Los Angeles, CA

After a week of outspoken protesting from Los Angeles’ Muslim community, the LAPD has decided to cancel their plans to chart the Muslim population of L.A. They had wanted to mark the Muslims to track where, to them, potential terrorist plots could form. The Muslim community, understandably, called this act religious profiling, and though the police’s mapping system may be off the table, Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing said that they would reach out to the community in other ways. Spokespeople for the Muslim-American community welcomed this, saying that they would be happy to participate more with the city of Los Angeles and become more involved.

Do you think the police were wrong to try and map out the Muslim population as a counter terrorist measure, or were they just doing their job?

You can read more about the LAPD’s suggest alternatives here, through the L.A. Times.

If you haven’t heard by now, the FBI issued an alert yesterday saying they had received a tip stating that Al-Qaeda had planned to attack shopping malls (seriously?) in Los Angeles and Chicago this holiday season. It sounded ridiculous yesterday and it still sounds ridiculous today. The FBI has now said that the tip was unsubstantiated, though they erred on the side of caution and alerted local authorities to be alert during holiday shopping.

Supposedly, Al-Qaeda had been planning this for two years to “disrupt the economy,” but there are no details to back it up and local police don’t know which malls to guard. In L.A. and Orange County alone it feels like there’s a mall per 100 people, so that’s got to be overwhelming. And while this report has made national news, Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing said that they get this alert every year around this time and nothing has happened yet. Still, they are encouraging people to be alert and know their surroundings, and to report any suspicious packages they might see laying around. And with the amount of panicked holiday shopping that people do, I’m sure quite a few people will forget a bag and people will panic unnecessarily.

Still, the public is calling for large public buildings like shopping malls to be reinforced to make it harder for any attacks to happen, by doing things such as blocking off all pedestrian entrances (to prevent cars driving into malls), being aware of unclaimed packages, and having more clearly marked, easily accessible emergency exits that won’t become clogged with people in case a fast exit is needed.

All in all, the police and the FBI are just telling you to keep an eye out while you’re shopping, but you’re as safe as you were every other December of your life. So don’t panic.

You can read more about this report through the L.A. Times.

If you want to want to learn more about adopting a pet or have a pet service to promote, pick up a copy of The Pet Press. This local publication has been around since 1999. It features articles on pet care tips, runs local pet service ads and lists all major pet adoption agencies and events around Los Angeles. It was in the pages of The Pet Press that I found out about the Boxer Rescue where I adopted Emmy. Needless to say I’ve been a big fan of the publication ever since.

That’s it for pet week. Have a good weekend, everyone!

Tomorrow, August 2nd, former fashion entrepreneur Murray Moss will open a 3,500-square-foot gallery space at 8444 Melrose Avenue. Moss, known for the SoHo gallery since 1994, will feature furniture, lighting, tabletops, and objects tricked out in a fire-and-ice illumination. The space will be embellished with a Swarovski Crystal Palace installation of eighteen 8-foot high Vertical Glitterbox chandeliers by Georg Baldele, with a 1938 Steinway Baby Grand fire-sculpted by Maarten Baas as the focal point.

The Melrose gallery will be his first outside of New York.

For those who crave scheduled tea with the Queen, Maxjet will begin servicing four times weekly between London Stansted and Los Angeles (LAX), starting August 30th.

Good news for Victoria Beckham, in case she forgot to pack bowls from her Tupperware collection.

Photo courtesy of Johan Hazenbroek www.johnc.nl

The recent chastising of the bottled water industry for its role in plastic bottles choking our landfills has many questioning what is important; the health of the consumer or the earth’s. I, for one, will not be puckering up to any faucets or garden hoses, thanks to a water advisory in Upstate, NY years ago - something to do with dead larvae. Traumatic enough to convert me into a life-long, bottle-guzzling consumer. Companies have now developed a market with a fashionable appeal: Norwegian-born Christopher Harlem was inspired by his California college days to package his native VOSS water within a chic, tubular-encased glass bottle, and the overly-hyped, Swarovski-clad Bling Water, whose “it” bubble burst months ago.

Before it became trendy to tote high-end H2O, the world’s first bar to sell water exclusively was L.A.’s The Water Bar in 1985. As innovative as it was, it sank, proving to be way ahead of its time. Others have tried and failed, with the exception of France’s 1997 opening of Colette, still pouring designer aqcua ten years later. Chappaqua, NY’s Via Genova is now the watering hole du jour, getting recent press as the luxury water bar.

Parched West Coast palates have the Water Gourmet for now, but something tells me the levee on water bars will be breaking soon.

The brushfire in Griffith Park that started yesterday has burned over 600 acres now, with no sign of containment in sight. At dusk, it seemed like the fire was dying down, but it sparked up fiercely again, sometimes with flames 50-100 feet in size. There’s been over 300 mandatory evacuations, and about 1600 people are without electricity right now due to the blaze knocking out power lines. Animals such as deer and coyotes have been fleeing the fire and running the streets of Los Feliz. Thankfully there have been no casualties, but the excessive smoke and ash has caused difficulty in breathing and burning eyes and throats to many people.

The “historical garden” of Griffith Park, Dante’s View, was reported to have been destroyed at around 9:30PM last night.

As stated in my last entry, mandatory evacuations of the L.A. Zoo(save for the animals, which at present I understand have been “secured” within the zoo), Autry Museum, and Griffith Park Observatory, as well as surrounding establishments and residential areas have all been put in place. For a full list of evacuated areas, see here.

All evacuees are being told to report to Marshall High School at 3939 Tracy Street, Los Angeles, CA 90027. The current word is pets are being accommodated here as well.

Even if you have somewhere else to go, such as a friend’s house, other family, or hotel, authorities encourage everyone to check in at the high school to be accounted for.

And if you know someone in the evacuation area and can’t get a hold of them, be sure to check with the high school.

If you’re in the area, please stay inside and away from the fire. Not only can the smoke and ash can really do a number on you, but scared wild animals are running amok, which is a whole other kind of danger. Stay safe out there folks, and my best wishes to the evacuees and those fighting the blaze. I hope they get this contained soon.

For more Information and Pictures, please check the following sites:
bloggin.la
LAist.com
CBS2 News
NBC4 News

Thousands of animals are found running in the streets as a stray, and abandoned in Shelters in Los Angeles each year. Many can’t find homes, and end up being humanely euthanized. But with your help, you can make a difference, and save some lives.

Shelters across Los Angeles County are currently looking for volunteer foster parents to take care of abandoned newborn kittens. They are being bottle-fed, and need to be burped and watched over full-time, just like a newborn human baby.

If you live in the L.A. area, and would like to help out some baby kitties in need, please contact one of the following two people.

To volunteer with L.A. County, call Ken Kramer at (562) 256-1367.

To volunteer with the city of L.A., call Pat Ott at (213) 305-9068.

Not just the kitties need help though. There are thousands of animals in shelters waiting to find a place to call home: from dogs and cats, to even birds, rabbits, and reptiles. If you don’t want to adopt, but have the room in your home, and kindness in your heart to help an animal in need, please consider contacting your local animal shelter, humane society, or rescue group to become a foster parent. Most places will pay for all food and vet bills, and only require of you to look after and give some love to the animal in your care.

If you’d like to adopt, try checking out Petfinder.com. Animals from shelters and rescue groups all over the U.S. are listed there. Some looking temporary, and permanent homes.

Also please considering going to the Animal Rescue Site, and clicking on the button on the front page daily to provide 0.6 bowls of food and care for animals in shelters across the nation.