Common Sense - An Obituary - Interesting and sadly rather true

 

Common Sense - An Obituary - Interesting and sadly rather true

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and Maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from schoo l for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

LA’S ECONOMIC VITALITY

LA’S ECONOMIC VITALITY

Future Vision for Los Angeles: Economic Vitality
Los Angeles has been losing businesses and failing to maintain jobs. The City is the home to many businesses and services, as well as nationally and internationally recognized corporations. Los Angeles is widely recognized as a community that should be inviting for advanced technology, and businesses should be proud to be partners in the community, provided the city devises an attitude that is conducive to business. The City should provide a business climate that attracts sustainable development to the community and retains existing businesses. Likewise, the successful companies return benefits directly and indirectly to the community. LA has an extensive freeway system a major port for shipping an international airport which supports any business desiring to establish itself in Los Angeles and Southern California. We need to enhance public transportation, revamp the school system to create an excellent educational system that serves the needs of citizens of all ages.
Organization of This ElementIntroduction

A.    Land Use Plan and Regulation

B.    Education

C.    Infrastructure and Financing

D.    Partnerships

E.    Actions to Be Taken
Introduction
Economic vitality is essential to the success of a community such as Los Angeles, which strives to provide a range of employment, which includes the entertainment  industry, manufacturing, retailing, service, and recreational opportunities for its residents. Further, economic vitality is important to Los Angeles as it will provide for a successful and sustainable community and help achieve the overall goals of the Land Use Plan.
In 1993 the employment within the City was 323,000 but by 2004 employment had doubled to 659,500. This significant growth in jobs places Los Angeles as the fourth largest employment center within the four-county central Los Angeles County areas. While much of this growth has been in software and business services, there has also been significant growth in communications and retailing. Los Angeles has shown a net job increase almost every year since 1993. However, traditional manufacturing has during this same period (1993 – 2004) shown a decline.
In addition to its central geographic location in Los Angeles County, the City has many demographic characteristics which support its continued economic vitality. For example, 60 percent of Los Angeles’s 2011 population is between the ages of 20 and 68 which are considered prime earning years by economists and is significantly above the national and regional percentages. Another significant factor is educational attainment and within Los Angeles 45 percent of women and 55 percent of the men over the age of 25 have either a college degree or professional certificate.
The Los Angeles Council has forecasted that jobs could increase within Los Angeles by 300,000 up to 2020 and by 1additional 400,000 by 2030. The City plans to accommodate up to a total of 340,000 new jobs by the year 2022, which is consistent with the region’s 25-year employment target, for the period 2010 to 2030, for Los Angeles.
While over the last 10 years Los Angeles’s economic role in the region has changed significantly, past performance does not guarantee future success. The policies of this element help direct the actions of the City in the future in support of a sustainable and successful economy.
Economic vitality cannot be successfully achieved by the City of Los Angeles acting alone. More than most elements within the Comprehensive Plan, the successful implementation of the economic vitality policies relies upon the City engaging in a variety of partnerships. In many cases Los Angeles may be the catalyst for the partnership to be formed and the role of the City from that point may diminish. In other cases, the City may have a permanent leadership role. In each case, the following policies will guide Los Angeles in selecting the appropriate partnerships as well as the role for the City within each of those partnerships to achieve a successful and sustainable economy.
Sustainable in the case of economic vitality has a two-fold meaning. Within the context of land use planning, it supports the concept that employment activities will be encouraged which can be perpetuated in the future without diminishing irreplaceable resources and doing permanent harm to the environment. The City’s desire is that jobs in businesses that exist today will exist in the future and that by emphasizing renewable resources or reduced consumption of irreplaceable resources both the economy and environment of our community will be protected and sustained.

