Culver City Observer -

By Neil Rubenstein

Observer Columnist

On April 26 the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will finally honor Betty White with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards.

The ceremony will take place at the Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank. She won her first Emmy in 1952, and she has been going strong ever since.

I was relieved (and I bet you were, too) when we heard on television that crime in the City of Los Angeles is going down. Then I saw the Los Angeles Times report written by Joel Rubin. Rubin noted the statements made by Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese that the LAPD and its command staff would no longer alter and/or manipulate crime stats.

Women, especially black females, stand to gain the most benefit if they take the PLAC Test. This test predicts heart attack risks in people with no symptoms. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for black women. Almost 50,000 black women die of coronary heart disease each year. About 7.6 percent of black women have coronary artery disease, compared with 5.8 percent of white women. Approximately 37 percent of black women have high blood pressure. Have your doctor check frequently.

Scientists at Harvard have shown one additional serving of yogurt a day is linked to an 18 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

No, the telephone calls from family and friends have not started yet, but you just know people have gone through months of hell and need to thaw out.

Everybody loves the entertainment industry, so how about the Egyptian Theatre Historic Tour and the classic Forever Hollywood? Hollywood history comes alive with their docent-led tours of Sid Grauman’s legendary 1922 Egyptian Theatre. Visit old dressing rooms and singers’ boxes and admire the restoration so beautifully done. See http://www.AmericanCinematheque.com for further information.

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What will those stinkers do next? I just heard the hacking group. Anonymous, shut down the New York Police Department captains union website on March 20. Union officials said their system was targeted with malware.

Speaking of New York City, their Police Commissioner, Bill Bratton, agreed to continue the program of placing detectives around the world to collect counterterrorism data. The International Liaison Program assigns detectives to 11 posts around the world, including France, Israel, Germany and England. The program costs more than $1 million annually and is underwritten by the Police Foundation.

Now for the latest secret weapon from the United States Army. It’s not rifles or ammunition or tanks or gas, but elephants trained to sniff out buried explosives. What will they think of next?

As reported by the Army Times, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is developing the Robust Automatic Transcription of Speech (RATS) program aimed at separating speech from background noise, determining which language is being spoken, and then isolating key words from that speech for analysis. They hope to have it operational by 2017.

Have you read the annual report by the United States on China’s Economic and Security Review Commission? Briefly, it says by 2020 China’s navy will have 351 ships as compared to the 275 battle force ships in the U.S. Fleet as of March 6, 2015. Our military has 350,000 troops throughout the Pacific including more than half the fleet. On Guam 5,000 Marines are based as well as numerous submarines. The carrier Theodore Roosevelt will be moved from Norfolk, VA to Coronado, CA. This is to maintain a six-carrier force in the Pacific.

Are you a veteran and do you need a job? There will be a job fair at Camp Pendleton on April 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. See http://www.civilianjobs.com.

Well, well, well, all those China apologists can smile big time because on January 23, China test-fired a new submarine-launched ballistic missile capable of nuclear strikes against all 50 states.

The 9th and 10th Cavalry Association (better known as the Buffalo Soldiers) will have their annual reunion in Atlanta on July 27 to August 1. Contact Harold Cole, (770) 732-1765, or Edwinacole4@aol.com.

According to a recent listing, $2,247 per month is the rent for a one-bedroom apartment. with 675 square feet in Playa Vista. With 675 square feet, you have just enough room for a toaster, a four-cup coffeemaker, a microwave, one pillow, two supper plates and one fork.

Life is a bowl of cherries, and our friends living in the city of Port Hueneme are stuck with the pits. Those of us who have traveled through Port Hueneme will remember a small town of 22,000 and a police department of 32, but last year, according to the city manager, they spent over $8 million on police salaries, benefits department operations, workers’ compensation, retiree medical costs and fleet expenditures. In 2013 in Port Hueneme the average police officer was paid $119, 165. In the City of Ventura it was $71,307, in the City of Simi Valley it was $91,255, and $43,526 in the City of Santa Paula. Money is so tight that Port Hueneme is considering contracting with the Ventura County Sheriff just like many cities in L.A. County.

For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com by placing Rubenstein in hat website’s search box.