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Peace is War

James Preston Allen
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Peace is War

 

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety”. Benjamin Franklin

I think I must have written this kind of article a dozen times over the course of 46 years. So much so that it has almost become a tradition every time we have a Republican president. What makes this moment different is it is just more obvious than ever before that the Orange Felon residing in the Oval office has lied us into yet another avoidable war. This is tragically a very Orwellian moment when the man who thinks he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize starts a war of aggression– peace is war, up is down. And you don’t have to even ask why certain Middle Eastern factions hate both Israel and the USA at this point. The cycle of war just continues in the region as if the real goal is Armageddon. It made me wonder what this generation of veterans will think?

I sat with a group of veterans after the dedication of the Louis Dominguez veterans center last Saturday. As we sat around the table eating pasta, it occurred to me to ask those present, “How many of you guys think this war with Iran is worth fighting?” None of them raised their hands and only one stayed silent when the discussion came back to the Vietnam war, of which these guys were veterans.

“We shouldn’t have been there in the first place,” one vet pronounced. The others agreed. “And both Iraqi wars were a waste,” another one said between eating. They all shook their heads in agreement and continued eating.

In all my years, I have not met a single combat veteran from any war since World War II who believed the cause was worth the sacrifice.. In fact, when we look back at our history, there’s hardly been a decade without our nation going to war somewhere for some excuse. In my mind there are only four wars that we have fought that were actually necessary, and all of them because we were attacked.

The American Revolution is first and foremost because of the stupidity and tyranny of the British Crown and the War of 1812 because the Brits didn’t get the message the first time. Then the American Civil War started by renegade states that wanted to keep the institution of slavery. This war ended with the emancipation of the enslaved and the ratification of the 12th, 13th, and 14th Amendments to the US Constitution, guaranteeing citizenship to those very same people. The attempt to cure America’s “original sin”. And now being disputed on immigration.

And then there was World War II. We didn’t start it, but once again, our nation was called to end the tyranny of fascism. All the rest of our wars were about US colonization, corporate greed, and the proxy battles of the Cold War against communism. But what about Afghanistan, you say? Well the truth is that the attacks of 911 were crimes by a terrorist group and the planners of those crimes c

should have been brought to justice without going to war for 20 years at the cost of thousands of lives and billions of dollars and the erosion of our civil liberties (remember the Patriot Act?). In fact many years ago it was revealed that the Taliban was willing to give up Osama Bin Laden in the early days of that action but Bush wanted his war –one that could have been avoided had he only listened to the intel from the Clinton national security team.

Here we go again, not unlike the wars in Vietnam or Iraq, where a president lies his way into another costly war while declining to fund essential services at home. Just one or two of those Tomahawk missiles could feed every hungry child in America. The entire cost of just a few days of this war could pay for the health care deficit or housing for the homeless. And all of this was done without a formal declaration of war from the US Congress that has the sole authority to declare war.

What we have here is a bully tyrant– we’ve seen it at home in LA, Washington DC, Chicago, and Minnesota with the ICE raids. We’ve witnessed it with the concentration camps that now contain some 70,000 migrants illegally snatched off our streets without warrants. But why should we expect anything different from a twice impeached, three-time indicted false populist criminal who bullied his way into the White House not once but twice?

Should I expect moral conduct from a criminal who runs this nation like a mob boss?

My friends and neighbors, this is the 250th year of our nation’s founding. I suggest we not only reclaim the symbols of our freedom from the corrupt neo-cons, but also make this July 4th the stage for the largest “No Kings” Day protest ever held. Then, in November 2026, we must work to vote out every member of Congress — representatives and senators — who supports this war.

If we haven’t learned anything from the last 70 years of war it should be that we can’t force any other nation to adopt democracy at the point of a gun, it can only come from their own desire to be politically free.

LASD Sheriff Luna Announces Arrests in Attempted Murder of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy

Reporters Desk
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LASD Sheriff Luna Announces Arrests in Attempted Murder of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy

 

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna announced the arrest of two suspects in the attempted murder of a deputy working at Lomita Sheriff’s Station.

Joining Sheriff Luna were South Patrol Chief Jorge Valdez, Lomita Captain Kimberly Guerrero, and OSS Captain Marco Soto, who provided details on the incident and investigation.

The incident occurred Feb. 22, at 8:53 a.m. After finishing a call, a patrol deputy working Lomita Sheriff’s Station drove in the 600 block of Deep Valley Drive in Rolling Hills Estates. An unknown suspect fired a gunshot at the marked patrol vehicle.

The bullet penetrated the trunk and rear seat panel but did not reach the front seat where the deputy sat. The deputy was unharmed.

Investigators determined the shooting was deliberate and are treating it as attempted murder of a peace officer.

Following the shooting, investigators from the Operation Safe Streets Bureau (OSS) and detectives from the Lomita Sheriff’s Station launched an intensive investigation, utilizing all available resources to identify and locate those responsible.

During the investigation, detectives recovered surveillance video, an assault rifle, two semi-automatic firearms, and ballistic evidence. Investigators also executed two search warrants: one at the suspects’ residence and another for their vehicle, a white four-door sedan.

