LOS ANGELES

PERSPECTIVE-It is clear now that Biden will be the Democratic nominee for president in 2020 barring unforeseen circumstances.

VIRUS CRISIS--As Americans do everything they can to stay safe and limit their exposure to COVID-19, we are seeing more clearly the great divides in our society.

ALPERN AT LARGE--It's normal to find the need to blame someone, or some entity, for a given crisis. It's also normal to misplace the blame and lose focus as to how to respond to a crisis or prevent a future crisis by that lack of focus. 

EASTSIDER-Both political parties have been running the other way over the issue of healthcare for all, whatever flavor you choose to talk about.

OTHER WORDS-Western medicine is predicated on the “germ theory of disease.” That’s what it sounds like: the theory that germs like bacteria and viruses cause disease. 

ONE MAN’S OPINION-If the moron in the White House can insist on calling it the Chinese flu, we can call it the Trump Pandemic, which is far more accurate for Americans. 

CLIMATE POLITICS-A recent landmark study of massive ice loss in Antarctica and Greenland fulfills the “worst case” prognosis, as outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

GELFAND’S WORLD--Interesting times indeed. I’d like to start with a modest editorial in support of all the crazy things that our state and local government are doing.

VIRUS STATUS (WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW) --Mayor Garcetti announced via Facebook Live on Sunday that he would be issuing an executive order to close Los Angeles entertainment venues, bars, movie theaters, nightclubs, and gyms through March 31.

DEEGAN ON LA-It seems so retro: the mix of an elected politico, booze, hookers, and envelopes of cash, but the Feds have jolted the city into the reality that dirty politicos are not an extinct species.

ALPERN AT LARGE--Despite my best hopes for our nation avoiding a panic, as evidenced at our grocery stores, it appears that as individuals Americans are panicking as much as Wall Street.  

@THE GUSS REPORT-Has Prince Eric, his Royal Garcettiness of LA, abandoned his Mayoral throne?

ONE MAN’S OPINION--Because the self-proclaimed “stable genius” is a “fucking moron,” it is easy to overlook the actual origin of the current crisis. 

VOICES-As many of us know, the conflict with Iran has been rapidly escalating.

WORLD WATCH-It is said where are two Jews, there are three opinions. And in the state of Israel, there is yet another version: where there are five Jews, there are nine political parties.

GELFAND’S WORLD--I won’t be the first to compare the President’s Wednesday night speech with the zombie apocalypse.

@TheGussReport – My original title for this column was going to be “LAPD Distances Itself from Indicted Mitch Englander…..But Not Entirely.”  But then I had an epiphany, though you’ll have to wait until the end of this column to find out what it is.  

GUEST WORDS-You often compare our economy to those of other countries, proud to say that California boasts the fifth largest in the world.

PLANNING WATCH-If you work as a city planner in Los Angeles, you quickly learn to roll with the punches, typically when visitors ask you, “What’s it like to work in an unplanned city?”

EASTSIDER-Back in late January, CityWatch colleague Jack Humphreville posted an article on the proposal for a DWP Inspector General, which you can find here.  

RANTZ & RAVEZ- “We can and must do something to address homelessness.” -- LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas