LOS ANGELES

NEW GEOGRAPHY--It would be comforting if Nike’s decision to ditch its “Betsy Ross” flag sneakers at the behest of former NFL quarterback and social justice warrior Colin Kaepernick was exceptional, but, sadly, it is not.

ALPERN AT LARGE--This piece is neither "pro-Trump" nor "anti-Trump” and is neither "pro-Democrat" nor "anti-Democrat".

CHARTER WARS-An email thread documenting the unseemly coziness between LA schools superintendent Austin Beutner and the California charter school lobby set off political pyrotechnics late last month when the investigative blog — and indefatigable California public records miner — Michael Kohlhaas dot org published a cache of documents revealing the covert relationship in the midst of last year’s contract stalemate with UTLA. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-My days start in pitch darkness, but rarely are those wee hours of stretching and caffeine the highlight of the day, like last week when I received an overnight message that actor Robert Blake saw my recent column about him and wanted to talk. 

DEEGAN ON LA-Ella Fitzgerald had it right when she belted out “Too Darn Hot,” the song written by Cole Porter for his musical, “Kiss Me, Kate” in 1948.

ESSAY--It’s always the oil. While President Trump was hobnobbing with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Japan, brushing off a recent U.N. report about the prince’s role in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Asia and the Middle East, pleading with foreign leaders to support “Sentinel.”

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMANITIES-America’s tech giants are accused of many sins, including invading our privacy and even degrading our democracy.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-“Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.” -- The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. 

OTHER WORDS-It’s hard to find the nuggets of good news in the media these days. Many people are so burnt out on the Trump news rollercoaster, which goes around the clock, changes frequently, and often shocks and outrages, that the least painful option is to skip the news entirely. 

GUEST COMMENTARY-Theodor Herzl, the father of Zionism and the state of Israel, envisioned the idea of Jewish immigration to Palestine to create a Jewish state.

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-Most kids learn how to connect the dots in pre-school, but this skill has faded away for leading members of LA’s urban growth machine, especially the Los Angeles Times and City Hall officials.

GUEST WORDS--As an Emergency Manager, it always amazes me how people get really riled up immediately after events such as the two big earthquakes we just experienced or the active shooter tragedies we’ve sadly witnesses more and more frequently. 

ALPERN AT LARGE--My experience of seeing grassroots, non-elected individuals empower the rest of us to build projects like the Expo Line has been a first-hand, first-rate experience of recognizing the beauty of our democracy and civilized society. 

VIEW FROM HERE--As much as I am personally sickened by President Trump's handling of the border crisis, historically speaking, his draconian policies are far from unprecedented.

GUEST WORDS--We should never get used to what we are seeing at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Trump administration, facing an enormous challenge as large numbers of families and unaccompanied children from Central America seek to enter the United States (more than 144,000 of them in May of this year alone), has made the problem worse in multiple ways.

EASTSIDER-I’ve written before about the troubling shift from verifiable print media to an ephemeral electronic “news” universe.

GELFAND’S WORLD--Two fascinating experiences over the past month -- and are they connected, I wonder.

URBAN PERSPECTIVE--Trump may win. Though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer would never in a million years publicly say anything like that.

ANIMAL POLITICS-Tens of millions of dogs are brutally tortured and killed every year in the Dog Meat Trade in China, Vietnam, South Korea, Indonesia, and Cambodia. 

ONE MAN’S OPINION-The City of Los Angeles has moved beyond mere corruption: It is a criminogenic city.

VOICES--The ongoing attacks and counterattacks in Israel and Gaza demonstrate their governments’ inability to extricate their people from an awful situation, decades in the making