Detectives determined that suspects Shane Mahoney, 39, and Arianna Charmaine Mitchell, 22, both of the 600 block of Deep Valley Drive, drove to Los Angeles International Airport, parked, and boarded a flight to Kauai, Hawaii, on Feb. 23, one day after the shooting.

On Feb. 25, operation safe streets bureau investigators submitted the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration.

Mahoney was charged with:

PC 245(d) – Assault with a Firearm upon a Peace Officer

PC 664/187 – Attempted Murder

Mitchell was charged with:

PC 32 – Accessory After the Fact

A Ramey Warrant and an Extradition Warrant were subsequently issued for both suspects.

The Kauai Police Department and the United States Marshals Service assisted in the arrest. Both suspects were taken into custody March 3 and are now awaiting extradition to California.

Details: To view entire press conference:

https://www.facebook.com/LosAngelesCountySheriffsDepartment/videos/4370242983191345

Letters to the Editor: No War on Iran, San Pedro Courthouse Deal Nixed, Appreciation for “Gaslighting” Response to State of the Union

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Letters to the Editor: No War on Iran, San Pedro Courthouse Deal Nixed, Appreciation for “Gaslighting” Response to State of the Union

 

Stop the War on Iran!

President Donald Trump gave the greenlight to Israel to attack Iran resulting in the largely civilian casualties numbering in the hundreds, many of them children. On Feb. 28 the U.S. spent weeks sending the largest Naval fleet to the Persian Gulf since its 2003 invasion of Iraq. Despite Trump’s hollow rhetoric about negotiations, which were always contradicted by Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated intentions and Trump’s own threats. Iran was prepared for a war and vowed to strike back at Israel and U.S> bases in the gulf region, which it did promptly. Iran is closing the Strait of Hormuz, repercussions will be felt globally. About 20% of the global oil supply passes through the straights

We understand that the people of Iran united against imperial aggression in the face of their own internal struggles. The IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) are cruel and evil in their own right, but being steadfast in the belief that this type of foreign intervention is not the liberation it claims to be and the sincere hope and desire for the Iranian people to find a clear path forward towards the freedom they seek and deserve out of the clutches of the regime. The U.S. can and must unite to establish peaceful coexistence if we are to work toward a society in which we can thrive.

The U.S. joined at the hip with Israel is at war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. With the confirmed killing of Iran’s supreme leader, escalation is assured and the cost of human lives will be dear. War with Iran is condemnable on its own, but the economic and political fallout will be the enduring legacy to the American people and should be a clarion call to us to act in the working class. In the U.S., every indicator of well-being is declining, and every measure of destruction is increasing. The crisis does not unfold in isolation from the war economy being unleashed abroad—both are expressions of the same dying system.

The Trump administration displays the depravity and desperation of the ruling class he represents, hostile to the concept of democracy and any vision that does not maintain their rule. How are we to make sense of the immorality of deliberate targeting of Iranian civilians, including a girl’s elementary school, killing over 150 children? We are seeing once again the historical link between war and fascism at home and war against the world.

 

San Pedro Neighbors for Peace and Justice

March 3, 2026

Re: San Pedro Courthouse Deal Ends by James Preston Allen (Feb. 5-18)

Thanks for an incisive and astute overview of the history of the San Pedro Courthouse, in historic downtown informing that the option agreement for development has been terminated. It has been another episode of “smoke and mirrors” with the County government and public misled, if not deceived, by more “carpet bagger” mercenaries (aka “developers”. I recall attending many meetings, dozens of “post its” submitted by the public about what their vision might be, all for naught.

The acres of vacant land has been a void in the downtown and aesthetic eyesore. It is a pity that the Courthouse was demolished when it might have been “repurposed” and a view I personally have held with respect for the mid-century modern architecture and history of the property.

Another blight like the demise of “Beacon Street” and Ports O’Call debacle; sacrificing history and waste of time and funds.

Let’s hope the next phase will be vetted with vigor and less deception for the government and vox populi.

Sincerely yours,

Stephanie Mardesich

On Gaslighting America

Paul never fails to tell a compelling story. I watched the whole thing myself. Again I find myself outraged by orange sub-creature and his tik tok television cabinet of fools and sycophants.

He reminded me of Mussolini as he gazed out upon his cult.

You and I are in accord. I’ll stop there. Keep on doing what you do.

Robert Barr, Long Beach

Hahn Names Vet’s Center after Dominguez

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Hahn Names Vet’s Center after Dominguez

 

On Saturday Feb. 28 LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn unveiled the plaque which names the veterans center at 111 So Gaffey Street, in San Pedro after Louis Dominguez, a bronze star and purple heart Vietnam War veteran. Hahn in her remarks said, “As a young man, Louis Dominguez answered the call to serve his country, enlisting in the United States Army and serving as a forward observer in Vietnam. He was seriously wounded by machine-gun fire, and for his bravery he earned a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star with Valor, and multiple other decorations”.

