it has developed into so much more than a few threads to become the fabric  and philosophy of world peace. Our solutions are always couched in our problems.

Love Buzz - Why Do We Hurt The One We Love

(This originally appeared in the July 26th, 2011 edition of the Century City News)

By Anita De Francesco, MA
Relationship Specialist
I generally don’t hurt anyone I love or anyone I don’t love. I don’t hurt human beings but rather I honor them, love them, show compassion and empathy as often as I can. This tells me my heart is working and is being exercised in the most stimulating way I know. I am writing this because I have been hurt so much with love and I often wonder why they love me and then they don’t. I feel that we are put into relationships to learn how to love ourselves even more and so the hate weighs out the love of the person we channeled it to and possibly this is why we go on to hate a former lover just so to get the love back to ourselves. It does make sense to me because to love someone deeply we must first love ourselves and take the love from the heart source and share it with another. We begin to be mean and hateful when it comes to breaking up in an effort to get the love of the self back. Why does it have to be this way? We lend out our love to mates and sometimes we don’t get back what we put out. We need to be more objective with romance because relationships these days are all about sharing the love with everybody and women have yet to learn to come to this maturity in accepting a man in this way.

Romantic relationships continually harness the sense of our self, propelling us to grow. Within every relationship there is growth that we must see. The big question today is why is it so difficult to stay together for a period of time and give each other the fulfillment that we deserve in the relationship. I think we have lost value of what a relationship means. These short half on end relationships are not even worthy anymore. Why get into them for six months to just get out of them which can take longer. It can get so tiring. It’s a wonder our world is so dysfunctional. Then there are those who get married and have that containment and have side affairs which end as well and promises, promises are made and people get hurt. Humans are hurting each other every day in many ways not only in relationships. But relationships are where it all begins and are suppose to teach us.
So just how can we heal the hurt pain? Relationships teach growth and each and every one is a stepping stone to improving yourself. But some stay victim and build defenses and just can’t seem to find the love of life after a bad romance. A study revealed that the mental health of men is more affected by the strains of romance than women. It also revealed that men benefit from support more than women. I believe this is true because men need the attention; they have baby needs that always need fulfillment and women go overboard in being the mommy the nurturer and so on. For women just simply having the relationship matters most whether it provides stress or support. Professor Robin W. Simon quoted in the New York Times; “even though there’s been so much social change in this area, women’s self-worth is still so much tied up with having a boyfriend. My feeling on that is in this day and age yes we should be because men have so many women on strings that just having a boyfriend is the American dream anymore and holding onto him. Look at the stars, Aniston, Madonna and Cher all have a challenge holding onto the relationship.
It seems as though women know how to do relationships and men still need to learn and this could explain the strains of hurt. Although it always looks and feels as though women hurt more and they probably do. I think that women show more emotion and manifest expressive behaviors a lot more than a man simply because they just wanted the relationship. We know it comes with strain and pain. Men learned to stay composed and in control but they have feelings to and they do hurt. They teach themselves to close off the heart because their sexual side comes first whereas women’s hearts are first. We need a little more harmony in these areas. Women tend to find creative outlets for emotional channeling than men and is probably why they look more emotionally stimulated. We want to see the feminine vulnerable spiritual side of a man. Men rely solely on a girlfriend for all the emotional needs. It’s a wonder us women are strong yet some becoming needy that really aren’t. Men actually put the pressure on a woman with their undiffused emotional self. Of course men are more in the moment when it comes to romance where women always look long term and probably so because of the reproductive clock thing. I will leave you with one thought here as Oscar Wilde said: “ each man kills the thing he loves”; however hurting one’s beloved is frequent. Since the beloved is a major source of happiness, this person is also a major threat to our happiness; more than anyone else, the beloved can ruin it. To me this says that on some level we are not deserving of the fulfillment that love brings.
Do you feel stuck and in a rut, depressed or anxious or overall sluggish? I practice Reichian, Gestalt, somatic movement, and counseling/bodywork integrative therapies which involves focused breathing to help stimulate the emotions thus re-patterning the nervous system. I help you to focus on the negative voices and thoughts that create the stress and to resolve those unwanted interruptions that get in the way of your life process. Those stiff armored muscles that block sensation and energy flow will eventually soften.
The rage sitting in the muscles will unfold allowing more feelings of pleasure, more creativeness, freeing blocked energies and sexual dysfunction. Modern society has forced the human character to live in unnatural ways holding back basic needs and instincts. This process of breathing deeply sends messages to the brain which is an effective way to release anger, to let go of baggage, and to feel more alive and trusting thus living in a higher self esteem.

Anita De Francesco, M.A.
www.tantrawisdom.com
info@tantrawisdom.com
310-210-1464

Michael Douglas Carlin is the director of the movies Luvicide and American Federale. Recently he completed a ten-year stint as the Publisher and Editor of the Century City News. Here his articles turned into three books: Rise a Knight, A Prescription for Peace, and Peaceful Protests.

