LOS ANGELES

GELFAND’S  WORLD-This column is specifically addressed to neighborhood council participants, but it is also a message to any Los Angeles resident who cares about personal freedom and freedom of the press. 

ELECTION POLITICS--America owes its Black citizens so much. During a pandemic that has killed Black people at disproportionate rates, we still managed to save our democracy by getting out the vote in what may have been the most contentious presidential election in modern history. 

GUEST WORDS—(This is the second, and last, part of this perspective on whether America can ever unite again.)  While there were over 73 million votes cast for President Trump there were also over 79 million votes for Joe Biden.

EASTSIDER-At the November LANCC meeting, a number of interesting things came out as General Manager Beltran took questions

LEANING RIGHT-Many of the controversies, hype and debates (some spot-on, and some way over the top) surrounding the governance of our nation and world--and our state revolves around the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

PLANNING WATCH-If you forgot that history repeats itself, first as tragedy and the second time as farce, you only need to look at City Hall’s repeated efforts to update the Hollywood Community Plan.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING--In late September, six months into a global pandemic that had devastated his city, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti prayed.

MY TURN--If we truly wanted to deal with Covid-19 in an effective manner, designed to minimize and ultimately stop its continuing -yet avoidable- murderous effects on our species, we would have to look at all the historical and scientific  factors.

VIEW FROM HERE--The Forward, a Jewish newspaper in NYC since 1897, published its November 17, 2020 article, Does Eric Garcetti Deserve a Biden Administration Job?

GUEST COMMENTARY--For two years now we have had a front row seat to a feud between the LA County Board of Supervisors and Sheriff Alex Villanueva over his alleged transparency and accountability.

GELFAND’S WORLD--President Elect Joe Biden asked for national healing even as he claimed victory as the newly elected president.

GUEST WORDS--I continue to believe that Donald Trump won the 2020 Presidential election. I also think that the vast majority of the 73 million Americans who voted for him believe the same thing.

EXPOSED--In a complaint filed Monday at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office, we presented evidence that in violation of the California Brown Act and other potential laws,

@THE GUSS REPORT-The New York Times’ list of candidates for President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet excludes LA Mayor Eric Garcetti from the shortlist for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development given his worst in the nation homelessness with people living under and along freeways and their exit ramps, in vehicles, on sidewalks and in gutters from Boyle Heights to Venice Beach. 

LEANING RIGHT--Four years ago, we saw the spectacle of so-called "elite" college students so distraught by Donald Trump's presidential victory over Hillary Clinton that puppies and cry-ins were brought in to comfort these young "adults", as reported by the Daily Beast.

PERSPECTIVE--Donald Trump taught America a great lesson. He showed that this nation has a huge number of racist, sexist, jingoist, gay-hating, Muslim-hating, Hispanic-hating bigots – those Hillary Clinton called a “basket of deplorables.”

VIEW FROM HERE--People tend to believe what they want to believe and few people want to believe facts which upset them.

GELFAND’S WORLD--The year 2020 certainly has given new meaning to the term "going viral."

PLANNING WATCH-My favorite punching bag, the Los Angeles Times (LAT) and its invariably inept stories about planning and zoning issues in Los Angeles, recently told its readers that LA’s City Hall has “A New approach to the homeless.”

EASTSIDER-It is no longer unusual to see the fifteen fiefdoms called City Council Districts magically vote 15-0 on virtually everything.

AMERICAN PROTEST-Despite pre-election plywood covering store fronts in cities across the United States, it was total fearmongering that far right militias, Black Lives Matter, or Antifa would initiate street violence during or after the November 3 presidential election.