Terminal Island Remembers Internment

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Terminal Island Remembers Internment

 

Japanese American Community Leaders Reflect on Parallels Between Past and Present at Day of Remembrance Ceremony on Terminal Island


By Emma Rault, Columnist


On Thursday, Feb. 19, a crowd of community members gathered on a cold, windy afternoon by the Japanese Fishing Village Memorial on Terminal Island. They were there to observe the annual Day of Remembrance and reflect on a dark chapter in American history with chilling echoes in the present moment.

Feb. 19 marks the anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1942 signing Executive Order 9066, which led to the imprisonment of more than 120,000 men, women and children of Japanese descent in concentration camps.

They were stripped of their civil rights and property under the guise of national security and spent the duration of World War II locked away behind barbed wire. The Japanese community on Terminal Island — which back then was known as East San Pedro — was forever uprooted. Homes, storefronts and houses of worship in the area known as Fish Harbor were bulldozed by the Navy just days after people were evicted at gunpoint.

The ceremony at the Japanese Memorial was organized by the Harbor Area Peace Patrols, the local group of community volunteers monitoring ICE activity around the Harbor Area, in conjunction with Nikkei Progressives, a grassroots community organization fighting for social justice and immigrant rights based in Little Tokyo.

The Harbor Area Peace Patrols formed last June, when federal immigration agents began a wave of aggressive raids and arrests in American cities, with masked, anonymous men grabbing people off the streets in broad daylight.

The Harbor Area became a key location in this terror campaign — ICE began using the Coast Guard base on Terminal Island, just down the road from the Japanese Memorial, as a “staging area,” or base of operations.

For the last eight months, members of the Harbor Area Peace Patrols stood watch on Terminal Island every single morning, documenting the movements of federal agents and alerting the community.

On Feb. 13, it was announced that federal immigration agents had left the Coast Guard site. The Day of Remembrance ceremony, then, also marked a powerful victory for community activists.

“Last week, we won,” said Maya Suzuki Daniels, a local teacher and co-founder of the Harbor Area Peace Patrols.

The group’s work on Terminal Island was a powerful full circle moment for Suzuki Daniels. During World War II, her Japanese American grandfather fought in the U.S. Army while the rest of his family was imprisoned in concentration camps.

Being on the island “in the sun, in the rain, in the wind, in the dark, to protect our communities” meant “acting in the legacy of our ancestors,” she said.

Terminal Island’s history and the ongoing struggle for immigrant justice are part of the same fight — that was the core message that echoed across the speeches at the Day of Remembrance event.

Amy Oba, who spoke for Nikkei Progressives, talked at greater length about the historical parallels. “This past year, President Trump used the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, an act not invoked since it was used on Japanese Americans. We also witnessed the reopening of Fort Bliss [in El Paso, Texas], the largest immigration detention center right now in the U.S., which was also a place Japanese Americans were interned. And we have seen the Supreme Court sanction the use of race to determine if someone is an ‘illegal alien,’ in eerily familiar language to the Japanese Americans being called ‘enemy aliens.’”

Oba’s words also brought to mind what happened in August 2025, when Amanda Trebach, a member of the immigrant rights group Unión del Barrio and an ICU nurse, was violently detained by federal agents right next to the Japanese Fishing Village Memorial. She was pinned face-down on the ground, taken in an unmarked van and detained overnight before being released without charges.

This year, two legal observers of immigration enforcement activity — Renee Good, a mother of three, and Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse — were killed by federal ICE agents in Minnesota. What happened to Trebach here on Terminal Island, then, was not an isolated incident but an early warning sign in a pattern of alarming escalation.

But the community is holding fast, Oba said. “Justice is once again coming for immigrant communities in the U.S. … People are once again uniting against the racism and xenophobia and scapegoating of immigrants in our country.”

And Japanese American history offers lessons in how to fight back. “In 1988, over 40 years after internment, Japanese Americans won $2,000 in reparations and an official government apology for every camp survivor,” Oba said. “We remain the largest group ever to receive reparations from the U.S. government.”

Representatives of the Terminal Islanders Association — composed of former residents and their descendants — were also present at the event, bundled up in warm sweaters under their ceremonial happi coats printed with the waves of Fish Harbor splashing in turquoise and white.

President Terry Hara gestured toward the federal prison that sits next to the Coast Guard base. He recounted what happened here on Dec. 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese government’s attack on Pearl Harbor. As the local Japanese fishing boats headed back to Terminal Island with their catch, they were stopped at the entrance to the breakwater. “The men were removed from their boats … and put into the federal detention center right here. That location is part of history.”

Like Maya Suzuki Daniels and Amy Oba, the Terminal Islanders are committed to honoring their legacy. “We’re around, we’re very strong, and we want to keep the story alive,” Hara said.

They plan to do this using the two surviving buildings from Fish Harbor on Terminal Island’s Tuna Street, which were designated as LA Historic-Cultural Monuments last year in a joint effort between the Terminal Islanders, CD15 Councilman Tim McOsker, and the LA Conservancy.

“I hope that we can … make something with these two buildings that will teach future generations what was here, what happened, and not to forget,” said Tim Yuji Yamamoto, whose grandfather, Akimatsu Nakamura, ran a grocery store in one of the landmarked buildings.