Love Buzz - When Love Fails

(This article originally appeared in the Feb 8th, 2011 edition of the Century City News)

By Anita De Francesco, MA
Relationship Specialist
So you’re looking for the love of your life and you want it to last forever! Now that you’re in this mess for the last year and you discover this relationship is going nowhere and nowhere soon for that matter. It is as if you exist for each other’s time here on earth. Wasting time as some may call it and others may call it growing in time. Well you know that is exactly what we are all doing but sometimes we like to carve out the differences and make each part of our life have meaning, a concern and purpose. Imagine we are all just zombies roaming the earth like a pack of animals and finding and identifying ourselves through the relationships we make.
So now you may have to end this relationship because it doesn’t meet your expectations. You are about to face pain, sorrow, regret, sadness and more. So what do you do now? End it and find someone else or take the time to understand your choices and patterns that you are webbed into. I have been in so many relationships and have grown and learned from every one of them. Some were just for fun and others had more meaning and others I wanted to keep forever. The number one thing to know before going into a relationship is that they do end. Love is a wandering willow, as easy as we get it that is how easy it can get lost. The idea with love is to keep it focused. To keep it focused you must be clear of your insecurities and go beyond all that to find the true meaning of yourself and then love will become more focused. Connecting with someone is to teach you about yourself so that when the right one comes along you are ready. I meet people who dated one or two people and got married and have no real social relationship or sex skills at all and need to be taught. With dating one should put a time on where, when and who you spend it with, because you don’t want to find yourself going past what your clock may be. In other words taking the time to choose the right person. Having the determination that you want to be with this partner then it could never fail. This takes commitment. Pain, sacrifices and disappointments are always going to be a part of love but we need to learn bravery of the heart.
Going a little deeper here with love and relationships; who says that they have to go anywhere. Enjoying each other for who you are and the time that you are given together is also a choice. It is now a time to let go of the expectations and enjoy the moments for what they are. Relationships teach us growth of the soul and spirit.
Love fails for many reasons but a big one is communication. Love dies because we haven’t yet learned how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness, illness and wounds. It fails because of weariness, struggle, and withering. Saying what you wanted to say but couldn’t and saying it from your full being rather than halfway. When you get into the relationship open your eyes and see if it is two or one sided. This is one of the first things to look for. Think about why and what attracted you to this person in the first place. If it was physical in nature then that is what you get and that is not a bad thing but rather an honest thing. But if you looked beyond the physical then there may be something there. You need to establish this territory and you need to be patient. Being patient can mean not rushing into the bedroom, taking the moments and breathing and spacing each other’s interactions. Relationships should involve looking after the interactions of each other about caring and sharing and about affection. There is a certain amount of satisfaction and gratification that go with all this. If you want to sustain and hold onto the relationship here are some tips:
• Take a relationship inventory every 4 weeks. This means assess what you have done and where you think it is going. Make a list of all the good and bad things you like so far.
• Imagine for a moment where you would be if you and this partner lasted and would you like that place. Now be honest with yourself here.
• Every 3 weeks take out the time with your partner for a night of communication about each other. Discuss things and find out where each other is.
• Notice any red flags. Even if you don’t want to see them then write them down on a piece of paper and put them in a drawer for later. Just writing them will help your emotions to acknowledge this later.
• Before going in know what it is that you want, and know how much time you have for this investment.
• Take dating steps and structure and strategize every relationship. There are the sex ones, the casual ones and then the ones to bring home to mom. But mostly honor and love each and every one of them for what they bring you today even if it is the booty call. The honoring and respecting everyone will bring you integrity and pureness and true love. Honor your sluts.
• Understand the misleading moments and arguing. Have the confidence to hail the moment.
• Carve out the time to learn your partner. Pick the date nights that are for fun and sex and then pick those other nights that are for learning more about each other’s mind and then when you get home make some written notes about what you learned
• Another cool thing to do is to share a journal together. For example when you go places you each write a page about how the evening went and you close the book and don’t read it until later. One of you will have to take the responsibility of holding and bringing the journal out on the meeting times. This writing together can teach you so much about yourself.
Isn’t that what it’s all about; the learning of the self. So then how could love fail, it could only get better.
Do you feel stuck and in a rut, depressed or anxious or overall sluggish? I practice Reichian, Gestalt, somatic movement, and counseling/bodywork integrative therapies which involves focused breathing to help stimulate the emotions thus re-patterning the nervous system. I help you to focus on the negative voices and thoughts that create the stress and to resolve those unwanted interruptions that get in the way of your life process. Those stiff armored muscles that block sensation and energy flow will eventually soften.
The rage sitting in the muscles will unfold allowing more feelings of pleasure, more creativeness, freeing blocked energies and sexual dysfunction. Modern society has forced the human character to live in unnatural ways holding back basic needs and instincts. This process of breathing deeply sends messages to the brain which is an effective way to release anger, to let go of baggage, and to feel more alive and trusting thus living in a higher self esteem.

Anita De Francesco, M.A.
www.tantrawisdom.com
info@tantrawisdom.com
310-210-1464

Friday, September 5, 2014

JMB LEADS IN SUSTAINABILITY

(This article appeared in the May 14th, 2012 edition of the Century City News)

JMB THE PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITY

By Michael Douglas Carlin

Those are pretty heavy words – “The Pillar.” In the case of JMB these words have never been more fitting. Their position in the community has been earned over a lifetime of doing the right things for Century City, Los Angeles, California, America and now Mother Earth. On numerous occasions they have transformed patches of dirt into architectural works of art. They have earned a reputation of improving society every time they embark on a venture. They have risked billions of dollars and been tenacious to unveil skyline transformations that rewarded the risk handsomely. Each of their Century City investments improves the revenue of the City of Los Angeles, adds upscale office space, and converts a patch of dirt to the highest possible use.

