LOS ANGELES

DEEGAN ON LA-You know the feeling-- that things just aren’t like they used to be, whether it’s housing, zoning, civility or politics, but you may not appreciate the dynamic that is interfering so successfully with a change in the status quo.

GELFAND’S WORLD--Yes We (Still) Canis a recent book that has much to teach us about what it will take to win back the presidency in 2020.

WORLD WATCH--The nearly three months of demonstrations by Palestinians along the Israel-Gaza border under the banner of the “March of Return”, which turned violent and has remained as such as of this writing.

ALPERN AT LARGE--It's easy to lionize or demonize the YIMBY's, as either pure-hearted volunteers or paid mercenaries by disgusting and greedy developers and wealthy landowners.

EASTSIDER-I’ve been watching all the news channels like the political junkie that I am, and even with the headache this caused, it suddenly occurred to me that they really are to blame for a lot of our current political mess. 

BELL VIEW--So I took a little break for the Summer, but can any of us really get a break these days?

AFFORDABLE NO MORE-In cities like San Francisco, where housing crises rage, a new movement of rich and upper-middle class liberals has arisen

BACK TALK--Eric Brooks has authored a diatribe about a “mind blowing” western power grid conspiracy so riddled with fallacies that it is in itself mind-blowing.

CORRUPTION WATCH-Way back in the 1960s when I was toying with the idea of becoming a screenwriter, a friend said that I could widen my experience by driving a cab.

THE GENTRIFIERS--The Miami-based developer that owns Wyvernwood Apartments has secured a $155 million loan to refinance the 1,175-unit complex it plans to raze and rebuild in Boyle Heights. 

CAL BUZZ--Democratic State Sen. Kevin de León, 51, has one argument in his race to unseat U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 85: she’s too old.

PLATKIN ON PLANNING- Mayor Quimby shows us how City Hall collusion works.

GELFAND’S WORLD--The city of Los Angeles has created a strange appendage to its governmental system referred to as the commissions.

GUEST COMMENTARY-A recent headline told us,“Starbucks Gets Rid of Plastic Straws.” SO WHAT? 

GUEST WORDS--Talk about a tale of two people.

VIEW FROM HERE--It’s so crazy that you could mistake it for a fictional Hollywood disaster movie script titled “Firenado!”

CORRUPTION WATCH-The problem with “Integrity” is that it lacks a true antonym.

BCK FILE--If we’ve learned a thing or two about Donald Trump, we know his perception of loyalty lies along the spectrum of fawning fealty.

HEARTLESS EVICTIONS-Billionaire and former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling has found himself front and center in a controversy over his eviction of veterans and low-income families who are receiving government subsidies and vouchers. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-Truth and page count are as thin at the LA Timesthese days as the broth at the local soup kitchen.

NEW GEOGRAPHY--“If my thought dreams could be seen …They’d probably put my head in a guillotine” — Bob Dylan, “It’s All Right Ma”, 1965