 
Sustainability in the broader context also recognizes the convergence of economic, environmental, and social needs so that while the community is continually changing, the community seeks to maintain and improve its economic, environmental, and social characteristics so that members of the community can continue to lead healthy, productive, and enjoyable lives. This does not imply that everything continues to increase in size and intensity. However, it does imply that things continue to get better for the community. Implicit in such a concept is the development of a measurement system where a baseline for sustainability is established as well as future goals. Annual achievement through the use of benchmarks and monitoring are developed so that new actions or initiatives are continually evaluated to identify whether new initiatives support the adopted goals.
To be successful in the future, the City of Los Angeles must be aware of the future. This requires continuous monitoring of local, national, and international trends which may have effects on the City. Analysis of these trends may then indicate actions the City may chose to pursue in order to favorably respond to these trends.
In addition to an active monitoring of future trends and activities on a local, regional, and national scale, Los Angeles as a whole should have an economic vitality strategy that identifies how to retain successful businesses and how to evaluate and pursue future opportunities. Imbedded in such a strategy are the roles and responsibilities of the various community members and organizations.
While the City may have a major role in developing the strategy, it can only be successfully implemented through the cooperation and involvement of the entire community. Economic vitality is not solely or predominantly the role of City government but a series of interwoven partnerships that function to create and perpetuate the sustainable economic development that is preferred.
Even though much of the work to enhance economic vitality will be done in partnerships, the City has a number of specific economic vitality roles and responsibilities including:
◊    Providing a supportive Land Use Plan and development regulations;
◊    Encouraging the continued provision and enhancement of the public and private education systems for all ages;
◊    Providing necessary infrastructure to meet the needs of the Land Use Plan;
◊    Ensuring the adequacy of the infrastructure, where provided by other agencies or private utilities, to meet the needs of the Land Use Plan;
◊    Providing or coordinating the provision of an adequate transportation system that successfully moves people, goods and information;
◊    Providing coordination or seeking investments in infrastructure and other public enterprises;
◊    Acting as a catalyst, partner, convener, or coordinator for the development and provision of programs consistent with the economic vitality strategy; and
◊    Encouraging the development of sustainable economic vitality strategies, promoting the concept of Made in America, investment by others in the community and acting as a catalyst for the development of other programs in support of economic vitality.
Listed below by category are the policies which direct these roles and responsibilities which have been adopted to recognize and promote Los Angeles as a major economic center within Southern California and to identify ways to maintain and enhance the sustainable economy of Los Angeles.

A. Land Use Plan and Regulations
LA-1Provide a mix of uses in a range of zones that allow for the daily needs of residents to be met within Los Angeles and support the expansion of existing Los Angeles businesses and the attraction of regional, national, and international businesses.
LA-2Preserve and expand the current economic base and employment levels and wisely use the finite supply of urban land and the existing infrastructure in Los Angeles by supporting economic development to occur within existing retail, office, manufacturing, and mixed-use areas.
LA-3Recognize that a healthy natural environment is a significant community amenity that attracts people and investments, and contributes to Los Angeles’s economic vitality.
LA-4Support the retention and attraction of land uses which complement the Comprehensive Plan using the following sitting criteria:
♦ Focus major employment, retail, office, entertainment, and residential uses within the Downtown and focus on energy, high technology, retail, and residential uses;
♦ Focus additional employment in the outlying areas, and other Los Angeles Neighborhoods;

 
♦ Maintain properties currently developed with manufacturing uses for manufacturing and other uses permitted within the zone;
♦ Allow manufacturing uses, where compatible with adjacent uses and their impacts mitigated, to locate in the Downtown and Urban Centers; and
♦ Concentrate businesses where uses are complementary and can make efficient use of the existing infrastructure.

LA-5Encourage businesses to expand or locate in Los Angeles which:
♦ Are already in the City of Los Angeles and are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan;
♦ Support existing businesses and industries;
♦ Fill existing or future gaps in the goods or services available within the City and provide jobs to local residents;
♦ Provide family or high level wages; and
♦ Minimize negative impacts to the community.

 

LA-6Recognize and support the preservation and creation of incubator space for existing and future small businesses.
LA-7Allow, as permitted accessory uses, support uses, such as childcare, workout facilities, or restaurants in office and other commercial buildings.
LA-8Provide the land use capacity and development regulations that support the accommodation of a variety of housing styles, densities, sizes, and prices so those employed within Los Angeles may have the opportunity to live in Los Angeles as well as to increase the attractiveness of Los Angeles to those being sought to work in the City.
LA-9Evaluate periodically the Community Development Guide to:
♦ Ensure that uses not previously contemplated and that are consistent with the intent of the Comprehensive Plan can locate within the City; and
♦ Review development standards and timelines to ensure predictability and consistency.
LA-10Encourage opportunities for home-based businesses that are compatible with residential neighborhoods. Limit signs, parking, and truck deliveries and manage other potential adverse impacts in order to minimize the negative impacts and maintain the appearance residential neighborhoods.
B. Education
LA-11Support and work with all educational institutions and other public and private institutions to:
♦ Maintain and enhance the quality of education at all grade levels;
♦ Encourage the location of higher education institutions within Los Angeles;
♦ Encourage the development of programs that meet the changing needs of employers and employees as well as those seeking employment; and
♦ Encourage educational institutions, government, and businesses to provide opportunities for youth to see and experience a wide variety of employment and business opportunities.

