Hello, Hiatus

The Lagunan is taking an indefinite hiatus. Thanks for checking in.

"It didn't go half-bad." That was the assessment by the NEW YORK TIMES of Obama's Berlin speech. Recognizing that a tipping point has been reached, a great opportunity embodied by the "presumptive candidate," Obama has been met with rock-star status across the continent. Can we let Europeans vote in our fall election?

Just a Cartoon

It's a political season -- so let's have a look at what's out there, shall we?

This retort to the Obama NEW YORKER cover was too good to pass up.

Matisse and Mozart need a home!

Attention Animal lovers! ....From Karen's friend Judith:

I am looking for a home for my wonderful kitties. I am moving to Thailand to help build an entertainment business with a longtime friend. I plan to be there at least a year. Their home can be temporary or permanent. Matisse is 2 years old this month and Mozart will be 9 mos. on the 15th of this month. They are both very loving and playful, love to be petted, they're both talkers and will bring you much joy. (That's Mozart napping, and Matisse smiling.)

Finding Matisse and Mozart a home is urgent. I can be reached by email or phone: 323-314-4499(c) or 323-419-0086 (h).
Thanks so much for your help.

Judith Walton

The 1932 Bonus March

If you think our war veterans don't get the respect they deserve NOW -- read this tidbit from today's Writer's Almanac. Herbert Hoover definitely had a tin ear when it came to his public image.....

It was on this day in 1932 that World War I veterans began arriving in Washington, D.C., demanding their military bonuses about 15 years early. Congress had approved the bonuses as a retirement plan back in 1924, and those bonuses weren't supposed to be paid until 1945, when the soldiers had reached the age of retirement. But it was the Great Depression, and most of those veterans were out of work and living in poverty, and they were desperate for early bonuses to help them survive.

The Bonus March was the idea of an unemployed former Army sergeant named Walter Waters, who stood up at a veterans' meeting in Portland, Oregon, on March 15, 1932, and said that every man at the meeting should hop a train to Washington, D.C., and demand the money that was rightfully his.

Walter Waters and his men arrived in Washington, D.C., on this day in 1932. Over the next few months, about 25,000 others joined them. They had been congregating in D.C. for almost a month when the bonus bill finally came to the floor. It was passed by the House of Representatives, but it was defeated in the Senate two days later. Many of the Bonus Marchers went home, disappointed, but the original group of men stayed behind, vowing to remain until they received justice.

President Herbert Hoover ordered the Army to drive them out of town. Several Army battalions of cavalry and tanks advanced on the veterans, tossing tear-gas grenades and setting the shantytown on fire. Over the next week, newspapers and newsreels showed images of veterans fleeing the burning shantytown with their families, through clouds of tear gas and smoke, followed by tanks and mounted troops waving swords. It was a public relations disaster. When presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt read a newspaper article about the eviction, he said, "This will elect me," and he was right.

Those Cute Blue and White Buses

As aggrieved as we all are about the price of gas and the lack of downtown parking, let’s get real. Honestly? We can’t pry ourselves out from behind the wheel. Why, when Laguna Beach is blessed with an efficient, subsidized, vastly underutilized local bus system that can save local residents all kinds of money and let them leave the driving hassles to someone else?

The local bus system covers most of Laguna’s neighborhoods. Chances are you have a bus stop within a few blocks of your home. It’s actually fun and freeing to get on the little blue and white bus and head downtown, unencumbered by an automobile. You can hop off at any of the stops, run your errands, and have the bus return you practically to your doorstep, all for $1 each way. The schedule is easy to figure out –- buses leave the depot on Broadway every hour at half past (except during the noon to one o’clock hour -- bus drivers need to eat, too). Click on the link on the right to access route and schedule info.

If you have children, so much the better – they ride for free, and for my kids, when they were small, the Little Blue Bus was as good as an amusement park ride. Now that they are older, the bus is a ticket to freedom and independence – for them, and for me as their personal chauffeur. It is also a confidence-builder – when they visit a real city with a functional public transportation system, it won’t be a totally foreign experience. It doesn’t get much safer or easy to figure out than riding the short, easy routes and friendly drivers the city of Laguna Beach hires. With a bit of advance planning to allow for the bus schedule and a dollar in your pocket, you are free to roam about the town -- and substantially reduce your carbon footprint.

Try it! You might like it, and you can be above the fray of downtown parking problems this summer.

What's in YOUR closet?

She's doing it again. So get your nice but tired-of stuff out of your closet and call Evonne to come 'n' get it. Evonne and her trusty band of volunteers are busily collecting, sorting, and tagging donations of high-quality new or gently used clothing and accessories for the second-annual Boutique Benefit, set for Saturday, May 3 at the Neighborhood Congregational Church. Proceeds will go the Laguna Relief and Resource Coalition, which provides food, clothing and services to low-income families, homeless individuals and local disaster victims. Last year's inaugural event brought in more than $10,000. To arrange a pick-up, call 949-497-2767 or e-mail info@boutiquebenefit.com. Donations can also be dropped off at the Resource Center Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon at 3305 Laguna Canyon Road, at Stan Oak Drive, just south of the Dog Park. All donations are tax-deductible. Information: 949-661-1236 or www.boutiquebenefit.com.