These are stories I wrote about crime, politics, business, entertainment, and other subjects. They are set in Los Angeles.
Hollywood
AI Wants to Write
“They’re going to try to use AI to replace writers. Will the shows be good? No. Will that stop them? No.”
IATSE’s Lack of Diversity
“The people who get the jobs are the sons and daughters of the people who have the jobs, who tend to be white.”
AMC’s Dirty Secret
“A lot of these guys, they don’t care if you use slave labor.”
‘Sully’ Tax Scam
“He says, ‘Run all the expensive parts through them.’ It was blatantly just, ‘Charge it to Georgia.'”
Crime
The Producers
“You know that you and your boss are going to spend the rest of your lives in a gulag. And I don’t care if I go with you guys.”
The Case of the Bank-Robbing Prostitutes
“When it worked, it ruined everything.”
Torture, Lies and Louis XIII Cognac
“Cut their balls off!”
Politics
The Insider
The typical Angeleno is either a Mexican with a future or an Iowan with a past.
A Ticket to the Circus
“I wear it as a badge of honor that the architect of the destruction of the conservative movement doesn’t like me.”
Carmen the Barbarian
“I’m not a thug.”
The State of the Occupation
“He became an example of the patriarchy, or the police, or the labor unions. He became the scapegoat for everything.”
A Storm at the Port
“Anybody involved in the union is going to get their heads cut off.”
Rick Caruso Takes The Pulse
"We're going to get you involved in that bordello plan.”
("Santa Anita Racetrack, Trip to Los Angeles" by danxoneil is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)
Tech
L.A. Angel
“You can find a high net worth individual to do that — i.e., an idiot.”
Space Nazis! Giant-Ass Spiders! Killer Apps!
“Holy fuck. We’re doomed.”
The Provocateur
“I want to say to entrepreneurs, 'If you knew the meetings I was in, you would be cutting costs right now.'”
Corruption
Let’s Make a Deal
“If you don’t go to this value, I’ll go up to the third floor, and you’ll be taken care of.”
Unusual Suspects
“We thought this was the American dream. I feel like I got tricked.”
The Coliseum’s Last Days
“He can’t work for both sides. Ask him to make up his mind right now.”
Too Much Mr. Nice Guy
“Lee Baca is my sheriff, but I work for Paul Tanaka.”
Sports
Dodger Dog
“I would never count on Frank McCourt to back me up.”
The Fan Who Would Be King
“Are you leaning towards you don’t believe me?”
Who Is Mark Walter?
“Insurance companies are designed to be one of the safest places to put your money. Now you've got a whole different animal.”
Rogues
The Madoff of Beverly Hills
“This is bullshit. I swear to that. I bring the Torah. I put my blood on the line — there is no money.”
The Arbitrator
She grabbed a butcher knife. Lunging at him again, she plunged it into his back.
The Architect
“I understand somebody died. But to say that I was willingly building a trap in my house…”
Tragedies
Michael Hastings’ Dangerous Mind
“War draws fucked-up people to it, and it doesn’t make them get better.”
A Death in Venice
“I respect the police. But we all know they have an issue in Venice. They shot other people. So they wanted to cover their ass.”
Carnival of Lies
“I’ve got to make a movie in a couple of months or I’m going to jail. Can you write a script?’”
Bad Ideas
L.A.’s Light-Rail Fiasco
“Now they're out in the middle of L.A. and they're at the mercy of the utilities. They got no push, no control."
Getting on the List
“You get involved now, and then in a couple years your priority goes up. That is the weirdest concept I ever heard of.”
What Went Wrong at Porter Ranch?
“I don’t need an activist, a lawyer and a con man. What I need is a doctor, a real estate agent and a moving company.”
Quiet Ones
The Money Vanishes
“The small people are the ones who really suffered.”
One Track Mind
“My grandfather got married behind a tree.”
The Mogul of Mobile Homes
“The man’s an insatiable, greedy S.O.B. He should be on TV and have peanuts thrown at him.”
Traumas
Valley Girls
“You know that dark place? Yeah, I feel that now.”
Jerusalem Syndrome
“Oh no. I just helped a psycho.”
Cellmates
“That presence was gone. Somebody’s got to be blamed for it, and she was a likely candidate.”