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Best Black Friday coverage: Metroblogging's Koga observing the 5 am chaos and LAPD presence at the Wal-Mart in Porter Ranch. blogging.LA
EAA strike: City Hall's most rancorous union plans a small strike and picket line Sunday at LAX, where essential personnel are already banned from walking out. LAT
Suzie Peņa: The toddler's July 2005 death at the hands of an LAPD weapon while her father used her as a human shield finally comes to the police commission next week. Bratton will make his recommendations in private. LAT
Giving Richards a lot of credit: Michael Schermer argues in an op-ed that we're all racists and that Michael Richards' outburst just reflects "the sin of all humanity." LAT Also, LAist catches the Richards dish at the Laugh Factory's annual Thanksgiving feed and checks into the comedian's Mason background. The Jewish Journal, meanwhile, declares Richards not of the tribe.
News obits: Jesus Blancornelas, the Tijuana journalist who founded Zeta magazine, exposed drug cartels under death threats and visited L.A. last year under guard, died of natural causes at 70. Gerald Boyd, the New York Times managing editor who left the paper in the Jayson Blair scandal aftermath, died of lung cancer at 56. Betty Comden, the Broadway and movie lyricist who collaborated with Adolph Green, died at age 89.
Neighborhood councils: Meetings are not violent, say activists. DN
Kevin Smith: The director teaches a class at UCLA in making videos for MTV. LAT
Overreaching trend story: Pre-teens who demand luxury clothing brands. Requisite too be sure graf for cover: "To be sure, even on the affluent Westside of Los Angeles, these youths rarely have closets full of luxury goods." LAT
She's back: Video blogger Amanda Congdon flirts with Hollywood. LAT
Fake slime job: A Beverly Hills pharmacy was called anti-Semitic in a widely circulated email, but the ADL and the Jewish Journal say it's not true.
Around LA Observed: Bill Boyarsky chides Rocky Delgadillo and credits John & Ken...Veronique de Turenne observes Starbucks' takeover of her favorite Diedrich's Coffee. Veronique also had a piece on NPR's Day to Day about mystery writer Kate Atkinson...Mark Lacter on today's strong retail sales...where new Dodger Juan Pierre ranks against other lead-off hitters.