LA WATCHDOG - A recent poll indicates that the September 14 special election to recall Governor Gavin Newsom is essentially a tossup, with 50% of likely voters opposed to the recall while 47% are supportive.
GELFAND’S WORLD - It was one of those half-hours when strangers are thrown together and begin to chat. After all the standard, polite commiseration about how complicated life had become, one fellow said, "I'm young and healthy. Do I really need to get vaccinated? Who will tell us the truth?" A woman in the same area seconded the "young and healthy" line with a similar level of skepticism about the vaccine.
COVID WATCH - The next time someone tries to tell you that implementing restrictive COVID-19 policies affecting the public is nearly impossible, point them to San Francisco. Or New York City. Or the State of California. Or even Pasadena,
PLANNING WATCH-The Atlantic magazine, a consistent source of thoughtful American opinion since 1857, has added its voice to the chorus praising trickle-down housing policies through Conor Friedersdorf’s essay: The California Dream is Dying.
RIGHTS OF THE UNHOUSED-Organizations from across Los Angeles (including U.T.A.C.H, LACAN, LATU, Unión de Vecinos, Reclaiming our Homes, and members of the SNS coalition) gathered at City Hall on Wednesday to protest the City Council’s second hearing of Councilmember Mark Ridley Thomas’s alternate motion that bans sitting, lying down, and sleeping on large swaths of LA sidewalks, leaving the unhoused to ask the question, “Where will we go?”
EASTSIDER - When you think about it, the reality is that homelessness has only been an inconvenience for most Angelenos since they have been under the radar except when our politicians wanted to pass taxes to “help them.” Then came Echo Park Lake and most recently, Venice Beach.
COMMENTARY - My view from the ground as a Southern California community organizer is aligned with the latest poll released by Berkeley.
RANTZ & RAVEZ-I have been writing RantZ & RaveZ for a number of years. My observations and comments reflect over 70 years of residency in the City of Los Angeles and neighboring communities.
COMMENTARY - Remember when the right-wing was all about supporting cops and maybe even a little police brutality?
Without racism running deep in their DNA, Trump's supporters would not have listened to a raving maniac president encouraging violence in order to remain in power.
BRAINPOWER DUMBING - The near hysteria, though justifiable, among conservatives concerning the imposition of racialist Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools fails to address how this theology both reflects and contributes to the “systemic” decline of education itself.
RACIAL RECKONINGS - Republican efforts to ban the teaching of the history of racism in public schools picked up steam when the corporate "bill mill" the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) hosted a workshop on December 3, 2020 called "Against Critical Theory's Onslaught."
MISINFORMATION INFECTION — The article that appeared online on Feb. 9 began with a seemingly innocuous question about the legal definition of vaccines.
LGBTQ NATION - Ed Buck, the gay white millionaire on trial for the deaths of two Black men, has been found guilty on all nine felony counts.
THE CITY-Margaret Sullivan (photo above) writing in the Washington Post (Bezos) recommended more coverage of democracy, less politics.
COMMENTARY - As a ROTC cadet and an Air Force officer, I was a tiny part of America’s vast Department of Defense (DoD) for 24 years until I retired and returned to civilian life as a history professor.
CLIMATE WATCH - Apocalypse is complete destruction of the world as described in some detail in the biblical book of Revelation.
LABOR VIEW - Amazon founder and Richest Man in the World Jeff Bezos got shot into space on his very own rocket on July 20, two weeks after retiring and handing off the company to a successor, Andy Jassy, who previously ran Amazon web services.
DATA POWERFUL - Amazon continues its relentless crusade to monopolize markets, crush rivals, and extract as much data as possible from unsuspecting consumers and third-party merchants.
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Frankly, This Is America. It Shouldn't Be, But I Guess That's the Way Things Are
- Details
- Written by Abby Zimet
SAY WHAT? - Whew. On the scorching first day of the Congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 MAGA insurrection, four Capitol cops - for once in this nation's history the good guys, each more eloquent, honorable and traumatized than the last - offered consistently harrowing, often tearful testimony that outed once and for all the GOP's despicable gaslighting about that day's carnage. The ruthless rebuttals by Sgt. Aquilino Gonell and Pfc. Harry Dunn of the Capitol Police and Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges of the D.C. Police Department, all in their dress blues, repeatedly exposed what Fanone called "the worst that America has to offer," from MAGA goons screaming "Fucking nigger!" at Dunn to the evil "hit-man " who sent them. Backing up their horrific accounts was video so devastating many lawmakers could barely watch; much of it came from the officers' own truth-telling body-cams that, in a twist of history, police departments had long opposed. Though the four cops each told different stories, they shared vital common threads. All four used the same terms: insurrectionists, terrorists, mob, MAGA. All four thought they and their colleagues were going to die. All four remain scarred, physically and mentally: Said Gonell, "That day continues to be a constant trauma for us." And all four knew who was to blame. "All of them - all of them were saying Trump sent us," said Gonell. "Nobody else - there was nobody else. It was not Antifa, it was not Black Lives Matter, it was not the FBI. It was his supporters that he sent over to the Capitol that day."
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NEIGHBORHOOD POLITICS-While earthquakes and wildfires may provide more dramatic images for television coverage, our world has been dominated by an emergency of a different kind for the past year.
NEIGHBORHOOD POLITICS-In a year when there has been a lot of uproar over State Legislative overreach into local planning, planning and land use corruption scandals to the very top echelon of Los Angeles City Officials,
POT REGULATION-I’ve worked in marijuana policy reform for nearly 30 years. Throughout my career, opponents of legalization have alleged that “today’s” pot is far more potent — and therefore more dangerous — than the cannabis of prior generations.
420 FILE—As President Joe Biden takes the reins of the federal government, the transition is impacting pending rules and policies from the former Trump administration—including those concerning hemp and CBD.
420 FILE-Over the holiday season, I had a chance to reconnect with an old friend and reflect on all the stuff I learned in high school and college regarding weed.
CLIMATE POLITICS-Like many, the pandemic gave me an opportunity to self-reflect on my life and my role in the world.
GREEN ENERGY-Reuters reports that President Biden intends to slash tax subsidies for fossil fuels like coal and petroleum and to use taxes instead to encourage renewable energy.
CLIMATE POLITICS--Is it possible that the country is truly rebuilding itself . . . from the soul up?
MENTAL HEALTH - For decades, they were told to shake it off or toughen up — to set aside the doubt, or the demons, and focus on the task at hand: winning. Dominating. Getting it done.
STRESSED TO KILL--Everyone has had at least one stressful day in their lives. It’s important to deal with it instead of letting it bottle up.
HAPPY HOURS-An evening routine that works for your schedule and your personal needs is vital for getting the recommended amount of sleep every night.
