Street Artist SABER Tries Skywriting to Shame Los Angeles City Council and Villaraigosa Over Their Decimation of Public Art Murals

• WE NEED TO STOP THE SYSTEM!  GRAFF WILL NEVER DIE! 

• Grow up and act like an adult; word meanings evolve.  Bad means good, cool means hot, hot means cool, but jackass still means jackass.

• Los Angeles is a Pay to Play city.  Anyone who makes a million or so from super graphics billboards has plenty of extra cash to seed city hall. Terms limits mean that Mayor Tony V and trust fund baby Eric Garcetti have to play an expensive game of musical chairs.  After destroying Hollywood, Garcetti has become another mayor wannabe.  Persoanly, I think Melrose Larry Green has better ideas for LA than Gracetti, whose only idea is to "Sell it."  Sell LA to the highest bidder, one project at a time, one billboard at a time. They can't have some artist using up good space that they can sell to some billion dollar corporation.  It's Pay to Play --  Cash talks, everyone else walks.

• go look up the word "originally" and you can learn something too. see how it applies to your  ridiculous waste of an argument. condescending bully.

•      Anyone with the slightest bit of common sense knows that the contemporary definition of the word is how it is primarily used today. Very rarely is decimate used to indicate one tenth of something.  In fact, other than a history class, I cannot think of one instance where I have heard it used to indicate 10%.       Historically, the meaning of the word decimate is 'kill one in every ten of (a group of people).'  This sense has been superseded by the later, more general sense 'kill or destroy a large percentage of,' as in: "the virus has decimated the population."  Some traditionalists argue that this and other later senses are incorrect, but it is clear that these extended senses are now part of standard English.  It is sometimes also argued that decimate should refer to people and not to things or animals such as weeds or insects.  It is generally agreed that decimate should not be used to mean 'defeat utterly.'       "What does that word mean?" should probably heed his/her own advice.  If he was half as intelligent as he expects the author to be, perhaps he would understand that by saying "Decimate originally referred to...", he clearly indicates that there is a secondary or a final definition of the word.  That additional definition is the very one with which "What..." takes such issue that he feels compelled to flame the author, only to flicker out by his own ignorance.  If "What..." did not intend to point out the obvious, that there is a more modern definition currently in use, then he definitely used the wrong wording.  isn't that a little elementary for someone who goes around reprimanding others for recklessly tossing around words and blaming them for the nation's overall low intelligence rates?  At the risk of being redundant, "originally" is a key word in his lecture that negates his whole argument.  From my perspective, the only soapbox anywhere near this article is the one he just fell off of.  So "What...", why don't you stop flossing your pseudo-intellect by lashing out at a published writer and go tutor a student who could use some higher test scores.  

• OK - I'll ask what nobody else has: What are "street murals"? Do they mean graffiti?  Or actual artistic murals? Because if it is graffiti, and they created it, then in part they are responsible for the "tattered, aging city". Graffiti (or "street murals") painted on every building, bridge and sign are exactly what makes a city look run down and tattered. And I'm well aware that art is in the eye of the beholder, but if it's painted on property that doesn't belong to you then it's not art, it's a crime.

• Bullshit Jill.  Decimate means reduce by ten percent to anyone who has studied history, you scrub.

• At least you learned something today ; )

• LA Weekly news editor Jill Stewart responds: Oh come now, commenter calling himself or herself 'What Does That Word Mean?' Listen, What Does, everyone knows that the word "decimate" is now properly used to mean (and this is from Merriam Webster, not from news-speak): "Drastically reduce the strength or effectiveness of (something)."  That sums up what has gone on in City Hall over the past several years. Now go out there, What Does, and improve the intelligence of your children. Good luck! -- Jill Stewart

• "Their Decimation of Public Art Murals" Jill, are you saying that SABER was upset because the city counsel and the big V wanted to reduce public art murals by 10%?  Because that is what your headline says.  Decimate originally referred to the punishment killing of every tenth person in the Roman army to discourage mutiny.  Decimate is often misused to mean killing any large proportion.  The root of the word deci, is the same as decade, decimal, etc., and means 10.  While the use of the term in the headline could be deemed acceptable to some, it is not accurate in any historical sense of the word. Even writers of blogs (and sometimes commentators) have the ability and responsibility to improve the intelligence of children and the general public.  Please use your soapbox responsibly so that we do not lose languages to newspeak.

• ¡VIVA SABER! ¡PEGÚELO AL HOMBRE!

• SABER tem alma de brasileiro!

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