Samuel Osborn

"We're achieving our goals and milestones even faster than we had expected," said Art Wong, the assistant director of communications for the port. "By January 1, 2010, we'll have cut air pollution by almost 80 percent, almost two years ahead of schedule. On top of that, the new trucks are doing more than half of the hauling in the port. "

Despite these successes, there are those who are wary of a recent development in the program's history. In October, the Port of Long Beach reached a settlement in their lawsuit with the American Trucking Association. Under the terms of the settlement, the port will drop its concession requirements for motor carriers and replace them with a registration agreement. 

"The devil's in the details," said Morgan Wyenn, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "This backroom settlement with the ATA removes power from the City and Port of Long Beach to stop dirty trucks from coming in."

The NRDC, along with several other environmental groups, vehemently opposes the settlement. They contend that the registration agreement may allow dirty, polluting trucks to continue to operate in the port. 

Air pollution is unquestionably a serious concern in Long Beach where, according to a report issued by the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, over 10 percent of children suffer from asthma. 

"It breaks my heart that my two-year-old daughter has had to use an inhaler for the past year," said Sylvia Martinez, a Long Beach resident who spoke out against the settlement. "I'm concerned, more than ever, for the safety of our kids. How has the court sided with an agency that has polluted our city?"

The Port of Long Beach is the second busiest seaport in the United States, after the neighboring Port of Los Angeles. Trains, ships, and over 6,000 trucks move in and out of the port every day, causing air pollution that is so bad that some have come to call the area surrounding the port the "Diesel Death Zone." The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are Southern California's single biggest sources of air pollution.

"We're facing an air quality crisis here," says Martin Schlageter of the Coalition for Clean Air. "1 in 10 kids in Long Beach has asthma, and thousands of people in California every year are dying due to ports and freight transportation pollution."

Despite these criticisms, port officials are quick to defend the ATA settlement, asserting that it in no way affects the environmental standards of the program. 

"The most disturbing allegation by our detractors is that this settlement somehow disrupts the cleaning of the port, when the reality is it in no way affects the environmental standards of the plan," Deputy City Attorney Dominic Holzhaus said. "The NRDC agreed that the first Truck Ban cut emissions in half. The ultimate goal is to reduce the emissions by 80%, and we're very close. It's unfortunate that there is this trading of allegations about what are really peripheral issues."

As of January 1, 2010, all trucks built before 1993 will be banned from working in at the port, while all remaining trucks will have to conform to 2007 EPA standards. 

Like his 'spirit creature,' Edward R. Greer, Jr. is an imposing figure. While not commanding in stature, his presence is one that captivates the room. When Ed takes the stage, it is with the manner of a seasoned lecturer. He cradles the mike with one hand, leaning against the mike stand with his other as a preacher leans against a pulpit. He is an artist, and comedy is the brush by which he paints his pictures of the world around him.  

"It's my job to grab their attention," says Ed. "And once I have their attention, it is their responsibility to find the humor in it, frankly. It's my job to present my ideas the best I can. That is that. That's all I'm trying to do."  

Grabbing attention has been a lifelong quest for Greer. Born in Kansas City, Mo. in 1977, he was raised almost entirely by his mother. Making his mom laugh was one of Ed's earliest comedic endeavors. 

"My dad tried to come back when I was 12 or 13, but he gave up when I was 15," Greer mentioned casually. "I'm not kidding, he just gave up. So yeah, I always would try and make my mom laugh."

As a child and later as a young adult, this ability to make people laugh became a defining characteristic for Ed. He moved to Los Angeles in 2002 to pursue a career in comedy, after working as a bill collector for a credit card company. 

Citing influences such as Janeane Garafolo and Richard Pryor, Greer has built a brand of comedy around simply telling it as he sees it. His comedy is all about honesty. There are no pratfalls or punchlines in his routine; Ed's comedy comes from the world around him. For Ed Greer, truth really is stranger than fiction. 

"This world is funny, man, when you look at it," Ed says, glancing around at the people filtering through the room. "It's like, forever there were no black superheroes in the movies. No black superheroes. So when Hollywood finally caves in, what do they give us? Fuckin' Hancock! A drunk, out of work black dude who is too lazy to save anyone. And what's his weakness? Blond white women. Shit, that's the world for you. If that's not funny, what is?"

It's this unique lens that gives Ed Greer's comedy its potency. He has performed at venues all over California, including the famous stages of The Hollywood Improv and The Icehouse Comedy club. But he also loves taking his act to more humble places, such as the All Star Lanes bowling alley in Eagle Rock.

"I love doing shows here. This is the kind of place where doing straight jokes might get you fuckin' killed," Ed says, yelling over the clatter of bowling pins and the din of the bar. "These are just regular fucking humans here.  And they love to laugh too. And if you get to make regular people laugh, people who might have shitty jobs and shitty circumstances and are just trying to make it through the day, then that's a beautiful thing. It's my favorite thing."