The Terminal Islanders Association recently became an official nonprofit, enabling them to start fundraising for the restoration of the buildings.

After a prayer by Pastor Joshua “Yoshi” Kuramoto of the San Pedro United Methodist Church, attendees came together to fold origami cranes — a Japanese tradition of prayer and healing. The colorful paper birds were placed at the base of the memorial’s statue of two Japanese fishermen.

Terry Hara pointed out the statue’s symbolism. One of the bronze figures is looking back toward the lost community of Fish Harbor; the other’s gaze is aimed ahead, at the future — a reminder that the next chapter of history is up to us.

 

Crime Stabilized, Vacancies Persist

Reporters Desk
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Crime Stabilized, Vacancies Persist

 

What Property Owners Got for $3.6 Million in PBID Fees

By Devonte Barr, Reporter

For seven years, property owners inside San Pedro’s Historic Waterfront Business Improvement District (BID) have been writing mandatory checks. Not voluntary contributions. Not optional dues. Mandatory assessments, backed by the force of law, have totaled more than $3.6 million since 2017.

The pitch was straightforward: cleaner streets, safer blocks, a stronger commercial corridor. The kind of improvements that justify forcing every property owner in the district to pay, whether they want to or not.

The question is whether they got what they paid for — preventing decline, or whether they’ve been funding something else entirely, something less visible.

According to the district’s Annual Planning Reports, assessment revenue increased from $1,078,761 in 2017 to $1,340,548 in 2024 — a roughly 24% increase over seven years. Total estimated revenue, including carryover and other income, rose from $1.29 million in 2017 to $1.67 million in 2024.

That’s real money coming out of real businesses. A small retail shop might pay $1,500 annually. A larger property owner could be on the hook for $15,000 or more. Every year. With no opt-out.

Not every property owner views the arrangement favorably. One business owner along Pacific Avenue, who requested anonymity, described the assessments more bluntly: “It’s BS.”

Security and ambassador services consistently represent the district’s largest expense category. In 2017, those services accounted for 45.5% of the budget. By 2019, that share declined to 37.1%. In 2024, visitor, ambassador and security services account for 36.7% of projected expenditures.

Spending on sanitation, beautification and capital improvements increased during the same period, rising from 17% of the budget in 2017 to 28.8% in 2024.

The district’s projected surplus also grew. In 2017, surplus revenues totaled $200,000. In 2019, that figure declined slightly to $165,578. In 2024, projected surplus revenues total $315,160.

With security representing the single largest expenditure over this period — the thing property owners pay the most for — the first place to look for return on investment is in public safety outcomes.

Over the past seven years, between 36 and 45% of the BID’s annual budget has been allocated to security and ambassador services. Roughly $1.3 million over seven years has gone toward safety-related services. To assess whether property owners got their money’s worth, crime data from the Los Angeles Police Department were analyzed within the district’s geographic footprint.

Using LAPD open data filtered to the BID boundary between Pacific Avenue and Harbor Boulevard and roughly 3rd to 10th Street, total reported crimes declined from 1,749 incidents in 2017 to 1,463 in 2019 — a 16% reduction prior to the pandemic. By 2023, total incidents rose to 1,614, reflecting a post-pandemic increase but remaining below 2017 levels.

Property crimes fell modestly before the pandemic, then rebounded; burglaries remain roughly 21% lower than 2017 levels. Vehicle-related theft declined consistently from 92 incidents in 2017 to 67 in 2023. Violent crime showed similar patterns: an early decline, followed by a rebound during the pandemic, and a return to baseline levels.

The data show stabilization, not transformation. Crime fell before the pandemic, rose afterward, and now sits near where it started. Vehicle theft — the kind that empties parking lots and scares customers away — has declined steadily. That’s something. But it’s not a dramatic turnaround. It’s not the kind of result that justifies $1.3 million in mandatory spending.

Which raises the next question: if crime didn’t collapse, did the corridor at least fill up?

If mandatory assessments are supposed to create a thriving retail corridor, the proof should be visible in commercial occupancy. To assess whether BID expenditures correspond to a fully leased district, a review of current real estate listings and storefront conditions was conducted along Pacific Avenue between 3rd and 10th Street, the district’s core footprint.

If you’re in search of commercial real estate, listings show several properties currently available for lease or sale along South Pacific Avenue. Listings include retail storefronts near 9th and 10th streets and larger commercial spaces being marketed for repositioning. While the number of actively advertised spaces is limited, there is availability in the corridor.

A visual survey of the Pacific Avenue corridor shows that vacancy is present but not pervasive, with dark storefronts appearing intermittently rather than in concentrated clusters. The corridor shows no dramatic increase in visible vacancy compared to archival imagery from earlier years.

The commercial environment is neither thriving nor collapsing. It’s not a fully leased corridor, but it’s not characterized by widespread blight or abandonment either. As with crime trends, vacancy patterns appear driven more by broader retail market fluctuations — particularly post-pandemic adjustments — than by anything the BID did or didn’t do.

The pattern across all three measures — financial investment, public safety and commercial occupancy — points toward the same conclusion.