No wonder politicians flock to them, investors court them, top managers vie for positions in their company, and vendors struggle to get their attention. JMB has roots to almost every single building within Century City. They have placed their mark indelibly upon the landscape of what has become the financial capital of the West Coast. The entire time they have been working hard to bring the dream of Century City to fruition it has been an uphill battle. Yet JMB has always found a way to win. They worked with local neighborhood groups on the details of every project to design and fully integrate their buildings into the fabric of the community.

But what would we expect from the pillar of the community? The have brought tax revenues, created jobs, added value, put capital to good use, and provided an increased quality of life for so many people. But there is so much more that JMB has done as the pillar of the community. For years they maintained the common areas within Century City at a substantial cost that will never be repaid. Now they are leading the way through their sustainability initiatives. Constellation Place was the first building in Los Angeles to become LEED EB Certified and in 2010 they attained LEED EB Gold Certification. They installed solar panels on the rooftops of two parking structures that reduce daytime demand of energy by 29%. And recently they have installed Bloom Fuel Cell Power Generators that power 33% of the building’s power demand and reduced emissions by 30%.

When we look at what is wrong with America let’s put it into context of what is right with America. Hardworking people continue to improve patches of dirt into their highest uses. They get well paid for being risk-takers. We need to celebrate their accomplishments and encourage more of this sort of activity to get America back on track. Perhaps Judd Malkin, Jody Talintino, Vallery Hall, and Sarah Shaw are interested in running for a higher office… perhaps their plan for a better tomorrow is a good one and we should all get out of the way and let them continue doing what they have proven they can do… to perfection.


JMB Installs First of its Kind Bloom Energy Fuel Cell Servers in Los Angeles to help reduce carbon footprint by nearly 30 percent in its Constellation Place Office Building

JMB Realty announced the reduction of Constellation Place’s carbon footprint by nearly 30 percent through the installation of Bloom Energy ServersTM. The state of the art fuel cell power generators will produce 400 kW of power and supply approximately one-third of the building’s electrical demand.

“JMB is excited to be Bloom Energy’s first high-rise, class A office installation. As the first of its kind in Los Angeles, Constellation Place continues to set a precedent in its ongoing commitment to green technology and reducing its carbon footprint,” said Sarah Shaw, Vice President Development and Operations for Constellation Place. “These servers, combined with the existing photovoltaic system, enable JMB to offer its tenants a greener office environment while generating significant savings.

Bloom Servers, adapted from NASA technology, each occupy a space equivalent to the size of an average parking space and contain thousands of Bloom fuel cells - flat, solid ceramic squares made from a sand-like powder- which convert air and natural gas into electricity via a clean electrochemical process, while reducing carbon emissions.

Bloom Energy is a Distributed Generation (DG) solution that is clean, reliable and affordable all at the same time. Bloom’s Energy Servers can produce clean energy 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, delivering faster payback and greater environmental benefits. And while other DG systems may require lengthy installations, sunny locations, or demand for consistent heat load, Bloom Energy systems are easy and fast to install, practically anywhere. “JMB is demonstrating that building owners and operators can create value from clean and reliable sources of energy,” said Bill Thayer, Executive Vice President Sales and Service at Bloom Energy. “Serving its tenants and its own environmental goals affordably makes this a perfect project for Bloom Energy. We are proud to work with a leader like JMB.”


With this energy-producing initiative, JMB Realty joins an elite list of Fortune 500 Bloom Energy customers including E-Bay, Fed-Ex, Google, Staples and Walmart.

About Constellation Place

Located in the heart of Century City on Constellation Boulevard, Constellation Place was built by an affiliate of Chicago-based developer, JMB Realty Corp. In June 2008, Constellation Place became the first high rise office building in Los Angeles to receive the USGBC LEED® Silver certification in the existing building category. Constellation Place has since gone through the recertification process and achieved LEED® Gold Certification.

Love Buzz - RECEIVING FROM THE HEART

(This article was published in the Century City News on April 17, 2012)


By Anita De Francesco, MA
Relationship Specialist

Are you a giver or a receiver? It is said that giving is a way to open to the higher power while receiving is a way to connect to the universe. When we receive we allow the positive flow of another’s gifts to circulate through our system. We give ourselves the permission to let someone in. I believe if we can’t receive then we lack a sense of worth, loss and possibly guilt. Some people would rather give because they don’t know how to receive . When we receive there is a warmth in the heart that begins to open up with joy; a warmth that surrounds the chest and heart areas with love and attention and a feeling of love that circulates through the rest of the body. Is this hard to receive? Receiving comes in many forms such as taking a compliment, or a material gift or a smile or even a touch. When we allow ourselves to receive there is a certain love that we show ourselves that no one else experiences but you. Receiving is a way of connecting and opening your heart to your own feelings. You may not like a gift that someone gives you but the question is how well do you receive it? Do you receive it with anger, disappointment, and frustration or with love even if they didn’t know what you needed or wanted. Did it ever occur to you that people are trying their best to please us in any way they can. When you go to a restaurant and you didn’t like the dessert that was homemade from this family owned restaurant; do you label it as being bad food or do you instead say to your heart, they tried their best to please me the customer and they did put effort into it and I should appreciate them for their love; they are doing their best. We forget to look at what other people have available to give from their hearts. We only give what we are able to and what we know. When we receive we teach ourselves and others the real meaning of love and in essence we get smarter and sharper.