 
C. Infrastructure and Financing
LA-12Identify, construct, and maintain, to meet the needs of the Land Use Plan, City-owned infrastructure systems and facilities that support and maintain economic vitality and encourage private utilities to provide needed infrastructure.
LA-13Use innovative finance methods and seek regional investments in Los Angeles’s infrastructure to support the City’s continued economic vitality.
LA-14Utilize tax and fee systems that are fair and equitable, stable, and not penalizing to specific businesses and that provide sufficiently predictable funds to provide for local services to protect and enhance the community.
LA-15Support the economic vitality of the City by encouraging investments in the arts and cultural activities, and through the use of superior urban design.
D. Partnerships
LA-16Recognize that economic vitality requires the City to enter into a number of partnerships with other agencies, businesses, non-profits, and other organizations and participate in partnerships, which are of value and further the City’s economic vitality goals.
E. Actions to Be Taken
While the policies listed above guide and describe the City’s overall support of economic vitality within Los Angeles; the following policies identify specific actions that the City will undertake. By taking these actions or by incorporating their direction in ongoing processes, the City demonstrates the importance of sustainable economic vitality in Los Angeles to the community and the region.

LA-17Prepare, support and implement, in conjunction with the community, Chamber of Commerce and other partners, an economic vitality strategy which will:
♦ Recognize that a successful community requires a strong local and regional economy;
♦ Identify actions to take to develop a sustainable local economy;
♦ Identify strategies to retain existing businesses and help them succeed;
♦ Include a City marketing plan which focuses on the assets of the City, the types of businesses to market to, and the marketing strategies to utilize;
♦ Identify the types of businesses to be encouraged to locate in the City and strategies to attract them;
♦ Identify needed partnerships, the members of the partnerships, and outcomes for the partnerships;
♦ Identify methods to attract additional knowledge based businesses;
♦ Identify, preserve, promote, and enhance educational, environmental, cultural, and social qualities within Los Angeles that will be attractive to the future workforce; and
♦ Identify regional and national economic development programs and the means to access their resources for the City.
LA-18Initiate or participate in the following activities in support of economic vitality:
♦ Monitor future trends and economic conditions;
♦ Prepare information for businesses on available public sector financing;
♦ Support federal and State funding of cost-effective business financing programs; and
♦ Consider and use where appropriate community redevelopment financing and other innovative economic vitality and financing programs, which enhance the business climate in Los Angeles.

LA-19As part of the City’s decision-making, consider the economic impacts of new policies, regulations, or programs. Implement streamlining of business rules and regulation to promote new business.
LA-20Focus efforts on business retention and expansion.
LA-21Support the development of an LA Economic Development Committee. Set specific goals and meet those goals on a timely basis.

YJ Draiman for Mayor of Los Angeles

LA’S ECONOMIC VITALITY

 

LA’S ECONOMIC VITALITY

Future Vision for Los Angeles: Economic Vitality

Los Angeles has been losing businesses and failing to maintain jobs. The City is the home to many businesses and services, as well as nationally and internationally recognized corporations. Los Angeles is widely recognized as a community that should be inviting for advanced technology, and businesses should be proud to be partners in the community, provided the city devises an attitude that is conducive to business. The City should provide a business climate that attracts sustainable development to the community and retains existing businesses. Likewise, the successful companies return benefits directly and indirectly to the community. LA has an extensive freeway system a major port for shipping an international airport which supports any business desiring to establish itself in Los Angeles and Southern California. We need to enhance public transportation, revamp the school system to create an excellent educational system that serves the needs of citizens of all ages.