Since 2017, property owners inside the district have paid more than $3.6 million in mandatory assessments. Security remains the largest line item. Crime fell before the pandemic, rose modestly afterward, and now sits near baseline levels. Vehicle-related theft has declined steadily. Vacancies exist, but they are not concentrated.

The district has not presided over a dramatic decline. It has not produced a dramatic transformation either. What it appears to have done is maintain.

And that leads to the real question.

In a district governed not by elected officials but by property owners and a board, maintenance may be the intended outcome. But if assessments rise annually and the corridor remains fundamentally unchanged, the question is not whether the BID failed — it’s whether stability was the goal all along, and whether that goal justifies forcing every property owner to pay for it.

Because maintenance is not free. It costs $3.6 million and counting. And in a working waterfront corridor shaped by pandemic shocks, retail contraction, and shifting consumer habits, the question is not whether the district stayed the same. The question is whether staying the same is worth a mandatory tax — and who gets to decide.

The data suggest the BID has done what many districts attempt, but few can easily measure: prevent deterioration. Whether that outcome justifies mandatory assessments is not a statistical question. It’s a governance question — one that ultimately belongs to the property owners funding it.

The BID’s executive director was contacted for comment, but did not respond by press time.

Eugene Daub Portraits, Medals, and Monuments

Melina Paris
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Eugene Daub Portraits, Medals, and Monuments

The Sculptor’s Obsession and Triumph Through Art

Eugene Daub Portraits, Medals, and Monuments (2025) is a biography about the esteemed sculptor who lives in San Pedro, California with his wife, artist Anne Olsen Daub. The book was realized thanks to communal patronage and the editorial team’s shared dedication to honoring Daub’s important body of work.

The book recounts an artist’s obsession and determination to become a sculptor in the face of daunting challenges. Written by Wolfgang Mabry, based on multiple interviews with Daub, it charts his early history as a 16-year-old high school dropout trying to find his way in the world.

Primarily self-taught, Daub has become a leading figure in monumental bronze sculpture, liturgical works and medallic art. Portraits, Medals, and Monuments provides an in-depth view into Daub’s dedication to sculpting and his ingenuity to succeed in a competitive arena.

The contemporary figure sculptor is best known for his portraits and figurative monument sculpture created in the classic heroic style, where he memorializes heroes who have shaped the American landscape. Daub’s sculptures reside in three of the nation’s state capitols and in the National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. His work appears in public monuments and permanent collections in the United States and Europe.

You can also see many of his works locally in the Harbor Area, including statues and reliefs of Joe Hill, Harry Bridges, founder of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union or ILWU, the Los Angeles Port Police, and Phineas Banning, each adding to the cultural and historical fabric of the community.

The book opens with several shorter contributions: a foreward by Rosa Lowinger, author, curator and art conservator — “Tribute In Form: The Sculpture of Eugene Daub;” “The Conversation” by Ron Linden; “On Medallic Art” by George S. Cuhaj; and Wolfgang Mabry wrote the biography. Daub also provides his eloquent gratitude for the team on this dedication. It is of note that throughout this retrospective, each contributor respectfully imparts how Daub’s prolific works engender the spirit of his historical subjects.

Early in his life Daub’s ingenuity stood out. Mabry tells how Daub, after realizing he had no interest or aptitude for a business career, in 1960, at about age 18, enrolled in the Ivy School of Professional Art. The young artist rode the bus along with University of Pittsburgh and Duke University students. Daub noticed their books and went to the library to check out the texts they were reading. Daub’s innovation and trust of his own instincts have provided him success, recognition and numerous awards. He reasoned out his education and employment (often freelancing) to the greatest benefit for his family and his career as an employable and valuable sculptor.

After he obtained a job at the Franklin Mint as a staff sculptor in 1975, Daub immersed himself in research for these historical pieces. This work provided him the education in American and world history that he never received as a student.

The biography includes photos of Daub’s earliest work at the Franklin Mint, as a sculptor of bas-relief for medals and small sculpture. It encompasses an extensive range of decades’ worth of monuments — including liturgical sculpture — a form close to his heart, portraits (ceramic and relief) and the recent installation of artwork for the LA Metro Station at San Dimas, which he collaborated on with his wife, featuring themes of conservation and the joys of walking. The three sections — Portraits, Medals, and Monuments — are separate categories documenting 50 years of mostly public sculpture and providing comprehensible descriptions of Daub’s meticulous process in creating his pieces. In all, the book features more than 200 high-quality, dimensional photos that reveal Daub’s skill in evoking his subjects’ inner force.

It’s no exaggeration to state that all of Daub’s sculptures are striking. For one special piece, Corps of Discovery (2000, bronze and granite, 18 feet high, base 21 feet in diameter, unveiled in Kansas City, Missouri.) Daub won the commission to begin work on a larger-than- life historical monument for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Commission. The Corps of Discovery depicts Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, their young Shoshone guide, Sacagawea, an enslaved African American man named York, and Lewis’ Newfoundland dog Seaman, with some of the Corps articles. The project took five years to complete and demanded an equally large amount of research.

