LOS ANGELES

CLIMATE POLITICS-There’s a problem with America’s favorite statistic: GDP. It avoids pretty much everything that’s actually, truly, really good for society, including the importance of robust ecology. Still, it’s the biggest measure of what’s happening with the economy and used around the world, even though horribly flawed. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-Most telling about local political reporting in the last few weeks of 2019 was when Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti – whose disastrous 19-year tenure on City Council and as Mayor mercifully winds down – assembled LA’s dutiful media to announce (ta-da!) that he is waiving all past-due library fees. 

ATTACKING ANONYMOUS OWNERSHIP-America’s cities are being bought up, bit by bit, by anonymous shell companies using piles of cash.

ALPERN AT LARGE-No one should be blamed for being concerned about killing Qassem Soleimani, the terrorist kingpin who killed had Syrian, Iraqi, Yemeni, Lebanese, and American blood on his hands, because now we're wondering where this will all end up.

VIEW FROM HERE--One of the reasons I stopped identifying as a Christian is that pacifism is too demanding. Personal questions concerning justified warfare, what to do about extremely violent criminals, and protecting two young children, became impossible to rationalize considering Jesus' teachings about absolute nonviolence.

GELFAND’S WORLD--On New Year’s Day, instead of watching the Rose Bowl I watched a sunset. It wasn’t entirely intentional at the time.

Planning Watch:  As detailed by Samuel Stein in The Real Estate State, the world is awash with massive capital investments in urban real estate. 

RANTZ AND RAVEZ—Happy New Year to all … May 2020 bring you Good Health, Happiness and all the Blessings life can offer.

ALPERN AT LARGE--No, we're not ignorant or without understanding of the political compromises and realities of Downtown or other city governments. No, we're not clueless of the imperfect and messy solutions needed to solve intractably-complex problems. But to City Hall, here's a good way to start the New Year: stop the lying! 

DEEGAN ON LA--City Councilmember Paul Koretz (CD-5) told CityWatch, in a New Year’s Eve phone call, that he’s announcing that he will run for City Controller in 2022 when his term as CD-5 Councilmember ends. 

ONE MAN’S OPINION-Just because I would vote for Mayor Pete does not mean I have a detached brain. 

CLIMATE POLITICS-The Amazon rainforest is a crucial life-support ecosystem. Without its wondrous strength and power to generate hydrologic systems across the sky (as far north as Iowa), absorb and store carbon (CO2), and its miraculous life-giving endless supply of oxygen, civilization would cease to exist beyond scattered tribes, here and there. 

VIEW FROM HERE-President Trump routinely touts a strong U.S. economy. Recently, he tweeted, “Stock Markets Up Record Numbers.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS-When I came of age in Flint, Michigan, homeownership was a crucial part of the American dream. 

NEW GEOGRAPHY--By all rights, Donald Trump should be packing his bags and headed to the golf links and his favorite fast food restaurant.

ALPERN AT LARGE--Maybe it's the Christmas/Holiday spirit, and maybe it's the message of kindness promoted in the movie "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" (please see it if you've not yet had the chance) but the need to be kind is in all-too-short-supply...and probably will be even harder to find in the next election year. 

OF THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE-I asked the City Attorney for a bunch of nuisance abatement demand letters, which everybody knows are a major tool of gentrification.

GELFAND’S WORLD--Some trends are slow but build steadily. The September 11 attacks and the resulting legislation extended the government’s role in surveillance over the American people.

ALPERN AT LARGE--It's not hard to conclude that the homelessness crisis is ever worsening--some of its worsening is due to legitimate causes, and some of that worsening is entirely due to either "unforced errors" or active choices that threaten the balance of rights and responsibilities in a civilized society.

PLANNING WATCH--Yup, Santa may be coming to town in 2020, but not as a jolly old elf who knows who’s been nice.  No, it looks like 2020‘s Bad Santa will be State Senator Scott Wiener, and his presents aren’t for kids, but dollars for property owners through his third try at Senate Bill 50, his statewide upzoning bill. 

ONE MAN’S OPINION-The Founding Fathers fashioned a republic based upon thousands of years of Western history where the consent of the people had been ignored.