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One of Los Angeles' greatest characteristics is the stunning optimism of its citizens. Certainly the remarkable climate has something to do with it - the eternal Spring that creates a spotless mind. But the downside of this great climate is that people usually love it when it rains since there's finally "weather". But there are far too few rainy days for our growing population. Can't drink the ocean (yet), can't pump enough, borrow enough or recycle enough (yet) to meet the needs of the millions of people who water lawns, wash clothes (don't forget the cars) and themselves.

We have been talking for years about recycling water, developing more grey-water systems, building desalinization plants. So far - lots and lots of talk and a little bit of hand-wringing - hasn't brought us a sustainable source of water sufficient to meet our needs in the not-too-distant future. So - please - don't miss our program on March 22 (see our program listings on the home page). You really do need to know and you certainly need to care. Jon Goodman

At a recent gathering of formerly politically aware and engaged folks, I heard the following: "Did you hear the latest about the campaign?" "No, and don't tell me. If I hear one more word about politics, I'll melt down. I've even stopped listening to the news...only traffic reports."

The repetition of the same old themes, the same old nuggets of news, the same old "gotcha" lines from the same old sources is getting, well, old. And the real fun hasn't even begun yet. So what's a cranky person to do? Our world has been so overtaken by talk...talk radio, talk TV, podcasts and blogs that it's getting hard to think. The answer might be as simple as tuning out and turning off...a few hours a day.

A recent scholarly article examined an interesting phenomenon; people who spent the most time each day on Facebook were the least content, the most bitter about their lives. With no empirical evidence whatsoever to back this up, I suspect the same holds true for those who listen to or watch the most talk radio/TV. So here's my suggestion - get out more and come to a Town Hall event. You'll find it curiously refreshing ;-) Jon Goodman, President

It was a really good year. Really it was. After all, we're still on the right side of the dirt - and that makes it a good year. As we clean out our files, resurrect our resolutions and prepare for all the fascinating things to come - we have a lot to remember and be thankful for.

Happy holidays and Happy New Year to all who read these posts - and our very best wishes for a New Year that is at least as interesting as this one has been and that finds us all wishing each other well, once again! Jon Goodman, President

My mother used to say that some days crawled but the years always flew. I'd laugh and reply that from my vantage point, everything was moving at the speed of sound. Wrong again.

Now that we approach the end of 2011 and with it the endless summations of the year's events and happenings, I realize that it all moves at the speed of light. Where did the year go?

Happily, it went into providing some outstanding programming for all of us. We got a glimpse of the view from the top, a look into tomorrow's economy and visions of what is and what could be. People who shape events told us what they think and answered our questions. They also showed that the worn phrase "Keep calm and carry on" is timeless. Who will ever forget the Town Hall event when a couple of hundred blackberries started to beep and the word went around (talk about "wildfire") that the market had just plummeted 1,000 points?

We're planning next year's programs. It's the 75th Anniversary of Town Hall Los Angeles (no small thing in this city) and although we'll save all the wonderful details for another time - we can promise you that the events will matter - to you, to us and to the future of our region. In the meantime, cheer, joy and keep calm and carry on. Jon Goodman

You might have missed it (bet you did), but the Senior Senator from California, Dianne Feinstein spoke at Town Hall Los Angeles today. She said important things - really important things - about water, the Iranian plot against the Saudi Ambassador to the US, about the jobs bill and how the Senate is working (or not) these days, about cloture and cabbages and kings.

I'm always amazed to find that people aren't hanging from the balconies and rafters to hear and ask questions of one of most formidable politicians (and policy wonks) of our generation...there were a few hundred people there...but not a thousand. In a city of millions? The reason there's so much outrage in the nation and so many outrageous people both in office and running for it is because of COMA - "Count On My Apathy". We get the government we deserve, it has often been said, and that worries me, a lot. Jon Goodman, President

So where are the jobs? We’re seeing organized demands for jobs across the country and in our own backyard. Discontent is a theme that’s not unfamiliar at Town Hall Los Angeles – whether expressed by speakers who grace our podium or protesters exercising their First Amendment rights. The free expression of displeasure is one of the joys of the American way of things.

Jobs and the U.S. economy – hot topic. Don’t miss the senior senator from California, the Honorable Dianne Feinstein, as she speaks on jobs and the economy next Wednesday, Oct. 26. Mr. Liam McGee, a former Angeleno and now chairman, president and CEO of The Hartford, will speak on “American Small Businesses: Confidence in Our Future” on November 9.

Participate in that most American of activities - ask hard questions in the place that celebrates civil discussion about topics that matter today. Go to Events and register NOW! Jon Goodman, President

I've been going over some of the remarkable Town Hall Los Angeles files, and was struck by how the same issues come up over and over and over and over and over. Here are a few, the latest from a speech 30 years ago - and I'll update with more current ones in the next post. I think you will chuckle as I did. Jon Goodman, President

“When we find a people spending more on old age pensions than in educating our youth, we have a civilization that is bankrupt."
Dr. Fredric P. Woellner
Professor of Education
UCLA
October 28, 1940

“The effectiveness of the weapons of the future may depend upon the new insights and the new advances we make in fundamental science today and tomorrow.”
Dr. James R. Killian, Jr.
President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
January 16, 1950