History explains the ways the journey was frought with colonial issues; while initially exploratory, it laid the groundwork for future Euro-American settlement, resource exploitation and cultural loss. Yet Daub’s monument highlights something more. It emphasizes equal collaboration and agency among its subjects, consciously countering historical hierarchies and power imbalances rooted in colonialism.

It is a sculpture in the round, with Lewis, Clark and Sacagawea facing one direction and York and Seaman facing the opposite direction. Importantly, Daub represented the core leaders of the group that undertook this historical exploration, rather than only its namesakes. He honored the work of Sacagawea as their invaluable language guide, the assistance of York to the expedition’s purposes, and the value and possibly protection that four-legged Seaman provided. This complete representation encapsulates the conscientiousness of Daub’s body of work that Mabry conveys throughout the book.

Eugene Daub gives a talk on his book at the Palos Verdes Art Center. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Portraits, Medals, and Monuments positions Daub as an innovative and intuitive artist with a dedication to tradition, which has led to Daub becoming one of the most influential figures in contemporary medallic art, as well as the sculptural world.

About the book, Daub said, “I feel blessed!”

He continued that he feels fortunate and grateful in so many many ways for the book itself that presents and preserves 50 years of work.

“I feel grateful to have people like Adolfo Nodal in my life, who suggested we make the book and then proceeded to do it,” said Daub. “I’m grateful to the book team, Andrea Serna, editor, Suzanne Matsumiya, graphic editor and designer, and James Allen, strategic adviser and consultant. I’m grateful to Wolfgang Mabry for his writing skills in telling the story about my early struggle to become a sculptor. I’m also grateful to Rosa Lowinger and Ron Linden for their wisdom and kind words in the introduction.

And finally, my wife Anne, whose help is constant and unflagging.”

Daub hopes the book will be an inspiration to anyone who has thought of changing their occupation in mid-life, but felt the terror of failure, of failing their family and losing what they have.

“I wish I could offer a reasonable formula,” he said. “I never had one. My formula was an obsessive desire to become an artist. Coupled with desperation, fear and doubt. Add to that … more than a little luck and good health than I deserve.”

Details: To purchase Eugene Daub Portraits, Medals, and Monuments, go to: https://eugenedaub.com or in person at the Random Lengths News office.

Going to War With Lies

Paul Rosenberg
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Going to War With Lies

 

Trump’s 2008 Call for Bush’s Impeachment Rings Even Truer for Himself

In a 2008 interview with Wolf Blitzer, Donald Trump expressed surprise that Nancy Pelosi hadn’t acted to impeach George Bush, “which personally I think would have been a wonderful thing.” When asked what he meant, he said, “For the war. He lied. He got us into the war with lies.”

Random Lengths News argued much the same at the time. In fact, we favorably reviewed The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder in which Vincent Bugliosi argued that Bush should be tried for murder for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq, and that impeachment would be “a joke” given the scale of Bush’s alleged crimes.

We’d been calling out Bush’s lies since they began, when Trump still supported the war. So it was nice for him to finally catch up. He got a lot of mileage out of that position — it helped him crush Bush’s brother, Jeb, in the 2016 GOP primary, and it fooled a lot of pundits (and ordinary folks as well) into thinking of him as a “peace candidate.” As an infamous Maureen Dowd column put it: “Donald the Dove, Hillary the Hawk.”

Fast forward 10 years and what do we have? Trump still thinks of himself as a peacemaker. He claims he’s stopped eight wars and he’s crowned himself the head of an international “Board of Peace.”

But the eight wars claim is bogus. None were really ended, he wasn’t primarily responsible, and one wasn’t even a war to begin with. He’s actually bombed seven countries in just over a year — a record since World War II.

And the most recent, second bombing of Iran, which could lead to an open-ended war, was justified with lies so careless and slapdash that MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow quickly debunked them all in a matter of minutes, just a few hours after the bombing began, just by quoting Trump’s own top officials, or by making commonsense observations.

“We can basically rule out all of the reasons he has said he’s doing it,” Maddow said. “Is Iran on the precipice of having ballistic missiles that can reach the United States? Absolutely not.” She went on to note that Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that “one day Iran might have that kind of capability … just like you or I might one day learn to fly or to time travel.”

Next, she asked, “Is Iran a week away from industrial-grade uranium enrichment as the president’s diminutive real estate friend, Steve Witkoff, asserted this week?” Again, “No, they are not.” And again it was Marco Rubio who admitted it, just three days earlier at a press conference in St. Kitts and Nevis. He said, “They are not enriching right now.”

Does Iran have “some advanced nuclear program that’s rushing toward a bomb?” Maddow asked. After Trump claimed it had been “totally obliterated” in a previous air strike last June, it’s hard to say, it “might now suddenly be back again,” she noted.

But Trump has also said recently that he just wants the Iranian government to say the words that they are not pursuing a nuclear bomb. Which, Maddow noted, they “actually over and over again keep saying.

“Is it because Donald Trump really feels for the Iranian people?” Maddow asked. After all, he said in his announcement he wants them to rise up and overthrow their despotic government.

But “If you wanted that to happen, you probably could have taken some steps to help that happening,” she noted. And of course, Trump hadn’t. He hadn’t even bothered to build a coalition to push for regime change.

