‘WE HAVE SEEN THE ENEMY’--Freedom (to lie) isn’t free. For the campaign to re-elect Donald Trump it costs $1.5 million a week. And that’s just last week’s tab. 

SCOTUS POLITICS-In recent years the legitimacy of the Supreme Court has come under question as Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and Senate Republicans have bent the nomination process for their own political gain.

WHEN ENOUGH IS ENOUGH--Mazel Tov! We made it to Trump’s 1,000th year day!

HOUSING JUSTICE-This past weekend, inside the Morningside High School gymnasium in Inglewood, hundreds of housing activists and renters, of all ages and colors, sat together in the bleachers and talked solutions.

PLANNING WATCH-When even the Los Angeles Times questions Eric Garcetti ‘s high profile international role on climate change, you know that there is a mystery afoot.

EASTSIDER-In a less rowdy but still very well attended GPNC meeting, it became increasingly clear that the City’s (and County Public Health) proposed rules regarding street vending are simply not ready for prime time.  

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA-Bring back Topgun! By that, I do not mean Top Gun, the cliché-ridden, late-Cold War Tom Cruise film about speed-crazy Naval fighter pilots that still defines San Diego in the public imagination.

ALPERN AT LARGE--For those of us who remember the Cold War, the influence of Western civilization was supposed to crack the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall with the messages of freedom of speech and religion, capitalism, entrepreneurism, and the plight of the ordinary man or woman.

FOREIGN POLICY OFF THE CUFF--Turkey’s Syrian venture is rapidly turning sour from President Erdogan’s point of view.

OTHER WORDS-Mattel executives say they’re worried about girls developing “self-limiting beliefs,” resulting in a “dream gap” with boys. 

CLIMATE POLITICS-Extinction Rebellion, XR, established on October 31, 2018, has become a powerful force across the globe, almost overnight.

LGBTQ JUSTICE-As a newly out lesbian, I couldn’t help but watch the recent Supreme Court hearings on employment rights for LGBTQ people, and a recent Democratic presidential candidate town hall on LTBTQ issues, and think: “I’m sorry, what?” 

THE REAL LA HOUSING CRISIS-It can be stressful being a tenant in LA these days. Don't take my word for it. Just ask the people living at 1719 Whitley in Hollywood (photo above).

MY TURN-I support Elizabeth Warren and most of the ideas of the other Democratic Party candidates, but I'm saddened that in the most recent televised debate, Warren and the others continued to allow the conversation on Single Payer Healthcare to be framed by false information.

DEMOCRACY NOW-We speak with investigative reporter Aaron Glantz about his new book “Homewreckers.”