Cool stuff. Using a robotic arm, astronauts on board the Space Station captured the unmanned vehicle. "It's exciting to be an American and part of putting American spacecraft into orbit, and we're very proud right now," SpaceX mission director John Couluris said. It's considered the big first test of a privately funded space mission. NASA is handing over routine orbital flights to private business so it can concentrate on bigger projects. (AP)

From the LAT:

The linkup took place about 250 miles above northwest Australia at 6:56 a.m. PDT. "Looks like we got us a Dragon by the tail," Pettit confirmed. At that moment, engineers watching at SpaceX's control center at their Hawthorne headquarters, as well as NASA mission control in Houston, began cheering, with rounds of high-fives and handshakes. The cone-shaped capsule was grappled to the station's arm after three days of circling the Earth. NASA is now determining when the spacecraft should dock with the station and when crew should unload the half-ton of cargo, water and clothes.

Actually, this could turn out to be a pretty big deal for the packaging industry. But it's not just ketchup. A bunch of MIT mechanical engineers and nano-technologists have been working on a way of coating different kinds of surfaces. From Co Exist: (h/t The Dish)

LiquiGlide, a "super slippery" coating made up of nontoxic materials that can be applied to all sorts of food packaging--though ketchup and mayonnaise bottles might just be the substance's first targets. Condiments may sound like a narrow focus for a group of MIT engineers, but not when you consider the impact it could have on food waste and the packaging industry. "It's funny: Everyone is always like, 'Why bottles? What's the big deal?' But then you tell them the market for bottles--just the sauces alone is a $17 billion market," [says MIT PhD candidate Dave Smith]. "And if all those bottles had our coating, we estimate that we could save about one million tons of food from being thrown out every year."

[CUT]

Originally, Smith's team, which has been working for years now on developing various types of surface coatings, was pursuing different aims. "We were really interested in--and still are--using this coating for anti-icing, or for preventing clogs that form in oil and gas lines, or for non-wetting applications like, say, on windshields," Smith says. "Somehow this sparked the idea of putting it in food bottles. It could be great just for its slippery properties. Plus, most of these other applications have a much longer time to market; we realized we could make this coating for bottles that is pretty much ready. I mean, it is ready."

A number of economists are breaking down the president's prospects according to monthly job growth between now and November. If the number is more than 200,000, the thinking goes, he's almost a lock to be reelected. Between 180,000 and 200,000 and his chances are still quite good. Between 100,000 and 175,000 and the race is likely to be close. Anything under 100,000 and Obama is quite vulnerable. Based on forecasts from Moody's Analytics, the NYT is keeping a weekly track of job growth between now and the election - and the latest estimate is 184,000, up from 183,000 a week ago. This seems like a decent gauge, although it doesn't factor unexpected developments, such as a big increase in the price of gasoline or a stock market crash. From the Moody's report:

It appears the recent soft patch in the U.S. economy was just that and nothing worse. Real GDP is on track to grow at an annualized pace of 2% to 2.5% this quarter and the labor market took a small step forward in May. We now expect nonfarm payrolls to show a gain of 175,000 jobs between April and May, an improvement on the 170,000 forecast last week, but still shy of 197,000 monthly average pace of the past six months. Business confidence is holding up and the hiring details in recent surveys have been strong. Though May's job gains will not be impressive, they will be enough to push the unemployment rate lower.

The jobless rate is projected to run 7.9 percent in October, down from the current 8.1 percent.

You might be getting confused - and understandably so. After the sharp run-up in March, area gas prices fell pretty substantially, only to take off a couple of weeks ago. Now, they're falling. Nationally, prices seem out of sync with what folks on the West Coast are paying. What gives? From the NYT:

A spokesman for AAA Washington, Dave Overstreet, said that spring can often be the cruelest season for gasoline on the West Coast, which is largely cut off from the pipeline and refining system that spiders up from the Gulf of Mexico. The Cascade Range here in the Pacific Northwest and the Sierra Nevada in California mark a kind of boundary from the rest of the nation, he said, in gasoline economics.

Refineries in California also routinely reduce production in the spring, preparing for the summer fuel blends mandated by California regulators. And supplies in Washington and Oregon have been further crimped by the shutdown of Washington's biggest refinery -- Cherry Point, owned by the oil giant BP -- after a fire in February. A spokesman for BP said on Tuesday that the plant was restarting, but would take some time to resume full production.

The good news is that L.A. prices are coming down again - slowly. An average gallon of regular is $4.332, according to the Auto Club, which is down almost seven cents from a week ago but still up 13 cents from a month ago. From Auto Club:

"Gas prices are fortunately decreasing by a penny a day or more right now, but we're not yet seeing any stations with prices under $4 a gallon as was the case earlier this month," said Auto Club spokesperson Jeffrey Spring. "The Auto Club is projecting a slight increase of 1.6 percent in the number of holiday travelers this weekend. Even though prices are higher than they've ever been for this holiday, we are seeing more activity for travel than during the recession years of 2008 and 2009."

L.A. billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick have a net worth of of $1.9 billion, according to the L.A. Business Journal's annual list of wealthiest Angelenos - more than enough to push back on an administrative law judge's ruling this week that health claims about POM Wonderful pomegranate juice were deceptive. The company has launched an ad campaign in major newspapers and online that challenges the judge's decision and urges consumers to "be the judge." That includes a large banner ad on top of the NYT website. From the ad:

You may have heard that the Federal Trade Commission sued POM Wonderful for false and misleading advertising on grounds that science did not support POM's health claims. But what you as a consumer of POM need to know is that the FTC judge agreed that POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice and POMx do provide significant health benefits. Here is what the judge said in his own words. "Competent and reliable scientific evidence supports the conclusion that the consumption of pomegranate juice and pomegranate extract supports prostate health, including by prolonging PSA doubling time in men with rising PSA after primary treatment for prostate cancer."

