LOS ANGELES

DEEGAN ON LA-The heavens may have been filled with cinematic stars, as Wilshire Boulevard Temple congregant and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer mogul Louis B. Mayer (who also donated the temple’s east and west stained-glass windows) famously declared in his statement describing MGM as “having more stars than there are in the heavens.” 

CAL BUZZ--Nearly a decade ago, we offered some suggestions to the GOP to help it become relevant again. They have rigorously ignored us and now, after watching the Blue Tsunami in California, just might listen. So, we’re re-posting our piece from 2010.

GUEST WORDS--God bless the Finns. They've been there for us after the Idiot-In-Chief visited a ravaged California - the  death count is now 76, with 1,300 feared dead - stood awkwardly in the rubble of what was once Paradise, which he called "Pleasure," and spewed gibberish. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-LA City Hall was abuzz last week about City Council president Herb Wesson stripping his best friend, LA’s lecherous lawmaker, Jose Huizar of his committee positions, including his Chair of the powerful Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) committee just days after the FBI raided Huizar’s City Hall office and home. 

NEW GEOGRAPHY--It turns out that tech oligarchs aren’t much better than old dogs at learning new tricks. By splitting his much coveted supposed second headquarters between New York City and greater Washington D.C., Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is repeating what worked for him in Seattle while saying “yes, sir” to power.

BCK FILE-In little over one week, raging firestorms have consumed about 149,000 acres in Northern California and 98,362 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

GELFAND’S WORLD--There's something about the FBI raiding a home and business that strikes a salacious chord.

EASTSIDER--Goodness, according to the City they don’t have to keep records of DONE’s agendas and minutes, so I guess that under the Government Code they aren’t an actual Commission! 

CAL MATTERS-Protecting California from devastating wildfires was the Legislature’s biggest focus in this year’s session.

CORRUPTION WATCH-One problem is that one person’s mentally defective goon like the Rev. Jim Jones is another person’s savior. Another reason is that most people in the public are unable to recognize a mentally ill person unless he is lying in the gutter in his own urine. Yet another reason is that some mentally ill people are very active people. 

RANTZ & RAVEZ-I was going to reflect on the November National Election Results in this edition of RantZ and RaveZ and share my thoughts concerning how the results will impact the future of those of us living in Southern California.

ALPERN AT LARGE--There are many of us who wonder who will protect us from those proclaiming they're protecting us from Trump.

SUSPICIOUS CHANGES-The people at City Hall are masters when it comes to sleight of hand.

GUEST WORDS--After fuming at rainy France and coming home to hordes of brown women legislators and that damn lurking Mr. Mueller, the Angry Toddler-In-Chief has reportedly "retreated into a cocoon of bitterness and resentment," spending his unpresidential time sulking, brooding, looking for someone to blame, and spewing batshit conspiracy theories about voter fraud. 

VIEW FROM HERE-At this year’s Atlantic Festival in Washington D.C., Nancy Pelosi answered the Kavanaugh impeachment question in the following way: “that would not be my plan…we are not about impeachment. Democrats are not about dividing the country.” 

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-You may think you live in a community or neighborhood, and you would not be wrong.

NEW GEOGRAPHY--Already anointed by The New Yorker as the “head of the resistance,” Gavin Newsom could well think he’s also king of California politics. He can both sell himself as the model of progressive virtue and also lord of the world’s fifth-largest economy, home to three of the world’s most powerful and influential companies.

FIRST PERSON--Survivors of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have limited legal recourse.

GUEST WORDS--Thousand Oaks: a city torn apart by wildfire and gunfire. Both are unnatural disasters.

SHORT-TERM RENTAL POLITICS--For three years, city officials have been designing an ordinance to address the unregulated home-sharing economy, made popular by sites like Airbnb. Soon, they will vote on it, and if passed, it will go into effect as early as July. 

BCK FILE--As I write this column, the Woolsey and Hill Fires continue to rage in Southern California, cutting a destructive path through Los Angeles and Ventura counties.