LOS ANGELES

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? 

AT LENGTH-I’m not sure if any, except Harry Bridges, was ready for the battle over automation to arrive this soon. But it is here now, and Harry isn’t. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-One of the more amusing things to happen as I write columns on Los Angeles’ political corruption was when Ana Guerrero, the chief of staff to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, started telling people, “nobody reads Dan’s column.” 

ALPERN AT LARGE--Last night I was part of a sad chapter in Westside history. I was one of the last few people to be served at Lenny's. The last group, actually--we closed down the place. 

BCK FILE--Cinematic auteurs at times use their vision to pay homage to a city. Certainly, the City of Angels, in large part due to its status as the Hollywood hometown, has played a starring role in numerous films. Last year, David Fear, Stephen Garrett, Tim Lowery, Joshua Rothkopf, and Keith Uhlich shared an expansive list of 57 films that the critics considered the “Best Los Angeles movies of all time.” 

DEEGAN ON LA-“Seventy-seven and sunny” is a good description of our typical Los Angeles Mediterranean-type climate, where we don’t really experience the elements of rain, snow, winds, thunderstorms and other atmospheric disturbances like most of the world.

CLIMATE POLITICS--“The University of Alaska Fairbanks (“UAF”) is a hub for Arctic climate research, and a magnet for top scientists and international collaborations--- and it’s in trouble.” (Source: Sabrina Shankman, A Death Spiral for Research: Arctic Scientists Worried as Alaska Universities Face 40% Funding Cut, Inside Climate News, July 19, 2019) 

GUEST COMMENTARY--Imagine being torn away from your mother’s arms. Torn away from the shelter of your family, Not knowing what’s going to happen to them or you.

Los Angeles is a land of contrasts. Jaw-dropping natural beauty and biodiversity surround some of the country’s worst traffic and air pollution. Tech moguls and actors live in gated mansions, just steps from homeless peoples’ encampments. 

ONE MAN’S OPINION-The labels we place on things and people influence how we react to them.

DRUG PRICE CRISIS-While Donald Trump fans the embers of xenophobia in our country by demonizing caravans of desperate Central Americans headed north, there are other northern-bound caravans he doesn’t mention. 

CLIMATE POLITICS--Organizers of upcoming global climate strikes hope their demands for a rapid end to business as usual and a swift start to climate justice will be too loud to ignore. 

CLIMATE POLITICS-During the June Democratic primary debates, the candidates spent 15 of their 240 total minutes on climate change. Notable questions from the moderators included: "Does your plan save Miami?”, "How do we pay for climate mitigation?”, and "Can oil and gas companies be real partners in this fight?" 

VIEW FROM HERE-President Trump is not dividing the nation with his xenophobic and racist tweets and policies. The nation has always been divided.

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-Lots of explanations in my mid-city Beverly Grove neighborhood for so many LADWP power outages, but most of them overlook the obvious. 

GUEST COMMENTARY--This past week we watched the FBI raid the City's Department of Water and Power headquarters on Monday, carting off many documents. The next day, Mayor Eric Garcetti abruptly removed the former General Manager from the building (after the former GM finished being deposed in a contentious City lawsuit). 

CAPITAL & MAIN REPORT-The shortage of affordable housing in urban California is by now well known, and high-profile bills to deal with the crisis have repeatedly been shot down in Sacramento this year.