Well, maybe, maybe not. New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle says that the judge's decision was taken out of context. From the Chicago Tribune:

In one example: The ad says: Competent and reliable scientific evidence shows that pomegranate juice provides a benefit to promoting erectile health and erectile function.. Nestle found this on page 198 [of the judge's decision]. It was followed immediately by: "There is insufficient competent and reliable scientific evidence to show that pomegranate juice prevents or reduces the risk of erectile dysfunction or has been clinically proven to do so...There is insufficient competent and reliable scientific evidence to show that pomegranate juice treats erectile dysfunction in a clinical sense or has been clinically proven to do so." Her bottom line? Pomegranate juice is juice. Healthy and tasty, but like any juice, not likely to prevent heart disease or prostate problems on its own. "Health claims are about marketing, not health," she wrote.

The good news for the governor is that 56 percent of likely voters say they would vote for the ballot measure to temporarily raise both the state sales tax and the personal income tax on the wealthy. The results of the latest Public Policy Institute of California poll are similar to the April survey in which 54 percent said they would vote yes. But here's the interesting - and for Brown, troubling - detail: The PPIC poll found that 65 percent of likely voters favor raising taxes on the wealthy, but 58 percent oppose raising the state sale tax.

Asked for their views specifically on the proposed spending cuts to social service programs, 36 percent of likely voters are in favor and 60 percent are opposed. Opposition to these cuts is 10 points higher than opposition to his plan in general (50%). Most Democrats (76%) and independents (58%) oppose the cuts, while Republicans are divided (48% favor, 49% oppose).

In other words, we still want it all, and we want rich people to pay for it all - what economists say is basically impossible to pull off. As for the 56 percent support, it's worth noting that ballot measure races typically tighten up in the weeks leading up to the vote, especially if there is a strong opposition campaign. The governor has been warning about all sorts of deep cuts in education should the tax measure fail. The PPIC survey also found that more voters disapprove than approve of the job Brown is doing. But the difference is only 1 percent. Here's the Sacramento Bee story.

Generally all right, but don't be surprised if there are legal challenges and griping from customers once the city of L.A. finalizes an ordinance to ban plastic bags and charge shoppers for paper bags. From the LAT:

San Francisco approved the state's first plastic bag ban in 2007, applying it only to supermarkets and pharmacies. Since then, officials have moved to expand the bag restrictions, which has drawn a legal challenge. Despite initial grumbling from customers and business owners, the public has gotten used to bringing their own bags, said David Assmann, a manager in San Francisco's environment department. "I think it's become part of the culture here," he said.

In Los Angeles County, the 10-cent paper bag fee has led to a 94% reduction in the use of those bags, said Jennie R. Romer, founder of plasticbaglaws.org, who has advised cities on the passage of bag laws. Things went less smoothly in Oakland, which was successfully sued over its ban. That city dropped its measure but will be covered by Alameda County's plastic bag ban starting next year.

From the Guardian:

Not everyone is celebrating Wednesday's vote. Among the displeased was the American Progressive Bag Alliance, an organization representing the United States' plastic bag manufacturing and recycling sector. "Bag bans have not been proven to reduce litter," writes Mark Daniels, the organization's chair, in a statement. "With this draconian bag ban, the city takes a simplistic approach that misses an opportunity to provide a more effective solution for consumers and the environment - programs that encourage greater recycling of plastic and paper bags and preserve jobs."

The City Council voted 13 to 1 to phase out plastic bags over the next 16 months. Dozens of California cities, including San Jose, San Francisco and Long Beach have some sort of ban on plastic bags.

Earlier: L.A. City Council sets the stage for plastic bag ordinance

The buyout plan - more like a revolt - had been in the works since last year when a group of senior agents demanded to have more of a say in how the business was run. The takeover pushes aside longtime Chairman and CEO Jeff Berg, along with private equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management, which had acquired controlling interest in ICM some years back. As part of the deal, 29 agents are now partners of the agency. Berg says he's sticking around. From the LAT:

Michigan-based Rizvi Traverse Management had acquired controlling interest in ICM in 2005 for more than $75 million. A year later, the firm invested an additional $70 million for ICM to acquire the TV agency powerhouse Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann. The move bolstered ICM's financial position because of Broder Webb's representation of high-earning TV producers, including Chuck Lorre, who created "Two and a Half Men" and "Big Bang Theory" as well as Christopher Lloyd, co-creator of"Modern Family," and Vince Gilligan, the creator of"Breaking Bad." However, the merger of the two corporate cultures of Broder Webb and ICM proved bumpy. And, despite an improved balance sheet and increased power in the TV business, the agency continued to lose status in the prestige-conscious film industry. In addition, the management structure became an obstacle in allowing the agency to recruit and retain top agents.

From Variety:

ICM is eschewing titles and a hierarchical leadership structure in favor of a meritocracy among the partners. The hope is to expand the partner ranks as worthy people become available. But industry observers said the agency will still face an uphill climb in competing with CAA, WME, UTA and others in attracting top talent. The agency endured its share of client and agent defections during the past year amid reports of strife between Berg and former prexy Chris Silbermann, who led the arduous buyout process.