LOS ANGELES

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.

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. 

NEIGHBORHOOD POLITICS-The last few years have been difficult for the Office of the City Attorney (OCA) headed by Mike Feuer, as evidenced by a series of embarrassing and ethically challenged developments that also, directly or indirectly, have a potentially serious impact on the City’s budget. 

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.  

CLIMATE POLITICS-Grandiose plans to cool Earth, saving the planet from overheating by utilizing low-tech balloon flights sprinkling particles into the atmosphere to reflect solar radiation back into outer space have been delayed, nobody knows for sure when, or if, it’ll proceed.