Lorraine Ali Los Angeles Times Published 10:12 p.m. UTC Aug 27, 2018 Perry Mason and Matlock were once America’s most recognizable “lawyers” thanks to the dramatic crimes and cases they brought into American living rooms each week. Today it’s hard to imagine any scripted series that’s able to compete with the courthouse drama and cast of characters that reality has handed us in the Trump era. Last night, loosely linked plot lines converged into one bad narrative for President Trump when his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to eight counts of tax and bank fraud and campaign finance violations and said he’d paid out hush money to a Playboy bunny and a porn star in 2016 “at the direction of a candidate for federal office.” In another courtroom, former Trump campaign advisor Paul Manafort was found guilty of eight counts of tax and bank fraud after a trial in which America learned there was such a thing as a … [Read more...] about Today’s true-life plot lines make TV’s scripted courtroom shows look tame
Headlines 50 years ago today
One-man’s 50-year love affair with an ambulance called Wendy
Mark Bailey’s late wife used to say he was like Peter Pan because of his obsession with restoring a wrecked 1950s ambulance he rediscovered in a pub car park. So when he finished lovingly renovating the classic Morris vehicle in time for the 70th anniversary celebrations of the NHS this year, he decided to call her Wendy in honour of the charming character in the much-loved children’s tale by J M Barrie. By then, Iris had sadly passed away but Mark thinks she would have been immensely proud he managed to finish rekindling his romance with the vehicle he affectionately calls “the other woman” in his life. “She was always very proud of the fact I was an ambulance driver,” Mark reminisces. Read More Latest health headlines Now 80, he first spotted Wendy when he was serving as a young ambulance driver in Edmonton in 1960. But his love of ambulances went back much further. Born with a closed lung in 1938, he had spent winters in the war years being … [Read more...] about One-man’s 50-year love affair with an ambulance called Wendy
75 years ago, Zoot Suit Riots marked a dark period in Southern California history
By Beatriz E. Valenzuela | [email protected] | San Bernardino SunPUBLISHED: June 1, 2018 at 4:12 pm | UPDATED: June 2, 2018 at 1:59 pm The look is unmistakable: Crisp lines in voluminous trousers, polished shoes and exaggerated proportions. They are hallmarks of the zoot suit, which became connected to a youth subculture during the American jazz era. In Southern California, the flashy attire also is linked to rebellion and Mexican-American pachuco culture. And 75 years ago this weekend, on June 3, 1943, the zoot suit became forever tied to one of the darkest periods in the region’s history when U.S. military men took the streets of Los Angeles attacking young Mexican-American men, targeting those adorned in the attire. Experts and scholars say the causes of the ensuing violence, that came to be known as the Zoot Suit Riots, are complex and varied: a growing distrust of immigrants, rampant racism and a perceived lack of patriotism from outsiders, among them. But what is … [Read more...] about 75 years ago, Zoot Suit Riots marked a dark period in Southern California history
This California volcano erupted 103 years ago today
By Amy Graff, SFGATE Published 7:14 am, Tuesday, May 22, 2018 window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-5', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 5', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-10', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 10', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-15', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 15', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-20', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 20', … [Read more...] about This California volcano erupted 103 years ago today
Readers sound off on yellow cabs, gun laws and the Post Office
Cuomo sells out the yellow cabs Flushing: Gov. Cuomo now says, “You can’t have it both ways: You can’t say I charged a million dollars for a (yellow cab) medallion and I sold a franchise to work in the city and now I have an unlimited number of Ubers that have the same franchise and paid nothing” (“Andy OK with curb on Ubers,” April 3). Governor, we taxi driver/medallion owners said exactly those words in vain at every rally and demonstration for about four years. What drove you to finally say it? Are you trying to calm us down, or is it just because you’re up for reelection this year? And governor, with all due respect, why are treating us as cash cows? Don’t we contribute enough to the state and city coffers already? Don’t you remember that we are already collecting from New Yorkers a 50-cent surcharge per trip to help the MTA? Governor, if you were really serious, you would take a different approach. Instead of standing by … [Read more...] about Readers sound off on yellow cabs, gun laws and the Post Office