Are you a terrible receiver and caught between the heart and the words thank you? Do you over give and forget you have boundaries? Giving and receiving are what connect us to the fundamental experiences of life and interdependence. When we give unconditionally we also long to receive deeply and liberally and to feel the meaning of being touched, nourished and transformed by others. It is others who help us transform into the next dimension of our being.

Let us take it a step further, are you a giver or receiver in the bedroom and do you have a hard time asking for what you want and deserve to receive? This practice of receiving begins in everyday life activities before it can even have affect in the bedroom. Receiving can be challenging as we live in a world of selfishness and when we receive with open heart it can sometimes look like selfishness. To remove the selfish and get away from the “take” requires intention and love. Good intention when giving helps people open to a different level that allows them to feel and appreciate. This can be contagious. If we are cold hearted and hateful then receiving can get lost and become taking. There are takers out there and we need to teach them to appreciate everything even the little things that they are given from others and the universe. The universe gives us so much everyday; and yet we don’t take notice. The old saying is better to give then to receive is not true. It is good to have a balance between the two. When we allow ourselves to receive our levels of dopamine rise which is the hormone of feeling good. Receive with confidence and courage. Anthropologist Marcel Mauss examined gift economics and concluded that there is no such thing as a free gift. He claimed that one has no right to refuse a gift, if so it shows a fear of having to reciprocate. So when you receive do you feel obligated to give back such as in holiday or birthday times? The old tit for tat theory. If you receive with open heart and confidence those false feelings of obligation will dissolve. We give to show love and affection and we should also receive with those same feelings. In China the practice of reciprocity is so profound that it is the basic rule of being a person. They believe in repaying ones gratitude with more than what they received. For example if they honor one arm they repay back in honoring ten arms. Every culture has its own way and values when it comes to giving and receiving. In China they also believe in refusing the gift over and over before finally receiving it. I guess working for it so to speak, climbing the ladder of karma and worth.

Sometimes receivers feel weaker and fear having to let down their ego in order to be humble and kind. Part of receiving is giving up control, resistance, armor and defense. Even when we give advice people reject that because of their frail egos may have to open to the heart of receiving. If we are not a good receiver we can lose respect from others in the sense that they may take advantage. Everyone deserves to receive in many ways which says I can and deserve to receive love.

Receiving is one of the most intimate gifts of life and if you miss this part of it you are not living. My advice is to accept what your partner is giving and find the connection. Receiving can heal your pain and is very empowering so I recommend faking it for a while until that heart opens and connects to the whole experience
Do you feel stuck and in a rut, depressed or anxious or overall sluggish? I practice Reichian, Gestalt, somatic movement, and counseling/bodywork integrative therapies which involves focused breathing to help stimulate the emotions thus re-patterning the nervous system. I help you to focus on the negative voices and thoughts that create the stress and to resolve those unwanted interruptions that get in the way of your life process. Those stiff armored muscles that block sensation and energy flow will eventually soften.

The rage sitting in the muscles will unfold allowing more feelings of pleasure, more creativeness, freeing blocked energies and sexual dysfunction. Modern society has forced the human character to live in unnatural ways holding back basic needs and instincts. This process of breathing deeply sends messages to the brain which is an effective way to release anger, to let go of baggage, and to feel more alive and trusting thus living in a higher self esteem.

Anita De Francesco, M.A.
www.tantrawisdom.com
info@tantrawisdom.com
310-210-1464

THE PONZI BOOK: A LEGAL RESOURCE FOR UNRAVELING PONZI SCHEMES

(This article was published in the Century City News on April 17, 2012)

By: Kathy Bazoian Phelps and Hon. Steven Rhodes


Now Available at www.lexisnexis.com/ponzibook

Electronic versions also available
www.theponzibook.com

“The Ponzi Book is an invaluable resource for lawyers and judges enmeshed in the thicket of Ponzi scheme litigation. Clearly written and accessible, the book provides key insights into Ponzi cases and how they differ from ordinary bankruptcy litigation.”

