LOS ANGELES

CAL MATTERS - The COVID-19 pandemic has wrought what appear to be permanent social and economic changes and nowhere is that more evident than in California.

A CAL EDUCATION - Californians rightly pride themselves in leading the nation in numerous areas from stewardship of the environment, to embracing the many virtues of diversity and multiculturalism, to the media and technology magic being created in sectors sprawling from San Diego to and San Francisco.

THE DOCTOR IS IN - I have been following the career of Sebastian Ridley-Thomas from a distance ever since he was promoted to the 54th Assembly District in 2013 at the tender age of 27...

THE VIEW FROM HERE - Angelenos do not have to accept the deterioration of Los Angeles into a corrupt oligarchy where the wealth flows to the top and the homeless with their feces and trash flow into the streets. 

HOUSING POLITICS--"iBuyers" are gearing up to grow massively in the coming years, with unforeseen consequences for the U.S. housing market. 

PLANNING WATCH - The ranks of the climate change deniers are thinning. 

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA - A snarky reader, annoyed at some praise of California’s governor in this space, recently asked: Where exactly do I keep my shrine to Gavin Newsom?

THE VIEW FROM HERE - The reason that the Trump’s habitual lying gets so much mileage is the same reason that the Dem’s lies get so much mileage. 

PANDEMIC NATION - When directors at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research first studied the results of the center’s 2020 health survey in California, they weren’t shocked.

ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER - Thirty-two years ago, in a triumph of ecological restoration, ocean water rushed into a small, newly restored marsh along the heavily developed coast of Huntington Beach.

THE VIEW FROM HERE - Before 1430 CE, China had constructed the world’s greatest seafaring fleet with a reported 3,500 ships. Today’s US Navy has less than 500 ships. 

COMMENTARY-Politics has gotten everyone mad. From the left to the right, to those annoyed by the noise outside, it’s clear that voices are getting louder but not necessarily more productive.

VAXX & MASKS - On August 12^th. LA Times article written by Kevin Rector notes that LAPD Chief of Police Moore told members of the Los Angeles Police Commission that“all Los Angeles Police officers are mandated to wear a face masks...

NURSING CARE - At an emotional legislative hearing Tuesday, lawmakers and critics subjected the Newsom administration to blistering questions about the state’s oversight of nursing homes.

RantZ & RaveZ - Los Angeles, California. The Land of FREE Housing, FREE Food, FREE Public Transportation, FREE Education and the ability to walk into most stores and take whatever you want and not pay for it...

SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATION - While newly revealed Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen appeared before a U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday morning, longtime critics of the social media behemoth elevated calls for legislative and regulatory action to break up Big Tech, outlaw tech giants' surveillance capitalist business model, and fight for a digital environment that respects rights and benefits democracy.

ENVIRONMENT - A little more than a year before an underwater pipeline leaked 144,480 gallons of crude oil, tarring Southern California beaches and killing fish and wildlife, the city of Long Beach signed a lease with Houston-based Amplify Energy that could extend the pipeline’s life through 2040, according to government records.

PLANNING WATCH-In recent decades LA’s economy has been in the doldrums. According to Zocalo Public Square commentator Joe Mathews: 

THE DOCTOR IS IN - Yes, you and I get these e-mails and public statements from Mike Bonin and his cronies--er, allies--about how those "right wingers" are trying to get him just like they tried to get Gavin Newsom. 

THE VIEW FROM HERE - City of Los Angeles councilmembers are as financially dependent upon never-ending construction as Afghan war lords are on the opium production.

TOXIC LAW SUIT - Sued last year by the state for its role as an owner and operator during the 1970s of a notoriously dirty lead-acid battery recycling facility in Vernon, east of Los Angeles, NL Industries has filed a counterclaim arguing that property owners and other parties, including businesses, are to blame for area lead levels that have triggered one of the largest toxic cleanups in the state’s history.