A simple google search is pretty inconclusive. Anyone that knows me is aware that I am not the  CEO and Co-Founder of BigLeads, a Bay Area internet startup. SamOsborn.com is a bit more interesting, but there are two problems here; the first is that this guy is not me. Secondly, he didn't bother to put any pictures of himself up on his own site, so anyone who looks into me might think that I've been trying to make it big in the electronic music business, but I've had a few technical shortfalls. In fact, the whole first page of my Google search is rife with potential pitfalls. The spelling of my last name is fairly uncommon; for every one Osborn there are fifty Osbournes, Osbornes, or Osbourns. Just my luck then that the other Sam Osborn on Twitter goes by the not so flattering handle samisad0rk. Total drag, considering that my Twitter account is the much more professional yet far more boring SamOsborn1. At least I have that astronomically awesome picture of Tom Selleck bodyslamming a shark.

Ok, time to dig. Finally, after much searching, I was able to find a link to my Facebook page, and even to my Annenberg blog site. I figured that after playing water polo from 8th grade all through college I might find something there; unfortunately I was only able to find an entry on my brother, Peter, his name proudly displayed on the Stanford University team roster from 2000-2001. Other interesting finds were my graduating class list from high school, as well as a few records of political donations that my parents have made. 

Basically, I'm not as famous as I thought. There are no internet scandals to be found, not even an embarrassing old bebo profile that would identify me as the notorious Pimp_boi 99. Looks like I have work to do. 

 

The problem with having a major surf contest on a weekend is that most media providers that cover action sports close their doors on friday afternoon, leaving fans who want news of the results of the contest waiting until monday. Fortunately, Twitter has plugged this gap handily. In all honesty, I had never really used Twitter as a news resource before this saturday, however as I tracked the Trestles contest on Twitter the information that streamed from the contest was as up to date and detailed as any webcast. I didn't have to wait for a newscast or even a web article, as in many cases I was able to follow the accounts of the participating athletes themselves as they watched their fellow competitors go head to head. 

Within seconds of Mick Fanning winning the event, there were hundreds of people proclaiming his victory. People following the event on Twitter were able to get a blow by blow account of the event, even down to the turns and maneuvers that each surfer was performing on their waves. However, the real gold mine for fans such as me was the ability to hear the reactions from the athletes themselves. 

Shortly after winning the event, Mick Fanning tweeted about his victory, proclaiming that his "WORLD TITLE CAMPAIGN [is back] ON TRACK." About the same time that Mick sent that tweet his friend Joel Parkinson, who is currently ranked #1 in the world but was eliminated from the contest in an early round, tweeted "had a fun surf but now watching the contest on line Witch sucks cause I want to be in it!" He and Fanning have been friends since childhood, but Parkinson finished runner up to Fanning when he won the world title in 2007. This latest win at Trestles brings Fanning into the #2 spot in the race for the World Title, and Parkinson's tweet shows the frustration of his loss. After the initial disappointment, however, Parkinson added "@Mick_Fanning well done mate!"

It is this ability to track emotional responses that for me makes Twitter such a valuable and interesting resource. Twitter transforms the audience from observers to participants. In cases such as the Trestles contest, where many of the athletes are active Twitter users, we are able to observe the responses of these individuals firsthand, and unfiltered. Twitter users may not always get their facts straight, and much of what is broadcast is just their opinion, but that's the beauty of the thing. Objectivity is commendable and factual information is important, but in many cases it is these emotional response that makes audiences feel connected to the story.

My immediate family includes two psychologists, a psychiatrist, and an E.R surgeon, so the subject of healthcare reform has become one of extreme interest. I was anxious to see the President's address, which I hoped would elucidate the proposed solution that had previously been as convoluted and complicated to me as the problem it was supposed to solve. 

As the President delivered a speech that directly addressed the scathing conflicts that have plagued political dialogue during his administration, a barely audible remark was hurled from the crowd that caused him to pause briefly before returning to his address. This two word outburst, shouted by a previously little known Congressman from South Carolina, was to have unexpected results.

The full effect of Joe Wilson's outbursts were at first not evident. After all, his criticisms turned out to be false, an his own compatriots decried his actions. However, all of the apologies, debates, and recantations of Representative Wilson's indiscretions failed to palliate the critical damage he had done. Not because his complaint was true or accurate, or even disturbed the delivery of the address to a great degree, but because the focus of the media shifted to a large degree from the President's speech and the issues surrounding healthcare reform to the hotheaded Congressman from South Carolina. In fact, on September 10th NBC and CBS provided nearly twice the coverage of Wilson's outburst than of Obama's speech itself.

Mainstream media coverage of politics on Capitol Hill has become increasingly focused on the bitter conflict between right and left, instead of showcasing the roots of the sociopolitical issues facing our nation. We have become engrossed by the spectacle of the political equivalent of a schoolyard brawl, and the firefight that has erupted over Wilson's remarks is only the latest example of this. Only a few days prior to the healthcare address there was massive media attention given to political outrage and controversy over the President's seemingly innocuous speech to schoolchildren, which hadn't even been delivered at that time. Of course, coverage of Washington's political skirmishing may simply be a reflection of the dramatic political polarization of our nation as a whole. However, by focusing on the conflict surrounding the issues and not on the issues themselves, real progress may be hindered.

