LOS ANGELES

FIRST PERSON-The systematic corruption of the Los Angeles Planning process has just taken another leap forward with motions from LA Council President Nury Martinez.

PLANNING WATCH-If you ever feel like the fictional newscaster Howard Beale in Network, who screamed at his television audience, “I just can’t take it anymore,” I have a simple remedy for you.

PANDEMIC HOUSING CRISIS-With more than 16 million people in the U.S. out of work, Americans are having to stretch financially to keep the roof over their heads.

EASTSIDER-Last week, the LA City Attorney’s Office made it official -- they will not engage with NC Stakeholders any more than they engage with NC Boards. Nor will they voluntarily share any legal advice to BONC or DONE -- like how they allowed a patent violation of the Brown Act to be voted on by BONC. 

ALPERN AT LARGE--If a tree falls in the forest, and there's no one around to hear it, does it still make a sound? 

VOICES--I first heard about Donald Trump like most of us from our generation…I read his book “The Art of the Deal”. 

OTHER WORDS-Rory McVeigh wrote The Rise of the Ku Klux Klan, a study of the KKK in the 1920s, in 2009 -- long before Donald Trump became president. But it could almost be about Trump today. 

HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT-On the evening of June 1, in Washington D.C., Rahul Dubey could see trouble brewing outside his home.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-In case you have not noticed it, both political parties are grooming you just like pedophiles groom their young victims. 

RELIGION AND THE PANDEMIC-Repeatedly, health officials, scientists and medical experts plead with us that to slow down the spread of COVID-19 we must wear a face mask to stop droplets spewing from our mouth, and at times nose, when we speak, cough, sneeze.

GELFAND’S WORLD--A few decades ago, I attended a presentation that was held in the biology research building at the institution where I worked.

GUEST WORDS--The state’s heat waves, blackouts, and fires—amid a pandemic—offer a warning of our fossil-fuel future.

@THE GUSS REPORT-This column has received two unsolicited telephone calls from the same LAPD Detective asking the same question about the same subject. . .a year apart. 

FIRST PERSON-The elephant in the room when it comes to increased density in California is FAILING INFRASTRUCTURE.

GUEST WORDS--We applaud the Los Angeles Police Department for expanding its community policing program known as the Community Safety Partnership and appointing now-Deputy Chief Emada Tingirides to lead it. 

ALPERN AT LARGE--In a year with an impeachment, a pandemic, civil unrest involving the police and minority rights, and a bitterly divisive election season, it isn't hard to conclude there will be fighting.  

GREG PALAST TALKS--Greg Palast does not mince words about the 2020 elections. Only the voter fraud he warns about is not by the voters, as President Trump insists.

ONE MAN’S OPINION--The GOP and the DEM Are United in One Goal – the Destruction of the Republic.

ELECTORAL SATIRE- Mr. Obama's Speech: Eh, hem. . .Ladies and gentlemen, we are at a crossroads in this country. Do we want a divider or a uniter?

GELFAND’S WORLD--The first three days of the Democratic National Convention are telling us some things about the new generation of leaders, but they are unintentionally showing us how the political world – more and more equivalent to the media world – has evolved. 

EASTSIDER-Recent headlines have been detailing the total meltdown at CalPERS. After some secret discipline of the only voice on the Board who lives up to their fiduciary duty (Margaret Brown), we quickly discovered that Chief Investment Officer Ben Meng was out of control, piling up significant investment losses, which were covered up by the Board and key staff.