EDITORIAL THE ODDS ON SECESSION HAHN GAMBLES ON SCARE TACTICS.THE ``odds are'' you've seen or heard the hysterical commercials put on by Mayor James Hahn's anti-secession machine. The odds are you've listened to the many dubious claims made in the ``gamble'' spots, the ones warning that ``the odds are secession could mean higher taxes and cuts in vital services, fewer cops and more crime.'' And the odds are you've never been exposed to a bigger crock crock - [American scatologism "crock of shit"] 1. An awkward feature or programming technique that ought to be made cleaner. For example, using small integers to represent error codes without the program interpreting them to the user (as in, for example, Unix "make(1)", which of nonsense in all your life. The ads don't actually predict that any of the described horrors will happen. They just feverishly repeat the mantra of what the ``odds'' could foretell fore·tell tr.v. fore·told , fore·tell·ing, fore·tells To tell of or indicate beforehand; predict. fore·tell , a meaningless statement A meaningless statement is a statement which posits nothing of substance which can be agreed or disagreed with. In the context of logical fallacies, the inclusion of a meaningless statement in the premises of the argument will undermine the validity of the argument since the because they never tell what those odds are. Yes, secession is a gamble, as is life. We take risks in this world because rewards seldom come without them. It's the risks that ultimately make us freer, happier and - ironically - safer. It's accepting an unjust status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. that's the real danger. Could all of the awful things that Hahn's ads warn about happen in an independent Valley? As long as we're dealing in the realm of hypotheticals, sure. They also could happen without secession. But what's more likely? The ``odds'' are quite good, given the field of candidates, that members of the first Valley city government would take our community far more seriously than L.A. City Hall ever has. They can fairly be expected to push an agenda of neighborhood empowerment, and they won't be beholden be·hold·en adj. Owing something, such as gratitude, to another; indebted. [Middle English biholden, past participle of biholden, to observe; see behold. to the special interests that control downtown. The odds are that if secession wins, power will be in your hands, and you will make better decisions that affect the quality of your life and your neighborhood than the City Hall power structure would ever make. Now consider the alternative: What are the odds that L.A. City Hall - having rebuffed neighborhood councils Neighborhood councils are governmental or non-governmental bodies composed of local people who handle neighborhood problems. They can be found in many cities throughout the world. , boroughs and every other reform - will ever get serious about dealing with the issues that spurred secession in the first place? What are the odds that the downtown power structure would voluntarily release its death grip Death Grip refers to a technique used in mountain biking whereby the rider avoids covering the brake levers. It is most often used by dirt jumpers (most especially those new to the discipline), when approaching a new, bigger, jump than they're used to, but are fairly sure they can on L.A. civic life? You couldn't find a bookie in all of Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. who would give you odds on that one. Throughout his whole campaign, Hahn has never once addressed the real concerns of L.A.'s disenfranchised communities, hoping instead to preserve the status quo by scaring people into complacency. In a sense, Hahn's making a gamble of his own. He's betting that he can cow people into submission and dissuade TO DISSUADE, crim. law. To induce a person not to do an act. 2. To dissuade a witness from giving evidence against a person indicted, is an indictable offence at common law. Hawk. B. 1, c. 2 1, s. 1 5. them from seeking a better life so that he can go on selling taxpayer-financed favors to the special interests bankrolling his campaign. That's a gamble he deserves to lose. We think you're much smarter than Hahn and City Hall think. You not only deserve a much better city, but you're willing to create one, which is why we're repeating our endorsement of secession and encouraging everyone to vote for Measure F on Tuesday to give Vals a winning hand - for a change. |
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