The value of information lies in accessibility. If you know something before someone else does, or have access to knowledge that they do not, that makes information valuable. Legacy journalistic institutions have relied on this principle for centuries, using the "breaking story" to sell copy. However, today's media marketplace is working hard to render this model obsolescent, if not completely obsolete. Every cell phone has a camera, and almost every citizen is savvy enough to know how to upload their home video or other content onto the internet; by way of example, the photo of the Los Angeles fires that accompanies this article was taken from the roof of an apartment building using my phone, and was up on Facebook within minutes of being taken.  The ubiquity of media tools and technological know how leads to millions of photos, videos, and articles that are uploaded, almost instantly, by eyewitnesses of events that take media organizations hours if not days to write, shoot, and edit. And the real kicker is that all of this content can be viewed by anyone, anytime, for free. 

Although the deluge of free content on the internet may pose a threat to the bottom line of the legacy media organizations, there are certain undeniable advantages. For one, individuals are more likely to break rules or simply slip by unnoticed in order to get content than media organizations that may be more closely monitored by government institutions. CitizenTube is a YouTube based site that uploads news-based user submitted content. The value of this site, and of citizen journalism in general, was perfectly illustrated during the Iran Elections. When most news organizations were banned from releasing footage of anti-protest actions taken by the Iranian government, CitizenTube enabled Iranians to release footage that would never have passed government censors. The world was able to see what was really going on in an up to the minute, realistic way. CitizenTube, as well as other sites such as iReport, have democratized news in unprecedented ways. Instead of a few companies with perhaps a hundred reporters each providing us with our news, resources such as these have turned every individual into a potential source, with millions of cameras and eyes watching the world around us and reporting on it, 24/7/365. 

Yet despite this massive flood of newly available content, there are serious downsides to be considered. These negative factors are revealed in the very header bar that so loudly proclaims the purpose of iReport, which describes the site as "Unedited. Unfiltered. News." 

Unedited. Unfiltered. Unaccountable. Unpolished. Unsourced. Many of these words describe the content uploaded on these and other citizen journalism sites, and they are obviously not all favorable. While some sites such as the highly-touted West Seattle Blog go to great lengths to edit and polish their reports to the standard of professional journalists, the same is not true for others. There are no restrictions on bias of viewpoint in citizen journalism, as there are no censors or editors. In short, citizen journalism in some ways has broken down journalistic standards. Because citizen journalists are not held accountable, accuracy can be compromised. This is why professional journalists will always be needed. Although they cannot be everywhere at once the way citizen journalists can, they fill the need to filter, refine, polish, and present data so the rest of us can form a more complete picture of the world around us. There is still room enough for well crafted stories, constructed by professionals to standards that only professionals can attain. 

       Take, by way of example, the case of Achilles. To many, he is the ultimate hero of the Classical Age. However, the prominence of Achilles in the pantheon of western heroes can largely be attributed to his role in Homer's  Iliad. Without Homer, Achilles' legend would have died soon after him. The same truth holds today, in that if we fail to carefully and objectively keep a record of the world around us, then our history will be lost.

       Today's information, as with all historical record, is best when drawn from a variety of sources. A broad sample reduces bias, and enhances understanding. I have therefore chosen three widely varied resources to follow, with the hope that from them a greater clarity of global events can be drawn. These resources are The Daily Beast, The London Times, and the Los Angeles Times. The reason behind these selections can best be explained by the here, there, and everywhere argument. In other words, in order to paint a complete picture of the world it is best to get news from here, there, and everywhere. The "here" component of this triangle is the Los Angeles Times. I live in Los Angeles, so it is natural that I would want to find a resource dedicated in large part to covering this area, and the Los Angeles Times fits the bill. For example, if I walk 100 yards out of my apartment to Hilltop Park and look eastward, I can clearly see the fires that according to the Los Angeles Times are currently threatening 10,000 homes in the L.A area. While other national resources such as CNN are covering these fires, the same level of attention to what is happening in Los Angeles is not paid. The flip side of this coin is that the Los Angeles Times may not provide the best information about the world abroad. For this information, or the "there," the London Times is an ideal choice. Being a foreign institution, the London Times may not be subject to the same biases that might be found in an American publication. Furthermore, stories that may not garner interest in the United States, but are still important to the rest of the world, may be found by looking beyond our borders for information. 

              The final leg of my media triangle is the Daily Beast. The Beast, unlike the London or Los Angeles Times, is not a single institution. Although The Beast does create original content, the primary function of this site is as a news aggregator. Top stories from multiple publications are assembled and presented on one site, enabling rapid updates and outstanding situational awareness. While perhaps lacking the longer form pieces that can be found in either the L.A or London Times, the Daily Beast offers unparalleled access to breaking news that makes it an invaluable resource.