Organization of This Element

Introduction

A.    Land Use Plan and Regulation

B.    Education

C.    Infrastructure and Financing

D.    Partnerships

E.    Actions to Be Taken

Introduction

Economic vitality is essential to the success of a community such as Los Angeles, which strives to provide a range of employment, which includes the entertainment  industry, manufacturing, retailing, service, and recreational opportunities for its residents. Further, economic vitality is important to Los Angeles as it will provide for a successful and sustainable community and help achieve the overall goals of the Land Use Plan.

In 1993 the employment within the City was 323,000 but by 2004 employment had doubled to 659,500. This significant growth in jobs places Los Angeles as the fourth largest employment center within the four-county central Los Angeles County areas. While much of this growth has been in software and business services, there has also been significant growth in communications and retailing. Los Angeles has shown a net job increase almost every year since 1993. However, traditional manufacturing has during this same period (1993 – 2004) shown a decline.

In addition to its central geographic location in Los Angeles County, the City has many demographic characteristics which support its continued economic vitality. For example, 60 percent of Los Angeles’s 2011 population is between the ages of 20 and 68 which are considered prime earning years by economists and is significantly above the national and regional percentages. Another significant factor is educational attainment and within Los Angeles 45 percent of women and 55 percent of the men over the age of 25 have either a college degree or professional certificate.

The Los Angeles Council has forecasted that jobs could increase within Los Angeles by 300,000 up to 2020 and by 1additional 400,000 by 2030. The City plans to accommodate up to a total of 340,000 new jobs by the year 2022, which is consistent with the region’s 25-year employment target, for the period 2010 to 2030, for Los Angeles.

While over the last 10 years Los Angeles’s economic role in the region has changed significantly, past performance does not guarantee future success. The policies of this element help direct the actions of the City in the future in support of a sustainable and successful economy.

Economic vitality cannot be successfully achieved by the City of Los Angeles acting alone. More than most elements within the Comprehensive Plan, the successful implementation of the economic vitality policies relies upon the City engaging in a variety of partnerships. In many cases Los Angeles may be the catalyst for the partnership to be formed and the role of the City from that point may diminish. In other cases, the City may have a permanent leadership role. In each case, the following policies will guide Los Angeles in selecting the appropriate partnerships as well as the role for the City within each of those partnerships to achieve a successful and sustainable economy.

Sustainable in the case of economic vitality has a two-fold meaning. Within the context of land use planning, it supports the concept that employment activities will be encouraged which can be perpetuated in the future without diminishing irreplaceable resources and doing permanent harm to the environment. The City’s desire is that jobs in businesses that exist today will exist in the future and that by emphasizing renewable resources or reduced consumption of irreplaceable resources both the economy and environment of our community will be protected and sustained.

Sustainability in the broader context also recognizes the convergence of economic, environmental, and social needs so that while the community is continually changing, the community seeks to maintain and improve its economic, environmental, and social characteristics so that members of the community can continue to lead healthy, productive, and enjoyable lives. This does not imply that everything continues to increase in size and intensity. However, it does imply that things continue to get better for the community. Implicit in such a concept is the development of a measurement system where a baseline for sustainability is established as well as future goals. Annual achievement through the use of benchmarks and monitoring are developed so that new actions or initiatives are continually evaluated to identify whether new initiatives support the adopted goals.

To be successful in the future, the City of Los Angeles must be aware of the future. This requires continuous monitoring of local, national, and international trends which may have effects on the City. Analysis of these trends may then indicate actions the City may chose to pursue in order to favorably respond to these trends.

In addition to an active monitoring of future trends and activities on a local, regional, and national scale, Los Angeles as a whole should have an economic vitality strategy that identifies how to retain successful businesses and how to evaluate and pursue future opportunities. Imbedded in such a strategy are the roles and responsibilities of the various community members and organizations.

While the City may have a major role in developing the strategy, it can only be successfully implemented through the cooperation and involvement of the entire community. Economic vitality is not solely or predominantly the role of City government but a series of interwoven partnerships that function to create and perpetuate the sustainable economic development that is preferred.