Kenneth N. Klee
Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP
“The Ponzi Book is one stop shopping for the facts needed to understand the complex fall-out from a collapsed Ponzi scheme as well as the legal strategies that exist and are required to unravel it.”
Irving H. Picard
Trustee of Bernard L. Madoff
Investment Securities, LLC


Sign up for The Ponzi Blog at www.theponzibook.blogspot.com

“There’s little doubt that Charles Ponzi would be proud of how his infamous brainchild has grown and developed over the years, becoming more complex in execution and breadth. Indeed, the perpetuators of his schemes have grown ever more sophisticated in their efforts, making Mr. Ponzi’s modest beginning look almost quaint in retrospect. With the multi-billion dollar Ponzi schemes that have become unearthed since the capital market meltdown of mid-2008, the legal and financial complexities in their unwinding have become a specialty unto themselves in the law.
“Fortunately for the professional faced with the daunting task of unwinding (or defending) the Ponzi scheme, help has finally arrived! The Ponzi Book: A Legal Resource For Unraveling Ponzi Schemes by Kathy Bazoian Phelps, Esq. and Judge Steven Rhodes is a unique, and the definitive, resource in this area. The book is well organized, exhaustively researched, and covers areas well beyond the obvious in such matters, such as privilege issues, litigating against foreign nationals and obtaining discovery from abroad (as we now know, fraud knows no national boundaries), and the tax issues that come with such schemes. It is in all respects the ‘go to source’ in these matters, and my law firm will have copies in all offices where we have bankruptcy professionals. Frankly, I wish I had written it!”

Thomas J. Salerno
Partner, Co-Chair International Insolvency Practice Group,
Squire Sanders

Worldwide Board President of Legal Administrators Keynoted Leadership Luncheon

(This article was published in the Century City News on April 17, 2012)

Legal Volunteer of the Year Awards - April 10

The International Board President of the Association of Legal Administrators presented the Volunteer of the Year award to Luci Hamilton, Director of Administration and Finance at Karlin & Peebles in Beverly Hills, at the Leadership Luncheon hosted by the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators (GLA ALA) on April 10, 2012 from 11:30-1:30 at the Omni Hotel located at 251 South Olive Street in downtown Los Angeles.

Keynoting the luncheon was Karen Griggs, CLM, the National President of the Association of Legal Administrators, an organization with over 10,000 members worldwide. Griggs is the Executive Director of Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice, L.L.C., in Kansas City, Missouri, named as a 2012 “Go-To Law Firm.”

As Volunteer of the Year award recipient, Hamilton is recognized for her work with GLA including her life-changing “Members-In-Transition” program chaired by Hamilton. Hamilton held educational and inspiring gatherings for administrators looking for work and for anyone who believes that we all are in transition as we grow as professionals and leaders. Dedicated to the pursuit of continuing education, Hamilton tirelessly shares her knowledge and expertise for those seeking the ALA service mark of a Certified Legal Manager or CLM. Hamilton attended almost all of the CLM classes, teaching several herself. Hamilton was GLA ALA’s 2004-2005 Board President and additionally volunteers in local and national organizations including Pasadena City College, the Veterans’ Affairs Department, the “Women at Work” high school outreach programs and UN Women – The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
Shaun Morrison, of Glendora, Office Administrator for Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in Century City, was installed as the 2012 GLA ALA President. Says Morrison of her new role, “GLA has inspired excellence in our profession and I am proud to be President of this compelling organization.”

Cost of the luncheon was $30 for members, $35 for non-members. Event question contact Terri Oppelt, toppelt@strook.com.

For more information, contact:
Shaun Morrison - smorrison@allenmatkins.com - 310-788-2400
Luci Hamilton - lhamilton@karlinpeebles.com - 323-648-4645

ABOUT GLA ALA: The Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators (GLA ALA) is a 350-person nonprofit membership organization that provides opportunities for educational enrichment, professional and personal development, community service, and the exchange of information to improve the quality and professionalism of management in legal services organizations. www.glaala.org

ABOUT KAREN GRIGGS, CLM: Karen Griggs, CLM, is the Executive Director of Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice, L.L.C. in Kansas City, Missouri and the 2012-2013 Association of Legal Administrators National President. Griggs has been a member of ALA since 1984.

ABOUT SHAUN MORRISON: Shaun Morrison is the incoming Board President of GLA ALA. Morrison serves as the Office Administrator for Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in Century City.


GLA ALA 2012 President Shaun Morrison, Office Administrator for Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in Century City, with keynote speaker and the National President of the Association of Legal Administrators, Karen Griggs, CLM, and GLA ALA 2011 Past President Jean Jewell, CLM, Administrator of Kelley Drye/White O’Connor, at the Leadership Luncheon hosted by the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators (GLA ALA) on April 10, 2012 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. During the event, Luci Hamilton was presented with the Volunteer of the Year award and Shaun Morrison was installed as the 2012 GLA ALA President. Photo by Jess Block

Friday, August 22, 2014

THE WORLD NEEDS KNIGHTS

by Michael Douglas Carlin

To many, elections are seen as a way to solve the problems of modern day society. Too many are pinning their hopes on a vote. The truth is that our challenges as a nation and a planet are so daunting that no single man or woman can unwind the mess that tangles us together. Every election might bring slightly more clarity about the direction of the country, but the needs have never been greater for new voices to rise above the din and shout out that they are here to champion a cause. The people have the power to transform America and the world into a much safer and more compassionate place for its inhabitants.

Anyone who is waiting for government to solve our problems isn’t harnessing the synergy created when the stakeholders in any community work together.

