LOS ANGELES

@THE GUSS REPORT-Social media is overflowing with videos from "The Drip Crib," where hundreds of young adults attended a jam-packed party believed to have been held on New Year's Eve in Encino and elsewhere across Los Angeles.

VOICES--The specter of 4’-11” Greta Thunberg (the alarmist environmental activist) casts a giant shadow in City Hall.

LEANING RIGHT--No, King Gavin, it's NOT about you. 

HOUSING THE HOMELESS-Bringing supportive housing stability to the homeless with special needs in times of COVID-19 is remarkable.

WORLD WATCH--On December 21, the United States Congress passed the COVID-19 Relief Package, as part of a larger $2.3 trillion bill meant to cover spending for the rest of the fiscal year. As usual, US representatives allocated a massive sum of money for Israel.

VIEW FROM HERE--The vast corruption which is destroying Los Angeles derives from the same ethos that supports Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, and the hordes of others such as Qanon, who thrive upon lies, deceptions and frauds. 

NEIGHBORHOOD POLITICS-As a former Neighborhood Council Board member, I think a great deal about our local government and how the actions of the various elected officials who represent me impact our lives. 

VACCINE POLITICS-If the Trump administration's coronavirus vaccine distribution effort continues at its current sluggish pace, it would take nearly a decade for the United States to inoculate an adequate number of Americans to rein in the deadly pandemic.

PLANNING WATCH:  The many shortcomings of City government in Los Angeles include the inability of City Hall officials to make their cover stories for top-down gentrification programs stick. 

GELFAND’S WORLD--Sometime in 2021, we will be able to walk inside a restaurant, sit down at a table, and order a glass of wine and dinner.

@THE GUSS REPORT-The end of 2020 is finally here, and aside from investors in Amazon, Tesla and Zoom, few came out significantly ahead. 

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA-Thank you, Texas, for taking Elon Musk off of California’s hands.

CLIMATE POLITICS--Global warming is the biggest challenge of all time.

FIRST PERSON-I grew up undocumented in America. As a kid, I often saw little hope for the future in the country I considered home.

LEANING RIGHT-It's been a very long year, and one can only presume that things will be better in 2021...

NEW GEOGRAPHY-In the minds of most progressives, as well as some horrified conservatives, California is the harbinger of America’s future.

VIEW FROM HERE--At this stage in Trump’s post-election psychological decompensation, it is hard to gauge whether the madman, who is a narcissistic Histrionic with fits of paranoia, intended the consequences of his call for $2,000.00 to each adult. 

BUSINESS-While these times may be unprecedented, many entrepreneurs in LA will be considering or in the process of starting their own business.

AT LENGTH-I’ve simply had enough of the false patriot, neo-Nazi, Proud Boy militias, their enablers and fellow travelers misusing the American flag.

GELFAND’S WORLD--In this series of year ending reviews, we've hardly veered from the twin themes -- intertwined as they are -- of Donald J Trump and the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are three more related issues that are joined at the deep level. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-Whatever they're spiking the community punch bowl with at the El Segundo Times commissary, its after-effects sound blissful.