Even though much of the work to enhance economic vitality will be done in partnerships, the City has a number of specific economic vitality roles and responsibilities including:

◊    Providing a supportive Land Use Plan and development regulations;

◊    Encouraging the continued provision and enhancement of the public and private education systems for all ages;

◊    Providing necessary infrastructure to meet the needs of the Land Use Plan;

◊    Ensuring the adequacy of the infrastructure, where provided by other agencies or private utilities, to meet the needs of the Land Use Plan;

◊    Providing or coordinating the provision of an adequate transportation system that successfully moves people, goods and information;

◊    Providing coordination or seeking investments in infrastructure and other public enterprises;

◊    Acting as a catalyst, partner, convener, or coordinator for the development and provision of programs consistent with the economic vitality strategy; and

◊    Encouraging the development of sustainable economic vitality strategies, promoting the concept of Made in America, investment by others in the community and acting as a catalyst for the development of other programs in support of economic vitality.

Listed below by category are the policies which direct these roles and responsibilities which have been adopted to recognize and promote Los Angeles as a major economic center within Southern California and to identify ways to maintain and enhance the sustainable economy of Los Angeles.

A. Land Use Plan and Regulations

LA-1	Provide a mix of uses in a range of zones that allow for the daily needs of residents to be met within Los Angeles and support the expansion of existing Los Angeles businesses and the attraction of regional, national, and international businesses.
LA-2	Preserve and expand the current economic base and employment levels and wisely use the finite supply of urban land and the existing infrastructure in Los Angeles by supporting economic development to occur within existing retail, office, manufacturing, and mixed-use areas.
LA-3	Recognize that a healthy natural environment is a significant community amenity that attracts people and investments, and contributes to Los Angeles’s economic vitality.
LA-4	Support the retention and attraction of land uses which complement the Comprehensive Plan using the following sitting criteria:

♦ Focus major employment, retail, office, entertainment, and residential uses within the Downtown and focus on energy, high technology, retail, and residential uses;

♦ Focus additional employment in the outlying areas, and other Los Angeles Neighborhoods;

♦ Maintain properties currently developed with manufacturing uses for manufacturing and other uses permitted within the zone;

♦ Allow manufacturing uses, where compatible with adjacent uses and their impacts mitigated, to locate in the Downtown and Urban Centers; and

♦ Concentrate businesses where uses are complementary and can make efficient use of the existing infrastructure.

LA-5	Encourage businesses to expand or locate in Los Angeles which:

♦ Are already in the City of Los Angeles and are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan;

♦ Support existing businesses and industries;

♦ Fill existing or future gaps in the goods or services available within the City and provide jobs to local residents;

♦ Provide family or high level wages; and

♦ Minimize negative impacts to the community.

LA-6	Recognize and support the preservation and creation of incubator space for existing and future small businesses.
LA-7	Allow, as permitted accessory uses, support uses, such as childcare, workout facilities, or restaurants in office and other commercial buildings.
LA-8	Provide the land use capacity and development regulations that support the accommodation of a variety of housing styles, densities, sizes, and prices so those employed within Los Angeles may have the opportunity to live in Los Angeles as well as to increase the attractiveness of Los Angeles to those being sought to work in the City.
LA-9	Evaluate periodically the Community Development Guide to:

♦ Ensure that uses not previously contemplated and that are consistent with the intent of the Comprehensive Plan can locate within the City; and

♦ Review development standards and timelines to ensure predictability and consistency.

LA-10

Encourage opportunities for home-based businesses that are compatible with residential neighborhoods. Limit signs, parking, and truck deliveries and manage other potential adverse impacts in order to minimize the negative impacts and maintain the appearance residential neighborhoods.

B. Education

LA-11

Support and work with all educational institutions and other public and private institutions to:

♦ Maintain and enhance the quality of education at all grade levels;

♦ Encourage the location of higher education institutions within Los Angeles;

♦ Encourage the development of programs that meet the changing needs of employers and employees as well as those seeking employment; and

♦ Encourage educational institutions, government, and businesses to provide opportunities for youth to see and experience a wide variety of employment and business opportunities.

C. Infrastructure and Financing

LA-12	Identify, construct, and maintain, to meet the needs of the Land Use Plan, City-owned infrastructure systems and facilities that support and maintain economic vitality and encourage private utilities to provide needed infrastructure.
LA-13	Use innovative finance methods and seek regional investments in Los Angeles’s infrastructure to support the City’s continued economic vitality.
LA-14	Utilize tax and fee systems that are fair and equitable, stable, and not penalizing to specific businesses and that provide sufficiently predictable funds to provide for local services to protect and enhance the community.
LA-15	Support the economic vitality of the City by encouraging investments in the arts and cultural activities, and through the use of superior urban design.

