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Taxi Medallion Crisis Drives Council Candidates Demand for Bold Bailout

Several South Asian candidates seeking office have been shaped by family hardship in New York’s yellow-cab medallion financial collapse. They say only sweeping reform will avoid disaster. They are prepared to lead the charge.

Featured Articles

Medium •

Feed the Frontlines NYC Collects $2 Million in Donations to Feed Hospital Workers and UWS Seniors…

Last March — as novel coronavirus outbreaks ravaged New York City and other parts of the United States — Feed the Frontlines NYC made their first delivery of 40 meals to the emergency room at NYU Langone Tisch Hospital in Kips Bay. The next day, on March 20, the UWS-based group brought 50 more meals to overburdened ER workers in Brooklyn. This was just the beginning of an unexpected shift for longtime Manhattan restaurant owner Luca Di Pietro.
The Culture-ist •

Inside the Life of a Peruvian San Pedro Shaman - Culture-ist

Insulated from the rapid plunders of modernization by vast jungles and mountain ranges, it is still possible to encounter intact shamanic cultures. For these people, plants which bring about visionary trance are the focal point of spiritual life and tradition. They believe plants are sentient beings, cosmic envoys with integral lessons for humanity. They credit their music and medicine, their ontology and vast horticultural knowledge, to the visions induced by psychedelic cognition.

Short Story: The Depressed Who Get To the Bottom of Things

(Published in Z Publishing House's "California's Emerging Writers" series, available on Amazon) On 10 November 2017 it rains. The sky is dim and full of clouds. The clouds are thick and bulbous, like a pregnant belly, hanging beneath the waistline, over the ocean, in the wind. Under the sky a towering central mountain comes close to the ocean, leaving only a small portion of beachy flatland. An asphalt road runs along the beach...

Why Have Religious Zionists Perpetrated Acts of Violence in Hebron Post-2005?

(Published in U.C. Santa Barbara's Global Societies Journal) Why have Religious Zionists perpetrated acts of violence in Hebron post-2005? Israel’s disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank settlements in 2005 caused the Religious Zionist settler movement to rethink the status of their struggle, leading to increased settler conflict throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the ongoing, multi-generational persistence of Religious Zionist theology in vibrant segments of the Israeli settler community.

Business/Tech Articles

Going Paperless? Paper vs. Digital Receipts

(Published by Industry Intelligence, Inc.) Paper receipts are a familiar sight for shoppers making purchases at the checkout line, but many retailers are signing up to use digital receipts—where customers can choose to have their receipt sent to an email address or a mobile phone app. If a California bill that requires businesses to send electronic receipts as a default passes, that could accelerate a shift from paper receipts to electronic receipts in the near future.
Blue Lifestyle •

San Francisco’s Salesforce Tower, Symbol of a Skyline Transformed by Tech

The Salesforce Tower, a massive glass and steel skyscraper visible everywhere in San Fransico, was completed in May 2018, becoming the second-tallest building west of the Mississippi River and the tallest in the Bay Area. For a city that has been a shipping and manufacturing hub for much of its existence, the building epitomizes the tech boom that has transformed the city, redefining everything from its skyline to its place in the culture.

Lifestyle Articles

Blue Lifestyle •

Chef Edward Lee Discovers America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine in "Buttermilk Graffiti"

Edward Lee may be a multi-year James Beard Award nominee and “Top Chef” participant, but the subjects of his new book, “Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting-Pot Cuisine,” aren’t high-flying culinary celebrities; they’re the restaurant owners and family chefs that he met while eating his way across the country. What interests the chef of 610 Magnolia, Milkwood, and Whiskey Dry in Louisville, Ky., is the origin story of a meal, the person who prepared it, and the
Blue Lifestyle •

Anthony Bourdain Loved Los Angeles; Here's Why

Despite the traffic, oppressive sunshine, and all that sprawl, Anthony Bourdain always kept a little love in his heart for Los Angeles. When the iconic chef, writer, television host, traveler, and beloved media figure visited Los Angeles, in 2016, two years before his death, he chose to explore the city’s many small enclaves, offering a look at the food and cooking that are part of those neighborhoods’ identities.
Blue Lifestyle •

Los Angeles Teachers Strike for Higher Wages and Smaller Classes

Teachers in Los Angeles have been on strike since Monday, Jan. 14, demanding higher pay, smaller class sizes, and more support staff such as nurses, librarians, and counselors. The Los Angeles Unified School District is the second-largest in the U.S., behind New York. Some 30,000 have been walking picket lines, carrying signs in English and Spanish and urging the public to stand with them. They marched in a chilly, pouring rain that began on Monday morning and continued throughout the week.
Blue Lifestyle •

4 Wellness Trends to Watch in 2019

In 2018, the wellness world transformed. People started having more open and sincere conversations about mental health, intermittent fasting went mainstream, and CBD took over the world (well, sort of). At the same time, people embraced green beauty, breathwork gained traction, we learned what it means to maintain a healthy microbiome, and some of us started to realize that social media might be impacting our wellbeing. In these respects, 2018 was a good year, and we’re predicting that wellness
Blue Lifestyle •

What Trump’s Prospective AG Pick Could Mean for Legal Cannabis

President Trump confirmed on Friday that he plans to nominate William Barr, a Republican lawyer and former Justice Department official, to replace ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Barr has already served once as US attorney general (1991-1993), during which he earned a reputation as a staunch anti-drug advocate under then-President George H.W. Bush. But with 62% of American voters supporting full cannabis legalization and almost 9 in 10 supporting medical legalization (Pew Research Center)
Blue Lifestyle •