As Maddow scrolled through the list of paper-thin reasons, it was hard not to recall how much more serious, detailed effort the Bush administration had put into backing up and selling its lies.

But Bush’s biggest, most consequential lie was validating Osama bin Laden’s — that he was a warrior, rather than a mass-murdering criminal. And by lying his way into war — first in Afghanistan, then Iraq — without UN approval or a formal declaration of war, he began the process of destroying the post-WWII rules-based order that Trump is now trying to finish.

“The U.N. Charter is not ambiguous. Article 2, Section 4 prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity or the political independence of any state,” veteran war crimes prosecutor Reed Brody told Democracy Now! on Feb. 2. There are two exceptions: self-defense or if the Security Council authorizes it. “And so, President Trump has presumptively committed the crime, the international crime, of aggression, as he did in Venezuela and as — and just as Vladimir Putin did in Ukraine,” Brody said. “And at the Nuremberg trials, the supreme international crime was considered to be aggression, crimes against peace.”

The crime of aggression was how WWII started, and the UN was established by the victors in that war to ensure that it never happened again. While there have obviously been violations, they’ve been repeatedly condemned as such. It’s a far different world than existed before — a world that few still living remember. And forgetting how bad that pre-WWII world was is a big factor in how carelessly we seem to be returning to it.

But another big factor was Bush breaking the rules, and setting a precedent for others to follow. Along with Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, he went very far to try to secure UN approval to invade Iraq. They manipulated Colin Powell into a dishonest presentation to the Security Council, hoping his reputation would persuade skeptics. Behind the scenes, they brought incredible pressure on Security Council members to support approving the war. When all that failed, they went to war anyway, falsely claiming that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that imminently threatened America.

The fact that they tried so hard to get UN approval shows that they recognized its value — pragmatically, in the short-term, at least. But the fact that they acted without it anyway showed how little they recognized its true, long-term value in setting a standard for building a better world. Putin followed Bush’s example in invading Ukraine, not even bothering to try to get UN approval. Now Trump is doing the same. And China could soon follow with Taiwan.

More than that, Trump created his “Board of Peace,” stacked with dictators and criminals like himself, with the evolving ambition to challenge, if not replace the UN as a power-broking international body, with himself in charge for as long as he wants to be — the would-be world leader of leaders.

Here at home, Trump is also violating the Constitution, as Brody also noted.

“The framers were very cognizant that executives, that kings start war, and that war is the most consequential decision that a nation can take, and it should not be left to a single person’s judgment,” he said. “The framers had seen the alternative, the royal prerogative of bringing a war, and that was precisely the kind of tyranny they wanted to avoid.”

So what is to be done?

Trump himself has already told us: He should be impeached. “For the war. He lied. He got us into the war with lies.”

Already, the public isn’t buying. Just one in four Americans say they back U.S. strikes on Iran, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. This compares to 91% support for Bush post-9/11, 88% for his handling of the war in March 2002, months into the Afghanistan war, 76% support for invading Iraq one year later, after Bush gave his “final ultimatum” speech.

In short, this isn’t just an illegal war, and an attack against international law. It isn’t just an unconstitutional war, giving more power to an aspiring tyrant. It’s also a deeply unpopular war, at the very beginning, when normally support would be highest.

Maybe, just once, Trump is right: he should be impeached.

Random Happening: Regency-Era Grand Ball Comes Aboard the Queen Mary

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Random Happening: Regency-Era Grand Ball Comes Aboard the Queen Mary

 

You are invited to step into a world of romance, refinement, and high-society spectacle, aboard the Queen Mary for its newest signature event, The Grand Ball at Sea on March 14.

As part of the ship’s 90th anniversary year celebrations, this Regency-era-inspired costume affair encourages guests to don their finest period attire and experience the transformed Grand Ballroom for an evening of elegance, artistry, and immersive entertainment. The evening will feature guided ballroom dance lessons, live string quartet performances, and a special appearance by the Pageant of the Masters “living statues,” bringing masterworks to life in breathtaking detail.

The evening begins with a champagne toast before a formal Regency-style greeting sets the tone for the evening. A live string quartet performed by the Orchard Quartet will fill the ballroom with sweeping melodies, inviting both seasoned dancers and first-time debutantes to participate in guided ballroom dance lessons. Throughout the evening, strolling actors in authentic period attire will mingle among attendees, offering charm and playful intrigue, while a Royal Queen and King preside over the festivities.

Adding to the spectacle, the renowned “living statues” from the Pageant of the Masters from the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach will make a special appearance, bringing masterful works of art to life in breathtaking detail. Their meticulously crafted tableaux vivants will transform the ballroom into a living gallery, blending art, history, and theatrical illusion.

Tickets include ship admission, a welcome champagne drink, live string quartet performances, ballroom dance lessons, and entertainment throughout the night. Additional offerings, including charcuterie plates, desserts, crudité cups, and a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, will be available for purchase at the cash bar.

The Grand Ball at Sea is part of the Queen Mary’s year-long celebration of her 90th anniversary of her maiden voyage. To make a hotel reservation today visit www.queenmary.com/stay. For more information on the Queen Mary and to see a calendar of nightly happenings, visit www.queenmary.com/whatsondeck, or connect on social at @TheQueenMary.