D. Partnerships

LA-16

Recognize that economic vitality requires the City to enter into a number of partnerships with other agencies, businesses, non-profits, and other organizations and participate in partnerships, which are of value and further the City’s economic vitality goals.

E. Actions to Be Taken

While the policies listed above guide and describe the City’s overall support of economic vitality within Los Angeles; the following policies identify specific actions that the City will undertake. By taking these actions or by incorporating their direction in ongoing processes, the City demonstrates the importance of sustainable economic vitality in Los Angeles to the community and the region.

LA-17

Prepare, support and implement, in conjunction with the community, Chamber of Commerce and other partners, an economic vitality strategy which will:

♦ Recognize that a successful community requires a strong local and regional economy;

♦ Identify actions to take to develop a sustainable local economy;

♦ Identify strategies to retain existing businesses and help them succeed;

♦ Include a City marketing plan which focuses on the assets of the City, the types of businesses to market to, and the marketing strategies to utilize;

♦ Identify the types of businesses to be encouraged to locate in the City and strategies to attract them;

♦ Identify needed partnerships, the members of the partnerships, and outcomes for the partnerships;

♦ Identify methods to attract additional knowledge based businesses;

♦ Identify, preserve, promote, and enhance educational, environmental, cultural, and social qualities within Los Angeles that will be attractive to the future workforce; and

♦ Identify regional and national economic development programs and the means to access their resources for the City.

LA-18

Initiate or participate in the following activities in support of economic vitality:

♦ Monitor future trends and economic conditions;

♦ Prepare information for businesses on available public sector financing;

♦ Support federal and State funding of cost-effective business financing programs; and

♦ Consider and use where appropriate community redevelopment financing and other innovative economic vitality and financing programs, which enhance the business climate in Los Angeles.

LA-19	As part of the City’s decision-making, consider the economic impacts of new policies, regulations, or programs. Implement streamlining of business rules and regulation to promote new business.
LA-20	Focus efforts on business retention and expansion.
LA-21	Support the development of an LA Economic Development Committee. Set specific goals and meet those goals on a timely basis.

