LOS ANGELES

INSIDE THE LAUSD BOARD-“Thanks for your participation in yesterday evening’s meeting with Nick Melvoin. For reference, I attached my notes and next steps from our discussion. Please do not share these notes outside of this group.”  -- Jason J. Rudolph, CCSA 

FIRST PERSON-If what we do and what we say can continue to be ignored with impunity, then it is not worth doing.

NEED TO READ--In 2014 Venice, Los Angeles, California, and in Barcelona, Spain, tenants were being evicted, rents were raised, and the apartments turned into Airbanb sites for tourists in both cities.

VIEW FROM HERE-I'm a Bernie guy. I think that Sanders has been, over the past three years, a transcendent political force in American politics.

@THE GUSS REPORT-The last two members of my family to read the print edition of the LA Times, the largest newspaper west of wherever, were born when Calvin Coolidge was POTUS 30 and FDR was POTUS 32.

DEEGAN ON LA-The Supreme Court recently struck down a federal law that had banned commercial sports betting in most states, with the notable exception of Nevada where it has been legal since 1949.

ALPERN AT LARGE--In this day and age of social media and false narratives, the response to the nightmarish and universally-condemned bloodbaths in El Paso, Gilroy, and Dayton are almost as predictable as they are unhelpful ... including the reality that social media and false narratives are as much to blame as anything for these unspeakable acts of barbarism. 

MY TURN--There are some things we should not have to discuss with our kids. Ever.

BCK FILE—Murder Math:

251 mass shootings in 219 days. 

33,028 total shooting incidents as of Sunday, August 4

GELFAND’S WORLD--If you look at the mass shooting totals since 1982 in Mother Jones (click on the link for the downloadable file) you will find that the total of dead and wounded has now surpassed the death toll from the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Admittedly the death total (more than 900) is lower, but when you add the number of wounded (more than 2200) the total surpasses the 3000 mark. 

OTHER WORDS-The Trump administration has proposed a rule that will cut an estimated 3 million eligible people off food stamps while depriving half a million eligible children of school lunch.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-If the Dems want to retake the Presidency, they need to impeach Nancy Pelosi.

GUEST WORDS--As I stepped inside the Cannon House Office Building on a Tuesday in July, I felt like I was taking a step towards a more just world.

ALPERN AT LARGE--Believe it or not, those "activists" who have all sorts of time on their hands to attend meetings and scream at lawmakers under pressure to, you know, make and enforce the laws that allow us to be civilized, do NOT have more rights than the rest of us. 

RANTZ & RAVEZ-I have often written about the homeless population and their anti-social lifestyle.

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-The climate crisis has arrived in California, and it is a preview of worse things to come.

JUST SAYIN’--The most ridiculous thing about Donald Trump’s xenophobic, demagogic assault on Central American amnesty seekers is that his frantic demand to build a $5-billion-dollar border wall isn’t his most ridiculous ploy. 

NEW GEOGRAPHY-The United States is a great country dominated by small minds.

EASTSIDER-Not too long ago, in June, Eric Garcetti proudly announced that he took “full responsibility” for LA’s homeless. You can read the lovely rhetoric here. 

GELFAND’S WORLD--The main importance of the latest Democratic presidential candidate debate was that it happened at all, thereby providing close to 6 hours of uninterrupted liberal messaging.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-The FBI had the audacity to raid the City Attorney’s office because the attorney who represented the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit against the LADWP worked for the City Attorney. What’s wrong with the FBI? Don’t they know how LA works?