In the News
Three Undercurrents Threaten the Republic
The Passion for Ignorance
The Right Wing, which used to grouse about the Lame Street media, has embraced Fake News in its most tabloid form where the President of the United States repeatedly declares that the media is the “enemy of the…
Hey America: You Already Have Democratic Socialist Programs, Skip the Hypocrite Fear Mongering
MY TURN-First, I must identify that I am a life-long liberal and Democrat and I don’t identify myself as a “Democratic Socialist.”
Save the Whales: Ride Buses, Trains, and Walk
TRANSIT TALK-The oceans of the world, the water which cools the air, the major source of food for people on earth, is becoming more acidic…
One Lesson from Dem’s Party Chairman Resignation: #MeToo Isn’t Going Away
CAL MATTERS-- The resignation of California Democratic Party chairman Eric Bauman comes at a particularly emotional moment in California po…
Hip Millennials: From Protected Cocoons to Revealed Realities
VOICES--In Erik Erikson’s “Age/Task Development” (Psychosocial Systems) model, certain tasks or jobs and “roles” (parts played in society)…
The “Burning Like Malibu” Metaphor
DEEGAN ON LA-Malibu, already famous, captured attention a couple of weeks ago when it came perilously close to being torched and ruined by…
Confusing Photo Ops with Leadership: A Response to RantZ & RaveZ
VIEW FROM HERE--Surprised and disappointed to read the grossly inaccurate and offensive post from Dennis Zine regarding my involvement and…
Garcetti Desperate to Dodge Whistleblower Deposition
@THE GUSS REPORT-Between Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles Times and this column, only one of us has ever told the truth abo…
To Impeach or Not To Impeach
GELFAND’S WORLD--Although we've survived two years, now is not the time to become complacent.
List of Top California Politicians Sent to Prison and Why
THE CITY--An FBI investigation of powerful LA City Councilmember Jose Huizar is roiling City Hall, his wife Richelle has dropped her bid fo…
If Indicted, Jose Huizar Joins This Long List of California Politicians
DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN?-An FBI investigation of powerful LA City Councilmember Jose Huizar is roiling City Hall, his wife Richelle has drop…
How Would Gandhi have Approached the Border Crisis?
VIEW FROM HERE-In Ramachandra Guha's book, Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World, 1914-1949 (Knopf), he writes, "Activists fighting for…
Local Officials were ‘All Hands on Deck’ – Just One was MIA
RANTZ & RAVEZ-While I strive to express my honest and sincere thoughts on a variety of subjects in my RantZ and RaveZ columns, I sincer…
Neither Rowling Nor Tolkien Were Racists ... In Fact, We Could Learn from Them
ALPERN AT LARGE--Perhaps it could be understood by those of us who watch a movie, instead of reading the books it was based on, that some s…
Perils of Division: America Was Founded on Rejection of Group Rights
CORRUPTION WATCH-The right wingers who proclaim love for the Constitution’s inalienable right of liberty habitually violate its basic premi…
RSO Structures: What Exactly is Affordable Housing?
TENANTS’ RIGHTS-When we talk about the current homeless crisis gripping the city our first response is to say we need more affordable housi…
Study Shows Right Wingers Believe and Share the Most Fake News
MY TURN-A University of Oxford study shows what most of us already knew: conservatives buy into, believe, share, and propagate more false n…
Whiter, Poorer, Trumpier: the New Republican California
CAL MATTERS-The midterm elections whittled away all the purple sections of the state now represented by the GOP, leaving only the bleeding-…
I.F. Stone: “All Governments Lie.”
Platkin on Planning: According to acclaimed investigative journalist, I.F. Stone, all governments lie. Now, looking back on his dogged re…