YJ Draiman for Mayor of Los Angeles

Living a Moral and Ethical Life

Living a Moral and Ethical Life
Humans throughout time have pondered, argued, contemplated, and written volumes in an attempt to define what constitutes ethics and morality. The Oxford Dictionary offers the following definitions:
Moral – of or pertaining to human character or behavior considered as good or bad; of or pertaining to the distinction between right and wrong, or good and evil, in relation to the actions, volitions, or character of responsible beings. Capable of choosing between right and wrong.
Ethical – dealing with morality or the science of ethics or questions connected with it.
Every society, every religion, has established a code of ethics and moral behavior: for example the Christian Ten Commandments; the Ten Buddhist Precepts; the Bill of Rights (10 Amendments) of the Constitution of the United States; the five Huaquas of health, hope, happiness, harmony, and humor, to name a few. Close examination will reveal that they can all be distilled to one truism – the one true and only great sin is theft.
How is that so? There is not room here to examine all of the above, so let’s take some examples from each.
The Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not commit adultery. Committing adultery robs another of love and relationship and robs ones’ self of self-respect. Thou shalt not murder. Murder obviously robs one of one’s life. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Bearing false witness, or lying, robs another of their credibility, their respect and honor, perhaps even their ability to make a living, among other things, and the liar steals integrity from him/herself.
The Ten Buddhist Precepts: Refrain from using intoxicants. Intoxication robs one’s clarity of mind, one’s ability to function, one’s self-respect, and so on. Refrain from gossiping. Gossiping robs another’s right to privacy,
The Bill of Rights is a declaration of an individual’s inalienable rights such as: freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly; right to keep and bear arms; protection from unreasonable search and seizure; and so on. The violation of these rights is thievery.
The Five Huaquas – When you do not “feed” the huaquas in your life you steal your life force energy and your shining.
In all these examples the greatest thief is the one who steals from oneself. Your thievery robs you of the beauty of your sacred self, your self-love and self-respect. You steal from yourself to the extent you do not walk in Beauty or honor your artistic originality and genius. Every time you project pretense you are stealing from your luminosity and your shining or allowing your shining to be stolen. Self thievery diminishes your character; you blow out your own candle. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is a story about the forty thieves of the soul. We perpetrate thievery on ourselves as well as invite thieves to rob from us.
Your sacred self is your true nature spirit personality, natural undiscovered self, and mirror of self-reflection. The following ceremony will help you to explore and discover the many ways in which you steal the beauty of your sacred self or allow others to do so.
The Ceremony
A Mirror of Self-Reflection Walk/Talk in Nature
Go hiking where there are lots of rocks and boulders and trees. Walk for a while without any expectation or agenda. Just let go and be fully present with all around you. You will slowly slip out of your customary box or way of being and feel a growing connection with your surroundings. Nature is our greatest teacher. The worlds of Grandmother Earth – minerals, plants, animals, humans – and the world of spirit,  speak to us and reflect back to us our mirror of self-reflection. It is a pure reflection. Nature is just there and has no concern about your perception of it. You can be your natural self in nature – no pretense, no one to impress or hide from, no judgment or comparison. You don’t have to look good.
Be willing to look and act foolish, playful, exhuberant. Match the little people’s (the fairies, elves, dwarves, gnomes, etc. we call toliloquey) fun as they show you the world of magick they possess. Express your individuality within that energy with no limitations. Be the voyeur to glean the deepest aspects of your thievery. Strip away the veneer of how you are. That is where you will find where the theft has been going on. Barriers you encounter in playing with the toliloquey point especially to where you steal from yourself.
Tune in and talk to the worlds. Feel where you are being drawn. If a boulder, for example, strongly draws your attention, dialogue with it. Ask the following questions and listen for answers. Continue doing this with all the worlds until you have gotten answers and insights to your questions. Journal what you get.
Mineral World – What did I steal (a physical object or tangible something) from someone that actually stole energy from my physical body? Go back through your life as far as necessary until you identify such an action. Pay attention to what comes through.
Plant World – How did I steal someone’s heart, perhaps through manipulation, and then walk away? How did I present myself as an attraction or appeal to someone’s heart – in any arena – and then did not follow through or perhaps took personal gain rather than create an encounter or relationship for mutual benefit?
Animal World – How have I been the thief of my own mind? Hymeyholsts Storm said this was the greatest of all thefts, and deception is the greatest theft of the mind. You steal from your own mind by holding on to core beliefs and unvalidated opinions without facts. In other words, ask: How have I stolen my free thinking mind? In what way does my mind need deception to know who I am? How does this define my illusory identity? How do I rationalize and justify, choosing to keep my restricted self rather than embracing my unfettered natural self?
Human World – How have I stolen the life force within my family and how have family members robbed me of my beauty and my shining? How have I allowed them to do that? Ultimately, it is us who do the stealing. No one can take from us what we are not willing to give up.
When you encounter another 2-legged during your walk/talk, step into your critical observer witness and feel how you shift back into the box of social conditioning. What takes place there is a major teaching. Then as you go on, with each step feel yourself going back into your natural sacred self.
Spirit World – How have I stolen from the beauty of my sacred self by focusing only on the material world and my acquisition of things? How have I shut down my O’larien (abilities to perceive and sense energies) and doubted my inner voice? How have I robbed myself by disconnecting from Spirit and the essence of creation in all its forms?
When you feel complete begin the process of healing. What must you do to restore what you have stolen from yourself or what others have robbed you of? Perhaps you need to do acts of forgiveness. This is not a quickie ceremony. You are out to catch a thief, perhaps many thieves. The reward is the beauty of your sacred self. When you capture that, take it out into the world and shine. That is living a moral and ethical life.

World class renewable energy innovation enterprise zone revealed for Los Angeles – Proposed by YJ Draiman

World class renewable energy innovation enterprise zone revealed for Los Angeles – Proposed by YJ Draiman

YJ Draiman welcomes innovative renewable energy zone approach which will create 200,000 + new jobs over the next 5-10 years.
An ambitious project that will transform the way universities, business and industry collaborate and establish Los Angeles as a world leader in the research, development and design of next generation renewable energy technology has been announced today, January 31, 2011.
Spearheaded by economic development agency, Draiman Enterprise, and National Technology Renewable Energy Zone, will be established in the city of Los Angeles with the Universities of Southern California Technology Innovation Development at its heart.
A large parcel of land will be allocated to set up the renewableenergy enterprise zone site, which will be in the boundaries of Los Angeles. There will be an academic center which will be transformed into a center of excellence for academic research, commercialization and industry collaboration.

