LOS ANGELES

CLIMATE POLITICS-Michael Shermer’s “Giving the Devil His Due” (Cambridge University Press, 2020) (Subtitle: “Reflections of a Scientific Humanist”) is a very special book written for people who actually spend time “thinking.”

VIEW FROM HERE-I am a Celtics fan. But damn he was good. He could create space better than any player of his era.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-Dems do not want to admit that Nancy Pelosi’s personal ambitions make her opposed to Trump being removed from office. Her political power rests on the Dems needing her blessings (spell that M-O-N-E-Y) to run for the House. Pelosi’s fundraising rests on Trump’s atrocious behavior. 

PLANNING WATCH: Our regional transit agency, METRO, has finally realized that years of declining transit ridership require an answer. 

BCK FILE--Kobe Bryant transcended what Aldous Huxley characterized as “nineteen suburbs in search of a metropolis.” He was a legend, an American hero, in Los Angeles and beyond.  

AFFORDABLE HOUSING POLITICS--Corporate landlords are financing two campaigns to stop the Rental Affordability Act, the November 2020 ballot measure that expands rent control in California.

ALPERN AT LARGE--Amidst all the craziness of the world, there's still one big issue in our lives that stands out: the cost of health and survival.

DEEGAN ON LA-The Dodgers have regained their reputation as winners, despite that reputation having been shredded in two recent World Series.

@THE GUSS REPORT-For generations, the LAPD has been exposed as corrupt, dishonest and abusive. Its widely adopted motto, "To Protect and to Serve," is largely just a slogan rather than a promise kept. 

CLIMATE POLITICS--Thwaites, in West Antarctica, is the world’s most dangerous glacier. As of January 15^th, scientists have labeled it: “A Climate Time Bomb.” 

GELFAND’S WORLD--Sunday night, January 26, 2020, was one of those Only In LA things that are hard to describe but worth mentioning for the historical record. In this case, it was a significant work of art that had never been experienced before. 

NEW GEOGRPHY-Not long ago, in our very same galaxy, the high-tech elite seemed somewhat like the Jedis of the modern era. Sure, they were making gobs of money, but they were also “changing the world” for the better. 

ONE MAN’S OPINION-After the rule of law has been killed, a society will live under the delusion that its decisions and actions are done under the rule of law.

AT LENGTH-“The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”      —U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 4 

HOUSING POLITICS--It’s only January, and Big Real Estate is already shelling out major cash to stop California’s rent control movement.

GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE--To borrow a phrase from the late Laura Nyro, Colleen Boland has a lot of patience, and that’s a lot of patience to lose.

ALPERN AT LARGE--Some of us fight for more affordable housing, and some of us choose to instead lie their tails off and use the venerable goal of affordable/middle-class housing as a way to empower creepy liars to build non-affordable housing and make a whole lotta cash to make higher-end and more expensive housing instead. 

AFFORDABLE HOUSING CATASTROPHE--While much focus regarding our housing crisis has been on issues like San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener's disastrous SB 50, falsely promising affordable housing when it’s really a vehicle to boost developer profits through the building of luxury units, the slow pace of providing housing for the homeless, the inadequate enforcing of the city’s Airbnb ordinance and new state rent gouging law, the lack of legislative movement to repeal Costa Hawkins and the explosion of “cash for keys” tenant buyouts to get them to move, one thing has been constant. 

EASTSIDER-Back in the days of the Vietnam War and the Watts Riots, Martin Luther King Jr. was characterized by a lot of folks as “way too accommodating” and establishment.

OTHER WORDS-With Greta Gerwig’s new take on Louisa May Alcott’s classic 19th century novel, “Little Women,” in theaters, I decided to reread the book. 

AT LENGTH--The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Jan 14, unanimously approved a plan proposed by Supervisor Janice Hahn to use a vacant County building in San Pedro as an emergency homeless shelter for three years.