The engine of business pays for it all; therefore we all need to be shamelessly working to make money to provide for our own needs and those of our families. We also need to be shameless about the causes we choose to support in the arena of philanthropy. We all have the opportunities today to excel and succeed because of the many men and women who came before us to provide the infrastructure and framework that allow us to succeed. In honor of those who came before, we need to give back to those who are less fortunate and those who will come after, so that all of humanity can drink from the chalice of opportunity.

In days long past, the roads were guarded by Knights. Knights protected the poor, the weak and the afflicted. Knights fought for honor. Knights stood for principles and ideals. They made oaths that they kept even if it brought the consequences of an untimely death. They lived noble lives that rose above petty wrangling. When they saw injustice, they righted it.

I belong to a rogue order of Knights. We trace our roots back to a Knighting inside the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. We don’t wait for instructions to do good deeds. We don’t talk about politics or religion on our humanitarian missions. A number of our group are sprinkled throughout the world and go to the most dangerous places to take relief to people in need. They do so for only one reason -- it is the right thing to do.

I have sat in board meetings of charities, where the need is secondary to the egos of the board members. We are dead set against ever participating in this type of charity. If we have food in the proximity of hungry people, there doesn’t need to be an over-engineered plan that glorifies anybody — we simply match our resources with the need in an orderly manner. The world needs more of this Knightly common sense. The world needs more Knights.

We never look for new members of our order. They find us. They already live their lives as Knights. They are already living a noble life. Find a cause you believe in and become passionate about helping people to have better lives. We will find you and ask you to kneel, take the oath of chivalry, and rise a Knight. Until now, our order has Knighted only men, but we have now welcomed our first female Knights into the fold. That may send shock waves around the world, but every person living a chivalric life and championing the cause of helping the less fortunate is a Knight, and we are merely recognizing their life’s work. We are providing them with the mantle of Knighthood that comes with authority and responsibility that is steeped in tradition. Our rogue order doesn’t always follow every rule, especially those rules that were created by people seeking only to glorify themselves. We never claim to be saints, but we do discreetly wear our mantle of Knighthood in our quest to make this world a better place.


Michael Douglas Carlin is a filmmaker, author, and journalist. American Federale is available on iTunesAmazon, and GooglePlayRise a Knight is available on AmazonPeaceful Protests and A Prescription For Peace is available on iTunes.


© 2000 – 2014 Michael Douglas Carlin. All rights reserved.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Llama Walk on Earth Day

(This article originally appeared in the May 10th, 2010 edition of the Century City News)
by Michael Douglas Carlin

So many of you have called, written or emailed asking about the Llama Photos on Earth Day. There was a method to the madness of walking two Llamas from Mann’s Chinese Theater to Century City. The entire endeavor was not commercially motivated. One day a year we should have a day that honors our great home, Mother Earth. One day a year it is O.K. to have our motivations be about not profiting but giving back. Our goal was to honor Earth Day…not just any Earth Day but the 40th anniversary of a day dedicated to being grateful for a place to be. Our Home.

I got a telephone call from my son when he saw the picture on the AP wire. He was mocking me for walking with the Llamas calling me the tree hugger that I am. I silenced him with a few words. We wanted to send a message that people could walk more and drive less. Emits less exhaust, saves precious oil, costs less, takes traffic off the road and burns calories – I don’t see anything here you are against. In fact I don’t see anything here anybody is against. Everybody I know of all political persuasions wants a clean environment. No one wants one industry to cause other industries to perish due to pollution. In fact, all of us want people to take responsibility for their own actions – good or bad.

An environmental disaster caused thousands of birds to perish. The oil spill widened being carried by winds and swells. Seals and dolphins were washing up on shore dead with oil clogging the blowholes of the dolphins leading to a painful and horrific lung hemorrhaging. The BP spill you ask? No, this was the oil spill of 1969 which was the impetus to getting momentum behind the very first Earth Day. Said Fred L. Hartley, President of Union Oil Company: “I don’t like to call it a disaster, because there has been no loss of human life. I am amazed at the publicity for the loss of a few birds.”

Forty years later we have coinciding with the celebration of Earth Day another major environmental disaster that threatens the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The oil will virtually kill the fishing industry in the area and the toll to bird wildlife will be catastrophic. There was the loss of life in this disaster and Tony Hayward said to the Guardian Newspaper, “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean: The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.” If we don’t hold them accountable they try to minimize the effect and skip responsibility.

Now is the time for all Americans to come together to prevent disasters of this magnitude. In Los Angeles we have representatives from every single country in the world. The most diverse population that has ever existed resides within our city limits. We have the ability to turn 2011 into the biggest Earth Day ever to march from downtown Los Angeles to the Santa Monica Pier with our Llamas in tow to create an International Earth Day where men and women from all cultures, political affiliations, religions, and walks of life celebrate our home on Earth without any commercialization of the event. After the successful march we could have the participants reach back to their homelands to encourage participation from every recognized nation on the globe.

Senator Gaylord Nelson created the first Earth Day. We congratulate him on this accomplishment. We can make the day much more meaningful by following in his footsteps. We can use our own footsteps to honor the only home we have ever known and the only home that we can see with our monster telescopes that can sustain life as we know it.

