LOS ANGELES

LIVING WAGE DEBATE-Missing from the Congressional debate over raising the $7.25 federal minimum wage to $15 an hour is any acknowledgement that poverty-level wages are integral to a class system that rewards the rich and punishes the poor.

HEALTH RIGHTS--I (Leslie) am a clinician and have been for many years. I’ve been Black for many more years, all my life. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-In the past 20 years, nowhere in Los Angeles has quality of life fallen harder than in Venice.

GELFAND’S WORLD-As reported in two previous columns, there has been a continuing uncertainty over the planning and administration of the neighborhood council congress, an annual event in which nearly a thousand neighborhood council participants come together to discuss their mutual issues and interests. 

DC DISPATCH-As she surveys the sea of planes at Montgomery County’s Fixed Base Operator, Ashley King knows she is a lucky woman: 

DESPERATE MIGRATIONS-Thousands of desperate migrants, mostly from Central America, are stuck at the U.S.-Mexico border. Most are families and unaccompanied children. 

PENSION POLITICS--Environmental organizers across the country are converging in Northern Minnesota in support of Indigenous Water Protectors, to stop the construction of the Line 3 pipeline expansion.

MY TURN-There was a lot of optimism on November 9, 2019, as dozens of candidates diligently filed paperwork and took historic pictures or videos as they kicked off campaigns to save the City.  

VIEW FROM HERE--When the Mad Tweeter was assaulting us each morning with his insane rantings, we never got around to discussing macro-economics and the national welfare.

THE DOCTOR IS IN--Vaccines aren't perfect, and the requirement of getting vaccinated does not exist in a free society.

STANDARDS FOR WHAT WE EAT--Imagine a food so filthy that it requires chemical disinfection prior to packaging and sale.

GUEST COMMENTARY--A homeless encampment on North Berendo Street—at Hollywood Boulevard—in Los Feliz has been taken over by a street gang that is listed among the top 10 in Los Angeles as most dangerous.