House fight for the limelight
An increasingly ugly and embarrassing fight is being splashed across the national press between South Bay Congressional Representative Jane Harman and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a representative from San Francisco. Pelosi is determined to deny fellow Democrat Harman her wish to become chairperson of the House Intelligence Committee.
Harman is the senior Democrat on the committee.
Last month Time magazine, citing “knowledgeable sources,” alleged that Harman is the subject of a Justice Department investigation into whether she improperly enlisted an Israeli lobbying group to pressure Pelosi for the intelligence post. Time also alleged that Mighty Morphin Power Ranger billionaire and major Democratic party donor Haim Saban has pressured Pelosi to name Harman to the post.
The following week Newsweek suggested that the Time’s story was intended to “give Pelosi cover to deny the chairmanship to Harman.” Harman has denied any knowledge of a Justice Department investigation into her activities.
The LA Times weighed in on the controversy last week with a lead editorial advocating Harman’s appointment. The Daily Breeze followed with a similar editorial on Sunday.
Pelosi’s choice for Intelligence chair is disgraced Florida Representative Alcee Hastings, who was impeached in the late 1980s when he was a federal judge accused of taking a $150,000 bribe.
The LA Times speculated that Hastings was selected because he is black and will improve Pelosi’s standing with the Congressional black Caucus. But the view from the waterfront suggests that the San Francisco Congresswoman simply doesn’t want to share the shows. limelight with her Southern California colleague, who is a regular on Larry King and other talking head news

Wipe out
A popular surf spot in El Segundo known as Shit Pipe will reclaim the right to its name next Saturday when it begins discharging 350 million gallons a day of effluent (sewage minus the solids) a mile off shore.
The barely submerged pipe, which functions as a surf reef at low tide, was long ago replaced by a pipe that extends five miles out to sea from the Hyperion sewage plant. But that pipe is now nearly 50 years old and in need of inspection. So a team of divers is scheduled to swim through the five-mile pipe from Saturday, Nov. 18 to Thursday, Nov. 30.
Hyperion plant spokesperson Lauren Skinner said the effluent that will be discharged a mile off shore should not pose a health hazard to surfers or swimmers because it will be chlorinated to kill any bacteria that might survive the plant’s treatment. But as a precaution, beaches from Ballona Creek to the Manhattan pier will be closed that week. ER