Thomas Storke spoke after the Santa Barbara Spill, “Never in my long lifetime have I ever seen such an aroused populace at the grassroots level. This oil pollution has done something I have never seen before in Santa Barbara – it has united citizens of all political persuasions in a truly nonpartisan cause.”

We can give meaning to the loss of life – flora and fauna by coming together on April 22, 2011.

Our Galaxy has 100 billion stars. The Universe has 400 billion galaxies. We can see all of this and have yet to identify a single planet that can sustain life as we enjoy it. We should therefore protect Mother Earth at all costs.

(This article was originally published on July 27th, 2010 in the Century City News)

THE LAST RESORT

Our Galaxy has 100 billion stars. The Universe has 400 billion galaxies. We can see all of this and have yet to identify a single planet that can sustain life as we enjoy it. We should therefore protect Mother Earth at all costs.

Truth exists. The more fully you align yourself with truth the better your life will be. Frustrations come from being out of harmony with truth.
Why Conservatives and Liberals should begin hugging their nearest tree.
I remember being a part of America as a kid and swept away with the newest hit on the airwaves. I must have been one of the first to buy the album, Hotel California. I played that album over and over on my record player. I was warned that I would damage the record but that didn’t stop me from listening to it again and again. I know I thought that I would just go down to the record store and buy another because I was living in the disposable era of America. I am quite sure that I was not alone in discovering what I thought was an obscure tune on the other side of the album called “The Last Resort”. I would sing that song, off key, for hours on end because I connected with the simple meaning.

“Who will provide the grand design?
What is yours and what is mine?
Cause there is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here.
We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds.
In the name of yesterday and in the name of God.
And you can see them there on Sunday morning.
Stand up and sing about what its like up there.
They call it Paradise, I don’t know why.
Callin’ some place Paradise, kissing it goodbye.”

We, as Humanity, are obsessed with finding PARADISE. Milton’s Paradise Lost, the Bible’s Garden of Eden, Dante’s Inferno all talk about the qualities of PARADISE. There are many names for Paradise: Nirvana, Heaven,Elysian Fields,Tian, or Janna. There have been many great migrations throughout history looking for the greener grass… for Paradise. Columbus gave Europeans the “New World” where men and women could carve out their own personal Paradise. The Vikings migrated to the Mediterranean, Iceland and Greenland as well as the Continent of North America. Today finding our own Paradise has become a little more complicated. Nearly Seven Billion people occupy the planet and every single landmass has been identified and mapped. Today’s flight from our circumstances includes the dream of Space Travel to another Planet. The fact is that there is no place to go. Our neighboring planets are uninhabitable. Our moon is uninhabitable. The only home we know is Earth. The time is upon us as humanity to face this fact and to be careful about the choices we make to keep our home safe and comfortable. At least for the next five billion years.

WHEN I WAS YOUNG I BECAME A MORMON
Like the line from the song I was looking for the grand design. I was searching for answers. I was on a quest to find more. I found the message of the Mormons very interesting in my youth for a number of reasons.
I still have many friends and family in the Mormon Church and have no axe to grind. I still have many beliefs that are couched in Mormonism. Their eleventh article of faith is: “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.” I would add to it a provision for the ever growing population of agnostics or atheists to not worship at all.

Star Trek was a popular television series at the time I joined Mormonism. Close Encounters, ET, Alien and Star Wars all created alternate space based realities that appealed to my sense of adventure. I was easily swept up in the belief that there were many planets to visit and that aliens were plentiful.

Mormons have as one of their core beliefs the promise of being good in this life results in a reward that would lead to the right to have your own planet and become a lesser God in charge to design and implement a plan for that planet. I have since thought that entire concept through and have no interest in that much responsibility. Additionally, if there are other planets out there to design we have yet to discover a single instance of a Mormon ruled planet.

A very good friend of mine was the production executive on “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. He influenced me by letting me in on a secret that the researchers didn’t want to get out at the time the movie was released and that was that all of their research up to that time had led to the conclusion that there is nothing else out there. Since the release of the movie we have progressed so much. We created the Hubbell Telescope, other ground and space observatories, radio telescopes, sent numerous probes to the four corners of our solar system and we have recorded images millions of light years away. However, so far not a single planet has been discovered that is confirmed to be able to sustain life as we experience it.

THE GOLDILOCKS MISSION
Life is around us in many forms: Viruses, Bacteria, Micro Organisms, flora and fauna. Some life forms can exist in extreme conditions. The possibility that Alien Life Forms exist is highly probable. Stephen Hawkins has warned us that the best course of action with Alien Life Forms is to simply steer clear because of the threat they might pose to Humans if they are found to exist. Space is a gigantic place. The odds of us finding intelligent life before it finds us is rather slim. In the 50’s SETI was formed to find life on other planets. Just how many planets are they looking on?
Let’s look at some numbers. In our own galaxy there are 100 billion stars. In the part of the Universe that we can see there are another 400 billion galaxies. If we assume an average of 3 planets per star that becomes an unfathomable number of planets out in the Universe. Environments that can sustain human life are very rare, even on our own planet. Extreme conditions of floods, fires, earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, droughts, are known to take human life. Man made disaster also can destroy life.