The renewableenergy zone initiative, which would span further than the confines of the City of Los Angeles and include Southern California, is expected to create 200,000 + new jobs over the next 5-10 years and give a boost to the Los Angeles economy through further industry academia collaboration and inward investment.
Draiman enterprise Chief Executive YJ Draiman said: “This new vision of Renewableenergy Technology Innovation Center will be the cornerstone of Los Angeles Technology and Renewable Energy Zone. YJ Draiman’s vision for The Renewableenergy Zone is to provide a breeding ground for ambitious companies to harness cutting-edge research, access the best people and develop the products which will shape the renewable energy industry of tomorrow.
“Southern California has already claimed a place on the renewables map attracting energy heavyweights and pioneers in the solar and wind sector and we believe that by establishing this zone we will help reinforce Los Angeles position as a location of choice for the rapidly expanding renewables industry.”
YJ Draiman said: “The Universities in the Los Angeles area’s Technology and Innovation Center is a transformational project for Los Angeles, building on California’s great tradition of innovating new technologies and developments in fields including energy and engineering while creating and supporting hundreds of jobs. Through this collaboration, the aim is to quadruple the scale of research program investment in Los Angeles in areas key to economic growth by up to $10 billion in five to ten years.
“And now, as an integral part of Los Angeles Enterprise’s new Technology and Renewable Energy Zone, which aims to establish Los Angeles as a premier location for inward investment into world-leading technology and renewables research and development, we have the potential to deliver huge economic and social benefits, not only in Los Angeles but nationally and beyond.”

YJ Draiman said: “The Technology and Innovation for renewableenergy zone will help transform Los Angeles and Southern California. By capitalizing on our leading, industry-relevant research, the renewableenergy zone will attract billions of dollars of inward investment to the city of Los Angeles, drive global businesses, create jobs, and support the development of our highly-qualified graduates and postgraduates.

“As a leading technological hub of Universities, they are committed to sharing knowledge to address challenges that affect every area of society, including energy, health, manufacturing and economics. The renewableenergy zone will forge new levels of collaboration between researchers, the public and private sectors to accelerate the pace of research and development and deliver benefit to companies, the economy and Southern California.”

The collaborative approach with the Universities, Los Angeles Enterprise and existing pioneering renewable energy leaders means that companies locating in the zone will have access to government support and some of the world’s best industry and academia in the fields of technology, engineering and energy.
The project represents a supportive government and business environment where companies locating in and around the zone may be eligible for additional support for job creation, innovation and staff development, delivered through various California Enterprise schemes.

When need arises we will establish facilities within the existing Zone that offer temporary accommodation for prospective tenants until construction of the research center is complete or, if required, a purpose-built industry engagement building is created within the Zone?
Renewableenergy Zone is designed to draw on Southern California’s existing competitive advantage by providing the right business environment for the renewables industry to continue to grow and further develop.
Recent announcements from industry leaders have reinforced Southern California’s position as a world leading city in solar, wind research and development.
A leader in energy innovation with unrivalled human and natural resources in renewable energy, Southern California is building on its rich history of oil and gas exploration and developing infrastructure to cement its position as a world class location for international companies looking to invest in renewable energy and Energy efficiency.
“Good leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion”

“It is Cheaper to Save Energy than Make Energy”

YJ Draiman for Mayor of Los Angeles 

Americas financial sustainability begins with Made in America

Americans must wake up and take action to protect our liberty and way of life.

America must rejuvenate itself and become the huge industrial power it once was.

It starts by re-inventing the wheel and building manufacturing facilities in the United States that employ Americans who produce quality goods at a competitive price with space age technology and modernization.

Organized workforce and benefits has to be revamped to meet today's economic conditions.

Government and its bureaucracy must be reduced and streamlined. Rules and regulations must be revamped to be conducive to business growth and development.

“Good leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion”

“It is Cheaper to Save Energy than Make Energy”

YJ Draiman for Mayor of Los Angeles