Part II: Peru's Ancient Geoglyphs

As a single-engine prop plane soars over the high desert of southern Peru, the dull performance of sand and wind-torn rock begins to organize and change form. Distinct white lines gradually emerge from the pale landscape, revealing deep tracks crisscrossing the cracked land like obscure roadways. The plane buzzes along against harsh sunlight before veering at sharp angles so its camera-ready passengers can glimpse what lies below: first trapezoids, rectangles, straight lines and swirls; then, as
Blue Lifestyle •

10 Best Holiday Events in L.A. This December

Can you believe it? We’re already nearing the middle of the holiday season, which means your schedule is probably packed with parties and seasonal events. From an evening with Fleetwood Mac and a Christmas tour performance by John Legend, an interview with chef-owner Nyesha J. Arrington of the restaurant Native in Santa Monica and a screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s film Spirited Away at the Aero Theatre, here are a flurry of L.A. events to help you celebrate the holidays. Fleetwood Mac is at the F
Blue Lifestyle •

L.A.’s Best One-Stop Holistic Healing Havens

To many people, there’s a stereotypical idea of what L.A. wellness entails: hikes in Runyon Canyon, whole-body cryotherapy, and virtual reality meditation—whatever that is. But Los Angeles has also become a haven for spiritual pilgrims seeking traditional forms of holistic health care and alternative healing. It is now common to find generations-old Asian and South American wellness modalities presented in chic, modern settings. These destinations typically offer multiple treatments, practices,
Blue Lifestyle •

The Ultimate Dining Bucket List

For better or worse, the idea for The World’s 50 Best Restaurant list was born in a barroom. The goal was to create an annual list that reflected the diversity of the world’s culinary landscape in a way that was unique and revered. Two decades and many iterations later, it has evolved into one of the most reputable awards ceremonies in the culinary world, backed by high-end sponsors like S.Pellegrino and celebrated for promoting the hard work and dedication of chefs around the world. Thanks to i
Blue Lifestyle •

Running on Autopilot: When You Burn the Most (and Least) Calories During the Day

Some of our body’s functions—including burning calories—run according to an internal schedule that has little to do with our lifestyle, a new study finds. No matter whether we stay up all night or maintain a typical sleeping schedule, our bodies have an autopilot function that says to burn the most calories in the late afternoon and early evening, and the least in the early morning. The study finds that people burn about 10 percent more calories from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. regardless of the activity
Blue Lifestyle •

California’s 11 Ballot Propositions: Which Passed, Failed?

On Tuesday California voters were given a chance to expand rent control, authorize bonds funding construction at hospitals providing children’s health care, establish new standards for the confinement of farm animals, and repeal a gas tax by way of ballot referenda. Here’s how each proposition turned out. This measure would authorize the state to sell $4 billion in bonds to support housing programs. Approximately $2 billion would be dedicated to giving local governments low-interest loans to bu
Blue Lifestyle •

Celebrated Master Whiskey Distiller Dave Pickerell Dies Aged 62

Dave Pickerell, the master behind Vermont’s WhistlePig and one of the biggest names in the modern wave of craft distillers, died on Nov. 1 in San Francisco. He was 62. Pickerell was visiting the city for this year’s WhiskyFest sponsored by Whisky Advocate Magazine and died in his hotel room of natural causes, reports say. Pickerell had been touring this fall with the members of Metallica to promote their Blackened American Whiskey, and the group was planning to build a distillery in the Bay Ar
Blue Lifestyle •

7 Best Things to Do in L.A. This Week

From election night parties to a showcase of L.A.’s female culinary talent, an exhibition of paintings by local Chicano artist John Valadez and a premiere event celebrating Cabernet Sauvignon, here are the 7 best things to do in Los Angeles this week. Women looking for a space to watch the election with others who value inclusiveness and equality in our local and federal government should head to Wildfang L.A. for “She Came, She Saw, She F*cking Voted.” The clothing store known for its outspoke
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Academic Articles

BERKELEY FICTION REVIEW •

Short Story: Worth(less)

I’m seated in a pub on a quiet and unwelcoming Tuesday. I carefully orient myself so I can see only the tattered papers in front of me, the beer I ordered only moments ago. The bartender serving me periodically enters and exits through a vaulted passage to expedite plates to where I suspect three or four groups are seated, each time rinsing his hands behind the bar before accommodating me and three other men seated in barstools; our unhurried feet dangle like kids’ at a picnic table.

Philosophical Implications in the Poetry of Wallace Stevens

Wallace Stevens’ first book of poetry, Harmonium, which contains, “Sunday Morning,” “Anecdote of the Jar,” “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” and the “Comedian as the Letter C,” introduces readers to Steven’s esoteric vocabulary, rigorous care in the crafting of his poems, and vision of poetry as the principal fusion of the creative imagination and objective reality. In this way, Stevens’ poetry appraises the relationship between mind and world, or between the world as it simply is and the world as it is configured by human cognition and imagination.

Said is Missaid: Later Beckett, Earlier Wittgenstein

“Wittgenstein book safely arrived. Very glad to have it,” wrote Samuel Beckett in a New Year’s Day, 1971, letter to Mary Hutchinson, thanking her for securing him a copy of the German translation of Norman Malcolm’s Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Memoir. Eight years later, on January 15, 1979, in a letter written to his companion, Barbara Bray, Beckett again discloses that he is “reading the Wittgenstein with interest,” although this time with reference to Wittgenstein’s later work, Philosophical Investigations. In this way, the philosophical texts concerning Wittgenstein in Beckett’s recently catalogued Paris library, write Dirk Van Hulle and Mark Nixon, in their ravishing book, Samuel Beckett’s Library, show that Beckett, for example, “seems to have read Wittgenstein as a like-minded writer” from whom he could gain philosophical and literary encouragement. Beckett’s exposure and particular interest in Wittgenstein’s earlier philosophy, thus, continued from the early 1950s until Beckett’s later years, as several scholars confirm.