“Before you can have a world government, you have to have not only practical common interests, but also a common sense of right and wrong and a common sense of justice.”
His Excellency Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
United States Delegate to the United Nations
July 14, 1953

“Advertising does have moral standards. Its professional people respect and adhere to these standards, and therefore fulfill advertising’s obligations to educate the American public on a decent cultural level and to communicate worthy ideas in an honest and intelligent manner.”
Robert F. Carney
Chairman of the Board
Foote, Cone, and Belding
March 5, 1957

“It is interesting to note that the one other country in which there is as much preoccupation with family life is the Soviet Union.”
Margaret Mead
Anthropologist, Author, Lecturer
March 26, 1957

“Today the President of the United States must be responsible for the peace and security of the whole free world whether he likes it or not.”
Harry S. Truman
Former President of the United States
April 7, 1959

“I tell you that in my opinion the man who will not be nominated for President on the Democratic ticket is the man who will divide the country on race, religion, or foreign policy.”
Harry S. Truman
Former President of the United States
April 7, 1959

“Good institutions are no guarantee of good government.”
The Honorable Richard M. Nixon
Vice President of the United States, 1953-1960
April 24, 1962

“To complicate the problem and compound the challenge, California also labors under one of the nation’s most archaic constitutional systems – and this is a barrier to growth and progress in every other field.”
The Honorable Richard M. Nixon
Vice President of the United States, 1953-1960
April 24, 1962

“Europeans have dreamed of unity for a long time, but these dreams have always remained just that.”
John Scott
Special Correspondent
TIME Magazine
March 24, 1964

“American youth is sold on the “Do your own thing” philosophy.”
The Honorable Edward M. Davis
Chief, Los Angeles Police Department
December 16, 1969

“If all new-born infants could grow up to be totally law-abiding citizens, it still would take 15 years to see any visible reduction in crime.”
The Honorable Edward M. Davis
Chief, Los Angeles Police Department
December 16, 1969

“At 31, the younger generation says I no longer can be trusted. The older generation thinks I am a hippie in a Brooks Brothers suit.”
Edmund G. Brown, Jr.
Attorney, Tuttle & Taylor
Trustee, Los Angeles Community College District
February 10, 1970

“Frederick Jackson Turner, the historian, described the American frontier as our country’s ‘safety valve.’ California was our last frontier. Now it offers traffic jams, smog and high taxes.”
Edmund G. Brown, Jr.
Attorney, Tuttle & Taylor
Trustee, Los Angeles Community College District
February 10, 1970

“It’s obvious that the sea is our planet’s life blood.”
Jean-Michel Cousteau
President, Living Sea Corporation
May 26, 1970

“Just as we need a new method for reapportioning legislative districts, we need a new method for financing political campaigns.”
Robert Abernathy
KNBC News Correspondent
January 21, 1972

“Nearly everyone with any kind of identification with the Democratic Party, and some without, has decided this year that he ought to become the next Chief Executive of the US.”
Tom Brokaw
KNBC Anchorman
January 21, 1972

“No matter how much Israelis may travel in Europe or in the United States, they now realize that their fate will be decided in the Middle East.”
Dr. Rita R. Rogers
Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCLA
Chief, Division of Child Psychiatry, Harbor General Hospital
September 19, 1974

“In order to create a realistic health plan we must realize that financing alone is not the answer. The real challenge is to establish a system of accountabilities. We must ask ourselves, to whom is our health care system really accountable?”
William A. Guy
President
Blue Cross of Southern California
February 27, 1975

“The irresponsibility of the ERA would mar, cloud, or destroy a whole block of established law. Laws like the homosexual law or our military draft laws.”
Rita Miller
Researcher, California “STOP THE E.R.A”
July 6, 1976

“Those who oppose ERA want freedom from responsibility. Those who favor it want freedom for responsibility.”
Gloria Allred
Legal & Legislative Chairperson,
National Women’s Political Caucus – L.A.
July 6, 1976

“Do we really have to destroy tomorrow in order to live today?”
Gaylord Nelson,
Chairman
The Wilderness Society
Former U.S. Senator, Wisconsin
September 10, 1981

"This year, more than in any election year in modern memory, Americans are examining their deepest dissatisfactions. Beyond the crackle of gunfire half a world away, beyond the cries of men too long denied their dignity at home - beyond all this is the quiet crisis of the American spirit; the sense that we have lost that personal commitment and personal control which is at the heart of the American experience."
Presidential Candidate Robert Kennedy - April 19, 1968

Town Hall has developed an extraordinary opportunity for you. We live in one of the most remarkable cities in the world - a sophisticated megalopolis in a seductive physical setting. As we have gotten to know more of our members, we have responded to their interests and curiosity and discovered that the name "Town Hall" opened doors for members-only tours.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted today to expand top-level domains – those letters that follow the “dot” – to virtually anything and in virtually any language. Of course, like so many things these days, it will cost money ($185,000). A minor thing, perhaps, but this brings new meaning to “the good old days.”

I once thought “old” meant that you could remember when there wasn’t color TV, or when there were only four outcomes when you called someone: no one answered, the line was busy, you got the person you were calling or you left a message. Now, I suppose, you’re old if you think .org means a nonprofit, or the options most familiar are .com, .edu, .gov, .net or .org. Then came the others - .biz and the like. Of course, for years there have been almost 300 country codes, but those have never been available unless you had the authority to use them.