Time: 5:30 to 9 p.m., March 14

Cost: $84.80

Details: To reserve tickets, visit https://www.queenmary.com/seasonal-events.htm

Venue: Queen Mary, 1126 Queens Highway Long Beach

100 years in San Pedro

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100 years in San Pedro

Trani Family’s Legacy of Great Food

By Gretchen Williams, Columnist

“Cent’Anni” (100 years) is the traditional Italian toast, wishing long life as the wine glasses clink. The Trani family is celebrating over 100 years in the restaurant business in San Pedro. Great grandpa Fillipo never imagined the impact his original beer, beef stew and bean sandwiches would have on the growing community of the Port of Los Angeles.

The Majestic Cafe was located on lower 7th Street, next door to Atlas Marine Supply, and the ILWU dispatch was in the basement. The place was rocking with activity. The Papadakis building still stands across the street, a testament to a long-ago era. Today, that strip of 7th Street is home to the Crowne Plaza hotel parking area and car rental lot.

Majestic Cafe served a worker’s menu of stew, minestrone, “spags” and a local and cheap delicacy, the bean sandwich. The bar served shots and brews, and the adventurous tried the jug of Uncle’s homemade “grappa,” brandy made with the grape stems and seeds.

In the post-World War II years, San Pedro was popular with the Hollywood set, and some stars kept boats at Cal Yacht Marina on 22nd Street. One rainy Saturday afternoon, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and their soaked sailing party looked for refuge and a cocktail at the Majestic. “No cocktails here!” said young Lou Trani. The Norwegian ship chandler from next door was called in to help and produced a pitcher of Manhattans in short order. The maraschino cherries were requisitioned from the ship’s supply. Thus began the legendary Trani cocktail menu, a tradition that endures today at J. Trani’s, Dockside and The Majestic redux.

Many years of pasta and community popularity followed on 7th Street, until “urban renewal” leveled the building. Longshore dispatch and the ship supply moved to Wilmington, with most of the marine industry businesses. The Tranis made the big leap into their own building and thrived at 6th and Beacon, then evolved into the current-day J. Trani’s on 9th Street. The building was built and originally housed Peppy’s, maintaining the cozy architecture from the late ’50s and offering a warm welcome today. It is possible to still order the original bean sandwich, but the menu is beyond Fillipo’s wildest dreams, with chef Dustin leaving his able signature throughout the courses. A favorite on the appetizer list is the cold-smoked swordfish, delicate and delightful. An enthusiastic diner enjoyed it so much that he turned around and ordered another serving for his main dish. The excellent pasta will change, but the handmade butternut squash or spinach ravioli are always exceptional.

Rub Fillipo’s bronze nose for ‘Pedro luck as you come into J. Trani’s. The late San Pedro portrait sculptor William Hathaway immortalized Granddad Fillipo, and his steady gaze continues to oversee his family here at the anchor restaurant. Fillipo and his five sons worked to establish the Majestic Cafe early on, and his great-grandson Dustin, with his dad Jim, a devoted and caring family and staff, have brought the restaurant and the menu into the 21st century.

Dustin does not hesitate to bring something delicious to the table. Asian flavors and techniques are new in this traditional arena, but offer refreshment to the senses. The daily specials of seafood or meat are always a delicious choice.

San Pedro has maintained a lively bar scene even through the changes and upheaval of the past decade. Dining at the bar is a valued tradition in a harbor town, and J. Trani’s has always made the worker welcome at the bar. A local politician has been known to have some of Trani’s fine pizza at the bar on her way home.

Reaching the Municipal Fish Wharf at the foot of 22nd Street, the Trani touch has completely changed the original Canetti’s Seafood Grotto into Dockside, a modern and happening spot for cocktails, appetizers and seafood. Open for lunch and weekend brunch as well as dinner service, Dustin has taken the harborside setting and historical building and made magic, with tremendous potential for warm summer evenings in mind. The raw bar of oysters, ceviche, oysters Rockefeller, and an always-changing list of appetizers could be cause for a trip to Dockside any late afternoon. Talented barkeeps manage to keep everyone happy.

Historical San Pedro has been brought back to life on Beacon Street at The Majestic. The original San Pedro YMCA had a hard second life as a home for challenged adults, and has now been rejuvenated into a potential hotel. The early landmark on Beacon Street at 10th Street has had the lobby floor beautifully reborn as The Majestic. A far cry from the rollicking original cafe, this formal dining room retains the flavor and atmosphere of an earlier time, the fine architecture, woodwork, and tile preserving the feeling of craftsmanship and quality. The Majestic is bringing the whole idea of a supper club back to life, the ambiance and formality of dining on fine cuisine in a lovely place, so long missing from the harbor scene.

Here is “cent’anni” to the Trani family for another 100 years in San Pedro!

Trani’s Ristorante, 584 W. 9th St., 310-832-1220

Trani’s Dockside Station, 311 E. 22nd St., 310-833-1188

The Majestic, 921 S. Beacon St., 310-847-0018

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