LOS ANGELES

GUEST COMMENTARY--Sexual harassment by elected officials in California is all over the news but less visible forms of political immorality are just as prevalent. One example is that of state legislators who sell students, families and vulnerable citizens down the river to boost prison guard compensation.

CORRUPTION WATCH--The great advantage of Lies and Myths is that they dispense with reality which can be so unpleasant.  In the realm of make-belief, where Americans prefer to live, everything they believe is true and there is no need for introspection.  Trying to think can give a brain freeze faster than a Slurpee at 7/11. 

CAL MATTERS--The Capitol awakens from its autumnal hibernation this week with a much-changed institutional ambience.

ALPERN AT LARGE--It's safe to say that 2017 wasn't much less of an emotional roller-coaster than 2016, and perhaps that was by intent.  Americans appear, perhaps more for the better than the worse, focused more on politics and the "soap opera" in D.C. than their previous devotion to "reality T.V.”, and all political forces (along with their media allies/patrons) are milking that focus for ratings and dollars. (Photo above: Assembled dignitaries break ceremonial ground on the 4-mile Purple Line subway extension in front of LA County Museum in the Miracle Mile.) 

PLATKIN ON PLANNING--Several times a year my wife and I bike from the Miracle Mile area to Venice Beach.  Moving through Los Angeles on a bicycle reveals much more that than barely seeing a blurred cityscape from an enclosed, faster-moving car. 

CA LABOR POLITICS-In the waning hours of the legislative session, Democrats pushed through new labor requirements widely viewed as retaliation against Tesla, the electric car maker embroiled in a union-organizing campaign at its Fremont plant. 

EASTSIDER--Watching the Republican establishment surrounding President Trump, falling all over themselves in a sickening fawning fest,  I was reminded of a group of terrified generals doing the same to Idi Amin Dada or Muammar Gaddafi. 

GUEST COMMENTARY--In an article in the LA Times Saturday, it was revealed that the legal adult use of Marijuana is on hold due to the inability of the City to get its act together and license existing Prop D compliant shops. 

STACK AND PACK HOUSING--2017 was a banner year for the top down crowd. California Senate Bill SB35 was especially fruitful in negating local control and zoning requirements. The City of Los Angeles acquiesced like a speculator being offered a hot Internet Coin and added its own legislation to make sure Communities could only opt in. Uncle Joe (Stalin) is smiling somewhere knowing that citizens must endure these new outrages to common sense and civic pride for the sake of collectivist housing that is unnecessary, unaffordable and mostly ugly. 

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS-The California Dream is a myth for many California Indian peoples and tribes. Since settlers arrived, California Indians' reality has largely been one of land dispossession, cultural assimilation, and even genocide.   

BELL VIEW--My grandfather, Larry Fogarty, fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He didn't volunteer -- he had a baby at home -- he was drafted and he did his time. I doubt he ever thought of himself as a patriot, and he never gave any indication that he felt he was part of some special generation of Americans. He just did his job and never talked about it. When he came home, he joined the Chicago Police Force and never exhibited much desire to do anything more than cash his paycheck and watch the ballgame. The War took all the fight out of him and quenched any thirst he may have once had for adventure. 

PERSPECTIVE--Whatever Kim Jong-un does in 2018, it will likely not impact Americans as much as the new tax reform bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That’s not to understate the potential for disorder the Rocket Man might be capable of unleashing, but most experts would agree he has not reached the point where he can blackmail the United States and his neighbors in Asia.

CAL MATTERS COMMENTARY-With 2018 just days away, we pretty much know who will be running for which major California offices next year – except for the intentions of billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, who’s making all the moves, but remains coy about what, if anything, he’ll do. 

BCK FILE--2017 was a Year of Resistance and Los Angeles was certainly among the epicenters. The election of Donald J. Trump, who uses Twitter to fire off missives against anyone who questions his policies or role in Russiagate, has produced an administration and party aimed at destroying all protections, so Angelenos have been gathering in Pershing Square and other locations throughout Southern California to express our opinions.

GELFAND’S WORLD-The end of the year column is something of a CityWatch tradition. I'd like to contribute a few paragraphs on what is to come in 2018 and a few paragraphs summarizing some themes I've tried to develop this year. 

AT LENGTH--I would bet that the vast majority of the readers of Random Lengths News, if not the people in the communities we serve, are shaking their heads wondering, “How in the hell did Congress pass such a convoluted tax bill?” 

CRIME POLITICS--Oscar “Scar” Moriel has testified to murdering five or six people ― he can’t remember exactly.

NEW GEOGRAPHY--Even at this season that should be about spiritual re-awakening, it is hard to deny that we live in an increasingly post-religious civilization.

PLATKIN ON PLANNING:  Since recent newspaper reports broke about the likely sale of CBS studios, located at the intersection of Beverly and Fairfax since 1950, words have been flying fast and furiously about the future of this site. 

RANTZ & RAVEZ--I recently met some friends for coffee at a shopping center in Woodland Hills.  When I arrived, they informed me that a man had approached them and attempted to sell them some drugs including marijuana. 

ALPERN AT LARGE--As with the Affordable Care Act, the GOP-drafted Tax Reform Bill of 2017 will have dramatic economic, political, and potentially cultural changes for all of us.  Presuming that the president will sign this bill, and it will become law, the big question so many of us are asking ourselves is ... will our taxes go up or down?