We all remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Too hot or too cold, too hard or too soft, too big or too small were all countered with the solution that was just right. Our own planet is “just right”. If we were spinning significantly faster we would be too cold to sustain life, if the earth were spinning significantly slower we would be too hot during the day and too cold at night to sustain life. We are also just right when it come to distance from the Sun. A little more distance from the Sun and we would be too cold and a little more near the Sun and we would be too hot.
Water is another element necessary to sustain life. Too much water and there is no ability to sustain life, too little water and there also is no ability to sustain life. Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide are elements that sustain life, as are plants,nutrients, animals, and insects, microorganisms, viruses, bacteria, minerals and sunlight. Each element is important to the overall ecosystem.
“The Goldilocks Mission is the first dedicated organization to set, as its goal, the travel to and the colonization of another truly livable planet when it is discovered. This may take many decades before this mission leaves earth and possibly many more, depending on future developments and discoveries in propulsion in space and time travel, before it arrives at its new home.”
-Dr. Spencer Brown

Criteria for a sustainable planet:
1. A star in the same class as our sun or perhaps a red dwarf.
2. Dense planet like our Earth.
3. High metallic content.
4. Not too hot or too cold.
5. Enough water but not too much water.
6. Plate tectonics and geological activity.
7. Presence of Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen.
8. Absence of noxious gases or acids in concentrated amounts.
9. Absence of noxious bacteria.
10. Absence of noxious viruses.
11. Foundation for complex chemistry.

To further complicate the search for a place to go is the fact that even though we have developed the ability to get into Space we have no means to travel the, perhaps, hundreds of million light years away to get there. The myth that there is a place to go will elude us for thousands of years at best.

If we do find a place to go and we develop the means to get there we will have to wrestle with the moral issue of displacing other life forms to preserve our own existence.

TIME IS OUR MOST IMPORTANT COMMODITY
We have a home right now called Earth and time is ticking away.

EARTH DAY
There was a method to the madness of walking two Llamas from Mann’s Chinese Theater, in Hollywood to Century City. The entire endeavor was without any commercial interests. One day a year we have a day that honors our great home, Mother Earth. One day a year it is O.K. to have our motivations be about not profiting but giving back. Our goal was to honor Earth Day…not just any Earth Day but the 40th anniversary of a day dedicated to being grateful for a place to be. Our Home. Brett Stevens, Stuart Wilde and I walked with the Llamas and traffic stopped to photograph us in Los Angeles with these majestic animals.
I got a telephone call from my son when he saw the picture on the AP wire. He was mocking me for walking with the Llamas calling me the tree hugger that I am. I silenced him with a few words. We wanted to send a message that people could walk more and drive less. Emits less exhaust, saves precious oil, costs less, takes traffic off the road and burns calories – I don’t see anything here you are against. In fact I don’t see anything here anybody is against. Everybody I know of all political persuasions wants a clean environment. No one wants one industry to cause other industries to perish due to pollution. In fact, all of us want people to take responsibility for their own actions – good or bad.

An environmental disaster caused thousands of birds to perish. The oil spill widened being carried by winds and swells. Seals and dolphins were washing up on shore dead with oil clogging the blowholes of the dolphins leading to a painful and horrific lung hemorrhaging. The BP spill you ask? No, this was the oil spill of 1969 which was the impetus to getting momentum behind the very first Earth Day. Said Fred L. Hartley, President of Union Oil Company: “I don’t like to call it a disaster, because there has been no loss of human life. I am amazed at the publicity for the loss of a few birds.”

Forty years later we have coinciding with the celebration of Earth Day another major environmental disaster that threatens the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The oil will virtually kill the fishing industry in the area and the toll to bird wildlife will be catastrophic. There was the loss of life in this disaster and Tony Hayward said to the Guardian Newspaper, “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean: The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.” If we don’t hold them accountable they try to minimize the effect and skip responsibility.

Now is the time for all Americans to come together to prevent disasters of this magnitude. In Los Angeles we have representatives from every single country in the world. The most diverse population that has ever existed resides within our city limits. We have the ability to turn 2011 into the biggest Earth Day ever to march from downtown Los Angeles to the Santa Monica Pier with our Llamas in tow to create an International Earth Day where men and women from all cultures, political affiliations, religions, and walks of life celebrate our home on Earth without any commercialization of the event. After the successful march we could have the participants reach back to their homelands to encourage participation from every recognized nation on the globe.

Senator Gaylord Nelson created the first Earth Day. We congratulate him on this accomplishment. We can make the day much more meaningful by following in his footsteps. We can use our own footsteps to honor the only home we have ever known and the only home that we can see with our monster telescopes that can sustain life as we know it.

Thomas Storke spoke after the Santa Barbara Spill, “Never in my long lifetime have I ever seen such an aroused populace at the grassroots level. This oil pollution has done something I have never seen before in Santa Barbara – it has united citizens of all political persuasions in a truly nonpartisan cause.”

We can give meaning to the loss of life – flora and fauna by coming together on April 22, every year and honoring our home – Mother Earth. Who will march with us on this Earth Day? We are making plans to celebrate Earth Day in 2011 with another Llama Walk and we invite all to join us.

© 2010 Michael Douglas Carlin. All Rights Reserved.